The Formula for Fame
Some silly things in life make me wonder why. Why, for example, does one of my coworkers love Mountain Dew so much? Why do I always get lost in the Bangkok airport, despite plotting my course with a map and having been there multiple times? And just why, exactly, is mechanically separated chicken necessary? (On […]
Funny Lady
I recently had the pleasure of talking to comedian Chonda Pierce. If you’ve heard of her, you know the girlfriend is funny. If you haven’t, then you’re missing out. Chonda recently hosted the fifth installment of the long-running comedy event Thou Shalt Laugh—adding, by the way, that it was high time they finally invited her […]
Are Kids Less Creative?
What seemingly grouchy adults have suspected for years is actually true—at least according to a new study. Overall, kids today are less creative than they used to be. Kyung Hee Kim, a creativity researcher at the College of William and Mary, examined around 300,000 creativity tests going back to the 1970s, according to an article […]
Morning News Nightmare
Every weekday morning while sipping coffee, doing my hair and/or trying to decide if a shirt needs to be ironed, I watch the news. Well, that is, I used to watch. Now, as of about three weeks ago, I might dare to watch a few minutes of local weather and traffic. But if Good Morning […]
Digitally Distracted
It sounds like angels are bowling five feet above my head today. OK, it’s actually roofers working on our office building. But the distracting racket is enough to bring everyone’s productivity to a near standstill every few minutes. Truth be told, though, I’m already pretty distracted. Deadlines. Email. Voice mail. Facebook. It’s a litany of […]
30 Years of (Formerly) Musical Programming
Have you ever looked back at an historic event that occurred during your childhood and wondered why the years since whiz by at light speed (and how to make that stop)? Not that MTV’s Aug. 1, 1981 historic debut is exactly anything I commemorate with gladness, really. I still remember hearing about the network’s appearance […]
Are Kids’ Films Going to the … Adults?
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Winnie the Pooh on the big screen. But even as a Pooh-o-phile, I’ll admit that such a tame, slowly paced, lightly plotted film’s charm isn’t for everyone. For some adults, in fact, it might feel like torture—and that’s probably one reason Disney chose to keep it short (it […]
YouTube, the New Matchmaker
Ain’t nothin’ like a man in dress uniform. Sprinkle in a few medals and salutes, some polish, a shiny sword and broad shoulder to lean on and it’ll make a woman’s knees crumple. I know this because many, many moons ago, I attended a Marine Corps ball with just such a gentleman. I’ll never forget […]
Get Your Hollywood Rant On
Do you hate anyone enough to post a vicious YouTube video rant against them? (Please say no, even if you’re lying to me. It’s already been a traumatic month.) In our strident, express-yourself-even-if-you’re-being-a-jerk culture, there are plenty of people who do. Repeatedly. Especially when they dislike celebrities. And it seems The CW believes that giving […]
Death Told by Facebook
I didn’t know who Ryan Dunn was until a few days before he died, when I happened to watch part of the NBC game show Minute to Win It when he was one of the contestants. And though I didn’t watch the red-haired, bushy-bearded 34-year-old for very long, there was still something about him that […]