Joshua Rigsby

They Knew. I shotgunned Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson when it came out yesterday. I’m not sure why. I wanted some closure maybe. I wanted someone to blame. I wasn’t exactly shocked…

A review of Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.

“You’re acting paranoid. No one’s out to get you. You should go on a hike to improve your mental health.”

Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT

Love Màs I sent a photo of this sign to my wife. It made me laugh. Yet, the longer I thought about it, the more it felt wrong. Everything it claims is false. The missing product is neither Mexican nor is it…

An ekphrastic poem about a sign I saw one time in the drive thru line at Taco Bell.

thepickledcucumber.com/2025/05/08/l...

ME: hey what's up

MC ESCHER: i have no idea

At the Tennessee Writer’s Workshop today! I’d love to connect if you’re here too.

Gonna take this opportunity to say that I can personally deliver no script for as little as 7 million, and I know some other writers who can do it for as little as five million.

Practicing the Gentle Art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu For the past several months I have been attending a white belt beginner class in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am not entirely sure why I started. I was bored at the time. I wanted to do something new. Ne…

In which your favorite unathletic bookstore owner attempts to practice the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/26/p...

The only thing that can stop a bad man with a trebuchet is a good man with a trebuchet. On higher ground. With better aim. And prep time.

Tea Clipper Novel Status: Queries Aweigh! Well, I’ve done it. The deed is done. I’ve crossed the Rubicon. The die is cast. Qué será será. Like a good neighbor State Farm is there. I’ve sent out my first query letters for …

In which I describe my recent foray into the world of querying literary agents, and also making the case that Trump is only interested in Greenland because of the mercator projection.

Why not subscribe while you're there?

thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/05/t...

There is rampant pessimism in the field, with lifelong educators believing it's not a question of *if* but *when* those funds will disappear again, this time for good. My wife will lose her job, and the health insurance that literally keeps her alive.

Should Musk or one of his goons not like (or just as likely, not *understand*) early childhood education as a project, the entire nationwide system for ensuring toddlers are safe and educated in schools will disappear overnight.

While after 48 hours of rampant chaos, DECAL was able to regain access to the funds, there is no guarantee this won't happen again tomorrow, meaning the entire nationwide infrastructure for early childhood education is in peril.

Last week we woke up to discover that DECAL had been locked out of the computer systems which access federal funds and had to immediately stop all payments to preschools. They scrounged enough cash to pay the state employees, but only barely. Preschools began to close their doors overnight.

My wife works for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, which is in charge of ensuring that preschools in the state are safe and actively teaching students instead of functioning as glorified daycares. Despite being a state-run agency, they are federally-funded. 🧵…

The 5am Club – The Worst Book Ever Written Due to my professional obligations, I occasionally read self-help books. Recently, it was The 5am Club by Robin Sharma, a pretty awful book by almost every imaginable metric.  Look, writing is…

Behold my latest blog post in which I make my case that The 5am Club by Robin Sharma is the worst book ever written in the English language on a philosophical, rhetorical, and allegorical level. I dry heave just thinking about it. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/29/t...

Reading it now. So good!

@justinmcelroy.bsky.social *munch squad mouth noises*

I’ve Been Poisoned I got food poisoning this week. Holy shit, guys. No one told me you’ve never truly had your assed kicked until it’s been kicked FROM THE INSIDE. Let me take you back to last Friday, whe…

In which I describe my recent foray into the psychedelic world of food poisoning.

lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.

Happy Birthday! Wild that Shaq sent me this as well.

Tea Clipper Novel Status: The Writing Group I have been working on a novel about the great tea clipper races since 2008. It has been a long voyage. Lots of rewrites and editing. It seems, perhaps, finally, to be heading toward home port. Aft…

Update on the nearly twenty year saga to publish my first novel. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/15/t...

what the fuck are we doing anymore yes this is about social media

I received this in a small group chat of flustered writers, and I think it's good and bleak and conveys some thoughts and feelings a lot of people are having!

Writing tip: After you finish, go back & cut all the adverbs. Then all the adjectives. Then all the other words. Eat the paper. Now you're free.

Here in Georgia there is the tiniest chance of a snow flurry tomorrow and everyone’s out here prepping like it’s the second coming of William T. Sherman.

Some (Additional) Thoughts on Cabbage Patch's Babyland General Hospital now available at thepickledcucumber.com.

Several years ago, my kids saw billboards for Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital and were intrigued. We were not prepared.

This, however, was just the beginning...

Why Pickles, and also, Why Blog at All? I can hear you asking. I can hear the incredulity whirring behind your crinkled eyebrows. Why, exactly, would someone restart a blog? A blog? A web-log? You say. Seems a bit old fashioned, doesn&#8…

Y Pickles, Tho?
It’s a fair question, and one that I don’t have a great answer to. There’s nothing to the title, really, other than a pickled cucumber is just… eh… it’s a pickle. That’s it. A little semi-tautology for you. A little briny tongue in cheek.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/06/w...

Cabbage Patch BabyLand General Hospital — The Atlas Obscura Podcast Writer Joshua Rigsby takes a very strange journey into the birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids. After he returns, he can never look at the dolls the same way again. Read Joshua’s essay about his trip to ...

Not exactly sure how I became some kind of unofficial spokesperson for the “Live Birth” experience at Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital, but the chat I had with the folks at Atlas Obscura about it is now available on their podcast feed. #pushpushpush overcast.fm/+AAqnU2cAMt8

Black and white portrait of James Baldwin sitting before a bookshelf with his cheek resting on his palm, gazing off somewhere. Photo by Ted Thai for LIFE

“Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex: you thought of nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other things if you did.”

James Baldwin

I restarted my blog yesterday and this morning woke up to an email from a longtime subscriber in Melbourne welcoming me back and wishing me well in my writing endeavors. What a wonderful thing for someone to do.