The Buffalo News : Life

Call me squirrelly, but I think I know why I’m drawn to nuts in the fall.

It occurred to me the other day that I have sat in the same spot at the dinner table for decades. Considering the house we now own is the house I grew up in, that spot is my spot.

Like many people, I always set the alarm clock when I go to bed. But, like many, I rarely need it.

The NFL Network schedule of games isn't exactly an advertisement for pressuring Time Warner to carry the channel. The Thanksgiving night matchup between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos is decent but not as attractive as it was a few weeks ago. Then it is the Bills-Jets in Toronto on Dec. 3 and the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers at the hopeless Cleveland Browns on Dec. 10.

This is what I'm thinking:

One of the more popular periodic features in sports, entertainment or business answers the question “Where Are They Now?”

My vote is “no.” I don’t like any of it. What the November Sweeps have so far meant all over the tube is a lot of good-byes. In the case of the announced endings of “Dollhouse,” “Hank,” and “Eastwick,” let us sing “hallelujah” in response. (And now turn to Page 28 in your TV Guide for the Benediction.)

“Should I be worried?” asked Oprah Winfrey of Sarah Palin. It was her final question. In truth, it was the only question I wanted an answer to –the only reason I watched the full hour “Oprah Winfrey Show” launch of Sarah Palin’s book tour on behalf of her memoir, “Going Rogue” (HarperCollins, 432 pages, $28.99).

A new game and anyone can play: Let’s call it Extreme Makeover, the Network Edition.

Mystery pecan pie is one of 410 recipes in “Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook: Recipes from Americas Favorite Cooking Contest” (Wiley, $29.95). Mary McClain was the $1,000 winner in the 16th bake-off contest in 1964. The collection of recipes includes all the $1 million grand prize recipes, as well as those that have become classics, such as the tunnel of fudge cake or French silk chocolate pie.

Janice Okun

Janice Okun

There are several ways to define what it means to be an “independent” musician.

In Buffalo, fans of Ron Hawkins have been spoiled over the years. We saw the Lowest of the Low more often than our less fortunate neighbors to the south, and when Hawkins split from that band to form the Rusty Nails, some of the first shows were performed here. Later, when the Low reformed for periodic gigs, Buffalo was tops on the tour list. In fact, the reformed band recorded its live album, “Nothing Short of a Bullet,” during a reunion show at the Tralf.

Drummer Stewart Copeland has penned his new memoir, “Strange Things Happen.”

Dear Miss Manners: I am getting married next spring and had been planning a wedding of about 75 guests. The wedding planning has taken on a life of its own, and I have been overwhelmed by the details and the cost.

Dear Miss Manners: Is it acceptable to announce your engagement when your sister is standing in the receiving line at her husband’s viewing? If not, what would have been the acceptable way to handle a situation like this?

Dear Miss Manners: On Thanksgiving, my husband and I have for a number of years gone to a family dinner at my sister’s. There are other relatives in attendance, usually at least eight, sometimes more.

Dear Carolyn: My boyfriend’s mom sent him a book about tips for a successful marriage. Our first reaction was to have a good laugh about it; we’re not ready for marriage yet, and neither of us has talked with our parents about it.

Dear Carolyn: I share custody of my 3z-year-old daughter with my ex-wife, who got remarried last year. Her new husband describes himself as a “nice guy,” and is overtly hoping that somehow I fail as a father so he can be “daddy.” The divorce was anything but amicable. While things have been relatively smooth for the last nine months, I still hear my daughter from time to time refer to him as “daddy.” I reinforce she has only one daddy, but this is really getting old.

Dear Carolyn: I recently started dating somebody new who is considerably taller than I (I’m a guy). Even before we met, I’d advised her that it wasn’t an issue for me if she was taller, and I hoped it wasn’t an issue for her.

Dear Abby: I am an 11-year-old girl who loves going shopping and doing various stuff with my mom. But when we go to the mall or stop for lunch and she hears a song she likes, she’ll start singing to it. And if we’re standing up, she even dances to it a little. I have tried telling her to stop because she’s embarrassing me, but all she says is, “No one is looking, honey.” She also does it at home in front of my friends when I play my iPod. Any suggestions?

Dear Abby: I’m 32 and a “large girl.” I am also intelligent, witty and fun to be around. I make friends wherever I go. The problem is my mother—who is also big—keeps telling me that heavy women are not desirable and we must “settle” when it comes to choosing a mate.

Dear Abby: Is there anything wrong with having a lover solely for the purpose of sex? He is grieving for his late wife (my best friend), and I am separated from my husband. We’re both lonely and have supported each other through our pain. A few weeks ago we decided to become lovers.

“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.” So wrote T. S. Eliot.

“George, a camel, stepped on the foot of a Rockette; six sheep came off the elevator as three kings bearing gifts got on. ... Human Christmas trees bumped into eight maids-a-milking at the water cooler and an elf came down with the flu!”

“I’ll bet I am the only 60-yearold woman ever to have her photograph on the cover of Glamour magazine,” said Maria Shriver the other night in Carnegie Hall when the magazine did its “Women of the Year” awards.

Recently, we reported here the unkind words of the LA Times reporter Elizabeth Snead about Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow. She called them “two of the coldest and least sexy actresses ...” (Paltrow and Kidman are set to star together in a daring sex-change movie.)

My annual Thanksgiving list:

Dear Tom and Ray: Recently, we had our 2005 Toyota RAV4 taken in for its regularly scheduled maintenance, which included rotating the tires. Each tire has a locking lug nut, and when I picked up the car, my mechanic told me that one of the locking lug nuts “broke” when he tried to remove it, and that he had to then drill through the wheel stud and replace it. I was then charged more than $150 for the labor and parts.