THE LEFT LANE
Honolulu: a great city if you want to snooze

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Some of the criteria used: the number of days residents didn't get enough rest or sleep, the percent of population using nonprescription sleep medication within the last six months and commute time.

Other criteria were the number of days citizens felt sad, blue or depressed, and Sperling's Stress Index (a composite of unemployment rate, divorce rate, suicide rate, extreme weather, and alcohol and tobacco use).

Best cities for sleeping: 1. Honolulu 2. Fresno, Calif. 3. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. 4. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa. 5. San Jose, Calif.

Five worst: 1. New Haven-Meriden, Conn. 2. Rochester, N.Y. 3. Nashville, Tenn. 4. Detroit 5. Orlando, Fla.

How to win friends and maybe get lucky

Have you resolved to find love in 2004? Maybe you need a refresher course. How about a Dating 101 Seminar?

The Art of Charm co-founders David Tasaka and Maureen O'Shaughnessy are holding workshops this month to help daters brush up on such skills as finding a date and handling various dating situations. The seminar is noon to 4 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Yum Yum Tree Restaurant, Ward Center. It costs $20, which includes lunch.

Information: Call Tasaka at 941-4800 or check the Web site, www.theartofcharm.com.

Homestarrunner.com winning rave reviews

It was one of Nielsen's top three humor sites last fall. The New York Times called it a "seamless, richly nuanced animated universe ... a place not of indie sarcasm but of pop innocence, where the mentality of the characters is at fifth-grade level."

Influences? " 'Peanuts' cartoons, Japanese anime and Atari video games," says the Times.

The site features clips, videos, games such, a catalog of characters and a spot where Strong Bad, the villain, responds to e-mail.

Local angle: Check out the "meatless luau."

Correction: Strong Bad is the villain on the homestarrunner.com Web site. The character's name was wrong in a previous version of this column.