AOP

STOP 2 END By Isaac Butler Hello Isaac, nice to meet you. Isaac, I’m trans. I refuse to take the bait. What if I told you I’m a retired US Navy admiral A Retired drill instructor A Retired major general with the US navy A Retired US Marine Corps top gun pilot I retired in 2017 having earned the rank of colonel As a farmer and retired brigadier general I’m reaching out one poet, writer, dreamer to another I’m a former teacher and high school principal As a former teacher of deaf students I’m a proud veteran of our armed forces

PBS alert This is how we win It starts with eight seats We’re up against deep pockets What if your local hospital closed overnight Deb is sick of the status quo Another mass shooting 60 years ago We broke quorum I have a simple question for you I’m reaching out with a humble request Lay it on me Correction: lay it on me

Lots of people won't read substack for very good reasons (I'm still in the process of getting off of it & just haven't had time, honestly) so... here is a screenshot w/ alt text of my new poem for your reading/sharing pleasure. Each line is taken from a different Dem fundraising email or text.

Also, the gun metaphor doesn’t work bc guns are good at what they do

I'm not big on generation discourse, but the desire to extend one's childhood forever feels like a massive change—when I was in college, you would rather have died than shown a professor something you wrote when you were ten

It's amazing to me how many of my 20 year-old students are bound and determined to keep writing about fictional realms they created when they were 8-10 years old

Name ten things that exist

you could get a second or third job—maybe driving a truck for Amazon—and save your money up for a big trip

No it is you being an annoying scold about someone’s vacation for no good reason. Not bad tho, I’m sure you’re probably nice

Caring about global warming isn’t what makes you a bad person here

Look at this guy, traveling a great distance 🙄. A polar bear would never

A lot of mystifying things about the publishing industry become much clearer when you realize that most authors, agents, and editors were/are horrible nerds

it is 2010 and I am listening to arguments about whether social media helps sell books
it is 2015 and I am listening to arguments about whether social media helps sell books
it is 2020 and I am listening to arguments about whether social media helps sell books
it is 2025 and I am listening to argume

whenever I learn an editor is cheering me on from the sidelines, I run out of my house hooting and hollering and banging on a pan

madness, rack, AND honey? in this economy?

They should make a separate Bluesky that's only for good posts

No no I really appreciate you asking! And I would totally love to read it and give you notes, if there were literally any way of doing that besides actually reading what you've written

Hey, really good to hear from you! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back, and I'm sorry to tell you that unfortunately, I can't read your novel manuscript. The problem is that I would rather die than do that

pixelatedboat aka "mr blues... @pixelated... • 9h To be honest, I haven't trusted Stephen Colbert ever since he conveniently abandoned all his right wing views as soon as he got hired to host a network talk show • • • The Fierce Independent @thefierceindie.bsky.social Apparently you don't know what satire looks like.

I'm not saying capitalism isn't responsible for tons of evil and suffering in the world, but there's just something tiresome about someone in every single replies to a post informing everyone that capitalism is actually to blame. Like tysm

Feels like many people's entire political understanding these of days is like at the end of a Scooby Doo episode, where the gang pulls the mask off the bad guy, and it's Capitalism

Basically, everything that's hard for me to do is Bad and Wrong, which honestly rules

It's strange how people always regard difficult writing elements as Politically Bad. Plot? It's fascist. Good endings? Sorry, that's capitalist. And conversely, the only elements that aren't politically wrong are things like wispy lyricism—stuff that requires no chops or work. Funny old world

Me two weeks ago: Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, not to protect anyone, but because entering prison as the world's most illustrious pedophile makes that a logical decision. Conspiracy theories make less sense than the stated story.

Me now: The Pee Tape was shot on Epstein Island.

Line graph from Google Books Ngram Viewer showing the frequency of the phrase “barked a laugh” in American English books from 1985 to 2019. Usage is nearly flat through the 1990s, starts to rise gradually in the early 2000s, and increases sharply around 2010. It peaks near 2016. After that, it levels off slightly but remains high through 2022. The data reflects a notable surge in usage over the past two decades.

I’m just an editor, standing in front of a bunch of writers, begging you to choose literally any other way to describe laughter.

although "maybe" is far too optimistic, should have said "conceivably" or "theoretically"

A very underrated writing pleasure is the moment of pure honesty when you admit a thing you've been working on sucks shit, and you start over with a new idea that maybe does not suck shit

wife absolutely crushed due to lack of shredded cheese

happy 5 year anniversary of shredded cheese sad wife to all who celebrate

Yankee Fans welcome Ted Cruz to New York. Proud of my homies!

He's a gentle jazzbo, this is my point!

Dave claims his bread is "killer," and yet on the logo he seems to be playing a C add #5 (muting the low E with his pinky). They should rename it Dave's Jazzy Bread imo

I would simply scratch lines on the wall to represent the dreadful passage of time, but my wife would get upset