36 Comments

I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU

How do you manage to inject so much delight into my brain with every single damn one of your posts you son of a bitch. I have THINGS to do. I can't just sit around all day reading Both Are True. Also, I'm pretty sure the degree of pleasure I derive from reading your posts is accruing some kind of moral debt that I'll eventually have to pay out with some other kind of surprise suffering. Balance must be restored.

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Finally I know what happens when I surmise and why my house is so full of Selenium

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Dec 2, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Can I adopt your doubt monster for the day? He looks so much lovelier than mine!

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Dec 2, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Alex I think giving advice is one of your superpowers!

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Dec 2, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Wow, this was fantastic. Hilarious and deep, and thought provoking.

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Jello is a food I liked when I was a kid - particularly Jello with fruit inside - that I have no interest in revisiting as an adult. I’m nostalgic for every dumb thing from my childhood except Jello?

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Loving the advice columns, Alex! wonderful read the whole way through.

"Brave is just how you BE at a RAVE.”

— Anthony Robbins

Knew there was a reason I enjoy going to raves. 🙃 (mostly retired now. mostly.)

and I’m feeling strangely haunted by those poor loving possums...

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WHOOSH!

I just found Both Are True a couple of days ago (you'd know because you saw me) because Substack brought your 'How I Grew My Newsletter in less than a year post", and I commented that it was a mixture (insert: beautiful weird balance) of crazy, hilarious, witty and actually serious tips I could (should, actually) work on;

But looking through this newsletter (and this amazing article/Not-an-advice-column advice column), I have to say this:

Man, you're weirdly amazing. And real. an d heart-ful. And helpful. And may other quirky adjectives I cannot describe. Reading this was just... (sigh).

You're amazing. And this is amazing - while getting straight to my insides, all at the same time.

That will be all. I think this is too long hehe.

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Dec 7, 2022·edited Dec 7, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

So good, so good. pearls of wisdom. my cat, Ms Nya (Her Royal Felineness), was reading over my shoulder and is now muchly impurressed with the advice given and would like to toss one in for her hooman.

Said hooman, aka me, has stories to tell (about Nya of course). Hooman has talk skills, sometimes makes awkward noises and pulls people into the vibe of the moment but aspires to do something.... bigger to share these cat stories. Hooman has never really tried writing it, or illustrating or anything but is open to trying them out awkwardly. But the choices are overwhelming. Eventually, hooman wants to make a blockbuster movie about the cat, and then hopes it will culminate in a disney-esque spin off into a theme park inspired by the stories. The question is, where does the hooman begin, and how to begin?

(We all know where this ends for the cat - cat world domination FTWWW)

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great post, as usual!

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alex, this is good advice!

i like a lot of the things you wrote, including "How do I know, your honor?" and "you spud, you daughter of the soil" and "doubt monster on a good day"

and here are my answers to your questions:

1) How do you beat the beasts of self doubt and self consciousness? Join them! Then you have beasts on your side and you will win!

2) How soon did you remarry after your spouse passed away? Good question! I didn't remarry because my ex-spouse hasn't passed away yet. But I will!

3) Do you want advice? Sure!

4) What is your honest to god relationship with Jell-O? I believe it has gelatin in it and so I don't eat. Honest to EVERYONE.

thanks for always every!

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fuck jello

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Got em: I don't have a spouse (yet) (pending 3/23/23) (i am his second marriage tho) (his ex-wife did not die) (she is remarried) (i think) (my partner is not dead)

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Yes, congrats to Abby S for publishing at all! That is so brave.

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As someone who has thrown multiple laptops into multiple rivers, including the LA river, which is concrete and has very little water, I gotta say this is great advice! Well done, Alex!

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I discovered this substack recently, and may I say -- I love it.

This particular post resonated a lot -- I started (or atleast have tried starting) a substack recently myself. And so, here is a question. How do you know what to write? Do people really want to read my ramblings (don't they have better things to do)? And on a more serious note, how do you actively think about and incorporate writing that adds value for the reader? To put it differently, how I can avoid my substack becoming a personal diary that no one else is interested in, while still being a journal of personal and professional growth?

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