Sideshow: Kim K.: 'I believe in love'

She's been beat down by love, but she's not broken, says Kim Kardashian, whose first marriage, to Damon Thomas, lasted four years.

In her first chat since dumping 72-day Hub 2, Kris Humphries, Kim tells Glamour mag she's not lost her faith in love.

"I think I'll always be a hopeless romantic," she says. "I believe in love and the dream of having a perfect relationship, but my idea of it has changed. I think I need to not live in a fairy tale like that."

In the interview with three Kardashian sisters - Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney - Khloe tells Kim she'll find love again.

"I hope I do," says Kim wistfully. "At this moment in my life, I feel like maybe I'm not supposed to have kids and all that." Pass me a hankie. Sniffle.

Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities? What great tome is Britney Spears reading this week?  It's The Mastery of Love, Brit tells People. And no, it's not one of those books with Fabio's abs and glutes splayed all over the cover. It's a treatise on love by New Ager Don Miguel Ruiz. "It's basically an analysis of . . . what it means to love," Brit says. It teaches that you should know "yourself before you even attempt to love anyone else."

Genius angry man Elvis Costello says on his website that fans shouldn't buy his new boxed set because its retail price is ridiculously high. The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook - three discs, a DVD, and a vinyl record - costs $202.66, which, Elvis says, is "either a misprint or a satire." Adds the singer, "If you want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we suggest Ambassador of Jazz" by Louis Armstrong.

The New York Film Critics Circle named The Artist the best picture of the year on Tuesday and Brad Pitt the best actor, for Moneyball and The Tree of Life. Meryl Streep wins best actress for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. . . . A dastardly villain or gang burgled the pad of Lindsay Lohan's former lover Samantha Ronson in Venice, Calif., Monday night, TMZ says. . . . Sean "Diddy" Combs' son, Justin Dior Combs, will play football for UCLA. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound cornerback had offers from Wyoming, Virginia, and Illinois. . . . Having a big bust is problematic, actress Kirsten Dunst tells Lucky mag. "It's harder to dress if you have boobs," she says. "I usually cover them. When you have a beanpole body everything looks cute."

WMGK-FM (102.9) will host a Beatles Art Show Dec. 8 through Dec. 24 at the Montgomery Mall featuring paintings and other objets d'art created by John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Info: www.wmgk.com.

Power 99 (WUSL-FM, 99.9) star DJ Tarsha Jones, fired this week by Clear Channel for bad-mouthing a local business owner, must think she's having déjà vu all over again. Jonesy was let go for repeating allegations that day-care center owner Tracey Parson had beaten up teens. Trouble is, Parson wasn't the offender. Parson has filed a defamation suit alleging that Jonesy's diss has damaged her business.

Jonesy's mouth got her into a pickle in '04, when she was given the push by the Beat (WPHI-FM, then 100.3) after a North Philly nurse sued Jonesy for allegedly defaming her on air after she complained about the DJ's penchant for using epithets.