Socks

I've always wanted to pair thigh-high socks with a shift dress and tie it all together with Mary Janes. But no matter how fit my physique gets, my legs are still thick. So, basically, I've been denying myself this little piece of fashion nirvana since I was 12. Maybe I'll have my chance this spring. While longer skirts are definitely the trend of the year, shorter ones are not a faux pas, and this season, when it comes to the sheath, socks will replace opaque tights, leaving more room for skin - and for mistakes, too, if you aren't careful.

The Los Angeles police confirm that the department is investigating Oksana Grigorieva 's claim that she was punched by ex-bf Mel Gibson in January. Oksana told RadarOnline that Mel also threatened to bury her in his rose garden. No comment from Mel, who has previously denied the charges, saying he was trying to stop Oksana from shaking their 8-month-old daughter, Lucia . Tidbits 'n' pieces Glee writer-producer Ryan Murphy tells Entertainment Tonight he is "writing a Britney Spears episode" for the near future.

News of the death of University of Virginia women's player Yeardley Love rocked the lacrosse world. Her body was discovered in her apartment May 3, just weeks before the NCAA tournament and her college graduation. The tragedy hit close to home for many of the players on Radnor High's girls' lacrosse team, who Friday won the District 1 tournament over Springfield (Delco). Six seniors on the Red Raiders squad are headed to play Division I lacrosse in the fall. So the team went online and bought bright-orange socks with the Cavaliers emblem to wear during their games.

Doris Grossman is not one of those fluttery white-haired women who shy away from life's harsher truths. "I don't know if it's empathy or anger because we're involved in two wars," she says, "but I feel this is the right thing to do. " For the last two years, around Christmas, Grossman has been knitting socks for war amputees. Yesterday, the 82-year-old former assistant manager for a senior-citizen complex in Ventnor, N.J., was working on an oatmeal-tweed one, her 12th in the latest batch destined for the Philadelphia veterans hospital.

76ers point guard Lou Williams underwent surgery yesterday morning to have his jaw wired. Williams will miss eight weeks. Early in the first quarter of Tuesday night's loss to the Washington Wizards, Williams suffered the injury in a collision with Washington forward Antawn Jamison. In that game, he played 39 minutes and scored 26 points. "I was spitting out blood every time-out, but I thought it was my tooth, so I didn't think it was as serious as it was," said Williams, who is averaging 17.4 points and 5.1 assists per game.

Relentless thunderstorms drenched the region yesterday with as much as 4.5 inches of rain, unleashing major, widespread flooding - causing a mud slide on the Schuylkill Expressway that trapped motorists and closed the eastbound lanes for much of the day. Flooding and high winds began their destructive march early yesterday, when 64-m.p.h. winds damaged trailers at Trenton-Mercer Airport. Wind and rain knocked out power to about 51,000 homes, Peco Energy Co. officials said, but most had power restored by the afternoon.

When I was 10, I asked my mother if I could wear a Michael Jackson-style Jheri curl. All my friends had one. "No way!" she said of the greasy, spiral tresses. No matter. Summer turned into fall, and after much pleading, my grandmother bought me a zippered, red pleather jacket, a replica of the one Michael wore in his "Beat It" video. I wasn't the only one who looked odd pairing the jacket with my Catholic school uniform. We all did it. I can't fathom a world without Michael Jackson.

It's a sunny, glorious day at St. Davids Golf Club in Wayne, and wedged between the 4th hole and the tennis courts are what look like two dozen fraternity brothers, but better dressed and not playing beer pong. Without warning, one of the guys sneaks up and dumps two cups of water on another guy's socks, sending the group into hysterics. "We pretty much do anything to pass the time," said Mark Baker, 22, who like the rest is wearing a bright red polo with crest and khaki shorts, resembling Lego people or someone who just hit the last-call sale at Abercrombie.

We are fast approaching the most meaningful, emotional, important holiday of the year. I speak, naturally, of Black Friday. "It will be black," says TD Bank economist Joel Naroff, "but not for the reasons retailers expect. " This year, it's Bleak Friday. The nation's on sale. E-mail deals pop up daily. There are offers of free shipping. Fliers jam mail slots. Stores host surprise party sales. "Everything's 30 percent off, today only," the clerk will tell you. Except it's true tomorrow and the next day, too. The problem with marking down all merchandise 30 or 40 percent is that it makes you suspect everything was overpriced to begin with.

Bad and ugly Quick quiz: Which team is the worst in the NFL? Is it the 0-7 Lions or 0-8 Bengals? My vote goes to the Bengals because I don't want to be negative, and that's what Lions soon-to-be-former coach Rod Marinelli called a reporter who wondered how the coach could cite progress by a winless team. As for the Bengals, coach Marvin Lewis must be taking ugly pills because he said his team is "a reflection of me. " Better a get new mirror, Marv. Brad or Brooks?