Raina Kelley

Missed Christo's "The Gates"? Not to worry. Come to New York this spring and you can still see killer rabbits, Denzel in Valentino and a flying car. Broadway is about to open its best season in years, with lots of promising new musicals (including "Twelfth Night" set to Elvis), enough revivals for a Theater 101 class and stars like Jessica Lange, John Lithgow, Kathleen Turner, James Earl Jones and Alan Alda packed into 10 city blocks.

Problem: you're going to watch the Super Bowl with people who love the game, not the commercials--only you don't know a fullback from a tight end. Crib from Tip Sheet, and you'll sound like a pro even if you can't figure out the score.

So you've started to work out 60 minutes a day because the U.S. Dietary Guidelines said you should. Now you're so sore, you can't walk. You're experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

TITLE:'Shakespeare's Sonnets' AUTHOR: William Shakespeare NOTE: They may be old, but don't mess with the best. POEM: Sonnets 91 and 102 and 116-- really, any of them.

Off-Broadway is the traditional home of New York's more experimental theater. A winter preview.The Baltimore Waltz:A gorgeous revival about a dying woman who finds the meaning of life.

We've all heard the homily "It's the thought that counts," and it never rings truer than when someone gives you a seashell-encrusted candelabrum. What do you do?

Last year, 15 people burned down their houses while deep-frying Thanksgiving turkeys, and throughout the year, hundreds of others ended up in emergency rooms.

Winter is coming, but if you want more time in the garden, plant bulbs. A few holes now will result in gorgeous blooms in the spring.Bloms Bulbs is a bit more expensive than its competition (three for $7 or 10 for $22), but the selection of daffodils (try the Acropolis double) is amazing.

You're in a job interview and suddenly you can't remember the difference between "infer" and "imply." If you make a mistake, you'll signal to your potential employer that you're an illiterate.

It's leaf-peeping season, and here are some of the best ways to see the show before you have to rake:1. Drive the Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway, Lake George, N.Y.:Enjoy a 100-mile view of five mountain ranges.

The Big Apple's Broadway season is about to begin. Here are our picks for the hottest shows.Democracy by Michael Frayn; opens Nov. 18. This London hit is a poetic exploration of espionage and the limits of loyalty set during the cold war.

There's more to writing papers than spelling the words right. The right dictionary, thesaurus and style guide will help you produce polished prose that can make the difference between a 3.8 and a 4.0.

If there's a vacation disaster worse than being stuck in paradise, broke, while a bandit parties on your dime, we don't want to know about it. Thieves love tourists, so a few precautions before your purse disappears.

The Tony awards are over--the puppets won, P. Diddy didn't. But there's still action on the boards. Here's the best New York has for the summer season:After the Fall by Arthur Miller; opens July 29.

June 16 is the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday. In case you haven't read "Ulysses" (or were traumatized by it and are blocking), that's the day in 1904 when Leopold Bloom wandered through Dublin in the James Joyce masterpiece.

Admit it. You may not like Paris Hilton, but you have to agree that her dog, Tinkerbell, is cute. As tiny dogs have become the hottest celebrity arm candy, demand for teacups, or dogs that weigh four pounds or less, has soared.

Sunny Saturdays mean having to haul a ton of stuff to the beach or away for the weekend. Here are our votes for the bags of summer.1. Jackson Tote: Made out of recyclable plastic and virtually indestructible, it also has six pockets, plus room for Frisbees, flip-flops and sand. $56 at totelemonde.com.2.

Men: Don't spend all summer sweating in loafers. Here are some cooler options.1. Merrell Rapid Sandals have sticky bottoms for better traction. $60 at llbean.com.2.

You don't even know how to boil water on a grill, and you've got 15 people coming for Memorial Day. Who ya gonna call? Try one of these hot lines:The Weber Grill-Line is available 24/7 to answer queries like "How do you grill a whole pig?" (Carefully.) They'll even help you pair wines with your BBQ. 800-GRILL-OUT.Worried about poisoning your guests?

If this month's 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education has left you struggling to explain Jim Crow to your kids, let Toni Morrison's "Remember: The Journey to School Integration" start the conversation.

If the nonstop coverage of the Queen Mary 2's arrival in New York last month gave you the urge to be at sea, go for it. With cruise lines locked in a fare war that would make the airlines blush, prices are at their lowest in years.

Stop! If you're having trouble sorting through last year's tax changes, don't fall on your sharpened pencil. Take a deep breath and buy yourself a little extra time.

Spring is busting out all over, and Broadway wants you to come inside and sit in the dark for a couple of hours. Here are our nominees for the Great White Way's hot-test shows:ASSASSINS by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman: opens April 22 at Studio 54.

Nothing makes the blood freeze like mail from the IRS. No one's audit- proof, but tax pros say these tips will help you steer clear:Report every dime. Bingo jackpots are income.

Your buddy John sends you an instant message: take a look at his Web site. So you click through. In seconds, a virus has hijacked your contact list. Soon after, your company's servers are overloaded.

Tip Sheet is so clever, we even dug up a little good news about taxes. To encourage electronic filing, the IRS is sponsoring a free online tax-preparation program, dubbed Free File.

You don't have to scour the world for a Gutenberg Bible to start a collection of first-edition books. A passion for a theme and $100 will do. If you dug "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown, start with that.

Hot tea is cozy comfort during cold and flu season (and full of antioxidants). Here are some of our favorite sources:Le Palais des Thes More than 200 varieties, searchable by grade, vitamin-C content or aroma--with detailed serving instructions.

What's good about January? Wrong. The Super Bowl will be played Feb. 1. This is (drumroll, please) the only month when you can get honeybells. This cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine is a must-have to perk you up after the holidays are over. Fans of the bell-shaped fruit call it the juiciest, sweetest citrus around. You can order 30 pounds for $42.95 at alsfamily farms.com. Or try baby bells at palmbeachgroves.com. Our tip: eat 'em over the sink.

If Broadway's $100-and-up ticket prices will blow a gaping hole in your family budget, how about checking out the stars of tomorrow? Many of the nation's top performing-arts programs offer relatively cheap (or, even better, free) performances.The Juilliard SchoolYou want choice?