Sure, you may be friends with your parents. You may also SAY to people that you are friends with your parents. But, really, when you think about who your mom and dad are (granted they are still with us), as people and not as your parents, do you think you'd still be friends with them?

I'm not sure how things were in previous generations, but it seems like lately people have less than ever in common with their parents. That doesn't necessarily make for an un-friendly situation, but it is food for thought. The things we care about may seem different of course, but we haven't lived as long as our parents (in most cases) and we haven't had the same experiences they've had--the kind that change the very core of our beings. Things like having children of our own put us more on the same page with our parents every day, whether we realize it or not.

And perhaps that's what it is--can you be friends with someone with whom you have too much in common? Or does friendship come down to more than things in common versus not? Many people have said to me, I don't have to like my family--they're FAMILY. I've also heard that while you love your family, you may not particularly like them (anyone got that funny uncle everyone's always talking about?). Others feel that they have a strong bond with their parents that outshines that of the biological bond.

What about you? Would you be friends with your parents if they weren't related to you?

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According to the rumor mill, which has been churning for a while now on this one, actress Naomi Watts is pregnant with her second child. The Aussie is allegedly four months along.

Watts is married to fellow actor Liev Schreiber, with whom she has son Alexander, who will turn one this July. Watts' best friend, Nicole Kidman, is due this year as well, just a few months before Naomi, if the rumors are true. Hey, no time like the present to get moving with making your family. Have all the kids now and then get back to your original shape and all that movie-making business, eh?

Good luck and congratulations to Naomi and Liev!

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Looking for an, er, interesting way to celebrate the 4th of July holiday this year? How about with food! Sure food will play a crucial role in your celebration--it generally does--but why not toss things up a bit this time around, and even make it fun for the kids?

We're considering doing a menu of all red, white and blue foods. Yes, blue foods. Now we all know there are no naturally occurring blue foods--unless you count blueberries amongst your tally--but it's a fun treasure hunt to think of and then collect foods that are blue (if not naturally so) along with their easier to uncover red and white versions, all in the name of patriotism.

Red foods include strawberries, tomatoes--if you're feeling adventurous, and I'm decidedly not this holiday weekend--as well as cherries and various other kinds of fruit. One could twist on that and include red meat in the menu along with ketchup. White foods, while not that healthy, are in abundance. You have white bread, potatoes (and therefore potato salad?) as well as eggs (sans the yolk), milk, yogurt and various kinds of cheese. You could also go the white meat route with this one. And the blue foods? Well, other than the blueberry and some types of edible flowers, the only blue foods I can think of are Popsicles and Icees. You could dye pasta blue, as I did once, for blue pasta salad, but I don't think anyone would eat it. There are also blue potatoes and blue Terra Chips as well as blue corn tortilla chips. Dessert could always be blue--no one seems to fear blue icing.

Can you think of any 'blue' foods to include at a picnic or celebration this Fourth of July?

Pic of blue eggs by the_moog.

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Diplomats in Geneva recently set new limits on the amount of certain kinds of bacteria allowable in baby formula as well as the level of natural toxins in some types of nuts. They also tackled the amount of gluten permissible in products labeled 'gluten-free.' The safety standards will apply to all internationally shipped foods.

The outcome of the standards is to hopefully affect hygiene practices and therefore reduce the amount of contamination of two kinds of bacteria in powdered formulas which have been known to cause illness and death in infants. Foods labeled gluten-free would not be able to contain more than 20 milligrams of gluten per kilogram, nor could they contain wheat, rye, barley or oats. Regulations were also set for the amounts of aflotoxins in almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. Aflotoxins are known carcinogens in lab animals.

Over 170 countries claim membership to The Codex Alimentarius Commission responsible for making these decision, which also includes the European Union. Other topics for consideration are frozen foods, flavoring, tomatoes (no surprise there given the United States' recent issues with them) and mineral water.

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It's officially summer. To me that means long evenings, watermelon and picnics. Preferably watermelon served all day at the picnic and into the long evening. While I never grow tired of picnic food--burgers, potato salad and pasta salad come to mind--by the end of the summer many people do. The Minimalist over at the New York Times has compiled a list of 101 ideas to ratchet your picnic dining experience up a notch. I was interested enough in trying something new to give the menu a glance, but my critical eye looked for easy, simple recipes and ingredients I'd be able to both pronounce and unearth at a local supermarket while still tending to my number one job, being a mom.

Some of the recipes are familiar or simple enough. Make egg salad and add curry powder to make curried egg salad. That sounds yummy. If I had kids old enough to eat egg salad they might freak out though. The cornflake chicken bites seem more the kid-speed. If you're going to take the time to make fried chicken you might as well throw cornflakes on it and make it bite-sized for your little ones. I would definitely give that one a try. Other recommendations include some that can be store-bought, which is simpler and easier if not cheaper. My aunt never arrives to any event without a deli-bought relish tray. Does it really make a difference if she or someone else is cutting up the vegetables? I don't think so--they crunch just the same.

The 101 ideas provide something for everyone and some recipes are easy enough to make, to modify or to buy at the store. That makes for a good picnic. The kids might be confused by the non-picnic basics though. Worst case scenario? Make some of these for the adults and stick with the hotdogs and burgers for the kids. But perhaps try to get them to try some egg salad with curry in it, just for fun. Jsut don't forget the watermelon.

What about you? Any great ideas for a little something different at the picnic that even the kids will enjoy?

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There's a lot to appreciate Maggie Gyllenhaal for--she's a great actor who tackles thoughtful roles. Perhaps the producers of her new movie appreciate her even more now that she's a mom. Gyllenhaal recently used her parenting skills on the set of the movie Farlanders to calm two of her co-stars.

Gyllenhaal is starring in the film, her first since becoming a parent in 2006, alongside eleven-month-old twins. At one point the babies were crying incessantly and unable to be stopped. Gyllenhaal slipped into mother mode and calmed them so filming could continue.

Maggie thanks her lucky stars she was a mother and had learned those skills. Says Gyllenhaal, "If I had not been a mom and known how to calm a baby, talk and hold the baby, the whole day would've been wasted." She also stated that she felt like a mom the whole day, not just at home but also on the set. Brings new meaning to the term 'working mother,' eh? good work, Maggie!

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Many of you may remember the television show Arrested Development. While critically acclaimed it didn't get much viewership, despite being very funny and witty. Perhaps it was because the show centered around yet another dysfunctional family, this one set in affluent California. Many, however, possibly a little too much, related to the crazy antics of the family and were sad to see them go when the show was canceled after three seasons.

Now, the stars of the show have another chance to reclaim some glory as Arrested Develoment becomes a movie, like many shows before it--the Simpsons comes to mind; while Homer and Bart put the "D" in dysfunctional, their show wasn't canceled. Jeffrey Tambor, who plays the imprisoned (and escapee) patriarch of the Bluth family, is especially excited to be rejoining his fellow castmates on the big screen, which includes Jason Bateman (on whom I've had a crush since I was a kid) and Portia De Rossi.

Are you looking forward to the Arrested Development movie? Are the Bluths your favorite dysfunctional tv family, or are the Simpsons more your speed?

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Hey, remember Molly Ringwald? Well, she's back, and in more ways than one. The former teen star, memorable for such culture- and era-designing movies such as Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, is now starring in a television drama about teens. This time, however, the forty-year-old is playing mom to one of them.

And that teen happens to be pregnant. You may recall Molly is no stranger to the teen pregnancy plot. She played a pregnant teen in the movie For Keeps. Perhaps she'll be drawing from that experience for her latest project. Another project Molly has going for her is motherhood, so this role should be an easy one (as if being a mother, even playing one, was EVER easy!).

According to Molly, the key between moms and teen daughters is really communication. Her hope is to spread that message and curtail as many unplanned pregnancies as possible. The movie is titled The Secret Life of the American Teenager as is set to debut July 1st.

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Would you use the new milk jug? Or, are you wedded to the cardboard cartons of what is soon to be the past? I remember when I was a kid and we got milk delivered to our house every week in a glass bottle. Nothing tasted more refreshing. By the time I was a teen those days were gone and we got cartons. Now, those cartons are being replaced by something less expensive to produce and more environmentally sound.

Sound good? It is. Still, the new concept has some consumers fuming, or at least perplexed. The problem with the new milk jug is that it SPILLS. Kids drink more milk than anybody, and this new design, being favored by places like Wal-Mart and Costco, which is becoming more available by the day, is not easy to use.

Kids have trouble pouring anyway, but the new milk jug, so foreign in its design to many, makes that simple task more manageable. Some sellers have taken it upon themselves to educate consumers on the how-to, to make pouring from the jug easier. Folks still are a little unnerved by the square shape of the jug--and they're not convinced the same old milk is in there. I had the same problem with Parmalat. Now I love it, but it was hard getting used to it at first.

What about you? Had any experience with the new milk? And???

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This chilling incident luckily had a (mostly) happy ending. A fourteen-year-old girl was attacked by a bear during a bike race in Alaska but was saved by her 911 phone call. The teenager, who remains unnamed as of press-time, was participating in a 24-hour long mountain bike race in Anchorage when she was mauled.

The girl was able to make a call to 911, wherein all she was able to say was the word "bear." She later underwent surgery at a local hospital. Experts say the bear was probably a sow grizzly, and some speculate it was the same bear that went after two joggers earlier thew past week.

Dispatchers called the girl back as part of regular procedure, and another biker heard the ringing and went onto the darkened trail to investigate, discovering the teenager. Another biker remained with her until help arrived, despite the knowledge of the bear attack. Although little information has been released about the teen's condition, Police Lieutenant. Paul Honeman said the girl was in a fight for her life.

Grizzly pic by Ber'Zophus.

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