Some Stories I Really Loved in 2018
(Also please don’t rip off my work, ffs)
Good afternoon, fair Medium-ites. I’m running on three hours of sleep and I don’t really have the patience to couch this in a funny joke or a clever turn of phrase so I’m just gonna say: Don’t rip my work off. Especially don’t rip it off if you’re a major publication with an assload (Metric Assload, not Imperial Assload) of eyes on your page. I monetize my work because I’m a solo freelance artist and it would have been a boon to me if you’d reached out and asked me to add my work to your publication or republish. Those kind of big-time comedy claps go a long way- like into my gas tank or to pay my open enrollment fees. I’m not going to name the publication or the piece in question, but here’s my piece that was copied, you know, if you’re feeling generous with your time and claps today:
I mean, like, dude come on. You got shouted out by the editor of McSweeneys, do better.
Anyway, in the spirit of original, thought-provoking work, here are my favorite pieces from my favorite Medium writers in 2018:
Chaz Hutton with some very unhelpful but very necessary social media advice:
Hassan S. Ali coming through with some Extremely Relatable Content:
Stella J. McKenna’s very good advice that I have taken entirely to heart:
I just think Ernio Hernandez is neat, so here’s his entire discography, if you will:
Benjamin Sledge routinely knocks it out of the park but I found this piece to be especially important this year (and also every year):
Christopher Daniels (Notorious DCI) hit the nail on the head with this takedown of Medium Gurus and the platform that enables them:
Justin Cox 🍩 took a swing at a prompt I posted a few weeks back and I absolutely loved the result:
I’m bad at writing about poetry but Tre L. Loadholt is always so good at it so I’m just going to leave the link here and not ruin it:
Stephen M. Tomic made me snort at my desk with this gem:
Lisa Renee doesn’t know it, but when my dog died earlier this year, her piece on the same topic made me feel a lot less alone about burying a friend everyone insisted was just an animal:
Every time I get too caught up in being Extremely Online and hurt about something stupid, Gutbloom always comes through, the Internet Archdruid that he is, and reminds me that it’s all bullshit anyway and for that I am particularly grateful:
There were other pieces. I’m not just saying that to be democratic about the whole thing, there were definitely other pieces and I have definitely forgotten them and will definitely remember them in about 2–3 hours and feel like a real turd and add them to this list and hope you haven’t noticed. Did I mention I only got like three hours of sleep?
Anyway, Happy New Year! Don’t drink and drive and please don’t rip off my work. I’m a nice person. I have a dog I need to feed and a bad Diet Coke habit.
