STATUS // operational
Westenberg. | v1.0 | 2026
DEFINITION_

Westenberg.

Field Notes on Now.

TYPE // publication STATUS // active POSTS // UPDATED // 2026-04-16

$ cat ./posts/latest

I truly hate mostpeopleslop

In 2006, Joe Sugarman published a book called The Adweek Copywriting Handbook - and an axiom stuck... "The sole purpose of the first sentence in an advertisement is to get you to read the second sentence." That line, more or less, explains how social media turned into a

$ ls ./posts/

$ cat ./posts/* --sort=date --order=desc
2

Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-13 7 min read
3

Optimism is not a personality flaw

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-12 7 min read
4

Why I quit "The Strive"

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-10 9 min read
5

The Hacker News tarpit

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-06 7 min read
6

The AI writing witchhunt is pointless.

Alexandre Dumas ran what was essentially a content production house in 19th century Paris. His most famous collaborator was Auguste Maquet, who wrote substantial portions of The Three Musketeers and

2026-04-04 10 min read
7

The "Passive Income" trap ate a generation of entrepreneurs

I had coffee last year with a guy - I won't use his real name - who told me he was "building a business." I asked

2026-04-03 8 min read
8

Time is a User-Interface

2026-04-02 4 min read
9

The Entire Internet Is a UGC Reaction Video Now

I keep a folder in Apple Notes called “cursed websites,” where I save various artefacts that make me feel like the social contract has dissolved. Call it an act of

2026-03-31 6 min read
10

The World's First Bullshit

I opened Twitter this morning and three different startups were announcing "the world's first" something. An AI CMO, an autonomous AI marketer, and a design agent

2026-03-31 4 min read
11

Notes on going solo: celebrating 6 years of Studio Self

Since roughly // broadly 2020, I’ve been running a solo-powered minor empire. I have no employees, and my only office is my home office, filled as it is with cat

2026-03-30 11 min read
12

Members Only: On Cathedral thinking

2026-03-26 7 min read
About/// Self/// RSS/// Tools/// YouTube/// Forum/// About/// Self/// RSS/// Tools/// YouTube/// Forum/// About/// Self/// RSS/// Tools/// YouTube/// Forum/// About/// Self/// RSS/// Tools/// YouTube/// Forum///