I remember landing my first journalism job after college. It was three weeks before graduation, and I drove exactly 89 miles each way on six occasions for interviews.
 
Even if Facebook and online social networking tools in general existed in (cough, cough) 1995, I probably wouldn't have thought of what Thomas Pardee did. But that said, I think his idea is pretty genius.

Pardee, 22, of Lakeview, paid for self-promotional ads on Facebook and specifically targeted the company he wants to work for most. That means Conde Nast employees may feel like they know Pardee, even though he doesn't work there.

I chatted with Pardee online (of course). Here are some excerpts from our conversation:
For my first job, I called, sent resumes and dressed up for interviews. Times have sure changed.

The best part of the Super Bowl is the ads. The game is usually long and boring and features two teams most people don't give a lick about, but the commercials are always great. This year a couple of ads already are stealing the spotlight from Sunday's game.

CBS has banned two commercials that were set to air during the Super Bowl, citing "offensive content" as the reason for rejection. Both ads were aimed at a target demographic: the gay community. CBS, however, has approved a pro-life ad by the notoriously anti-gay evangelical group Focus On The Family.

An Open Letter to the Gentlemen Who When Asked Last Week by a Waitress at a Wrigleyville Bar If They Wanted Guacamole or Sour Cream on Top of Their Nachos Replied, "We Want You on Top of the Nachos":

Fellas, how the heck are you? My friend, the waitress whom you'd like atop your nachos, told me what you said to her, and ... wow.

Hey, I get what you were doing. She offered you two choices, and you responded with a third option not offered to you! That's a time-honored trick taught by all the best comedy correspondence courses. Your diploma is in the mail.

Colleen Marencik of Grayslake bet on the right number: 33. Marencik takes a Metra train and then a No. 33 Mag-Mile-Express bus to work.

The Great Debate: The SAG awards were last week, the Grammys are this Sunday--Hollywood is knee-deep in awards season. Are these myriad awards shows simply shallow, self-congratulatory ridiculousness? 

Have you ever gone out of your way to do something nice for someone only to have him or her take it the wrong way and get irritated? This recently happened to me twice in the same week.

Pardon the CTA, but it's a little camera shy.

Conan O'Brien may have lost the "Tonight Show," but he's a huge winner on social media.

Have we discussed yet how everything's a piece of crap nowadays?