Skin

Last week we learned that adult children of divorce will almost always revert to childish behaviors. Case in point, Briana, the daughter previously known as The Most Reasonable Person in Orange County, dissolved into a impertinent, recalcitrant, petulant brat upon meeting her mother's boyfriend. This week Briana grows up and fights like a big girl … but we'll get there soon enough. Elsewhere in the O.C., there are tiaras to be worn and bling to be bought as Alexis goes all out for her little princesses, and Slade decides to declare Gretchen his queen.

Tattoos aren't just for outlaws anymore. Maybe they never were, but for years, popular culture suggested otherwise. Just think of the movies: Robert Mitchum's homicidal preacher in "The Night of the Hunter," with "Love" and "Hate" tattooed on his knuckles; Robert De Niro's vengeance-crazed ex-con in "Cape Fear," his torso covered in soulless ink; or Ralph Fiennes' serial killer, Dolarhyde, in "Red Dragon," his back emblazoned with an elaborate, and...

The Ravens got under Eric Gilbert's skin this week. Wednesday found the 33-year-old football fan stretched out in a Hampden tattoo parlor as an artist carved the image of a raven into his flesh. For three hours, Gilbert lay still as the tattoo machine hummed along, its razor-sharp needles burrowing just beneath the skin to produce the tattoo of his dreams. Never mind the pain, he said. "I wanted something to pay homage to the Ravens," said Gilbert of Hampden. "And I'd like to think this will bring them luck."

Two new government studies show young people are still putting themselves at risk for skin cancer by getting sunburned and going to indoor tanning beds. One study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that half of those aged 18 to 29 had at least one sunburn it the past year, though they were increasingly using sunscreen, seeking shade and wearing protective clothing. The other study by the National Cancer Institute found 32 percent of those 18 to 21 were going to indoor tanning salons and 30 percent of those 22 to 25 were.

Janet Gilbert's column "The college we visited was mighty nice … and mighty white" (June 16) is a good example of racism. The student population was judged on skin color alone. Ms. Gilbert has taught her child to see only color. The wonderful diversity of cultures such as Greek, Italian, Hungarian, English, Canadian, French, Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Polish, Czech, Swedish and Finnish — plus the many combinations thereof — were completely ignored. Hopefully, her children will be wise enough to see beyond skin color.

It's going to get cold again this weekend and the perfect time to winterize your skin. Frigid temperatures, dry hair, high home heat and winter sun can wreak havoc on your skin. If you don't fend off the damage you'll be looking at botox by the time your 30. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) suggest that at least 81 million Americans experience dry, itchy or scaly skin during the winter months. Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Rebecca A. Kazin has tips to keeping skin healthy.

Sammy Sosa said he's using a "bleaching cream" to soften his skin and is not trying to change his pigmentation. "I'm not a racist," the former Orioles outfielder told ESPN Deportes. Sosa, in his first public remarks since the famous photos became public, said he's not trying to look like Michael Jackson . "What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright TV lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don't think I look like Michael Jackson," he said to ESPN Deportes.

The first words the audience hears in "Yellowman" are a vivid evocation of what it's like to toil in summer under the South Carolina sun. The sun, we are told, can make you see things that aren't there. The sun is something you hear. And that's ironic, because the performance space in the spare and poetic production running at Rep Stage in Columbia seems perpetually cast in shadow. But as theater-goers' eyes struggle to pierce the subtly modulated layers of gray, we end up seeing with more clarity than we did before.

IT SOUNDS logical that patients with health insurance would be less likely to seek unnecessary tests and treatment if they had to bear some of the cost - had "some skin in the game," as Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee put it the other day. In fact, co-pays and deductibles work well in employer-sponsored plans for middle-income workers to discourage overuse of specialists and frequent trips to the doctor's office. Erecting such barriers in Medicaid, though, as the National Governors Association recommends, would likely cost more than it would save.

In an effort to catch skin cancers while they can still be cured, local hospitals will offer free screenings throughout May where dermatologists will advise people whether to seek additional care for skin blemishes, moles and discolorations.Melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of cancer -- killing 7,300 people each year in the United States -- yet most Americans don't know its warning signs. Free screenings are being offered across the country in a campaign organized by the American Academy of Dermatology.

Summer is just around the corner, but its damaging rays and humidity have already arrived. We all know too much sun can damage skin and speed aging, while too much moisture can clog pores. With the right products, you can keep your skin safe from the sun and harness the season's humidity. Here are five ways to make sure your skin stays healthy this season: 1. Pick a broad-spectrum sunscreen. New sunscreen labeling laws require companies to reveal whether their products block UVA rays, UVB rays or both.

Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron was a young coach at the University of Michigan when his then head coach Bo Schembechler noticed a spot on his back. The spot turned out to be a malignant mole and Cameron was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma. Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer. Cameron was treated and survived and is now speaking out about skin cancer. He will be featured in a 30-second public service announcement for the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation, a national nonprofit headquartered in Maryland that promoted melanoma research and prevention.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch was treated this week for what he called a non life-threatening form of skin cancer -- a condition he attributes largely to his years of work as a lifeguard at a time when sunblock was less effective and often went unused. Busch revealed the treatment, which involved cutting away an affected patch of skin on his leg,  during an interview on an unrelated topic. He said the condition is a basal cell cancer that is neither malignant nor life-threatening.

Trayvon Martin was me, Ricardo Alonzo Summers in 1988. I lived in a neighborhood in Calvert County called Scientist Cliffs. Scientist Cliffs was established in the 1930s as a private, tony beach community by a handful of employees from the Department of Agriculture with very strict covenants as to who could purchase a home with in it's gates. Even the future Comptroller of Maryland Louis Goldstein was denied entry. This incident only inspired Mr. Goldstein to buy a huge majority of the land surrounding the neighborhood, preventing any potential for further development and eventually making him one of the largest land owners in the state of Maryland.

If most plays about race tackle that touchy topic in literally black-and-white terms, Dael Orlandersmith's 2002 play "Yellowman" favors shades of black. Brace yourself as the playwright's skin-deep insights soon go deeper in a fine Rep Stage production. For all its thematic integrity, there are times when Orlandersmith's socially pointed, two-character drama seems on the verge of becoming overly didactic and static. Bear with her play's message-on-the-sleeve passages, however, because its dramatic substance comes across in the most crucial scenes.

The first words the audience hears in "Yellowman" are a vivid evocation of what it's like to toil in summer under the South Carolina sun. The sun, we are told, can make you see things that aren't there. The sun is something you hear. And that's ironic, because the performance space in the spare and poetic production running at Rep Stage in Columbia seems perpetually cast in shadow. But as theater-goers' eyes struggle to pierce the subtly modulated layers of gray, we end up seeing with more clarity than we did before.

Title: "Brazil"Author: John UpdikePublisher: KnopfLength, price: 264 pages, $23We are so naked! No animal is as naked as we. In our nearly hairless, thin, shining skins, we are terrifyingly visible. Our hearts are close to the surface. Everything can hurt us.It is true that love can touch us with deep and indelible exquisiteness, but so can pain. Are we, stripped of the surer glory of feathers or fur, ridiculous or beautiful? All human hide is changeable and vague, compared with the ancient, confident coat of animals.

First, they take a scalpel and scrape the top layer of skin from your face. Then, they spread acid where they just finished scraping.Some kind of torture, you ask, aimed at getting prisoners to talk?Not even close. It's a skin care treatment designed to remove acne or other facial scars, tighten wrinkles and heal skin damage caused by over-exposure to the sun.Not only do women freely submit to this treatment, called BioMedic MicroPeel, they shell out $75 at a time for the pleasure. And they say it doesn't hurt.

It's going to get cold again this weekend and the perfect time to winterize your skin. Frigid temperatures, dry hair, high home heat and winter sun can wreak havoc on your skin. If you don't fend off the damage you'll be looking at botox by the time your 30. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) suggest that at least 81 million Americans experience dry, itchy or scaly skin during the winter months. Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Rebecca A. Kazin has tips to keeping skin healthy.

After 10 years in business, the staff of Medical Skin Therapeutics knows how to adapt and keep current in the ever-evolving medical spa market. “We try to reach people of all ages and skin types,” says Paulina Collins, a registered nurse and licensed esthetician who founded the spa with its director, Dr. Warren Ross. “This is an ever-changing business for one thing, and we're always trying to keep up with current trends. Right now, a really big service is laser hair removal.” The Ellicott City medi-spa, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in November, offers services like Botox, facials, permanent makeup and more.