Ten pounds of weird in a five-pound bag. — Hi, my name is Matthew Maniaci, I’m 34, and I’m a huge nerd. I enjoy playing board games with friends, going to sci-fi conventions, and playing with my four cats. Also, apparently I can’t write a short article to save my life. The Story of my Life (Abridged) I was always an awkward kid in grade…

What would you do for the people you love? — My wife recently volunteered to go to New York to punch someone on my behalf. She told me as much a few months ago. I’m a pacifist, and while I was not about to hold a grudge, she absolutely was. It was a bit of a joke between us for…

I will always say it: family is what you make of it. — Thanksgiving was yesterday for me, and after eating a bunch of good food and getting to bed super-late, I am relaxing in a cafe with other writers working on our NaNoWriMo stuff. It’s getting to the end, and that means it’s mad dash time to finish our writing projects by…

I did it! WOO! — I’m feeling pretty good today — I crossed the 50,000-word threshold for NaNoWriMo with the piece I wrote yesterday, putting my total at 50,235 on November 29, 2023. I actually made it this year, which was great after last year’s disappointing finish at a bit over 45,000. To be fair…

Private health insurance sucks — single payer now! — It’s coming up on the first week of December, which means that a lot of people in America will be enrolling in their health insurance plans for the year. That means wading through a bunch of arcane and obscure language about premiums, prescriptions, and primary care costs. What’s the difference…

Please, I’m begging you. — I read an article earlier today about the epidemic of so-called “fake healed men.” It was good and I encourage you to read it. Go ahead, I’ll be here when you get back. 'There Will Be an Epidemic of Fake Healed Men Coming for Single Women.' Men have spoken the truth about how they treated women and have turned a "new leaf." But why are men expressing the…medium.com If you didn’t feel like reading it, here’s a summary with a bit of my own commentary…

Bookstore dates are the best. — My wife and I are currently sitting in a bookstore cafe. She’s currently reading WebToon, while I’m writing this. We just finished an oatmeal raisin cookie (we both love them, don’t hate on oatmeal raisin) and are in the process of downing a chai latte. It’s Saturday night and we…

It’s time to drag myself back to the office. — Today is the Sunday after Thanksgiving (for us Americans, anyway), and I’m sitting at my computer at 12:30 in the afternoon getting some writing done. Tomorrow is Monday, and that means it’s time to go back to the office, back to work, and back to the grind, as they say. …

Like many things, it’s a bunch of ups and downs. — Today is Thanksgiving for me, and while you won’t be reading this on Thanksgiving proper, I wanted to write about it anyway. My partner and I were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning, which is a thing unto itself. It was a pain in the ass to find…