When I had my kids, there were few options for good looking, reasonably-priced maternity wear. Most maternity items had unflattering cuts and unappealing fabric. The jumpers with Disney appliques were the worst. (I'm HAVING a baby, not BECOMING a baby!) So I bought as little of it as possible.

Now, as far as clothes go, it's a good time to be pregnant. The current Hollywood fertility cult has raised the profile of stylish high-end maternity wear, but it's actually been available for a while now. The real revolution is lower down the fashion food chain. Even places like Sears now carry maternity clothes that look like normal clothes. And Target's maternity line is great, according to my recently-pregnant sources.

Plus-sized maternity wear is still hard to find, though. Regular plus-size clothes aren't cut for a pregnant woman's figure, so simply sizing up doesn't always work that well.

Ann Coulter is beloved by the conservative machine because she can be counted on to create outrage whenever she opens her trap. And outrage is exactly what they want. They want her to reach into the little reptile brains of the dittoheads and the bigots and whip them into a self-righteous frenzy. They want ordinary, decent Americans to be utterly pissed off and disgusted at her vileness. It's all about generating outrage, 24-7, and the topic doesn't really matter.

When people are outraged, they aren't thinking straight. They can be more easily manipulated into doing what you want, or they can be distracted from noticing what's really important. And outrage itself can be like a drug. It can be so cathartic that eventually it doesn't matter what you're outraged about.

According to a friend whose son just went to the prom, a boy who asks a girl to the prom is expected to:

- Rent a tux

- Get a haircut and in general spiff himself up

- Buy a corsage for his date

- Pay for a nice dinner

- Buy the tickets

- Pay for the limo or other transportation

(I may have forgotten one or two other things, but these are the biggies.)

This could easily add up to $600.

My sense is that most buyers of Supermac are parents who want to feel less guilty about feeding mac & cheese to their kids.

While Supermac isn't health food by any stretch of the imagination, it IS somewhat more nutritious than the regular stuff (which is mainly empty calories). There are plenty of people who are going to eat boxed mac & cheese no matter what. If they switch to Supermac, they will be eating a marginally better diet. Of such small steps is better nutrition made.

Are we talking Southwest only, or everything between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean? Willa Cather and Sinclair Lewis wrote about the Great Plains, not the Southwest. If they count as literary lights of the Old West, then Laura Ingalls Wilder should, too. (And Louise Erdrich, for that matter.)

And how far north does the Old West go? Does it stop at the border or go all the way to the Klondike? If so, Jack London has got it nailed.

It broadened them to include boys, the same way it broadened shop classes to include girls.

What killed Home Ec in a lot of schools was budget cuts amid complaints about rising taxes. It wasn't seen as being very important compared to academic subjects and sports, so it was among the first to go. It's a pity; I still remember a lot of stuff from my middle school Home Ec classes and some of it's been quite useful.

Happily, Home Ec is still alive and well in a lot of schools, although it's not called that anymore. For example, part of my son's "Unified Arts" class this year covered traditional Home Ec subjects like sewing, cooking, child care, and nutrition.

My dad was very involved with his kids and remains very involved with his grandchildren. He watches my children and never hesitates to help out with his other grandchildren. My sons have benefitted enormously from having a close relationship with their "Pop-Pop," who's like a second father to them. And he's benefitted from being around them.

However, sometimes a grandfather's involvement in his grandchildren's lives can re-open old wounds. The father of a woman I know was always too busy with his career to spend time with his children. Now, though, he wants to be there for his grandchildren. My sense is that he regrets missing out on his kids' childhood and wants to make up for it by spending time with his grandchildren. They are glad to have their grandpa around, but his daughter is angry that he didn't do the same thing for her. The hurt that she felt about his absence has returned now that she sees him with her own kids.

... why are they in college at all? They should be married and having kids already.

Then again, universities are great places to find high-earning husband fodder.