Lifestyles

"Minnie 'n Me, Songs Just for Girls," the first release from Walt Disney Records' new live-artist recording division, is due out today on CD and cassette. Accompanied by a massive merchandising of Minnie Mouse-themed product, it's not just an album, it's a "lifestyle campaign," according to Mark Jaffe, vice president in charge of the division.

A decade ago, if you admitted to having an organic lifestyle, you might have been labeled a granola-eating kook. These days the phrase "organic lifestyle" has taken on a certain cachet. It suggests you have the money to buy produce at one of the upscale natural foods supermarkets, use expensive cosmetics such as the plant-based Aveda line, and wear supermodel Christy Turlington's yoga-inspired sportswear from Saks Fifth Avenue.

Gilbert Delgado coaches Little League now. Debbie, his wife, is a devoted mother whose world revolves around her two young children. But here in their lawyer's office, the attractive, well-dressed Santa Ana couple are sobbing and literally clinging to each other as they relive a time five years ago when life was different and a lot of mistakes were made.

It's always a bit disconcerting when you realize that if someone looked up the word gay in the dictionary, he or she might find your picture there with the words "archetypal homosexual" written underneath it. It could happen. I say this because the other day I was leafing through a copy of "The Unofficial Gay Manual," a new tongue-in-cheek guide to gay life written by Kevin Dilallo and Jack Krumholtz, and came across a list of 18 films every gay man should see. I've seen 16 of them.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

The walk-in closet of Norman Weiss is divided along the lines of his life. On the right are London-cut suits, power sport coats, tailored coordinates. These he collectively waves off. "My old uniform," he says. The clothing Weiss wears now hangs on the left, a much smaller collection of jeans and sweats that he wears to work. It reflects the casualness of the new life of Norman and Claire Weiss and the quieter way in which they live it.

There's no conniving Amanda Woodward -- Heather Locklear's "Melrose Place" character -- in the building. Not yet, anyway. But residents of the Rob Clark, a new condo conversion in West Hollywood, say life there often imitates the campy '90s TV show where the overwrought dramas of successful, wildly attractive twentysomethings played out inside an L.A. apartment complex.

It's show time at the old Elgin Opera House, and Sammy's come to town. But watch out: He's got the .30-caliber Ruger Blackhawk slung on his hip. The last time Sammy came to the opera house, the story goes, a John Wayne movie was playing. Sammy got so excited when an Indian sneaked out from behind a rock that he opened fire on the screen. Asked to confirm the story, Sam Horrell only smiles. But the Ruger goes everywhere with him.

All your exes live in Texas. So you won't take the job there. But the man of your dreams is in Ely, Nev., just off Route 50--"The Loneliest Road in America." That's where you should go to work. But wait. If you stay here (even though you're not sure you like the city), you could make partner in a year or so. Then again, you really love San Francisco. Hiking on weekends, near the water, great road trips, cool people . . . maybe you should just move there and then look for a job.

There are few issues in a marina more likely to rock the boats than the topic of live-aboards -- people or families who live full time on board. For some, it's the fulfillment of a fantasy lifestyle -- the freedom to pick up anchor on a whim, living unburdened by possessions beyond one's true needs. But the reality is that people choose to live on the water for a number of practical reasons as well.