I’ve bought and sold a number of houses over the years. The whole process is something else to go through. I’ve done it from beginning to end - listing the home, negotiating an offer, and showing up at closing to sign your name eleven hundred times to various papers. I’ve had some interesting closings that I’ve gone to. I actually walked out of one, but the agents were calling me as soon as I got home and we ended up closing on the house by the end of that day in spite of my little snit. Its a long story, but they tried to change the terms on me once we got to the closing and I think they figured a little girl would be intimidated or wouldn’t know the difference and would just sign the papers. They figured wrong and I got my price in the end and everything turned out alright.

Mostly, the buying and selling has gone well. A big part of that is due to the fact that I have generally had excellent Realtors. No little part of it is due to the competence of a good title insurance company. I’ve heard the horror stories though, of people showing up at the closing table only to find out that there’s a lien on the dream home they’re buying, or that the ex-wife of the seller still has a claim to the house, and she doesn’t want to sell. A good title company can make sure all of this is taken care of for you by researching the title and make sure it’s clear before you get to the closing table. Not all title insurance companies are created equal. I’ve been lucky and have never run into those kinds of problems with real estate sales.

The most important thing about your title insurance company is that they’ll protect you even if closing does go smoothly, and something comes up after you purchase the house. Would you want court fees and costs to come out of your pocket, especially after you just bought a house? Of course not. Your title company should pay that for you and defend your interests in court, should it come to that.

Avril Lavigne is down at Miami Beach frolicking in the sun and surf. Her hard body rocks in her bikinis. Looking good, girl.

Lots more pictures under the fold
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Uma Thurman is enjoying a sunny day in St. Barth while we are freezing our asses off here. Not that I really care, of course. But still. What’s she got that’s so special? Unless you like tall, blond, skinny women with no muscle tone and kinda funky noses.

There are people who seem to be Happy For No Reason. For some of us its perplexing to see people who seem to be able to rise above their circumstances and maintain happiness even when things are not perfect in their lives.

There are reasons some people maintain a level of happiness in spite of whatever life seems to throw their way. You can find help with the Sedona Method if you are interested in figuring out how to incorporate this kind of emotional peace in your own life. Its not some kind of new-age psycho-mumbo-jumbo. Its really quite simple. Its the application of some commonsensical methods of maintaining good mental health.

The Sedona Method is about learning how to get out of your own way so that you can be happy. We tend to sabotage our own health, happiness and success through negative thinking, beliefs and attitudes. Most of us have a lot of trouble changing these belief systems because they are so deeply ingrained in our thinking. Our emotions influence how we perceive everything that happens around us and motivate us in our actions or inactions. The Sedona Methods is simply a proven system for mastering your emotion and thinking processes so that you take more control of your own life.

So how does this method help you? You can get help in giving up bad habits (ie: smoking, gambling, etc.), get relief for yourself when you are a caretaker-type person but have no one to take care of you, help with dealing with emotional traumas, deal with eating disorders, manage you finances more appropriately, process grief more effectively, find freedom from depression and/or anxiety, improve self-esteem, deal with chronic or acute pain more effectively, overcome insomnia, weight control, improve your interpersonal relationships and SO MUCH MORE.

In other words, whatever habits or emotional scars are interfering with your ability to enjoy your life can be improved with this simple method. Check it out and see if its something that you can benefit from.

Sean Young is such a drunken hoot. She used to be all that in Hollywood. Even back then she was more than a little crazy. She’s always been more than a little crazy. She was a sexy, talented actress that was a little crazy and a drunk.

Now she’s a middle aged crazy drunk who got herself kicked out of the Directors Guild of America Awards for heckling director Julian Schnabel as he was giving a speech for his nominations.

She made a complete ass out of herself.

I wonder if the current crop of crazy drunk Hollywood girls are paying attention.

Oh, why would they have an event like that and not have it on YouTube!!! I feel cheated.

Young, 48, voluntarily admitted herself, according to a statement released by her rep, which read: “It is understood that Young has struggled against the disease for many years.”

On Saturday, Young caused a scene at the Directors Guild of America Awards in Los Angeles when she heckled The Diving Bell and the Butterfly director Julian Schnabel during his acceptance speech. She was promptly removed from the venue, according to a Variety report.

Headline-grabbing antics aren’t anything new for Young. In September, an Entertainment Weekly piece revisited her attempt to crash the 2006 Vanity Fair Oscar party, which also got her escorted out.

Also mentioned are the harassment of former costar James Woods and her attempt to get a role in Batman Returns by “[storming] the studio lot wearing a homemade Catwoman suit.” [source]

Just when you think that Britney Spears can’t get any more pitiful … she does. That picture is just pitiful. Watching the Daily Britney Show is like watching a sick reality show that follows a once promising little entertainer’s spiral down the rabbit hole into serious mental illness.

Oh wait … that is what it is.

Sam Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib leading BritBrit around

Lutfi having an argument with BritBrit while she cried on the street

BritBrit’s mama shows up to the rescue … again … will it work this time?

More pitiful Britney …

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What kind of message do you want on your little girl’s t-shirt? I’m sure you’ve seen some of the same messages I’ve seen on t-shirts, sweatshirts and other clothing girls wear. I’ve asked myself more than once what on earth the parents are thinking by letting their children wear something that gives those kinds of messages about their daughter.

How about making a choice that gives a message of success and power for your daughter. You can do just that with Girl Mogul. They specialize in designs that inspire and encourage girls to achieve.

If you take a look at their website you will find slogans on t-shirts and other apparel that have ambitious slogans. Inspire your daughter to aspire to be a ‘Future Leader of the Free World’. Hey, why not? How about ‘Future Marine Biologist’, ‘Science is cool’, ‘Future CEO or ‘Future Chef Du Jour’. I particularly like, ‘Dream Big!’ because its really about dreaming big. Its about the girl finding what she’s interested in and reaching for it without limiting herself to whatever stereotypes my have been set up for her.

So dream big and help the girl in your life starting thinking along those lines. Put ambition on her t-shirts!

Never one to let a party go by without her, Paris Hilton hit up four parties Sunday night, partying her way across Los Angeles. including lesbian bar Falcon on Sunset Boulevard.

Unlike many celebrities, Charlotte Church has not returned to her previous weight just minutes after giving birth. Strange, I know. I don’t know how they do it. They must have some kind of procedure done or something. Its just not natural. Apparently, Charlotte has chosen a more natural method of returning to her previous weight - which means she’s still carrying the baby weight around.

Don’t worry about her though, she’s fine. That carriage she’s pushing little Ruby in sells for a couple of thousand dollars.

She’s not planning on doing a third season of her talk show because she doesn’t want her baby ‘brought up by nannies’. So she’s strolling the little darlin’ around herself. That’ll help with the baby weight. I just think it’d be great to have the OPTION of having a nanny or not.

Tom Cruise and his Robo-wife, Katie Holmes and their daughter Suri are pictured here leaving Orsay, a French brasserie in New York City. No one really knows why Suri is screaming at her father, who is carrying her bottle even though she’s WAY too old to be on a bottle, but it is rumored she’s giving him a tongue lashing for being a complete lunatic who embarrassed her with those videos he put out earlier.

She’s getting a jump start on her teen years since she’s being raised without discipline and Tom and Katie just hate saying ‘no’ to the little darlin’. Oh, just think of the fun that’s yet to come!

Is it just me or does Katie look like she’s secretly lovin’ it?

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