I once had a nice career as a journalist and critic writing for magazines such as Harper’s Magazine, GQ, Mother Jones, and the online journal Slate. The glory of that life has long since faded, but the physical evidence remains. Here are some of the highlights:

This story appeared in the Funny Pages, the New York Times Magazine’s old humor page. “My New Look” is about clothes, teaching and the clothes you wear while teaching. Download PDF

For a brief, sweet time I was the television critic for Slate. This review of The Fairly Oddparents contains a nice turn of phrase (wish physics) and remains one of my better pieces of pop culture criticism.

By a stroke of luck I happened to be at Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura’s victory party at Canterbury Downs racetrack. The resulting Harper’s Magazine piece is filled with cheap shots and condescension, but I still like it. This is the story that launched my old career. Download PDF

For the Real World: Paris MTV invited seven journalists from seven different publications to stay overnight at the Real World house. The idea was for us to get first-hand experience of what it’s like to be on a reality TV show. We did. Download PDF

HEAD CASE

HEAD CASE was intended to be a mash-up of science journalism, memoir, personal essay and humor. I spent two years attending neuroscience conferences, visiting researchers in their labs, and subjecting my tender brain to fMRI scans and other experiments. During this time I also revisited my relationship with my mentally ill, drug-addicted stepfather, became a father myself, and wrote brain jokes. There are brief moments where all of these elements come together, but on the whole the book is much less than the sum of its parts. Publishing and promoting this HEAD CASE was a painful, scarring experience, but I feel much better now. You’re more than welcome to give it a read, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.