35 Comments
Oct 23, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

You should sell “ Would it be okay if I maybe kissed you?” to Taylor swift

Expand full comment
Oct 23, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

WE LOVE FR*IDY

Expand full comment
Oct 23, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Love being here w you all!

Expand full comment

Wow, you have a great voice. Thank you for sharing it with everyone.

Expand full comment

Yes, we were on the same path. I feel better having made a decision finally. You probably couldn't like the page as I sent it as an email as opposed to a post. I actually learned how to send an email AND delete my old drafts, woohoo! I hate technology. I'm off to read your post from this morning. Have a great day!

Expand full comment

love!

specific things i love:

-- "I hate uncertainty. Always have, always will. Well…maybe not always?"

-- "Her request was without any shadow of a doubt a sign that she was in love with me" (RELATABLE CONTENT)

-- "I lifted weights for a long time, most of which was also spent crying" (ADORABLE CONTENT)

-- "I was not allowed to text any girls without first getting the written approval of TWO separate friends." (HILARIOUS CONTENT)

-- "it wins every year"

-- "Married with child, like the Alfred Bundy show." (DELIGHTFUL CONTENT)

-- "Keeping all posts free gives readers like me the space / time to fall in love at my own pace." (THIS IS GREAT!)

-- that pema! the opposite of poison!

-- "I am thinking of getting a tattoo of an egg to celebrate this specific period in his life because he is obsessed with eggs and says ‘eg’ all the time." (I LOVE THIS AND ALSO WONDER HOW DO YOU KNOW HE'S SAYING IT WITH ONLY ONE G?)

-- "Ya know where the grass is definitely actually always greener? Outside." (FUN CONTENT)

you've done it again and i thank you!

Expand full comment

Alex, you provide consistently the stuff that makes me go whoa.

The copy on those ads, copy from a pre-minimalist era is fascinating, now all the words got diverted into blog posts and media chyrons.) Julio Torres quote is spot on , a whole Groucho Marx thing, we wouldn't want to create work that would be affiliated with something that would have it.

(tangent 1: Oh god, his middle name was "Staples". Does the "C" in Brad's name stand for "Costco", I knew it. tangent 2: ok, cost is clear, you're alone in the room now, what was "Amanda's" name, and what was the real backstory?

Expand full comment

I loved your realisation. You crystallised the essence of what every web designer who inserts the pop up dialogue box on a sites splash page, asking you to give up your email address - so they can send you marketing shit - does not understand. If you want to have a relationship with me, you have to give me something first or at least let me browse for a while. And no twenty dollars off my first purchase does not entitle you to my precious email address which I have only just managed to unsubscribe, report as spam, or consistently ignored even if the offer was genuine, because the spammers out there will try any and all ways to glean my information for nefarious purposes.

I am a reader of random stuff with the appetite of a heroin addict. If I could afford to subscribe to everyone I read I would, but I can’t. It took me 5 years of Wikipedia pleading poverty before I sent my once only payment of $5 feeling guilty because I read articles there every day. Same again with The Guardian and The Conversation it was a couple of years of free reading before I took out the monthly subscription, because I thought they deserved to get paid for not thrusting advertising under my view between every line of text, making the article so hard to read, I would just click off.

I used to work in Newspaper advertising and was constantly dismayed at the “Grab money now!” attitude with no planning or foresight for the future, no care for the advertiser’s needs, just flog this one page ad for tomorrow’s paper to any mug that would buy it. Needless to say that lack of foresight has resulted in the less than ideal situation of sensational headlines and click bait. All because the media gurus failed to grab the opportunity of advertising to people that were looking to buy on sites like eBay with the opening up of the internet.

I digress. I have only recently discovered your writing. So far so good. If I continue to open every email and read your stuff and become enamoured with your views then I may consider dropping one of my other subscriptions and invest. You are right! It is just like dating, find out what quirks impress or annoy and continue -or not - from a place of knowledge. All the best for the future

Expand full comment

Love everything about this post. First, your decision. Second, little Fraidy, oh my God, too funny and cute. I appreciated the posts you shared from other Substackers about being patient, helpful for me to read those as well having just made the same decision as you. BTW I sent out an email about that decision that ended up in some people's spam folder so if you didn't get it, check your spam. And lastly I love the story about your son. It's been 32 years and I can still remember the sensations like it was yesterday. My son was very active. If I ever wanted to rope him in, all I had to do was lay down on the ground, face down. He would run over and lay on top of me like clockwork. Funniest thing. Both of my adult kids are still crazy affectionate. Lucky. mom! Enjoy, and congrats on making your decision. 💟

Expand full comment
Oct 21, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

 -"Alas she was super stoned and drunk and also with another guy." hahaha!

-"Clive Staples Lewis" WHA? Is he also a bebop sax player?

-Love those old ads too. The Soul of Genius, indeed.

Expand full comment
Oct 21, 2022·edited Oct 21, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Loved this one hahaha

Expand full comment

I liked this. And those Excel ads... I'm trying to picture the team who created that copy and it must have been toasted tobacco, all over again.

Expand full comment

Well, whoaaa, do you know how uncommon it is to have a young person ask me anything techy? Like, it NEVER happens. I'm so proud of myself right now. So, you go into your subscriber list and select who you want the email to go to. Once you've selected even one person, a purple email box will appear in the right corner above the subscriber list and that allows us to email. It's a nice tool for emailing selected readers who seem to be very engaged with your newsletter and asking them if they'd consider subscribing. That way we aren't hitting up everyone all the time, and narrowing in on those who might be most interested and on the brink of upgrading. Or if we want to just send an email to all of our paid subscribers that we will be collecting soon, to thank them, we can narrow the email to our paid list. I think it's a nice option that you might consider once you are done with your six months restriction, lol. I'm in the same boat as you, I think for a while I just write and hope to get paid subscribers without talking about it. But six months, three months, who's counting?

Expand full comment
deletedOct 21, 2022Liked by Alex Dobrenko`
Comment deleted
Expand full comment