For a lot of girls in 1975 and since, Judy Blume's Forever has been a shocking introduction to the world of teen sex. Seriously controversial at the time for it's blunt and realistic views and is still (surprise, surprise in this conservative climate) a target for censors. Which is why it was funny, as Jezebel pointed out, that Kathy Lee Gifford recently asked if Blume felt out of place in the fast paced world of more sexually explicit teen stuff. Ha! I am sure Gossip Girl is filled with torrid lust, but I doubt it gets as truthful and unglamorous as talking about how bad the first time can be, periods getting in the way, and a boy who calls his penis Ralph (this nickname in the book resulted in a major decline in the name being used in real life).

I actually never read it growing up. I was a Freckle Juice then later Just as Long as We're Together girl but reading Forever as an adult is kind of a nostalgic trip anyway. Blume wisely writes the book from the young soon to no longer be a virgin, Katherine's point of view and voice. So it's naive and artless, but sincere. The lack of literary flare also makes it a kind of abstract too.

I am bummed out that the cover has changed to the typical boring modern norm (corbis stock photo, blah blah) instead of the original, Kotex ad looking fresh faced girl inside of a golden locket.

The Greatest by the eccentric beauteous chameleon Cat Power (Chan Marshall) is a bluesy album that ranges from melancholy to glee. Recorded in Tennessee with exceptional blues musicians like Teenie Hodges, Al Green's lead guitarist and songwriter, it makes sense that this showcases a different side to the fragile artist, it's not only bluesy but polished. The album also marked a shift in Marshall's personal life. Entering a hospital after what she described as “a mental break” she dealt with many long suffering problems like depression and alcohol abuse.

The title song is a beautiful one and Lived in Bars and Where is My Love are other romantic favorites of mine. As her seventh studio album, The Greatest is perhaps her most critically successful, winning the coveted Shortlist Music Prize in 2007. It was intended by her label Matador to gain her “a much wider appeal” and it worked, though she still has a bit of a cult status instead of a sold out MTV appeal, despite her becoming a very un-indie spokesperson for Chanel, De Beers, and Cingular.

Let's face it, David Lee Roth, “Diamond Dave” wearer of sequined demi vests, leather chaps and underwear, of the layered mane of feather rock hair and medium level talent, has always been ridiculous and yeah, it's even more ridiculous at whatever age he's lurking around at, but back in the day that kind of cockamamie swashbuckling was pretty cool.

As a kid I LOVED his videos for Just a Gigolo and California Girls and I really hate Sammy Hagar, so that automatically puts me on the DLR side of things. I was looking at some quotes from him, knowing there'd be plenty from the guy Rolling Stone called “the most obnoxious singer in human history, an achievement notable in the face of long tradition and heavy competition”. His witticisms remind me of a certain uncle of Jim a fifty something guy going on nineteen:

“Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it”,

“I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.”,

“The light you see at the end of the tunnel is the front of an oncoming train.”

He's never quite offensive in his love of bikini clad women, because ultimately he's the ditsy blond.

A friend of a friend had a run in with the man himself while getting busy in a NYC bar bathroom. Diamond Dave walked in on them and “whoa, been there, done that.” Classic.

With Jim and I now within walking distance for work lunch meet ups, we're lucky to have the neighborhood favorite, Snack as the in between point. I've been once before, and liked it, but this time I ordered all the right things and loved it. You know you're making a right menu choice when the waiter gets ultra excited about it.?In this case he was?an adorable and friendly gay boy, the kind who makes you think to yourself, “man, I really hope his parents were cool and not total dicks when he came out of the closet.”

The lamb sandwich was the item he was so thrilled about and it was?worth the praise. Many people must be aware of its greatness too because at least three came in to order it to go. It was rich and flavorful and big enough to split. We also dived into the cold appetizer platter with a very smoky eggplant dip, hummus, and my favorite thing of all time, taramasalata. All were excellent and the accompanying pita was warm and soft.

It's a minuscule place, so getting one of their four table requires amazing luck or going at lightly off hours. During those quieter times, I can see the appeal of hanging around for a while, getting fat on more and more pita as the afternoon fades.

Generally, a three dollar canned beer at happy hour isn't exactly something to get excited about except for the price, but the other week when our local bastion of interesting beers, The Diamond Bar was offering cans from the New England Brewing company, we all walked away happily surprised.

I had the amber, my friends the IPA and it was so tasty that we continued to order them after happy hour had passed, and I even picked up a couple six packs from Whole Foods for our fridge.

Based out of Connecticut, the brewery has been around since 1989, but until recently, it's not been really known outside of its local region. Their “where to buy” section on their site doesn't even mention anyplace outside of CT, but now that major shops and bars are starting to carry it, I hope and think they will do well as there's not a?huge number of great tasting canned beers out there. If you can find it, try it for your next get together, it beats a Bud any day.

If Miss Haversham had ditched the guy who broke her mind and heart and moved on to become a stylist for London's eccentric and insanely wealthy set, she very well could have been the lady behind John Derian. Walk into his stores and you're in a land of pretty, decoupage, textiles, and cozy grandness.

While I never really shop very much and could never convince myself to be ok with such high knick knack prices (though his soon to be line at Target might be another story) these shops are wonderful places just to wander and take in. The white Astier de Villatte terracotta, delightful Hugo Guinness paintings, the whimsical paper mache figurines by Julie Arkell, and the exquisite quilts from all over the world will make you weep for the economy and the likely fact that none of us will be able to afford little luxuries like these again.

I feel like I understand Holly Golightly when she said in Breakfast at Tiffany's “Well, when I get it (sad) the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then – then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!” and I bet she'd upgrade to John Derian if it had been around back then to calm aesthetic loving women.

From the Denton empire, that includes Gawker and Defamer which can each get a bit too snarky at time for my stomach,?rises Jezebel, a brilliant website aimed at women, but not in that way that television and Hollywood “aim” things at women but as a genuinely engaging site that intelligent real women with a sense of humor would (and do) want to read.

I hope they're not ashamed to call themselves a feminist website, because it's time that word lost its negative connotations. It really just means you believe that women are equal to men, and since we are equal we deserve equally great blogs to read.?

Jezebel covers real issues like politics but isn't embarrassed by their love for feminine things. They delight in diving into other subjects like fashion (which they cover like pros, citing and praising Italian Vogue instead of something like Lucky magazine), celebrity (never, ever getting bitchy about weight but fairly pointing out their bull—-), and in one of my favorite recurring columns, Fine Lines, about young adult books (like this week's Forever) that we read in our pre teen years.

There are also Project Runway and America's Next Top Model breakdowns, and constantly keep us up to date with interesting tidbits of the world's going ons.

This is one of the best blogs out there, and a small victory in positive female voices in media that I can revel in compared to the dismal female characters I've encountered in all the new fall TV shows: Bone thin, humorless women who are far far too young for their jobs and painfully dull. Sure their meant to be strong (clearly – they're all wearing ass-boring suits) but do they all have to be so cardboard?

Is this the best roles they can come up with for women, god it almost makes one?praise The Closer (which started as a guilty pleasure for Jim until it became just too, too terrible to continue watching, but still, at least they let her have a personality even though its as a neurotic shrew who loves candy). But?I digress.

Read Jezebel.

From Funny or Die, this little video is about a girl from Jersey girl saying “what the f…” in different situations (waitress forgot her vodka and red bull, when she can't open a starburst, when she's out of hard Mike's, etc). I don't know, I think it's pretty funny.