Girl About Town bids farewell

Dear Readers:

In a former life, I was a TV Addict. Confession: I am having a relapse. I've accepted a position at RealNetworks as TV editor of Film.com, so this is my final column in The Seattle Times.

I started here eight years ago as an intern in the Features department. One of my first assignments was helping to cover the opening of EMP. I recall being amazed at getting to occupy the same space as Gwen Stefani and being paid to write about it.

Years later, I reviewed her concert at KeyArena: "Between songs, my friend Christina turned to me and said, 'I think Gwen's pregnant.' ... If anyone would notice, it's Christina, who loves Gwen so much she tried to make me dress up as a Harajuku Girl for Halloween. ('Pam, which one do you want to be: Love, Angel, Music or Baby?')." Two weeks later, the baby news was all over the tabloids.

It's a cool job. I feel very lucky to have had it. But it turns out it's not enough to be paid to go to parties and stalk celebrities; I want to be paid to watch them on TV because I am that lazy.

Anyone who has followed my writing over the years knows that in saying farewell, I will be neither sentimental nor profound.

I hereby present the Top 10 Reasons I'm Leaving The Seattle Times:

10. Because it's environmentally irresponsible for one person to generate so much paper from press releases, prison letters, fan mail, hate mail, Valentine's Day cards from strangers, and invitations to JJ McKay parties.

9. Because I only have so many cocktail dresses and I've already been photographed in all of them -- twice -- by Duell Fisher's crack team of event photographers at Team Photogenic.

8. Because what's the point of sitting next door to Larry Stone and Steve Kelley if they're never around to answer my burning baseball questions?

7. Because I'm never going to top the time David Postman and I went to a rave looking for interviews after the Capitol Hill shootings, and someone referred to him as my "Sugar Daddy."

6. Because the Donna Martin Barbie on my desk won't shut up about the "90210" spinoff coming to The CW, so I need an excuse to write about TV again.

5. Because Nancy Leson never invites me to go on restaurant reviews with her anymore. This could be because I always want to order the chicken Caesar salad.

4. Because I need to continue to punish my parents for not letting me watch TV. They made me read books instead. A cautionary tale.

3. Because Danny Westneat once told me that being miserable is one of the main parts of being a columnist, and who wants to be miserable all the time? Sucker.

2. Because Mark "Q&A" Rahner still calls me "intern."

1. Because I'm not really a glamour girl at heart; I'm a couch potato.

1. Because I have Tim Gunn's cellphone number, so my work here is done. (OK, so that was 11 reasons, but I've never been good at math.)

Thank you, and carry on.

Pamela Sitt: p_sitt@yahoo.com