Last August, weeks before an episode had even aired, a couple of friends and I started a podcast about the ABC show, FlashForward. This first to market strategy paid off. It caught the attention of one of the lead writers on the show, Quinton Peeples, who has been a source and friend ever since. And since then, he has been promoted to co-producer. Now, we chat routinely with him as well as the show's Executive Producer, Jessika Borsickzy. Early on in our show's history, Iain Mackinnon called in one week with some thoughts from Scotland. Loved his voice. Loved his enthusiasm. Loved his insights. So he became a weekly contributor on the show. Last week, they introduced a new character on the show... Ian McKinnon. This is what living in the 21st century is like. It's wild. It's crazy. And it's all about who you know. And yes I'm jealous, but I've been told I'm getting a shout-out in episode 20. I'll keep you posted.

is predominantly white. Pssh. Figures. That completely changes how I view their ideas. Yes, this is a rebuttal to the generalization that the "Tea Party movement is probably racist, because their members are mostly white."

People use this phrase a lot. If you decide to carefully point out an egregious flaw in someone's life, you might be rebutted with the Biblical maxim, "Judge not lest ye be judged." But I think we're using that phrase the wrong way. That verse means you shouldn't be a hypocrite and throw someone under the bus who's doing the same things you do. It doesn't mean you shouldn't judge the action itself. And it doesn't mean you should let your friends continue in their idiocy without pointing it out.

It's too easy to be good. I've already made the claim of how the addition of clapping in pop songs is unfair. Because it's contagious. It gets you into a groove without any work at all. The beats behind rap music are an exaggerated exploitation of this effect. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. You're in. Before any words come out. Before any melody. They have you. You're grooving. So, regardless of what comes next, people already kind of like the song. So, the path of least resistance says I'm going to throw some crap lyrics in that rhyme with club, bling, dope, lady and call it a hit. It's too easy for rap music to be good, and therefore, it's rarely great.

Once at my old job, we found out our janitor had been throwing away our recycling with the garbage. Shocked, we started telling people, and quite a few immediately responded with "Don't tell me that!" Why is our first course of action to protect our ignorance? As if doing something to change the situation is not an option.

#35. John F. Kennedy

Because in the process of rationalizing your own decision for smoking, you'll start to become more understanding of everyone else's bad decisions. On an unrelated note, go to church this weekend. And don't feel bad about going if you haven't been since Christmas, and you don't want to be the cliche person who only goes to church on holidays. Be that person. Because if we even get a glimpse of what the resurrection of Christ really means for our life, it's a complete mind-blowing life-changing switch. And it's totally worth pursuing. Happy Easter.

This is a tricky topic. Because self-awareness is a gift. I'm not exactly sure how much of it is natural, and how much can be learned, but we're going to try. You know those people in your lives that can just ramble on about their boring stories without taking a breath? Recently, one of these people in my own life was complaining about people who do that..... It blew my mind. They totally understand the pain of being on the receiving end of a boring storyteller, but simply don't have the ability to understand when their own stories are boring. Now, this is tricky, because our own lives are naturally interesting to us. But, if you have the ability to do it, think about whether your story would interest you if you weren't involved in it. And if not, don't tell it. If you don't have this self-censorship ability, concentrate on brevity. Jump to the punchline as quickly as possible. Don't get hung up on details like... "So last Monday...or was it Tuesday?....I can't remember if it was either Monday or Tuesday? But, whatever, anyway..." Lose these lines in your storytelling. Stick to the point, get there and then give up the reins in the conversation to the other party.

"So, are you celebrating the Seder meal tomorrow with your family?" "Uh, I'm not sure. I think Marcie might be hosting something..." "You're not excited? I thought you were an orthodox Jew?" "Nah, I'm more Jew-ish."

Freshman year of college, my roommate came home super-late one night and told me about a make-shift therapy session a bunch of our friends had. They all shared some of their biggest secrets, and at the time, I was pretty shocked. Thoughts of suicide. Huge regrets. Deep emotional scars. But, looking back, that was probably a very freeing experience for those involved. After all, I'm on record as arguing that we all need counseling. And this was a great step in the right direction. He at least, looks back at that night extraordinary fondly. He knew he wasn't alone. And he felt hope about the future. So, the moral of the story is, don't keep secrets. They'll eat you to death. Tell someone you can trust.