morning walk with my beau

“It’s hard for me to cede conversation time” - @hollypelesky.bsky.social

do you remember the night we invented a new kind of dance party? you alone had headphones and I curated songs for you: Jessie Murph. Red Hot Chili Peppers (sorry). And hearing nothing, I could only guess the rhythm, could only read your body, could only go your way. Ain’t that how it is?

13-yo: I learned a Greek god story last year @hollypelesky.bsky.social: Which god? 13-yo: Dionysus H: Niiiice

my 12-yo has become a prolific playlister (nearly every day: “dad, I have a new playlist out”). but the titles are often more interesting than the playlists themselves. a sampling of this found poetry: “hey babe” “this group” “modal of love” “night shift at college” “wicked man” “hippie women”

"They say that religion is for people who don't want to go to hell and spirituality is for people who have been there and don't want to go back, so I write about beautiful things because I don't want to go back." (Carvell Wallace, Another Word for Love)

Sleeping Woman (1961) by Richard Diebenkorn

It's genuinely kind of funny that people were mad about Bad Bunny not singing in English when the first song Kid Rock played begins as so: Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy / Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie / Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy / Said the boogie, sai

"our venn diagram of what we think is funny is me" — the ever gracious @hollypelesky.bsky.social

"Comfort. Comfort, for all else is futility." (George Saunders, Vigil)

Carvell Wallace: "Look at the earth, how it insists itself upon our buildings and shopping malls and golf courses and hiking trails. Look at how we have tried for centuries to overwhelm the earth and instead the earth has overwhelmed us, calmly, innocently, and with all the tender savagery

working in a collegiate writing center (like any job) can be tedious at times. but when students—like the one in front of me—bring research topics they're really passionate about ... yeah, it makes for a satisfying day.

“I can’t wait to make your google search history a poem,” she said

she signs her name in radio waves

“I’m not saying she’s worse than AI. I’m saying she is AI” - my partner, the literary critic

A little something I wrote to our VP for #smallpoemsunday. (All love to @tomsnarsky.bsky.social for the weekly curatorial goodness.)

On this week’s @griersonleitch.bsky.social, @williamfleitch.bsky.social imagines/wishes for a First Reformed sequel and I’m so very in

fwiw*, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio is more American than I am (*I absolutely hate the question, but since the worst people™️ insist on bringing it up)

I’m a writer who loves sports (mainly ⚾️ and 🏀) which means I’m privy to multiple worlds of social media. Writers/artists/et al, I love y’all. You’re my people. But let’s put it like this: all the “oh heavens, is there a sporting match today?” content is no less annoying than sports content itself.

First poetry acceptance of the year. This is Aarik’s Super Bowl Sunday. All love, @lamplitmag.bsky.social

J.D. Nelson @madverse.bsky.social

sometimes when she’s high, she sings CCM songs from the ‘90s

I’m collecting an *extensive* list of Holly quotations that I hope to publish someday. That is to say, I’ve written like five down in the last few minutes.

was saving the new Ratboys for a moment of unbroken attention and, just a few songs in, damn. few artists sound engaged in the same way.

LFG

This cannot be reformed.

1. It was not an accident. 2. It was not a staffer. 3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia. 4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares. 5. His base agrees with him. 6. He will do it again. 7. No one in power will hold him accountable.

6/2/26 - nocturn

this new @mandyindiana.bsky.social album rules so hard

Thread from one of our finest writers

"we'll add character ... b/c we are characters," my partner, as we do some preliminary house hunting

my girl knows her shit. she's guided me to so many new(-to-me) favorite writers.

today's journalism news = another reminder of one of the most important lessons I've learned as an adult: you can love the institution but, brother, the institution doesn't have to love you back (and probably never will)

sitting around watching people post ai-generated caricatures of themselves at work while tech companies are using ai to make caricatures of our work.

It’s a bad day to be someone who wants to believe in the power of good writing.

It's not, though. To do their best work, amazing reporters need not only stuff like health insurance, but also editors, fact-checkers, IT support, equipment, security and training in hostile environments, lawyers, brilliant colleagues of every stripe... losing that infrastructure is devastating.

my journalism school mentor posited that journalism *should* inherently be a liberal pursuit not because of partisan politics but bc it’s meant to challenge the status quo. spent most of school and my career and now noticing how often it doesn’t live up to that (primarily bc of capitalism …

she just duct-taped the soppressata package back together. *swoon*

I know the world’s on fire, but I had the best day’s work I’ve had yet in Omaha, and now I get to come home to my favorite person. Don’t diminish the small triumphs. Let the really human moments count.

first time in 15 (?) years I'm not covering true/false. life, she changes. deadline.com/2026/02/true...

two wolves, etc

sometimes she holds her pencil like a jazz drummer holds their sticks

Tell me when you find the misprint I just found on the Otis Redding album I’ve had for forever ever

Self-Portrait (c. 1900–02) shows young Hopper as Robert Henri's student. His plain, steady gaze and subdued palette show his early instinct to put careful observation over decorative flourish.

Sunday drive, Iowa

hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism

I worry that as we narrow the range of what we can talk about, think about, spend our time on, our ability to make expansive art and language shrinks, too, and so does our ability then to solve big problems and think creatively - all of which is the terrible point of fascism

I’m driving past the fireworks outlet. I’m driving past the cigarette shop. I’m driving past the highly flammable combination fireworks and cigarette shop.

v excited to get back to my partner after two days away for myriad reasons. but right now she’s reading me catcher in the rye before bed (my first time) and the sheer delight in her voice is pulling me down the interstate.

This goes for pretty much any profession, actually.