Even though they dabble in absurdity, Dilbert, “Office Space” and “The Office” have all achieved great success because, at their core, they use clever insights into office life as the building blocks for comedy. This tradition translates to the literary world in Joshua Ferris‘s award-winning novel “Then We Came to the End.” The entertaining read, […]
At first, I didn’t want to do it. My friend Eric Trimmer from the Trouble Brewing blog was looking for people to take part in what he calls “Beer Appreciation.” In short, people pitch in to buy 24 cases of beer, then everyone gets one beer from each case. This way you can try some […]
Once upon a time, I had motivation that went beyond trying to win football games on the Playstation and staying up later than was reasonable for someone my age. I actually worked out. A lot. I had to because I wrestled in college and needed to stay in shape and keep my weight under control […]
Maria left for work the other morning, and I had the house all to myself. As I prepare to start a new job and end my short sabbatical, I wanted to do something special. So I cooked up some turkey bacon. Actually, I just heated up bacon I had cooked and frozen several weeks ago. […]
For the U.S. national soccer team, qualifying for the World Cup doesn’t really heat up until the final round. In the Hex (short for hexagonal because the round features six teams), we actually have to face teams like Mexico and Costa Rica who can put real dents in our plans to make the final 32 […]
“Get Smart” falls into a familiar category of movies – kitschy and fun enough to look entertaining, but from a genre (the old TV series made into a movie trick) that has probably had more misses than hits. We didn’t get to see it when it came to the theater, and I didn’t really mind […]
I am a bad blog reader. Sure, I have a Google Reader page with my favorite blog feeds, but I get behind and just end up skimming. That especially happens with my favorite sports blogs because they just crank out so much material, I just end up reading headlines and looking at pics of pretty […]
For more than a year, I have followed the news of the XM-Sirius merger. I have had XM radio for nearly six years now and really looked forward to getting the best of both services. The first sign came a few weeks ago when XM subscribers could start to buy the “Best of Sirius” package, […]
I have made the trip to Starbucks a couple of times recently to do some writing. Last week, after I had ordered my caramel latte, I noticed something called the gingersnap latte on the menu. That can’t be gingercrack, I thought. Must be some variation with the real thing coming closer to Christmas. Well, I […]
I didn’t realize until we got in the car to go to the theater last weekend that Maria, Bridget and I had never attended a movie together. Every other time Bridget wanted to see a flick, I would take her while Maria worked. Nothing had come to town which compelled all of us to head […]