The CDC used to advise washing chicken before cooking it. They have reversed their opinion.

Campylobacter and salmonella are both at greater risk of transfer if you wash your chicken prior to cooking it. Why is this? Cross contamination is much more likely if you take a raw chicken and run water over it. This … [continue]

Philadelphia, PA. In an overcrowded bar, famous for it’s inordinate wait time to get a drink, Leslie Fox bravely took a punch meant for me. Mr. Fox had not intended to bravely take the punch, but take it he did, bravely.

The night had begun innocuously enough, a pre-game drink at my apartment, a story … [continue]

Though I love food, I am not one to frequent many restaurants. When I do, they tend to be large chains that specialize in salad entrees topped with fried bits of chicken and candied cranberries, or nacho dip cleverly renamed “South of the Border Three Cheese Soup.” That is not to say I’ve never enjoyed extraordinary food. … [continue]

I have been neither proud nor pragmatic in the quest for money.  Truth be told, several of my professional engagements have swayed sickeningly along the tightrope that separates ethical and legal behavior from politics and other criminal enterprise.  By and large I feel no great shame about this sordid history.  Rather than enter into the numbing minutia … [continue]

I am doomed. Trapped in the “making a comeback” genre. I’ve boxed myself in with lack of material and inattentiveness to the needs of the website. Now, rather than going for international appeal with a riveting analysis of the economic meltdown or staying close to home with a local piece about the mother daughter prostitution ring in … [continue]

Washington, DC – I-495, the capital beltway, a 64 mile loop of asphalt and concrete that girdles our nation’s capital in a seething traffic feedback loop. It wasn’t so long ago that the beltway was home to some of the most heartfelt imprecations against god, man, and cell phones on the face of the earth. Hurried commuters would … [continue]

Scranton, PA – The forecast called for thunderstorms, but Butch Pickelin wasn’t looking for an umbrella, “Hon! You seen the Lysol? No I don’t want Summer Breeze® I want Garden Mist® and don’t bring me any more Glade. We need to kill the enemy, not camouflage it.” Mr. Pickelin and his family have been haunted by an … [continue]

Neverland Ranch, CA - Michael Jackson turned 50 on Friday. Although the star received an overwhelming variety of birthday presents from family, friends, and fans alike, one anonymous superfan offered the King of Pop something truly unusual: an opportunity to travel back in time and eliminate the many botched plastic surgeries that have since left his face “falling apart”… [continue]

So, you want to write like the folks at Receiving Me?, but you’re unsure how to get started. What are you crazy? Good! You’re halfway there! Now, here are some writing tips that will help you understand what it takes to transfer that “crazy” to the virtual page. Literary types: beware of verbal discharge.

1) Acquire words. This is … [continue]

AMHERST, Ma - “Receiving Me?” Simply utter the phrase and scathing thoughts come shivering down your spine; there is no denying its forcefulness; the sheer aggressiveness of words, arguments, and attacks regularly deployed within these hallowed virtual pages is terrifying to all. Men have died, women have been impregnated, children have lost control of their bowels– some of this behavior … [continue]