Why Have a Therapist When a Mean Friend Will Suffice?
The Wall Street Journal ran a story Tuesday featuring whiny people whining about how their old therapists let them whine too much.
NYT Reports That Living Alone Makes You Behave Like an Insane Person
Living alone always sounds so good, doesn't it? You'd have complete control over the remote control. You could always finish the last of the cereal without feeling guilty about it. You could walk around naked every morning. The possibilities are endless.
All the Best Cocktails Have Ridiculous Names
Cocktail names from a scintillating New York Times trend piece on drinking: the Penelope Cruiser, the Algerian Typist, A New Phase of Life, the Yuzu You Too!, the Sexy London, Sandals 'n Spice. Don't you want to drink them all?
It's Facepalm Day Somewhere, and That Somewhere is the Sunday Styles
NYT: People are glad they don't own houses. If they do, they're sad. Especially men.
Of Early Birds and Cavemen: The Two Dumbest Hipster Food Trends You'll Read About This Week
This week's Sunday Styles is working a strong theme on food's frontlines: time, like an episode of Lost, is in flux! Because there are some some among us who are eating like OLDS, and some who are eating like cavemen.
Blogger Misquoted in Lame Times Dating Trend Piece
Don't, under any circumstances, talk to a New York Times reporter about your personal life.
The Lamest Teen Moral Panic Ever
In the good old days of the culture wars, your teenagers, after years of being raped by Satanist daycare workers, were all organizing "Rainbow Parties" and smoking weed three times more powerful than the stuff you smoked all the time in high school. Now they are just hugging?
Amusing Folks Now Eating Raccoon!
"Raccoons go for $3 to $7 — each, not per pound — and will feed about five adults. Four, if they’re really hungry." Oh, great, now it's a trend.
During Troubled Times, an Entire Nation Prefers Mac n' Cheese
Back from 2001 downturn, it's the "comfort food during a recession" trend piece! Hey, writers, if you're assigned this topic, here's a peg: an "exclusive all night diner" is to open in dazed, freakoutnomic Manhattan: "Socialista mastermind Armin Amiri has decided to open an all-night diner—with a guest list from 11…
Trend Piece Trips Over Its Own Formal Conventions, Loses Heart Halfway Through
Today's Sunday Styles leads with a story by Alex Williams called "Rise of the Takedown," which claims that "heckling" is no longer considered the business of hooligans—that it has become, thanks to YouTube and other important cultural factors, a mainstream mode of criticism and personal expression.
The End of the Trend
In a stunning display of craftsmanship, Observer writers Samuel Jacobs and Jonathan Liu today provide an anatomy of the trend piece, "a journalistic form in crisis." Jacobs and Liu do such a thorough job that we're not going to bother to restate any of their findings here; you must read the entire article. (We will…
