Hello, hello! Let’s have a quickie chat about some Open Court things. This weekly newsletter is a project from my heart, by way of my brain, then sent to my 5 official typing fingers. (Yes, I do not type with official Catholic school-seal-of-approval style. I made my own way, which felt right, and won the epic battle with Sr. Ann in typing class. I told her typing was about product and efficiency, not style. She put me to the test, and I won. Boom. RIP to that sweet woman.)
Anyways. Back to Open Court.
This shebang started back in the olden days of summer 2021. A world where LeBron James was not the scoring king of the NBA, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Serena Williams were not yet retired, but hella breaking down. My beloved BTS were not on a hiatus as a group. Those days.
Meta, the corporate artist formerly known as Facebook, asked if I wanted to partner to create content for a project they were building. AKA, a journalism clone of Substack. I said yes. FB paid me to do my thing, and we had a lovely run until Mark Zuckerberg took his toys and moved into the metaverse. No writers live there, just avatarring. Life is full circle, and I am now on Substack, with Open Court. Plus, there is a new baby, Borahae BTS, for my Bangtan Amis. Facebook is my ex, one on lovely, speaking terms, but no longer supporting my work. Fair enough.
A number of you have reached out since the big move to Substack, offering kind support and encouragement. There are weekly asks how to subscribe, as in cash money. You want to support what I do, because you enjoy it and believe in me.
So here we are. I’ve created subscriber tiers for monthly, yearly (a break on the monthly total), and a founder’s buy in. Some of my content, like the archives and bonus pieces, will be subscriber only. Our Friday goodness, and my occasional mid-week gotta-talk-about this ish will pop in for free. Please consider being a general newsletter subscriber (free), and/or if you want to help contribute to this effort, follow this link.
And the we in that above sentence is us. You and me.
Open Court, my platform on Bulletin.com (a sub of Meta aka Facebook), has been going now for a year. The Bulletin project was launched a year ago this past week. This space has been live since July 20, 2021, when we got to know each other through this first piece.
This is Open Court No. 91. Oh yeah, that is a big deal. Seriously. No comic sans, Dan Gilbert-esque sarcasm fonts for that sentence. It is a big damned deal to be here after a year, and yes, my peoples, we will be going for at least another year. You cannot get rid of me that easily. BWAHAHAHAA.
What have I learned in a year? Too much, not enough, and maybe just what I needed to. How’s that for a cafeteria tray, buffet concept of an answer?
Let me explain.
I have learned that 1,000 of you like Open Court enough that you have given me the honor of subscribing. That is a serious thing, because in the newsletter world, and yes, the floor is 100 percent lava in the newsletter game, going from zero to an organically-driven 1k is a sign you are heading in a good direction to build an audience.
So thank you.
YOU, the person who maybe knows me, maybe is related to me (hi Mom!), maybe you don’t know me at all (but you do know BTS), or is along for the ride because you have no idea why yet. All good. All cool. Borahae.
I have learned that you like when I write stuff that is serious, you like when I am a little goofy, you are split on when I write about women’s sports or BTS (the love-hate camps show up), and you are really into tennis and Olympic stuff. You like my opinions more than my original reporting (sniff, sniff, but still going to do some original stuff from time to time).
You like when I swim. I do too. (photo: Joanne Gerstner)
You like my pop culture mix with serious/newsy stuff, and you sometimes question what the hell I am referencing or reading. Yep, I am the witches’ brew of medical stuff, sports, hip hop, GenX touchstones, gardening, travel, cats, books and anxiety about the future. I read a lot. I watch YouTube too much. I probably do not meditate enough. I am fully responsible for my mind wandering into some dark corners of the internet. Like, the people who live for the Toe Bro. Subculture of the medical nerds, who live for the nasty ingrown toenail removals. Really. It’s a thing.
What I don’t know: the magic sweet spot of connecting with all of you as a community on a regular basis. Trying to mainline what you’re thinking, feeling, wanting to know as an audience is both a professional liability and personal curiosity. Where is your mind during Open Court, where are you going with your heart and soul off what I am writing? (Ahem, comment…go ahead and do it!)
Being a woman in a sports media space is a layered thing. I just had this conversation with a friend and colleague of the same tribe. We have the privilege of saying what we want and having people see/listen to us. That is not a small thing. We can make a difference, be the source of light that needs to be beamed into the bad corners or shine up the good stuff. But with that platform comes the thought – do we, as women in sports media, always need to be the one hitting the outrage button to scream about what is wrong? Brittney Griner. Pay inequities in pro sports. NIL benefitting the big boys in football and basketball way more than women’s/non-rev sports. The looming crisis for women maintaining freedom over our own reproductive choices and health. Domestic violence and those who get away with it in sports because of their fame/team ownership. The abuse of us, women in sports media, by the public on social media spaces. (Ask me about my friends on Instagram who need to marry me, see photos of my toes, or ask me about my weight on a daily basis. Oy vey.)
Yeah. It’s a lot, and it’s heavy. It all needs to be blown up.
That is the balancing act I have tried to walk with Open Court. With you. We are walking together, alongside each other, having a conversation that I hope never stops. I am not talking down to you, not saying words at you. I am having an active, real, engaged conversation with you about the things I see, feel and the hamsters running on their wheels in my mind. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry, sometimes we hella disagree. But we are still together, still walking, still wanting the world to be better. Somehow.
I took you along to Paris and Rome with me in June, and we had a lot of fun together doing the stuff and laughing at American tourists. Apparently, you like when I do some travel writing, so I will promise to take you on my upcoming adventures to Philly and Denver. (I know, much more domestic and less exotic. A varied work travel diet is good for the soul.)
We were told a lot of tourist fall down these slick, steep stairs in Siena. I thankfully was not one of them. Whew. (Photo: Joanne Gerstner)
We’ve done live chats, traded comments, direct messages, and all the good things.
Open Court has been super real, and a blessing to watch grow.
We are just getting started. So thank you for coming along for the ride. Thank you for opening the newsletter email, clicking on the link or finding this along the way through social media. It doesn’t matter how you get here – your presence is all that matters.
I ask for your help in growing this space. If you know somebody who would like Open Court, ask them to subscribe by sending them a link. Follow me at @joannecgerstner. Forward the email. Comment. Let me know what you are thinking.
And if you want Open Court to write about something, always know the suggestion box is wide open.
I’ve been really ruminating on the song Arson, by j-hope. The lyrics talk about working really hard to build a successful career, the sacrifices and pain to get to the place you dreamed about. (Link to video below in reccos. It’s also good. Turn on CC’s to English for max happiness.)
You get to the place where you wonder what it all means.
The chorus nails it:
“If anyone asks me
“Right, I lit the flame”
Now I ask myself, choose what
Do I put out the fire, or burn even brighter, yah, yah, yah, yah”
j-hope, here’s my answer: let’s burn this shit up.
This is our Open Court. Let’s keep running it hard.
I was thinking about my friend Jen, something that happens a lot. I was sitting on the screened-in porch, which is about as close as you can get to heaven in the summer. I can talk trash to the mosquitoes and they cannot touch me. Otherwise, I would be slaughtered by them, especially this swarm-laden summer.
Jen always wanted to sit there when she came over, and hang out when the breeze was blowing. We never got to do that enough.
But she is still here with me. And I was kind of talking to her, asking her what would she do in my position. Would she take a big risk, add more work to her life, for an opportunity to craft her own path?
I felt her answer. Go for it.
So I am.
I am partnering with Facebook, to be part of their new Bulletin platform for journalists, content creators and influencers. Bulletin is designed to be a space where people like me can do their thing, via newsletter and the platform, and hopefully an audience will come for the ride.
My site, opencourt.bulletin.com will be a mix of sports, science, life and the things I am thinking about. Open Court means the freedom and space to do things, like in sports and in the law. We’re not going to be hemmed in, we’re going to run.
There are stories I’ve wanted to do, and stuff I’ve wanted to explore. So this is a great opportunity, and I am grateful. Look for around six pieces per month. And other stuff like FB lives, etc. I want to build a community, and share things. This will not be one-way traffic.
Or I will stop the car. Hah. Just joking.
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