Welcome to Day 14 of Blogmas 2025, where I'm now two weeks into this self-imposed December writing marathon and starting to question my life choices. For those just discovering this festive endurance test, Blogmas is my annual tradition of posting holiday-themed content every single day through Christmas. This year's posts are guided by AI-generated prompts, … Continue reading The Night Shift at Pine & Needle: A Christmas Tree Lot After Dark
humor
How Dan Harmon’s Story Circle Made Community Brilliant
If you've ever wondered why Community felt simultaneously familiar and revolutionary, congratulations—you've stumbled onto one of television's most fascinating storytelling experiments. Dan Harmon, the show's creator and the man who somehow convinced NBC to air five out of six seasons of increasingly meta television, had a secret weapon: an eight-step storytelling formula he called the … Continue reading How Dan Harmon’s Story Circle Made Community Brilliant
Schmidt’s Wisdom: Life Lessons from New Girl
How a "douchebag jar" regular became television's unlikely guru on growth, love, and authenticity. When New Girl premiered in 2011, Winston Schmidt seemed like just another sitcom archetype: the vain, self-absorbed roommate whose primary purpose was comic relief. Seven seasons later, however, Schmidt's journey from "Long Island street trash" to devoted husband and father revealed … Continue reading Schmidt’s Wisdom: Life Lessons from New Girl
Question of the Week #456
What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about? (Assume you aren't at an airport and subject to immediate arrest!) This week's question from Gregory Stock's The Book of Questions arrives at a particularly fraught moment in our cultural conversation about humor, offense, and the boundaries of acceptable speech. In an era where comedians … Continue reading Question of the Week #456
How Scream’s Meta Humor Changed Horror Forever
"Do you like scary movies?" With just four simple words, the Scream franchise didn't just launch a conversation—it launched a revolution. When that iconic phone call crackled through theater speakers in December 1996, audiences had no idea they were witnessing the birth of a new kind of horror film, one that would turn the genre … Continue reading How Scream’s Meta Humor Changed Horror Forever
Sunshine After the Storm
The sky was an unusual shade of periwinkle that morning—a color that would have been considered beautiful in the old world but now signaled the third atmospheric storm of the week. Mara Jensen pulled her patched-together raincoat tighter around her shoulders and adjusted her scavenged solar goggles. Three years after the Great Floods, the climate … Continue reading Sunshine After the Storm
The Black Market Below Bleecker
Dave Winters considered himself a rational man. He recycled when convenient, tipped exactly 18%, and had strong opinions about people who took the elevator to the second floor. He worked in data analytics, lived alone in a reasonably-priced Greenwich Village apartment (inherited from his grandmother, thank you very much), and had never once entertained the … Continue reading The Black Market Below Bleecker
Question of the Week #431
This week's question comes from Gregory Stock's thought-provoking collection, The Book of Questions: When is the last time you really laughed at yourself? What was so funny? You know what's interesting about this particular question? The timing of it landing in front of me this week feels almost cosmic. Because as I sit here trying … Continue reading Question of the Week #431
Question of the Week #430
This week's question comes from Gregory Stock's thought-provoking collection, The Book of Questions: When you do something ridiculous, how much does it bother you to have other people notice it and laugh at you? What's the funniest thing about you? At first glance, this might seem like a simple question about embarrassment and self-consciousness. But … Continue reading Question of the Week #430
The Worst 69 – Drop Dead Fred
Drop Dead Fred 1991 Directed by Ate de Jong Welcome back to Movie Monday, where we're continuing our journey through my personal list of the worst movies ever made. Today we're diving into number 69 on the list: 1991's Drop Dead Fred. Before we begin, let me remind you that this list is entirely subjective. One … Continue reading The Worst 69 – Drop Dead Fred
The Confusing Middle 