This would be a popular product. Sure, people license cartoon characters for T-shirts and games and underwear. Fun stuff. But aren’t laughs even more needed during disgusting chores, like changing a catbox? Look forward to this every week at my house! Anyway, people love Garfield, people love cats, people love jokes, so market some catbox Read More …
Saw a page marked “This page intentionally left blank” in a brochure, and thought of the Zen-like message “This mind intentionally left blank.” Thought it might make a good bumper sticker. A Web search, of course, reveals it’s been whispered into the empty minds of other souls as well.
If celeb baby news is beaucoup bucks (People mag paid millions for pics of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s newbie, Shiloh), well, celebrity baby publishing is bound to become its own industry. People begat Teen People, so why not Baby People? Babies are people, too, after all. And plenty of advertisers are out to Pamper Read More …
Here’s an idea I’ll probably never do. But it’s one that has long intrigued me. Some people have amazing laughs. Shrill. Staccato. Lilts. Snorts. Wouldn’t it be cool to sample great laughs and compile them into a song? Hey, email me a clip of a wild laugh from your family or office, and I’ll start Read More …
I have a dream. I go to schools, conduct creativity workshops. Help kids learn to invent. As individuals, or as a group, they keep all the rights. And hopes. Wouldn’t it be great, as part of this dream, if poor kids could get patents for free? America’s slipping, some say. People worry about future generations, Read More …
New line item on federal income-tax returns: Number of $1 chances you’d like to buy to have all of your income taxes refunded. Bet 50 million people would buy at least a single chance. You’d keep drawing tickets till half the pot is awarded. Profit for feds: $25 million or more. Earmark for a worthy Read More …
Here’s my nightmare: I’ll buy a winning lottery ticket but forget to ever check it. Here’s my solution: Lottery ticket subscriptions. It’s like having season tickets to a sporting event. Every game, or every so often, you get the same numbers. If they ever hit, this computerized system automatically contacts you. No waiting in line, Read More …
Gotta love Peeps, those marshmallow chicks and bunnies from Just Born. Assorted permutations appear for various holidays: ghosts, pumpkins, hearts, snowmen and Christmas trees. But departing from the holiday idea, how about this: Hot chocolate duckies! Instead of regular marshmallows, you float cute little creatures. Ducks are archetypal floaters, but swans and whales and octopi Read More …
Lots of American adults need more education. Could a kind of home schooling be an answer? Grants or government funding could set up a service or registry that would help students form groups taught by volunteers or family members. Perhaps parents who home-school high schoolers could invite an adult or two into their sessions, maybe Read More …
Elementary schools don’t really teach science, which is a system of thinking, not a set of facts. Suppose, for example, in kindergarten, a running endeavor is to list observations about water: It’s wet. It’s sticky. It freezes. It flows. Ice floats. Snow has little crystals. Steam is hot. It forms drops. It splashes. Fog is Read More …
Could charities parlay tax breaks into bigger donations? Scenario: Generous Jill is in a 15 percent tax bracket. If she donates $1,000 directly to her favorite charity, she saves $150 on her taxes, right? But say the charity is also supported by Benefactor Bob, who is in a 30 percent bracket. He could give the Read More …
Imagine if our currency had a little “Brought to you by” section. Sell enough sponsorships, and voila, free money! Blasphemous! Sacrilegous! Tacky! you say. But this could be an ideal form of welfare. Free money for the poor, at no cost to taxpayers. Couldn’t possibly raise a dollar per dollar-bill? OK, how ads on coins. Read More …
Ever notice how bags of chips or popcorn or cheese curls resemble puffy balloons and weigh almost nothing? Why not take that concept a step or two further? Fill bags with helium for a truly “light” snack. Better yet, figure out how to make snacks that float in mid-air. Maybe whip helium into the mix Read More …
Junk mail drives me crazy! Don’t you wish there was a way to stop it from coming? Best would be a National Do Not Send Unsolicited Mail List. But, failing that, how about a Return to Sender Stamp? You slap one on an unwanted envelope not only to have it sent back, but to deliver Read More …