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    <loc>https://www.liamnowakowski.com/writing/twenty-nine-and-a-half-a-plea</loc>
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      <image:title>Writing - Twenty-Nine and a Half: A plea to you, good people - About a year ago I was having a conversation with one of my regular bar guests. We had gotten past the point of a money-for-alcohol relationship and were learning more about each other. Otherwise known as becoming friends. They asked me what I did outside of bartending since they only knew me from the waist up behind the marble countertop – through my labor. I somewhat sheepishly told them that I was a writer. Oh! They lit up. “Could I read something of yours?” I went blank.</image:title>
      <image:caption>Yesss… but nooooo… I had no stories or articles. No jokes. No short films I wrote. All I had in my arsenal were screenplays and the biggest thing I know about screenplays is that nobody wants to read your screenplay except for other people writing screenplays – and your mother. Normal people do not want to read a screenplay. They want to watch a movie. Or a TikTok. So no. As a self-proclaimed writer, I had no writing to show them. Nothing to show them that I was, in fact, a writer, who writes and not somebody who says they are a writer for funsies.</image:caption>
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    <loc>https://www.liamnowakowski.com/writing/bingo-night-2007</loc>
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    <lastmod>2025-04-20</lastmod>
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      <image:title>Writing - Bingo Night, 2007 - Andy’s mother asked for a divorce when she saw this month’s credit card statement. I thought she knew our situation, but I overestimated her. It’s true. I was negligent in managing our spending… And things were not great. $136,859.23 was the number that killed us. My job was good, but Rebecca had to start working again to help us keep up. Even then it felt like the pace of our own life, of the world, was too much to handle. There was always something wrong with the house that needed repairs, remodels, or replacing. Gas was up every single day. A few random illnesses. Andy was growing and always needed new clothes that he would fit into. Sometimes it was just easier to swipe the credit card and push the thought off to another day – which had actually, finally, come.  Andy asked why Mommy was crying. I said a distant cousin he’d never met had died. He said, “Oh. Are we still going to Bingo?” The grand prize was a Nintendo Wii and Andy wanted it. Mommy made it clear that she wasn’t coming. I didn’t feel like going myself, but he was looking forward to it. So we went without Mommy to try and save face.</image:title>
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      <image:title>Writing - Bingo Night, 2007 - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Bingo Night, 2007 - “So cool.” Andy leaned backwards and against my leg. I placed my hand over his shoulder and onto his chest. The crickets were chirping. Our neighbor’s sprinklers were going off. It was a warm day and a crisp evening. Perfect weather, in my opinion.  We stood there looking up at the stars above our house for some time before heading in.</image:title>
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      <image:title>Writing - Bingo Night, 2007 - “BINGO!” some kid shouted near the front. Andy deflated at his loss. “Is he in your class?” I asked. He shook his head.  “Do you know his name?” Nope. There’s a hundred kids here. None of them have come up to Andy. Is he lonely? He seems content. He had a best friend in first grade. A kid named Daniel. He never came over the house, but that’s what Rebecca told me. I don’t really have friends, but I’m an adult. He’s a kid. Kids should have friends.  An electrical pulse radiated down my arm and I put my hand on Andy’s head and ruffled up his fauxhawk. He quickly pulled my hand away to make me stop.</image:title>
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    <loc>https://www.liamnowakowski.com/writing/zac-efron-and-the-eighth-grade-musical</loc>
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    <lastmod>2025-02-07</lastmod>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical</image:title>
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      <image:title>Writing - Zac Efron and the Eighth Grade Musical - Make it stand out</image:title>
      <image:caption>Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.</image:caption>
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    <loc>https://www.liamnowakowski.com/writing/through-the-grinder</loc>
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    <lastmod>2024-12-07</lastmod>
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      <image:title>Writing - Through The Grinder - This is why he hadn’t been successful in business. Sure, he’d never been caught, but he knew people could sense something inappropriate about him. All those contracts that he lost to the bigger and more established security firms were because of Jonah’s personal defect. He’d been broken his entire life. Something was deeply wrong with him, but not in a way that was outwardly expressed. It was something that could be felt by everybody else and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He’s been doing everything Jared tells him to do so he can figure out what everybody else can smell on him.  Jonah was a failure as a man and he knew it. His father knew it. Morgan knew it. Jared Altman knew it too, but at least he wanted Jonah to get better. Everybody else let him suffer without knowing.</image:title>
      <image:caption>God, his plan was not working at all. And that made him angry.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Through The Grinder - Three years in and Jonah was pretty good at his job – or so he thought so at least. Mindset is important, that’s what Jared says. He knew what he would do already, but had to appear like he was being thorough. A contract here would be worth thousands and thousands of dollars over the years with the maintenance required. It would be enough passive income he could maybe start to feel comfortable. One hundred Ring cameras were not going to cover this place.  Jonah assumed Mr. Santini was probably one of those rich paranoid types worried about cleaning ladies stealing jewels or MS-13 gang members raping his wife in the middle of the night.</image:title>
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      <image:title>Writing - Through The Grinder - Jonah Kohler started his home security business because Jared Altman told him to. Now he had to get up at five in the morning to sit in the summer Hamptons traffic six days a week.</image:title>
      <image:caption>Every morning, he took a three mile run from his apartment down to the marina and watched the sunrise. “The warmth of the first rays gives me the energy to start my day,” one of the affirmations he told himself repeatedly. A month from turning thirty-years-old, he felt his knees weren’t bouncing back like they used to. YouTube videos posted by a physical therapist told him exactly how to treat the mounting aches and pains.</image:caption>
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      <image:title>Writing - Through The Grinder - Finally, Altman got around to the main topic: his tips for having uncomfortable conversations with your girlfriend. “Be direct, tell them exactly what you want. You can’t be afraid of a dialogue. It’s the foundation of Western Civilization.” Jonah was already preparing a lie he would tell Morgan if he didn’t land this new client. The eviction took no time at all and was one of Jonah’s more regular gigs. Luckily the tenants had already vacated, but their stuff was still inside when he put the new locks on. It was a normal apartment, sure a little untidy, but normal. They had the same IKEA coffee table as Jonah. Before hitting the road again, he took the opportunity to stretch. His calves and quads were hard and tight, but his stomach was slightly pronounced. He enjoyed beer too much. He was wearing a Miller Lite tee stained with grease and coffee and torn near the collar. This was his Thursday work shirt. Friday he would wear his Blue Point Brewery shirt.</image:title>
      <image:caption>Jonah brushed his mid-length greasy hair back. He showered every night after work, but his hair would be thick again by morning. Perhaps he would shave it and never think about how clean his hair was ever again. One less distraction. He would look good buzzed with a beard, but his still wasn’t growing in full. Would it ever be? If only he had eaten better as a child and been less picky. Then he’d have a full beard and be over six feet tall. If he ever had children, he would make sure they did.</image:caption>
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