PinnedMember-onlyGreetings: I’m JacobWelcome to my profile — November 2022 About me I am a friendly, bookish, music-loving, often writing, always reading kind of guy with a deep love of animals, plants, music, exploration, learning, teaching, and the outdoors. …Coffee Times Movement2 min readCoffee Times Movement2 min read
Published inWriters’ Blokke·PinnedMember-onlyWe’re Living Through a Clap-DroughtPull the bucket up — we all know your clap well ain’t empty — I know this has been covered to death. I also realize it’s a topic about which most people’s opinions have already ossified. I’m going to give it a go, anyway. What can I say? I’m an optimist. One thing you will never convince me of: claps don’t matter. You’ve heard…Writing7 min readWriting7 min read
Published inPetness·PinnedMember-onlyI sometimes sat and wondered whoA poem of loss — I sometimes sat and wondered who would be the first to go— to leave our sixteen legged pack, prints missing in the snow. I’d watch you then, for signs of what one day was sure to come, and tell myself she looks okay: bright eyes, soft coat, pink gums. Today…Life2 min readLife2 min read
PinnedMember-onlyQuick LinksNavigate my writing by topic or check out my directory.Writing1 min readWriting1 min read
Published inThe Book Cafe·Jan 31, 2022Member-onlyHow Reading Fiction Makes You a Better PersonFeeling awkward after so much social isolation? Books will remind you how to be a person in the world — If you dread the social dynamics of a world returning to the pre-pandemic — or arriving at a post-pandemic — normal, you may benefit from reading fiction. …Books5 min readBooks5 min read
Published inThe Book Cafe·Jan 28, 2022Member-onlyThe Dying Art of Reading BooksWhy are Americans progressively reading fewer books? — A Gallup poll run from December 1st through the 16th reveals what some might consider an alarming trend: Americans are reading fewer books than ever before. Before you assume the results are impacted by the exclusion of electronic books and audiobooks, let me say: they were included! In fact, a…Reading4 min readReading4 min read
Published inWriters’ Blokke·Jan 25, 2022Member-onlyI Found an Entire Writing Class in a Single SentenceDo you know how to read like a writer? — There is a ton of unqualified writing advice out there so I don’t think I necessarily need to add my two cents in—but I’m gonna. The reason: the advice is timeless and any good writer will back me in this. If you’re stuck in your writing journey, suffering writer’s block…Reading9 min readReading9 min read
Published inWriters’ Blokke·Jan 20, 2022Member-onlyNot Getting Reads? Here Are 5 Helpful Stories About SuccessIf you’re struggling, try farming advice from other writers — In honor of nothing in particular — let’s call it in honor of the hard work some creators put in — please find below a selection of stories related to writing that surprised and delighted me over the past year. …Writing7 min readWriting7 min read
Published inPetness·Jan 19, 2022Member-onlyIn the kitchen, tearing up jackfruitIn the kitchen, tearing up jackfruit with my bare hands for the sandwiches, I think of meat (which I don’t eat) of flesh; of pork, pigs — dogs: I think of you. I think of your flesh; I wonder: did it look like this, in death, in the flames? I…Loss2 min readLoss2 min read
Published inAn Injustice!·Jan 19, 2022Member-onlyAre Black Americans Among the Most Dangerous Groups in the History of Civilization?Let’s do some MLK Jr. Day math — Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Let’s chat about mass incarceration. According to Jason Stanely’s incisive little 2018 volume, How Fascism Works, roughly 500,000 American citizens were imprisoned in 1980. That number had more than quadrupled to 2.3 million by 2013. In that year, White Americans made up 77% of…Race2 min readRace2 min read
