-I still can’t believe how miraculous it is that there was ONE survivor out of more than 150 passengers who survived the tragic jet crash in the Indian Ocean earlier this week. I think someone should approach that 14-year-old girl now and have her sign on to do a book/movie in 2014. For those people out there like me who believe everything (for the most part) happens for a reason, I’m curious what this girl does with her life after being the sole survivor on a flight where everyone else perished.

- Ha! Just heard Brad Pitt’s motorcycle broke down in a residential neighborhood today and with few options- he hitched a ride with a paparazzi. The photos are funny (see right) and Papa Pitt is lookin’ hot!

-    Early last year I was wrongly advised I should invest in the stock market to learn a little bit about investing. Worse, I was advised to spend all of my investment investing in stock for American Apparel. Besides my current stock balance being in the single digits, it seems like the company constantly gives new reasons for the stocks to dip.  Shortly after settling a lawsuit with Woody Allen, today, in response to news the government is clamping down on companies that employ illegal immigrants, I read American Apparel put out a news release stating they have 1,600 + workers that ‘may not be authorized to work in the U.S.” Oy veh.

- A series of minor frustrations today. Going to boxing class now to punch it out. Hope you all have a good night and hopefully you’re starting the weekend off right with the day off tomorrow like me. I’ll be spending Friday in Zuma Beach surfing ;) xo

Dancing With The Stars champ Shawn Johnson is gearing up for her annual holiday tradition.

“I have a Fourth of July play that we always go to, and I hang out with my family,” Shawn, 17, tells me. “It’s good.”

The gymnast looks forward to noshing on carmel ice cream, sitting by the pool and swimming this weekend. She says “I love massages. They’re relaxing.” She keeps her skin routine  “normal and natural” for summer, and “likes comfy clothes from the Victoria’s Secret Pink Collection. The sweats and stuff.”

On the other side of the coin is Margaret Cho, whose Lifetime show Drop Dead Diva premieres July 12.  “Oh I don’t really have a tradition,” the actress, 40, tells me. “I never go in the sun because I have a lot of tattoos, so that means Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day – I am not included.”

She calls her favorite tattoo “a little gun.”

“It’s a little pearl-handled pistol stuffed into a garter belt or a little garter around my left thigh, so that I’m always armed,” she says. “I don’t believe in guns, but I just think it’s a cool little gun.”

Jason Aldean will be performing in Canada, but he says his family typically heads to the beach. “I like down in the Destin, Florida, area,” the country singer, 32, whose kids are Keeley, 6, and Kendyl, 22 months, with wife Jessica, tells me. “The Panhandle. I grew up not far from there, and that’s where we always went when I was in school. Now that I’ve got my family, it’s a good family spot down there, and it’s probably the closest beach, too, which narrows it down. That’s where we always go. We go there every year, and have for years.”

Jessica Harp enjoys the annual Fourth of July blowout.

“I love, love, love fireworks, but unfortunately in places in Tennessee, they’re illegal,” the country singer, 27, tells me. “I’m from Missouri originally and my parents have six acres. It was a tradition every year where all of our family and friends, we would go buy the big, big professional fireworks, and we would sit there for hours and shoot off fireworks. That’s one of my favorites.”

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

SEE MORE PHOTOS IN THE VALERIE GALLERY:

In the decade plus that I’ve been interviewing celebrities there are few who have left such an impression that I remember vivid details.

There was Cyndi Lauper in the late 90s, my first phone interview and besides the horror of the tape not recording, what I took away from that was ‘Yes, Cyndi’s voice is really that high, always’ and she was nice and respectful. Being on the West Coast at the time (still in college at ASU) when she was on the East Coast, it was around 6am when she called and said, ‘Hi Jen, it’s Cyndi. Is it too early? Do you want me to try to call again later?” Um…

Then I remember interviewing David Sedaris and being put on hold so he could order an ashtray to his room, and being regaled by a tale of his love for smoking that had me in tears. Angelina Jolie didn’t have anyone with her (other than Maddox) and seemed to give the most sincere responses. Interviewing Christian Slater, alone on a patio on the Hudson Pier, was everything I’d hoped it would be as he had me mesmerized by the voice that made him my tween crush. Then there’s Callum Blue, who quite honestly I’d never heard of prior to our scheduled phone interview -five years ago- but I haven’t forgotten since.

When I spoke to Callum, while he was on a show called Dead Like Me, I remember he was doing the interview while in the car on the way to pick his mom up from the airport. What I took away from that was that he that he was very funny, charming (English accents go a long way with me) and maybe I should watch  Dead Like Me sometime. I didn’t, but was happy to see him in the first season of The Tudors. I was even happier to see him yesterday, at my house!

I got home yesterday to find an envelope, clearly addressed to Callum Blue, with my address on it, on my mail table. My friend Amber had stopped by a few minutes before I got home and said Callum’s agent dropped it off and Callum would be by to pick it up. Random. We questioned (hopefully) if he was the tenant who signed a lease on the vacant unit upstairs the day before…I’d just walked in from the gym. My hair was dripping wet from sweat (less than attractive) and I was starving and late for dinner. That said, I decided to take a shower and risk missing meeting Callum – although I advised Amber to stall should he arrive.

There was a knock on the door as soon as I turned off the water. I listened as Amber handed Callum the envelope. Then, as Callum introduced himself and told Amber it was a really nice house (my house) and that he was staying upstairs with a friend I happen to know. It was all too much for me to just listen to – and I ran out to the living room, dressed in a towel, with another on my head, and smudges of mascara still streaming down my face. He told me I looked familiar. I told him I interviewed him several years ago – over the phone.  I felt like a starstruck fan (I just watched the “Samantha Who’ episode about her acting like a gushing fan the night before). He said he was leaving tomorrow (today) to MOVE to Vancouver where he’s going to be the new villain on Smallville (which happens to be one of my mother’s favorite shows).

I’m going to Vancouver next month to see Kings of Leon. Perhaps our paths will cross there again. Perhaps I’ll be in more suitable attire.

Taylor Dayne witnessed Michael Jackson at the height of his fame.

“I opened for him during his Bad tour in Europe,” the singer, 47, whose hits include I’ll Always Love You, With Every Beat of My Heart and Love Will Lead You Back, tells me. “It was 1988. I just had the #1 single throughout Europe -- Tell It To My Heart -- and Prove Your Love was climbing the charts in Europe and just breaking in the States. I played a month of dates at stadiums from Nice to Barcelona to Wertzberg, Germany. This was at the absolute height of Michael Mania.”
 
She says, “Michael was gracious to me. And extraordinary to watch as an entertainer, the mesmerizing effect his show and aura had on people. From his huge entourage and entire crew, his band who on backup was Sheryl Crow, to the dancers and production ... it was a traveling circus and fun. I was the new sensation and [Michael’s manager] Frank DiLeo two years later began managing my career from meeting during that tour.”

SEE TAYLOR’S ‘I’LL BE THERE’ TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON:


Beyond music, Taylor followed in Michael’s footsteps in at least three ways: She performed for President Bush (him, H.W.; her W.) , delivered her children through a surrogate and has copped to cosmetic enhancements.

Despite all her success, she calls the birth of her twins Astaria and Levi, 7, her proudest moment.

“They’re pretty divine,” she says. “They’re young. They’re blessings. I went for it, and I did it as a single mom. They’re precocious, alive, fantastic, thoughtful and every day they’re bringing home something new and different. I’m very proud of this achievement, and I’m very proud they chose me and I’m their mom.”

She stays true to her 80s roots by remaining friends with Paula Abdul, and holds onto her mementos.

“I have a couple of costumes,” she says. “I have that skirt from the Tell It To My Heart video, which is still a closet piece from living on Eighth Street and Second Avenue, Love Spit Love and all that stuff. God, you look around and you see your gold records and your platinums. Those are always prized possessions. Those are reminders.”

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF MICHAEL JACKSON:


Michael lives on through his music and remarkable legacy.

Taylor Dayne’s latest album, Satisfied, featuring the hit Beautiful is in stores now, and she’s in the studio rerecording her greatest hits for release in 2010.