A proper place for Oscars

A proper place for Oscars
NEW YORK -- Emma Thompson's husband restored a barn in Scotland that included a place for her to write, but the actress and screenwriter prefers the bathroom. She also keeps her Oscars there. "They look far too outr & eacute; anywhere else," Thompson, 46, told Time magazine. "They're great big, gold, shiny things. They're up there tarnishing quietly along with everything else I own, including my body." Thompson stars in and wrote the script for the upcoming film "Nanny McPhee," the story of an ugly but magical child minder. She compared the movie to a western, with a stranger who rides in to a chaotic situation and uses unorthodox methods to sort things out before leaving. "People say, 'Is it like "Mary Poppins?'" Actually, it's like 'Shane."'
Sex and the senior woman
NEW YORK -- Gail Sheehy, who tackles the sexuality of older women in her new book, "Sex and the Seasoned Woman," says adult children can be shocked at the idea of their mothers dating. "There certainly are middle-aged children who have an 'oh-my-God, Mom's-gone-wild' reaction if Mom starts to date," she told Time magazine. "But what they should recognize is that if Mom has a boyfriend, she won't be nagging them about how they have to come to her for Christmas." Sheehy, 68, has been examining human behavior for three decades, including her breakthrough book "Passages." She says she's healthy, energetic, has a lively libido and a loving husband. "So I hope I'll live to 100. But if I don't, I'll die trying," she said.
Today's birthdays
Author William Kennedy is 78. Author-editor Norman Podhoretz is 76. Opera singer Marilyn Horne is 72. Auto racer A.J. Foyt is 71. Singer Barbara Lynn is 64. Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 63. Country singer Jim Stafford is 62. Talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is 59. Movie director John Carpenter is 58. Actress-dancer-choreographer Debbie Allen is 56. Singer Sade is 47. Rock musician Paul Webb (Talk Talk) is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Maxine Jones (En Vogue) is 40. Actor David Chokachi is 38. Actor Richard T. Jones is 34. Actress Josie Davis is 33. Model Kate Moss is 32. Rock musician Nick Valensi (The Strokes) is 25. Actress Yvonne Zima is 17.