Jennifer Romolini, Shine staff’s Blog

Let's be honest with each other here. The cute wittle names we call and are called by our significant others--our private, Seinfeld-ian Shmoopies-- are often dorky, weird, and just really embarrassing. Though my husband and I have currently landed in a perfectly respectable "Baby" stage, I've definitely been a "Muffin," a "Love" (British boyfriend), a "Pumpkin," and once, much to my disliking, "My lil' Cow."*

I bring this up because of a reader post from earlier this week ("He refers to me as Ole Girl...") about a troublesome pet name that... Read More »

Man, doesn't it suck when you're the drunkest girl at the wedding? When you wake up the next morning with a hideous headache and wonder if you said anything awful, offended anyone, and if you were, in fact, quite as bad as your hangover indicates? You know who has an answer to those questions? Our friend Stripper-On-A-Pole McGee here. When you bloody the bride's nose, it's a pretty good bet you were as bad as you thought--if not worse. Cripes.
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Yesterday, there were rumors all over the interwebs that, as is its wont, People magazine had chosen a man to represent all the sexiness in the land, and that man was none other than sparkly unshowered vampire, Robert Pattinson. However...those rumors were not true! It was all a hoax! Turns out, People went with a much a safer choice, pirate/gangster/almost-French dude Johnny Depp, who's actually donning the 'Sexiest Man Alive' crown for a second term (his first was in 2003).

The 46-year-old actor was chosen, according to People, for "bringing the fun with him wherever he goes," and... Read More »

On Friday, Radar online revealed that the sex tape  Carrie Prejean has called "the worst mistake of my life" was in fact a series of 8 explicit videos and 30 lewd photos all self-produced by the former Miss California. Today, TMZ broke the news that porn distributor Vivid Entertainment has offered Prejean "millions of dollars" for the right to distribute "erotic footage that Carrie Prejean, former Miss California, produced for her boyfriend following their four day rendezvous in February 2007."
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There's an in-depth interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the new issue of Vogue and--though we haven't always been the former senator's biggest fans--in this story, we were mightily impressed. Clinton comes across as a woman who's strong, independent, well-prepared, fair, deeply knowledgeable, thoughtful, and good at her job. Much of the article takes place behind the scenes, as writer Jonathan Van Meter follows Clinton through last summer's weeks-long tour of Africa. The result is a fascinating, West Wing-ian read, a window into the lives of high level public officials abroad. But it's also worth picking up for Clinton herself, who seems a very different, more genuine, relaxed, and candid politician than the one who was dodging fake bullets and fighting dirty with Obama just last year.
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The New York Times Magazine, a publication that usually tackles hefty issues like the war in Afghanistan and the healthcare crisis, devotes its cover this week to the rise of 23-year-old actress Megan Fox. It's an interesting choice for a serious magazine to grant many, many pages to a subject who seems so thoroughly unaccomplished (and, frankly, undeserving). It's perhaps even more interesting for Megan Fox's handlers, who allowed their client to participate in an article where she comes across, more often than not, as bratty, ungrateful, and utterly contrived.
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