Our first morning at Berkshire Vista Resort, my friend Mandy sleeps late while I muster the courage to leave our room. The question isn't so much what to wear, here, as what not to wear.

We arrived late and identified ourselves calmly enough at the security intercom, but our cool...

Last month I took my son Blaise out to lunch at his favorite diner."Wait!" I implored as I teetered across the parking lot after him. "I can't go that fast. Walking in these new shoes is like walking on stilts."

Blaise turned and glanced down at my feet, encased in...

We were on our last trip up three twisty flights of dormitory stairs, me huffing and puffing with an odd assortment of filthy shoes in a plastic bin, my son hauling his amplifier, guitar and multiple garbage bags of clothing. (Boys are not girls when it comes to packing...

While my friend Judith tried on dresses, I watched the brides. There were six of them in the tiny wedding boutique. The brides had brought mothers and friends to help sort through the racks of silk and chiffon. The gowns billowed as the brides carried them to the dressing rooms,...

The night before my niece Lizzie's wedding, we attended a rehearsal dinner unlike any other I've ever experienced. For one thing, it was in a bowling alley. A bowling alley! There was a Mexican buffet and an open bar. We gathered in a tap room next to the lanes and...

So Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina wasn't hiking on the Appalachian Trail, as his staff led us to believe. Nor was he off alone to "clear his head" as his wife reported. Nope. Republican Governor Sanford was hiding out with an Argentinian lover who signed her emails with...

A couple of weeks ago, I was volunteering at my son Aidan's elementary school after hours. The building was empty but for a knot of teachers clustered in the hallway. As we entered his classroom, Aidan leaped up to touch the door frame. Immediately, one of the teachers scolded him...

The animals were groomed and shiny. The judges wore white coats and serious expressions as they rated the furry contestants for conformation, color and disposition. There were competitions for agility and speed. Every owner hoped to win Best in Show.

Was this The Westminster Dog Show? Nope. This was the...

As I stumble through American Idol withdrawal and recover from the fact that vanilla is still the flavor of choice in the U.S. whether we're talking ice cream or singers, I've been increasingly thankful for Susan Boyle, the angel on Britain's Got Talent. Whether she wins or loses the chance...

The last time I called my father, he asked me what time it was.

"Don't you have a watch, Dad?" I asked.

"No, they always take those away when you travel, and the clocks in the train station are all wrong," he answered.
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Why do British crime dramas provide unforgettable moments on television, while our TV detectives charge around like kids with cap guns?

Check out Wallander, the newest BBC offering through PBS "Masterpiece Mystery!" The first episode, "Sidetracked," opens with a teenage girl setting herself ablaze in a brilliant yellow...

My love affair with Spock is no passing fancy. I was starstruck at age 11, when I first watched Star Trek on TV and hid under the coffee table because I was afraid of having the salt drained from my body by an alien and being covered with red welts,...

My son, Blaise, an erudite college English major, recently caught me curled up in a chair, red wine in hand, watching American Idol. Blaise is taking a class in deconstructing the media, so he was quick to lecture me on the evils of falling prey to would-be Idols who are...