Yo Quiero Taco Bell Por Favor

If you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of Taco Bell. Yes, I realize it's absolutely horrible, but I just love those Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes and Supreme Chalupas. Plus, I only have it once in a while, so I figure it's ok. (Moderation is key!)

Anyways, today Taco Bell is in my thoughts and prayers. Gidget, the 15-year-old chihuahua, suffered from a stroke Tuesday night and died. You might know her best from her "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" (and yes, Gidget is a she that took on 'he' roles in the campaign) or from her role as Bruiser's mom in Legally Blonde 2. The mostly retired actress enjoyed laying out in the sun, hiking, entertaining people and sleeping for 23 hours per day, said Gidget's trainer Sue Chipperton to People Pets.

Remember the Taco Bell plush dogs? (Pictured below.) At one point, I had all of them. I kind of wish I still did, but I'm pretty sure I sent them to the Salvation Army with the many bags of clothing I sent there. (I'm pretty sure my (old) local Salvation Army could stay open with my donations alone, haha.)

RIP Gidget. My thoughts and prayers go out to Taco Bell, your trainer and anyone else who associated with you.

Fun and Famous

Hello all. I'm back! Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was suffering from a miserable migraine. Normally if I just relax, it passes. So I made a bowl of baby brussels sprouts (I love steamed veggies in the microwave!) and watched Hancock. Well, no luck, it just got worse and worse. So I slept it off.

Anyways, this weekend was fun. I saw a famous person--William H. Macy! Well actually my friend saw him first. He was running and ran right past us! I remember him from Air Force One, Pleasantville and Sahara. He and a whole slew of other celebrities were in town for the White House Correspondents Dinner. Fun, huh? DC really is becoming the new NYC. (Ok, maybe that's stretching it. But still I saw a celebrity in DC faster than I did in New York.) Cool huh?

Miss North Carolina Wins!

So did anyone watch Miss USA Sunday night? Because I did. First, I'm so happy Miss North Carolina won simply because I'm from North Carolina. Second, I'm really annoyed with the media attention. To recap: Perez Hilton was a judge, and he posed a question to Miss California about gay marriage (surprise!). This was her answer:


I LOVED IT! Her answer was honest and true even in the face of Perez Hilton. Way to go, Miss California! Now I'm not saying I agree with her because I don't. I am glad she stuck to her beliefs. Ok, she didn't have the strongest answer. "Opposite marriages" still makes me giggle, but seriously, you get the point.

Perez, of course, didn't like the answer so much. Here's his response:


What makes me mad is that Miss California didn't even have the WORST answer to a question. At least she answered the question!! Did anyone see Miss Arizona's answer to the question about health care? What was her answer? Loosely worded: "Whatever we do, we should do it with integrity." ....really?

So I just watched Perez on MSNBC:


And here are my questions: Shouldn't both the President of the United States and Miss America both represent the entire nation? And since when can one person please everyone?

Media-Go-Round Spinoff

Wow, I've really dropped the ball on posting, huh? Well, you can take it two ways: you can be angry at me for not posting because I've been busy or you can be happy because I'm starting to have a life again. Anyways, on top of not posting, I've also forgotten to do a Media-Go-Round post for the past two weeks. But I hope you've kept up with it on your own. Anyways, I thought I just share a few things I found interesting.

- I got my first Mine magazine. First, they didn't even get my magazine choices correct. Lame, right? Although they did apologize and extend my subscription with another issue. I also now have the secrets to Tiger Woods' swing, which I wouldn't have if the switch up didn't happen. Second, I'm going to have to say I wasn't impressed. It was a really flimsy magazine with maybe one or two articles from each magazine. (Faithful readers, remember the post about dressing for your size, and I said it was probably from Glamour? I was wrong. It was from In Style, and I just re-read the article in Mine.) On the up side, it makes for good gym reading material, and I was one of the 31,000 to get a print copy. Want to read more about it? Click here.

- There's been a lot of magazines crossing the line when it comes to ads and articles. Some magazines are getting called out by ASME. (That's the American Society of Magazine Editors, if you didn't know.) This is how ASME explains itself and it's decisions. I kind of feel like it shouldn't matter what's on the cover of a magazine. In all honest, most magazines are pretty much one giant advertisement for thousands of products. It's sad, but true. And if it helps them sell at this point, good. Let them get back on their feet.

- So French Elle decided to put stars who aren't wearing any makeup on the cover of their April issue. Or so they claim. Yes, the women look a little tired, but I don't really notice any blemishes or anything. I don't think they're makeupless at all. That's just my opinion though. I like this guy's opinion, too. You ought to check it out.

- I've already posted about the whole 55-year-old intern thing, but it still makes me want to throw up a little. They actually set up an Executive Internship Program. I think I just died inside a little.

- Jossip folded today. Wait, I mean "it's on hiatus."

- My thoughts and prayers go out to Roxana Saberi and her family.

Karma Wednesday

Nothing like a little break for a holiday. I hope everyone had a nice Easter/Passover/weekend, etc. I thought I'd just leave you with a few tidbits today.

1) My friend Michael Northrop officially has his first YA book out: Gentlemen. You should definitely pick it up and read it. The cover itself makes me want to pick it up and read it, which I will when I head to a bookstore. Check out the story behind it. I am excited to get my book autographed, too. Also, once upon a time, our luck/successes seemed to be closely linked, so hopefully, his luck will soon kickstart mine. He even has another book coming out in 2009: Trapped. Congrats!

2) My mile is getting better! I can run longer, too. How exciting. Although, I have some beef with health magazines (SELF included) and Web sites. I've recently decided I would try "interval sprinting" because I hear it helps trim tummy fat more than just running regularly. So I looked into some "rountines" to try out like this one. YEESH! Can you make a beginner running rountine please? I'm excited if I run 15-2o mins with maybe one minute of running a little faster than ususal. I tried to add a few interval sprints today and ended up with my left foot cramping up. Oh well. I guess I'll try again tomorrow.

3) It's TAX DAY. Hope you turned in your taxes, get a sweet refund and scored some great deals today. I actually turned in my taxes a while ago and got my tax refund. It sort of funded my visit to NY back in March.

Ok, I think I'm going to spend some time reading before bed. I'm currently reading Women & Fiction: Short stories by and about women. It was published in 1975. So far, it's not bad, but I really did not enjoy Gertrude Stein's Miss Furr and Miss Skeene. Good night for now.

I'll Always Be a Carolina Girl

I posted a New York opportunity earlier, so it’s only fair to head down south to North Carolina now. Strange, but I actually got the tip from a friend in New York though. Nevertheless, it’s so cool, and I’m so jealous!

On May 17-19 (a little early, but always helpful to plan ahead), Theatre in the Park, Raleigh’s premier regional theatre (I didn’t even know this existed!), will stage a special production of Romeo & Juliet starring JUSTIN LONG (LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM) and Evan Rachel Wood. It’s supposed to be a 1930s take on the Shakespeare classic. It’s $50 per ticket (a little pricey, I know, but still really cool). To get info on times and how to make a reservation, check out the Web site.

And if you plan to go, GET ME JUSTIN LONG’S AUTOGRAPH. Please?

Very Poor Choice

If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty interested in magazines. When I was younger, I read all the teen magazines: Teen, CosmoGIRL!, YM, Seventeen and others. (Sadly, I just missed the Sassy era.) Now that I’m older, I read Glamour, SELF (love it!), Cosmo, Shape, Fitness, O The Oprah Magazine, People, Real Simple and pretty much whatever else I can get my hands on. Makes sense, right? As I get older, my interests shift, which I imagine is the same for the rest of these magazines’ audiences.

So then why is Miley Cyrus on the cover of Glamour?! I feel confident in saying that this 16-year-old does not have the same interests as me. I’m a 20-something-year-old. What about your older readers, Glamour? People claims it’s "pretty cool" for her to land her first women’s magazine cover at 16. Is it really? I say no.

The cover story is titled "America’s Most Famous Girl Grows Up," but I nor TheFrisky.com are buying it. Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against Miley. In fact, I think she belongs on the cover of Seventeen. And when she reaches her 20s, then by all means, have her on the cover of Glamour. Maybe by then she’ll have grown up a bit more.

Right now her "life-changing" relationship was her first "real" relationship at age 13 with Nick Jonas. Well, maybe I’m wrong, but I imagine anyone’s first real relationship is life changing because well…. it’s your first even if it was "hard core". But hey, her life is moving at a higher speed than most people. They don’t have their first life-changing relationship until they’re 19 or 20, she claims. It gets better though. Next she goes on about her new boyfriend Justin Gaston:

“The best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time has been meeting Justin [Gaston]," she moons. "He’s the most respectful and selfless person I’ve ever known.”

A long, long time? Let’s see, dated Nick Jonas at 13 for two years. Now she’s 15. Just turned 16 in November. How long exactly would you consider "a long, long time" to be?

I realize she’s promoting her new movie, Hannah Montana: The Movie, which is after all rated G. But Glamour, I know you can do better than this. Even Whitney Port, Cosmopolitan’s choice for May (not a strong cover either, but oh well) would have been a better choice.

Thia makes me a little sad inside.

Media-Go-Round: 3/24-3/30

So after a discussion with a friend, I've decided to stop my weekly "Celebritized" roundups because most people do already know about celebrity news that interests them. Have a different opinion? Let me know.

But I'm continuing my media news roundups because I find it important for people to know what's happening in the media. Although, I'm going to try to add a bit more commentary.

- This week's folding announcements include Blender magazine and Ann Arbor News, with layoffs here and here and here and here and here. The sad part is that I probably didn't even catch them all. With the slow death of newspapers and magazines, you have to wonder what will happen to journalism as we know it. It's an exciting time to be an already established journalist, but as a journalist fresh out of school with no job prospects? Not so much.

- Hachette Filipacci is selling off titles. To be honest, I haven't seen much positivity when it comes to sold titles. They're like the red-headed stepchildren of whoever buys them. Best of luck with that.

- Obama skipped out on important newspapers during his news conference. Instead of taking questions from the NYT, WaPo, WSJ or USAT, he took questions from other sources. I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's good that he recognized other news sources, but at the same time, those major titles are read by people all over the country. Newspapers are also dying, so wouldn't it be helpful to have the president's support in at least answering to them? Aren't they the watchdogs of the government?

- Your favorite magazine fold? No fears; make your own. Hewlitt-Packard is offering a new Web service, MagCloud, which allows anyone to create their own magazine and print it at 20 cents a page. It's more for people who want a magazine about a favorite hobby or very niche-esque things. I'm not really sure how I feel about it though. Would you make your own magazine?

- Freelancing is becoming essential for most journalists, but you have to beware of the one's that don't pay well. I can't believe SELF is on there though. It takes time for the paperwork to go through and all, but they pay! General shadiness? I don't believe it.

- Barbara Walters might retire?? She's a pretty amazing woman at 79 years old. I still want to read her autobiography.

- This is starting to become a frequently seen thing--ads on the cover of magazines. The latest victim? ESPN The Magazine. To be honest, at this point, if it saves magazines, I'm all for it. It's on the cover of the magazine. Now if it were an advertorial inside a national magazine, I might get a little more upset.

Little Internet Joys

With Monday approaching shortly, I thought I'd share a few distractions I've recently discovered. Sometimes you just need a few minutes to do something completely aimless, you know?

- Dead at Your Age: I'll admit; this site is a little strange. You can learn about famous people who died at your age or younger. But useless bits of information are always entertaining.

- Monster Tetris Game: I can tell you now that I have never finished a game and probably never will. In fact, sometimes I get bored after about five minutes. But if you're a Tetris-lover, this just might be your Heaven.

- Life is Short. Synopit.: Ok, I confess I haven't used this one before, but it still intrigues me. Since we're always on the go, this site apparently summarizes long articles. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

- Bubble Wrap: The title says it all. I kind of love this one.

- Twistori: According to Twitter, it's a social experiment type-thing. I don't get it, but it still entertains.

I hope you still get things done during your day though.

Media-Go-Round: 3/17-3/23

I feel like someone should make a soap opera about all of this: "As the Journalism World Turns."

- Dear Bloggers, are you sure you know what you're doing by saying you'll pay for online content? I hope so.
- Twitter will take over the world, one newspaper at a time.
- Think I'll buy a Vanity Fair this month simply for this shoot. I love it.
- This one hurt a little. People magazine promoted advertorial on the cover. Is this what it takes to survive nowadays?
- I made my own magazine, thanks to Time Inc. More info here; make it here.
- Supposedly only the crappy magazines are dying.
- Conde Nast suffers layoffs and budget cuts. Again.
- Ellie nominations were announced.

Celebritized

There were a lot of ups and downs this week.

- Natasha Richardson suffered a serious head injury while skiing and passed away. Please always wear a helmet.
- Bruce Willis married model and actress Emma Heming.
- Harrison Ford proposed to Calista Flockheart over Valentine's Day weekend. They've been together for seven and a half years.
- One of my favorite designers Marc Jacobs also got engaged.
- This is why I don't like deer. Poor Matt Lauer.

Celebritized

And of course, I can't forget my obsession with celebrities.

- I'm so glad Robin Williams is doing well.
- Mandy Moore got married. How exciting!
- I really think Jen and John should make up their minds. They split. Again.
- Gotta love Britney's new video, If You Seek Amy.
- I still think Channing Tatum is cute; even if he has big ears.
- I'm unimpressed with the trailer and Jen's hairstyles.

Celebritized

After spending time at People, it's a little hard to stop my obsession with the stars. So here's my little roundup of the ones I found interesting.

- I hope Chris Brown gets charged with a felony.
- Reese Witherspoon opens up for Elle. She's one tough cookie; I admire her.
- Kristen Stewart seems more and more like an idiot everyday.
- Sleepless in Seattle will be a musical! I bet my mom would want to see that.
- No Doubt has a pretty sweet deal. I wish I could go see them in concert.
- I'm in love with Ryan Gosling.