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What follows is an email I sent the entire news department yesterday summarizing the conference last week (thereby making it, quite literally, an “executive summary”). I think it was kinda’ radical to send from within the Big Media firewall. So I thought you might like to read it. Last week’s OnHollywood conference brought Silicon Valley…

There are nineteen different espresso machine models at William-Sonoma. I know this because Abbi and I spent an hour in the Store For Cooks’ Time Warner Center location. We’ve begun our gift registry. I’m probably not the first person to be wary of the great economies sprung forth from Love, American Style (see also “Love,…

Suddenly, I realized that I’d been standing in the frozen foods aisle for nearly an hour. It was just after nine o’clock. I was at D’Agostino on Tenth Avenue. My basket was half-full: two empire apples, four Axelrod yogurts, a bag of Happy Herbert Pretzals. But I hadn’t scored my dinner. I wanted pizza. But…

I’m not sure what used to constitute a moment of zen even just a few years ago, but nowadays, it’s sitting on a park bench. Lately, Abbi and I have been beating Chris, Jen, Ethan and Edward to the playground. Imagine the scene: happy little yuppy dads in camouflage cargo shorts and backwards Kangol caps.…

It occurred to me as I tossed and turned in bed in the small hours of Friday morning that I had fallen out of love with Los Angeles. And so, when the only light on Hollywood Boulevard was the flashing neon of The El Capitan, I hatched a plan. Exactly ten years ago, in May…

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in hermetically-sealed, sunlight-deprived hotel rooms this week. It hasn’t been all bad. For starters, the freebie shampoo’s pretty good. Real nice, simple branding on the outside. Minty, fresh-smelling stuff in the inside. Kinda’ makes my scalp tingle. I have two beds. That’s kinda’ fun. Yunno: one for eating…