The cell phone has transformed public places into giant phone-a-thons in which callers exist within narcissistic cocoons of private conversations. Like faxes, computer modems and other modern gadgets that have clogged out lives with phony urgency, cell phones represent the 20th Century's escalation of imaginary need. We didn't need cell phones until we had them. Clearly, cell phones cause not only a breakdown of courtesy, but the atrophy of basic skills.

Getting out of the house is the secret to staying alert through the droning hours leading up to the big meal, even if you don't go farther than 7-Eleven for another six-pack.

Do not read beauty magazines. They only make you feel ugly.

Families are ecosystems. Each life grows in response to the lives around it

The first gay person I ever met was surely not the first gay person I ever met.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.