Day 2: In need of a new morning routine

Every morning, I watch The Today Show while having my breakfast. When I finish eating, I go about my business -- making lunch, getting showered and dressed -- but the TV stays on even though I'm not actually watching it. I never really pay much attention since the stories are generally about things like that guy who turned blue or today's interview with a lawyer whose client punched him in the face. It's just a lot of fluff with a bit of real news thrown in for good measure, but but ever since 9/11, I'm too paranoid that something could happen and I'd have no idea. So morning and after morning, I've always turned it on.

While I was watching yesterday, I heard that Kate Hudson would be coming on. And for the record, although I gave up celebs, I'll still need to refer to them from time to time in these posts just to show how often they try to sneak into my life. The minute she showed up on screen, I changed channels. How's that for willpower? I wondered if this meant that I'd have to stop watching The Today Show in the morning since they frequently have celeb guests.

This morning, I put it on again, only to find out that the entire cast of Family Ties would be on. I really could care less about any of them, but since they're celebs, I decided to switch to CNN. I changed the channel and there it was, splashed across the screen: "Angelina Jolie in Baghdad." See what I mean? Even when trying my very hardest to escape celebrities, they still find me, on a 24-hour NEWS CHANNEL no less. Daniel tried to tell me that since this was a newsworthy story, it would be ok to watch. I disagreed. I'm trying to free my life of celebs in any shape and form -- newsworthy or not. And so far, this hasn't been easy.

I ended up just turning off the TV and listening to NPR on the computer. The first live show I found was all about fashion week at Bryant Park. I switched over to one that was chock full of news but not live. I know I need a new morning routine, but I'm not sure there's any morning show that will be truly-celeb free. Any recommendations?

Day 1: Let the celeb detox begin!

For as long as I can remember, I've been giving up sweets for lent. I'm not even religious anymore and still, I subject myself to such torture year after year. Now that I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant with my first child, there's no way I can deprive myself of dessert. This year, I'm going to give up my other guilty pleasure: celebrities.

That's right. For the next 40 days, I can't talk or read about celebrities. If I see one walking down the street (as I do all the time since I live in NY and can spot them a mile away), I can't follow them to see where they're going. When I'm in my old Brooklyn neighborhood, I can't go out of my way to walk down a certain celeb's block just to gaze at her beautiful brownstone. When I go to The Farnsworth Invention in a few weeks, I can't wait for the star of the show, one of my favorite actors, to come out and sign my Playbill. I can't even let my friends tell me about the celebrities they've spotted. I'm still deciding if I can watch the Oscars this year. Technically, that's just one big celeb fest, but maybe if I skip the red carpet pre-shows I'm in the clear. Or am I already trying to bend the rules?

Everyone who knows me realizes how hard this is going to be. Some wonder how I'll even do it. In fact, some of my equally celeb-obsessed friends wonder how they'll go 40 days without gossiping about celebs with me.

And that's exactly why I want to do it. We're a country obsessed with celebrities. My husband and a handful of my friends don't really get it and actually have no problem living fairly celeb-free lives. The rest of us? We're all a little too knowledgeable about what's going on in Hollywood when there's much more important stuff to to think and talk about.

It's not something I'm proud of, but I'm not entirely ashamed either. We all need guilty pleasures and I could have a far worse one than this. I don't keep track of the celeb train wrecks. I actually ignore those types of stories completely and focus on successful celebrities whose movies and TV shows I really like. I know the names of their kids, where they grew up, who they're dating now and who they dated way back when. I like to look at pictures of them. I'm fascinated by their love lives and extravagant lifestyles (and sometimes a little sickened by how much money they all have). I'll admit it doesn't always make me feel good about myself or the world we live in. Sure I sometimes wish I could look like them, have all the things they have, but to be honest, I'd never, ever want to be any of them.

So, I'm going to give them up for 40 days. I'll read CNN.com and The NY Times when I'd rather be browsing the People.com photo gallery or searching for videos on TMZ.com. When people try to start talking about celebrities with me, I'll save my breath and change the subject. I'll track my progress here and let you know how I'm doing, any obstacles I face and hopefully talk with all of you about your own celeb obsessions.

In fact, I already passed my first test! My husband just sent me the autopsy results of a certain celeb who recently died. When I saw it in my inbox (he titled the email: "Your first real test. Attention, this is celebrity news. But it is also hard news"), I didn't open it. According to him, lent doesn't technically start till noon. If that's the case, I still have one hour left to completely indulge...

Welcome to Celebrifree and let the celeb detox begin!