A denial-of-service attack shut down popular microblogging site Twitter this morning, depriving users of important wisdom like the life lesson above. Twitter seems to be working intermittently as of now; hopefully they'll get things completely fixed as soon as possible, because otherwise you're not gonna know just how hot I am. Unless, I guess, I blog about it. Which is looking more and more likely. Sigh, this day.

My pal Paula was on "The Today Show" promoting her new book Mercury In Retrograde. Do me a favor and buy it? I'm hoping she gets rich enough to invest in her friends' vanity web publications.

Your editor's previously disclosed fondness for Mercury In Retrograde author Paula Froelich compels him to participate in the promotion of that forthcoming novel, the latest installment of which can be found here. Plus there's prizes and stuff, and, hey, who doesn't like prizes?

Attention stalkers: the New York Observer reveals Page Six vet Paula Froelich's home address in a profile pegged to the forthcoming release of Mercury in Retrograde, the gossip girl's entry into the world of genre fiction. (The novel is set in her building.) Should we worry about Paula's personal safety? Nah. Your editor, an unabashed admirer of the brassy broad (advance warning: expect plenty of Mercury mentions as its pub date draws near) has never spent even an hour in her company without feeling completely exhausted afterwards; the result of any attempt to waylay or otherwise accost her would make The Ransom of Red Chief look like a Bible story. The lady lives three lives on Twitter in her spare time, for God's sake. Steer well clear.