Skyfoos.

What a beautiful book. I am a young, white, American male - in short, something that has hurt the world a great deal. It is good to read and know something from someone who is not me. 5 stars because it is exactly what it purports to be and more. Many quotes have been shared to my IG stories, @lukeskyfoos, and here are a few to start you on the journey:

The only job I have ever had that was not based on words was 12 years ago, when I got poison ivy from weed-whacking behind a mechanic's shop. When I got ice cream and milkshakes for townies, I talked more than I worked. I talked to get the job; I talked to make people like me; I talked. This was maybe the second-least talk-based job I've had. When I was a teenager and talked to teenagers about teenage things for a living, we would just keep talking after I talked. Then later, I talked with some teenagers and adults about what we should talk about next week. When I talked to people to find out what they wanted to eat at Texas Roadhouse, my highest sales item was the sound coming out of my smile. People gave me money if I was funny, or if I was pitiful. Isn't that weird? One time, a table of seven people waited an hour for food I had never asked the kitchen to make. Once in a while I forget to talk to the right people at the right time. When I went to college, they...

This is the first of a  small collection of stories about some of my favorite little characters: Sam and Chris. They make me remember why I started writing. To experience something new. To make myself smile. I dedicate these stories to my childhood, and how I remember it.  Creativity Chris was, above all, creative. Creative is by and large the kindest word you can use for “I-don’t-get-how-you-have-so-much-energy.” Even his best friend, Sam, the tried and true trooper of Chris’s crazed creativity, thought that Chris was a little over the top.             Just recently , for instance, Chris said, “You know what would be cool to do today?” Being used to such presumptuous questions, Sam responded, “Probably if we did what I suggested five minutes ago – that we stay inside, and just hang out in the cool air for a while.” It was summer – a hot summer, if hot is an extreme enough term for sweating while in front of the ai...

Have you ever been good-sad?  My wife is really into the Enneagram lately (for the uninitiated, it's a personality test focused on your motivation for living and behaving the way you do). Like, she's REALLY into it. I've learned some by osmosis, and I learned that number Four on the Enneagram is a kind of person who doesn't mind being sad or focusing on sad things. In some ways, a Four enjoys being a little melancholic. I have no idea if Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner , is a Four, but his book feels like it. Part of the reason one might enjoy being a little sad is because you know you're sad for a reason. Like, "this sadness will bring about good things, because what's making me sad is true and truth brings out good things." So in Kite Runner , the main character is a man with a guilty conscience and no, [spoilers] he never clears his conscience. He makes a few brave decisions in succession toward the end and sort of goes back to...

I don't often do spontaneous book-buys. It's the one area of my life where I plan and plan carefully. This year, my goal is to read more from non-white, non-male authors (doing okay - I just had to quit a book from female Nigerian author because I couldn't get through it...it's a work in progress).  But even so, I bought this book out of the blue. I found it via some Instagram hashtag one day, went and bought it the day after that, and had it finished within 72 hours of the first time I ever heard of it. It was a whirlwind. Robin Sloan killed it with this novel.  Ready Player One is a better nerd-fantasy novel of silliness, but Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore has more honest heart. I loved every character. Every character is a nerd, and I therefore saw a side of myself in each character. By the way, my sides are painted in Sherwin-William's color Nighttime NerdScape, used for painting Bill Gates' mansion and the inside of Stephen Colbert...

I hope you enjoy it. Make sure to print it in landscape! Find the PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yJbvGGUGeDoJSufPsQw36tmue419hqt2/view?usp=sharing -Luke Skyfoos

Ugh. Did you guys know that people expect you to introduce yourself at things? Does anyone actually like talking about themselves?  That's me. I'm Luke. Sup. Here are some pictures I've taken: Here are some authors I've really enjoyed: Chinua Achebe Doris Kearns Goodwin JRR Tolkien And here are some paintings I use as backgrounds:  That's all you need to know about me...right? -Luke Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I just had the most awesome day. Productive, fun, interesting, all the best stuff. The coolest of it was getting to read BOTH of these books by influential women in one morning, because they are so short and readable. They both made me think and challenged me, but I preferred by far the manuscript from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Reviews below! ANTHEM: 3/5 I liked it, but it felt really contrived. Like the author wanted to write an essay and accidentally wrote a novella instead. The main thesis is that our current culture worships the idea of the collective - "we" care more about the "we" than the "me," at least intellectually. So we praise selflessness and discourage selfishness. The author, Ayn Rand, believes that denying oneself is not only unintelligent, but harmful. If we all were to focus too heavily on that idea, Rand's story argues, then we would lose the major and rapid gains that humanity has achieved through the minds of outcas...

Authors Note: There is a companion poem to this short story. Check it out here.  Dawn again. It has been six times dusk and dawn seven since I began. The hammock’s hard to get out of. It’s the kind that hangs just taut enough between two trunks or boughs or poles or whatever that it doesn’t slam into the ground. I land on the nearest branch; I spent the night high in a tree breathing cool air. The heat will begin soon. Six dusks and seven dawns and I still haven’t needed a fire. I still haven’t seen a real animal. I’ve eaten nothing with fewer than six legs. That’s fine. Good, really. But not entirely true. I tried to eat a newt I found. Might as well have been an insect with the amount of meat it held. I was so hungry I ate what I could without cooking it. That was four dusks ago. When I thought I would return home. Gotta keep going. I’m not dead yet. The journey is only supposed to last nine days. Six dusks and seven dawns later, I don’t expect ...

I would hope it's obvious, but I wrote this poem for my wife. When I showed her, the top image was her favorite, and the bottom was mine (with mine I guess I would've had the text below or something- I think that's why she chose the other one :) ). I hope you enjoy it!  -Luke

Because Memes.

Hey guys, I have this smartypants Brit for a friend who studied history at ~ university ~ and hasn't stopped reading since her parents bought her bifocals. Her name is Holly, and I risked forcing her to become a representative for her entire culture by asking: What are the top ten British Books of all time? Shakespeare, Dickens, Rowling - Doyle? Tolkien? See what made the list below - and follow Holly's writer instagram  @whenhollywrites ! -Luke I may be a little biased, but Britain has churned out some incredible literature throughout history. Never underestimate a tiny island who has given the world the Queen, Ed Sheeran and afternoon tea. I hope you find some new favourites in this post, whether familiar or otherwise, and can appreciate the gems of the place that I will always call home. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens My all-time favourite book. Dickens is very hit or miss with most people but I urge you to give this one a go, especially if your only...

337 pages of  oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap. I held my breath every time I turned a page of SIRENS. It's a debut novel - this British dude, Joseph Knox's first book. He kills it. He kills it, plates it, and serves it to a dinner party of lovably despicable characters. It's not perfect. I'll be honest, it's a little racy for me. Sex is portrayed super weird, no one's happy, there's blood and bodies and truly evil baddies. But that is a footnote. It's lovely, too. Full of deep feeling, creativity, and an insight into human motivations. The main detective drunkard, Aiden Waits ("for no man") is a heartbreaker. He knows all, sees all; knows nothing, gets fleeced. It's noir for sure, just like the dust-jacket repeats. I read the Maltese Falcon and it wasn't my thing. SIRENS had me from "They'd never trust me in the daylight again." I couldn't stop reading. You know when you're reading a book and ...