Long conversations with pals when neither you nor they have had a drink can be a test of palship.

I had grown up as a feature writer, and basically my career had been in The National Lampoon and as a magazine editor, and I'd never been a reporter.

Think of what big governments have gotten up to in this century : not one, but two world wars, the gulag, the holocaust, aerial bombing of civilian population centers, the Berlin Wall, nuclear explosions, the post office. A wicked individual might want these, but he wouldn't have the cash and connections to get them. A villainous corporation could afford them but has to market the products. The Vietnam draft would be a tough sell for even the most fiendish businessmen. "Get shot! Get killed! Get diseases from foreign women who despise you in their hearts!"

It's better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money.

Zero-sum thinking is an obsession of mine, but mostly in economics.

Fortunately, I'm married to someone who's a pretty excellent parent!

Everybody in 15th century Spain was wrong about where China was and as a result, Columbus discovered Caribbean vacations.