PicoBlog

Hi friend, Since returning to New York City, I’ve been living out of a suitcase. I left behind almost everything—books, tchotchkes, any and all clothing that was not soft and fuzzy. I don’t miss any of it. Since learning that my leukemia is back, everything familiar has been razed. I’m reeling, sad, and scared, but I also feel weirdly liberated. I’m living in such deep uncertainty that I can’t have any expectations or see very far into the future.

Hi friend, Just recently a beloved pal gave me a framed antique drawing of a woman with a small white dog. Below the drawing is the word “unfinished,” and below that, a love poem, the words too faded to read. When I opened it, it brought me to tears. It felt so perfect for me and the story of this year. Many times I’ve been the recipient of a perfect gift like this, most often from my mother, but also from friends.

Hi friend, Oops! I did it again… I saw a twelve-week-old puppy online in need of fostering, and on a whim, I applied and was approved. The next morning, I headed to a quiet intersection across from a park near my home to pick her up. I knew nothing about her except she was tiny and white with floppy ears and a spray of black spots on her nose, and she was coming from Texas.

Following up on my rather popular recent rant on pseudoreplication, I here share some thoughts about proper controls in ecological experiments. This is an equally important topic (and incidentally this was also completely botched in the infuriatingly terrible preprint we recently read in lab meeting). A common misconception about controls is to do nothing, to leave the experimental unit alone, to not add anything for example. Nothing could be further from the truth.

THE METAPHORIC TSUNAMI builds on the horizon. “We’re going to get hit today,” Sheila warns me, as we high speed shuffle to the other side of the kitchen, collect plates and high speed shuffle back to our section. It’s Day 31 of my 100 Day Chef Stage, and I’m working in La Finca, a one-star Michelin restaurant near Elche in Alicante. So far, some days have been a masterclass in crustaceans, or making hollandaise, others have been a matter of survival like the day of the exploding eggs.

Update on April 27, 2024: I love the idea of this program, and I write reviews for free anyway (on Yelp and Amazon). The Home Depot Seeds program was even more exciting to shop from than Amazon Vine. I didn’t think Customer Service could get any worse than Allivet or PetCo, and yet, this program has done so. After almost two months of Customer Service ignoring at least five emails from me inquiring about why I hadn’t received more monthly newsletters, changing my email address made things even more complicated.

“Kim really believes he can bring five star guys here.” That’s what I was told during a visit to Providence’s campus about a month after Kim English was hired to replace Ed Cooley — at a time when so many were questioning what was ahead in Friartown. From outside of the program the departure of Cooley brought about questions regarding the future of Friar basketball. The national narratives were filled with talk of ceilings and NIL challenges for such a small school, but internally there was confidence that something substantial was established in Providence, and the Friars were built to last with their new head coach at the helm.

Hey folks, I’m just getting back from my most recent trip to the shooting range. As usual, I had a ton of fun, met interesting new people, and of course spent a lot of money turning gunpowder into noise and murdered paper. But more importantly, I finished my review of the Palmetto State Armory Dagger, the Made in USA knockoff of the Glock 19 I spoke about in a previous article….

Fantasy and sci-fi stories serialized on substack. PTFO is part of the AP Fiction genre: stories created through the solo play of a TTRPG and influenced by readers' votes. Currently playing: Blades in the Dark By SGH · Launched 3 years agoNo thanksncG1vNJzZmiopJu8b7%2FUm6qtmZOge6S7zGg%3D