Kindle for PC: What Were They Thinking and Why it Kind of Works
I got a useless piece of advertising spam e-mail from Amazon.com this morning pitching Kindle for PC (beta). It said, “Read Kindle books – no Kindle required.” The ad went on to say, “As someone who has shown interest in Kindle, we thought you should know that you can read Kindle books wherever you go...
Ida Mae Martinez: Sadly, Her Last Dropkick
Beautiful, tragic and powerful, Ida Mae Martinez, 78, died January 19, 2010, in Baltimore, Md. She was born Ida Mae St. Laurent in New London, Conn., in 1931. Her mother was a prostitute and she never knew her father, so she resided with guardians (and became Ida Mae Selenkow) until her teenage years, running away...
Go On Brush Your Shoulders Off
Jay-Z is just about the last person on earth that I would take advice from. Normally. However, today is a day where I need to brush my shoulders off in a most excessive way. Ladies is pimps too, go on brush your shoulders off. Ladies, I encourage you to get that dirt off your shoulders...
Do Your 3/50 Project Right
Now that it’s March, I just got around to picking up my February copy of Skirt! Magazine (then added the March issue to the mounting pile on my desk that needs attention). Skirt! Magazine is, in their own words, “All about women…their work, play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls. Skirt! is...
The Nissan LEAF: 367 Gallons of Electricity
In the car world, there’s always something better just over the horizon. Oh, you just got the 2010 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid? That stinks; they just came out with the 2015 version. And it can fly. Personal vehicles are one of the hardest “keeping up with the Jonses” things to actually keep up with. They’re expensive,...
Food on the Air with Bourdain and Ripert
There’s a new cooking show on the radio: “Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert: Turn & Burn” will run for five weeks; its first episode aired last night. The featured guest was celebrity chef Mario Batali. I was way too busy preparing for the men’s figure skating finals to tune in, and I don’t have Sirius...
Risk is So 8-Bit
Cracked.com has become a favorite website here at the office. Their standout feature is obscure, snarky and absolutely fascinating lists: “The 6 Most Aggressively Ridiculous Benders in Modern History” and “7 Mind-Blowing Easter Eggs Hidden in Famous Works of Art” are two recent examples, along with “6 Global Corporations Started by Their Founder’s Shitty Luck.”...
Mary Karr gets Lit, finds God
Mary Karr, author of The Liar’s Club and Cherry, comes out swinging again with her latest memoir, Lit. Her Texas shit-kicking style shines through as usual, but she’s tempered it this time with a serene wisdom born of her sobriety and conversion to Catholicism. Mary’s told us quite a bit about her family in the...
The North American Gas Station Teddy Bear is Under Attack
Over one half of teddy bears traded through the gas station and grocery store market are doomed to a life in the hall closet, as a dog chew, or in the toy bin at Goodwill. Alone. Unloved. In danger. This Valentine’s Day, we at Tickle have vowed to bring awareness to their brave plight. Please...
Phthalates: Hard to Spell, Hard to Understand
When Googling phthalates (pronounced “thal-ates”), the first-page domain names include ourstolenfuture.org, thedailygreen.com, chemicalbodyburden.org and pollutioninpeople.org. Clearly environmentalists are concerned. But it’s called “environmental science” for a reason: empirical, data-driven studies are the foundation, and this plastic house appears slightly wobbly. Some of the health concerns attributed to phthalates are caused by high-level exposure and include...
Meet the Staff of Tickle: part 1 of a 1.5-part series
A vibrant, humming corporate office is off to another productive and early start. The coffee’s long since been brewed by a caring administrative assistant, and calls and e-mails are flying back and forth. Everyone’s looking especially crisp today – there’s an important lunch meeting with a client who we really need on board with the...
