We live in an age of fandom. People cling to their favorite things to the point where they become an obsession. As you read this very sentence, the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees are battling it out in the World Series, and crazed fans from each team are rooting them on like lunatics. (Hours prior to the final National League playoff game, the city of Philadelphia greased the city's lampposts to prevent festive fans from climbing them.)

You probably know plenty of sci fi fanatics, and a few passionate Mac users. We don't need to tell you about the wild Twilight fans who have already bought tickets for the premiere of New Moon next month. And everyone probably knows a Harry Potter or Star Wars geek. But when your friend is a fan, and you are not, it can strain the relationship. We have a few tips to help you deal with your favorite fanboy or fangirl.

Kanye at the VMAs, Serena on the court, Representatives in Congress: 2009 is officially the year of the outburst! If you're considering a meltdown of your own, be careful. There are some situations where you should avoid an outburst at all costs:

Stores are already pushing Christmas merchandise. That can mean only one thing: Halloween season is here! Yes, we know it's still September, but the smell of candy corn in the air has us all excited. We have creepy crawly posts in the works for October, but we just can't wait any longer to kick things off. Let's begin with our list of fifty things that are scarier than vampires!

Unless you play in your school’s orchestra or listen to public radio, chances are you think of classical music as the quiet, tasteful background noise heard in movies, upscale department stores, and scenes in movies that take place in upscale department stores.

It can be hard to jump into classical music if you weren’t raised on it. But all you need to get started is an internet connection and these five great reasons to get obsessed with Bach and Beethoven.

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Twenty years ago, “nerd” was the kind of word that caused students to declare war on each other or start stealing lunch money. Now there are whole groups of people who proudly call themselves nerds. On the first day of school, there were probably at least one or two people in your class who introduced themselves by excitedly talking about what huge nerds they are.

Why has it become so cool to be a huge nerd?

Now that fall is here and summer blockbusters are over, conventional wisdom has it that we'll see smarter, better movies in theaters. Do this fall’s movies look like they’re all that? We preview some of the more promising flicks coming up and investigate what kinds of awesomeness they may have to offer.

"Jennifer’s Body," opening September 18

Famous people involved
This movie stars pin-up girl of the year Megan Fox as well as Amanda Seyfried (the main girl in "Mamma Mia!" and the dumb girl in "Mean Girls"). Seth from "The O.C." is in it, too. Not to mention this is the first movie Diablo Cody has written since "Juno."