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According to research from the CMO Council, 63% of marketers say they are under extreme pressure to deliver improved revenue outcomes. So how can you leverage your tech stack to enhance collaboration across GTM teams and drive impactful results? Shawnna Sumaoang: Hi, and welcome to the Win-Win podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic is Andrea Bras, VP of product marketing at Viant Technology. Thanks for joining, Andrea! I'd love for you to tell us about yourself, your background, and your role.  Andrea Bras: Wonderful. Well, thank you Shawnna for having me. I’m excited to talk about my journey at Viant and as we’ve continued our partnership with Highspot. So, as you mentioned, I’m vice president of product marketing at Viant Technology. We are an AI powered DSP or demand side platform built for CTV or Connected Television. What we do is we help marketers to connect with their consumers. Through planning, through execution, through measurement of their advertising media in the most engaging ways using our technology. So I’m actually coming up on my tenure anniversary, so it’s just, wow, it’s almost mind blowing. It’s been such an amazing journey here. VT is such a pioneering, innovative company and we’re never left bored or wondering what’s next, right? So prior to joining VT, I’ve actually been in digital marketing for, geez, almost 25 years now. Actually, I joined when it was actually still known as online marketing. If anyone in your audience can remember that. But what I’ve been fortunate enough along my journey is to really wear a lot of hats and be exposed to a lot of different types of companies. So I’ve worked with the small startups, local retail, all the way up to big global corporations. I’ve also worn a lot of hats. So I’ve sold advertising. I have bought advertising. I’ve developed partnerships, thinking about the consumer in mind, and it’s really positioned me very well in what I believe. Is a perfect mixture of all of that background to bring me to my best results as a product marketer. And so our role here in product marketing at Viat is we really sit at the intersection of all of the orgs in the company. We provide support to all of them, but primarily sales and product. We sit within the marketing team and it’s our job to really look for the best things that all these teams are working on in order to craft. Really amazing and compelling positioning and messaging. We developed the go-to-market solutions and the content. We support the product launches, and of course we manage and work through all the sales enablement technology. We, of course, have chosen Highspot, which we love. And that brings me here today, and I’m excited to discuss more with you, Shawnna. SS: Likewise, we are lucky to have you on this podcast. Given that you are a seasoned marketing leader, I’d love to understand what are some of the key go-to-market initiatives that you’re focused on driving for the business this year, and how does your enablement tech stack help support these efforts? AB: Well, that’s a great question. And you know, given where we sit in the org, we have our hands in pretty much everything, but we really do have some very key go-to-market initiatives. We’re highly focused on, as I mentioned in my intro. Connected television is something that is our most important focus and for good reason. I mean, when you think about the power of TV and what that does for advertising, and you’re converging it with the power of digital and the ability to understand and message the performance of your advertising. It’s such an exciting thing and we’re doing a great job of really building the technology to support that in the best ways, as well as the partnerships. I mean, we’re getting to work with some of these greatest streaming platforms. Think Disney, think Paramount. And so we’re working really hard on how do we showcase how easy it is to build these upper and lower funnel opportunity that CTV brings based on campaign objectives. So there’s a lot of education that comes in mind, or that we have to work with our consumers and our clients just so they can really understand the huge opportunity in front of ’em. So that keeps us very busy. The other thing that really is related to CTV, but it’s our recent Iris TV acquisition. So for those of you who may not be familiar, Iris TV has really built their tech. To standardize contextual, the opportunity to present ads contextually AC interoperable across all of these various streaming platforms. So think cooking shows and what that could mean across not just one cooking show, but all of the great content cooking shows across numerous streaming platforms. And that really brings such value because now you’re layering in the ability to capture the consumer in the right mindset. So that just, you know, it’s an organic content experience and we’re really excited about that. And then of course there’s Viant AI. So we launched Viant AI. It was hugely successful last part of last year. And man, it’s just so exciting ’cause we have on this hand, CTV and all the great things coming there, part of our direct access program. But then over here we’ve got this whole new realm of innovation with AI. I know you guys lean in really heavily, which we’re excited about. So we’re just really. Keeping close to our technology teams and watching the innovation develop and keeping track of that. Of course, to make these launches successful and keep our go-to market as top-notch as possible, you need a unified go-to-market alignment as your company’s very familiar with, and that’s where Highspot has just been an absolute game changer for us. When I think about where we were before, I mean, we had really legacy tech and we did our best, but you can only do so much. Right? I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of stories from your clients. When we brought on Highspot, a couple of really magical things happened for us. One, we had to sit and think about our content strategy, right? You know, before we would organize it, but we didn’t really think about what it was. And you know, due to how you build and develop the platform, it’s really exciting because. You’re thinking, okay, what are our buckets of content, right? So we had to think, okay, well there’s storytelling content. And then it’s like, well, we also have all these different product releases that come. So you have product overview, right? And you know, verticals, channels, you name it. So we had to take the time and effort to really build this out. And then we wanted to also put it around a wonderful launch, give it a big stage. So put us a little bit under a time crunch, which was probably a blessing in disguise because we had to work. In fact, our Highspot onboarding rep, who was amazing, he told us we were one of the fastest launches. So I don’t know if that still holds true, but from contract signing, I think we signed the contract in late October, and then we had this up and running in January. So for all of you who either are planning a launch or thinking about launching or maybe haven’t signed up yet, there’s a lot you can do to get up in front of it. For us, it was a combination of having a pilot team as we were building, getting their feedback along the way. Then we did a soft launch just to get the logistics outta the way, get people using it so that when we did our big launch at our annual Viant Con, where we dedicated two hours and actually. Flew the Highspot rep out to help us launch this. We had a such a meaningful two hour session. Honestly, we still hear great feedback about that launch. It really helped us get started with Highspot in a big way. SS: I love that. And you, you touched on the importance and the critical nature of alignment. What are some of the common pitfalls that organizations might encounter when aligning go-to-market teams to execute these key initiatives and, and how can they avoid them? AB: Yes, that is absolutely critical and we have really face several and overcome. And of course, Highspot has been a great tool in helping us do so. You know, when we first started, when I first started Viant, we were a smaller corporation. It was pretty easy to stay on top of your priorities and kind of know how to manage your workload. But as you’re rapidly growing or expanding or adding teams. The more support you’re providing and the more awareness that the functions across the org understand about what you can bring, that starts to change. You start to get all of these demands, and the lack of prioritization isn’t because there’s no priority. It’s that idea that if everything’s high priority, then there’s no high priority, right? So. That helped us realize, okay, we’ve gotta do a better job. And luckily we, our Chief Product Officer, he came from a very big tech company and you know, they were very used to juggling prioritization of high needs across the org. So he shared the tips and tricks that he’s done and I was able to add on the marketing lens. And so the end result is we meet monthly with the C-Suite across every function. They have a chance to see transparently all of our projects. They can prioritize their departments, so they get to own that, and then they also see where their priorities fall in our holistic view. So it’s been a game changer and it’s really helped us. So, you know, everybody will probably look a little different, but it’s been hugely valuable. And I’d say the other things to keep an eye out for is whenever you introduce anything new you’re gonna have change management. There’s always challenges with that. So really just, you know, the Highspot team was great helping us understand the win-win value for our sellers and other stakeholders. So just getting ahead of that, working through those, of course, defining SWIN lanes, if there’s any blurred lines or confusion, you’re gonna have people stepping on each other’s toes. Just really getting in front of all that business. So, and then I’d say the last thing, and you guys are great for this, is really having technology partners that have support teams. Because what’s great about Highspot is we have that ongoing support. So we’re always working as treating you as a partner, but then we’re also, we have the ability to tap and, you know, level up the support as needed. And that’s come in handy several times. So these are just some of the things that can help you get in front of some of the challenges with alignment. SS: I think those are, that’s phenomenal advice for our audience. And you actually also recently established multiple committees to support your go-to-market engine. Can you share more about that journey and the impact that it’s had so far? AB: Thank you for asking. That’s a great question. We have put a lot of work, so yes, we have launched or about to launch, actually three distinct committees started out as one, but we landed on three. And I’ll tell you why. Rewinding back last year as we launched last January, I forgot to mention, of 2024. And so, you know, as you’re ramping up, you’re kind of learning the process, you’re getting best practices, you’re building out the platform, all the things you’re doing in the first year. And one thing I also forgot to mention, which I will touch on in our discussion is engagement metrics. So you’re kind of getting your feet wet there. That has been another game changing element with the Highspot platform. What is really critical, and I can’t stress this enough, to your audience, is getting that co-ownership across your key stakeholders. Especially, you know, think sales leadership, right? You need that co-sponsorship. So while we have support, sales leadership is busy, they’ve got big goals to crush, right? We were thinking, how do we get in front of them? How do we really show them how much opportunity there is for them to really move the needle using this technology and get them closer to it? So the other thing obviously is the feedback loop. We really wanted a good feedback loop. So we’re like, how do we do it in an organized way, make good use of their time? And so when we started to build a list, it became very big. And then we had all these objectives. So that’s why we broke it into three. And so at first we had the executive, and that’s really pointing back to that co-ownership. Getting them bought in. Um, we are creating compelling metrics that I know will raise their eyebrows, so I’m getting that ready, leading into our executive committee. And so really just letting them know the awareness, showing them some things to get them excited and asking for their hand and driving adoption with their teams. Then we’ll have the, what we’re calling the steering committee. And this is really your kind of more short term strategy. Your operational managers that, you know, they can help us really drive that lower funnel strategies and behaviors from their teams. And then of course, the cross functional stakeholders think Salesforce, rev ops training, having really valuable discussions. And then of course, the action committee, which is gonna be our day-to-day users. So that allows us to capture what’s working, what’s not, and just your general feedback of what’s going well. And of course we’ll do this quarterly. We don’t wanna take up too much time and use kind of a waterfall effect. So we’re really excited. And I know my boss, our chief marketing officer, he’s leaned in totally, which is gonna be tremendously successful, and he’s gonna help co-run the agenda with me for the executive. So more to come. Exciting stuff. SS: I absolutely love it. And I think, you know, for our audience listening, it’s a really great strategy to deploy within your organization if it makes sense for you. But I think it’s a great initiative. AB: And one thing I’ll add on to that really quick, I would say really what we wanna do with this is ensure we’re coming in loaded with a heavy agenda. Of meaningful content. So prep, prep, prep, that’s, and so, you know, whoever you can pull in to help you make the best use of the time, I highly encourage that. SS: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’ll be extremely valuable on both sides, so that’s fantastic. Now, you’ve touched on this. I. Actually quite a bit throughout our conversation already, but I’d love to hear your perspective on what would you say is the unique value of a unified platform when it comes to maximizing go-to-market effectiveness and, and really improving collaboration. AB: You know, I can’t saying praises enough at Highspot. It has really elevated us in that way, which was beyond my wildest dreams. Like I saw the opportunity and just seeing it play out has been just a wonderful experience. Starting for foremost with just product marketing’s needs. The consistency that we’re able to. Foster across teams now in this unified platform is when I think about what we used to have to do when we had a logo change or we had, you know, some sort of, we had to manually do all of these things and now we can just do bulk updates or folks would share decks, you know, that they had out market. And I’d see just content with old branding or just really, really just. Horrible things, you know, make you cringe. I don’t see that anymore. You know, it’s so exciting because now they know that the best content’s there and so there’s no dependency on these old things or an inability to find the stuff they need. So it’s very rare that I find anything that’s off brand, if at all. So that consistency and governance is huge. Obviously, probably more importantly is what it’s doing for our sellers. I mean, when you think about the time they save now, they’re in there, they’re in and out, they’re experts, you know, they love it. We hear nothing but great feedback. The amount of time it takes ’em to build compelling content, find what they’re looking for, and all of that has been second to none. And then the ease of pitching it out. Really the ones, we wanna get more adoption of this looking ahead, but the ones that are even leaning into client metrics and things like that, I mean, it’s just been a phenomenal result. Again, that brings me to engagement metrics that’s really closing the loop and having that single source of truth really just makes a huge, huge difference. So what we’re seeing is we’re breaking down silos. We’re having really meaningful conversations, unlike we used to with our partner teams. Everybody’s able to use it in different ways, so it’s really just driving faster, smarter, go-to-market execution, and we love it. SS: Well, I love that. Now, you’ve talked about the partnership that you’ve had with Highspot, and I know that VT recently partnered with our professional services team on an initiative to begin leveraging Highspot AutoDocs. Can you share a little bit about how you’re utilizing AutoDocs to streamline workflows and improve effectiveness? AB: I’m really glad you asked about that, Shawnna, because this is one of our most recent and most exciting efforts leveraging Highspot technology. So we call our version of AutoDocs Pitch Builder just to create some, you know, fun for the sales reps, make it easy for them to understand what it does, and it really has helped us. Where we elevated with the one unified repository, it’s helped us take it even further. And what I mean by that is due to the nature of our clients and the businesses we serve. The content we build serves different purposes. You know, if you think about advertising, everybody needs to advertise their business. So I think automotive companies, retail companies, travel and tourism, pharma, you know, so we build content that way. We have vertical, we have channels, we have measurement. There’s a whole vast array. And you know, the reps are really good at building these custom stories, but feedback we were getting is, you know, I’m still struggling even in the remix experience to know where to go to find the best content and all these things. So. Pointing to your Highspot Spark conference. I like to get as much of my team up there as possible. You guys do a fantastic job with that. So last October we were there and I had a member of my team and he’s like, Hey, you know, he sat in one of the focused AutoDoc sessions and he says, I really think that we were getting ready to launch our new general presentations and we were taking a new approach this year. And he is like, I think that what Highspot has with AutoDocs would really help sales team with this. You know, in my head I’m thinking, oh my gosh, there’s no way we’re gonna be able to launch that, you know, by the time we need to roll this out in a month, you know? And he’s like, no, no, no. I think he’s like, let me talk to the team. I really think we can. So I’m like, okay. But in my mind I’m thinking, oh, it’ll be summer. You know? There’s no way. Long story short, he worked with our ongoing support team and they connected him with the professional services you guys provided. Put together a case and I was blown away. We were able to deploy through the help of your team. You know, we could have built it ourselves, but it would’ve taken a long time. We never would’ve met our deadline. And it was just such great work. And what this does now is it creates this really easy pathway for sellers to, you know, pull in the problem statements from a choice of things that, a choice of problem statements based on where their discovery questions, take them with their clients, and then choose, you know, the right core messaging. Choose the right verticals, choose the channels, all within this visible, easy. And you, you have this structured framework. So think about it as a new seller, you can go in there and it. Immediately, that’s valuable trust. You can trust you’re building a deck that matches the company positioning. And then on top of that, the loose feedback I can give you was what I have heard is it used to take our sellers at least 30 minutes, probably an hour to build a reasonable deck. And those are probably our season one, probably up to ours. We just ran the numbers leading up to this podcast. On average, our sellers that use Pitch Builder are building their decks in 3.2 minutes. SS: That’s amazing. AB: Right? That’s what we said. So the combined learning of the Highspot Spark Conference and understanding new releases you guys had coming, having my team there, understanding, bringing that idea to it, and then leveraging a professional services, they did a superb job, just was a perfect blend. SS: Amazing. Well, I’ll be sure to pass that along to our professional services team. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear that. Now as we talk about improving effectiveness, another way a lot of businesses are starting to think about optimizing effectiveness is through ai, and I know Viant actually recently won in AI Excellence Award, so congratulations on that. What are some of the key ways that you’re leveraging AI to support your go-to-market teams? AB: That’s a wonderful question, and thank you. We’re truly honored to have received that recognition for AI excellence and kudos to the team here at Viant across the board. It’s just been such a wild ride. We are leaning heavily into AI, as I know Highspot is, and so what we’re trying to really do is focus on all the wonderful feedback we’re getting from our clients. From our Viant AI solution, how easy it’s, you know, done for them and really capture the wins there and understand how do we transition that into internal wins within our org. And we’re doing it across the board, but specifically for product marketing. I’m leaning in heavily with any tools and resources we have that can help us do better quality work, do it faster, just make it easier, all those things that AI brings. And so I’ve tasked my team, we’re kind of on the forefront of this. We’re already, we’re using ChatGPT on the regular. We’re using our own by AI on the regular, but we wanna get better and we wanna continue to explore that. So I’ve tasked my team with leaning into things like co-pilot with Highspot. Okay, how do we tap that? How do we do more with that? Another thing that we’re leaning in on, and I have another person on my team who really, I am very lucky here, very specializes in billing the bots and things so. When due to how technical our products are, obviously we have our initial storytelling and the benefits and all the buzzy stuff, but as you build relationships with clients, as you probably well know, you get those deeper questions about technology. And so we have a lot of just kind of fragmented FAQs, docs that support launches. So he had the idea of saying, Hey, we should probably get those FAQs into a chat bot so sellers can just get in there and ask questions and not have to search for these random docs. Kind of scattered throughout. And then we’re like, how do we get that where our sellers go in the Highspot platform or leverage something like copilot. So we’re just kind of dipping our tone, a lot of waters, but we’re excited. We’re thinking about calling it pitch aid just to kind of go with the theme, and we’ll probably take it even above and beyond. We’re building out personas, so we’re trying to think about. All the ways that we want to create this value that our sellers can tap when they’re making their pitches and make it very easy for them to just do a q and a chat style function. So, you know, we look forward to partnering closer with you in our AI journey. SS: I love that. I think that’ll be amazing for your reps and your sellers. Now, to shift gears a little bit, what are some of your best practices for measuring the impact of your programs on your go-to-market performance? AB: That is probably one of my favorite questions because it’s a combination of solving a huge need that I didn’t ever think would get solved, as well as just a journey that’s new for me. So it’s exciting in its own right. So we are leaning really heavy into, okay, how do we really make sense of this gold data we’re getting from you? Engagement data, right? So I like to quote my boss, he always says, okay, don’t boil the ocean. You just gotta get started, right? So that’s what we’ve done through the last year. We were kind of, you get these really fun insights. You’re like, oh, that’s such a cool insight. And you’re like, okay, well what do we do with it? Right? So you’re, you go through this journey. But we really started to nail down how do we need to think about this? And so. We started to realize it’s like, okay, we have the sales engagement data and then we have our client engagement data, so how do we wanna start thinking about that? And then there’s really kind of the two big buckets of how we apply those layers is one for product marketing. Direct control is governance, right? And content management. So, okay, based on our sales and our clients are engaging pitches, digital rooms, you know, views, downloads, et cetera. And then, you know, what does that tell us about our content and how we should be managing it? And one thing that’s so exciting that I’ll share our most recent learnings from this effort, you know, we’re used to working through our roadmap. We get these initiatives, requests, you know, executive asks all of those things. We’re now really shifting how we make and build our roadmap. We’re still gonna do all that, of course. But now we have this new opportunity with this kind of engagement data to say, hey, there’s these materials that get used all the time. So we do a monthly report to our executive team, just of the high level metrics I just mentioned. And we started seeing this one brochure we built. It’s our differentiators brochure, which, you know, it’s a good piece. But we originally built it two or three years ago and we’ve refreshed it once. We were seeing that thing in the top five every month and often the top position every month with both sales and client engagement data. And we’re like, holy moly, this thing is on fire. Right? So what we’re doing now is it is now part of our ongoing strategy and we’re gonna look to the top 20%, right? Driving all engagement data. To make it a proactive part of refreshing and keeping it the best capable content on an ongoing basis, whether that’s monthly or quarterly. So that’s how we’re changing and shifting based on governance. The other side of the hat is really the behaviors, right? And we don’t directly control that, but what we’re trying to do is leverage data in a way. Now we can really showcase how this data can drive the behaviors we want from the team and then inspire our sales leaders and executive team to embrace that and leverage it, right? So we’re, we’re building out that platform. So more on that, but it’s really so exciting because, you know, we used to have to rely solely on maybe an annual survey we would send to sales, hey, you like what we’re doing right? And maybe you get 10%, 20% responding or just kind of ad hoc, scattered feedback. And now we really just have this objective, trustworthy data we can work off of. SS: I love that. Since launching Highspot, what results have you seen on that front and are there any key wins or notable business outcomes you can share? AB: So as part of leaning in more, like I said, we’ve already learned so much, and then now also in preparation to make these committee our kickoff sessions as valuable as possible and really go out with a banging. I had this hypothesis and I said, and I felt pretty good about it. Because you see the names of the people driving new business and you recognize those names from users in Highspot. And I started thinking, I said, I really think Highspot drives new business. So I tasked my systems and analytics team. I’m very fortunate. And product marketing, if you were in a product marketing team, if you can have an analytics team, it’s really valuable. So I test ’em to say, okay, how do we drive the correlation between Highspot engagement? And revenue outcomes. And we started with kind of looking at a quadrant. We said, okay, let’s look and do the old quadrant on Highspot engagement, users usage to revenue outcomes, and kind of map out those so we can think through different use cases there to start and then really start to see the correlations. So the big great things is you start to see these stories emerge naturally. And they dug in and there’s another persona team who came from another big tech and has regression analysis and all this. So lucky me, they were able to drive that. When you take a user of Highspot or a non-user, I would say someone like one of our sellers that’s not really using Highspot, and you layer on the best Highspot engagement activities, you have an opportunity to enhance their new business by 29%. And now I’m sure there’s other variables. You know, I’m sure the Highspot users that are active, Highspot users probably are good at going after new business. But the bigger picture there is, is think about that. If we even get 10%, 15% of the movable middle and the bell curve, just doing the things that are right, think about how you can move the needle. So we took that same lens, or we put it across total revenue, connected to engagement, and then also incremental increases with existing business. And every single one had really remarkable results. New business being the top. So. Just huge insights. We’re gonna definitely debut that to our executive team and get them excited and, and then lean in, hear their questions, and work with our sales enablement and training teams to say, okay, here’s those behaviors that we should start to reinforce. SS: Amazing results, though. Amazing results now. I appreciate you joining this podcast so much. I’ve learned so much from you already, and it is amazing to be able to talk to another strong female marketing leader. So I really appreciate your time and I noticed that you were recognized for the Los Angeles Times Inspirational Women’s List in 2024. So I have to say, this might be one of my favorite questions of the entire podcast, but what is one piece of advice that you would share? With other women looking to develop as leaders to drive impact for their organization. AB: Well, thank you so much for that question. I will tell you it was such an honor. I mean, I was so humbled and grateful to the LA Times Studio for that recognition. And it was such a journey and just so wonderful. But you know, back to your question, you know, as you go through your career journey, you see different types of leaders and you see what works and what doesn’t work. What inspires you individually? What inspires teams? And some of the takeaways that I’ve kind of compiled and really showcased as part of panel I got to participate on last November was how you need to lead authentically. And what I mean by that is. You can’t adopt someone else’s leadership style exactly, because it may not fit you. You have to understand your natural way of inspiring people because you get more as a leader by inspiring people than mandating them to do things, right? Not saying mandates don’t have their place where they’re needed, but when you’re inspiring people and getting them excited about the work they do, it’s gonna have such an impact, and you can’t do that unless you’re your authentic self. It’s kind of hard and as a woman, you probably know this, it can even be harder sometimes because the, the standard kind of tried and true leadership that have been staples don’t always come off authentically when you’re a woman leader. So, you know, we know the age old challenges that come with that. So how do you, I’ve really studied and done a lot of psychology reading and stuff like how do I foster the best. Kind of leverage my quality traits. And that leads me to the second part that’s really important. I was lucky enough in my earlier I was, when I was working at one of the larger corporations, they put us through this exercise, and if you can do this anyway, if you haven’t already, we did strengths finders, which I thought was so great, but I’m sure there’s lots of tools out there. And you kind of learn about your own unique strengths. And it’s kind of eye-opening ’cause you know, but you don’t. But when you see ’em in front of you and then you start to read what they are, you think they nailed it, right? And so when you can understand those things about yourself, you start to position yourself to be where you do well, right? Because you know that about yourself. And then you can kind of channel those and then work on the areas where maybe aren’t as easy. That’s also really helpful as a leader when you’re building teams, you know, it’s not getting the same cookie cutter employee. You have to build these energies together. Right. And it’s really a combination of different types. Of strengths. And so when I have a position to fill, I’ll look at the current team and I’ll say, okay, what, what are my strengths on there? What’s missing? What can I do better? And I will design the whole process around that. When I’m looking for a candidate, I’ll say, you know, I’ll design the interview questions, I’ll design the job role, all of it. And that’s how you get kind of a well-oiled machine. So that’s a big thing. And then of course, just in mentorship, you know, embrace mentorship. It’s so important to build future leaders. Help them understand the grace in getting out of a job they hate, you know, and finding that place where, you know, we’re always gonna have projects that aren’t fun, but if you really hate your job every day, it’s, you know, I always advise young people coming up like, don’t be afraid to make a move. It’s okay, whether it’s another department or another company, you know, you’re only gonna do yourself justice by getting yourself where you belong. So, yeah, it’s really. Tailoring your support for the unique mentorees that you have. We have a regular intern program, so I get interns every year and it’s really great. I learn and get a lot of great feedback. So, you know, I guess I’ll say, you know, to sum it all up, lead with authentic behavior and purpose and clarity, and you’ll drive impact and really focus on driving the young future leaders of America. SS: I love that advice and it resonates a lot with me, so I really appreciate this, Andrea, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast today. AB: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, Shawnna. SS: To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win-Win podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize enablement success with Highspot.

Talking DC books with Jeff Plus the latest Black Hammer mini from Dark Horse Minor Arcana From Boom! smd an upcoming memoir of essays and art from Jeff's career 

Well, we were a little in advance of the day yesterday, weren't we? If you were with me yesterday, I was looking at the armed forces lowering their standards to try to attract more people into the services. They're leaving in droves, finding it very hard to recruit new people, men and women, to join the services. And instead of lowering standards, I said, why not make the Defence Force more attractive as a career? Address the poor pay, the substandard housing and the lack of opportunities for career advancement for servicemen and women to stop them leaving in their legions. And what do you know? Twelve hours later they have. A huge investment into our services, $12 billion over the next four years for a modern combat capable New Zealand Defence Force, $9 billion of that 12 is new money. Where is it going to come from? Who knows? All will be revealed. It's an unprecedented investment into services and it will certainly bring them into the 21st century. Morale must have gone through the roof. So to the grandad that texted in yesterday and said we've just encouraged our grandson onto a Pathways Programme into the Navy, have we done the right thing? This time yesterday morning, no. Today? Abso-bloody-lutely! The Defence Capability plan released yesterday afternoon will see all sorts of things. It will see the ailing Boeing 757s replaced – that'll cost between $600 million to $1 billion. Other smaller vehicles, including light armoured vehicles, will get around the same – $6 million to $1 billion in funding. The maritime helicopters will be replaced, that'll cost $2 billion plus. There'll be uncrewed autonomous vessels. There'll be javelin anti-tank missile upgrades, enhanced strike capabilities, long range remotely piloted aircraft, space capabilities. You name it, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. The Governments chosen not to replace the two Anzac frigates, Te Mana and Te Kaha, certainly not in the first part of the plan. Instead, they're going to spend around $600 million to keep them going. Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says he sees NZ First's hand in the defence commitment. He said there would have been a lot of nudging, a lot of feeing on, a lot of encouragement from NZ First, and he told Mike Hosking this morning that this significant commitment to our defence will only enhance our standing with our long term allies. “This will play well with our strategic partners globally. I mean I'm thinking right now ASEAN, FPDA, and the Indo Pacific. I'm thinking of security comfort that the South Pacific Defence Ministers will get. Five Eyes also, and NATO, can't forget NATO. But it's also going to enhance the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs ability to secure our economic future. You can't have prosperity without security and right now we're living in possibly the most insecure times that we've seen since the Second World War.” Amen to that. He also told Mike that he wanted to get the contract signed as soon as possible so that in the event of a Labour/Greens coalition there wouldn't be a U-turn on this defence commitment. But Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he broadly agreed with the plan as it stood on Monday. He was interested in seeing how it would be paid for, as indeed are we all, but what would he care about that? Didn't bother him in the past where the money came from. He basically sees an increase in defence spending as an extension of Labour's 2019 plan, and they did put in a considerable sum of money, again, probably as part of the coalition commitments. I guess when you see Chris Hipkins saying he broadly agrees with it, political leaders with an ounce of experience and pragmatism, who are not blinded by ideology, understand that the world is indeed a precarious place. We have to be willing and prepared to play our part in helping ourselves and helping our friends, and with that commitment yesterday we're certainly showing that we're willing to do so. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Diplomatic Hell Hole.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Are we in the right place?" the stranger worried."I'm afraid so. Anais, you need to leave.""Not until you tell me what is going on here," she sizzled."She's not here to have sex, if that's what you worried about," I retorted. "Wait, are you here to have sex with me?""I barely know you.""That rarely stops me," I muttered."He's a master of bedroom antics," Pamela praised me. "He's pretty much at a loss at doing anything else.""Thanks Grandma," I griped."Your welcome, Grandson.""We, are here to meet someone," the stranger hedged."You came to the right place," Pamela preempted me. "He's definitely someone.""Fine, redo. I'm Cáel Nyilas," (deep breathe), "NOHIO, HCIESI-NDI, U HAUL, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege plus a bunch of other honorifics that have yet to be confirmed. I am single-handedly bringing back medievalism to the center of Europe and the Near East. The woman to my left is Pamela Pale, and she really is my bodyguard. The woman to my right is Sgt. Anais Saint-Amour, RCMP, my ex-lover and the person that needs to leave   right now.""I'm not sure I should leave at this moment," Anais shifted possessively. I had to recall earlier this morning, the part where we'd broken up by mutual consent. Yep. That had really happened. I had thought I was whittling down my current list of paramours. Why do the Goddesses hate me so?"Told you, she can't give up that cock," Pamela whispered."As you can see, I have limited control of my life," I told the strange woman. "I know you are here to meet somebody who isn't me. Now you know who I am. Who are you and your companions?""I'm Ms. Quincy.""Sorry; I'm on a first name basis with everyone I meet," I interrupted."What's your rank, Honey?" Pamela added."What makes you think,?""She doesn't think. That's what makes her so dangerous." I explained."Hey now," Pamela faux-complained."Okay. She's a fledgling telepath, or medium," I shrugged."Captain, Zelda Quincy.""In case you are mesmerized by her tits," Pamela tapped me, "she's packing some serious hardware.""One of those personal defense gizmos?" I leaned Pamela's way."Close, but no cigar. She's my kind of girl, big 'bang-bang', back-up at the small of her back and knife in her boot.""What!" Zelda gulped."She's his knife-fighting instructor," Anais answered drolly."Are you Special Forces?" Zelda regarded my mentor."Nah, I got kicked out for a consistent failure to observe even the loosest Rules Of Engagement. I'm a free-spirit.""Oh, you're a sniper," Zelda nodded."I like this one," Pamela smiled."Ah, thank you." Then, over her shoulder, "I think we are in the right place." Zelda entered the room, followed by a Hispanic panther of a man (kind of like a tanned, slightly shorter Chaz without the cool accent) wearing a long coat, and a Subcontinent-cast woman who looked at everyone as if she expected us to sprout fangs, or start quoting the Koran any second now. She obviously was a brain seconded to this mission very much against her will.The fourth person had that cagey 'when my lips move, I'm lying' look while seemingly unhappy with her current assignment. The heavy implication was that the lady was a career diplomat. Considering our current company and who we were talking to, she was State Department. She was in her late 30's or early 40's and giving off the sensation she had devoted so much to her career that she was starting to wonder if that was all that life had to offer.The fifth member was a military man clearly uncomfortable about what he was doing here, thus not a spook. His off-the-rack suit wasn't terrible, so he expected to socialize somewhat while performing his duties. He also looked like a man who expected other people to speak half-truths and obfuscated lies as easily as they breathed. Numbers three, four and five were dressed for the weather and unarmed.All of this meant they were good at what they did, though they probably didn't know the particulars of what was expected of them. They had their marching orders. Those orders were about to be made irrelevant in the company they would be keeping. The latter weren't the 'doing it by rote' kind of people they would normally be dealing with."I bet you she's a doctor," I murmured to Pamela, "she's with State and he's some sort of Foreign Service type.""I bet the first guy is Air Force," she countered."Like one of those Para-rescue guys?""No. More like one of those Battlefield Air Operations guys, I'm guessing," she corrected me."That guy?" I nodded to the final guy. "Pentagon wonk?""More likely he's one of those embassy guys. I'm going to take an educated leap here, Office of Military Cooperation, Mongolia?""That is pretty clever of you. Kazakhstan. Major Justin Colbert.""I bet some people in the White House, Pentagon and Langley are disappointed with you right now," I reasoned. His jaw grew tight."Don't worry, Major," Pamela grinned. "We consider that a good thing. We don't like the people in charge and have a low opinion of their opinion on just about everything, including their habit of blaming the blameless for their government's fuck ups.""Who are these people?" the first man whispered to Quincy."She's a telepath." That was Zelda"She's a psychic-medium." That was Anais."She can see through time." That was me. "Nice to meet you. Who are you?""Chris Diaz. Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.""Dr. Saira Yamin," the second woman introduced herself. "Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Are you the man from Johnston Island?""Why yes, yes I am," I beamed."The APCSS is in Waikiki, Hawaii," Pamela educated me. "Your arrival probably cost her some prime surfing time.""I was more interested in the fact that he survived a plane crash in a Category Four Cyclone," she admitted."Mother Nature hates me. No matter how hard I try, she refuses to kill me," I confessed. "My suffering is an endless source of amusement to that bitch.""That, that wasn't the helpful answer I was looking for," she stammered."So, Lt. Colonel Chris Diaz, you must be with JSOC, I have a deep and abiding respect for you guys. If you need something, just ask," I greeted him. "Captain Zelda, you are not with JSOC.""She's with the DCS ~ that is the Defense Clandestine Service," Pamela kept going. "Zelda, you love being in your uniform, you're proud, yet happy with the concept of dying in an unmarked grave for Constitution and Country. You are too old to have been in the first female class at Ranger School, so that means no 'in the field' JSOC for you. You've gotten around that stone wall by joining the US Defense Department's own little pack of killers.""Also, you felt it was necessary to bring a Benelli M4-11707. That's a close-in action shotgun, but a bit over-kill considering the paper-thin walls in this building. That tells me you are used to being in the kinds of places where such a tool is a necessity. Or in other words, since you think you are meeting a band of terrorists, you brought along your favorite toy.""Your personal weapon is a SIG Sauer P229R DAK in .357 which is a new weapon still under trial by the US Army and Air Force. Your boot dagger is ceramic so it will pass a cursory exam, or scan. You hate the idea of being trapped on a public aircraft weaponless. You have also given up killing power for a proper balance for throwing. I like a forward-thinking gal.""Air Force ~ you've recently come back from Asia, most likely Tibet. It shows in your breathing brought about by a close call with Altitude Sickness. The only reason for an Air Force guy to be here is because he's familiar with the Khanate military and you are not US Army, or Marine Corp Special Forces. I know the type.""You went with the MP5K in the standard 9mm, so you are more interested in sending bullets down range than looking into someone's face as you kill them. You may be a 'light' Colonel, which means you are almost somebody. What your higher-ups haven't appreciated is that our guests will respect you because they are like that ~ remembering past friends and comrades in arms. Of greater importance, you have Cáel's gratitude which will count for more than you currently believe."I pledged then and there to be as good as Pamela at determining that kind of stuff before I died. She had assured me it was as much a matter of psychology as eagle-eyed perception. People were often a type that gravitated to various forms of destruction, be they old school, or going for the latest gadget."I told you all that firepower was excessive," State softly chastised her associates (what they really were, not the underlings she saw them as)."So, you appeared to have forgotten to tell us your name," I regarded the State lass."Nisha Desai Biswal. I'm with the government.""Oh, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, I've examined your website," I told her. It clearly pissed her off somewhat that I so swiftly disregarded her crude attempt at subtle manipulation."Hey. I've got some real enemies at State, so it pays to know who might be the next suit trying to cock me over," I explained. I had to prioritize. It would take some serious effort to convince Zelda to have a MFF three-way straight out the gate and she was definitely the hotter number."Major, you came here unarmed," Pamela noted. "That won't do. They expect you to be armed because you are a warrior, damn it. Cáel get him one of your Glock 22's.""Gotcha," I nodded. I went to my room, tipped away the false back to my closet (that Havenstone had installed recently so Odette wouldn't accidently fire off one of my weapons) and retrieved one of my spare Glocks, but not the one with the laser sight. Such over-the-top fancy gear would be inappropriate. I only gave him one mag. If he couldn't get the job done with 15 rounds, he wouldn't have a chance to reload.Mind you, I took two in a twin-rig shoulder holster and four 22 round magazines, because I tend to shoot two-handed which doesn't exactly give you a bullseye every time. I returned to our crowded living room, handed the Major his weaponry, and then directed the US group to the far side of the room (towards Timothy's bedroom. Saira and Nisha took the couch.Because this tiny space wasn't crowded enough, there was a knock at the door. I checked. It was Juanita, oh yeah, my real bodyguard."Listen up everybody," I announced to the room. "This is my other bodyguard, my official one. Her names is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza, she's from the Dominican Republic via Buenos Aires and she is armed, so don't freak out." I opened the door."What is going on?" Juanita hissed."I'm having a private meeting with a few heavily armed friends. The other side to this party hasn't arrived yet. Why don't you come in?" She came in."Why didn't you warn me?" she whispered her complaint."Long night, worse wake-up, needed to do some soul-searching. Pamela was looking after me, then this came up and I forgot. I apologize," I lowered my head in shame. Juanita was only trying to do the job she'd been entrusted with and by not thinking of her, I was making that so much harder.I made the introductions, first names only."Juanita, Anais, Pamela; please slip into the kitchenette," I suggested.Anais "Why?"Juanita "Where are you going to be?"Pamela "Sure. I'm starving. I'm going to raid the fridge.""Anais, because I need my faction in one place. Juanita, I will be refereeing this meeting, so I will have to remain in the living room, roughly six feet from you." It was really a small apartment. "Pamela, if it is edible, it isn't mine and you'll have to replace it."Great Caesar's Ghost! No wonder Big Wigs had their personal assistants handle this pre-meeting crap. I was on my last two fucking nerves and one of those was already stressed and tender. And the real reason for being here hadn't even arrived yet."Why am I in your faction?" Anais mulled over threateningly."Because you haven't walked out that door. There are going to be three sides to this meeting, not three plus Anais. That is the way it is going to be. Now, are you going to behave, or are Juanita and Pamela going to toss you out?""You are threatening me!""Finally catching on to that, aren't you, Sweetie?" Pamela chimed in."I'm only staying because I believe you are in trouble," Anais grumped."Why is she (Anais) here?" Nisha inquired heatedly. "This is supposed to be a very, very private encounter.""I know Anais. I don't know you. I trust Anais with my well-being despite the fact she has numerous reasons to distrust me. She's staying because she is a straight arrow. That's good enough for me.""But is she going to keep her mouth shut about what happens here today?" Nisha pressed."Anais, this is a clandestine meeting that isn't going to be recorded by anybody so, barring a crime being committed, you can never discuss this with anyone who isn't already in the room. Agreed?"Pause."I agree," she nodded. I really was going to have to fuck her again. Not today. Well, maybe not today; I had to keep my options open. Her investigator mind was going into overdrive. Give it a week and she'd be knocking on my door late one night. Inquisitive, truth-hungry dames are like that, trust me. Then it would be 'bask in my genius' sex. It had been a while since I'd experienced that, with Lady Yum-Yum.There was another knock at the door. I checked before Juanita could do the checking for me, in case someone was going to shoot me through the door. Fuck it. I was going to talk to Timothy about moving. Him, me and Odette. I couldn't give those two up. It was Kazak bookends. I opened up and invited them in. It turned out they had names besides Bookends #1 and #2, Nuro and Roman.Nuro (I think) checked out the rooms while Roman (I was pretty sure) kept an eye on my guests. I made introductions, first names only and specifying who was with who. Technically, they could trust my side because I was the Great Khan's brother and thus my servants were his servants. Technically.Iskender came next followed by OT. A woman I didn't know (sadly, not OT's daughter) came in behind him while the other two quintuplets stayed in the hallway. Iskender and I hugged."Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," he smiled. That was 'Prince-something'. My Kazak was a bit rusty. He then whispered into my ear. "OT bows to you first. His title is Hongtaiji." What?"Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," OT bowed."Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar," I bowed back. I remembered I had to rise first. It was an etiquette thing. In retrospect, Iskender had stretched the bounds of tradition by hugging me, his titular superior. "Welcome to my humble abode.""I thank you for your hospitality," he 'grinned'. His face wasn't made for that gesture so that faint gesture came across as rather unnatural.My mind finally finished translating what Iskender and OT had called me. It wasn't 'prince'. It was 'beloved brother of the Great Khan'. Mother fucker!"Wait," Justin, the military attach  guy muttered, "we are here to meet this guy?" indicating me."What do you mean?" Saira questioned."The title Mr. Nyilas was identified with means 'beloved brother of the Great Khaan'," he explained. "The Kazakhs don't go tossing honorifics like that around. This guy," again pointing at me, "is a really important somebody.""Thanks for dropping this grenade in my lap, OT," I joked. "I'll get you for this, and your little yak too.""Odette is going to be so miffed that she missed this," Pamela chuckled."Mr. Nyilas," Zelda began."Please, call me Cáel. It is how I roll.""Cáel, can I ask you a stupid question?""Go right ahead," Pamela snorted. "Cáel does stupid real well. It is a critical part of his skill set. It makes him adorable instead of annoying. Trust me, you'll learn that soon enough."Too much 'trust me' was flying around in a room where nobody trusted anybody."Thanks for that encouragement, Teach," I grumbled. "Ask away, Captain Zelda.""Why are you playing this game with us?""I wasn't. Until thirty seconds ago I was sure I was here totally as a spectator," I gripped. "My buddy," the word dripped with sarcasm, "Temujin likes dumping these kinds of surprises on me.""Did you mean what Ms. Pale said about you feeling you owed me?" Chris asked."Absolutely.""We need help defusing this Thailand crisis before a shooting war begins.""What do you suggest?""We want the Khanate to back down," Chris stated firmly."I thought we had agreed that I would spearhead this delegation," Nisha reminded Chris."I think the situation had evolved and we need a different approach," Chris insisted."You should listen to the Lieutenant Colonel," I advised. "He knows a whole lot more about what is going on than you do.""Why don't you explain it to us?" she began her weevil-ling."You are engaging in linguistic niceties with men who have bled together, Ms. Biswal," I instructed. "Not that Chris and I have bled on the same battlefield, we have shed blood in the same cause; and that cause has been bringing our two nations, the Khanate and the US, together. The Khanate owes Chris for his efforts on our behalf and we pay our debts.""How so?" Nisha asked."National Security stuff," I evaded. "If you don't know, you shouldn't know and you probably don't want to know. Suffice it to say, the Khanate is willing to listen to Lt. Colonel Diaz's request as a friend.""But he doesn't speak for the United States Government," she corrected."Why not?" I riposted. "He's dealt with the Khanate longer than you have. He has a clue about the mindset of their rank and file.""But does he know their leadership?" she persisted."I don't know. Chris, do you think you have a handle on me?""Are you really capable of talking for the Khanate government?" Nisha preempted Chris. What she left unsaid was 'are you culpable in their atrocities?'"Let's find out," I then looked over my shoulder. "Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar, will my words and wishes reach my brother's ear?""That is why I am here," he replied."Don't you have the authority to speak for your leader?" she grilled OT. Nisha was relentless trying to stay in the limelight. "Aren't you a diplomat?""There is no need to insult the man," Pamela snidely commented."I am one of many voices that provide information to the Great Khan. I am not his brother. Cáel Nyilas is and has already proved his familial affection by proposing Operation Funhouse and brought whole nations as gifts," OT schooled her. "He is gifted with both tactical and strategic insight as well as sharing the Great Khan's love for his people and his hopes for their eventual freedom.""I didn't think you were a soldier," Zelda looked me over."Oh no," I wove off that insinuation. "I've never been a real soldier and am unworthy of that distinction. I know quite a few who have earned that title and they scare the crap out of me. I mean, they go looking for trouble. In my case, trouble comes looking for me. I'm damn lucky to still be alive and that's the damn truth.""Bullshit," Pamela coughed."What was that, Artemisia?" I winked at her."Bitch," she laughed "My men have become women, and my women men. At least you didn't call me Cassandra.""Well, she's Greek (a deadly insult to all Amazons), but you could be her Evil Twin because everyone believes whatever you say.""Can we get down to business?" Chris inquired."Damn," Pamela shook her head. "They haven't been paying attention.""What does that mean?" Zelda griped."Iskender, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked."Not a clue, Exalted One," he stood there like a stone statue. Note, the Khanate contingent really were standing there like the Altai Mountains, doing nothing. You had to carefully examine them to see that they did indeed breathe and blink."Use small words," Pamela advised."You really are a rude misanthrope," Anais told Pamela."Do you know what's going on?" Pamela volleyed."No.""Then sit back and watch how the madness works," she snickered. "It is all you, Cáel.""Okay. One; how did Artemisia escape the battle of Salamis?" I began. Nothing."Oh," Justin nodded. "She rammed an allied ship to make the pursuing Athenians think she was an ally. What does that have to do with our current predicament?""Achieve your ends by using violence as a distraction," I sighed. "The Khanate will invade Thailand in," I looked to OT, "tomorrow?" He nodded."How does that help us?" Nisha complained."Second example, Cassandra. She saw the truth through all illusions and falsehoods and no one believed her. Now, reverse that."Pause."We are waiting," Saira finally joined the conversation. I could hear those little microprocessors inside her noggin firing electrons at light speed."We fight a phony war. The Khanate and their buddies invade in a lightning campaign that appears to be successful. Shit like attacking the opposition where they ain't. Things that look epic on CNN where some retired colonel, no offense...""None taken," Chris responded."Where some colonel talks about seizing resources, severed supply lines and encirclement. We, the Khanate, bomb shit like bridges and supply dumps, things with no civilians to get killed. On the downside, to make this work the Khanate needs to put some level of force into Bangkok.""That will get civilians killed," Nisha reminded me, unnecessarily."Civilians are getting killed right now by their own government. This time they will get a chance to strike back," I stated firmly. "The Thai protestors aren't cowards. They are just grossly outgunned. We can change that.""How does that help the United States?" Nisha queried."The US gets to come in and save the day," I sighed. "The US can t get there until the day after, so you don't look bad about letting the first 24 hours of brutality happen.""Oh," Zelda blinked."The US gets to end the fighting that the Khanate has no desire to continue. The US brings peace, while whomever takes over owes the Khanate. Both sides look good. Both sides claim victory. The President gets a second Nobel Peace Prize (psychic, aren't I?). The US gathers some regional allies like Malaysia, the ROC and the Philippines along with our Marines to ensure free and fair elections. The Khanate isn't seen to be backing down against the Titan of Western Civilization. They are working with them to bring about a better world.""Win-win," Saira nodded in agreement."The Khanate is still an autocratic tyranny," Nisha commented."As opposed to the People's Republic's oligarchical tyranny?" Chris countered."Agreed," Saira said. "I now think we should work with the Khanate to bring stability to Central Asia which which was impossible while those member nations were being squeezed between Russia, Europe, China and India.""What are you a doctor of?" I asked."I specialize in 'failed states', among other things," Saira grinned."This could still turn into one bloody cluster-fuck," Zelda mused."My peopled don't have the resources to devastate Thailand," OT finally spoke. "If you, the US, agrees to intervene on our timetable, you will have our thanks, off the record, of course.""How do we know this isn't some ruse to allow the Khanate to overthrow Thailand's existing government?" Justin questioned."You have my word," I replied. No one said anything for several heartbeats."Really?" Nisha balked."Mr. Nyilas, Cáel, do you give me the Great Khan's word?" Chris studied me intently."Without reservation," I answered. "For what you have done for us and more, the Great Khan will honor this deal. We and the Thai's will do the bleeding. You will get your accolades. We avoid a pointless clashing of forces, which is why we are all here today.""I will give you my written recommendation in a few hours," Saira told Nisha.Chris stepped forward to shake my hand. He was an alpha-type alright. I gave as good as I got. His eyes bore into mine, looking for a faltering of will."What did you do in Romania?""I got a lot of good men killed.""Okay.""Okay?" Nisha squawked. "A handshake, a pat on the back and the deals done? Since when did our democratic republic do business this way? He admitted he got men killed in Romania. What is to say this won't be Romania writ large?""Ms. Biswal, he told the truth. He got good men killed and he isn't happy about it. I would be worried if he claimed one bit of glory from that episode. He didn't.""Nisha," I took a deep breathe, "When you unleash men with weapons, nothing is assured. Maybe the Thai government will see the hate coming their way and back down. Maybe the people will resist the intrusion. Maybe the Khanate's forces will get slaughtered at the starting line. It isn't like they have enough time to deploy enough forces to win a protracted war.""What happens if the Khanate decides it won't go?" she continued."Then they get destroyed on the ground in a war of attrition," Chris answered for me. "He's right. They can't bring enough in the time allotted to completely overwhelm the roughly 120,000 members of the Royal Thai Army that have remained loyal to the regime.""In three days they will be out of fuel, shells, rockets and bullets. It is logistics, Ms. Biswal," Zelda piled it on. "The Khanate war-fighting systems are not NATO compatible. That means they can't simply capture more material as they penetrate the frontiers. If they overstay their welcome, we can launch missile strikes against their fuel depots. The combat devolves back to World War I and that's a style of war they can't afford to fight.""What about stopping the Khanate from invading in the first place?" Nisha wouldn't give up."Had the US acknowledged the Khanate, none of this would have happened, Ms. Biswal," I became snappish. "Neither superpower talked to the other until other commitments had been made.""If you think you can come in and start dictating Khanate policy, you are dreadfully mistaken. The US doesn't have the power, or the resolve," I glared at her. "Don't try convincing the Khanate that isn't the case. We know better.""You don't know what the US is capable of," she snapped back."Abandoning Iraq with a fractured pseudo-democratic process? Abandoning Afghanistan without destroying the Taliban? The Syrian Civil War? The Donbass Crisis? The collapse of Libya? Boko Haram? Somalia? Yemen? Exactly how has the US's power and resolve solved any of those issues?" I countered."Ms. Biswal," OT spoke again. "We are willing to create a desert and call it 'Peace'. Our enemies know that. Your unwillingness to do so is neither a strength nor a weakness. It is a hallmark of your society in the same way that 'Total War' is a hallmark of ours. We are more than willing to leave you to manage the Peace. Let us manage the War against the forces opposed to civilized discourse.""As ugly and disagreeable as it is, we are willing to keep creating pyramids of skulls on every street corner until either they learn their lesson, or we kill them all. Let us do that and you will have your global stability and reap the economic benefits and accolades of Pax Americana. We are not your enemy. We are precisely the ally you need to keep the peace and we will do that, if you let us.""To allow barbarism is to become barbarians," Saira mused."That is complete fiction," I scoffed. "The United States didn't become communist because it allied with the Soviet Union in World War II. Truman didn't become Stalin. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is older than recorded history.""It is the Carrot and the Stick on a Global basis," Justin agreed. "Listen to the gentle words of the West, or you will end up feeling the wrath of the East.""As long as the Khanate accepts the limitations of is role," Saira added, "this might work. Please understand there will be factions in the Western Democracies who will not accept that status quo. It is not in the nature of our societies to stifle dissent.""Is it possible to get any political concessions from the Khanate's leadership?" Justin requested. "A pledge to hold some level of democratic elections? A Constitution with some strong provisions to protect individual rights and liberties would be nice.""Justin, in case your bosses missed it, the Khanate is still at a state of war with the PRC," I shook my head. "With their limited experience with democratic government throughout most of the Khanate's territories, that would be madness.""With limited concessions to the Imperial State, we have not interfered with the politics of Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. We are never going to become a Western-style democracy. We have had limited rule by consensus long before White Men arrived in the Western Hemisphere," OT informed them."Discounting the Irish Monks, Vikings and Knights Templar," Pamela interjected."If you say so," OT gave a minuscule bow to Pamela. "Long before your nation was anything more than the scribbled history of a long-faded Greek city-state, we had meritocracies, oligarchies of senior statesmen & warriors, thinkers and religious leaders, and we had codified judicial moral equality into the political arena. We have a far superior record of religious and minority freedom, of genuine multi-culturalism plus a deeper understanding of the arts and crafts as a means of uniting disparate peoples. We find your claims of cultural superiority to be childish.""Oh, snap," I snickered. "You get'em, OT.""I bet the boys in Foggy Bottom felt that pimp-slap," Pamela agreed."I bet the bronzed skull of some Harvard dean just fell off its pedestal.""They are called 'busts'," Anais groaned. "With a name like that, how could you forget it?""So true," I concurred. "All this responsibility must have clouded my normally hedonistic vocabulary.""That doesn't change the fact that you have employed biological warfare and genocide in this current day and age," Justin pointed out."Tell that to our Native Americans," I snorted. "They are easy to find. They live in trailer parks in whatever blasted Hell Hole we stuck them in, or in their casinos where they are buying back their country, one rube at a time. Ask them if they've gotten over it.""We don't claim to be perfect," Justin insisted."No, we merely claim to have the only correct form of government, economic policy and schools of philosophical, political, scientific and educational thought," I pointed out."We definitely should revive ethical utilitarianism," Pamela slapped a fist into her palm. "Oh, and the guillotine. Work houses for orphans and grist mills for the disabled, and A Modest Proposal for those chronically unemployed and terminally homeless, yes, and,""Pamela, what is it with you today?" I snickered."It is nearly sunset,""Ah, and you haven't killed anyone yet.""You know how cranky I get when I don't get my daily dose of homicide.""Are you two done?" Anais frowned. She did that a lot around me."And you don't hand out Mini-Uzi's to your preschoolers," Pamela glowered. "What is wrong with you people?"Pause, waiting for that punch line that was never coming. See, it was more difficult to sense Pamela was an immediate threat to your health if you thought she was completely off her rocker."Hmm, well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a deal. Chris and Justin, I will leave you with my loyal Iskender to work out the gory details. Who wants to grab dinner?" I inquired."Are you serious?" Nashi gasped."Oh yeah. I had the Russian invasion of Manchuria figured out in this amount of time and Manchuria is way bigger than Thailand." Was it? I didn't know. Geography was not one of those subjects which gets you laid."What do you have in mind?" Zelda inquired."Whatever you want."{1 am, Sunday, August 31st ~ 8 Days to go}"How did I end up in bed with you?" Zelda sighed happily, her body splayed halfway over mine and her head resting on my chest, listening to my heartbeat."You aren't the first girl to ask me that question."On the other side, Anais moaned in her sleep. Yeah, she was over me. Abso-fucking-lutely. If you recall, she'd try anything once. I convinced her the military babes were totally different than that Goth chick we'd blown the mind of back in Montreal.Zelda was with me because I had caught her in a lie. She claimed to be a lesbian when I first hit on her. She was adamant. I destroyed her with incontrovertible evidence.A) She hadn't scoped out Anais when she came in. A glance didn't count and Anais oozed sexy when she was angry, which was most of the time.B) She hadn't scoped out Juanita's figure when said worthy went to the kitchenette. I look for such things and Juanita has thighs to die for.C) When I told her she had a wicked sense of humor, she blushed. Honestly, lesbians rarely care about strange men complimenting their personalities.D) Then I double-downed by asking her if she preferred a shower, or bath. She said shower (because that's the butch thing to say). When I asked her 'when was the last time she'd had a bubble bath', she blushed again. Lesbians don't like it when a man imagines them naked. Straight chicks, unless you are a creepy, stalker guy, like it when men fantasize about them swathed in bubbles, thus semi-clothed, thus not creepy.E) In a final and fatal act of evasion, she asked a grumpy Anais what she liked about me. Anais was blunt."He can fucking hammer you all night, sneak in a romantic quickie in the shower, cook you a delicious breakfast then give you another round of mind-numbing intercourse up against the wall before you have to go to work. And still find the time and energy to fuck your neighbor."Woot!"So, this happens to you often?" she mused, it was a trap. She really wanted to know if I was an egotistical scumbag who took advantage of every woman I came across. At the same time, she wanted to know if I considered her a 'whoe' ~ a woman who gives up the goodies for free."Do you mean 'am I taking advantage of you'?" I replied."That is not what I asked," she persisted. That meant 'yes'."Let me see," I laid back and looked up at the ceiling. "I have a fiancée, six women I am close enough to to spend quality time with, a fuck-buddy who is a sweet girl and trusts me too much and a passel of ex-girlfriends who have found my infidelity to be reprehensible.""Six women?" she frowned."Four co-workers (Rhada, Oneida, Yasmin and Buffy), the girlfriend of a co-worker who dumped her in a very public fashion (Brooke) and that woman's friend (Libra). She was the wing-chick who was stuck with me on a quadruple-date and was underwhelmed with me when we first met."I didn't count my 'hook-ups' and I wasn't sure how to qualify Nicole."Ex's?""'No' is not a word in common usage in my vocabulary. I've dated a best friend's girl, a mother, sister and aunt of the same girlfriend, basically, I'm either highly immoral, incredibly loose, or a letch.""Don't you take responsibility for any of those, relationships?""Hell yeah," I tilted her chin up so that we could make eye-contact. "I've never blamed a woman for taking out her frustrations on my flesh, ran away from a screaming fit (Big Lie!), or blamed them for any failing in our relationship. It is always my fault because I can't stay loyal.""That's depressing," Zelda moped."Don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in any of the women I have spent time with. That is my problem, I find women fascinating; never boring, or bland. Quite frankly, it is a gift that I don't regret having. I may be a fuck-up, but I'm a fuck-up who will give you the very best attention.""Full of yourself, much?" her attitude shifted. I had short-circuited her fears; I was a cheater, I confessed to it without shame because I was inexorably drawn to her beauty, personality and charm. With Anais around, I couldn't claim to be solely enchanted with Zelda, so I had to think quickly on my feet. After all, Zelda was energetic and had great stamina."I promised you pleasure," I countered. "Did I deliver?""Yes, you are full of yourself," she slapped my stomach. I wasn't full of myself. I was a confident sex machine."Thank you.""Huh?""Wonderful sex, taking a chance with me, agreeing to a three-way, being awake after," I looked at the bed-table clock, "six hours.""I run five miles a day," she bragged."I try to have ten hours of sex a day," I teased. Zelda slapped my stomach again. Anais stirred."Do any women like you, for any reason beyond your cock?""I'm considered loyal where sex is not concerned, reliable and brave," I offered."What happened in Romania?""Have you ever been in combat?""I've been in violent confrontations, but not a true firefight," she admitted."Hmm,""Is it something that you can't relate?" she asked."No. You are a soldier so you probably know more about combat than I do. It was, not chaotic at all. I never lost perspective of what was going on despite the bullets flying around. The Romanian Captain in charge knew his stuff, directed his company well and all I had to do was figure out where the terrorist leader was.""What happened?" she perked up."I am here talking with you and he's in a morgue in Bucharest.""Oh," She wanted more."I have to live with the knowledge that I set all of that in motion, Zelda. I convinced the Romanians that they had to confront that terror group before they moved on to their next target, me.""I knew they would come after me and my friends, no matter where we were. Which would have ended up as a blood bath in some urban center. So I felt compelled to strike first. Based on information I provided, the Romanian Army sent two battalions, the 22nd and 24th, of the 6th Mountain Troops Brigade into battle.""It was a massacre," I remembered sadly."But you won," she tried to comfort me."Of the four companies involved in the battle, the Romanians suffered nearly two hundred dead and wounded. I hardly consider it anything other than a massacre. Yes, we won. Only three of the terrorists escaped. Their leader died. I don't think I've ever felt so hollow in my life," I finished."Forty percent losses, that is horrific," she crawled on top of me."The kicker is the Romanians sent some men of the 24th to hunt me down when I was kidnapped. A squad was in the group that rescued me and my companion from Johnston Island. I thought they would never want to deal with me ever again.""Don't be so hard on yourself. If they thought well enough of you to send their men out to rescue you, then you must have done right by them.""Chaz said something like that too," I felt sheepish and sleepy."Chaz? Who is she?"Honest to God, one day I want to find a girl who thinks I'm talking about another girl and asks if we can have a three-way, instead of trying to compare herself to this unknown person. Wait... I already had someone like that. Her name was Odette."Chaz is Color Sergeant Charles 'Chaz' Tomorrow of Her Majesty's SSR," I corrected her assumption."SSR? Those are some tough people. How do you know him?""Black Bag directives from the National Security Council, sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death, pinky-promise kind of stuff," I grinned. Maybe I wasn't all that sleepy after all."You really are a Man of Mystery," Zelda purred. She had truly exceptional stamina. "Maybe I can convince you to talk.""Maybe I can find another use for my tongue," I countered and off we went. Somewhere along the process, Anais woke up and joined in.It wasn't all fun and games. Anais' parting words were "You are a pig," then she sauntered out of my room and out of my life. Had she remembered to take her Serge with her, I would have bought the act. As it was,"Is she always so volatile?" Zelda remarked."Volatile? That's not her being volatile. That's Anais being affectionate. Volatile usually is accompanied by thrown objects and bodily harm," I sighed happily. Meeting her one more time couldn't be all that bad, could it? Zelda looked hungry so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and got to work.That was the highlight of my Sunday. Zelda had to fly back to Washington D.C. and I had to go to work with JIKIT. It seemed that the Khanate and the US military were heading for a showdown. I unloaded all my Saturday's activities to the team and we got to work, no recriminations. I was the Khan's spiritual brother and sometimes that meant I had to do him favors.I asked Addison when she thought he would return the favor. She laughed, then smiled and told me that wasn't how it worked. He was a world leader now and I was merely his kooky kinsman that he would keep throwing problems at until one day I broke. Then it would be some other poor saps turn.Then she told me she was kidding and clearly the Great Khan thought the world of me. I chose to believe the second lie because it made me feel better, and it was promising to be a long weekend/start of the week.Note: Geopolitical DevelopmentsWhat follows are snippets of the Battle for Thailand that takes place late in the night of September 1stand continued into the early morning of September 3rd. If this does not interest you, you can rejoin Cáel's exploits in four pages)On the eve of battle, the Royal Thai High Command had decided to strip all but one armored unit from the 2nd Army in order to give the First Army's offensive against the rebels more of a punch. It's decision to strip the tank battalions from both their infantry divisions as well as the armored and one of the two mechanized regiments would prove to be disastrous. It was as if the leadership of the Royal Thai military were idiots.The least economically valuable part of the country was the northeast which the 2nd Army warded. They had severely underestimated the airlift capacity of the Khanate as well as the willingness of Laos and Cambodia to both use their armed forces in an invasion as well as their willingness to let Vietnamese troops cross their countries.That thinking had led the Thai military to adopt a 'forward defense' strategy, the desire to fight the enemy at the borders, as opposed to having stronger formations deeper within the country. Considering the relative weakness of the Cambodian and Laotian militaries, that policy had made sense:- The baseline Laotian and Cambodian tank was the T-54/55, a 1950's Soviet relic. The normal anti-tank capabilities in all Thai infantry formations was more than equal to such a threat.-Neither country had an air force worth worrying about.In contrast, the Khanate's primary tanks, the T-90SM and T-95 were resistant to most of what the Thai Army could throw at them, at least from the front. The seven hundred combat aircraft the Khanate and the Vietnamese were able to field was an equal catastrophe for the Thais. It greatly compensated for the relative small numbers of invaders.Finally, there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Alliance's goals were. Military logic dictated the destruction of Thailand's mobile force followed by the capture of Bangkok. As long as the Thai regime held the capital, it would remain the legitimate power in the country.Due to the altering political landscape, the Alliance's only option was to make the government 'look bad'. The loss of peripheral provinces, while of negligible immediate strategic value, looked great on the maps the world-wide media would be showing to their audiences. It would appear that the Thai army had failed to defend their country. That would (hopefully) make the Thai Third Army look like the legitimate authority in Thailand.That was the plan anyway, and you know what they say about battle plans and the enemy, right? H-hour was 4 am, September 1st.The commander of the Zuun stood up and waited to be recognized. The staff officer from the Yunnan Command pointed at him."Sir, why are we doing this? I am not afraid to fight for the Great Khan, but this action seems to be suicidal. We will be far behind enemy's lines while our offensive force will be grossly under-equipped.""You will have to rely on our ability to supply you by air.""We only have supplies for two days of operations. What happens then?""We rely on the Americans to come and save us," the senior officer responded bitterly."Allah save us from allies," the young commander muttered. What else could he do?He was part of the 2nd Mountain Sultan Mehmet Tumen which had just arrived in Yunnan to replace the exhausted 1st Mountain Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Tumen. His men were from Turkey, inexperienced in combat and using new equipment they were not familiar with. They would be working with a unit he had never worked with before, the 1st Airmobile Tauekel Khan Tumen, Kazaks, who would be seizing the small airport his men needed to land in.From there, they were to 'run amok'. That was the technical term for racing south down a highway in Central Thailand, attacking the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Division, an armored unit. Once that was accomplished, they were to attack the local police precinct. Provided they were still alive after that, they were to return to the air strip to resupply then they were to 'spread chaos' until they were finally hunted down by the vastly larger Thai division his 100 men would be fighting.Of course, there was the plan for the rebel Royal Thai Third Army to force their way through the larger frontline forces of the loyalist Royal Thai First Army and come to his rescue. How would the Thai troops respond when ordered to fight their fellow Thais? No one was sure. If there was any hope in this mission, it was the knowledge that several other Zuuns had the exact same mission in other areas of Thailand.  It was H-hour minus twenty-two.It was 11 o'clock in the evening when the general in charge of the Royal Thai 9th Infantry Division was woken up. The Marines were leaving. That was correct; the three Royal Thai regiments were heading west to Sattahip Naval Base, because they had been ordered to by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize why this was going on.Seven hours earlier, the Royal Thai Army had seized all the Air Force bases in the 1st and 2nd Army districts as well as ordering the 4th Army to do the same thing (The Royal Thai Air Force had been trying to remain neutral in the upcoming civil war).Undoubtedly the navy had decided to make their assets less 'hijack-able'. A few phone calls later confirmed that most of the Navy had set sail for parts unknown and the naval air units at Ban Sattahip Air Base (U-Tapao International Airport) had also departed either out to sea, or to ports and bases in the South.He made a personal appeal to the commander of Marine Forces to no avail. They wanted no part of the upcoming struggle and advised the general to do the same. The general had other problems. The Royal Thai Marines were the frontline forces facing the southern border with Cambodia. He quickly reorganized his regiments, sending them to take the old Marine strongpoints to await further orders. Stopping the Marines never entered his mind.That was a bloodletting he wanted no part of. The last thing he did was inform his superiors, thus avoiding any stupid orders to the contrary. Suddenly the nebulous movements along the Cambodian border developed a haunting significance. He wondered how much longer he had before something happened.  It was H-hour minus five.At midnight a loyalist commander of a company of mechanized infantry in the 2nd Cavalry's 11th Battle Group (named after their axis of advance, Highway 11) decided to send a motorized section of his command forward to the advance position his battalion was to occupy come sunrise. Either later in the day, or tomorrow morning, the forces loyal to the regime would launch a coordinated assault against the rebels main supply center at Phitsanulok.He had a cot set up in his communications hut and had just nodded off when the radio squawked to life. His lieutenant in charge of the advance made a hurried report. They had encountered serious opposition in a confusing night action, then he went silent. The captain immediately swung into action. He put the rest of his men on alert, then contacted the neighboring Tank Battalion. He needed some armored support. He made a similar call to the attached artillery component.The Tank Battalions night officer quickly put a platoon of light tanks at his disposal. The artillery were ready for any fire mission he sent their way. Before the armor could arrive, the company commander found himself being called to the carpet by the Duty Officer at the 3rd Cavalry (two regiments of the 2nd Cav. had been attached to the 3rd's command) over his 'offensive' action and the relief mission was called off. What had happened to the patrol of 20 Royal Thai soldiers? He was ordered to wait until sunrise to find out.Little did anyone know, these were the first combat casualties of the upcoming rebel offensive. His patrol had stumbled across a battalion of mechanized troops arriving at their jump off point for the attack that was less than six hours from beginning. Neither the commander of the 11th Battle Group, the 3rd Cavalry Division, or First Army was informed that the enemy had already advanced twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be.  

SPECIAL EPISODE- You've Got This, Tracey Cole! Change your thoughts, change your world? Abso-flipping-lutely! There's no doubt that the power of the mind is incredible. It can allow us to confront issues and face fear head on, or it can make us retreat and play small. When we understand this and work on our mindset, just like we would other aspects of our wellbeing and health, the results can be truly remarkable, as an individual and as a business owner. Enter Tracey Cole, an Accredited Master Trainer of NLP. I've been lucky enough to train with Tracey and was delighted when she agreed to share some of her words of wisdom for my book, You've Got This, and for this podcast too. We chat about limiting beliefs in all their guises, neuroplasticity, and how when we understand and start to challenge our values and thoughts, we can change our world and the opportunities available. You can find out all about Tracey, as well of her words of wisdom and tips for a better mindset, in my book, You've Got This, available now.

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Momma Carson.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Since a quick 'cool down' in the pool seemed like a Great idea at that instant, I sidled down the sofa and retrieved swimming trunks from my book bag. Though not Speedos, Brandy still approved. This also allowed me to 'clean up' with my underwear then stow it away in the plastic bag the trunks had come in.‘Okay,' she rang out once we were back in shirts and shorts. Mamma Carson came into view and all the blood which had been struggling back up to my brain raced to my enraged cock. Brandy's Mom was wearing a light grey sports bra, with nipples poking out invitingly, matching boy shorts, with clearly evident camel toe, and; ah; petite workout moccasins? That's what they looked like anyway. She completed the ensemble with a baby blue hair bow holding most of her hair back and a matching linen towel over her right shoulder.Undoubtedly; I was drooling.‘Mamma!' Brandy exclaimed in faux-surprise over 'Mamma's' attire.‘I just wanted to work out in the home gym and to know if you wanted to join me; like old times,' Mrs. Carson asked all innocent-like. What Brandy said was a bit less innocent and way more indicative of Brandy's trust in me (or so I thought).‘Mamma, dressed that way; I'm afraid Vlad might rape you. I'm pretty sure his brother Mikhail will; if he sees you walking around dressed like that,' Brandy chortled. Jodi May Memphis Carson wasn't a believer so I turned to the woman whose opinion truly mattered.‘Can I? Can I? Can I?' I pleaded as I fell to my knees before Brandy. ‘Please, please, please! Can I have her?'‘What!' squawked Brandy even as her eyes shone with feverish glee.‘What?' gawked Jodi May, not wanting to comprehend the scene before her; and her powerlessness in it.‘She's, my, Mother,' Brandy put both fists on her hips and began scolding me.‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,' I rapidly nodded like a maddened Fool.‘What she said,' Mamma Carson affirmed.‘Don't you care that she's my Mamma?' Brandy's tone became teasing.‘I think it is extra-special that she's your mother,' I kept up the head-bobbing.‘But I'm; ah; older enough to be her Mother,' the older Carson protested.‘Yes,' I turned to Jodi May, ‘you are what I have to look forward to if we get married, Jodi May.' Then I added a bit of my newfound cunning by saying, ‘You are almost as good as the real Brandy to my way of thinking.'I turned back to My Girl because I wasn't sure how good my Poker Face was, or how good Jodi May was at reading the hearts of young men. In reality, I didn't want a Brandy substitute and would wait for the real Brandy to become available as opposed to 'settling'.That wasn't what both women had heard though. For Brandy, it was a cruelly landed barb; on the Mother who had slept with her previous beau; as if Darius hadn't bothered to both tell Brandy and demand she never reveal she knew; because he was that kind of twisted piece of work, poisoning Daughter against her Mother.Out of sight of Mamma, I crossed the first and fore fingers of my hands to create the '#' sign followed by a '1' as I mouthed 'girl'. She winked with her hooded, left eye to show she'd caught on to my game.‘Prince, don't get pouty,' Brandy stroked my cheek. ‘It is just that Darius used to tucker her out and you are easily twice the lover he ever was to me. I don't want you screwing her unconscious like you did me our first time either,' she added on, ‘on her first day back.'‘Brandy; what?' Jodi May mentally backpedaled. ‘Who told you such stuff?'‘Darius told me, Mamma. He even showed me a video of you, him and Rashaan in a three-way,' she undercut any further attempts at denial. ‘It's okay. I believed Darius' lies too and made even worse mistakes; like believing he cared about me as opposed to his real purpose; which was to hurt Daddy.'‘Baby, you can't; I mean; it was one mistake,' she evaded.‘He showed me two tapes,' Brandy looked saddened to catch her maternal champion in a lie.‘Brandy; I; ‘‘Mamma, I'm free of him now,' Brandy let a single tear track her cheek. ‘Vlad saved me.'I took this as my clue to rise up, stop playing the Clown and return to being her masculine Guardian and Protector. I wrapped Brandy up in both arms as she wrapped my waist up in hers. Soft kisses landed on the top of her head.‘Hey, Princess?'‘Yes Prince?'‘How about you go upstairs and get dressed for a gym workout and I'll stay down here with your mother and; ‘ I led off.‘Yes; and; ,' Brandy wiggled while she looked straight up into my gaze.‘I'll spank her until you return. Seems totally fair and unbiased to me.'‘Spanking my ass is not enough for you?' she sniffle-giggled.‘Wait? What? I get to spank both your asses?!?!?'‘No,' she protested. ‘You get to spank Mamma, but only until I get back.'‘Brandy!' Mom exclaimed.‘Mamma, I'll change real fast, I promise,' Brandy shot me another wink then sprinted off before there could be any other verbal roadblocks.More, as in more of Jodi MayA few seconds later;‘Young man, I am not going to let you spank me,' Jodi May announced.‘If you don't, can you imagine how much more disappointed in you Brandy will be when she gets back? Sleeping with Darius was a stupid thing to do, but you both know how charismatic he could be. Lying to her about what you did was dumber and overly cruel to a young woman who deserves the truth desperately,' I glared her way.‘That doesn't equate to me degrading myself before you,' she frowned.‘Oh, come on,' I attempted to placate the mother. ‘Just lay across my lap. I'll give one good smack when I hear her coming down the stairs and she'll be mollified.'Maybe I had a good Poker Face after all, or perhaps mine was yet another lie Jodi May wanted/choose to believe.‘Well, don't get slap happy,' she wagged a finger at me as she came around the sofa. She certainly walked slowly enough to hard-sell her reluctance.I languidly sat down, then beckoned her forward with my forefinger. Her eyes rolled heavenward at my theater even as she complied; by crawling across my lap. I held off my 'gulp' until she wasn't looking at me.Step 1: I held my palms upraised and clasped together in supplication and prayer while whispering, ‘Таксиарх Архангел Михаил, за то, что я собираюсь получить, я смиренно благодарен.' ‘Taksiarkh Arkhangel Mikhail, za to, chto ya sobirayus' poluchit', ya smirenno blagodaren.'‘Are you saying Grace over my Behind?' she looked over her shoulder at me, somewhat caught between cross and bemused.‘Your whole body, Ma'am. Your whole body and it is only fitting and proper that I do so. Anything less would be sacrilegious in the extreme,' I smiled. Jodi May smirked. She shouldn't have been so confident.Step 2 saw me putting my left forearm casually over her shoulder blades. Now she was tensing up and becoming physically uneasy, but too late for that.Step 3 and I began massaging her buttocks.‘Hey! What are you doing?' she hissed. Her attempts to rise were countered by me applying pressure with my forearm. My right hand rose and came down with a resounding 'Smack!' ‘Ow! What the; ‘‘It should be obvious,' I humored her. ‘I lied. You've been bad. Worse, you've been bad to Brandy in my presence and I'm not going to tolerate that, not for one second. Clear enough?'‘Let go,' she struggled valiantly. ‘I said; Ow! Ugh,' she sniffled as a second blow was followed by a third in rapid succession.‘Next time it will be three and the number keeps going on up, got it?' I stated. She hesitated so my right hand rose.‘Yes,' she yielded cautiously.‘Okay. Here are the new Ground Rules. Brandy is the Lady of this House, not you. You ran off while she stayed. Play nice and my family will work overtime to not make things even worse between you and your husband when he returns. Cross any of us, or Brandy, and you have no clue how bad it will get,' I began.‘And if I say 'no' are you going to continue to beat me?' she challenged. Down came three hard blows on her luscious posterior which vibrated deliciously with each impact.‘Ow, ow, Ow!' she teared up. ‘Stop! Please stop!' It would have been more convincing if I hadn't spotted her hands sneaking back. I foresaw ten sets of claw marks in my near future if I wasn't careful.Down came four painful blows with the accompanying highly vocal protests.‘Hands over your head,' I demanded in a harsh, unforgiving tone. ‘Five, four, three; ‘I could see her contemplate trying to scarify me then think better of it. My pain tolerance was an unknowns while she was approaching hers. Up her hands went.‘Good girl,' I leaned forward and cooed into her hair from close above. ‘Cross your wrists and keep them that way.' Again, compliance with an undertone of a mare getting ready to bolt. ‘Raise your legs up on the sofa and cross your ankles. Keep them that way.' At this point she realized she was stuck. There was going to be no quick getaway for her.‘Who is the Lady of the House?' I inquired softly.‘Brandy.'‘Not very convincing, but that will have to do for the moment,' I first caused her to coil from the expected painful spanking, then relax when she realized she'd gained a respite. ‘I know you don't believe me for no reason which truly makes sense to me, but you don't. I'm okay with your current misconceptions about me.'I moved my hand under the elastic of her shorts.‘Hey,' she tried to raise her head up, stilling me with her gaze alone. My hand worked down to the crack of her ass then alternating along the sides instead of continuing 'deeper'. Once more, this was just a false hiatus as, with a few quick twists of my right wrist, I began working her shorts down until I had exposed her bare buttocks to me.Since the verbal and non-verbal roadblocks weren't working, she went for the straight physical denial by clamping her thighs shut. Thighs are stronger than arms, but you'd have had to have been a premier female bodybuilder to keep my questing fingers from between them and stop my progress at this late date; and Jodi May's figure was way too opulent for that's sport's discipline.‘While keeping your ankles crossed, move your knees apart,' I ordered. Finally she launched her all-out rebellion. I could have out-wrestled her three years ago and won without my current hellish advantages. I had Jodi May off the sofa and pinned, face-first, on the floor in ten seconds flat. Five blows to her scrumptious rear rained down. This time the resulting tears were very real.‘Okay; okay,' she sobbed.I made a production of getting off of her, resuming my seat then having her crawl back across my lap. This time she was utterly defeated and scared. Six blows were her 'reward'. The 'reward' was the playfulness of those feather-light touches of those faux-slaps to her abused flesh. ‘Ah, ah, ah; oh; ‘‘Raise up your tush.'Her ‘Why?' was quickly followed by my frown and then her instant compliance. Kisses replaced the palm of my hand as I blew gently and placed faint signs of affection on her posterior. My hand was busy going between her cheeks until my fingertips contacted moist labia-meat.‘Ah; should you? Brandy; back soon?' Jodi May whimpered.‘Who is the Lady of the House?'‘; Brandy?'‘Yes and it is up to Brandy to call me off. I know how long it takes for her to get dressed when she has sex on her mind, so I'm already aware she can intervene whenever she wishes to. This is Brandy's game, Jodi May, not yours, not mine.'I worked two fingers up to the first digit into her labia, feeling she was becoming quite wet. My thumb was tapping her sphincter as well. Jodi May was beginning to really get into it, adding a little push back to my play, when Brandy announced her presence.‘Hey guys. Whatchya doing?'I held Jodi May firm so all my mature victim could do was stay on all fours while I methodically finger fucked her from behind.‘Quick; let me up,' Jodi May urged me quietly, yet without much conviction.‘No.'‘Mamma; Vlad?' Brandy glided down the stairs and fully into view. I had been prepared for more of a fight from Mrs. Carson than she'd put up, which was for damn sure. Jodi May gracefully slid off the sofa, dragging a throw pillow with her and then buried her face in it, more a feeble effort at hiding than any real attempt to break our coupling.I couldn't have been more baffled though I felt compelled to follow to keep my position via-a-via her body.'She's been lonely,' Brandy mouthed to me followed by, ‘Vlad, that's my Mother!''Huh?' from me.'Don't stop', then ‘get off of her right now, Mister!' Fortunately, I figured out which sets of lips to obey; Brandy's silent ones and Jodi May's lower, gooey ones. Her upper ones were beginning to make subdued little moaning noises.‘Oh Mamma, is my Prince being mean to you?' my Lady knelt by her mother's head.‘He spanked me badly,' the older lady mumbled into the pillow.‘Vlad, make it up to her,' Brandy turned to me. Her insistent tone was undermined by her wink.‘I like where I am,' I defied her then mouthed, 'what do I do?'‘None of that backtalk, Mister,' she waggled a finger at me. ‘Get those magic lips to work this instant,' the finger pointed toward her mother's hindquarters.‘And if I don't?' I scoffed. Then, 'I love you.'‘Then that cock of yours is blocked from ALL the ladies this weekend; Oh Vlad who is living Vicariously,' she shot me a sly smile. 'I love you too.'‘Ouch!' I emoted as I recoiled. ‘Princess; that's harsh,' followed by a double eyebrow pump and 'anything for you.'‘Brandy; I (sniff) don't; want (sniffle); him to; oh; ah; oh, stop that Vlad,' Jodi May protested.While Mamma Carson had been voicing her dissent, I had been shuffling down the length of the sofa. Quickly enough I maneuvered myself into a position where I could begin planting kisses on her abused heinie, all the while keeping my fingers gracefully playing in her cunny and across her anal frontiers. I began adding little flicks of my tongue as I'd had something similar done to me once, during my first time with a professional. That one could arouse with just her lips, teeth and tongue in ways I'd never imagined.‘Oh; he shouldn't be doing that,' Jodi May murmured. ‘Make him stop.'During this appeal, I was petting her along her spine until she got the hint I wanted her to bow her back to give me better access to her girly bits.‘No, Mamma. Vlad has to learn his lesson. He can't take you, or any woman; but especially not us Carson women; for granted,' Brandy insisted.'You sure; about this?' I checked.'I want Mamma to stay home, Prince,' she smiled somewhat tearfully. I sensed she'd had words with Mikhail and Taliyah before returning. My youngest triplet must have been deadly insistent about the power of 'my love', which healed her heart, being able to rejuvenate her mother of whatever emotional maledictions had aided her departure from this household, things I was still largely unaware of.Twenty seconds of oral succulence later; 'I don't have a condom'.Brandy had coaxed her mother to turn her head sideways on the pillow, facing Brandy's lap though Jodi May's eyes were closed. Brandy, for her part, was in navy blue butt shorts and a blue sports bra (I figured from Brandy's desire to color coordinate) and a white, sleeve-less t-shirt with blue stripes down the sides.'She's on birth control.''This may get more than a bit weird. (Are you) sure about this?''Come back to me, Vlad.''Always, Princess.'A stellar smile followed my promise to her, then it was 'back to work' (though I hardly thought of my sexual activities in such a manner.)Honestly, Jodi May had a way more developed sense of what she liked and how to get me to go where she wanted to me to go than any other Arkansas woman I'd been with to date. She wasn't all that bashful, or clumsy about it, either. There was a magical grace to her responses which later left me amazed how she led me to her first orgasm without me realizing she was definitely leading our carnal cavorting.Hmm; my mind was recovering; in that I could create more wordy prose while simultaneously working my neck (I was on my stomach behind her by this time, propped up on my elbows), nose, mouth, fingers and tongue. I was still the composer, creating the movement for the orchestra to play, but she was the body of music, filling the auditorium of our love-making with a tantalizing harmonic melody. I couldn't tear myself away.For her part, Jodi May made sure to rub her vaginal fluids over my face from eyebrow ridge to the stubble beneath my chin (hey! I'd hurried to get over here). All I could taste and smell was her womanly aroma; a richer, raw maple syrupy smell combined with scallops; which I quickly came to adore.I got a mouth and two cheeks full when she orgasmed and she got to howl into her pillow while Brandy, now the maestro of this little performance, appeared surprised by her ever-growing, new-found power over the people who had such an emotional impact on her life. Brandy was In Charge!I was lapping away like some overly friendly Saint Bernard the juices which had escaped my gullet as Jodi May coasted down from her post-coitus euphoria. Then Mother began crying to daughter and daughter to Mother.‘I'm so sorry, Baby Boo,' Mamma addressed her offspring. ‘I tore everything apart.'‘You did, Mamma,' Brandy petted her hair, ‘but if you hadn't run off with Mr. Jenks, Senior Deputy Samsonov wouldn't have applied for his job, gotten it and the Samsonov's wouldn't have stayed. I would have been under Darius' thumb; as would have the whole school. You hurt me and Daddy plenty, yet; in the Greater Scheme of Things; it worked out better for me and Daddy with the new friends we've made.'‘That's a beautiful way of looking at my screw-up,' Jodi May's eyes opened in more ways than one way. Brandy was acting in a more self-possessed manner at this moment than she ever had before. Jodi had left a girl subjugated by a villain and come back to a women partnered with a man whom she loved and who loved her. Our strong bond powered everything else.‘You still hurt Daddy and for that you must atone, Mamma,' Brady frowned slightly.‘Atone; ah; like punish me?' Mamma didn't seem all that distressed.‘Yes. We can go back to your present room and cut up all your racy dresses, or you can promise to never leave the house without me, or Pa; or you could let Vlad be so terribly mean to you that you never forget who really cares for you,' Brandy laid out the choices. My girl had it going on!‘Terribly mean,' Jodi May flashed me a famished look, ‘like what he is doing to me right now?'‘Oh yes; just like this plus much, much worse,' Brandy feigned innocence.‘How much worse?' Mrs. Carson hid her smile well.‘Stay right there and find out,' I joined in. I finished rolling her from leaning to one side to over on her back with my kisses falling down on her still micro-trembling thighs.‘One thing though, Mamma,' Brandy grew steely.‘Yes.'‘Daddy doesn't want you around us no more.'‘Let me deal with; ‘‘No,' Brandy put her foot (knee) down. ‘You broke Daddy's heart for the last time with your cheating ways. Hell, I became a cheater too, and I think you are somewhat to blame for that as well; me going behind his back to keep dating Darius.'‘Honey Child, those are adult things,' Mamma tried to both mollify her baby while seduce me with a host of non-verbal clues.‘No, Mamma. Not anymore. I'm 18 now and I think I know what is going on. Daddy won't take you back and back into his bed, never. If you promise me and him you will behave; ‘‘I'm your Mother,' Jodi May grew frosty up top while keeping steamy and inviting below.‘And I am your Daughter and I'm telling you if you try to romance Dad, you can't win. You will cheat again and he'll detonate in a big way. Then he will take you to Divorce Court and destroy us as a family. I don't want that.'Brandy Crystal Carson.Jodi May wasn't overly groomed in the pelvic region, but it wasn't too much to deal with either. It was natural and womanly, very fitting for the untamed, sumptuous tableau of maverick charms she presented to me.‘I'll behave, Brandy Crystal Carson,' Mamma shifted around so could place one hand over her heart. ‘I swear. This time things will be different.'‘Yes. Yes, they will. Mamma, in this instant, you can stop having sex with Vlad and have sex with no other until Daddy decides to take you back to his bed, you can keep whoring around until Daddy gets so ashamed by it, he tosses you out for good, or; ‘‘Or; ?' Jodi May was somewhat less than the authoritative persona she wanted and needed to put forth to be the master/mistress the situation at this point.‘Or, we let you have sex with Vlad; and his two, identical brothers, Mikhail and Alexander, but only them.'I struggled mighty hard to not let the 'Hey now! Don't we (my Brothers and I) get a vote in this?' push the current wolfish cravings for more Jodi May off my face and to alter my demeanor from covetous carnivore to caring boyfriend. I already knew Mikhail's vote would be a 'Hell yeah!', but Alexander? Me? I found myself gradually going serpentine up my current partner's body.‘Vladimir; Vlad, you can't be okay with this?' Jodi May's eyes riveted me. Only the truth would do so I went for the most effective bit of truth.‘Brandy Crystal Carson is my Lady on my arm and my Whore in my bedroom, Jodi May. She has entered the tiny group of people whose opinions I give a damn about, and the only one of the four who isn't blood-related. That is how much I value your daughter's council, advice and personal direction when I need it.'‘So you are just going to let her tell you who you can and can't sleep with; for real; ‘‘Abso-fucking-lutely, Mrs. Carson. That is because it isn't about the fucking; it is about the happiness. I'm happiest when my world collapses down to just Brandy and me.'‘I'm happiest when she smiles at me when I've done a good thing. I'm happiest when she is so hoarse from screaming out her orgasms she can't enunciate clearly, or even move, after one of our ferocious rounds of love-making. In essence: Brandy = my happiness; so yes, I give everything she recommends to me great weight.'‘In this case,' I ran my tongue up between her gently sagging mounds of mountainous breast tissue, ‘she is telling me what will make her happy; having sex with a 'loyal' you; and; not having sex with a disloyal you; makes her happy.' I paused for several seconds to glomb onto her right nipple and playfully suckle upon it. Her legs, already open, allowed her heels to start working over the sides of my calves and the back of my knees.‘I could wake up in the morning and have sex with your daughter, Mrs. Carson. We could chase one another around, frolic and have sex all over whichever domicile we found ourselves in; and if I did it for a hundred years, I would never get bored with Brandy, or want to anything except make her joyous inside and out,' I finished up.Jodi May had three options to believe in:~ I could still be a standard milksop White Boy despite the preponderance of evidence to the contrary,~ The entire political-racial-sexual landscape had turned topsy-turvy in her short (6 month) absence,~ Or I was actually a Big Black Cock Monster in disguise (the third one was Mikhail's spin on things, I swear).I had another issue, rug burn and my desire to avoid it for both of us.‘A Prize like you shouldn't be nailed to Kingdom Come on the floor like some common floozy,' I declared. ‘Here,' I slipped on hand under Jodi May's tailbone, lifting her up and pressing her into me. ‘Wrap your arms around my neck,' I commanded 'my prize'.‘Umm,' she gasped as her body clove to mine. ‘You certainly are; ah; strong.'‘I 'pry free' ladies who Society mistakenly believes have become 'Black-owned' on a regular basis, I wrestle said 'Black' rascals down until they cry out 'I'm an Uncle Tom' and I show those women the powerful lineage of Valhalla hasn't gone from this world quite yet; though not necessarily in that order,' I bullshitted some stuff together.‘Vlad; that's gosh-darn racist; except the last part. That didn't make too much sense, but; I think I liked it,' Mamma Carson salivated over every turn of the phrase. Me being 'racist' definitely wasn't a deal-breaker for her and the Valhalla nonsense glossed over my ancestors confused relationship with those Scandinavians who came a vikinging to the East over a millennia ago.I hefted her up abruptly, spun on one knee and deposited her on her rump on the edge of the sofa cushions.‘Aie!' she squealed in surprise. Off-guard, she posed no resistance as I made my final approach. I aimed my cockhead at her glistening vulva with my left hand while pushing her left leg away while keeping the knee locked. ‘What?'‘How do you want it?' I growled. ‘Hard and brutal, or slow and gentle?'‘How about I show you how I like it?' she purred. It was hard to argue with her kind of counter-proposal. Her right-hand's fingernails trailed down my shoulders, upper arm and the over to my waist to guide me into her designated pace of her penetration.I'll give her this much, until the tenth cycle she held it together better than her daughter. Afterwards, the newness of her vaginal walls undulating around my veined shaft caused her breath to catch and her hands to grab my ass, drawing me in ever deeper.‘Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, Yip!' she went off after I accidently pushed passed her cervix.I was certain, just like Brandy with Darius, Mr. Jenks had most likely gone before where I was going now. The 'new' was her cervix massaging my glans and the area right behind the head like a mini-handjob (for me) /pleasurable vibrator-to-the-uterus' entrance (for her). I didn't look like the biggest, or thickest piece of Man-Meat she'd ever encountered so;‘IN-tense, isn't it, Mamma?' Brandy appeared on the sofa beside us. I was still kneeling on the floor, I had mother's legs spread in a wide 'V' and was beginning to pick up our tempo as the interrogation began.‘Hush, Baby (gasp), Mamma is; oh Lord,' she mumbled, ‘I'm; oh; my; Vlad; slow down.'Innocent trust required me to slow down. My nascent woman-sense told me to do the opposite. I slowly pulled back; then hungrily drove home deep. Jodi May grunted as her eyes, once shuttered, sprang wide open. I followed that up with small, rapid repetitions interspersed with gyrating the sensation inward, my pubic bone on her clitoral region. My partner's legs flexed even wider, her head flew back, bow keeping her hair from going wild and her eyes squeezed shut.To add to the stimulation, I latched on to her right breast, suckling the whole areola and nipple into my mouth. Brandy took the left nipple between two fingers and began pinching it and rolling it between them.‘Gurr; ‘ my first thought was 'when did the Carson's get a cat?'‘Gurr; ‘; 'Holy Shit! How did a puma get in here?'And the resulting caterwauling Yowl was the scariest, female Big Cat noise I'd ever heard; and that was Jodi May Memphis Carson having a no-holds-bared Orgasm as her body flushed ruddy, sweat perspired all over, her back painfully bowed and of course, she screamed out to High Heavens like no human I'd ever heard.I lost it. I was shooting off semen deep into her uterus as her cervix was once more grappling with my glans. I had no care in that instant where, or what I was doing. I was a spectator being taken along for the ride though I wasn't hemmed-in in any physical way.‘Holy Shit, Bro!' Mikhail laughed loudly. ‘Delivering from Downtown!' I think he was referencing a long 3-point shot in basketball, but I was too sonically concussed to be sure.‘Take notes,' Taliyah repeated her refrain.Those two had come downstairs after Brandy and, it appeared, had been quietly watching us as events unfolded.‘Brandy, is everything okay?' sounded off Noémie Lucie from the far side hallway, the one which led to the stairs down to the lower level which included the space the other cheerleaders had been sleeping. Oh boy. Explaining this was going to be a peach.Who is here to chaperone whom?(11:30 poolside at the Carson Home.)It made perfect sense Sheriff 'Big Bob' Carson wouldn't trust his home solely to his 'somewhat independent-minded' daughter when she was having thirteen friends over for a Saturday Night party. While Taliyah could show up whenever she wanted since she and Brandy were lifelong Besties, the whole crowd showing up on Friday night was completely unofficial; so he'd asked an adult, or two, to chaperone tonight.No, he hadn't handed that heavy responsibility over to us equally hormonal, 18 year old triplets; as we were considered one of the hazards which needed to be chaperoned against. Nope; if we'd been able to roll all our lives back one whole day and night, we would have seen the Sheriff having dinner with someone who fit the bill of 'perfect chaperone' (a single, adult female with a strong will, of pure moral fiber and a history of legalized violence; Big Bob was fully aware of our current extracurricular circumstances) with the sole exception she wasn't a friend, or even very much of an acquaintance; so he was asking a great deal of them.Thankfully, 'business' was keeping this person in our sleepy burgh of Kingston anyway and this would give her a perfect opportunity to interrogate some of the possible 'third parties' involved with the crime which had befallen poor Darius Pope and his busted-up buddies.Yep, Brandy's Papa had asked the AHP CID (Arkansas Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division) Sergeant Louisa Petrakis to 'babysit' his 18 year old daughter and her friends to make sure their partying remained PG-13. That, not some desire to twist up the criminal investigation into the Darius Pope matter, had been the reason he'd 'wined and dined' her Thursday night.She'd only agreed After she'd realized what a corrupt bunch of actors the Kingston PD was and gotten the implication the Sheriff couldn't even trust the majority of his own Deputies. To her this must have smelled like some political civil war a 'brewing; which was an unspoken menace her department was also supposed to combat.When political infighting oozed out into open law enforcement corruption cases, it hurt the State of Arkansas economically by making their home ground look less attractive to external investment and the ever-important tourist dollar. Part of a weekend with access to Big Bob's and the Mayor's daughters suddenly became very attractive to this half-Creole (US Coast Guard Officer on her mother's side) / half-Greek (her father was a Merchant Marine Captain); originally from Louisiana; law officer .She'd come to Arkansas for UA (University of Arkansas) Sociology and Criminal Justice program and stayed to pursue a career in state law enforcement plus a LLM (Master of Law) from her alma mater on the road to joining the Department of Homeland Security working cases involving international law. Yep; ambitious beyond the norm.She chose an electric blue one piece; which was nothing but string from behind; very cheeky and what she claimed was the only suit in her size available on such short notice. I thought my brothers and I should pay homage to the Swimsuit Goddesses, if that was the true, because Sgt. Louisa was truly luscious.Of course, 14 to 1 odds was asking a lot of anyone so Big Bob had wrangled (rather easily) a supporting chaperone, my Mother (‘ah shit' was Mikhail's heartfelt and instantaneous reaction upon seeing her). She wasn't the primary chaperone because, as Big Bob told Ms. Louisa; ‘she's 100% loyal, brave and true, but 100% bat-shit crazy too.' Perfectly succinct and it rhymed.Mom; ugh; wore a red and white skimpy one-piece with a 'required' blue-with-one-white-star-over-each-breast bikini top. Very; umm; patriotic? Mom had a tight, lean-muscled physique. I had no doubt she was the most deceptively lethal human being present; in both age groups; and that included the people who knew she was crazy.Because the AHP Sergeant wasn't part of the Kingston/Davis County shit-storm, Mom felt safe secretly inviting two other women to this shindig. The first came so they could be seen publically feuding (by the cheerleaders) while they actually spent time building up a rapport. Mom was being asked to put aside a truckload of hate she'd been clutching to her bosom for over twenty years toward Dominique Fox Malik's husband, father and brother.For Dominique, she'd been raised on hating the Fonteneau in general and Gayle for 'lying' about the rape Mom had gone through (at the hands of 7 Black young men when she was fifteen) and Theo, her twin, for putting her brother in a coma he was still in all these years later. They'd hated one another by association longer than I'd been alive and now were trying to put their bile 'high on the back shelf' for their children's sake.Sure, Mom was tossing money and political clout Dominique's way, but the offer would never had been made and absolutely never accepted if Taliyah and Mikhail hadn't been so deeply and truly

This week, we do something that's not featuring some washed up wrestler from the ‘80s (read: Diane Keaton), and speed-run into the future with Megalopolis; a masterclass in botched futurism and half-assed allegories created by none other than Nicolas Cage's eccentric, and exceedingly wealthy uncle. Do the metaphors fall flat? Yes. Is the acting stifled and awkward despite the talent involved? Also yes. Does this whole thing play out like a Neil Breen movie with a $150 million budget? Abso-fucking-lutely!  Let's go!  Cesare screws Cicero's sweetheart, stops seconds, and survives shooting! Sudden swastika stump! Labeouf and Voight! Ruining our recollection of the Romans in real time! Don't tread on me toss-away tipoff! Live Free or Try Hard? John Voight's cross boner, and much, much more on this week's episode of The Worst Movie Ever Made. www.theworstmovieevermade.com

Alex Proyas' 1994 The Crow is a genuinely great film, released at a time when “comic book movies” weren't an all-encompassing pop culture phenomenon, and one that plays very much like a unique action-horror film (rather than a superhero one). We can't recommend it, or its unbelievably badass soundtrack album, enough. The Crow has a little of everything: it's a horror movie, it's a love story, it's a twisted superhero origin story and revenge tale, and it's a unique time capsule of a particular moment in pop culture history.But all of those things have been discussed to death elsewhere, right? Are we breaking down the unique ways that Eric Draven kills the men who wronged him during his life? Nope. Are we delving into the philosophies surrounding the prospects of life after death? Not this episode! Are we walking about how cool it would be to make friends with a crow? Abso-freakin'-lutely!An under-discussed part of The Crow is the role that an actual, physical crow seems to play in Eric's journey of post-life revenge. The bird is somewhat magical, but not a complete manifestation of the supernatural. In fact, it functions very much like the concept of a “familiar” often found in fantasy literature. So that's the topic we're taking a birds-eye look at this time around. And believe it or not, there's a LOT to unpack. Seriously, you have no idea how smart crows are, or just how feasible some aspects of the magical familiar might have roots in real science. Want to find out more? Watch it right here or on our YouTube page.SUGGESTED VIEWING Unfortunately, you can't divorce The Crow from the real life tragedy that surrounds it, notably the untimely accidental death of star Brandon Lee during filming. Shudder's Cursed Films season 1 episode 4 deals with this, and it's worth a watch if you want more background on this infamous moment in cinema history.There are a bunch of mediocre sequels to the original film (and even a TV series!), but we don't recommend them. Anyway, the only piece of The Crow franchise that we considered for this episode was that original, classic 1994 movie. However, if you want to get a sense of just how great a talent Brandon Lee was, and how this movie SHOULD have kickstarted a new phase of his career that would have brought him a level of mainstream stardom, allow us to recommend 1991's Showdown in Little Tokyo (co-starring the great Dolph Lundgren!) and 1992's Rapid Fire. Neither are exactly masterpieces, but they sure do kick some ass and Brandon is a natural.For some…less friendly…birds, you absolutely should watch Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds if you haven't already. You'll be perfectly happy not having any of them as your familiars.And of course, there's a new reboot of The Crow in theaters now. There's some crossover with our further readings below, but this New York Times video that asks (and kind of answers) the question of “how smart are crows” is quite a watch!Oh, and the movie that freaked Hakeem out as a kid? That's a 1975 weird one starring none other than William Shatner in one of his...less memorable...rolls, called The Devil's Rain.FURTHER READING Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today's episode? Of course you do! But before we get into the scientific and mythological readings to go with this episode, allow us to suggest that you give James O'Barr's original comic series that launched this franchise a read. It's harrowing, beautiful, violent stuff, and just different enough from the movie that you won't feel like you know everything that's gonna happen! OK, now back to your regularly scheduled science-y stuff.FamiliarsIt will come as no surprise to anyone that there isn't a ton of serious scientific writing on the subject of familiars. But the more “new age” corners of the internet have done their homework, and the above article is a compelling read.Crows in MythologyCrows and ravens are recurring symbols in a number of religious and mythological traditions. Learn up on them in case one decides to quiz you.Crows and MasksIn case you need proof that you should never wrong a crow, because they WILL remember your face.How to Befriend a CrowWe're serious. From no less a source than M.I.T!Crows use tools!Not only do crows know how to make and use simple tools to accomplish their goals, it apparently puts them in a really good mood, too!The Eyes of JackdawsNo, that isn't the name of another horror movie. But Hakeem talks about this study on how these particular birds can read human expressions.We're kicking off our Halloween celebrations early, so go light some candles and read Edgar Allan Poe's “The Raven” for some kicks. “Nevermore.”WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?We recently unpacked three gadgets and concepts for the 60th anniversary of James Bond in Goldfinger. Watch it here!Ever wonder about how Indiana Jones led to the invention of the PG-13 rating? We've got the video for you!FOLLOW US!Stay in the loop! 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Hello everybody! Gav & Em, your favourite TEFL teaching podcasters, are back with another episode. This week they tackle the topics of how to respond to a student who says, "We have a word for that", they discuss students' levels, Em demonstrates how to set up a task and don't forget to hang around for this week's Quiz of the Week which is all about words for words. You can find the transcription with audio here: https://share.descript.com/view/ORhaDPQ5Zs1 And buy Gav & Em a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod Timestamps (00:00) Intro and house keeping (04:17) We have a word for that (11:47) Students' levels (15:19) Setting up a task (23:37) Do you speak English? (27:24) Quiz of the Week (41:43) Outro

We've all been there at one point or another. Owning a business and being your own boss is all sunshine and rainbows… until it isn't. In this episode, I chat with Dahlia Orth, a creative business owner, and we get into the nitty gritty today of what goes on behind the scenes of running a business and what happens when we need a break.There is so much pressure to achieve more and more and more. You see reels and posts of business owners and influencers that are showcasing that they've hit six figures or more, that they have so many systems streamlined, and that they are continuing to grow and scale. What they're not talking about is everything that goes on behind the scenes of these achievements and the struggles they are facing off-screen. While we definitely possess the resilience to make it through some of business-owning's finest debacles, such as financial stability and burnout, sometimes that 9 to 5 we left a few years back is starting to look pretty nice.Should we feel shame surrounding that? Abso-freaking-lutely not. We need to feel safe and secure, and there's nothing wrong with finding something that lessens your mental load and helps bring stability back into your life. And if that means you get a part-time job, or you go back to your 9 to 5, that's ok! There is a time for resiliency and a time for rest, and I want you to know that it's okay to rest for a while if that's what you really need. Tune in today to hear more of my chat with Dahlia, where we get very real and honest surrounding running a business and what that truly means. I know you're going to find something in here that resonates with you! Links and Resources:Use this link to get 50% off your first year of HoneyBook https://share.honeybook.com/jennbaysvaConnect with Dahlia:Dahlia Orth Creative - https://dahliaorth.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dahlia.orth/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dahlia.orth.creative/YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@dahliaorthConnect with Success Beyond:Success Beyond - https://successbeyondthelens.com/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jennbays/Grab your Boundaries Resources - https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5d6d09f19b5f4c0015d956e7

Established in 1907, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar is Portland's oldest family-owned restaurant. Is it really a bar though? Or just a restaurant that serves drinks? We'll leave that for you to decide. But is it a FANTASTIC place to eat, drink, and connect with Old Portland? Abso-shuckin'-lutely. Yes, like Roger Sterling and Don Draper in Mad Men's Season 1 classic "Red in the Face" oyster lunch scene, the HBTG boys were busting after a midday bacchanal of invertebrates, martinis, and cheesecake. Thankfully for all involved there were no flights of stairs to be climbed en route to the recording studio afterward and the only expulsion was the pure joy of experiencing a Portland classic for the first time. PLUS, reflections on our visit to one of the newest bars in the city -- Too Soon -- in our April Fool's episode! Bar visit and episode recording: Friday, March 29, 2024 HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historybytheglass/message

Crece la indignación por la liberación de un presunto agresor sexual de una niña de cuatro años. Durante el juicio por abuso sexual en contra de esta menor. El juez Juan Manuel Alejandro Martínez, Vitela del Poder Judicial del Estado de México, absolvió la condena del tío presuntamente abusador y que agredió a la niña de cuatro años.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Analyze Scripts, where a psychiatrist and a therapist analyze what Hollywood gets right and wrong about mental health. Today, we are diving into the controversial 2009 movie, "The Blind Side." This movie tells the story of pro footballer Michael Oher through the Tuohy’s perspective. The content of the film has recently been revealed as an inaccurate and harmful narrative that conflicts with other’s accounts including his own. Zerrell Stallings and Qur-an Webb, co-founders of the Association of Black Sports Officials (ABSO), join us with their expertise on sports trafficking, conservatorship and the impact high pressure can have on young athletes. We hope you enjoy! Association of Black Sports Officials Instagram TikTok Website Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Katrina Fury, a psychiatrist. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And I'm Portia Pendleton, a licensed clinical social worker. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: And this is analyze Scripts, a podcast. Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Where two shrinks analyze the depiction of mental health in movies and tv shows. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Our hope is that you learn some legit info about mental health while feeling like you're chatting with your girlfriends. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: There is so much misinformation out there, and it drives us nuts. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And if someday we pay off our student loans or land a sponsorship, like. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: With a lay flat airline or a. Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Major beauty brand, even better. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: And your dsm five, and enjoy. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Thank you for joining us again. We wanted to give you a quick little note since we have so many more listeners right now, and we're really. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Excited because the numbers exciting. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: We are going to rerelease some of our most popular episodes, the ones that we feel like we did the best on some of our favorites. So you're going to see some episodes coming out that maybe you've already listened to, but if you haven't, please check them out. And Katrina, when will we be posting them? Dr. Katrina Furey MD: So we are going to, over the next two months, release some rerelease episodes on Thursdays. So every Monday you'll get a new episode that's fresh, and then every Thursday, you'll get one of either our most popular episodes from last year or an episode like Black Swan that we're just really proud of and we think is really interesting. So we're going to be releasing things like White Lotus, Shudder island, you season three with Sherry and Carrie, our favorite succession, Black Swan. You know, things like that just to give our new listeners a little taste of what to expect and to hopefully get you hooked in hitting the subscribe button and sharing with all your friends. Thanks. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So enjoy this new episode, and we'll see you Thursday. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: See you again Thursday. For Harry Potter's number one, we are. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Joined here today by some really exciting guests to talk about the movie the blind side. So before we get started, I'm going to quickly introduce who they are and then we will get into the movie. So we have Zarell Stallings and Karan Webb, who are the co founders of the association of the Black Sports Officials. The ABSO was conceived in 2016 following an incident of unfair practices of evaluation and elevation of black officials on an officiating board in Connecticut. Abso was able to advocate on behalf of black individuals and successfully shift improving the equality among black officials and played an intricate role in rewriting the bylaws and policies for said board, co founder of association of Black Sports Officials. Raised in New Jersey, Coran now resides in Connecticut. He is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University and University of Connecticut and has worked in social work and media literacy fields. Koran has been able to be involved with sports in some capacity for most of his life. He's been officiating sports for over 20 years. Quran has officiated in the past for Central Connecticut association of Football officials and Basketball for Central Connecticut Iaabo board six in January 2018, Abso was formed. Abso's goal is to bring equality for all black officials across all sports on all levels throughout the country. Abso is designed not only to be a voice of advocacy for black officials by providing support and resources, but to educate and train all officials, athletes, administrations, leagues, et cetera, on and off athletic fields. Through these efforts, not only will black officials be better off, but the community and entire sports landscape will be better off as well. So if you can, can you share where our listeners can find you, like on a website or social media? Qur-an Webb: Sure, no problem. But first, before we do that, I would just want to make sure Zarell is able to introduce himself and his background or what have you. For some reason, I'm not sure why that wasn't stated, but it's all good. So we can hear him out. Zerrell Stallings : Yeah, it's all good. I'm Zarrell Stallings. I'm a football official. Been a football official for the last twelve years. High school football official. I'm a business owner here in the greater Hartford community, Greater Hartford area. Other than that, co founder of Abso, me and Karan also run another agency that provides officials for youth sports, and that's independent sports officials alliance. So those are the kind of things that myself and Karan are into. And that's it. That's me. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Cool. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Well, it's nice to have you both join us today. Thank you so much for making the time, and we're really excited to hear your point of view on this movie. Qur-an Webb: Thank you. Zerrell Stallings : No problem. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So a little bit about the blind side. Just the movie came out in 2009. It got a lot of buzz. Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her role as Michael Orr's mom, Leanne Chewy, and it was based on the book by the same name by Michael Lewis. Michael Orr was played by Quentin Aaron in know this. This movie was pretty popular. And what was worth noting is that the Tui family appeared to be kind of at all of the events, right? So they were at the Oscars, they were at the premiere, and now looking back, Michael Orr wasn't so he didn't come to those events. And I think that that probably speaks volumes about his feelings on the movie then. And obviously, he's been more vocal lately. But where do you want to get started? Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Think. You know, the thing that jumps out about this movie to me, and one reason we've been wanting to cover it, is just its depiction of this sort of concept we call white saviorism, where this movie really depicts this white, wealthy family plucking up this black boy and saving him and sort of changing the course of his life, changing the course of their lives. And in rewatching it in preparation for this episode, I was really struck by how many really awful racial stereotypes it pushed. And I found myself wondering what is actually true about his background, about Michael or's background. You know, like right away we. Who's the little boy who's playing Michael in a car with his friend's dad, who he's been staying with. And we see them drive from his part of town, which you come to find is like the bad part of town, where there's a lot of people of color, things look run down. And you see him drive into the nice part of town where he's going to go to this private christian school and eventually gets what we were told was adopted by the Tui family. And so right away, even just that, like, the drive, I feel like, is already pushing some really negative stereotypes. They say that his iq is only 80, his GPA is 0.6. They just portray him as this kind of dumb, reserved, almost socially inept person. And right away we see the admissions staff again, who's all white. All white men say, you don't admit Michael Orr because of sports. You admit him because it's the right thing to do. But really the undercurrent is they saw he was really good at sports and kind of that's why they wanted him there. We also hear about how his mother, they call her a crack addict a lot in the movie. They just use really harmful language and say he was forcibly removed from her care. We see him go back to his neighborhood and just the things that are depicted, I think, are pretty harmful. And it know in know, the recent HBO documentary. And reading more about what Michael or has been saying in the present day, we come to find out, like, a lot of that wasn't true and that, I don't know, I guess that's where I want to start. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Do you guys have any comments on that? Zerrell Stallings : Well, I would say I reviewed the movie again, too, because it was a while, but yeah, I could definitely understand your pov. I definitely thought that throughout the movie, the white savior coming down, even her friends, even to the point where her friends were mocking her and things of that nature, I think that's a good place to start because that's probably the most honest place to start is right there. So I don't know. You guys want to weigh in on that? Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, I mean, I think that the more recent documentary, I think it came out this year on HBO or Max spoke a lot with his friends and family from kind of growing up. They spoke with the man who was kind of housing him and that he did have a bedroom like him and. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: He did have a bedroom. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Man's son were really close friends, and it was not a bad place. They spoke to his social aptitude and how he was really well liked and really an extrovert socially. He had a ton of friends. Everyone loved him and how he was very intelligent, which I thought was interesting. Then when they also spoke about his football, memorized, you know, as an NFL player, I would imagine, but he memorizes all the plays. Like, he's very intelligent, both academically and then as an athlete. So I thought that for him, and I guess he had spoke on it at least once, that for him was really the most harmful part was the depiction of his intelligence and how low it was in the movie. Yeah. Qur-an Webb: And I just add to that, I think just to sesationalize what the media does when we're talking about films, television news coverage, just in general here and to that point, there portion in regards to the difference into who he actually was intellectually versus what they portrayed him to be. Know, I would feel some kind of way as well, too, in regards to insult my intelligence, belittling me, et cetera, et cetera. In regards to all of that, I know just with the media just as a whole here, and again, I know ultimately the bottom line is to sell a movie and get people to go and purchase tickets, et cetera, et cetera here. But it's a rough field in regards to just really ultimately not caring about actually the human side of it. I know yourself and Katrina here, just being in this field of the people business here, we know that human side is very important here. And I think that wasn't know as far as some of the things they portrayed him to be. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah. So just to clarify for if anyone's listening who hasn't seen the newer documentary on HBO, I highly encourage you to watch it. I think it's only like an hour long or so. Interestingly, Michael Orr also wasn't involved in that. But I think it's because there's some ongoing litigation, it's said at the end of it, but basically some of the big things that were totally incorrect. Again, his intelligence level, his social. You know, we see Leanne and the Tui family rescue him from the rain, where he has nowhere to go, he has nowhere to stay. Right. That's one of the pivotal scenes in the movie. It turns out that's not true. He was staying with his friend's family and with his friend's dad, and he could continue staying there. They didn't kick him out. They didn't ask him to leave. It sounds like they really cared about him. They were taking care of him. And it sounds like what actually happened, from their point of view, as they say in the documentary, is that Mr. Tui said, hey, you know, he could come stay with us. We live closer to the school. And then somehow he ended up staying there kind of forever. But it seems like that conversation happened after people started recognizing how good he was at sports. And so that left a bad taste in my mouth. And then the other thing that happened was there's this scene where the little boy, SJ, who's played by this gregarious little kid who's, like, super adorable, right, in the movie, but you show, how old was that kid? Eight. This eight year old, basically teaching him, michael, how to be social, how to talk to people, and then basically teaches him how to play football using all those condiments, remember, with the hot sauce bottles and stuff? And everyone in the movie is like, michael knew how to play football. He didn't need someone to teach him. And again, just all of that just continues sending this message that he's not smart, doesn't know what to do, and kind of would just have been adrift and lost without this white family coming to save him. And again, all of it just left such a bad taste in my mouth, again, with just how much was sensationalized and that the things that were sensationalized just push this really icky narrative about just these icky narratives about young black boys. It just really bothered me. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And rewatching it for myself this time, I was really interested in kind of the themes of local or more local sports trafficking. So even as Mr. Tui is kind of like, oh, you could stay with us. I was know thinking in my head, and I don't know if it is clear, maybe it is, and I missed it, but was that because then he could go to that school district or I'm thinking kind of a part of what you gentlemen had talked about in a training that I attended was just know the zip code switching and kind of like living with different families in order to play at a different school. So if you could share just with our listeners what is sports trafficking? Where does it happen? I think some people would be surprised. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: At how local it is. Qur-an Webb: Sure, no problem. I mean, again, it's the harboring minors in regards, we talk about to play an athletic about the same event, but does this play some type of athletics here where individuals are being compensated and you're getting the benefits, reaping the benefits of it and sometimes internationally? It's obviously a huge thing, harboring youth from other countries over to United States here. But it's happening probably smack dead here in the United States as well too. Because when we talk about trafficking, I mean, the sports piece is a big part here, but when you get into obviously the sex and labor trafficking, it all interacts with one another here. And I think it's just in regards to, just to talk about the labor and sex trafficking, the force fraud and corrosion here. And those three words tie into the feds here when they're looking to get some type of adjudication or anything when you get into the criminal side, but it's applicable to the sports piece here, force, you're forcing individuals to leave their homeland or native land or their town that they're from here. There's been situations throughout the United States where athletes are being kept housed in housing and rents are being paid for these kids to stay in these places just to compete here. And we know it's a meal ticket for a lot of people here in regards to see him or her succeed as far as brothers in high school and moving on to college and ultimately the pros and getting that big payday. It happens more times than not as far as it's been going on there. Hopefully I answered the question. I'm not sure Zarrell wanted to add on or anything. Zerrell Stallings : Well, I was just going to say in the context of the movie, I'm going to go backwards because it was, in my mind, backwards. So when he's being interviewed by the NCAA, yeah, they were essentially asking him that, but in a more professional, I guess, manner or tone. And then going back to your original question about the high school, it wasn't that he was in the wrong district because in the movie it was a catholic school, so they were private. You can be anywhere. But what happens when you have these private catholic schools or prep schools that are highly competitive. They will go in the inner city, pluck a kid, set them up, get around all the legalities of it, or what have you. So those are your forms. They're just not presented in that way of how me and Koran, how we presented in our educational piece of sports trafficking. The essential is the same thing, and we've witnessed it here in Connecticut. We've seen cases here where it wasn't caused sports trafficking, but some coaches got in trouble and things of that nature. So I think the more that we shed light on it, the more important and the more serious the agencies of sports would take more heed to and put their foot down. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Can you speak a bit about some of the negative ramifications that can come from sports trafficking? Like, I can think of some that I could assume would come from it. But I wonder, given your experience, what you've seen in real life, I would. Qur-an Webb: Say probably first and foremost the detachment from your bio family and the family that they were removed from. Irregardless of the situation here. This is people that raised you, gave birth to you, and just your community as a whole and culture environment here being thrust into somewhere completely foreign or unknown. And sometimes it might not be a call, maybe once a week, once a month, depending on the circumstances, and not that connection, I think, with your family. I think that's one of the first things that happens here. But I think just when we're talking about minors here, we know the brain develops, they change the age all the time. Here it was 23, 25, 26. Who knows what it is now? But I know it's the last part of the 20s as far as the brain being fully developed here. So think about everything an individual goes through as far as a minor, just the disconnect from the bio family, trying to learn a whole nother culture, another language, potentially depending on where he or she is from. Those are just a couple of examples as far as some of the side effects to what happens here and being forced prior to do something you might not want to do. Some people may have a love for the sport, some may not, but they understand, quote unquote, it's a way out and to help the family here. So, I mean, those are just a couple of examples on my end, reminding. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Of the kids who don't make it. So it's like, I would say, at a minimum, maybe there's a financial incentive for them when they're not already being taken advantage by all the people who helped them. But when you don't make it, you were displaced. You didn't finish out your important developmental years where maybe would have been best for you. And now you didn't get a scholarship or now you don't have that carrot that they were kind of dangling in front of you for the idea of kind of moving you in with someone else. So I think it speaks to maybe the other forms as well of trafficking as just like minors getting lost then and people kind of then becoming unhoused and so on and so forth, just not having their support team with them. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: And what that does to a child's identity and their sense of self. Right. Like if you don't get the scholarship or you don't make it to the big leagues, I think that just would really mess with your sense of self and your importance. It reminds me so much of what we saw with Britney Spears and with other child stars. It's kind of similar, but I guess the local, the international, just thinking about it from such a small scale to such a big scale, it's really heartbreaking. Qur-an Webb: Yeah, definitely not. Zara, go ahead. Zerrell Stallings : Oh, no, I was just going to say their mental health because at some point the reality is going to set in that you're just a mail ticket. Yeah, at some point it's going to set in. And how do you cope with that as a child? Because to Q's point earlier, if you're not developing until in your late 20s, mid 20s, that's going to take a toll because then you're always going to have that in your head that I'm still the guy, I'm still this. And you're going to always try to keep chasing that and chasing it. But the reality is there and, you know, it. It's just hard for them to accept it and it's terrible. Know a lot of them have been coddled and told that they were going to be the next LeBron or the next Tom Brady or whatever sports they're into. And then when they're all used up, who's there? Right. Nobody's there. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Right. Exactly. I think I'm making a huge assumption and generalization, but I'd imagine that as these children grow and start to realize what's actually going like, we kind of see, it seems like based, again, we're not analyzing anyone personally because we can't. Right. But it seems like based on what we're seeing in the media, Michael Orr as he's gotten older has a different perspective, at least compared to how they depict his perspective in the movie, which again, may be totally false. But yeah, once you start to realize what's going on. You probably don't have the support system around you to really process that. It actually probably goes against what the people around you want you to be doing to see what's actually happening, right? They're not going to be like, oh, yeah, let's go to therapy and we can talk about how I've been exploiting you and using you and I'll still give you a place to live, right? Qur-an Webb: Absolutely. And I think, too, those who are in these situations, male, female here, there's a small, small percentage that able to make the connection like, okay, this might not pan out for me, but I'm going to use this and take every advantage of it possible here in regards to make it work for me here. As far as educationally and resources and supports and learn who's around me. I know there's a small percentage. And the education problem needs to be out there in regards to just everyone in general. Like, hey, the clock. And I use it metaphorically, know the clock's going to hit all zeros here, whether it's high school, college, or the pros here, and just taking everything along the way, what you can use in regards to what you've learned to better yourself in life. And we think about Michael Ord. He reached the highest of highs here as far as you want to talk about the perception, whether NFL, big contracts, everything here. But still, this still lingers with him. And as far as the whole situation, whether it's the movie or how he's being portrayed to other folks here, and there's probably just some other stuff internally that he's probably had going on here. And I say that to say so, it's like no amount of money or prestige can make erase that. And it's quite obvious with him. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah, 100%. And I think I can't imagine what must be going on for him internally, at least in the movie. They have that scene where the twoies have decided they want to adopt him. And it seems like at least the way it's coming across is it's like coming from a benevolent place and hoping to help Michael and further his future. And they're all sitting at the table and their biological children are so excited to hear his response. And I think Leanne says something like, what do you think? Know, like a permanent member of our family or something. I don't think they use the word adoption, or maybe they do. And he says something like, I thought I already was. And everyone's like, that's so cute. And again, it's kind of like, is that again a jab? Like, well, he's kind of so dumb he doesn't realize what's going on? Or is it speaking to how he really does feel like he's part of this family and he's loved and it's so happy. But then it's come out that they didn't actually adopt him. They entered a conservatorship. And that really blew my mind because in the movie they use the word adoption or guardian. I think they say they're his legal guardians over and over and over and again, I'm not a lawyer, but it's my understanding that adoption and legal guardianship are very different from conservatorship. But I wonder, Zarell Quran, can you speak to that in any ways? Zerrell Stallings : Actually funny. I actually can. I have guardianship of my God. So conservatorship and guardianship is totally different. There is a different process. I'm sure you have to go in front of some sort of judge. But I think what happened with them in the movie was they couldn't get his mom probably to sign off. So that probably was the easiest way to be able to do things legally with him. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, because you see them at the department of family Services, right? She's like cutting the line to get the. Zerrell Stallings : Mean. She was a pistol through the whole movie. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: But again, that sense of entitlement just bleeds all the way through. I think in the movie, though, they said that he was a ward of the state, so they didn't need his mom's permission. And she was like, what? You would give him to me without telling his mama? And then she went to see the mom again, sort of painting her as this benevolent, like, oh, I couldn't possibly do this without telling the mom. But who knows what really happened? Qur-an Webb: Who knows what happened? And just to add on to this conversation, one as far as water to state, meaning the state has custody, custody of you. And again, even with that being said, under 18, as far as for the adoption to actually go through, for someone under 18, the parents rights have to be terminated first and foremost. For adoption to even go through the conservatorship is all more the adult side. So if that's the move that they made, is when he turned 18, legally, he didn't need a parents decision or anything, mom decision or what have you to move forward here. But anything under 18 as far as the adoption piece, parents all rights have to be terminated in regards to that, the obtain legal guardianship. They don't have to be terminated in regards to that. So there's a couple of different avenues under 18. But it appears with the whole conservatorship, if that was the case, they waited till he was 18. This way they didn't need his parents permission or the state's permission because by then he's an adult, even though if he was a senior in high school, if he's 18, he's 18. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: So then why would they need a conservatorship at all, is my question. If he's 18, couldn't they just support him with. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Right. Qur-an Webb: Legal. Legal. To be able to have some legal jurisdiction over him, paperwork, finances, everything else, as far as some type of legal guardianship of him as an adult to have some legal say that is. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Right. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: I guess what I know about conservatorship, at least in the state of Connecticut, is from a psychiatrist's point of view. Right. That I know that there's two types of conservatorships here, conservatorship of person and then conservatorship of a state. And so conservatorship of person is when you give someone the legal power to make decisions for you about where you live, your health care, what medications you take, where you go to school, if you're going to school, things like that, then conservatorship of finance is someone who has legal control over your finances. And at least as a psychiatrist that comes up in our line of work, if someone has a mental illness, anything ranging from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to dementia to neurocognitive impairment, it can also come up for medical illnesses that might affect someone's decision making, where someone is so impaired that they're not able to manage these things on their own. But the key piece is someone has to be so impaired that they're not able to manage these things on their own. And I think that's where, again, like Britney Spears'conservatorship, has been in the media a lot, because the big question is, like, well, how can you say you're so impaired you need a conservator, and yet you're doing all these things? And I think in the documentary about the blind side that came out recently, they said in the paperwork, it says he's of sound mind, like, there are no disabilities or anything. And someone commented like, that's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Because you need that to have a conservator. Qur-an Webb: Right. Interesting. You mentioned that. And you mentioned white savorism. But I also bring up white privilege gummy, because basically when that's all said and done. They probably knew some people to make a decision as far know judge or what have you to sign off on all that. Especially to your know Katrina when you just mentioned know he has sound mind and everything else here. So it was probably some behind the scenes things that were moving and shaking in regards to to get things signed off as far as to be a conservator for him to have some say about his finances or what have you. And to your point here obviously in Connecticut with some things going know developmentally delays and everything else here that's usually know conservatorship plays a big role here in regards to preliminary guardians and all that other stuff here. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Right. But it's my understanding and I could be wrong. And so please let me know if I am that you can't just walk down the street and be like, there's an 18 year old high schooler. I'm going to be his conservator now without steps. Qur-an Webb: Step studies, everything that tells it. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah, right. I'm just speaking from my own experience. There have been times where the judges denied conservatorship for patients we've had on the inpatient unit who are so ill and yet they still preserve their autonomy. Right. These aren't decisions that I've seen made very lightly. So when this came up, I just was so confused. I was like, why did they do this? What did this give them that they needed, that they couldn't have had without it? And the only things that come to my mind are like nefarious, malicious things. I don't know. They could have still supported him in doing good at school, going to college. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: They could have assisted him make decisions like, oh, hey, like many 18 year olds, here's your first contract, or here's your first deal. Do you want to talk to a financial advisor? You want to set up a bank account for you, though I'm giving you advice freely. Why do I have to be signing off on it? And then that just feels like, why. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Is the money coming to me? Right. Zerrell Stallings : I would say three letters, R-O-I return on investment, my house, I fed you, I closed you, I made sure you got the proper education, so forth. And I'm just being, just thinking from their crazy perspective. So I need to be able to recoup this at some point. Just think about the movie. If I'm your conservator, right? I can use your likeness without your permission. If he's feeling like he's feeling now, I don't think he would have signed off on the script. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Right. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: That's interesting. I was saying I didn't even think about the movie rights. I would gander that that is probably the majority of it, right. Because he was so uninvolved in that. And I was like, well, how it's about him, right. Let alone thinking about his sports career, which I'm sure obviously was also impacted in a way by them. But yeah, okay, that clears up some questions that I had that makes all. Qur-an Webb: Sense in the world. I was just going to add just in regards to, back to the media, how they, we got a blackmail young black male, eventually an adult black male. Just thinking about the circumstances as far as, I'm just talking about the movie in general, not the person himself here in a situation, big house, family, you get pretty much anything that you want here. So they got it as far as, of course, this black male is not going to say no to this. And do you want to be adopted? Do you want to be adopted? Or whatever the questions that are being asked to think about the pressures of just hearing that as far as that goes here, being a young man here, like I'm going to say no, I'm going to give all this up that I have as far as versus where I came from. And again, like I said, I just tie that back to the media and kind of just taking a left turn as far as in regards to what they wanted it to be portrayed. As far as we talk about black men and we think about black men, I mean, handful of movies or what have you, that were we depicted as far as in positive lights and ain't these stereotypes, white family coming to save us and everything else as well too. So definitely some of that going on as well. I just wanted to just add that. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: His experience now I'm speaking just of what thoughts kind of come to my mind is like if you take someone who's been displaced from their family or has kind of had to bounce around even if they are with supports, I would imagine that to an extent that impacts your attachment. So you probably don't have the most secure attachment. And so when then there's these big powerful people making all these promises and kind of giving you an Xbox even though, right. That's like nothing to them. But it's like this big deal that kind of gives that false sense of like we got you. And I think someone with maybe not the strongest attachment style is more easily kind of being able to go along with that. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah, exactly. It is exactly grooming. And I think it makes me so sad for him as a person and for any other person who goes through this, because I'm just thinking, like he probably, and again, I'm just totally making assumptions here. I don't know for sure, but it seems like he felt so loved and cared for, and then to realize what was actually happening, it's got to feel awful. And like you were saying earlier, karan, no amount of money or Super bowl wins takes that pain away of feeling like, wait, I thought you were my family. But actually now I'm learning this is a conservatorship and you guys made like hundreds of millions of dollars off of me. But what? Zerrell Stallings : Yeah, it's a tough pill to swallow for them. I'm sure it is. But I'm going to say this, and this is not to give any positivity on the Tuis. I'm glad Michael took advantage of every bit of it. Yeah, he got his education. He was able to make it to the NFL. He was able to be a Super bowl champion. Not sure if he's in the hall, he might go in the hall at some point. So he took advantage of every bit of it. And I'm glad because a lot of times you get used up and you don't get a chance to take advantage of none of it. You just get used up and tossed away. Luckily, he was able to take full advantage of everything that every opportunity that came across his path, even though they had their alternatives and what they were trying to do. So I think that's the one positive. But I'm going to just say about the movie. I think for me, I was always suspicious of the movie when it was never told from his eyes. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah. I want to know who is Michael Lewis, too? Where did he come from and why is he writing the book? I think he was friends with Sean Tui. They said in the, like, why do. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: You write the Michael? Yeah, right. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: I really want to hear from Michael. I hope someday we, like, I would be really interested to hear his perspective. One thing that really stuck out to me in the documentary was someone with, I think a lot of people, like his friends and things like that who are in the documentary were saying, just imagine what it was like for him to enter all those locker rooms after this movie came out. And everyone thinks you're an idiot, everyone thinks you're dumb, you can't read, you can't write, and you just walk in and that's the picture they have of you. Qur-an Webb: Yeah, I think that probably did travel with him, but I think those, as far as you talk about teammates and coaches those who probably spent that time with him knows, probably could be the complete opposite as well too. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Yeah, true. Qur-an Webb: As far as getting to know him, knowing the man that he is and who he became, as far as an individual as well. But I'm sure those who didn't know him or what have you there, I'm sure it could play the role somewhere along the way there. But I still also think that those who got to know him realize like, hey, this is not what the depiction of him is not true. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Right. And sports, I think as many of us know, is also just such a wonderful outlet for having a team, for having positive supports, for being good for your mental health, working towards goals and working together collaboratively. I think too, just that the action, obviously, unless you hate the sport, which makes it even worse. But the sports I think team can buffer, I would imagine some of the negative impacts of his experience and I would imagine other people's experiences as well, like him. Qur-an Webb: One of the trainers we tying around the mental health piece of it, how that sports interconnect with one another here. Just you talk about the team aspect of it and how important that is to have all supports and folks simply situated. There's no socioeconomic standards. When you put a helmet on, everyone has the same helmet, everybody's playing once you're on that field. We're talking about football as an individual sport as well, too. I mean, just the thrill of competing and being able to overcome challenges here and what have sports brings a whole lot to the table, most definitely. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So is there anything else you guys would like to kind of share about the movie thoughts, your kind of expertise in sports in general or anything else that we kind of missed today? Qur-an Webb: I think as a whole. And it's interesting, we're talking about sports but in different ways, not actually to being on the field, competing. We talk about different areas, whether it's trafficking, whether it's the mental health part of it, transition or what have you. It's just sports parallels life. I mean, we've said that along the way, Zarella and I, one way or another here, the highs, the lows and things that come with it. And this movie depicts, like I said, a lot of things, life related things here, things that were left out, maybe intentionally or unintentionally as far as in regards to the blindside movie here. But I think sports in general here, it's a lot of people's lives, a lot of people soundtrack their lives. It's the highs, the lows. I mean, I think about the NFL here like those who love it and folks are miserable for like a whole week if their team loses until that following weekend. It is interesting how powerful that is. And I think about those who actually are playing, whether it's tennis, whether it's swimming, whether it's lacrosse, just ability to, not only the physical needs that it helps, but the emotional, psychological things that it just brings to sports, like I said, definitely parallels life. And I know you talked about bringing this around, this episode, Aaron, give or take, around Super bowl time and how interested the whole trafficking piece came up. That's one of the prime times. We're talking about trafficking, especially sex trafficking at these sporting events such as the Super Bowl. Super bowl, like I said, is unfortunately prime real estate for those who are in that line of work with these vulnerable individuals that they take advantage of. So it's interesting, like we're talking about this. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, no, that's a good point. I think it's tragic to say the least. And it seems to always be vulnerable parties. Similarly, we just recorded an episode on some of the docuseries coming on cults, and we talked just about. Right. There's always a dynamic. There's someone who's with a lot of power, a lot of privilege, oftentimes also very good at people talking and charming to kind of lure you in. Right. And then it's these vulnerable people who are often, first for any reason vulnerable, that kind of fall prey, then to these nefarious people who oftentimes are doing a lot of, you know, like you said, zarell, in Michael's story, it's like the only thing that really is positive is when you do make it and you can take advantage of everything and you do get the deal, and then you have your own connections and you're kind of using like a sponge, sucking up it all as well. And then obviously the tragic stories as well. When you don't make it and you're kind of used up and then left with nothing, it's definitely devastating. Zerrell Stallings : Absolutely. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. Zerrell Stallings : Well, their biggest nightmare is that he did take advantage and he was smarter than they think he is. And now, hopefully, I'm going to use his word lightly, but hopefully, justice is served for him and he gets whatever he presumes is his right. Because they got theirs already. They got theirs ten times over already. And I'm not saying they need to go broke or people need to cancel them, anything of that nature. I mean, it still was a business transaction at the end of the day. And it just was sad that they didn't tell that young mayor that it was a business transaction. At the end of the day, we was going to give you this to get this, but fortunately, he was able to figure that out on his own and he's speaking out about it. So that's a good thing. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. And he has a, he's, he's married, he has kids, and it seems like he has a lot of friends who do know the real Michael and a lot of teammates and people that he's worked with over the years. So, like, you mean, that feels like at such a mean. I'm selfishly glad for him that we get to see the other side. But I remember being really shocked a couple of years ago when people kind of came out and were saying that his parents or not his parents, the Tuis, were not at his wedding and people were outraged. I think it was like five or six years ago. And that's where I think for a lot of people who didn't know him or didn't know his story or weren't kind of viewing the movie in a certain way, were like, I guess it's not this fairy tale, happily ever after story at all. And then now it's like so much more has come out, which I think we should all be skeptics, right, with what we see and just in general what we see in movies, knowing that a movie is always going to be portrayed in a way that's going to make the most money and that's going to get the most people to see it. And I think we're in this podcast also, just trying to give people a different lens to maybe think of when we see movies so that bad info isn't scattered around. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: But I think if anyone else has. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Anything to say, we're almost at time. But Darrell. Zerrell Stallings : Well, I was just going to say I'm glad that you guys are doing an episode about the blind side. It's good that these conversations happen and these conversations continue because Michael might not look at it as sports trafficking, or maybe he does. And maybe this can be a whole start of another conversation that people haven't thought of and good people like you guys are doing an episode and a podcast that can dissect and get into the real of what really is going on in these sports communities and things of that nature. So from behalf of Abso, I just want to say thank you guys for it. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Well, thank you for coming on. We're so excited to have you here today. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: We told all. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: And thank you for doing the work you're doing. I mean, I think you're really doing the groundwork in the know, like as a privileged white know. I also want to just recognize that we see it from one lens. And I would just really appreciate if Hollywood would stop. Yes, okay, sensationalize. But maybe we could move away from sensationalizing such racist ideas forever. I just would really like to get away from that. That's not in my control. But it really just breaks my heart to see this sort of stuff perpetuated and then successful. I mean, I just think it also just speaks to such broader issues in our society that that is such a. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. So where can our listeners find you? Do you guys have a website you'd like to share? Qur-an Webb: Sure. We have blacksportsofficials.com here. Interest in Zarell talked about as far as in regards to some of the things we have going on. Again, our officiating signing business that we do do the independent Sports alliance here, but we're actually transitioning the educational piece outside of the association of Black Sports officials. We're going to do a lot more advocacy work and other things centered around blacks in that regards here. But the education piece here just coming under a new umbrella, achieving better sports outcomes. So that's the name of the company here. And again, these topics such as what's being talked about today and everything else as well, too. We have a rollout. We're doing something at the hall of Fame in March. As far as a presentation similar to what you went to Portia, it was actually an all day one. So we're doing that in the middle of March here. As far as, so we're excited about that as well, to get that out there as well. And some of the other work that we're doing as well, too. But at least initially, right off the bat here, we could go to blacksportsofficials.com, sportswiths, officialswithas.com. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Great. And I hope it's ok with you. We'll link to all of that in our show notes here. If you want to send that to us and let us know when that presentation is, I'd love to know if we're able to to. Portia had such great things to say about your talk. I'd really love to learn more and hear more about it. Qur-an Webb: And we didn't pay her to say. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: I know, not at know. The funny thing is no one's paying. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Us to do this podcast yet. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: If you're liking it and you're listening, please rate, review and subscribe. And you can follow us at analyze scripts podcast on Instagram, TikTok you can watch this podcast on YouTube and we hope to keep putting know really good content, educational content, breaking down movies and tv shows. And thank you both so much for joining us. We have been so excited to talk to you. I think you just bring such an important perspective and I really hope that you continue doing the good work, and I can't wait to see where it goes. Qur-an Webb: Same to you ladies as well. This is a great concept, great idea. So looking for this to take off, and next thing you know, you'd be somewhere in Hollywood yourselves. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Not producing a movie like this. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I can guarantee. Qur-an Webb: Not. Absolutely not. So thank you, ladies. Portia Pendleton, LCSW: All right, take care everyone. Qur-an Webb: Bye bye bye. Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: This podcast and its contents are a copyright of analyzed scripts. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited. Unless you want to share it with. Dr. Katrina Furey MD: Your friends and rate, review and subscribe. That's fine. Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: All stories and characters discussed are fictional in nature. No identification with actual persons, living or deceased places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. The podcast and its contents do not constitute professional mental health or medical advice. Listeners might consider consulting a mental health provider if they need assistance with any mental health problems or concerns. As always, please call 911 or go directly to your nearest emergency room for any psychiatric emergencies. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we write and how linguists study language? Also, suppose you could invite any two authors, living or dead, to dinner. Who's on your guest list and why? Plus, anchors aweigh! The slang of sailors includes the kind of BOSS you'd better dodge, a barn you sail into, and the difference between the Baja Ha-Ha and the Baja Bash. All that, and a brain game about body parts, conked out and zonked out, synonyms for synonym, ferhunsed, chronopaguous, nemophilist, sea-kindly, smithereens, and standing on my own two pins. This episode is sponsored by NordVPN. Get a discount when you go to https://NordVPN.com/AWAYWITHWORDS. Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And this time it was the Packers doing the boat-racing. And we revel in it! We also focus on Iowa when we hear from TMJ4 political reporter Charles Benson who is in Iowa ahead of the beginning of the Iowa Caucuses.

Happy New Year, Jurors! And we started it off with a BANG! We recap the Season 4 finale of Salt Lake City where we discover Monica is Reality Von Tease, an accomplice of stolen goods at Meredith's boutique, and had three aliases at Beauty Lab and Laser! What else is she lying about? We also find out the truth of Heather's black eye: it was Jen Shah all along! We defend Queen Barlow and her spray tan, ruminate on why Meredith can't drive, watch Angie learn about the reveals in real time and literally just watch this episode with our jaws dropped. WHAT A FINALE! Did we learn new info? Maybe not. But did the editors build it up and make it an amazing episode? Abso-freaking-lutely! Come judge with us!You can find us:Instagram & Threads: @twojudgeygirlsFacebook: www.facebook.com/twojudgeygirlsPodcast: ACast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Merch: www.etsy.com/shop/TwoJudgeyGirls Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The one where they use an arc reactor to power a hot air balloon."Join the gang this week where we break down a movie so bonkers it's impossible to believe without seeing it. Does Heather Graham fully try to destroy her friend's life, simply because her friend is more successful? Check. Does Jason Biggs treat his wife like shit the whole movie but the movie plays it like he is a hero? Also yes. Does Brandy invent an Ironman Arc-style reactor to power her dead son's hot air balloon design? Abso-fuckin-lutely. Sit back and relax. This one is a wild ride.Please Subscribe, Rate and Review Romancing the Pod to help more people discover our community.Follow us @RomancingThePodShow: on Facebook and Instagram Or RomancingPodSho on Twitter Up Next: Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Celebrity Apprentice star Benjamin Francis AKA Carla from Bankstown and their partner Teddy Nott are here to help me recap the CRAZY year that was... We're looking back at the biggest reality TV scandals of 2023! Cheating scandals? Check. Secret partners? Check. Death hoaxes? Abso-f*cking-lutely. PLUS Carla and Teddy also spill some goss about some recent reality TV run-ins they've had! PLUS LOTS MORE! Want more of the latest gossip? Get EXTRA hot tea on SO DRAMATIC! EXTRA via PATREON and APPLE! Visit SO DRAMATIC! ONLINE and sign up for our VIP list! Keep up to date with the latest on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TIKTOK, TWITTER and the FACEBOOK GROUP! Got a tip? Contact: tips@sodramaticmedia.com! Want to partner with us? Contact: hello@sodramaticmedia.com!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I am joined by Feva Kristina, a channel and fierce woman who hosts beautiful tea ceremonies. Feva shares her practices of conscious drama club, having fun with your ego, her belief that god is kinky + how to gain more insight on relationships through spirituality. Explore the significance of authenticity and the cosmic dance of Chiron, the wounded healer. Learn how tools like tantric astrology and human design offer a language for self-understanding + partnerships. They discuss the importance of balancing self-development with joy and play. Uncover the artful embodiment of sensual shadow play and embrace the spectrum of the human experience. You'll get to hear Lexy's astrology chart being through the tantric astrology lens. Join us in this balanced exploration, avoiding overwhelm and finding joy in the self-discovery journey. Golden Nuggets From This Episode: ✨ "Finally, she put into words what I've been feeling all this time, where my life philosophy is that God is one kinky motherfucker." ✨ "Being consciously dramatic brings that embodiment that moves the energy, releases the pressure, the shame, the guilt, all of these beautiful shadowy parts that unfortunately can play out in destructive ways when they're not heard and seen and acknowledged in the right way, yeah, allows us to then have fun with our ego's drama instead of getting burned and drowned and lost in it." ✨ "Now the inner child play, Abso-fucking-lutely, one of the basics and the crucial" ✨ "God is winking at us with all of the experiences, whether the challenging or the blissful ones." ✨ "Where the human, the mundane, and the sacred are not separate, they are the same." ✨ "Life to me is all about experiencing the full spectrum." ✨ "Instead of higher self, be your favorite self" ✨ "Having some kind of a discipline, having some kind of a structure that allows you to express is going to be very important." ✨ “Hold your boobies. How fucking amazing it is to have you know the fruits of the heart.” ✨ "So even if you desire a monogamous committed relationship, there has to be an aspect that allows you to different parts of you to come out and play." ✨ "But sometimes the most profound affirmation you can say is just, fuck it." ✨ "Remember that every single person just wants to be loved. So how can you be loved today?" Connect More with Feva: IG: https://www.instagram.com/fevakristina/ Website: https://cosmicassplorations.com/ Course Website: https://cosmicassplorations.podia.com/https://cosmicassplorations.com/podcast More Lexy from Heart Snuggles: Join the Holding Heartache Masterclass: https://prosperous.alivetoenjoy.com/public/form/view/657833820e43ca003a7f3749 Email: heartsnuggles@alivetoenjoy.com Dating + Relationship Coaching: https://www.alivetoenjoy.com/work-with-me Instagram: Alivetoenjoy & Heart Snuggles Donations to help spread the heart snuggles: https://www.alivetoenjoy.com/heartsnuggles Timestamps from episode: 02:31 Plant medicine and self-discovery 07:26 Shadowy sexual fantasies 09:26 Embracing the shadow 15:51 Inner child play 19:23 Past lives and karmic cause 24:29 Tantra astrology 28:41 The Pleasure Houses 31:32 Holding Heartache Masterclass 33:58 Relationships as pillars of growth 37:19 Embracing authenticity and belonging 41:37 Embodied anchors 45:09 Symbolism of the rose 50:32 Nature as a manifestation of consciousness 54:56 A kinky and romantic moment 59:31 Remember that every single person just wants to be loved --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heartsnuggles/message

SCOTT PILGRIM IS BACK! Anime adaptation oleh Science Saru & Netflix ini sempet bikin kaget, tapi nggak juga karena emang vibenya udah sangat anime dari awal. Is it satisfying, though? Abso-frickin'-lutely. Langsung aja dengerin kenapa kita seneng banget sama Scott Pilgrim Takes Off di episode ini!

In her late 30s, Amy Tsai was frustrated she couldn't achieve what she wanted in her business, which led her to meditation and introspection. Then she learned that her mom had made a conscious decision when she was an infant NOT to pick her up when she was crying. This information helped her unravel the feelings of frustration that had been showing up in her relationships her entire life. After working through these issues, she feels much less stressed - and characterizes stress as a belief system that can be changed. Guest Bio Amy Tsai has been a health & fitness coach for women for 25 years. She has helped women lose their weight for good, get strong in their bodies and overcome their mental obstacles so they can live an energetic and fulfilling life.Since turning 40, almost 14 years ago, she has been focusing more on helping women navigate through hormonal and physical changes along with their weight challenges as this can be difficult and sometimes feels like there's no solution. But there are solutions to stubborn later-in-life weight. Just because women are older doesn't mean they have to suffer in their bodies. No way! In fact, Amy believes in the opposite, you can reach all your weight-loss goals and live your best life yet.Turning 40 and realizing it's not my faultIn this episode of the Forty Drinks Podcast, Stephanie interviews Amy Tsai, who shares her journey of self-discovery and personal growth, which led her to start her own business and overcome deep-rooted limiting beliefs and relationship patterns. She discusses the importance of mindset work and meditation in her transformation, as well as the impact of her earliest childhood experiences on her self-worth and relationships. Amy also talks about the power of emotional freedom and the role of stress in our lives. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the importance of believing in oneself and finding joy and happiness in life.Highlights from the episode:Amy's earliest childhood experiences and their impact on her self-worth and relationships.The role of mindset work and meditation in Amy's journey of self-discovery.The importance of emotional freedom and overcoming deep-rooted limiting beliefs and patterns.How stress is linked to our beliefs and mindset, and ways to reduce stress.Amy's journey of starting her own business and finding joy in helping women.Resources mentioned:Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell MaltzThe Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der KolkThe Surrender Experiment by Michael A. SingerThis episode offers valuable insights and inspiration for anyone going through a midlife transformation. Don't forget to rate, follow, and review the podcast if you enjoyed this episode.FAQDoes your relationship with your parents affect future relationships? Abso-get-down-lutely! The way we interact with the world and the people in it is based on our experiences with our parents and caregivers in our formative years. We develop securely when our parents and caregivers show that they are paying attention to our basic needs from our first moments all the way through our childhood. Attunement is absolutely critical for us to develop a foundational feeling of safety and an understanding that we can trust the people closest to us. When these needs aren't met, we are likely to develop what's called early childhood or developmental trauma. And when these issues are left unresolved, attunement wounds can lead to serious interpersonal issues throughout our lives. When that attunement didn't happen well, or where we have early or developmental trauma, we can have trouble in our relationships, from becoming a...

Dua jam penuh kegilaan, itulah Captain Laserhawk. Animated series ini lumayan pendek, tapi padet dan asik banget buat jadi tontonan santai. Belom lagi ini series berasa targeted banget ke kita, dengan neon aesthetic, darksynth music, dan animation studio Bobbypills. Is it a fun ride? Abso-frickin'-lutely. Langsung aja dengerin reviewnya di episode ini!

Selador Recordings proudly presents: Dave Seaman's "Inflammable Contraband" (SEL 173) Release date: 20/10/23 Inflammable - /ɪnˈflaməbl/ adjective easily set on fire – example: "inflammable materials" Contraband - /ˈkɒntrəband/ noun goods that have been imported or exported illegally - "customs men had searched the carriages for contraband" Let this be a cautionary tale. Highly combustible goods contained within. Seladorian boss man (job share) Dave Seaman, as well as being a DJ and music producer par excellence, has always been something of a wordsmith. The one-time Mixmag editor thus specialises in some of the best track titles known to humankind… and here's further evidence should you need it. 'Inflammable Contraband' perfectly encapsulates the tuneage herein. Inflammable? You better believe it! This incendiary device is guaranteed to set decks, dancefloors and headphones ablaze from the outset. Handle with extreme care. Contraband? Abso-effing-lutely! Be warned, there's an unusually high risk of arrest if caught in possession of such a lethal musical weapon. Keep youR head down, and your powder dry. Needless to say, Dave is on something of a roll right now, with not only his solo releases but also a string of collabs with the mighty Quivver rocking floors and topping charts all year. And just as he has for the last 35 years, he continues to tour the globe spreading his own unique blend of House, Techno & All Flavours Inbetween. In his spare time you can find him peddling firecrackers at Pyromaniacs Anonymous meetings. A veritable disco inferno then. Team Selador – Twisted firestarters!

PART 2 YA'LL YEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWSIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFACE LIKE A PACKET OF HAMTHAT GINGER BEURE IS OFF HER FACEHE NEEDS SOME MILKABSO SNOOTLEYSNIFFLEY LICIOUSROOTIN TOOTINSPILL UR DRINK ON CHLOE'S SLEEPING GEARTHE LIVE SHOW IS THE 29TH OF SEPTEMBER EKKKKKK

Balance is one of those concepts that's been popularised by media culture. They love buzz words and "work/life balance" is just that. Except that it's pretty much unattainable for working parents. Balance in working parent life is a myth. But then if balance doesn't exist, what's the alternative? I want to propose there are 3 things we should be aiming for instead of balance which I'll dig into during the episode: mental freedom self-compassion no regrets about the choices we're making Don't forget to check out the Career Accelerator Academy: the ultimate strategic career planning membership for busy mums who want to create success on their terms at work and home. FOLLOW @workingmummovement Free Personal Branding Checklist  Working Mum Movement Website

When we understand we CAN SHIFT our perspective to get a different result, it is a mind blowing experience! Are things I dislike about my body, my life, etc.? Abso-freaking-lutey! BUT, when we tweak how we look at ourselves or anything - we can feel and be amazing. Isn't that the ideal goal in life? To feel good in our skin. To embrace what we have been given. You can not like something, but don't give up your power to have control over how you feel or act about it. The deets: - Own your limiting beliefs - Flip them on their side ------------- Ready to take control of your life and feel amazing in your decisions? With individualized mentorship you can... FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR AMAZING BODY FOR WHO YOU ARE AND LIVE YOUR MOST AUTHENTIC VERSION OF YOU: SELF-DISCOVERY IS THE KEY TO YOUR GREATEST HEALTH TRANSFORMATION CONFIDENCE AROUND YOUR FOOD & WELLNESS CHOICES YOUR WHOLE LIFE IMPACTS YOUR HEALTH, YOU JUST HAVE TO START Is this transformation is for you? Check the deets on the Pay in full page. Click here for monthly options. --------- Screenshot your rating or review and DM it to me & you'll receive a complimentary 90 min private session!

"The fascist junta of the potato people" Back in the distant mists of time, when Ian first dreamt up the idea of getting Danny and I to read through all the Smegazines and record a podcast series about it, no doubt issues like this were front and centre of his mind. Historically significant pieces on ancient DJs? Check. Some hot Wraggy action? Check. Potatits? You bet ya. *gestures vaguely at insane original comic strips*? Uh-huh. Needless to say, this was a fun one.Show notes Danny's brother on Bad Influence - he's the one fist-pumping on the right of frame after the pool shot. Wiffle Lever To Full by Bob Fischer is the book in which Cappsy is carried off on the shoulders of his fellow Red Dwarf fans. The Angel Hotel in Northampton was somewhat bigger and grander than our initial research suggested. It burnt down in 2012 and is currently being redeveloped. Clip from Parallel 9 with Robert and Craig. A good blog about the making of Parallel 9. The Abso-smegging-lutely Unofficial Red Dwarf Cookbook. Ian looking discerningly at a bowl of gazpacho soup. Flap Jack's comprehensive guide to the edits made in the Omnibus. G&TV: The Reconstructed Heart. Brian Harvey vs baked potatoes. G&T's 2004 interview with Peter Tyler. Seb Patrick's Beyond The Touchline podcast on Roy of the Rovers and other football comics.

Just another (not) normal day at work. by IwishIweredreaming. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Saturdays at work were terrible. It was almost always a pointless day. You'd think it would be an easy day since it's only a four hour shift, but you would be wrong. Most Saturdays we would only have four cars scheduled and it was almost always just inspection or oil changes. Which would generally leave either a two to three hour gap at the end of the day which always dragged on. Or the cars would be spaced out by a half hour or so and there was still a long gap at the end of the day. In either case it was a long four hours to sit there staring out the window. There usually isn't even any eye candy to stroll by the parts window. The Saturday shift just plain sucked. [[MORE]] When David got to work that morning he went through his normal routine of logging into his computer and signing into everything. After he was all signed in, he walked across the breezeway to the service department to see who was working that morning. He was happy to see it was Zelda. Zelda was a perky twenty-something who most likely got hired primarily because of her looks. She was right around five and a half feet, with dirty blonde hair that when out of it's normal sloppy bun reached down to the middle of her back. She was very petite and David guessed she was maybe one hundred and ten pounds. She had these perky B cups that the tight fitting uniform shirt she wore accentuated perfectly. Today she was wearing a pair of black yoga pants that lifted her tiny round peach of an ass even higher. David, being forty one and divorced never really gave her much of a second glance since he assumed she would never go for a guy like him. Plus he never liked to shit where he ate. He had learned the hard way when he was much younger that getting into a fling at work is just a big mistake. David walked through the automatic doors and stood at the counter. “Morning'.” He said, throwing her a small, sideways smile. “Good Morning!” Zelda said in her normal happy tone. “How are you today Davey?” She continued, throwing him a big toothy grin. “Aww, ya know, normal old guy stuff. I creak and pop when I stand up, especially this early in the morning.” “You aren't that old. What are you, thirty eight? Maybe nine.” “I'm forty one,” he said with a low chuckle. “How many do we have on the schedule for today?” “Um, four. One oil change, one inspection slash emissions, and two buff and shines.” “So, I get to pull one little oil filter today. So glad I got up at the ass crack of dawn for this.” David said as he started to walk towards the door to go back into parts. “Awww, yeah, but then you wouldn't be here with me silly!” She said as she leaned slightly over the counter. When she rested her elbows on the counter he couldn't help but notice that her shirt must have caught on something because it was pulled down and her left breast had popped up and he could see her nipple. He felt his dick tighten ever so slightly in his tight boxer briefs. “Yeah, I guess not,” he said as he walked through the doorway. Once back inside the parts office he adjusted his dick as he sat down. He still had the image of that perky little tit on his mind. She had the tiniest, cutest little nipple with barely any areola. The soft pinkness of it was a stark contrast to the tan tone of her breast, and the rest of her body for that matter. Clearly she either went to a tanning salon or sunbathed topless. He wondered if she had no tan lines down below and his cock stiffened a little bit more. He adjusted it by grabbing it and moving it to lay against his right leg. When the fabric of his boxers slid across his cut cock it felt so good and he felt a drop of precum form. Why the fuck am I so damn horny all of a sudden? He asked himself. Get your shit together David. You are at work and she is almost half your age. He was snapped out of it by a car pulling into the service drop off area. The squeal of the tires on the polished concrete grated on his nerves as it made its way around the corner and came to a stop directly in front of the parts window. Inside was the meanest looking old man who just looked like he was born miserable. I feel bad for Zelda if this guy is in some kind of mood, he thought to himself as he stood up to walk to the shelf to grab an oil filter, his only one for the day, and walked it out to the lone technician there. He dropped it on the tool box and proceeded to walk outside to grab a quick smoke before he sat down and did nothing for the rest of the miserable day. As he sat outside and smoked his cigarette he tried to take his mind, which had wandered back to Zelda's perky little tit, off of such things by scrolling through Facebook. It wasn't working. The way she leaned forward and appeared to be throwing herself towards him had gotten a rise out of him. His cock was still a little stiff and sensitive. He could feel where the drop of precum had landed on his thigh. It felt cool compared to the heat and humidity in the air that day. Midsummer Pennsylvania weather where the sun is trying to kill you and the humidity is his little accomplice… He finished his cigarette and walked back to his tomb. He sat down at his computer, pulled out his phone and started playing solitaire. He looked at the clock on his computer screen. 8:45 it showed. Great, he thought to himself, only three hours and fifteen minutes left. After a few minutes David decided to walk into the back and clean up a little bit. When he had been back there for no more than ten minutes, he heard the door from the shop open up and heard small footsteps come running into the back where he was standing just out of sight around the corner. It was Zelda and she appeared to be crying. “Everything okay,” he asked her. She looked up at David standing there, clearly startled. “No, that old asshole was a horrible man. He just wanted to bitch about everything and he was just. so mean!” She blurted out as she began to sob into her hands again. He moved closer to her, lightly putting a hand on her shoulder. Half expecting her to move away, she instead moved in closer, now sobbing into his chest. He felt himself get hard again. He shifted his hips away from her so she wouldn't feel his dick standing at attention. He stood there holding her for a minute or two until she stopped crying. She pulled herself away from him and looked up into his face. “I'm sorry I cried all over you,” she said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks, “you must think I'm some sort of baby. Letting a customer get to me like that.” “Nah,” he replied. “It happens sometimes. I usually come back here and use the tires as a punching bag though. I've definitely had a small breakdown or two on my way home.” She let out a little laugh and looked down at her feet. That was when she noticed the bulge in his pants. “Oh my,” she said, “did I cause that?” She reached her hand out and cupped the bulge into her hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Shit, I'm sorry. It just sort of popped up.” He said hoping she would laugh and not be upset. “Don't apologize. It's flattering. And from the feel of it,” she went from cupping his bulge to grabbing his cock through his work pants, “nice and thick.” She leaned in while still holding his dick in her hand and kissed him. Just a light kiss on the lips. The kiss was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the shop. “We will continue this later,” she said with her trademark grin as she turned and walked out of the parts room. He watched as her tiny, perky little ass rounded the corner. He looked down at his dick and sighed, “I hope you know what you're getting us into here.” He said out loud. He adjusted his dick as best he could and walked back to the parts counter. Once he was seated at his desk he looked at the clock once more. 9:20. The rest of the day went without incident. The cars were done and no more were coming in so it was a race between David and the technician there today to see who could take the most smoke breaks. Zelda was doing her thing in the service office and hadn't been over near the parts counter since their encounter earlier. The few times she had walked past the window she had thrown a quick, yet somehow sultry, glance his way. Each time she did that his cock would start getting hard. David still had no idea why he was so horny today, but he was glad about it. He briefly wondered if maybe him being horny was being picked up by Zelda but quickly dismissed it. That was just crazy thinking. Noon came eventually and it was time to close up shop. The technician had already left twenty minutes ago and it was just Zelda and David left in the building. As he was locking up the parts room she was closing the inner garage door. He stopped and waited for her to finish locking up. Goddamn! She has the perfect little ass! He thought to himself. He continued to watch and found himself wondering what her pussy tasted like. His dick, once again, started to get hard. She turned around and looked at his face, then his crotch. “You must really like me, huh?” She said with a slight chuckle. “I guess so. It's been a constant struggle all morning. I guess I'm just in some sorta mood.” He replied with a shrug. “Let's go take care of that real quick,” She said as she turned to walk into the breakroom. “The camera is broken. Has been for months. The owners are too cheap to fix it. Besides, no one else is left down here.” She walked up to him and started undoing his belt. He went to say something and she shushed him by kissing him. Her lips were soft and warm. The lip gloss she was wearing tasted like cherry. Her tongue flicked lightly at his lips. She put a finger to his lips telling him to not talk. He wasn't going to argue. She had his pants unbuttoned now and reached in to grab his now fully erect cock. He wasn't long, maybe five and a half inches, but he was thick. Her tiny hand felt even smaller on his cock. She got down on her knees and kissed the tip of his dick getting a fairly large drop of pre-cum on her lips. Rather than licking it off she stood back up and kissed David, this time pushing her tongue past his lips. He kissed her back and pulled her into himself. Since he stood at least seven inches taller than her she was barely standing on the tips of her toes. Instead he was practically picking her up, his fat cock was pressed between him and the mound of her pussy. He could feel where her pussy lips started through the taught fabric of her yoga pants. He could feel the heat of her pussy on his dick and could tell she was getting wet. She broke the kiss and let herself down. “I saw you today. The way you looked at my tit this morning. Did you like it? I did it just for you.” David was stunned. “You did that on purpose?” He asked, still dumbfounded at what he had just heard. “I see the way you look at me sometimes. I like it. I like you. You make me laugh. Now, what are we going to do about that?” She asked, gesturing towards his cock. “I think you need a little more teasing first. Will you eat my pussy?” “Abso fucking lutely.” He helped her take her shirt off, finally exposing her breasts. She didn't have a bra underneath, not that she needed one anyway. He gently grabbed her right breast and flicked his tongue across her nipple before sucking as much of her breast into his mouth as he could, then repeated the process on her left breast. Her perfume, mixed with the light sweat she had worked up that day, tasted like heaven to David. He licked her nipples some more, switching back and forth between them before kissing his way down to her belly button and finally to her pussy. Once he was down on his knees in front of her he grabbed her hips and turned her around. She leaned over, resting her arms on the counter. He ran his tongue from her pussy up her ass crack through the fabric of her yoga pants while grabbing the waistband and pulling her pants, along with her panties down to just above her knees. He grabbed both of her ass cheeks in his hands, spread her apart and licked her from her pussy all the way up to the upper cleft of her butt. She tasted amazing. He could still taste and smell the remaining scent of whatever body wash she had used that morning along with her natural smell. She moaned as he leaned back in and started licking inside her pussy. The tip of his nose was pressed firmly against her tight little asshole. As his tongue explored inside her dripping wet pussy she wiggled her hips back and forth rubbing her asshole on his nose. Taking the hint he moved his tongue up and licked her asshole hard. Stopping with the tip of his tongue pressed against it. She immediately started pressing back into his face. He held on tightly to her hips and was pulling his face into her as much as he could. Her moans were getting louder. She reached her hand back and grabbed his hair. She pulled his head into her and started grinding her ass on his face. His tongue was pressed further into her ass. He moved a hand from her hip and inserted two fingers into her pussy and bent them forward, looking for her g-spot. She jumped a little when he found it and he pressed down harder while rubbing her clit with his thumb. She now had both arms back on the counter to keep herself from falling over as she writhed herself along his face. His tongue was now fully inserted into her tight little asshole. He could feel her getting wetter as he rubbed both her clit and her g-spot. He worked a third finger inside her and she moaned even louder. “More,” she panted, “Put the rest inside me. Please.” He wasted no time and worked his pinky inside of her. “More.” “More?” He asked. “Yes!” He stopped rubbing her clit and pulled his fingers out slightly and slowly worked his thumb in. He slowly turned his hand at the wrist back and forth getting as much of her pussy juices on his hand as he could. His thumb was now into the first knuckle. Her moans were being accompanied with heavy panting and her pussy was literally dripping. Long tendrils of her thick juices were clinging to her inner thigh and his hand. Soon he had his hand worked up to the last knuckles on his thumb and fingers. With one final gentle push his hand was inside of her. He used his entire hand to rub her g-spot and the entire area surrounding it by closing his fingers into a loose fist. She let out a grunt followed by a moan. “I'm going to cum,” She said, lick my asshole some more.“ “Yes ma'am,” he replied. He had to stand up to one side of her and lean over to get at her asshole. Using his one free hand he pulled her right cheek to the side and started flicking his tongue across her sweet hole. She reached a hand out and started stroking his cock. The head was slick with more pre-cum and she was using it as lube. “Oh fuck! Yes! Right there. I'm cum… ” She couldn't finish her sentence. Instead it turned into a yell. Her pussy clamped down on his wrist, as did her hand on his cock, and she started to shudder. Suddenly he felt a rush of warm liquid spray out of her stretched pussy as she squirted with each contraction of her orgasm. The tightness of it around his wrist made it spray out in every direction. A puddle had formed between her feet. She continued to shudder for another moment or two before he felt her muscles relax and he slowly, in a back and forth twisting motion, slid his hand out of her pussy. As his knuckles slid out her knees buckled slightly. He grabbed her around the waist and let her down gently. She reached her hand out and grabbed his throbbing cock, pulling him over to her. She took his cock into her mouth. All the way in. He could feel her tiny lips around his fat cock, her teeth were barely able to keep from scraping. He wouldn't have minded. Sometimes it felt kinda good. He could just barely feel the tip of his dick hitting the back of her throat. She continued with the up and down sucking motion and added in her hands. She had both hands wrapped around his fat dick and her fingers were only barely overlapping each other. She was definitely experienced and knew how to handle such a girthy cock. He briefly imagined what it would be like to have her at the center of a gang bang. The thought shot through him like a lighting bolt. He suddenly felt like he was going to cum. “Bend over again. I want to fuck you.” He told her. Without a word she stood up, bent over onto the counter and stuck her ass out. He gave it a quick lick from clit to asshole before standing up and pressing the head of his cock against her waiting pussy. She reached her hands back and spread her cheeks for him. He slid his cock into her pussy and was amazed with how tight it felt considering he had just fucked her with his fist. He started pumping slowly. Going halfway in then out before slamming all the way into her. Since she was slightly lower than him his cock was hitting the area just above her g-spot. She arched her back up some so he was able to come straight down into her and soon he was hitting her g-spot with each full thrust. It didn't take long before she was cumming again. She let go of her ass cheeks to steady herself on the counter. He felt her muscles tense up and she began to shudder once more. With each downward thrust she moaned and squirted. The front of his pants and the back of hers were soaked through. Her pussy was continually clamping down on his cock and the feeling of it was amazing. He was going to cum. He picked up his pace and soon he was grunting as well. He was now slamming into her already abused pussy. With a final grunt and thrust he emptied his load into her. He continued pumping in rhythm with her muscle contractions. He stayed inside of her until his cock, now completely flaccid, slid out of her along with a thick string of his cum. She reached a hand underneath and formed a cup with her hand. She collected as much of the cum in her hand as she could and proceeded to rub it all over her pussy and clit. Her pussy looked like it had a glaze over it as his thick cum covered it all. She stood up and turned around. She stared him in the eyes as she stuck her fingers in her mouth and sucked the remainder of his cum off. She then proceeded to pull her pants up a little too high and made sure that the outline of her pussy was clearly visible. She walked the few steps over to him while running her hand along the outline of her crotch and leaned up to kiss him. He could taste his cum on her lips and tongue. As they kissed she was stroking his flaccid cock. “See you Monday,” she said as she pulled away and started towards the door. She paused as she held the door part way open and blew him a kiss. “Later, Davey.” She said, “Call me sometime.” And with that she walked through the door leaving David standing in the middle of the breakroom with his dick hanging out. He looked at the mess around him as he put his dick away and buckled his pants. “I ain't cleaning this fucking mess up.” by IwishIweredreaming for Literotica

Just another (not) normal day at work. by IwishIweredreaming. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Saturdays at work were terrible. It was almost always a pointless day. You'd think it would be an easy day since it's only a four hour shift, but you would be wrong. Most Saturdays we would only have four cars scheduled and it was almost always just inspection or oil changes. Which would generally leave either a two to three hour gap at the end of the day which always dragged on. Or the cars would be spaced out by a half hour or so and there was still a long gap at the end of the day. In either case it was a long four hours to sit there staring out the window. There usually isn't even any eye candy to stroll by the parts window. The Saturday shift just plain sucked. [[MORE]] When David got to work that morning he went through his normal routine of logging into his computer and signing into everything. After he was all signed in, he walked across the breezeway to the service department to see who was working that morning. He was happy to see it was Zelda. Zelda was a perky twenty-something who most likely got hired primarily because of her looks. She was right around five and a half feet, with dirty blonde hair that when out of it's normal sloppy bun reached down to the middle of her back. She was very petite and David guessed she was maybe one hundred and ten pounds. She had these perky B cups that the tight fitting uniform shirt she wore accentuated perfectly. Today she was wearing a pair of black yoga pants that lifted her tiny round peach of an ass even higher. David, being forty one and divorced never really gave her much of a second glance since he assumed she would never go for a guy like him. Plus he never liked to shit where he ate. He had learned the hard way when he was much younger that getting into a fling at work is just a big mistake. David walked through the automatic doors and stood at the counter. “Morning'.” He said, throwing her a small, sideways smile. “Good Morning!” Zelda said in her normal happy tone. “How are you today Davey?” She continued, throwing him a big toothy grin. “Aww, ya know, normal old guy stuff. I creak and pop when I stand up, especially this early in the morning.” “You aren't that old. What are you, thirty eight? Maybe nine.” “I'm forty one,” he said with a low chuckle. “How many do we have on the schedule for today?” “Um, four. One oil change, one inspection slash emissions, and two buff and shines.” “So, I get to pull one little oil filter today. So glad I got up at the ass crack of dawn for this.” David said as he started to walk towards the door to go back into parts. “Awww, yeah, but then you wouldn't be here with me silly!” She said as she leaned slightly over the counter. When she rested her elbows on the counter he couldn't help but notice that her shirt must have caught on something because it was pulled down and her left breast had popped up and he could see her nipple. He felt his dick tighten ever so slightly in his tight boxer briefs. “Yeah, I guess not,” he said as he walked through the doorway. Once back inside the parts office he adjusted his dick as he sat down. He still had the image of that perky little tit on his mind. She had the tiniest, cutest little nipple with barely any areola. The soft pinkness of it was a stark contrast to the tan tone of her breast, and the rest of her body for that matter. Clearly she either went to a tanning salon or sunbathed topless. He wondered if she had no tan lines down below and his cock stiffened a little bit more. He adjusted it by grabbing it and moving it to lay against his right leg. When the fabric of his boxers slid across his cut cock it felt so good and he felt a drop of precum form. Why the fuck am I so damn horny all of a sudden? He asked himself. Get your shit together David. You are at work and she is almost half your age. He was snapped out of it by a car pulling into the service drop off area. The squeal of the tires on the polished concrete grated on his nerves as it made its way around the corner and came to a stop directly in front of the parts window. Inside was the meanest looking old man who just looked like he was born miserable. I feel bad for Zelda if this guy is in some kind of mood, he thought to himself as he stood up to walk to the shelf to grab an oil filter, his only one for the day, and walked it out to the lone technician there. He dropped it on the tool box and proceeded to walk outside to grab a quick smoke before he sat down and did nothing for the rest of the miserable day. As he sat outside and smoked his cigarette he tried to take his mind, which had wandered back to Zelda's perky little tit, off of such things by scrolling through Facebook. It wasn't working. The way she leaned forward and appeared to be throwing herself towards him had gotten a rise out of him. His cock was still a little stiff and sensitive. He could feel where the drop of precum had landed on his thigh. It felt cool compared to the heat and humidity in the air that day. Midsummer Pennsylvania weather where the sun is trying to kill you and the humidity is his little accomplice… He finished his cigarette and walked back to his tomb. He sat down at his computer, pulled out his phone and started playing solitaire. He looked at the clock on his computer screen. 8:45 it showed. Great, he thought to himself, only three hours and fifteen minutes left. After a few minutes David decided to walk into the back and clean up a little bit. When he had been back there for no more than ten minutes, he heard the door from the shop open up and heard small footsteps come running into the back where he was standing just out of sight around the corner. It was Zelda and she appeared to be crying. “Everything okay,” he asked her. She looked up at David standing there, clearly startled. “No, that old asshole was a horrible man. He just wanted to bitch about everything and he was just. so mean!” She blurted out as she began to sob into her hands again. He moved closer to her, lightly putting a hand on her shoulder. Half expecting her to move away, she instead moved in closer, now sobbing into his chest. He felt himself get hard again. He shifted his hips away from her so she wouldn't feel his dick standing at attention. He stood there holding her for a minute or two until she stopped crying. She pulled herself away from him and looked up into his face. “I'm sorry I cried all over you,” she said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks, “you must think I'm some sort of baby. Letting a customer get to me like that.” “Nah,” he replied. “It happens sometimes. I usually come back here and use the tires as a punching bag though. I've definitely had a small breakdown or two on my way home.” She let out a little laugh and looked down at her feet. That was when she noticed the bulge in his pants. “Oh my,” she said, “did I cause that?” She reached her hand out and cupped the bulge into her hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Shit, I'm sorry. It just sort of popped up.” He said hoping she would laugh and not be upset. “Don't apologize. It's flattering. And from the feel of it,” she went from cupping his bulge to grabbing his cock through his work pants, “nice and thick.” She leaned in while still holding his dick in her hand and kissed him. Just a light kiss on the lips. The kiss was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the shop. “We will continue this later,” she said with her trademark grin as she turned and walked out of the parts room. He watched as her tiny, perky little ass rounded the corner. He looked down at his dick and sighed, “I hope you know what you're getting us into here.” He said out loud. He adjusted his dick as best he could and walked back to the parts counter. Once he was seated at his desk he looked at the clock once more. 9:20. The rest of the day went without incident. The cars were done and no more were coming in so it was a race between David and the technician there today to see who could take the most smoke breaks. Zelda was doing her thing in the service office and hadn't been over near the parts counter since their encounter earlier. The few times she had walked past the window she had thrown a quick, yet somehow sultry, glance his way. Each time she did that his cock would start getting hard. David still had no idea why he was so horny today, but he was glad about it. He briefly wondered if maybe him being horny was being picked up by Zelda but quickly dismissed it. That was just crazy thinking. Noon came eventually and it was time to close up shop. The technician had already left twenty minutes ago and it was just Zelda and David left in the building. As he was locking up the parts room she was closing the inner garage door. He stopped and waited for her to finish locking up. Goddamn! She has the perfect little ass! He thought to himself. He continued to watch and found himself wondering what her pussy tasted like. His dick, once again, started to get hard. She turned around and looked at his face, then his crotch. “You must really like me, huh?” She said with a slight chuckle. “I guess so. It's been a constant struggle all morning. I guess I'm just in some sorta mood.” He replied with a shrug. “Let's go take care of that real quick,” She said as she turned to walk into the breakroom. “The camera is broken. Has been for months. The owners are too cheap to fix it. Besides, no one else is left down here.” She walked up to him and started undoing his belt. He went to say something and she shushed him by kissing him. Her lips were soft and warm. The lip gloss she was wearing tasted like cherry. Her tongue flicked lightly at his lips. She put a finger to his lips telling him to not talk. He wasn't going to argue. She had his pants unbuttoned now and reached in to grab his now fully erect cock. He wasn't long, maybe five and a half inches, but he was thick. Her tiny hand felt even smaller on his cock. She got down on her knees and kissed the tip of his dick getting a fairly large drop of pre-cum on her lips. Rather than licking it off she stood back up and kissed David, this time pushing her tongue past his lips. He kissed her back and pulled her into himself. Since he stood at least seven inches taller than her she was barely standing on the tips of her toes. Instead he was practically picking her up, his fat cock was pressed between him and the mound of her pussy. He could feel where her pussy lips started through the taught fabric of her yoga pants. He could feel the heat of her pussy on his dick and could tell she was getting wet. She broke the kiss and let herself down. “I saw you today. The way you looked at my tit this morning. Did you like it? I did it just for you.” David was stunned. “You did that on purpose?” He asked, still dumbfounded at what he had just heard. “I see the way you look at me sometimes. I like it. I like you. You make me laugh. Now, what are we going to do about that?” She asked, gesturing towards his cock. “I think you need a little more teasing first. Will you eat my pussy?” “Abso fucking lutely.” He helped her take her shirt off, finally exposing her breasts. She didn't have a bra underneath, not that she needed one anyway. He gently grabbed her right breast and flicked his tongue across her nipple before sucking as much of her breast into his mouth as he could, then repeated the process on her left breast. Her perfume, mixed with the light sweat she had worked up that day, tasted like heaven to David. He licked her nipples some more, switching back and forth between them before kissing his way down to her belly button and finally to her pussy. Once he was down on his knees in front of her he grabbed her hips and turned her around. She leaned over, resting her arms on the counter. He ran his tongue from her pussy up her ass crack through the fabric of her yoga pants while grabbing the waistband and pulling her pants, along with her panties down to just above her knees. He grabbed both of her ass cheeks in his hands, spread her apart and licked her from her pussy all the way up to the upper cleft of her butt. She tasted amazing. He could still taste and smell the remaining scent of whatever body wash she had used that morning along with her natural smell. She moaned as he leaned back in and started licking inside her pussy. The tip of his nose was pressed firmly against her tight little asshole. As his tongue explored inside her dripping wet pussy she wiggled her hips back and forth rubbing her asshole on his nose. Taking the hint he moved his tongue up and licked her asshole hard. Stopping with the tip of his tongue pressed against it. She immediately started pressing back into his face. He held on tightly to her hips and was pulling his face into her as much as he could. Her moans were getting louder. She reached her hand back and grabbed his hair. She pulled his head into her and started grinding her ass on his face. His tongue was pressed further into her ass. He moved a hand from her hip and inserted two fingers into her pussy and bent them forward, looking for her g-spot. She jumped a little when he found it and he pressed down harder while rubbing her clit with his thumb. She now had both arms back on the counter to keep herself from falling over as she writhed herself along his face. His tongue was now fully inserted into her tight little asshole. He could feel her getting wetter as he rubbed both her clit and her g-spot. He worked a third finger inside her and she moaned even louder. “More,” she panted, “Put the rest inside me. Please.” He wasted no time and worked his pinky inside of her. “More.” “More?” He asked. “Yes!” He stopped rubbing her clit and pulled his fingers out slightly and slowly worked his thumb in. He slowly turned his hand at the wrist back and forth getting as much of her pussy juices on his hand as he could. His thumb was now into the first knuckle. Her moans were being accompanied with heavy panting and her pussy was literally dripping. Long tendrils of her thick juices were clinging to her inner thigh and his hand. Soon he had his hand worked up to the last knuckles on his thumb and fingers. With one final gentle push his hand was inside of her. He used his entire hand to rub her g-spot and the entire area surrounding it by closing his fingers into a loose fist. She let out a grunt followed by a moan. “I'm going to cum,” She said, lick my asshole some more.“ “Yes ma'am,” he replied. He had to stand up to one side of her and lean over to get at her asshole. Using his one free hand he pulled her right cheek to the side and started flicking his tongue across her sweet hole. She reached a hand out and started stroking his cock. The head was slick with more pre-cum and she was using it as lube. “Oh fuck! Yes! Right there. I'm cum… ” She couldn't finish her sentence. Instead it turned into a yell. Her pussy clamped down on his wrist, as did her hand on his cock, and she started to shudder. Suddenly he felt a rush of warm liquid spray out of her stretched pussy as she squirted with each contraction of her orgasm. The tightness of it around his wrist made it spray out in every direction. A puddle had formed between her feet. She continued to shudder for another moment or two before he felt her muscles relax and he slowly, in a back and forth twisting motion, slid his hand out of her pussy. As his knuckles slid out her knees buckled slightly. He grabbed her around the waist and let her down gently. She reached her hand out and grabbed his throbbing cock, pulling him over to her. She took his cock into her mouth. All the way in. He could feel her tiny lips around his fat cock, her teeth were barely able to keep from scraping. He wouldn't have minded. Sometimes it felt kinda good. He could just barely feel the tip of his dick hitting the back of her throat. She continued with the up and down sucking motion and added in her hands. She had both hands wrapped around his fat dick and her fingers were only barely overlapping each other. She was definitely experienced and knew how to handle such a girthy cock. He briefly imagined what it would be like to have her at the center of a gang bang. The thought shot through him like a lighting bolt. He suddenly felt like he was going to cum. “Bend over again. I want to fuck you.” He told her. Without a word she stood up, bent over onto the counter and stuck her ass out. He gave it a quick lick from clit to asshole before standing up and pressing the head of his cock against her waiting pussy. She reached her hands back and spread her cheeks for him. He slid his cock into her pussy and was amazed with how tight it felt considering he had just fucked her with his fist. He started pumping slowly. Going halfway in then out before slamming all the way into her. Since she was slightly lower than him his cock was hitting the area just above her g-spot. She arched her back up some so he was able to come straight down into her and soon he was hitting her g-spot with each full thrust. It didn't take long before she was cumming again. She let go of her ass cheeks to steady herself on the counter. He felt her muscles tense up and she began to shudder once more. With each downward thrust she moaned and squirted. The front of his pants and the back of hers were soaked through. Her pussy was continually clamping down on his cock and the feeling of it was amazing. He was going to cum. He picked up his pace and soon he was grunting as well. He was now slamming into her already abused pussy. With a final grunt and thrust he emptied his load into her. He continued pumping in rhythm with her muscle contractions. He stayed inside of her until his cock, now completely flaccid, slid out of her along with a thick string of his cum. She reached a hand underneath and formed a cup with her hand. She collected as much of the cum in her hand as she could and proceeded to rub it all over her pussy and clit. Her pussy looked like it had a glaze over it as his thick cum covered it all. She stood up and turned around. She stared him in the eyes as she stuck her fingers in her mouth and sucked the remainder of his cum off. She then proceeded to pull her pants up a little too high and made sure that the outline of her pussy was clearly visible. She walked the few steps over to him while running her hand along the outline of her crotch and leaned up to kiss him. He could taste his cum on her lips and tongue. As they kissed she was stroking his flaccid cock. “See you Monday,” she said as she pulled away and started towards the door. She paused as she held the door part way open and blew him a kiss. “Later, Davey.” She said, “Call me sometime.” And with that she walked through the door leaving David standing in the middle of the breakroom with his dick hanging out. He looked at the mess around him as he put his dick away and buckled his pants. “I ain't cleaning this fucking mess up.” by IwishIweredreaming for Literotica

Husband and Wife answer questions about the City of David. Did it really exist? YES. Do we know where it is? Nah. Is there a theme park which purports to be the actual Biblical site? Yup. And does Wife need to visit this magical playland? Abso-fkn-lutely!Skip the ads by joining Acast+ https://plus.acast.com/s/6331d364470c7900137bb57dThank you for stopping by Sacrilegious Discourse - Bible Study for Atheists!Check out these links for more information about our podcast and merchandise:Our Homepage: https://sacrilegiousdiscourse.com/Help support us by subscribing on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sacrilegiousdiscourse Join Acast+ to enjoy our podcast adfree and get EARLY access to our episodes! https://plus.acast.com/s/sacrilegious-discourse-bible-study-for-atheists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abso-freakin-lutely!  For many of us, the all-or-nothing mindset does not serve us well in this environment. We can find ourselves eating everything in sight with the promise of a new year's resolution. It doesn't have to be this way. Dr Lucy and Dr Mary discuss the concept of identity and recommend James Clear's technique of embracing your new identity with small steps every day that confirm who you are as a person. They have a special and fun twist on the advent calendar that helps you cement your "low carbetarian" identity.  Santa's Little Helperhttps://www.rlmedicine.com/santa Extra show notes & episode transcripthttps://www.rlmedicine.com/111 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True story: Vin Diesel makes movies other than ones in the Fast & Furious franchise, BLOODSHOT is one of those movies. It's based on a comic book about a guy powered by nanobots (nanites, specifically, duh)and out for revenge. Is there talk of family? Sure. Are there fast cars? Honestly, I don't recall, but probably. Does he have a gravelly voice? Abso-fricking-lutely! Did the Film School Janitors lose this podcast for awhile? Of course!

The Ravens (3-3) have a chance to put some distance between them and the Cleveland Browns (2-4), but they need to figure out how to close out a game with a late lead. Last week at New York, they lost their third game this year in which they led by at least 10 in the second half. Can Kenyan Drake have another big day? And should the Ravens keep feeding him if he is? "Abso-freaking-lutely," Wilcox says, still shaking his head over Drake's usage -- or lack thereof -- last week. Wilcox also has keys to defending elite edge rushers such as Myles Garrett, and the best ways for the Ravens to stop Browns sensational running back Nick Chubb.

Asking for — and having the objective ability to hear — frank feedback from your clientele on your business and their experience with it is one of the BEST ways to improve and become the VERY best in class.Is it always easy? No.But is it oh so worth it? Abso-freakin-lutely.Especially in small business — where we personally invest our blood, sweat and tears into our offers — there can be a tendency to take everything very personally.One of the most freeing realisations though is that actually, nothing in your business is about you.Your business is fundamentally about solving people's problems. If you are doing well, you will get positive feedback — which is great, but actually has nothing to do with you as a person.Equally, if you get constructive feedback (or even downright criticism), again, it has NOTHING to do with you as a person. It means that there is a gap in your offer or in your processes that needs to be filled.Treating it as such is critical especially if the feedback is delivered constructively.In today's podcast episode, we're covering how to "operationalise" the collection of regular feedback from your clientele into your business to keep a pulse on their experience, to look for opportunities to improve and to, as we say inside of our OWN business, to be 1% better each and every single day.Here's five things to think about when incorporating something similar:✔️ Realise It's Not About You✔️  Refine One Offer✔️ Fight for Feedback✔️  Action It!✔️ The Client Isn't ALWAYS Right------Want to create, launch and scale a flagship online course?Here's a few ways I can help you:1. Apply for My Free, Advanced Private Training on Scaling a Digital Course:Apply for our 12 month, high touch group coaching program Launchpad now and get an invite to the free advanced private training where I hand you my ENTIRE process for creating, launching and scaling a course along with all of the details for Launchpad over at https://www.steviesayssocial.com/launchpad2. Want to get your hands on our DONE-FOR-YOU lead magnet template for creating your own lead magnet in 60 minutes or less? You can get it for FREE at www.steviesayssocial.com/leadmagnet now!3. Want to get paid to generate more leads into your business than you can poke a stick at? You need our $57 Paid to Grow Workshop and Bundle series (we are consistently told that this is the best program our students have ever bought and it's a steal!)4. Want to start a wildly successful podcast? Check out our FREE masterclass where we share with you our complete five step strategy!Full show notes for this episode can be found athttps://steviesayssocial.com/162

Based out of San Francisco, Airtable is a fast-growing software product company with a mission to democratize software creation. It says it's doing that by enabling anyone to build the tools that meet their needs, but is that focus on openness and collaboration talk or walk? In this next debate on how to make reconnecting real, we find out from a great conversation with the company's Global Talent Development Leader, Jessica Amortegui, who has a lot to say about walking the walk—from the way her company is really taking on the problem of connection at the individual, human level, but also how to better facilitate connecting with others on a one-on-one, team, and entire organizational level. Even more interestingly; that happens on both the virtual (90% of her fellow ‘Airtablets' joined during the pandemic) but also on the physical level—and as you'll also hear, gets instantiated with well-thought-out and battle-tested role tools and exercises, which we're delighted to say some of which Jess has shared with listeners. She also has some very useful things to say about the demonstrable value of all this even the most results-focused managers and connection ‘skeptics' find persuasive. Finally, we loved her persuading us about the importance of connection in the flow of one's day-to-day work—making connecting not some special thing that you do in parallel but can be structured to be part of any meeting if you want it to be. All in all, so many great soundbites—but if you want just one, how about, “The thing I would love to switch about our workplaces is how many of us end the day exhausted and feeling de-energized. Why does it have to be that way?” Abso-tootle!

This week on the 2nd Act Entrepreneurs Show learn how to choose the best lead magnet for your business to grow your email list and also increase sales. In case you are new, thanks for joining me today. I'm Alisa Conner, and I help 2nd Act Entrepreneurs grow their businesses using the power of email marketing. Before we dive into this week's show, be sure to stay with me until the end, because I've included a bonus for you.

Join this episode of The Wellness Revolution as Amber talks about the effects of alcohol in the body and its impact on weight loss overall. Alcohol itself has a great amount of empty calories, meaning it has no nutritional value, no micronutrients and no macronutrients, which means that all of the calories consumed from the alcoholic drink end up having no benefits to your body and to your health. Does alcohol affect weight loss? Yes, it does, but maybe not due to the reasons you think. Drinking alcohol at a party or social event for example can lead to overeating, which can cause an increase in the caloric intake. Anyone that has had a few too many drinks also knows that hangovers are not amazing, and this lethargic feeling can also lead to overeating and ‘snacking' all day. Alcohol also affects gut health and many other factors that, directly or indirectly, influence weight loss. Tune in! Wellness Quote “I do put alcohol in a similar bucket as indulging, meaning I can't sugarcoat this. If you have alcohol, more than probably a couple of times a week, is it going to impede your ability to lose weight? Abso-freakin-lutely.” – Amber Shaw Key Highlights Alcohol is made of empty calories, meaning that if you believe food is medicine and fuel to your health and overall wellbeing, alcohol has no value at all; Too much alcohol can increase the chances of different diseases, the main one being liver disease; Having drinks during a social event or during a party can also lead to overeating, “snacking” all the time, and eating more than we actually need; Alcohol causes hangover, which can make you feel lethargic, with no energy to exercise for example, and in a “hungry” mood the next day; Alcohol also has a huge influence over our gut health and, depending on your age, this should be a focus of attention. Episode resources Get your Magnesium L-Threonate from Cymbiotika here, and use code AMBER15 for 15% off FREE Guide on Intermittent Fasting: ambershaw.com/fasting About Amber Shaw Amber is a Body Transformation Expert, Founder of The Wellness Revolution, motivational speaker, and NBC Health and Wellness Coach. Having built a lifestyle that allowed her to embrace work, children, exercise, and well-balanced eating habits, Amber now works with helping and coaching women to achieve the same level of serenity and empowerment through a sustainable way of living. Connect with Amber Instagram: @msambershaw TikTok: @msambershaw Website: ambershaw.com Facebook: Amber Shaw

Are we ready to help Em unpack some feels around her appearance on the second season of Australian Idol? Abso-bloody-lutely we are, but first up we need to check in on Em's recovery after Michael hexed her with the ‘rona at our 2nd Birthday Extravaganza. Harry Styles performed at Coachella on the weekend, so we need to allow time to froth out over that. Plus, as previously alluded to, we'll also do a full deep dive into some residual Australian Idol related trauma involving a specific Gloria Estefan song that Em's finally let go of after being terrified of it for way too long.Then, last but by no means least, we need to talk about the evolving shit show that is the 2022 Election campaign. There's more whack moments from Pauline Hanson and Bob Katter to process and the hideous trend of using trans kids for political point scoring needs to be addressed too. So prepare yourself for a trip back in time, where we'll revisit last week and the weekend just gone, then head back to 2004 for a feast of Oz Idol related revelations, before wrapping things up by travelling all the way back to the 50's, fingers crossed none of that upsets our tummies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Tay hardcore reflects on body image, self-love and the role weight plays in them. She's silly most of the time, but some days she's deep and vulnerable and today is one of those today. Does she cry? Mmhm. Will you relate? Probably. Do we all need to support each other finding self-love? Abso-f*cking-lutely… and thank GOD for Jessie Jolles for being our guiding light. Download Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play Visit Nuuly.com and use code TAYLOR20 and sign up to get $20 off your first month Visit Grove.com/TAYLOR to get a free gift set worth up to $50 with your first order. Plus shipping is fast and FREE. Produced by Dear Media

Buckle in y'all, episode 59 is coming in HOT and it is BONKERS. Truly. Think of anything and this movie has it. Except for the RPG of our dreams. This week, Katy took Kayla on a wild spaceship ride to a thousand different planets, stories, characters, plots and did we enjoy ourselves? Abso-freakin-lutely! Featuring: I am INNNNNN-AH, We love The Eyebrows, just not The Eyebrows' house and 'So where's Rihanna?' Links: Cara Delevingne's house tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx09_4cEzlM Sea Jelly anatomy: https://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.jsp?med_id=65101

Emma F*cking Beesley. She is definitely a complicated character, but I am trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. She is in mourning after all... In this episode, we learn more about Nick's secret love affair, and holy moly he had everyone fooled because no one would have guessed that he was cheating on Sophie. Eye for an eye? Breaking even? That's def the Brewer way. Back to Emma, she did not win the "Savage of the Week Award" just in case y'all were wondering, but she does get some brownie points for the dramatics. Do I like her? No. Do I hate her? Not really. Is she making things even more complicated? Abso-f*cking-lutely.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thatshoweffedmeup/support

You're a responsible adult. You plan for retirement, set aside money for a rainy day, and even save for your children's college tuition. But when it comes to planning for the future, chances are one of the most important decisions you could make is one you've never even considered. Until now!In this episode, we cover a fundamental topic in palliative care and discuss the importance of choosing a health care proxy. We cover what it is, why you need one, and what happens to you and your loved ones if you don't elect a proxy.Is choosing a healthcare proxy the sexiest topic of discussion? Probably not.Is it incredibly worthwhile and valuable to know what medial treatments your loved one would or would not want so that when you're about to make some incredibly difficult medical decisions, you can be confident you're making the right choices? Abso-freaking-lutely!Stay tuned for the last 10 minutes of the episode to hear some mind-blowing shifts in how we think about the values that make our lives meaningful, both now and in the future. Like what you hear? Leave a review and tell a friend! Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & tag us so we can thank you personally!For more life-changing, mindset-shifting content to help you live intentionally and transform your life from the inside out, follow us on Instagram @purposefilter

This isn't JUST a story about a girl named Britney... It's also a story about the oppression, unfairness, and totally inhumane way she's been treated by humans who were supposed to be protecting her. Becca & AMQ are back to follow up with updates since Britney Spears' voice has been heard! Peep the breaking news update at the end since this story has, and will continue to, unravel with changes and cracks in the foundation that will hopefully lead to Britney Spear's freedom. Does more noise need to be made on how we can support, petition and fight for justice for Britney? Abso-freaking-lutely! DM all feedback on Free Britney on IG @igotyoupod or email at hellohellooo@igotyouboopod.com Boo Crew! Our friend of the pod, Taylor, is on a journey to live their best, most authentic life, and sometimes that requires a little help. Becca & AMQ are happy to help to support their journey of getting top surgery to help battle their body dysmorphia and continue the work to love the skin they're in! Check out Taylor‘s go fund me in the link below to get to know them more and link arms to help them reach their goal! Taylor's GoFundMe! @britneysgram @toxicthepodcast @tayy_ceratops

It feels like a blink since the original post “lessons from one year of writing full-time”. But it is with ENORMOUS pride, a slight maniacal cackle and a deep sigh of caffeine-fuelled relief that I get to say this is 5 lessons from two years of writing full-time.   5 Lessons from Two Years of Writing Full-Time    Lesson 1: The Income Update In my first year, my only goal was to survive. I was desperate not to go back to the corporate hellmare that was my old day job.  I did that, yay me. But I also ended year one feeling like I was rudderless and hadn't pushed myself sufficiently on the income front—which, funnily enough, I hadn't because I was so consumed by just surviving. Year two was a financial shifting year. While I wanted to beat my old day job income, it was more important to me to reduce the freelance in order to focus on my business and create the financial and life freedom I really wanted. But I'm also a competitive bitch, and STILL wanted to increase my overall income, a tall order given I was starting from a lower baseline after giving up a lot of the freelance gigs. Thanks to a frankly terrifying amount of caffeine, a little hysteria and a few gins, I managed it. Turnover was up 22% and net profit up 67%.  But the really exciting development is the change in breakdown of income. In year one, 75% of my income came from freelance work, 17% from book sales and 8% from everything else like affiliate income, speaking fees etc. But in year two, what changed dramatically. I'm genuinely surprised, shocked and delighted to see the shift. It shows how much of a lie time is, the last year has felt endless and so, so fast all at the same time.  But the summary is that I halved the income from freelance which sat at just 37% of turnover and increased sales income to the point where it's now my biggest income stream at 44% of turnover. This makes me crazy happy and hungry to continue decreasing the freelance income and continue boosting my other streams. Interestingly, my “everything else” bucket more than doubled in year two and that's thanks in part to the podcast, sponsorships, and patreon but also to course sales and a variety of other income streams. A takeaway here for me is that while I doubled the array of “everything else” income streams, it still only accounted for 19% AND in order to generate that, it took as much effort if not more than everything else. Realistically, it's the books that shifted the income percentages and so this coming year, I must focus my energies on getting more books written. In my second year, my main income streams included: book sales, freelance work, patreon, merchandise, affiliate income, sponsorship, course sales, consulting and speaking.  Year two assets include: 8 nonfiction books and 3 nonfiction box sets and 2 fiction books. In year three, my goal is to continue growing turnover and profit, continue reducing the % freelance work accounts for and increase my wide book sales income. In addition, I want to add audiobooks and more courses to my asset portfolio. I still haven't beaten my old day job income so that goal is burning hard now! Takeaway 1: Annual analysis is really important to help give you perspective. I've been flailing a bit recently with the direction I should be going and this has helped to solidify that.   Lesson 2: Self-Belief is Everything It's only now that I look back at the end of my second year of business that I realise just quite how much of my first year was spent in crippling fear. My sphincter was constantly quivering at the thought of having to go back to a job I hated and the prospect of being flung back into that depressive “no way out” mindset. I spoke earlier about how I didn't care about anything other than surviving and making sure I didn't go back and that was all consuming in the first year.  It's taken me two years to get rid of that fear. I still fidget a little, itchy sphincter hasn't totally gone, but I have self-belief in a way that I never had before. I know without a doubt that I won't go back to a day job. This career, hell, any career working for myself is for life. Even if I end up doing something else as a business, this life of working for myself is not something I can or will ever give up. I was not made to work for other people but accepting that or more, being comfortable and confident enough to accept that has taken time. Indies are especially good at wanting things now, now, now. I'm like it too. I think it's because our businesses are in our control, therefore we want results now, to publish yesterday, the covers last week and the income ALL DAY LONG BABY.  But there is something intangible that “time” can give you. Growth doesn't happen instantly. You don't just quit your job and have the self-belief that you can do this, or the income appear instantly. Shit is rocky for a while, business is hard, and it is a rollercoaster of wobbling belief, income and learning. But fuck me is it the most glorious rollercoaster out there. This second year, despite it being in extremely difficult global times, has allowed me to blossom and grow in confidence and self-belief and the security that I can do this for the long haul and things are going to be okay. Takeaway 2: no matter how quick or amazing your income balloons, there is something that only time can give you, a kind of security blanket of confidence and assurance that you've got this. It's a hard pill to swallow when you're drowning in a society of “nowness” but embrace it, buckle up baby and grip hard, this is a rocky rollercoaster ride.   Lesson 3: The Honeymoon Period Ends Alright, yes, this job is fucking amazing. I will never say otherwise. However, every job no matter the business or industry you're in, has a grind. And this year the honeymoon period well and truly ended for me. Perhaps it was made worse and brought forward because of Covid and the absolute devastation it caused on my time and sanity. But the honeymoon period of working for myself is definitely over. Does that mean I regret leaving my day job? Abso-fuckin-lutely not. This is the best job in the world. However, managing a family, a school kid, a wife a house and a business is A LOT. Because I have work “flexibility” nine times out of ten the “can you dos” fall to me. The ad hoc life shit will fall on my plate and I ended up doing 95% of the homeschooling. Which at six hours a day did not leave much time or energy for business. The grind of having to do admin and emails and deal with everything else life throws at me as well as work a number of evenings is tough. Without having had a proper holiday in the last 18 months I'm feeling worn if I'm honest. There's a kind of viral exhaustion I can't get rid of because staycations are never real breaks when you work for yourself. What this means is that I need to keep things fresh. I need to do projects that I both enjoy and that bring me income. Finding the balance is key to retaining my enthusiasm. Takeaway 3: Holidays away from the house and my office are essential to get real rejuvenation time. Reducing or outsourcing “grind” tasks over the next year to ensure I stick with what only I can do is essential. I also need to find a way to work less evenings it's having a severe impact on my energy and enthusiasm.    Lesson 4: Input and Strengths In my first year I was so concerned with just surviving that I didn't put much thought into learning, growth or development. But as I neared the last third of my second year, I felt a gaping emptiness and my ability to write was being affected. It's in large part thanks to Becca Syme and her Better Faster Academy that I've been able to learn more about my strengths and make them work smarter for me. Case in point, I've upped my reading input from 60-70 books a year to 130-140ish. The result? In the first month alone I output 30% more words. Whether I like it or not, I have a high need for input. I'd assumed it was just visual stimuli I needed but apparently binge watching Netflix isn't cutting it for my brain, it wants to eat books and so I will deliver as a humble servant. I think the other lesson is that by being aware of my strengths, intentionally learning and trying to develop them, I can have real tangible results. But I do need to give myself the time and headspace to reflect and learn and input. Something I find difficult from the outset because it doesn't feel like work. If it helps me develop, work better or smarter, then clearly I need to do it. Takeaway 4: Sometimes the things that create the biggest effect on your bottom line don't feel like work, but that doesn't mean it isn't or that it's not important. Far from it. You have to do those things. Those are the things that allow you to grow.   Lesson 5: You Have Permission This is going to sound bonkers from the mother of villains and queen of rebels. BUT, it's very easy to institutionalise yourself. When you live day in day out with how your business is and doing things “because they work” it's easy to forget you can pivot or change or adapt. When it comes to someone else telling me what to do, I'll always rebel or find a way to break the rule, but I'm often left floundering when it comes to myself. I tend to be reluctant to give myself permission, or I let doubt creep in and prevent me from doing the thing I know I should be doing. That's why I have Post-its reminding me “YOU HAVE PERMISSION”. This is the life I created and the one I want to live, taking the time to write the book I want to write IS OKAY, SACHA. Take this post, I had to force myself to sit down and do it even though I knew it would be helpful. Expectation is a slippery fucker, whether it's from external sources or yourself, it's weighty and meaty and it can stop you doing things you either want to do or know would be good for your business. No more.  Takeaway 5: There are a couple of BIG game changing things I need to do this year and I need to stop holding myself back. No more fucking about Sacha, you have lofty goals and you're not going to apologise for them. I have permission. I just need to get on with it.   One Last Thought: No matter what happens, this is better This was one of the lessons from my first year full-time. No matter what happens this life is better. I stand by that, if anything I believe it even more firmly this year than last. I keep two sentimental photos from this journey. The first is the Post-it I signed and dated saying I'd be writing full-time in 2020. I left in 2019, and every time I look back at the Post-it I smile. The other photo is the photo of me on one of my worst days in my old job. I'm broken and in so much pain that it's genuinely uncomfortable even now for me to look at. I keep it because it's also a short, sharp annual reminder not to get lazy, not to take this life for granted and to appreciate every second I'm lucky enough to do this as a job. Yes, running an author business is hard, yes the honeymoon period is over, yes it's grueling, but it's also the best fucking thing I could have done and I'd die before I gave it up.  

Is there even such a thing as GOOD peer pressure? Abso-freaking-lutely! And guess what? We're going to talk all about how you can make sure YOUR peer pressure isn't bad #feathers and how to confront people peer pressuring you in a negative way. Enjoy!

Witches. They used to strike fear in communities throughout the world. But Sabrina, Samantha, and Hermione have taken some of the edge off of the concept of the witch. Can a movie about witches still provide scares? Abso-witching-lutely!

Did you really think I'd leave you alone for all that time?! Abso-fruit-ly not. I've done some recon (ie, searched in the PJ is Rich Group [which is incredibly exclusive and hard to access, pls go to pjsfeet.com]) and discovered some of your fave intros, and I've bloody gone and found them and I'm going to put them up for you over the next two weeks! Wow! So kind of me!!!!! Anyway, enjoy! Love yaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.