About Those 38,000 Copies of Ultragrrrl's Book

"In 2005 [Sarah Lewitinn] wrote The Pocket DJ, a book of playlists for different genres, moods, and occasions. It sold 38,000 copies—successful enough that she's signed to do a second book, The Pocket Karaoke," yesterday's Voice cover article told us. Hmm, we thought, that's a very impressive figure! Especially because the numbers gleaned from Nielsen Bookscan, which doesn't track all retail outlets, are very different: like 30,000 copies different. Being sort of like journalists, we decided to investigate. More »

In Defense of Rachel Zoe

Why does the profile of celeb stylist Rachel Zoe in today's Styles bring to mind some other recent take on the career of a maligned, super-successful lady? Maybe it's quotes like this one: "She brings almost a prescient sense of where the market is going to be, and of where peoples' tastes are." Yes, Rachel Zoe is totally the Ultragrrrl of LA! Or fashion! Or being thin! Or something. And like yesterday's controversial Voice article, this piece doesn't have much new info, or many quotes that don't sound political or hedgy. In fact, the truest-sounding thing anyone says in the whole thing is probably Rachel herself: '"Over the last year I've learned to develop a really thick skin." Well, clearly. More »

Rich Juzwiak's Definitive Take On That Ultragrrrl Article

Yesterday, our allegedly cooler siblings at Idolator shared their thoughts about Tricia Romano's In Defense of Ultragrrrl Voice cover story. Today, world champion cat blogger Rich Juzwiak of Fourfour weighs in, so brilliantly that we believed in the internet again (again!) The whole thing is a must-read, but we have plucked out the highlights in deference to your ADD. If you only read one more bullet-pointed list about Ultragrrrl, let it be this one! More »

Best In Show: Blog Pets Face Off. Meow!

"Omg, totes out of stuff to write about at myspecialopinion.blogspot.com today. Oh, hey, look, Fluffy is doing that thing where he puts his paw over his eyes. Awww! [Digital camera snap noise]" Sound familiar? It does to the bloggers listed after the jump, who are famous ("famous") for posting about their pets. At the risk of sounding like a total girl, we guess they're like adorable or whatever. But as you know, everything is a competition. So: these three fuzzy fluffballs of Kute will face off in a poll later on, once they've inspired some other bloggers to put their own animal companions' honor on the line. To be considered, though, the pet in question has to have been the subject of a lot of blog posts. And while costumes are obviously a plus, entrants who have a blog that's just about their pet will not be considered because of sheer patheticness. Also, please remember that we are just talking about the pets here and not the blogs. You can save your mean comments about which of the bloggers below you hate most when we're singling them out for, like, "whose mom has the worst cancer." More »