There is nothing harder in the world than goodbyes, and this is my time to sign off from the Beehive.

I've had a great run at the Bee for more than 21 years, and I've had a blast being part of the Beehive team: Analyzing "American Idol." Covering ArtHop nights with Donald Munro. Riffing on the latest movies. Mentioning my fave actor Alan Rickman whenever possible. Discovering the awesomeness of the Rogue Festival with Donald and Mike Oz. Smiling whenever Miss Heather turned a clever phrase or zinged an observation, or Rick Bentley gleefully let rip on a insipid TV show or Will Albritton threw himself into a blog idea. Marveling at how quickly Kathy Mahan and Joan Obra fit right into the groove of the Hive.

I'm taking a voluntary departure from the Bee and will explore what lies ahead for me. Tomorrow is my last day. I will miss my Beehive and newspaper colleagues for the daily brilliance of their talent and friendship. I will miss the many delightful Beehive commenters, such as Wet Towel and Stephen, who freely and unabashedly share their opinions.

The Brand New Heavies had a song called "World Keeps Spinning," and that's how I'll exit here. We all move on, but we cherish the people we've met along the way. I won't say goodbye, just see you later.

Hands down, "American Idol" Wednesday belonged to Adam Lambert (seen here) and Allison Iraheta. Those two soared above the other eight contenders on a night that showed why Motown songs are timeless and infectious.

The loser, surprisingly, was Lil Rounds. Everyone anticipated Motown to be her big week to shine. Didn't happen. Maybe she caved into the pressure of huge expectations. Maybe she just, again, chose the wrong song. Allison, at 16, showed what a Motown song is all about, exactly what Lil should have done. Instead, Lil just seems lost right now.

One side note: I don't know what's going on with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul this season, but they've ratcheted up their love-hate-flirty thing. It's getting tiresome and distracting. Last night, after Allison delivered the big finale, the two judges made it all about themselves and snatched away what should have been Allison's moment for high praise. It was tacky and classless.

Here's my rundown on the Final 10. What did you think?

Remember when actress Valerie Bertinelli looked like this?

Guess how she looks now ...

I understand when someone wants what's coming to him or her. But a battling rich couple in Connecticut look like idiots in these days when frugality is a must and so many people are just struggling to make ends meet or, worse, have lost their jobs.

Marie Douglas-David, 36, is a Swedish countess and former investment analyst. George David, 66, is former CEO of United Technologies. They married in 2002, and it slid downhill from there. Lots of sordid details about alleged cheating, etc. Time to amputate.

Except the divorce has turned into a nasty public mutilation. He's worth an estimated $329 million. She says she has to have $53,000 a week -- yeah, that's more than most people earn in a year -- to take care of homes in the Hamptons and Sweden. She also needs $1,000 a week for hair and skin treatments because, you know, you don't want to waste money on mediocre hair and skin care. And, of course, like all of us, she needs $2,200 a week for a personal assistant.

I would rather these two babies had settled this amicably. But they've declared war one each other, which means it's in the public courts. Which means we can all shake our heads in disgust. If George has any money left after this, he should skip marriage and stick with SugarDaddie.com for his future liaisons.

[Photos: Associated Press]

Yes, Nadya "Did I mention I've hatched 14 kids?" Suleman has her issues. But isn't Dr. Phil part of the problem. Hungry to bolster his sagging ratings, Dr. Phil latched onto Suleman's predicament like a hungry baby latches onto her mother's, uh, well, you know. He's had her on his show several times and coaxed Octu-Mom to agree having Angels in Waiting help care for the kids for free.

Now Suleman has gone rogue on Dr. Phil, just like Britney did more than a year ago. Suleman has fired the nannies because she says they were spying on her. It's time for Dr. Phil to step away from this disaster and other publicity-rooted episodes. Besides, Octu-Mom probably wants a new TV enabler: I'm thinking Dr. Drew Pinsky will fill that bill.

[Photo: US magazine]

I'm catching up on some light reading from recent days when, lo and behold, Alex Rodriguez -- the mess once known as baseball's savior -- is in the news again.

First, it turns out that A-Fraud wasn't only shooting up steroids not too long ago but allegedly seeking other services -- as in, the services of a woman who ran a prostitution ring.

Then, there's this disturbing "let me kiss myself" photo that is appearing with a story in Details magazine. Let your Freudian intrepretations run amok. Finally, in April, Selena Roberts' much anticipated biography of A-Rod will be released. It should be juicy (pardon the pun) because Roberts is the one who broke the story in Sports Illustrated about A-Rod's steroid use.

At this point, Rodriguez might as well 'fess up to every other dirty deed he's done. The guy's reputation is in Mt. Everest freefall. The only "good" side to this? My annual prediction that the N.Y. Yankees -- for as long as A-Rod is an albatross hung around the team's neck -- will again fail to win the World Series.

[Photo: By Steven Klein for Details]

After seeing Heather's post of the mesmerizing cat head-in-a-bag, I remembered I saw this clip on "GMA" today. If man's best friend is a dog, apparently puppy's best friend is a duck ... unless the puppy thinks this is just annoying and is too polite to say so.

In a week when my pick to win the NCAA tournament -- the North Carolina Tar Heels -- is still in it, here's what else caught my attention:

• A fun-loving, charming but serious President Obama visits Jay Leno. It's just too bad he made that embarrassing gaffe about his lowly bowling score and the Special Olympics.
• Octu-Mom Nadya Suleman is now inspiring contemporary art (seen here) ... I didn't say it was any good.
• Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reports a major TV character will commit suicide this season.
• I've never watched "Battlestar Galactica" but my BFF just raves about it. The final episode airs tonight.
• And, finally, the sudden death of Natasha Richardson still stuns. She may not have been as famous as her husband, Liam Neeson, but she was a talented actress -- most brilliantly so on stage -- in the tradition of her famous family.

[Photo: Splash News Online]

Well, I got it half right. I predicted Alexis Grace would be in this week's bottom two on "American Idol," with Lil Rounds, and wondered if the judges would use the new rule: a one-time rescue of a singer from an elimination round.

Some see Alexis' exit as a shocker because she was an early favorite. Not me. Her version of "Jolene" was just OK. She and Michael Sarver dropped to the bottom. The judges gave Alexis a second shot, probably because she was an early favorite. But, after she plowed through "Jolene" again," it was a no go. At least it puts to rest the story that the fix was in, with Alexis part of the Final Four.

I still say Lil, another early favorite, should have been in the bottom two. She was oddly disconnected from the emotional song "Independence Day." We'll see how Lil and the others do next week.

The knife that AIG stuck in our backs just won't come out. You know the latest: $165 million in bonuses paid to employees in a company that's sucking up billions of taxpayers' dollars to stay alive.

None of this makes sense to anyone living in the real world, and President Obama and congress are trying to fix the problem. (That's the AIG chairman/CEO Edward Liddy at a hearing today with some greeters.) Well, I have my own ideas for getting justice from any AIG or former AIG type who got the dough and won't return it:

• You have to volunteer time at a soup kitchen or shelter. There, you'll come face to face with lots of folks who are victims of this greed-stoked economic crisis and will want your full attention.
• You should go on "Oprah" and spill your guts about your stupidity and selfishness.
• You have to pick up trash at the tent cities that have popped up in places like Sacramento.
• You must spend the rest of your life supporting Octu-Mom Nadya Suleman's 14 kids.

Anybody else got ideas?