Everybody's workin' for the weekend!

Everybody needs a new romance! I'm singing the lyrics to crazy 80's tunes in my head. I was in college when Loverboy was at the top of the charts. I still hum this tune every Friday, but I don't use up a can of Aquanet getting my hair that big anymore. No, twenty years later I burn my finger tips on a flat iron every morning trying to make my hair as small as possible. Go figure.

• I love a mystery in a cool old spooky mansion in Los Feliz.

• Adorable Valentine's Day knitting pattern for 'smittens' has one inherent problem: finding a straight man who would be willing to go outside of the house holding your hand in a smitten. Not going to happen. Just not.
  


• Had a bad date? Why not tell the whole world about it? I'm sure that will make you feel better. Or him worse...

• I totally related to this article, but more than anything else I kept wondering how I could get her writing gig.

• Speaking of publishing deals I'd like to steal, Miss Piggy has just published her new book about how to deal with men, er, frogs. Whatever.

You are so beautiful to me

Jon Hamm, who plays dapper Don Draper on Mad Men, was on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last night to explain how he deals with the perils of being the Handsomest Man on the Planet. I know most of the countermeasures used to keep from attracting attention by men who are that incredibly handsome because I spend so much time in the company of the Handsomest Man Alive, but you might pick up some pointers that would come in very handy should you find yourself in the company of a pretty man on Valentine's Day.

• Speaking of handsome -- the almost too pretty to be anything but French -- Eric Ripert is getting his own television show on PBS. Oh - la - la!

• They're doing a sequel to 'The Movie.' I'm not sure this is a good thing. I'll have to have another Cosmopolitan and think it over.

• I vaguely remember reporter Nancy Dickerson, but I thought it was really nice that a son was recognizing the career achievements of his mom.

• I'm very sorry to hear that the "Cowgirl of the Typewriter" has died. She sounds like the kind of chick I would really like.

I'm stuck in the middle with you

It's Wednesday and I feel stuck in the middle of two weekends. I don't know whether to remember last weekend fondly, or whether it's time to start to pine for Friday night. While I'm mired in indecision...

• I'm following stories that originate in Ojai...and involve President Obama. Two of my favorite things.

• Los Angelenos seem to have no sense of history. The first problem is that L.A. is a twentieth century town -- so nothing ever seemed old enough to be "historical." The second problem is that Los Angeles isn't confined by space -- rather it's defined by it's sprawl. Out here, if we can't tear down and build new, we go down the block and build new. Every once in a while someone points out that some spots in L.A. have thrived despite the circumstances. Clifton's Cafeteria is one of those L.A. spots.

• Remember how hot Michael Phelps looked in his swim trunks? Now we know how unhot he looks doing bong hits. Should we be judgmental? Maybe. His is not the greatest crime committed, but he did receive $100 million to endorse products because he was a clean-cut American hero. Maybe we should start to hold people accountable for their actions, instead of rewarding them for their rehabilitation.

• Cool! Meet the Zamboni of the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver.

• Today's imagication is a trip in a bottle. Personally, I prefer bubble bath.

Soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie

• Are men of a certain age, like the oh-so attractive George Clooney, you know, the kind of guys who eschew long-term relationships and marriage...Are they the new lovelorn spinsters of our generation? Oh sure! Convince me, you crazy Brits.

• Photographs from Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood edition feature Academy Award-winning actors and the puppeteers who pull their strings.
  

• Sarah Palin has a new and formidable foe in Ashley Judd. My mom and I have always referred to ourselves when we're participating in Keystone Kops antics as "The Judds." Ashley is the younger sister of Wynonna and daughter of Naomi. She's also married to a race car driver. I bet that she knows a thing or two about putting her boot into the behind of an opponent. I'm putting my money on her.
  

• I don't know if it's because I read Nancy Drew when I was younger and never got over it -- but there is nothing in the world I love more than a treasure hunt. Even more fun is one that is successful.
  

• Today's imagication gives you the option of several different chocolate vacations. Yes! Chocolate. Live dangerously! go on all of them in your imagination.

A snowy day in London town...

I've been looking everywhere for a print or photograph of my beloved London town to hang in my living room. When I saw this one, I thought to myself...finally! I haven't been in London in twenty years, but I still think of it as my kind of town. Britain is struggling under the effects of an unusually heavy snow storm, which is making travel difficult, but looks beautiful to those of us who live under sunny skies and palm trees.

• Yesterday's New York Times was a virtual cornucopia of intriguing Op-Ed articles about the current state of the economy. Start with Maureen Dowd and then move on to Frank Rich, and then wrap up with this little ditty about the state of the American shopping mall.

• Did you watch all the Super Bowl commercials?

• Meet the new Vice President's wife. She's pretty and smart -- quite a Cinderella.

• Today's imagication takes you on a tour of California wineries that make sparkling wines. Pack your bags and click here.