There was a lot of celebrating in California during the last week as gay and lesbian couples could finally get married legally. There's still the threat of a ballot measure in November to bar future weddings, and being identified as "Party A" and "Party B" may not be the most...

If time heals all wounds, why is today's second Father's Day without my husband even more difficult than last year?

He sure would have liked to have been here this week for the birth of our second grandchild and his first granddaughter. I can see his smile and feel his...

I grew up watching Queen for a Day, where some of the saddest people in America appeared on TV screens for 20 years to tell their heart-wrenching tales of family illness, unemployment, unfortunate circumstances, bad luck and other reasons why they should be determined by the studio audience's applause-meter to...

Hollywood has its share of characters, and we throw around words like "legendary" and "iconic" easily. Warren Cowan was a character the best writer couldn't have invented and deserved the labels like legend and icon. He passed away Wednesday night, marking the end of an era in Hollywood.

It's not...

I'm not a big fan of public opinion polls.

With the exception of whatever happened in Indiana the other night, polling takes the fun and excitement out of election night results. I don't need a poll to tell me that people are worried about retirement, that the war in...

I remember the Life magazine that came out the week I became a "grown up." That was, of course, when I turned 13, and, therefore, knew more than anyone, was finally old enough not to be treated as a child, and the whole world belonged to my generation.

A "Quartet...

I'm always fascinated when "Parade" magazine publishes its annual "what people earn" report, and this week's issue was very interesting. Business magazines, sports newsletters and others run these lists; but "Parade" combines celebrities with usual and unusual occupations, and the range is mind-boggling.

The message boils down to "celebrities earn...

I was frankly surprised (ok, and delighted) by the number of "views" my last Huffington Post blog received. I know it was celebrity-oriented, which helps, and I had fun with a tongue-in-cheek view of how there's no escaping media coverage, even as I was on my way in and out...

"Mrs. Spelling, your purse is making the locker it's in shake and vibrate."

I was being wheeled into yet another elbow surgery, so I was sure I was hallucinating.

"Look, Mrs. Spelling, your daughter is the next guest," a nurse in the pre-op area seemed to say a few...

It's disheartening to see how much ageism there is in the workplace. We all hear so many stories about our friends, relatives and co-workers being shown the door as the emphasis on younger workers makes them supposedly superfluous.

So, it was great to read two stories this week about...

My son, Randy, said he g2g but he'd brb.

I felt abandoned until he explained he had to go but would be right back.

It raised some of the generation gap insecurities I feel. Mothers of America can empathize. Teens and twenty-somethings like Randy can IM each other and...

The wall-to-wall political news has been occasionally interrupted by Super Bowl coverage. Switching radio stations the last two days, I was struck by the different standards that govern our politicians and football stars.

I know the Patriots and Giants are playing, Brady and Manning are the quarterbacks and that the...

I couldn't believe I was actually double dating with Suzanne Pleshette. It was more than 40 years ago, and only my second date with Aaron Spelling, but there was THE Suzanne Pleshette and her beau, a bigger-than-life oilman named Tommy Gallagher, and we were double dating.

She had been married...

Has there been too much coverage of the first caucus and primary? Decide for yourself.

For some reason, and if I were voting on a name, I'd have to call it information overload -- many of us can cite the spouses of the candidates, their children's names and even...

In a world where very few people seem to agree on anything, there is consensus that 2007 went by very quickly, and people hope 2008 will be a better year.

A lot happened over the past year, but I wonder how much we'll remember as history whizzes...

I must admit I've done plenty of head shaking about Britney Spears and her antics.

"Spears could feel agony of 3 feet" -- the story about possible consequences of Brit's driving over the feet of three people recently -- in the November 16 Los Angeles Times has raised...

The tragic and disastrous fires in Southern California have been described repeatedly as a "perfect storm" of weather conditions causing a worst-case fire scenario.

It has also become a perfect storm of mainstream and new media; and, for the first time, really has alerted the general public to...

I was recently given a copy of Reader's Digest from September, 1945, as a birthday present. It was a fun read, with everything from tips such as "You Can Write Poetry - and Enjoy It," which began, "Poetry writing provides the soldier with an absorbing pastime in which he can...

I'm a pet owner.

Actually, to be politically-correct, I am an animal guardian. I am the proud caretaker of Annie, a terrier mix I adopted seven years ago from a rescue agency. I'm not alone. According to a recent BusinessWeek cover story, about 63 percent of U.S. households,...

When TIME Magazine identified "You" as the Person of the Year on January 1, 2007, it was criticized as a ploy to generate attention for an MSM outlet in search of its own role.

"You," TIME explained on the cover, under its blurry mirror: "Yes, you. You control the Information...