I have a new article on the Millennials over at Radar.

Millennials are younger. Healthier. They got to do anal in high school. They think updating a spreadsheet while posting to a Twitter account about gossip on perezhilton.com is an essential corporate skill.... An egregious example of generational bias lies in Gen X's stigma as the "MTV Generation," a title that was always intended as a pejorative. … Ironically, when applied to the Millennials, who are similarly affected by the Internet, possessing a short attention span becomes an accolade. They just call it multitasking.

The Web site FreeWilliamsburg.com even ran a parody of a "Real World: Williamsburg" back in 2000. Robert Lanham, the site's founder and author of "The Hipster Handbook," says MTV's choice of Brooklyn as the next "Real World" spot proves it's behind the curve in terms of what's hip.

"What seems absurd is that MTV is seeming to be discovering Williamsburg 10 years after everyone else did [if the show is set in Billyburg, as rumored]," says Lanham.

Sloane Crosley is another mordant and mercurial wit from the realm of Sedaris and Vowell. What makes her so funny is that she seems to be telling the truth, helplessly.

But there are successes. On the nonhumor front, the best seller “Julie and Julia,” about a woman who cooked one Julia Child recipe a day, started as a blog, and “The Hipster Handbook,” spawned from freewilliamsburg.com in 2003, has sold 39,000, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Incidentally, The Hipster Handbook has sold many more copies than reported by BookScan which often doesn't account for sales at independent and college book stores, the places where the satirical book has sold very well.

As you may have heard, all the writers are in Brooklyn these days. It's the place to be. You're simply not a writer if you don't live here. Google "brooklyn writer" and you'll get, Did you mean: the future of literature as we know it? People are coming in from all over. In fact, the physical act of moving your possessions from Manhattan to Brooklyn is now the equivalent of a two-year M.F.A. program. When you get to the other side, they hand you three Moleskine notebooks and a copy of "Blogging for Dummies." You're good to go.

I have a hard time understanding all the hype. I dig it here and all, but it's just a place. It does not have magical properties. In interviews, I get asked a lot, "What's it like to write in Brooklyn?" I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it's like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I expect it's like writing in Manhattan, but there aren't as many tourists walking very slowly in front of you when you step out for coffee. It's like writing in Paris, but there are fewer people speaking French. What do they expect me to say? "Instead of ink, I write in mustard from Nathan's Famous, a Brooklyn institution since 1916." "I built my desk out of wooden planks taken from the authentic rubble of Ebbets Field. Have I mentioned how I still haven’t forgiven the Dodgers for moving to Los Angeles?" READ IT ALL

AMERICAN ATHEISTS returns to historic Minneapolis, MN for our 34th National Conference!
March 21-23, 2008
Join us for a weekend of workshops, panels, talks by noted speakers and other activities. Minneapolis is also one of the premier tourism destinations in this part of the nation, so you’ll want to consider making your Conference visit an extended weekend. More information here.

And then in April, I'll be part of a panel discussing "humor in journalism" at The New Yorker Conference. Details to follow (once I get them).

Elton John vs. Billy Joel (by The Harvard Lampoon)
Hall & Oates vs. Simon & Garfunkel (by Michael Showalter)
"Berlin" Bowie vs. "Ziggy Stardust" Bowie (by Anthony Bozza)
Guided By Voices vs. Pavement (by Elizabeth Goodman)
The Smiths vs. The Cure (by Marc Spitz)
Parliament vs. Funkadelic (by Ben Greenman)
Patsy Cline vs. Kitty Wells (by Laura Cantrell)
The Rolling Stones vs. The Velvet Underground (by Richard Hell)

See the cover, after the jump.

Pretty damn proud of my wife who's currently working on a project in Rwanda. She's got a great blog post about some saloons she's encountered there.