Yesterday's New York Times ran a rather long piece called "How Do You Prove You're a Jew?", and while it may seem an unconventional topic for a manners column, I'd like to expound a bit upon it. Have no fear: even if you don't have the time or the inclination to read the original Gershom Gorenberg essay, I'm only using it as a jumping-off point for this column, and I promise not to allude......

I'm going to come out and say it: I hate Valentine's Day. And no, it's not because I'm historically single when it rolls around. I'm not single now, and I'm still against the holiday. Blame it on my hatred of chocolate. Blame it on my preference for yellow roses over red. But most of all, blame it on my high school. Or, more specifically, blame it on many of the girls I went to......

Hey There Philly: Politics aside, I'm a proud Texan. But I've just returned from a two-week visit to my folks' house and I discovered that... I really missed you. It wasn't the kind of missing you I've had in the past, where I was just kind of bored with sitting on my ass at my parents' place and wanted to get back to work or to school – although boredom did play a small factor.......

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! Wherever you stand on the “Putting Christ Back in Christmas” issue, the simple fact of the matter is that I’m a Jew who loves Christmas. I can easily chalk that up to the......

Dear Philadelphia: I think you’re stalking me. What’s more, I kind of like it. Two weeks ago, while Mamaist was visiting, I took her up to New York for a day. Not to make her sound too small-town Texan (she’s not – she’s traveled plenty, just not in the Northeast, and besides, El Paso isn’t a small town by any means), but it was her first time visiting the Big Apple, so she had......

Dear William Penn: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for creating Philadelphia's grid system all those years ago. You see, I've had occasion, lately, to do a lot of walking around. A lot of walking around. That's what unemployment, and the subsequent job hunt, does to a person. (Mercifully, I haven't needed to get any shoes repaired as a result. Yet.) I've always loved walking......

I've become friendly with local photographer JJ Tiziou since interviewing him in October. We've had sushi, we've gone to shows, and we've kept in touch, privately or through mass mailings, about all of the crazy field trips he's been on or planning lately. I found his most recent update particularly stirring and troubling. JJ was in Oaxaca, Mexico, acting as the photographer with a delegation invited by the Oaxacan Human Rights Network. I spent......

It got cold last night, so I cleared some space in my kitchen with the intention of making soup, but changed my mind when I opened my fridge and saw all of the corn tortillas I've had in there for a while and really needed to get rid of. So I decided to dip into my special store of Mexican food ingredients. I bring them back from home, whenever I'm in Texas. But I have......

Dear Philadelphia: Never have I been so happy to be here, safely nestled in my unforgivably messy little one bedroom apartment in the Gayborhood. You see, for a while there, it didn’t look like I’d make it back. I was back home in El Paso, Texas visiting my family for the holidays, which was nice. What wasn’t nice is what happened when I tried to leave. I was running late, mostly because I couldn’t......

Confession time. I'm a registered Republican. I know that's probably going to alienate me from most of you, our readers, but I'm asking you to hear me out. First of all, I'm still registered to vote in Texas. So my vote in most major elections has very little impact on the rest of you. (Especially since we all know what happens with absentee ballots.) Secondly, I don't vote straight-ticket anything. Most of the time,......

I am writing this post in El Paso, Texas, from the bedroom that was exclusively mine from the ages of just-turned-thirteen to nearly-nineteen. My mom has since taken it over as sort of an office/storage space for all her teaching supplies. I can't blame her: I'm home, at best, three weeks out of the year these days. If you're a regular reader of Foodsday Tuesday, you already know that I have a strong penchant......

Most of the time, these columns are intended to just remind you to be better, more polite people. Sometimes, we're downright Twenty-First Century or liberated and progressive. Once in a while, though, we get a little old-fashioned. Most of my manners hang-up comes from my dad. One thing he'd always make sure of was that, if we were walking down the street (I say "if" because in El Paso, Texas, you do a lot......

Hello out there, smokers – this one’s for you! Just because Philadelphia has yet to pass a smoking ban, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put a little thought into the process every time you light up a cigarette. While smoking is absolutely your right, you should at least consider that not everyone wants you to exercise it – which is why smoking bans have passed in New York, California, New Jersey, and my own hometown......

Dear Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: First of all, I’d like to tell you what a great service you’re doing. The families you help are truly deserving, and you’ve done your part to make their lives easier, tenfold. Phillyist was glad to hear that you were doing some work in our fair city – and you really lucked out on this week’s weather, to boot! That being said, I’ve got a couple of bones to pick......