PicoBlog

Someone asked me this week if journalism is “good writing.” We’ve all read stories that make sense, that flow, and that answer most of our questions. We’ve also all read stories that were a mess, or boring or not clear. Good journalism may not always rise to the level of a Hemingway, although he had journalism experience. I’ve known some journalists who are wonderful writers. (I’ll name a few below.) A lot depends on how you, the reader, are consuming that writing – whether it’s for print/web, radio or television.

I think about this a lot: “wearing vs. styling” (to borrow from the kids on TikTok—thanks for keeping me hip, Rosalee!). “Wearing” is just putting your clothes on and calling it a day. “Styling” are the details layered into an outfit that make it look cool and nuanced. A tee alone can look frumpy and boring, but tuck it in, roll up the sleeves, add a … ncG1vNJzZmicoprAtLHDm7Crp5Kuu2%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xop2ismJp6pbXFn5yrnZ6Ysm6uxK2unp2eYsSmrdGipaBlkaOx

I'm confused and to be honest, quite disappointed. There are plenty of couples out there who have fertility issues, who for a variety of reasons have a double income and no kids - chief among them that even supposedly middle class couples have one paycheck being entirely absorbed by rent. That means paycheck #2 is dedicated to necessities, savings or paying back a student loan if you're lucky, and maybe after all that, something fun.

Can you believe it’s almost 2021? It’s been a real ass of a year, and I don’t want to spend too much time reliving it all with you. But one of the few frivolous joys I’ve had in 2020 has been creating Disney-centric brackets. We just wrapped up a very surprising bracket on the films of Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures. Congratulations, by the way, to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, our first two-bracket winner.

I saw one too many posts about how responsible programmers document their code. I put out the short form of my position: As with all short takes, I elided nuance to keep the word count down. Below’s a more thorough treatment of how I see documentation & when to write it. “Irresponsible”. It is the responsibility of all programmers to communicate effectively with their colleagues (and their future self). Even if the business doesn’t ask you to communicate, or actively discourages you from taking the time to communicate, programmers have a duty of care to communicate.

The Dodgers have already had one of the greatest offseason’s we’ve ever seen. The ownership group has done more than we could have asked for. But I’m a very selfish fan. Despite being the betting favorites to win the World Series, I think the Dodgers could still use one more addition. Their starting rotation has one of the best 1-2 punches with Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Bobby Miller is one of the top young arms in the game.

Note: This is the first in a series of posts previously shared on the Ampersand Book Studio Patreon page. This post was originally posted on August 16, 2022. Look for a brand new essay – “The” Fine Press Essay: "The Ideal Book" as Imagined by the Fine Press Movement – on Wednesday, September 7. Perhaps no single element of the book as physical object – as opposed to the words that make up its content – defines the reader experience more than the typeface.

If you’re a homeowner in Vancouver and your property value goes up, it’s natural to assume that your property taxes will also go up, just as income tax goes up when your income goes up. In fact that’s not what happens - it’s more indirect. Your share of property tax is based on how your property value compares to the total of all property values. Roughly speaking, if your property is worth $1M and the total value of all property in the city is $1 trillion (= one million times $1M), then you pay one millionth of the total property tax.

A quick note: If you weren't able to make it to our Pickling Party class earlier this month, I've got the recording up in our ever-growing paid subscriber resource folder! The link to the folder is here. You can also access the video directly here. Over 10,000 years ago, as the legend goes, members of the Southern African Khoisan tribe made a startling discovery in a tree stump. What they found would echo across cultures and centuries, informing myths and intoxicating kings and peasants alike around the world.