The LATimes Magazine section Sunday featured an interview with Jay & Mavis Leno, who still light up when they see each other after 28 years of marriage.  As both a former Hollywood Funny Merchant AND a Hollywood "Wife Of," The Naughty Bride only wishes she got along with herself that well.  

Trained as readers are in the expectations of PR fluff pieces, we expect an article with bromides about being able to laugh at the humanness of our conflicts.  But joke is on us: the article packs a better punchline if you read between the lines.   

What got us here at Naughty Bride HQ was a passage about one of the worst times in the Leno marriage, when work kept Jay away (too much work rather than too little, upon getting the Tonight Show gig), and naturally Mavis responded by overcompensating in the independence department. She says, "All of a sudden... every person on the planet was asking him for something.  So I thought, I'm going to be the one who doesn't ask for anything."  The next paragraphs are about how isolated she felt.  And for good reason.  With so many demands on his attention elsewhere, and so few at home, it would be easy for a husband in this situation to shift away.  

The Naughty Bride has been there, done that, but with only twenty years under her belt.  The bad news is, you don't have to be in a combat pay business like production to deal with nutty hours, time away, or terrible temptations on the job.  But the good news is, the only real trick to staying cemented is to connect first, then ask for what you want with a smile.  

As a comedy writer and a feminist, Mavis must have had this down.  Or, ya know, had to pass through a hideous valley of pain in order to get it down.   

As The Naughty Bride's Secret Guide reformats into a discussion of ways to keep a marriage going during tough times, we're using the metaphor of a second Honeymoon.  The ticket to ride is that smile.  May we humbly suggest... a naughty one?