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A Thousand Words-Plus: Last night at Starbucks, Michael asked me if I'd seen the Times cover yet. I admitted I hadn't (I'm such a Post/Daily News queen), so he told me how blown away he'd been by a poignant photo from President Ford's funeral in Washington, how everyone in the place -- a who's who of American politics -- is completely transfixed on Betty Ford, clearly feeling her pain and wanting to reach out to her and care for her. He found a copy and handed it to me as he excused himself to go to the bathroom. I looked at it and the more I took it in the more emotional I became. Something about the way the moment was captured, the position the photographer Stephen Crowley was in when he took it was truly spectacular. For all the talk of the death of the newspaper and the value of multimedia news coverage and the Internet, this dinosaur of a medium said more than all the newest bells and whistles ever could. (NYT)

Sweet Escape: The young Austrian woman who was held captive in a windowless cell for 8 1/2 years until her dramatic escape last summer, Natascha Kampusch, described her struggles to reclaim her life in a TV documentary that aired Wednesday. She says her greatest wish since escaping is that people would treat her normally, then the article goes on to say "Kampusch, noticeably more chubby since gaining her freedom and wearing rose-colored eyeglasses, was shown embracing her younger cousins and helping her mother bake a chocolate cake -- ordinary moments she was deprived of during her confinement in the cramped underground cell Priklopil built beneath his suburban Vienna home. Jesus -- I hope if I ever get abducted the press doesn't turn around and call me fat the minute I get out. Natascha might want to rethink this "being treated normally" stuff. (AP)

Well-Informed: A new poll reports that slightly more than one in three LGBT Web users, 36 percent, report visiting their favorite personal blogs daily, compared with 19 percent of straight people. Further proof that gay people are more fabulous than straights. (Advocate)

First Son: Who knew that President Ford's son Steven played Meg Ryan's boyfriend in the beginning of "When Harry Met Sally"? (Newsweek)

Luckless Irish: Notre Dame quarterback and all-around dreamboat Brady Quinn blew it last night, and not in a good way. (AP)

Hung Up on the Wrong Thing: Iraq’s national security adviser told NBC News on Wednesday that three individuals have been arrested in connection with a video of Saddam Hussein’s execution that was leaked. Um, isn't the barbaric hanging of a (quasi) human being the real crime here? I don't get these capital punishment freaks ... how can death be worse than life in prison? (NBC)

Close Encounter: One of my all-time faves, Teri Garr, is recovering from surgery to repair an aneurysm she suffered at her home on Dec. 21, her publicist said Wednesday. Doctors expect the actress, 58, to make a full recovery. Garr, who also suffers from multiple sclerosis, is alert and talking, her publicist added. Garr has been is so many great movies ("Tootsie," "Oh, God," "One From the Heart"), but her beehive-hairdo-ed, go-go-boots-wearing waitress, Julie, in "After Hours," opposite Griffin Dunne in Martin Scorsese's underrated 1985 film, has to be my favorite. Get well soon, Teri! (AP)

Why Suddenly So Gay? Joining a long list of former military leaders who have come out against the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay service personnel, former secretary of Defense William Cohen told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that congressional leaders should revisit the gay ban. "It’s time to start thinking about it and starting to discuss it," Cohen said in an interview regarding a January 2 New York Times op-ed by retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili. "I think what we're hearing from within the military is what we're hearing from within society -- that we're becoming a much more open, tolerant society for diverse opinions and orientation," Cohen said, adding that the ban is "a policy of discrimination." Kudos to Cohen, but am I cynical to wonder if the military hole our current president has gotten us into isn't playing heavy on this sudden change of heart from military officials? (Advocate)

The Manny Diaries: I finally got my hands on sexy T.J. Wilk's complete photo shoot from DNA magazine. Look for T.J. to leave Season 2 of "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" in the first episode airing Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. ET. Check out the DNA spread here.

Sorry 'Bout That: Two Duke lacrosse players who were accused of rape, only to have those charges dropped, have been invited to resume studies at the tarnished university. The third player already graduated. (NYT)