why writing is important

so I just wrote this little piece - having is evidence of wanting. it’s not a full essay, not even close, but it is…something. and that matters. how do i know? because i just a few minutes ago had a random thought pop into my mind about how i could use this idea - having is evidence of wanting - and the book Existential Kink as a whole - as the start of the story I can tell at the February 2026 Moth show that’s coming up. The theme is ‘Love Hurts.’ I don’t yet know what my piece will be about, but now I have a super interesting, alive-feeling start. ...

January 26, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

a writing thing i really like doing

Just wrote this: Now, at 507am, it’s skyrocketed to 16 degrees. That’s outside though. Inside I bet it’s 40? 45 maybe? Actually I have a meat thermoemter inside let me go check. I love doing that. Like the essay is happening in real time. Because it is. I’m living it and writing it. Feels like sending a text to a friend about something that’s happening RIGHT NOW. And lemme tell you why: It makes the present tense make sense

January 16, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

we are each other's heaters

Vija Celmins, Heater (1964) We’ve got this detached office in the backyard. It’s like a shed that feels like a sauna because of the wood paneling. Is it called paneling? There are so many words that all basically just mean ‘wall’. Recently I learned the outside of a house is called ‘siding’ when Lauren kept talking about what color we’d paint the siding in our new home (soft launch btw: we finally closed on a home). ...

January 16, 2026 · 5 min · Alex Dobrenko

hi sterling

lets see if this works

January 15, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

who is lying?

I just came across this weird fun little mind puzzler: Besides the many things I love about this website, made by coder / hacker / weird guy Nolan Royalty (see the footnote thing he does), I’m also just very drawn to trying to solve this. So before I look for the answer, I’m gonna try to solve it myself. If you wanna try, don’t read below. my answer I think the move is to ask Bob if Alice is lying. He’ll tell you the truth 80% of the time. You can then ask Alice if Bob is lying or not and she’ll tell you the truth 80% of the time. ...

January 14, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

hi paul

this is me alex!

January 11, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

i gotta write my own stuff

I keep trying to take shortcuts - that’s one of the main things AI can help with, after all. And one place I keep trying and failing is writing. Like with this essay. I tried by first doing a voice note and having it turn the voice note into an essay and I just…didn’t like it. It didn’t feel like me, even if the prompt I gave was “sound like me.” ...

January 10, 2026 · 2 min · Alex Dobrenko

Just Ask Claude: The Most Powerful Claude Code Tutorial

So I just got off a call with someone interested in learning all the claude code stuff. It was fun and cool and i muttered a lot, laughed too loud, and was generally anxious about sounding smart or making myself look like anything other than an idiot. Healthy stuff! But, and, yet, the one thing i kept saying as an answer to this kind friend’s questions was simply this: just ask claude Not sure how to install something on github? Just ask claude. ...

January 10, 2026 · 2 min · Alex Dobrenko

hi brian

lets see if this works!

January 8, 2026 · 1 min · Alex Dobrenko

i made something to help me actually finish projects. then i had a meltdown trying to sell it. now it's free.

ok so here’s what happened. I’ve been vibe coding for like a year. I have a captioning tool that’s 70% done. a game. a blog system. all of them “almost there.” none of them shipped. so I made myself a little system. one project at a time. everything else is dormant. write it down. actually write it down. and it worked. I shipped a zine in one day that had been sitting untouched for weeks. ...

January 4, 2026 · 2 min · Alex Dobrenko