This is a real-life, word-for-word assessment someone made of a Japanese restaurant, not only ascertaining whether it was racially authentic enough for him to patronize again but freely sharing it with complete strangers in the apparent belief that he had absolutely nothing to be ashamed . . . (More)

Want to play "Chinese Whispers"? Up until today, I wasn't aware that Chinese Whispers was an alternative name for the game known as Telephone. If you haven't heard of that, Telephone is a game where people line up and transmit a message between the first and last players via a series . . . (More)

I watch TV as part of my job. Rather, I really leave it on in the background, keeping one ear on it while I check out newspapers online. The channel I watch is a local news station of middling calibre, which means I've been hearing the trailer for Confess . . . (More)

Faith, in every sense religious and not, is belief in the most basic sense of the word. It does not rely on proof; indeed, it is the very lack of proof that faith demands for its definition. It is the essence of religion and the antithesis of science, though this does n . . . (More)

I got a haircut and I'm feeling a little poorly about it. Much of it was maintenance: I had it shortened by a few inches, and thinned so it wasn't so much of the thick mat it had grown into. But the drastic change is that I got rid of the long bangs I've been growing out for about a thousand year . . . (More)

The fuck?!"Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a survey suggests. The men polled said they would be most impressed by women who read news websites, Shakespeare or song lyrics. Women said men should . . . (More)

From American Lucy Lydon, enthusiastically extolling the wonders of overseas studies at a Scottish university and the "international" friendships it affords: "Last night, in our flat, I looked around, and in one room, there were some people speaking Swedish, others speaking Italian and others speaki . . . (More)

Oh New York Times Style Section, you are so blithely ridiculous, it's nearly enviable: you publish a cheeky, whimsical article on how women may endure this economically difficult holiday season by dressing in flashy, metallic dresses with hemlines up to Here, gams v. the ghosts of gloom. The fr . . . (More)

"Sorry, you're too black to make bouillabaisse."Maybe it's the impossible swarm of cheap sushi joints in this town -- you can have sashimi and yakitori in both Little Italy and Greektown! -- but if one more person snarks that a non-Japanese-run Japanese restaurant is a "fail," I'm going . . . (More)

We're all sitting in a café. As usual, our conversation has somehow drifted to the topics of marriage and money, both of which inevitably drive me to misery. Her: "I just want to marry someone who does something, you know, respectable. Lawyer, accountant--" I'm waiting to ask . . . (More)