I hope you guys had a good Christmas! I got a few things from my Amazon wish list! I got the Mr. Coffee mug warmer and the little silicone cup covers. They work well together to keep my coffee warm, but not too hot. The little covers look so cute on my desk and they come individually wrapped so I will probably give some away as presents. I’m featuring some more things I either own or want as usual.

Get more organized with a remote control holder

I bought this for myself right after Christmas and am so glad I did. It really helps me from losing my remotes and looks so nice on my ottoman. This vegan leather-look remote control holder by Fintie has over 1,700 ratings, 4.7 stars and a B on Fakespot. It doesn’t smell at all when you open it and it has a nice upward curved design so you can find the remote you’re looking for. It has five different slots and reviewers say they’re surprised at how much it holds. They also like how compact it is and how nice it looks. “It saves a lot of clutter on the table, and the remotes are now easy to access.” “Takes up minimal space & all my remotes fit great!”

Finally solve the issue of hot and cold air blowing on you

Over the break I moved my desk to the other side of my office so that my background would look better on Zoom. The setup is much nicer but the floor vent is right next to my chair and cold air blows on me when I’m working. (How is the air cold when the heat is on?) This is a set of four clear plastic air vent deflectors by Frost King for under $20. I ordered them and they’re coming today! They attach with magnets to your floor or ceiling metal air vents and are adjustable in size from 10 to 14 inches. They have over 1,900 ratings, 4.4 stars and a B on Fakespot. Reviewers say they work really well and that they’re also quite strong and resistant to breaking. “We’ve gone through set after set of other brands of this item, and finally decided to try a little harder to find something invincible… These really are holding up well.” “I have been suffering so long from air blowing in my face at night… These deflectors are exactly what I needed!”

Enjoy aromatherapy without a diffuser with cute lava rocks

We’ve featured essential oil diffusers before and my friends swear by them. Another option for aromatherapy are lava rocks like this colorful set. You get a lovely bowl and 14 flat round natural lava stones, 14 flat heart stones or 12 lava balls, all under $17. These have 80 ratings, 4.3 stars and an A on Fakespot. Please look at the photo next to a dime to see the size, this is quite small and can fit in your hand. This would be nice for keeping at a bedside and I want it for my desk! There are different versions available: a bowl with rougher edges that’s quite nice and a ceramic bowl with rippled sides. People say the rippled set is “Natural looking and takes up little space.” and that “The lava rocks hold their scent for days – couldn’t be more pleased!” “The rocks have been very easy to use, and the scent is nice, while being understated.”

A set of essential oils to help you feel calm and focused

I looked through so many essential oil sets and most had low ratings on Fakespot. This is a set of 6 organic 10ml essential oils from Divine Botanicals for $20. You get peppermint, orange, lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus and lemon, all in a giftable storage box. These have 177 ratings, 4.6 stars and a B on Fakespot. People say they smell great and improve their mood. “The scents are so pleasant and wonderful. My favorites are lemon and peppermint. I take a whiff of lemon every morning to start the day feeling fresh.” “Love the scents and that they’re organic.”

A real neon decorative piece for your bedroom, office or bar

This little neon cloud comes in white, blue or pink colors and is 13.8 inches wide by 5 inches high. It’s under $15, is made of soft, break-resistant neon tubing and runs on USB or 2 AA batteries. It has 4.5 stars, over 850 ratings and a B on Fakespot. It’s said to be surprisingly bright and some reviewers got several to make a larger piece of wall art. They call it “super cute” and write “I’ve always loved these lil neon lights. It surprisingly gives off a lot of light.” “Brighter than what we thought [and] excellent buy.”

A little lap desk so you can eat in your car

My son and I used to get takeout and have it outside at a picnic table in our town. Now that the weather is bad we haven’t done that in several weeks. These little lap desks would be a nice way to start getting takeout again as we could eat in the car. Plus you can use them on the couch or in bed. These have over 6,000 ratings, 4.3 stars and a B on Fakespot. They come in 6 different colors, all under $12, and fit laptops up to 13.3 inches. Many people use them to do crossword and sudoku puzzles from a comfortable chair. Reviewers say “It’s very lightweight which is perfect for me to use at home but also great if I decide to travel with it.” “Exactly what i was looking for. Simple, small, fits in my backpack so I can take anywhere… I just wanted something simple that would travel in my backpack, fit my small laptop, and provide a surface in the car/ hotel. It does all those things perfectly.”

An ounce of organic hyaluronic acid for under $7!

Amazon has so many excellent bargains and you can find inexpensive alternatives that are just as good as more expensive brands. This is a full ounce of organic hyaluronic acid by Eclat for under $7, which is the best price I’ve ever seen. Plus there’s a 5% off coupon you can check for even more savings. This has over 700 reviews, 4.5 stars and a B on Fakespot, which is excellent for skincare. Reviewers say it reduces fine lines, clears up redness and acne, and that they’re surprised at how well it works. “Have severe rosacea on my face, this product did not irritate my sensitive skin. The redness on my face has been greatly reduced after 1 month of use.” “I apply morning and night, my stubborn melasma is finally fading and the rest of my skin looks amazing.” “As an esthetician I am VERY skeptical about skincare on amazon, even more so about a $6 serum. I cannot stress enough the difference I see in my skin with this product. It 100% adds extra moisture, reduces redness and plumps my pesky mid 30’s fine lines and wrinkles.”

It feels like Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis announced their split two seconds ago, but it actually happened in mid-November. Plus, the split had the feel of something that had been happening for months and they only bothered to confirm it after they had already split up residences and everything. What I’m saying is that Olivia has likely been single for months. And a few weeks ago, she began dating… HARRY STYLES. Yes, that Harry Styles. The angel who loves nail polish, pearls and pussybow blouses.

A hot new couple may be kicking off 2021 in style. Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles were seen holding hands at a friend’s wedding over the weekend, sparking dating rumors for the pair who recently worked together on the film Don’t Worry Darling, which Styles starred in and Wilde directed.

“They were in Montecito, California this weekend for a wedding,” a source tells PEOPLE. “They were affectionate around their friends, held hands and looked very happy. They have dated for a few weeks.”

In photos obtained by Page Six, Wilde is seen wearing a floor-length floral gown for the wedding as she holds hands with Styles, who’s in an all-black fitted suit paired with a white button-up shirt. Both actors are also seen wearing masks. Wilde, 36, and Styles, 26, were later seen photographed at his L.A. home with luggage in tow.

A rep for Wilde could not be immediately reached for comment, and a rep for Styles has not commented.

Wilde and Styles spent time together over the fall as they filmed Don’t Worry Darling around Los Angeles. Wilde pulls double duty on the film, which she also co-stars in. The 1950s-set film stars Florence Pugh as a housewife who discovers a disturbing truth while living in an isolated community in California. Styles plays her character’s husband.

[From People]

Yeah, there’s a ten year age difference but I don’t think that matters to either of them. Harry has always had a thing for ladies who are older than him, and it’s not like he’s currently some dumb kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. I do feel sorry for the Styles fans who wanted to see him with other people, like Louis Tomlinson or Lizzo. (Lizzo and Harry are good friends and affectionate friends, but I don’t think anything happened there.) As for Jason Sudeikis… he’ll be fine.

As for the wedding, Olivia attended as Harry’s plus-one, the wedding was for his friend Jeff Azoff. Harry wore a robe, Hugh Hefner-style, at one point.

Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde twin in Gucci at Jeff Azoff’s wedding https://t.co/TWvibon6J7 pic.twitter.com/VRjaZRKwxP

— Page Six (@PageSix) January 4, 2021

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles are dating, seen holding hands at a wedding https://t.co/Fg3QOOZtSg pic.twitter.com/bOkMU7bLl2

— Page Six (@PageSix) January 4, 2021

Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump flew down to Georgia for one of their now infamous late-night rallies in some airport hangar. Today is the Georgia special election for both of GA’s Senate seats and if any Georgians are reading this today, please get out to vote! It’s incredibly important, and your vote will determine the balance of the Senate, and your vote will set the agenda for the next four years. As for Ivanka and Don the Con, it amuses me that Melania tapped out – she doesn’t give a flying f–k – and so Ivanka gleefully took on the role of Daughter-Wife. It’s being said that Ivanka has her own political ambitions, and that she could run for a Senate seat, possibly in Florida. That’s what this about too – Ivanka trying to get her daddy’s unhinged Nazi base to love her too.

Unfortunately for Ivanka, America and democracy entirely, her father seems to want to burn everything down as he’s being dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming. On Sunday, Trump’s call to the Georgia Secretary of State was made public, and Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors are tearing apart the GOP. Allegedly. I mean, I think most of the angst from elected Republicans right now is performative, as they’re trying to gauge whether or not their base actually gives a f–k about Firestarter Trump burning down the republic.

In Georgia last night, apparently Trump barely even talked about the Senate races – he was too busy talking about himself and how he *totally* won Georgia. Then he suggested that Mike Pence needed to “come through for us.” What the actual f–k.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Ivanka’s Twitter, Avalon Red and Backgrid.

Months after the fuss about Finding Freedom died down, another royal book made some waves around here. The book was Battle of Brothers: William and Harry–The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult by Robert Lacey, an old-guard royal historian who initially planned to write a book about Prince Andrew. His sources told him, pre-Sussexit, that Harry and William’s relationship was almost irretrievably broken, which is the basis for his book. Lacey wasn’t pro-Sussex or pro-Cambridge – he said some very shady things about both couples, and I feel like the new generation of royal watchers possibly needed the history lesson on the early days of William and Kate’s relationship especially, like the discussion of how Kate stalked William for years before they began dating, or how William dumped Kate over the phone in 2007. The Daily Mail was supposed to do extensive book excerpts and the Mail ended up burying many of those excerpts because Lacey was so critical of William in particular, like William’s anger issues, his screaming tantrums at his family, and how many times William threw Harry under the bus over the course of the lives.

While Lacey didn’t get everything right – far from it – I enjoyed the gossip he brought to the table and I read his new interview in Elle with interest. He hasn’t given an interview in a few months, and I was interested in hearing if he had any new insights about how the Windsors have been treating Harry. You can read the full Elle piece here. Some highlights:

Windsor chickens coming home to roost: “We have this expression in Britain that the chickens are coming home to roost–we thought the 1980s and the 1990s were behind us, and suddenly they’re not. There’s these two boys, William and Harry, who have taken different lessons from those years. The lesson that William took from the breakdown and the emotional chaos was at least he had this duty, this responsibility to be King, the future monarch, and he had to live up to that. This became a source of strength for him; for other kids, it could have been a source of conceit or arrogance, but on the whole, it gave him this driving sense of duty. Even when he falls in love, he more or less politely requests his lady love to wait nine years before she marries him; here [in the U.K.] she was called “Waity Katie.” She did her duty, and they are now emerging as a very attractive future King and Queen. They are much more attractive to most Britains than Charles and Camilla.

What Harry learned from his parents’ failed marriage: “There, on the one hand, you have duty, and on the other hand you have Harry emerging from the same emotional chaos. He takes a different lesson: His parents were locked into an arranged, loveless marriage, and he’s not going to make that mistake. He’s going to go for love, and that’s what he’s done with Meghan, unapologetically. The first thing he says is he fell in love the moment he saw her.

Love versus duty: This is a very appealing but also challenging human dichotomy: Love versus duty. In 1936, it was embodied in the person of one man, Edward VIII, and is now embodied by these two boys. Just as in 1936, it was duty that won, and love had to go abroad. I expect that is the long-term solution here: Duty in the form of William and Kate will take over the situation, and Harry and his love will enjoy the freedom of America and, I hope, obviously there will be some sort of reconciliation. I think there will be [a reconciliation]. There is texture and history between these brothers, but it’s never going to be the same. I would imagine the base for Harry and Meghan is going to remain in the United States for the foreseeable future.

William has never made a move to reconcile with Harry: “William has pretended it hasn’t happened, and he’s an old-style Royal in that sense. He’s taken lessons from his grandmother, and this is something of a patent in the Royal Family…William has been much more influenced by his grandmother than he ever has been by his father. That’s one of the things we’ve discovered–until recently, the rift in the family has brought father and son together; until then, there were quite severe arguments between William and Charles. William felt there were various ways where Charles wasn’t doing job properly as future king; he would argue with him and criticize him, and we know this because Camilla, when she came into the family, was absolutely shocked by the way William would talk to his father.

William’s qualms about Meghan: “You could certainly say William had a lot of justice on his side. We do not know the details of what he said to Harry, but if he pointed out that this woman that he [Harry] loved was a self-made Hollywood celebrity and a self-made millionairess who created her own celebrity, a self-sufficient woman like this who was ambitious and campaigning her belief in women’s rights and her wish to promote social change. These are radical initiatives, radical impulses; do they fit inside the rather safe and conservative British Royal Family? If those are the sort of objections and queries that William raised, well, events have proved them right, didn’t they? This was a woman who couldn’t fit inside the Royal Family so, as a result, she’s no longer royal.

Meghan is like Diana: “Meghan is curiously like Diana in her subversion of the Royal Family. The other person I compare [Meghan] to is Yoko Ono; a determined, original woman who came into a set of British folk heroes and stole one of Britain’s cherished folk heroes. She [Yoko] made John [Lennon] her own. The same is true for Harry and Meghan. Harry seems very happy to have been stolen away. The price of that is leaving the Royal Family.

[From Elle]

For the love of God, Meghan isn’t Yoko!! And I think between Harry and Meghan, Harry is more like Diana. Meghan is something wholly original to the royal experience – someone organized, intelligent, focused, compassionate, a planner. And Meghan was torn apart in a way no one else has been. But Lacey’s argument that William was right to be concerned about Meghan glosses over the fact that William’s “concerns” were more like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead of being happy for Harry and supporting his brother and sister-in-law, William set about destroying them and smearing them and otherizing them, only to then point to that hate campaign and say “see, she doesn’t fit in!”

Lacey also made some pointed comments, yet again, about William’s anger issues. Lacey starts out by saying that “William has a temper as well as Harry…Both are volatile and tend to fly off the handle.” Except that Lacey’s evidence is only for William, when William was too incandescent with rage to even sit down for lunch with Harry at the Sandringham Summit one year ago. And nobody does sh-t about it – they just let William rage and scream and bully everyone and no one has the balls to say “you need to be in therapy.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN, Avalon Red.

Spoilers for the ending of Bridgerton follow, stop reading if you don’t want spoilers
I have definitely rewatched the current sexiest show on Netflix, Bridgerton, multiple times. I just can’t get enough of the Duke of Hastings and his chemistry with Daphne. I blame Shonda and showrunner Chris Van Dusen for encouraging my inner middle-aged Thotiana this past week. I have been enjoying tweeting with people who loved the show and sharing my favorite sexiest moments of the first season. While waiting for an announcement that there will be a season 2, I have been spending my time searching for rippable corsets for future cosplay and falling down the hilarious rabbit hole of Bridgerton Tik Tok. And because I am absolutely obsessed, I have also been finding interviews with the cast, particularly Rege-Jean “The God” Page. I mean, have you SEEN that man?

I have been trying to avoid spilling the tea about the show but this interview is filled with spoilers. So if you haven’t watched it do not continue after this point. Nicola Coughlan of the Derry Girls plays conniving, backstabbing Penelope Featherington (I actually liked Penelope). We spend eight episodes trying to figure out who Lady Whistledown is when it is revealed in the last few minutes of episode eight that she is the wallflower Penelope. Penelope is embroiled in a unrequited love triangle with her best guy friend, Colin Bridgerton, who is in love with Penelope’s very secretly pregnant country cousin, Marina. Most of the time Penelope goes unnoticed in the aristocratic circles which makes her the perfect person to spill everyone secrets. Below are excerpts from an interview Nicola did with Harper’s Bazaar. She talks about her character Penelope’s development and what would change about Lady Whistledown if she were in the 21st century with access to social media:

On the reveal scene
“I think the reveal was done so well,” Coughlan says. “I mean, it was one of the most satisfying things in the world to shoot. It was amazing. And that big cloak and the carriage and everything, I think it’s the perfect ending. When I watch it, even though I know, I was still like, ‘Ahh!’”

On if she knew about her character ahead of time
So, in my first meeting with Chris Van Dusen, our showrunner, I had to awkwardly slip in the question in some way, “Am I her? Are we doing that thing?” Because it changes the character completely, it changes how I would’ve approached her, and it gives this whole other layer. And how I find out was really strange. I just had one audition for this show. I thought it was going to be months and months, but it was just one, and the tape went to L.A., and I got the call with the offer, and I was so confused as to how I’d gotten it like that. I was like, “Are you sure this isn’t a mistake? And they really want me?” And then I ended up starting to read the books, and I went to book four, which is Penelope’s book, which is actually 10 years post-Season 1 scripts.

On how she approached her character
It was so much fun, because what I always think about Penelope is that she’s sort of the lowest-status person in any room she’s in, while also being the highest status because she’s the most powerful woman in London. She can make or break someone. She controls things. She can break up a match or a marriage or someone’s reputation.

I think Season 1 is all about her gaining this power, but really not knowing what to do with it. I think that becomes evident towards the end, especially with Marina, because I really didn’t expect her to go as far as she did. I was like, “Penelope is not going to risk her family’s reputation, she’s not going to ruin Marina’s life, just all for Colin.” And I was like, “Oh, my God, she did it. Oh, that’s pretty big.”

On how women established agency when their choices were limited
It was really fascinating, because I think we’re in a really exciting period of making art right now, in that we’re going back and telling stories that haven’t yet been told and women’s stories that have been neglected. And, yes, Bridgerton is a fantasy and these women … It’s hard to know. Are they more outspoken? There’s definitely this feminist narrative, but I think there was something sort of sad. Claudia and I used to say it all the time that Penelope and Eloise, had they lived nowadays, what could they have done? They were property of their fathers until they were property of their husbands. It’s really sad for them. But then, we’re looking at it from a Western view, and that’s still a reality in a lot of the world. There’s still a lot of women that don’t have that choice.

On who Lady Whistledown with be in 2020
I feel like she’d be good for zingers on Twitter. I could see Penelope totally stalking Colin’s Instagram. I always think that. Her scrolling back and liking a post from two years ago and freaking out. I feel like she would have so much power in this time, because there’s a lot of those sites that now are the anonymous gossip sites and blind items. Human nature, we do have a desire for gossip and scandal. It’s just within us. It’s innate. So I feel like, yes, she would still make a big splash on social media.

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

Despite my calling Penelope a conniving witch (she was) I actually enjoyed her character arc. You can definitely tell that Penelope was more intelligent than people expected. The fact that her bestie was Eloise, the equivalent of a modern day feminist, should have been a clue. I will say I did figure out that Whistledown was Penelope before the reveal in episode eight because of what happened to Penelope’s cousin, Marina (I won’t spill all the tea).

One of the many things I loved about Bridgerton, besides the steamy sex scenes, was how the women found their own form of independence throughout the show. Especially during an era where women were only seen as fetus incubators and glorified housekeepers. It was refreshing not only to see a diverse cast but diverse character development in Bridgerton. Nicola Coughlan is definitely the unsung heroine of the show. She brought Penelope to life and made her a sympathetic character. I think Penelope was pretty but I understand that she wasn’t the mainstream sort of beauty of the time so she was ignored. The fact that Penelope ends up being Lady Whistledown is beautiful revenge. Personally, I love an intelligent misfit. I also loved what Nicola says in the article about how Penelope is treated as the least powerful person in the aristocracy but is eventually revealed to be the most powerful one. She’s an epic character.

Nicola is right when she says that the desire for gossip and scandal is human nature. I obviously love to read celebrity gossip. I mean I DO write for Celebitchy, *hair flip*. I look forward to a second season and you know it’s coming. You can catch Nicola on the Great British Bake Off-Holiday Edition, she’s adorable. As you all distract yourself with that, I am going to go read the Julia Quinn books to catch up on the characters of Bridgerton and stalk Rege-Jean’s Instagram (don’t judge me).

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Photos credit: Avalon.red, Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2020 and via Instagram

I was shocked over the weekend when news broke about Zoe Kravitz filing for divorce from Karl Glusman. I thought they were a solid couple – they had been together for more than four years, and married for about 18 months. Zoe had her dream wedding in Paris, at her dad’s luxurious apartment. All of her friends and family were there, and Karl seemed to adore her. But Zoe is a wild card, isn’t she? There’s a vein of free-spirit, I’ll-do-what-I-want energy around her. So what if Zoe dumped her husband for another man? Suddenly, just two days after the divorce filing became news, there’s a rumor floating around that Zoe is happening with… Channing Tatum. OH MY GOD. Nicki Swift mentioned it:

With all those 2020 celebrity breakups, it seems 2021 is already off to an interesting start. After actress Zoe Kravitz announced her split from husband Karl Glusman on Jan. 2, 2021 — and is rumored to be dating none other than eligible bachelor Channing Tatum — there is another new A-list couple that has stopped us in our tracks…

[From Nicki Swift]

Paper Magazine also noted that Monday’s “other big relationship rumor concerns newly-single Zoë Kravitz and one Channing Tatum.” It was all over Twitter too. I was trying to figure out if there was one original source or if it was just some Twitter rumor that got out of hand. In Hunter Harris’s tweet, someone commented that actually, there’s a rumor about Zoe and Colin Farrell on the London set of The Batman – Zoe is Catwoman and Colin is the Penguin. Zoe likes accents and Colin likes… women. He’s been known to bone costars too. Hm.

For what it’s worth, as quickly as the rumors sprang up yesterday, they were denied in the same newscycle. E! News just had a flat “they’re not dating” regarding Channing and Zoe, but they didn’t cite his rep or her rep, so who knows. Anyway, if Zoe is moving on with anyone, especially Channing, then good for her. Channing seems like a lot of fun. So does Colin, but in a different way. I’m not worried about her.

zoe kravitz and channing tatum …… is that what i’m hearing …… pic.twitter.com/7p85KMCrMm

— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) January 4, 2021

zoe kravitz rebounded with channing tatum and not robert pattinson… pic.twitter.com/BWjqAdlngz

— lobotomy doll (@geminipropagnda) January 4, 2021

There are rumors that ?Zoe Kravitz is with Channing Tatum, which means there’s a scenario in which a Kravitz family Thanksgiving dinner involves Channing, Jason Momoa, and Lenny Kravitz. pic.twitter.com/F27bHTbkmW

— Danny Pellegrino (@DannyPellegrino) January 4, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Shortly after Friends became a huge hit in the 1990s, Jennifer Aniston’s mom Nancy Dow decided to write a weird book about Jennifer’s life and childhood called From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir. It was a tacky, emotionally abusive move, and one that damaged Jennifer’s relationship with Dow for the rest of Dow’s life. Jennifer didn’t sue Dow, but Jennifer discussed the estrangement far and wide, and let it be known that Dow was persona non grata and entertainment shows should not book her mom.

I bring this up because I wonder if something similar will happen between Samantha Markle (her last name isn’t even Markle, but whatever) and the Duchess of Sussex. Samantha popped out like a giant cold sore during Meghan and Harry’s courtship, engagement and marriage. Meghan was clearly advised by palace courtiers to simply ignore Samantha publicly (never complain, never explain) and possibly try to get Samantha to STFU in private. As we’ve seen now, various royals are able to complain and explain, just not Meghan. So, it was interesting to see Samantha go relatively dark for the past year, almost as if she was afraid of what Meghan might say now that Meghan isn’t being silenced by the palace. Until now… Samantha’s dumbf–k book is coming out on January 17th. Available exclusively (??) at Barnes & Noble.

Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha is set to finally release a tell-all memoir after years of touting her dysfunctional relationship with the Duchess of Sussex. Samantha, 56, is set to release the bombshell book titled ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1? in the US next Friday, after announcing she was writing the memoir in 2016.

According to Barnes & Noble, the Duchess’ sister promises the 330-page tome will expose ‘hidden truths about her family, as a royal fairy tale plummets from the tea towels’.

The book has been published by Barnes & Noble, with the description stating: ‘Things are not always as they seem, in a world where social labels define who we are, how we live, and how we view each other. ‘Samantha Markle finds herself caught in between the cross hairs of media mayhem, when she reveals hidden truths about her family.’

It also hints that ‘things are not always as they seem’ and sometimes the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’.

[From The Daily Mail]

I mean, I think Samantha is a deranged a–hole and I can’t imagine why Barnes & Noble would even bother with this sh-t, but I’m also really curious about what happens next. What happens when Meghan is free to make her own statements about her estranged, tacky and abusive family members? What happens when Meghan’s American lawyers contact Barnes & Noble? What happens when Samantha tries to promote her book in America only to see American outlets want to maintain their relationship with the Sussexes? I imagine Samantha will mostly do interviews to UK media outlets, but still. How does Meghan handle this situation from here on out? Will Meghan go for radio silence, or will she say or do something?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I swear, if I’d had my act together half as much as Greta Thunberg did when I was 18, it’d been over for you b*tches years ago. Greta turned 18 last Sunday. Clearly, she doesn’t need a milestone birthday to achieve anything given everything she’s accomplished in her short life already. However, in addition of adding to her many awards and charitable contributions to the world, Greta stuck her tongue firmly in her cheek and had a little fun with those who badmouth her. Posting the photo above to Twitter, Greta captioned it with the following:

Thank you so much for all the well-wishes on my 18th birthday! Tonight you will find me down at the local pub exposing all the dark secrets behind the climate- and school strike conspiracy and my evil handlers who can no longer control me! I am free at last!!

[From Greta Thunberg’s Twitter]

I’ll bet if anyone came to find Greta that night, she put on a good show. I hope she wore a dark hoody halfway down her face and set up court in the corner of her local pub. Every time some loud mouth came over she muttered some made up meandering warning about platypus overlords. Remember, this is the teen that schooled our bloviating soon-to be ex president with his own childness.

When she’s not delivering the perfect dismissal to haters, Greta is winning awards like the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity and donating her prize money to those who are working towards sustainable solutions. And whereas I asked for a mustang on my 18th birthday, she asked the population of the world to do whatever they could to help the world’s climate. In an interview with the Sunday Times (that’s behind a paywall, sorry) Greta said some of the changes she’s personally making are to stop buying new clothes and stop flying places, relying more on Zoom for speeches and conferences. I appreciate that as much as Greta walks the walk, she also points out the ways she can improve herself. On a scale of one to amazing, Greta and I aren’t anywhere near each other. But she always speaks like maybe we could be.

Photo credit Twitter and Backgrid

Emma Stone began dating Dave McCary in 2017, and they got engaged in December 2017 – he gave her a pretty pearl-and-diamond engagement ring and they allegedly planned for a late spring wedding last year. Their wedding was cancelled because of the pandemic, but then we heard in September that they had basically had a lowkey pandemic wedding with only a handful of people, all wearing masks. Someone said, around that time, that there were rumors that Emma was expecting. No one was sure, and Emma is pretty private, so no one wanted to jump the gun. Then these photos came out:

EXCLUSIVE: Emma Stone is spotted lovingly cradling her large belly on a walk in LA https://t.co/ttP0VAYoIe

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) January 4, 2021

Emma, comfortably far along in her first pregnancy. It appears as if Emma probably was a couple of months pregnant for her pandemic wedding in September! Us Weekly and People Magazine confirmed her pregnancy, with one source saying that Emma “seems very happy and very excited about becoming a mother — she’s constantly oohing and cooing. She looks great, she looks healthy, she’s glowing. She’s been keeping up with friends and work lately, she’s always staying active and gets her daily exercise in.”

I saw that some people were mad that Emma isn’t having a baby with Ryan Gosling or Andrew Garfield. To those people… I don’t know what to tell you! Emma and Ryan were never together. Emma and Andrew were off-and-on for a while and I think for Andrew, Emma was the one who got away. I’m happy for her and I think she’ll be a great mom. I have my fingers crossed for a girl!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, IG.

Spoilers For Wonder Woman 1984
I’ll be honest, I had so many issues with WW84, the issue with Steve Trevor inhabiting another man’s body and sleeping with Diana didn’t occur to me until after the film. For anyone still reading who doesn’t know, Diana’s wish on the Dreamstone was to have Steve back, because she’s still not over him… 60 years after he died. WW84 fulfills this by putting his soul? essence? being? into another man who slightly resembles Steve in height and coloring. So Diana and the world around them sees this generic Bill Paxton knockoff but the movie-viewer sees Chris Pine because we loved him so much from the first film, Patty Jenkins just had to put him in this second one, even if it made no sense whatsoever. Even though Diana sees the knockoff, she *knows* it’s Steve so she fully embraces his return, replete with sleeping with him in the guy’s apartment and accepting that Knockoff will never be allowed to live his life so she can play house with his shell and Steve’s ghost. It’s weird, even if Pine delivers some of the only funny material in the film. But just because I didn’t see how problematic this was during the film doesn’t mean others were as clueless as I was. Plenty of people told Patty her choice was not cool and painted Diana in an abusive light. Many who liked the film defended Patty and the body swap trope. Patty herself chose to retweet one defender’s arguments, using the film Big as an argument, as well as Diana’s ultimate renouncement of her wish as the abuse ceasing to exist:

Hahaha. Exactly @DustyDontShoot!! https://t.co/83cm3Uhb9t

— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) December 30, 2020

@DustyDontshoot’s argument written out is:

1> I’m linking the Wiki to the Body-Swap movie genre; if you can’t see that Patty Jenkins was playing with that trope, and even intentionally pointing out that the problematic nature that all these movies have to skirt around, then I think you need to re-examine beloved fantasy movie like ‘Big’ with Tom Hanks… where he (as a 12 year old by in an adult body) has sex with an adult female; making her a statutory rapist by default. Also…

2. The movie implies that if you revoke your wish, than much of the impact of your wish is revoked. Hence, even the sex Diana had with the guy possessed with Steve may have actually been eradicated from the movie’s fabric of reality

[From Twitter]

I don’t know anyone who defends that sex scene in Big, though. I know some adults in the 80s, when the film came out, who thought it was funny. But statutory rape in the 80s was still being blamed on the adolescent female for what she wore. Adults weren’t that enlightened. When my kids asked to see Big, we discussed that scene before we got to it and how much it disturbs us. As for Patty “playing” with the body swapping trope, I don’t buy it. She spoon-fed every single aspect of this film with such a heavy hand it was insulting to the audience. So I am hard pressed to believe she made this subtle wink to a problematic movie trope in a movie that felt the need to spell out every single other “message.” As for part two, that sounds like justification for date rape. So if the victim doesn’t remember it, it’s okay? Diana clearly remembers, and Patty made sure we knew that when she placed Diana and Knockoff on the street together, wearing one of the outfits Steve modeled. Patty really dropped the ball on this one. She picked the wrong way to bring Steve back and trying to defend it like this is making it worse.

Defending bad takes isn’t the only problems the film faced last weekend. The domestic box office saw a 67% drop-off due to the fact that middling reviews convinced folks to watch it at home rather than risk a theater for this installment. However, HBO was having issues as well with many subscribers complaining of stuttering playback, even though all their other content played just fine. Maybe that was just Patty Jenkins playing with the convention of how movies were played at home 30 years ago. Or something.

My hottest couple of 2020 yup yup #WW84 pic.twitter.com/ck0Winj8NO

— jenny (@clarkjoes) January 3, 2021

Photo credit: Avalon and Twitter