I’m pretty sure every other reporter in America is going to disagree with me on this, but I just love the mass of ridiculous e-mails that flood my inbox come Valentine’s Day.

Presidential conventions used to be the thing of high political theater, combining drama, intrigue and the future of the free nation. Movers and shakers from across the nation would gather in mid-summer to ... well, move and shake — in a political sense, that is; give or take a Kennedy.

Let’s be honest: The Super Bowl is about much more than football. Some years, it’s about the halftime show. Sometimes it’s the GoDaddy commercials. Most of the time, it’s about the beer commercials.

“Up next, it’s the latest from 50-Cent, with Loon-E-Bin, Hi-Tide, Ja Moke, E-Z Pass and Lil’ Fridge, featuring Mama’z Boyz, Kray-Z, Da Nastee, Crystal China, Duke-E Drawz —” Click!

I drove up to the traffic light and braced myself for it to turn red. How did I know it would turn? Because I have been going through that light at least twice a day for several years, and I never once have been able to drive right through it.

Pat Robertson is a funny guy. Not funny-ha ha. Funny in a head-scratching sort of way. Like, what are we to make of his recent comments that Haiti brought that earthquake on itself by making a pact with the devil more than 200 years ago? This is the kind of thing you expect to hear from the guy on the next barstool who’s on his third double.

If you’ve turned on your television set for something other than the NFL playoffs in the past 12 days, you’ve likely seen at least one devastating image coming out of Haiti.

Winter is the quiet time of the year. Perfect for contemplation, catching up on reading or simply counting the stars on a crunchy, moonlit walk through the snow.

If you haven’t blown your New Year’s resolution already, here’s your chance. Jan. 23 might seem like just your ordinary Saturday, but it’s actually very special. It’s National Pie Day. What a concept: An entire day devoted to eating pie. That’s just fantastic.

A famous advertising agency’s Director of Trendspotting (yes, famous advertising agencies have such positions) recently sent us a list of 100 Things to Watch in 2010. The entries run the gamut, from wishful thinking (Alternative Measures of Prosperity) to bad grammar (Spotify) to predictable (“Lost” series finale) to behind the curve (Video).

When the last of the gifts are put away and the final ornament comes down from the tree, it’s time for organizing of a different kind. Yep. It’s tax season.

I tend to make it a full week or more before letting a resolution slide. What I really do is forget about it. It’s not that the resolution itself is so difficult. Remembering to keep it up once the holidays have passed is a far greater challenge.

On the third day after Christmas, friends and family left for me, three tons of cardboard, two sinks of dishes and a roomful of torn-up gift wrap.

It’s Dec. 18 as of this writing, which means there are only — my math was never very good — eight shopping days until Christmas. Last-minute gift-givers are getting a bit desperate. Fret not. We’ve been saving catalogues, news articles and press releases for, oh, two days now so that we can provide some much-needed gift-giving guidance.

More than ever before, online retailers are picking up a piece of the Christmas spending season. I’ve done my fair share of the “sit ‘n shop” routine. Even my mom, who swears she hates the computer, has placed several orders online.