Nagging

A sculptor is sick of his wife's being the perfect wife and mother. She's given up her art for him. She cooks. She takes care of their baby. She's happy. Despite his urging, she won't even have an affair. So he kills her. For being too nice. And then he kills himself. By bashing his head against his jail cell wall. This melodramatic reversal of the usual man-threatened-by-wife's-career theme is as contrived as it sounds.

Who'd a thunk it? I have loved Harlem for a long time before former President Clinton moved in. My wife and I loved it so much that we named our second son Marcus Dakar Harlem Shockley. When we lived there in the mid-1980s, we loved the good food one finds almost at random on every other block. We loved the vibrant worship life that brought tourists from across Europe--but we only had to catch the cross-town bus. We loved the 15-minute subway ride to Yankee Stadium.

MENTION New Yorker writer Caitlin Flanagan to a certain class of woman -- liberal, educated, media-savvy, professional -- and vitriol will almost certainly follow. She's been called "a retrograde feminist-hater," "shrill, smug and condescending," "an Old World elitist of the most lip-curling kind" even "the most repellent person in the world."

George Burns, the golfer, is easily distinguishable from George Burns, the comedian. Burns, the golfer, is the one who often wears a long face and who has a tendency to get down on himself. His idea of a good time is riding an exercise bike and lifting weights. Even on Sunday, his biggest day in golf, George Burns III seemed to fight the urge to smile broadly or say anything that might be described as amusing.

They looked like perfectly normal kids, riding bicycles in the streets and playing on a plastic jungle gym in their backyard. But neighbors had one nagging question about Michael and Sharen Gravelle's 11 children: How could all of them, 1 to 14 years in age, possibly live in such a small home? People are friendly but private in this rural community west of Cleveland, and nobody dared to intrude.

Amid all their comings and goings, the Clippers continue their quest for the playoffs tonight, opening a three-game homestand, sandwiched between road trips, against the San Antonio Spurs. Corey Maggette, a starting guard, is listed as questionable because of tendinitis in his left knee. If he doesn't start, Darius Miles will take his spot. However, Maggette practiced Wednesday and has resisted all efforts to get him to rest. "Corey's really hurt," Coach Alvin Gentry said.

Marcelo Rios' first appearance at the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA ended before he stepped on the court, an increasingly common occurrence for the 23-year-old Chilean. The fourth-seeded Rios withdrew on Monday because of tendinitis in both hips. He had been scheduled to play Magnus Larsson of Sweden today in the first round, and will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser, Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.

Like your abdomen, a car sags with age. The springs begin to lose their resiliency after years of use, and metal fatigue sets in. A car can sag a certain amount without any ill effect on your driving. But at some point, the car will bottom out on hard bumps and the overall handling will become progressively more mushy, prompting a frequent question: Should I replace my springs?. In years past, manufacturers frequently used leaf springs in the rear suspension system and coil springs in the front.

Even in this complicated age, rural America isn't necessarily the best place to be. A schoolmate from my days growing up in Palm Springs, Mary Jo Stephens Churchwell, recently sent me her book, "The Cabin on Sawmill Creek," about living 13 years in a rustic cabin in the Idaho Rockies. "There are all kinds of costs nowadays having nothing to do with old-fashioned, simple survival," Churchwell writes. "There are taxes on property, goods and gasoline.

Jessica's dad and I scrambled barefoot up the stairs, dribbling water and debating whether to launch ourselves down the Rattlers, or the Sidewinder, this time. Then Mark's eyes widened and he pointed up, forcing me to confront the biggest drag an adult faces in taking children to water parks: Every now and then, you've got to act like an adult.