The Words I Needed Then

July 31st, 2023 Today is the last day of Brushfire month, which means I can shut up about it for a little while now. I tell people that I don’t write for an audience, and that is generally true; I don’t sit down and think of a target person, their age or gender or preferencesContinue reading “The Words I Needed Then”

Bad Brains + Bad Hearts

July 1st, 2023 The world lately has me feeling a kind of sick, and I’ve been having to remind myself of a lesson I learned early in sobriety. When I got better, my first instinct was to help everyone else get better, too. It’s not a bad instinct, but it’s a naïve one, and itContinue reading “Bad Brains + Bad Hearts”

The History of The Next Step, Part VI: Unreleased Work, Legacy, and The Future

May 29th, 2023 Like a person, The Next Step isn’t and never was all good or all bad. And it was never a boy band. But it made me who I am today. Before I get to how, however, let’s talk about the stuff that never got made (or got made and then buried somewhereContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part VI: Unreleased Work, Legacy, and The Future”

Platform of Pain

May 19th, 2023 If you would have told me when I was a kid that I would eventually build my life on hurt, I would have told you that you say really weird things to kids. But you would have been right. I was having a recorded conversation with a friend earlier this week (forContinue reading “Platform of Pain”

Static Interlude

April 26th, 2023 I’ve been distant. (Don’t act like you noticed. We can only hold 150 people in our heads and I’m not one of them.) Usually when I sit down and type one of these I have a central idea or general theme or, you know, a point. That is not what this is.Continue reading “Static Interlude”

Because It Kills You

March 15th, 2023 Any ride you survive was worth taking; eventually you’ll take one you don’t. If you’re a normal human who does regular person things (jealous!), you probably don’t read everything I post (and if you’re a weirdo who does, okay, I see you, too). So if you missed it: back at the beginningContinue reading “Because It Kills You”

what it do

March 6th, 2023 On Thursday, we decided to take a big swing: we announced exciting new directions and surprising new projects. (In this post, I’m not going to link to anything, because posts with links don’t get seen as much, but I do encourage you to check out the last few days on our socialContinue reading “what it do”

The Lines I Can Clear

February 18th, 2023 One of my first addictions was a cartridge called Tetris. If you’ve never played the game — okay, you’re lying, but I’ll bite. In Tetris, tetrominoes (geometric shapes made of four connected squares) drop from the sky and it’s up to you to move, rotate, and place them on the way down.Continue reading “The Lines I Can Clear”

All the Wrong and Dark Things

January 31st, 2023 Today is the last day of Origins month, and I sincerely want to thank anybody who’s been reading. A better explanation of why I’m doing this (and why I do anything on the internet at all) is coming tomorrow, the first day of a new month, and a new topic. Going throughContinue reading “All the Wrong and Dark Things”

Cave Paintings

January 30th, 2023 One of the fun aspects of documenting memories and recording our own personal histories is the potential that you can inspire yourself. Scrolling through your past from your present, sometimes you come across the right time at the right time. In high school, I decided to create a mural. I didn’t knowContinue reading “Cave Paintings”