From time to time I am asked by young people for advice in matters of work and life, generally by people who have mistaken my age for seniority. I don't really have any advice, though, is the problem, beyond some basics and also "don't do what I did," but usually it goes like: READ MORE

"To our knowledge these are the first in-situ observations of such behaviour during which one can convincingly state that lampreys attached to whales are rasping through the skin and feeding rather than just 'hanging on for the ride'." READ MORE

From time to time, particularly when it is taking off for the rest of the day, The Awl offers its space to normal, everyday people with a perspective on national issues. Today, we're pleased to once again present you with Walt Fruttinger, an Applebee's franchisee who at this time has some thoughts about the kids today. READ MORE

Reporting from the frontlines of the Atlanta vampire community: "Merticus, who declines to give his real name, and alliance members claim they are different, physically or psychologically. They draw energy to feel good and stay healthy, and they absorb it psychically from close contact with 'donors' or from drinking a tablespoon of blood from them maybe once a week. They do not claim mythic powers such as immortality, and the screen depictions are often off-putting to members." Also: "If you go to Los Angeles, no one even cares if you are a vampire." Sounds about right. [Via]

I stopped watching three minutes into this video documenting the stars and director of New Moon, the forthcoming sequel to Twilight, but, oh my God, the fainting, the screaming, the camera-flashing!

Slate considers the effect that the new crop of pussy vampires will have on our developing youth: "Just as America's young men are being given deeply erroneous ideas about sex by what they watch on the Web, so, too, are America's young women receiving troubling misinformation about the male of the species from Twilight. These women are going to be shocked when the sensitive, emotionally available, poetry-writing boys of their dreams expect a bit more from a sleepover than dew-eyed gazes and chaste hugs. The young man, having been schooled in love online, will be expecting extreme bondage and a lesbian three-way."