This dog shopping at the meat counter was hands down the best thing I saw out in the world last weekend. Laser focus. Paws gripping the bar. The way his sweet brown belly rhymes with the hams in the case.

I've gotten repeated voicemails on my university phone this semester trying to sell me an AI service that would enable me to comment on a student essay in "less than ninety seconds." Appalling. Students, here's the thing: I would NEVER. I will never.

Yes! Isn't it amazing?!

Occasionally, at Beautiful Things, we ask the author if they have a photo they want to share. This was such a week. ❤️🌸

Recommend!

In case anyone is wondering what I want for my birthday

Sharing this writing advice from the Poet delivered generously and often in our own home: "Make it shorter and less boring."

If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages

i wrote about the amazing new Sinead O'Connor anthology for Salon. it is absolutely a celebration of life, both Sinead's and each of the writers: www.salon.com/2025/08/05/a...

Did y’all do your Wordle today? 💕

Chicagolanders! @sonyahuber.bsky.social will be Zooming into @wgntv.com in the next hour (?) talking about NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU: WHAT SINEAD O'CONNOR MEANS TO US. (Not me bc union rules prohibit Zoom interviews w/folks within 30 miles of Chicago. Which is fine by me bc I am uncomfortable on TV!)

I have determined that the best part of publishing a book--after, you know, the life altering and enriching process of WRITING the book--is when those real blurbs come in that help you to know you connected your brain and heart to another human's brain and heart.

Today's the day! Check out our collective love letter to Sinéad O'Connor--and if you're in Brooklyn, by all means:

If you're not a subscriber to Beautiful Things, my goodness, what are you waiting for?! I mean, we're making beauty and giving it away over here. For free. Every Monday.

I hope you'll read this beautiful thing by @ishmish17.bsky.social about nurture and healing and "what might come next."

You know you want to . . .

Oh Cloo. What a good boy. What a beautiful thing, Jax.

Got soaked to the skin, but I’m not made of sugar. Not even close. #NoKings

NonfictionNOW is this week at Notre Dame University! Here is where you can find River Teeth. #NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal #LitMag #LiteraryCommunity #WritingCommunity

En route to Notre Dame! Who’s going to be there?!

Looking so forward to seeing old friends & new at NonfictioNow next week: right here in Indiana! @riverteeth.bsky.social

My 59yo brother Ian died 2 weeks ago of a progressive lung disease; our parents separated when I was a toddler, & passed between them as we were, Ian was the only other human on this earth with whom I shared a memory for our childhood, our own language. I am missing him & finding him everywhere.

If you haven’t listened, give yourself a treat! I happen to know that Lindsey comes in at minute 24:30 🐊

"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I'm saying? Does it also feel this way to you?" ~ Kazuo Ishiguro

Applications are open for my next Essay Collection Incubator—an intensive 10-session class designed to help you complete & revise a full manuscript. There will be workshops, generative- & revision-focused assignments, & class visits w/ authors, agents, & editors. Apply by 6/4! bit.ly/4iYMEj3

Lindsey reading her alligator essay to me? Yes, please.

22 years ago on this date: Since it was Good Friday, the courthouse was closed, so my poet & I tied the knot in a park. And then there was work to be done--and love. These things are still true.

Ashland MFA folks: come for a poetry/cnf reunion!

Every act of courage matters @jjfreyd.bsky.social

What's most significant about today's day of action is the sheer number of locations where protests took place -- more than 1000 towns and cities, all over the country. That's only happened one or two times before *in all of American history.*

Hey, @dintywmoore.bsky.social. Thank you thank you thank you for the brilliance and love and endless hours you've put into editing lo these many years.

Part 3. So now y'all know. @dintywmoore.bsky.social was right.

Acting loudly, clearly, and with courage is deeply powerful. Thank you, @booker.senate.gov. Heard. You are so inspiring.

@riverteeth now has a fund to support our teaching of literary editing & help us become a paying market. Instead of encouraging donations with a pie in my face, we're releasing never-before-seen cut sections from my 2008 @dintywmoore.bsky.social essay, "The Sloth." Here's the first!

If you haven't read this essay, check it out! And happy #OneBallStateDay!

Today's the day, AWP friends. We're going to have a blast. Come laugh with us. cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_ful...

True story. And I am really feeling this year at AWP this year 📚💕

Such a valuable, voice-amplifying resource

The interns in the @riverteeth.bsky.social literary editing class wanted to know how we handle so many submissions; happily, I'd suffered a monstrous subconjunctival hemorrhage that morning, so I could say, "We read until our eyeballs bleed." I thought I was hilarious. They looked kind of terrified.

Maggie got a snowy walk for her 7th birthday ❄️❄️❄️

Thank you, Robbie, and all the amazing, dedicated folks @therumpus.net (looking at you, @darcyjaygagnon.bsky.social). I'm over the moon 🌔

Grateful for the Skylab ❤️🚀🕸️

Soggy skirt? Dampened bows? Tis the season for me to remind you that the very best tree-watering vessel is an empty wine bottle. Pick a pretty one🎄❤️💦

Once it becomes impossible to extract any more money, the project gets abandoned no matter how much intangible value it creates. Left unchecked, this system devours us all. We have to recognize values beyond money.

Here's a fantastic curated list for all you essay lovers out there

"One of the reasons that I write is because I'm more interested in looking, as opposed to looking away." ~ Terry McMillan

Putting the finishing touches on my space spiders slideshow! @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social @kelceyervick.bsky.social

Mark’s new book is in the world 🔥🔥🔥

I'm coming up to read to y'all, South Bend friends. Big thanks to @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social for inviting me! @kelceyervick.bsky.social @dionneirving.bsky.social

Kate was in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota when I was the coordinator there waaaay back at the turn of the century. (Am I patting myself on the back for publishing this Beautiful Thing on a day I assumed would be cold, but maybe not THIS cold? Why yes. Yes I am.)