"...with a man who would always love you, no matter what."

Gwyneth Paltrow posted this quick story to her Goop website today, and I think it's lovely and wanted to share.

When I was ten years old, my father and I took a trip to Paris, leaving my younger brother and mother in London where she was filming a movie. My dad believed in one-on-one time with us, and sometimes that extended to a weekend away. We stayed at a great hotel and he said I could order whatever I wanted for breakfast (French fries). We went to the Pompidou museum, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre - the usual spots. It was pretty great. On the plane back to London he asked me if I knew why we had gone, just he and I, to Paris for the weekend. I said no, but I felt so lucky for the trip. He said, “I wanted you to see Paris for the first time with a man who would always love you, no matter what.” From that time on, Paris was and continues to be very special to me. I lived there for five months in 1994 and I have made many trips back. These are the places in Paris I stay and eat and toast my dad.

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

Michael and Michael Have a TV Show: Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black have landed a new program on Comedy Central, Michael and Michael Have Issues, which will be a sketch show-within-a-show interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage. Seven episodes of the show have been green-lit. For those keeping count at home, after The State and Stella this will be Showalter and Black's third prematurely canceled, posthumously revered comedy show. ~ Via Vulture


Thanks to my buddy, Scott, for the tip. :)

When Your Company is Run by a 20-Something CEO...

You mess up. Big time.

David Karp, the 20-something founder and CEO of Tumblr, recently made a decision heard -- and disliked -- around the internet to disable five Tumblr blogs that he felt "disrupted" his community. Karp writes why he felt his hasty actions were acceptable on his own Tumblr blog:

"Accounts with the sole or primary purpose of repeatedly harassing or abusing specific members or groups within the Tumblr community will be suspended."

It's not clearly explained what constitutes harassment, so obviously it's up to the discretion of the Tumblr staff to de-activate a blog not to their liking. What's also interesting is that all five blogs "harassed" only one member of the community -- Julia Allison -- the annoying, irrelevant “microcelebrity egoblogger" who "lifecasts" along with a pair of equally dimwitted friends, Mary Rambin and Meghan Asha. Allison is also a close, personal friend of David Karp.

Personally, I believe that these ladies deserve every ounce of harassment they received. They have chosen to make their profession "people that live in public" -- and if you are a public figure, you have to expect to be exposed to scrutiny, misunderstanding and hatred. Not to mention, the girls, probably for publicity sake, like to discuss highly controversial topics on their blog. For example, my favorite was when Mary Rambin compared a woman's right to have an abortion with her right to plastic surgery.

I can't really say much else about that blog post except that I was walking around New York, angry for days. She gave women everywhere a bad name and it irks me to no end that Rambin has a large platform to share her terrible ideas. What is also interesting is that she didn't even stand by her own writing. I recently went to her site to find the post, and it was deleted.

If every blog in the world followed Karp's policies, they would all be shut down. Perez Hilton? Forget about it! Gawker? Nope -- wouldn't make it. The Kid in the Back? Gasp -- gone!

You can't ask for a public platform and then pick and choose the repercussions that go along with it. Julia Allison and David Karp are public friends, which also does not bode well for Karp's argument that Tumblr is a community as well as a blogging platform. I haven't seen him take any other "community" actions for other members of his company. Not to mention, where is the line between "community" and "free speech?" Sure, Tumblr is a private company, but in the name of a friend and not the community as a whole -- when you start mandating your own take on constitutional rights -- as well as the basic concept of the internet -- you're playing with fire.

Sadly, this whole experience makes me want to shut down my Tumblr account and no longer support the platform. Mostly because I dislike the NonSociety girls so much, that I don't want to be associated with a business that has an exclusive relationship with their group. And mostly because I hate double standards.

Will I actually do this? Probably not. Karp has developed a very interesting platform that I like using and feel has great potential. Let's just hope that he grows up, starts making decisions like a real adult and doesn't screw it up.

More on this:"Enforcing Manners, Tumblr Shuts Down Five Blogs" - NY Times

My Valentine's Gift: The Jonas Brothers Top 10

The Jonas Brothers were on David Letterman last night and read their own Top 10 list, "Surprising Facts About the Jonas Brothers." Since I spend my days in celebrity land at my job at Us Weekly, this list actually cracked me up. Enjoy.

10. Our new 3D concert film puts you right in the middle of a six-hour tour bus ride from Pittsburgh to Albany.

9. Often we are astonished by how adorable we are.

8. Sometimes we lather, rinse, repeat and then repeat again!

7. Last Sunday night, I won a Grammy for “Best New Jonas.”

6. Osama said he’d come out of hiding if we’d meet his 15-year-old niece.

5. One time when we were on the road, things got really crazy and we stayed up until 10:30.

4. We’ve seen Paul Blart: Mall Cop 27 times.

3. Once a week we get mail for Dr. Joyce Brothers.

2. We have no idea who that old dude behind the desk is.

1. A couple years back, Angelina Jolie tried to adopt us.

Definitely Not a Cheeseburger.

Beautiful flowers and chocolate beat a heart-shaped burger any day of the week.

Thanks, Eric. :)

This Has "Jessica April" Written All Over It

The Definition of "Exhaustion"

Eric and I went to visit some of his best friends in North Carolina this past weekend. Turns out, they also just had triplets. This shot was taken on Sunday, after we had been there since Friday night. I think it's pretty obvious we're delirious. Kids are great, but I think I'm cool with not having any for a little while.

Jon Hamm May or May Not Have Caused the Plane Crash in the Hudson

Jon Hamm's good looks have taken his career far -- it's part of his character's appeal and believability on the critically acclaimed show, "Mad Men" and now women on TV and in real life sweat his body constantly.

What's so great about Hamm, is that everyone knows he's handsome and he knows it's really dumb to pretend to be modest about his insanely good looks -- so instead of saying "Oh geeze, you're making me blush" -- he makes fun of how incredibly manly and attractive he is.

One of my favorite comedic moments for Hamm was in the below SNL skit -- "Don Draper's Guide" (however, I think Amy Poehler steals this spot with her one amazing line, "Let's get me out of this skirt.")

Another great clip was on last night's episode of Conan (above.) Conan asks Hamm "What's it like to be so handsome?" Hamm goes on to explain the precautions he needs to on land and in the air so that chaos doesn't break out over his smoldering face.

Ricky Gervais Suggests Posh/Hilton Swap

Ricky Gervais is hilarious. He posted the following "open letter" to President Barack Obama today on his blog after he found out that Paris Hilton bought a house in London. Please, let this man host some awards show or do something where he has a public platform.

An open letter to Barack Obama.

Dear Mr President, Firstly, congratulations on your historic win. I have never been so behind a candidate for what must be considered the boss of the world. You seem to be a man of grace and integrity, who would never shirk responsibility in any way. I'll get to the point. As I'm sure you are aware, one of your flock has strayed. A Miss Paris Hilton, who is, I believe, a resident of Beverley Hills, is in England doing a reality game show for ITV2 called Paris Hilton's British Best Friend. Fine. I have no problem with that. I don't have to watch. But now it has come to my attention that she has bought a house in North London a few miles from me, and is out and about ingratiating herself with the Great British public. Mr President. We are not stupid. This is clearly a retaliatory strike for Posh Spice moving to LA. I know it, and you know it, so let's cut the "it's a free country" nonsense and come to some agreement. I propose an exchange. This is how it would work. We call them both and tell them that we've found a giant "paparazzi nest", in New York say. (half way home for both of them already) At first they may be confused that they'd never heard of such a thing before, but the thought of that many photographers in one place will be irresistible. Once we get them there, while they are having their photos taken (we will have hire a few guys with cameras to make it look good) we will swap their limos around. It's fool proof. This is a covert operation of which Mr Gordon Brown knows nothing. (I've got him working on finding a synthetic fur for The Queen's guards' bearskin hats.) Have your people call my people. They may have to call a few times as my people are useless to be honest. Thank you, Ricky Gervais

FYI: Jack Bauer is a Demorcrat

"Because I'm not a Republican, and I created the character." —Kiefer Sutherland insists that Jack Bauer is a Democrat (Via Vulture)

MacGruber: The Financial Series

The "Pepsuber" Superbowl ads were awesome, but I've got to share my favorite "series" of the bunch, which include MacGruber finding out his stock portfolio lost all his money. There's three separate spots -- in the first, he finds out he has no money, in the second, he tries to steal money from the other characters locked in the room with him and in the fourth, he's totally desperate, doing drugs and "selling his blood."

Hilarious, timely and smart.