And a quick update...
͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­
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Ask Me Anything

And a quick update...

Brian Beutler
Mar 20
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RIP Pasta Batman (2011-2025)

We had an unexpectedly late night with a sick friend. You met her just last week, actually—our cat Pasta Batman. She’d been slowing down steadily over the course of the past year or so, but this week she stopped eating and lost her energy. We decided with her veterinarian last night that it made more sense to say goodbye than put her through traumatic emergency procedures to stave off heart failure for the last few days or months of what would have been an unpleasant life.

She was like exactly what you’d imagine looking at this picture. An unusually gentle, kind, affectionate creature.

Anyhow, that’s why we’re off to a late start. In the interest of not slipping too far behind schedule, I’ll take member questions in comments only today. No live chat.

Depending on how it goes, it may augur changes going forward. The good news is, Off Message has about 10 times more subscribers now than it did around the time of our first AMA a year and a half ago. The bad news is, that can make the live chat pretty unwieldy. Like a sprint or a speed read rather than a leisurely chat.

Before last night, I’d been toying with announcing a new approach, which I’d planned to roll out next week: A regular Thursday mailbag, with more occasional member live chats during big news events. I suspect that’s where we’ll eventually end up. But feel free to drop your feedback in comments, and I’ll give all of it due consideration. However we adapt, regular interaction with readers will not be going away.

As always, thank you for making this project possible.

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© 2025 Brian Beutler
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
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