Michael VanCalbergh
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mvcpoet.bsky.social
Michael VanCalbergh
@mvcpoet.bsky.social
Poet, Writer, Incredible Hulk Enthusiast, Father, Comic Lover, Obsessive Reader, SRPR Reader, Trying to get 1st manuscript picked up.

Monthly writing on books/reading/writing at: https://widely-read.ghost.io/
Pinned
Reading thread 2025:

I'm going to try my best to post all the books I've read this year here. Tried to do this on T*itter, maybe I'll have more success here. Gonna try to do this on Sundays where I've finished books which I'm hoping is every Sunday (hahaha).
I worked on a lil poem today. Its a list poem. Its very difficult to figure out. But i love it. I love this lil list poem
November 20, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by Michael VanCalbergh
Want to read about how I failed listening to Pedagogy of the Oppressed? Of course you do!

Its filled with reading while driving tips. Also helpful roght about now.
November 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Saw my first attempted kidnapping in central IL today, so thats something I never thought Id actually type out.
November 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Want to read about how I failed listening to Pedagogy of the Oppressed? Of course you do!

Its filled with reading while driving tips. Also helpful roght about now.
November 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Now its 4 days! My kid doesnt want me showing their art here but theres some collage art and postcards, a few mini prints, an anti t*ump one, and other gorgeous goodies!
Im going to be in Des Plaines, IL in 6 days at WarriorCon where my kid will be slinging some excellent art and Ill have some comics and AD&D books for sale!!

If youre in the area, its for a good cause and encourages my kid to try out more art.
November 19, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Michael VanCalbergh
Traveling next week? Considering audiobooks? Well make sure youre not listening to a book that distracts you. Learn from my mistakes.

widely-read.ghost.io/i-read-while...
I Read While Driving; But Should I?
It’s the time of year for traveling and driving which means I’m thinking deeply about the books I listen to. A few months ago, I received the above shirt as a gift and it quickly made its way into my ...
widely-read.ghost.io
November 18, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by Michael VanCalbergh
I really do unironically feel like this all the time
November 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Absolutely agree. I even wrote about that book not too long ago here:

widely-read.ghost.io/on-rereading...
November 18, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Traveling next week? Considering audiobooks? Well make sure youre not listening to a book that distracts you. Learn from my mistakes.

widely-read.ghost.io/i-read-while...
I Read While Driving; But Should I?
It’s the time of year for traveling and driving which means I’m thinking deeply about the books I listen to. A few months ago, I received the above shirt as a gift and it quickly made its way into my ...
widely-read.ghost.io
November 18, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by Michael VanCalbergh
Im going to be in Des Plaines, IL in 6 days at WarriorCon where my kid will be slinging some excellent art and Ill have some comics and AD&D books for sale!!

If youre in the area, its for a good cause and encourages my kid to try out more art.
November 17, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Im going to be in Des Plaines, IL in 6 days at WarriorCon where my kid will be slinging some excellent art and Ill have some comics and AD&D books for sale!!

If youre in the area, its for a good cause and encourages my kid to try out more art.
November 17, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Nature is healing...
November 16, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Currently working on a very late blog post in a coffeeshop and someone tried to order an iced macciatto with no milk and no water and my question is do they know that ice is frozen water?
November 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I just listened to episode 1 and holy shit i feel like a huge lightbulb just exploded over my head. Im very interested in listening to more of this
tbh a lot of the LLM marketing makes more sense if you think about them as a technology developed and hyped by people taught to read this way, and who therefore do genuinely struggle to read or write at their email jobs
November 14, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Reposted by Michael VanCalbergh
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I know ive done too much work because im starting to cry at random things like a knife in jello and how wonderful my students are and...oh shit im crying again.
November 12, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Im proud of myself for coming back home instead of a coffeeshop today and for making dinner and for putting away leftovers and making my lunch tomorrow.

And now that Im out of chores Im about to sit and write for an hour and sometimes its just like that isnt it. Clean up the trash to have some joy.
November 11, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Fascinating thread.
Here's one of the main reasons why I'm 100% sure AI is in a bubble, regardless of any potential "success" it has in the next 6-12 months.

Right now the majority of AI "success" at scale has been found in AI coding tools for software engineers.

(thread)
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 PM
When I tell my kid Im making mashed potatoes they say, "Can you make me mac n cheese instead?" And i say no. Eat the potatoes. Then go into the lines from LoTR.

They laugh but out of kindness and frustration. And they eat the mashed potatoes.
I'm the only one in my house who truly loves mashed potatoes, but fuck it, I'm making garlic rosemary mashed potatoes for supper.
November 10, 2025 at 11:40 PM
When the end of the semester hits Im going to read and write and play video games for maybe 6 days straight. I might even go dark on my cell phone. I want to crawl into a cave with a Nintendo Switch and takeout.
November 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
I have been teaching freshmen in college for almost 15 years and the absolute world shaking shift is that 18yr olds now absolutely believe blatant homophobia was like in their grandparents time while the freshmen 15 years ago were actively still struggling with it.
*deep breath*

Young people’s ignorance of how homophobic American society was 30 years ago is a welcome sign of progress. Young people’s ignorance of how homophobic American society was 30 years ago is a welcome sign of progress. Young people’s ignorance of how homophobic American society was 30 y
November 10, 2025 at 3:20 AM
The hardest part of getting back into writing as more of a practice rather than just when I can sneak it in is how it feels like riding a bike with the chains all fucked up. Everything is trying to click back into place and it hurts a little.
November 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
As a former employee of this chain I can say that I would have laughed at my manager so hard and been verbally warned if told this.
"Store employees are now required to smile if they are within 10 feet of a shopper.

They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.

If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."

🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
Target is now requiring its employees to smile more
As the holiday season fast approaches, Target is urging its employees to add a little more “jolly” to their work routine.
www.wilx.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I gotta work for at least 2 more hours today so i put on a pot of decaf coffee and immediately came to bluesky to see how much time i could waste
November 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM