#452: New Year Notes
A new essay – a year of maintenance – some winter entertainment
#451: Fractal Nature of Days
Dopamine withdrawal – Peter Hujar – Light and Magic
#450: Rest or Rot
Best autumn – filling or draining – distraction Whac-A-Mole
#449: for marty
Tribute to a mentor; Fewer, Better Things; philosophical tools
#448: Twice Attested
Alexander house tour; karting; garden infantry
#447: Thermal Delight
Plus: The Night Feeling, American Animals
#446: Financial Safe Word
Plus: some recent freelance work
#445: Expansion through Compression
Recalibrating free time; on Ridley Scott’s “Layering”
#444: Induced Demand
On directing, poisoned access, and Mission Impossible.
#443: Befittingly Mysterious
Looking for daily wins; a mending circle challenge
#442: Ugly Sugar Daddy
Media diet and photos from my China trip.
#441: China Core Sample, 2025
What I’ve noticed in my first post-pandemic trip
#440: Packed and Packing
Early April DMC and a Building Beauty video
#439: Avoidance
New old skills; and can’t get enough Caro.
#438: The Aftervibe is the Message
Digging my way out after illness.
#437: Too Early for Spring
Dumpling Club Patreon, William Gibson, and The Fabelmans
#436: Better Messy than Boring
January Mending Circle, capacities, and Nightbitch
#435: Individually Adapted
Come to my digital mending circle.
#434: Noctalgia
Or: Welcome to the butt spa.
#433: The Commonality is Worldbuilding
Writing reintroductions, obscure computing laws, and the Sagan-Muppet connection.
#432: Dedicated Time
Innate and associative beauty; fall links and recs (including a fun new web browser)
#431: Embodied Work
Ten years in Detroit, and on work you take or don’t take home with you.
#430: How Bridges are Built
Favorite apps, luddite clubs, and a metaphor for new vocations.
#429: Some Postpartum Favorites (Baby Not Required)
Favorite things from the last two months.
#428: Fluxx
Learning to accept flux, waxing book energy, and a Bebop podcast interview.
#427: Best Daze
On becoming a father.
#426: The Paradox of Craft
Quieting the critic; virtual book tours and virtual ship tours.
#425: Is Today the Day?
Idea pitches, CALA news, other reading and listening.
#424: Concentrated Intensity
Residency days, research archives, and poking bears.
#423: Die Hard, Calmwashing, and Cosplaying the Future
On infrastructure and collective visions.
#422: Cardboard Software
Bebop in The Verge, Thoughts on Prototyping with AI
#421: New iOS App, A Book Award, and Summer Teaching Plans
Three short but exciting bits of news.
#420: April Odds and Ends
Photo books, vlogger brain, and a good rec from the algorithm.
#419: (Re)clipse
Time cleaving and the impending After
#418: Discovering the Story
Project extraversion, the writer as film editor.
#417: Joining the Club
A milestone, and (yet) more on routines.
#416: Makers Mod Their Tools
Two consciousnesses and a hallmark of a maker.
#415: On Copiloting
Thoughts about the AI coding meta.
#414: All Work is Care Work
Caring for self and others, a unified theory of f—ks, making time for beauty.
#413: My Daily Routine, January 2024
The shape of my days, post-pandemic edition.
#412: Makings Of
Henson, Miyazaki, and some behind-the-scenes recs.
#411: Of Models and Mentors
Reflections from a recent poetry salon.
#410: Catnip for Perfectionists
On reorganizing my workshop.
#409: Gardening Class and Career Advice
On continuing education.
#408: Second-part Community Project writeup; Zine giveaway
My part-two writeup of my final Building Beauty project.
#407: Summer Odds and Ends
Summer media and infrastructural anxiety.
#406: Plecnik’s Ljubljana
Snapshots from the Slovenian captial.
#405: Building in the Community, Part 1
My part-one writeup, and a virtual open house for the new school year.
#404: Chronos/Kairos
Membership updates; energy making time.
#403: Ludicrously Capacious
Exhalations and the space for new projects.
#402: Body Doubling
School and office contexts, and an ADHD tip for working from home.
#401: Three (More) Meditations on Maintenance
Bike repair class, the best of our blenders, and Threads.
#400: Midsummer Odds & Ends
Arnold movies and keeping house while drowning.
#399: A Book Launch
Highlights from my book launch event (and week).
#398: Pub Week, Summer Events, and the Audiobook
A day out from publication; a slightly mischievous gratitude.
#397: Shanghainese Midwestern
Early hardcovers, debut illustrations, recent interviews, and Gene Luen Yang.
#396: Maintenance Ethic
A collection of links and quotes on care and maintenance.
#395: Cover Reveal and Pre-Orders for my New Novel
Get your copy of The Many Masks of Andy Zhou.
#394: Pruning
On learning from trees to redirect energy.
#393: A House for Oneself, Part 2
The second half of my dream house design project.
#392: A House for Oneself, Part 1
The first half of my project writeup, and getting back on the conference horse.
#391: A Columbus Jaunt
Maurice Sendak and cultural/personal punch bowls.
#390: Structure-Preserving
On structure-preserving/destroying transformations and the Alexandrian process.
#389: Working with Your Hands
On tools, machines, and materiality.
#388: Mirror-of-the-Self Results
Ruminations about last month’s survey.
#387: Furniture Project
Week 12 of Building Beauty.
#386: Mirrors of the Self
Weeks 10 and 11 of Building Beauty.
#385: Self and Wholeness
Weeks 8 and 9 of Building Beauty.
#384: Fifteen Properties
Weeks 6 and 7 of Building Beauty.
#383: Ornament Project
Week 5 of Building Beauty.
#382: Wholeness and Centers
Weeks 3 & 4 of Building Beauty.
#381: Unnamed and Named
Week 2 of Building Beauty.
#380: A Threshold, Four Ways of Knowing
Week 1 of Building Beauty.
#379: Back to School
On becoming a student again.
#378: Breakfast Nooks and Foundational Skills
Or: the Mega Man approach to creative projects, however small.
#377: Recent Discoveries
On my ADHD diagnosis.
#376: Home and Away
Summer weekends, different takes on Home.
#375: Seeing and Forgetting
Robert Irwin, Taoist butchers, and near-final drafts.
#374: On AI-Assisted Writing
Cybernetic hero journeys and “artists” vs “creators”.
#373: On Time Scales
Finishing another draft, and thinking about the time scales.
#372: It Finally Happened
I got covid.
#371: Tighter Loops
Summer snapshots and another deadline.
#370: Making the Mountain
The origins of my new short story.
#369: A New Short Story
New fiction in the Detroit Metro Times.
#368: The Opposite of Chaos
Min Jin Lee and Greek antonyms.
#367: On Wintering
Reading Katherine May’s meditation on rest and retreat.
#366: Necessarily Boring
Continued edits and a George Saunders memory.
#365: Obvious and Legible
A manuscript update and Alice Gregory on virtuosity.
#364: Nausicaä
On moral heroes and personal Overton windows.
#363: Tools and Platforms
Defining, discerning between the two.
#362: A Picture Book Challenge
Podcast updates and Drive My Car.
#361: War and Pause
Ukraine, Ilya Kaminsky, and a memory of 2003.
#360: On Believing in Labels
Or: the difficulty of website bios.
#359: Random Days
On discovering my hidden extrovert.
#358: The Thrill of the Funct
On film scanners and backwards compatibility.
#357: The Slow Web, Ten Years Later
The revolution will not be another inbox.
#356: A Year of Finishing
Following a year of joy.
#355: My Kaer Morhen
On wintry Camelots.
#354: Snow-Covered Paths
A short observation for 2021.
#353: The Line of Charm
On challenges and obstacles.
#352: Thanksgiving
And a few manga titles I've been enjoying.
#351: The Most Active of Readers
On understanding and making comics.
#350: End of a Season
Brief travels to New Orleans and Austin.
#349: The Swing You Have
And other lessons from the course.
#348: A Most Difficult Game
On rediscovering golf.
#347: Creative Confidence
Reframing writer's block.
#346: One, Then the Next
An update from revisionland.
#345: Bookends
On Ted Lasso and Bo Burnham.
#344: Juggling
A different approach toward balance.
#343: Wedding
Slow approaches and new unions.
#342: Sand for the Idol
Work, Gamification, and Samuel R. Delany's Nova.
#341: Glimpsing the Machine
That time I was a Lyft driver.
#340: Curb Appeal
A short, interstitial update.
#339: Cicada Spring
A few post-pandemic questions.
#338: Mass Air Flow
Or maybe just pandemic-fatigued reminders.
#337: Inoculations
Revisiting Vincent Chin; an interview with Paula Yoo.
#336: Found Underneath
Bike maintenance and fond writing memories.
#335: Kenyan Runners and Creative Outliers
Is consistency overrated?
#334: On Validation
Presence, and old drafts and puzzles.
#333: A Phantom Tollbooth Tribute
My recent post for Imagination Soup.
#332: Exploration, Presentation
An update on my new year's un-resolutions.
#331: Long Enough to Matter
Or when not to strive for mastery.
#330: Watch/Read/Listen: Spring Forward Edition
Three things I've enjoyed in the first months of 2021.
#329: Puppy Superstitions
Or, what I learned about creative routines from my dog.
#328: Thawings
The simple joy of seeing friends again.
#327: Tin Men and Unintended Symbols
On reading The Annotated Wizard of Oz.
#326: BookSmitten
A new podcast for a new (lunar) year.
#325: Ewok Banquets and Hobbit Joy
On strife and joy in stories.
#324: Fast-twitch, Slow-twitch
Distance-running, creative types, and a DNA test.
#323: For Yourself and Others
Being a steward for creative projects.
#322: Transcribing “See You on the Bookshelf”
The first of several member-backed projects in the new year.
#321: Pleasure Principle
On letting go of pain-oriented attitudes toward work.
#320: New Year, New Approaches
On the systems around resolutions.
#319: Wendell Berry’s Tiny Little No
On rules for adopting new technology.
#318: When We’re Vaccinated
Notes from working the polls.
#317: An Election Diary
Notes from working the polls.
#316: A Marvel, An Obfuscation
Thoughts on developing film.
#315: Harmonious Orbit
Late-summer book progress.
#314: To Get a Better View
Time in West Michgan; Michael Pollan in the woods.
#313: Quivering Leaves
Weekend perspectives; diversity dialogues.
#312: Uncharmingly Reflected
On the discomfort of watching outdated representations.
#311: Only
Writing relevant stories when the world around you keeps changing.
#310: Spring Moving to Summer
Words accompanying a photo series in The Detroit Free Press.
#309: Better Likelihoods
On eternal vigilance, and my debt to Black Americans.
#308: Three Meditations on Tools
Hara's knives, Steinbeck's pencils, and more thoughts on exactness.
#307: Slow Green Fireworks
On balancing structure and spontaneity in my work schedule.
#306: Writing with Steinbeck
Finding camaraderie in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden journal.
#305: The Exactness of Tools
Garden work, technological toolkits, and revisiting story charts.
#304: Site Repair
Building raised garden beds as I start a new manuscript draft.
#303: Rituals, Old and New
#302: A Daily Coronavirus Newsletter
#301: A House Alive, A Long Day at the Polls
#300: A Coronavirus Party
#299: A Quick Chicago Trip
#298: An Added Degree of Resolution
#297: A Slow-ish Recovery
#296: A Rare Moment of Sun
#295: A Time for Rest
#294: An Unintentional Retreat
#293: A Groove
#292: A Recommitment
#291: A Blessing
#290: Clouds Lifting
#289: Un-Collapsing
#288: Desiderata
The rediscovery of a favorite poem.
#287: Inundation
#286: Eating My Way Through
#285: Retreat
#284: Out from Storage
#283: Moving-Out Day
#282: Atomic Habits
#281: Kresge Artist Fellowship
#280: Flywheels
Positive compounding in everyday life.
#279: Labor of Love?
#278: Paint Stripping
#277: The Enchanted Rose
#276: Flying into DTW at Golden Hour
#275: Mic Check
#274: Muscle Memories
#273: An Artist on Your Terms
Who gets to define your art?
#272: Sky Ladders
Thoughts on obsession and art.
#271: Shanghai Core Sample, 2019
#270: Memberships are Now Live!
#269: Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer
What I tell students at the schools I'm visiting.
#268: Greetings from Hong Kong
#267: Commons-Unlocking, Quarterturn
#266: Selective Environmenting
Lessons from fermentation.
#265: Doing Less
#264: New Hope
#263: Personal/Universal
#262: Metabolizing
#261: Lights, Camera, Action
#260: Security
#259: Progress, Visible and Not
#258: Windows and Commutes
#257: Better Questions
#256: Atmospheric
#255: Cleanup Review
#254: Minor Setbacks
#253: Autumnal Energies
#252: More Reporting
#251: History has its Words for You
#250: Entrance Room
Building the (fictional) house.
#249: Rendezvous
#248: Ninja Warrior
#247: On Maintenance
Learning the virtues of yard work.
#246: Things Kept and Let Go
#245: Flavor of the World
#244: Scaffolding
#243: Grown Wild
#242: Urgency Without Haste
#241: On Quantity
#240: Constellating
#239: Swimming in Words
#238: Sentence Plot
#237: Already-Busy Spring
#236: On Efficiency
Downsides to a hyper-optimized life.
#235: Production Function
#234: On Stones and Specialization
#233: The Golden Kite
#232: Order of Operations
#231: Sidelines
#230: The Effect is Real
#229: What’s the Same
#228: Roads Diverging
#227: Small Yet Momentous
#226: Harvest
#225: Thanksgiving Mornings
#224: Travel Cold
#223: Bread and Fife
#222: Tend Your Corner
#221: Still Writing
#220: Perpetual Student
#219: Embodying
#218: Gentle Chaos
#217: Eclipse Tripse, Part 2
#216: Eclipse Tripse
#215: On Naming
#214: Meat on the Bones
#213: Where Do We Go
#212: One Year Old
#211: Sun and Wind
#210: Doors Unlocking
#209: Filming
#208: The Flowers
#207: Get Ready, Stay Ready
#206: The Same Dog
#205: Tooth by Tooth
#204: A New Roommate
#203: The Preparation is the Trip
#202: Moving Downstairs
#201: Spacious
#200: Who I'll Be
#199: Texas Librarians
#198: Sound and Voice
#197: Unfrozen
#196: Sauna
#195: Nowruz and the Nain
#194: End of the Tour
#193: Whirlwind
#192: Re-Dedication
#185: A New Medium for Sundays
#184: Room for Quiet
#183: On Independence, Part 3
#182: On Independence, Part 2
#181: On Independence, Part 1
#180: Appreciating the Hangover
#179: What Endures
#178: My Forthcoming Novel
#177: On a Trip to Ikea
#176: Moving Day
#175: The Toughest Work of All
#174: Nothing Too Small
#173: They Keep Me Surrounded
#172: Jump Starts
#171: On the Move
#170: How We Japan
#169: The Gate
#168: Salt and Fire
#167: Fault Tolerance
#166: Learning to Squat
#165: The Most Shanghai
#164: The Living Story
#163: Last Days in Detroit, For Now
#162: On Despair and Imagination
#161: New Mountains
#160: The Antidote
#159: Techno-Shabbat
#158: An Interview with Wildness
#157: The Added Comma
#156: A Novel is a Tree
#155: Defenderiness
#154: I Dropped My Phone
#153: Snapchat
#152: This Side of Deadline
#151: Epiphany
#150: Sealing Portals, Dressing Wounds
#149: The Beautiful Question
#148: New Old Hobbies
#147: Real or Not Real
#146: Coalition
#145: Hunt and Harvest
#144: On Receiving Feedback
#143: Follow Through
#142: Rebound
#141: Embodiment
#140: Coalescing Continuing
#139: Spontaneous Remembering
#138: Writing is Transformation
#137: What Persists
#136: Shanghai Nights
#135: A New Year's Wish
#134: Deadlines and Mother Projects
#133: To Breathe
#132: The Evolving Manuscript
#131: Across Five Years
#130: Confident Uncertainty
#129: The Home Wind
#128: Celebration of Intimacy
#127: The Talismanic Image
#126: Writing is Relationship
#125: The Cowboy and the Herd
#124: Three Kinds of Reading
#123: Saltiness and Losing with Grace
#122: Continuity
#121: What Fire Wants
#120: Obsession and an Old Friend
#119: Vertigo
#118: Liminal Space
#117: Only in New York
#116: Furnishing the Interior
#115: What's Happening
#114: Moving Day
#113: Seeing
#112: Ninety and Humid
#112: Mixing Metaphors
#111: Mackinac
#110: Mama Grace
#109: Hands-free
#108: School’s Out
#107: New Orleans
#106: Loveline
#105: Monument Valley
#104: Seeing Mountains
#103: About Those Darlings
#102: How I’m Editing, May 2015
#100: Richard Yates
#99: The Second Time Around
#98: Hello Again
#97: Squeezing the Toothpaste
#96: Meerkat
#95: The Question
#94: Show and Tell
#93: New Languages
#92: Crib Sheet
#91: The End of Wet Work
#90: Variations on a Theme
#89: Mastery and Cleanliness
#88: Poor Scientist
#87: How Easily They Wash Away
#86: Wet Clay
#85: Some Thoughts On Spider-Man
#84: Outward Movement
#82: When We Talk About Japanese Swordfighting
#81: Hairy Crab
#80: Chinese Funeral
#79: Toward the Setting Sun
#77: Void
#76: A Detroit Mix
#75: Once Upon a Time in Detroit
#74: One Week In
#73: Things I Have Done This Week for the First Time in My Life
#72: Periodic Deep Waterings
#71: An Empty House
#70: Retreat
#69: Splitting Logs
#68: On Sacrifice
#67: Speed of Life
#66: This is Darkness
#65: A New Cycle Begins
#64: The Virtue of a Spider
#63: A True Account of Meeting Frank O’Hara in Washington Square Park
#62: Three Scenes from a Friday
#61: I am a Tree (and Other Observations)
#60: It’s Summer
#59: A Somewhat Minor Incident
#58: Given the Circumstances
On working with what you have.
#57: The Difference Between Seventeen and Thirty
#56: What the Meat Fruit Says
#55: Everything Happens
#54: X
#53: I Don't Need a Car
#52: On Love and Neglect
#51: Home
#50: We’re Having a Fire ... Sale
#49: The Longest Day
#48: The Pacific Stole my Glasses
#47: And I'm Not Just Talking About the Clash
#46: Pop Songs
#45: Unpaved Cowpaths
#44: Loading
#43: Stamina and the Search for Endings, Part 3
#42: Stamina and the Search for Endings, Part 2
#41: Stamina and the Search for Endings, Part 1
#40: The Darkness You See
#39: Adventure Mode
#38: Soroche
#37: A Week in Lima
#36: Out to Sea But Not
#35: Travels With Myself and a Cold
#34: Waiting for Delivery
#33: Misunderstood
Late-night musings on an Apple ad.
#32: Great Ocean Road
On tour buses, from Melbourne.
#30: Breath
A new essay; travel plans.
#29: State of Suspension
A vague feeling; a holiday ghost story.
#28: The Ground is Shaking
On writing fiction as if it were memoir.
#27: A Letter
To myself on my thirtieth birthday.
#26: Yurt Life
Dispatch from a round dwelling in the Catskill Mountains.
#25: The Archer and the Empty Book
#24: The Road is Already Written
#23: Ducks on the Lake
What Twin Peaks and Girls have in common.
#22: Macguffins, Parabolas, and the Thing Above
#21: The Questions We Ask
Competitiveness, abundance, and being a Human in New York.
#20: Burnt Glue
#19: And You Want to Travel Blind
Interest sonar, Leonard Cohen, and the next thing.
#18: On Looking
#17: Secret Rooms and Unseen Cities
What we see when we read.
#16: The Perfect Wedding
Two weddings and an epiphany.
#15: Daily Routine: August 2013
Morning push-ups and a new essay.
#14: No One Is To Use the Stereo
#13: Fifty Shades Rewritten
#12: On Gathering and Digging
#11: LA Driving
#10: Somewhere Else
#9: The Space Between
#8: Three Changes from Fog City
#7: People Shaped Algorithms
#6: The Part That Loves
Sharing out of love versus the desire to be loved.
#5: Moving Upstairs
Cycles of collection and purge.
#4: It’s Not You, It’s the Writing
#3: A Something About "Something About"
#2: The Conversation
On research, or doing it later.
#1: New Digs
On new updates, annotations, and serendipity.