Lifestyles

Peyton Manning would be missed all over Indianapolis were he to wind up with another NFL team. But no place would miss him more than the St. Elmo Steak House. For years Manning has been a regular at the restaurant, an institution in downtown Indianapolis for more than a century. He's also part-owner of Harry & Izzy's, the sister restaurant next door. It was at the St. Elmo, however, that Manning reviewed his rookie contract in 1998, polishing off a 24-ounce steak in the process.

Barbara Unsworth, Chino Hills My first small change was to participate in Jazzercise classes two or three times per week, purely for fun. The movement felt good, as did the positive social ambience. After six months or so, I noticed a slight change in the way my clothes fit. The next step was to purchase a scale to see what this change in my clothes was about. With pounds slowly but surely coming off, at the rate of about a pound per month, I became motivated to watch my food intake.

Brian Frons, the longtime president of ABC Daytime, is leaving the network amid its high-stakes transition from soap operas to lower-cost talk and lifestyle shows. In recent months, there have been rumblings about Frons' own future as ABC canceled two of its three long-running soap operas — "All My Children" and "One Life to Live. " Frons joined the network in 2002 to oversee soap operas and other daytime programming. But the once-lucrative soap opera genre has steadily lost viewers, and the shows no longer are profitable.

No subject has drawn more attention during the run-up to the MLS Cup on Sunday than David Beckham's future. Will he return to the Galaxy? Will he take untold millions to play in (pick one) France, Brazil, England or Asia? Will he retire and accept an offer to host a talk show on TBS? The man at the middle of the maelstrom insists he doesn't know. "I'm concentrating on this game. Simple as that," Beckham said. "My decision will come after that, once I get a bit of a rest and see where I am. " Should Beckham begin that rest with an MLS championship, the decision might be a bit easier to make.

  Three years ago, Quentin Derrick was eating clams at a beach-side restaurant in Da Nang. As he gazed east at the South China Sea, he couldn't believe what was rolling in. Derrick has lived in Vietnam for eight years and surfed a good part of the Vietnamese coastline. But he didn't think it compared - surfing-wise - with the coastlines of Spain, France, Scotland, Morocco, Indonesia or his native Australia. He hadn't expected to find good waves in Da Nang, Vietnam's fourth-largest city, but the ones breaking off Non Nuoc Beach looked eminently carve-able.

Compared with most of the region's white-collar office market, the less corporate environs of Santa Monica and Venice are looking sharp. Technology and entertainment companies that long ago mastered the knack of making money without dressing up are now paying top dollar to rent space in some of Southern California's most desirable neighborhoods. The office vacancy rate in downtown Santa Monica is a mere 4%, a fraction of the county average, said real estate broker Craig Kish of Jones Lang LaSalle.

They are going to class, taking out loans and renting instead of buying. Is this the NBA lifestyle? "It's like I'm still a college student," said Malcolm Lee, the former UCLA guard and now-in-limbo Minnesota Timberwolves rookie. "It's the same life. No income checks are coming in, none of that good stuff that comes with being in the NBA. " Lee is living in a Los Angeles apartment, working out in Westwood and driving what he called "my little car from college. " It's almost as if he's still a Bruin, except for the lack of eligibility after being selected in the second round of the NBA draft four months ago. Andrew Goudelock remains a Cougar, at least in the classroom.

She is described by people who hired her as modest, generous, pleasant and so ordinary they struggle to recall anything about her. Her lifestyle showed no sign of extravagance. Quite the opposite. The politicians and consultants who trusted Kinde Durkee with millions of dollars saw little to hint that she might become vilified as "the Bernie Madoff of campaign finance treasurers. " The 1950-vintage house she owns with her husband on a tidy street in Long Beach's Bixby Knolls is distinguished by its neglect.

Much has been made this year about the behemoth baby boom generation reaching retirement age. But another significant milestone is slipping past a bit more quietly yet with noticeable impact. The first wave of Gen-Xers has rounded 40, and they are changing the face of what it means to be middle-aged. Women of this generation - think Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie - are pushing waifish teens off magazine covers, starring in movies, inspiring cosmetics and fragrances, wearing bikinis at the beach and minis to the mall.

Dear Liz: I was laid off in November 2009. For the first year, I took the unemployment and tried to find a job without success. So, in late 2010, I started my own business, contracting mainly for employers for whom I used to work. Unfortunately, I am making about a third of what I used to make, and even after cutting expenses, there are months that I can't pay my bills. I have taken two withdrawals from my self-directed IRA this year. Is that the smartest thing to do? Or should I even out my cash flow by writing myself loans from my home equity line of credit?