After the election, I knew I should be happy. Not only did my side win, but a year's worth of CNN-fueled dread and anxiety had come to a final end, and I had more free time to enjoy pastimes like eating, sleeping, and watching...

A while back, my kids and I attended my town's annual Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. I was the Cat in the Hat, my son was Sam I Am, and my girls were Things 1 and 2. The judges were roaming anonymously among us, so I approached anyone holding a...

Tomorrow, October 16, is "National Boss Day," according to my company-reimbursed desk calendar. Wikipedia describes it as "a day for employees to thank their superiors for being kind and fair throughout the year."

When you finish laughing, read on...

I'm not celebrating National Boss Day with the...

Perhaps the most frustrating staple of post-debate network news coverage is that all-too-familiar battleground state focus group, the 20 or so "undecided" or "persuadable" voters sitting -- perhaps locked -- in a sterile room, their fingers fatigued from operating reaction dials for 90 minutes straight.

At some point in...

This month, a new U.S. citizenship test goes into effect that includes 100 new questions covering American government, American civics, and American history. (Given the general level of civic education in the U.S., it's surprising the project hasn't been outsourced to India.)

Wheel of Fortune, the longest-running syndicated game show in American television history, is celebrating a special anniversary this month -- one quarter-century of syndication. You may not be breaking out the party hats, but this milestone makes me think of my own "Wheel World" experience as a contestant --...

The night before the first day of school was always the longest night of my life.

I'd lie wide awake for hours, wondering about my locker location, who my lunch table neighbors would be, what my teachers would be like, and whether my Trapper Keeper notebook was still in...

Reality television show producers, proudly noting they invented the concept of obscure Americans competing in skimpy outfits for glory and lucrative contracts way before the Olympics came around to it, are capitalizing on Olympics fever by throwing out their existing Fall schedules and implementing the following Games-themed lineup:

...

I've resigned from eight jobs over the past 18 years, and have handled the "giving notice" moments with everything from heartfelt empathy to sadistic glee. In some cases, the writing of my departure was on the wall -- or in a catastrophically misdirected e-mail....

My thirsty kids and I were roaming a full parking lot, looking for a place to bring our behemoth minivan to rest. Just as we turned a corner, we noticed an open spot about six cars away from us. No other car was in sight, so I made my final...

In the fall of his fifth year, my son started complaining of brief but blinding bursts of pain in his head, which the pediatrician diagnosed as tension headaches. My ex-wife was skeptical, but I believed the doctor, falling prey to the assumption that children exaggerate discomfort; I inherited my mother's...

I ran out of shampoo this morning. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is to me.

You see, I bought the industrial-sized "salon-style" shampoo eons ago. When I first placed it on the shower ledge, I thought...

California is now the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants. On Friday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law that will eliminate trans-fats from restaurant products beginning 2010. Trans fats will also be banned in California retail baked goods by 2011, and the all-Trans Fat track team...

It all began as I waited for the first of two connecting flights that would bring me from my home in New Jersey to a business conference in Palm Springs. Across from my seat, a young couple were examining their tickets and sighing with resignation. The woman looked nervous. To...

I'm not one to normally buy lottery tickets. I've bought fewer than 25 in my lifetime, all of them scratch cards I impulsively selected based on my mood and unreliable intuition. Sometimes I get the birthday-themed cards, but the karmic ramifications of me cashing...

Just like everyone in the Northeast has a favorite road rage swear word, so too does every man, woman, and child in the urban Northeast have a favorite diner, and I mean everyone: Steak-lovers, vegans, calorie-counters, good politicians, bad politicians, Average Joes, kids, seniors, people who put ketchup on their...

For a period of time in the mid 1970s, my parents signed me and my brother Paul up for summer camp in our hometown of Smithtown, New York. I don't remember how many years we attended, or even what years they were. The whole experience has been reduced to a...

Drive through any suburban residential street these days and you'll see we're in the midst of garage sale season. It's fun for the neighborhood traveler with time to kill and an interest in stained potholders, but quite an ordeal for the hopeful seller.

What...

A job interview isn't all that different from a public speech, except that in interviews you sit down, listen more than speak, and are the world's expert on the topic (hint: you.) But one thing is true for both interviewing and speechmaking: How you say something is just as important...

When I first moved to New Jersey's quaint suburbs eight years ago, one persistent phenomena seemed shockingly out of place. Amidst the pleasing bagel chateaus, the charming gift shoppes, and the friendly ice cream parlors, one thing was very much not like the others: Graffiti.

On signs, on buildings,...