I caught a quick slice of life outside of mourning for my husband. I went to the grocery store and at the check out counter there were the magazines that cover the lives of celebrities. Blasted across each one were the quick headlines that Lindsey Lohan is heartbroken, Tom Cruise might lose half of his $900 million dollar career earnings, and Madonna is buying a $40 million side-by-side townhouse in a area that hasn't made a sale of over $25 million in three years but she's going to be spending millions of dollars to renovate or redecorate. More recently I guess Heidi and Spencer, two, are they actors? Is it reality television? I've never watched their show. But I guess they are getting married "again" to make it official.

The woman at the checkout counter scanning my groceries saw me glancing at it and she said, "I think she's stupid. That girl is just plain stupid."

"Who?" I asked.

"Heidi. He's using her. He treats her like (expletive deleted). She's stupid for hitching herself to him. He'll take everything she has. That girl needs to listen to her mother."

Apparently this woman follows the travails of Heidi and Spencer closer than I have. I don't know their relationship but it seems she does. When no one is in her line she reads these magazines cover to cover. Is it gospel? Probably not. Is it close to the truth? Probably as close as you want to get to a hand grenade tossed towards you yet still see the damage.

"Mel's wife was too strict. He was too organized." I used to think Mel Gibson was adorable. Now he seems like he either can't enjoy the life he was blessed enough to create, the security and advantages, or its gone to his head and his sense of entitlement is so far out of reach his wife simply gave up trying.  And anything we read will only be fact as far as public record.  Who will ever really know what happened behind closed doors?

Tom Cruise. Who didn't feed off the wild stories of little Katie's posters of Tom Hanks, oops, that story died though you can still find it on the Internet. But check the date of its posting. None follow it with regards to Tom Hanks being her teenage bedroom poster pinup. From the engagment on the top of the Effiel Tower on, it was always Tom Cruise who's poster adorned her walls. And the great disappearance of Katie? Gone from public view for almost three months. Back in view and pregnant. Wow. The attention paid to that, the wild speculation was a train wreck.

Madonna and Angelina Jolie. Does Madonna feel her title as most important and influencial woman on earth has been challenged? Did Angelina forget all her protestations that she absolutely would not ever get involved with a married man based on remembering how much her mother had been hurt? Then to say that the very film she wasn't involved with Brad Pitt on was the one she will show her children as the film where mommy and daddy fell deeply in love.

My head is about to explode with all the mixed messages, misunderstandings, and manipulation of the truth. To say that clelebrities are our royalty seems ridiculous since the Revolutionary War was about not wanting to be under the rule of a monarch yet following the lives of celebrities, even creating more with reality television shows, is a billion dollar industry. Not the entertainment industry. That's just the industry of passing along the gossip about the people in the entertainment business. Have you caught up?

While Madonna tried to hurry and adopt, Oprah defended her school in Africa then distanced herself from its problems; while Matthew says he sees no need to marry his girlfriend just because she gave birth to his son, and Angelina wants to adopt more children, the Beckham's have given their 10 year old his own I-Phone, Brooke Shields was to be younger, and it's possible that Kate Hudson and the long-suffering Owen Wilson may be trying it for the third time. And the father of the child who starred in Slumdog Millionaire has allegedly been trying to sell his daughter. Sell his child. Put her up for sale. Raised the price because she's an "Oscar child." Read it and weep.

The tabloids don't play up the celebrities who adopt children in America who need homes. They don't spare a lot of space for articles on celebrities who regularly give back with photos of them donating to Goodwill on a random Tuesday, or going in to hospitals to possibly fulfill someone's Make-A-Wish dream. All the bad is there. All the friviolous is there. I don't read often about the small sacrifices some may make because now they are in a positon to. I'm not talking about appearances at the $100 or $1000 a plate benefits where glittering ball gowns and diamonds are blinding. I'm not talking about the pre-arranged picnics and special days with tents and balloons and plenty of photo ops with under-privileged or handicapped children. Yes, I heard something about Tom Cruise or someone of quite some note helping an injured motorist by the side of the road. Used the cell and called 911 then stayed there until all was well. But what about the big gestures done without calling for a press conference? Adopt a child from this country. I realize Afrrica and Asia has millions of orphaned children, but this country has a great many in need also. This country has a great many opportunities for celebrities to do good.

Oprah built a school but then left it for others to the point where she needed to dance around the allegations of abuse that were leveled against the staff that ran it. She has the wherewithall to really do something remarkably good, something permanent. Something for every child and not just the ones she selected as worthwhile.

Brad Pitt spending three or four days walking New Orleans with a hammer and an entourage does not really compare to the likes of what Audrey Hepburn did towards the end of her life. She spent time, money, time, was hands on, and spent her time doing humanitarian work. She made a difference in many lives, not just one. She left her mark. Ms. Hepburn did not perform her charity work in the United States but that does not negate my point I want to make. She gave over an enormous amount of herself. A link to her work is below.

I guess I'm tired of life as it is. Grief has made me judgmental because it has hit me in the face how short life can be. Death can come so quickly and to people who should have been given the opportunity to have a peaceful old age. To see celebrities cater to themselves and expect more and more simply because of who they have become diminishes them. Maybe later on Madonna, Oprah, Angelina, and others will give more of themselves, more time rather than appearances, do more long-term hands on work rather than adopt one child. I should probably wait to see if, when they get closer to their senior years, they pick up the threads they've started now and really make something of it.

I stopped buying these magazines months ago. I stopped looking at the online version recently. I did come home from the grocery store and check on the headlines for this article but that will be the last I look. I find I don't really care who's doing what to whom and for what reason. I don't care who got a facelift and is denying it. And I don't care if Madonna or Angelina abopt one more orphan. Whatever works for them. I just wish I could see an American orphanage visited by a celebrity couple. There are many cultures represented right here in this country. We took in "your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to be free." There are children right here that need help if only someone with the time and the money would step up.

This hub is not meant to defame anyone's favortie celebrity, nor is it intended to offend anyone. I am just tired of seeing people who have everything have so little vision.