Rihanna, sweetie, we've all been there.

You're 19. You're gonna be a little stupid. In fact, you've been remarkably un-stupid in your young career. But this week, you made a rookie mistake.

You told the British tabloid The Mirror about your new love, 29-year- old Josh Hartnett:

"I've fallen for him big time. I would be lying if I told you we were not more than just friends. He is so hot and he is really sweet to me. When we hang out it feels right - even though it's pretty new."

That's a lovely sentiment, especially about someone you've been dating for less than a month. But, Rihanna. Sweetie. Unlike, say, those of us who at 19 called our best friends crowing about how much we connected, like, really, with the guy we hooked up with last night, you're a big honkin' celebrity. With talent and everything. This career of yours may very well last a few decades. Do you really want every dalliance of yours to be chronicled in the papers and confirmed by you?

Many cultures have practical rules of thumb for life's most momentous occasions. For example, pregnancies aren't announced until the third month. The principle is that so much can go wrong in those first 12 weeks; let things stabilize a bit before calling Aunt Sadie.

Baby-making, fraught as it may be, is a less precarious enterprise than love. So maybe it's time to expand the realm of common sense. Let's treat romance with at least the caution we treat, oh, a job interview. Keep quiet until there's even a modicum of surety or stability. If the guy you're dating is Josh Hartnett, who has previously been linked with Scarlett Johansson and Helena Christenson, make it six months.

Of course, Rihanna, you look downright reticent compared with Dancing With the Stars contestant Sabrina Bryan, who told TV Guide about her upcoming first date with teammate Mark Ballas. Her first date. That's like putting a down payment on a yacht before they call the Powerball numbers.

Now, not all publications are as reputable as the one in your hands. Sometimes information is published that hasn't been confirmed by multiple sources or even a fake FEMA conference. But those examples seem to be par for the course these days, and new announcements of the same nature happen all the time.

For example: Kevin Connolly, star of Entourage, you're 33 years old. Don't you know by now that the way to a young lady's heart is not through Howard Stern? But there Connolly was on Stern's show Monday telling Stern he's "actively pursuing" 19-year-old Dancing With the Stars winner Julie Hough, who smartly responded that they're just friends.

Even if you don't announce your love, at a certain point of fame, you gotta know the cameras are going to find you - particularly when you head with your latest inamorata to paparazzi-studded clubs and events. You want to keep under the radar? Order in. Better yet, go to Chili's. No one will believe it's you.

Don't, like serial blondizer Lance Armstrong (age 36), meet up with 21-year-old Ashley Olson (is there an age-discrepancy/discretion correlation?) at the Gramercy Hotel, the hot spot revitalized by famed hotelier Ian Schrager. Don't follow up a few nights later at the Waverly Inn, owned by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

Follow the example of some of your older, wiser, even Oscar-winning peers. Look at Reese Witherspoon, who's been seen everywhere with Jake Gyllenhaal lately but never smooching or snuggling. Rather, they get snapped feeding parking meters. All in the name of plausible deniability - not to mention saving her children the pain of reading about Mom's sex life.

Better yet, return to the pregnancy paradigm and check out Jennifer Lopez. Girlfriend's had a swelling belly and waistless dresses for a few months now. Even her designer, Roberto Cavalli, announced she's pregnant. But Lopez? Until finally making it official this week, she just kept quiet with a Mona Lisa smile.

When something makes Jennifer Lopez look classy, you know it's a good idea.

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101