Ben Alper has written material for Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, and other comedians who have appeared on shows like the “Tonight Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman.” His Web site Nothing Personal Ads & Advice spoofs online dating, and dating and relationships in general. He is a political commentator as well as an op-ed columnist. His life story was the inspiration for "Cops: Season Five."

Monica Collins, former TV critic for USA Today and the Boston Herald, has written about the media for various other publications. She watches copious amounts of cable and is now particularly stuck on HGTV's real estate shows -- think "House Hunters" and "Designed To Sell" -- as well as Bravo's "Project Runway." She cries through "Animal Cops" and laughs during Jon Stewart and "South Park." Collins urges the "Queer Eye" guys to pack it in and begs HBO to resurrect "The Comeback."

Spike Loveless may or may not exist outside the mind of David Lennon, his caretaker and only friend. Since being “discovered” by Lennon in 1987, panhandling outside a liquor store in Boston’s South End, this unique talent has become renowned for his practical, no-nonsense writing on human relationships.

While no records exist to prove it, Loveless claims to have studied writing and literature at Oxford University and to hold a doctorate from the Mimi Lessinger University of Ballet. So far as anyone knows, he’s never worked a day in his life and currently lives in Lennon’s garage. He is a strict vegan who subsists on a diet of Jack Daniels and American Spirit cigarettes.

David Lennon is a graphic designer and would-be author who grew up in the dangerous Boston suburb of Weston. He is a shameless self-promoter who is not above using this space to push his business interests in Maine -- The Kennebunkport Inn (www.kennebunkportinn.com), Beach Grass (www.beachgrassshop.com) and The Coastal House (www.thecoastalhouse.com), or to seek representation for the two crime/thriller novels he’s written and would desperately love to sell.

In his spare time he writes songs and dreams up movie and TV series ideas, primarily to amuse himself. His motto is: “If someone would pay me to write fun shit I’d dump this graphic design gig in a second.”

Jim Macri grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts and moved to Medford after being chased out of Somerville by an angry mob. He is a faceless bureaucrat in the life insurance industry, and hopes to purchase a face as soon as he starts making decent money. His hobbies are reading, overeating, and raising pet dust mites.

Mitra Farmand is a recently laid off programmer/analyst in Somerville, MA. She started drawing cartoons about a year ago and now she can't stop. She invites you to check out her all cartoon web site and her silly blog.