70: BACKPACKS, KNOBS, ROOM DIVIDERS

the pleasure is all MINE

Jun 28, 2026

∙ Paid

My therapist retired the month before I started this newsletter… this week, I noticed she joined the ranks of being a Rot and became a subscriber. (Hi Kathi…)

I will definitely be augmenting my behavior in the months to come in honor of this new reader. I start by sharing something personal I have been keeping private for the past few months:

I am moving to a little town a few miles north called Malibu… Watch this space to see how far out, leathery and MAHA I become in the coming seasons.

My family of 4 will be squeezing into a much smaller home, which is small in LA terms and palatial in NY terms. I am not complaining, just purging. For this reason a Sunday or two might go without a letter while I tend to my hoard.

As any true hoarder would, I have been spending a little too much time on the Airstream Marketplace in anticipation of my move. I just learned about “rebound clutter” described as a “psychological phenomenon where empty spaces trigger an urge to fill them”… maybe I’ll do a Gutted Trailer edit for my Rots soon. (Can you tell I haven’t hired a new therapist since Dear Kathi retired?)

Feeling inspired by David’s Arcades transmission earlier this week titled “You Don’t Need That.” He explores the philosopher Tran Duc Thao’s observation “that ownership simply is the right of exclusion. It is not use, or enjoyment, which can swing free from ownership. Its positive content is simply that other people cannot use or enjoy it. Or: their use and enjoyment is a privilege you bestow. In this light, the real kink of ownership comes into view—the pleasure is all mine, but you can have it if I say so. The drive to own is, above all else, a means of warding off the pleasure of others.”

There will be a yard sale on July 11th- PM me for details.

This week I bring you BACKPACKS, KNOBS, and ROOM DIVIDERS and below the paywall I give you my favorite Ecce Homo look alike (you’re welcome Kathi!)