Transcript
Speaker: Alrighty then. Hello. Just to make you jealous, I'm going show off my drink here. Muffin house. Muffin house.
Speaker: My favorite, like, cafe slash bakery slash breakfast place slash lunch place. Who even knows what it should be categorized? I guess it's a cafe. It's Muffin house cafe on the logo. What?
Speaker: but they're like a bakery um yeah they're a bakery and they just have like a nice huge variety of stuff for food and you can sit down and eat delicious lemonade this is a strawberry lemonade ya yum yum i am as like a mini celebration and like leaning into my last like couple days of freedom before going back to work I was like I'm gonna take the hike all the way out to muffin house because I don't live nearly as close as I used to and I am very sad about it um
Speaker: But, you know, sometimes I'll treat myself. And today is one of those days. Hell yeah. So I went and got a few wraps for me and Jim to have later for dinner and a lemonade for myself. And Christina loves Muffin House. When she came here, ah we the couple of times that she's been here since I discovered the place.
Speaker: ah it's been a place that we always try to make sure to hit hall the only exception being the last time you were here when my car was out of the commission yeah crazy ah yep so yeah it's been a bit of a bittersweet time with anticipating going back to work on Monday the Monday that this episode comes out it's my first day back at work Will you be working in the office on the first day?
Speaker: i will be because I have to go back and get my computer. They have held on to it during my leave. um And I also have to be able to make sure I can log into everything because all of my passwords will need to change. um Let's hope I can remember them. Oh, God. That would be terrible. no like i There's ways to like you know get the admins and the IT people to like reset things if I need that. um But I think I remember at least one of them. i remember like the most important one, which is the one to get into the computer. um
Speaker: Excuse me. um So I am anticipating that. But yeah, I'm going to be in the office on Monday and I'll also be in on Wednesday. um I'm extremely grateful, though, to have been.
Speaker: Granted, the reasonable accommodation of working from home the majority of the time, at least four days a week. So my intention going forward is to only need to have to be in the office on Wednesdays.
Speaker: fun times yeah definitely huge relief uh with regards to that but yeah yeah so so there's that um you know lot of changes yeah in this season of change with of autumn um yeah yeah Crazy times. um I don't know why I feel the need to tell to talk about this, but it's kind of cute, I guess. I don't know. We ran out of creamer in my household the other day. yeah.
Speaker: And I went to the grocery store. i told you that one night I was running out to the grocery store. It was like two nights ago. Oh, yeah. Or like last night? Last night. moving No, not last night.
Speaker: No, not last night. Night before last. Because last night, I think the dinner that John made got me actually sick. But anyway. oh um no. I don't know for sure. Oh,
Speaker: um So anyway, yeah I ran to the grocery store that night. And... um that I'm thinking we we ran out of creamer before that. And I was probably just going to go to Costco to get some because they'd sell the three packs of the French vanilla creamer that we use. And it's much cheaper to buy it there. um So I didn't buy any at the grocery store that I ran to. But then John must have run to the grocery store yesterday while I was at work. And he picked up a bottle of creamer from there that I actually saw. i walked past it.
Speaker: when I was there the night before and it's birthday cake creamer birthday cake flavor And I saw it this morning and I'm like, oh, my God, when did you buy this? Anyway, ah he answered the what or why I said, I guess, why did I buy this question? Not when. And he said, because I thought you liked birthday cake, you know, flavor. And I was like, well, our kid likes birthday cake flavored Timbits, which are donut holes. Okay. But like I've never I don't even know if I've ever had the birthday cake flavored creamer. i honestly don't remember. So for him to assume that I liked it and buy it was just kind of funny. But anyway, there was k creamer in the house today. So I was very happy about that. And it is really yummy.
Speaker: Yes. And it's imp perfect for the fact that your birthday is coming up. Exactly. That's the other funny thing. I was like, oh, maybe he bought it because he knows, you know, my birthday is coming up next week or whatever. i don't know.
Speaker: yeah who knows if he remembered who was but um yeah so um my own small announcement is uh because molly molly made her little announcement about not not little i'm not trying to belittle it um your announcement of going back to work on monday i guess that like there's kind of a series of announcements yeah we've got a series of announcements uh this episode so anyhow um
Speaker: I have filed for divorce and my husband was served in June and it's a slow process because there's a lot of, lot of different reasons, none of which are like bad reasons or anything like that, but. um another problem that has arisen is that he also lost his job last week so um yeah one of the things that is that is affecting him you know being home all the time right now until he gets another job and until our divorce is finalized and everything else um
Speaker: is that i I will not be able to find private time to record anything with Molly. And being that Molly is going back to work next week, she might need some adjustment time to readjust back to a working schedule. So we are planning on taking a hiatus.
Speaker: However long. Just a temporary one. We don't know exactly how long yet, but ah we do intend for it to be temporary. We're not going away forever. For sure. ah Like very like we we discussed this over the last week or so and like have come to a very clear like feeling of like we're not done for sure here.
Speaker: here ah We're nowhere near done. but But, you know, we're just entering a phase of life where recording is probably going to end up being a bit too strenuous on both of us. Yes. um and you know We've had our phases where, in particular with Christina's intense schedule, you know navigating work and family stuff has you know sort of required me to occasionally find people to fill in. Usually that's been Jim. But we decided, based on the timing of this being, you know obviously the job loss for John was a sudden, unexpected thing. But it did sort of end up lining up ah exactly with my going back to work, um which I was apprehensive about trying to maintain a rigorous recording and editing and posting schedule for the podcast while transitioning back to work full time, which I am just apprehensive about just in general completely without any other obligations in consideration.
Speaker: ah You know, it's I'm sure that I'll be fine, but I also, um you know, I'm just nervous. But it's natural, I think, to be a little bit uncertain.
Speaker: But, i you know, we did just end up making that executive decision that now is probably the time to give ourselves some grace And decide on a, you know, set hiatus rather than like, a oh we're just going to skip next week or something like no, we're going to take more than a couple weeks off. um Hopefully no more than a couple months. We really don't know how long it's going to end up having to be because it is a challenge not having that private time and space for you, Christina. um so
Speaker: you know, it could end up being that if, you know, on my end, I transition and I feel settled, i may end up bringing in a couple of guests and either giving a, you know,
Speaker: quick break to the break or, or leading back into our return with a couple of guests before Christina is able to start joining again. yeah I was going to say that too. Yeah. I'm totally going to be highly fluid. I did not like, we did not have the specific conversation, but I'm just going to say it just to get it out there that like, I hope you, you know, can and will find somebody to record with when you feel able to. um If I'm not yet able to. So, yeah, feel free to do that. And I have, you know, no no hard feelings whatsoever. Yeah. Oh, no, of course. Because obviously, like, you're used to people, you know, filling in occasionally anyhow. Right. Like, already. So, yeah. No, I i fully intend to, you know, dive back in if I feel... able to and if I'm able to find somebody who you know I can record with um and again it you know if it is the case that it's just a one-off you know brief break in the break um you know we'll make sure to announce it as it is occurring and not just sort of leave people hanging without knowing what exactly we're doing yeah um but also like you know
Speaker: Any specific updates and especially like our, you know, eventual return to regular weekly episodes will be announced over on our Instagram. So make sure to follow us over there so you can stay caught up and.
Speaker: Maybe, perhaps, maybe i will find find it within myself to occasionally post over there just in general, even when we're not recording. But um regardless, we are not going away.
Speaker: So. Hell no. Hell no. Hell no, we won't go. Hell no, we won't go. Yeah, we are just doing what we need to do and taking care of ourselves as we, you know, navigate this stuff, you know, on both our ends. um In addition to this is something I haven't even really...
Speaker: gone too deep into with you christina but you know you're marginally aware i am sort of trying to i earlier this year i had mentioned ah a project that I worked on and completed in the summer, um ah which was to write a screenplay adaptation of the novel Cushiel's Dart into 16 episodes of a TV show. i did complete that in terms of the technical like drafts of the episodes. However, i have felt...
Speaker: an internal and potentially external, who knows, spiritual, uh, push to really polish those up. And, uh, I, I want to get them into a presentable state so that, uh,
Speaker: you know, on the chance that they could be potentially sold, I'd like to have it, you know, ready for that. Yes. um And so I've been working on treatments, which are very ah nebulous. It's a not nebulous concept about like, you know, summarizing shows and movies So I've been writing out ah treatments for both the series as a whole, as well as each individual episode. And the scripts themselves are in the hands of our dear friend Tom slash SoulPod member Tom.
Speaker: ah Really? Who who is ah working on officially editing them. So, ah yeah. So... That's another thing where I'm just like, in addition to going back to work, I am also like shifting my creative focus more heavily on to that. um So like that's another thing that I just wanted to mention because I feel...
Speaker: really inspired by it and really excited by it and i want like the ideas and the you know the scenes and and like everything that i've been imagining for this story to be able to come to life if it can uh yeah sweet that's been fun i' am so excited dude You know yeah I'm all for Hell yeah.
Speaker: so helllia hell yeah And one day maybe you'll finish the books. Maybe. and Yes, i I do intend to. i There's a couple of books that I have nearly finished um not related to the Cushiel series, but like there there's a couple that I have nearly finished that I keep thinking about and I keep meaning to grab like one of them to like finish it. So yeah I will slowly be working my way back there. yes. yes
Speaker: but But yeah, so I guess in that vein... Our topic today is kind of about phases of life, you know, and it's i I think it's timely not only for the fact that like we are entering these new phases for ourselves, but because it's also been weighing a little bit on myself, on my own mind, how over the last handful of years I have felt a little bit like
Speaker: I've been in limbo rather than in something that felt like a definable phase. Ah. and like, I know that there's life events that could very easily be not written off, but like easily be slapped onto my life timeline as like phases, but like they don't feel that phasey to me.
Speaker: I don't know if I'm even making sense. But, you know, I think that I think that COVID fucked with our like collective sense of like time and space. Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker: Yeah. And COVID definitely had its own phase. But like, it was definitely, ah you know, I, you know, I moved into this place, my condo in April of 2023. And i frequently like I that's the that's the thing where I'm like, okay, that's a very easy label of like, okay, here's my phase of like new homeownership.
Speaker: But like, Even still, like some parts of like 2022, 2023 don't feel real and feel like they sort of have melded with the beginning of my...
Speaker: living here living alone um you know and then my my era of living alone again obviously is sort of unexpectedly transitioned into living with jim but that also like even though there's a clear definable date in which that happened like it just sort of does it all feels like it's tumbled together um ah And through it all, I've had like really bad mental health. And, you know, I've just been like, i don't even know if I'm real. So like, I'm just sort of floating in this weird time and space. no um And, you know, especially the beginning of this year.
Speaker: had that feeling for me and then of course taking my you know opportunity to take leave um from work has really helped me and so you know having come back to myself and feeling a lot more real and a lot more alive and a lot a lot more simply like myself um makes me feel like I'm able to more clearly discern
Speaker: these phases of life and also more clearly feel like I have like control over any of it which we have had so many conversations about the concept of control and I i want to make it clear that in this context I'm not talking about like a visceral like panicked traumatized need for control but like a like a feeling that I get to decide what happens in my life yeah you know and that I also am open in a way that like in a way that is that feels not dangerous to me I am open to whatever happens happens but i but I feel more capable of steering the ship again if that makes sense yeah I get it um yeah I've been in in a phase of whatever happens happens
Speaker: Probably a good portion of my life. I've just been, i you know, i mean, not that other people haven't also been through things, but like I've been through a lot of things. And i think I kind of learned early on in life that like, I cannot control anything that happens. But also there's the old adage, like you can only control your response to the things that happen. And like, you know, i guess I've just tried to do my best.
Speaker: To navigate through things with that in mind, you know, and i have I think I recognize probably around the age of 20 ish somewhere.
Speaker: in my twenty s somewhere that the only constant in my life has been change. That's like universal truth about like everybody's lives. Yeah. That's what I mean. It's like, I'm not yeah only person, you know, that has been through things and have had, you know, to go through changes, but like just making that realization at that age and like recognizing. And it's almost funny because i mean, it's almost like,
Speaker: if things aren't changing for me, at least every so often, then I think that I start feeling weird. Like, yeah I don't know if I want to, you know, like, I don't know what, I don't even know how to say this, but like, I don't know. I start feeling like I'm stuck or something. If things aren't changing and moving and,
Speaker: Yeah. No, I get that. I get that. And I think that's a part of what I was feeling before I was able to take this leave where like where I was feeling increased pressure from so many different aspects of my life with no like sense of what could possibly change that was in my power to change that I could tolerate.
Speaker: like but like I think, you know, that was actually sort of where I was getting stuck because i was like, oh, i'm I'm in this high pressure job situation and i have no control over how things go over there. Like I have control over what I do every day, but that doesn't even inform whether i am considered to be doing a good job because, you know, the expectations were just like constantly through the roof. Yeah. And for sure, that's how it will continue to be. But the way that I handle it going forward is going to be different because I've been able to, you know, achieve a bit of healing ah for myself. um
Speaker: But. you know Because of that feeling of just being out of control and just with increased pressure and increased pressure constantly, like I really just sort of felt like like I was going to implode. And the thing that was going to break was me. now...
Speaker: now I feel more capable of taking the reins on everything that happens outside of working hours. Like anything that happens within working hours, like it is what it is. And I'm going to just, you know, i it, that's it. case rosa Like whatever. yeah um But outside of working hours,
Speaker: I have the energy to pursue passions again, which is part of why I'm like, okay, diving into like polishing up this, this adaptation project and, you know, using the whole concept of like luck is just preparedness plus opportunity. Like yeah I'm working on the preparedness part because opportunity, like, I mean, obviously I can also seek the opportunity, but it may just land in my lap as well. Yeah. yeah so you know, I'm trying to be more conscious of taking the reins on those aspects where I before I sort of felt like it was all completely without of my own reach. Yeah. And certainly without of without, like, you know, way beyond ah where I felt capable of of reaching in terms of, like, energy and and ah hope. That sounds so sad. but
Speaker: But it's true. And so, you know, now it's like i'm i'm I feel like I'm able to navigate my more my non-working time more intentionally and and make more out of it, even if it doesn't come to any sort of like tangible results, like you know financial, for example. I'm not even caring about that because I'm still doing things. you know um That's the way that I'm looking at it. and so like Obviously, that includes this podcast once we are are able to get back into a regular recording schedule. um that's obviously going to include this podcast but you know for right now it is one thing at a time one day at a time um but it is with a feeling of optimism rather than dread which is huge yay yeah that's awesome to hear hell yeah
Speaker: hey yeah, because I don't know, it's, when it when it comes to phases, like, I feel like my, like i definitely had that same feeling of, like, the only constant has changed all my life, I've had that feeling, but I also had, like, clear definable moments and and phases and timelines of my life ah throughout school, like, that's one of the things that, like, school does for you, it provides structure, not just in terms of your day-to-day life, but, like,
Speaker: you know, your year to year life. Yeah. um You know, each grade feels like a phase or each like school that you go to feels like a phase, um you know, and even when I was in college, like, you know, I had my BYU years. There were two years of, you know, ah like its own phase right after I graduated high school. And then I had a year of not going to school, but in between that was its own phase and then you know a new phase of you know moving to Boston going to Berkeley spending three years there like and each of those years had that had its own energy and its own feeling and its own like i you know I can call back to those times and
Speaker: Remember, like there's the first semester had a dramatically different feeling than like my seventh semester, you know? Sure. Yeah. so like i think about that and then it's like after I graduated college.
Speaker: everything became a lot more nebulous. And I think I also got a little bit anxious because, or I think I got a bit more anxious because of that. Cause just like, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing here. You know, all of us in this current world, in this economy and this job climate and everything, we're all just like, none of us in our, in the younger generation are getting what we were promised yeah out of society, you know?
Speaker: And, uh, It's a hard realization to come to especially when you have to come to that realization in slow motion. when you When you come to understand that like not only are you not going to be able to most likely you know land a job in the field that you studied, but that you won't be able to ah land a job that even pays well and and gives you benefits. Right. Yeah. You know that those jobs are going away. yeah um Like, I am extraordinarily lucky that I do have one of those jobs. And that's part of the reason why I'm not just ditching it. Yeah. um Even though it's been really hard on me. Yeah, I mean, it's basically why I stuck out 30 years at driving a bus because yeah as much as I didn't want to stay there that long, it was like the longer i stayed, the more I was likely to just stick it out because, you know, I wanted to get that 30 years and get my pension.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%. Because pensions are huge. rare you don't see those anymore you really really don't right um so that is absolutely worth sticking it out for but you know it's like ah it's god we could have a whole other conversation about like the grief and it ah the grief of the injustice that our generations are faced with when it comes to what we were promised versus what we are being handed now yeah um
Speaker: but we don't need to go down that road right now. ah But point sort of being like, it's just sort of became this big blob of like, what the fuck is adulthood? Like what, what the fuck is my life? And, you know, I i feel like that's where I'm finally breaking through, you know, in a new way to the other side of like,
Speaker: it doesn't fucking matter what like is on my resume necessarily. What matters is like what I'm working on and what I care about and what I'm passionate about and ah how I spend my days, even if it's not working on a podcast or working on you know, a cool potentially hit television show, you know, even if it's just like spending my evenings Reading and cooking dinner and feeling just peace.
Speaker: Like that's success. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And i am looking forward to that time myself. Yeah. Eventually. Yeah. um It's true.
Speaker: But like, this is so silly. And like, I know there are like so many more people out there that do this besides me. But like, I showed you a few weeks back, one of the, like a coloring page that I did for a student in my new job. Oh, yeah. She had a birthday and we had like happy birthday, you know, and her name and like whatever, like decoration, you know, whatever, like whatever designs were on the page with it yeah and i picked one out and i did it and i was like i want to get creative with this and like i colored it in and i made it look really cool and then i started doing more intricate ones in the class like when i've had time in the class to do that um because i don't sit and color the entire day that's not what i do but but it's been fun when i was able to do it and i've got a couple more
Speaker: um pages that i've done and they're not like a pattern you know like you see people who do like notton mandala is that the right yeah patterns and things like that where these are like um kind of like naturey scenes and and then there's one i just found um A week ago or so that I brought home and I haven't, I haven't been able to find my own coloring pencils in my house, but I will find them and I want to color this thing in but it's just the the fact is that I have never allowed myself to do this stuff as an adult until just recently. And it has been so fun. And I have really been impressed with myself with how creative I've been able to get with coloring pencils. I'm just like, oh my God, I could blend colors and everything else with coloring pencils. And I didn't know I could do that. You know, was like blending colors. i mean, it looks so freaking cool when you do that on a page with coloring pencils. I'm just like, looking forward to doing more of that and seeing what kind of creativity I can come up with but like I'm not a drawer so I can't really you know design my own drawing drawings or pages color or any of that yeah me neither who i have really enjoyed coloring already existing pages yeah yeah and it's it's like a cool it's a cool unique
Speaker: skill and I'm going to consider it officially a skill to find enjoyment in doing things that you don't consider yourself particularly good at. Yeah. Because I mean, because like I've never... you I'm not an artist in a visual sense for sure and yet in my childhood I definitely had a lot of fun with drawing and coloring and In my adult life. In this nebulous adult life that has confused the fuck out of me. I did also find myself. A phase of time in which I was like.
Speaker: Really into. Like. painting Painting with like acrylics. Oh yeah. Are there not. Is there not a painting right around you right now that is yours? No. No, they are all packed away in the closet. Gotcha. Yeah. I do have a question, however. yeah I see a pumpkin hanging in your window just above your head.
Speaker: Oh yeah. That's a, that's glass. I love it. Yeah. I think I got it from like, it was either Michael's or Joanne's, but like years ago it's been here forever.
Speaker: um And then I am curious, but you don't, you don't leave it up all year long, do you? Yeah, I do leave it up here. I don't, know your I don't remember seeing it. So maybe the curtains have just been closed more.
Speaker: Probably. Yeah. um And then there's like a plain black one right there above your um shoulder. Plain black. Yeah. Right above your shoulder.
Speaker: Right above your shoulder. Plain black canvas. It's right behind you. You could probably touch it. Yes. Yes. It looks like plain black. It is not, in fact.
Speaker: Here. don't know if you can see. oh now I can see it. It's a black on black. It's a glossy black fern on a matte black background. Sweet. So how long has that been hanging there?
Speaker: Forever. how come I don't? Hold on. I, um, here go. here we go This one and the one up here, I had them both hanging in my bedroom at my ex's house as well.
Speaker: For real? Yeah, for real. How come I don't remember those? Probably because you don't notice things unless you notice them. I don't know. That is so true. And that's not a you thing. That's like an everybody thing.
Speaker: yeah because i was like People don't notice things until they know. this is like The gallery wall has been a project of gyms, honestly. um But like next time you're here, you'll need to just like come and take a good close look at everything.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't remember seeing one unless the lighting was different enough that I could see the leaf on it before. But I don't remember seeing because from this angle, it looks just plain black, like there's nothing on it. And so that's why I was like, why is there just a plain black thing hanging there? I don't remember that. yeah yeah i yeah Yeah, it's a sneaky one. But I was going to say, um I am sending you a two photos of a couple new additions that are going to go onto the gallery wall, hopefully soon, that Jim and I got
Speaker: on Sunday last week, this past Sunday. um And as you look at them, I will describe them for the listeners. Okay. Okay. One is a cool autumn nature scene and the orange leaves are um tiny crystals. Shut up.
Speaker: It's like really cool. They're either amber or carnelian or a combination of those or other, you know, orange. I was going to say they look at very three dimensional.
Speaker: Yeah. And now that you say that, I'm like, okay, that's why. Yeah, zoom in and you'll see it's, the yeah, it's very textury. So that's very pretty. I'm going to paint the frame another color because it's just plain wood right now. um But then then I'm to hang it up. And then the other one is a sunburst.
Speaker: mirror it's very small but it's pretty it is very pretty yeah so those are editions uh one of our favorite antique shops nearby so you just got them recently yeah just on sunday sweet y'all i'm jelly and there's another one that we found that i don't have a photo of but i'm also going to sort of make an edit to it it's like a long panel-y looking thing that's like a scene of a bunch of farmhouses in winter time but the sky is a bit too baby blue for the vibe of this room the living room So I am thinking I might take my acrylics and like give it a like darker, more overcast sky.
Speaker: What color blue did you say? Baby blue, like sky blue, baby blue. Like it's just too bright. It doesn't really match the vibe of the room. Gotcha. So I'm going to fill in more of an overcast sky into the scene and then we'll put it up on the wall. Nice.
Speaker: Yeah. I literally was like thinking about framing these pictures that I've drawn or colored. I mean. You should. Because mean. absolutely fucking should. Maybe they will look nice. I don't know. And you and and and I was going to say when for my birthday you gave me 30 pick 30 pick 36 pack of colored pencils and you should get yourself the same one.
Speaker: And then i I have a giant box with coloring pencils. Oh, I thought you said you didn't have any. No, I just said I don't know where they are at the moment. Oh, and I will find them. I will find them. Because back when.
Speaker: oh gosh. Do you remember when you were all about doing like journaling with like different colors and designs and stuff with markers? Yeah, like bullet journaling? Yeah, that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. um I was also going to attempt to do that and failed miserably. but I got a nice pack of like um colored markers, like different, you know, colored markers. And I also got colored pencils around that same time. But I used those colored pencils when I first went to um the community college.
Speaker: in 2021 had a geography class that had a giant like spiral bound like textbook if you will with like blank maps so that we had to like you know write in the name of the country or draw in like where rivers were and name them and things like that yeah and then um we had to color each country or province or whatever like separate colors and things like that so i had all those colors really enjoyed you I should show you. I i don't know. why i would love to see that. i i
Speaker: I don't know how much I really ever talk about this, but I kind of am a little bit obsessed with maps. Are you? Really? oh man. Well, i love looking at Google Maps. Oh, I'm always, I'm all over Google Maps, Google Earth. Like, I am, like, constantly looking just because I want to see where things are, especially when I'm, like, watching, like, a show that takes place in another country. Like, I'm always, like, looking on my phone at the place. Oh, my gosh. So, yeah. ah Even today, i was looking at Google Maps because, um john it went uh he's here probably by now they are there uh went to mackinaw island with his mom and sister right and mackinaw island is like if you're in michigan and you drive straight up to the north tip of michigan and then you cross the mackinaw bridge onto like the up part of michigan right there's a little town there called saint ignis And you can get on a ferry and you cannot bring your vehicles because it's a vehicle free island.
Speaker: and You get on the ferry with your bags and take the ferry across to Mackinac Island and it's horse drawn buggies. um And I think I don't know what else. There's nothing with yeah bikes and nothing with motors. The only thing with a motor is like emergency service vehicles that are on the island.
Speaker: Yeah. like boats around the island. Boats, yes. Yeah. So anyhow, um i was looking around there. i was like looking around like i because I had been up there with John early in our marriage. And and then I was like looking around not too far from around where I live to see what kind of things I might be able to do with my kid this weekend like while we're home together alone. So i was tooling around on Google Maps.
Speaker: um And while I was doing that, I was like looking for a potential place to go visit with my son. i was reminded of, um i think a lot of, man not a lot of people.
Speaker: If you're from the Detroit area, you are familiar with the fact that you can cross over into Windsor, Canada through Detroit. Right. Yeah. And um there's another place to cross in that's a little north of here called Sarnia.
Speaker: um It's another town. Sarnia is on... Detroit side or Windsor or on canadian Canada side. I don't remember now if Sarnia is like, feel like it's the Canada side that's got that town. But anyhow, um you can cross a bridge there. And I was looking there because back in the day when I was a kid and I would say maybe one of the last times I was there, I might've been like 11 or 12, but our church used to have a church picnic there every summer.
Speaker: and it's a pretty far drive like it's a good hour or more north of where we live to get to this bridge to drive across and i don't know why they picked that place but we would go to like freaking canada and have a picnic in nice park in canada and i was trying to think of you know if i could recognize by looking at google maps but it's changed so much since then that i don't even know for yeah but Anyway, that was fun. A little walk through memory lane earlier.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Love that. I, yeah calling back to the gallery. Well, uh, one of my other finds from a few years ago at an antique shop is this very old, map.
Speaker: I don't know when it was actually produced, but it's at least based off of, ah pre i would i would go so far as to say this is probably from the like the 1600s uh map of the u.s but as like the new world um before new york was new york but it was still new amsterdam oh wow Yeah, and like so much of like New England is still unclaimed by Europeans. um And it's Nova Belgica New.
Speaker: So New Belgium, New Netherlands. a Yeah, it's... I mean, the map itself is for sure not that old. Like, the physical... like illustration of it. It's a print or a reproduction. It's like a reproduction or print of like a 1600s map of the eastern United States. That's cool. um And I would say mostly actually the mid-Atlantic to New England area because actually it doesn't go further south than like the Delmarva Peninsula. um
Speaker: Which I have no idea what that is. It's the peninsula that Delaware is a part of. okay. But it's it's the peninsula that contains Delaware, Maryland, but Virginia, so Delmarva.
Speaker: Okay, that makes sense. Yes. ah But yeah, I think that's like the very southern part of this map here. But like, I just wanted to point it out because it's like, this is what I mean when I say, like, I love maps. So like when I find a map, when I find a good map, especially at an antique store, i get it. So I got this.
Speaker: I remember several years ago, when I was still living with my ex, I had found a map of the town that he lives in. was an old map from like 1880. Yes, I remember that. like Yeah, it was like just 10 years before the house was built that he lives in.
Speaker: And so i bought that and that still lives with him. i was like, this belongs here. the street that it on that his house is on is on the map. So I was like... Amazing. Yeah. So like, I fucking love maps, man.
Speaker: Dude, I'm kind of sad that you left it there, but it makes sense that you did. You know, totally. Yeah, yeah. So I can't be mad about it. yeah It was, I mean, it was always kind of a gift. I still lived there, but it was always kind of a gift to him and to the house. Right. You know, the ghosts definitely loved that house or that fucking map. Because they're like, oh, this is the town as we remember it. Yeah.
Speaker: So they for sure loved it. So I couldn't take it away from them. oh um But yeah. I love it. That's great. yeah But anyway, that's why I say like, God, I would love a geography class. It just like never occurred to me. like I guess it it wasn't until I was, you know, well into my adulthood and out of college that i realized how much I love maps anyway. Yeah.
Speaker: If I were to go back to school, I would absolutely take that as elective. Yeah. And you know what? It was really so easy. It was such an easy class. um But I only wanted to do it because geography in my brain, like i I can never remember where things are, you know, and I wanted to like try to learn more so that I could retain that knowledge more.
Speaker: better of like things and in on the on the planet like where things are like and can I remember any of the shit that I learned in the class no oh god no I cannot I don't even remember all the different provinces of Canada like you know I just nope vanished i remember I remember the most populated ones but I don't remember I don't think I could list all of them yeah yeah nope oh boy yeah anyway it still was a a cool class that i enjoyed drawing on the maps like where the mountain ranges were you know and like labeling them and coloring them and yeah sounds so fun it was fun and you would like that class yeah i definitely would have oh my god yeah
Speaker: It was interesting when you had to look up where rivers were and you had to hand draw them on a map that had no markings on it at all. And like, that was interesting because you to free hand and try to make them as close as possible to what they really looked like. And yeah, that sounds like it would scratch such an itch for me.
Speaker: oh my God. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So fun. And all of this is because we're talking about trying to be more creative. Yeah. But like literally i I that's the phase I feel like I'm entering into now.
Speaker: Yeah. I need to express creativity more yeah because I have not had creative outlets for a long time. Yeah. It's true. You've not had the time or energy for them.
Speaker: And it's totally understandable why and totally justified. But like You know, I think, I mean, we said so when we were in the many times that we've talked about anticipating your retirement.
Speaker: But like, it's absolutely like you, you no longer have any excuse. And that's not to say that like, oh you got to put the pressure on now. No, I know.
Speaker: But like, you don't have any excuse anymore. Well, that's why I dipped my toes in with these coloring pages in my classroom. Exactly. And you should go to like a Michael's. oh God, except it's tough. No, but you should go to a Michael's. So like my suggestion is to go get yourself like a coloring book.
Speaker: That is like a theme that you really like or something. Well, and I have two. to a Michaels and find one. I have two in my Amazon cart that I want really bad, but I'm not like justifying spending the money on them right now. They're not expensive, but they're Halloween themed, girl.
Speaker: Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Okay. Here's here's why I'm saying go to Michaels. Because... It is way too easy to accidentally end up buying an AI-generated coloring book oh from Amazon. And in fact, you'll find them at Michael's too, but you'll at least be able to flip through and identify the ones that were AI-generated.
Speaker: And choose other ones instead. Okay. um Like, it's just, it's just so, oh it, it grosses me out when I went, it was actually at Joanne's before it closed when i first, like,
Speaker: realized that there were starting to be ai generated coloring books being sold in stores and it just it really fucking frustrated the hell out of me like to go through and just like look at all the details and see if i could detect like detect the things that made it clear that it was not like created by a person honestly don't know if i could tell Well, like in the same the same kinds of details that like we already know to look for when it comes to AI generated images online. Yeah. Like you'd use those same kinds of rules.
Speaker: Okay. Just like in terms of like looking over images and like see being like, is any of this like a discernible item? ah versus is it just shapes that look like the theme you know okay um and we can talk more about that later but like that's the reason why i was saying like go get one in person okay from like a michaels because you want to be able to make sure you're not buying ai slop yeah no the moment that you're in the middle of coloring and trying to like get details and you realize that it's ai and that the like shapes in front of you are not real
Speaker: huh It's probably going to like kill you. Yeah. Not literally. I know. It pissed me off or something. Devastate you. yeah It's going to be fucking frustrating as hell. So that's the only reason I say that because I was really upset when I realized how many...
Speaker: AI generated ones were even already in the store and I was like I don't even want to look online I'll bet you anything that at this point these days they might even have ones that say no AI you know no AI generated folks you know one can only hope that those would be telling the truth yeah it's better to go and look on your own because there is no regulation so there's no law saying that they have to identify themselves as a AI or non-AI yeah so the Unfortunately, we can't trust anything anymore. That is very true. Anyway, that's not necessarily the way I wanted to end this episode.
Speaker: ah Well, you don't have to end it. yeah We're coming up on time, though, unfortunately. I'm so sorry. Yes, we are. No, it's good. ah Yeah, I did just want to, like, state, though, for the record, for everybody who's listening, um thank y'all for being along for the ride with us.
Speaker: um We're not, like I said, we're not going away permanently. We're not going away for a long time, like heaven forbid we end up, you know, having more unforeseen circumstances, but like, you know, our intention is to come back within a few months. Um, and also a reminder to go follow us on Instagram to make sure that you can stay up to date, uh, while we are away from the mics. Yeah. And you're always welcome to check out Patreon. and Yeah. Yeah. You know, we have lots of extra content there that if you are missing us in real time here, yeah then you can go check out Patreon and yeah and that's get some more.
Speaker: Right. That's the other thing that I actually, I'm glad you said that because I neglected to mention it earlier, but the bonus episodes will also be put on pause over on Patreon. I am going to do my damnedest to resume the tarot readings over there just because they are another creative outlet and a spiritual outlet for myself as well something i feel like is is well worth my time and and something i want to be able to put effort toward again so uh patreon is still absolutely 100 worth checking out not only for the tarot readings that will resume but for the backlog of our uh bonus episodes that we have on there and you know about a year and a half now Come to think of it. And now that I have more time and less privacy, I might actually write some blog posts myself that you can add on there.
Speaker: That would be great. So yeah, definitely there will still be content over there. There just won't be ah bonus episodes for the time being while we are on our hiatus, but plenty still to do over there, plenty to interact with and enjoy.
Speaker: And yeah, so follow us. And if you feel the need to check in with us, please send us a message, send us an email. ah We would love to hear from y'all. You know, as, as we mentioned, this is mostly just like a recording pause and not necessarily an existence pause as a podcast. So ah we're still here. We still want to talk to you. We still want to hear from you guys. um So we love you guys. And, and we're eternally grateful. and We will be back.
Speaker: Come hell or high water. i i've so I feel like I've said that a lot lately. But like I really do feel like I mean it. like yes we you know We are up against quite a bit. As we mentioned, there's a lot going on, which is part of the reason for our decision. But um you know we're we're determined to continue this journey of podcasting and continue to engage with the community that we've discovered.
Speaker: um through podcasting not just our own podcasting but even like all the friends that we have that do podcasts as well like you know they listen to ours and we listen to theirs and all that so uh you know it's it's become a very important part of our lives so it's not going anywhere for sure yeah um but yeah um and also i wanted to thank be very specifically the handful of friends who have mentioned last episode in our marco group uh listening to our anahata's purpose episode and loving it shouts out to you guys because it's really gratifying to like hear from y'all i'm not caught up at all in marco so i didn't know that Yeah, this is me telling you, but you'll, you'll see it eventually. um
Speaker: you know, it's, it's really gratifying to, you know, get that feedback from people and you know, whether we know you guys in person or not, like we love to hear feedback from you guys, but it was, it just really touched my heart to, uh, to hear, you know, from our friends that they were loving listening to that episode. Like, you know, like I had mentioned last time that, uh,
Speaker: that tradition of recording about Anahata's Purpose has become one of my favorite podcasting traditions every year. So it was, it was, uh,
Speaker: felt very ya but anywho we do have to get running uh but we love you guys we're so so grateful for you and um follow us over on instagram so you know when we're coming back uh we'll be back soon and uh everybody stay cool hide your pickles And or eat your pickles. I totally thought you were. And lock doors. I totally thought you were saying hydrate. you said hide your pickles. those Hydrate your pickles. Hydrate your pickles. Drink some pickle juice to stay hydrated. How is that?
Speaker: Lock your back doors. Because we'll be sneaking in with pickles. Oh boy. We'll be spilling pickle juice all over your floor.
