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April Is Once Again the Cruelest Month
Two years ago, on a beautiful April Wednesday not unlike today, I got laid off from my job at Instagram. If you've never gotten laid off but have always been curious what the experience is like, here's the closest approximation: Think of a time when you
Don't Tweet Back in Anger
When something sets you off, where do you feel it? I don't mean emotionally. I mean: Where do you feel it in your body? Maybe this is a weird question to you, something no one has ever asked you to think about before. Me, I first feel it
The Great Validation Pact
Many, many years ago, I read a novel called Fool on the Hill. It's by Matt Ruff, whom you may know better as the author of Lovecraft Country, the novel that was optioned for the HBO series. Fool on the Hill was Ruff's first novel, which
Another Turn of the Screw
While I try to avoid too much meta commentary (vs Meta commentary) in this newsletter, here's a confession: occasionally I don't know what I'm going to write about until Wednesday morning rolls around, whereupon I sit down and wait for inspiration to strike. And
What is it We're Looking For?
A couple of years ago, I fell completely and totally in love with tennis. Not playing it (yet), but watching it. For years I'd wanted to get into tennis because so many of my friends loved it, but – this is not a joke – every year at the end
Beyond the Valley of the Douchebags
At the end of 2023, a friend of mine texted to ask me, "Do you like biographies? I just read the most incredible biography of J. Edgar Hoover." It says a lot about our friendship that I didn't immediately laugh at this confession, because that hasn&
Ungamify Your Brain
As I mentioned in last week's post, I started noodling around on the topic of "ungamifying" my brain. At the time, it felt kind of dumb and boring. I worried that I was just repeating what other people were saying. But over the week I thought
Some Thoughts on Shouting Into the Void
It's been exactly one month since I moved off Substack. I really wanted to write about that today, but I wrote 1700 words that felt disjointed, so I hit pause. Then I tried instead to write about de-gamifying our brains, but honestly, that idea was so boring and
Friction is Necessary Resistance
This will likely come as no surprise, but I love a good theory. Scientific theory, philosophical theory, art theory, literary theory: You name it and I'm probably interested in learning about it. I might not agree with it, I might think it's wrong, but I will
We Don't Need No Innovation
About a year ago, I gave in and bought an Apple Watch. If I'm honest, I'm not really sure what I "gave in" to, because I never really wanted an Apple Watch. What I wanted was to be happier. Specifically, I was looking for
