Abraham Riesman didn’t realize he loved cats until his roommate’s feline Elvis almost burned down their Williamsburg apartment after tipping over a hot iron. “I couldn’t stay mad at him,” Riesman, now 30, remembers, 10 years later. “I was astounded to find that I only found love...
The bus from Chandigarh to Kasauli wound its way up twisting, perilous mountain roads. It was a cold, sunny winter morning in the early 2000s, and I was on my first and only extended trip to India as an adult. My Dad and I were taking the...
Men: They’ve always eaten food. But over the years, what they’ve eaten — and what’s been marketed to them to eat — has changed. That’s why MEL enlisted Meg Favreau, a weird history writer and person who eats food, to start Feed the Beast, an occasional series about the most interesting...
In case you’re just checking in for the first time this week, we’ve rounded up our picks of the best stories from the last few days for you to peruse. We know, we know, we’re amazing. Ouch: 5% of Men Still Spray Cologne “Downstairs” (Survey) We spoke...
“Would you consider yourself to be technical?” I remember the question vividly. I paused before answering and focused my attention on a painting hanging in my aunt’s living room. It was my second phone interview with a second recruiter who I would never meet in person. I...
In the strange new world of eSports, where childhood dreams of getting paid to play video games are made reality, “gaming houses” have become the norm. It’s more Silicon Valley than National Lampoon’s Animal House; the premise sounds like an updated version of Real World: Five gamers...
Lately you’ve been going through a few changes. Your brain is now registering salad. Your circulatory system is around 70 percent coffee. Your hormones are all over the place, telling you it’s late and you’ve got work in the morning. Please don’t be alarmed: This is all...
Keith Lippa — bald, tan and a touch paunchy, shoulders slightly hunched underneath a red polo and pair of khakis — ambles into Hiro Sushi, a nondescript Japanese restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. He settles into one of the many empty black booths for what will be a welcome break from his...
In case you’re just checking in for the first time this week, we’ve rounded up our picks of the best stories from the last few days for you to peruse. We know, we know, we’re amazing. Podcast: Dinosaur Fights! Ever wondered if a T-Rex and a Triceratops...
Kenneth Tam is an artist who (among other things) makes videos of men — men that he finds on the internet and then pays to do awkward, intimate, absurd things on camera. These videos are amazing. For one of his most recent projects, Breakfast in Bed (which is currently...
There has never been a time in my life when I wasn’t competing. I played T-ball, soccer and basketball as a little kid — eventually getting into tennis and even a little tackle football with friends. My family would play Trivial Pursuit, Connect Four, Sorry! and Life, and that’s...
The timing was almost unbelievable. About 18 months ago, I found out my dad had been cheating on my mom. About six months later, my husband found out that his mom had been cheating on his dad. How my husband and I each found out was indicative...