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Michael Jensen's avatar

Hi Jo, Michael from Brent and Michael Are Going Places Here. I couldn't find an email addy but wanted to thank you for the lovely illustration you did for the Substack thread. I'm not actually bald like Brent, but other than that the likeness was fantastic. And sorry for the slow response. Mostly been offline for the past two weeks.

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Jo Petroni's avatar

Michael:) I'm so glad! I did go all in on your similarities, I'm sorry for the baldness.. I wish you fruitful traveling and lovely posts.

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Michael Jensen's avatar

No worries. Honestly, the image is delightful and made me smile. BTW, we're currently in Greece and I'm grateful the weather has warmed up so don't need to hang carpets over the windows! LOL.

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John Ward's avatar

Jo, would you say your approach to architecture is similar to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organic Architecture which he described as a desire to build structures for both humanity and the environment? Or does it differ in some way?

I’m glad to see that you contributed to Godin’s Almanac. I’ve been following his blog since 1997? ‘98? It’s been a while. He’s a really smart guy.

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Jo Petroni's avatar

John, yes:) Of course FL Wright is my hero, but I would say what we know now of nature and humans and the environment adds changes to the way Wright was doing things. On a theoretic level, we was spot on though.

We're hard at work on The Carbon Almanac still:) I've learned incredibly much from sitting close to Seth Godin. Do you do marketing or just enjoy his blog in general?

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John Ward's avatar

Marketing is the kind of thing that I would do if I have my life to live over again. That or Sociology of some sort. Both topics are endlessly fascinating to me. Godin was my first exposure to marketing theory and I’ve been a faithful reader not only of his blogs but all of his books too. I really appreciate how he writes about marketing for laymen. He doesn’t so much give you a step by step plan (which frustrates many people) so much as he teaches a philosophy about how to approach problems. In a way, it’s kind of applied psychology because if you read him long enough you’ll begin to understand how to motivate people... or at least have a framework that you can use as you engage in many try/fail cycles while you learn what the market wants. So, no, I’m not a marketer, but I really do try to think like one.

Your comment about how our understanding of the world has changed since the time of FL Wright made me remember something I meant to include in my initial comment yesterday. It’s actually one of the main things that made me subscribe here. It was the emphasis you placed on how we should consider the types of materials being used to build our homes and manufacture materials. I realize this is something that is blatantly obvious to anyone who has spent five seconds considering the issue of our impermanence here, but I had never before considered things in that light. You exposed me to a new way of thinking (much like Godin did for me decades ago) and that is what has piqued my interest.

Also, I’ve noticed many of your posts feature drawings (which I’m assuming were done by you)? If you don’t mind me asking are you using Concepts? For the benefit of anyone who hasn’t heard of Concepts it’s a drawing app that’s mostly focused on architectural stuff, but the toolset in it is so great that many illustrators use it as well. I was just curious.

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Tami Carey's avatar

Jo! I just happily stumbled upon your newsletter and am so delighted. The guidance into the space you've created is so clear and captivating. And you pretty much had me at "sends letters to imaginary friends." I do the same. (Sort of. Sometimes. I like to play with formats and mediums. So far, I'm four newsletters in and two of them have been imagined correspondence.) As I carve out my own thoughtful corner of this space, I am so happy to find inspiration from others who find new and interesting ways to provide a unique experience. Mostly what I wanted to say is that I'm excited to be your guest!

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Jo Petroni's avatar

Tami, I'm excited in return to have you here!

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