Dear Goddess: Thank you for this 70-degree January weather. The extended streak of bright, sunny days has been wonderful, especially since we received so much rain earlier in the year that we're still above normal in our reservoirs.But, could please tell me if I should now start watering the roses and flower beds as if it were really spring? Other years we have held off until late April. But, this year there are buds and shoots all over the plants. Should we encourage this premature-puberty-like behavior by watering and fertilizing? Or, should we withhold extra encouragement to keep the plant [...]

This morning we finished our Christmas celebration by opening the holiday cards that we've received since the beginning of December. It's our tradition. Rather than ripping open and hurriedly reading the messages each evening in the hectic pre-Christmas days, we save up the cards and holiday letters. At 12th Night (or, this year, 14th Brunch) we sit down together and leisurely savor the photos, news, and good wishes of our family and friends. We pass around the pictures of friends BBQing last summer, the envelopes closed with sealing wax whose stamps have the same image as the enclosed card, and the [...]

San Francisco, CA Theatrical Movie We didn't see this one coming. From reading reviews I expected the story to be uplifting, a triumph-over-adversity saga suitable for New Year's Day viewing with friends. I had also heard that the acting was excellent. Although I am hopeless about knowing which screen star is which, friends nodded approvingly when the cast of Colin Firth (King George VI), Helena Bonham Carter (Elizabeth, Queen Consort), and Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue, speech therapist), and others was listed. What none of us expected was the contextual richness, pacing, and depth of the characters. The script gives a story [...]