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Friend Yenta's avatar

"You hold a grudge with intense clarity and firmness."

This also describes my 8 year old. Kid who threw a piece of apple in the cafeteria and accidentally hit her in the head? DEAD TO HER. FOREVER. No coming back from that.

p.s. Iris Dement is an incredible artist. Her duets with John Prine make me so happy, and I will never stop listening to her song "The Shores of Jordan."

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Amazing!!

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Myq Kaplan's avatar

dear josh,

i love you and i love your newsletter as always!

some specific things i love:

-- "Madonna’s voice sounded great, and the spectacle of the arena show was really spectacle-ular (there has to be a better way to say that)"

-- "I am terrified of you, but in a good way!"

-- "You make people feel like old friends no matter how long you’ve known them!!!"

-- your beautiful remembrance of kenny

thank you for sharing it all.

love,

myq

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Thank you for reading!! Love you too!

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loadie's avatar

hi josh

thank you for linking kenny deforest's special. i'd never seen his work before. what an incredible storyteller! what a loss for this world. condolences to those who love him.

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

I'm so glad you enjoyed the special, and thank you for the kind words!

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Andrew Mogendorff's avatar

Got tickets to see you in St. Paul for the first Saturday show - really looking forward to it! I’m glad you were able to reschedule!

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Heck yeah! So psyched to be back soon!

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Mary Ellen's avatar

"I feel like a wet sock" is so evocative! I, too, feel like an old wet sock, but in my case it's depression.

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

I'm sorry you're in such a tough place and I hope things feel a little lighter soon.

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Holly P's avatar

These pep talks are the best!!!!!

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Thanks!!

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Alison Rose's avatar

Josh, you are a blessing. Love the idea of delivering ham cubes, mainly because a person where I used to work (now happily retired—my condolences to the laid-off reader) was actually fired for stealing ham cubes. The story goes that he took them from the cafeteria salad bar ($5.99/lb.) and hid them under a layer of popcorn (each bag cost $1). And he was a well-paid engineer—we're not talking Jean Valjean stealing bread for his starving sister. So somewhere out there is a person being triggered by Cubr, and I thank you profusely for the laugh. Hope to see you in Beverly!

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Oh my gosh! Wow! (And see you there!)

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Patrick Pagan's avatar

I just yesterday saw People Pleaser on Freevee (hopefully you got some 💰 from the ads) and it was a damned delight!

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Josh Gondelman's avatar

Oh hell yeah thank you for watching, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

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Jeff Bramhall's avatar

I also wonder what you are doing with your hands, but I’m glad to see that you’re doing it emphatically!

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Andrew Mogendorff's avatar

My wife and I watched your People Pleaser special last night, what a joy. Unfortunately it also encouraged me to listen to Caress Me Down for the first (and last) time. I think you slightly undersold what a monstrosity that song is!

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