29 Comments

Damn it. fuck cancer.

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Body Type Interview - damn! Three lines in and reading through my tears. My journey through life; from my brain to my parents to my parenting. Tried so hard not to be my parents. Still working on it with my grandchildren. Thank you for sharing.

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many peoples' journeys it seems! thanks for reading and sharing means a lot

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Alex, thanks for sharing the Go Fund Me. I'm relieved to see the abundance of support – the road is long for Wolfie and his family, but friends and family support make SUCH a huge difference!

I'm all for the heartfelt ones, but for whatever reason I like your tech rants the most (maybe because I'm a graphic designer and yet I actually kinda loathe tech tbh). Your AI one was the first piece I read during Foster last summer and made me subscribe. And the one about the Apple Vision Pro goggles just killed me. I think that's the one that made me go Paid Sub. I'm honestly down for anything you write though, even the Titanic one which I just read for the first time and it might be the most DobrenkosmsTM (your style of wordplay) in one episode, so who can be mad about that?!

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hahhaha Dobrenkosms i love. and yay about tech rants - more coming soon. honestly its just the same shit about AI though like nothing new is even happening just the same bullshit. what is new that i could rant about?

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I can’t confirm its legitimacy, but I saw a thread where someone kept asking ChatGPT for a hotter hot dog. It went from being ablaze on a grill to sitting comfortably in Mordor to existing at the center of the Big Bang. User begged for hotter. GPT whined that it had no more imagination left. But then it came up with hot dog at the collision of two Big Bangs. The whole exchange felt like my life as a graphic designer. “No I need the logo even bigger. And two pixels to the left. No right. Try left again.” And you know, maybe bots should take my job.

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"user begged for hotter" hahahaha

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Alex, I have just subscribed two weeks ago but am gonna run and read the Titanic and the rest of the most hated list right this moment. Looking forward to the most hated rounded up of 2024.

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hahah thank you Tanya! I cannot wait to see what posts of mine everyone hates this year either

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Listen to Lauren… xx

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ugh i know

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my fav BAT one was most likely the one which made me subscribe, which was the poop morning with Wilder and Robert? and there was this line about Robert looking like a middle-aged man at a swimming pool or something which made me laugh out loud. loved that. i cannot comment on the flops because i don't think anything flopped but also DO YOU REALLY want your audience to say, 'hey Dobro, this sucked'? i don't think i could handle a random reader telling me a post flopped.

i can't recall all my personal Substack favies from this year but let me cast my mind back and dredge something up:

- Katie Nissen and her diagrams

- any song Richard Shindell shares

- Maggie MacDonald's library adventures, but honestly just Maggie in general who is now my friend and I text her about door erotica and beekeeping drug dealers

- I love Anne Kadet's little interviews and things like when she sat in a chair on a platform all day

- recently read some of Deirdre Lewis' things and she's a great writer and I'm excited to read more

- and Rosana whose newsletters I kept reading in Substack and then realised I had to actually subscribe because having an life crisis in Planet Organic is v relatable for me

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damn it olivia you know me too well and you see the masochistic asshat who lives within. one of my fav parts of 2023 was getting to know you and becoming pals!

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dawwwwwww alex

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One third of future Americans are named Wilder?

How did that happen?! 😂

So sorry to hear about Wolfie. Poor little guy.

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thanks Caz appreciate it and yea everyone is named Wilder idk

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"I Think My Son Hates Me" made a subscriber out of me, and your piece on the Light Phone gave me just enough of a push to trade in my smart phone. No regrets on either count.

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wow hows it going with the no smart phone?

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Brilliantly. I have supervised visits with my iphone once a week because there are some things that you just need an app for, but other than that, I feel less dread and more connected to my immediate surroundings. Most of all, I feel a sense of supreme superiority over the duds looking down at their screens.

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hell yes this is the wya

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Sorry but I can’t get beyond Wolfie and autocorrect keeps writing Willie.

I’m gonna get really creative and different here and say I love all your pieces. I know. Dull answer but it’s true.

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daw thank you 🧡🧡🧡

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It makes my eye twitch when parenthesis don't have closure. And I'll keep reading BAT. Because...

both are true.

My favorite restaurant is Pisa Lisa in Sedona, AZ and their da Dorothy pizza with added ricotta. Sigh. We no longer dwell in close proximity.

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just looked at their menu and you're right that's a banger of a 'za.

sorry about the parentheses does this help )

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It helps tremdously.

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why is it that so many of your posts make me start my comment with god damn it alex.

words are inadequate to express feelings about a four year old having cancer. donated.

Let’s talk i guess?

1. what were your favorite BAT moments of the year? first, when i discovered you. second, when i subscribed like a boss

2. Any posts you loved? Any you hated? none that i hated but then again i only found you in september so perhaps there is something hateable earlier in the year.

3. Besides BAT, what were your bangers and busts from last year? a road trip with my honey along the southern shore of lake superior.

4. i am a titanic ignoramus. but ok. if you wrote it, it’s probably at least straggling, if not gtenius.

5. not new here how can you suggest that. fave restaurant is six hours away, so we don’t get there very often. the inimitable Giordano’s pizza in Chicago, IL.

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just you wait there will be a lot to hate

oh man I have spent a lot of time on lake superior on the canada side my best pal from high school's fam has a cabin there and it is magical af

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Alex, it was cool getting to know you a tiny bit in 2023! Looking forward to a fully nude (metaphorically) 2024.

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thanks Andrew!! Fully nude feels coming 2024 !

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