Saline Mentioned in US Weekly

I have a confession to make. It's not easy to share. After all, it's something I am not very proud of. In fact, it's downright embarrassing.

I read celebrity gossip magazines.

I am only telling you this for one reason: Saline is mentioned in a caption next to a photo of Drew Barrymore in US Weekly's most recent edition. There's also a blurb about sightings of her in Ann Arbor. As you all know, she's filming "Whip It" in Saline.

I thought it was pretty cool to have our city mentioned in a national magazine as a place a celebrity has been sighted. I'll probably cut it out for my scrapbook just because it's so unusual.

Now, back to my obsession, I mean confession. It's embarrassing to admit because I am a journalist and should only be interested in newsy news, right? Well, it's an escape and I know it's gossip, with very little to no truth associated with it. And I think if you keep that in mind, it's OK.

Lisa Simpson, our receptionist at The Reporter, and I both have subscriptions. She gets People and I get US Weekly. We read them (not during business hours, of course) and then swap. Like I said, it's an escape to a fantasy world of more money and time to spend the day any way you desire, not tied to a desk editing copy and paginating newspaper pages all day. A place where you weigh 110 pounds, wear designer clothing, and have your hair and makeup done by professionals every day. A place in which you can decide to jet off to Hawaii (OK, I've been there four times, see picture at right) or France at a moment's notice with no worries because your housekeeper will care for your pet rabbits and your gardener will ensure your lawn and flowers don't die.

I usually get US Weekly on Fridays. What a great way to kick off the weekend. As soon as I walk in the door, I take off my shoes, put on something more comfortable than work attire, make a margarita and read the magazine on the swing on my deck. It only takes a couple minutes, of course, because there's no real content, but what a wonderful couple of minutes. Then I enjoy my weekend jetting around Saline and Ann Arbor, which, from what I read, is where other celebrities hang out, too. Pretty cool.