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…

Looks like we’ve got flu and COVID shots from now on. — My partner and I are going to get our annual autumn vaccines. Normally, we’d get our flu shots around this time of year to keep up with the annual sickness that goes around. Now, it’s both flu and COVID in one go. …

I know I’d be happier with a bunch of money. — If you clicked on this article expecting it to be labeled with the “humor” tag, I’m sorry to disappoint. And, considering how much I enjoy dunking on capitalism, billionaires, excess displays of wealth, and Elon Musk in particular, you would not be remiss in wondering where I’m going with this. …

And the massive amount of privilege that statement exudes. — My partner and I were in a chain cafe yesterday while I was getting some work done. She was having a mild pain flare-up, so she had been looking forward to sitting in one of the large, overstuffed chairs that often appear in those kinds of spaces. There were two…

Star Trek, Star Wars, sci-fi, gaming, anime, whatever, it’s all cool! — There is a sci-fi convention in my hometown area this weekend — Archon, which has been running since 1977 and is one of the bigger cons in the area. …

Yeah, you can work 80 hours a week, but it probably won’t get you very far. — Americans sure love hard work. We’re all about that rugged individualism — I worked hard to earn my money and get ahead, and you can too! You don’t need anyone but you to get there! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do it! We take that shit super-seriously, and…

They know themselves better than anyone, after all. — I think the title of this article is pretty self-explanatory, so I’m just going to call it here. Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! What, you want more? Sure thing! A lot of people get really hung up on pronouns, and generally speaking it’s not the people who use…

Sorry, I just don’t have the spoons to do anything decent right now. — It’s been a day, again. I can’t seem to catch a break at work lately, so my day was, shall we say, sub-par. I did okay and got some things done, so it’s not like I wasn’t productive. …

I’m not exactly a shrinking violet here. — I’ve had my current job for nearly seven years. I work in the nonprofit industry as a fundraiser — albeit as a grant writer, which is more of the “reclusive mole-person” type of fundraiser than most. I spend a ton of time in my office writing and rarely interact with…