Rose's Cantina

When I was growing up, everybody's mom wore dresses. Even around the house, which is I guess why they were called house dresses. They were usually a jaunty print with belts designed to cover the bulges in the middle. Corsets were out back then. In the early 60s, everybody's mom looked like Ma Kettle. Except my mother. My mother always wore pants. I think she was more influenced by Katherine Hepburn than Ma Kettle, but then, my mom was as equally skinny as Kate Hepburn with the same kind of bobby-pin curled hair. By the time I was a teenager, everybody's mom wore stretchy pants made from whole families of polyester. And sweaters with kittens and baby tigers. If they wanted to be fancy, they went with bejewelled tops that made them look like hookers, with big cleavage. Needless to say, my role models have made it difficult for me to make good fashion choices. When I was young, I used to look like Jane Russell, and I liked to wear inappropriate clothes, lik...

There was a story in today's paper about a talk Barbara Walters gave to a Jewish fundraising dinner in town last night. I thought: good for Barbara. She's 82-years-old and still going strong. She continues to work on a regular basis on two television programs: The View and 20/20 . And she continues to be a gadabout in New York, seen at all the swish parties on the arms of some very powerful men. Oh yes, and she is a grandmother. That's not usually heard in her introductions. Last night, she told the gathering about a conversation she once had with the late, great Katherine Hepburn. Asked about her life's accomplishments, Hepburn said this. "I made enough money to support myself and I wasn't afraid of being alone." Oh, Lord, I thought. How sad. Barbara has certainly followed Hepburn's lead. She has been much married -- and badly, as she admits -- but Barbara has always been an independent soul, supporting her parents and her sister ov...