Don Dingee

My friend, Lou Frazier, is now immortal, with much-appreciated edits from Rory Costello and the #SABRBioProject team, including @paulproia.bsky.social for an amazing fact-check (4 steals for the ChiSox!), and @buckweaver.bsky.social for getting it up on the web today. #SABR sabr.org/bioproj/pers...

Meta "call us whatever you want" AI commercial. Billionaire pricks OK with you?

Sanitarium. @metallica.com. Sphere. Mind. Blown.

Wow, all because Pat McAfee read the Book of Mormon (or at least a verse).

If BYU keeps running the ND defense around like on that sequence, the Irish are going to be gasping for 4600' air hard in the 2nd half. #BYUvsND

Without a doubt, it's the American tanks fighting the American (painted German) tanks in "The Battle of the Bulge"

Ummmm, Cupertino is good, pass the word.

Hey #FreelanceFriends, silly question: If you were on call for 3 days waiting for client revisions, got them on the last day before the magazine submission was due, and turned a rev back for approval in 3 hours (still pending), how would you bill that? PITA upcharge for holding and short-cycling?

A2) interesting question. I find more often than not inspiration finds me, I have to relax and be in receive mode. I have to break the chain and get out of my chair - go to the gym, ride the bike, walk the dog, run errands, something. #FreelanceFriends

A1) Inspiration for me generally takes the form of music and TV series. Right now it's Linkin Park and the Unshatter concert film release. Intriguing how art is reimagined after a huge loss. Also getting into Neagley. Gotta think about something besides grinding out tech stuff. #FreelanceFriends

Which will happen first - the sky will open up with an expected 3" to 5" of rain (it's here, not raining hard yet), or the client revisions to an article that's due Monday will get to me? Who knows? Stay tuned. Meanwhile, I'll jump into #FreelanceFriends

The announcer line "this game is not over (in the 5th)" is always code for "PLEASE DON'T TURN THE CHANNEL, PLEEEEEEASSSSSSSE" #WildCard

As crowded as this 4-person booth is, I like the NBC model here. Votto is super knowledgable and CJ and Kruk know their respective guys. #WildCard

Our Stevie Nix, obedience graduate #FreelancePets

Ooooooooooh, Reacher credit drop to Motorhead "One More F****** Time" was perfect, whoever is DJing this season is a genius

Today's hilarity: I made a comment on somebody's post about the Anthropic guy rage quitting, mentioned the book "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies", now watching all the AI bros discredit the book because of one of the co-authors - but they're not disputing what is happening. #FreelanceFriends

Any #freelancers out there looking at Bluesky right now? Drop by the #FreelanceFriends chat, just started - open mic day, just use the hashtag to follow or add to the conversation!

Freelancers of any form or experience level can join us for this weekly discussion! Share insights, find friends, get help with a tough question, or just lurk for a while. Put it on your calendar for tomorrow.

"Gosh, the clock TV viewers see said 0:00 when the defensive guy caught the ball, but we have another (special) clock that says 0:01" kinda tracks

Ohhhhhhhhhh, I love this for Kyle Whittingham!

Yeah, I wish Sam Leavitt nothing but the worst. Great start.

Wow, it's Pac-12 after dark, and USC is playing, ummmm ... shoot.

$4B. For a team that is dead last in the AL. For a totally broken minor league system. It kinda tracks that the billionaires are doing alright in this economy, but nobody else wins in a deal like this. But, yay, Arte will be gone.

Stevie at Pink (Pony Club) coffee bar last Saturday, first restaurant outing for her, 20wks #FreelancePets #FreelanceFriends

A3: One year in as of yesterday, so I'm beating the odds, and I'm grateful for that. I have a much greater appreciation for time right now. #FreelanceFriends

Press releases are cool but they work better in some cadence, not just every once in a while. If you have a book and are doing book signing events, however .... #FreelanceFriends

Of course, the downside of being on Bluesky is the dearth of businesses here, hard to do anything looking like self-promotion that actually reaches my audience. Refuse to do the other place, however, but it was more effective for promotion. #FreelanceFriends

A2: Reluctant to share most stuff that's ghostwritten for obvious reasons, at least in real-time. If it's my byline, I share via social (LI and Bluesky, no FB here), and it goes on my one page brochure. My blog has seen better days, lol, but i don't think anyone has noticed. #FreelanceFriends

Joining the party a bit late! I'm Don coming to you live from San Antonio where we'll hit the century mark for temperature later this afternoon. Working on a non-terrestrial network paper that's a dousy this week and next. #FreelanceFriends

The Angels are gonna unload everybody not named Mike Trout by the end of today, huh?

Apparently it's a "my non-scientist opinion is better than either your non-scientist opinion or the scientists you are reading reports from and I'm not because I don't believe them and you shouldn't either" kind of morning

Isn't it amazing that no matter where he is, even if he just got there, people always know where to reach Perry Mason by phone? Restaurants, clients, police stations, businesses, doesn't matter.

Bonus A: Do your homework. Make a plan, don't just wing it. Break it into pieces and measure any effort to gauge progress. And remember, it's only a plan until you metaphorically get punched in the face, which you will, maybe repeatedly. Be ready to adjust. #FreelanceFriends

A3: tough answer here, a pivot depends more on getting over what just happened (client dropped you like a rock, months of prospecting and no bites, ...) and committing to a pivot with a plan for success, then being agile to tweak it. Past difficulty is not an indicator. #FreelanceFriends

A2: I've been tempted to pivot several times in two decades, but the advice a friend got many years ago resonates: do not give up your network, even if it feels dormant. Incremental tweaks, yes. But I've seen people with weak/no networks forced to pivot off an idea. #FreelanceFriends