Michael Downs
@michaeldowns.bsky.social
Writer. A few books, plenty of journalism, and a fascination with the song "Sitting on Top of the World." http://michael-downs.net
"It is not time that is lacking, only focus." – Zagajewski
"It is not time that is lacking, only focus." – Zagajewski
What @janefriedman.com says!
If you can, please support writers, readers, and the Good Contrivance Farm Writers' Retreat.
secure.givelively.org/donate/good-...
If you can, please support writers, readers, and the Good Contrivance Farm Writers' Retreat.
secure.givelively.org/donate/good-...
November 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM
What @janefriedman.com says!
If you can, please support writers, readers, and the Good Contrivance Farm Writers' Retreat.
secure.givelively.org/donate/good-...
If you can, please support writers, readers, and the Good Contrivance Farm Writers' Retreat.
secure.givelively.org/donate/good-...
Good Contrivance Farm is a magical place for readers and writers. I’m pleased to serve on the non-profit’s volunteer board. We’re engaged in our first-ever year-end fundraiser. If you can help us in our mission to support literary culture, thank you. bit.ly/WriterFarm
#literarylife #writingcommunity
#literarylife #writingcommunity
November 11, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Good Contrivance Farm is a magical place for readers and writers. I’m pleased to serve on the non-profit’s volunteer board. We’re engaged in our first-ever year-end fundraiser. If you can help us in our mission to support literary culture, thank you. bit.ly/WriterFarm
#literarylife #writingcommunity
#literarylife #writingcommunity
I first saw food stamps in 1975 when Mom used them in a grocery store line. I was 11 then, or 12. Eventually, Dad and Mom had stable work and didn't need the country's help anymore. But the country was there for us when we did.
That the administration now chooses to deny hungry people sickens me.
That the administration now chooses to deny hungry people sickens me.
November 3, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I first saw food stamps in 1975 when Mom used them in a grocery store line. I was 11 then, or 12. Eventually, Dad and Mom had stable work and didn't need the country's help anymore. But the country was there for us when we did.
That the administration now chooses to deny hungry people sickens me.
That the administration now chooses to deny hungry people sickens me.
For #BannedBooksWeek, I'm for the first time reading this "horrorshow," the most banned book in the U.S. in 2025, per Pen America. Stephen King is the most banned author. I used to think Banned Books Week was a way to remind ourselves not to fall into a bad old history. Yet, here we are.
October 6, 2025 at 2:43 PM
For #BannedBooksWeek, I'm for the first time reading this "horrorshow," the most banned book in the U.S. in 2025, per Pen America. Stephen King is the most banned author. I used to think Banned Books Week was a way to remind ourselves not to fall into a bad old history. Yet, here we are.
No #SundaySentence this week. Instead, here's a scene from a literary talk featuring writer Debra Spark in the barn at Good Contrivance Farm. I suppose the luna moth is a fine sentence.
September 7, 2025 at 2:15 PM
No #SundaySentence this week. Instead, here's a scene from a literary talk featuring writer Debra Spark in the barn at Good Contrivance Farm. I suppose the luna moth is a fine sentence.
Hey, #NEA. Go ahead and yank annual funding for creative writing. Maybe spend that $875k on Diet Coke for the West Wing. But for F's sake, don't capitulate to the tyrant's gold-plated vanity by capitalizing "administration."
Unless it's at the start of a sentence, which this is not.
Unless it's at the start of a sentence, which this is not.
August 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Hey, #NEA. Go ahead and yank annual funding for creative writing. Maybe spend that $875k on Diet Coke for the West Wing. But for F's sake, don't capitulate to the tyrant's gold-plated vanity by capitalizing "administration."
Unless it's at the start of a sentence, which this is not.
Unless it's at the start of a sentence, which this is not.
"Grandma can't fall asleep without the noise of the table saw."
– a #SundaySentence from the remarkable novel VORACIOUS by Małgorzata Lebda, translated by @antonialloydjones.bsky.social. Published by @lindeneditions.bsky.social
– a #SundaySentence from the remarkable novel VORACIOUS by Małgorzata Lebda, translated by @antonialloydjones.bsky.social. Published by @lindeneditions.bsky.social
August 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"Grandma can't fall asleep without the noise of the table saw."
– a #SundaySentence from the remarkable novel VORACIOUS by Małgorzata Lebda, translated by @antonialloydjones.bsky.social. Published by @lindeneditions.bsky.social
– a #SundaySentence from the remarkable novel VORACIOUS by Małgorzata Lebda, translated by @antonialloydjones.bsky.social. Published by @lindeneditions.bsky.social
A good day to remind ourselves:
August 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM
A good day to remind ourselves:
"I give you Thurman Munson ... spitting diamonds of saliva: Safe."
– a #SundaySentence I've long loved, too long for Bluesky's character limitations, so the screen grab. From Michael Paterniti's classic, "The House that Thurman Munson Built," first published in Esquire, September 1999.
– a #SundaySentence I've long loved, too long for Bluesky's character limitations, so the screen grab. From Michael Paterniti's classic, "The House that Thurman Munson Built," first published in Esquire, September 1999.
August 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
"I give you Thurman Munson ... spitting diamonds of saliva: Safe."
– a #SundaySentence I've long loved, too long for Bluesky's character limitations, so the screen grab. From Michael Paterniti's classic, "The House that Thurman Munson Built," first published in Esquire, September 1999.
– a #SundaySentence I've long loved, too long for Bluesky's character limitations, so the screen grab. From Michael Paterniti's classic, "The House that Thurman Munson Built," first published in Esquire, September 1999.
Breakfast in Baltimore with James Baldwin.
August 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Breakfast in Baltimore with James Baldwin.
Amen. Here's a recent example.
July 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Amen. Here's a recent example.
Such insidious language. "Compliance with Administration directives." "Administration" capitalized as if a proper noun. "Compliance," related to "complaisant" and "comply," meaning "to acquiesce," to accept without protest the directives. Of the (capitalized) Administration.
Anodyne and terrifying.
Anodyne and terrifying.
July 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Such insidious language. "Compliance with Administration directives." "Administration" capitalized as if a proper noun. "Compliance," related to "complaisant" and "comply," meaning "to acquiesce," to accept without protest the directives. Of the (capitalized) Administration.
Anodyne and terrifying.
Anodyne and terrifying.
That photo also served as the cover for Edward P. Jones's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, The Known World. One great work of art complementing another.
July 23, 2025 at 12:59 PM
That photo also served as the cover for Edward P. Jones's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, The Known World. One great work of art complementing another.
"Some people's guts must be large and soft, like slugs, and other's small and hard, like the flint of a lighter."
– a #SundaySentence from Camilo José Cela's THE HIVE, translated from Spanish by J.M. Cohen and Arturo Barea.
– a #SundaySentence from Camilo José Cela's THE HIVE, translated from Spanish by J.M. Cohen and Arturo Barea.
July 20, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"Some people's guts must be large and soft, like slugs, and other's small and hard, like the flint of a lighter."
– a #SundaySentence from Camilo José Cela's THE HIVE, translated from Spanish by J.M. Cohen and Arturo Barea.
– a #SundaySentence from Camilo José Cela's THE HIVE, translated from Spanish by J.M. Cohen and Arturo Barea.
"In the Crypt of this Church, near the Body of her honoured Father...lies the mortal part of Mrs. Laetitia Pilkington Whose spirit hopes for that Peace, thro' the infinite Merit of Christ, which a cruel & merciless world never afforded her."
– a #SundaySentence from a tomb inside St. Ann's, Dublin
– a #SundaySentence from a tomb inside St. Ann's, Dublin
July 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM
"In the Crypt of this Church, near the Body of her honoured Father...lies the mortal part of Mrs. Laetitia Pilkington Whose spirit hopes for that Peace, thro' the infinite Merit of Christ, which a cruel & merciless world never afforded her."
– a #SundaySentence from a tomb inside St. Ann's, Dublin
– a #SundaySentence from a tomb inside St. Ann's, Dublin
Just ended 10 remarkable days in Kraków with writing grad students from Johns Hopkins University. Literature, history, current events, language, culture–we did it all. Here we are at Szymborska Park. Like the poet, we value "The joy of writing. / The power of preserving. / Revenge of a mortal hand."
July 3, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Just ended 10 remarkable days in Kraków with writing grad students from Johns Hopkins University. Literature, history, current events, language, culture–we did it all. Here we are at Szymborska Park. Like the poet, we value "The joy of writing. / The power of preserving. / Revenge of a mortal hand."
"In the end, people will become mindless servants to iron geniuses and, perhaps, will worship them as gods." – from Stanisław Lem, featured on this street mural in Kraków, Poland.
June 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
"In the end, people will become mindless servants to iron geniuses and, perhaps, will worship them as gods." – from Stanisław Lem, featured on this street mural in Kraków, Poland.
"... around (the figure), triangles arranged into a quilting pattern known as 'flying geese' conjure a sense of flight and freedom."
Honoring Juneteenth. You can still see this fabric art by Myrah Brown Green along with other remarkable work until June 22 at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Honoring Juneteenth. You can still see this fabric art by Myrah Brown Green along with other remarkable work until June 22 at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.
June 19, 2025 at 3:20 PM
"... around (the figure), triangles arranged into a quilting pattern known as 'flying geese' conjure a sense of flight and freedom."
Honoring Juneteenth. You can still see this fabric art by Myrah Brown Green along with other remarkable work until June 22 at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Honoring Juneteenth. You can still see this fabric art by Myrah Brown Green along with other remarkable work until June 22 at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.
June 14, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Maybe less scary when he's wearing a Santa hat? Or scarier?
June 12, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Maybe less scary when he's wearing a Santa hat? Or scarier?
Baltimore has a bust of Frank Zappa outside a library branch.
It was a gift from Lithuania, naturally.
It was a gift from Lithuania, naturally.
June 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Baltimore has a bust of Frank Zappa outside a library branch.
It was a gift from Lithuania, naturally.
It was a gift from Lithuania, naturally.
In Kraków, I'll soon teach "Writing Against Autocracy." Our reading list is chilling via its too-familiar worlds.
"The first scrawl to deface the walls was a question mark. Since no one knew what it referred to specifically, it brought everything without exception into question."-FLAW
"The first scrawl to deface the walls was a question mark. Since no one knew what it referred to specifically, it brought everything without exception into question."-FLAW
June 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
In Kraków, I'll soon teach "Writing Against Autocracy." Our reading list is chilling via its too-familiar worlds.
"The first scrawl to deface the walls was a question mark. Since no one knew what it referred to specifically, it brought everything without exception into question."-FLAW
"The first scrawl to deface the walls was a question mark. Since no one knew what it referred to specifically, it brought everything without exception into question."-FLAW
Digging around in old documents regarding a particular song and music copyright and came across a lawyer's 1973 letter referring to a band full of great.
May 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Digging around in old documents regarding a particular song and music copyright and came across a lawyer's 1973 letter referring to a band full of great.
Played basketball tonight for the first time since open-heart surgery in January. Only two-on-two half-court, but, God. What a thing to be alive.
May 19, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Played basketball tonight for the first time since open-heart surgery in January. Only two-on-two half-court, but, God. What a thing to be alive.
If you're a writer and need headspace to make pages, consider doing that at Good Contrivance Farm, the inspired dream of writer Ron Tanner who turned a ramshackle farm into "an oasis for writers." So sayeth the most recent issue of @baltimoremagazine.com.
May 15, 2025 at 1:16 PM
If you're a writer and need headspace to make pages, consider doing that at Good Contrivance Farm, the inspired dream of writer Ron Tanner who turned a ramshackle farm into "an oasis for writers." So sayeth the most recent issue of @baltimoremagazine.com.