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Mike Prask

@mprask.bsky.social
689 followers 472 following 336 posts

Writing in @havehadhavehad @rejectionLit @WestBranchMag @fivesouth and @cottonxenomorph linktr.ee/mprask Won't rest till Side 2 of The Wild, the Innocent, and the E St Shuffle is our national anthem.

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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Just keep him in there," I say, like DeNiro about Billy Batts in Goodfellas, to my daughter about the daddy-long-legs in her bathroom she needs me to take care of.
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captain bleach @blainecapatch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
sad to see DETROITERS is leaving Netflix on October 15, watch it if you've never seen it and watch it again if you have
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Jared Beloff @readinstead.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It is a good day when you can read a @mitchnobis.bsky.social poem. www.porcupineliterary.com/post/these-a...
porcupineliterary.com
These Are the Dreams Now
Mitchell Nobis is a writer and K-12 public school teacher in Metro Detroit where he lives with his family and dog. He is the author of The Size of the Horizon, or, / Explained Everything to the Trees ...
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Proposing a new traffic rule, where whoever's blasting "Cadillac Ranch" on their car stereo at the 4-Way Stop has the right of way.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Making: Fried Shrimp Po'Boys Drinking: Anti-Hero IPA Listening: Damn the Torpedoes
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Ode to Parenting a 13-year-old Boy
Text exchange between parent and child who will still eat dinner
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Keeping this going -- every time I drive by the Ba'hai Temple, I have to remind everyone to read "Orchids" by Stuart Dybek
The short story "Orchids" by Stuart Dybek. Well, part of it...
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
My dialect map looks exactly how you'd expect for someone who was born and raised near DC, has spent the next half of his life in Chicago, and staunchly insists on calling all soft drinks "coke".
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I read Waterline by Aram Mrjoian back in June, and even if the rest of my summer hadn't involved the Great Lakes and Grief in some way, it still would have hit all the right buttons. Check it out, it's really good.
The cover of Waterline by Aram MrjoianOne of the early pages of Waterline, where it may feel like I'm spoiling something but I'm really not
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Great Laking it for the next few days
A kid running along the beach at Lake Michigan. The other kid is just standing there.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"We were somewhere around Gary, past the edge of the city, when the carsickness began to take hold."
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Charter School Abolitionist 🇮🇷 @maniccage.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Anyone got tips on off-beat Chicago museums or other nerdy type attractions? Stuff like the surgery museum. I wanna check out the public housing museum, but looking to turn it into a multi-stop day tour.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A year to the day after my last published story. Pour one out for @publishedbyjake.bsky.social while you're at it.
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Historical Marker Ahead @historicalmarker.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Southpaw in full vestments is escorted by a guy carrying a Pope Leo cutout
Southpaw and da Pope
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Juan Martinez @fulmerford.com · 11/08/2026
Chicago’s Colombian consulate just posted the following info for anyone wanting to donate—this link takes you directly to Colombia’s Red Cross, who are leading the aid & rescue efforts following the earthquake: www.cruzrojacolombiana.org/dona-dinero/
cruzrojacolombiana.org
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Music From Big Pink The Band Stage Fright I feel like people aren't reading the prompt carefully enough
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Repeating open.spotify.com/track/3HFBqh...
open.spotify.com
Change
Big Thief · Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You · Song · 2022
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
"Think back on the good times together," I tell my son, as he asks what he's supposed to do with his prized Skubal Tigers jersey.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
An amazing passage from A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Defending my title: Saddest Boy in the PICU
Parent hospital wristband
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I recommend the hell out of this book. A wonderful example of going on a ride with the author as they realize their original story has turned into Something Else deeper and more compelling. Also, it gives the All-American Breakfast the in-print tribute it so richly deserves.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is a shame. I'm assuming Dali designed one for each of the preceding Bond films, but when they don't use it on the voodoo-themed one, that's just a bummer.
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The Hounds of Basquiatball @basquiatball.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Sources tell me that LeBron is leaning towards signing with Accenture
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dillo saint dillo @dillo.media · 18/07/2026
lost my shit when he said this
mat damon (from spirit: stallion of the cimarron) in the odyssey  saying "I don't want fop goddamn it I'm a dapper Dan man"
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MisterJayEm @misterjayem.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
"I Am Trying to Break Your Lungs"
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
This Messi guy might be pretty good
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Ron Cassie @humanpoweredcity.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It's the middle of baseball season so I did some important and very serious research into the Baltimore origin story of yelling "O" during the National Anthem...
baltimoremagazine.com
How Yelling “O!” During the National Anthem Became a Statement of Baltimore Pride
Unsurprisingly, the hometown tradition started during the Orioles’ rowdy, it’s-not-over-until-it’s-over summer of 1979.
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Daniel A. Hoyt @danhoyt.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
It's not too early to get the 14th Annual Rock and Roll Reading, an AWP off-site, on your calendar: March 17 — St. Patrick's Day! — in Wrigleyville @gmantavern.com. Readings to start at 6. The room holds about 100—we will fill it! Be there or be a parallelogram with four equal sides. #AWP27 #AWP
Photo of the Gman Tavern sign in Wrigleyville, Chicago.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Keeping this going -- every time I drive by the Ba'hai Temple, I have to remind everyone to read "Orchids" by Stuart Dybek
The short story "Orchids" by Stuart Dybek. Well, part of it...
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The Onion @theonion.com · 04/07/2026
Nation Turns 250 Despite Presence Of Irish theonion.com/nation-turns-250-despi…
Nation Turns 250 Despite Presence Of Irish
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 02/07/2026
Honestly, everyone in America should experience America like World Cup fans have. Go to places you haven't been, eat the local food, have a blast. This country is huge and most people barely ever see any of it.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
"I thought you were supposed to be AI," my daughter heckles her iPad, when it refuses to tell her it's warm enough to go swimming today.
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
from my own perspective this is one of the greatest harms done by this government and plotting a course to reverse this damage is must be a very priority in our speech and our activism
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Evening at the gorgeous St. Mary of the lake in Chicago
Ceiling mural showing angels in heaven with clouds and blue sky. Central figure in blue and red. Is it Mary? I don’t know Altar with white marble canopyLooking up above altar at blue domed canopy  with stars and mural showing angels blowing trumpetsRose window
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Honoring the day the only way I know: driving my kids around and making them listen to The River in its entirety.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 15/06/2026
Study: Majority Of Middle-Aged Men Lack Support Network They’ll Need To Handle Neil Young’s Death theonion.com/study-majority-of-midd…
Study: Majority Of Middle-Aged Men Lack Support Network They’ll Need To Handle Neil Young’s Death
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Same kid, different ailment. Different hospital, no UNO game. Create the UNO game you want to see in the world and read this old piece from @rejectionlit.bsky.social about our medically fragile kids. rejection-letters.com/2023/04/05/i...
rejection-letters.com
I Didn’t Hear Your Mom Call “UNO” (Mike Prask)
There’s a whole family around the big table in this hospital’s lounge area. They have an UNO game going, and I’m out-and-out spying on the proceedings. They’re funny, the only people here who stay …
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Five bucks for Lee Klein's "Thanks and Sorry and Good Luck" may be the best investment you can make in improving your own writing (and it's entertaining as hell). Get on it!
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
We run a far-from-perfect household, but -- for our 19-yr-old who may have been overserved at a family party -- we provide an environment that is nothing if not Hangover Sensitive (meaning I brought her a Gatorade and a cup of ice before she was fully awake).
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I'm choosing to mis-read that author name as "Elmore Leonard" and spending the rest of the week chasing down a copy
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Ben Rock @benrock.com · 31/05/2026
The most amazing thing you’ll see today I guarantee is this frame-by-frame animated remake of “Sabotage”. youtu.be/lgXSDPmOWCE?...
youtu.be
Stop Motion Sabotage - A Stop Motion Recreation of Beastie Boys "Sabotage" video
YouTube video by Corduroy Frames
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raymond luxury yacht rock @fordtimelord.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Dazed & Confused (1993)

Last Day of School
May 28, 1976
1:05pm
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Nice to see @greatplacebooks.bsky.social get a little representation in the latest alumni newsletter from my HS. Will keep an eye out for Devin at the next reunion...
The book Pilgrims, by Devin Kelly, getting a mention in the latest Gonzaga College High School alumni newsletter, reminding Mike that it's up next in his stack.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Introduce yourself with 10 bands / artists you've seen live Guns n' Roses Beastie Boys Tom Petty Springsteen Bob Dylan Elvis Costello Wilco Los Lobos Drive-by Truckers / Isbell My Morning Jacket
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Moby Dick Dog of the South Lush Life
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Steve Edwards @the-big-quiet.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Hi friends: I'm excited to offer an online course for Larksong Writers Place on Saturdays this June. These intimate gatherings are capped at 12. Our work will be to write, share, and reclaim our writing practices. Hope to see you there! larksongwritersplace.org/Classes/Onli...
Most of us aren’t going to be bestselling authors. Most of us may not even want to be bestselling authors (as nice as the idea may sound). Rather, we find our way to writing because something in us—some emotion or impulse—demands acknowledgement. We want to return in memory to the people we once were, to conduct our reckonings, to repent, to rage, to discover anew the meaning of our pain, to touch the sublime, to see if we can’t once and for all understand it all or at least articulate it clearly. The others in our lives don’t always understand, and it is difficult to explain our intentions. We need to be alone. To work. To create. 
This class is about supporting your writing and your impulse to write. In an intimate online workshop setting, we will share strategies about the practicalities of carving out time/space for our practices; we will reimagine how we think about our writing when life doesn’t afford us as much time as we might like; and we will write from prompts designed to remind ourselves why our writing matters—to us and to the world—regardless of how many people might read it. 
Steve Edwards is author of Rare Good: Essays on Art, Autism, and Astonishment (forthcoming, fall 2026) and the memoir Breaking Into the Backcountry. His work appears in The Yale Review, The Sun, Orion, The Rumpus, Lit Hub, Longreads, & elsewhere.Here are a few reviews from Steve's most recent classes at Larksong:
"Learning from Steve was a gift. He is a phenomenal writer and I'm so happy to have had this chance to learn and write from him."
"My first teacher encouraged me to study with other Teachers. I was nervous. Steve finds a way to get a cohesive connection between everyone, and fast. I felt a comfort to take risks, to speak from the heart, to not give up. I was in awe of the other writers and their experiences. I learned from them as well as Steve. I'm glad I gave myself this protected time to study with them all." 
"Being part of this group was more of an enlightened discussion among peers than a class. We all learned from each other, while being guided by an exceptional instructor. It compelled me to move forward with my writing in ways I never thought of before. I highly recommend this class for anyone wanting to strengthen and advance their own writing practice."
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
RIP to the man who co-owned the bar where I met my wife, and who then pretended he had the power to marry us while we all stood inside a fake boat in the courtyard of said bar, when we returned the night of our rehearsal dinner.
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Happy 9th Anniversary to me keeping the bones in my right hand intact by opting not to stretch all the way out and barehand this bomb of a home run from Kyle Schwarber
Picture of Mike at a Cubs game 9 years ago, not catching a home run that would have crushed the bones in his hand
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Muppet Show Taxi Cheers NBC-era Letterman The Simpsons Sports Night Arrested Development 30 Rock Terriers Mad Men Breaking Bad Top Chef Drunk History Reservation Dogs Andor
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Mike Prask @mprask.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
If this doesn't lead to a "Last Night at the Lobster" prequel, then I don't know what we're doing here
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