Archive for August 2022

I recently wrote that I’ve written and published a blog post every day for almost 19 years. Several readers have asked, “How is that possible?” Some wondered about logistics. Weren’t their days when you were sick or unavailable or without internet access? Those questions were answered by explaining that I write some posts beforehand so…

On Sunday, I tried to make Elysha’s last day of summer vacation as lovely as possible by doing as many chores as possible for her. Before leaving for the lake, I loaded the dishwasher, added soap, and ran the machine. When we returned from the lake, I emptied the machine, putting all the dishes away,…

Oftentimes, the best way to make an argument, teach a lesson, entertain a reader, or convince an audience of the rightness of your idea is to bring together two things that are dissimilar in content but integrally linked in theme, message, or meaning. I call this “speaking with adjacency.” The strategy is predicated on the…

During a recent podcast interview, the host asked me to talk about the struggles that I experienced when I was in my early twenties. I told him that after being arrested for a crime I didn’t commit, I quickly lost my job and then my apartment, leaving me homeless for about six weeks before a…

I’ve recently started using the Grammarly Chrome extension to better identify the errors in my writing. It’s reduced the frequency of errors considerably. While most word processing software can identify errors well, Grammarly finds errors contextually, meaning it finds those sneaky mistakes in which the word is spelled correctly but is definitely the wrong word.…

Back in February 2014, I wrote about the joy of peanut butter and tuna fish sandwiches. I wrote: ____________________________________ When I was a kid, my mother didn’t especially care about my hatred for mayonnaise. When the canned tuna fish was on sale, we were eating it, damn it. Initially, this meant tuna fish straight out…

While sitting together on a paddleboard yesterday, Charlie asked me this: “Why can’t I imagine a new color? I’m trying so hard, but I just can’t picture a new one in my mind.” It was one of those questions that are both ridiculous but also profound. Possible answers that scrolled through my mind: “Do we…

My friend, Heather Clow, published a list called “What I Like About Me” on her now defunct (unless she starts writing again!) blog “One Thousand Words Project.”I like her list a lot, and I like the idea, too. I think we deserve to be exceedingly kind to ourselves whenever possible. This can be tricky because…

Driving home from Washington DC last week, our family decided to listen to the Hamilton soundtrack, performed by the original cast. This meant we would be listening to the show in full. In the midst of the penultimate song, wherein Hamilton dies in his duel with Burr, I began to get teary-eyed. I subtly wiped…

Yesterday I wrote my 7,000th blog post on Grin and Bare It. My very first post, published on November 18, 2008, read: Greetings! Welcome to my little corner of the world. My name is Matthew Dicks. I am a writer. In the spring of 2008, under the guidance of my remarkable agent, Taryn Fagerness, I…