Facebook's COO couldn't spare any face time

For a big exec at a major social networking site like Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg certainly isn't very sociable.

Facebook's COO was recently in town to see Lyle Lovett perform at the annual PACER gala. She's the daughter-in-law of Paula Goldberg, exec director of the Bloomington organization for children with disabilities and their parents.

At a meet-and-greet after Lovett and His Large Band's show, Sandberg demonstrably begged off all handshaking and touching -- although she did sidle up close to Lovett for a photo op, as you can see from my video, www.tinyurl.com/2dmmu7o. While Sandberg's gestures to stand back confused some, they made her seem like a germ freak's kind of executive. She claimed to be coming down with something and said she didn't want to pass along a bug.

Since the May issue of Vogue stated Sandberg "has a system for answering all her E-mail," I decided to give a sick woman a break and submitted my questions via Goldberg. No word from Sandberg, but Facebook's director of corporate communications, Larry Yu, replied and misstated my request with: "I understand you asked about a Q&A with Sheryl. ... Given her schedule and various obligations, I'm afraid I won't be able to pull together an interview for you. Please accept our regrets!"

Translation: When you work at Vogue or Cosmo, Sheryl will deign to take your questions.

Whoa there, yu@facebook.com. Did Yu read that Vogue article portraying Sandberg as the maestro of multi-tasking? She never misses a birthday; texts friends just before they give speeches reminding them to smile and speak into the mic; has so many people constantly staying overnight at her family's home that it's like a small hotel.

Sounds like she can do just about anything when not adhering to Facebook's arrogant arms-length culture, which has been taking a beating in the media for a labyrinthine privacy policy seemingly designed to sell the private info of 400 million Facebook users.

Facebook's new policy will allegedly simplify users' power to control who sees what is posted without lots of clicks and hoops. The rollout of the new policy has not been smooth, so it may be a few days before we see how, when or if the changes will work.

Perhaps Sandberg decided not to respond to any of the five questions because the first one (which I got from an uber-Facebookie colleague) was a toughie: What are your Facebook.com page privacy settings?

While it took the threat of the federal government stepping in for Facebook to even behave as though it was going change its privacy policy, a congressional hearing might be required to get answers from Sandberg.

A Buffett at the Dakota The son of a gazillionaire who helped improve Akon's image is scheduled for a benie at the Dakota.

Peter Buffett, Emmy-winning musician, philanthropist and son of Warren Buffett, is presenting a "Concert and Conversation" at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Dakota. The lesser Buffett's Novo Foundation seeks to stop human trafficking, aka modern-day slavery, worldwide, and to empower young women. All proceeds from the event go to the Courage Center.

The proceeds from this song have helped Akon atone, a tad, for a disgusting 2007 misstep -- that DID NOT involve Peter -- during which Akon simulated a sex act on stage with a minister's 15-year-old daughter.

Drop the first two letters in the word classy, and you'll know what people thought of Akon's behavior.

Mariel's Minnesota bliss Word has it that Mariel Hemingway, who runs a whole food company, was in the Minneapolis Whole Foods store last week.

She didn't Twitter about that, but she did report on being in Minnesota. She had seats behind home plate for a Yankees game. She posted photos of a sunset and a moon over Lake Minnetonka; a picture with a hunky guy (Bobby?) at a dairy farm surrounded by "happy cows being milked," and she declared Minnesota farmland "so beautiful."

In May, the divorced Hemingway posted a column on eHarmony.com about finding love twice. The hunk near the cows -- and Hemingway -- in that aforementioned photo looks like he could inspire affection. See www.twitpic.com/1rn1w7.