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    Annette Cardwell, Shine staff

    Annette Cardwell, Shine staff

  • Do men really need to learn from Edward Cullen?

    The latest "Twilight" film, "New Moon," comes out today, and if you're a Twi-hard, you're probably a little excited about this. I should know; I've read all the books and have seen/will see the movies. I'm a rabid romance junkie, and these stories are like catnip to chicks like me.How can I resist?

  • Why I feel duped by the anti-vaccine movement

    I have a 3-year-old daughter and a kid on the way. So I am fully aware of the vaccine debate. And by now, I've been conditioned to believe that my thinking on vaccines should always be, "Question everything."But having just read the November cover story from Wired ("An Epidemic of Fear"), I'm now qu

  • Is "Where the Wild Things Are" really for kids?

    I just saw "Where the Wild Things Are" over the weekend, and honestly, I never really thought of it as a children's movie at all. It may be based on a beloved children's book that's especially resonant with people of my generation, but a 90-minute meditative film by Spike Jonze doesn't really sound

  • Roman Polanski: Is it still a crime if the victim wants it to go away?

    Until a few days ago, I'd not really given the Roman Polanski story much thought-he was basically a punchline to jokes about men interested in much-younger women. So I went looking for the facts of the case, and wow. Let's be clear about what this guy is accused of doing, so there's no confusion.In

  • A Gen-Xer eulogy for John Hughes

    I'm a sentimental type overall, but not generally sentimental publicly. But I'd love if you all would allow me a sentimental moment here on Shine.John Hughes died today, and the news floored me. I felt like a little piece of my childhood died with him. Melodramatic? Perhaps, but when I look back on

  • Happy Father's Day, from Shine

    This Sunday is Father's Day, and while we're usually all about the strength of moms on Shine, this weekend is purely for the dads in our lives. Father's Day is all about showing those amazing men who raised us, our children, and others in our family how much we appreciate them.Here on Shine, we've h

  • How cool! We grew our own gourmet mushrooms at home

    A few weeks back, some friends came over for dinner during their visit to San Francisco, and as a gift, they handed us a bag with what appeared to be a big chocolate babka in it. But instead of being a yummy sweet, it was actually one of these: a mushroom mini farm from Far West Fungi. While it's a

  • Why do teens think Rihanna should stand by a man she says abused her?

    After hearing that singer Chris Brown allegedly beat up his girlfriend pop star Rihanna, my friends and I (which include the other editors here on Shine) were outraged: How could such a seemingly nice guy have done such a horrifying thing to our beloved Rihanna?And then, the photo of Rihanna's batte

  • Shine's guide to having an awesome Valentine's Day

    It's Valentine's Day this weekend, and unlike any other holiday, this day means a lot of different things to a lot of different women. But we Shine editors really want all of you to have a great Valentine's, so we took time to round up the best posts we've seen that offer ideas on how to celebrate--

  • News flash: Teens who take virginity pledges don't keep them

    Here's something most people don't know about me: I was a pretty hardcore Christian when I was a teen. I'm talking Southern Baptist who went on missionary trips -- stuff like that. And at some point, I took a virginity pledge to save myself for marriage. And, due more to my social anxiety with boys

  • History is made: America's 44th President, Barack Obama

    The 2008 Presidential election is finally over, and the country has spoken. Barack Obama is now the 44th President of the United States.And no matter who you voted for today, you must admit -- it's truly been a historic run for the White House. We saw the first African-American nominee and first ser

  • Now it’s your turn: Shine readers’ thoughts on Sarah Palin

    Tonight, Governor Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for Vice President, and for the last two days, Shine readers chimed in about this historic nominee. We were so impressed with the responses to yesterday's story about Palin that we highlighted your comments and blog posts. Here are som

  • Why we’re perplexed by Sarah Palin

    So, it's official: John McCain announced on Friday that he's picked a woman as his running mate, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. And while most of us here at Shine are normally thrilled to see a strong-willed, principled woman rise to such great heights in the halls of power, we're still all sorting t

  • Is it playtime in the Olympic village once the games have ended?

    Since Michael Phelps made Olympic history, there's been a lot of speculation about who he's dating or who he might be dating in the near future. But there's also the rumors about him hooking up with fellow Olympian, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice. Which begs the question: With so many young, high

  • Trailer for Oliver Stone's upcoming "W:" Holy cow

    When I first heard Oliver Stone was making a biopic of George W. Bush, I chuckled and thought, "Here comes a hit piece!" But today, I saw the teaser trailer for "W," and it looks pretty incredible.Check it out:

  • Big bucks for the Jolie-Pitt baby photos going to charity: Why aren't all celebs this awesome?

    If you haven't already heard (aka been living under a rock), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie welcomed the latest addition to their massively-growing brood over the weekend -- this time twins Knox Leon & Vivienne Marcheline. And honestly, I really love the unusual yet kind gorgeous names, which are said

  • HBO, what happened to you? (Or how I learned to love Showtime)

    This past weekend, I got a little sad thinking about how only a year ago, much of my TiVo list was made up of HBO. But now I look at it, and my TiVo is nearly HBO free! Now I wonder, what in the world happened?Think back on the greatness that was the old HBO. They had "The Sopranos." "The Wire." "Cu

  • 10 Years of 'Sex:' How "Sex and the City" changed our lives

    It's finally here! The much-anticipated "Sex and the City: The Movie" comes out this weekend, and many of us 'Sex' addicts will be shaking up some cosmos with our best gal pals ahead of a night at the movies to celebrate.We, the editors here at Shine, have been having our own virtual cosmo party her

  • 10 Years of 'Sex:' Our top 6 mommy moments

    While Sex and the City was mostly about sex and the single girl in New York City, it evolved to become about love and the not-so-single woman and even mom. Maybe that's why so many of us ladies love the show so much -- sure, it appealed to the shoe-shopping, cocktail-swilling, boy-loving side of us;

  • Do good parents play GTA 4? Of course!

    At our house last week, we got our much-anticipated copy of "Grand Theft Auto: IV." Here's a game that nearly every parent's group from MADD to my local mom's list condemned. But I'm taking a stand as a gamer parent, and saying, I can have my kids and be a good parent, too.Bottom line: I know kids s