Occasion

I surrender. It's only the beginning of May, and I'm already worn out by all the gift-giving required by modern society. Maybe it's that I sent a relative flowers for her birthday and my inbox has subsequently been innundated with daily reminders that Mother's Day is approaching. Or maybe it's because I didn't realize that part of my responsibility as a spouse was making sure that my husband fulfilled his maternal obligations as well. No, it's probably that I know I won't be delivering my own mother the present she's been wanting for years --- a grandchild.

Shortly after 8 a.m., a dollar was lost by a member of the general public in a legal slot machine in Maryland for the first time in more than 40 years. The moment probably lacked some of the satisfying drama one associates with slot machines — a quarter dropping into a slot, an arm being pulled, clicking reels; all that has largely been replaced by casino credits, push buttons and electronic displays. But the occasion was an important one nonetheless. After a decade and a half of debate, the opening of the Hollywood Casino in Perryville meant Maryland has finally joined most of its neighbors in expanding gambling to shore up its finances.

A woman who says she is the mother of Terrell Suggs' children has filed a $70 million lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court, alleging that the Ravens linebacker abused her on two occasions last month. Candace Williams, 26, filed the suit Tuesday along with a separate complaint seeking custody of their two small children. The cases come on the heels of a restraining order she filed last week against Suggs, claiming that he knocked her to the ground and spilled bleach on her and their infant son. A hearing in that case is scheduled today.

You'd be forgiven for not recognizing Mariah Carey in her role as a dowdy welfare caseworker in the urban drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." The legendarily high-maintenance pop diva underwent a soup-to-nuts physical transformation, checking her glossy celebrity patina at the door in order to convincingly portray the film's Ms. Weiss: a drab but deeply empathetic soul helping a troubled teenager in 1980s Harlem. Far from the image Carey has cultivated for years, the character is no oil painting of music-video pulchritude, with her lank hair, a wardrobe of rayon sweater-coats and, yes, even a sparse mustache creeping across her upper lip. "I had to lose all vanity," Carey said.

MIAMI - -This was the last way that the Orioles wanted their five-game winning streak and one of their most improbable comebacks of the season to end. Trailing by three runs with two outs and nobody on in the ninth, the Orioles strung together five straight singles to tie a game that minutes earlier they appeared to have no chance of winning. However, they were forced to trudge off the field in the bottom of the 12th as the Florida Marlins celebrated a 7-6 victory before what remained of an announced 10,222 on Tuesday night at Land Shark Stadium.

As incense smoke danced in the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows, Anthonia Nwoga knelt in the hushed chapel for the long-awaited moment. It took but a few seconds. Off came the white veil she had worn for the past year. On went a black one that she may keep for life. Taking the black veil Wednesday signified Nwoga's first profession of vows - a key step toward a permanent commitment to the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the nation's oldest religious order of African-American women, founded in Baltimore 180 years ago. For this Catholic congregation, based since 1961 in Catonsville, Nwoga's decision brings a fresh dose of hope at a time of declining numbers at religious orders.

I did a double take one afternoon when I spotted a large ad plastered across an MTA transit bus. The elongated placard was from the Archdiocese of Baltimore and bore the words "The Light Is on for You." The ad caught me off my guard. It was saying to Baltimore's Roman Catholics during Lent: Get up and go to confession. Confess to a priest. 'Fess up - and seek spiritual advice from someone trained in giving it. Confession, Reconciliation, Sacrament of Penance - whatever its name - went into a sharp decline after the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s.