So busy at work today, and I even get to leave at 6 to make it to a dinner reservation in the City. In lieu of a constructed, well-thought-out entry, I post here several points on which I may or may not elaborate in the future, depending on if I get around to it...

� Why is there such a preoccupation with money in entertainment magazines? Actually, money in general. I mean, I know everyone's interested in money, but why do we have to know how much everything costs for every celebrity? Who cares that Kate Hudson's wedding was $250,000 or Randy Wolf makes $5 million for the Phillies (both figures thrown � for absolutely no reason � into stories I've read recently). Some (like entertainment mag editors) will argue, "Well, the people want to know..."

I say, How do you know they want to know? Who says? Most people, the people these magazines are targeting, cannot fathom what a $250,000 wedding means (60 people they can picture, which was the number of guests at Hudson's wedding to druggie Chris Robinson, who, based on his grooming habits, is apparently related to the Swiss Family). So why bother? If Catherine Zeta-Jones' wedding was more expensive than Kate Hudson's, does that make her a better actress? A better person? I doubt the people want to know, but because it's printed, they feel like they want to know; they feel like they need to know. I submit that they don't.

� It's either a big coincidence, or someone I know who's been asked if she reads my diary and Casey's and said she doesn't is doing it, or someone else from her company is. Regularly.

� From here on out, I think I will refer to President Bush as General Monkey. He already looks and acts like a monkey, and now I'm going to call him General not because of his noble service in the Texas Air National Guard, or whatever plush outfit Daddy put him in to avoid Vietnam, but because every policy, every plan he proposes he does so in the most general terms possible. Take the State of the Union, of which I watched maybe three minutes (or two standing ovations, not counting his entrance), wherein he mentioned how no child would be left behind or something to that effect, and then mentioned nothing of it the rest of the speech. How are you going to help education when you're cutting taxes, limiting funding, increasing the deficit, trying to get Saddam's oil (oh, and maybe trying to get him, too), and not sparking the economy? See, if everyone's getting tax cuts, I agree the rich deserve them too. But when the tax cuts are in areas like the death tax and stock dividends, it's only the rich with enough invested who will see any sizeable difference. And that's not going to help the economy because the rich already have enough money that this weak economy isn't affecting them as much or curtailing their spending. They're still out there spending their money, and they will be without a tax cut. You give them a break on their stocks, and they're just going to hoard that. You watch.

� I, on the other hand, am going out to spend money tonight, even if it's a set $30 dinner at Tavern on the Green during Restaurant Week. And they're not going to get me to spend more with the beverages not included � I'm staying sober tonight.

� In the end, there will be a reality show for everything. Check out today's Foxtrot (Jan. 30). And then there's Magic Johnson's production, about which the Daily Quickie on ESPN.com's Page 2 had this amusing thing to say:

Saying that "I wasn't myself" in "The Magic Hour," (don't remind us), Magic Johnson is hoping TV treats him a little better in a new reality show he'll be producing about 12 "street" basketball players competing for fame and cash.

I'm going to take a guess at a few names the production team considered, but ultimately dismissed: "American Hoops Idol" ... "Survivor: West 4th Street" ... "Joe Crossover-Dribble" ... "Fear (That I Might Host a Talk Show Again) Factor" ....