That's the Will Harris method, and it's a great way to do it. Others do it differently, though. Not sure if there's a defined "form" for RR, and Nathan's probably been doing them as long as anyone here has.

In one of his two preview episodes from last year, he hit a classic joint that's always been among my favorites: White Mana in Hackensack. He also hit an odd place in Newark that I tried once, and was quite impressed with: Hamburgao, which doesn't serve hamburgers as much as they serve meat and a pile of other stuff…

I remember tracking Neal during my early days as a professional writer — '02-'05, thereabouts — reading his smaller pieces, like the Slate stuff about his book tour and his "band". Thought it was interesting, and, even though I wasn't a big fan of his longer work — too up-its-own-ass, McSweenyish for my own taste — I…

I will "+1" this, or whatever the parlance of approval is these days on the internet, even though it's making fun of what I wrote.

If she was merely acting in the show instead of writing and producing it? As long as she was still on screen, and there was no big brouhaha about her abdicating showrunning/writing duties, hardly anyone outside the media and TV obsessives (which I count myself as both) would notice.

There are no articles in major magazines that talk about Fey's tortured writing process. In fact, she's probably the least tortured of all the TV "auteurs" we've encountered over the last 15 years or so.

Well, you inadvertently make my point: If Tina Fey handed over the reigns without fanfare, few people would notice. If there was a lot of fanfare, sure, people would notice.

Oddly enough, yes, Harmon and Community are more intertwined than Fey and 30 Rock. Also, Fey co-ran the show with Robert Carlock; if she decided to just act on the show and hand Carlock the day-to-day job, I don't think anyone would have noticed.

It's still there. You have to subscribe to my feed to see it.

I think I might have supported the invasion at the time; my eH adventures were in 2002-03, right as the war was starting and before we found out what a load of BS we got served before the invasion. Can't say I'm proud of that thinking now.

Nothing ever changes with eHarmony. I wrote about it almost nine years ago, and it reads like it could have been written last month: http://www.blacktable.com/k…

I think this interview illustrates that even if someone buys the movie rights, it doesn't mean you're set. I've known writers who have sold movie rights to their novel or essay and the movie never gets made. Even if it *does* get made, the writer gets that one-time payment most of the time, not any kind of residual or…

It also helps to explode the perception that "[Enter friend/acquaintance's name here] is doing this [cool/creative activity] and getting recognized for it, so he/she must be doing OK financially." I'm constantly surprised when I hear about people I thought were successful either doing poorly financially or just being…

It also helps to explode the perception that "[Enter friend/acquaintance's name here] is doing this [cool/creative activity] and getting recognized for it, so he/she must be doing OK financially." I'm constantly surprised when I hear about people I thought were successful either doing poorly financially or just being…

Nathan, it's a terrific idea for a column; it's a subject that rules my life every day, because I'm a freelance writer. I'm constantly weighing making money against being happy, and it sometimes makes me (and my wife) miserable. So it's good to read about other people in the creative/freelance field having that…

Nathan, it's a terrific idea for a column; it's a subject that rules my life every day, because I'm a freelance writer. I'm constantly weighing making money against being happy, and it sometimes makes me (and my wife) miserable. So it's good to read about other people in the creative/freelance field having that…

I asked him about it near the end, but I think the two of us were starting to peter out (we talked for almost 90 minutes), and I couldn't get much more out of him than the fact that working for HBO meant that the parties were better.

I asked him about it near the end, but I think the two of us were starting to peter out (we talked for almost 90 minutes), and I couldn't get much more out of him than the fact that working for HBO meant that the parties were better.

Ruined Symmetry has it sorta right. I was an occasional O&A listener back in their terrestrial radio days, then listened every so often after they went to satellite (mostly at the insistence of a particular friend who thought O&A was just the best ever). Let's just say I know enough about what Norton has said on the…

Ruined Symmetry has it sorta right. I was an occasional O&A listener back in their terrestrial radio days, then listened every so often after they went to satellite (mostly at the insistence of a particular friend who thought O&A was just the best ever). Let's just say I know enough about what Norton has said on the…