I don’t know about you, but my days aren’t complete without at least 60 ounces of Diet Coke. On the way to class, at dinner, after a long night at the bar – Diet Coke is my drug. Well, that and the occasional bong hit.

Recently, though, I had to cut back on my DC intake due to some gossip I heard around town (read: on Oprah). Apparently, drinking Diet Coke can make people fat! Yes, you heard me. The high sodium content in my favorite beverage (well, besides rum and Diet Coke, of course) causes its biggest fans to pack on the poundage.

Whaaaaa?!

Oh yeah, and all that sugar substitute crap could lead to some serious health problems.

I was outraged. And apparently I wasn’t the only one.

It seems that Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have been getting a bad rep lately. In an effort to combat all the negative press, scientists/mixologists over at the headquarters have been working hard to produce a soda product that shatters all expectations. And they have finally done it. YIPPEE!

Introducing Diet Coke Plus, a zero (yes, zero!) calorie soda with some extra nutrients sprinkled in. According to Coke, “one 8-ounce serving of the soda will provide 15 percent of the daily value (DV) of niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, and 10 percent of the DV for zinc and magnesium.” That means that instead of taking your daily vitamin with a can of DC, the can of DC can actually be your vitamin! Read More »

You know, I have to say, I never liked the guy. I always thought he was a geek hiding behind weird songs and freaky clothing. No matter what he did, he could never convince me that he was anything less than lame.

Thanks to this article, I have recently changed my stance.

I no longer think Marilyn Manson is lame. I think he’s SUPER FANTASTICALLY LAME.

The man/boy/Lipsticked Wonder recently left his pretty and age appropriate wife for a girl who is almost twenty-five years younger. Yup. Seemingly normal Evan Rachel Wood is currently getting cozy with the guy, allowing him to not feel his age—which is 38—in case you were wondering. “She likes the same things as me.” Manson recently told some French magazine, “She understands I like to get up when night falls and go to sleep at dawn.”

Ugh. Please. This guy takes himself so seriously it makes me want to puke. Almost as much as picturing him naked.

Evan, Rachel, whatever people are calling you these days, wake up and smell the pasty white face make-up! He’s a loser with a huge head. You can do better.

What do you think about this unlikely pairing?

Warning: this blog contains fanny packs.

Thanks to Styledash.com, we can all be aware that American Apparel stores are now selling fanny packs as part of its collection of ’80′s accessories and clothing items.

With the re-emergence of ’80′s gear popularity, such as leg warmers, spandex leggings, Converse shoes and off-the-shoulder t-shirts, it’s inevitable that fanny packs would pop up. I guess I’ve just been in denial.

For those of you who are interested in buying one (although I hope it would be for an ’80′s-themed party, and, since your dad threw out his old fanny pack before he could lend it to you for such an occasion, you are scrambling to find one) these nylon F Packs are selling for $14 and come in six different colors.

I think we should all come together as a generation and put a stop to the fanny pack madness at once, if only for the benefit of our children. To help the cause, check out some rocking fanny packs here, here and here.

I thought we were past this. Shame on you, American Apparel. Shame on you.

As the horrific events transpired today in Blackburg, Virginia, students, faculty and family members at Virginia Tech found themselves in an unfathomable position- searching for information about the shooting, the shooter and the condition of their classmates, loved ones and friends. The answers just don’t come quick enough as they wait painfully for any information concerning the who, what, where when and why.

As the 24 hour news stations recycle the same 5 minutes of available information, the people of VTech have turned to Facebook in effort to assemble the pieces for themselves. Students are sharing first hand accounts, overheard stories, and names of potential victims- providing them with unprecidented access to information that until now has only been available to the authorities.

In addition, new profiles and groups are rapidly appearing on the site offering condolences and prayers from students around the country. Facebook has become much more than a place to find a “hook-up” or a kegger, but rather a virtual townhall for the VTech communtity to begin a dialog and somehow find a way to pick up the pieces.

Below are some of the Facebook profiles created today:

Extending Our Greatest Sympathies to VTech.

This must stop.

Always Remember Virginia Tech.

The world isn’t getting any easier. Judging by the recent headlines, there’s more to be shook up about than ever. Add a little end of semester jitters and it’s quite possible that a third installment of Spring Semester Freak-Out Remedies might be in order.

This time, I thought I’d give away a few evening rituals that I’ve learned over the years. I’m a hopeless case when it comes to sleep. If I’ve got a lot on my mind, you can kiss a restful night goodbye. I’m a champion Clock Gazer, watching the little red numbers tick by, getting more and more anxious the closer morning gets, practically ready to run a marathon by 4 AM.

I’ve always envied those people who pass out the minute their heads hit the pillow. I don’t understand what they do with their minds, but someday I hope to learn. Until then, this is what I do to calm down.

Two Hours before Bedtime: I turn my music down, and shut off the “Kelly Clarkson/Ozzy Ozborn” Playlist. Loud music helps me write—or dance around when I’m about to crack from stress—but it also revs up my body. I’ve found switching to a soft folk or classical station actually slows my heartbeat, and calms me without my head really noticing. I’ve also had a lot less complaints from downstairs neighbors. Read More »

According to the Chicago Sun Times and Fox News, the shooter was an Asian National, in the US on a student visa. Unfortunately, in typical new media fashion, they soaked the wrong person’s name, Facebook and MySpace page ALL OVER THE NEWS. If I had not seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. They pasted his name, bashed him, and then went, “Oh…uh…our bad, we have just been notified this person is still alive and was not involved in the shooting.” They think they have the right name now, but we will see over the next couple of hours.

…OK…time to slow down people. If we have learned ANYTHING as Americans and our global media machine, it is that we cannot rush to media bash innocent-till-proven-guilty people until we have some shred of proof. Then again, I am actually WATCHING Geraldo re-showing his MySpace page to show WHY they thought it was him. In good conscience, I will not link you to it but I am sure by tomorrow we will all know.

Regardless, we know it was 1 guy with a gun and a lot of bullets. There are more comments and updates from people all over the country on Bloomberg. com.

The truth right now is, no one knows why the hell anyone would do this or who this person is. They are assuming that the same person who shot at the dorm in the morning, is the same one who shot up the classrooms. (It seems logical to me.)

However, witnesses have popped up who were in class where the shooting occured. He shot with no words, no comments, nothing. Read more

As the day of absolute shock comes to a close, students and the community torn apart by this event prove that they can band together in this time of need.

See the photos of support here.

This person matched the description of the shooter, but was later released.

President Bush weighed in here and promised to help support the investigations in any way.

CNN posted a student video of the events (a little tasteless but they ARE the media).

MSNBC posted a map and timeline of the events.

The sad part is, while the news and every other TV station in the US was covering this – the students had very little information except for an email blast. That is crap. They blamed it on trying to keep students in the safest possible place. If I was a commuter student, the safest place is AT HOME – cancel class for F–KSAKE! But instead, more students were subjected to harm. Now, of course, there is a reasonable expectation – but call radio station, tell the news, do SOMETHING. But early in morning after it happened they thought it was an “isolated” situation.

The students disagree.

What do you think about the University’s decision?

Some sites like CollegeHumor have said that they will continue business as usual, and that’s ok. We, on the other hand, have made the decision to post some links to the most concise information we can find.

As this horrific story continues to unfold, here is what we know:

•2 shootings took place today on VTech campus – 2 hours apart

•atleast 32 students dead, including the gunman (not known if gunman is a student, described as Asian in mid 20′s)

•atleast 21 more injured

•2 – 9mm handguns retrieved from the scene

•all classes have been cancelled today and tomorrow

•President of Virginia Tech calls the shootings a “tragedy of monumental proportions”

•President Bush to address the nation at 4:15 e.

•declared deadliest mass shooting in US history

Click here from more information.

Stay tuned as this story develops.

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about these days. As if global warming and high gas prices and the war in Iraq and the possible disappearance of polar bears and rapid growth of Al Gore’s stomach wasn’t enough to make us want to hide under the covers until it was all over, apparently we are now killing bees everywhere with our CELL PHONES.

I’m not sure if you heard, but bees ain’t nowhere to be found these days. According to the above mentioned independent UK article, since last year “the West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast”. 60 per cent of our freaking bees are gone! They just up and disappeared, and for a while no one had any idea why. Read More »