O, The Oprah Magazine articles from March 2004

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from March 2004

We Hear You! Readers continue to wrestle with the ethics of surrogacy, are inspired by Frances Kuffel's weight loss story, applaud Tracy Chevalier, Madonna, and more ...(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... The Transformation issue [January] was just what I needed. I especially enjoyed Sharon Salzberg's "The Power of Intention" and Martha Beck's wonderful guide to making changes, "Growing Wings." The last year of my life has been filled with...

The art (and science) of happiness.(Here We Go)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... NEWS FROM THE FRONTIER OF science and psychology prompted this month's theme. Whatever your circumstances, whatever your genes, it turns out that you can make yourself happier. The short course begins on page 192 with Mark Matousek's report,...

The subject is happiness.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... March "Happiness, not in another place, but this place... not for another hour, but this hour..."--Walt Whitman [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Dr. Phil: "he'd better pay attention to you, or you'll be out the door"; Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, on a husband's wandering gaze ... a friend (always) in need ... and a foulmouthed son.(Tell It Like It Is)
March 1, 2004... Q My husband says that all men look at other women, and we've gotten into big arguments over it. He says he can't help looking at others while in my presence. He stares, looks down blouses, does double takes, etc. I've told him that I'm hurt by...

The pursuit of cold, hard happiness: no, money can't buy you happiness (you knew that). But happiness can work wonders for your bank balance. Suze Orman does the math.(Financial Freedom)
March 1, 2004... MONEY AND HAPPINESS ARE TWO of the most powerful forces in our lives, but what's so interesting to me is how we've convinced ourselves that there's a powerful connection between them: We seem to think that if we were rich, our lives would be...

Live your best life.
March 1, 2004... The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self....

What's playing in Liz Phair's ear? The indie princess likes classical (for cooking), Paul Simon (for mellowing out), and Dusty Springfield (for ture romance).(Music)
March 1, 2004... Liz Phair's music has been called alternative and mainstream, pop and punk. Not Sex Pistols punk, but to-hell-with-what-her-audience-expects punk. Now Phair is taking flack for being too sweet--for shifting from her edgy and cynical 1993 debut,...

The Cowgirls' Cheese stands alone.(Treat)
March 1, 2004... SUE CONLEY AND PEGGY SMITH would rather eat cheese than chocolate any day. Last year their own organic cheese, Red Hawk, from California's Cowgirl Creamery, won the 2003 American Cheese Society's Best in Show, competing against 616 other...

Melting-pot chic.(LYBL)
March 1, 2004... San Franciscan by geography and Mediterranean by palate, Joanne Weir has written a cookbook for people with busy lives, small kitchens, abundant ethnic influences, and great specialty stores: city people. Weir Cooking in the City (Simon &...

LisaGay Hamilton's aha! moment: in celebrating one life and starting another, the actress learned something about personal growth.(Turning Point)
March 1, 2004... I MET THE EXTRAORDINARY BEAH Richards when we worked together on the film Beloved. She was an award-winning actor, an activist, and a poet, but perhaps she's best known for her Oscar-nominated performance as Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess...

Anthony Bourdain's braises and praises.(TV: Guest Critic)
March 1, 2004... Anthony Bourdain judges a cook by his hands: the scars, burns, calluses, and arthritic grips from years of chopping, whisking, and sauteing. Here the former Food Network host and author of Kitchen Confidential, who taught us never to order fish...

Anticipation list: what we're looking forward to this month.(LYBL)
March 1, 2004... If you thought the inside of John Malkovich's cranium was odd, try Jim Carrey's. The man who somehow managed to turn a talking butt into comedic gold costars with Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the latest from...

Tune in, nod off.(Gizmo)
March 1, 2004... Back in the days before cable, falling asleep was relatively simple. Every night, not long after Johnny's monologue, the television networks would run out of things to broadcast (no, really) and the old Zenith would revert to snow and a...

Coming to a White House near you: Marie C. Wilson is very smart and very charming--and she's leading the shift from President Barbie to the first woman commander in chief. And she means soon.(Phenomenal Woman)
March 1, 2004... MARIE C. WILSON WOULDN'T mind being remembered as the mother of President Barbie, though most of her achievements have more heft. "I almost lost my feminist credentials for suggesting that doll," says Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for...

Something to think about.
March 1, 2004... EVERY RELIGIOUS TRADITION HAS TEACHINGS ON HOW TO BE HAPPY. YET THAT QUESTION REMAINS ONE OF LIFE'S GREAT MYSTERIES. FIND SOME TIME TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING: 1 Write your definition of happiness. Are you living it? If not, are there...

Ten reasons to feel good about the future: you can imagine the worst--or you can, like Martha Beck, sip a Frappuccino and count the ways in which the world is moving in the right direction.(Martha Beck)
March 1, 2004... TODAY'S WORLD IS A TERRIFYING PLACE. EVERY DAY WE WAKE up facing the frightening realities of our age: terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, pollution, domestic violence, psychotic criminals who steal children right from their own beds. Oh,...

Guess who's coming to (maybe ruin) dinner?(Satellite Sisters)
March 1, 2004... It's time for your annual girls' weekend away or monthly dinner out. At the last minute, one member calls to see if it's okay to bring along her boyfriend/toddler/great new office mate. Question: Can new blood divide a circle of friends? The...

If the horse is dead, get off: there may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but how do you know when the time is right? Psychologist Judith Sills helps you check the vital signs.(Couples)
March 1, 2004... A WOMAN SAT ACROSS FROM ME, FLATTENED by frustration. "I've kept my marriage together by learning to choke down the ocean," she said. "For a while, it was easy. Lately, I'm suffocating. Is it just a bad patch? Or is it time to cut my losses?"...

Three sheets to the wind: old blankets. Minnie mouse towels. Sheets that look like tourniquets. A drugstore's worth of toiletries. Julie Morgenstern brings logic to your linen closet.(Getting Organized)
March 1, 2004... DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR LINEN closet? Worn-out sheets you've had since college, goofy velour beach towels from island vacations, a scratchy wool blanket from your aunt Mabel, supersize packages of cotton balls, and a chaotic array of hotel...

Happiness is a warm postcard: pick a card, any card. Think about all the good stuff in your life, the people you love around you. Now, don't you feel better?(O to Go)
March 1, 2004... "Getting what you go after is success; but liking it while you are getting it is happiness." --Bertha Damon "That is happiness: to be dissolved into something complete and great." --Willa Cather "Growth itself contains the...

The O List.
March 1, 2004... "A few things I think are just great."--OPRAH Worth Getting Naked For "Nothing says spring like cherry blossoms. The most ordinary bathroom blooms into a Japanese garden with these deliciously thick terry towels." (Nancy Koltes at...

The right style for your shape: curvy? Skinny? Small top, big hips? Three women with very different bodies get a makeover from Kendall Farr, author of the smart new book the Pocket Stylist.(Style Fashion)
March 1, 2004... A SILHOUETTE Shoulders, breasts, torso, and waist are smaller than hips and thighs. STRATEGY Tops and jackets with details that make a big deal of the upper body; unfussy, elongating pants and skirts. B SILHOUETTE...

Shift into neutrals: creamy heels, earthy beads and cuffs, a tawny belt or woven clutch--these are the accessories that really see you through (and not just for a single season).(Fashion)
March 1, 2004... BEIGE IS BASIC We can all agree on that. But sexy? Yes, definitely, when it's done in chic textures and up-to-date shapes. Clockwise from left Straw isn't all beach hats and espadrilles--here it's urbanized in a spiffy little clutch with a...

Flower beds: better than a bouquet on your bedside table, these sheets make you feel that you're sleeping in a garden. It's a lovely way to get a head start on spring.(Comfort Zone)
March 1, 2004... SOFT PETAL We never promised you a rose garden in April--for cooler parts of the country, that would be seriously premature--but American Beauties can flourish on your sheets anytime. A pillowcase with full-blown blossoms practically...

Look what we found! Delicious fun with olive oil, mini bottles of fragrance, a pretty hair trick ... Here's what O's beauty editors fell in love with this month.(Beauty Girls' Toys)
March 1, 2004... OLIVE IT UP! Olive oil's supermoisturizing properties are lusciously good for your skin. From soap to body butter, here are five ways to make the most of it. 1. Station it close to the sink and far from the mixed greens: Olivia Liquid...

A little legwork: whether you're bugged by itsy-bitsy spiders or long and painful varicose veins, new high-tech treatments can banish them. Christine Fellingham circulates the good news.(Beauty Report)
March 1, 2004... I DEFINITELY HAVE A KIND OF ENJOY-THEM-while-you-can attitude about my legs. Because, in addition to a genetically predetermined decent pair, I've inherited a high risk of developing varicose veins. While I was growing up, I watched my mother...

Ask Val: questions about lipstick? You've come to the right place. O's beauty director, Valerie Monroe, gives you the straight story.(Beauty)
March 1, 2004... I swear I've got lipstick from the 1700s. Once and for all, what's its shelf life? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There's no set limit to how long a lipstick will last, but if the color, odor, or texture changes, or it has melted (even if it...

Kitchen confusion.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... Vegetables have become the gold standard of healthful eating, and every year brings more news of their natural benefits, from vitamins to minerals to antioxidants. But new research suggests that the way you cook your vegetables can make a big...

The lowdown on LASIK.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... LASIK SURGERY--IN WHICH the cornea is reshaped by laser to correct vision problems like near- and farsightedness--is so popular that some people now get their eyes zapped with less trepidation than if they were getting a bikini wax. While the...

Pump up the volume.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... It turns out that gyms crank up the Top 40 radio stations for good reason: The heart-pounding music pouring from the loudspeakers does, in fact, help you get your heart rate up. New research presented at a meeting of the American Association of...

Smear campaign.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... ONE OF THE BURDENS OF FEMALENESS, THE annual Pap smear, may not be necessary every year. Introduced 60 years ago, the test checks for early signs of cervical cancer and has dramatically reduced incidence of the disease. A recent study in The...

Dr. Atkins and the drama of the dieting mother: after 20 years of yo-yo dieting, Fayne Ansley's mother finally had an appointment with the legendary champion of protein. Ansley reports on what was lost and what was gained.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... MY MOTHER, WHO AT FIVE FEET TALL weighed 99 pounds on her wedding day, quite suddenly, after 12 years of children and little exercise, gained half her original weight. I was in the sixth grade that year. I don't recall her eating all that much...

The way to eat: beyond the hype, the fads, and the nutri-nonsense, David L. Katz, MD, gives you all you need to know to step up to the plate.(Body Wise)
March 1, 2004... My doctor has told me that I should be taking a multivitamin. Do I really need one? Also, I've heard that I shouldn't take calcium and a multi at the same time because they fight for absorption. Is that right?--PATRICE POPP, TRAVERSE CITY,...

Star of India: cardamom has brought sexy fusion to her kitchen, her marriage, even her meat loaf. Amy Finnerty reports.(Dish Fulfillment)
March 1, 2004... EVER SINCE I MET MY INDIAN HUSBAND, THE SCENT OF CARDAMOM HAS INFILtrated my kitchen cabinets. I use it so much that it's migrated from way in the back to the front row, and I reach for it so often that sometimes I don't even bother replacing...

Free as a bird: when life gets to be overwhelming, Susan Choi looks skyward. An urban nature-lover reports on the saving graces and wingding beauty of birds.(Tales of Adventure)
March 1, 2004... ON A BRISK NOVEMBER DAY A COUPLE OF YEARS ago, my work was going badly. My desk, where I write novels and the occasional magazine story, was buried in an early snowfall of receipts, unpaid bills, and income tax documents. My datebook lay open...

We feel good!(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... It was a time of unfettered joy: the early 1960s, the end of the colonial era in Africa. Young men and women reveled in Western-style clothing, clubbing, and the music of pop icons like "les Beaties" and James Brown. At the swirling center of...

Soul on thin ice: losing belief, finding faith.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... KAREN ARMSTRONG'S GOT nerve. It is what made her enter a convent at age 17--to the horror of her casually Catholic family--and return to secular life seven years later, filled with religious uncertainty, or, as she puts it, "allergic to God."...

A new man: what happens when youth isn't wasted on the young?(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... Hanif Kureishi came blasting onto the cultural scene almost two decades ago with a double-engined early success: the script for My Beautiful Laundrette, a film, and then The Buddha of Suburbia, his first novel. His work has tended to reveal our...

Talent show.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... Smoky, sultry, sinuous: The images in HIRSCHFELD'S HARLEM (Glenn Young Books) are as exhilarating as a breath of late-night air. The artist, famed for capturing the essence of stardom with a swoop of his pen, grew up--and lived until his death...

A bumpy flight: the American dream goes for an emotional ride in a stunning new novel.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... LIFE ON THE GROUND is getting more than a little heavy for Jerry Battle, so it's understandable that the appealing hero of Chang-Rae Lee's terrific new novel, Aloft (Riverhead), might seek solace and escape from the earth's gravitational pull...

Who are we? A brilliant writer examines ten riveting tests of human nature.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... There's a social scientist inside every one of us. We ask ourselves psychological questions as we watch the morning news (Look, they caught a serial killer; how does a person become that kind of monster?). Questions nudge at us as we get the...

The good father: a devastating story of love, delusion, and history.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... IT'S NO ACCIDENT THAT THE CEN-tral family in Edwidge Danticat's searing new novel is named Bienaime (meaning "well loved"). The Dew Breaker (Knopf)--dew breaker being a Haitian idiom for "torturer"--is concerned with love in the most extreme...

Am I still me?(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... What happens when a woman who has made her living on her wit, imagination, and artistic ability suddenly doesn't know whether Wednesday comes before Thursday or whether two pounds of flour weigh more than one? In her memoir, I Had Brain...

Biblio: recommendations from our shelf to yours.(Reading Room)
March 1, 2004... * What does it take to break through a wall of loneliness? In A Hole in the Universe (Viking), novelist Mary McGarry Morris's latest page-turner, a man tries to pick up the pleces of his life after serving 25 years in prison for murder. A...

The stories of us: actress Bonnie Hunt likes books about doctors, dreamers, and a certain tap-dancing tough guy.(Books That Made a Difference)
March 1, 2004... WHEN YOU GROW UP IN A BLUE-collar neighborhood in Chicago, when you don't have money to go out and do things, you spend your summer nights on the porch telling and listening to stories. I was very lucky because my dad was a great storyteller....

Oprah talks to Sarah Jessica Parker: the force behind Sex and the City (Carrie to you and me) opens up about new motherhood, a complex marriage, money worries, turning 40--and her dreams of someday running a grocery store(!).(The O Interview)
March 1, 2004... I'm interrupting normal reading to bring you a news bulletin: Happiness is attainable! And this month we've got the advice (from the cutting edge of science as well as from Goldie Hawn), the tools, even the roasted lobster with honey and onion...

Choose happiness: some of us are born smiling; Most of us have to work at it. This may take learning some new techniques and unlearning some old mental habits--but the joyful news from the frontiers of science and psychology is that mood is malleable and happiness is yours for the choosing. Mark Matousek reports.
March 1, 2004... Looking for Happiness in All the Right Places We want it, strive for it, and envy others who have it (or do they?). We believe it's elusive, ephemeral, and just over the next hill--it's simply a matter of getting richer, skinnier, older,...

Are you happy? A sort-of-scientific quiz ... plus ways to raise your score.
March 1, 2004... IT MIGHT SEEM A LITTLE, SHALL WE SAY, MOOD-RING ERA TO SUGGEST taking a happiness quiz. Many people, however, "are so used to being unhappy that they barely notice it," says psychologist Dan Baker, PhD, director of the Life Enhancement Program...

Who's smiling now? Welcome to the great happiness experiment. We sent three skeptical women to three respected researchers and gave them one month to test-drive the latest theories....
March 1, 2004... At Attention [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MICHELLE BURFORD sits (reluctantly) and is saved by the bell. I have tried to meditate. It didn't work. So when I took the assignment to test a form of meditation called mindfulness--and let the...

Get happy! We've all got little homegrown tricks for cheering ourselves up. Lauren Gravitz finds out why they actually work.
March 1, 2004... I've succumbed to full-blown depression just once, and the only good that came of it was learning that I never wanted to experience anything like it again. So I started collecting little mood-boosting tricks--not cure-alls for clinical...

Can new shoes make you happy? Yes, of course they can. Call us shallow, but we're buying Valerie Monroe's case for the therapeutic properties of pretty things.
March 1, 2004... MY ANCIENT AUNT ESTHER WAS OFten cranky, but when I was little I didn't notice. She allowed me to sit very close, enveloped in a cloud of her powdery lilacwater scent, close enough that I could take one and then the other of her soft, perfectly...

The girl with the golden giggle: Goldie Hawn writes about why she's trying to get laughter a little respect. Seriously, folks.
March 1, 2004... AT AGE 10, IF I WAS ASKED, "WHAT do you want to be when you grow up?" I answered, "Happy." Adults would look at me as if I had three heads. They'd laugh and say, "No, what do you want to be--a ballerina, an actress?" And again I would answer,...

Guilty pleasure; Question: who could possibly feel gleeful at someone else's hard luck? Answer: nearly everybody. And there's a bright new musical to prove it. Lisa Kogan faced the truth.
March 1, 2004... Right now you are down and out And feeling really crappy... And when I see how sad you are It sort of makes me happy! --"Schadenfreude" (from Avenue 2), music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx RAISE YOUR...

5 pretty women talk beauty: okay, they were born great-looking. But they've also figured out how to take care of their skin, what makeup they can't live without, and which advice makes sense for them. Valerie Monroe listens in.
March 1, 2004... 1 ELISABETH ROHM Costar of NBC's Law & Order, 30 What's the first thing you notice when you look in the mirror? Gorgeous, right? "No, actually. I see dry skin. Or that my complexion's a little red. But I do see positive...

Bee season: honey adds a bee-atific sweetness and languid warmth to everything from tea to lobster to the best napoleon you've ever tasted. Susan Chumsky catches a buzz.
March 1, 2004... FOR MANY BEEKEEPERS, THE sting is almost beside the point, as easy to get past as a gruff exterior. The true soul of a bee is in the honey. This nectar adds a gorgeous sweetness not just to food but to life. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In...

Viva Las Vegas: spring trends you bet on.
March 1, 2004... Capri-ish jeans that were born on the streets of New York. A red trench straight from Paris. The Venetian intrigue of emerald suede and fuchsia silk. An absolute poem of a Roman dress. Kitschy Las Vegas versions of world-class cities are the...

What they did for bliss.
March 1, 2004... Once they were lawyers, investment bankers, artists. One was a movie star. One was Jewish. Today these 40 highly accomplished women have given up everything to live in a unique monastery in Bethlehem, Connecticut. They've taken vows of...

Top scorers: the loveliness of the long-distance runner--or any woman on the move--is guaranteed in a bra with style and support.(Fashion)
March 1, 2004... The double-layered fabric delivers more glamour, less friction, and you can trust it with bigger busts. A front hookup guarantees speedy locker-room changes. Enell, $54: 800-828-7661. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FREE TO MOVE! This month O...

Hairspray (the audition).(Beauty)
March 1, 2004... The best ones lend volume, shine, and bounce. Nearly 30 years in the business, superstylist Anthony Linzalone (of New York City's Pierre Michel salon) knows hairspray. Here, he nominates his five favorites. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Chop-Chop: lost your edge? Dump the dull cutlery. Eleven great blades (plus something to keep them sharp).(Home)
March 1, 2004... 1. A paring knife for small jobs is crucial to any kitchen armory (Sanelli 4-inch, $10). 2. This French-made parer has a chic black handle (Haute Cuisine 4 1/2-inch. $75). 3. Veggies don't stand a chance against this thin blade (Global 5...

Bee season feast, where is thy sting? In honey-flecked teas, luscious cookies, a perfectly sweetened napoleon (for story, see page 210).(The Recipes)
March 1, 2004... Lemon Honey Sherbet 2 tsp. unflavored gelatin 3/4 cup honey 1 cup fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 cups plain organic yogurt 1/2 cup whole milk [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1. Place 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl and sprinkle...

Shop guide (all prices are approximate).
March 1, 2004... COVER/HERE WE GO P.41 Real Clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue velour jacket, $118, cotton shirt, $58, and velour pants, $78, Saks Fifth Avenue. Devroomen citrine earrings in 18kt yellow gold, $4,800, Greenleaf & Crosby, Palm Beach, FL. THE RIGHT...

What I know for sure.
March 1, 2004... I WAS STANDING AT THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS recently, looking out at the crowd and thinking, My God, what an amazing life! I get to do work that leaves me stimulated, fulfilled, and happy. And I get applauded and rewarded for it. How wonderful...