First Transgender Doll in Barbie Signature Collection By Lori Perkins I was thrilled to see this announcement in my inbox this morning, and the doll is amazing in her deep oxblood red tulle gown, heeled boots, a sparkling silver metallic bodysuit and silver earrings. Of course, Mattel is heralding the…

By Lori Perkins Let me make this perfectly clear — as a reader, I absolutely HATE this recent trend in book covers that is all words over a darker background. I have been in publishing for at least three decades (if you count my decades as a journalist) and a…

By Lori Perkins If you had told me that in 2022 we’d all be swooning over an actor’s portrayal of the real-life bad boy comedian Lenny Bruce as the ultimate love interest, I’d just laugh and wonder if recreational mushrooms had been legalized country-wide. But here I am after watching…

By Lori Perkins As I get older, I look at the people — especially the women — who were influential in my life with a completely new perspective. If you had told 14 year-old me, who played Tapestry (Carole King’s second album which was certified 13 times Platinum, one…

By Lori Perkins That headline seems redundant, no? As I near the start of my third pandemic year (we went into lockdown in early March in NYC), I am preparing for my annual re-watch of the Bull Murray/Andie McDowell classic Groundhog Day, which I started rewatching annually three years…

By David T. Valentin Like everyone else on December 31st, I woke up to the news of Betty White’s death at 99 years old. It felt like a bad dream, considering the comedy star was about to celebrate her 100th birthday on January 17th in a few days. At…

By Lori Perkins This time last year I was halfway through five and half months of chemo treatment, sleeping 12 hours a day and completely hairless. It was the first time in my life when I started to write up my New Year’s resolutions and said, “this is bullshit,” and…

By Lori Perkins Yesterday’s newspaper greeted me with stories of New York City restaurants and Broadway shows closing due to COVID 19 breakouts. As I stopped at the local supermarket, next to a doc in the box, there were lines of people outside waiting for their COVID tests. There is…

By Lori Perkins Like most families, we watch a rotating variety of beloved Christmas movies as the actual holiday approaches. This is a Die Hard on Xmas Eve family, in case you were wondering. As a way of explaining our taste, I am sharing our basic list with you: Elf…