We often have moments where big questions about life and the way the world operates cross our mind. I know, I do. But what do we really do with those questions? File them in the back of our minds--or put them on the back burner? Well, I do (most of the time!). That's why I like Malcolm Gladwell - he takes those questions and goes out looking for answers.

Writer, hipster, and intellectural, Gladwell, 42, has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996, but most of us didn't know about him until his bestselling book "The Tipping Point" hit the stands. It asks the simple yet probing question: What makes some ideas stick and spread like wildfire while other ideas fall flat on their face?

Last Saturday, I had a chance to go hear Gladwell speak at the New Yorker Festival. It was amazing.

Some time ago, inventor Jay Kahmi’s family went to go see Napoleon Dynamite. The movie had almost nothing going for it. It was set in a suburban Idaho high school. The main character, Napoleon, delivers his lines in a maddeningly slow monotone. His lip always droops slightly to the right. As the family sat uncomfortably in their theater seats, Napoleon walked up to a girl in the cafeteria and said: “I see your drinking 1%, is that because you think you’re fat?”

 Kahmi’s wife walked out of the theater.

This weekend, I attended The New Yorker Festival in New York City. There were many wonderful events and one could not possibly see them all. Especially since they were all over town at different venues and overlapping times. I can't speak about the authors/artists/musicians that I didn't see, but if they had anywhere near the entertainment value as the ones I did, then I can say with assurance that the Festival was a raging success.

My Events:
Friday night – Stephen King & Michael Chabon
Saturday night – Tracy Chapman
Sunday afternoon – Wallace & Gromit – The Curse of the Were Rabbit

As stated on The New Yorker Festival's Web site, the sixth annual festival planned to be "a celebratory weekend of public discourse on arts and ideas." How exciting! I really don't get enough culture in life. And this was the perfect example of one of those things that I should be doing more of. I've been excited for it ever since mid-August when a co-worker first presented it to me.

Friday night, my friend and I fought the horrible rush hour traffic to rush into Manhattan. In retrospect, we probably should have taken a train but hindsight (as they say) is 20/20. We arrived at the Directors Guild of America Theater about 15 minutes before the show. Now that it was finally here, I was beside myself with jubilance.

Me - Hey, how's it goin'?
Jubilance - Holy cow, man! I mean Wow! Check it out! Look where you are! Yah! Yah! Yah!
Me - Settle down, dude. Keep cool. Act professional.
Jubilance - Oh, you're no fun. I'm going to run around in circles for a little bit.
Me - Um, I'll see you in there.
Jubilance - Ohhhh yeahhhh dude! ... I'm dizzy.

Friday night was the pinnacle of the weekend. It was a little strange being that it was the first event--pinnacles usually come later in the story--but it worked out well. It was what it was. It was Stephen King and Michael Chabon.

I've been a big fan of Mr. King and Mr. Chabon for a long time. I was first introduced to Chabon in college. I was in an Independent Study class (which basically means you get to work on a project of some sort one on one with a professor). I was writing a book (or trying to anyway) and my professor gave me The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. It was Chabon’s first book, one he wrote while attending the University of California, and pursuing his own M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts). My professor told me that my writing style was somewhat similar to Chabon’s and that I could learn a lot from him. While I don’t imagine myself to be anywhere near Chabon's talent, he did teach me a thing or two.