PicoBlog

LAST WEEK, I sent out a Substack column under the title “8 Questions Never to Ask a Writer.” In my preliminary thinking for the post, I always imagined it would include suggestions for what questions writers might welcome. Somehow, when it came to writing the piece, I forgot about the second half, which would have lent balance to the post and made it a lot more helpful. Instead, in my eagerness to get the column into your inboxes, once I finished the “not-to-asks” I hit send before reflecting on what was missing from the piece.

Sustainability or sustainable development is such a hot topic today that industry titans and world leaders congregate often times a year to discuss how societal and economic growth can be sustained; what’s being implemented and what else can be done. Imagine a world where vibrant murals breathe life into forgotten walls, sculptures fashioned from recycled materials tell stories of environmental resilience, and immersive installations transport us to the heart of endangered ecosystems.

If you’re a man, you have internalized sexist values. That’s especially true if you think you haven’t. In fact, the more adamant you are that you’re not sexist, the less time you spend reflecting on your own choices and behavior. And that means the more likely you are to behave in reflexive, unthinking, sexist ways. These tips are not necessarily the only ways to be less sexist, or even the most important.

Coin Crypt, the world’s first roguelike deckbuilder, is 10 years old today! When I was making it at the time, it seemed a totally off-the-wall combination of ideas and genres, but one I was fascinated by and kept falling deeper and deeper into. A seemingly endless design space where every idea would beget even more ideas. I put everything I could into it, thinking it was up to me to explore the space I’d found.

I’m on the Armed Services Committee and this week we met with the four-star General in charge of U.S. forces in Europe.  Most of our conversation was about Ukraine. Here are the highlights from the unclassified portion. He began by emphasizing that our allies in Europe are doing a lot to help, specifically mentioning that the vast majority of tanks and military fuel for Ukraine has come from European allies.

Made by a group of young Catholics who love and appreciate film, with the goal of promoting edifying works of cinema in the hope of inspiring more young Catholics to take up the challenge of John Paul II to move forward in the New Evangelization. Launched a year ago No thanksncG1vNJzZmhpYGWwosDHqKOim52kw6qx0meqrpqjqa6kt42cpqZn

I have for you today a huge list of publications that work directly with freelance writers. Many of these publications pay up to $1 per word, or more. The pay rates do vary quite significantly. I’ve researched rates for all of these publications, and found contact information, to make it easy for you to connect with the right editor. If you want help craf… ncG1vNJzZmikmanEsL7ToWWsrZKowaKvymeaqKVfpXxyfI9mp66anJ6wosDIqKWsZaSdrrV5z5qwZp6imrKtrc2cnA%3D%3D

I was recently invited on The Baby Names podcast—the official podcast of BabyNames.com—to help hosts Jennifer and Mallory celebrate their 100th episode! It’s out today, and you can listen here, or wherever you pod. We chat about all things related to royal names across the centuries, but as I’m sure you can imagine, that’s a LOT of ground to cover for just one short recording session. Below, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite insights from both the episode and my own research for your reading pleasure.

It was a decade of turbulence. It was the decade of the creative revolution in advertising. Many of these commercials were created by Doyle Dane Bernbach. Travel back to the early 1960s and out to the western States for 60 seconds of adorable brilliance. This kid, taking a Noise Abatement Pledge, was just amazing as was the voiceover guy. Scudder chips were very crunchy, very noisy. So, before eating the chips, the boy had to promise not to do other noisy things like “crack my knuckles”, “encourage dogs to bark or cats to meow”, and “slurp my soap”.