Carl Pettit
Carl Pettit is a columnist, editor and writer working for an array of colorful publications. He specializes in cultural and social issues, as well as East Asia, politics and satire.
Carl Pettit
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5 Ways to Lower Your Taxes You Might Not Know About
The next six weeks are known as Tax Season, and we've come up with a few ways to lower your bill that you might not know about.
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5 Ways to Improve Your Car’s Gas Mileage
Nowadays, perhaps more than ever, maximizing your car's gas mileage is vital—practically, economically and environmentally.
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Winter Driving Advice — 5 Important Things You Should Know
Even though we’re already well into the winter driving season, it’s never too late to learn a little more, or get a brief refresher course on how to handle the cold season's particular difficulties.
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5 Strange and Colorful Local Thanksgiving Traditions
The holidays can bring out people's stranger sides, and Thanksgiving is no exception.
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5 Thanksgiving Myths Debunked — Pilgrims Didn’t Wear Buckles? (And More)
Thanksgiving, which we've been celebrating in America for centuries now, is a time of family, food and, especially, tradition. Even so, many of the stories we take as gospel about this wonderful holiday—wonderful if you’re not endlessly bickering with your relatives, that is—aren’t true at all. Myth, legend and wishful thinking play into a lot of the misconceptions surrounding Turkey Day.
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5 Fun Facts About Turkeys — Yes, They Can Fly (and Change Color)
Thanksgiving is almost here, which means we start seeing turkeys everywhere—on TV, in our children's school drawings, running through our dreams every single night while we sleep ... you get the idea. And eventually these poor turkeys will be inside many of our overstuffed stomachs as well.
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5 Creepy Urban Legends to Spook You This Halloween
Ah, Halloween: the one time of year when it’s completely appropriate to scare the fecal matter out of loved ones and friends. If your goal is to make sure children can’t sleep at night, a disturbing urban legend is just the ammunition you need.
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Halloween’s Strange Origins — 5 More Things You Might Not Know
If you still haven’t had your fill of Halloween trivia, we have a few more fun and eyebrow-raising spooky holiday facts for you. October 31 is a day—and especially a night—full of spine-tingling surprises. With a bit of Halloween knowledge under your belt, you can impress your friends, as well as the ghost and ghouls wandering around your neighborhood, with your detailed knowledge of jack-o'-lanterns and creepy, All Hallows' Eve history.
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A Brief History of Witches, From Wicked to Sexy
The season of the witch is upon us. Time to brush up on your history—these evil green-skinned sorcerers aren't necessarily what you think. For example, they aren't evil, green-skinned or sorcerers. (Well, maybe some are, but not usually.)
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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Vampires
Everyone knows that vampires suck … your blood!!!! Seriously though, do you know the history behind modern vampire lore? These creatures of the night have been lurking around for a very long time, although the princes and princesses of darkness have taken on different guises and mythologies throughout the ages.
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Halloween’s Strange Origins — 5 Things You Might Not Know
These days Halloween is all Naughty This and Sexy That, but the roots of our spookiest holiday's traditions—from pumpkins to trick-or-treating—run deep, their origins reaching back thousands of years to pre-Christian pagan festivals and superstitions. These quirky bits of trivia about the history of Halloween should help you better appreciate all the ghouls and witches wandering about (and your hoard of candy):
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5 Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About the Backyard: Swings, Climbing Walls and More
If you want to get your kids outside, away from their Xbox or Wii, and interested in some of your backyard garden projects, you’ll probably need to be somewhat inventive with your gardening ideas. Pulling weeds and planting flowerbeds just won’t cut it for most of children. Think incentive here.
We have some ideas.