The Obsever thinks you might know newly-annointed New York Times Hollywood reporter David Halbfinger as the author of some personal essay in CJR about losing his laptop. But the KewlKids will actually remember Halbfinger as the guy who became a running joke in the old Spy "mailroom" column for repeatedly sending cranky letters and then trying to wheedle a job. (Psst! Matt & Jess, I know where you can find a complete set of back issues.)
But that was a long time ago, and Halbfinger's a real reporter now. "Do I need to be loved by everybody?" he says. "No. I get plenty of love at home."
That's what distinguishes him from freelance hacks like me, who do need to be loved by everybody, and who, as a consequence end up taking on cheesy assignments that we really ought to be beyond by now. It's so hard to say no to editors when you don't get love at home.
All of which is to say that you should feel free to ignore The 10 Best and Worst moments in the History of Dating, from the first issue of the new Match.com webzine (unless of course you're obsessed with lists).
Although I could have sworn a more inoccuous piece of fluff was never written, I did already get one angry e-mail from a guy who called me a hypocrite for giving the thumbs up to the Stonewall Riots while mocking attempts to ban ladies nights. "Equality needs to be a zero-tolerance issue," I was told. "Not too long ago, it seemed reasonable to almost half of the people in the U.S. that�certain nationalities didn't deserve the same inalienable rights as others which led to the nation's most severe bloodshed." Apparently the Civil War was fought because blacks had to pay $4 for a drink while whites only paid $2.
