: 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 …