The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 14

www.theTimesHerald.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2005 LIFESTYLE STORIES Do you have questions? Comments? Ideas for stories about coping with life? If so, call Reed Dunn, features editor, at (810) 989-6254. 6B TIMES HERALD, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN Life Gannett News Service i A. As seen Courtesy photos CAUGHT ON TAPE: Kathleen Rose Perkins, a native of New Baltimore, left an office job to pursue her dream as an actress. Most recently, Perkins landed a role on the made-for-TV movie Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, which also stars Christina Applegate. New Baltimore native finds small-screen work 00 0 IN ORDER: Mark Bruno stacks cups in a race during a gym class in Rochester, N.Y.

Stacking up cups newest exercise By CHRIS SWINGLE Gannett News Service After finishing a gymnas tics unit, third -graders kneel on the gym floor beside nested stacks of 8-ounce plastic cups. The lesson is one that swept across physical education classes nationwide: stacking cups for speed. Arrange three of the special cups into a pyramid, then three more into another pyramid, then "de-stack" the cups to their starting positions. Students can try to break their own record or the class record. 'This is a treat for us.

I just know it's a fun game to play just how you can, like, challenge yourselt, said Claudia Keenan, a student at the Indian Landing School in Rochester, N.Y. When everyone simultaneously races to complete the "three-three" stacks, teacher Tim Kuhmann clocks the class at 6.97 seconds. He challenges them to beat the time. "Go!" Students reach and staring with determination at their cups. Suddenly one of Claudia's cups rolls onto its side.

"Oh no!" she cries, fixing the fumble. "Stressing out, stressing out." The class' time: 7.4 seconds. Speed stacking, as it's called, has spread because of savvy marketing by a former physical education teacher who sells the specially designed cups. Bob Fox of Colorado, founder of Speed Stacks, said he first saw cup stacking on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson in 1990. Now he demonstrates it at conferences for physical education teachers in every state.

He's sold cup-stacking sets to 7,500 schools, church groups and youth programs worldwide. Fox also started the World Sport Stacking Association, which is planning its third annual world championships for April in Colorado. His cups' shape helps them slide apart quickly, and three pea-sized holes reduce air resistance. Critics saidcup stacking doesn't promote fitness and isn't a good use of physical education class time. Fox said speed stacking improves hand-eye coordination.

He said it increases "bilateral proficiency," saying using both hands stimulates both sides of the brain, which could help students play music or sports. He said cup stacking involves sequencing and patterning, which could help with reading and math. In an interview, he admits he has little evidence to prove those claims. "It seems like a logical connection," Fox said, adding he hopes to have more studies done. Hall pass Crystal Gardens of Marysville has been taken over by HEED DDHBII All weather appears to be bad weather This weather has to go.

Even though I know it's coming every year, I can't stand the crazy mixture of moisture that comes with February. It's raining. Snowing. Sleeting. Icing.

Raining. And snowing, again. Oh, just kidding, that's rain. Are you with me? Living in Michigan or most anywhere proves to be difficult with the changing weather. Weather happens and, most every day, we talk about it.

"It's such a nice day out," you'll hear. "I know. It's so great to see the sun shining," someone else will say. Oddly enough, this happens no matter what month or time of year. Even more curious to me is how we match our clothing with the seasons.

I'm not talking about shorts in the summer and parkas in the winter. What I mean is how it can be 50 degrees in mid-February and we're shedding our coats. If it were 50 degrees in the middle of June, we'd be scrambling through the closet looking for those packed-away parkas. "It's freezing out," you'll say in the middle of summer. If the temperature were the exact same now, we'd more likely say, "I can't believe how nice it is," and we'd take off our coats to take a walk outside.

(I just did this last week, even though it only was in the 40s.) There are Internet sites and phone lines dedicated to checking the weather. It's a huge part of the nightly news and, let's not forget about The Weather Channel, 24 hours of obsessing about cloud coverage and the direction of airflow across our 50 beautiful states. Weather is everything and, yet, it's the one thing we can't control. Shirley Manson of the rock band Garbage sings, "I'm only happy when it rains." That song is an ode to never being satisfied unless you're unsatisfied the next line is, "I'm only happy when it's complicated." which is what I am with the weather. At the beginning of winter, I can't wait for that first snow.

Then it hits and, by the time the second snow falls, I'm ready for the beach. By the time mid-July rolls around and it's hot and humid, I can't wait for the season to change so I can pull my sweaters back out and dust off the old snow shovel. This is why I'd never make it in an area that changes only within a 10- or 20-degree range from season to season. Hawaii sounds nice, but it's always warm. That seems like a good idea now, as I look out the window and try to identify this mid-winter precipitation.

Once Christmas would roll around on the islands, I would have a hard time decorating my palm tree with colorful lights and bright, shiny ornaments. Christmas in Honolulu just wouldn't be the same as Christmas in Kansas or Iowa or Michigan. I need snow for my holidays. But how crazy would it be if instead of that ugly argyle sweater, Grandma gave you a nifty tank top? I'm sure I'd be complaining about that, too. OReed Dunn's column appears here Thursdays.

Contact him at (810) 989-6254 or rdunnto Segal and Susan Sullivan. "She likes this television work," her father, Leonard Perkins, said. "She's very good at what she does. She's always been that way. She's been creative since she was young." A graduate of Anchor Bay -High School and Western Michigan University, Perkins found a love of acting from an early age.

After studying musical theater in college, she went on to cut her teeth in the Mid-, west before she decided she to focus on making a career in movies and television. How about the paparazzi and adoring fans? "I've never been recognized," Perkins said. "I can't wait until that happens." Contact Jamie Carracher at (810) 989-6279 or jcarracher gannett.com. 'v. THIS OR THAT? With Kathleen Rose Perkins Lake St.

Clair or Lake Huron? "Lake St. Clair. Come on. I grew up on Lake St. Clair.

Anchor Bay rules. There's no contest." Joey or Friends! "Neither. I watched Friends in the begin- ning. (I enjoy shows like) The Sopranos, The Office anil American Idol. That's my one little guilty pleasure." Rock or rap? "Rock." New York or Los Angeles? "LA.

because it's my home. I really love that it's so accessible. You can get out of the city so easily." A CLOSER LOOK At Kathleen Rose Perkins AGE: 30. RESIDENCE: Los Angeles. EDUCATION: Anchor Bay High School and Western Michigan University.

FAMILY: Mother, Donna; father, Leonard; and brothers Mike of Atlanta, Tom of Rochester, Steve of New Baltimore and Dan of Port Huron. Day. 1 1' mill, i n.iiw ir By JAMIE CARRACHER Times Herald A few years ago, New Baltimore-native Kathleen Rose Perkins spent many of her workdays in an office in Los Angeles. It was, perhaps, the best job for a perfectionist such as herself. Well, maybe it's not the best job if you're an aspiring actress.

"Oh my gosh, I was working at Merrill Lynch as a receptionist," she said. "I was an awful employee because things started happening." Those things were auditions and, after four years in Hollywood and with help from a new manager, acting jobs started coming her way. Enough jobs, in fact, that she was able to quit the office job and act full time. You can catch her as Kate Wilkinson in the new CBS movie Suzanne's. Diary for Nicholas, which will air in March or April and stars Christina Applegate.

Perkins said 30 or 40 days of work is enough to get her through the year. And it sure is nice to get out of day jobs. "I'm not rich, rich," Perkins said. "I can live in Hollywood and L.A., which is great." Talk to Perkins this time of year and you'll hear about the auditions, which are a constant process during pilot season, when new TV shows are created and being tested. She hopes to land a role in a comedy, which would fit her "type." She describes that as the "quirky girl next door who can be funny but also real." "I'd really like to get on a series that gets on television," she said.

"That would be so great. I would really love for it to be a comedy. From there, having that be a launching pad." Her mother. Donna Perkins, said her daughter's success hasn't surprised her at all. People have asked before, what will she do if she doesn't make Standing Out is a regular feature profiling people who make strides at work, in their community or their daily lives.

To nominate someone for this series, e-mail features editor Reed Dunn at rdunngannett.com, or call (81 0)989-6254. it? For her daughter's "biggest fan," there was no question about whether the actress would make it. Perkins has appeared in TV shows including Without A Trace and CSI: Miami, and she has acted alongside such names as Chris O'Donnell, George Courtesy f-f'--fwV Friday in The Weekend Spin Eve Ensler started a revolution when she wrote The Vagina Monologues. These days, the play is making waves around the globe, including in Samia, as part of How witty ill Death, disease and the meaning of life are just Bold brassy a few of the weighty issues tackled in Wit Theatre Sarnia's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a cancer patient continues with performances at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday at the Imperial Oil Centre for the Performing Arts, 168 N.

Christina Sar-nia. Details: (519)332-6591. Featuring the music of Schubert, Bach, Puccini and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the St. Clair County Community College Symphonic Band's winter concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at McMorran Arena, 701 McMorrart Port Huron.

Details: (810) 989-5709. Times Herald file of The Creeps a bunch of punks. Local bands The Creeps, Smackmadam and The Acrobat have rented the banquet hall at 1 1.95 Gratiot Blvd. for an evening of "loud, fast, obnoxious and confrontational" rock. The show is at 1 0 p.m.

Saturday. Details: (81 0)364-6650. photo It 1.