Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

My painting NORTHERN SUMMER SKY

I’m just going to say it: I think two horses would have been easier to draw.

The Met Museum, info below.

here's my take: I think humans are really fucking good. inherently. I think we are amazingly kind and giving. and everything about the world we live in is an attempt to stop us from being that. I think our societies step in to stop us from being good. I think our culture punishes us. but we ARE good

I always pay attention to what stories People Magazine and other consumer media outlets cover. That's how you can tell that something has broken through the usual political and news bubbles. This horrific Chicago story has broken through. people.com/ice-agents-o...

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

🎢 Celebrating @asiqueira.bsky.social newest book: Vera la Valiente is Scared. Congratulations,amiga! 🎉

This book is funny, engaging & it addresses an important topic that will resonate with many children: facing our fears.

https://marianariosramirez.com/vera-la-valiente-is-scared/

#kidlit #pb

I’m very glad Reading Rainbow is being revived as a long time lover of the program. My main hope is that they showcase a large variety of book authors and not just celebrities who have written books.

I hope we go beyond follower count/fame and highlight books by folks pushing the medium.

Serious question: Where in the YA section do we send these millions of boys who loved reading (or at least grudgingly read) Diary of a Wimpy Kid in middle school?? They want humor, and their sense of humor is still largely juvenile, but they are now in high school.

Something I discovered when I made the switch is that Substack counts page views more liberally than Ghost. Ghost doesn't count the views of the newsletter in the overall views count. The open rate is going to be more valuable to you and and any views on top of that are probably non-subscribers.

Isn't it fascinating how powerfully this swan takes off and runs over the water with its #webbedfeet ?

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Stunday #Swanday #ClassicMono #photography #nature #wildlife #EastCoastKin

Maybe it needs to be in the body of the post? Meta data is so weird.

I just can't anymore with the influencers mocking fashion choices from just a few years ago. Hello, some people keep their clothes instead of getting a whole new wardrobe every five years.

How your email finds me

When the market reaches saturation on a certain topic/theme publishers tend to lean away from it for a spell, which should also be factored into your research. If you see a ton of it out there, you may be observing the tipping point.

I’ve seen more than one picture book dummy recently that was near perfect terms of voice and style but ended up being a pass because it didn’t align with current market trends. Checking the bestseller list each week, noting which titles are face out at the bookstore—these practices can help. #kidlit

I guess this has probably already gone viral somewhere but I am simply dying at this picture of a bear that looks like it hired a photographer to do a glamour shoot

Wow. Even after print declined, Heritage was a money-maker, as Strib did other papers who had dumped their printers. Outsourced to Iowa(!) has to mean BRUTAL early deadlines & I‘d say this is the final step before digital-only. Big North Loop redevelopment site tho - if you can handle demo/reno $$.

If you have one person who can play a guitar and sing, you can adapt a church's musical culture without a whole band. But if you don't have that, it's really tough. I have so many thoughts on this predicament and various church experiences that don't fit in the character limit. Feel free to DM me!

When despair for the world grows in me . . .

onbeing.org/poetry/the-p...

Stand up and fight hard for democracy!

In court.
In the media.
In peaceful protests.

Together we must use our voices and our platforms to protect the constitutional rights of everyone, the rule of law in all circumstances, and free and fair elections in 2026.

Hey, can we stop comparing rude or incompetent politicians to children? It's so insulting to kids.

"Go to an old cemetery. See all the baby graves from before the 1950s & 60s? After that, hardly any. That's when people started vaccinating their children. If you're unsure what to do to protect your kids, the answer is literally written in stone." — Michael Okuda

How quick we forget.

ONE CAN BE, shares Little Free Library joy. So, authors from all 50 states will add a copy to a LFL near them. The parade starts in Wisconsin with Joshua Feyen, who writes memoir and had a tiny love story published in the NYT. One state down. 49 to go!
#onecanbe #50states #booksky #megakidlit