General

Hey, this blog has a new name

In case you noticed this blog has a new name and logo, and you thought “this blog got hacked,” fret not. The new name, Mental Break Town, is on purpose.

“But that’s exactly what a hacker would say!” you protest.

Okay, okay, in that case, if I start trying to sell you fake Rolexes, phish you, or spread hate speech, then you’ll know I got hacked. 😉

But why the name change?

Well, patmcg.com was basically just my name, and the blog needed a new name that isn’t about me. It’s about stuff I’m interested in, and hopefully stuff you’re interested in.

Also, this a just a blog and not a company, so I dropped the .com in favor of .blog.

So, I thought of a new name, and luckily the domain name was available. Done. ✔️

Drawings

Sketching a new logo 🎨

Featured patmcg1 Comment

When came up with a new name for this blog, I needed a quick logo.

I thought my previous downtown Austin sketch would be a natural fit. But alas, it was too complicated and fuzzy. 🤷🏻‍♂️I needed something simpler and bolder for this purpose.

So I myself 10 minutes to come up with a few ideas. The “final” logo (bottom left) was not what I had initially imagined, but it felt right after playing around with it for a bit.

Of course, this being my personal not-for-profit, no-expectations blog, I can change it if I ever feel like it. I like this iterative process. 🙌

The “So what?” test

25 June 202326 June 2023 patmcg1 Comment

Continuing to pull some helpful snippets out of Show Your Work, let’s look at the “So What?” test.

I had struggled for a while on this blog with the “to post or not to post” question. I was honing in on a vague “useful or interesting” test when I read Show Your Work, which attacked this idea with a “So What?” test.

I had a professor in college who returned our graded essays, walked up to the chalkboard, and wrote in huge letters: “SO WHAT?” She threw the piece of chalk down and said, “Ask yourself that every time you turn in a piece of writing.

Now any of my own posts must pass the “Sow what?” test before I will publish it. Clearly I found this “So what?” test useful because I use it here constantly.

As always, the book explains the idea most vividly with an illustration.

I will say that this rule seems at odds (or is it just tension?) with other ideas in the book, namely share something small every day.

I mean, do you really have something interesting and useful to share every day? If you’re a professional writer, maybe. But if you’re just a guy with a blog and limited time, maybe not. 😆

So I’m letting the “So what?” rule overrule any others for now.

Books

It’s time for book snippets ✄

27 May 202330 May 2023 patmcg2 Comments

I’ve been doing super summaries on this blog for a while now. The idea is to condense a great book into a super distilled version that covers the core concepts as quickly as possible. Hopefully the super summary is useful, and if your curiosity is teased enough, then you can read the actual book.

I think it’s a win-win, and these continue to be some of my most popular posts.

But some books simply can’t be super-summarized.

The book Show Your Work has has been sitting on my coffee table taunting me for months. I pick it up and read a bit, absorb whatever nuggets of inspiration I get out of it, and then put it away for a while.

I keep thinking I’ll write up a super-summary on this little 184-page book. I mean, how hard could that be?

Ironically enough, this tiny, square, innocent-looking book is so densely packed with good material that a super summary is nearly impossible. I think I could but the book in half, maybe? But who wants a 92-page summary of a book? 🤔

So I’m starting a new thing here: a book snippet. I’ll take one little concept at a time from a book and post it. And then post a series of excerpts over time for any give book.

This approach fits (so to speak) with my goal of keeping things short. So with that, stay tuned for the first snippet.

👉 First snippet: “You’re only as good as your record collection.” 🎧

This little book defies the super summary.

creativity · Quotes

A good blog is like this item of clothing 👗

26 May 202310 June 2023 patmcg3 Comments

The best quotes are both funny and true, and therefore memorable. At the end of this talk good on conversations, Celeste Headlee credits her sister with this quote.

A good conversation is like a miniskirt; short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.

The sister might have borrowed the idea from Winston Churchill. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think the idea generalizes to writing too, so I’m going to adapt the spirit of this quote for my own purposes.

A good ~~conversation~~ blog is like a miniskirt; short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.

And it’s working. I already deleted three sentences from this post – and added this one. 🤔

Before I forget, here’s a salacious photo – as required – to catch your attention.

Tag: meta