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This week, our guest writer, Alex Gonzalez, author of Land Shark, discusses the phenomenon of TropeMaxxing" and why we love it while also questioning whether it could potentially diminish the authenticity of storytelling. I’ve noticed a very specific trend among YA, Romance, and Fantasy readers that I don’t see (at least to such an extent) with other genres. For lack of a more serious word, I’ll dub it TropeMaxxing.

This week, Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out, shares an essay criticizing societal discomfort with maternal sexuality, advocating for more complex and sexualized literary representations of mothers. Below, you will also find a list of magazines that embrace writing about sexuality and its many representations. One might think that at this point in history the proximity of sex and motherhood would no longer feel dangerous. Surely people understand that mothers have sex and have had sex previously or that having children might change one’s relationship to sex, or at the very least the relationship to one’s body?

This year, I planned to ignore medlars. Two summers ago, I was having drinks with friends — one of those pandemic gatherings where everyone sat six feet apart and pretended we weren't freaked out — when Koto mentioned that she had a medlar tree in her backyard orchard. I had never tasted a medlar before. I had never seen a medlar before. All I knew of medlars was a word in one of the choruses from Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Giancarlo Menotti opera I starred in as a boy soprano: “Olives and quinces, apples and raisins, nutmeg and myrtle, medlars and chestnuts.

Our star rating: None (too new) Address: 1501 North Palm Canyon Drive (At Stevens Road), Palm Springs, CA 92262 Ph: 760-320-1501 Website | Menu Oh gosh, it’s time for my first negative review here on The Desert Diner. I’m bummed because I have held such high hopes for this new spot. But after a special meal turned sour on a recent weekend night, it’s time to spill the beans.

When I appeared on Lenny’s Podcast recently to talk about what makes a top 1% PM, I talked about how Communication is one of THE most important skills for a product manager, both for new PMs and at more senior levels. Being a great communicator demonstrates two different things: (1) the ability to think clearly, and (2) the ability to communicate clearly. You can’t be a clear communicator if you’re not a clear thinker.

Part of the ongoing series on Identity and PowerI took a painting class in college as part of our Art History program, and one thing we had to do was paint ourselves. Somehow the pose I chose inadvertently put my armpit at the center of the composition, and so it hangs in my parents’ basement. Don’t worry; I will not reproduce it for you here. Still, it was a useful process and made me think about the purpose of depicting ourselves when there are so many other worthy subjects out there.

Hello all, Dylan here again. Before we get started on the main content of this post, one thing: Towards the end of this month I am attending the 2024 Preparedness Summit in Cleveland, and I am seeking feedback on what sort of coverage I should provide on it. You can submit feedback on this matter here. Today was a bit of a gloomy day - the clouds were low and gray, and rain did strike.

Welcome to Just Two Things, which I try to publish three days a week. Some links may also appear on my blog from time to time. Links to the main articles are in cross-heads as well as the story. A reminder that if you don’t see Just Two Things in your inbox, it might have been routed to your spam filter. Comments are open. The world of work is one of the most contested areas in current political discourse, and although people notice this, it’s often trivialised with tags like the “great resignation”, as if it’s somehow about particular employers rather than the issue of work itself.

1952 medalist Ginger Pye is the heartwarming tale of a dog adopted by the two stupidest children in the world. The main conflict of the novel is that somebody kidnaps the Pye kids' dog (Ginger), and the only clue they have to go on is that the kidnapper was wearing a yellow hat. Then, two-thirds through the 306-page (306 pages!) novel, the Pye kids see the guy with the exact yellow hat and are just like "