Who Wants To Be A Columnist?

I’ve had a lot of readers ask me lately how I pick topics for my column each week. And even more frequently, people offer me ideas of their own. I can’t tell you how many e-mails I get that begin with “Hey, Peaches, you know what would make a really interesting column?” And the suggestions vary wildly. One person recently suggested I write about the body image of ancient Aztec women while another thought I should write about his favorite four-fruit jam and how wonderful it is accompanied by almond butter. This information, he thought, would greatly impact peoples’ lives. I’ve had some suggest I write about things as broad as the presidential race and yet others suggest topics as specific as what I think about the crust on the bread at Trattoria Rustica.

For example, just today I received an e-mail from my sister in Florida. “I am going to sit down today and try to organize my life”, she writes. “I have decided to subcategorize my life into five categories. Don’t know what they will be yet.” Further correspondence revealed that the number 5 came from the number of fingers and being able to organize an entire life on one hand. Organizing one’s life in this way, she suggested, might make a good column. We went back and forth a few times, musing about what our various life subcategories would be, until later in the morning she finally said she was going to settle on three categories instead of five. More simplified. Her very detailed note, several paragraphs long, outlined each category, the level of priority and how it would be improved to make her life more meaningful, productive and efficient. The note ended with “Feel free to take any of these ideas and claim them as your own in your column. I’ll never do any of it anyway.”

I think it’s fun for people to think of things in terms of potential columns. I do it all the time, as you might imagine. And I carry a little black notebook around with me so that I can jot down inspirations as they come. It’s a smallish black book by Moleskine that I bought at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. Very handy. Each week, when it’s time to sit down and write my column, I look into it’s pages and see which one strikes my fancy.

In an attempt to further reach out to readers, I’ve decided to share a portion of my random column ideas and ask, which would YOU like to see me expound upon in next week’s edition?  It could be fun.  So here goes, straight from the pages of my black book, just as they appear:

1. Why do so many Americans dress like slobs these days?  Is there more to sweat pants than just comfort?  Could the frump factor symbolize widespread national poor self esteem?  Might a more coiffed nation actually be a better place, and if so, should we think seriously about instituting a force of fashion police?  Might Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger financially back such an idea?

2. What would have happened if Bill Clinton had left Hillary for Monica Lewinsky?  Also, will whatever heart medicine he’s put on now affect his libido and what does this mean for American women everywhere?

3. At which point in history was blue designated for boys and pink designated for girls and what, if any, sinister plots were being instituted with this?

4. What things do people not tell their shrinks and why?

5. What little things do people do to buck the system; i.e. returning used merchandise to stores for cash refunds?  Should we feel guilty about ripping off mega-corporate chain stores or are we right to feel like we’ve had a small victory?

6. When will capitalism get gross enough to aim commercials at unborn fetuses?  Could this be an untapped market?  What could be marketed to fetuses that they don’t already have?


Write to me, tell me which of these strikes your fancy.  Okay, I’ll even entertain the possibility that none of these interest you at all.  So feel free to run wild.  Do you have any brilliant ideas for columns?  Tawk to me.