Dec 31, 2020Unranked: The 65 books I read or re-read (to completion) in 2020My list is in Z-to-A order because I’m a Z-supremacist — I felt weird about the idea of ranking the books I read this year. Some of them are old. Some are new. Some I chose to read. Others I had to for classes. Some I read for the first time. Some I was re-reading or ended up reading twice this…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·May 22, 2017Backstreet’s Always BackWe went to Vegas to find out how the world’s most successful boy band became a group of men — Five glowing boxes slowly descend from the rafters to the sound of screams. Inside each is a present designed in the 1990s to please women around the world. …Music11 min readMusic11 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Feb 13, 2017What Do You Do When Your Ex Hangs Onto a Model of Your Dick?Clone-a-Willy turned dick molds into a fad. But post-breakup etiquette — to toss? Or to save? — is still very much TBD. — Joe Hanson, CEO of EmpireLabs — maker of the Clone-a-Willy, a $49.95 kit that turns your dick into a colorful, vibrating silicone sex toy — hadn’t fully considered the question of what his customers should do with their penis replica post-break up until he was confronted with the situation firsthand.Relationships6 min readRelationships6 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Dec 13, 2016Ryan Gosling Might Convince Me to Get Dressed UpHis looks in ‘La La Land’ are a reminder that dressy clothes can be better at showing off your body than no clothes at all — The last time Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were matched up in a rom-com relationship was Crazy Stupid Love, when Stone memorably asked him, “Please, will you take off your shirt?” …Pop Culture4 min readPop Culture4 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Nov 23, 2016Happy Danksgiving! A Guide to Making Your Traditional Meal 420-FriendlyGrateful for pot this Thanksgiving? We asked a weed-loving chef how to artfully infuse Thanksgiving favorites with cannabis — As Americans head home this week to awkwardly catch up with their extended families over traditional autumnal dishes, it can be tempting to just get stoned out of your mind to disengage from the drama, the inevitable arguments about politics and the boredom. But why not include your family in…4205 min read4205 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Oct 5, 2016Self-Help Patrol: The IV LeagueWill flooding my veins with pee-colored vitamin solution relieve my stress? — “Do you feel anything yet?” asks the nurse practitioner at a “med spa” somewhere in Southern California after popping into the clinic’s “vitamin room” to check on my IV. I’ve been sitting in the leather reclining chair for maybe 30 minutes now, with my left arm extended as straight as…Body And Mind3 min readBody And Mind3 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Sep 30, 20169 Reasons Millennials Love Gary JohnsonDecoding the ditzy appeal of the 63-year-old New Mexican — As the election morphs from being this thing that people have spent way too much time talking about into this thing looming less than six weeks away, Hillary Clinton’s apparatus for turning out the vote is kicking into high gear, and her campaign is beginning to fret even more over…2016 Election5 min read2016 Election5 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Sep 1, 2016What’s the Difference Between a Barber Shop and a Salon ‘for Men’?A place to be men together versus a space to be a man, alone. — When Kristen Barber’s father, a stunt pilot born in 1925, needed to look good, he’d turn to products marketed at his wife to get the job done, including hair dye and moisturizer. …Hair5 min readHair5 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Aug 30, 2016Parents Ask: Is My Baby’s Dick Too Small?A real thing real people are worried about — Apparently the highly competitive game of parenting has turned into a literal dick-measuring contest. The New York Times’s health blog, “Well,” published an article about the newest fear to rattle helicopter (or should we say heli-cock-ter?) parents: that their sons’ penises aren’t big enough: Questions about penis size have become…Health2 min readHealth2 min read
Published in MEL Magazine·Aug 19, 2016Candy Ken Does L.A.The Hello Kitty rapper stopped by MEL’s photo studio — He’s as buff as Arnold (almost), as agro as Riff Raff, as hairless as a pre-pubescent Hello Kitty fan (and coated in even more Hello Kitty temporary tattoos)… Introducing Candy Ken, the Berlin-based Austrian rapper, internet sensation and fashion inspiration to Diesel’s artistic director Nichola Formichetti (and a growing number…Music8 min readMusic8 min read
