You teach others how to treat you!
That's something I had to learn a loooong time ago. You model the behavior you want from the person by only allowing/acknowledging the behavior that you want to increase. Sooooo.... if he emails you about all these other things. Ignore that they were even written and write back only within the guidelines of what you want to hear back from him. So, if you want him to write you about your daughter's soccer game, talk to him about the soccer game.
With my xabf, it used to be alot of nonsense. He would call and go on and on forever about money and his family and how sad he was. I told him over and over again that I wasn't interested in hearing, but that never seemed to worked. It's the whole concept of reward vs. punishment. His motivation is to get you to talk/write to him. Reward him when he writes something that is within your boundaries. The best way to explain it, is if get a speeding ticket, for the next couple of days, you drive below the speed limit. After that, you begin to weigh the odds..... speeding vs. actually getting pulled over. Now, if someone followed you around all day and gave you a $100 for every mile you drove without speeding..... for sure you'd be waaaay below the speed limit! Punishment doesn't work, especially with addicts. Soooooooooo......... talking to him, scoulding him, etc. will not make the difference in the end. Like with my xabf.... all conversations are STRICTLY about our son. Anything else comes up and I immediately change the subject or end the conversation without ever acknowledging that he made the off-topic-statement. Anything within the limits and he gets a very positive, enthusiastic response. Needless to say.... we ONLY talk about our son now..... nothing else... ever!
Model the behavior you want. Reinforce the dialogue you want in the future by only responding to that dialogue. Ignore the rest!