Maybe this is putting the cart before the horse, but in the interests of getting this meme out into the blogosphere, here's my big theory about how Barack Obama should handle what will be one of his big problems come next January when/if he moves into the White House. Sure, he'll have to figure out how to end two wars gracefully, a coming economic meltdown, the prospect of global warming, as well as drought, deforestation, the rise of China and the perhaps deadly nuisance of Iran. But first he'll need to deal with Hillary Clinton and how he keeps her doing everything in her power to undermine him. Well, I think I have figured it out — not through any political genius of my own. Instead I asked: What would Abraham Lincoln do?

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P. Diddy's coming for lunch today. Bringing Danity Kane too, and his new vodka, which I guess we are all supposed to try. And to create the right atmosphere, this morning he sent a shipment of flowers for the room. Seriously.

Later today, a visit from Paula Abdul. We've been warned by her publicists that she hugs everyone. Also seriously.

[Photo: Getty]

Did anyone else find it sort of cool and odd that not only did a Leonard Cohen song get performed on American Idol last night, but that judges Randy and Simon actually knew the song? Do these people secretly have taste?

[Photo: Micelotta/FOX]

Welcome to the Capri Lounge. You are probably wondering where you are and what you are doing here. Since I’m the one who asked for this blog to be created, I guess it’s up to me to explain it. I’m Will Dana, managing editor of Rolling Stone. I wanted to create a place on RollingStone.com where editors could post random thoughts (“does David Archuleta annoy you too?”) and, more importantly, where readers and editors could talk to each other. Back in the days when major office drug use tended to be of the non-prescription variety, the Capri Lounge was a small, dark room near the production department where editors and writers could go to “relax” and spend money on their favored recreational supplies. Most of us who work here today were in third or fourth grade when the Capri Lounge was at its height, so we really can’t say if the stuff you could buy there was more exciting than the Baked Cheetos they just started stocking in the office vending machine.

So, anyway, that’s why this blog is called the Capri Lounge. Think of it as a place where we’ll always be passing around an open bag of Cheetos. If you care to know what we’re thinking – I, for instance, think that Track 4 of the forthcoming REM album might be as good as any song they’ve ever written – this is the place to be. There will be at least one RS editor hanging out here every day. We hope lots of you will be here to keep us company.

[Photo: Rolling Stone Archive]