Dear Gossips,

I don’t yet have access to those Blake Lively kissing Ryan Reynolds photos. I do however have a lot to say about them. At press time (5am PST) they’re still exclusive to TMZ only and will be for 24 hours. Am trying to get access after that but we will discuss during the Weekly LiveBlog today at 3pm ET/Noon PT. Join us!

The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards aren’t weighted as heavily as other critics boards but their selections of The Artist and Hugo do add to the momentum gained by both films last week and, um, is it just me or does Glenn Close seem like she is fading fast? At this point, if she doesn’t step on it, in such a competitive field, I worry she’ll miss out on a nomination altogether. Also... if this is the way it’s going to be, with The Artist the one to beat, well, there will only be 2,000 people watching the Oscars. And all of them will be in the press room. The Academy needs to give a lot more love to Harry Potter is all I’m saying.

Yesterday in the Angelina Jolie with Brad Pitt’s mother article, I asked whether or not it’s “common law mother in law”, and a few of you confirmed that that’s how it is for you, and still others in the same situation explained that for them it’s “mother in common law” and then there are those who go by the simple “mother in law”, and get rather smug and prickly about it. Like it should be common law common knowledge since that’s the way it works at their house. Which, of course, is the kind of inflexibility that makes us such f-cking bitches sometimes. It’s the “My Way” philosophy, you know? And it applies to everything in gossip from baby bumps to how celebrities raise their children to the kind of stroller they use to what kind of flour they should put in their recipes to whether or not they’ve had work done.

Real examples from my inbox:

“She’s the same age as my sister and my sister has droopy eyelids so there’s no way that’s natural.”

“We call it mother in law. Just mother in law! You’ve never met anyone who hasn’t been married but have been together forever? It’s just mother in law!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“When I was pregnant my belly never moved around like Beyonce, so ya she’s totally faking.”

The My Way philosophy doesn’t allow for a difference in body type or variation. Or, for that matter, in household interpretations. The My Way philosophy applies singular experiential support to an already know-it-all. The combination is spectacularly subjective. This makes for some awesome, awesome judgy-ness.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey