J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

New Theme, and a Quick Story About How I Searched for a Nonexistent Phrase for More Than a Decade

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On August 25

In Metablog

As regular readers will have noticed, I switched WordPress themes. The new theme is called Lovecraft. It’s big! I like it. Lately, I’ve felt like going big. I threw a big birthday party. I’m writing lots of words. Big big big.

The reason I switched: the font size of Coraline (my previous theme) was too small. I found a way to make it bigger in the theme customization options, but the latest WordPress update got rid of that option, and my font size shrunk again. I know I could have fussed around with css, but screw it — it was time for a change anyway. I got rid of that picture of myself wearing that hat and holding the empty wine glass, and now the banner has some great pictures of our planet, courtesy of NASA. Thanks NASA! (And once again, big!)

Lovecraft. That reminds me of a story. A story about a story.

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Quality Control: Getting the Work Done Despite Your High Standards

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On August 22

In Creative Work/Career, Fiction Writing, Writing

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Over the last few years I’ve been compiling notes on good writing technique. My favorite authors have been generous with their advice, and I’ve been collecting it, analyzing it, and trying to apply it to my own work. How to build suspense, how to create relatable characters, how to construct a good sentence, a good scene, a good story.

Two problems …

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Don’t Waste Money

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On August 8

In Money/Personal Finance

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Burning money — not always a waste?

Recently something clicked for me, a reconciliation of the personal finance philosophies of Mr. Money Mustache and Ramit Sethi, two “rich life” bloggers I follow. The former retired in his thirties via ultra-aggressive savings and a serious no-frills lifestyle (drying clothes on the line, buying cheap staple foods in bulk, bicycle as main mode of transportation, etc.). Ramit, on the other hand, loves to ridicule budgeting (few really do it) and advises his readers that they are better off putting their attention and energy into earning more money (via starting online businesses, freelance work, side jobs, and/or negotiating higher salaries). Superficially it would seem that these two approaches are diametrically opposed, but a unifying principle revealed itself to me after a recent transportation experience. Don’t waste money. I’ll get into what that means (at least what it means to me) a little later.

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Why Basic Income Makes Sense in the United States

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On July 26

In Alternative Economics, Money/Personal Finance, Utopian Speculations

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Basic income, or a citizen stipend, or a technology dividend, or whatever you want to call it, makes sense. Here’s why:

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Why I Support Campaign Zero and #BlackLivesMatter

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On July 12

In Culture Rants/Shares, Problem Solving

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In the wake of the recent killings of black U.S. citizens Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by their own police (and the dozens of other similar cases we’ve seen in recent years), I’ve been struggling with what to say in this space. Saying nothing isn’t an option — the injustice is too great.

I’m going to keep it simple and endorse Campaign Zero, a systematic approach to improving policing. The platform doesn’t make villains out of the men and women who risk their lives to protect us (most of them good people, with the public interest at heart), but it does make concrete recommendations that can save lives (of all races, both civilians and public servants), reduce strife, and reduce civil injustice.

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