Cate McGowan

This is the way.

Today I Will Look The Burrito Man In The Eye and other stories of manifesting success

SHOULD THE U.S BLOT OUT THE SUN AND USHER IN AN AGE OF ETERNAL DARKNESS? - Gallup 2/20/26-3/5/26

NO - 41%
YES - 38%
UNSURE - 21%

We apologise to people with screen readers: this is a flowchart aimed at answering the question "Which Greek Philosopher Are You?" First question is: "Do you prefer the indoors or outdoors?" If you choose "indoors", the next question is "Do you feel disdain for the common man?" If Yes, you're Plato. If No, you're Aristotle. If you reply "Outdoors", the follow-up is "Do you enjoy masturbating in public?" If yes, you're Diogenes. If no, the next question is, "Do you like crowds?" If yes, you're Socrates. If no, you are asked "Porch or garden?" If your reply is "Porch", you're Zeno; if it's "Garden", you're Epicurus.

Couldn't trace this back to a definitive creator, but: Epicurus all the way, bro

Suffering From “Creative Hangover”? You’re Not Alone A new study finds that artists experience negative emotions the morning after their most productive days.

You know that feeling of emptiness and exhaustion after a creative spurt? A new study has a name for this phenomenon — “creative hangover” — plus some surprising findings.

me: did you run the garbage disposal with flatware in it?

my kid: no

my flatware:

We loved this. Go read it. Check out our finalist from January's Cult of Productivity writing challenge!

Thank you, @glossyplanetmag.bsky.social! I love you folks!

Hey, thanks, Penni! Love you.

Thank you, Nathalie!

"In March, Lena brought home another flyer titled 'Ways to Develop Grit.' 'What's grit?' she asked. Raymond thought of the belts, the clock, the way the week stretched without looking different. 'It's staying,' he said. She watched him wash the dishes. 'You stay,' she said, like she was writing it down."--Cate McGowan, "Extra Minutes"

It’s about time pressure, powerlessness, and one small reclaimed pocket of stillness. If you read it, I’d love to hear what line (or moment) stuck with you.

Extra Minutes - Cult of Productivity 1st Place Winner Read "Extra Minutes" by Cate McGowan, the first-place winner from Glossy Planet's Cult of Productivity writing challenge.

I have a new story up at @glossyplanetmag.bsky.social: “Extra Minutes.” www.glossyplanetmag.com/extra-minutes/

Swallowtail caterpillar on dill, just starting to show its defensive orange horns. It’s fast, green with back and yellow dots making stripes, and hairless.

Swallowtail caterpillar rearing up halfway off the dill stem, orange horns fully extended.

Swallowtail caterpillar on dill before I provoked it to show its defenses.

Baby swallowtail butterfly. 🌱

Do NOT wantonly spray your gardens please. Each type of swallowtail likes a different carrot family member—so let them flower! Dill, Queen Anne’s lace, parsley, and carrots. And leave those “worms” alone. They are baby butterflies!

PENGUIN & CLASSICS AN ENTIRE FRAT SETS SAIL TO STEAL THE WORLD'S FANCIEST COAT

Jason is, admittedly, very on brand.

A cat who once had a big suburban house and a hugely stressful prestigious job and now lives on a cliff instead, free of the trappings of modern life, to the admiration of its friends, who, as they idealise its life, never imagine the terrible loneliness it feels during cold winters, six miles from the nearest shop, cinema and pub.

THREAD.

A collection of photos I have taken of excellent cats I have met on walks.

You will find the all-important captions to the photos in the alt text.

Are they calling it The Commons because it's a real tragedy over there now (and they haven't noticed that Hardin is a racist eugenicist because that's normalised on X)

Screen shot: “Meet Einstein Einstein is an Al with a computer. He logs into Canvas every day, watches lectures, reads essays, writes papers, participates in discussions, and submits your homework - automatically.”

These evil mfs

Cap'n Crunch. Would eat it until I bleed out through the roof of my mouth.

thinking about the guy at the pharmacy last week who marched up to the register and said “i see your selection of combs is less robust than it was on my last visit here”

guys, now is definitely not the time for… whateverthefuck this is, please put it back

Walking the dog, I overheard a fox flirting somewhere in the mountainside. It was not subtle.

One of the best. Huge loss.

Winners: First Place, "Extra Minutes by Cate McGowan; Second Place, "Bury It Good and Deep" by G.R. Kramer; Third Place, "The Regime" by Dom Birch

Grateful to take 1st place in Glossy Planet’s “Cult of Productivity” challenge for my piece “Extra Minutes.”

Flash leaves no room to hide!

Thank you to the editors and judges. www.glossyplanetmag.com

Chinese GF has informed me this is called "scrubbing the wok" (hence why there's foamy water in the middle) and you can see a million more of these videos if you search 越野刷鍋 (off-road hot pot).

I wonder if real exorcists watch horror movies and go “that’s so unrealistic!” or “that’s not how that works!” same as lawyers or EMTs or other professions.

my main association with kneecap was when the long missing decapitated head of a captain cook statue appeared at one of their melbourne gigs before disappearing again

THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A HISTORY MAJOR

New Left Generation (the year they turned 20)

Roland Barthes to Angela Davis: the new left generation of cultural theorists, by the year they turned 20

Denning, The Socioanalysis of Culture

Young Anton Chekhov, the playwright, looking super hot in his 20s

Wait, THIS is young Anton Chekhov? This? Good lord. Let that gun go off, daddy