Since the passing of 72-year-old Maeve Binchy, the much-loved (and childless) Irish novelist, the Telegraph has published an essay by British novelist Amanda Craig that immediately blew the fuck up, and it's easy to see why.

Today in Tweet Beat, Mariah Carey averts stage disaster by extinguishing electrical fire, Yoko Ono gets introspective, and Pamela Anderson dumps out her purse.

• Michelle Obama and Barack Obama taped a segment Wednesday for American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" episode Wednesday. They look almost this cute in a picture at the link. [Fox News]

• This morning Lindsay Lohan posted an incoherent rant about Samantha Ronson on Twitter. She writes: "can you make an attempt to not ruin ANYTHI...zG positive that i have FINALLY deserved just to cry myself to sleep with your cheats, errors..."

• Is Ashley Olsen getting married? The National Enquirer thinks so. It'll happen on the French Riviera next summer; she wants Karl Lagerfeld to make the dress and Annie Leibovitz to take the pix. Oh, the hubs-to-be is boyfriend Justin Bartha. [Daily Express]
• Ryan Reynolds ran the NYC marathon! His time? 3 hours and 50…