Laura Blegen

Winner!

Being so absurdly funny so you forget why it's frightening is kind of Chuck Wendig's M.O.

"The staircase was narrow, and doubled back on itself every twelve steps or so. There was some kind of railing, or maybe you'd call it a half-wall, separating the stairs themselves from the gaping yaw of gravity between the flights."

Turns out, this is kind of a fun writing prompt. (see the comments, and add your own terrible, glorious, or hilarious description of a staircase!)

Some days, writing is fun and easy.

Other days, you* can't figure out how to describe a staircase.

*I

Photo of a calico cat, sitting on a red tree skirt, with her head poked up past the lowest branch of an artificial Christmas tree. She is failing at looking innocent.

What could possibly go wrong?

I would like to wish a cozy snowy day to everyone in my county,

except for the asshole who carefully shoveled every square inch of his two-car driveway, and didn't even glance at the sidewalk.

YouTube video by vlogbrothers The Meaning of Life with Hank and John

When was the last time you asked a friend about the meaning of life? Thanks to @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social and @hankgreen.bsky.social, I found myself wishing I could just drop that question into casual conversation and just keep asking until someone answers...

youtu.be/6OalVsc8SH4?...

I have an old friend from college who used to ask people to name five things they like about themselves, and he wouldn't count it if you said something like, "People say that I'm..."

I'm pretty sure the "holiday bug" is the original con crud.

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Haha... I was especially motivated, because I took a break in early October, and came back to a big blank slate where I thought I'd left a project.

The second-best feeling to actually taking a four-day weekend is the feeling of sitting down to work, and discovering that I actually left myself all of the right notes so I could get back into the flow without much faffing about.

I don't think I've ever read a movie review that made me want to see a movie more than this has.

Every time people think they're being clever when they've really just invented a worse version of the public library...

Why yes, I did "self care" my way out of a pre-holiday stress-attack.

How? My definition of self care includes saying "Maybe Later" to goals that were too ambitious, being compassionate about my limitations, and rearranging my plans to make sure I keep my body moving.

It's 6:30.

I've been awake for 3 hours already, for no reason other than the fact that my brain is sometimes an asshole.

Ugh.

My little corner of the U.S. treats Thanksgiving like it's a full week-long holiday, and I find that very strange.

(Most employers don't, actually, but all the schools are out all week, so people *act* like it's abnormal to keep working)

Now taking bets on whether Bezos is in the files.

Every once in a while, someone that I knew in an earlier moment of my life has a standout success that hits the news.

It often triggers some "what might have been" thinking, but it's impossible to trace all the choices I've made since then, so I always come back to loving my life now, instead.

Ah, there's the sound of constant screaming in my mind.

Lately, I've seen a couple of journalists doing interesting work about people's lost trust in journalism, and how the industry could respond.

I wonder if the tech industry will ever have that awakening.

Yum. Last weekend, while I was busy, my husband made toffee chocolate chunk cookies with homemade toffee, which were delicious, but (he says) pretty labor intensive

It's been a long time since I've taken on a random baking project. So, I find myself wondering what I could bake this weekend.

Does it make any difference whatsoever that next week is Thanksgiving, and that "Holiday Treat" season will be well underway?

It should, but it doesn't.

I know that feeling. I wish I could magic your cake for you

😂🤣

Someone posts about experiencing vertigo.

Cue: somebody else recommending the epley maneuver without being asked for advice.

Honestly, all the "medical experts" on the internet make me real tired.

Oh thank goodness. The only thing keeping me from drinking Monster up until now was that it wasn't...

*checks notes*

... dumb enough?

Update: Two concerts. Both went well *for the choir*.

I barely remember the first one, because my adult angst and my college angst mixed together into one heck of an adrenaline cocktail.

The second one was fun, though. I'll figure this out.