My friend Eric spent a couple of hours during lunch explaining Twitter to me, and I thought I understood it all, but as you’ll see from my first few tweets, I wasn’t very confident: Is anyone getting this? THIS IS A TEST If someone is actually reading this, could you call me on my phone and tell me? THIS IS [...]
As a writer and TV reporter, I have received praise and criticism of my work. Over the years, I have tried to benefit from both, but some recent feedback came from an unlikely source. It has been quite a joyful learning experience for me. So on a serious note this week… The story begins at WFYI, the local NPR affiliate [...]
I have never aerated my lawn. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever written the word “aerated” before. If I did, I am sure I misspelled it. I think I accidentally went from liquefy to aerate while making a strawberry shake in our blender. That’s the extent of my experience. Despite many years as a homeowner, I first learned about [...]
Warning: There’s another case of food impropriety in the news. A popular frozen dinner option is being removed from ovens over in Scandinavia in another half-baked scandal. Families were waiting to feast on Moose Lasagna, but as the cheese was becoming bubbly and browned, food officials exposed that there was pork in some of these prepared selections. Everyone in Sweden [...]
The sign in Grannie Fuchs’ store in Metamora is pretty direct: “You break it – you own it.” Fair warning to those who cruise the tiny shop full of items easily shattered. But the admonition also applies to an honor about to be bestowed by the folks at Guinness World Records who agree that once a record is broken you [...]
When I was a kid, my uncle used to brag about his daily athletic regimen. “I start my exercise routine by lifting a five-pound potato sack over my head, then I go to a 10-pound potato sack. And finally a 25-pound potato sack. After that, I try putting a few potatoes in each bag.” I thought of that joke the [...]
A Canadian clothing company that manufactures yoga garb has a quality-control problem that is alienating its fan base. Especially the part of the base that has a big fanny. Lululemon’s hottest item is a pair of stretch yoga pants that sells for $100. This is the perfect garment for men and women engaged in a transcendental endeavor to free themselves [...]
I’m not the kind of guy who sits in front of the TV all night and fiddles the remote control, jumping from station to station, failing to watch any particular show for more than a few minutes. No, I am not just another one of those guys. I am THE guy. So you can imagine how excited I was when [...]
Last week my column covered the growing controversy about horse meat in food products around the world. At the beginning, I acknowledged that the piece would include a number of puns, first noting that Swedish meatballs would now be perfect for bridle showers. This is called a homophonic pun because the two words (bridal and bridle) are identical in sound, [...]
I read yesterday that the company IKEA was “withdrawing” one of their most popular food offerings from supermarkets in Sweden because they discovered traces of horse meat in the product. In racing terminology, horses are not “withdrawn,” they’re scratched. But no shopper wants to hear the phrase,“Effective immediately, we are scratching our Swedish meatballs.” These treats have always been popular, [...]
