Ack. Please lock your doors, y'all. I got mugged and almost raped when I left my door unlocked to go get a 2nd load of groceries out of my car -- the guy walked into my apartment and was waiting for me.

I am kinda of a freak about door locking now. Although I am happy I know how I would react in a violent situation.

Tip: never pull a knife on anyone as a threat. Just grab it and keep it close, and then just stick it in 'em. And run like hell.

Brought to you by There Are Crazy People All Over.

Damn, Erin. That's really scary. And reinforces my policy of shutting a propped-open front door to my building if there's no one standing there.

So, I accidently find myself serving as Santa for a Disadvantaged Child (I asked for more info about the expectations, and got a kid's wish list). The list was "bettyboo pocketbook, scotter, hand bracelets." I assume she wants a Betty Boop pocketbook, which I can't find in a store, a scooter, and bracelets, right? So I just got a scooter (off-brand, so $25 instead of $35, and it was the last one on the shelf, because I guess that's how we roll in Queens -- there were stacks of Razor scooters), and some stretchy beaded bracelets. That'll do, right? I am paranoid about not doing enough or something. There is a Betty Boop purse on Amazon, which I might have time to get, so what do you all think?

Sounds about right, Jesse. Although I am surprised youngsters would know about Betty Boop.

Did she make a comeback?

Yeah, I don't know. The kid's 9, so I figured if she wanted it, they'd have it at target, but everything was High School Musical and Hannah Montana, with a touch of Hello Kitty. I figure a kid who's into Betty Boop would be Not Into those other things.

I think you can skip the pocketbook. A scooter is a kickass gift and the bracelets are gravy.

OK, that's what I thought, thanks. I think I'm usually cheap on presents for people I know, but it's because I'm no one's primary gift giver, if that makes sense. I started feeling bad about this little girl only getting this stuff from me!

Of course, I also started stressing out about whether I should also get a helmet....

This is why I'm not a good gift-giver!

Hey, question for those who know more about these things than I do: Hilary Duff's new song, Reach Out, the one with the "Oh, just in case I neglected to mention it before: boobies!" video clip, is she ripping off Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus?

There's talk that she is, billy. I haven't heard the song, but I've seen a couple of articles talking about it.

Huh. Well, it samples heavily from Personal Jesus. I'd guess that she's paying royalties to Depeche Mode for the samples, but I don't know how such contracts work.

[link]

OK, after listening to Reach Out and Personal Jesus again, I'm not sure if it's actual sampling - I think I'd need to spend some time with some headphones to be sure. But if it's not sampling, it's still basically the same song with mostly different lyrics.