Isobella Jade, the 5'2" model who we discovered two years ago and has been featured on FBNY quite a few times since, just got some New York Times lovin'. While discussing the social networks that form at Apple Stores, Katie Hafner recounts the Jade saga:

Two years ago, Isobella Jade was down on her luck, living on a friend's couch and struggling to make it as a fashion model when she had the idea of writing a book about her experience as a short woman trying to break into the modeling business. Unable to afford a computer, Ms. Jade, 25, began cadging time on a laptop at the Apple store in the SoHo section of Manhattan. Ms. Jade spent hours at a stretch standing in a discreet corner of the store, typing. Within a few months, she had written nearly 300 pages. Not only did store employees not mind, but at closing time they often made certain to shut Ms. Jade's computer down last, to give her a little extra time. A few months later, the store invited her to give an in-store reading from her manuscript. [...] As for Ms. Jade, whose modeling career is advancing, she has yet to buy a computer from the Apple store. But she is still welcome to check her e-mail - and stay as long as she likes.

As for Isobella, she's now giving advice on self-publishing.