Jason McCoy's short "Are You Happy" asks questions about desires and what we as humans "are for." McCoy uses contridiction between the images and the audio to create a jarring effect that might just open our eyes to questions like: are we really happy? why or why not? what makes us happy in the first place? what affect do we have on our own happiness? how do we define and rate happiness? I can't promise that the asking of these questions will be pleasent, but I can promise that it will be useful, especially during the holiday season when happiness seems to be the theme, but also seems to be strangely elusive at points.

Have you ever sat around with friends and asked: If a film were made about your life, who would you want to star as you?

How about Christian Bale or Cate Blanchett?

Here is a different question—how many people would be needed to play you?

This may seem like a strange question, but when Todd Haynes was co-writing I’m Not There, a film about the life of Bob Dylan, he decided it would take six people to fill Dylan’s shoes.

His answer to Bale or Blanchett: Yes.

Hanna-Barbera. Conjunction Junction. Do these words mean anything to you? If you were born pre-1980, these words are likely a window into Saturday morning nostalgia. Imagine rising early on a wintery Saturday morning, heading to your living room in your PJs and a brimming bowl of Fruity Pebbles - all to partake in the Saturday morning cartoon experience.

For those unfamiliar, Hanna-Barbera ruled the cartoon airways from the 50s until the late 90s. Classics such as Scooby Doo, The Smurfs, The Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, and The Jetsons (to name a few) were all produced and created via the Hanna-Barbera studio. (Hanna-Barbera is named after animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.) On a similar note, if your Saturday morning ritual found its way to ABC, it is likely that you caught a few School House Rock shorts- where "Conjuction Junction" frequented as a favorite musical segment.

One of the greatest opening scenes of The Office involves Jim testing the "Pavlovian Dog Theory" out on Dwight. In short, every time Jim restarts his computer, he offers Dwight an Altoid. Of course, in the end... Jim wins out. Dwight is left high and dry the very moment the "shutting down" sound is heard.

Throughout the past year, I have had trouble sleeping. It could be a new child. It could be various job frustrations. It could be the endless things to "wonder" about. (ha) In anticipating a trip to Germany last fall (that would inevitably further my sleep deprivation), I decided to train myself (Pavlovian style) to fall asleep to a particular song. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to be able to sleep on cue?