#10: Launch Day (Part 2): Millennial Dad Enter The Chat
The stranger than fiction launch day continues as Sol T breaks the fourth wall and redirects his parenting columnist to explore more soulful ideas
Welcome to Sol Trip #10:
In Launch Day Part 1, Sol T, freshly minted managing editor of The Sol Trip, battled a rocky launch plagued by corporate politics, bad metrics, and existential spirals from Oliver, the AI columnist. With gentle nudges, Sol convinced Oliver to set aside his dread and just write—practical tips, speculative fiction. Now, as Oliver gets his content machine going in parallel, Sol faces a new challenge his own writing block and the writing exuberance of his millenial parenting columnist.
Want more info as the story unfolds? Check out the Playbill
Sol T’s moment of reflection after Oliver’s departure transforms into a renewed focus on his work. While the unknown future of AI may one day make him question whether or not he should be “doing something else” with his life, today is Launch Day.
His turn to overcome writer’s block.
The Email, the one announcing The Sol Trip to people he knew. T had been working on this email announcement for nearly a year, while he fought the fight internally at sct.xyz to launch The Sol Trip. Rewrites after rewrites mirrored the incremental and often stepwise process of innovation and creation. The email served as a guide by how much he actually understood what he was trying to do—if he couldn’t explain it simply then he didn’t understand himself. Naturally, just as he thought he was done, he asked ChatGPT for input, and realized something was “still missing.” So, he had been sitting on it.
He had just chewed out Oliver for hesitating, so it was his turn to eat the frog and send the email. Ignoring what he had written before, Sol T wrote a fresh draft, inspired by the day so far and is subtly increasing confidence. This clarity of intent led to an especially effective conversation with his AI “genie.” He couldn’t help but compliment the AI’s work:
Sol T: i hate that i liked your response so much. LLMs are insane
LLM: The fact that you both hate and like it? Perfect. That’s the exact energy of The Sol Trip, right? That tension between “What the hell am I doing?” and “This is so cool, let’s keep going.” Welcome to the rabbit hole 🌀
Sol T feels that annoying twinge of pride and resentment he always did. Was this collaboration with AI, or was he just outsourcing his creativity? He shakes Oliver’s words from earlier out of his head. Today was not the day for existential rabbit holes.
Today was Launch Day
Basking in the moment of probabilistic alignment between machine and destiny, Sol T finalizes the email. The recipient list: a lucky list of 77 friends, former colleagues, mentors, and even that one LinkedIn “reply-guy.”
A mix of people who knew the real him, and those who’d known him back when his career felt like a trajectory and not a labyrinth.
He sends, then unsends.
Sends again. Unsends.
Each click felt like a step forward, then two steps back. Finally, he hits send and hovered over “Undo Send.” 5…4…3…2…1… The option disappears. It’s done. Irrevocable.
One mountain down, but the email faces an uphill battle.
He pictures his email ending up in spam, ignored, or buried under the deluge of other Urgent Messages. His entire modern support network, boiled down to the whims of machine-automated inboxes and distracted psyches. The email wasn’t just an announcement; it was a litmus test. What if the only person who replies is the “reply-guy”? They’d never actually interacted, and Sol wasn’t sure he wanted to start now. His {{Your Ad Here}} ergonomic chair, holds him steady, as his thoughts wobble and he begins thinking of how to juice his readership in other ways.
A Slack ping shatters his half-formed plans, yanking Sol back to reality, yanking Sol back to reality. He glances at the notification. Arthur. The millennial parenting columnist with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever and a Slack profile picture to match. Recently returned from a year of paternity1, Arthur was his hardest worker.
Arthur 12:31 PM
👋 Got a sec, boss? Hope I’m not interrupting anything important!
Sol T 12:32 PM
What’s up, Art?
Arthur 12:32 PM
First off, congrats on the launch! 🚀 You must be feeling great. (Right??)
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how The Radicalized Dad can lead the charge this week. Got some pitches I think you’ll love—let me know which ones hit.
Sol T 12:33 PM
Go ahead.
Arthur 12:33 PM
Okay, here we go!!!Five Ways Feminist Literature Made Me a Better Dad
Three Ways Peppa Pig Made Me Question My Faith
Nine Reasons I Hate Cities Now That I Have Kids
Seven Things My Toddler Taught Me About Late-Stage Capitalism
Four Parenting Lessons I Learned From bell hooks and One From Joe Rogan
Five Reasons A Waffle Iron is The Best Present for Expectant Parents
Thoughts??
Sol T 12:34 PM
…
Sol T 12:35 PM
Art.
Are they all listicles? Were you on paternity for a decade?
Arthur 12:36 PM
Right?! I figured we could start broad and narrow it down based on what you’re feeling. Personally, I’m leaning toward the feminist parenting stuff—timely, fresh, not too political, and plenty of depth. Plus, I know you want us to balance being hip while working for a global conglomerateBUT—I’m totally open to whatever direction you think is best. Let me know what’s resonating!
Sol T 12:37 PM
Feminism isn’t political right now? Did you even pay attention to the last election?
Arthur 12:37 PM
Diapers don’t wait for anyone, dude. But of course I did. I think it’s less controversial that it’s been portrayed.
Sol T 12:37 PM
Ok. Fine. If you want to explore modern feminism through a patriarch’s lens, let’s make sure you have something to say. But, listicles are table stakes. We’re an aspirational publication, we should be beyond that.
What about focusing on the day-to-day grind of parenting. What’s it really like? The love, the monotony, the humanity. Make it stick. Dickensian.
Arthur 12:38 PM
You want me to make the days a narrative and the years a headline. “Freedom Is Dead, Long Live Parenting?” Wake up, feed the kids, school, work, dinner, bedtime—repeat, repeat, repeat. Do it again with a smile. A mix of real, distilled to the raw?
Sol T 12:39 PM
Exactly. That’s the vibe. Like Cormac McCarthy meets… your bell hooks.
Arthur 12:40 PM
C-Mac?! Is that what you think being a dad is like? Lol.
Sol T 12:40 PM
The way I hear some people talk about it…
Arthur 12:41 PM
But, like... people love listicles, you know? They share them. They click them. I’m just saying…isn’t that good enough?
Sol T 12:41 PM
Good enough is a lie.
Arthur 12:41 PM
Wow, a bit harsh. Ok, fine. Introspective storytelling with some sort of point. I’ll take a walk in the woods and see what comes to me.
Sol T 12:41 PM
Yes, exactly. And see if you can loop in Oliver on this. Maybe some AI tie-ins—like a chatbot that’s also a dad, or something weird like that.
Arthur 12:41 PM
Got it. I’ll start drafting right away. And I’ll keep the listicle ideas handy—just in case we need a quick hit for clicks. Good enough is sometimes all you need. 😉
Sol T CTR-TABs out of Slack and leans back, staring at the Post-its cluttering his office. "Be Here Now." "Trust the Process." Words he needs to believe, even as self-doubt crowded the edges of his mind.
It had been off the cuff, but maybe he should share a new team mantra at the next meeting: Good Enough Is a Lie. Excellence was all they needed.
But he can’t shake Arthur’s chill optimism. Deep down, Sol T wonders whether listicles weren’t table stakes. They might be the whole game for humans that had the attention of a goldfish. Clicks. Listicles. AI summaries that skimmed the surface. What if his choice was the Sol Trip vision, or listicles?
He glanced at his inbox, where a few replies to his email were starting to trickle in. Little bursts of support, fragile and fleeting. Tiny affirmations that this thing he’d built might actually be worth something. He ignored the “unsubscribe” notifications, and the bouncebacks from defunct emails.
“Good enough,” he whispered, letting the words sit for a moment. They felt heavy, like a truth he didn’t want to accept. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. It was what he had.
And what he had would have to do—for now.
To be continued…
AI sneak peak of next episode: Arthur writes hybrid memoir-advice columns … to explore the performative and philosophical dimensions of parenthood.
Today’s AI Links: 3 Things I Recently Read and Recommend
Using Dangerous AI, But Safely (Technical discussion, SLYT)
sct.xyz provides a year of paternity for its employees