The Sweet Smell of Retail

THE BIG PROFILE

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Jimmy Kimmel accepts that his new 11:35 p.m. time slot obliges him to compete with his comedy idol, David Letterman. “If Nolan Ryan is pitching to you,” Kimmel says, “you still have to try to hit the ball, no matter how many baseball cards of him you might have in your bedroom or posters on the wall.” Jay Leno, he says, presents a different threat: “He’s like Jason in ‘Friday the 13th.’ He seems to pop up just when you think he’s dead. He comes back to life, and he’s got a hatchet.”

THE MEH LIST: Not Hot, Not Not, Just Meh

By SAMANTHA HENIG

Simpson-Bowles

Fingerless gloves

Chris Bosh

Marbled rye*

Bath Jacuzzis

“My resolution is to go to more museums.”

Additional reporting by Libby Gery

*From @LilSuzyGrnbrg via #mehlist

OUT OF THE DARK

By MAUD NEWTON

Fans have missed Renata Adler since “Irreparable Harm” (2004). Now NYRB Classics is reissuing her novels “Pitch Dark” and “Speedboat.” Erik Maza says on WWD.com that she has returned to prickly form, reviewing a biography of Saul Steinberg for Town & Country. She says her friend’s life should be left to “people with histories, minds and imaginations comparable to his own.”

BEYOND THE SHAKE WEIGHT

By TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER

It has been a week since New Year’s — how’s that new exercise regimen going? If the answer is nowhere, you’re not alone. Often we base resolutions on the recommendations of epidemiologists, which are “probably at too high a standard,” says Michelle Segar, a psychologist at the University of Michigan. “We’re better off teaching people about the continuum and asking them to start from where they are.” Just make sure your continuum does not include a Segway for mall browsing.

WASHINGTON MONUMENTS: DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY

By MATT BAI

In the wake of Mitt Romney’s defeat, the G.O.P. is planning an attack on the Electoral College. Since Democrats denounced it after losing in 2000 and 2004, you might think it would be a bipartisan issue. But it’s a fact of our era that the losers whine about the rules while the winners act as if they will never lose again. Anyway, someone should remind Republicans that their guy lost the popular vote by nearly four points.