By ARI KARPEL
New York Times
LOS ANGELES
IN the first episode of the Fox series “Glee” there are stirring renditions of classic pop songs (“Don’t Stop Believing”) and funny-but-earnest declarations from angst-ridden high school students. (“Being a part of something special makes you special, right?”)
But the scene that signals that “Glee” would not be yet another sugary [...]

By MALIA WOLLAN
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The first time Darryl Virostko surfed waves as tall as three-story buildings at Mavericks, the legendary surf spot some 50 miles north of here, he was high on acid.
It was not the only drug Mr. Virostko, 37, would take during his surfing career. Even as he was earning a [...]

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — - Matt Ziesel doesn’t stray far from coach Dan McCamy on the sidelines during St. Joseph Benton High School’s freshman football games. He likes to stay within earshot. “I’m ready, Coach. Coach, I’m ready,” Ziesel says. McCamy says he hears it about 10 times a game, and also at practices, [...]

By CLIVE THOMPSON
New York Times

EILEEN BELLOLI KEEPS very good track of her friends. Belloli, who is 74, was born in Framingham, Mass., which is where she met her future husband, Joseph, when they were both toddlers. (“I tripped her and made her cry,” recalls Joseph, a laconic and beanpole-tall 76-year-old.) The Bellolis never left Framingham, [...]

By VICTOR LODATO
One evening, while visiting a dear friend who lives in the Yucatán, I drunkenly confessed that I had been experiencing panic attacks that made my heart beat like a deranged bongo. “It makes no sense,” I said. “Nothing bad is happening in my life. What the hell am I afraid of?” Karson poured [...]