Stories about eating edibles and flying Southwest, CCR's misheard lyrics, a divorced Lyft driver, and the one with my dad, Bob Hope, and the Sultan of Oman
I'm thrilled to have (minorly)chatted with you, Michael! You were among the first writers I subscribed to, and it's been amazing watching your creations come to life. Your decision to share your posts for free was truly appreciated, and your kindness in providing the archives has been immensely helpful. Thank you so much for everything! Each post has been not just hilarious but also incredibly exciting, making the journey even more delightful.
I haven't read it yet! It just landed here - but I am sooooooooooooooo incredibly grateful for your mentioning foreign rights and translators. I'm going to shout out (is that still a word, or am I hopelessly old-fashioned now?) your newsletter on the few social media things I do use. (Mastodon, LinkedIn, and Instagram) Thank you so much. Means a lot to me and my colleagues, the usually invisible language ninja's.
Shout out is still a word (two actually) and I’m pretty sure the language ninjas can bring the concept to every reader on Earth. Thank you again for sharing a little bit about your work. I always love to hear it.
id missed a few of these gems should pay you for curating lol
"plastics" haha not sure that one word given the context (which your Dad must have been intimately familiar with) will never be NOT amongst the top 25 quotable cultural references (side-swipes?) of all time
not sure why the meme at end of film of Dustin Hoffmann slumped in back of bus after getting the girl thinking "Jesus wtf do i do NOW???*&^!!" isn't used more often for hmmmmm i dunno just about EVERYTHING
this year is almost a wrap have a great new one even as i appreciated your production values (humor, imagination, reportage) in the old one
thanks to you i i think actually had a dream about the Maccabees the other night (could have been afternoon nap tho , heh) but they were in throwback Chicago Bears uniforms aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Taylor Swift is the best thing to happen to the NFL since the forward pass. OK, that's a bit much. But I read somewhere that she increased the tv audience for chief's games by around 10%. That's huge!
also speaking of "chiefs" how did that name survive the culture wars when "redskins" did not as i've always equated both words with signifying indigenous people who lets face it are making us immigrants look worse with their own model with each passing decade.....
I think the Washington team is higher profile (nation's capital), so it was always the prime target for activists. Also, I think ownership's response in Washington went a long way toward making the fight bigger. My sense is KC was like, "duck and cover." Honestly, a lot of teams in college and high school continue to use those names, so I think this is gonna be a long culture war. Of course, my high school team was The Roadrunners (no issue there) and my college team was the Cardinals (no issue there). But I went to a D3 college, so who cares? Mostly, I root for USC (Christina is an alum) and Alabama (Christina's family comes from Bama, and as we say, Bama for grandma). But to your point, I wonder about the Atlanta Braves and FSU. Went to Cleveland last summer, though, took in Guardians game, and guess what, everyone loved it, even with the name change.
omg Cleveland!!! had forgot about that change and ya gotta think the "browns" was or is being eye-balled for some kind of dubious malignant infraction .....your wife's "Trojans" may be in play as well if the birth rate doesn't spike up quickly enough to please the evangelical tailgaters
you are safe with your birds so far animals seem to be fairly safe you can call them by name
wonder where in Bama grandma from? im only a 20 min. drive from Florala
which is exactly as its name indicates and from there its a brief jaunt over to Hank Williams' origins in Georgiana outside Montgomery, the latter always worth a visit for many reasons
The comment thread in High Flier starring "me" as naive, never-been-high, adult woman, is legendary. Some of the nicest peer pressure I've ever experienced. And I learned a lot, too. 😂💜
I think Die Hard IS a Christmas movie because it so vehemently divides us on the meaning of and proper way to celebrate the holiday. It has done its job well and didn't even need a derisive red coffee cup to seal the deal! Business ventures I have my eye on for 2024: Pirate wench; Encyclopedia Britannica salesperson (door to door of course); Taylor Swift's best friend.
Good point about Die Hard! Tis the season for irrational arguments. As for your business ideas, I think you have a conglomerate there. You’re a pirate wench who sells encyclopedias door to door, which would be a tough racket, except Taylor Swift is your bestie, so sales are through the roof.
I appreciate a Mortimer pic every time I see one, which is not infrequently. Yet, there is little downside to additional Mortimer pics.
I am also concluding that I don't want customers, but instead want patrons. I want to write as I am right now, freely and with no inhibition or concern that distracts from my purpose.
TL;DR: I may steal your idea of a six-month auto-archive for paid only!
Steal away! But keep in mind that I stole it from another writer who stole it from a different writer. It’s a damn crime wave, Andrew. Be careful out there!
I’ve been trying to get him in pictures for years. But they say he needs to be “trained.” Of course, I say you can’t teach cuteness. Sadly, our agent dropped us. But I’m holding out hope that Mortimer will make it as an influencer, then leverage that fame into a three-picture deal.
Feel like I say this so often! I’m so grateful to have found you man. Love your model. I keep my Substack free for the same reason. People will support when and if they can. Thank you for just being awesome. I like your reasoning behind using the 6 month paywall. I’ll be lurking in the comments to see if anyone has any other good tips.
Marc, I am grateful you’re here. One note about the archives. Three years on Substack and many writers I know have found that most people just don’t click into the archives, so it didn’t feel like I was locking an especially popular door.
Don’t listen to the lawyers. There’s always a new twist on the extortion model. As for your take on Odysseus, I feel like someone has to write this. It could be like Pride and Prejudice with Zombies, only with better drugs and more humanity, and it’ll trigger an entirely different group of people.
And I agree, I think the Sultan beats Bob for sense of humor here. Not easy to admit, but authoritarians aren’t as humorless as we want to believe.
Michael, I really enjoy the idea of paywalling archived content of 6 months and older...makes a lot of sense for the potential book route. I am actively looking at publishing my project at The Wealth Letters (and don't necessarily think that charging aligns with the philosophy / goals of the project), BUT this could be a way to paywall down the line tastefully.
I'm thrilled to have (minorly)chatted with you, Michael! You were among the first writers I subscribed to, and it's been amazing watching your creations come to life. Your decision to share your posts for free was truly appreciated, and your kindness in providing the archives has been immensely helpful. Thank you so much for everything! Each post has been not just hilarious but also incredibly exciting, making the journey even more delightful.
Thank you, Gaurav! And by the way, I haven’t forgotten your question. Look for an answer early in 2024.
I haven't read it yet! It just landed here - but I am sooooooooooooooo incredibly grateful for your mentioning foreign rights and translators. I'm going to shout out (is that still a word, or am I hopelessly old-fashioned now?) your newsletter on the few social media things I do use. (Mastodon, LinkedIn, and Instagram) Thank you so much. Means a lot to me and my colleagues, the usually invisible language ninja's.
Shout out is still a word (two actually) and I’m pretty sure the language ninjas can bring the concept to every reader on Earth. Thank you again for sharing a little bit about your work. I always love to hear it.
id missed a few of these gems should pay you for curating lol
"plastics" haha not sure that one word given the context (which your Dad must have been intimately familiar with) will never be NOT amongst the top 25 quotable cultural references (side-swipes?) of all time
not sure why the meme at end of film of Dustin Hoffmann slumped in back of bus after getting the girl thinking "Jesus wtf do i do NOW???*&^!!" isn't used more often for hmmmmm i dunno just about EVERYTHING
this year is almost a wrap have a great new one even as i appreciated your production values (humor, imagination, reportage) in the old one
thanks to you i i think actually had a dream about the Maccabees the other night (could have been afternoon nap tho , heh) but they were in throwback Chicago Bears uniforms aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
OMG! I'm laughing my butt off thinking about the Maccabees in Chicago Bears uniforms! Too funny!
i'll save the Taylor Swift part for my own novel or ok more realistically Jungian psychiatric application form (the reviews THERE are always GOOD!!)
Taylor Swift is the best thing to happen to the NFL since the forward pass. OK, that's a bit much. But I read somewhere that she increased the tv audience for chief's games by around 10%. That's huge!
also speaking of "chiefs" how did that name survive the culture wars when "redskins" did not as i've always equated both words with signifying indigenous people who lets face it are making us immigrants look worse with their own model with each passing decade.....
I think the Washington team is higher profile (nation's capital), so it was always the prime target for activists. Also, I think ownership's response in Washington went a long way toward making the fight bigger. My sense is KC was like, "duck and cover." Honestly, a lot of teams in college and high school continue to use those names, so I think this is gonna be a long culture war. Of course, my high school team was The Roadrunners (no issue there) and my college team was the Cardinals (no issue there). But I went to a D3 college, so who cares? Mostly, I root for USC (Christina is an alum) and Alabama (Christina's family comes from Bama, and as we say, Bama for grandma). But to your point, I wonder about the Atlanta Braves and FSU. Went to Cleveland last summer, though, took in Guardians game, and guess what, everyone loved it, even with the name change.
omg Cleveland!!! had forgot about that change and ya gotta think the "browns" was or is being eye-balled for some kind of dubious malignant infraction .....your wife's "Trojans" may be in play as well if the birth rate doesn't spike up quickly enough to please the evangelical tailgaters
you are safe with your birds so far animals seem to be fairly safe you can call them by name
wonder where in Bama grandma from? im only a 20 min. drive from Florala
which is exactly as its name indicates and from there its a brief jaunt over to Hank Williams' origins in Georgiana outside Montgomery, the latter always worth a visit for many reasons
true Julie Andrews didn't hurt tourism to the Austria Alps either so....
MORTY!! <3<3
Thanks for your writing and thanks for being you.
Thank you for being here, Emmy!
The comment thread in High Flier starring "me" as naive, never-been-high, adult woman, is legendary. Some of the nicest peer pressure I've ever experienced. And I learned a lot, too. 😂💜
I know! That thread was sooooo good!
Haha! I went back and looked at it and it went on for miles. 😂 Like you, me, and AG were the only three people in the weed gummy gift shop.
That’s a good gift shop & good company!
I want to boop Mortimer’s snoot too! 🐶
It’s very boopable
Look forward to what's to come. Great work growing your business, Michael!
Thank you, Paul!
I’ve 80% recovered from reading Doppelgänger. A chaser of Stephen King’s FAIRY TALE helps, as does a glimpse of the divine and floofy MORTIMER.
His floofy vibe helps me recover from so many difficult reads.
I think Die Hard IS a Christmas movie because it so vehemently divides us on the meaning of and proper way to celebrate the holiday. It has done its job well and didn't even need a derisive red coffee cup to seal the deal! Business ventures I have my eye on for 2024: Pirate wench; Encyclopedia Britannica salesperson (door to door of course); Taylor Swift's best friend.
Good point about Die Hard! Tis the season for irrational arguments. As for your business ideas, I think you have a conglomerate there. You’re a pirate wench who sells encyclopedias door to door, which would be a tough racket, except Taylor Swift is your bestie, so sales are through the roof.
WHO WOULD SAY NO TO A PIRATE WENCH WHO IS ALSO TAY SWIFT'S BESTIE? So...I can put you down for a full set? :)
Full set! But my wife wants Taylor Swift tickets. And her boyfriend’s team goes to the Super Bowl, I want Super Bowl tickets.
I know a guy who can get this done. Goes by Harold. Pretty big deal....
I appreciate a Mortimer pic every time I see one, which is not infrequently. Yet, there is little downside to additional Mortimer pics.
I am also concluding that I don't want customers, but instead want patrons. I want to write as I am right now, freely and with no inhibition or concern that distracts from my purpose.
TL;DR: I may steal your idea of a six-month auto-archive for paid only!
Steal away! But keep in mind that I stole it from another writer who stole it from a different writer. It’s a damn crime wave, Andrew. Be careful out there!
That's why Substack removed the self check outs from the Substack store...
[The bloke who scanned my items at the supermarket was rude, unhelpful and smelled like he'd been drinking.
That's the last time I use the self checkout..]
Michael, thank you. This is not my first criminal ring, so I think I'll be all right.
Mortimer is blessed, in that he could be the real dog used in wide shots for a Muppet dog.
https://images.app.goo.gl/75iJPrg83YeKsAkX6
I’ve been trying to get him in pictures for years. But they say he needs to be “trained.” Of course, I say you can’t teach cuteness. Sadly, our agent dropped us. But I’m holding out hope that Mortimer will make it as an influencer, then leverage that fame into a three-picture deal.
I’m rooting for Mortimer’s success! I think the real American Dream is owning a famous pet.
Correct! And that dream is global! Christina follows some very famous (and fabulously wealthy) dogs out of Japan.
Feel like I say this so often! I’m so grateful to have found you man. Love your model. I keep my Substack free for the same reason. People will support when and if they can. Thank you for just being awesome. I like your reasoning behind using the 6 month paywall. I’ll be lurking in the comments to see if anyone has any other good tips.
Marc, I am grateful you’re here. One note about the archives. Three years on Substack and many writers I know have found that most people just don’t click into the archives, so it didn’t feel like I was locking an especially popular door.
Don’t listen to the lawyers. There’s always a new twist on the extortion model. As for your take on Odysseus, I feel like someone has to write this. It could be like Pride and Prejudice with Zombies, only with better drugs and more humanity, and it’ll trigger an entirely different group of people.
And I agree, I think the Sultan beats Bob for sense of humor here. Not easy to admit, but authoritarians aren’t as humorless as we want to believe.
Michael, I really enjoy the idea of paywalling archived content of 6 months and older...makes a lot of sense for the potential book route. I am actively looking at publishing my project at The Wealth Letters (and don't necessarily think that charging aligns with the philosophy / goals of the project), BUT this could be a way to paywall down the line tastefully.
1. Evidently my idea already exists, and is called “extortion.” If you take certain lawyers at face value.
2. If I ever gatekeep Christmas movies, it’s a Cylon.
3. Odysseus would see the full events of the book. The poor, non-hero passengers would not.
4. I wish they were. That lyric’s from a better planet.
5. I doubt he still is after becoming newsletter royalty.
6. Somehow, someway, the Sultan of Oman won that contest. And I don’t side with many monarchs.