My buddy's newsletter got hit last month with the same filter. He switched from Mailchimp to a smaller service called ConvertKit and the deliverability shot way up. Sometimes these big platforms just have weird automated flags that catch good senders. It's worth trying a free trial on another service before giving up on the list.

Oh man, this is so true! My old group used to do the same thing with those vague "write about loss" prompts and we all just wrote sad rain stories. Then someone brought in a weird, lumpy ceramic ashtray they found at a thrift store and told us to write about the person who made it. The stories were wild, from a lonely grandpa to a kid's failed art project. Something about holding a real, weird thing just kicks your brain into a different gear.

That binder in Seattle is onto something. I spent like twenty bucks on a fancy bone folder and honestly, my old library card does the same job for most simple creases. People get way too hung up on having the perfect tool when half the stuff around your house works fine. It's just folding paper, not rocket science.

Remember reading that most fermentation guides really underplay how much temperature swings mess things up? My basement stairs stay a constant cool temp, so that's where my sauerkraut goes now. It made a huge difference compared to my old kitchen setup. I had the same sour problem with pickles before I figured out a steady spot.