There are two kinds of writers: writers who know exactly what they want to write about, and then write; and writers who discover that birds have sub-atomic magnet particles in their eyes to correspond with the earth’s magnetic compass so now they need to change their whole book to fit that fact in

God it was so wonderful liking a book or a movie or a play or a band before social media

It is so funny and perfect that Venezuela beat the US in the World Baseball Classic, love to see it

truly believe that it’s unhealthy to have a take on every single topic. It’s Good Actually for there to be discourse that you are not informed on

Man it was a good year for movies, despite studios’ attempts to fuck the industry up as much as possible, people really do still make good films and love good films

They deserved this since Fruitvale Station

I am so, so, so happy for PTA, he’s so brilliant and such a joyful filmmaker and he just loves the medium so deeply and every film he makes is doing something totally different and he’s deserved this award for so long

They’ve always been good people!

New favorite Oscars gown (okay second favorite after the saffron Michelle Williams gown)

In a few weeks I’ll be teaching one of my favorite workshops, on using the forms found in fairy tales to apply to any creative writing to open up new possibilities. It’s always highly generative! writingworkshops.com/products/onc...

Resort wear? In this economy?

Ok so I am really enjoying On the Calculation of Volume, it’s a beautifully written book, but it’s also driving me insane because it’s breaking one of my cardinal writing rules: just ignoring the internet exists!

Watched Guys and Dolls last night and was annoyed anew at how Vivian Blaine, Sinatra, Jean Simmons, and Stubby Kaye all understood the assignment and Brando just stands there like a boring lump, “singing.” Simmons is so charming and he’s so lifeless it even renders him (almost) unattractive

'Where has the horse gone? where is the rider? where is the giver of gold? Where are the seats of the feast? where are the joys of the hall? O the bright cup! O the brave warrior! O the glory of princes! How the time passed away, slipped into nightfall as if it had never been!'

My insane but also true opinion: in temperate climates, jeans season is even shorter than jacket season; there is only a tiny temperature window in which jeans are comfortable and not too hot or too cold

A horror movie where the gorgeous older star of a horror movie about society’s obsession with women’s youth and perfection becomes obsessed with youth and perfection and ends up looking like a horror movie

Okay. 90s style was cool not because every looked the fucking same, but because you could actually express your OWN SENSE OF STYLE. Most things were thrifted, so you picked out your own skirt, your own giant flannel, your own weird message tee. You wore your mom’s old bell bottoms.

Everyone is too skinny and it is giving me heroin chic ptsd, I cannot do this bullshit again you guys

I really do feel bad for millennials more than anyone because of this. We Gen Xers didn’t believe in anything, except that we’d probably be dead by 35, so we’re not disappointed by much and have no real ambitions. But millennials were raised to achieve shit and care, and that sucks for them

With all apologies to Woolf and all the casualties of both world wars, “I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times”

I can't fucking believe we're doing this again.

This is exactly it - but worse, because we have a Mad King AND we have the ability to REMOVE him from power - and GOP Congress won’t do it

I know this feels pointless but everyone has to call their congressional reps and say they oppose war with Iran and they oppose Trump illegally starting one without congressional approval — both 5 Calls can help you make the call: 5calls.org/issue/iran-i...

More Weird Book Recommendations :) Featuring: @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social Karen Russell @johnchrostek.com @cynthiasaysboo.bsky.social @ambersparks.bsky.social And this other guy several of you vaguely know because of your associations on the internet :)

Oh my god

NEW: Guards have taken away crayons, colored pencils & paper during recent room searches at Dilley, according to detainees and others. After one inspection, the children just “cried and cried and cried,” a mother said. The facility denies the claims. By @mckenziefunk.com @micarosenberg.bsky.social

My red hot, timely contribution to the Wuthering Heights discourse: the latest film is just popular rich girl trying to co-opt weird girl culture

So many things about adult life have been terribly disappointing but I’ll tell you what, the surprising life trajectory of Flavor Flav is not one of those things

I feel like whatever the hell Emerald Fennell is trying to do with her films, Lana Del Rey is doing successfully just by living her best life

Has anyone in the history of the world ever used the word “surefire” in an actual conversation, also no

Never not humbling when you remember a person who was old when you were young so you look them up to see if they’re still alive and they’re like 70 now

I know it makes me insane but I like Dulles; it’s the closest I feel like I’ll ever get to that moon lounge in 2001: A Space Odyssey

My driver’s ed instructor once made me drive him to Subway so he could get a sub sandwich

And if you’re wondering “Why is there a blob in the back?” Well, that’s where the first woman president was supposed to go. More than a century later, it remains unsculpted.

As a person who loves his films this contrarian shit is really trying my patience

My theory of the moment: The extraordinary courage of ordinary people in places like Minneapolis is reawakening us to our social and economic ties to immigrants. It's making "love thy neighbor" cool again. That's the ultimate antidote to MAGA hate. Thoughts on this: newrepublic.com/article/2059...

New call for submissions from @barrelhouse.bsky.social: The Aftermath. We're looking for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art about what happens AFTER the big story is over and life goes back to "normal" (or whatever counts as "normal"). More details here:

I had such a good time at Franklin Park, as always - wish I could be there for the March bash!

Aside from the obvious racism and idiocy of this, the idea that the English, the Scots, and the Irish are a homogeneous culture is just amazingly hilarious

I was just talking to @tmcallister.bsky.social about the early days of the literary internet and how writers used to have these blogs and debates about craft and style and all the weird shit we cared so earnestly about - and then I read this and I felt so sad for us all but especially young people

A reunion decades in the making! Back in December, Kevin, Bill, Beez and Patrick got together to adjust and calibrate the bots we used for the Kickstarter video. Support all future bot repairs on our Kickstarter: rifftraxmakesmst3k.com

I really enjoyed that short sweet spot in the late 90s where we didn’t equate good taste with money or power, where *anyone* could have good taste - and when you could also shame people for having bad taste as is good and proper

I am going to scream but I can’t scream because I’ll never stop screaming

It happened to me: I brought one book on a one day trip and I finished it before the trip was over

I wrote about why I'm skeptical of that AI author earning six figures pumping out 200 books a year story, but also about how authors might need to surf above the waves of slop countercraft.substack.com/p/surfs-up-i...

Reading the intro to @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social edition of Lisa Tuttle’s My Death (which is incredible, please read) and I’m sorry what now

“Everything you tell me now, I hear for the first time in my life,” is such a better and funnier answer than “is there a sportsball happening”

Tomorrow night! Come out, come out, Brooklyn, come get warm with words

The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children

In an interview with an art critic in the 1920s, Barnett Freedman is quoted as saying 'There’s nothing I hate more than fresh air and wide open spaces. I love London and the people who live in it. ' This very populated painting was made in 1913.