If I were to ask you to name something you do far more today than you did a year or two ago, what would you say? You might mention shopping on Amazon, or ordering food through delivery services like DoorDash or Uber Eats, trends undoubtedly accelerated by the pandemic. But there's no question that streaming content via Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and other platforms was becoming a way of life for most people even before COVID-19 arrived and upended everything. You'd be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn't consume TV shows and movies through at least one of these services while you're bound to encounter individuals who have ditched cable for good.  Here are just a few of the reasons why streaming content is all the rage: You have more control over the content you watch You can skip commercials  You can binge watch shows and movies you may have missed when they premiered  You can do it all in the comfort of your own home  Gone are the days when we had to settle f...

I've stressed in several blog posts that a relationship devoid of trust and communication is destined to fail. Can you guess what a relationship should NOT have if it is to have any chance at success? The answer is selfishness. You know you're ready for a relationship when you're willing to put someone else's needs and cares before yours. This doesn't mean you have to do away with everything you care about. (If your partner imposes this on you, you're with the wrong person.) Instead, you should be willing to share your time and energies with your partner, taking into account what they want to do, what they want to eat, where they want to go. The TV isn't just yours anymore, and neither is your money. When it comes to relationships, sharing is caring. There is no place for selfishness in a relationship. You shouldn't get to watch baseball every night like you did when you were single, and she shouldn't hog it for herself to see maratho...

The stage is set.  Drama and nail-biting anticipation fill the air. Can you feel it? The first presidential debate tonight between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, promises to be a doozy. It's expected to be the most-watched debate ever, with 80-100 million viewers tuning in. Not since the showdown between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980 have so many Americans watched a presidential debate on TV. Many are wondering which Donald Trump will show up: the more subdued candidate we've seen the last couple of weeks, or the no-holds-barred, anything goes version of him who lit into his Republican contenders during the primaries. The same goes for Hillary Clinton: Will we see the lawyerly policy wonk we've grown accustomed to over the years, or a more relaxed, less rigid Hillary who attempts to make a connection with voters? Trump has said that if Hillary treats him with respect, he'll do the same in kin...

Can you take a wild guess as to whom I'm talking about? Yep, it's Donald Trump. Whether I'm watching TV, listening to the radio, using Facebook, or reading the newspaper, Trump continues to saturate all media. We're either forced to look at his bizarre hair or hear him talk someone down in his usual bombastic manner. The man is entertaining, I'll give him that much. If he were to host a talk show -- mind you, I watched every season of "Celebrity Apprentice" - I'd be the first one to watch it. But that's just it. He's part businessman, part entertainer. I don't feel he's fit to be President of the United States. I've never seen the media zero in on a celebrity or politician to this extent. He puts Kim Kardashian to shame! It's clear that Trump helps the network garner higher ratings, which is why -- despite all the vitriol he spews out -- they continue to cover him. This is precisely why I look forward to the primar...

I've lost count of the many shows that involve one or more of the central characters engaging in an extramarital affair. Scandal, a wildly popular political thriller TV series starring Kerry Washington, centers on the affair between the President of the United States and a former White House Director of Communications. Then there's Mistresses , a mystery drama and soap opera television series about four female friends involved in affairs. Some of the highest rated TV series of the last few years have featured hot, steamy affairs, from Sex and the City and Homeland to Mad Men and The Good Wife . I'd like to think that the people who produce these shows aren't deliberately condoning having an extramarital affair, but I wouldn't exactly be shocked if viewers made such an inference. It's obvious that affairs keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Sex sells when it comes to advertising, so why should the TV and film industries be any different? Clandest...

Ever wonder why we put such a high premium on television and music? It's not just about the entertainment value they deliver. Essentially, TV and music rescue us, if temporarily, from the humdrum of everyday life. We watch everything from reality shows to soap operas on television. These programs have no basis in reality -- and that's precisely why we gravitate to them. We like to immerse ourselves in love stories and action-packed adventures that break the monotony of real life -- annoying bosses, cubicle boredom, bickering with your inlaws, endless chores. Every episode of shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones leaves viewers hungry for more. It gives them something to look forward to. The feeling of being on the edge of your seat -- the unpredictable -- is a tremendous high. Movies with various installments -- Twilight, The Avengers, and Rocky are a few examples -- have the same effect on audiences. Further, music serves a similar purpose. Think about a ti...

Ladies, take a moment to read the four categories I've listed below. Would you say you're a: 1) A girly girl : You're almost as passionate about discussing shoes, makeup, and clothes as you are about buying them 2) Like one of the guys : You love watching and/or playing sports, and you know more about sports than many of your male buddies 3) On the nerdier side : A night isn't fun unless it's intellectually-stimulating. You'd be perfectly content spending it at home reading a gripping book. 4) A little of each : Depending on the day and your mood, you can be any of the above If you asked me which type of women men generally like being around the most for an extended period of time, it would probably be those who fall under #2. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but a woman who knows her sports or cars is irresistible to most guys. Men want their women to be feminine, so #1 can be important. However, you'll want to ...

Whether it's on TV or in the workplace, the general consensus seems to be that women gossip, backstab, and stir up more conflict than men do. But, as with every other topic, I thought it only fair to put this so-called stereotype under the microscope. If you watch reality shows like Celebrity Apprentice, you'll notice it's the women who spend far more time bickering. While the men do at times become embroiled in tit for tat, it's the women who are portrayed as meaner and more hostile. In the workplace, I have noticed that women seem to gossip far more than their male counterparts. I haven't really seen any cases where a person blatantly backstabs the other, but I have caught both men and women in little white lies. If it is true that women are generally more into backstabbing and gossiping than men, why is this the case? I believe that it isn't fair to make a blanket statement like "all women play these games while all men keep to themselves and pre...

As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, it seems many people have only become lazier. A self-admitted history nerd, I always wonder what people did in, say, the 1800s for leisure and entertainment. It seems they made a pastime of reading books and writing letters to each other, among other activities. In this age of social media, texting, and email, how many people nowadays still write letters to each other by hand? Whereas I am a voracious reader, most of my friends wouldn't be caught dead with a book in hand. Instead, they seem to be glued to their trusty TVs, Netflix and Amazon Prime being all the rage these days. Writing letters and reading books are, in most people's minds, the kinds of activities you have to seek out and feel inspired to do -- which at the end of the day can use up more of their mental resources (or so they feel). On the other hand, TV programming comes at you -- you need not do much other than grab the remote control and su...