Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00pm

A monthly lecture series devoted to making useless knowledge somewhat less useless. Hosted by Charles Star. This month's lectures:

KATHARINE HELLER: Romancing the Self
The romance novel market is one of the largest in the book publishing industry. Katharine examines her own obsession with romantic fiction that began at a young age, and what led her to eventually start writing her own.

FRANCESCO MARCIULIANO: Cats Make the Man: A Feline Guide to Masculinity
A primer to how animals with names like "Scruffles" and "Fluffy" can teach you what it really means to be a man.

ALEX PAREENE: Introduction to Reporting on Crazy Litigious People
When a convicted domestic terrorist and a passel of conservative blogger attorneys are at war, the sensible journalist stays far, far away from the subject. Pareene, neither sensible nor a very good journalist, attempts to explain his attempt to explain the story of Brett Kimberlin.

BRENT SULLIVAN: Profiles in Cowardice
A peek into the psychology behind the fake facebook profile that comedian Brent Sullivan uses to communicate with people he can't communicate with otherwise.

BIOS:

Katharine Heller is an actress and writer living in Brooklyn. She is the playwright of The Boy In The Basement, a stage version of the romance novel she published by the same name, and her one woman show, My Dad's Crazier than Your Dad: A Scientific Inquiry. Katharine is a founding member of the improvised web series Naked in a Fishbowl, and is currently working on her next book, Tickle The Elephant: Erotic Short Stories for Republican Women. You can find her online at www.katharineheller.com.

Francesco Marciuliano is the writer of the syndicated comic strip "Sally Forth" and the Emmy-award winning Head Writer for the kids' show SeeMore's Playhouse. His work has appeared in the Onion News Network, McSweeney's, Smosh, and the New York Fringe Festival and his first book, I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats (Chronicle Books) just debuted on the The New York Times Bestsellers list. He hopes not to offend his cat friends when his next book, I Lose My Mind When You Leave the House and Other Poems by Dogs is published next year.

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon.com and about stuff he is watching on TV for Twitter.com. His eBook, The Rude Guide to Mitt, was released this year.

Brent Sullivan is a writer and stand-up comic who has appeared on Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and is the co-star and co-producer of the web series "It Gets Betterish."

Charles Star is kind of a comedian and kind of a lawyer. He hosts the monthly stand-up showcase "Pant Hoot" at the Lincoln Park Tavern in Brooklyn and will be appearing in the San Francisco Comedy and Burrito Festival. He lawyers at [REDACTED].