Will you be spending Thanksgiving with friends who tell great stories, a relative who has wonderful tales from "back in the day," or just someone special whose life you'd like to celebrate? Why not record their story in honor of StoryCorps' National Day of Listening the day after Thanksgiving (November 27th).

Don't fret if you're not part of the adoption/loss/infertility community because this year, our annual list has been expanded to include everyone in the blogosphere.

Harry & Sally. Rhett & Scarlett. Lancelot & Guinevere. Lucy & Ricky. Johnny & Baby. Name famous romantic couples and since 2007, Marlboro Man and The Pioneer Woman deserve a spot in the Top Ten.

The L Word ended on Showtime in March. For people like me who don't have Showtime, the final season is just now coming out on DVD. We are finally getting to see season 6 and watch how the series ended.

It's day 29. Does your computer know when your period starts? My iPod just warned me that I'm about to be incredibly cranky. Using my past blog posts as a guide, by searching for key words like "horrible cramps" and "PMS", I found some details of my last few periods to set up the background data. For years I've found myself blogging in the middle of the night while crying and complaining. Then some commenter, usually my sister, will go "Your life sucks? You mean just like how it did right about this time last month?" How embarrassing that it always hits me as a giant surprise.

I've done some unsubscribing to electronic communications that I consented to when I was trying on identities that I've since let go in an effort to tame my email inbox. Lately however I've begun to hit unsubscribe when the authors of those digital missives begin to annoy me. What does it take to get me to banish someone? Well, let me tell you...

Congratulations BlogHer community, please take a bow -- you are the face of media influence in 2009. BlogHer is #4 on Katie Couric's list of the "seven most powerful people in media". As her contribution to Forbes.com's "One in a Billion" initiative, Ms. Couric chose: #1: Sergei Brin and Larry Page, Google Co-founders #2: Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC #3: Arianna Huffington, Co-founder, The Huffington Post #4: BlogHer Co-founders Jory Des Jardins, Elisa Camahort Page and Lisa Stone #5: Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist #6: Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Twitter Co-founders of Twitter #7: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Co-founder There's not a single traditional media company on this list, which makes us think Ms. Couric is talking about who in media represents communities with the potential and power to truly move the needle when she writes, "[A]mong the many millions of sites and the svengalis behind them, there are a few classics that stand out." We agree: The accelerating influence of women in social media is stunning, just ask us [PDF]. BlogHer's mission -- to create opportunities and economic empowerment for women in social media -- is the driving force behind a community that now reaches more than 20 million* people each month via conferences, the BlogHer.com news service and a network of more than 2,500 excellent blogs. (*Nielsen Netratings Site Census.) Thanks, Katie Couric, we think women in social media are just getting started. Lisa for Jory, Elisa and Lisa BlogHer Co-founders

Is it possible to find a cultural truth? Will a day come when we accept the good and bad things about our cultural influences? Can we accept our various ancestors without hurt and rancor? Judging from the past year or so probably not. Perhaps learning about our past is much like the Telephone game many of us experienced in a school classroom.

Been a long day? Want to veg out on the couch for a couple of hours before bedtime with the TV? You turn on the tube and what happens? You find nothing but moronic programming, repeats of cop/detective/mystery shows, and movies you've seen twice already. You could shut the damn thing off and read the latest Diana Gabaldon novel. That would keep you busy for a while. Or you could go to your computer and be amazed and enlighted watching a video from TED Talks.

It's hard out there for a plastic surgeon. I mean, all you want to do is beautify the world when suddenly  the economy tanks and then man, it's like people aren't even spending money on a quick after-work liposuction treatment anymore! What's a surgeon to do?Well if you're Dr. Michael Salzhauer, you make an iPhone app.According to the press release, iSurgery "combines personal image modification with high tech gaming features."

Yoani Sánchez, popular Cuban blogger from "Generación Y", was forced into a car and beaten by secret police in Havana along with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Claudia Cadelo, who writes for OctavoCero and Global Voices.

It was about three months ago that I received an invitation to participate in a social media cruise. The deal? A handful of travel bloggers were invited for seven days of Caribbean cruising in exchange for covering their adventures on Twitter, their blogs, whatever social media format they choose. I declined for a handful of reasons -- I get seasick, I'm a little claustrophobic, I was highly skeptical that this trip was my scene.