I always wondered how recognizable a much lauded "paradigm shift" would be while it was actually underway. Would one be able to sense the tides of public opinion reverse? Would some kind of collective mass exhalation be audible one the shift was complete? "Oh, we've evolved again. Sigh." I need wonder no more. Reading the New York Times magazine this week, I personally met a paradigm shift today over lunch, and, as you'll see, it's testament to my own shifting paradigms that I didn't lose my lunch upon reading the article. The article deployed a cute little euphemism -- "indirect...

We recently took a trip to London to visit my sister and brother–in-law. I love San Francisco, but after a week of exploring the parks, promenades, and museums of London, home always feels like a sleepy beach town. Thanks to the pansy-ass strength of our currency at the moment, most of our meals were prepared in my sister's European kitchen. One night, while running the puny kitchen at an American-sized volume, we were plunged into darkness accompanied by that ominous electronic “sighhh.” Power's out in London? And what was my sister doing digging around for coins in her purse? While...

Menu Labeling: a scrumptious piece of legislation I live near the intersection of 24th and Mission streets, a part of San Francisco that’s “colorful”, in the parlance of my soon-to-be-in-laws. The corner boasts a plethora of visual and auditory stimulants that some of us prefer to battle with noise-canceling headphones and sunglasses. But, to your average out-of-towner who steps off the BART train and struggles to look straight ahead, there is one beacon of comfort and familiarity. Lodged between the skulking gangbangers and the raving preachers sits our local McDonald’s, open 24 hours, selling Big Macs at a noticeably brisk...