: All Protests Should Be This Fun Protest update: we made it out to a No Kings Day protest on Saturday, and it was downright fun. I …
: Quilt Zine Delight A zine came in the mail this week from the writer Sarah McColl: the annual print zine for paid …
: 1,000 True (Sex-Crazed) Fans As inveterate cult-doc heads, we watched the latest cult-doc, Thirst Trap: The Fame. The Fantasy. …
: Portrait of the Father as a Bibliophile Beautiful cover story for the latest issue of The Believer (which we recently subscribed to): Mona …
: The Buffest Chefs Speaking of big vats of yellow liquid, I adore this Youtube series called “Big Batches,” and this …
: Miyazaki on Unchecked Hunger Speaking of ravenous forces in the neighborhood that would, if left unchecked, swallow each and …
: Appeasement and Centrism There are a lot of us who wish we could just give something to the supremacists and it would be …
: Civility and Its Discontents Roxane Gay has a great essay about how “civility—this idea that there is a perfect, polite way to …
: New Mod Walk New Craig Mod “pop-up walk” is nearing its conclusion. He’s walking “100 kilometers south-north …
: Gen. Z Discovers Radio? Promising news from Gen. Z: across the country, college radio stations are overwhelmed with students …
: The kid’s kaleidoscope broke, and I had too much fun pointing the mirrored isosceles triangular …
: This is a few months old now, because I haven’t put out a Lightplay in a bit, but my partner Lisa …
: One of my favorite numbers. (Seen earlier today in Van Nuys.)
: Do you enjoy the occasional pithy, spear-sharp rant? You might like “I Am an AI Hater.” I found this …
: I’ve recommended Benn Jordan’s videos before. “Breaking The Creepy AI in Police Cameras” might be …
: I appreciated this plea for folks to return to making our own websites. It’s not only a good …
: A local establishment—a nudie bar that was actually just a brothel—recently closed. The …
: I enjoyed this podcast interview with a booster for “Dark Retreats”—therapeutic visits to spaces …
: Hopeful Policing News Some hopeful policing news out of Baltimore. The city has seen multiple years in a row of stacking …
: I just read Keep on Going by Austin Kleon (via Xander Beattie), and this passage intrigued me: Me, …
: Who Writes The Streamer Notes? The other day, Apple Music gave me a notification about a new EP: Promises by Lissie. I started …
: My partner and her sister spent much of our trip to Chicago processing many, many boxes of childhood …
: I hope that the scrawler of this graffiti, on a forlorn strip under the L, has found their way to a …
: The Hand The other day, taking a bath, I perched my laptop on the toilet seat and watched “The Hand,” an …
: It was nice to be back in Oak Park, Illinois. That town is never not looking like a frame from a …
: Three Glowing Pillars We recently visited family in Chicago. Flying out, we had a clear view of the Ivanpah Solar Electric …
: Whence Liner Notes Back to music: why can’t the various streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) show liner …
: Also taking an adversarial stance against generative AI? Robin Sloan’s latest zine.
: Adversarial Music Recordings I enjoyed Benn Jordan’s latest video, about creating “adversarial” music designed to trip up AI …
: Noting with pride that when you look at my office on street view, the window talks back. 2020 was …
: Expressive Writing and Trauma For my work podcast, I interviewed the psychologist Stephen Southern about expressive writing—the …
: Shadows Across Alice Coltrane We went to the Alice Coltrane exhibit at the Hammer Museum, and it was both wonderful and …
: Excited for The President Friend-of-Lightplay Alexander Matthews has a new novel coming out, The President, which sounds …
: Something Brewing on the Left Yesterday there was a rally in Downtown LA that drew 36,000 people. It was thrown by Bernie Sanders …
: I got properly got by this James Hoffman coffee video—“The Secrets of My Daily Coffee Routine.” It …
: This chart, from The Economist via Adam Tooze’s Chartbook, has me considering veganism all over …
: Jimmy Butler on My Team As the NBA season winds towards the playoffs, my team, the Golden State Warriors, is currently …
: A Lyric Audio Essay About Connie Converse The latest edition of Sarah McColl’s Lost Art is an audio essay about folk singer Connie Converse. …
: Invoking Mythical Americana to Fight Fascism Yesterday there were “Hands Off!” protests all across the country. We needed them, and we need more …
: These bats! (They remind me of my favorite ant.)
: Did you know you can just grab a pair of scissors, remove the sleeves from any t-shirt, and it …
: Drones Present and Future One last dispatch from our dystopian present: MKBHD has a new video with the clickbait title, “The …
: I’m obsessed with the lower-case e in the font in the bathroom at Astro Burger. Whoah!
: An Evil Use of Emojis The latest scandal from the “losers with aircraft carriers” currently running our federal government …
: Better and Worse AI Girlfriends I can’t say I recommend the breathless AI girlfriend thinkpiece in this week’s New Yorker. It …
: An Electrically Heated Table Check out the instructions for “How to Build an Electrically Heated Table” over at Low-Tech …
: The Generous Mail Carrier I had two reminders in my Notes app for topics to write about: “Our mail carrier giving Orlando and …
: As we wait to see whether Pope Francis will pull through, one more plug from n+1: “The Resurrection …
: Cancelling the Post Speaking of newspapers, I finally canceled my Washington Post subscription. After many last straws, …
: Stealth Editorials In the latest n+1, the opening editorial (about Frederic Jameson and ways of seeing the present and …
: Erin Kissane’s latest essay, “Bad shape,” builds on her work around Meta’s role in the genocide of …
: Chengdu Taste Restaurant recommendation: Chengdu Taste in Alhambra. I haven’t had Chinese food this good since I …
: Connor O'Malley My partner and I first got into the comedian Connor O’Malley through his serialized vertical videos …
: Boy, it’s a terrible, terrible political moment! I’m not focusing Lightplay in that direction right …
: More on Cybertrucks Speaking of these vehicles that are so dangerous to pedestrians that they’re illegal on the entire …
: Kids say the darnedest things; it’s a fact universally acknowledged. Nevertheless, my two-year-old …
: A Perverse, Analytics-Defiled Basketball Project Now, for something completely different! The NBA season is winding towards the playoffs, and my …
: Newsom’s Anti-Trans Heel Turn I’ve avoided politics for many posts, but these days being what they are, I can’t make it any …
: New poem about AI just dropped: “For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper” by Joseph Fasano. Some …
: The Spiral Universe If you’re in LA, you really should go see “The Spiral Universe,” a solo show of artworks by Madam X …
: Queer Country Fundraiser My dear friend Abraham Cohen has been pursuing music as his primary art form for at least as long as …
: The Reproduction of Mussels Did you know that mussels reproduce via broadcast spawning? That on one lucky day, all the mussels …
: More and more I feel that the 2024 election was our Brexit: a razor-thin decision (Brexit: 51.9% v. …
: Love this, from the proceedings of the annual conference of the Association for Computing Machinery …
: Well, I looked it up and now know that the right-facing Washington is a design by Laura Gardin …
: To whoever flipped George Washington on the quarter: why?
: I find it hard to blog while my nation’s democracy burns. Hard to do anything, really. Of …
: Getting up well before dawn—everyone else asleep—and writing in your journal for a while. The small …
: To this person flying an American flag, a Trump 2024 flag, and a Mexican flag, I can only say, good …
: Rat king, unfortunately I have learned what a rat king is and now must tell you that “the strange expression …
: Tooze, Gaza, Scholasticide Today’s installment of Chartbook is vital reading for anyone who cares about schools and …
: Danny Lyons, SNCC, Luigi Mangioni Today while researching the 1960s-era Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, I encountered the …
: This sweet Braun travel alarm clock arrived today. A decade ago I had an even smaller, more modest …
: Ruskin, Crowley, Fairies I found this copy of The King of the Golden River, or The Black Brothers by John Ruskin in my …
: YKWG Launches (Very Softly) Tomorrow Tomorrow I’m posting the first installment of a new project—a short daily podcast called You Know …
: People say the internet is getting worse and worse, but there’s no way I’m not clicking on this.
: The Devil at the Intersection Today I remembered this post I made on January 2nd of last year: With white supremacists …
: Glastonbury, Dragons Who doesn’t love a book with a cover like this? Energy Secrets of Glastonbury Tor by Nicholas R. …
: Lynch in 2-D As an avid reader of Kottke.org, I appreciate that he’s added in comments sections for some …
: A day of ill portent but then right at its end my partner and child and I walked out onto the bluffs …
: Last night I walked around, and this flag, illuminated by a ring of wan LEDs, made me sad. Old …
: Our little family recently came into possession of the book The Night Riders by Matt Furie. First …
: Whomst among us has not had their wealthy bride revealed to be a vampire ready to feast upon them? …
: David Lynch 1946 – 2025 Fix your hearts or die. Now it’s dark. Silencio.
: Gene Luen Yang, Gastroenterology, Video Games I really enjoyed Amy Kurzweil’s interview with the comics artist Gene Luen Yang from the Fall 2023 …
: True Wealth Why isn’t all chocolate sold as gelt? What happy Scrooges we become as we listen to a handful’s …
: Aviv, Munro, Atwood Rachel Aviv’s latest, “Alice Munro’s Passive Voice,” should not be missed. In her book Strangers to …
: Meditation, David Lynch, L.A. A few months back, I started meditating twice a day. None of my previous meditation practices had …
: Making Funky Little Winter Greeting Cards Spent the evening folding up winter greeting letters and stamping our return address onto envelopes. …
: Bitcoin mining is SETI@home for assholes. Arecibo lies in ruins but they’re reopening Three …
: Is part of the popularity of Substack and other newsletters simply the absence of pop-up banners, …
: Nothing but respect for my president.
: Can’t believe some world leaders wake up and think, Seems like WWIII might go rather nicely …
: Grudging respect for this bougainvillea bush that has now twice snatched my hat off my head as I try …
: Hydrangeas, England, July 2024
: Google’s decision to align itself with a government determined to strip its citizens of access …
: … trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes …
: To watch (per JC): Brief Encounters Sunset Boulevard
: To Watch: Poor Things The Sympathizer Shogun The Dark Crystal (again) The Rats of Nimh (again)
: Nine years ago I wrote 1/3 of a near-future science fiction novel. The time frame? Roughly 2024. I …
: I’m happy for this guy and wish him the best, but this blurb does not mean what he or the …
: Putting a pin in this anti-astrology Daring Fireball post, “ECLIPSES SHOULD BE CELEBRATIONS OF …
: I’m skeptical of “101 Pieces of Advice” thingies, and this one like so many is …
: In half-homage to a half-as-old self, I’ve been on a Justice kick. Tonight, I sat down to write and …
: Is there anything quite so audacious and relatable as a bug coming out of nowhere and flying …
: Here I thought lassitude characterized a lippy broad, but no, Webster’s 1913 be like A condition of …
: Languorous, with its long syllables and proliferation of palindromic vowels (“uorou”) has to be near …
: Finally baked some loaves I’m basically pleased with. Sourdough baking occupies this nether space …
: There are ten thousand courses and special programs and tutors that promise to help your child excel …
: Last night I was thinking about this shopping list I found twelve years ago on the back of a twenty, …
: Reading an email newsletter about AI all I can think is, Did an AI write this? My generation of …
: Damn Gene Cernan, a little mid-mission moustache and the glow of having just taken the final …
: Thunder storm over Fairfax High.
: As a Californian, I’m pleased that our voting code insists on proper illocutionary acts. Can …
: Gotta hand it to him, Richard Scarry killed it with Cars and Trucks From A to Z. THIS is the transit …
: I’ve always obeyed the law: the longer it takes me to respond to your email, the brillianter and …
: Found this copied in an old notebook: Kids will devour vast amounts of garbage (and it is good for …
: My sister-in-law is a theater director, and she once told me that a common note she gives actors is: …
: Boring tech update: on desktop I use MarsEdit to post to Micro.blog and thereby to Jasperland and …
: Only just now realized that “no pun intended” is self-refuting, just like, “I’m not arguing with …
: It’s a dismal genre, but I have finally received the Worst Campaign Text Of All Time. “AI developer …
: Concept: a blog where I post a poem I like (someone else’s) every day.
: The big unexpected discovery of my late twenties was the work of fat activists. How deeply diet …
: Walking back from the playground this morning we crossed a patch of sidewalk littered with …
: Whatever happened to automatons? I want not at all the robo-cop-dog nor an “AI” customer service …
: Update on the sourdough starter: a week after switching to 1:10:10 feeding regime, I mixed up some …
: I love it when a big gang of crows flies by, banking in the wind, flapping haphazardly, full of play …
: As a writer, editor, and teacher, the best thing this “AI” craze has given me is a good …
: “Just remember, this is the worst that this technology is going to be from here on out.” …
: Call me a hater, but this book from Offal (“helmed by a CEO operating under the pseudonym …
: Have to say, it’s disappointing when your NBA podcast abruptly pivots to an interview with the host …
: Ha! I have been keeping a sourdough starter going since October, but it hasn’t been lifting my bread …
: Finally some answers in the quest to understand the NYT’s Harvard obsession: One popular …
: West Hollywood, February 2024
: West Hollywood, February 2024
: Saturday morning, coffee and pancakes with the baby, window open, a chill breeze, Kind of Blue on …
: First cake of 2024, an old favorite called Ruins of a Russian Count’s Castle or торт графские …
: So much of my education as a writer of narrative has consisted of asking How do I get from here to …
: At my 33 1/3 birthday party (an excuse to buy a record player) we got back into the face-changing …
: Still life as a millennial creator who is feeling uninspired to add to the blog, the newsletter, the …
: West Hollywood, January 2024
: Listening to Waxahatchee’s new single, her casual, understated harmonies with MJ Lenderman, I …
: The corollary to William Gibson’s famous observation that The future is already here, …
: Today, remembering the greatest Words of Enlightenment ever to grace a GT’s kombucha bottle.
: Quick shoutout to the ravens in my mom’s yard who killed a gopher and now are eating it with a real …
: This suspiciously well-funded NIMBY group somehow got ahold of my email address, to which they now …
: From Abortion, Every Day’s coverage of the case of Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who was …
: “Since 2016, in the last eight years, we can identify 215 individuals that have been buried behind …
: This Colin Fraser piece from almost a year ago on ChatGPT and LLMs is up there with Ted Chang’s …
: With white supremacists successfully bullying the first Black (+ 2nd female) president of Harvard …
: Concept: a tarot deck accompanied by small sculptures and sundries. Each card relates to one of the …
: A web browser but when you click on a broken link it immediately pulls in the latest working cache …
: I like photos that just say one thing. Like: isn’t this shadow beautiful.
: I find myself obscurely annoyed when pedestrians, using a crosswalk over which they have …
: Fascinating to think of the ornamental hermit craze as being not just (literal) garden-variety …
: Reading about the Modi regime’s hacking of journalists and opposition politicians, the story again …
: One drawback of writing with markdown is that I now often prefer the look of asterisk-on-either-side …
: Watching two police cruisers tear down our narrow street, doing 50 in a 25 with their sirens off, I …
: Writing, as I remember it, feels like this: But whenever I actually sit down to write, it feels like …
: On Finding Running Again After a career as a middling but devoted high school cross-country runner, running was one of the …
: Max Read’s stance on Harvard is right-on: “I simply do not care very much about Harvard.” Same.
: Doing extremely custom magazine layouts has a similar itch-scratchy quality to what I imagine draws …
: West Hollywood, December 2023
: You know you’re in your thirties when you’re more likely to put on an album you loved when you were …
: CEASE. FIRE. NOW. 7,500 children dead in Gaza. Six dead children for every Israeli killed in the …
: I’ve been obsessed with the Bulgarian song “Sandansko horo” for half my life now; …
: How about a nice clicky T-9 keyboard that you strap to the front of your iPhone? We could even make …
: Whole wheat sourdough pancakes, fermented overnight, with a teaspoon of baking soda.
: I love the guy in the little cockpit on the back of the extra-long firetruck, with his second …
: Not to be missed: How to Build a Car That Kills People: Cybertruck Edition. I tend to look at cars …
: Just passed another of these cute little delivery robots while out for a run. It was taking up 3/4 …
: Nothing but respect for MY PRESIDENT, the naked writhing modern dance orcs that take over your room …
: Yesterday I wanted to make bread, so I mixed up some leaven. But it got cold, rose too slowly, and I …
: The worst and best part of editing articles is the need to dissolve yourself into the subject, into …
: The cheerfully awestruck tone of the hosts of the corporation-deep-dive podcast Acquired sometimes …
: “Using AI to write is like taking a moped for your morning run. It’s stupid… What AI does is it …
: We’re way too conservative around small, good ideas. (See wild success of NBA’s …
: Ten thousand is the original a hundred billion.
: This immortal faith some have that computers will eventually become advanced enough that we’ll …
: Putting a pin in Relax, Electric Vehicles Really Are the Best Choice for the Climate to send to …
: HondaLink over here giving strong “graphic design is my passion”
: Boomer climate doomerism comes down to this, I think: fear of the unknowable. Now, yes, it’s …
: On Driving a Car That Turns Itself Off Almost a month after our passenger door got crunched by a driver making an incautious right-on-red, …
: Went to a “holiday lights botanical garden” this eve. It was, as advertised, dreamlike. But after …
: A neighbor left a pile of old Gourmet magazines out on their stoop. After a few days walking by …
: High school me: There was once a genocide, a terrible aberration that must never be forgotten. …
: West Hollywood, September 2023
: My idea of the kind of dull task perfect for AI: collecting the programming schedules of all my …
: Highland Park, November 2023
: Just ran into an old post of mine about Mohsin Hamid and writing other subject positions. It …
: When I watch videos of modular synths (for instance: Benn Jordan’s video about tape delay) I …
: COVID vaccine #6, a jab in my right arm at around 4pm yesterday. This morning, arm sore, body achey. …
: There’s something so fun and frantic about working under a print deadline, realizing all the …
: Thinking more about my previous post, I have a new, even more terrifying theory: does the PT in …
: Does the PT in PT cruiser stand for pterodactyl?
: In England do men say things like, “Myself, I’m more of a bosom man”?
: Ma-le’l Dunes, Arcata, October 2023
: Hilarious that the killer app for the “Humane Pin” is that its little camera surveils …
: My brother declares that he’s a pioneer of the digital frontier—and that I’m a digital …
: Ma-le’l Dunes, Arcata, October 2023
: In representative democracy, the votes of citizens determine the rulers. The implied question—who is …
: Our neighbor was tossing old Gourmet magazines. I took one from 2007 with a glorious moody shot of …
: Longtermism’s basic formula seems to be: short-term pain … long-term gain. The main …
: Do you want some of this? has to be one of the greatest threats of all time.
: Still bizarre how many profoundly socialist policies the NBA / NFL / MLB have so franchises stay at …
: I’m presently enjoying calling the almost magical way people with special paper (or large numbers …
: RIP to my beloved “I GOT THIS” socks. Finally had to let them go after one final washing …
: In Game of Thrones the pirate culture folks say they “paid the iron price” for stuff they took by …
: Small request: can we stop giving all of the money to the very richest people? They literally need …
: Somehow, despite being mystified by it, I never until today realized that Sufjan’s The …
: In Evan Osnos’s damning portrait of Xi-ist China he quotes the economist Xu Chenggang: In the …
: I’ve been writing long enough to know that, once I start revising, I will inevitably delete …
: Business idea: pre-selected boxes of touristy tchotchkes that you can order during your holiday, …
: Good morning power lines. Good morning trees. Good morning abandoned construction site. Good morning …
: The ongoing failure of the California and federal political systems to do away with the barbarity of …
: When I was studying Russian in college, my mind was blown to learn that just like English has a …
: “So it’s this condition, a bunch of dander, scalp-area.” “Sounds bad, what shall we call it?” “I …
: Sitting at my computer trying to funnel 10,000 details produced by 50+ people into one coherent, …
: There was this trend, the last two decades, to justify literature’s place in our lives via …
: Something tells me the publicity department behind The Eternal Audience of One by Remy Ngamije …
: Reading the essay, “Why Content is King”, and this passage trips me up: Why should people care if …
: A friend told me she traded her smart phone for a dumb one which only calls and texts. (T9, baby!) …
: Love a good webinar. Webinar. Whoever coined that one must have been like, ‘Oh yeah!’
: The sidewalks in our neighborhood in LA are overrun with cutely designed four-wheeled food delivery …
: Hydrangea, Noyo, September 2023
: Some children’s books make me feel like I just ate mushrooms.
: Pursuant to possible forthcoming leaps in VR, I’m reminded of the sweet idea my dad had a few …
: Whence the Inarticulate Enthusiasm in Early Apple Headset Users? Listening to interviews with folks who’ve tried Apple’s new VR headset (like this …
: Separating Creation and Consumption From Craig Mod in 2019: Here’s another, more subtle, point about the grace of email and …
: Here in our corner of Los Angeles, a key local fixture is this art truck always parked on …
: Whereas bad things come in threes, and Whereas we have been treated to wall-to-wall, unceasing, …
: When I feel bad at posting, I remind myself that these other freaks have been going at it 280 …
: B. S. High, the doc about the fake Columbus high school that was really just a sketchy football …
: Watched the documentary Whirlybird expecting to learn more about the history of helicopter news …
: I spent part of tonight migrating my passwords from LastPass to 1Password and changing the passwords …
: West Hollywood, September 2023
: Easy to forget that, after a fallow period, returning to any activity—blogging, running, writing …
: All these memory-core podcast nerds be like, “That seems impressive but did you know that in …
: With AI tips like these, we may have finally reached the AI hype cycle phase where expectations are …
: If you’re looking to replace your doomscroll with a wholesomehole (?) I heartily recommend Jack …
: Bless the promotional committee that decided to brand Ukiah with the slogan, “Far Out. Nearby.” …
: In case anyone was wondering what kind of mindset inspires the leader of a group backed by a cabal …
: This dropdown from a reader survey for Matt Levine’s wonderful Money Stuff newsletter is the …
: Some universal questions in this very personal Naomi Klein essay about her morbid fascination with …
: Well, it’s been a good run with the interest+payments suspended on my student loans. I for one …
: Another Entry in the Iconic-Weirdo-Documentary Canon There’s this throwaway scene in I Love You Now Die—the documentary about the trial of Michelle …
: Delightfully dystopian scene at Home Depot: • chaotically parked forklifts in every aisle • teenage …
: Saturday was the closing of the Madam X show at Space Ten in Hawthorne. Thangka-like paintings and …
: Costco: Soviet-Style Utopia? Just finished the Acquired episode about Costco, and hearing a detailed breakdown of the business …
: I’ve never liked the way non-stainless fasteners cause redwood to streak. But these irregular, …
: A friend recommends an old book. The book is in French. A quick search reveals there are over a …
: Two months away, and within 24hrs of returning home I start rearranging furniture like a psycho: …
: Renaming Twitter to X is yet another move that I myself would have made when I was eleven. That year …
: I’ve been having lots of good ideas for things to blog about, from little tweet-length things …
: Found this in a stack of photos my grandma took. On the back it says, “We saw the fireboat.”
: I like how the house my dad built kind of looks like a shogun’s keep.
: As I listen to more Hermanos Gutiérrez, I have to say, their debut album has an almost platonically …
: My brother’s partner put on some music, and I was like, Cool, some “Wicked Games” …
: England is a country that takes its hydrangeas extremely seriously, and, you gotta hand it to them, …
: Just realized that everything they say about Scorpios, it’s actually hella true of Libras, we’re …
: I’ve decided to experiment with cross-posting image-only posts from Jasperland to Instagram. …
: Platforms may cannibalize what came before, but eventually they generate their own formats: • …
: One of my favorite things about public school classrooms is the way particularly cool print objects …
: A writer in this weekend’s workshop expressed a pet peeve against the word “that”. …
: I love writing essays and poems, but maybe it’s just because I’ve figured out how. Or …
: Great explanatory power in Talia Lavin’s latest, “The Christian Right’s Deal With …
: I have a confession. I am the “J” who recommended this story about Florida’s free …
: Grateful for “Fatphobia is the literary world’s final frontier” by Emma Copley Eisenberg. Like …
: Online Search and Muscle Memory Finding things on the internet has always been one of the main problems and promises of the …
: Leave behind your ego, Of superego be rid. Only bring government-issued You—unbridled, real id.
: Did I just get fat shamed by a literal PAPER BAG???
: Yesterday we drove from LA to Mendocino. Stopped in Petaluma for burritos, and noticed: more than …
: Need an LA retelling of Give a Mouse a Cookie. Give a Cop a Helicopter
: Someone fashionable spends a lot of money on clothes. Someone stylish dresses in a way that …
: The three years we’ve lived in our apartment, every Saturday has featured the same event: the …
: Vanilla ice cream with stewed peach and olive oil. Eaten, of course, in the bath.
: You might think that being a writer has the occupational hazard of constant papercuts, but, …
: I love the vibe of mechanical keyboards. And, I mean, how cool that they’re back, just like film. A …
: Just realized that “passive income” and “rent-seeking” are synonyms. One is just parasitic …
: Watching Marquese Brownlee on his podcast talking about the shortcomings of FaceTime on the new …
: One of my favorite parts of the “L.A. All-Stars” show at Space Ten were a set of …
: Wow, with so many Reddit groups set to private, the internet legitimately feels smaller. (And …
: We’re lucky as a society to have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of our clearest moral voices. And how …
: Last night, I finally sent out “Healing a Space,", a Lightplay about my neighborhood and …
: At last night’s opening for “L.A. All-Stars” at my favorite gallery, Space Ten, my brother got to …
: After years of following Los Feliz Daycare on Twitter, I did a full double take this afternoon at …
: The concept that aspiring writers must “write every day” has always ground my gears, but I could …
: Love this album cover, the title, and how it looks on YouTube. The music isn’t half-bad, …
: Pacific Design Center, viewed from West Hollywood Park during the WeHo Pride music festival, 2023.
: Like a cherry tree, I too need over a thousand chilling hours before I can produce my great gift.
: easemax (v.), to arrange one’s life and actions in the way that ensures the easiest path and the …
: At some point we spoonerized oatmeal into moat eel. Now every time I eat the stuff I’m …
: It’s nice to wear a hat at the museum, to keep the light out of your eyes.
: A Just Society Wouldn't Need a Sweet James When I first moved to LA, the ubiquitous billboards advertising a figure known as Sweet James …
: In order to actually practice (v.) we must develop a practice (n.). Otherwise we’re just dabbling …
: An introvert, I crave the company of friends but can wear myself out on voices, stories, …
: “Mike DeWine,” screams the German villain, gesturing wildly at the grapes, the press, …
: The siren call to write a scene where your protagonist makes spaghetti, listens to the end of a …
: Feeling affection for the 18-year-old who wrote this, justifying a briefly-updated blog. …
: It’s a pity that the most noted war criminal of my lifetime took “own feet at other end of …
: The distance between exposing a photo and seeing it in full resolution has been narrowing for two …
: Thoughts on Jasperland, Micro.Blog, and Writerly Psychology I’ve been feeling reflective this week—so here are a few reflections on the experience of …
: Anne Trubek in Notes from a Small Press, on her abandoned career in academia: Eighteen years later, …
: Re: 2015 travels in Tibet: The further I get from that trip, the more impressed I am by the photos …
: I re-did the Lightplay archives so each entry has a hyperlinked cover image. In doing so, I realized …
: The scariest words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to decide what …
: Schadenfreude, n., pleasure derived from another’s misfortune. __________, n., relief derived …
: Today in megalomania: Who is the American Bohumil Hrabal? Could I?
: Just re-installed Webster’s 1913 onto the MacOS dictionary app—and it continues to absolutely …
: Jeet Heer in his rebuke of Harvard’s slavering embrace of post-conviction Jeffrey Epstein: …
: The only rocket ship I want is a rowboat full of arugula.
: Great article on dark online patterns that trick you into not unsubscribing. I always thought my …
: Tired: conspicuous consumption Wired: conspicuous consumption of the commons
: A chicken covering “Work” by Rihanna. (Am I telling on myself as a millennial with this joke? (Am I …
: My father once told me his favorite tombstone inscription: What I am you shall become. Sort of the …
: Undoubtedly the best thing among many good things here are the simply enormous hands. But also: the …
: Love these johnny-come-latelies in San Francisco wringing their hands about seeing drug users on the …
: At the bottom of an article on Yahoo News about a gang shooting in LA: a comments section full of …
: Just noticed the Botox lady’s sign is fading. It’s been up for years. Are its days numbered? How sad …
: You know you’re at the post office when the back door features a narrow letter slit. Let‘s gooooo!
: This new study on the climate impact of the LAPD and LASD helicopter fleets (famous nuisance and …
: “We first got together when he was a senior and I was a junior, and we got married back in 2011. …
: Reading the Odyssey, I keep feeling the phantom audience for its oral performance - can hear them …
: I’ve long felt the dichotomy between reading for status/progress/duty and reading for …
: We call meat in a tube a “hot dog” so why is tubal cheese called “string …
: This morning’s realization: shortbread is bulletproof cookie. No, wait. Now I’m hearing …
: The eternal, rhythmic challenge of falling out of routine, recognizing that, and then falling back …
: If these are the guardrails AI requires, we’re totally screwed.
: Taking four months off from writing Lightplay was a necessity—newborns take up all your time!—but it …
: “Email workflow.” You say those two words and you’ve already bored 99% of people. …
: I finally put up my essay “Night/Light” up on my website. (It went out in Lightplay last …
: Taking four months off from writing Lightplay was a necessity—newborns take up all your time!—but it …
: This disaster where a Koch daughter bought lit world power through founding+bankrolling Catapult, …
: Slugging is the new goblin mode
: Little-known fact: orange wine is just bad rosé
: A Chinese balloon! Oh nooooaauuwwrr! They are spying on us with their evil-wrought balloon!
: bought a dozen pencils at the bookstore - came home and sharpened them - now my engineering people …
: Struggling to get hooked on the next book I want to read — then, in bath, suddenly engrossed — …
: My dad just told me the rent on his first place out in the country after leaving LA, at the end of …
: I’m once again thinking of this haiku by Taneda Santōka: 141 busy pulling away at paddy weeds— …
: Sometimes the good feelings curdle. Then it’s time for solitude, and for straining emotion through …
: Reading that no one knows who exploded sections of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 undersea pipelines, I …
: I’m sorry to report that over on the bird site the …
: I’m sorry but scientists have now found “space hurricanes” that are “Over …
: Another capsicin observation: there is a specific, peculiar sensation in your mouth when it is …
: Samin Nosrat talks about “layering fat” in a dish, for instance by adding goat cheese to …
: Today’s announcement that California scientists finally achieved net-positive nuclear fusion …
: In this article about a Central Valley police chief’s breathtaking scheme to get rid of the …
: This War on Cars episode, “Muscle Car City,” explains something I have definitely observed around …
: I am a pathetic social media addict; the only solution I have found is to never log in anywhere. So …
: Was so much enjoying the Jeff Parker ETA IVtet’s Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, that I …
: A poem: A friend sent this over, after a conversation about Stevens. I love the opening line, …
: A poem: – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (tr. Ursula K. Le Guin) How much we love to classify, to tease …
: A passage: – Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed I’m currently profiling Jean Kayira, who …
: In a clumsy attempt to get more caffeine into myself, I have begun drinking a cup of tea between my …
: My obsession with trying new software continues. The thrill of a new interface. The promise that it …
: 12:27am. In the kitchen, the cat carefully opens a cabinet drawer. Stands there, head inside. …
: For me, who just got my first smart watch, the killer feature is—unexpectedly—the moon phase …
: A few days ago, in the early morning, as I held my newborn son, I happened to look out the window to …
: The representative aspect of fiction is entirely valid, but there’s still the transgressive …
: Quit Twitter. While logging out I whispered, “Thank you.” It no longer sparked joy.
: AI v. Mortality Should you possess as your first name a goldilocks name, not ubiquitous yet not entirely obscure, …
: Gotta admit, I am curious how 10x my content production.
: This is what I mean when I say I miss smoking cigarettes.
: I will never understand why album art is almost impossible to see up close in Apple Music / Spotify. …
: Say the horse rapture actually happens. Seems inevitable we’ll pin manes and tails on cows and call …
: When have the Republicans ever fielded so many compelling candidates?
: 10-year anniversary of finding this impromptu shopping list. ✅ bank ✅ lettuce ✅ condoms
: Things looking dicey for E-David
: Acne Elf: My chosen family aren’t ‘Orcs.’ We call ourselves ‘Orucs.’ Pretty Elf: I am going to kill …
: “The Creation of Man(nequin)”
: Two weeks ago I found Dropbox had downloaded 350GB of shared team projects to my comp. Today, found …
: This is a real horse-mill definition for what should be an exciting word.
: Twitter—a haiku contest in a middle school. ‘No, mine is better!’
: Life with electric kettle. Learning its sounds. The cymballine tremble as it gets going. A long …
: Today, I “went for a run” but really jogged—first time since injuring my calf weeks ago. While out, …
: After a few weeks of posting daily, I find myself suddenly skeptical of microblogging. Who is this …
: “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning …
: Every time I get into some new piece of software, I get curious about who is heading up building it. …
: “Hobbits didn’t exist in prehistoric Middle Earth. No. Instead...let’s see, useless nomads with …
: In my timid return to the blasted space that is Twitter, I keep being struck by how much the …
: Just re-read @davekarpf’s great takedown of the big Bezos clock, with its “3.65 million unique …
: I'm finally closing in on a personal salsa verde recipe. Will write about it in Lightplay, but two …
: Being a vacuum really sucks. No, I am NOT being a joker. Sorry if you thought I was. I’m just …
: I’m going through a tiny book / zine phase: —saddle stitched —fewer than 30 pages —lovingly handmade …
: When my grandfather visited in 2000, he set up a space heater to keep the bathroom at 90 degrees. …
: Frolicking in the surf, getting pushed around, diving under waves, water up nose, the big susurrus, …
: “Help! I’m a bunny, you see. And I’m about to be inserted into a giant toaster. Kind friend, is …
: A few days after I delivered a ~15-minute diatribe about how astrology is BS—useful BS—but only as …
: Planners love talking about how new freeways and wider freeways “induce demand” but what’s the term …
: Love to hear rumblings of something, think it sounds like some BS, and then read an exhaustive and …
: Watching The Rings of Power, I keep wishing someone would give the show the Wizard People, Dear …
: A tack-sharp photo of my dashboard. To the license plate reading “DDDADDY”—you may have won this …
: “Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf?” asks last remaining sheep in family targeted by notorious lupine …
: As a writer both half-seduced by and totally unable to see how to actualize the “Thousand True Fans” …
: Sure everyone, including me, a billionaire, would be safer in a society where all prospered. But …
: I’m thinking back to that moment a month ago: wife in labor, I’m driving to the hospital …
: Resisting Development, an Ambiguous Virtue Our society’s got problems, and they’re all the same problem: people who already have things are …
: An enchanted doorway beckons.
: Orc Fashion Icon Steals Heart We’ve been watching The Rings of Power, the new, half-billion-dollar Lord of the Rings spinoff that …
: There's a First Post for Everything For no good reason beyond proclivity, I can’t help myself but try out new software all the time. I’m …
: Funny Yard Signs In a similar vein, I’ve been working on a truth-in-advertising makeover on the ubiquitous liberal …
: Break up the Police Monopoly! I’ve been thinking lately about the reason that the slogan “Defund the Police” became a punching bag …
: Urban Driftwood The second album from the acoustic guitarist Yasmin Williams is a revelation. At turns her playing …
: Nothing But Respect for MY Dune The Academy and seemingly my entire family fell head-over-heels for Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 …
: The Birth and Bust of Phoenix Jones I’ve been listening to a great new podcast by David Weinberg called “The Superhero Complex” that …
: 7x7 Reading on May 7th The great art+writing collaboration magazine 7x7.la is currently holding a show of featured …
: So Long Kinga Browser For many years now instead of running the Chrome or Safari web browsers (made by Google and Apple) …
: Get Out There The writer Kate Folk’s new story collection Out There is full of brilliance, deadpan humor, …
: Sex-Positive Sex Ed? If you ever attended American high school, you may recall taking a brief class that focused on STDs, …
: Miyazaki Swag This outing was a two-mote experience because, as after any good museum show, we couldn’t leave …
: Miyazaki in Los Angeles The newly-opened Academy Museum (of the American Academy of Motion Pictures) has an exhibit …
: Hope in the Forest Have you heard about the protests in Jackson Demonstration State Forest? Many dozens of protestors …
: Profiles in Peace I wrote a long profile of José Ramos-Horta, the 24-year exile and advocate for freedom for East …
: CALLING ALL ANNE RICE STANS – Don’t miss the latest essay by my partner, Lisa Locascio Nighthawk. …
: Update on Espresso Readers of the last installment of Lightplay will know that I love using my moka pot to make …
: I DESIGNED A LIT MAG – The Noyo Review is launching its second edition today (1/29), and you’re …
: NEIL YOUNG, FELLOW ANTI-SPOTIFY TRAVELER – If you don’t want to leave Spotify for software reasons, …