Everyday

Re "13 Ways of Looking," by Christopher Reynolds (Oct. 19), and my quote regarding Frank Gehry's design for the Disney center, I would add, however, that I feel strongly that because of Frank Gehry's tremendous success prior to the opening of the center, it had already attracted and appealed to a huge population as an introduction to Gehry's genius. The success of the Disney center follows upon the success of the remarkable Bilbao structure. Heretofore, the public has not been conscious of the potency and impact that architecture plays in the role of everyday life.

It looks like a truck, drives like a truck and hauls like a truck. So the 2013 Ram 1500 is, you guessed it, very much a truck. This is despite the fact that beneath the handsome sheet metal are two key elements that, until recently, would have disqualified it from many full-size-truck buyers' lists: an eight-speed transmission and a V-6 engine. Both are new additions for the current Ram truck, which received a thorough mid-life makeover for the 2013 model year. The new drivetrain and thoughtful upgrades mean this truck is well positioned to take on the longtime sales champ - the Ford F-150 - as well as all-new full-size pickups from Chevrolet and Toyota due out later this year.

Writer-director Andrew Bujalski follows up his well-received "Funny Ha Ha" and "Mutual Appreciation" with "Beeswax," a subtle, amusing film filled with charm and spontaneity that displays the filmmaker's gift for creating an acute sense of life being lived before our very eyes. He and his cast of nonprofessional actors are impressively adept at revealing subtexts in everyday existence -- inner conflicts, uncertainties, shifting goals and priorities. As Bujalski has said himself of "Beeswax": "It's about families . . . people taking care of each other when they want to, when they need to, and when they ought to."

As more people get their health information from TV and the Internet, it becomes crucial to have experts on the small screen who can provide accurate information. That's where Travis Stork, co-host of the TV show "The Doctors," comes in. Stork, an emergency room physician, is passionate about educating the public on how to prevent the illnesses that bring so many people in to see him in a crisis. Here, Stork, a onetime contestant on "The Bachelor," talks about getting outdoors, redefining fast food and using television as a positive influence.

Ross Perot looks better everyday. JOHN K. LOGAN Rancho Palos Verdes

This isn't the first or the last time an animal will find its way onto a freeway. This is just one of the challenges that face the CHP, LAPD and Animal Control everyday. Let's get it together. Train our people and have them properly equipped. I believe the officers had options. CHALYA CASTAGNA Hollywood

Re "Considering the Odds, 'Miracles' Are Strictly Ho-Hum Stuff," Commentary, Sept. 20: You are to be congratulated for presenting Michael Shermer's somewhat obscure and largely misunderstood subject on odds. The importance of understanding probabilities in everyday thinking cannot be overestimated. For what it is worth, my definition of a miracle: a personalized improbability. Henry Walrond Bakersfield

Your fashion spread "All That Jazz" (April 22) was simply superb. Rather than the same old, tired collage of overpaid anemic bimbos with attitude, we were treated to a refreshing group of everyday kids just trying to make it. Rick Strauss did a wonderful job with his photography. Michael W. Berbae Via the Internet

We feel that increasing problems encountered by most motorists who need to travel through the San Onofre Border Patrol Checkpoint should be brought to your attention. Thousands of motorists must pass through this checkpoint everyday, and most of these motorists are just trying to get to and from work. Everyday we encounter the same problems--two lanes are closed, leaving two lanes open on Interstate 5, which causes a traffic pileup of at least 45 minutes on occasion to get through this checkpoint.

The world of advertising and marketing is abuzz with news and developments every day. Starting this week, we will publish an Advertising & Marketing story four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, replacing our once-a-week page that appeared Thursdays. We will continue to offer coverage that reflects the importance of advertising and marketing to the everyday lives of businesses and consumers, while adding news of significant account changes and personnel moves. We hope you find the changes useful, informative and enriching.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Dodgers gave Dee Gordon their shortstop job last season, and they had to trade for Hanley Ramirez . When Ramirez was injured this spring, they gave the job to Justin Sellers and sent Gordon to the minor leagues. With Ramirez injured again, the Dodgers are giving Gordon what might be his last chance to show he can be an everyday shortstop for them. The Dodgers officially put Ramirez on the disabled list Saturday because of a strained left hamstring, recalling Gordon and inserting him into the starting lineup.

The everyday handbags of choice for Hollywood this spring, as seen on the arms of Sarah Jessica Parker, Naomi Watts, Emma Roberts and Kate Bosworth, aren't by Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Dior. They're by Paris-based Jerome Dreyfuss, who shares his laid-back, bohemian design sensibility and his home with another hot-in-Hollywood designer, Isabel Marant. Parker has been photographed running errands with Richard, a colorful, perforated patchwork leather bag, Roberts has fallen for the black leather drawstring Alain, and Watts has been spotted out and about with Igor, a black python cross-body style.

All my crazy cooking friends with tweezers and buckets of sodium alginate have spent the last year cooking through Daniel Humm's “Eleven Madison Park” cookbook, which -- unbelievable as it may seem -- makes “The French Laundry” look like “Joy of Cooking.” So much of that book seems to me like obfuscation. Every ingredient is transformed so it looks like something else. Beautiful, perhaps, but the tricks are just too much in evidence. That's just not my thing. But Humm's new book “I [Heart]

When photographer Steve Schapiro first arrived on the Lower East Side set of "The Godfather" in 1971, there were rumors floating around that Marlon Brando was not well. Moving closer to the action, he noticed an old man in an overcoat and hat talking to an assistant director with this gravelly, sick voice. The rumors must be true, he thought. "Suddenly," Schapiro recalled, "Brando turns to the crowd with this enormous electricity shooting out of his eyes and in his best 'On the Waterfront' accent said, 'I think there's someone with a camera out there.'" That stunning transformation was just one of many Oscar-worthy moments Schapiro has witnessed in his 50-year career working on the sets of such groundbreaking films as "Taxi Driver," "Midnight Cowboy" and "Chinatown.

BEIJING - Xi Jinping has a secret admirer and Chinese are yearning to find out who he (or she) is. Since Xi was named Communist Party general secretary in November, a mysterious blogger has been chronicling his every move. There are photographs of Xi on his computer, Xi at a vegetable market, Xi serving meals to the poor, Xi napping on a bus. Not the most scintillating coverage, but it is remarkable in China, where the movements of the leadership are choreographed down to the last handshake and released only to the tightly controlled state media.

LAS VEGAS - At this year's International Consumer Electronics Show, everything is getting a bit "smarter. " Smartphones ushered in the notion that cellphones didn't have to be limited to just making calls, and tablets uprooted the definition of the personal computer. Now, the buzz at the world's largest tech gadget conference has shifted from the devices themselves to the growing crop of accessories and technologies that are piggybacking on their massive popularity. Connectivity is one of the main reasons smartphones and tablets became blockbuster hits among consumers, and tech manufacturers want to bring that feature to other objects - many of them everyday, non-digital household items.

Generations of Americans loved Lucy. More than three decades ago, in the adolescence of television, Monday nights belonged to Lucille Ball as she schemed to do what she wanted to do, especially if her husband and "I Love Lucy" co-star Desi Arnaz didn't want her to do it. All these decades later, there is a national outburst of affection and remembrance for the 77-year-old comedienne who died Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In the main, the outpouring of sentiment focuses on this zany redhead's do-anything nerve.

After reading about Gov. Gray Davis being "neutral" in the race for Rep. Gary Condit's congressional seat ("Davis Declines to Endorse Condit's Reelection Bid," Dec. 15), I found it hard not to roll my eyes. I laugh at the political mentality these days. No one wants to have anything to do with you once you get involved in a scandal of any sort. It really makes you wonder; with this way of life, do politicians even have friends? As an everyday high-schooler, I don't believe politicians are setting a very good example.

Far from the halls of Congress, the press conferences and the TV talk shows, there is a different kind of gun politics happening in America. It isn't about which gun to ban or what the 2nd Amendment "really" means. Instead, it is about everyday fears and risks, both real and imagined, and the very personal decision to carry a gun for self-protection. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are at least 8 million Americans licensed to carry a concealed gun today.

The time is now. Those words have been reverberating in the wake of Friday's shootings in Newtown, Conn. There's at last a sense that the moment has come for some serious action on gun control. Even some of the most reliable 2nd Amendment hawks are easing up. "The ideologies of my past career are no longer relevant," Joe Scarborough - father of young children, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and former conservative congressman - told his audience in a 10-minute speech, because Newtown "changed everything.