The NY Times is using Spike TV market research as the basis of front-page (in the Style section, but still) articles.

Not so long ago Sawyer's callousness would have made him a villain, but on "Lost," he is sympathetic, a man whose penchant for dispensing Darwinian truths over kindnesses drives not only the action but the show's underlying theme, that in the social chaos of the modern world, the only sensible reflex is self-interest.

Perhaps not coincidentally Sawyer is also the character on the show with whom young men most identify, according to research conducted by the upstart male-oriented network Spike TV, which interviewed thousands of young men to determine what that coveted and elusive demographic likes most in its television shows.

Spike found that men responded not only to brave and extremely competent leads but to a menagerie of characters with strikingly antisocial tendencies: Dr. Gregory House, a Vicodin-popping physician on Fox's "House"; Michael Scofield on "Prison Break," who is out to help his brother escape from jail; and Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis on "The Shield," a tough-guy cop who won't hesitate to beat a suspect senseless. Tony Soprano is their patron saint, and like Tony, within the confines of their shows, they are all "good guys."

Gary A. Randall, a producer who helped create "Melrose Place," is developing a show called "Paradise Salvage," about two friends who discover a treasure map, for Spike TV. He said the proliferation of antisocial protagonists came from a concerted effort by networks to channel the frustrations of modern men.

"It's about comprehending from an entertainment point of view that men are living a very complex conundrum today," he said. "We're supposed to be sensitive and evolved and yet still in touch with our Neanderthal, animalistic, macho side." Watching a deeply flawed male character who nevertheless prevails, Mr. Randall argued, makes men feel better about their own flaws and internal conflicts.

"You think, 'It's O.K. to go to a strip club and have a couple of beers with your buddies and still go home to your wife and baby and live with yourself,' " he said.

What Nilly said.

Also, don't feel like a traitor if people are directly screwing you over. Seriously. I'm no older sister, but still.

And, I beg you, why am I still awake? I should be happily asleep. But can I sleep? No.

Kat was awake over 2 hours after I was. Weird.

ita, that does sound incredibly irritating. I hope your migrain goes away and that the people you work with grow up.

ita, this will probably sound naive, but can you call a special meeting just to vent lay out all these problems in a forceful way to others on the team? Like words to the effect of, "This project is in peril. We are in serious trouble, and unless there are some major changes to the way that (some) people have been performing, we blah blah blah doomcakes...."

tommy, I just scheduled that meeting for 9am tomorrow morning. Email to one manager exhorting us all getting on the same page has been sent out. Before the Monday meeting, I will make a call to the other manager of team members and reiterate the doom-and-gloom-let's-pull-together requirements.

I am not the capable one. I am the slack one. Why aren't people paying more attention?

I've done all I can do before sunrise on a Sunday. And I've brewed myself some camomile tea, and will go lie down, either with a comic or Bleak House, and try and unwind.

Good luck, ita.

I vote for the comic.

I vote Bleak House! I love Bleak House. I need to re-read it.

And I've brewed myself some camomile tea, and will go lie down, either with a comic or Bleak House, and try and unwind.

You deserve the Best Weekend Ever after the morrning you've just had. Good plan to re-start the day, though. Good luck with that.

It was weird, Perkins. But I realized this is the first time since mid August that I haven't had a deadline looming. Even on my previous weeks off, I still had things due within a week so even on my off weekends, I was feeling mostly stressed out.

Last night, it was just about the chill and dostuff tat needed doing, things that I kept thinking "wait until you have a moment."

My head is stuffy and I have a cough. Sigh. Typical.

ita, I vote comic book. and then a massage at Burke Williams.