As if the resturaunts here didn't have it bad enough.  Headaches over liquor liscenses, obscene rents, DOH surprise visits, sexual harassment lawsuits, shady employees, cockroaches!, and the hundreds of blogs and websites just waiting for them to fuck up so that they can post about it for everyone to see, not to mention the wrath of Frank Bruni.  Now, they can add one more enemy to the list.  The Grim Eater launched this week and is giving everyone the chance to finally get even with that limp salad they spent $35 for at Nellos.  Happy New Year Mr. Balan!

[photo from juliaallison.tumblr.com]

Is there anyone left out there that DOESN'T know who Julia Allison is? Apparently, even though the editor at large of Star Magazine and notorious no holds barred dating columnist is famous in blog land and gossip ville, the answer is a resounding "YES". So, we have held out long enough. Today we must contribute our two cents to the "Carrie Bradshaw" of today. First, Gawker is notorious for reporting on mocking all things Julia, and they go overboard. This may be one of the best examples that disputes the whole "any publicity is good publicity" affirmation. Because she was such a permanent fixture on their site, we completely adverted our eyes away from anything with her name in it. Thus, until last week, we really didn't have much of any idea what she really did, (self promotion). With there being completely NOTHING else going on in the online world the last two weeks, we took the time to fall into the life of Ms. Allison and were suprisingly hooked.

Julia has a Tumblr account in which she re-counts EVERY possible thing that is going on in her life with minute-by-minute pictures and video. On her recent trip home to Chicago, not a minute was wasted, divulging everything from her brother and his girlfriend's matching christmas sweaters, to the family discussion involving earwax around the kitchen counter. Julia lives in hell's kitchen and pays way too much for her pad (around $2,500). She can't stop buying headbands with bows on them, and is "seriously intimidated" by Ivanka Trump. Oh, and there's that popular little site she started with then boyfriend and Internet Venture Capitalist, Jakob Lodwick. Valleywag is continually wondering who she is hooking up with. She loves (loves) her dog, Leven Rambin, and just really can't get enough of....well herself.

We want to hate Julia Allison, but we can't. In fact, we have discovered that we are becoming regulars to her site, and have no idea why. Why are we pulled into reading about her new swimsuit or 4 figure dress at Nordstroms that she feels like a princess in? Why are we checking in to see what she ended up doing for New Years (dinner at Nobu with the girls) and hooked into watching entire youtubes of her dog running in circles on a snowy beach? After much contemplation we think we have the answer. Julia is into herself, and she's not ashamed of it. In fact she wishes this for all of us. She constantly has a smile on her face and teaches us about the benefits of doing year end re-evaluations with ourselves. She goes home and takes pictures of her grandma drinking tea. Jesus she is like the opposite of the New York bitch and it's just, well....refreshing. So, maybe we are idiots for drinking up her juice but once in awhile you just need to know that there are still people that are out there who are not afraid to be happy. Thanks Julia.

p.s. Julia Allison will be running Gawker today from 2-6 pm. And don't worry, Nick Denton promised he'd pay her.

Numerous reports have proven over and over again that sex is healthy for you (yes, even if it's with yourself). This week, the ever conservative FoxNews decided to step outside of their comfort zone a bit with an article titled "Sex Your Way to Better Health: A Dozen Reasons Why You Should Have Sex Tonight." It was some of the best work they've done. This New Year's, why not make a resolution that's good for your health, and one that you might actually KEEP. Sex is good for:

Weight loss and control: 200 calories in 30 minutes of sex! um hello sign us up for a double session.

Pain management: what better way to cure your post-holiday blues.

Stress relief: by increasing your levels of oxytocin NATURALLY, so you can ween off that Paxil in no time.

Immune booster: because we've been sick one too many times this year

Sex also helps your heart by lowering cholesterol, will help you look younger by promoting the hormone DHEA, will help regulate your cycle (for women), and loads of other things...including increased self esteem (well, that may depend on the circumstances). Go get 'em tigers.

In an interesting twist regarding the fate of Gawker's managing editor position after the sudden departure of Choire Sicha, it is now being rumored (heavily and with reasonable certainty) that Nick Denton will fill the spot himself.

Denton founded Gawker as well as Gawker Media LLC, which own and runs 15 weblogs including Valleywag, Jezebel, and Gizmodo.

Denton's move would certainly not be unusual given that he has edited his blogs in the past. In 2006, after firing Nick Douglas from Valleywag, Denton edited the blog until he hired a replacement. And while this news will most likely be greeted cheerfully by Gawker's avid readership, it will no doubt disappoint the many hopefuls who were vying for one of the most coveted spots in the blogosphere. For not only is Gawker blogger royalty, but the new editor was to preside over Gawker's evolution from "snarky" media blog, to traditional news outlet.

In any event, we wish them much luck in their future endeavors.