Alex Balk

2009

2008

Sense And Sensibility And Cows
Dec 1st
Uh oh.
Dec 1st
Listen Listen
Dec 1st
Et voila.
Dec 1st

The old normal.

The fact that there are STILL commercials on where people give other people a Lexus for Christmas...
Dec 1st
Lawrence Frank always struck me as a...
Nov 30th
SO GOOD.
Nov 30th

The cycles of life.

They are drilling OUTSIDE THE AWL OFFICES. What am I, a fucking magnet?
Nov 30th
What category of Thanksgiving conversation...
Nov 30th

Seriously, though, quit, it is beyond...

Nov 30th
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And so the circle is complete. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
Nov 25th
Oh, what the hell, may as well embrace it: Suck it, amateur...
Nov 25th
Yeah, Balk, that’s one hell of a legacy you’re...
Nov 24th

Okay, that's a pretty solid bio.

“Eric J. Herboth is a freelance writer, journalist and artist living in rural central Germany....
Nov 24th
And now you never have to think about...
Nov 24th
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I don’t know why I never remember how great this song is, because, really, how great is this...
Nov 24th
Oh yeah: Alex Pareene and Natasha...
Nov 24th
The only thing more horrific than this video...
Nov 24th
Miracles do happen.
Nov 24th
I chortled.
Nov 24th
Now's the time for your tears.
Nov 24th
Oh boy.
Nov 23rd

Political Correctness Gone Mad: The War...

“Officials in the northern Italian town of Coccaglio are visiting the homes of foreign...
Nov 23rd
Cooking the Books, with Emily Gould: Making...
Nov 23rd
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Nov 23rd
“The foggy mystery of Palin’s popularity burns off...”
— In case you missed it, Rudolph...
Nov 23rd
David Cho discusses Destructive Internet...
Nov 20th
Need I add "must read"? I think not: Mary HK...
Nov 20th

The Awl turned into a cooking blog so...

“Now take the rest of your cheese and spread it over the top in a nice solid layer....
Nov 20th
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Charles Gray’s “He was a low-down, cheap little punk” should be sampled into...
Nov 20th
“They obviously then started up the conversations, and...”
—  Detainees at Camp in Iraq Use...
Nov 19th

There is a whole other world out there.

I just had to explain to a friend what “SEO” meant and felt inordinately more fond of...
Nov 19th
What's cooking in Choire's Chitchen today?
Nov 19th
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Nov 19th
SERVICEY! "Stop Being a Wuss: How To Make Pie...
Nov 18th
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Nov 18th
It's hard smoking a cigarette when you're...
Nov 17th
"In musical reality, this constitutes a...
Nov 17th
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Nov 17th

From the paper that's always telling you...

“‘Gay American’ Jim McGreevey is spending his Sunday mornings with a new man...
Nov 15th
"I just have a terrible fear of being raped...
Nov 13th
I’m sorry, I find this headline hysterical. It...
Nov 13th
"You know who I love? I love anyone who hated...
Nov 12th
I writ me a poem about Megan Fox.
Nov 12th
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It might not always show
Nov 12th
"The Awl is typically a place I go to find...
Nov 11th
What Were Black People Talking About on...
Nov 11th
And that's how you write a headline.
Nov 10th
Okay, now I get it. Her entire career is one continuous riff...
Nov 10th
"The boats. They were there because they were...
Nov 10th
Awl automotive correspondent Mary HK Choi...
Nov 10th

The Idea Factory

Yesterday a friend told me that I should publish a collection of my “tragedy I have witnessed...
Nov 10th
Listen Listen
Nov 10th
"It's a full-time job, ethics."
Nov 9th

When you're as clueless as I am it's...

Me: Do you know what Ed Hardy is?
Cho: yeah of course
Cho: christian audigier
Me: It is... a line of clothing?
Cho: are you kidding me?
Cho: it's definitely like a cultural thing
Cho: http://images.google.com/images?q=ed%20hardy&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
Me: Dude, I shop at THE GAP. WHEN THERE IS A SALE. I don't follow fashion.
Cho: it doesnt matter
Cho: it's like part of the cultural zeitgeist
Me: I know, I see the name ALL THE TIME.
Cho: it's woven into the tapestry of our lives
Cho: did you read the thing on christian audigier in gq a few montsh back?
Cho: that should be a pretty good primer
Cho: it's pretty much a brand for dickheads in LA and europeans to wear
Me: ah
Cho: it's like tshirts with these designs on them for $150
Cho: that are also bedazzled
Cho: also
Me: Bedazzled? Really?
Cho: the guy who started the "clothing line" is the same guy who did von dutch
Cho: yeah
Cho: it's like got rhinestones and stuff on it
Me: Wow.
Me: People really are getting stupider.
Cho: von dutch = those really expensive mesh hats that everyone wore for like a year
Cho: it's a HUGE brand
Me: I'm getting that sense.
Cho: christian audigier is also best friends with jon gosselin
Cho: of jon and kate
Cho: plus eight
Me: Okay, this conversation is over.
Cho: i really cant believe you dont know what ed hardy is
Me: Dude, do I look like a DANDY to you?
Me: Some kind of trend-sucking fop?
Cho: i'm telling you
Cho: it's bigger than that
Cho: like i bet there have been nytimes pieces on ed hardy
Cho: i wouldnt be surprised if it was in PARADE
Cho: and yes
Cho: YOU DO SEEM LIKE SOMEONE WHO READS PARADE
Me: Only for Walter Scott's Personality Parade.
Me: I never miss that one.
Nov 9th
Listen Listen
Nov 9th
Guess what topic this chart is used to illustrate. Go ahead,...
Nov 9th
And here it is: "Bite Me, Kanye! I Bum-Rushed...
Nov 6th

How Decisions Are Made At The Awl

Choire: Is "bite me" nicer than "suck it" for a headline?
Me: "Bite me" is a little too genteel. It doesn't quite convey.
Choire: Yeah, but "suck it" is too over the top. It'll turn people off.
Me: How about "lick my left one"?
Choire: Yeah, I'll go with "bite me."
Nov 6th

Apparently, I am five years old.

Because I have had “She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain” STUCK IN MY HEAD...
Nov 6th
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Mornin’!
Nov 6th

Name for my new emo band.

Inbox Confessional
Nov 5th
"Glee," Sincerity, and the Maine Gay Marriage...
Nov 5th
"After the JC Penney column appeared, Wilson...
Nov 5th

V: The Review

“But we really should talk about the Big Show, the new head alien lady Anna, who is the BEST...
Nov 4th
You is my hot rabbit.
Nov 4th
Hell-o, hot hot Emily Gould cooking video!
Nov 4th
I’m sorry, I will always be a sucker for these.
Nov 4th
Barack Obama's Top-Secret Message To Fox News
Nov 3rd

Do I get to knock off the year of...

We were just wondering about how old someone we know is and I was like, “Well, he’s ten...
Nov 2nd
A+
Nov 2nd
It was a tough call, but we came down for Yes...
Nov 2nd