She slays us! Back in 2000, Marti Noxon — then supervising producer for Buffy and consulting producer for Angel — graced BreakupGirl.net with her presence, answering reader questions as part of our You & A Guest series, which also featured Kevin Bacon, Dan Savage, Martha Quinn, and even the boys of O-Town! (And significantly scooped other online pubs who wouldn’t do that for years. W00t!)

She’s been plenty bizzy since, but we’re extra-super-excited about her next gig. (In fact, she’s one of the few people we’d trust with something so tricky-yet-potentially-excellent.) Via Variety:

Diane Keaton is attached to star in a series project in development at HBO revolving around a feminist icon who launches a sex mag for women.

The untitled series is among the first projects to come from Grady Twins Prods., the production company formed earlier this year by TV vets Marti Noxon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Dawn Parouse Olmstead (“Prison Break”).

The duo is also working with helmer Guillermo del Toro and author Chuck Hogan on a smallscreen adaptation of their book trilogy “The Strain.”

The Keaton project stems from Noxon and Parouse Olmstead’s interest in exploring the legacy of the feminist movement of the 1970s. Keaton was taking meetings for a TV series project, and she responded to Noxon and Parouse Olmstead’s vision for a show featuring a Gloria Steinem-type character who tries to reignite interest in femme-centered activism by launching a porn mag for women.

Noxon is writing the script and will exec produce along with Parouse Olmstead. After Keaton signed on, the lead character was tailored to the thesp’s background and experiences.

“We really value her experience and outlook on the world,” Noxon said. “She’s incredibly frank and honest as an actress and as a person, yet she’s also extremely private. We really want to capture that in the show.”

The “Strain” book trilogy is a bioterror thriller with fangs, telling the story of an outbreak in the U.S. of a virus that either kills those who are exposed to it or turns them into vampires. The first of the series came out in June. The plan is to shop the TV project, envisioned as an event series unfolding over three seasons, early next year after the second book is released.

Noxon and Parouse Olmstead have long been friends and occasional collaborators on such projects as the 2004-05 season Fox mystery drama “Point Pleasant.”

With help from their reps at WME, the two decided to go it alone as partners in Grady Twins after years of working for large production entities. (The Grady Twins moniker is a nod to the murdered twin girls who haunt the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining.”)

The two put up their own coin for office space in L.A.’s Larchmont Village and got busy setting up projects. “We both felt like it was a good time to strike out and not be committed to any one place,” Parouse Olmstead said. “The business models for network TV and cable TV are changing. We see this as a moment of opportunity for a company like this.”

The duo’s first series to go into production is “Gigantic,” a drama set for debut in January on the Viacom-owned cabler TEENick (the new name for the N as of September). Show examines the world of celebrity culture by focusing on high-school age children of fictional celebs.

As evidenced by Grady Twins’ initial batch of projects, Noxon and Parouse Olmstead aim to cast a wide net as producers. And they’re committed to live by the maxim that “we don’t want to be doing anything that we don’t have a passion for,” Noxon said.

Noxon’s recent primetime credits include “Private Practice,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Mad Men.” Separate from her Grady Twins labors, she’s set to make her directing debut on the indie feature “Box City” for Mockingbird Pictures.

Via The Frisky:

“Any time I do a red carpet, I feel vaguely confrontational. I feel like, ‘All right, now somebody’s going to come on the red carpet who doesn’t have a stylist, who did her own hair and makeup, who’s wearing a $25 dress from H&M. I have cellulite. I have big hips and big thighs. And you have to look at me.’ I feel like people have to pay attention to somebody who would typically be invisible.” — Diablo Cody

Cintra Wilson explores Tiffany & Co. with sharp ear, tart tongue:

I have always been mystified by Tiffany’s heart-shaped silver dog tags, worn on a choke chain, with the engraved instructions, “Please Return to Tiffany & Co.” This, I have always assumed, is precautionary: If your lady gets lost, someone will put her on a plane back to the jewelry store. In any case, they are hugely popular.

Read more…

If these two kids can’t make it work, what hope is there for working stiffs like you and me?

Oh Reggie and Kim, we had such high hopes for you.

Well, at least there’s another season of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” to look forward to.

Huh. Quoth our tipster:”Geez, I remember when the ‘Ms. Taken’ trend was going by its previous name, ‘The cubic zirconia from Dillard’s.'”

PS Video is NSFM*.

* Mood

I have a confession to make. I am a text-holic. And now that I have unlimited  messaging on my iPhone, I have made it my mission to get my money’s worth. I use it to send quick messages to people I don’t really want to talk to. I use it to convey important information when talking on the phone isn’t practical. (i.e. “Movie starts @ 7:15. See u there,” from staff meeting) And I use it to flirt.

Clearly I’m not alone. At least, you know, not in one sense. Text-flirting is sufficiently popular — and landmine-laden — to have spawned not only the unseemly neologism “flirtexting,” but also the book Flirtexting: How to Text Your Way to His Heart and more Web sites than you can shake a rotary phone at.

But of all the tips available — including these new ones from Your Tango — the most important is this: Do not text while under the influence. I have sent out more mortifying texts than I care to remember.

Fortunately, friends don’t let friends text tipsy. My roommate has actually taken to giving me her phone at the start of a girl’s night out with the admonishment, “No matter how hard I beg for this back. DO NOT GIVE IT TO ME!” It’s the same category of bad as drunk dialing, only somehow so much worse as it’s down in the written word, memorialized for all the world to see, and undeniable in the sober light of morning. And likely full of typos.

In Nerve.com’s new “I Did It For Science” piece, “Boob Power,” contributor Bianca Merbaum puts her chest to the test. In her obvious, but entertaining, experiment Bianca attempts to gather petition signatures for a ridiculous cause with and without cleavage. The results will not shock you. What’s more interesting is the discussion by the bright Nerve commenters, who go meta on the narrative:

“rb” writes

Let’s look at the bigger picture… In the end this is a short story (and an entertaining one) about one young woman’s attempt to come to terms with and understand part of her body that has affected her self image and self understanding her entire life.

“PCE” writes

…I must point out that when you switched from Rackus Minimus to Major Boobage, your own behavior changed as much as that of your subjects. I think that is the most important message of this article. When you act in a manner that says you are comfortable with yourself, and how you look is not something you should apologize for, people will always respond in a more positive way. …

And if you want to go even more meta, yes, I clicked on link to this article because it said “boobs.”

Read it for yourself here.

Love at first sight on February 16, 1998…

Dear Breakup Girl,

This might sound weird, but I think I fallen in love with someone I saw on T.V. It has been almost 6 months and I still can’t get her off of my mind. I went onto the internet to find some information on her and that was a huge mistake because I found out that we have A LOT in common and I think we could be great together. It isn’t the fact that she is beautiful becuase I could name ten more beautiful women. I must sound like a crazy fan here but I feel like I’m linked to a person I don’t even know. If I didn’t believe in love at first sight then I do now. I could go on to say soul mate and true love but at this point that would be foolish, who knows maybe that will be thinking in three more months of going through this. Could you please help me? I have no clue what to do and it’s driving me crazy.

— Going Crazy

Dear Crazy,

Oooh, ooh, was it me? Wait, that wouldn’t make sense (“ten more beautiful women,” yada yada yada). But listen, Crazy, I’m not about about to call you crazy, ’cause you know what? Breakup Girl’s crush on David Duchovny goes far, far beyond the “ohmigodhe’ssuchaHUNK” thing. I mean, I really, honestly think we’d be great together. And to tell you the truth, our relationship really hasn’t changed all that much since he got married. Anyway, point is, I kind of understand how you feel. But I also — well, let’s just say it’s not like I’m waiting for David. I mean, I think he and I could have something real, but I’m not treating it as such. And that’s the distinction you’re going to have to make. Gaze at her picture; heck, send her fan mail if you want … but only between dates with women you’ve actually met.

Love,
Breakup Girl

From io9.com:

You’re dating a new girl and things are going great. Then one day she asks you to meet her ex…who just happens to be Superman. Can a mere mortal ever live up to the Boyfriend of Steel?

Jonathan Goldstein’s short story “Man Not Superman” (previously featured on This American Life) follows the man who dates Lois Lane after she breaks it off with Superman. Our comparatively ordinary narrator is head over heels for the famed reporter, and things go swimmingly at first; sick of superheroes, Lois just wants a guy who can make her laugh. But Lois and the big Kryptonian are still good chums, and the relationship hits a snag when Supes insists on taking his ex’s new beau as his sidekick.

The original text is an uproarious read, but the artwork (composed entirely on yellow sticky notes) from animator Arthur Jones perfectly captures the narrator’s insecurities and the humiliation involved in working for Superman.