Show Section Monday March 25 2002 Pagel 'The Herald Journal Internet is to make By Kelly Davis T X he other day I was watching some silly talk show and the topic of the day was not the usual “My sexy grandmother stole my man" although I did see that one too and let me just say that the grandmother seemed like a much nicer person than the granddaughter so who can blame the guy? ' Anyway the program in question had to do with the big bad evil Internet There was a family who was trying to talk their sister out of traipsing off to Pakistan to meet the man of her dreams whom she met on the Internet The sister came out smiling and insisted to her family that she just had to go to Pakistan and that was that I never saw how it ended and I don’t have much of an opinion about it except that she probably should have insisted that the guy meet her in Paris Anyway the Internet is changing the world I was at dinner with coworkers the other night and the subject came up One of the guys said that a relative of his who is handicapped met heir husband online and never would have connected with him otherwise Another guy piped up that he was having problems fixing his girlfriend’s Miata He posted the question to a Miata usergroup and within a few hours had! ive answers one oT which was the very thing he needed ' Personally I think the Internet is great however you have to be careful about talking to strangers My friend Ian who lives in New York and is always looking for Dream Woman said “Yeah there was that time when I went to meet this hot 18 yearold model and she turned out to be a fat man” About six years ago when the TV show “Friends” was new I wanted to cut my hair like Rachel (shaddap! who didn’t?) and went online to find out more about the actors I joined a “list” where the participants talk : about the show The way the list1 works is that every email you write to everyone on gets the list so in a sense you are “post- ing” your thoughts as if on a bill- letin board I found friends within die list dud I wanted to know better but whenever we tried to communicate with each other the “List Nazi” (a journalist from back East named Liz) would inform us that we were “off topic” Eventually die List Nazi’s power grew so great that someone formed a separate list called “The Basement” and invited some of us to join The only rule of The Basement is dud you cannot talk about “Friends” and you must always be “off topic” Soon the basement was more fun than die real list It consists of about 30 people and we discuss whatever we want The reason it works is because it has always been the same ' 30 people Basement dwellers con- sist of a homemaker in Waco a PhD physicist in London and everything in between For five wedhave our we discussed yean ' dings divorces babies politics entertainment everything and nothing In five years I have met most ' of them in person at weddings and v other events There have even been two marriages One day The Basement got a message from the List Nazi It was a teprful confession She was tired of tdling people off all the time and wanted to join us She was also (sniff) sniff sniff) 13 years old I Colorado woman takes decorating inspiration from her father’s career By Betsy Lehndorff Scripps Howard News Service tep beyond the fed door of Barbara McKellar’s home in Castle Rock Colo and you finter a world of lions k and tigers trapeze artists and bare-bac- riders McKellar recently updated her tract home near the rock the city was named after focusing the decor on historical circus posters collected by her father historian Chappie Fox In the process she created a luxurious retreat for herself as well as a house that’s 2400-square-fo- ideal for entertaining “As children growing up we went to every cir: cus we could” says McKellar who rides an ele- phant in the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee every July “My brother Peter end I were props in my father’s photographs with tlx wild animals horses or whatever” She and her brother also appeared in many children’s books her father wrote and illustrated McKellar a commercial real estate broker the home at a bargain bought ' in 1992 she’d price knowing eventually have to ' update its decor At the time she was a divorced mother in her 40s with two teenage sons and she - needed something affordable classic MShe moved intpu two-sto‘ home with stark white walls and oppressive dark-woo- d railings But she liked the home’s open floor and die location surrounded by mature pines plan and wild grasses Last year with her spns grown and gone McKellar hired interior designer Deborah Foster to start the renewal “Barb had a sense of style and knew what she wanted the end result to be” Foster says' “But she wanted guidance on what was new how to pull the fabrics together She definitely wanted me to say ' ' when she was headed in the wrong direction” ' McKellar wanted to upgrade the home's details and enlarge the cramped dining ropm for entertaindoors outing She planned to replace hollow-cor- e dated bathroom fixtures and hardware with better : intra-baseme- nt ernaatkadyjt09Oyahooxoip M J ' 0s ' - designs - Finally because of her hectic work schedule she' home wanted to create a The entire house was with nance vinyl Wood decks were replaced by plastic were installed across the decking and sprinklers ' entire landscape "I don’t do maintenance I don’t have the time” ' !j McKellar says The renovation completed in March 2001 transformed the home into a retreat low-maint- e- ed AP photos j On an upstairs balcony' an antique mahogany writing desk displays family photographs and mementos Top a Bamum & Bailey poster from 1912 lures customers by promising a glimpse of Cleopatra WlhSMipgeir: Nn Wm Into By Cindy Yurth features editor The stock market is alivg and well and this is a great time to invest in it according to financial manager Erica Whittlinger who addressed an overflow Crowd of students professors and local retirees at the Taggart Student Center at Utah State University Friday Whittlinger a regular on National Public Radio’s “Sound Money” program advised her 'audience to invest “as niuch as you can tolerate” in the stock market in spite of its recent downturn She produced charts' showing that since 1923 die market has over time outperformed bonds and treasury bills “Stocks are the only way to stay of taxes and inflation4' she stated i When one audience member pro- fessed being “digusted” by the stock market Whittlinger replied “That’s die rime to buy — when you’re rcalr ly disgusted” That’s when prices are the fewest she (feinted out- and the market is generally poised for a - : Kelly DuBois Dwfels a technical writer Mng In SmkMMd: 8he oanbe reached by late-197- ry ‘ auto-forward- ed ot 'rebound1 f-- v ’ Isn’t the stock market risky? “Jt's risky hot having stocks” Whittlinger countered Beginning investors who don’t want to hire a financial manager might want to try an index fund Whittlinger advised These invest across die board in the NASDAQ or die Standard & Poof 500 “so when you hear the NASDAQ has gone up three points you know exactly how your stocks are doing” Whittlinger explained A student pointed out that index nine-mon- th ftDte pF©©irat Mm&m y funds and Whittlinger How do you know if you’re “If you wake up at 4 in the morning worrying about the stock market you probably have too much in stocks” Whittlinger quipped For those who do wish to hirc a manager Whittlinger recommended doing a little homework First of all know how you want to invest and get a manager who offers the ucts you want Check die perron’s credentials with die NASDAQ and riate regulatory1 agencies ask about their education add experience 'and get references (“butrefnember they’re not going to give you die V name of a client who hates them”) “Thut your guttosome degree’ she advised “Vou have tobe comfort- able talking to that penod?: i gaaSOf A A over-investe- d? f it 1 J Brent StevenHerald Journal Erica Whittlinger shows a graph'of investment performance I bit leery of “captive1 afirrn if offers only oqe brand of mutual ' for instance they are probably ' getting a regular commission from that fund and won’t shop wound for something that may fit your needs better she added Also be : i salesorganizarions’--- " I l For those investing fbr retirement Whittlinger recommended puttings aside a minimum of four oi five cent of theur income per year and reserving “a big chunk of cash” $0 they arent forced to sell stock on a had market jusf to meet their daily ' heeds ’ - 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