The United States Men's Gymnastics team recently broke a long medal drought and came in 3rd place at the Paris Olympics. Their final performance was by Stephen Nedoroscik. Nedoroscik is a two-time NCAA national champion and four-time US National champion for the pommel horse. While the rest of his team participated and competed in the other events (rings, vault, floor exercise)...Nedoroscik sat with his eyes closed, meditating like a Jedi. When it was his time to compete, with Team USA...
8 months ago • 3 min read
I recently finished Anne Patchett's Tom Lake. It tells the story of Laura Kineson, a mom of three who has lived a Forrest Gump-esque life: in interesting situations, doing interesting things, and interacting with famous people over the decades. As she recounts her life to her grown daughters, she remembers one summer spent on the shores of Tom Lake as a performer in Our Town. During one such performance, a fellow performer had a medical emergency and missed the show, and ended up passing away...
11 months ago • 2 min read
In 2012, I flew to Alaska for 25 hours. I was there for such a short amount of time that I didn’t even bother booking a hotel. I flew from Washington DC to Phoenix, and then from Phoenix to Alaska, arriving in Anchorage around 3AM. I slept at the airport for a few hours, then rented a car, and went exploring. I went hiking, saw a moose, climbed a mountain (and almost died), attended a Nerd Fitness meetup with 3 people at a bar, and then hopped on a late flight back to Phoenix and back to DC....
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Today, let's talk about writing and success. In Neil Gaiman's incredible Make Good Art, he shares a lesson about the (good) problem that follows success: “The biggest problem of success is that the world conspires to stop you doing the thing that you do, because you are successful. There was a day when I looked up and realised that I had become someone who professionally replied to email, and who wrote as a hobby. I started answering fewer emails, and was relieved to find I was writing much...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
I'm fascinated with the amount of effort and mastery required to making certain skills or performances look effortless. Whenever I find myself wishing I could do that "cool thing," too I remind myself that it's almost never "god-given talent" but rather "thousands upon thousands of hours spent in solitary practice to make it look effortless. Let's nerd out with a few quick examples: Feats of Beautiful Strength Director James Gunn has been an absolute delight to follow on Threads. Gunn is the...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
I am a fraud. Well, I feel like one, most days. I've been sharing my work on the internet for 15 years, and every day, I'm waiting to be told "who let you in here?" Of course, this isn't unique in any way. Maya Angelou, one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century, struggled with Impostor Syndrome too: I have written eleven books, but each time I think, "Uh oh, they're going to find out now. I've run a game on everybody and they're going to find me out." If Maya Angelou felt like a...
about 1 year ago • 4 min read
My name is Steve and I am a people pleaser who makes stuff and shares it with the public. This is both fun (I can make friends quickly!) and a nightmare (I hyper-focus on the people who don't like my work!). As a result, I've largely avoided social media as a creative outlet for the past decade. I finally came to realize I was doing myself a disservice by not sharing my ideas with people who might enjoy them. This is why I've waded back into the ruckus, sharing regularly on Instagram and...
over 1 year ago • 6 min read
I'm slowly working my way through The Last Lion, a 3-part, 4,000-page biography of the Winston Churchill. It's so daunting that I had to employ my "1-page per day" strategy that got me through War & Peace. I just finished The Last Lion: Part 2, which covers Churchill's life as a political outcast in the years between World War 1 and World War 2. It goes over his daily routine at his home, Chartwell, and how he fell in love with two unlikely activities: Painting and bricklaying. The story of...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
1997 was one of the most pivotal years in nerd history. That spring, Wizards of the Coast (makers of Magic: The Gathering) was deep in negotiations to acquire TSR, who made Dungeons & Dragons. Lorraine Williams, CEO of TSR, had done an admirable (and controversial) job stewarding the struggling D&D manufacturer through a turbulent decade, but her company was going bankrupt fast and in need of a buyer. Peter Adkison, CEO of Wizards of the Coast had done his due diligence and was interested in...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read