high fashion has little to do with what women wear and a lot to do with what retailers mark down later.

Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life.

Young men kill someone for a handful of coins, then are remorseless, even casual: Hey, man, things happen. And their parents nab the culprit: it was the city, the cops, the system, the crowd, the music. Anyone but him. Anyone but me.

She say guilt is a useless emotion." "Oh, please," says Nancy. "Guilt is what separates humans from animals.

What had I expected of the first child? Everything. Rocket scientist. Neurosurgeon. Designated hitter. We talked wisely at cocktail parties about the sad mistake our mothers had made in pinning all their hopes and dreams on us. We were full of it.

Kids and violent TV, violent TV and violence, violence and kids. The only people missing from this discussion are the parents. Where are we? Gone. Abdicated.

This is how I learn most of what I know about my children and their friends: by sitting in the driver's seat and keeping quiet.