Zen

Zen music player is a worthy rival to Apple iPod Creative Technologies, the longtime standard-setter in PC-based music, has finally produced a portable digital player that rivals Apple's elegant iPod - for less money. The Nomad Jukebox Zen ($300 after a $50 rebate) packs a 20-gigabyte hard disk into a 9.5-ounce, 3-by-4.4-by-1-inch package. It's slightly larger and heavier than the 20-gigabyte iPod, and a bit large for a shirt pocket. But it's still a small package, considering that it stores 400 albums' worth of music in MP3 format.

Every living thing in my yard is crispy. There has not been a long, slow, soaking rain in weeks, and when I inspect my shriveling gardens, the grass crunches beneath my feet like corn flakes. I am doing the only thing a gardener can do in a drought. I am watering. Endlessly watering. Of course, I resent it. All gardeners do. We like the creative part of gardening, like planning and planting. We don't even mind the maintaining part of gardening, like trimming and pruning and dead-heading.

NEW YORK - In the war against terrorism, the Buddhists of New York are suffering collateral damage. Messages of peace and compassion that once seemed attractive to New Yorkers are now anathema, Buddhists are discovering. Six months ago, Buddhism - Tibetan and Zen - was on a phenomenal upsurge in the New York area, attracting eager students to rural monasteries and urban meditation centers. Then came the attacks on the United States and the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Nonviolence is no longer in fashion, particularly in New York, where the scars go deep and wounds are still fresh months after the destruction of the World Trade Center.

London-based hairstylist and product developer Charles Worthington has added another hat to his rack: author. The former British Hairdresser of the Year (twice) has put out the Dream Hair series of four books (all published by Carlton Books and sold for $15 apiece), which explains how to get specific styles of salon hair at home. Here's the rundown: * City Hair -- Tricks of the trade for chic, sophisticated looks. * Big Date Hair -- Inside tips on how to look gorgeous when it really counts.

STORMVILLE, N.Y. - In a room where the cinder block walls are painted white, 14 men sit in facing rows, each man on a small, round pillow, his legs folded, his gaze lowered. Nearby sits a robed Buddhist monk, a small altar at his back. The stillness is so profound it seems to muffle the blare of a television in the next room. The Lotus Flower Sangha, as this group is called, is meeting deep inside the Green Haven Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison that houses 2,000 men convicted of serious crimes such as armed robbery and murder.

Oscar nominations will be announced soon, the second "Survivor" starts in a couple of weeks and Madonna just got married, but all Hollywood can talk about is a little soap opera called "All My Lakers." "AML," as its devoted fans call it, is the continuing story of a Zen master named Phil, and his struggle to keep his warring sons, "Shaq the Elder," and "Kobe the Kid," from tearing the Laker clan apart. This family feud, put aside last year in the interest of a championship, has bubbled over and gotten so big that the estimable Los Angeles Times, a corporate big brother to this newspaper, ran a review of the latest squabble on the front page one day last week.

HBO's "Sex and the City" suggests we're not having enough sex, and the sex we're having is in the wrong city. Filmmaker Woody Allen taunts us with his cinematic Central Park strolls. Author Tama Janowitz shuns us for not attending enough avant-garde art openings.It's the same pretentious postcard New York has been sending those who dare live outside the 212 area code for generations: You don't live here, so go shuck corn or something.One may feel a similar attitude attack from the newest harbinger of Big Apple egotism: "From AbFab to Zen: Paper's Guide to Pop Culture," an en-chic-lopedia from the editors of Manhattan-based Paper magazine.

Alexandra Stoddard is far more than an interior designer with an eye for color, balance and proportion. What makes this internationally published author stand out from the plethora of expense-is-no-object decorators is her humanity. In her books and in person, she comes off as part contemporary philosopher, part Zen student, part feng shui master and all heart.Unlike design diva Martha Stewart, who makes many people feel inadequate because they can't possibly live up to her superwoman abilities, Stoddard encourages her readers to be themselves and shows them how to live a wonderful life without spending a lot of money, time or energy.

SHAOLIN TEMPLE, China -- Please wait, an assistant explains, the monk Shi Yongdi is parking the car.Shi, a ranking monk at the famous Shaolin Temple in the hills of central China, arrives in a ski jacket, blue turtleneck sweater and denim vest. In the midst of his recitation of the temple's 1,500-year history, his cell phone rings.Shaolin Temple is the wellspring of Zen Buddhism and home to the renowned "fighting monks" who inspired the 1970s television show "Kung Fu." Today, the ancient religious site and surrounding village seem less a spiritual oasis than a kung fu carnival.

From your pumpkin, toasty little snacksAs you carve your jack-o'-lantern, take a few minutes to separate the pumpkin seeds from the strings. Coat the seeds lightly with a little vegetable oil and spread on a coookie sheet. Dry in a 225-degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper or Mexican seasoning and toast in a toaster oven, stirring once, or bake at 350 degrees in the oven until lightly toasted.A Halloween treat so easy, it's scaryIf you like to make your own Halloween treats, here's one that's easy enough for kids to do: Dip sourdough pretzels in melted white chocolate, place them on waxed paper and decorate with candy corn or colored sprinkles.