Oh, and then there was that story about Jezebel.

Obviously, the nonchalant tone of that last sentence is total bullshit: I — and most of the other staffers, I believe — spent the majority of the weekend reading the Times piece, then reading it again, and again, and again, all in an effort to process how we felt about it. (And, of course, our appearances. I was horrified by vast amount of forehead on display; Tracie thought she looked like a drunk; Dodai marveled at her abundant cleavage; Jessica disdained her lack of it.) My reaction to the story was one of amusement and disappointment, feelings that did not change even on my fifth or sixth reading, although I admit they were much-amplified after I got a look at the crazy-ass commenting thread about the story that sprung up on Gawker on Saturday; all I have to say about that right now is Jesus Christ.

There were some amusing moments in the story, like writer Lauren Lipton's acknowledgment of the alcohol-soaked truce between Moe Tkacik and her sometime-critic, SinisterRouge, and the confirmation of a rumor I'd heard regarding a group of disparate, far-flung, longtime commenters and a pilgrimage they took to Dollywood earlier this year. (Also: Redbook editor Stacy Morrison's defensive-sounding intimation that only the impressionable, "fun"-loving youngsters on the lowest rungs of her magazine's editorial masthead deign to visit Jezebel. Guess she's still mad about that Faith Hill Photoshop controversy.) And despite my disagreement that a Jezebel name-check on the website for Gossip Girl has suddenly led to an influx of younger, more (ahem) immature readers — and my disbelief that the Times compared our traffic to that of iVillage, of all things — on the whole, I felt the piece was fun and more than fair to us. (One quibble: We post from 9am to 7pm, not 10am to 7pm.)

But it wasn't fair to the readers. Why? Because: Problems between editors and commenters and between commenters themselves are not specific to this blog — or any Gawker Media site for that matter — and the tensions in the comment threads are a natural side-effect of our surprisingly speedy growth. Because: At least from my somewhat ignorant vantage point, there is simply no evidence of any group of commenters referring to themselves as "cool kids" in any thing but a joking manner. And most importantly, because: Jezebel readers are funnier, more vibrant, opinionated, impassioned, whip-smart — and yes, infuriating —than the Times made them out to be. (Why the paper chose to showcase an unremarkable, mildly-tense exchange within the thread of an Angelina Jolie "Snap Judgment" instead of contributions from readers on, say, "Crappy Hour" or something equally-loaded, such as this post, is beyond me.) Basically I just wish that the commenters had taken center stage a bit more. They — you — deserved it. Because despite all the thoughtful, opinionated, unique work done by Dodai, Moe, Tracie, Jessica, Jennifer and Maria, in the comment threads on our blog you can find sidesplitting humor, impassioned disagreement, emotion-laden provocations, expert anecdotes, and a variety of voices that inspire as much, if not more, than they annoy.

In fact, I can guarantee that you will.

Not On Our Blog You Won't [NY Times]

• You know they're not fucking with you the "Red-Hot Read", page 81 concerns a woman whose husband is such a relenetless cheater he actually sends her away on vacation to cheat on him. AND SHE CAN'T DO IT. That's right! No "hot"-ness this month. Sigh.
• Then there's a story about how four women learned how to "Love Yourself Thin," but not only are none of them remotely thin (Crystal, for instance, went from 266 to 250 pounds), the biggest font in the profiles is reserved for examples of "Your typical negative self-talk about your body." Examples: How did you let this happen? I never thought I would let myself get this big!"and What's the matter with you? Why can't you stop eating and start exercising? Why are you so lazy? Yikes.
• Which doesn't make it any easier that fucking Faith Hill (on page 125, not in that stupid shirt) is, like, Holy Shit hot. Seriously, she looks like Ashlee Simpson, post-surgery, only she's hever had surgery and she's old enough to be Ashlee's mom. Fuck her.
• In "The Secrets Couples Keep", page 143 a woman relates how her husband didn't tell her about the million dollars of debt on his company's balance sheet until he announced they were going to lose the house and that, oh yeah, he'd have to take a second job.
• Page 120: "My Mother Abandoned Me At Birth." This is for a new section called "Your Stories" that is sort of like a similar section in Jane, only in Jane the stories are more like "I gave my second cousin a blowjob during a family reunion but everyone was on mushrooms and we're hippies so it's okay."
• And the macro, colossal sad story to end all sad stories: "How Bad Does the Health-Care Crisis Have To Get?" on Page 166 is a serious, thoughful explanation of the problems plaguing the American health care system accompanied by profiles of sympathetic working women who struggle to keep their health insurance.
• The woman with the dead daughter, Ann Hood, wrote a book called The Knitting Circle. This is the back page essay, page 214, and she died from strep throat. So it turns out you can die from strep throat. Wow.

In conclusion, thank you, Stacy, for thoroughly reminding us of the important things in life, and how lucky we are to be here. Not sure you're really lowering the age of your readers, but our eyes didn't roll back into our brains as we were reading your magazine, so that's, you know, something.

Redbook
Earlier: Will 'Redbook' Blogger Trade Anal For Home Furnishings?

'We think [Blige] is just gorgeous — tattoos or no tattoos," said Redbook editor in chief Stacy Morrison. 'We were just disappointed that her management requested that we airbrush them from her photos because they are so much a part of who she is. But the ink doesn't make the woman."

No, but caving into the demands of a woman who doesn't even represent your target demo does make you sort of a pussy!

No More Ink[WWD]