There is a universal fascination with the living dead. There is more to a zombie story that a bunch of corpses attacking the living. The real power of such a story lies with the undercurrent of hopelessness compounded by a very real instinct to survive.

Virtually every community in the country has legislation regulating door-to-door trade, yet telemarketers have run unchecked for years. The industry in general uses all sorts of slimy tricks to make sure you never make it to the do-not-call list.

Companies from which I have purchased items are more than welcome to call me with a sale or discount. If I request information on your Web site, please call me. If I don't want your wares, calling me 15 times in a week will not change that.

The do-not-call list puts the responsibility where it should be: on the telemarketers. If they want to make the calls, they should be the ones doing the work to ensure fairness.

Even if people just change two or three things that they are able to sustain over time, it makes quite a difference eventually.

Definition of an independent film is torture with less money and time.

To design the future effectively, you must first let go of your past.

I travel often, so my routine is always getting scrambled. But on a standard sort of day, I get up at 6, pack lunches, hustle the kids off to school, then brew a pot of coffee and head downstairs to the dungeon, as I call it: my cobwebby office in the basement.