Two years and two months ago I started a novel that has been slowly percolating its pages through my overly-committed schedule. The book was inspired by a trip I took to Rhode Island a couple of summers ago, where I stayed with friends in their Watch Hill "summer cottage"--a gorgeous dwelling in the Gatsby tradition of power, fortune and scandal. From the very scant factual nugget, an idea for a novel emerged, one that explores "fitness gone awry." Darwin meets Frankenstein, maybe.

This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.”

Say what you want about Babs. In my book, she's still got it going on.

Maria Shriver hosts the annual Women's Conference this year at the Long Beach Convention Center, Oct 26 and 27.

In "Twitterville," Shel Israel figures out how to write a timeless book about a dynamically morphing platform.

Read the book to find out how CEOs, students, nonprofit activists, small business owners and others used Twitter to advance their agendas. Powerful stuff.

The Boss is 60 today, and what a Boomer role model he is! Keep on rockin' Bruce, long may you run!

What lives in both Portland and Pasadena besides BridgePoint Creative? Why, bridges and roses, of course! Now these two famous west coast cities are also home to BridgePoint Creative.

One of the most beautiful voices of our generation was silenced today. Mary Travers, along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, was a powerful force for justice and art. Since the early 1960s, Peter Paul and Mary sang about "love between our brothers and our sisters," and Mary teamed up with icons Joni Mitchell and Mama Cass in harmonious renditions, including the popular "I Shall be Released."

I had the privilege of meeting and listening to Ms.Travers when PPM would come to Portland, through our friendship with Christopher Yarrow and his dad. Mary was one in a million, beautiful inside and out and will not be forgotten.

Do you love books? We do. Do you want to make a difference? We do. Buy your books at BetterWorldBooks and make a difference in the lives of others. Oh, and free shipping!

OK. I know. I left Portland for Pasadena, but I think I'm still an Oregonian. I ran across the Oregon Bounty site tonight and it made me a wee bit homesick. It is a beautiful site. Very cool. Enjoy it...wherever you might be!

We heart GoodTube! GoodTube is an internet community dedicated to Good, a video sharing site for nonprofit organizations and people involved in volunteerism worldwide. It provides charities with a way to showcase their work, reach potential donors and inspire viewers. It is a place for video enthusiasts with a Good message to connect with a global audience. GoodTube is a nonprofit, non religious enterprise, and it is 100 percent free.

If you want to share the story of your nonprofit, please check out GoodTube!

There's a new phone in town. Frankly, I'm a little skeptical. You see, I am a pocket-carrying member of the iPhone Lovers Society. Have been for several months. I heart my iPhone so much, I can't remember how I functioned without it. True, I make my living by being hooked up to the e-mail like an IV drip, but that's not the only reason my rubber-sleeved machine is my best friend. This phone allows me to best live the life I've chosen to live--time management-wise. Not to say that my life is the best life out there, but in charting a course towards maximizing economy of time, functionality and information, the iPhone frees me up--as long as I heed some caveats and rules:
1. No texting or email answering while driving
2. Try not to over-tweet when with the family
3. Experience comes first, communicating the experience, second

Although thoroughly convinced that the iPhone cannot be replaced, I'm intrigued by the new Android-based social networking tool: the Cliq. The premise of Motorola's stab at seizing the smart phone dollar is built around the "social skills" angle. It's email, Facebook, Twitter, phone, text and calendars all integrated, with both the touch screen AND a QWERTY keyboard. Despite the intriguing possibilities of this new kid in town, I'm still convinced that you'll have to pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands!

When it comes to electronic rights for out-of-print titles, whose side are you on? Microsoft, Yahoo and the the nation's top copyright official--or, Google, libraries, tech groups and various activists. Should Google win the monopoly on e-production rights, or should we heed the warnings of the U.S. Copyright Chief, Marybeth Peters, who worries that Google's win would undermine Congress' ability to govern copyrights, and spell disaster for books published overseas.

It's odd, to me, however, that Microsoft would be crying foul when it comes to monopolies. Just saying...

I haven't seen my daughter in six weeks. She's living the dream--taking a post-college trek through Europe with her backpack and an open mind. I'm thrilled for her, and yet.

As a mother of three (and stepmother of two), I always keep one eye open and one ear available for the middle-of-the-night phone call. The dreaded emergency. But I delight in the daylight hours, where I've been able to stalk my child via various web-based interfaces.

Charlie Rose in conversation with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Best known as co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape. He is on the Board of Directors of Facebook and eBay.

Monday morning last, I stumbled across my lawn in the usual fashion--briefcase, purse, gym bag and sloshing coffee--and lo and behold, my car had become a canvas for a knife-wielding punk. "Malicious mischief" my insurance claim would later call it. At that moment, I had other words for it. Both doors had been deeply marred with four-letter words, and one side offered the sentiment, "I love war." The rear of the car had been sliced through the middle in one long stroke. Ten years in this house and never had anything like this happened.

After filing a police report, initiating an insurance claim, getting a body shop to detail the two thousand plus dollars of repair required, my rage had spilled over into sadness. My sweet husband had affixed copy paper over the offending words, and then spent the day hunting up temporary remedies to lessen the blight. To no avail though, the cuts were deep.

Laura suggested that maybe this was the time for car magnets, and I had been pondering the idea as well. Why not. After all, Honda Elements like mine are often seeing zooming about town with signage of some sort. I e-mailed a guy I'd met at a networking event not long ago, and, voila, in less than 48 hours my lemons became, well, if not lemonade, at least seltzer with lemon squeezed in. My car now sports band-aids for the cause!

I still would like to get my hands on the punk, though.