"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does," - Jean-Paul Sartre

Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they've discovered yet another use for Tylenol besides breaking a fever and relieving pain: Reducing anxiety associated with "thoughts of existential uncertainty and death."

Obama's upcoming Newsweek editorial ("Why Haiti Matters") is online. Near the end: "In the aftermath of disaster, we are reminded that life can be unimaginably cruel....That "time and chance" happen to us all." He could've just ended it there. [Newsweek]

Tony Judt's never been one to stand down. The Jewish, British, leftist historian and professor who's been called a self-hating antisemitic terrorist-sympathizer and a liberal-hater isn't one to back down. Ravaged by Lou Gehrig's disease, he's not pussying out, either.

Don't mistake a tryptophan coma for Phyllis Nefler's mellow; Thanksgiving weekend involves sitting in Mama Nefler's basement and packing a round of the NYT Weddings & Celebrations. This week: Trekkies, West Wing fans, and Scopes Monkey celebrities.

Further proving the road to hell as indeed paved with good intentions—or in this case, "green" concrete—Brad Pitt's taking flack for building housing in New Orleans' Katrina-devastated Lower Ninth ward. The houses are dreamy. The reaction isn't.

Dude waits 12 hours in rain so girlfriend can buy H&M Jimmy Choos. Related: Sissyphus.

The first thing in this morning's Gawker Weekend inbox: People Talking on Bananas. Sigh.

The hipster hype for "Where The Wild Things Are" was almost overbearing. The verdict, for one particular viewer was a "depressing existential" piece of cinema.

We humans are a fickle bunch. Take Eliot Spitzer: besides the receding hairline, the guy had everything going for him. And yet he threw it all away to make the career of some hot piece of Jersey trash. And we're always trying to figure out what makes us happy. There all always studies coming out about how religion makes us happy, how cats help your heart and whether cigarettes can do anything for your psyche. And that's just this week's batch of articles. Cigarettes, sex, and meaningless studies aren't doing it for us apparently. So what does make us happy?