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I was on an interstate a couple of years ago and traffic slowed down, but did not stop. I was keeping pace with the same car beside me for about two miles. Finally I saw the "lane closed ahead sign" and realized that this was ZIPPER MERGING IN ACTION! I couldn't believe all the people knew how to do the thing, and honestly that was the first and last time I ever saw it played out so beautifully.

And yes, all the yeses, Frod forever!

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Can I ask what state you were in? This is one my and Ben's favorite games, comparing how different populations drive.

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I was in western PA. That would never happen here on the outskirts of Northern Virginia! The closer you get to DC, the more it's like Thunderdome.

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Mar 1, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

yes and they don’t let you over and call you an asshole, when in reality they’re an asshole for clogging up a perfectly efficient system. i’m trying to get our local news to do a segment on it. I NEED ATLANTA TO LEARN

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hahahah ah man bless you

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Mar 1, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

i am so passionate about zipper merging that my friends tell me they’re thinking of me when they have to lol. why is it so hard to be understand for some folks? i saw someone say if you’ve ever left a sporting event with only one way to exit and have leave one car at a time, you can zipper merge.

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my biggest gripe is that people in the open lane get *angry* at people who drive to the end of the closed lane, but that's how it's supposed to work!! that is literally the most efficient system!!!!

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Mar 1, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

Coal Rolling....another way men signal that they have a deficit that they need to compensate for

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I am READY for the Shangri-Etsy!

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😭😭😭 Shangri-Etsy!!!!!

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Cousin to Wayne Gretzky

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I certainly hope your hand gets mended without surgery, but if that's the way to go, then I wish you a speedy recovery.

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Thank you! Trying to remain optimistic.

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Omg smashed pennies. We can be old together?

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I can still hear my dad, "you want me to pay money to ruin money?" lol

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bahahaha I mean he is not wrong

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Mar 3, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

Loved the "Enshittification," which sent me down a rabbit hole of other links, and it so perfectly captures my experience of social media. I am so tired of migrating from Myspace to LiveJournal to Blogger to Twitter, and I never even did Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram or Tiktok. Every time I wonder if I have the energy to start all over, create the profile, build the community from scratch, try to find some of the other bees who scattered the last time the hive was kicked over.

It amuses me that Substack is so popular now, because it reminds me of the blogging from the heyday of LJ and Blogger. When people left those sites for the much briefer posts of Twitter, Instagram + Tumblr, the received wisdom was: People are *over* long posts, they don't want to have coherent comment threads anymore. And yet here we are now!

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Ahh Blogger and LiveJournal - I think mine are still out there, eek! The people truly pendulum on their content.

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Mar 2, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

I swear to god if Fast X doesn't have mid-movie and credits musical numbers I'm gonna demand a refund on my tickets. RRR set a new high standard against which all future blockbuster action movies must be judged.

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We know Vin Diesel sings. There's no excuse.

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This was the perfect thing to read during my 3-4am bout of insomnia. Thank youuuu! And thank you for mentioning AFTER/WORDS. Can’t wait to read your piece.

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Thanks for being patient with me!

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Mar 1, 2023Liked by Kelton Wright

This is the way...

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until we take our helmets off for Grogu 😂

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Thanks for mentioning “All that Breathes” I hadn’t heard of it! You absolutely should have at least one piece of real art from a live artist that makes you smile. And omg, I would be that driver in the middle of the road because terrified of heights and cliff edges and the stress alone would make me uncertain of the edges. (Also why I’m not driving in the mountains in snow to start with. But even without snow. I white knuckled it on I70 so...)

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And absolutely best wishes for the hand and the rash. I have had some horrible rashes over the years and I know how painful that can be. As to joy, find it every little way you can. Turn on music you like close your eyes and dance like a little kid. Recite Dr. Seuss lines to yourself. Color with your left hand just for fun. Scribble! Little joys are the best joys.

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I grew up in California and we were taught that you had to pull over to let cars pass if you had five over more cars behind you on a two-land road, and most people would do it for less than that. I don’t think I’ve experienced that anywhere else, certainly not where I live back East...

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I feel like I learned it from my parents — certainly not in Ohio's driving school. A rare special gem when you encounter them on the road.

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I've had thumb surgery and it may be one of the easiest to recover from - so if you must have it, not as bad as mending other body parts. However I'm hoping you can avoid it.

I'm interested in 'All that Breathes' thanks for suggesting it. Pretty sure it will make me cry but that seems like it is my current theme as of late. depression and sadness do help bring out creativity, so all isn't lost.

The art is beautiful!!! I've lived in this place for over 2 years and still hung nothing but a calendar... I'm really trying to call Michigan home but so far not so successful.

Rather interesting you mentioned coal rollers and 'And All that Breathes' in the same newsletter :)

I'm not sure whether to thank or curse you... I joined Instagram because my husband follows you and always asking if you write more about what's posted on there. I absolutely hate that site, but following you and Tahoe Berners has kept me on it so stay tuned for further development on that - have a great rest of the week! And as always thank you for such great writing ( I was extremely jealous finding out you teach classes and I've not seen any to take yet), the newsletter is a highlight of my week.

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