Apropos of my last Substack, here's Alice at the beach. It's all about the ears. #dogs #writing open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

Alice has a man’s engineer brain: slow, but methodical, starting at the beginning and walking step-by-step to the conclusion, no matter how obvious to the rest of us from the start. #writing #dogs #writingcommunity piecesofstring.substack.com/p/if-not-dog...

Bougie beagle is done with this April sleet bullshit. #dogs #writers #writingcommunity

It’s a book of short stories, something I’ve never written before, linked only by their location—a small town by the sea—and the fact that the local building inspector dies in each story. #writingcommunity #writing #writers #books piecesofstring.substack.com/p/back-at-th...

Jesus.

For the last four, maybe five weeks, I’ve been buffering, unable to work on anything. Unable to do anything, really, but vegetate. It’s a weird, disconcerting feeling. But also, why? #writing #writingcommunity

This is the only house I’ve lived in without the ghosts that cradle and insulate, rustle in the beams and boards, and act as flying buttresses, arching up and into the place, holding it steady as it collects more memories, more people, and more stories. #writers open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

@massgovernor.bsky.social California just joined the World Health Organization through their response network. You’re being weak on ICE. Will you be strong on our health? #leadership #democrats

Let this be a lesson to all you younger writers out there: Create as much chaos as you can, and take notes. You might need it for the material. #writing #writingcommunity open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

She says so much saying nothing at all. #dogs #writingcommunity #cold

The hideous, semi-hairless creature I’d agreed to foster was a nightmare. There was no way I was keeping this thing, which was perfect. I put her in the car. #huffpost #writing #writingcommunity #dogs www.huffpost.com/entry/empty-...

Happy mid-December! Everything is terrible and nothing is OK. The mojo is bad right now; it’s heavy and it’s looming, waiting to finish suffocating anything below when its miasma rolls in. #writing #writers #depression #winter open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

“You’re not really leaving” is not true. The house will remain, but my cradle will not. The safety will not. And each drawer that I empty feels like a knife sliding slickly between my ribs and into my core. #writingcommunity #writing #home #dogs open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

The cold. My fault. Also not sharing dinner enough. #dogs #writingcommunity #writers

She said “Andy, you’re better than your past” In written or song form... this speaks to a lifetime, a relationship, a bittersweet acceptance, a forgiveness, and so much more. #writing #writingcommunity #jasonisbell #music piecesofstring.substack.com/p/seeking-mu...

It's a Bumble Beagle! Or a Beagle Bee... #Provincetown #writingcommunity #writers

Maybe Springsteen and “Tougher Than the Rest” are rising again because his weary testament to possibilities speaks for a lot of Americans at the moment. #springsteen @cogwbur.bsky.social www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

Fixed that headline for you, media people. #Trump #shutdown

The title decides if an editor will even open your email. Look, Taylor, we like the piece, but we’ve re-titled it, “Leaving My Red Scarf Behind: How dating an older man ruined my self-esteem.” “All Too Well” just doesn’t say anything. #writingcommunity #writers open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

Your grandfather will chase the protesting cook away when you waste five eggs by breaking the yolks. Then seven, eight, eleven. He will celebrate your two perfect eggs ... the best he’s ever had, he tells you brevitymag.com/current-issu... @dintywmoore.bsky.social @writingcommunity.bsky.social

So anyway, about those Epstein files...

She might eat the Kleenex. Or the jelly beans. Or both. Mostly just checking to see if I’ve noticed. #writingcommunity #writers #dogs

July sunrise #provincetown #writingcommunity #writing

Will not move to the shade. Does this so that people passing by will accuse me of animal abuse. Opens one eye after they say “poor thing” and looks at me. #writingcommunity #dogs

Full bloom summer #writingcommunity #writing #provincetown

How the hell is it already the end of June? And I haven't sent out any queries yet... Is it possible to be allergic to querying? #dogs #writingcommunity #writing

Early morning beagle discovery. #dogs #writingcommunity #writers

But right now, in this moment, my slutty arms and I are donning white shirts, bringing out the jewelry every day, and feeling like yes, I can do this one more time before I die. I do have permission to feel this kind of free. #writingcommunity #writing piecesofstring.substack.com/p/falling-ba...

...A nor’easter hit, with fifty-five mile per hour winds and driving rain...when I looked outside that first night, anxious that she was somehow not OK, she was standing strong, enthusiastically howling into the gale. #writingcommunity #writers #dogs open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

In the early morning I saw a mother fox on her hind legs, sniffing the statue. “What fresh hell is this,” I could almost hear, “All the tourists with their Frenchies aren’t bad enough? #writingcommunity #writers #writing open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

One of the things that’s kept me from writing more in my life was the feeling that it was self-indulgent. My inability to stay away from it, or to simply do it and keep it to myself, was proof of my narcissism. #writing #writingcommunity #authors open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

We’d been talking with my father, going over the plan for spring-loading the one arm of his he does not want cremated when he dies. That one arm he wants rigged to burst up out of the ground when people approach his grave. #writing #writingcommunity #substack open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

The paradox of heavy drugs. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, give me ten more. All I’m saying is, we didn’t have all these problems with cocaine and vodka. Do better, Big Pharma. #writingcommunity #writing #writers open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

The granddogs contemplating higher math #dogs #writingcommunity

D. H, Lawrence liked to climb Mulberry trees nude to stimulate his imagination. It stimulated more than that. #writingcommunity #writing #writers piecesofstring.substack.com/p/platform

Just another leisurely walk with the beagle on a sunny day. #writingcommunity #dogs

“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I see them all the time.” ~ Sherman Alexie #writing #writers #authors #shermanalexie

Nearly 2% of the US population took part in the protests. It was meaningful. But it was not a threat to anyone in charge. We know this, because no police presence was detailed. No riot gear, riot gates, horseback-led tear gas squads. #writing #writers piecesofstring.substack.com/p/when-youre...

When you have the audacity to accidentally wake up the dog that deliberately woke you up at 3:00 am. #dogs #puppies #writing

I’m giving Skylight a try whether or not TikTok is shuttered again next week. It’s Bluesky adjacent.

Fact

I've thought about releasing FAT (Fuck All That - Just Train Your Dog), but wasn't sure who would want Certified FAT Instructor, CFATI, on their cards. I'm announcing the launch of PAT - Passive Aggressive Training -developed with you especially in mind. piecesofstring.substack.com/p/pat-redux

Time zones are so weird. In the Spain it's 10:00 am, in Egypt it’s 12:00 pm, and in America it's 1939 #trump #fascism

Welcome to the USA. Government courtesy of Temu.

As death matches went, this wasn’t the worst. All the Changed had to do to grow their ranks was touch someone — anyone unprotected by the hazmat-like suits, their expanding forms straining under the fabric, which gave way and grew with them. open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

I’ll take two

The smallest man who ever lived #taylorswift #fucktrump #ukraine

What the US has done is unforgivable. #ukraine #fucktrump