This is a hustle -- straight up

When the neuroscientist gave up his good salary for early retirement, he told his wife he wanted to be a nature photographer. And so he did. In 2003, sales peaked at more than $1,000.

A special-ed teacher hung up his cleats and started making decorative mobiles. Sales, around $4,000.

The Mystery Woman traded days as a media specialist (that’s library lady to you), for the enjoyment of making educational DVDs. Gross sales, $2,000.

When I started this blog, I secretly dreamed of making more money than Matthew Drudge and Adriana Huffington combined. Ad sales so far, $0. Goose egg.

Full disclosure: I have made thirty bucks as a columnist for a syndicate serving senior newspapers.

The point? Money, albeit welcome, is not the prime motivation.

I can’t speak for others, but I put in a couple hours daily to write this blog for several reasons. For one, I hope it entertains you. For another, I love writing.

Plus, one day it dawned on me – it’s “the doing” that is important. The fun of finding the nuggets of trivia keeps my head in the game. The discipline of hitting a deadline nearly every day gives extra flavor to the morning. Hitting the send button completes something nice. And, if you are keeping count, today’s post is #300.

It helps to have a hustle.

What's making us stupid?

Observers are beginning to question whether the Internet is short-circuiting our attention span. They worry the Net is training our brains to be satisfied with short bites that only hop, skip and jump through an intellectual journey. What were we talking about?

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More corporations, 75 to 50, are sponsoring the Democrat’s presidential convention than Republicans. Isn’t that against the law?

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Two-thirds of U.S. undergraduates now score above average on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. That’s up 30% since 1982. I knew that.

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Nowadays, red wine gets more and more credit for healthy living: helps prevent dementia, helps ward off heart trouble, helps the odds of getting laid.

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Sermonette: Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

Cheeseburger, cheeseburger

You can make between $500 and $10,000 a day by renting your home to film crews, depending upon the size and duration of the production. Cachet ain’t cheap.

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McDonald’s fastest growing region? Europe. Sales have been supersized thanks to a redesign which allows adults to linger. Europeans, you know, like to linger. Get this: playgrounds are equipped so children actually get some exercise. What a concept.

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We’re talking real trouble: 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from all the work that goes into making cheeseburgers. No joke. Writing in Open the Future, Jamais Caisco compares the carbon footprint of the nation’s cheeseburgers with the output of 7,500 to 15,000 SUVs. John Belushi comes to mind.

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To buy a house in the original Levittown, new owners had to sign a covenant agreeing to mow their lawns once a week from April 15 through November 15. Almost none of the grasses in American lawns are native to the U.S. Kentucky bluegrass comes from Europe, Bermuda grass from Africa, and Zoysia from East Asia. Local chiggers don't seem to mind.

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The avocado is a fruit. Is too.

Money, money, money

You would think the Republican National Committee would like this political button: “Don’t be an ass, go Republican. GOP.” But the RNC is suing CafePress for their on-line shop filled with GOP gizmos like pins, bumper stickers, T-shirts and other elephant stuff. The RNC owns the trademark to: GOP, Grand Old Party, Republican National Committee, RNC, and the elephant logo. Matters not whether the dogma doesn’t bite.

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If I told you that you could have a spiffy waterfront home for under $100,000 (or even under $20,000), you would think I was early in the sauce. But many are flocking to CraigsList where they are finding bargains galore on fancy boats big enough to live aboard. Luxury living for a fraction of the cost just a few months ago. And if all you are looking for is a stable drinking platform, rising gas prices don’t matter.

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Purists condemn drinking bottled water as the ”moral equivalent of driving a Hummer.” But lots of people who grew up on the hard tap water of West Texas wish bottled water had been invented during their childhood. Brown spots on teeth were common in the Lubbock of the 50s.

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The history of prefabricated houses might have began in 1833 when a London carpenter sold precut posts and panels to ships bound for Australia. Nothing funny about that.

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NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s net worth is around $20 billion. That’s more than the U.S. government spends on foreign aid or space exploration. Sigh.

(And that's a tip of the hat to L.M.Boyd, the greatest trivia columnist.)

Can we laugh at Obama jokes?

I’m changing my mind about the New Yorker magazine’s controversial Muslim cover. My first reaction was anger. How could the New Yorker, a liberal magazine, be so stupid! Visuals reinforce stereotypes.

But, if the goal really was to use satire to prick right wing myths being spread throughout the Web, it's beginning to work.

Consider the math. How many copies of the magazine were printed? A million? Now, how many millions more have seen the cover on TV, in the newspaper, on-line and in other magazines. Talk about a force multiplier. The country has been fixated on that cover for days.

And every one of those new viewers must have passing questions about the cover. Of course, some wingnuts will find concrete confirmation of their personal mythology. But millions more will at least be exposed to the Obama truths-and-lies. Time after time, political commentators will now add, “He’s not a Muslim” to their stylebook. It might even sink in.

Barack Obama is a tough target for comedy. I can’t think of a single laugh line to tag him with. It’s tough on everybody. In her NYTimes column today, Maureen Dowd reports the best Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert could come up with was, in unison: “His dad was a goat-herder.”

Where does Obama get his protection? Conservative whites say they don't want to be painted as a racist if they criticize Obama. Fair enough.

But I think Obama's shield comes from the audience, black and white. They just flat don’t want to hear cheap shots about this articulate, smart, savvy, handsome young man who can walk on political water. And white comics are afraid to risk the rejection. I wonder if black comedians are reluctant, too? Doubtful.

How do we get a “take” on Obama? I don’t know. But I agree with Ms. Dowd, he is in danger of becoming seen as an intellectual priss.

I hope Obama will loosen up. I hope America will loosen up. We need a laugh now and then. Especially after the last eight years of The Bumbling Cowboy and his faithful companion, Mr. Vader.