Folks, I did it. I made the Cooks Illustrated competing pear crisps, and then I made my friends judge them blind.

This is a great video on the Dropout ARG, and it explains more than a few things I didn't know because the playerbase...creatively circumvented it, at the time. (I even get a quick namecheck towards the end, which was a really sweet thing to do)

Masquerade Lotto: worst case, I get a fancy ticket! (Lotto number redacted)

Book Twins! I like that the cover designs echo the two* distinct futures of the book.

What do you MEAN there's a surprise Unus Annus livestream now?

Thank goodness I saw it too late, I absolutely would have bought that Taylor Swift cat plush

Just learned that Nebula has a documentary on the Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Everybody, thank @joebirdwell.bsky.social for doing friendshipping well.

Brennan Lee Mulligan recently gave an interview about how he manages his workload across all the projects he's involved in at the moment, and it's stuck with me quite a bit.

Got to catch a new short film from @whykevinwhyyy.bsky.social, AND hang out with both @tromboneknuckles.bsky.social and @vluisasantiago.bsky.social? A darn fine day.

My copy of "Strength of the Few" just came in! I remain beyond proud of my colleagues for creating reversible covers for the sequel, so that fans of the self pub edition can still have a consistent look and feel on their shelves.

My chums over at @atypicalartists.co have just launched the Kickstarter for their upcoming show PHANTOM PULSE. I love audio dramas and musicals and ghost stories so my itches are thoroughly scratched: www.kickstarter.com/projects/aty...

Isekai-themed puzzle hunt???

I think everybody should encourage @andrea.bsky.social to invest in gecko costumes. By that I mean costumes for her gecko, although if this leads to the alternative instead I wouldn't complain.

Finished up researching for tomorrow's election, and I feel confident in my choices! I am also reassured that the candidate(s) I'd like to back is the one I saw consistently pounding the proverbial pavement. Didn't drive my decision, but made me feel better about it once I reached an answer.

Did you ever wonder why Stephen Sondheim made a cameo appearance in Knives Out: Glass Onion, or what inspired movies like Michael Douglas' "The Game" and Disney's "Midnight Madness"? Both of those answers can be found in the book "Matching Minds with Sondheim". Here's a review, explaining why.

Muppets (and Rob) on Broadway!!!

Went to do an immersive thing today. Because it was happening in the streets, we were given a "safe word" call and response, to confirm if someone was part of the game. If we say a word to an actor, they have a response they have to say.

I got my first Minute Cryptic without hints! Minute Cryptic - 1 November, 2025 "Seductive, romantic guy dumped after ‘mid’ sex" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (22,065 solvers so far). www.minutecryptic.com

Continued plea to stop saying "I solved the puzzle with ChatGPT" if you don't independently validate it works. It almost never does. (A new Minecraft ARG has gone viral, and the claims are particularly bad for that type of thing)

Oh hey, would you look at that! unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/schedu...

Luring colleagues into my office with "would you like to smell the Garlic Book", like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. ...only with a book. That continues to smell of garlic. Two weeks later.

Finally caved and installed Minute Cryptic. I will confront my fears, at least for now.

Out of all the things that could recreate the manic energy of following Blaseball almost entirely through Internet Posts, I was not expecting actual baseball.

...after checking out the Now You See Me popup, I went to the Drama Book Shop to pay homage to the "Matching Minds with Sondheim" popup.

Waiting to see a not so secret magic show!

A video game update destroyed two billion dollars in perceived value.

Rant time, because when I'm disappointed in the internet I need to make it other people's problems. A fan project for Gravity Falls launched on the other text app (FloridaSeaWatch), and it's kind of incredible. They made an absolutely gorgeous book as centerpiece for it. Top notch work.

"How online did you have to be, to be a watcher?" The staging of this live podcast is impeccable.

Excitement abounds!

Saving my Excel docs in XLS format from now on, so I can claim they're artisanal.

Field Notes x Mystery League are offering a free murder mystery booklet with all orders placed today! -mja

Security, at the book event tonight: "why do you have dice in your bag?" Me, helpfully: "they're loaded!" (Honestly surprised he didn't ask about the rubber ducks or 3D printed Moo Deng)

Has anybody else found themselves less reliant on / interested in site analytics? The scrapers are getting aggressive (and unlabeled) enough that sometimes it feels like instead of separating wheat from the chaff, you're looking for needles in the haystack.

I solved not one, but TWO book puzzles! Really proud of myself right now.

Me an international Art Police officer grabbing a thief surrounded by his spoils. "I have you at last! Jail for you! For ten thousand years!" Art Thief "But I'm using it to train my AI." Me. "Me, oh, sorry, be about your business. I'll close the door on my way out."

Tickets secured for Muppets on Broadway! It's gonna be a busy month, but no month is too busy for magical Muppets.

POOR LIFE CHOICES UPDATE: The garlic book is 10x smellier than I ever imagined. It's a punch to the face even before removing the shrinkwrap. A promise was made, and the product delivered. www.hellmanns.com/us/en/craven...

Elan Lee regales old ARG stories!

Just learned about "Democracy Sausages" and I don't think the stickers are doing it for me any more.

Just so you know, you should probably be posting more pictures of your cat (or dog (or bunny (or gecko)))

Two different coworkers told me "Michael, you just taught me the word leetspeak" in the last week. The worst part of that? It was for two different reasons. Excuse me while I wallow in Extremely Online.

There is an ARGish thing that is being all mysterious but also asking for credit card information for a monthly recurring charge. And...um, you kind of need to build trust and accountability for that, first.

Spicy romance arrived today, and garlicky romance should arrive tomorrow! It's a good week for books.

good news! we've successfully addressed the problem where people were getting too emotionally entangled with our chatbot. we're happy to announce you'll be able to fuck it soon

...what if I bought another bookcase. The last one I got is probably lonely, right?

Blumhouse really came through for Blumfest 2025, I'm glad I stayed. Surprise animatronic guests! Theorist casting! An extremely enthusiastic Matthew Lillard!

One year ago today, I threatened @dylansindelar.bsky.social physically for stealing my identity. Happy anniversary, name thief. (I say, waiting in the standby line for Blumfest: NYCC)

...just had a very dumb and fun idea that I hope Future Michael can pull off.

Magic panel: we get a 5-Color Good Stuff deck, for TMNT!