24 Comments

I wish you weren't right all the damn time.

I can't remember what I did before we had phones and it terrifies me. I think I used to think a lot more but who wants to do that right now?

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I’m wrong more often than not. I went to the bathroom in my dad’s house last night and forgot my phone. There was nothing within arms reach to read. Not even a shampoo bottle. It was awful.

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Be careful with shampoo bottles in the bathroom. According to my ER Nurse friends, they magically fly up people's butts.

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This captures the ass-backward nature of things more beautifully - and succinctly - than any of the torturous analyses I've read these past few weeks. Such pitch-perfect writing.

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Thank you

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This is an amazing piece. You just know how to say it.

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I don’t know how to say much at all but thank you.

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Stoked for you re Alaska. I'm in a very much similar nihilist mindframe. Enjoy the East Coast. You missed the pretty trees but bleak November landscapes seem more appropriate to this moment anyway.

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Yeah there’s that. It’s probably stupid to drive out there for thanksgiving but it’s the only way Woody can come.

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Totally not stupid. What's Thanksgiving without Woody? (And Arlo. A perfect road trip for "Alice's Restaurant").

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I cannot wait for that trip! You and Woody will love Alaska. Even though it has as many republicans as Texas, apparently. Very much looking forward to buying your new book!

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More bears though. And I have an aunt in Homer. I think Woody will like Homer.

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I loved being able to see three different kinds of whales without even trying too hard. I loved having a reindeer hotdog. I sprinkled my son’s ashes up on that hillside park above Anchorage. If you want to wave at him when you go past.

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The whales. I can’t get past seeing an orca come out of the water and thinking oh fuck and my cousin who lives up there reaching out to glide his hand in the water as orca slipped past the boat. Magical place. I’ll give him a wave.

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This is the most reassuring thing I've read all month. It means I'm not crazy. It means YES it's not my imagination. Three companies DO own everything. It means NO my hard work is not valued. It means I do not have to feel gaslighted for not buying the hype. It's not going to change anything but I knew that already.

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I just found your writing on here and I really love it. Thank you

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In which obviously all I care about is whether or not your Alaskan Road Trip will take you through Montana or if we get shunned because the Oregon coast is so damn spectacular. 🤔

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Great piece. $1200 for nitrogen in your tires sounds insane.

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FWIW, one of the things I most enjoy about your writing is your choices. So whatever *you* want to write about is the right thing to write about.

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I always love reading your thoughts. Can't wait for the new book. In the meantime, while on the east coast, if you find yourself anywhere near Charlotte, reach out so I can buy you a proper old fashioned and we can tell Woody what a good boy he is.

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I’m in the UK, but feeling this pain from a distance. I have a 5 year old niece growing up in Florida and I am fearful for her future. It’s far from perfect here but I really wish they could come home. From across the ocean, it looks dystopian. You have a way of articulating the mangled guts in all our minds. Urgh. Yes. That.

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Margaret Atwood was the guest at a nearby university author speaker series blah blah live event the other day and she said something that reminded me of you. "Writing is hope. You hope you start, and you hope you finish." She also said about her memoir: "A memoir is what you can remember. Stupid shit and catastrophe." I don't know how you feel about Margaret Atwood, and it doesn't really matter. What matters is that something she said made me think about you, and I thought I'd let you know.

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I had a mini panic attack when I realized you deactivated your threads account, but I am so happy I can follow you here. We had a power outage in the PNW the other night and I FINALLY read Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing. I’m about to read it again I loved it so much. Your experiences are nothing like mine, yet there is something that feels so familiar when I read your work. I can’t really describe it. Thanks for all you do.

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Why is everyone migrating to BlueSky? Have they all forgotten who started it; the guy who claimed Elon was the next best thing for Twitter? How you needed to be invited by the cool kids and wait months to get in?

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