Jeryl Brunner

Often when I listen to a song, I'm too busy bopping around to really hear the lyrics.

Yet, when can I get myself to focus, sometimes the lyrics can be so beautiful, so haunting, it's as if I'm experiencing a song for the first time. It's satisfying enough to...

Just last month at the TV Land Awards, the cast of Laverne and Shirley received the Fan Favorite statuette. Remember the Milwaukee-based 20-something roomies Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney, who worked on the Shotz Brewery assembly line? The loveable pair got into their fair share of hijinks with help...

George Bernard Shaw said, "The great advantage of a hotel is that it is a refuge from home life." Quite right, but for many people hotels are a place of business, a pretty exciting one at that. Money Magazine once ranked a hotel general manager as having one of the...

I have nothing against Hope Edelman or her beautiful, life-affirming book, Motherless Daughters. In fact, I'm grateful that she and those who have contributed to her groundbreaking work have comforted countless people. It's just that when my mother died and I was ceremoniously handed the thing, the best I could...

I love hearing stories about people who take risks to make life-changing deals. Wasn't it Donald Trump who once said, "Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks"?

The legendary...

About six years ago, Jan-Patrick Schmitz, President and CEO of Montblanc North America discovered an interesting request on his desk. Montblanc was asked to support Urban Arts Partnership and their unique program, 24 Hour Plays. Urban Arts Partnership is a miraculous organization, which brings a variety...

Chefs are some of the most passionate people I know. Think of what the great newspaper columnist, Harriet Van Horne once said, "cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."

Just ask Ryan Artim about one of his fondest childhood memories. The...

Ever since my landlord told me about my building's strict no pets policy, I have fantasized about getting a puppy or kitten. Actually, I find most pet owners to be a fascinating, yet charming, breed. Consider these statistics from the American Humane Society:

• A majority of dog...

Whenever I see Jesse Eisenberg act in films, it seems that he has the unique ability to inhabit his characters, making them three-dimensional and usually heartbreakingly compelling. (Remember The Social Network, The Squid and the Whale and Roger Dodger.)

Well, it turns out that the guy can write too....

Ever since he was a little boy, Bryan Batt loved to decorate and make things beautiful. At summer camp, he remembers preparing his cabin for Sunday inspection, once telling his counselor he'd be right back. "I ran outside, picked some flowers, put them in my canteen and stuck them in...

I remember when my sister married the love of her life in 1991. People she didn't know very well asked if they could attend her wedding. They had never seen two brides walk down the aisle and they didn't want to miss something that seemed like such a rarity. It's...

Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said that "life imitates art far more than art imitates life"?

Lucky is the person to witness it full force in action. And Wilde would have loved last week's performance of the off-Broadway hit, Celebrity Autobiography, skillfully created by...

During fashion week, the life of runway model is about, well, running -- from castings to fittings to shows to more shows to after parties to after after parties. Imagine if they could wear a boot with advanced wireless technology so a pedometer could track the number of steps they...

Until recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger's story seemed to read like the ultimate American fairy tale.

A boy grows up in the small village of Thal, Austria in a house containing no refrigerator, flush toilet or telephone. All the while, he dreams of coming to America. So herculean is his resolve,...

Perhaps Seth Meyers had a good point when he took the stage at the Robin Hood Foundation gala last week and declared, "how refreshing it is tonight to finally perform for the people who run the country." (For those who don't recall, he was (relatively) fresh from the...

"Don't worry. I'm not one of those people who will talk the entire flight."

My first clue.

On a recent 13-hour Qantas flight from Auckland to Los Angeles, my seatmate confided these words to me just before takeoff. In hindsight, I should have known better. He was married, so there...