My outrage over this arbitrary and unilateral course of action is probably only exceeded by Mr/Mrs Spilker's sense of entitlement that the four-foot wide path to the beach (and specified in the local easement papers) 'was just not wide enough for us' as he said when first broaching the subject of arbitrarily widening a path that was 'in compliance' with the local zoning.

Hamptons Hedges Hullabaloo [Portfolio]

My wife and I recently became obsessed with a Web site where you plug in the amount of money you made in a year and find out where you stand. If your salary equaled the amount of money my wife and I gave Planned Parenthood one year, you'd be in the richest 1 percent in the world, which is pretty great. Still, there would be 60 million people richer than you, and that's a lot. They wouldn't fit in your home, for example, even though you'd have the sort of home that only the top 1 percent of people in the world can afford.

We can sympathize; as frequent self-Googlers, we can only imagine the joy of constantly being reaffirmed that you're extremely loaded. Must temper the sting of knowing that some other people have more. Still, Handler isn't an easy touch: When a San Francisco philanthropist asked him to donate $5 million toward the preservation of a local historic building, Handler winced.

This is why, maybe, there are so many noble causes and so few of them are well financed: we all want other people to write the checks — they're richer than we are. I wrote the guy a check anyway, of course, and it was for a lot of money. At least, I think it was a lot of money. You'd have to ask those other people, the hundred thousand who make more than I do and the 60 million who make more than I gave to restore the historic building: isn't this a lot of money? Then why does it feel as if I bought him a beer?

Adjusted Income [NYT]

Lorena Bendinskas, co-founder of entertainment marketing company The Silver Spoon, which organizes the annual Dog and Baby Hollywood Buffet charity event, says postpartum purchases make moms feel good. "Buying a nice diaper bag or personalized pacifier," she says, "makes moms who aren't feeling 100% ... focus on something more positive."

Hippest Baby Bling [Forbes]

The charter company Revolution Air has assigned more than 20 private jets to fly children to summer camp at the end of June, at a cost of about $8,000 a flight. To cater to their young clients, the company has developed a special menu, including peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, chicken fingers and ice-cream sundaes.

One of the shortest trips the company has booked is 45 minutes from West Hampton to Saranac Lake. "The last request we got was for someone who wants to go to camp on June 25," [company President Ronald Goldstein] said, adding that the kid has requested Cap'n Crunch be served. Charlotte Morello, of Connecticut, has organized a birthday party for her 9-year-old daughter, Meredith, on a private jet next month. "All her cousins will come onto the plane," Morello said. "We'll have a manicurist and a model on the runway theme."

Jet Kids [NYP]

More Than Ever, It Pays to Be the Top Executive [NYT]

[H]aving a part-time house can be a full-time commitment, in the same way that owning a sailboat is commonly described as "standing in a shower and ripping up hundred-dollar bills." These second, but never secondary, houses can be exhausting, their owners admit, a litany of bills and guilt and traffic — and meals to cook for guests who arrive with only one wish: to be entertained.

So, is owning such a place more a case of agony or ecstasy, joy or despair?

The Tyranny of the 2nd Home [NYT]

With his new BlackBerry, a junior at the Dalton School on the Upper East Side, Matthew Ressler, said he plans to keep track of his homework assignments, exam dates, basketball practices, and volunteer activities. "I think it will keep me better organized, and I won't have as many missed appointments," Matthew, 17, said of the device, a recent birthday gift from his mother. "It's really like you're organizing a professional career."

Matthew said that in recent months, many of his Dalton classmates have replaced their paper calendars with so-called personal digital assistants, or PDAs. Students are not supposed to use such devices in class, he said, but many teachers don't enforce that rule. "You say, 'This is my planner,' and they say, 'That's fine,'" he said.

Last weekend, an ambulance trying to get to St. Vincent's hospital was held up for more than five precious life-saving minutes as drivers for wealthy patrons slowly inched their limos out of the way. One cop tells us that wasn't the first time it happened.

LIMO BLOCKAGE [NYP]
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Getting Territorial Out In The Hall [NYT]

An owner of Designer Loft, a bridal shop in Manhattan's garment district, Paulette Cleghorn, said in recent years she's seen an influx of women "with an enlightened sense of fashion" picking out two wedding dresses.

"They want to look a little more parent-appropriate for the ceremony, and they feel more comfortable showing off their bodies at the reception," she said. "A dress covered in thousands of Swarovski crystals may not be appropriate for the ceremony, but in a candlelit reception hall makes for the most exquisite bride ever."

Well, there's the ethnic contingent: "It's common for American women of Asian, Indian, and Arab descent to opt to wear a Western-style white gown, and a colorful Eastern-style design on their wedding day," we helpfully learn. Okay, them aside! Who else?

At her September 2005 wedding at the Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue, New Yorker Lourdes Cohen, now 25, wore two Monique Lhuillier dresses.

When she took her vows, she wore a short-sleeve, full-length white lace gown with a gold sash. Later, for the reception and afterparty, also held at the Palace, she changed into a high-collar, lowback white minidress. "It was still white, it was still lace, and I still was obviously the bride, but I was able to dance the night away," Mrs. Cohen, a non-practicing lawyer, said.

Dressed to Wed, Dressed to Party [NYS]

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