Author: Ann Bauer

Dr. Charles Billington divides his obese patients into two distinctly different groups: those who have choices, and those who don’t.“Demographically, we know that people in lower socioeconomic areas are greatly, disproportionately affected by obesity,” he says. “Folks in those lower-economic, lower-education situations have little or no access to whole foods. They also have a lack…

Every morning, I get up all bleary and I pour my coffee and I sit down with my laptop and I tell my little stories. Character, plot, narrative, theme. I think I have a handle on these things. Most days, I feel competent. Then I read or see something like The Syringa Tree, which is…

I hear other teenagers hang out on street corners and in pool halls. My son and his friends? Throughout all four years of high school, at every time of the day and night, they could be found clustered in the same place: the St. Louis Park Byerly’s. Until now. Tonight (February 18) at midnight, all…

Here it is, practically the eve of the Oscars, and I’ve yet to see two of the five movies nominated for best picture. I didn’t care for No Country; I liked but did not absolutely love Juno. So far, my money’s on There Will Be Blood, which was not only a magnificent film but the…

Tons of successful restaurants are hidden in obscure buildings or out-of-the-way places: duplex, cafe Levain, 112 eatery. In these cases, the humble, back-door, sidestreet locations seem only to make them hotter. . . .more desirable. So I can never figure out what, exactly, is going on with Fugaise. The two-and-a-half year old enterprise of wunderkind…

I used to think hating Diablo Cody was only a regional pasttime. This is, after all, an area lousy with writers who have not written Writers Guild of America award-winning screenplays or gotten incredibly rich and famous or appeared on David Letterman. And sometimes, when the wind is blowing in the right direction, I swear…