Wasn’t sure if I was doing the right things today until my mom sent a $2 pair of pants to me from the afterlife

Every time I turn on the Olympics I think of the group vacation Freddie Miles probably should have invited Tom Ripley on, even though it would have been a little weird

Just opted to throw out my very first skeet draft 🎉

I fucking love this story -- go read it. Bravo, @libbycudmore.bsky.social! www.brownhoundpress.com/stories/libb...

Speaking of Barrelhouse submission calls run by my students (that's what everyone's talking about today, right?) we've got another one coming VERY SOON. This semester, a cohort of MFA students at Temple will be editing an online issue of the journal, and they've settled on a theme: The Aftermath

@aaronburch.bsky.social, reading the upcoming HAD sub call made me realize what's wrong w/ a piece I've been messing with for so long, I was going to put in my last will & testament for some unfortunate soul to try fixing. As always, don't know how/why these things happen, but thanks all the same 🍺

We have a new online issue! Selected and edited by students at Temple University, under the guidance of @mikeingram.bsky.social www.barrelhousemag.com/online-lit/t...

Drinking diet Mountain Dew Baja Blast, fondly remembering the Barrelhouse Writer Camp where no one could explain what it tastes like. I still can’t. (The can now says “tropical lime” but, no.)

My dad’s presided over more than a thousand weddings and agrees that one definitely topped being in a helicopter over Niagara Falls

“So there’s an eagle, and it’s sitting on the horse, and it goes all Pegasus, freeeeeebiiiiird yeahhhhh”

When you let the other cat be a little toolshed for way too long this morning and the subsequent penalty is providing a hand pillow for the affected party

i have been made aware that an Olympic figure skater for Kazakhstan does a Dune themed routine in a full stillsuit and he is now my personal hero

10/10 ICE protest sign

Today’s thrift store catch-and-release about which I’ll have the most regret

I don’t remember class names so I’ll do 5 things from college I refer back to a lot. 1. Everything from a week long campus protest 2. How GC/MS testing works 3. Don’t apologize for what you’re about to say 4. Irish revolutionary James Connolly was a badass 5. Context, context, context

I get that there's jokes here. There should be jokes! But as someone who no longer statistically counts as unemployed because it's been so long? I'm VERY fortunate that (so far) I haven't had to consider this. I also have some depressing theories about why the "requirements" are what they are.

Going through Royal Family trading cards from 1993 and we definitely are living in the future in more ways than one

Once I stepped on a bus and the bottom hem of my dress, popping 75% of the buttons that held it closed. Clutched the dress around me, scrambled to a seat. Woman silently reached into her purse, handed me a tin of safety pins. It’s been years but I think of her often and hope she is doing well.

I grew up in WNY so for at least the next week and even though I don’t really watch sportsball, I’m a Patriots fan

Area Woman Said ‘Sorry’ 118 Times Yesterday https://theonion.com/area-woman-said-sorry-118-times-yesterday-1819576089/

Animal Crossing is at its best when you have one islander who tried to take over Brewster’s during COVID and their coffee sucked and now no one really talks to them, not even Sherb

Teaching & writing pals: Green Blotter Literary Magazine is open for submissions of poetry, prose, & visual art from students enrolled in undergraduate programs anywhere in the world until Jan 20! Full submission guidelines are here: wordpress.lvc.edu/greenblotter/

Minor on the general scale of things, but: Is there a name for the style of content design that's "you might think this looks okay, but soon you'll see a site that has genuinely good design and realize it totally sucks" besides Dot Gov?

Learning about famous person death solely by use of past tense in a post on a social media platform they likely hated = 👍

We loved this interview with George Saunders in the New York Times! Check it out, and then make sure you have your tickets for his event at Symphony Space on Jan 27. He'll be talking about his new book, Vigil, with Suleika Jaouad. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/m...

I want to live so that if someone shows me who I am it does not enrage me.

This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.

Laughing at the notion that any Bills game in northern/central Florida in January is an “away” game

Tips from someone who’s written surveys, for no particular reason: - Consider the likely goal (hint: it’s not “get real answers,” sweet summer child) - Consider every answer you give in light of that, including demographics. - Highly quotable one liners make the C suite report easier to compile.

In case you don't know what a Legal Observer is: www.nlg.org/massdefensep...

Hey @barrelhouse.bsky.social is open for submissions for proposals for craft workshops or panel discussions at our DC conference on 4/18/26. Pays $50. We're looking for *useful* workshops, panels, whatevers on craft, editing, publishing, writing life. www.barrelhousemag.com/submission-i...

Watched non-streaming TV for the first time in what seems like years tonight. The old gang at Chopped now hangs out on something called Wildcard Kitchen? And they call Jeffrey Zakarian “JZ”?

Accidentally opened someone's LinkedIn profile, so insert just about any Indiana Jones gif here

May everyone who celebrates today end up as the old guy at CVS loudly ranting at his eye rolling son about how hand sanitizer is bullshit, thereby reminding everyone else in the store that we should also pick up some hand sanitizer

It was a 2025 goal of mine to send new work to @aaronburch.bsky.social for Short Story, Long and I'm so happy he liked "Home is a Relative Term" enough to give it a, well, home! It's a story of suburban existentialism, queer panic, and a desire for connection. open.substack.com/pub/ashortst...

Unpopular niche opinion: I spend enough time in /r/notebooks downvoting posts like “I’m so angry my $300 P*per Republic/Louise C*rmen notebook has an imperfection in its leather” that despite the problems, this lands.

I thought I hated “impact” as a verb. But now, it’s totally holding the beer of “It’s not x, it’s y.”

I know dependency on phones is evil but realized just now I put heavy bags on the other shoulder to free up Phone Hand, which is no joke when you have sciatica, so there’s that

If you haven't started, no time like the present? STARTING NOW! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I’m at a crowded B&N, quietly facing out your books when I see them

A really great choice of nemesis is someone whose biggest revelation of the day will be that there's now a brand of paper towels that has perforations horizontally AND vertically

Just had our first morning check-in -- great to meet so many cabin folks. If you've registered, come to the afternoon session at 4pm ET! If you haven't yet? Spend today writing, fill out the form on this page by 3:30pm ET, watch email, and you'll be good to go: www.barrelhousemag.com/writeins

Just sent out info to everyone who's going to Imagine Cabins this week! If you registered but didn't get an invite, please DM us. (And if going to a make-believe cabin in the woods to get some writing done sounds awesome, there's still time to sign up here: www.barrelhousemag.com/writeins )

Here is your annual reminder that the real villain in Home Alone is Kevin’s uncle

Don’t go in that room, right now I have the excuse that it’s a mess because I’m wrapping presents in it but really you shouldn’t ever go in there, ever

22 Dec 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- FDA letter to 12 companies making chest binders says they are violating the law by not registering them as "medical devices." No word yet if FDA is also going after sports companies who make sports bras or manufacturers of popular "minimizer" bras.

One episode of All’s Fair was enough to make me very much want a spin-off show that only features the firm’s administrative and paralegal staff

Why are there a thousand covers of George’s and Mariah’s but not Billy’s, never Billy’s? youtu.be/Av1RWo85Fr0?...

More good news: WE'RE GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER! Two more Wade & Jacks books -- the sequel to NEGATIVE GIRL & a collection of the short stories -- are forthcoming from @ruadanbooks.bsky.social! ruadanbooks.com/author-libby...

there are so many more important things happening but I believe my inspired-by-a-true-story book about a teen model whose life changes when a man in power decides she should be his should be outselling Olivia Nuzzi’s book. if you agree, it makes a great gift www.harpercollins.com/products/the...