Gorgeous

Within a span of several days, I saw the 1955 movie "Marty" on a PBS broadcast and "Pretty Women" in a theater. I left "Pretty Woman" with mixed emotions. I watched this stunning woman fall in love with a rich, gorgeous hunk. Even though she was a prostitute with no manners, class or education, she "cleaned up real good" and managed to capture millionaire Richard Gere by way of her long legs and practiced love-making. The more I thought about this movie, the more uncomfortable I became.

Each year for the past six years, Raymond Lyons has gone backpacking with his brother, Ron, as well as his three sons, Dan, Tim and Philip. In September, the group visited Ediza Lake, about 10 miles northwest of Mammoth Lakes. As Lyons stood on the shore of Ediza one evening, the sky glowed a reddish-yellow, silhouetting Mt. Ritter, left, and Banner Peak. The Carlsbad, Calif. resident used a Panasonic DMC-FZ40. To submit your photos, click the upload button below. When you upload your photos, tell us where they were taken and when.

David Foster Wallace's novel "The Broom of the System" takes place in a Cleveland suburb which has been planned so that, from the air, it resembles the head of Jayne Mansfield. The movie actress and sex symbol died in a car crash in 1967 — decapitated, according to urban legend. So why shouldn't that once-gorgeous head become a model for playful city planners and a future distraction to airline pilots whizzing over the Midwest? That was the idea that occurred to an aspiring young fiction writer, then still an undergraduate at Amherst College.

NEW YORK — Victoria Azarenka put a sunny spin on a gloomy, rainy, sodden day at the U.S. Open. Azarenka, the top-seeded woman in the tournament and the top-ranked player in the world, brazenly pulled off a dangerous drop shot at a key moment in a final-set tiebreaker and sent off popular defending champion Samantha Stosur, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (5), Tuesday. Rain interrupted Azarenka's quarterfinal victory and it also interrupted most of the rest of the day's sessions. Fourth-seeded David Ferrer sneaked in a fourth-round victory, 7-5, 7-6 (2)

The last weekend in June, I found myself driving through Beverly Hills admiring the gorgeous estates. A week later, I was in Hawaii, also admiring gorgeous sights. Judging from the colors of the lawns, it must rain a whole lot more in Beverly Hills than it does on Oahu. What a surprise! MICHAEL HELWIG Canoga Park

There's a crime somewhere when the gorgeous, enormous Getty Center is completed for $1 billion, while $2 billion is spent on a B-2 bomber. BENSON SMITHKIN Camarillo

I never thought it was possible to enter the enchantment of an Ando Hiroshige print until I visited the Columbia River Gorge ("Gorgeous Gorge," Traveling in Style magazine, May 17). Thanks for bringing that experience to mind. LOIS NELSON Santa Barbara

Tania Pascuzzi organizes cooking tours in gorgeous Tropea. We cooked in a country home, rolling pasta, grilling fish and sampling wines. Italy Tours, Tropea, 12 Piazza Raponzoli, Tropea; 011-39-09-6361-952, www.initalytours.com. One-day cooking class, $215. ITALY Appetizing trip Lori Gray Malibu

Robert Hofler's piece on geeky guys getting gorgeous girls was on the ball ("Triumph of the Nerds [and Dweebs]," Dec. 4). Now if only it worked the other way around! Can we do something about the sexual double standard please? Can't someone besides Claire Forlani snag the Brad Pitts of this world? LAURA SEGAL Los Angeles

With the daily barrage of bad news on all fronts, the good news is that Los Angeles is blessed this season with the most bountiful blossoming of gorgeous jacaranda trees seen in years, all over town. Dick Littlestone Pacific Palisades

Maybe you've always suspected that there was more to San Diego's North County than beach towns, rolling hills, expat giraffes and a walled kingdom of brightly colored plastic. But frankly, they had me at beach towns. I always figured the rest - even the two marquee attractions, Legoland in Carlsbad and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido - was just gravy. Or icing on the cake. Or maybe, given San Diego's love of beer, the chaser after the pint. But now I've spent several days on and off the beaches, and it looks as if you're right: San Diego County's northern reaches, beginning above La Jolla and ending at Camp Pendleton, deserve more attention than they get. So here are 11 micro-itineraries, which are the latest addition to our ongoing Southern California Close-Up series.

Music was in many ways the star of Danny Boyle's opening ceremony to the London Olympics. A theatrical take on the Industrial Revolution was staged to a propulsive, rhythmic score; athletes paraded into the stadium to a track by the Chemical Brothers; and the centerpiece of the ceremony was an extended tribute to British music of the last four decades. Yet NBC's broadcast of Friday's opening ceremony wasn't entirely in tune with Boyle's mission to showcase U.K. music. One of the lovelier, more subdued performances during the Olympics celebration was axed for American audiences.

"Clash" ("Bay Rong"), which marks Le Thanh Son's directorial debut, is a dazzling Vietnamese martial arts movie with a soul, a stylish, gorgeously photographed film in which action sequences are punctuated by serene vistas of natural beauty. Its protagonists, Trinh (Ngo Thanh Van) and Quan (Johnny Tri Nguyen, who also co-wrote and co-produced), are caught up in a violent underworld they long to escape. Trinh, the icy leader of a hit squad that includes ex-con Quan, must rob from French mobsters a certain hard drive if she is to secure the return of her kidnapped daughter from the villainous Hac Long (Hoang Phuc)

Hits and misses This was not only my first Disney cruise but also my first cruise of any kind. For the most part, the Disney cruise regulars I spoke to marveled at the Dream, calling it bigger, brighter and better than its older cousins, with many more bells and whistles. Here were some of the things that caught my attention: Dislikes ? The endless incidental costs on what was billed as an all-inclusive cruise. ? The small stateroom, which seemed to grow larger as the days passed.

The Still Point A Novel Amy Sackville Counterpoint: 307 pp., $25 Many novels explore the sliding planes, the archaeology of past, present and future and the still points where the fabric of time is rent and characters slip through. This is a lot to juggle, especially in a debut novel, but Amy Sackville pulls it off ? thrillingly, seductively, dreamily. Not only do all the moving parts hold together, but a new fictional voice emerges here as well; not harsh, brash and shiny, not overly self-conscious and sentimental ?

A sequel to one of China's biggest box office hits, the wry romantic comedy "Fei Cheng Wu Rao 2" ("If You Are the One 2") ? the first Chinese release to open in its homeland and North America on the same day ? continues the odd-couple courtship saga of wealthy, middle-aged retiree Qin Fen (Ge You) and serious-minded young air hostess Xiaoxiao (Shu Qi). After an amusing prelude in which Qin presides over a lavish divorce ceremony for an amicably splitting married couple, he and Xiaoxiao decide to address their own relationship barriers ?

What a pleasure to read your editorial in support of Kathleen Brown--no sniping, no mud thrown--just preference for her sensitivity to the relationship between an elected official and the citizenry. Hayes would work diligently for the government of California, while Brown would work creatively for the people of California--a difference which could mean millions of dollars to this gorgeous state. JACQUELINE KERR Los Angeles

I think Johnson did a good job of carrying that dear baby, and yes, it was a good thing. Johnson should be appreciated as a great earth mother or a great aunt, as an important person. She should not be forsaken. Surely the eyes of that gorgeous baby shine out like a beacon of love, saying, "Do not forget her, she took good care of me." B. KORCHEK Santa Monica

When you're dueling with mogul Donald Trump over real estate, you'd better prepare to empty your wallet. That helps explain the $578-million price tag on Los Angeles Unified's most recent school construction project. District officials spent 20 years battling Trump, conservationists and neighborhood groups to build a school complex on the site of the famed Ambassador Hotel. A school construction project that began with a $50-million outlay became one of the most ambitious in the country, with three campuses on the site.

David Foster Wallace's novel "The Broom of the System" takes place in a Cleveland suburb which has been planned so that, from the air, it resembles the head of Jayne Mansfield. The movie actress and sex symbol died in a car crash in 1967 — decapitated, according to urban legend. So why shouldn't that once-gorgeous head become a model for playful city planners and a future distraction to airline pilots whizzing over the Midwest? That was the idea that occurred to an aspiring young fiction writer, then still an undergraduate at Amherst College.