TheSunNews.com: Coasting

A cut above | Artist makes woodwork center of his existence

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:04 EST

Richard Deegan knows trees can be more than paper, firewood, mulch or medicine.

He carves them into wood spirits, nautical creatures, beloved birds, seascapes, pirates and whatever else pops into his head.

"There are no boundaries," said Deegan while surrounded by red cedar, pine, cypress and other wood already willed into what his mind imagined. "Whatever starts coming out of the wood, I follow it. I go with it."

Add some oohing, cooing to your kitchen

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:22 EST

Please tell me I'm not the only person who thinks Food Network's Pat and Gina Neely ("Down Home With the Neelys") need to get a room. With a swing and mirrors and oils that aren't Crisco.

The Neelys are the network's nauseatingly happy cooking couple. They baby-talk, they kiss, they carry on so much it's a wonder anything ever gets cooked.

And, yes, I could turn it off, but then I'd miss the only soft porn I get all week, plus I am incapable of turning off a show that promises a recipe for macaroni and cheese topped with bacon and potato chips.

Society opens poet's home for public tours, scrutiny

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

The Millay Society plans to open Steepletop, the home of the late poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, to the public for tours starting May 28.

Millay was a native of Maine, but she lived and worked at the farmhouse on the Taconic Ridge for her last 25 years. She died there in 1950. Society Executive Director Peter Bergman says the tour will feature Millay's private suite on the second floor of the farmhouse, including her bedroom and work room and library, with the rooms much as the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet left them. Visitors will be able to walk the 191-acre grounds and gardens.

A poet's walk on the estate has been open and free since 2003. It leads through the woods to the gravesite of Millay and her family, with passages of her poetry posted along the way.

It's daylight grousing time for clock setters

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

Turning clocks ahead for spring is a ritual some people love to hate. We're groggy. Our kids are cranky. While sitting better than fall's theft of afternoon daylight, still we grumble. Does anybody have anything nice to say about daylight-saving time?

New York City's Camilla Brooks does. She celebrated early with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. "I get a little giddy," she said. "I think I touch into that child-self that looks forward to running and playing in the park."

For weeks, Erika Blanchard of Myrtle Beach has been counting down to Sunday's start on her Facebook page. Filmmaker Sondra Lowell of Los Angeles loves it, too, so much that she shifted time a week early. " It's like being on vacation every day," she said. "What am I going to do with my extra hour? Nothing. Just nothing. Yay!"

Great uses for lemons

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

That tart and tangy vitamin C packed fruit is not just for making a cool summertime beverage. Woman's Day has 5 amazing uses that bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "turning lemons into lemonade." Amongst them:

Improve flavor Add lemon to your green tea to reduce the drink's bitterness and help your body's absorption of antioxidants.

A culinary capital of the Caribbean

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:02 EST

Though its main drag is less than a mile, Grand Case boasts more than 25 restaurants that make it a Caribbean culinary capital.

Better still, unlike the island's largest towns, Phillipsburg and Marigot, Grand Case hosts no cruise ships, preserving its slice of old Caribbean charm.

Horoscopes

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Say what you mean. Right now you can be frank and honest with the ones you love or hold in high esteem. Later in the week you will get further by being politically correct than by expressing your true views.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the upcoming week, you may be forced to fend off any hint of tedium. Try to finish up any important changes or implement exciting projects as early in the week as possible, before enthusiasm wanes.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You can let circumstances rule you or take charge and rule your life from within. Consciously work on being more proactive, charming and disarming when speaking to others during the week to come.

Don't tell them it's educational

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

Take one oversize wall map of the United States.

Add quick sheets filled with random information about various states.

Combine with a boy's passion for racing, stir with a DryErase marker and marinate for 36 events over 10 months.

Google launches doodle contest

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

You know the fun Google logos that adorn the search engine page every now and then? For the past couple of years, Google has challenged kids, kindergartners through high school seniors, to try their hands at doodling a Google design.

Now, they're launching their third Doodle 4 Google competition, and the prizes are pretty fantastic: a $15,000 college scholarship for the national winner, laptops, trips to New York and technology awards for eight lucky schools.

The theme is "If I Could Do Anything, I Would ..." Contest entries come in via classrooms. Teachers need to register their classrooms by Wednesday, and submissions are due by March 31. Then check back on May 27, because the glorious winning doodle chosen by a team of judges that includes Eric Carle and artists from Pixar and Sesame Street Workshop graces the Google home page.

Spousal gripes stick with pals

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

D ear Abby: "Oscar" and I have been married for three years. We have had many ups and downs and a few near-separations, but we're now on a better path and working hard on our relationship.

Because my friends have seen the rocky times Oscar and I have been through, they are not as nice to him as I'd like. In particular, this applies to my best friend, "Tish," and her husband.

I have tried many times to get us together on double dates, but they always refuse. What can I do, if anything? -- In the Middle in South Carolina

Dead battery causes noisy disruption

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

D ear Tom and Ray: I am trying to jump-start my husband's 2008 Honda Accord. It's been sitting for a few months since he was deployed to Iraq, and I need to move the car ASAP before the street sweepers come. However, when I connect the last jumper-cable clamp, the horn starts blowing. How do I make it stop so I can jump the car and not have the whole neighborhood staring at me? Thanks! - Lisa

Ray: Jump-start it in the middle of the night, Lisa. No one's out staring at that hour.

Tom: Actually, it's your alarm system that's going off. When the battery died, the car's factory-installed alarm system assumed that someone was tampering with the battery or had disconnected it in order to break into the car.

How to negotiate your medical bills

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

Consumers without insurance can still find ways to saveon their medical expenses.

Just like insurance companies, consumers can try to negotiate with hospitals, doctors and dentists to receive discounts on medical care, according to Carrie McLean, a licensed health insurance provider with eHealthinsurance.com.

Consumers can save as much as 60 percent on medical expenses by learning how to negotiate with doctors, dentists and even hospitals for services and discounts, she said.

Set needed boundaries with exes

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

D ear Carolyn: I am about to get engaged, and my close friends and family say I must part with some "baggage" before I do. They say I must stop remaining in touch with some of my friends because I was involved with them at various times. Some were one-night stands whom I stayed in contact with. Some were friends before we became involved, and we remained friends after. Others were co-workers whom people tried to fix me up with, but there wasn't necessarily a spark. Some I remain in touch with because I became really good friends with their families. What is the proper way to handle this situation? My betrothed does not currently know about these involvements. -- K.

Rough idea -- if all these "involvements" were to gather in one place, would they fill a movie theater, NHL rink or football stadium?

Not that it matters. There is a standard of decency here that's far less complex than your current personal entanglements: You keep the innocent friendships by introducing these friends to your girlfriend; you end the friendship with anyone you don't want your girlfriend to meet; and you impose a self-restraining order on all unfinished business.

The funky side of housework

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

Last Saturday, I dragged our vacuum up to our master bedroom to do a thorough cleaning. We make the bed every day and put away clothes on occasion, but every once in a while, I notice that when I hit the snooze button on the alarm clock, I'll raise a cloud of dust. I then know it's time to vacuum.

It took some time to go through the clothes that fell into the recycle pile - stuff I'd worn once, hadn't really sweated up or anything, and I decided not to throw down the laundry chute. You never know - they might be able to go another round if I didn't plan on seeing anyone important and kept a few steps back from the people I did see.

Soon after I started vacuuming, though, I started feeling a little stuffy-headed, like there wasn't enough air in the room. I kept vacuuming but felt a little I realized the room was filling with a deep, funky smell. I glanced toward my recycle pile. Maybe it was a critical mass thing. Each shirt alone was not big deal, but when you piled them up, it was another thing altogether. I leaned over and sniffed the pile. Nothing.

St. Martin vs. St. Maarten

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

Just a few feet beyond the twisting border that separates the French and Dutch sides of this Caribbean island, things start to change. And the changes don't always sit well with visitors.

Like one afternoon, at my hotel on the French side, I met an Ohio couple who had just returned from Le Galion, a fine beach tucked into a bay and favored by families for its tame surf. The couple, however, were unnerved by women baring their chests while children frolicked in the sand. They had seen no such thing on the Dutch side.

"Coming from the U.S., that was obviously pretty shocking," said Joe Williams, 44, a Baptist pastor from Lodi, Ohio.

Today in History

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03 EST

On this date:

In 1743, a memorial service was held at Faneuil Hall in Boston honoring Peter Faneuil, who had donated the building bearing his name.

In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, which revolutionized America's cotton industry.

Ways to save

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:37 EST

Shopping online is convenient and often less expensive than running around, but there are tricks to keeping prices down that are worth knowing. The following eight tips will help you save as you shop.

1. Free shipping

Merchants frequently charge buyers to ship online purchases, but more and more merchants now offer special deals if you spend a certain amount or purchase specific items. Amazon, for example, in many cases offers free shipping if you purchase more than $25 worth of product or belong to Amazon Prime. FreeShipping.org is a great place to find such deals.

A greenhorn's guide to herbs

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:30 EST

Loosely, an herb is a plant valued for its culinary use, aromatic effects and healing properties. Some herbs are used also for their essential oils, for cosmetic applications and as dyes. Although many herbs appear ornamental with pretty flowers and foliage, they are a blend of sensory appeal and function.

Historically, herbs were grown in small kitchen gardens close to ordinary houses. Herbs were intermingled with flowers, fruits and vegetables. In England the garden was called a cottage garden, in France, a potager, and settlers in the U.S. called it a kitchen garden.

Formal herb gardens took form during the medieval period in monasteries and on the property of wealthy landowners. The gardens were originally laid out in rectangles divided by paths for ease of access, and plants were grouped by type.

Charity walk at Coastal Carolina to help nonprofit for children

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:44 EST

A pastel diaper, just slightly bigger than a gauze pad, rests in the palm of Charlene Hatfield's hand.

The diaper is so tiny that it wouldn't fit a Cabbage Patch Kids doll, but Hatfield's son, Brice, wore it for a month after he was born.

He arrived almost three months early at 2 pounds 12 ounces and 15 inches. He clung to thin threads of certainty, while adults around him hung on to ropes of hope.

Celia Rivenbark | Let Obama unwind with his smokes and keep his sanity

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:55 EST

Somebody has to say this so it might as well be me: I don't think Obama should quit smoking. If the leader of the Free World wants to unwind with a cigarette after a day of listening to endless claptrap from Republicans who accuse him of everything except bowling with the severed heads of their grandmothers, then far be it from me to tell him not to.

My sweet Lord, he's not firing up a crack pipe. It's a cigarette. Oh, sure, I get it. As a former (25 years ago) genuinely committed, pack-a-day smoker, I understand the need to quit. I quit smoking when I realized I was mighty young to be out of breath on a 10-yard walk from the car to my front door.

Call it one of Oprah's "Ah-ha!" moments. So, I quit and immediately took up pie. It is a decision I have never once regretted.