PicoBlog

So off we go into the wild blue Substack yonder. And wouldn’t you know it, the first chapter, right off the bat, is about the Francke murder. Yes, I know. As far as most of you out there are probably concerned, I’m obsessed with the Francke case, which implies some sort of out-of-control compulsive behavior – and who knows, maybe there’s even some truth to that. If I have a choice in the matter, instead of obsessed I suppose I’d pick the word fascinated, because, in addition to all the legal and moral issues at play here, it’s always been a great mystery or whodunnit to me, suitable for a movie or a TV series.

Hey real quickly before we get going.  After some consideration, I've decided to do a Black Friday deal.  Discounts aren't really my thing. But many of you have asked about Black Friday, so we're gonna do an exclusive offer. Starting Friday, November 24th at 9 A.M., my most popular course - The 10X Writing Speed Blueprint - will be available for a 90% off what my courses normally sell for. 

You might have heard there’s a TV movie coming to Apple TV+ at the end of March about the history of Tetris. I’m not connected to that project (which is more of an “official” company version) but I did write the definitive history of the Tetris phenomenon and its Cold War origins in my non-fiction book The Tetris Effect. I haven’t seen the Apple TV+ version yet, so it may miss a lot of the more controversial, shocking or just plain strange points of the story.

According to Gary Chapman’s beloved relationship book that millions grok, the five love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. I cross pollinated those (because we all need a little bit of everything to feel truly whole, right?) and built this lil’ web of ten more love dialects evolved from those 5 Mother Tongues—like the Romance Languages (heh) evolved from Latin. I made sure to keep the phrases sort and open-ended enough that you can see your own relationships pulsing between the words—such is a style of a love poem.

Sometimes you just have to do one for yourself, right? That’s what this post is. I’ve been watching Bluey every night with my toddler for the last year. We normally watch a few episodes because Bluey is not a long show (about 7 minutes an episode including opening and end credits). It’s a cartoon made in Australia about a family of Heeler dogs and their daily adventures. There’s Dad, Mum, Bluey (6), and her sister Bingo (4).

The slow dance has a long, romantic history—one that might be quickly losing traction. Per The Honest Broker, slow dances were so integral to intimate exploration and courtship that men would literally buy into the ritual, potential scandals be damned. However, recent reporting shows Gen Z rejecting this tradition, partly because the thought of slow dancing may be “too intimate and scary.” That said, there’s no denying the transportive, magical quality of a great slow dance song.

Grindr can be an absolute minefield, especially in the wilds of London’s various gaybourhoods. So, here’s a handy guide to what people are really asking when they type a single word with a question mark at the end. 1. “Into?” If one word defines the entire Grindr experience, it’s “into?” If you’ve never used the app before, you might wonder what the person is getting at. Sadly, they’re not interested in whether you like cycling – though every gay likes cycling now, tbh – or whether you particularly appreciate Greek food.

I recently received a phone call from a mom of three teens who had attended one of my Kids’ Brains and Screens workshops. We spoke for an hour. In desperation, she admitted that the biggest parenting mistake she’d made to date was giving her kids smartphones in 8th grade. She said that when her kids were in elementary school, she and her husband had agreed to wait till the end of high school to hand out smartphones.

I’ve been so, so excited to make this list! 2024 is going to be a fantastic year for queer books, a thing I know to be 100% completely and totally true because I’ve had the great good fortune to already read so many of the brilliant LGBTQ+ stories coming our way this year! Below is a list of ten novels and graphic novels I adored, all hitting bookstores and libraries before summer!