"Of all the things I’ve been called in my time, the one that surprises me the most is 'California Writer.' When I hear that, I look over my shoulder, certain that the phrase must apply to the writer behind me or to my left. It’s the way I feel when I am addressed by my husband’s last name. It takes me a moment to realize his mother is not in the room. Categories trouble me."
"At a time when President Obama is under attack for appointing so many white men — and so few women — to senior positions in the White House, Hollywood seemed intent Sunday on correcting the imbalance at the Golden Globes. "
"There are plenty of reasons to like Mindy Kaling's sitcom, but thus far, its portrayal of gender dynamics in healthcare hasn't been very realistic."
"Brace yourself for 'MacGyver,' Michael Jackson and 'Saved by the Bell' references: The '80s baby lawmakers are coming to Washington. In January, four new House members born during the Reagan years will be sworn in, bringing to six the number of lawmakers who could have gotten their first AOL accounts while in high school."
"'This Is My Life' is the movie that made me want to make movies. I first saw it in second grade" —Lena Dunham remembers Nora Ephron
"'Sitting has become the smoking of our generation.' I argued this in my recent talk at TED2013"
"Experts have predicted that the reign of the tablet and the mobile phone may be over – with 2013 set to be the year of the 'phablet'."
"When trendsetters speculated what would be the defining men's fashion movement to sweep New York this winter, few opted for the male legging. But 'Megging', as the male legging is known, is now all the rage in sartorial circles."
"While it’s true that a Stephen King book can make hearts race, churning through The Shining generally doesn’t qualify as a cardiovascular workout. Not in print, anyway. So what about listening to an audiobook version of the horror classic during a run?"
"We didn't get to sit in while U2 created their songs or when Picasso painted, but for the past 17 years, we've been able to watch Rivera step into crises over and over and over, throwing the same pitch over and over and over even when hitters knew which pitch was coming, and almost always Rivera has come out the other side shaking hands and high-fiving teammates."
"Remember when you were willing to wait a few seconds for a computer to respond to a click on a Web site or a tap on a keyboard? These days, even 400 milliseconds — literally the blink of an eye — is too long, as Google engineers have"
"[T]he reporter announces 'no considerable News, except that the Emperor of China, his Court, and a great Part of his Kingdom have embraced the Christian Religion; but this is too extraordinary to be believed without farther Confirmation.' It got me thinking about the media conversation in the wake of the Newtown shooting—about how, like during so many breaking stories, reporters were too quick to report details that turned out to be incorrect."
"There’s never been a better time to make hard liquor in this town—or a better time to be a locavore boozehound."
"Mitt Romney is a nice man. He might be the nicest man ever to run for president."
"I had to catch a train in Washington last week. The paved street in the traffic circle around Union Station was in such poor condition that I felt as though I was on a roller coaster. I traveled on the Amtrak Acela, our sorry excuse for a fast train, on which I had so many dropped calls on my cellphone that you’d have thought I was on a remote desert island, not traveling from Washington to New York City. When I got back to Union Station, the escalator in the parking garage was broken. Maybe you’ve gotten used to all this and have stopped noticing. I haven’t. Our country [...]
