Empower--- one of my least favorite words---is the key word in the mission of Maria Shriver's annual Women's Conference, held this week in Long Beach:We Empower Women to be Architects of Change.

With all due respect---and new respect for what California's First Lady accomplished at this conference----I thought the Women's...

Disclaimer: For the most part, I think our president walks on water--and god forbid I ever say anything that makes Sarah Palin sound sensible.

Last night I laughed along with President Obama and David Letterman at the mention of the phrase "death panel." Ironically, just hours before Obama appeared on...

I'm constantly astounded by all the formulas and fillers and surgeries and suction and other stuff women do in desperation to drink every last drop from the fountain of youth. So it was a rare treat recently to see a woman on a movie screen who's over a certain age...

Disclaimer: Just for the record: For the most part, I think our president walks on water-- and god forbid I ever say anything that makes Sarah Palin sound sensible.

Last night I laughed along with President Obama and David Letterman at the mention of the words "death panels." Ironically, just...

I don't need to do back-to- school shopping any more -- but I still sense the educational expectations and emotions that arise every September. Even without Obama's speech, the start of a school year summons up strong feelings. The first day photo op. Proud parents, sweet smiles, sharp pencils.

Not only do I have a sister who's a personal trainer and a brother-in-law who recently biked across the state of Iowa -- I also live with a husband who runs gazillions of miles a week, whose family business is fitness. Life can be so unfair. I definitely never...

I don't know Anna Millea. I never heard her name until today. But I know something about her -- since we have some things in common. We're both artists. We're both mothers. And we're both part of that sorority no one wants to join, the sisterhood of breast cancer.

...

I always thought I was a dog person.
But nothing in life goes the way we expect. So of course, I ended up with cats.

After we got our first cat 20 years ago, I found out I was allergic. I learned to live with it. And it...

Daughters and mothers are making news. This week Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor made this moving tribute to her mother:

There is one extraordinary person who is my life aspiration -... I have often said that I am all I am because of her, and I am only half the...

My kids won't be around for Mother's Day this year. But when they're here, they always make a fuss over me. And I love it.

I don't care that it's a day manufactured by florists and Hallmark. To me it's the most important holiday of the year.

My celebration...

Maybe you missed it. I did, too. I had no idea there was another holiday in April. That April 3 was National Cleavage Day. And not an April Fool's joke.

I'd like to know why there was no celebration of cleavage when I had some to celebrate.

I...

April is the apex of the college crunch -- as inevitable and seasonal as the holidays or hay fever. "The envelope please" are magic words not just at the Oscars, but at the "Ivies". These days the college envelope might be opened online -- but it hasn't lost its drama....

It's no joke. Shopping is our national pastime. We're choking in consumer goods. Exploding in excess. We have way too much stuff. At least in my house.

I'm embarrassed to admit how much I've added to the planet's overload with my own clutter. At this point in life, I've been...

Twitter is tipping. As in Tipping Point.

Last summer when I started blogging and my first internet friend recommended I join Twitter, it was so completely confusing I had no idea what it was or what to do with it. So I kept my distance for months.

But now...

Part of what made the inauguration such an extraordinary experience is that it felt so different from other times I've been part of large crowds. I always seemed to be gathering in huge human masses because I was AGAINST something. A war. A president. A policy. I don't remember gathering...

Unlike many politicians, Obama doesn't just talk the talk. His first few steps as president prove that he also walks the walk. And we can all learn from him.

Just after the inauguration, I met a congressman who mentioned that from his vantage point on the platform, Obama's teleprompter...

I arrived in Washington too late to watch the concert on the mall, even on TV. But when I heard about it, I immediately thought of how appropriate it was that Tiger Woods made an appearance.

When Tiger first burst onto the scene, he played in a charity golf...

Until recently, the closest I ever got to a soldier in uniform was when the National Guard stood guard during a demonstration on my college campus during the Vietnam era. I don't remember the words on the sign I held, but I remember they seemed to bother the soldier across...

They're out there. People still driving around with McCain/Palin bumper stickers. Neighbors with fresh holes in their lawns where they pulled up the McCain signs. Acquaintances who spot me coming down the aisle at the supermarket and wheel the cart in the opposite direction.

I want to tell them...

Memo to President-elect Obama:

You are the consummate politician. You ran the perfect campaign -- not a misstep for two years. Your historic win electrified the entire planet. Your speech was presidential and pitch-perfect. The world swooned over you and your family. Magic was in the air and there seemed...