Guessing Game

Monday morning update: Maria Menounos, got married on New Year's Eve.

Original post:
What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

The Miss America Scandal: The CEO and other board members resign, now former winners want to take control of the program
Pregnant Kardashians: I thought it was common knowledge that several of them are pregnant, but apparently it was "confirmed" over Christmas. Whatever
"Half Their Size": People sometimes does a weight loss issue in early January
Luann de Lesseps: Arrested. One of the "Real Housewives" of somewhere or other, now she says she's going into rehab
Meghan Markle's Relatives: Harry said that the royal family is the family Meghan never had, now her half-sister and brother are speaking out
Rose Marie: Dead Celebrity. With her death at age 94, the only adult cast member from the Dick Van Dyke show who's still alive is Dick Van Dyke himself.
Mystery Writer Sue Grafton: Died of cancer
Nathan Chen and/or other figure skaters: The U.S. figure skating championships are this week, the 2018 Winter Olympics start in 39 days
Dr. Phil: A controversy, did his show provide alcohol or drugs to people appearing on the show?

Do I Look Like Chewbacca?

A first: I got trolled on Twitter. It started with this:

On a scale of 1 to everything in her being, how much do you think Kate Middleton hates Meghan Markle?

— Jaclyn Swartz (@JaclynSwartz) December 25, 2017

Jaclyn seems to think that Kate resents the attention Meghan is getting. If true, I think that's unfortunate, so I responded with this: 

@1chicklette Wouldn't it be great if they could support and encourage each other? Women don't have to be enemies

— Kimberly Hanes (@WritingTheWorld) December 26, 2017

Some (unknown to me) tweet-troll person using the handle "1987kma" apparently didn't have anything better to do on Christmas Day than respond to me, saying "Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have bangs like Chewbacca?" Ha! Really, 1987kma? That's the best you can do? As "viciously unkind responses from total strangers on Twitter" go, yours is pretty lame. I look like Chewbacca? Really? 

I wanted to post the tweet from 1987kma but it's been deleted. Either 1987kma was overcome with an unfamiliar moment of holiday kindness or she's changed her mind and decided that I don't really look like Chewbacca. Either way, we all live on to Tweet another day. 

More Harry And Meghan

Issue dated January 8, 2018: Harry and Meghan


It's Harry and Meghan, again, and I think we can plan on "royal wedding" covers from now until May 19, and "American princess/royal baby" stories after that. At age 36, I'm assuming Meghan will be in the family way pretty promptly.

New Bachelor Arie also gets a shout-out, six days before his big season premiere. (Read the story here.)

Last year at this time: Issue dated January 9, 2017

First Leisl, Now Louisa

We Mourn the Loss of Heather Menzies-Urich... https://t.co/dpuHJBoBWD pic.twitter.com/V3YqfNSCO3

— The Sound of Music (@SoundofMusic) December 25, 2017

Charmian Carr, who played Leisl, died in September, 2016, now Heather Menzies, who played Louisa, is gone too. I feel old...

The Cover Story

I'm not sure why, exactly, I'm so obsessed with the cover of People magazine every week, but I am. I also like lists, so I decided we need a list of all the main cover stories in 2017. Voila:

January 2               Reese Witherspoon

January 9               George Michael

January 16             Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

January 23             Oprah

January 30             Jeffrey McDonald

February 6             Katherine Heigel

February 13           Mary Tyler Moore

February 20           Chrissy Metz

February 27           A Duggar Pregnancy

March 6                 Christina El Moussa

March 13               Viola Davis

March 20               Hoda Kotb

March 27               Prince’s Ex-wife

April 3                  Richard Simmons

April 10                 The Property Brothers

April 17                 Barry Manilow

April 24                 Heath Ledger

May 1                   Julia Roberts/Most Beautiful Woman

May 8                   Former Bachelorettes

May 15                  Princess Charlotte

May 22                  Goldie Hawn

May 29                  The Obamas

June 5                   Princess Kate/Pippa’s Wedding

June 12                  Jennifer Garner

June 19                  Olivia Newton-John

June 26                  Michelle Carter (True Crime)

July 3                    Chip and Joanna Gaines

July 10                  JFK Jr. and Carolyn

July 17                  Maria Menounous

July 24                  Julianne Hough

July 31                  The Trumps

August 7               Princess Diana

August 14              Lauren Conrad

August 21              Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay

August 28              Audrey Hepburn

September 4           The Property Brothers

September 11         Leah Remini

September 18         Madonna

September 25         Angelina Jolie

October 2              Prince William

October 9              Ree Drummond

October 16             The Las Vegas Massacre

October 23             Chip and Joanna Gaines

October 30             Harvey Weinstein

November 6           Mandy Moore

November 13         Sherri Papini (True Crime)

November 20         Queen Elizabeth

November 27         Blake Shelton/Sexiest Man

December 4           The Property Brothers

December 11         Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

December 18         Meghan Markle     

December 25         John Stamos

(Apologies for the irregular spacing; I cut-and-pasted from a Word document and apparently blogspot/blogger doesn't recognize the tab stops.) 

What was People's favorite topic this year? The British Royal Family, with seven stories, followed by HGTV stars, with six. There were three cover stories about Dead Celebrities-current (George Michael, Debbie Reynolds/Carrie Fisher, and Mary Tyler Moore,) and five about Dead Celebrities-past (Prince, Heath Ledger, JFK Jr. and Carolyn, Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana.) There were two political covers, one featuring the Obamas and one featuring the Trumps, and I continue to be surprised at how little attention People is paying to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and his family. Will that change in 2018? Possibly, especially if any of the scandals heat up. 

What will be People's fave cover topic in 2018? My guess is Meghan Markle and all the hoopla surrounding her wedding, with occasional stories about Kate's third baby to spice things up. Check back here every Wednesday morning to see the new issue. 

Hugh Jackman

Issue dated January 1, 2018: Hugh Jackman

Nothing from the Guessing Game list made the cover this week, and the magazine skips doing any kind of "25 Most Intriguing" list. Last year at this time it was Reese Witherspoon:

Issue dated January 2, 2017

The Guessing Game

I'm not sure whether or not there will be a new issue of People this week, but just in case, I have a few thoughts about possible cover topics.

The 25 Most Intriguing People of 2017
Omarosa: Either got fired or submitted her resignation, depending on who you believe. Robin Roberts sent some shade with a snarky "Bye, Felicia," on Good Morning America
Meghan McCain and/or Joe Biden: A nice moment on The View, with the former VP, whose son Beau died of brain cancer, consoling Meghan, whose father, Senator John McCain, is suffering from the same disease. Neither our current POTUS or VPOTUS is capable of that kind of compassion, empathy and grace.
Track Palin: Arrested again
Mario Batali: Another man behaving badly
Matthew Petersen: Nominated to the federal bench, he choked big-time during his confirmation hearing, which was unfortunately caught on camera and quickly went viral. He has now withdrawn.
Duggars: Another pregnancy
Titanic: Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the movie's premiere

Palin Brawl 2.0

The lovely, elegant and gracious Palin family is at it again:

Track Palin, the 28-year-old son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was arrested on assault and burglary charges after he repeatedly hit his father, Todd Palin, at the family home in Wasilla on Saturday, charging documents say.

The charges mark his second domestic-violence arrest in not quite two years.

Wasilla police came to the Palin home Saturday after Sarah Palin called just after 8:30 p.m. to say her son was "freaking out and was on some type of medication," according to a sworn affidavit filed in court by Wasilla officer Adam LaPointe.

Track Palin came to the house to confront his father over a truck he wanted to pick up, according to the affidavit. Todd Palin told his son not to come because he'd been drinking and taking pain medication.

"Track told him he was (going to) come anyway to beat his ass," LaPointe wrote.

Todd Palin told the officer he got his pistol to "protect his family" and met his son with the gun when he came to the door, according to the affidavit.

Track Palin broke a window and came through it, and put his father on the ground, the report states. He began hitting him on the head. (From the Anchorage Daily News, read the rest of the story here.)

Given the toxic combination of alcohol, stupidity, violence and guns in this wretched family, it's a wonder no one has actually been shot yet. 

In other news, Matthew Spencer Petersen, the judicial nominee who made a fool of himself during questioning by a Republican senator last week, has withdrawn his nomination to be a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Read about it here. 

Still Tired, Still Overwhelmed & Still 71 Years Old

This is a real picture of the President of the United States, today. pic.twitter.com/l6fK5I2Cwa

— Daniel Kibblesmith ⛄️⚔️🦖 (@kibblesmith) December 17, 2017

In a blogpost on November 11 (read it here,) I said that POTUS doesn't look like he's having much fun as president, and yikes, in this picture from yesterday it's still true. I also said that he looks tired, overwhelmed and every day of his 71 years and double yikes, that's still true too.

Is it possible that there's something really wrong with the president?

John Stamos

Issue dated December 25, 2017: John Stamos


I don't care much about John Stamos (does anyone?) but I'm curious about Matt Lauer. Would you stay married to him?

Last year at this time it was the El Moussas: Issue dated December 26, 2016

Meghan Markle, Times Two

Wednesday update:
Last year at this time: Issue dated December 19, 2016

Original post:
Issue dated December 18, 2017: Meghan Again


Issue dated December 11, 2017: Harry and Meghan

It's official, Harry and Meghan are engaged, and it's big, big news, with two cover stories in a row. If you don't follow the royals as closely as I do, you may not be aware of how groundbreaking this engagement really is. First, consider the last time a 2nd royal son got engaged, back in April, 1986, when Prince Charles' younger brother Prince Andrew planned to marry Sarah Ferguson. Here's how People explained "an especially significant aspect of the engagement":

Thirty or 40 years ago this marriage would never have been allowed to happen. 

Fergie, as her friends and now the world know her, is a woman with a past. It isn't much of a past, actually, but she has lived with two men and openly enough so that it has been widely reported by the ever-diligent British press. At Buckingham Palace, where divorce is still enough to get a servant kicked out, Fergie might once have been blackballed for that. Three things have served to give the story a happier ending. The royal family, along with almost everybody else, has loosened up. Andrew (who almost certainly will become the Duke of York) stands a remote fourth in the line of succession, behind Charles and his two sons. And everybody likes Fergie, especially considering the alternatives. (The word "alternatives" is a cheeky reference to Andrew's previous, non-aristocratic girlfriends, including American Koo Stark, who was described as a soft-core porn star.)

Some number of years ago Harry's marriage to Meghan would also never have been allowed to happen. Why not? Because of one or more of the following, officially or not:

She's American. She's been married and divorced. At 36, she's three years older than Harry. She's an actress. She's bi-racial, with a white father and an African-American mother. Something about religion. (I've seen reports describing her as both Catholic and Jewish, although neither appears to be true. She attended Catholic schools, apparently, and her first husband was Jewish, but she is neither. It's been announced that she will be baptized into the Church of England.)

The royal family really has loosened up. Everyone from the Queen to Camilla to Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge has said they're delighted and the wedding will take place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, with the Queen herself in attendance. (Will Harry's good friends the Obamas be invited? I hope so. Will the Trumps be invited? Almost certainly not.)

There will be a lot more to say about this and more blogging to come, I promise.