Jogging with Chaoskampf

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Or Staying Fit with Mythological Paranoia Assume, for a moment, that you have lived your life with images of people fighting giant serpents beating in your mind like a heart beat. Also assume that your mind lives in a body that wants very badly to whither into nothing in front of a TV, and you … Read more

Adverbs are Language Bread

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Mark Twain made a comment once that every time you want to write “very”, you should write “damn” instead so the editor will remove it. These days you’d have to use a different word, but the spirit of the advice rings true. Don’t use the word “very”. Or the word “quickly”, “wryly”, “gingerly”, or “bitchily” … Read more

1 Way to Give Better Feedback: Don’t Call It Interesting

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This isn’t Interesting and Neither are You I enjoy the word “interesting”. Correction: I enjoy using it to get out of voicing my actual opinion, which is why I go on a rampage of emotionally charged, if uninteresting, words when someone uses the word on me. It’s a thoughtless phrase because it only covers a … Read more

How to Stay Productive in Hot Weather

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If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of trouble getting anything done when the temperature breaks the mid 90’s mark, and you know those deceptively calm days with a mild 80 degrees and a calm breeze are only the harbinger of the slow cancerous death marching toward us with every inching tilt of … Read more

How to Write Good and Still Get Cool Scars

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I’ve heard the telltale signs of a professional cook are cuts and burns on their hands. That’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder about dedication to a craft. Those people go into work everyday knowing they’ll get marked up by hot oil and pointy things for eight hours, but they still go in … Read more