Ruthie drives cross country, Lori will start singing, Rachel is a finalist and frontrunner on the View

A few new updates on castmembers... Ruthie (Hawaii) who has been living out of Los Angeles for the past few years, recently upped and took a trip. She actually drove cross country and is temporarily in New York. She plans to work out of New York within the next few weeks.

Another update on Lori (Back to New York)... Recently, she was seen to be singing at one of her appearances. After a long absence from singing, Lori is said to have something special in the works... But more information on that will be available later.

And this morning, Rachel (San Francisco) appeared on ABCs daytime talk show, The View. She is the first of many hopefuls to try and attempt to fill the chair left vacant by the twentysomething Lisa Ling. Rachel tried out for the spot back in 1999, and she is the frontrunner in this second search. If you missed today, her MTV past wasn't really discussed, but she showed a picture of her husband Sean (Boston), and two children, Xavier and Evita.

Meredith Viera emphazised that this year will be the Year of the Viewer, telling the audience that their opinion of the hopefuls will be a major determinant of who gets picked. So, we are going to lobby for Rachel. You might be curious as to why... But here at the Blog we are supportive of all former and current castmembers and their endeavors. We are asking YOU to write into the four current co-hosts of the View. We will also ask you to do this when Kit (Season 1) tries out for the spot later this month. However, we should mention a few things you should say to the co-hosts:

Don't say that you want Rachel to be on the View, just because she was on The Real World.

Talk about how Rachel's conservative, Republican views were a positive, refreshing change to the panel already existing on the show.

Mention how impressed you were with Rachel's involvement in politics. Today, she spoke about Arnold's bid for California Governor.

Mention how Rachel's lifestyle of being young, married, and a parent of two children brings a different light to the fifth chair.

Rachel's status as a C-list celebrity (as Kathy Griffin was explaning to Rachel this morning) lets her easily relate to guests on the show.

Just be supportive of Rachel and if you have something nice to say, say it!

With that said... Here is where you go to email the ladies of The View: These lead to webpages... You don't need to send them mail from your own personal mailbox. (Note: Star Jones is known to check her email diligently.)

Joy Behar
Star Jones
Meredith Vieria
Barbara Walters

We'd like to say good luck to Rachel! Tomorrow is her final day on the View... Be sure to catch her final day and we'll remind you to write in tomorrow as well! Tomorrow's guests are Craig Kilborn and Jessica Simpson. Most likely she will be brought back for additional appearances on the show!