There are a lot of things that aren't fair out there, and me going up against Alan Krueger, the head of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors is certainly one of them, especially given  how much I know about economic theory. But Krueger, in that interestingly populist style the Obama Administration seems to favor, playing Continue Reading

It's almost shorts weather where I live, and the first day of summer is only a week and a half away, so the idea of gathering together little bits of stuff we've talked about in a column of miscellanea seemed like a good idea. After all, when I'm finished, I can go out and enjoy Continue Reading

(Note: in solidarity with the Sun-Times' photo staff, no graphics accompany this week's post). 
 
The story's almost a week old at this point, but it'll be hard to top for sheer stupidity. Last Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times announced that they're firing their whole photography staff. Right: every single one of them, including 1982 Pulitzer winner John Continue Reading

Someday, if all goes well, I'll publish another book. My agent, in fact, is out there selling it as I type -- or I hope he is. And, if all goes well, there'll be more after that. It's what I do: I'm a writer, and there's nothing a writer likes more than writing a book Continue Reading

I mentioned last week that I wasn't through thinking about some of the topics that arose, and the one that stuck in my head after I sent the post off was that I hadn't really addressed the issue of chefs and their sudden emergence as symbols of American culture's newfound appreciation of food. That idea Continue Reading

It was perfectly inevitable that several friends of mine would send me links to this article in the Washington Post, about the Sweetlife Food and Music Festival, one of several events of its kind that are springing up these days. After all, the two subjects I've probably written the most about are food and music Continue Reading

We all need 'em: role models, I mean. They come in real handy for young folks who are trying to figure out what to make of their lives -- and, more importantly, perhaps, how. The idea is not to copy, but to learn and transform. You may never actually meet one of these people Continue Reading

Here's how I first learned about Armenian food and decided I liked it. One day, my father came home from work early and I was forced into the clothes I usually only wore to church. We then got on the train and headed to New York City, about 30 minutes away. From Grand Central Station Continue Reading

A guy (me) walks into a bookstore in Brooklyn because he's been told it's a really, really good bookstore. It is, unfortunately, which means the guy leaves with a package of books he's bought there. And one of them turns out to be by a local writer, as is only just and fair. Also, it seems Continue Reading

This post is by way of a personal experiment. On March 5, I wrote a little less than half of what you see below. Actually, I wrote an entire post, most of which disappeared when I tried to save it. WordPress people at SXSWi told me this was impossible, but hey, it happened. The post Continue Reading