Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: George Burns/Harpo Inc.

* "The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness and the ability to love and have compassion."—Deepak Chopra takes Oprah on a tour on India and shares insights about living in the present and embracing the mind-body connection. (O Magazine)

* Who can say no to a little eye candy? Vogue has some delicious pictures of America's top male Olympic athletes. (Vogue)

* Jim Henson passed away 22 years ago yesterday. His friends the Muppets created this tribute to the man and his imagination. (YouTube)

* "I've been told specifically that I will be able to punch Justin Bieber in the face."—Drew Magary spends a wild (and very funny) night with the newly 18-year-old pop star. (GQ)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.



* You don't have to like sports or pop music to enjoy the delightful video of the Harvard baseball team dancing to "Call Me Maybe." (NewNowNext)

* As he contemplates his first Mother's Day since his own mother's death, writer Saeed Jones learns how "grief can turn holidays against us"—and why that's not necessarily a bad thing. (Ebony)

* Meet Ashok Gadgil, a little-known inventor whose work is helping to improve the developing world. (Co.Exist)

* Nina Totenberg's father, the renowned violinist and teacher, passed away this week at the age of 101; over at NPR she's shared a lovely remembrance of his remarkable life. (NPR)

* "Well, I've got a lot of callings."—Chef Charlie Trotter explains why he's closing his Chicago restaurant after 25 successful years to return to academia. (Marketplace)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Illustration: CRAIG & KARL

* The New York Times Magazine put together a guide to relief-pitch facial hair. Do you prefer the King Tut or the Wyatt Earp? (NYTimes)

* Watch this video of Newark Mayor Cory Booker reciting a poem he wrote about hometown hero Bruce Springsteen, and then take back everything unkind you've ever said about New Jersey. (Facebook.com/CoryBooker)

* Any Perfect Strangers fans out there in need of a mood boost? This videogame is a great reminder that nothing's gonna stop you now.  (NothingsGonnaStopMeNow)

* "When I was writing the Cider House Rules, I realized, 'You seem to work best with a last sentence.' And once I know, like a piece of music, what it sounds like at the end where I'm going, I make a kind of roadmap in reverse back to where the story should begin. So far that last sentence has never changed. Never. I see that last sentence and I write towards it, it's waiting for me." Time spends a morning at home with John Irving. (Time)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

* "When it comes to apologies, no one gets a pass in this life. Everyone deserves one, and everyone needs to give one." This remarkable story about a teacher, a student, and a 39-year-old lesson in forgiveness proves it's never too late to say you're sorry. (The Oregonian)

* Say hello to Iceberg, the only ever-seen, all-white adult male Orca. (YouTube)

* Last weekend the police and fire departments in Arlington, TX found themselves under siege from the Joker, Riddler, and a few other notorious bad guys. They called in the help of Batman, who, when he's not saving his city, is also known as Kye, a 7-year-old with leukemia. (Nixle)

* And here is your daily smile: Alphonso Ribiero (you recognize him as Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) leads a flashmob in doing—you guessed it—the Carlton. (Vulture)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Edward Gochman/Racked

* Mike Devine was a first responder on 9/11, and something in the air caused him to lose his sense of smell for two years. "When it came back," he says, "I became so appreciative that I just wanted to smell good things." He's one of a growing number of regular guys who just happen to be fragrance fanatics. (Racked)

* Watch Kyle, a 13-year-old Mariners fan and son of a soldier serving in Afghanistan, as he steals second base at a game last week—just be prepared to get a little choked up when you see the surprise waiting for him there. (MLB)

* America's oldest teenager, Dick Clark, passed away this week at the age of 82. Here he is with Prince when the Artist made his national television debut on American Bandstand. (Vimeo)

* "I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history, but is also part of that long line of folks who sometimes are nameless, oftentimes didn't make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream."—President Obama on his experience sitting on the Rosa Parks bus. Check out this great photo as well. (AFP)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Brooke Collins/City of Chicago

* "But loyalty isn't just about sticking by someone—it also means telling them the truth, even when they don't want to hear it," and a few other things Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel knows for sure. (O Magazine)

* How does a leading man get dressed? With lots of help, as it turns out. GQ goes behind the scenes with a celebrity stylist. (GQ)

* Speaking of getting dressed... Real men know how to iron. (YouTube)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Getty Images

* ESPN has a nice video on soon-to-be-87-year-old Yogi Berra, who still goes to Yankees spring training, with the help of his pal (and former Yankee) Ron Guidry. (ESPN)

* On Twitter, Open City novelist Teju Cole is sharing 140-character "small fates," true stories of ordinary New Yorkers drawn from a 1912 newspaper. A sample: "Only Rudolph Hanneseck died when a fire broke out at 178 West Houston Street. (He was run over by the fire truck.)" (Twitter.com/TejuCole)

* In a show that opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia yesterday, the graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister is exploring what it means to be happy. You can visit the exhibit through August 12. (ICA)

* John Grisham's newest book, Calico Joe, comes out next week—his $6 million mistake is good inspiration for first-time authors. (The Daily Beast)

* "If I could go back and revise my adolescent experience, I wouldn't. I'm glad it happened. As bad as it was, it was also good, and not just in It-Gets-Better retrospect. It was good then. It directly enriched my life."—Rich Juzwiak reflects on how being bullied helped shaped him. (Gawker)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Joel Robison

* A treat for readers: the quirky, book-filled photography of Joel Robison. (Book Patrol)

* How a dad writing software manuals in Iowa became a Hollywood screenwriter with one response to a query on Reddit. (Wired)

* Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Several, actually. (MetaFilter; Time)

* RIP Earl Scruggs. The bluegrass pioneer passed away this week at the age of 88. Here he is playing banjo with Steve Martin. (YouTube; Seattle P-I)

* "Above all, art is a conversation conducted down through the generations."—Novelist Ian McEwan in a thoughtful lecture on art, science, creativity and originality. (The Guardian)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.



* We wholeheartedly agree with the recipe for happiness Alfred Hitchcock offers in the video above, and would only add that a knife-free space to take a shower never hurt either. (Open Culture)

* Meet Kaniehtakeron 'Geggs' Martin, a fourth generation Mohawk ironworker whose family has worked on New York City's most famous bridges and skyscrapers for the past 100 years. (WNYC)

* A 35-year-old man decides to take the SAT cold; polygon-inspired bafflement—and anger—ensues. (Deadspin)

* From Spicoli to Lebowski, everything you ever wanted to know about the word "dude." (More Intelligent Life)

* "What I didn’t expect was how much hope I would feel. How much comfort."—Frank Bruni on How to Survive a Plague, a new documentary about the history of the AIDS epidemic. (NYTimes)

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

* What's it like to be a small player in the big leagues? Former MLB pitcher Dirk Hayhurst wrote a whole book about it, and Failure Magazine got the inside story. (Out of My League; Failure Magazine)

* Meet the Slumdog Millionaire of Tasmania. (The Mercury)

* F. Sherwood Roland, savior of the ozone layer (ok, he had a little help), passed away this week at 84. (NYTimes)

* "I didn’t have the courage to get started, because I knew it would be an endless struggle."—Artist Christian Marclay on his film The Clock, a montage of clips containing all of the hours of the day. If you have a a big idea, but you're intimidated about putting it into motion, please read this profile of him. (The New Yorker)