Finally the voice of reason on the Energy debate.

I don’t read tabloid rags, but I did catch the cover of this month’s Star Magazine’s Most Annoying Celebrity List issue.

What cracked me up was the sub-title: …And Why We Love Them!

The usual suspects appeared on the cover: Paris, Lindsay, Nicole, Britney — the lot.

Suddenly I found it irresistible to come up with a “most annoying” list for some people I’ve worked with — in the same editorial style as Star.

Here’s mine**:

• Mary in charge of travel and expenses — for always, ALWAYS calling me on the occasional 3:00am cocktail at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton. (apparently she doesn’t buy the “beverage” description that I’ve tried to fool her with).
• Bill in legal who simply finds it morally impossible to not re-write my entire product brochures. (apparently, “It’s theee not thuh)
• Kenny in procurement who simply can’t find it in his heart to just let me have the most recent copy of Adobe or the fabulous new Herman Miller chairs.
• Barbara in marketing who knows how to leverage my short comings at important meetings.
• Beverly, my co-worker who wears her Manolo’s in the snow…and even more annoyingly…to company picnics.
• And last but not least, James, the CEO who makes more money in 2 minutes than I will make in a month…and then says…”gosh…how do people live on that?”

If Trump worked at my company, he’d be on the list too for treating Rosie like total rubbish…as would Rosie for taking the bait.

** Of course this is a fantasy list so the people are not real but the circumstances are…:).

For nearly two hours today, it seemed as if all of the news and blog outlets around the world could talk about was the possibility of The Donald making the decision to strip Tara Conner of her Miss USA crown.

In the end, Mr. Trump let her stay Miss (is it Ms.?) USA. But she has to perform her duties while in rehab.

Oh Boo Hoo! What did I just say about holiday partying and young women!

Keep your shirts on and your booze under control.

And by the way…if this were you or I who’d done this at work…damn straight we’d have our crown removed.

But she’s blonde and he’s Trump.

And speaking of trashy celebrity news…how nasty is it to dedicate an entire community blog to making fun of Rachael Ray? (The name of the group on “Live Journal” is Rachael Ray Sucks).

It’s one thing to blog about silly, vulgar Paris Hilton: she deserves it…I’m not sure “The Rach” does. It just seems so wasteful to spend an entire blog bashing some poor little cook:

About the community…

This community was created for people that hate the untalented twit known as Rachael Ray.

But that’s America for you…build ‘em up, then tear ‘em down.

I have always thought that both the Miss USA organization and the blogosphere were meant for better things.

Image: AP

I am one of those people who, if a celebrity were sitting next to me in a cafe, I would not recognize him or her–unlike my husband, who can spot a local tv weather person from across Fifth Avenue.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be able to have a casual conversation with Sarah Jessica Parker in a downtown NYC diner.

On the other hand, on the rare occasion that I do spot someone, something happens to my brain, and I become a different person. (why is that?) Once I saw Matthew Broderick in a restaurant and I nearly trampled another diner, just to get a closer look. (more importantly, for him to see me.)

New York is teeming with celebrities. You always hear gossip about some starlet who just bought a fabulous loft in Tribeca for millions of dollars…when the average person wouldn’t be able to locate (never mind purchase) a mailbox sized place. Where are all of these apartments?

There is actually etiquette in dealing with the celebrity sighting…if you do see one, you ignore that person — then as soon as he/she passes, you call all of your friends to let them know, and of course you embellish the story as in:

“I just saw James Gandolfini in a bar and boy was he hammered! — I’m telling you, I had to escort him to the restroom, that’s how blottoed he was! AND he said hi to me.”

New York Magazine has put together a Star Map of the city by neighborhood…which should be helpful the next time you are out on your lunch break and pretend to see one of them. Here are a couple neighborhoods in which a siting is probable, not that you really care:

• Upper East Side: Woody Allen, Liza Minelli, Rudy Guliani
• Upper West Side/Central Park: Tina Fey, Penny Marshall, Bono, Ricky Martin
• Midtown: Rosie O’Donnell, Kim Cattrall, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Anderson Cooper
• West Village/Soho: Chloe Sevingny, Liv Tyler, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Racheal Ray
• East Village/Tribeca: James Gandolfini, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Bowie

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!

Image: Peter Rad/New York Magazine

As spectator sports go in our fair city, we’ve got a healthy line-up of mythic and brawn-staffed franchises. Any night of the week we can be out cheering them on–complete with ballpark food, chest painting and tepid beer: 2 (American) football teams, 2 baseball teams, 2 hockey teams, 1 very deplorable basketball team…and more!

But the really intense competition occurs among New York’s elite, the richest of the rich.

Everything about them, their lives and their perfectly coiffed antics usually result in a metro-outing within the Society pages of our (many, many) publications, blogs and local news stations — including, of course, Gawker.com.

Socialite gazing and gossiping! Scoooore!

Who showed up where, in what designer outfit, with what NY dandy on her arm, how much she paid to get her Chihuahua massaged…and lately, who is showing up in advertisments for famous clothing and jewelry designers.

There are Astors and Guggenhiem’s and Getty’s galore…there’s Keira, and Lindsay and Gwyneth et al…and can you guess the most famous socialite of them all…is it Paris Hilton?

Here is a blog you MUST bookmark, and chat about around the water cooler or phone your friends. It is Social Rank (www.socialrank.wordpress.com). Perfectly good cyber space used for ranking socialites!.
Their mantra is:

• Next time…you think about skipping that certain gala, wearing that unknown designer, dating some weird band member, beware. We’re watching. And your ranking is on the line…

I understand it can pretty competitive among the debutantes who do visit the site. Yummy!

This is simply fabulous if you want an irreverent, hilarious and sometimes catty view of the upper-crust (less) club in Manhattan. Check them out. One of my favorites is a recent post, “What We Love For June“.

Interested in buying a small island?

By the way, the socialite’s male counter-part is not overlooked either: The Male Debutante.

If you work from home, Vogue or possibly Bali, I’m not sure this post applies to you. However, if you work in more traditional business settings, there are some wardrobe guidlines for dressing appropriately in summer, so you may want to read further.

I used to work in financial services and as soon as Memorial Day arrived…I swear, you’d see women in outfits that could/should have been worn to a barbeque at the Jersey shore, rather than to the office.

Sleeveless shirts and open-toe shoes, are not a wise choice for a business atmosphere. For one thing, aside from usually looking crumpled and messy, casual dressing undermines your authority; and I think it makes clients and colleagues feel uncomfortable.

I believe the trick to looking and feeling pulled-together and in charge during the summer months is to choose crisp, simple items…which means absolutely NO LINEN…no matter how cute it may look on Jessica Alba or Paris Hilton.

Diana Pemberton-Sikes, wardrobe and image guru, offers smart advice at The Clothing Chronicles:

Do

• Wear layers to adjust to changing temperatures
  Skirts, instead of slacks to allow air to circulate around your thighs
  Wear hair up in a chignon or low pony tail
  Opt for lighter makeup
  If you must wear fragrance, make it light
  The more skin you show, the more casual you will appear

Read more