Posts

Enjoy these brief scenes featuring Artemis Diehl, an American businessman renowned the world over. ...

Mark Armour has worked on his Satchel Paige Project for a few years. It’s an amazing feat of historical research about one of the most enigmatic characters and players in baseball history. It’s worth looking through regardless of your overall interest in baseball. If you’d like to hear a good conversation about the project, I suggest listening to episode 2352 of Effectively Wild, which is how I first learned about this work.

Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels: September is around the corner, and that means our campaign to raise money for St. Jude is back! I’ve listened to Relay shows for years, and I’m always excited about and proud to nominally participate in their fundraising campaign for St. Jude each year. I’m one audience member who gives what he can, but I know every little bit makes a difference. Whether you care about podcasts or this podcast network in particular, supporting the resesarch and medical care that St. Jude provides for pediatric cancer is important. I’m a regular donor to a few organizations but St. Jude is my largest recipient, partially because of what they do, and partially because it’s thrilling to be part of a community joining together to do amazing work. The Relay network isn’t huge, but its generous and wonderful community members make an outsized impact. ...

I have a work trip to San Diego and all my other blog post ideas need more time, so here’s a quick list of my favorite tech media. I stick with these outlets for their staunch commitment to quality and independence; they’re all owned and run by excellent people with that ineffable and intangible quality of taste. These lists aren’t in any particular order. Websites Daring Fireball 512 Pixels The Verge Six Colors Podcasts ...

And it’s a potentially positive identity crisis. Throughout college, I ran two Turkey Trots in St. Paul, and two Goldy’s Runs at the UMN Twin Cities campus. None of those 5K races were completed without pauses to walk, and I don’t believe any of them were finished in faster than 35 minutes. I played baseball, which famously doesn’t involve much beyond sprinting. I never thought I’d catch this particular fitness bug. ...

I nearly made an omelet.1 Omelets are simple and almost unattainable. I last made one two weeks ago while attempting scrambled eggs. Is there a metaphor in there? I cut up two bacon strips, half a green bell pepper, and bits of onion from a baggie in the fridge. I did not wear goggles. I cooked the bacon first, then mixed in the veggies to sauté for a few minutes. This was all done in my trusty fifteen-dollar medium nonstick pan, which, naturally, was also where I wanted to cook the eggs. So, I transferred the filling into a separate pan on low heat, added a bit of oil to the main pan since much of the bacon grease had gone with the bacon, and poured in the eggs. ...

Each time I commit to sharing my writing process, I jinx myself to undergo a radical change within a month. Yet, my hubris tells me that this update is different. ...

I’m a certified card guy. A notable greeting card enthusiast. A frequent mail-based correspondent. I think Bob at my local post office recognizes me. I purchase two or three birthday cards from my local grocery and drug stores each month, and I don’t cut corners. I am steadfastly selective. Below are my card criteria I recommend everyone use to ensure a meaningful choice, and to encourage card manufacturers to improve their options. ...

I’ve played hundreds of hours of Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch,1 and though I don’t fancy myself a leading expert on the game—I’m still short of my 10,000 hours—one picks up a thing or two after seven years of gameplay. I bought the Nintendo Switch 2 to play Mario Kart World and have played a few hours in both solo and split-screen modes. I’m conflicted by their new take on the original Grand Prix while remaining intrigued by the new Knockout Tour option, and I’m too afraid of my free time to dive into Open Roam. Since I’ve spent most of my time with traditional Grand Prix races, I’ll focus my thoughts on them. ...

I discussed morning pages just over one year ago when I was one month into the practice and, as it turned out, one month away from dropping it. My last set of morning pages was July 27, 2024. I’ve been in a creative rut over the last couple months, often writing blog posts last-minute, not making progress on other projects, and not even taking time to read consistently. It’s hard to pin down a cause but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try a treatment. I’ve written 1000 words of morning pages each day of the past week, having made two changes that I hope will help it stick. ...