Good thing I didn't bother with mascara this morning. I bring you an instructional video on how to wash a cat, courtesy of YouTube.

For anyone concerned about issues of animal cruelty, a stunt cat (basically, a very wet stuffed kitty) handled the more dangerous scenes, like the initial plunge into the bathtub.
These people are extremely brave. [...]

Turns out Mom was wrong - money *can* buy you friends. Well, at least fake ones with ridiculously attractive user pics who will leave flattering comments on your myspace. 
The magic of the Internet is truly mindboggling. First, it let us make friends with people in other parts of the world that we might otherwise never have [...]

Based on my experiences this weekend, Ikea is Swedish for "massive store full of plastic, good deals, and more organizational solutions than you can shake a stick at." 
One of my friends just moved into a new apartment, so a few of us trekked down to the Ikea store in Stoughton, Mass., to see if we could [...]

Or, so sang the 47-year-old contestant on last night's American Idol auditions in the Big Apple.
New Yor? New Yor?
Not surprisingly, he didn't make it to the next round. Nor did a spunky girl in a red cowboy hat who broke down in tears while explaining to the panel - sans Simon - that she could [...]

Blood types are useful things. They make sure you get the right stuff during a transfusion, but they can also supposedly reveal the inner workings of your personality and gauge your compatibility with others. 
Just like Godzilla and Gwen Stefani, blood types are big in Japan. Rock stars, politicians, video game characters - all of them list their [...]

For anyone who hasn't already heard, the Suncoast in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua is "closing down." So if you're looking for some deals on movies and movie merchandise, that's the place to go this week.
From what I understand (this isn't based on systematic investigative reporting - just based on what I've heard from [...]

Satirist Art Buchwald is dead at 81.
I've been following Buchwald's progress for a while now, since he decided to stop dialysis treatments for his failing kidneys at about this time last year.
I like that Buchwald stuck around much longer than he was expected to. It gives me hope that a good sense of humor really means [...]

Because my power came back, yo. (Sorry. I had to make it rhyme somehow.)
I feel like I've just come back from an extended stay in Amish country. Life's little modern conveniences - heat, flush toilets, running water, flush toilets - feel like the lap of luxury to me now.
Our power was restored Wednesday morningish, sometime [...]

Do I look like I got dressed in the dark this morning? 'Cause I did.
Man. Nothing says winter in Southern New Hampshire quite like a power outage. You can always tell the people who are tourists, or who are just about to experience their first winter here - they're the ones who see the trees [...]

Every once in a while, buried in the slew of press releases I get from wire services and misguided PR firms (no offense, folks, but we’re really not interested in the New Jersey fashion scene), I find something worth sharing. Like the National League of Junior Cotillions’ list of the ten best-mannered people of 2006. [...]