Note

The app for independent voices

Hallo

Today I start using Substack

I used to like Twitter but always felt very constrained by the 144 limit

This brought problems for the irony-challenged, who misunderstood a lot of what I was trying to say

This is a particular problem for me because I seem to be regarded as ‘on the left’ by people on the right, and' ‘on the right’ by people on the left

Apparently this makes me controversial, and therefore box office poison

I’m so very sorry for the delay in publishing. It’s horribly difficult to write when you’re dealing with significant burn out. I’ve been barely able to string two thoughts together lately, and it’s been easier to chip away at things sentence by sentence even if it takes a long time. We should be up tomorrow.

Wanted: 4 more readers to help my new humor publication get to 100 subscribers on Substack! It’s called Humor in the Middle

Reward: A few minutes per week of relaxation, amusement, and laughter. A brief break from the scary news. A short pause in your endless to-do list. A small respite from the harrowing realities that are 2025.

(If you feel sometimes if you don’t laugh, you will cry, we must be friends.)

You made it, you own it

You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.

Jorge our brother, ‘don’t overthink it’, and ASMRWTF

You don’t expect a grocery list to break your heart. Until it does.

I was filling shelves in the baking aisle, when I noticed her—an elderly woman clutching a handwritten grocery list that looked like it had been folded and unfolded a hundred times.

She kept glancing at it, then at the shelves, then back at it—like the list itself might change if she stared at it long enough.

I asked if she needed help, and she gave a small, tired smile.

“Oh, I do,” she said. “But it’s silly.”

I assured her it wasn’…

Great discussions

Join the most interesting and insightful discussions.

Last week was the due date for the fourth baby we hoped to adopt. The baby passed away months ago, but my heart hasn’t quite let go. This week, I am sharing about the complicated emotions we experienced about this adoption, both before and after the loss.

Very grateful to the fantastic

for coming on The Shift with Sam Baker podcast ahead of the UK launch of her book. How does one person get to be so insightful? (that would be Maggie, not me!)

7 Likes
3 Replies
1 Restack
Sep 5, 2023
at
12:07 PM