It didn’t happen every night. But it was not uncommon for me to be rousted from my slumber at the sound of my husband chuckling outloud while still fully asleep. He snored too, but I was accustomed to those rumblings over our 42 years together. His sleep laughter, however, was…

Why not let everyone boost stories directly to their followers? — Before the boost on Medium was even a thought in anyone’s mind, there was another boost. I’m talking about Mastodon: the open source, decentralized, microblogging social media platform, where boosting content is equally open and decentralized. When Medium officially embraced Mastodon and made its Mastodon server part of our membership…

One of the most fun — and comfortable — celebrity interviews I’ve ever done — When Lonnie Hull Dupont asked me if I could contribute a piece for her newest anthology — to be titled Second-Chance Horses, I immediately said yes. No matter that I didn’t have the slightest idea for a story. I’d been published in her last two anthologies on animals, and I…

This idea is free, but if Coach Tony wants to pay for it, that’s fine — A response to Smillew Rahcuef’s recent suggestion for a fairer, better boost nomination system. A Fairer, Better, Cheaper Way To Boost Stories The idea is for free. You’re welcome.medium.com Don’t Pay Writers Smillew suggested in his article that writers shouldn’t be paid. Boo! No, wait, he only meant they shouldn’t be paid to nominate stories. That would make more sense: after all, he is a writer (he tells…

Is Medium headed in the wrong direction? I see a missed opportunity for the platform — I’m not saying Medium is the Titanic (but I’m not not saying that either), but somehow they’ve still missed the boat. On Medium Day this year, CEO Tony Stubblebine announced that after consistent user attrition (for what looked like endless quarters), Medium was finally on the upswing. New users are…

DISABLED BIRDS Caring For Disabled Birds Their comfort and safety is my priority Leggs has no legs, just perfectly formed feet protruding from her body. She came to live with us when her owner died. I have no information as to her age and prior accommodations. I do know what crippled birds need in…

Believe me. I speak fluent Kokoese. — Koko (1971–2018) was a gorilla born in a zoo who “enjoyed” being an experimental subject for (almost) five decades of her life. For all I know, she was treated well and had a good life. However, I’m 110% sure it wasn’t the best life she could have lived because one…

What We Know but Can’t Quite Say — Isn’t language a peculiar thing? Imagine strolling through a forest where the leaves whisper secrets, each rustling leaf, a rule, a structure of the English language we’ve been abiding by, possibly without even realizing. Mark Forsyth [1], in his enlightening piece, unravelled some of these cryptic, unwritten codes. …

A Microscopic Odyssey — The Navel Gazing Begins, Literally Hey, have you ever stared at your bellybutton and thought, “What’s going on in there?” No? Just me? Well, let me tell you, that seemingly insignificant navel of yours is a bustling city of microscopic life. It’s like New York City during rush hour, but on a scale so tiny…

“Mental health” and “being a “man” are now in a cage match to the death. — I really don’t get out much anymore. I’m pretty much a stay-at-home husband now. There is nothing I want to see out there anyway anymore. If it's not family related or necessary to our survival out here, I’m not going. The “energy” I feel from my fellow random Americans is…

When best friends break apart… — Some things are too ugly to look away from. The atrocities of war. A train wreck. A vicious animal attack or truly spoiled beauty, to name a few. Such things can hold human beings captive. This was one of those, and it was eerie and surreal. I pulled my tattered…

Listen up — I’ll tell you! I’m going to start this tale with an analogy, so that you will see the point immediately. …

If only I had remembered her name — “Hi! Thanks for calling Slice Hair Salon. My name is Lauren, how can I help you?” By creating an online system to book appointments so introverts like myself don’t have three hours of anxiety before making this phone call. “Hi! Can I make an appointment for a cut please?” I…

Yes, there’s more… — Yes, roses are lovely. I get compliments all the time for how pretty ours are (my wife’s doing, I’m not a gardener!). It’s no wonder roses are the major player in the language of love. No, I wasn’t kidding in my article just before this one about how that language…

A cautionary tale about choosing what to wear for Halloween — At Halloween many people dress up as something they are not. I am here to warn you this can have unexpected consequences. A few years ago I dressed as a Canadian Mountie to raise money for a charity called Comic Relief. If I’d actually been a Mountie, this would have…

An in-depth look at the boost program on Medium, and some related shiznit — I finally got boosted. Twice. So now I’m required under the fictional terms and conditions of the Medium Motherfuckers treatise to write about it. Nah, just coincidental timing. I’ve had a few readers reach out to me lately asking ‘uhh, hey, err — where ya been with the Medium updates?!’ …

A day in the life of dementia sufferers — So you’re getting older, or your parents are getting older, and you’re starting to hear phrases like “aging in place,” “assisted living,” and “memory care.” “Aging in place” is what everyone thinks they’re going to be able to do when they get old, because they plan on being able-minded and…

What’s the point? You tell me. — What makes someone take up an AR-15 weapon, find a bunch of people, and go shoot them? I’ll tell you why. Hatred. There are those who will insist that that type of hatred is born by constant abuse. I went through extreme abuse for 42 years. Not once have I…

The reason Steve Harvey is the perfect person for Hilarious AI generated images — Have you noticed all the weird Steve Harvey AI photos going around? I have. As an AI art creator, I like to see what other AI artists are doing. Social media connects me with the AI art community. Earlier this month mugrootbeerfan posted a set of ai generated pictures of…

I am sitting on many museum-quality artifacts — Maybe you’ve seen that PBS favorite, the Antiques Roadshow, in which people bring in some doodad they found in the attic and it turns out to be worth a fortune. One of the best episodes featured a bowl a lady bought for a little bit of nothing from a yard…