Shanna Kurth began biking to work three years ago to improve her health. Several times a month, she loaded her bike onto her car, drove most of the way and biked the last three miles to her office.
One day before the unofficial "Star Wars" holiday in May, an R2-D2 replica wheeled through the front door of the Smiley family home in Bangor, Maine, to the delight of the three young "Star Wars" fans in the house.
Virginia is for lovers, so the slogan goes -- but more specifically, it seems to be the state many book-lovers call home.
It was like any blind date. I had dressed in my Saturday best and walked to my favorite brunch restaurant in West Los Angeles to meet a guy -- let's call him Raj -- for the first time.
I was in a year-abroad program in 1973, one of 240 American students attending Loyola University Rome Center. The school year was winding down. I went out to dinner with a group of friends in Trastevere. After several courses and many bottles of wine, we went to a bar and listened to a singer do jazz standards.
Monday morning, as we scrambled to get Luna off to school, there came a moment when the timeline of my life leapt into fast-forward. I was carrying around an iPad turned to CNN, checking in to see what news awaited me at work, while Luna danced around me, knowing my partner or I would turn off the TV if watching it slowed her down. Then, suddenly, something brought us to a halt.
For the 13th year in a row, Jacob was the most popular name in 2011 for newborn boys in the United States, according to rankings released by the U.S. Social Security Administration.
I've been on a journey to come up with the best Mother's Day gift ever. I think I've got it.
When Keren Charles works with teenage girls in Atlanta as part of her job at Operation Prom, she relies on her upbeat, positive nature and styling expertise to get her through an occasional tough appointment.
Christine Smith will never forget the moment she watched her 21-year-old son being led out of a Florida courtroom in handcuffs.
On Mother's Day, no one is going to send me flowers or a card. I will not be awakened by sweet, giggling toddlers bearing a tray of breakfast in their chubby hands or receive an awkward but heartfelt hug from a gangly teenage son or end a phone call with a teary, dorm-bound daughter saying, "I love you, Mom." I am no one's mother, and I never will be.
When we asked you to tell us about the amazing moms in your life, we had no idea we'd be flooded with hundreds of stories about such inspiring women doing pretty powerful stuff for their families, friends and communities.
From the courts of the ancient Pharaohs to a simple game of catch on a spring afternoon; the ball has a centuries-long history of play. It's one of our simplest yet most enduring inventions. While the games have evolved, the ball in all its various forms continues to play a key role in different cultures around the world.
I love being spoiled by my kids, but something's missing: a chance to hug my own mother.
About a week after we brought our baby girl home from the hospital, my husband called out from the nursery: "Sweetie, what's this?"
The first book I read by myself was Else Holmelund Minarik's "Little Bear." The illustrations were by Maurice Sendak. I was in my first grade classroom at Clermont Elementary in Clermont, Florida. I was sitting in an orange plastic chair. I was holding "Little Bear." I was studying the third story in the book, which is titled "Little Bear Goes To The Moon," and I was staring at a picture of Little Bear, home-made space helmet atop his head, floating toward the moon. The words below the illustration said, "I'm going to fly to the moon."
A not-so-gentle reminder: Mother's Day is Sunday. Maybe your gift is wrapped and your brunch plans booked. Maybe you've already blocked out time to call mom, step-mom, grandmother, den mother -- whoever the person is who fed, cared for, taught and loved you.
In an ideal world, the title of this article would be "5 Ways to Feel More Powerful." But as things stand, many people feel powerless, and the social trends that drain personal power only grow stronger.
Marla Frazee can remember the moment she pulled "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak out of the library shelves filled with picture books.
Raphael Larrinaga was tired of sending out job applications and not getting a response, so he decided to try a different approach.
On the cover of their new book, "You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (And Each Other)," singer/actress Vanessa Williams and her mother, Helen, radiate an empowered sophistication.
My mother was born Ida Picarazzi in Strangolagalli, Italy, a town whose name roughly translates as "strangle the rooster," and if you were to meet my mother, you'd think: "Of course that's where she's from." An observer could tell from a low-flying aircraft that my mother comes from what used to be called hearty peasant stock, and when it comes to both the social niceties and interacting with her family, Ida has always had the touch of a blacksmith.
It may sound crazy. Why would a high-ranking executive lie about his or her credentials, especially now, when all it takes is a quick phone call or Internet search to verify information?
I've tried everything -- from at-home chemical peels to in-office laser treatments -- in an effort to eliminate blemishes. I've slathered every cream on my face and sampled lipstick in every shade available in a deluxe box of Crayola crayons since I've been tall enough to swipe it from my mother's bathroom cabinets.
Marcia Clark knows her way around a courtroom. She spent years as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. She became a household name as the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, one of the only cases she ever lost. Clark left that life behind a long time ago, but she's still mining her past, only now as a successful crime novelist.
Lady Blackthorne was beginning to look spherical. But it took a vet visit for Vryce Hough to take matters into her own hands and help the feline conquer her battle of the bulge.
During the 138th annual "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," bets will be lost, hearts will break and mint juleps will be sipped, but for many spectators at the Kentucky Derby and elsewhere, "It's all about the hats." And it's a time for the artists who craft these hats to sit back, rest their exhausted hands and look for their creations among the crowds on TV.
I am exhausted from the middle of the night "Will she or won't she throw up?" session.
Contrary to the popular playground song about sitting in a tree (and K-I-S-S-I-N-G), marriage doesn't always come after love.
Tziporah Salamon typically starts with a hat to create the "painting" of herself that she presents to the world.
"Waiting for Sunrise," the new novel from acclaimed British author William Boyd, is an evocative mix of sex, spies and psychoanalysis.
If your pet suffers from arthritis, prescription medication isn't the only solution. Holistic options such as acupuncture, chiropractic medicine and rehabilitative therapy can reduce the need for medication, while significantly improving your pet's quality of life.
Last summer while we were visiting family, my then 12-year-old daughter, Anna, and her cousins went to a neighbor's BBQ to hang out with their friends under the watchful (or so we thought) eyes of the adults there.
For the last decade, Carolyn LeCroy has been helping children stay connected to their incarcerated parents through video messages.
When John and I met in 1998, I was a student and he, a well-established businessman 12 years my senior.
Cecelia Owens just couldn't bear to get rid of the photo of her and the young man whose heart she broke a few months after junior prom.
Animal print is as classic to fashion as the little black dress. But this spring, the orange-and-black look of leopard is heading to the back of the closet in exchange for cuddly kitten faces.
For Paul Martin, fascinating history is a loud discovery in a quiet library.
Finding a long-lost uncle's name on a census form or discovering that Grandpa identified himself as a mural painter: It's the stuff genealogists and history hunters live for.
Bookshelves are bursting with a bevy of great new titles this spring but we wanted to highlight a trio of new thrillers that truly bring history to life.
Our unemployment rate may be dipping, but many U.S. families still struggle to make ends meet. "Doing more with less" requires tough decisions about household expenses, and many pet owners face the possibility of losing their pets.
If the word "secretary" doesn't conjure up an image for you, just run a quick Google Image search.
I recently saw video of an interview I'd done a couple years ago, when I was ginormously pregnant. Next to Annie Lennox, I was nine months along, with body parts bloated beyond recognition and heading in directions they normally don't.
Weapons, creepy critters and bodily fluids are timeless sources of inspiration for children's toys.
On a recent late night in New Jersey, Adam Robb sat up with Dulcie Laurance, lulling her back to sleep.
Money was no object when the time came for Joan Lunden to find a senior care facility for her 88-year-old mother.
There once was a man named Norton who didn't know what to do with himself -- not just sometimes, but always.
For as long as I've been alive, my parents have hosted the first night's Passover seder.
Sam Lamott, the baby star of best-selling author Anne Lamott's classic memoir, "Operating Instructions," was finally grown up and safely ensconced at art school in San Francisco.
Divisions between sexes start with pink and blue clothes for babies, move into dance classes and football practice and later into single-sex book clubs and bowling leagues.
David Zyla remembers when he was 5 years old and his parents were getting ready for a dinner party. He spied his mother reaching for a necklace, and he recommended that she wear a different one.
People who write about crime for a living have a curious appetite when it comes to dinner conversation. As they pass the potatoes, they dwell on the unsavory details of hookers and pimps, junkies and bookies, crime scenes and corpses.
I have a big nose. If you feel like being euphemistic about it, you could call it "prominent" or "distinctive." On the slightly more complimentary side of that, "striking" or "exotic" are options. If cruelty or comedy are your aim, hurl "schnozz", "honker" or "beak."
Lesley Kinzel is not a size zero. She's not a size 6 or 16 either. She wears a U.S. size 26, has no plans to change that and she'd be more than happy to share her style advice with you.
Shin Dong-hyuk is the only known person born in a North Korean prison camp that escaped and survived to tell the tale.
I don't know if I've watched too many scary movies lately, but I've been pondering natural burial alternatives for dearly departed pets. I know eco-sensitive burial methods are increasingly popular with humans, but I wasn't sure about pets, so I checked it out.
Adrienne Arieff went through three miscarriages before she learned she was unable to carry a child. Her search for a solution brought her to India, where she found a woman willing to carry her and her husband's embryo in a controversial practice known as foreign gestational surrogacy.
If anyone is comfortable speaking openly and boldly about women's bodies, it's Eve Ensler. The playwright and activist behind "The Vagina Monologues" has been at it for years.
Remember when you had a toddler who never stopped talking and asking questions?
Whether you're a high schooler or Ted Kaczynski, a soccer mom or a Rocky Balboa fan, you've likely embraced the hooded sweatshirt at some point in life.
I live in Chicago, and one of my best friends, Phyllis, lives in San Francisco, so we aren't able to see each other as often as we would like.
Karl Marlantes stared at the young man through the sights of an M-16 rifle and slid his muddy finger over the curve of the trigger.
Drew Manning thought he had the body of the ideal man: 6 feet 2 inches of tanned musculature, sculpted arms and washboard abs that narrowed to a firm, 34-inch waist.
James Patterson may be the top-selling writer in the world; he might very well be the busiest, too. Patterson has three books near the top of the bestseller lists right now. His latest, "Guilty Wives," arrives in stores next week.
Daisy, my sister's miniature schnauzer, made quite an impression on me during an extended visit. I even found a schnauzer rescue group and submitted an online application, hoping for a feisty fur kid of my own.
Save the heavy stuff for later: Keeping skin hydrated is key (especially when you're in the air), but slathering on your heaviest cream can leave your face looking oily. Try a gel-based moisturizer (celebrity makeup artist Daniel Martin likes aloe vera gel) that absorbs and dries quickly.
When my daughter, Anna, got home from school the other day, I told her, "We've got to get you new shoes. Take a quick break, and then let's jump in the car."
A group of men hoist a woman in a wheelchair over the railing of a bridge in Whistler, British Columbia, and let go.
The news that Charlize Theron adopted an African American baby has fired up a debate regularly stoked by the likes of A-listers Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock. All have adopted transracially. And everyone has an opinion.
Crocs, the distinctive colorful clogs loved and hated in equal measure, first hit stores in 2004 and were an immediate hit. By 2007, the Colorado-based company was selling 50 million pairs a year, reaching $850 million in sales. Then it all went south.
Muffled gun shots and squealing tires. A secret midnight meeting in a dark alley. Alone in an exotic city with enemies lurking around every corner. Everyone recognizes the classic elements of a good cloak and dagger story.
Marah Rhoades remembers when her daughter, Emilia Cooper, started to worry about weight. She was 5.
Most of us will admit to firing off a quick text message or eating while driving. Those momentary distractions are all it takes to cause an accident. But there's an equally distracting problem -- one that comes with four legs and a tail.
Kelsey Trusty plans almost everything, but getting cancer was one thing she didn't anticipate.
And in that very moment, we heard a loud whack! From outside in the fields came a sickening smack Of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall. The very last Truffula Tree of them all!
Here's the fantasy: A half-naked woman lies across a couch, lips pouty and cleavage prominent as her sultry gaze implores you to buy this bottle of perfume.
Oscar Wilde once wrote, "Any fool can make history, but it takes a great man to write it" -- or a great woman, he should have added.
The sale of the old house, the purchase of the new house, the packing, the good-bye parties. It was all so overwhelming for me. I can't imagine what it was like for my toddler, leaving the only home, neighborhood and sitter she had ever known in the city where she was born. Fortunately, I got a little bit of help from the Berenstain Bears to give my daughter some answers.
Most of us can remember the books that touched our lives as children and the books that strike a chord with our own children. In addition to the books mentioned above, here are other favorites from my CNN.com colleagues, listed in alphabetical order.
Every time Ellen Seidman hears the word "retarded," she worries for her 9-year-old son, Max, who has cerebral palsy.
It's not often that an author's 85th birthday coincides with the 30th anniversary of his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. But such is the life of Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who is celebrating several milestones in 2012.
You sit down with your boss for your annual review. Despite mostly positive feedback, a single criticism lodges in your head and leaves you feeling lousy all week long. Sound familiar?
You'd have admired Sarah if you'd met her when I did. She was beautiful, brilliant, charming, the CEO of her company, the life of the party. She thrived on all that admiration; you could feel it in the razzle-dazzle energy that drew people to her like flame-bound moths.
There's a magical time in the morning between 4 and 6:30 when Jonathan Safran Foer works in quiet. It's before his sons wake up, before he takes them to school, before he goes shopping for milk and diapers -- errands in which he takes a certain pleasure.
Imagine a smoke-filled jazz club, dark and crowded. The sounds of a trumpet solo echo on stage, while a piano, bass and drums pound out a finger-snapping groove. You can almost smell the cigarette smoke, taste the cheap booze being served. This is Berlin, 1939 -- the eve of World War II. These are the Hot Time Swingers, the imagined jazz band at the center of Esi Edugyan's "Half-Blood Blues." The novel was a finalist for Britain's prestigious Man Booker prize in 2011 and reaches U.S. bookstores this week.
Cat-proofing your home can be a challenge, especially when frisky felines get access to every nook and cranny of the house.
Sherri Riddle learned how to drive, cast her first vote, bought alcohol, graduated from high school, got married, and landed a job at a bank all before the age of 10.
Loading weather data ...
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|