A few things bothering me:

Ads for Marc Jacobs' clothing line.

It isn't that I don't accept Jacobs' incredible rise in riches and fame in the fashion world since I first saw his contributions at least 25 years ago.

He was a speck on the wall, quite frankly, with funky collections put together on a shoestring -- and most editors at the time just giggled and didn't take him seriously. But obviously a talent was there.

He didn't do well when he succeeded the late Perry Ellis, but he was on his way and has gone on to be associated with all kinds of chi-chi high fashion, including Louis Vuitton handbags.

His name is mentioned with the major names in today's world of style. He has made it. I am not at odds with his success.

No, my opposition is in his selection of Dakota Fanning for his current fashion ads.

Maybe you've noticed. Maybe not. Maybe you don't care.

I think the ads are disturbing. Am I the only one? She's 12!!

Actually she turned 13 in February, but the ads appeared before that. Give or take a year, she's still a child.

Why is he using a child for his ads? Granted, a child who was in a Tide commercial "model" at age 6, before Hollywood, but they're weird.

Of course we know why. To get attention. I'm writing about it, but it kind of turns my stomach.

I know Brooke Shields was a child model and on magazine covers, looking 20 and gorgeous when she was 14, but there is a kind of Lolita look to the Jacobs ad agency's "clever" creations with the child star.

Age -- or the lack of it -- is also the subject of my eyebrows being raised when I see the way the show business industry is flaunting the young star of TV's "Heroes," a beauty by the name of Hayden Panettiere.

She looks familiar because she was playing the role of a little girl, Lizzie, not too long ago on the soap opera "Guiding Light."

But at 16 (now all of 17) she was already being photographed as sexy and much older in revealing clothes and in "world's most beautiful" layouts for her "Heroes" role.

Where does she go from here? Certainly I hope it's not on the same road other young talents have traveled.

I like her recent magazine quote: "I'm just a normal person. I feel most beautiful when my skin is really clear. I get facials all the time."

Words to live by from a normal 17-year-old.

I am hoping she fares better than Lindsay and Britney, but most people agree it is difficult for a young person to take fame and all that goes with it without some kind of reality check.

I am sure Hayden has already received tons of mash fan mail, directly related to the image coming out of Hollywood and its determination to sell sex -- at any age.

"People say the meanest things on these Internet blogs," she pouts.

Why is she surprised?

I hope her parents, or whoever is managing her career, which she began when other little girls were playing in a sandbox rather than memorizing lines, see more than dollar signs as her career moves on.

One of the current models cited recently with a future as a superstar by Vogue is Chanel Iman.

She's already been given two famous names -- a world-renowned designer and a former supermodel. She's also just 16.

I was just experimenting with Tangee lipstick at 16. How about you?

There are too many sad stories from actors and models who couldn't handle show business stress. We never seem to learn from the tragedies, whether it's anorexia, drugs, alcohol or depression -- or the mere fact of aging.

They are, as we say, living their dream.

It's the catch phrase -- or excuse -- for a lot of things these days.

Grown-ups, their eyes on the prize, simply put on their best credulous faces and wonder when it goes haywire.

"How did this happen? I'm shocked."

That said, but continuing with age-related notations on the other side of 16, how about musician Harold Betters celebrating his 79th birthday in March and still wowing his fans with that slide trombone?

I attended a gathering in his honor at The Living Room in South Hills, and, of course, his early days at Shadyside's Encore were savored by those of us in his age bracket.

Sadly, his younger brother Jerry, also a well-known musician in Pittsburgh, died recently. They were quite a team.

Age is relevant when we speak of longevity in any profession, but in the entertainment world, lives aren't exactly like yours and mine.

For musicians, there are the smoke-filled rooms, the late nights, the quick bites, travel and accommodations on the road with much to be desired. Family life can suffer, but love of making music cannot be denied.

Such performers fill our lives with music, permitting us to have moments of joy after a less than perfect day.

Sometimes their days aren't perfect. We owe them more than a round of applause.