All dressed up
Salads, at their simplest, are a mix of some really good things. Lettuce or spinach. Carrots. Tomatoes. Cucumber. Veggies of all sorts gather here to offer you their goodness. But if you're keeping them naked, you might be missing the best of what they have to offer. "Salad dressing is wonderful," says Karen From, nutrition and health education specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Office. "And it tastes really good."
Get away, don't gain away
Finally, it's time for a break. The weather's great. You've worked hard all year. You deserve a vacation. And an extra glass of wine. And a second scoop of ice cream. And a bite of funnel cake won't hurt, right? You're on vacation. You've earned it. Or you will, in weight, at least, if you're not careful while being carefree.
Naturally clean
You know that smell? When you walk into a space, and someone has cleaned? It's a little overwhelming, maybe it gives you a headache, but you also know the job's been done. But maybe you don't want the chemicals in those household cleaners hanging around your home. "A lot of our customers are concerned about the toxins in the air, the toxins in the water, the toxins everywhere," says Jim Fly, owner of A-Z's FreshAir Fare Natural Market. "They really have detox on the mind."
It's a nice day for white wearing
You know how people are always saying not to wear white after Labor Day? Let's consider that the least of your worries. What about how to wear white and not look like a stained restaurant napkin? What about how to wear white and not hear "I see London, I see France ..." every time you stand up? And what about how to wear white and not look like you'll be leaving port soon, or want to take someone's temperature, or are about to conduct tests on lab rats? In honor of the summer's favorite color, here are some tips on wearing white and looking bright.
The free outdoors
For Russell Book, athletics and activities director at Lafayette High School, there's nothing better than walking laps on the school's track, the grass cut nicely, the air beginning to warm. There's nothing better, except maybe that it's free. "The public is welcome to walk and run on the track," he says. This winter, you've had no end of excuses about why you can't work out. It's too cold. There's too much snow. You can't afford a gym membership. You lost your power. There's too much snow. There's too much snow. There's too much snow. But the weather's better now, and with those warm temps come the perfect cure to your workout excuses - the free outdoors.
Who's complaining?
Something interesting happened to the people at Christ Church Unity in North Kansas City a few years ago. Their pastor, the Rev. Will Bowen, challenged them to go 21 days without complaining. They were given purple bracelets and if they caught themselves complaining, they were to move the bracelet to the next wrist and start their count all over again. While the people at acomplaintfreeworld.org say it actually can take between four and 10 months to make it a whole 21 days without complaining, gossiping or being critical, the movement has caught on across the world. According to the organization, which operates as a non-profit, non-religious entity, 4,954,938 bracelets have been distributed.
Will Stuck and the chamber of secrets
Will Stuck stares hard at the plastic cup in front of him, his eyes level with the water that fills the cup to the top. Please work, he's thinking. Please work. "OK," he says. "We're gonna try it." All around him, kids lean in, staring hard at the plastic cup, too. Will takes a swirly green marble between his fingers, rolls it over the cup's edge and lets go. No water spills. Awesome. Will adds more marbles, then pennies, quarters and dimes, but the water doesn't spill. It rises, an invisible skin over it creating a dome best seen at eye level. Will slides a quarter in. "Cha-ching," says Noah Hutchison, 7, at Will's side.
A closer look
Two sets of lungs sit side by side at Union Station. One set are the lungs of a smoker, blackened with nicotine. The other set are the lungs of a non-smoker, still pink after death. Both lungs are real, not models created to discourage smoking. And both offer a closer look at the human body as part of Bodies Revealed at the Bank of America Grand Gallery at Union Station. The exhibit, which features real human bodies that have gone through a process called polymer preservation, opened Feb. 29 and will run through Sept. 1.
The secret's out
In November of 2004, a man in Washington D.C. handed out blank postcards to strangers, asking them to decorate them and to include a secret. Soon, those postcards came back to Frank Warren. He displayed them in an art show. The art show ended, but the secrets didn't.
Landlord relations
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a ... what was that? The guy upstairs is blasting Linkin Park again? Oh man, the property manager is knocking on the door because rent is late? You need to hide the cat? And your cousin who's not on the lease? Not a beautiful day in any neighborhood, and perhaps one that can be avoided all together. Three area property mangers offer some advice on how to get along well with both them and your neighbors. Mostly, it takes common sense, agree Michelle Phillips at Chatsworth Apartments, Sandy Johnson at Broadmoor Apartments and Angie Bridger at Northwest Terrace Apartments.
An affair to remember
There was a time, not so awfully long ago, when Hollywood seemed like a different world. "It was this silver-lined bubble that floated in California, where life was perfect," says Alison Franz, wine and spirits assistant manager with Hy-Vee. You didn't see pictures of stars having breakdowns or waddling around pregnant with their venti lattes. In fact, you rarely saw stars, if not for the movies. "It was such a different era," Ms. Franz says, "such a different frame of mind." But Hollywood does still hold some of its early mythology, and at no time does that exist more than on Oscar night. This year, instead of putting on your sweats and ordering a pizza for the show, why not go old school and glam it up with an old Hollywood watch party? It'll take a little planning, some great clothes, good food, drinks and decor, but then you and your guests can return to a time when the studios were all powerful, the starlets full of hope and the 24-hour-news-cycles still decades away.
The tools of his trade
In the photo's background, wavy grains of wood swirl, light and dark. Spots of light glow. And there's a man. He's wearing glasses, his straight mouth bearded, his left arm raises above his head, a hammer in hand. Both the hammer and Sam Perkins' eyes aim ahead. But it's what's behind him, perhaps, that makes Sam the artist he is - obsessive, determined, driven, always investigating, his professor says. Intelligent, kind, thoughtful, so talented, his grandma says. Stubborn, Sam says. That sounds about right. Ten years ago, Sam dropped out of the art department at Missouri Western State University and started swinging a hammer. He worked hard. He made good money. "But it took me 10 years," he says, "to figure out that I had to come back."
Six degrees of Scott Horton
Let's suppose that after freeing a small Midwestern town to dance in "Footloose," Kevin Bacon's character kept on dancing. But then what? What would have happened when the bills came due and the wife wanted his feet to settle. Maybe, just maybe, the Kevin Bacon of "Footloose" would have taken some inspiration from a couple of gym teachers at Truman Middle School. Step into the gym on a Tuesday morning, first period, and tennis shoes attached to slouchy jeans step and touch across the tile floor. "... And then you touch the right foot again," says Scott Horton from the front of the gym. "It's just step, touch ... then we slide to the side."
Love, love, love
This Valentine's Day, you'll probably stop for a moment and think about love. Maybe you're blacking the date out on your calendar. Maybe you're floating on a sea of hopeful pop songs. Maybe you and your loved one are OK with ordering Chinese again and watching the latest delivery from Netflix. But remember a time when love was ... well ... easier. You didn't have to think about it or analyze it or make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Maybe you couldn't even really describe it, but when you were little, you probably knew love when you felt it. That's the case, at least, with Betty Hoge's kindergarten class at Skaith Elementary School.
Relationship reflection
If you've ever wanted to improve a relationship, all it takes is asking yourself three simple questions. It's called Naikan. And it's a daily meditation that can work wonders with any relationship. Gregg Krech, a representative with the To Do Institute who recently wrote a book on Naikan, says a man named Yoshimoto Ishin developed the practice in the early 1940s.
Dance, dance revolution
Wanna watch some good moves? There are enough dance movies out there to begin with. "Dirty Dancing." "Shall We Dance." "Strictly Ballroom." "Mad Hot Ballroom." "Showgirls." OK, not the last one. After you've watched some dance movies, you could turn on the TV and catch "Dancing With the Stars" or "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann" or "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Again, forget the last one. Finally, when you're tired of watching other people dance, then it's time to sign up for a class and begin the process of learning yourself. You probably won't go pro and might never get to wear both sequins and feathers at the same time, but you will know some moves to get you off the couch and on to the floor.
The hat lady
A blue hat tucks in among others, soft and warm on a cold Monday. The hats sit in a basket, on top of a file cabinet, next to racks of magazines. There's Woman's Day. There's Good Housekeeping. There's Redbook. There's the fall issue of Living with Cancer. The magazines sit in a room where comfortable nurses' shoes scuff across tile floors, past TVs that mumble and people who sit still as chemotherapy drugs flow through their bodies. They take the hats, sometimes.
Curtain call
Lights still shone on the stage. The house was dark. "The Sound of Music" had just finished. Kurt Hellerich, then a freshman at Central High School, ran center stage in blue shorts and black socks up to his knees, a fresh young actor in his first musical, in his first role as Kurt VonTrapp. He took a bow. The audience cheered, their faces a blur, as the cast took their final bow together. Then, the curtain fell.
Even while dying, she knew how to live
Kathie Fernelius arrived for her first chemotherapy session a year and a half ago with her toenails painted orange, matching her sandals and the frames of her glasses. With spiky red hair and an unmistakable Minnesota accent, Kathie beamed life, but she wanted to talk about death.
The pied pipers
On the bonnie banks of St. Joseph, down Mitchell Avenue on a nippy night, inside a quiet church, they play. In a chalk-colored church hall, three men stand in a semi-circle holding bagpipes. In the middle, a tall, blonde-haired man's fingers chase across the chanter, left arm squeezing air in the sheepskin bag, which travels out of the drones with the sad fury of "Amazing Grace.' The two other men watch, waiting to join him. To all of the Buchanan Highlanders, the pipes' powerful song means something different - almost as different as the men are themselves.
Notre Dame de St. Joseph
Late summer and the plans were finally set Â-- a trip to France, two weeks, one in Paris, wandering through arrondissements, sipping espresso, one in Provence, staying at a bed and breakfast, touring the region's art-filled spaces. It would be the 11th trip to France for Eleanor Thomas. She's every bit the Francofile, with numerous subscriptions to magazines about French living, a cat named CoCo and a flair for fashion that revolves around pink. Joining her would be Jim Fly, a St. Joseph business owner whose family has long considered Eleanor one of their own. But as the second deposit for the trip came due, things were not, how do you say, tres bien.
In the sticks
Amidst all the seriousness you'll find in today's paper, here's a lighthearted list of ideas about what you can do with all those twigs and branches still sitting around in your yard after last month's ice storm. Some of them might be useful, some just downright silly, and we hope one or two makes you laugh. Most of all, we hope not to have another list like this for a long, long time.
The return of the bowl
The mystery of this story revolves around a bowl - a glass globe of a bowl, with a scratched wooden lid and white painted letters fading to silver, telling its purpose. That's not the mystery part. "Please donate your change for Noyes Home for Children," it says. And though it's old, and though it no longer belongs to the Noyes Home for Children, the bowl collected money for several months of the year, and the Noyes Home will get that money before Christmas. But how did an object from St. Joseph's past find its way home, when it nearly became another dusty collector's item? That's the mystery.
Got the break blahs?
We know, we know, there's nothing to do. It's too cold, you can't drive, your friends are out of town, you're out of cell phone minutes, you've seen every episode of "The Hills," and you've got finger strain from so much texting. Still, that's no reason not to enjoy your winter break. In fact, it's a great time to do nothing but catch up on some movies. You could hit the theaters for a matinee and save some money. "I'm looking forward to 'Alvin and the Chipmunks,'" says Ryan Simbro, 18. Rated PG, Jason Lee stars in this film version of the cartoon from back in the day.
The ballad of Bobby George
In a small home, with a bust of Elvis, a pile of guitars and a poodle named Red, there lives a country western singer. "I have a little story, friends, that I would like to tell ..." he begins, sitting at the edge of his easy chair holding his guitar. On the walls of his home hang photos of him on stage, of other opry singers, of his wife, whose stage name is Loretta Gail. " ... about a little girl," he sings, "who fell into a cold dark well." He has a great gray wave of hair, two flashy jackets in his closet, and his name is Bobby George. For 50 years now, he's had this dream - to be like Waylon Jennings and Porter Waggoner, to stand on stage and sing songs and tell stories - to be a country western singer.
Hundreds of trees might be damaged
Ice-coated tree limbs around St. Joseph were tragically lovely last week. And though many trees droop or have snapped under the weight of ice, area officials aren't sure how many trees have been lost yet.
Neighbors remember fallen hackberry tree
The hackberry tree at 2212 Lover's Lane, climbing nearly four stories, offering shade during the summer and orange and yellow leaves to carpet the sidewalk during the fall, witness to generations of families, progress and life in St. Joseph, fell around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Pass it on
All year, it hung in the closet upstairs - red velvet, satin-lined - between short-sleeved shirts and straw hats. In the basement, a belt and black rubber boots with white fur glued around the top waited in a canvas bag. And for 10 months of the year, a white wavy wig and beard sat at a beauty parlor. Then, Christmas came.
Holly, jolly burnout
It's not just beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It has for a while, now. According to adage.com, the Web site of Advertising Age magazine, Toys R Us had a Christmas display up in September, and HSN was featuring snow flakes and antlers in October. A Kansas City radio station dedicated to playing Christmas music around the clock began the day after Halloween, shops filled up with holiday cheer long before any was really called for, and Santa showed up before the turkey was even stuffed.
Places
Scene: Bright lights shine spots onto a stage, painted bleachers, high schoolers in high schoolers' clothes. They mingle, laughing and nervous all at once. Through the thick curtain, they hear them. The audience. They're waiting. In moments, Cameron High School's fall musical will begin. It's taken months of late night rehearsals to get them here. Sets built, songs learned, steps taught, lines memorized, friendships made, teenagers smiling and happy at the end of the day. It's old fashioned, right? Happy kids learning life's lessons while finding out that they're really not so different. It's cheesy. But impossible? No.
Thank you, thank you
Maybe, like Oprah, you give thanks for something every day. Or maybe, like the rest of us, you forget to remember except at this time of year. Regardless, the day for thanksgiving approaches quickly. And today, we'll give thanks in particular for people generous enough to let us intrude a little and find out what they're thankful for.
Give a little
It always seems too early for Christmas shopping. But this year, if you're planning on sending something to the troops overseas, Nov. 13 is the deadline. That's two days away. Don't worry, though, with a few easy steps, you can gather items and send something to a service member, whether you know them or not. And if that deadline's a little tight for you, we'll suggest some other ways of giving, too. And you don't have to limit your giving to Christmas. The troops are deployed year round, so think of this as a year round guide for giving.
Noah's Mark
There was nothing wrong with Noah Graham's first grade photo. At least not to Noah. But there, on the lower right corner of the large envelope holding the picture, was a sticky note. "We will be doing retakes!" It was from Noah's mom.
Two pickles short of a quart...
The listener was born 72 years ago in a small Nebraska town.
Get down on it
In the winter, warmth is a thing to treasure, a thing to savor, a thing to crawl under.
