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)

Photo: Jason Kempin/FilmMagic

For so many of us, teenage happiness was being in a car crowded with friends (all wearing seat belts, naturally), Beastie Boys blasting on the CD player (CDs!). Going nowhere, having nothing to do, making our own chaotic fun at the beach or the all-night-diner or in someone's basement, listening to raucous music and imagining all the amazing things we were about to start creating. I know I'm not alone in feeling terribly sad (and old) at the news of the death of Adam Yauch, one of the founding members of the Beastie Boys and creator of The Milarepa Fund, which helped to promote awareness of the situation in Tibet. Yauch's work for Tibet was admirable, but/and, his music was what viscerally contributed to the happiness of so many, in an infectious, turning-a-bad-day-good kind of way.

Just about a month before his death, Yauch spoke with Project Happiness about the true meaning of -- and way to find -- happiness. He explained how his work for the people of Tibet had contributed to his own sense of happiness and peace: "I guess one way to look at it is that if one wants to create more happiness in their life in the future, then working towards doing more altruistic things or things to benefit other people, that’s the way to get there."

The interviewer asked him what everyday, non-celebs can do to make the world a better place. I love Yauch's response: "Everything we do affects other people... Every way that we interact with other people, even if it’s like, you’re at the store and buying something, and it’s the way that you interact with the clerk at the store. EVERY action that we take has some motivation of either being selfish or altruistic. All that adds up."

To Yauch happiness was looking outward, whether that translated into making music that meant something to people or getting involved in a large-scale human rights campaign. And looking outward, as he put it, can be a part of every day, every interaction. You don't have to make a number one hit, but you can make music to entertain your friends or family or self. You don't have to save all of Tibet, but you can be polite to the clerk at the store. According to Yauch in this interview, everyday kindness was the way to long-term happiness. And if you're looking for short-term happiness, a shot of pure silly joy in the moment, you might just have to listen to some Beastie Boys.

Read the entire interview, and learn more about Project Happiness, here.

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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)

"I still walk around some mornings and look at the world and think, 'Oh my God. This is so fantastic, and there's so many opportunities to do good and to be happy.'"

--Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Anna Quindlen on growing older and living a spiritual life.

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)

"Thinking of that little boy pondering the inevitable and the unknowable, I was even more grateful for a family legacy that taught me, and allowed me to teach him, that not everything has to be useful, not everything has to lead to something more—that sometimes, for no reason and with no purpose, you can just curl up on the couch, feel the soft breeze, and drift into a soft, delicious sleep that leads to nowhere in particular, and back again."

--Author Cathleen Schine, on her family's love of napping and how she passed it on to her son, though he was afraid to go to sleep.

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)

Photo: Thinkstock

If you have been even accidentally exposed to any instant of news media in the past few days, you know that Mike Wallace, the admired and feared '60 Minutes' correspondent known for his bulldoggish interviewing style, has died at the age of 93.   But the fearless inquisitor of everyone from Louis Farrakhan to Barbra Streisand wasn't always so formidable.

I happened upon this blog post by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons called "The Scary Ordinary Man That Was Mike Wallace," in which Gibbons writes, "Wallace was considered a lightweight for years...in 1962, he had a game change moment." His game change moment? The accidental death of his young son Peter while on a hiking trip in Greece. "Stunned, he...reassessed his life. He didn't want to be what he considered a lightweight anymore. He wanted to do serious news. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he knew he couldn't continue what he was doing. "

Who knew that this thing no one should ever have to experience, the death of a child, was what inspired Wallace to get serious? Who knew he was ever not serious? It seems that the skilled seeker of secrets was harboring one of his own. As is, we are reminded (again), almost everyone.

Read more:
A Guide to Confessing Your Deep Dark Secrets
The Accident That Was Anjelica Huston's Aha! Moment