I hope your weekend was restful and untainted by several waits in line for iPhones that you didn't end up getting because you've just been paying your mom for all cell phone charges for the last five years rather than taking forty five seconds to go to the Verizon store and sign over the phone to your name. Because something like that would've sucked.

Today we are keeping things short, sweet and intensely focused as I have a workload this week that would make the average person stand up and say, "That seems like a pretty normal amount of work," but--for me, at least-- seems next to (mission?) impossible. See, friends, I am trying to do two-non-main-job things this week. The first is my official announcement to myself that I am starting another in my series of Boston Mag articles analyzing and commenting on the social values of people in the 27-37 age bracket. I will not say how this is going to go forward (it's a secret!) but I will say that involves me going pseudo-undercover, not unlike Johnny Depp in 21 Jumpstreet or Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed, except in my story, most of the people are not hanging out with David Arquette.

The second agenda item involves jumping back on the re-write train for my book. It has been awhile since I stared at the one or two chapters that  need to be pruned (deleted!) and, this weekend, I was watching VH1 Soul, which was playing a documentary about hip-hop that I've seen at least eleven times, and there was so much talk of creative interaction and artists and the creation of said art that I started to feel guilty that I was sitting watching it rather than taking part in the art party. Also, my dad asked me twice about it while I was using his swimming pool for (nearly flawless!) pencil dives and the consumption of that Gatorade with Tiger Woods on it. Guilt--such an amazing motivator!

Anyway, I have some topics to discuss or not discuss in the Section Formerly Known As Comments. What sort of things/events/motivational speakers get you back on the writing train when you've fallen off? Reading good writing? Hearing about other people's success? Watching hip hop documentaries while eating Peach Cobbler Ice Cream?

I await your motivations with a curiosity that knows several bounds and Billy Corgan.

19,
79

Smashing Pumpkins

Hello friends. I hope everyone celebrated the birth of our nation in  
a timely, safe, and socio-economically green manner. I sat in 40 min  
of post-fireworks traffic driving back from Wood's Hole (Cape Cod!)  
to Falmouth (Cape Cod!) on Friday night, which would've almost  
completely sucked if not for the intrepid lyrical hegemony of Hall  
and Oates, Steve Winwood, and Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" Also,  
we had Cheez-its.

Anyway, as promised via the Comments section (before a large chunk of  
that section disappeared into the darkness of the Interweb), I'm  
relaying the fact that I'm gainfully employed. Here is a short, not-
entirely syntax clean version of that story: during the madness of  
the thesis get a call from founder of a website saying I was  
recommended to him through a friend of a friend for an editorial  
position, he relays the details, they sound promising, I check it  
out, and then--in the midst of the thesis insanity-- I apply for said  
job. Interviews, resumes, and reference calls happen, writing tests  
happen, background checks check out, and miraculously, as soon as I  
have left the world of higher education, I actually have a job.  
Needless to say, my dad thought/thinks I'm lying.

"A website?"
"Yeah."
"That will pay you?"
"Yeah. Pay is the new free, Dad."
"I'm hanging up."

So, I am the Boston Editor of Thrillist.com, which launched here two  
weeks ago. Thrillist is a free (city-specific) lifestyle guide and  
daily newsletter, which finds cool "under-the-radar-assuming-the-
radar-is-other-Boston-based-publications" bars, restaurants, clothes,  
sneakers, inflatable rafts you can play drinking games on, websites,  
candy, animals, gadgets, magic, etc. If you know what Daily Candy is,  
it's a lot like that, except slanted more towards dudes. Its got  
around 320,000 subscribers nationwide with city-specific editions in  
NYC, LA, SF, Chi-town, Vegas, and now Boston.  My job is to find all  
of that stuff I mentioned, write the editorial content, take the  
pictures, hire freelancers, and yell quixotically at the interns I  
haven't hired yet. If that still doesn't answer your question, here  
is a Boston Globe article about the launch of the site, which  
includes several terrible quotes I gave to the reporter while  
extremely sick and extremely sleeping.

Part of my job involves walking all the different neighborhoods of  
Boston to see what has changed and what might be new, reading all of  
the free weeklies including the ones I severely dislike to make sure  
I haven't missed something, keeping up relationships with PR people  
that rep retail/bars/restaurants, owners of boutiques, buyers for  
stores, etc, to encourage them to dial me in whenever they get new  
stuff, and to spend an inordinate amount of time using my Google  
Reader to read trend blogs that discuss hep new sneakers. This--as  
you can imagine-- is cool, yet time-consuming stuff. As part of my  
agreement with the site, I'm allowed to keep my freelance gigs, which  
is nice of them, but it does  make it harder and harder for me to  
find the time to fit everything into my schedule. The woe is upon me.

Anyway, the good news is I now have a grown-up's salary and health  
benefits (?!), which allows me to pick and choose only the freelance  
stories I want to work on, which is amazing. Plus I'm writing and  
editing for a living AND I have business cards. The bad news is I now  
have about 45 less hours a week in which to pursue those stories, or  
re-writes to my book or short story about dating reality stars in  
Zurich, Switzerland. But, friends, if I truly want to get these  
things done, they will get done(ish). So it just means I have to work  
harder, better, faster, stronger.

Ok. There's that story. Now you know what I'm doing betwixt the hours  
of 9-6 when I'm not taking tv timeouts to peruse the philosophical  
gems embedded in the View. The Comment section is open to the public.  
Emoticon away;)

One More,
Time

Daft Punk

While perusing the Interweb, I realized that a lot of successful  
webhomes use surveys to conduct user feedback to finely tune their  
content and figure out how many old "Threes Company" clips to post.  
And since we--like the Web-- are an ever-changing, ever-adapting  
server of you, our reader, we want to get in on the quiz taking  
action. So--for customer service benefits-- I've composed a 5  
question quiz to gauge interest, air concerns, and continue talking.  
If you would be kind enough to take the quiz, I will be kind of  
enough to provide it. And that, friends, is how we kill the customer  
service industry (with kindness!).

Directions: Read, pick, read, pick, read, pick, read...pick, read,  
pick, write.

1. I come on the site to:
A) Talk about writing.
B) Learn what Kevin is up to.
C) See if I can acquire Kevin's email address so I can solicit him to  
purchase very cheap tech stocks that are just going to go up, up, up!
D) Watch old music videos.
E) I accidentally came to this site and accidentally read this quiz.

2. Entries I find most useful are:
A) The ones in which Kevin starts talking about something relatively  
important, gets wildly off topic, regains his footing in the last  
paragraph and then quickly signs off with a semi-forgotten vid pic  
from a year that makes him nostalgic.
B) Are there any other kinds of entries?
C) Seriously. See B. There shouldn't be any more choices.
D) "Useful" is a complicated word, especially in this context.
E) Please. Can I just get this over with?

3. Something I wish Kevin would do more was:
A) Write about fiction/books/short stories (writing it, reading it,  
dreaming about it, improving it, etc).
B) Write about non-fiction/magazine work (see parenthesis above and  
embrace its content).
C) Compose poorly worded (yet hilarious!) poems.
D) Respond to comments.
E) Work on his glutes and abdominals.

4. Something I wish Kevin would do less was:
A) Get off topic.
B) Stay on topic.
C) Talk about television/pop culture.
D) Complain.
E) Make us take quizzes.
F) Watch Zach Braff films.

5. Do you want more music from the:
A) Late 80s
B) Early 90s
C) Mid to Late 90s
D) Just Play That Funky Music, White(ish) Boy
E) I have regrets involving taking this quiz.

And that's it. We don't have anonymity's interests at hand, so feel  
free to leave your name, answers and anything else in the comment  
depository. I will not judge.  Other people will not judge. We will  
remain judge free.
Enjoy your pre-Birth of the Nation shortish week and remember: Below  
SPF 15 doesn't really even count as sunscreen.
Now check out Coolio's amazingly Zach Morris iPhone. He's got  
something brand new for your (rear end).

1, 2,
3, 4 (Sumpin New)

Coolio