EUGENE, SIR: My ex, with whom I am friendly, is pregnant and engaged to be married. This is not a problem. I recently expressed a “mild” opinion that her situation was somewhat “unusual,” and she flipped out and is demanding an apology before continuing our friendship. I like our friendship but feel incapable of complying … she is going to marry the son of another guy she used to date.

Every Saturday from April to November, the Dane County Farmers Market in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, is a sight to behold: More than 150 vendors set up in the square around the capitol building and a constant stream of shoppers moves in a steady counterclockwise ripple. It’s a producer-only market; everyone behind a stand has raised, grown or otherwise produced their goods in Wisconsin themselves — be it carrots or cheese curds, flowers or beef jerky.

"Hello, may I speak to Srijit?""Yes, speaking.""Sir, I would like to talk to you ...""I would love to talk, but am a little caught up.""Not a problem. When will you be free?""I wish I knew. You see, I am still stuck in the Trident and am a hostage ..."I dropped the phone.I had entered the field of journalism exactly five months back and here I was, smack bang in the middle of covering my first terrorist attack. It all happened by accident. The day had started out as a nightmare.

"Hello, may I speak to Srijit?""Yes, speaking.""Sir, I would like to talk to you ...""I would love to talk, but am a little caught up.""Not a problem. When will you be free?""I wish I knew. You see, I am still stuck in the Trident and am a hostage ..."I dropped the phone.I had entered the field of journalism exactly five months back and here I was, smack bang in the middle of covering my first terrorist attack. It all happened by accident. The day had started out as a nightmare.

The confusing klatch of would-be celebs congregating around karaoke bars to try their singular hands at a little bit of me-me-me-look-at-me fun have never really been able to explain the attraction. Sure, libations play a part, but fundamentally, karaoke seems to be about music and community.Which is what drove Paweł and Jakub Kaczmarek to create iSing, an online karaoke social network, in the Polish city of Stargard back in 2009.

You hear her before you see her. The report of leather on flesh echoes from the rolled-up hurricane door of an industrial space in Mountain View, California, that housed the Serao Academy in 2012. And despite the name, the sounds come not from grapplers grappling but from gloved fists on flesh, and shin-guarded legs arcing into the side of poorly placed thighs.

Last fall, everyone knew who the next president of France would be. The office would be held by François Fillon, conservative candidate, with his reputation as a squeaky-clean Margaret Thatcher type who offered “something different” by appearing to steer clear of the low-level corruption ever popular with politicians. You’ll notice Fillon is not president.

Steve Cohen, whom we'd nicknamed Reverend Steve, passed me a handbill touting the accomplishments of "Rama," a spiritual guru and former acolyte of Sri Chinmoy.Rama - or, as we came to know him, Frederick Lenz - was big into past-life regressions and spiritual awakenings. He also shared with Sri Chinmoy a belief in the power of levitation. But there was something else, something other than him claiming to be 5,000 years old. The handbill said he could speak to bees. "He speaks to bees?""Yeah.

Seeing Jamie Foxx sitting in a giant tennis ball and serenading Serena Williams with his tennis ball song? Pretty much the first time I realized I wanted to go the ESPYs. But as a freelance journalist? A near impossibility. But then, with a twisting turn of fate, I made it to this year's 25th annual ESPY awards. I didn't just make it, I was on the red carpet. Interviewing athletes no less. And doing it well.No small feat in the face of Cali's crushing heat. I felt like I was in a mobile sauna.

EUGENE, SIR: Something weird. I’m not a heavy consumer of porn. Not even an occasional one. I’m going to say maybe once a month I find myself looking at something or another online. Like eating candy, if I am bored, well, there I am. Just recently though I stumbled into something that got my attention. A video with not so much sex but lots of VA [verbal abuse] and it turned me on.