Joshua Rigsby
@joshuarigsby.bsky.social
Contributor to The Atlas Obscura Podcast, Thrillist, LAist, Southern California Public Radio, Los Angeles Review of Books & the Atlantic. Curator of thepickledcucumber.com. Tea clipper enthusiast. Taskmaster superfan.
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Joshua Rigsby
@joshuarigsby.bsky.social
· May 13
“You’re acting paranoid. No one’s out to get you. You should go on a hike to improve your mental health.”
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
A review of Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.
They Knew.
I shotgunned Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson when it came out yesterday. I’m not sure why. I wanted some closure maybe. I wanted someone to blame. I wasn’t exactly shocked…
thepickledcucumber.com
May 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM
A review of Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.
“You’re acting paranoid. No one’s out to get you. You should go on a hike to improve your mental health.”
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
May 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
“You’re acting paranoid. No one’s out to get you. You should go on a hike to improve your mental health.”
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
Hiking Trail: YOU WILL LITERALLY BE HUNTED FOR SPORT
An ekphrastic poem about a sign I saw one time in the drive thru line at Taco Bell.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/05/08/l...
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/05/08/l...
Love Màs
I sent a photo of this sign to my wife. It made me laugh. Yet, the longer I thought about it, the more it felt wrong. Everything it claims is false. The missing product is neither Mexican nor is it…
thepickledcucumber.com
May 8, 2025 at 9:45 PM
An ekphrastic poem about a sign I saw one time in the drive thru line at Taco Bell.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/05/08/l...
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/05/08/l...
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
ME: hey what's up
MC ESCHER: i have no idea
MC ESCHER: i have no idea
April 26, 2025 at 3:07 PM
ME: hey what's up
MC ESCHER: i have no idea
MC ESCHER: i have no idea
At the Tennessee Writer’s Workshop today! I’d love to connect if you’re here too.
April 26, 2025 at 3:53 PM
At the Tennessee Writer’s Workshop today! I’d love to connect if you’re here too.
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
Gonna take this opportunity to say that I can personally deliver no script for as little as 7 million, and I know some other writers who can do it for as little as five million.
April 10, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Gonna take this opportunity to say that I can personally deliver no script for as little as 7 million, and I know some other writers who can do it for as little as five million.
In which your favorite unathletic bookstore owner attempts to practice the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/26/p...
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/26/p...
Practicing the Gentle Art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
For the past several months I have been attending a white belt beginner class in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am not entirely sure why I started. I was bored at the time. I wanted to do something new. Ne…
thepickledcucumber.com
February 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
In which your favorite unathletic bookstore owner attempts to practice the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/26/p...
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/26/p...
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
In which I describe my recent foray into the world of querying literary agents, and also making the case that Trump is only interested in Greenland because of the mercator projection.
Why not subscribe while you're there?
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/05/t...
Why not subscribe while you're there?
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/05/t...
Tea Clipper Novel Status: Queries Aweigh!
Well, I’ve done it. The deed is done. I’ve crossed the Rubicon. The die is cast. Qué será será. Like a good neighbor State Farm is there. I’ve sent out my first query letters for …
thepickledcucumber.com
February 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
In which I describe my recent foray into the world of querying literary agents, and also making the case that Trump is only interested in Greenland because of the mercator projection.
Why not subscribe while you're there?
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/05/t...
Why not subscribe while you're there?
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/02/05/t...
My wife works for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, which is in charge of ensuring that preschools in the state are safe and actively teaching students instead of functioning as glorified daycares. Despite being a state-run agency, they are federally-funded. 🧵…
February 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
My wife works for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, which is in charge of ensuring that preschools in the state are safe and actively teaching students instead of functioning as glorified daycares. Despite being a state-run agency, they are federally-funded. 🧵…
Behold my latest blog post in which I make my case that The 5am Club by Robin Sharma is the worst book ever written in the English language on a philosophical, rhetorical, and allegorical level. I dry heave just thinking about it. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/29/t...
The 5am Club – The Worst Book Ever Written
Due to my professional obligations, I occasionally read self-help books. Recently, it was The 5am Club by Robin Sharma, a pretty awful book by almost every imaginable metric. Look, writing is…
thepickledcucumber.com
January 29, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Behold my latest blog post in which I make my case that The 5am Club by Robin Sharma is the worst book ever written in the English language on a philosophical, rhetorical, and allegorical level. I dry heave just thinking about it. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/29/t...
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
In which I describe my recent foray into the psychedelic world of food poisoning.
I’ve Been Poisoned
I got food poisoning this week. Holy shit, guys. No one told me you’ve never truly had your assed kicked until it’s been kicked FROM THE INSIDE. Let me take you back to last Friday, whe…
thepickledcucumber.com
January 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM
In which I describe my recent foray into the psychedelic world of food poisoning.
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.
January 19, 2025 at 5:45 AM
lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.
Update on the nearly twenty year saga to publish my first novel. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/15/t...
Tea Clipper Novel Status: The Writing Group
I have been working on a novel about the great tea clipper races since 2008. It has been a long voyage. Lots of rewrites and editing. It seems, perhaps, finally, to be heading toward home port. Aft…
thepickledcucumber.com
January 15, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Update on the nearly twenty year saga to publish my first novel. thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/15/t...
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
I received this in a small group chat of flustered writers, and I think it's good and bleak and conveys some thoughts and feelings a lot of people are having!
what the fuck are we doing anymore
yes this is about social media
www.late-review.com
January 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I received this in a small group chat of flustered writers, and I think it's good and bleak and conveys some thoughts and feelings a lot of people are having!
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
Writing tip: After you finish, go back & cut all the adverbs. Then all the adjectives. Then all the other words. Eat the paper. Now you're free.
January 9, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Writing tip: After you finish, go back & cut all the adverbs. Then all the adjectives. Then all the other words. Eat the paper. Now you're free.
Here in Georgia there is the tiniest chance of a snow flurry tomorrow and everyone’s out here prepping like it’s the second coming of William T. Sherman.
January 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Here in Georgia there is the tiniest chance of a snow flurry tomorrow and everyone’s out here prepping like it’s the second coming of William T. Sherman.
Some (Additional) Thoughts on Cabbage Patch's Babyland General Hospital now available at thepickledcucumber.com.
Several years ago, my kids saw billboards for Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital and were intrigued. We were not prepared.
This, however, was just the beginning...
Several years ago, my kids saw billboards for Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital and were intrigued. We were not prepared.
This, however, was just the beginning...
January 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Some (Additional) Thoughts on Cabbage Patch's Babyland General Hospital now available at thepickledcucumber.com.
Several years ago, my kids saw billboards for Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital and were intrigued. We were not prepared.
This, however, was just the beginning...
Several years ago, my kids saw billboards for Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital and were intrigued. We were not prepared.
This, however, was just the beginning...
Y Pickles, Tho?
It’s a fair question, and one that I don’t have a great answer to. There’s nothing to the title, really, other than a pickled cucumber is just… eh… it’s a pickle. That’s it. A little semi-tautology for you. A little briny tongue in cheek.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/06/w...
It’s a fair question, and one that I don’t have a great answer to. There’s nothing to the title, really, other than a pickled cucumber is just… eh… it’s a pickle. That’s it. A little semi-tautology for you. A little briny tongue in cheek.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/06/w...
Why Pickles, and also, Why Blog at All?
I can hear you asking. I can hear the incredulity whirring behind your crinkled eyebrows. Why, exactly, would someone restart a blog? A blog? A web-log? You say. Seems a bit old fashioned, doesn…
thepickledcucumber.com
January 7, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Y Pickles, Tho?
It’s a fair question, and one that I don’t have a great answer to. There’s nothing to the title, really, other than a pickled cucumber is just… eh… it’s a pickle. That’s it. A little semi-tautology for you. A little briny tongue in cheek.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/06/w...
It’s a fair question, and one that I don’t have a great answer to. There’s nothing to the title, really, other than a pickled cucumber is just… eh… it’s a pickle. That’s it. A little semi-tautology for you. A little briny tongue in cheek.
thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/06/w...
Not exactly sure how I became some kind of unofficial spokesperson for the “Live Birth” experience at Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital, but the chat I had with the folks at Atlas Obscura about it is now available on their podcast feed. #pushpushpush overcast.fm/+AAqnU2cAMt8
Cabbage Patch BabyLand General Hospital — The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Writer Joshua Rigsby takes a very strange journey into the birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids. After he returns, he can never look at the dolls the same way again. Read Joshua’s essay about his trip to ...
overcast.fm
January 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Not exactly sure how I became some kind of unofficial spokesperson for the “Live Birth” experience at Cabbage Patch’s Babyland General Hospital, but the chat I had with the folks at Atlas Obscura about it is now available on their podcast feed. #pushpushpush overcast.fm/+AAqnU2cAMt8
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
“Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex: you thought of nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other things if you did.”
James Baldwin
James Baldwin
January 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
“Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex: you thought of nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other things if you did.”
James Baldwin
James Baldwin
I restarted my blog yesterday and this morning woke up to an email from a longtime subscriber in Melbourne welcoming me back and wishing me well in my writing endeavors. What a wonderful thing for someone to do.
January 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I restarted my blog yesterday and this morning woke up to an email from a longtime subscriber in Melbourne welcoming me back and wishing me well in my writing endeavors. What a wonderful thing for someone to do.
Reposted by Joshua Rigsby
So delighted to see people sharing their New Year’s Birds & tagging me! This is the post where I began the tradition for myself at a friend’s prompting; I’ve kept it up every year since but written about it haphazardly. Intending to write about this year’s soon. amalelmohtar.com/a-new-years-...
A New Year's Bird
Apophenic as a haruspex
amalelmohtar.com
January 2, 2025 at 2:07 AM
So delighted to see people sharing their New Year’s Birds & tagging me! This is the post where I began the tradition for myself at a friend’s prompting; I’ve kept it up every year since but written about it haphazardly. Intending to write about this year’s soon. amalelmohtar.com/a-new-years-...
Well. Well. Well. Look who’s decided to post again. It has been several… years? Eight, in fact? Good lord.
*taps pressure gauge*
*cranks engine* *splutter* *screech* *clouds of blue exhaust*
*uncertain arrhythmic firing of website pistons*
We’re back, baby! thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/01/t...
*taps pressure gauge*
*cranks engine* *splutter* *screech* *clouds of blue exhaust*
*uncertain arrhythmic firing of website pistons*
We’re back, baby! thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/01/t...
The Return
Well. Well. Well. Look who’s decided to post again. It has been several… years? Eight, in fact? Good lord. This site has been gathering internet dust since 2017?!? *taps pressure gauge*…
thepickledcucumber.com
January 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Well. Well. Well. Look who’s decided to post again. It has been several… years? Eight, in fact? Good lord.
*taps pressure gauge*
*cranks engine* *splutter* *screech* *clouds of blue exhaust*
*uncertain arrhythmic firing of website pistons*
We’re back, baby! thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/01/t...
*taps pressure gauge*
*cranks engine* *splutter* *screech* *clouds of blue exhaust*
*uncertain arrhythmic firing of website pistons*
We’re back, baby! thepickledcucumber.com/2025/01/01/t...