Updated 1:54 p.m. Thurs., 01.28.10 - Check in for a list of some parties, promotions and events designed to help nonprofit organizations in the area. Also find chances to donate time, talent or treasure. Today: Learn makeup tips from professionals

Posted 3:00 p.m. Fri., 02.05.10 - What's the story behind the new book "New Madrid to Claverach: How an Earthquake Spawned a St. Louis Suburb"? Learn how a research project for an application to be on the National Register of History Places led from one discovery to another.

Posted 12:10 p.m. Thurs., 02.02.10 - Large chunks of the movie - an hour or more out of a little under two hours - consist of a policeman watching a group of students. The surveillance goes on for so long over such a limited landscape that we come to recognize landmarks. The landmarks are visually arresting but a movie needs to be more than a series of striking images.

Posted 11 a.m. Wed., 02.03.10 - “Remix” at Art Saint Louis features works by local artists Catharine Magel, Melody Evans and Leslie Macklin, who respond to the chaos of contemporary world by mixing and re-mixing visual cues, artistic media and techniques of production.

Posted 12:56 p.m. Mon., 02.01.10 - Kirkwood native Richard Whitmire looks at an education gap that people don't want to talk about. But gender is a distinction that is showing up in standardized tests, grades, admission to the National Honor Society and those who earn college degrees. (Photo of Whitmire from the book's website )

Posted 11:09 a.m. Sun., 01.31.10 - Peter Martin grew up in University City where he studied classical music while playing jazz. After starting at Juilliard, the lure of jazz won. The piano man moved to New Orleans where he played with the best in the business and started his own group. Back in U. City after Katrina, he's now ready to bring some of his favorite people to a new Jazz series in St. Louis.

Posted 4:25 p.m. Fri., 01.29.10 - Given that 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the death of Mark Twain, the choice of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" as this year's Big Read book holds no surprise. Click through to the story to find a list of discussion opportunities and activities for St. Charles County as well as the city and county of St. Louis.

Posted 6:46 p.m. Thurs., 01.28.10 - Literary experts look at what made J.D. Salinger, who died Wednesday at the age of 91, so important. The centerpiece of the conversation has to be "The Catcher in the Rye," which was a showcase for what one called the author's "fantastic sense of voice." (Photo is from 1950)

Posted 3:56 p.m. Thurs., 01.28.10 - "The Catcher in the Rye" has maintained huge sales because it's still getting banned somewhere, but it is also almost seamlessly well-written. And Salinger remained in the public focus because of his skill and his insistence that he maintain his privacy.