The author also has the good sense to know what to do with this quote, which is, run it high: “When the water hasn’t frozen and the boat’s not sinking, it’s really not that bad.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time the literate public has been introduced to funny people who live in boats in Boston Harbor. The New Yorker led a long piece a year ago by introducing us to a Russian expat who now now lives nautically.

That dude doesn’t float around town because it’s trendy or cheap, though. He views his boat as a “survival capsule,” because, he argues, “we don’t have to wait long before sail-based transportation is the only option.” He’s a dystopian awaiting the end of the world. With a bitchin’ skyline view.

Back in February, this blog noted the appearance of a kids-smoking-pipes trend story in the Wall Street Journal.

It was accompanied by one of those old-tymey stippled illustrations of a pipe – one that was captioned, simply, “PIPE.”

Today marks the appearance of a different trend, and a different inanimate object is now on the receiving end of stippled portraiture.

The hottt new trend: Adults mangling their own heads, and the heads of their family members, in the name of saving $10 at the barber shop.

It’s illustrated by what is likely the most serious treatment of a set of Wahl clippers, ever, in the history of time.

The article has all the hallmarks of a great trend story – a shocking lede (“Dan Nemets, a sophomore at Central Michigan University, likes the TV show Family Guy, heavy-metal musician Ozzy Osbourne and a good pipe), invocations of Facebook, a near-total absence of objective data to support the trend in question (“No one tracks how many young men and women are pipe smokers. But sales of pipe tobacco are rising again after years of decline, and many think young smokers are the reason”), and above-the-fold placement of total D-bags (“‘For me to have an iPhone in one hand and a pipe in the other is not unusual,’ [some reprehensible human being] says”).

But – BUT! – for me, the highlight isn’t the trend-mongering itself. It’s the stippled illustration that accompanies the story – a drawing of a pipe, captioned, simply, “PIPE.” Without it, the reader would truly be lost.