For the earth muffin: Give stationery, a note box or a journal from The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company, where all products are made from recycled elephant poo. That’s right – poo. Seriously. A portion of the profits is given to elephant conservationists, and the entire production process is...

I’ve ended my last couple workouts at the Chris Frye Gym by lying completely still, on my back on the green Astroturf, waiting for my heart to slow. Completely spent and amazed that I was able to accomplish what was asked of me. But never more so than our last workout, on Monday. Matt and I were 30...

The words to the old Cole Porter tune from “Kiss Me, Kate” (one of my all-time favorite musicals) keep playing inside my head as I ride the Lynx uptown for the Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers concert October 10. I’ve been given a backstage pass so I can view the debut of the Knight Theater...

The first workout at the Chris Frye Gym, even if it was nausea-inducing, wasn’t the worst. It wasn’t the worst because I had no clue as to what I was getting into. I treated it like the first time I had sex – close my eyes and go at it. But with the second and third workouts there was a nugget...

Strength, speed, power, suffering, salvation. That’s the motto on which Chris Frye founded his Charlotte gym. And Matt Kokenes and I have decided to take on a three-day-a week, eight-week challenge, with Frye leading us down the path to whole-body righteousness. It’s Friday, November 6, a day before...

So you’ve gotten “matched” with a complete moron. You’ve been “eHarmony’d” with an over-emotional earth muffin, and on your “J-date,” the J stood for Jobless Jackass. You could turn off the computer and seek love elsewhere, but your co-worker’s hygienically challenged cousin or a...