O, The Oprah Magazine articles from October 2006

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from October 2006

We hear you! It's a girl thing.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... I could barely get through "Oprah and Gayle, Uncensored" {by Lisa Kogan, August} without calling my best friend to tell her she had to read it, too. She and I often refer to ourselves as soul mates, and we laugh when we talk of growing old with...

We hear you! Message in a mailbox.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... Your August issue couldn't have appeared in my mailbox at a better time. Recently, one of my dearest friends made a choice that nearly ended our relationship. I struggled to stand by her while coping with her actions. Then as I read "Friends to...

We hear you! Constructive criticism.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... I agree with Valerie Monroe's assertion in "Friends Don't Let Friends..." {August}: It's not what you say, it's how you say it. As a professional image consultant, I often have to give my clients negative assessments. I find my suggestions are...

We hear you! Fictional friend.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... In "Whose Life Was It, Anyway?" {August}, Lynn Freed professes that she and her friends "share a keen sense of decorum" and that they "do not presume upon each other." And yet, sentences later, she admits to having "thieved liberally" from her...

We hear you! Stolen youth.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... "How to Help a Friend... Who's Lost a Child" {by Nancy Comiskey, August} hit me hard. My husband and I lost our 8-year-old son this past March. The pain is still very new to us. For six years, we knew our son was dying, and we dedicated our...

We hear you! Please, love, and thank you.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... In "The Kindness of Strangers (The Rudeness of Spouses)" [August], Terrence Real conveyed an important, simple message: Most relationship advice revolves around intimacy, passion, spontaneity, and soul sharing--but it overlooks common courtesy....

Here we go!
October 1, 2006... FORGET ABOUT HOW OLD YOU ARE. The real question is: How old do you feel? If your answer is anything along the lines of "I feel ancient; I need a nap; get out of my face," I'm going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that it may be time...

Live your best life.(Poem)
October 1, 2006... Are there seasons in heaven? In God's anteroom are there windows that look out on trees like these-- each leaf a note for the brass ensemble of autumn-- the dry ones castanets ...

Fast food confidential: the new movie fast food nation fictionalizes Eric Schlosser's best-selling book about America's culinary obsession. How do O readers indulge? An oprah.com poll found out.(O-ZONE)
October 1, 2006... GO FIGURE DEJA VIEW TV, PARIS COMES TO ATLANTA, NEW BLUES FROM YOUNG OLD SOULS & MORE 1 Rank of burgers among the most popular guilty pleasures (especially from McDonald's, the top choice in fast food by a landslide) ...

Moving picture: 49 up: must-see little movie of the month.(O-ZONE)(Movie review)
October 1, 2006... IN 1964 A BRITISH TV CREW, inspired by the Jesuit dictum "Give me a child until he's 7 and I'll show you the man," set out to interview a diverse group of 7-year-olds from across England. The filmmakers quizzed the youngsters on everything from...

Screengems: three new films worth standing in line for.(O-ZONE)(Driving Lessons, Infamous and Jesus Camp)(Movie review)
October 1, 2006... You can count on Laura Linney for a performance that makes the writing, the direction, and the rest of the cast seem superfluous. In Jeremy Brock's Driving Lessons (above), she plays a religious mother whose bookish teenager (Rupert Grint)...

Nugget.(O-ZONE)(how to say yes and no)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... It is not until you have a burning yes inside of you about what is truly important that you can pleasantly, smilingly, cheerfully, say no to all of that which is urgent, but not truly important. Our deepest guilt comes from doing the opposite,...

Deja View.(television programs)
October 1, 2006... When the networks discover a winning formula, they tend to stick with it. This season is no exception. O takes you through prime time's most anticipated new shows--which bear a striking resemblance to old shows. And to each other. ...

TiVo This.(Public Broadcasting Service offers Eyes on the Prize)(Rachael Ray's talk show)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Eyes on the Prize (left), the landmark six-hour documentary about the civil rights movement, returns in three installments this month on PBS. The Oscar-nominated film, an essential for teachers and historians since its 1987 release, has been...

The place to be Atlanta: a high--class cultural coup: an unprecedented exchange program with the Louvre has Georgia on our minds.(O-ZONE)
October 1, 2006... IN THE DECADE SINCE Atlanta welcomed the 1996 summer Olympics, the city's become a poster child for urban renewal, a hub of Southern hip-hop, and a host to major cultural events. The latest big to-do happens this month, when the High Museum of...

What's Playing in Madeleine Peyroux's Ear?(Music)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Madeleine Peyroux sounds more like Billie Holiday than any 32-year-old white woman raised in Brooklyn, California, and Paris has a right to. Everything the gold-record artist touches--jazz, pop, blues, or country--swings. On her new album, Half...

Put her record on.(Must Hear)(Put Your Records On)(Sound recording review)
October 1, 2006... SWEET-VOICED CORINNE BAILEY RAE'S first single, "Put Your Records On," was a perfect radio-blasting, windows-down summer song--even if you were hearing it from your iPod in line at the dry cleaner. The rest of the British singer's self-titled...

5 FACTS ABOUT MEN: NOW-YOU-TELL-US!(Books)(Men, Love and Sex: The Complete User's Guide for Women)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... GUYS ARE cryptic creatures, not least when it comes to love. But now they're somewhat less so, thanks to a new book from David Zinczenko, the editor in chief of Men's Health magazine, and journalist Ted Spiker. Men, Love & Sex: The Complete...

Drawn from memory.(Art)(Susan Crile's Abu Ghraib: The Abuse of Power)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... "I don't think of myself as a political artist, but when I see overwhelming injustice, I have to act," says Susan Crile of her show Abu Ghraib: The Abuse of Power, on display at the Bertha & Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College in New...

Yes? No? Maybe? You're of two minds about everything--love, work, should I move to Seattle? Pepperoni or mushrooms? Relax. Martha Beck helps you hop down off the fence.(advice, etc.)
October 1, 2006... I'VE GOT TO COMMIT TO THIS RELATIONSHIP OR END IT," SAID Tessa, sounding a little desperate. "I can't go one more day without making the decision." It was clear that she really meant this... just as she had the first time I heard her say it,...

Dr. Phil: "so much of intimacy is based on imagination": Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, on a turned-off wife, a clueless husband, and a sister who's always angry.(advice, etc.)
October 1, 2006... Q I've been married for seven years, and my husband and I have two young children. He's a fabulous father, and we rarely fight. But no matter how hard I try, I can't shake the feeling that I love him like a friend. When I raised the issue, he...

Suze Orman: "sweetheart, this guy is a freeloader": drawing up a postnup, managing an inheritance, and making a judgment call on your husband's dream car.(advice, etc.)
October 1, 2006... I bought a house five years ago. Three years later, I married a man who was living rent-free in a place his family owned. I wanted a prenuptial agreement to protect my initial investment in my house, but he didn't. I've been paying the...

Save, not sorry.(advice, etc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... As I explained to the woman entangled in the great car debate, it sure is an eye-opener to see what spending less now can do to your bottom line later on down the road. Opt for a cheaper car, and you may be able to retire earlier than you had...

The great American Debt Diet: before and after: they owed money to banks, credit card companies, and student loan organizations--and believed there was no end in sight. Today these three couples are lean, mean, debt-free machines. How did they do it? What could they do better? Jean Chatzky, one of their original coaches, checks in with them.
October 1, 2006... THE AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY owes thousands on credit cards. We have less equity in our homes and owe more on our cars than ever before. And if interest rates continue to rise, monthly payments could skyrocket. The unfortunate result is that...

S. Epatha Merkerson's aha! Moment: what it took for the Law & Order actress to succeed: encouragement, hope, a miraculous mother. Pass it on.(advice, etc.)
October 1, 2006... I WAS RAISED IN A SINGLE-parent household in Detroit with my two brothers and two sisters. Back then the sky outside our windows was black with smoke from arson fires and drugs were everywhere. Because my mother worked, she couldn't always be...

What do you want next?(something to think about)(discovery writing)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... This month we're tackling our topic through discovery writing, which is a way to find out about yourself through writing. You can start the exercise on this page and continue on other sheets of paper, a notebook, or computer screen. First,...

The O list: "a few things I think are just great.".
October 1, 2006... Drink It In "Besides looking fabulous, these dishwasher-safe stoneware and stainless steel cups are luxuriously weighty and feel just wonderful in your hands. All you need now is biscotti." ($12 for cup and saucer, Contigo;...

Slim pants: friend or foe? You don't have to be skinny to wear the new narrow pants. They'll actually make you look taller and leaner--if you do them right. Six women learn how.(getting dressed)
October 1, 2006... STRATEGY: The Long Sweater Anastasia Ali 23, executive assistant at a beauty company "I'm concerned about stuffing myself into those pants," Anastasia said as she eyed them on the hanger. "What if they don't fit over my butt?...

Heels that love women: there's nothing like a stiletto to make your legs look incredible--and your toes suffer. Cole Haan uses sports-shoe technology to take the weight off your feet.(getting dressed)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... WE LOVE HIGH HEELS, really we do, but they can be torture chambers for the feet. When you walk in four-inch stilettos, your entire body weight is transferred onto the ball of your foot; standing for long periods puts pressure on the heel,...

Look what we found! Delectable new nail colors, a honey of a hand soap, and more ... Here's what O's beauty editors--Valerie Monroe and Jenny Bailly--fell in love with this month.(beauty)
October 1, 2006... * Our Orange Crush Sure, hand cream is one of our beauty basics--we keep some on our desk, next to our bed, on the sink--but that doesn't mean it can't be an escapist indulgence, too. Which is why we've been hoarding Slatkin Body Therapy...

Ask Val: you've got issues? Our beauty director, Valerie Monroe, has answers.(beauty)
October 1, 2006... Q Should I take special vitamins or supplements for my complexion? There's suddenly a plethora of pills and tinctures that claim to benefit your complexion. But according to Arielle N.B. Kauvar, MD, clinical associate professor of...

I'd rather dye: she'd always been above artifice. Makeup? Minimal. Haircoloring? Heaven forfend. Until push (she was going gray!) came to shove. So ... would she or wouldn't she? Anne Cushman confronts her moment of truth.(beauty)
October 1, 2006... LAST YEAR I WENT OUT FOR DINNER with an old friend, a travel writer I had a brief romance with a decade ago. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "You look fabulous," he told me over grilled tiger shrimp at a Mexican seafood restaurant overlooking...

Risotto without regrets: luscious? Of course. Labor intensive? Amazingly, no. Colin Cowie's divine brown rice risotto is healthy, delectable, and ready in a matter of minutes.(great food)
October 1, 2006... I THINK I SPEAK FOR MOST HOSTS when I say I'd much rather be glued to a dining room chair enjoying the company of my friends and family than chained to a hot stove all night. So for years I abstained from serving risotto, one of the most time-...

Variations on a theme.(great food)(Recipe)
October 1, 2006... Mushrooms Prepare risotto through step 1. As rice cooks, wipe clean, trim, and slice 1/2 pound assorted mushrooms (cremini, white jumbo, and shiitake) into 1/4-inch slices. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Add...

Fall colors: bringing them indoors: a brisk, gorgeous day in the autumn woods might yield these clear, glowing tones, grainy tree-bark textures, and natural-born shapes. Here are ways to take them home.(home decor accessories)(Buyers guide)
October 1, 2006... A FLARE of color before it's all gone: That's what's so poignant about autumn. Use red like a powerful spice--sparingly--to give quiet energy to a room. These objects (a mix of the irregular and the sleek, the sacred and the earthy) remind us...

Your vital signs.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP, YOUR BODY YOUNG, YOUR HEART POWERFUL What's new, true, and crucial about moving, eating, thinking, loving.... A 16-page superguide to staying healthy and strong, decade by decade. ILLUSTRATIONS BY NIGEL...

Memory boot camp: how two weeks of intense training convinced 50-year-old Emily Yoffe that she wasn't going gaga after all.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... IT WAS DURING my second hour of testing that I started to get concerned. I had come to the Aging and Memory Research Center at UCLA to have a baseline assessment before embarking on a two-week memory improvement program designed by the center's...

A sample day.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... Wake up and stretch: Standing, breathe in deeply as you raise your arms out to the side and overhead; exhale as you return to starting position. Do four times. * March in place, lifting your knees high as you count to 20. * Breakfast:...

Can stress really age you? Some people sail through a difficult period with hardly a frown line. Others seem to get old and careworn overnight. It's a medical fact: trouble can suck the juice right out of you. Another fact: there's something you can do about it.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... THEY'RE LIKE before-and-after shots, Dorian Gray-style. Bill Clinton entered the White House in good health, sporting a salt-and-pepper do, and exited eight years later with hair to match the place--along with the makings of...

The decade-by-decade guide to exercise: there's a big difference between how we should work out in our 20s and how we should work out when ... we're no longer 20. Experts tell Carol Mithers how to find the perfect fit at any age.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... IF THERE'S A MAGIC PILL for staying youthful, it may be one that's hard to swallow: exercise. Daily doses have been proven to thwart a number of aging factors--stress, obesity, heart disease, diabetes--and the longer you're physically active,...

10 easy food switches for an extra 10 good years.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 10 Easy Food Switches for an Extra 10 Good Years OUT IN WHY 1 Milk Dark chocolate Dark chocolate (look for at least chocolate ...

Timeline of a tummy: we do not enter this world with a flat belly, nor do we usually leave with one. And in between, even the sexiest stomach will have its ups and downs thanks to pregnancy, hormonal shifts, coffee heath bar crunch. ... Wherever you are on the timeline, you can exercise your way to a firmer, flatter core. Francesca Coltrera reports.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... TEENS AND 20s Estrogen is acting like a busy traffic cop, directing fat storage to the breasts, hips, and thighs. The belly, however, is spared. So now's the time to work it. "Belly dancing celebrates the flesh," says Anita-Cristina...

The big 3: a progress report: the latest thinking--and the best advice--on dealing with menopause, avoiding osteoporosis, and even fighting Alzheimer's.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... OH, SURE, there are good things that come with age, like wisdom, self-acceptance, grandchildren. But to deal with some of the more unpleasant aspects of getting older--for example, the triple threat of menopause, osteoporosis, and...

Speak up, young fella: hearing loss may be inevitable (we live in a deafening world, after all), but help is on the way.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... There's nothing like blasting music so loud you forget your last name, age, marital status, or why you should care about any of it. But the fun comes at a terrible cost: your hearing. Seventeen percent of baby boomers (ages 42 to 60) can no...

Keeping all your eggs in one basket: more and more, science is discovering that removing perfectly healthy ovaries during a hysterectomy is a medical mistake. Barbara Seaman, a longtime rabble-rouser for women's health, makes a plea for challenging knife-happy surgeons.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... If YOU'RE A woman who stands up for your rights and doesn't believe that the doctor always knows best, I wish you could have met my friend Rose Kushner. Rose was a formidable breast cancer activist--one of the first, and one of the best. I...

How to save your own heart: the math is simple: cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women. Eighty percent of it is preventable. Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael Roizen, MD, boil it down to the ten things we should all be doing.(body wise)
October 1, 2006... 1 Get at least seven hours of sleep. That's per night, not week. And men--a needier breed--require eight. The benefit? Ask us if you still need an explanation when you wake up in the morning. 2 Know your blood pressure. ...

The devils wear sneakers: Katherine Russell Rich wrote a provocative memoir about surviving cancer in her 30s. Years later, to her amazement, she learned that her book was inspiring an incredible group of people to help breast cancer patients through thick, thin, sickness, and health. Was this the final stage in her own recovery?(body wise)(The Red Devil: To Hell with Cancer, and Back)
October 1, 2006... THIS IS A STORY ABOUT ANGELS AND devils, and a woman who managed to make flowers bloom in the rocky place that lies between them. It's a story that begins with two coincidences, one terrible, the other fortuitous. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Breast cancer: the news that has doctors cheering: the big research push over the past few years is paying off in dramatic and lifesaving ways.
October 1, 2006... WITHOUT QUESTION, breast cancer research has been on a roll. "If we made no further progress from today," says Eric Winer, MD, director of the Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard...

Inward Bound: An injured mind jolts and journeys its way back in a rich, intriguing new novel.(Blunt and The Echo Maker)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Revelations Who do they think they are? The celebrities whose faces look out frankly, fiercely, quizzically from the pages of Nigel Parry's Blunt (PowerHouse) seem to be daring you to find out. Parry tells his subjects to be themselves,...

Why certain buildings (people, things) make us gasp with pleasure.(Look! Up!)(The Architecture of Happiness )(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Alain de Botton has made a career out of writing guides to difficult subjects: philosophy, Proust, the art of travel, the anxieties of status. Here he turns his attention to the things we live with--and live within. The Architecture of...

Spooked A retired spy coaxes her daughter into one last adventure.(Restless)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... William Boyd's superb new novel, Restless (Bloomsbury), echoes its title in the way it segues between times (the Second World War and the protest-riven 1970s) and places (Britain, America, France, Germany). Boyd is a master when it comes to...

Sentenced to Friendship: A Jew, a Muslim: Allies? Prisoners chronicles an extraordinary relationship forged behind bars.(Prisoners)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... INTENSELY IDEALISTIC, FIRED BY his youthful vision of a socially responsible, muscular Judaism, Jeffrey Goldberg left his Long Island home and immigrated to Israel in 1987. But the world he found there was more complex and more brutal than...

Nobody's Safe: In our search for security, says Eve Ensler, we create real threats.(Insecure at Last: Losing It in Our Security-Obsessed World)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Playwright Eve Ensler worries that our current obsession with security is undermining our humanity. In our fear, we abandon empathy and destroy community, dividing the world into "us" and "them"; in pursuit of security, we become more insecure....

Praise Be! An inspired collection of soul-stirring poems.(American Religious Poems)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... It must be one of the oldest of human experiences--to look at the world and be struck speechless, be filled with awe by the beauty and power both around and within us. Such feelings are the wellspring of poetry, that emotionally charged...

When Only Love Is Left: Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece: a father, a son, love, and desolation.(The Road)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... A BARE DESCRIPTION OF CORMAC McCarthy's new novel, The Road (Knopf), sounds painfully bleak. The story is post-Apocalyptic and tracks a father and his son making their way across a landscape ravaged by fire and death. They move south after the...

Chemo, Schmemo.(Cancer Vixen)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Chemo, Schmemo Spitfire cartoonist and self-described "narcissistic fashionista" Marisa Acocella Marchetto was on a career high and shopping for a wedding dress when "D. Day" (that is, diagnosis day) arrived, sucking her into a black hole of...

BibliO Frazzled families, a bookish detective, the sweet seductions of home.(After This, Fear of the Dark, Moral Disorder and Climbing the Mango Trees )(Book review)
October 1, 2006... * It's all there on the first page: the wild and silvery radiance of an early April day, the gusts of hope and disillusionment in ordinary lives. In After This (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Alice McDermott's evocative novel about a Catholic...

Books That Made a Difference to Megan Mullally: From the perverse genius of Lolita to the spidery brilliance of Edward Gorey, with stops at dazzling letters, wrenching poetry, and a strange and wonderful graphic novel, the actress talks about her awe of writers, her collecting mania, and her favorite ways to escape.
October 1, 2006... I WAS AN ONLY CHILD AND KIND OF shy, so when I read, I would really live out the book in my mind--test all the roles, imagine all the places. I think if I weren't an actress I'd work at a library. I'm in such awe of writers, especially...

Meeting of the minds.(Daniel Goleman)(Interview)
October 1, 2006... If you thought relationships were a matter of feelings, nothing more than feelings, think again. In his new book, Daniel Goleman, PhD--author of the blockbuster Emotional Intelligence--reveals that our interactions with others actually have the...

Mirroring and Mindsight: Daniel Goleman on the neural ties that bind us.(Excerpt)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... I MUST HAVE BEEN JUST 2 OR 3 years old, but the memory remains vivid. As I wandered down the aisle of the local grocery store at my mother's side, a lady spotted me and gave me a warm smile. My own mouth, I still recall, startled me by...

Curiouser and curiouser: read! Ask! Question! Engage! Let these cards remind you to stay young at heart and in mind by flexing your why? And how?(O to go)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... "Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] --JAMES STEPHENS "Growth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming. Growth of the soul, growth of the mind." ...

Talking sex with maud: do daughters talk to their mothers about sex anymore? If the mothers are lucky, yes. Trish Deitch Rohrer on the birds, the bees, the teenager, and the pact.(connections)
October 1, 2006... IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME THAT I'd have to talk to my teenage daughter about sex. At her insistence, we'd had the initial "Where do babies come from?" session when she was 5. ("But how?" she'd shouted, frustrated by my tightass lack of detail....

Lisa Kogan tells all: when it comes to men, our columnist admits she's been there, done that, and gone blonde to boot. Now she's got a few things she wants in return.(connections)(Column)
October 1, 2006... I'VE DONE A LOT OF THINGS FOR MEN. I HAVE worked for men and worked out for men. I have cooked for men, cleaned for men, dressed for men, and undressed for men. I have been waxed, pedicured, and (God help me) platinum blonde for men. I have...

Before your next fight, read this! He hadn't done the dishes. She was livid. He was livid that she was livid. Which gave expert negotiator Daniel Shapiro, PhD, the perfect opportunity to practice what he preaches: turning an adversary into a partner. (Thank you, Aunt Margaret.).(connections)
October 1, 2006... IT'S EIGHT O'CLOCK ON A SATURDAY MORNING, I was up all night doing taxes, and I've had only four hours of sleep when my wife, having decided this would be a good time to torture me, wakes me with an angry accusation: "You didn't do the dishes!"...

The real Sexiest Men Alive: who makes up those sexiest-men-alive lists, anyway? The true turn-ons are brains, humor, compassion, commitment. ... Aimee Lee Ball reveals her personal hot list.(connections)
October 1, 2006... I PREFACE THIS TALE BY REMINDING you, perhaps unnecessarily, that a medical conference about breast cancer is hardly a sexy ambience, which is why my reaction should not be underestimated. I was in the audience listening to Larry Norton, MD, an...

That scrumptious dish, best served cold: say what you will about revenge (it's mean, it's pointless, it's bad for the soul), Joni Evans makes a case for the motivating force--and exquisite thrill--of a big, fat, triumphant so-there!(connections)
October 1, 2006... REVENGE IS UNDERRATED. WHAT could be more exhilarating than getting payback after suffering a real injustice. (He left you for another woman after you made him who he is? They thought you weren't good enough for the club? Your trusted coworker...

Oprah talks to Barbra Streisand: the legendary singer/actress/director (Oscars! Grammys! Emmys! A tony!) opens up about her wild-child Brooklyn girlhood, the mother who told her she'd never make it, the limits of perfectionism, her worries for today's world, and why her upcoming tour is "about believing i am enough.".(Interview)
October 1, 2006... THIS MONTH: Oprah talks to Barbra about marriage, stage fright, and the trouble with liars.... Our attitude-adjusting, stereotype-busting, get-real-with-it guide to age.... What the years do to your ears (and your hair, teeth, and nose):...

Happy 150th birthday to you!(life spans might increase)
October 1, 2006... You're Going a Long Way, Baby! Experts say that out there somewhere is the first baby who'll live to be 1,000. Okay, so we don't know what these experts have been smoking, but the fact is, advances in science mean that life spans of 150...

The rise and fall of my bosom: A brief history of Catherine Newman's breasts. They've gone from newish (and basically nonexistent) to oldish and worth their weight in gold.
October 1, 2006... 1968 Brand-new, they are as pearly pink as buttons on a satin blouse. They sing the song of girl flesh in such a clear voice, you can hardly imagine that one day they'll be the mammary equivalent of Katharine Hepburn calling the loons on...

Half life: once she was 9; someday she'd be 80; but right now she was 40--wondering, counting, and weeping at the strange, golden, fast-paced beauty of life.
October 1, 2006... I PURCHASED A MASSIVE BOX OF Q-tips at Costco. Maybe there were a thousand Q-tips in there. Maybe 10,000 million--I have no idea. Whatever the number, it was a lot, a real lot, somewhere between excessive and insane. When I put the box in the...

What is middle age ... exactly? The end of all beginnings? The beginning of the end? Or an elusive moving target?(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The average American will live to be 77.5, but good luck finding a 38.75-year-old woman who feels middle-aged. "When I hear that term, I think of my mother," says Hillary, 40 (last name withheld to protect her youthful self-image). "And she's...

Time on my hands: Lisa Wolfe reads between the lines, connects the age spots, and tries to get a grip on what she calls her Middle Age Peace Process.
October 1, 2006... I HOLD THE TEN-DOLLAR BILL OUT to the taxi driver and am startled to see my own hand. It is beginning to look like my grandmother's. A bluish gray vein worms up the center and the skin around it puckers like crepe. The lines around my eyes and...

Something wilder: you might expect your sex life to wither in your 40s and 50s. But no. If you're up for a little adventure, this is exactly when things can--and should--blossom. Psychoanalyst Gail Saltz gives Nina Burleigh the whys and hows.
October 1, 2006... AN EDITOR AT A NATIONAL MAGAzine once called me into his office to discuss a story about aging female movie stars. With a picture of his much younger wife and toddler on the shelf behind him, this 50-something man said he hoped each star would...

Making friends with reality: at a certain point, it hits you: you're probably never going to be a movie star or a dot.com gazillionaire. Psychologist Marsha Linehan on how to live happily ever after with the person you turned out to be.(Interview)
October 1, 2006... WHEN YOU DIDN'T PASS THE MATH test, or the guy you liked didn't like you back, you could tell yourself "maybe next year," or "better luck next time." That's the beauty of youth: Second chances are abundant. But what happens when those chances,...

The bitch has left the building: Dianne Garner explains the mellowing thing.(old age and women)
October 1, 2006... When I was a professor teaching a course on women and aging, I liked to begin the first class by asking students to call out words that describe old women. What I got: stubborn, hardheaded, cantankerous, opinionated, closed-minded, judgmental,...

90 is not the new 50: young at heart will get you only so far. Barbara Graham reports.
October 1, 2006... IT'S A COLD, STORMY NIGHT IN late November when I collect my mother at the hospital. Rain lashes sideways as I help her out of the car and up the walk toward my house. Once she's safely inside, I'll run back to grab the walker and the supplies...

What Adam and Eve didn't tell you: the world's most famous couple proves that what you don't know can help you. (Attention, anyone going through a midlife crisis.) Irwin Kula spells it out.
October 1, 2006... AS WE GET OLDER, WE THINK WE should have the answers to life's big questions. But more often than not, we don't. Especially in our middle years, there's a loss of certainty rather than the clarity we expected would accompany the wrinkles around...

Beauty over 40: seven things nobody ever tells you about aging.
October 1, 2006... Would you come here for a second? A little closer. Closer. Okay, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer honestly. Don't try to be kind; I can take it. Can you see my mustache? No? You're sure? That's probably because I shaved...

Suits the female of the species: if you don't think suits are sexy, take a look: big, gorgeous collars. A topstitched pocket here, a beaded lapel there. Flattering shapes that are essentially feminine--even in menswear. Eight gifted women enjoy the drama.
October 1, 2006... DANA DELANY "I USED TO LIVE IN MY yoga clothes. I'd go to class at 7 A.M. and just stay in them." But that was when Dana Delany, 50 (she won two Emmys for China Beach), lived in Los Angeles. Now that she's moved to New York for a new TV...

Dinner at home: Ina Garten's idea of home cooking: familiar recipes zinged by a small, simple twist that makes them unforgettable (check out her buttermilk-spiked onion rings; her ruby-red, sweet-tart borscht with diced cucumber; and her blue-cheese-drizzled tomato platter. From her new cookbook, an array of easy, visually stunning foods tailor-made for cool, friend-filled October days. Peter Smith pulls up a chair.(Barefoot Contessa at Home)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... FOOD ISN'T ABOUT IMPRESSING PEOPLE," says Ina Garten, known to her legions of admirers as the Barefoot Contessa. "It's about making them feel comfortable." Bringing together the domestic and the delicious is Garten's current labor of love,...

Breathing space: meditate alone here, on this spit of sandbar at low tide, as a dusky sky spreads its color across the gleaming expanse of provincetown bay.(womens drinking problems)
October 1, 2006... WOMEN ON THE ROCKS IT SEEMS SO CIVILIZED, SO LIBERATED: AN ALL-GIRL EVENING GOSSIPING, NETWORKING, SIPPING THE COCKTAIL DU JOUR--AND NOBODY'S LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? RENE STEINKE REPORTS. AT THE PARK, A...

The little leather jacket: zip up one of these instead of a blazer, and you suddenly look just a bit hipper.(Fashion)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... * Rich, grainy, and unbelievably soft, this faux version had us completely fooled. XHILARATION for Target, $30; target.com. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * A real smoothie, this sleek piece has hidden zippers for added polish. LAUREN BY RALPH...

Silver polish: six ways to take a shine to gray hair.(Beauty)
October 1, 2006... DID YOU KNOW THAT we're going gray about five years earlier than we did in 1970? Tyler Cymet, a researcher at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, attributes the accelerated loss of pigment to faster lifestyles, poor diet, and lack of sleep. A strand...

Sweet charity: saving women's lives while you shop--now, that's a smart deal. Each of these pink-ribbon buys is as good as a donation.(Fashion)
October 1, 2006... A no-show under T-shirts, the Wacoal iBra is sculpted from soft nylon and Lycra. ($50, Nordstrom; 800-695-8000. $2 per bra purchased in October goes to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Great arch...