There was a time when Oprah Winfrey was hush-hush about her Maui digs. Not anymore.

The new issue of O at Home boasts on its cover the two-story ranch home with extended lanai. The most interesting tidbit in the story: Her New York designer wanted to create a Hawaiian sense of place, but Oprah, a folk-art enthusiast, objected to the "pineapple doodads and big flower things." She added: "I said, 'Whoa! If I wanted to see Hawai'i, I'll just walk out my door.'"

— Advertiser staff

DISCOVER JAPANESE ROMANCE

Author Fumiko Mori Halloran — who writes under the pen name Miki Fujita — will share her thoughts on romantic love in Japan at a noon luncheon tomorrow at the Hale Koa Hotel.

"Love — from a Japanese Perspective" stems from "Long Nights Alone" (BookSurge Publishing, $15.99), her most recent book, and her first in English. Based on the diary of an aristocratic woman in 10th-century Kyoto, the book is about romance and intrigue in Japan's imperial court.

Cost is $28 ($23 for members). Registration starts at 11:30 a.m. Call 524-4450 or visit www.jashawaii.org.

— Catherine E. Toth

FINAL WORD

"I used to. I don't anymore. ... To be quite honest, sometimes I do."

Nicole Richie | "The Simple Life" star and author when asked if she always does what she's told not to, in Vanity Fair