We make sure we’re unhappy. It’s a thing.
SIX OF THE BEST… ways to stay unhappy
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged advice, americans, answering machine, civil engineering, complain, complaining, counseling, dwell, dwelling, fester, festering, Jaws, l’esprit de l’escalier, lethal weapon 3, staircase wit, staircasing, teach, therapy, trousers of time, unhappiness, unhappy
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SIX OF THE BEST… things about One Punch Man
Today I discuss the most powerful superhero in the world… but no one knows his name.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged consecutive normal punches, genos, metal bat, metal knight, mumen rider, netflix, one-punch man, puri puri prisoner, quicktime event, saitama, serious punch, sonic, terrible tornado, the art of war, two-handed consecutive normal punches
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SIX OF THE WORST… ways to “enhance” your email signature
Remember learning “KISS” back in school?
Well, you should “KISS” your “enhanced” email signature goodbye. Permanently.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the worst, writing
Tagged ads, autoplay, christ article a video, cpm, internet, lightbox, mobile mode, newsletter, preroll, programmatic, remnant, slideshows, the onion, two-factor authentication
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SIX OF THE BEST… abandoned column ideas
Every writer puts their half-written things on a shelf, ostensibly to be worked on later but really just abandoned. Here are some of mine.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged abandoned, disney, fan fiction, fanfic, heteronormative, heterosexual, ideas, incomplete, marvel, meme, netflix, peanuts, Princess, process, singular they, snoopy, the factory, writing
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SIX OF THE BEST… lessons learned from Super Mario Run
I’ve been playing a lot of Super Mario Run lately. The game has a surprising amount of life lessons in it.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged advice, boredom, Captain Picard, handwriting, super mario run, update, wall-kick, writing
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SIX OF THE BEST… Tickets to Ride
Come on, ride that train. Choo choo. Ride it. Whoo whoo.
I bet the Quad City DJs never thought their lyrics would be used to talk about board games.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged 1910, big cities, board game, days of wonder, Denmark, Europe, ferries, finland, Germany, losiest loser, marklin, nordic countries, Norway, plus-four, sweden, switzerland, ticket to ride, tunnels
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SIX OF THE WORST… problems with grounding your nerdy child
My kid got in trouble this week and got seriously grounded for the first time. But as my wife and I learned, it’s not easy when your child is nerdy.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the worst, writing
Tagged engagement, french doors, grounded, monotony, parenting, punishment, reading, solitary confinement, strict, technology, writing lines
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SIX OF THE BEST… things about writing by hand
I wrote 20,000 words of fiction in the last two weeks. My secret? I’m doing it by hand.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged accomplishment, distractions, editing, fiction, handwriting, penmanship, taos toolbox, writing
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SIX OF THE BEST… things about Chuck Tingle
I’m proving love in this week’s column. Sensitive buckaroos take note: this one contains adult language.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged chuck tingle, consent, domald tromp, garth brooks, hugo awards, midnight, pounded in the butt by my own butt, prove love, rabid puppies, reddit, sad puppies, self published, son name of jon, space raptor butt invasion, tingler, zoe quinn
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haiku
Three years ago, I wrote this haiku. I think it’s the best poem I’ve ever written. Your mileage may vary.
I am glass. Tap me.
Yesterday I chimed brightly.
Today I shatter.
SIX OF THE BEST… updates Disney could make to Beauty and the Beast
I’m seeing the movie tomorrow. Here’s some of what I’d like to happen.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged beast, beauty and the beast, belle, disney, fourth wall, gaston, lefou, lemony snicket, magic, prince, stockholm syndrome
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Buffy at 20
Five years ago, I wrote a fifteenth-anniversary retrospective of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Escape Pod. Today is the twentieth anniversary of Buffy, and what better way to celebrate it than also celebrating the five-year anniversary of my fifteenth-anniversary retrospective’s publication?
SIX OF THE BEST… methods of faster-than-light travel
Warp speed. Light speed. Ludicrous speed. Which is the best?
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged Babylon 5, dune, embassytown, farscape, faster than light, folding space, grimspace, holtzmann, immer, jump drive, jump gate, leviathan, lightspeed, norman spinrad, purrgil, star trek, star wars, starburst, the void captain’s tale, warp drive
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SIX OF THE WORST… things about conference calls
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the worst, writing
Tagged accents, conference call, facetime, globalmeet, hangouts, hi who just joined, lync, punctuality, skype, small talk, train of thought, webex, work-life balance
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SIX OF THE BEST… movies from 2016 not nominated for Best Picture
So yeah. The Oscars are this weekend. And only one film came out before October 25th of last year. Ridiculous. Let’s look at six other films that could have been considered.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged 10 cloverfield lane, academy award, best picture, captain america civil war, deadpool, educate and entertain, hidden figures, kubo and the two strings, me before you, million dollar baby, million dollar bullshit, Oscar, zootopia
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SIX OF THE BEST… ways to save money on coffee
I save money on coffee by not drinking it. That may not be an option for you. But fear not — I can help.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged breakfast, chocolate covered espresso beans, coffee, crappy coffee, creamer, flavored, gourmet, k-cup, keurig, starbucks
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SIX OF THE BEST… “if video games have taught me anything” lessons
What have we learned from playing video games? You’d be surprised.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged boss fights, enemies, hidden clues, mobile gaming, rare items, side quest, speed boost, video games
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SIX OF THE WORST… Enterprise design problems
If you really think about it, the starship Enterprise is pretty poorly designed.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the worst, writing
Tagged airplanes, alliance, bridge, cockpit, crashing, enterprise, firefly, heart of gold, martian successor nadesico, matt jefferies, millennium falcon, mon calamari, pylons, seatbelts, seatguru, spaceballs, star trek, star wars, the motion picture, windows
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SIX OF THE BEST… Cardassian philosophies
Make sure you’re keeping up with the Cardassians.
SIX OF THE BEST… cliched narrative devices
The actual title of the column is a bit longer. It’s about narrative devices that have become so cliche that you really can’t use them in your writing anymore. Which is frustrating.
Posted in column, nerdery public, nonfiction, six of the best, writing
Tagged alias, buffy, chekhov's gun, cliche, cozy catastrophe, family drama, firefly, game of thrones, i am your father, idiot plot, it was all a dream, iZombie, little detail, narrative device, oh you like that character, pop-culture reference, sherlock holmes, spoiler alert, squid in the mouth, supernatural, the oa, turkey city lexicon, white room syndrome
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Josh Roseman: Writer, Voice Guy, Dad, Human 