Podcasts about Apache

The first time he lifted an Apache off the ground, it felt like piloting a floating bus. The first time he said “no” to what he believed was an unlawful mandate, it felt like stepping into a different kind of combat. In this candid, high-velocity conversation, a National Guard Apache pilot walks us through SEER school realities, gunnery exhilaration, and the boredom of a deployment constrained by a peace deal that tied hands while allies bled. Then the fight comes home: policy-by-whisper, moving goalposts, and a refusal to file for exemptions because conscience, oath, and regulation mattered more than convenience.To watch the intensity of this entire episode, the full episode is here: https://youtu.be/Vbp61FnTQHAWhen leaders wouldn't put groundings in writing and mental health became a pretext, he documented everything and spoke out. The video went viral not because it was loud, but because it was clear. We unpack the blowback that never came from the public, the board that's coming anyway, and the question every service member must answer: who are you accountable to when orders and integrity collide?From there we shift into faith and institutions. He separates belief in Christ and original texts from corporate religion, calling out secrecy, money incentives, and ever-shifting rules as un-Christlike. No barbs for sport—just a standard: test paths by their fruits. If it grows honesty, sacrifice, and love, keep going. If it demands secrecy and obedience without light, step away. Finally, we wade into pornography as a spiritual and cultural weapon. This isn't moralizing; it's a field manual. Accountability with a trusted friend, device discipline, and a higher aim—purity as strength—can reset attention, intimacy, and confidence. He's living proof.If you care about courage, conscience, and the kind of brotherhood that makes men harder to buy and harder to break, press play. Then share it with someone who needs a spine-stiffening story, subscribe for more unfiltered conversations, and leave a review with the one moment you won't forget.To follow DJ and his journey, follow him on Instagram and TikTok at @cheifsearcyTo support DJ's fight for freedom, learn more here: https://www.givesendgo.com/djsearcySend us a textSupport the showFollow Wild Chaos on Social Media: Apple iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wild-chaos-podcast/id1732761860Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5KFGZ6uABb1sQlfkE2TIoc?si=8ff748aa4fc64331 ⁠⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildchaospodcastBam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bambam0069Youtube: https://youtube.com/@wildchaospodTikTok: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thewildchaospodcastMeta (Facebook): ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/TheWildChaosPodcast For business inquiries, email us at: info@thewildchaos.com

In this episode of Salt Lake Dirt, I'm joined by director Deborah Correa to discuss her new film, The War Between. Based on a story and novella by Ron Yungul, the film explores a lesser-known chapter of the American Civil War: the conflict within the Arizona Territory and New Mexico. Deborah shares the fascinating history behind the California Column, a volunteer force that pushed the Confederacy out of Southern California and Arizona, and discusses how the production achieved such striking authenticity by shooting on location in the exact areas where the historic Battle of Picacho Peak took place.We also dive into the logistics of pulling off an ambitious indie period piece on a 15-day shoot. Deborah highlights the importance of her collaborative team and the deep research that went into the film, including her commitment to working with Apache and Navajo consultants to ensure cultural reverence and accuracy.Thanks for listening!---The War Between is available now on Amazon, Fandango, and at thewarbetweenfilm.com

Voici peut-être l'idée la plus simple… et la plus efficace pour démocratiser l'open source. Un projet indépendant baptisé Github Store vient de transformer GitHub en véritable magasin d'applications, à la manière d'un App Store ou d'un Google Play, mais dédié exclusivement aux logiciels libres. Disponible sur Android et sur ordinateur — Windows, macOS et Linux — Github Store propose une interface claire et familière : catégories, captures d'écran, descriptions détaillées et surtout un bouton d'installation en un clic. Fini la chasse aux fichiers au fond des dépôts ou la peur de télécharger la mauvaise archive. Ici, tout est pensé pour l'utilisateur final, pas uniquement pour les développeurs.Le fonctionnement est astucieux. L'application analyse automatiquement les dépôts GitHub publics qui publient de vraies versions installables dans leurs “releases”. Elle filtre les formats pertinents — APK, EXE, MSI, DMG, PKG, DEB, RPM — et écarte les simples archives de code source. Résultat : seules les applications réellement prêtes à être installées apparaissent dans le catalogue. L'utilisateur peut ensuite naviguer par popularité, mises à jour récentes ou nouveautés, et même filtrer par système d'exploitation pour ne voir que les logiciels compatibles avec sa machine. Chaque fiche application va plus loin que de simples captures d'écran. On y retrouve le nombre d'étoiles, de forks, les problèmes signalés, le README complet, les notes de version et le détail précis des fichiers téléchargeables. Une transparence fidèle à l'esprit open source.Côté technique, Github Store repose sur Kotlin Multiplatform et Compose. Sur Android, l'installation passe par le gestionnaire de paquets natif. Sur ordinateur, le fichier est téléchargé puis ouvert avec l'outil par défaut du système. Il est possible de se connecter avec un compte GitHub, optionnel mais utile : cela permet d'augmenter fortement les limites d'accès à l'API pour explorer sans contrainte. L'application est distribuée via les releases GitHub du projet et sur F-Droid pour Android, sous licence Apache 2.0. Autrement dit, libre, modifiable et réutilisable. Une précision importante toutefois : Github Store n'a pas vocation à garantir la sécurité des logiciels proposés. Il facilite la découverte et l'installation, mais la responsabilité reste entre les mains des développeurs… et des utilisateurs. En rendant l'open source aussi accessible qu'un store grand public, Github Store pourrait bien changer durablement la façon dont nous découvrons et utilisons les logiciels libres. Une petite révolution, sans marketing tapageur, mais avec une idée redoutablement efficace. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Ho Ho Ho, Alex here! (a real human writing these words, this needs to be said in 2025) Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate) and welcome to the very special yearly ThursdAI recap! This was an intense year in the world of AI, and after 51 weekly episodes (this is episode 52!) we have the ultimate record of all the major and most important AI releases of this year! So instead of bringing you a weekly update (it's been a slow week so far, most AI labs are taking a well deserved break, the Cchinese AI labs haven't yet surprised anyone), I'm dropping a comprehensive yearly AI review! Quarter by quarter, month by month, both in written form and as a pod/video! Why do this? Who even needs this? Isn't most of it obsolete? I have asked myself this exact question while prepping for the show (it was quite a lot of prep, even with Opus's help). I eventually landed on, hey, if nothing else, this will serve as a record of the insane week of AI progress we all witnessed. Can you imagine that the term Vibe Coding is less than 1 year old? That Claude Code was released at the start of THIS year? We get hedonicly adapt to new AI goodies so quick, and I figured this will serve as a point in time check, we can get back to and feel the acceleration! With that, let's dive in - P.S. the content below is mostly authored by my co-author for this, Opus 4.5 high, which at the end of 2025 I find the best creative writer with the best long context coherence that can imitate my voice and tone (hey, I'm also on a break!

After Victorio's War, an old Apache leader called Nana rises to lead a small band of fighters into New Mexico for a month of devastating raids. At Carrizo Canyon, they lead a detachment from K Troop of the 9th Cavalry into an ambush. During the firefight, the actions of Sergeant Thomas Shaw and Sergeant George Jordan earn them the Medal of Honor. Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Use this link for Free Shipping and 365-day returns: Quince.com/lotow Thanks to our sponsor, Rocket Money! Use this link to start saving today: RocketMoney.com/LegendsOW Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We're @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Monday, December 22nd, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Five Iranian Christians sentenced to 10-year prison term Five Iranian Christians were sentenced to an average of 10 years in prison for “propaganda” and “collusion” for practices such as prayer and baptism, and for distributing Bibles and Christian literature, reports International Christian Concern. Matthew 5:10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Though the verdict was given on October 21, it was not communicated to any of the prisoners until late November and early December. They have been given 20 days to appeal their case before the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. US launches strikes on Syria in response to killing of 2 American soldiers Vengeance struck in Syria Friday as U.S. forces attacked Islamic State targets in retaliation for an attack that killed three Americans last week, reports The Western Journal. A U.S. military official said F-15 and A-10 warplanes, Apache attack helicopters, and HIMARS rockets struck multiple targets, according to the Wall Street Journal. On X, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote, “Earlier today, U.S. forces commenced OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on December 13th in Palmyra, Syria. This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance.” Hegseth added, “The United States of America, under President Trump's leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people. As we said directly following the savage attack, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you. Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes Israeli officials have grown increasingly concerned that Iran is expanding production of its ballistic missile program, which was damaged by Israeli military strikes earlier this year, reports NBC News.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to brief President Donald Trump about attacking Iran again. Israeli officials also are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June. But, they added, the officials view Iran's efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems as more important. RFK Jr calls mutilating “sex-rejecting” trans procedures malpractice Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is taking steps to push back against what he described as "sex-rejecting" transgender procedures for minors, reports The Christian Post. During an hour-long press conference, he warned, "So-called 'gender-affirming care' has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. This is not medicine; it is malpractice." KENNEDY: “We're done with junk science, drive by ideological pursuits, not the wellbeing of children.” Kennedy said the proposed HHS rules, which are subject to a 60-day comment period, would bar hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid from performing transgender procedures on children, citing risks of irreversible harm such as infertility, impaired sexual function, bone density loss and altered brain development. He added, "Sex-rejecting procedures are neither safe nor effective treatment for children with gender dysphoria.” Abortions up as abortion pills flourish, Democrat states fund killing babies Last week, the Society of Family Planning released updated abortion data which documented over 591,000 abortions were performed in the first six months of 2025, reports LifeNews.com. This represents a 1.1 percent increase when compared to the first six months of 2024. Two state Medicaid programs have recently started to fund elective surgical abortions. Nevada's Medicaid program began covering elective abortions in mid-December of 2024, and Delaware's Medicaid program started covering elective abortions as of January 1, 2025. Not surprisingly, there has been an uptick in abortions in those states – an increase by 8% in Nevada and 10% in Delaware. However, the main takeaway from this new WeCount data is that the percentage of chemical abortions done via telehealth continues to increase. In the first six months of 2024, just under 20 percent of all abortions were done via telehealth. That figure increased to 27 percent for the first six months of 2025. Telehealth abortions are undermining the strong pro-life laws that many states enacted in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. Isaiah 59:7 says, “Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.” Preventing telehealth abortions needs to be a top priority for the pro-life movement. State attorneys general in Florida and Texas have recently sued the Food and Drug Administration over policy changes regarding chemical abortions. Kirk Cameron's follow-up podcast on annihilationism Kirk Cameron's recent 39-minute podcast in which he supported annihilationism has created quite a bit of controversy. In the opening to a 16-minute follow-up podcast, Cameron said this. CAMERON: “No doubt you've caught wind of the controversy that's swirling around. Let me ask you a question, and I want you to imagine that this question is not coming from me on a podcast, but from someone you love. “What if your son or your daughter looked you in the eye and said, ‘Dad, Mom, I know you believe in hell. I know you believe that God is just. I know you believe that sin is serious. And I know that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. “So, when a unrepentant person, who doesn't turn to Jesus, dies, what does the Bible actually say happens to them? Are they preserved forever and kept alive by God in a place of endless conscious torment, suffering forever, weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth with no end? “‘Or is the judgment that Scripture describes something different? Is it still real, still just, still severe, but culminating in what the Bible calls death, destruction, or the second death, which is the lake of fire?' “What would your answer be? I'm not asking for what you've always believed or been taught, but what do you believe the Scriptures actually teach? That's the question that my son asked me, and that's the question that started this conversation.” Cameron's support for annihilationism has sparked debate in Evangelical circles. Longtime ministry partner Ray Comfort, founder of Living Waters and co-host with Cameron on The Way of the Master, responded thoughtfully. “While we believe Kirk is sincere, we believe that conditional mortality and annihilationism are erroneous views, and that the Bible's clear teaching on hell is known as eternal conscious torment,” according to GodReports.com. Other voices, including commentators Samuel Sey and theologian Owen Strachan, expressed concern, viewing the shift as departing from historic Christian teaching. Yet some see growing interest in annihilationism as a biblically grounded alternative that reconciles God's love with His judgment. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, December 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

For review:1. US Seizes Second Venezuelan Sanctioned Tanker.2. US Strikes 70 ISIS Targets in Syria.The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the U.S. officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used.3. NBC Report: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present plans for a possible fresh attack on Iran to US President Donald Trump during his upcoming visit to Washington. According to the report, Israel is growing increasingly concerned that Iran is rebuilding and even expanding its ballistic missile production in the wake of the nations' 12-day war in June.4. Russia & France Consider Dialogue.5. Chinese Aircraft Carrier Fujian 18 Sails Thru Taiwan Strait.

In 1879, Apache leader Victorio leads a campaign of deadly raids across New Mexico Territory. For nearly a year, the 9th Cavalry skirmishes with Victorio's warriors, but can't end the raids. In 1880, Victorio crosses into Texas and faces new tactics from the 10th Cavalry. The Buffalo Soldiers win decisive victories and force Victorio down into Mexico where he soon meets his end. Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Use this link for Free Shipping and 365-day returns: Quince.com/lotow Thanks to our sponsor, Rocket Money! Use this link to start saving today: RocketMoney.com/LegendsOW Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We're @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hasta hace poco, MinIO era el rey indiscutible para implementar almacenamiento S3 autoalojado. Pero un cambio de licencia polémico (de Apache 2.0 a la estricta AGPL v3) y, lo que es peor para el usuario libre, la eliminación de la Consola GUI de la versión abierta, han forzado a muchos, incluido yo, a buscar una alternativa. ¡Y la hemos encontrado!En este episodio, te explico a fondo qué es S3, por qué este protocolo de almacenamiento de objetos es una pieza clave e indispensable para cualquier infraestructura de selfhosting o *homelab*, y te presento a RustFS, el nuevo servidor compatible con la API de S3 que está diseñado para la comunidad, manteniendo la promesa de ser libre, transparente, rápido, y lo más importante: con su interfaz gráfica de administración incluida.

¿Tu servidor o escritorio Linux está lento o no te deja desmontar un disco? ¿Borraste un archivo gigante pero el espacio no se liberó? ¡Tenemos al culpable!En este episodio de atareao con Linux, te destripo el comando más poderoso para el diagnóstico de sistemas: lsof (List Open Files).Aprenderás a usar este detective de recursos para resolver los problemas más frustrantes de administración de sistemas, desde la configuración de Docker hasta la optimización de tu VPS o Raspberry Pi.

James Cameron-Wilson says that box office, despite a WoW drop of 17%, is still very healthy. #5 Eternity depicts an afterlife where souls must pick their preferred eternity. Although a comic parable where a woman must choose with which man to spend the afterlife, it fails to work on several levels. James, disappointed by the ending, was not moved. He found the Blu-Ray release of 1954's Apache, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Burt Lancaster to be a fascinating insight into attitudes of the time. Although at the forefront of those films more sympathetically depicting Native Americans, Lancaster is an unpleasant and hugely misogynistic character while the movie is highly patronising by current standards. James was much keener on Netflix's Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach's film of a film actor not hugely dissimilar to George Clooney, played by George Clooney, only more unpleasant and egotistical. It has many wonderful scenes, should resonate with many and James loved it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diese Woche ist der Wirtschaftsjournalist Lukas Hässig von Inside Paradeplatz zu Gast bei Radio 1-Chef Roger Schawinski. Wen Hässig in die diesjährige Top 5 der Wirtschaftsflops einreiht - in dieser Sendung erfahren Sie es. Songs: 505-Arctic Monkeys, I Maschi - Gianna Nannini, Komet - Udo Lindenberg und Apache 207, Too Sweet - Hozier, Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

In today's Cloud Wars Agent & Copilot Minute, I explore Microsoft's addition of Mistral Large 3 to its Foundry platform and why it's a major win for developers seeking open, enterprise-ready AI models.Highlights00:11 —Microsoft Foundry is a platform from Microsoft, designed for building, customizing, and deploying GenAI applications and agents. It allows users to access over 11,000 models. Recently, Microsoft added a new model to its offerings, Mistral Large 3. Microsoft claims it to be one of the strongest open-weight, Apache-licensed frontier models available on the Microsoft cloud.00:53 — An open-weight model is similar to an open-source model, but with some differences. In an open-weight AI model, the parameters used to train the model are publicly available, not just for use or viewing, but also for downloading and modifying. More developers are turning to these models because they offer flexibility.01:40 — Mistral Large 3 is one of the world's leading open models optimized for enterprise applications. It excels in instruction following, long-context comprehension and retention, multimodal reasoning, predictable performance, and applied reasoning. Unlike its closest competitors, Mistral Large 3 is fully open, with Apache 2.0 licensing.02:08 — Each new model is carefully selected. It's not just a free-for-all. With Foundry, Microsoft is demonstrating its expertise in the space by keenly understanding what developers want—in this case, an open model with real-world enterprise applications. The pace of AI development is such that even incremental changes and improvements dramatically impact how businesses operate. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Hey everyone, December started strong and does NOT want to slow down!? OpenAI showed us their response to the Code Red and it's GPT 5.2, which doesn't feel like a .1 upgrade! We got it literally as breaking news at the end of the show, and oh boy! The new kind of LLMs is here. GPT, then Gemini, then Opus and now GPT again... Who else feels like we're on a trippy AI rolercoaster? Just me?

Funk, Hiphop, Country, Indie, Rap, Alt Rock, R'n'B, Blues from musicians of the Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, Navajo, Cree, Zapotec, Mi'kmaq, Lakota, Northern Chumash, Apache, Cherokee and Inuk nations.Brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Tunes From Turtle Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Pantheon Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you like the music you hear, go out and buy/stream some of it. :) All these artists need your support. Tracks on this week's show are: Jean-Christophe Lessard - Junkie ANGEL ANN JULIAN - Hocus Pocus Mozart Gabriel - Helly Stars Jayli Wolf - Lay Me Down Zachariah Julian & Jennifer Perez - Wound Mare Advertencia & Zafiro Lux - ?Que Paso? Dion Bernard - Mi'kmaq Love Song (Nsisipem) Vivek Shraya & Tanya Tagaq - Apathy Crisis Samantha Crain & Kimya Dawson - Gumshoe alt version Stella Standingbear - NOBODY Mato Wayuhi - BYGONER KiiingBoo & Bluejacket & ADOH & Scurmptious Serendipity - Need A Break Aysanabee - Nomads (acoustic) Blue Mountain Tribe - The Blues Boy Blues SIGU & Jens Kleist - Paarinnga All songs on this podcast are owned by the artist(s) and are used for educational purposes only. All songs can be found for purchase or streaming wherever you get your great music. Please pick up these amazing tracks and support these artists. More info on the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bridge Engineering: Part 3 Settling In For A Long Winter’s Nap. Based on a post by Architect 23 94, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connected. We all said our goodnights, then Stefani and I made our way back up the stairs. I closed the door to the basement and motioned for her to wait for a moment. I reached up to a nearby shelf and very carefully removed an old set of sleigh bells, which I silently hung on the doorknob as an early warning system. Stefani whispered, "Someone has been doing some serious planning." I quietly replied, "Yes, someone has. Is it working?" She answered by wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into our first slow, introductory kiss. Our lips separated briefly, we looked silently into each other's eyes for a moment, then our heads instinctively tilted and our lips came back together with a deeper, more confident kiss. One kiss blurred into two, then three, and continued until one was indistinguishable from the next. Our mouths opened wider and wider, yearning to feel the other partner's passion, before our tongues began a frantic dance between her mouth and mine. My hands began exploring the soft curves of her lower back, just above where the satin dress flared outward over her hips, and her long fingers ran through my hair as her hands eagerly pulled me into our hungry kisses. I lost all sense of time as we finally broke the passionate tension that had been building between us over the past months. I hadn't realized how much I missed an emotional and physical connection with a special someone, and I knew she felt the same. Our faces were both flush with passion and gasping for breath when I reluctantly pulled away from our moment. Without saying anything, I gently kissed her one more time, took her hand in mine, and led her toward the loft stairs. Stefani understood my intentions and acknowledged her consent with a beaming smile and by clutching my arm close to her body as we walked up the stairs. As we reached the top of the stairs, I motioned toward my bedroom door where a branch of mistletoe hung in the threshold. Stefani saw it and quickly moved to position herself as a gatekeeper in the doorway, saying, "I'm glad you took my advice." I responded by taking her in my arms and resuming the passionate kissing and interplay of our tongues that had begun downstairs. Stefani draped her arms around my neck and pressed her body against mine as my hands slid down her back to feel the satin covered swells of her ass. With our continued intimate contact, my cock responded and began to expand downward inside my pant leg, sandwiched against Stefani's pelvis as it grew. In her own expression of arousal, she extended one leg out from the full length slit in her skirt and wrapped it around the back of my thighs, intentionally pressing her skirt covered mound firmly against my restrained tool. Our mouths frantically struggled to find new depths and my hands cupped her ass as she began urgently grinding herself against my cock. The fervor was only broken when we began to lose balance and Stefani returned to standing on both feet. We both took the opportunity to occupy our hands in other ways, hers sliding between us to grasp at my cock and to unsuccessfully pull at my belt, and mine fumbling to release the back closure on her dress. Admitting defeat, we both paused and I moved behind her to take a different approach. My hand brushed her silken curls aside as I placed soft kisses down the side of her neck and slowly loosened a series of clasps on the back of her dress. She uttered soft moans of pleasure as my lips explored her nape then concentrated on areas that drew the most response. As I continued to expose more of her sensual back with the release of each fastener, Stefani crossed one arm over her bosom to hold the dress in place and reached behind herself with the other to caress the engorged flesh straining within the stretched fabric of my slacks. When I finished the last of the clasps, she removed her hand from my cock and used it to push me backward onto the edge of the bed. I sat in rapt attention as she took a couple steps away from me and, with her back turned, stepped out of her heels to reveal neatly manicured toes with nails painted to complement the color of her dress. Now with bare feet, she turned to face me, still holding the dress with one arm crossed over her tits. Her eyes erotically connected with mine as her hands slowly slid the dress downward, seductively unveiling bit by bit of her amazing body. First were her braless tits, pear-shaped handfuls with the slight sag of an early-thirties mother and topped with aroused gumdrop size nipples on proportionately sized areola. With my attentive eyes and childlike smile suggesting approval, the maroon satin curtain continued descending to uncover a slender torso with modestly toned abs and a cute concave belly button. Once her hands reached the top flare of her hips, Stefani released the dress and let gravity pool it at her feet. Her flat stomach and thin waist gave way to supple curves of womanly hips, which then tapered back to meet her long legs. The toned muscles gracefully ebbed and flowed, punctuated by lean knees and petite ankles, all proportionate to the scale of her tall, trim frame. Stefani was a vision, standing before me in nothing but a pair of black satin panties consisting of a small triangle over her sex and thin ribbons of fabric extending outward over subtly visible hip bones. I quickly shed my sport coat and shoes and began opening the buttons down the front of my dress shirt as Stefani did a slow turn and playfully wiggled her amazing heart-shaped ass. I tore my gaze from her body and looked her lustfully in the eyes as she completed her turn, "Wow, you are absolutely incredible!" My shirt was completely unbuttoned and my full-mast erection strained obscenely against the front of my dress pants. I pulled the shirt tails out from under my waistband and started to unbuckle my belt, but Stefani interceded, "Please, let me." I dropped my hands to my sides as she closed the few steps between us and bent forward to kiss me as I sat on the edge of the bed. We shared a few short kisses before she placed her hands on my chest and gently pushed my torso back on the bed. I propped myself on my elbows as she began trailing kisses down the center of my chest and deftly pulled my belt free of its buckle while opening my slacks. By the time her kisses reached my waist, she was on her knees before me and nuzzled her face against my boxer short covered rod and began kissing along its fabric covered length. The eroticism of the sight and the feel of her warm breath would have easily put me over the edge had I not done everything in my power to hold back. Sensing my edging, Stefani relented her touch and curled her slender fingers under the waistband of my slacks and boxers. I lifted my hips to assist while she pulled the waistband toward herself and carefully lifted it over my straining bulge. Her eyes fixated on the vertical tower that sprung upward as soon as it was free of its prison, and continued staring as she pushed the unwanted clothing down my legs. Once she had my pants fully removed, she slowly slid her hands along the top of my legs while she placed a line of kisses up my right inner thigh. She made one last kiss right next to the base of my cock then nuzzled her face against it and cooed soft hums of contentment. Meanwhile, her right hand took a moment to caress my pelvic area before her long, slender fingers encircled my shaft and began to explore its girth and length. After a few moments, Stefani pulled her head away from me enough to visually inspect every detail of my cock as her hand slowly stroked up-and-down and moved it from side-to-side, exploring its network of veiny ridges and large swollen mushroom cap. Her attention resulted in a bead of clear pre-cum pooling on my tip, which she leaned forward and licked away before it dripped downward. With her visual inspection seemingly complete, Stefani continued to slowly stroke my cock while she moved her head downward and used her tongue to caress my loose hanging, neatly shaven balls and then envelope one of the globes fully in her warm mouth. At this point, the previous single bead of pre-cum gave way to a steady stream trailing down the side of my shaft and over the back of her hand. After giving both orbs equal treatment, her tongue followed my trail of precum over the back of her hand and up my throbbing shaft to its source. She looked me deeply in the eyes as she slowly took my engorged head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around its rim. I held the approaching orgasm at bay by brushing her curly locks aside and placing my hands on the sides of her cheeks to gently guide her off my cock. I continued guiding her up to me where she put a leg on each side of my hips to straddle over me. I pulled her face down to mine and kissed her with passionate urgency as her naked chest pressed against mine and my still leaking cock sandwiched between my stomach and hers. As we kissed, she shifted her position upward so her panty covered sex rested on my shaft and then began to slowly rockng her hips, using my cock to work the fabric into her moist folds. My hands instinctively cupped her ass and reinforced her grinding motions. Kissing tapered off as our breathing became heavier and Stefani raised her torso off my chest to find a slightly different position on my cock. We continued to look into each other's eyes as my hands left her ass to explore the alluring tits hanging above me, seductively swaying in time with her motions. I held them for the very first time, massaging and gently squeezing the milky masses while her erect, gumdrop size nipples punctuated my palms. Her heavy breathing was interrupted when my fingers playfully pinched at the swollen nubs, so I took that as encouragement to lift my head and give them some oral stimulation. My mouth covered one, then the other, swirling my tongue and suckling as Stefani increased the speed and force of her hip movements. Realizing the pressure once again building in my balls, I swiftly rolled our semi-conjoined bodies and reversed our positions, with Stefani now on her back and me sliding off the edge of the bed to kneel between her legs. She raised her hips as I grasped and pulled the thin satin ribbons from her hips. They slid toward me and the sodden triangle of fabric reluctantly separated from her wet folds to reveal a small, neatly trimmed patch of hair immediately above glistening and rosy pink gateway petals. They were naturally opened wide to display her well-lubricated inner flesh and partially cloaked love-button. With her panties fully removed, I gently opened her knees and started to lean forward. Stefani understood my intent, bent her legs upward, and opened them widely to allow me full access. Like she had done to me earlier, my lips left a line of kisses up her inner thigh as my nose inhaled her intoxicating scent. Having reached my destination, I gently licked the outer lips on each side of her opening before sucking each into my mouth and giving equal treatment. Stefani's hands had found my head and were offering reassuring encouragement to continue the oral pleasures. My hands also wandered, alternating between holding her hips and kneading her tits as my tongue's attention became more fervent. I moved from her labia to firmly lick the length of her central opening, gently brushing over the top of her clit. Stefani responded by tensing her legs and clenching my hair in her hands. I returned down to cover the core of her sex with my mouth and swirl my tongue around the entrance to her tunnel. Stefani moaned and continued pulling at my hair as I very slowly moved my attention upward. Eventually, my mouth centered over her pearl and the tip of my tongue tenderly circled around it, before firmly pressing against it. She moaned loudly and every muscle in her body tightened as I changed from licking to sucking on her button. I was rewarded with a flood of her cordials and a long series of rhythmic contractions. I gave her outer petals a few more gentle licks and caressed her flat stomach with my hands while she recovered from the height of her pleasure. When she returned to consciousness, she breathlessly whispered, "Come here." and motioned me toward her. I stood from kneeling at the edge of the bed and climbed between her still splayed legs to hold myself over her. Stefani quietly said, "Thank you. You have no idea how amazing that was; how amazing it is to be here with you." as she tenderly wiped her juices from my cheeks and mouth. I responded, "It's been an amazing couple of months. I haven't felt this way about someone since;” I was speaking from my heart without the filter of my head when I realized the inappropriateness of what I was about to say, and adjusted my statement to, "; well, for a very long time." Stefani looked me lovingly in the eyes, cupped my cheek with her hand, and said, "It's okay to talk about her. Julie is still part of you and always should be. I know how much you love her and it means a lot that you would even mention me in the same breath." I leaned down with an appreciative kiss as I held myself over her. One kiss led to another, then to another and another, until our tongues were tangled and our mouths continually joined. We made out with renewed urgency and Stefani reached between our bodies to wrap her hand around my still steely rod. She broke our kissing long enough to beg, "Please, I need you inside me." Our kissing resumed as she guided my cock toward her opening and rubbed its engorged glans up and down her slit several times before removing her hand. Her arms encircled my neck as we kissed and I shifted my hips to seat the tip of my cock firmly against her gateway. Stefani moaned into my mouth when she felt the pressure, and tightened her arms around my neck when the head slowly pushed through her stretched but slippery opening. I cautiously rocked my hips, pausing frequently and allowing her passageway muscles to relax around my rigid cock. She urged me to continue by mumbling into our locked mouths, "More; more; more;” I applied a little more pressure with each motion of my hips and her body slowly welcomed me deeper and deeper. Signaling she wanted more, Stefani wrapped her long legs around me, interlocking her ankles behind my ass and flexing her legs to draw me further inside. With confidence that Stefani was wanting more, I broke our kissing and took her hands in mine, pinning them above her head as I held my body above hers. She seemed excited for me to take control and relaxed her legs while still keeping her ankles interlocked behind me. I began increasing the speed and force of my thrusts, eliciting yelps of pleasure as my cock explored new depths. The bed shook with our quick motions, as did Stefani's curly tresses and motherly tits. The expressions of pleasure on her face were incredibly erotic and I changed to longer, slower strokes to delay my pending orgasm and prolong our pleasure. She understood what I was doing and agreeably pleaded, "Kiss me." I did, and we made love with our mouths while she reinforced my long, slow, intentional pelvic motions with her legs wrapped around me. That tender moment was emblematic of everything we both wanted and needed. There was an unspoken connection between our souls, bridging our broken pasts and forever joining us into the future. Our bodies responded physically to the emotional and spiritual joining. Stefani's by weeping in happiness through a long, rolling orgasm; and mine by releasing eight years' worth of pent-up passion deep into her womb. Completely consumed by the intensity of the experience, Stefani rolled with me as I collapsed beside her on the bed, our legs still intertwined and my cock slowly softening inside her residual contractions. I looked knowingly into her tearful eyes and said softly, but with conviction, "I love you." Stefani pressed her forehead and sniffling nose into my neck and replied, "I love you, too; even more than I thought I did before tonight." We laid silently in each other's arms, exchanging occasional pecks of affection, until my flaccid cock slipped from Stefani's sex followed by a flood of our combined juices. She quickly cupped her hand to her crotch and scurried to the ensuite bathroom. While she was in there, I quickly slipped on my boxer shorts, opened the bedroom door, and stepped out into the loft to check on the girls. The house was silent and the sleigh bells on the basement doorknob appeared undisturbed. Satisfied all was well, I was walking back in the bedroom and was closing the door when Stefani emerged from the bathroom, still naked, and proclaimed in a hushed voice, "David! I've never been so full of cum in my life!" I shrugged my shoulders as I approached her saying, "You're the one that turned me on so much." then pulled her into a passionate embrace and kiss. She returned my kiss then pulled away saying, "I think I would like some more." as she pulled down my boxer shorts and dropped to her knees in one swift motion. She engulfed my limp cock into her warm mouth and massaged it with her tongue until it began to swell. One hand massaged my balls while the other cupped my ass cheek and pulled me into her ministrations. Once I had a hint of rigidity, she began bobbing her head and applying suction to further draw out my length. Working my cock in and out of her mouth, she made sure the sensitive underside of my glans remained in full contact with her tongue. It didn't take long for me to reach a full, raging erection. Sensing that with her mouth, Stefani confirmed with a couple quick strokes of her hand before standing and moving toward the bed. I watched in rapt attention as she climbed onto the center of the bed, positioned herself on her elbows and knees, and seductively wiggled her ass in the air. She looked at me over her shoulder with lust in her eyes and implored, "Take me!" I quickly climbed on the bed and positioned myself behind her. My hands playfully grabbed her hips and pulled her back into me, sandwiching my thickened shaft against her ass. She responded by wiggling her ass, which served to neatly seat my rod between her cheeks. I held her hips with my hands and rocked a few times to slide the underside of my cock against her cheeks. Having played around enough, I shifted backward on my knees and cupped a hand under her sex. I briefly caressed her inflamed and eager mound before dipping two fingers further into her very well lubricated slit. Stefani uttered encouraging moans as my fingers worked in and out of her dripping wet hole. Knowing we were both ready for the main event, I pulled my copiously coated hand from her mound and used it, along with the pre-cum already dripping from my tip, to spread lubrication along the length of my throbbing shaft. Stefani looked back at me as I held her hip with one hand and guided my cock toward her opening with the other. We both gave prolonged moans as our heightened arousal allowed me to penetrate her fully in one long push. Once inside her, she looked back at me and renewed her original request, "Take me!" And so I did. With my hands holding her hips and pulling her back against my pelvis with every stroke, I began lustfully pistoning in and out of her tunnel. She buried her face into the mattress and squealed with delight as I pounded into her roughly, causing her hanging pear-shaped tits to swing violently with my harsh pummeling. After a while, my hands moved to cradle the milky fruits and feel their rippling movements against my palms. As I became winded from the extended punishment I was giving Stefani, I used the supple handfuls to raise her torso toward me and aggressively kiss the nape of her neck as my cock momentarily slowed its assault. Stefani muttered unintelligible encouragements as her tunnel walls pleasured in the slowed movements of my veiny shaft and bulbous head erotically sliding in and out. In the course of my affection, her breathing quickened and became shallower as she ascended toward climax. Knowing she was close, I gave her sensitive nipples a quick squeeze, pushed her torso back down to the mattress, and grabbed her hips to resume my forceful penetrations. My lustful plunging quickly put Stefani over her summit and she emitted long moans of pleasure punctuated only by the impacts of my pelvis against her ass. Her body began quaking and, unable to support herself, crashed forward face down on the bed. My body followed hers downward and pinned her against the mattress as I gave a few more hard thrusts before pushing myself as far into her depths as possible, and releasing volley after volley of cum. Her walls sheathing my cock spasmed through a long drawn-out orgasm, milking every drop of seed from my cock. I held myself over her while our mutual orgasm slowly subsided. Not wanting to smother her with my weight, I rolled off to her side, leaving a strand of cum as my cock slipped from her warmth and dragged across her ass. Still laying on her stomach, Stefani turned her head and motioned me toward her for a series of lovingly soft post-coital kisses. She then repeated her earlier actions of cupping a hand to her crotch and making her way to the bathroom, to which I chuckled and she returned a playfully stern expression and wagging finger. I checked on the girls again while she was in the bathroom and then we both decided we should get a little sleep before they would be up for Christmas morning. Stefani set the alarm on her phone and we drifted off to sleep naked in each other's arms. Wake Up Call. I didn't hear the alarm, but Stefani did and apparently decided to give me a different type of wake-up call. I awoke to the feeling of wet warmth around my morning erection. I looked down to see a mass of dark curly hair slowly moving up and down over my midsection. I reached out and brushed aside her mane to see her looking up at me, the corners of her mouth smiling from around my cock. She briefly pulled it from her mouth and offered a cheery, "Good morning handsome." I replied, "Good morning beautiful." before she returned her attention to pleasuring me. She resumed slowly making oral love to my glans and moved one hand to massage my balls as she worked. After a while, she began to take more of my shaft with each downward motion until my engorged head began flirting with the entrance to her throat. She had no perceivable reflex to the contact and, on the following downstroke, wiggled her head a little to work my crown past the restriction. Once past the threshold, she took my full length, burying her nose firmly into my pelvis. She held herself there for several moments before pulling herself off my cock, then repeating the actions again and again. I had never experienced that feeling before and it didn't take long for me to be overcome by the pleasure. While buried deep in her throat, I urgently warned, "I'm going to cum! I'm going to cum!" Stefani strained to push her head down further and take in every possible millimeter of my cock before purposefully constricting her throat around the head of my cock. My hands grasped at her curly locks as I launched forceful jets of cum directly into her throat. After the first few ejections, she pulled back to remove my crown from her throat and to milk the remaining cum into her mouth with a rhythmic bobbing motion. She looked into my eyes as she swallowed my seed and continued fellating my organ until it softened in her mouth, then simply said, "Merry Christmas, David." Christmas Morning. I had started a fire in the great room fireplace after Stefani's morning gift and was faking blanket-covered sleep on the sofa when I heard little footsteps clamoring up the basement steps and bursting through the sleigh bell alarmed door. The girls scurried across the room in their new pajamas, taking the shortest route to the Christmas presents under the tree, and began eagerly exploring which packages were for whom. I pretended to be waking up and put on a show by pushing the blanket aside, stretching my arms in an exaggerated fashion as I sat upright, and saying, "Merry Christmas, girls!" Just then, I saw Stefani coming down the loft stairs and continuing the ruse by drearily rubbing her eyes and smoothing her disheveled curls. She had apparently gone shopping in my closet and was wearing one of my old t-shirts, which was long enough on her to almost completely cover a pair of my boxer shorts beneath. She echoed, "Merry Christmas everyone!" The girls distractedly replied, "Merry Christmas," as they continued sorting through gifts under the tree. Stefani sat down next to me on the sofa and folded one leg beneath her. After confirming the girls were not looking, I turned my head and gave Stefani a quick peck on the lips before suggesting, "Girls, do you want to pass out all the presents?" They excitedly responded, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and enthusiastically went about checking tags and making stacks of presents where each recipient was seated. I reached over to take Stefani's hand in mine, our fingers interlaced, as we soaked in the holiday atmosphere. During their process, Toni and Lizzie independently delivered a package for either me or Stefani and noticed us holding hands. Interestingly, they both had similar reactions which amounted to hesitating for a moment, then going on about what they were doing as if us holding hands was expected and logical. Once the girls had all the gift bags and wrapped boxes distributed, we took the civilized approach of taking turns, each of us opening a present while the others looked on. Toni and Lizzie each received an assortment of clothes, girly trinkets, and a couple electronic items. Stefani and I were especially moved when the girls exchanged gifts they had personally selected for each other, then embraced in an extended hug. On my next turn opening a gift, I was genuinely touched when I unwrapped a shirt-box size package from Lizzie to find a small ceramic coin dish, hand-painted in red and green with speckles of gold glitter. Also in the box was an impressively detailed color pencil drawing of Lizzie, Toni, Stefani, and me all holding hands and standing on Lizzie's little bridge behind our house. Stefani and I reserved our presents to each other until all the others had been opened and the girls were happily playing with their new toys. We sat on the sofa watching them and shared occasional discreet touches of affection before exchanging our gifts. I'm sure we would have both selected different items had we known the deepening of our relationship that would occur on Christmas Eve, but they were still meaningful in a retrospective way. I opened an absolutely beautiful mechanical wristwatch with an ornately engraved metal band. As I was admiring its craftsmanship, I noticed the side of the clock face was inscribed with intricate script, "Thank you for being on-time. --Stefani" Knowing the deeper significance of those words in Stefani's painful past made my gift to her equally meaningful. I presented her a small box which she opened to reveal a delicate silver pendant necklace containing a marble-size translucent brown gemstone. Her slender fingers picked up a small printed card inside the jewelry box that read, "Legend of Apache Tears -- This gemstone native to Superior, Arizona bears the tears shed by Apache women after loss of their men defending the sacred homelands. For those who possess an Apache Tear, their emotional body will be cleansed of old traumas or wounds and they need not cry again, because the Apache women cried enough for the one who holds the stone." Stefani carefully placed the card back into the jewelry box and closed the case saying, "Thank you, but I think you are my real healer." I replied, "I know you are mine." and gave her a short but meaningful kiss. Our lips pulled away from each other to find the girls sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree, distracted from playing by the sight of us kissing. Stefani was quicker thinking than me and asked the intentionally leading question, "How would the two of you feel about the four of us spending more time together?" To my surprise, Lizzie put her toys aside, walked over to the sofa and gave Stefani a giant hug. She said something to Stefani while they hugged, but I couldn't make out the words. Toni followed Lizzie's lead and came over to give me a hug. Her face buried into my neck, she said with the honest wisdom of a child, "You make my mom happy." Not understanding the full significance of what had just occurred, Toni and Lizzie returned to playing while Stefani and I silently held hands and just enjoyed the moment. My mind drifted to recount the last couple months, and last 24 hours, as the fingers of my free hand idly twisted and twirled a small piece of wrapping paper. While Stefani and I had commonly tragic backgrounds that drew us together, that is not why I loved her. That was simply the key that opened our guarded doors and freed our real selves. I loved her for being the intelligent, quick-witted, caring, compassionate, and cheerful person I had come to know once she let me inside her world. When we were together, especially with Lizzie and Toni, we felt like a real family. There was genuine care and warmth. Lizzie's reaction to hug Stefani earlier surprised me, but it shouldn't have. I did the best I could to raise her, but I was still only one man. She didn't have a mother figure in her life and, looking back over the last couple months, I could see the special bond she was starting to form with Stefani. I vowed to myself right then that I would focus on doing the same with Toni. Her earlier statement of, "You make my mom happy." and the picture she drew of the four of us holding hands, told me she was clearly more astute to the situation than I was aware. My heart yearned for the impromptu family the four of us had started to become and, more importantly, it yearned for Stefani in a way I hadn't felt since Julie. I glanced down at my free hand and observed that my fidgeting fingers had unconsciously produced a little twisted rope circle from the scrap of wrapping paper. In that moment, I realized that my heart knew what it needed. The girls had moved their play downstairs while I was lost in my thoughts, and Stefani and I hadn't said anything in quite some time. She eventually broke the silence, and my distant stare, by asking, "Are you okay? What's wrong?" I responded, "Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing." before continuing with conviction, "I know this is going to sound impulsive, but I've never felt more clearly about anything in my life." I lifted my free hand with the little wrapping paper ring and said, "I love you, Stefani. Will you marry me?" She quickly and emphatically answered, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and her eyes filled with tears as I slipped the makeshift giftwrap ring over her finger. She then leapt into my lap, cradled my face with her palms, and passionately kissed me through her weeping. The Idea. We introduced the idea to Lizzie and Toni as we were all playing board games that Christmas afternoon. It would be an understatement to say they were thrilled about being sisters and living in the same house together. Stefani and I hadn't even begun to consider logistics of being a family. Would we live in my house, her house, a new house? Regardless, the girls immediately started planning how they wanted to decorate a shared bedroom. Stefani asked if they might each like their own room, an idea which the girls quickly dismissed. As the girls' planning continued, Stefani discreetly moved her hand under the table and onto my thigh, giving it affectionate caresses and little love squeezes. I gave her a contented smile, then a moment later she interrupted the girls' conversation to ask, "Would the two of you like to sleep in the tent downstairs again tonight?" Of course they said yes, but I think Stefani and I were even more excited than they were. When the evening wound down, we tucked them into bed and headed upstairs to my bedroom. Stefani decided she would like a shower so we gathered towels and toiletries, sharing plenty of kisses and touches as we did. We reluctantly parted and she proceeded into the bathroom. I heard the glass door open and close, then the sounds of splashing water indicating she was in the shower. I gave her about 10-minutes to freshen up before stripping naked and going in to surprise her. I opened the shower door to see her rinsing shampoo from her hair. She continued rinsing without interruption, but acknowledged me by saying, "I was hoping you would come in." My hands explored her body while she attempted to rinsed her hair, my hardened cock occasionally poking and pressing against her as we moved. She gave up rinsing after a few moments and we urgently kissed in each other's arms, our wet naked bodies pressed together and responding to the slippery contact. After some extended foreplay, I turned Stefani away from me and motioned for her to place one foot up on the tiled shower bench, then entered her from behind in that standing position. She steadied herself against the shower walls as I passionately took her in that standing position, my hands alternating between her holding her hips and kneading her soapy tits. Stefani giggled as I eventually pulled out of her and the combined product of our orgasms trailed down the inside of her leg and swirled down the shower drain. We did actually clean ourselves, of course with a lot of shared soaping, rinsing, and drying assistance, before taking our desire to the bed. We made love numerous times that night in various waves of passion, some tender and caring, some urgent and visceral, and all immensely satisfying to our bodies and souls. Announcement. Stefani told her parents about our engagement when they returned from their cruise. They were understandably concerned given the very short timeline of events and urged her to slow things down. They expressed the same to me when Lizzie and I met them for the first time over a family dinner. After eating, her parents took me aside to reinforce their concerns when I began talking somewhat cryptically, "I was perfectly content living day-to-day, just Lizzie and me as our own little family. Sure, I had fantasies about my wife still being alive, or meeting some beautiful woman that would fill that hole in my heart, but I didn't expect that to ever happen and certainly didn't seek it out. Then Lizzie met Toni, and I met a very; guarded; version of Stefani." Her parents gave each other knowing glances at that statement, and her dad offered, "And bitchy." I laughed and put my hands up in the air as if to mockingly plead, "You said it, not me." before I verbally continued, "Let's just say that her; cold; attitude led to us having a conversation and discovering we have some common experiences in our pasts. Anyway, that's when I truly met the real Stefani and began falling in love, not because of our common pasts, but because of the beautiful, intelligent, caring, compassionate, and cheerful person I came to know after she let me in. I didn't understand what was missing from my life until I truly met the real Stefani; and Toni. The four of us complete each other." Her parents' faces visibly softened as I continued, "I completely understand your concerns, and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to have your blessing. Your daughter is my fantasy, my fairy tale that I thought I would never find. I can wait a little longer." Her mom's eyes filled with tears and her dad held out his hand to shake mine saying, "You have our blessing. I trust the two of you to decide when the time is right." Blending. Stefani and I honored her parent's guidance and spent the next months growing together and falling deeper in love. We had frequent sleepover nights at both my house and hers and were really beginning to function as a family of four. Stefani was very much becoming a mother to Lizzie, and me a father to Toni. At some point that spring, we all knew the time was right. In early June, Stefani's parents and a small gathering of friends looked on as Stefani, Toni, Lizzie, and I stood on the bridge behind our house and officially became a family. It turns out maybe Lizzie was always right about that bridge. It did have a way of healing wounds and making everything right again. Based on a post by Architect 23 94, in 3 parts, for Literotica.

Bridge Engineering: Part 3 Settling In For A Long Winter’s Nap. Based on a post by Architect 23 94, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connected. We all said our goodnights, then Stefani and I made our way back up the stairs. I closed the door to the basement and motioned for her to wait for a moment. I reached up to a nearby shelf and very carefully removed an old set of sleigh bells, which I silently hung on the doorknob as an early warning system. Stefani whispered, "Someone has been doing some serious planning." I quietly replied, "Yes, someone has. Is it working?" She answered by wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into our first slow, introductory kiss. Our lips separated briefly, we looked silently into each other's eyes for a moment, then our heads instinctively tilted and our lips came back together with a deeper, more confident kiss. One kiss blurred into two, then three, and continued until one was indistinguishable from the next. Our mouths opened wider and wider, yearning to feel the other partner's passion, before our tongues began a frantic dance between her mouth and mine. My hands began exploring the soft curves of her lower back, just above where the satin dress flared outward over her hips, and her long fingers ran through my hair as her hands eagerly pulled me into our hungry kisses. I lost all sense of time as we finally broke the passionate tension that had been building between us over the past months. I hadn't realized how much I missed an emotional and physical connection with a special someone, and I knew she felt the same. Our faces were both flush with passion and gasping for breath when I reluctantly pulled away from our moment. Without saying anything, I gently kissed her one more time, took her hand in mine, and led her toward the loft stairs. Stefani understood my intentions and acknowledged her consent with a beaming smile and by clutching my arm close to her body as we walked up the stairs. As we reached the top of the stairs, I motioned toward my bedroom door where a branch of mistletoe hung in the threshold. Stefani saw it and quickly moved to position herself as a gatekeeper in the doorway, saying, "I'm glad you took my advice." I responded by taking her in my arms and resuming the passionate kissing and interplay of our tongues that had begun downstairs. Stefani draped her arms around my neck and pressed her body against mine as my hands slid down her back to feel the satin covered swells of her ass. With our continued intimate contact, my cock responded and began to expand downward inside my pant leg, sandwiched against Stefani's pelvis as it grew. In her own expression of arousal, she extended one leg out from the full length slit in her skirt and wrapped it around the back of my thighs, intentionally pressing her skirt covered mound firmly against my restrained tool. Our mouths frantically struggled to find new depths and my hands cupped her ass as she began urgently grinding herself against my cock. The fervor was only broken when we began to lose balance and Stefani returned to standing on both feet. We both took the opportunity to occupy our hands in other ways, hers sliding between us to grasp at my cock and to unsuccessfully pull at my belt, and mine fumbling to release the back closure on her dress. Admitting defeat, we both paused and I moved behind her to take a different approach. My hand brushed her silken curls aside as I placed soft kisses down the side of her neck and slowly loosened a series of clasps on the back of her dress. She uttered soft moans of pleasure as my lips explored her nape then concentrated on areas that drew the most response. As I continued to expose more of her sensual back with the release of each fastener, Stefani crossed one arm over her bosom to hold the dress in place and reached behind herself with the other to caress the engorged flesh straining within the stretched fabric of my slacks. When I finished the last of the clasps, she removed her hand from my cock and used it to push me backward onto the edge of the bed. I sat in rapt attention as she took a couple steps away from me and, with her back turned, stepped out of her heels to reveal neatly manicured toes with nails painted to complement the color of her dress. Now with bare feet, she turned to face me, still holding the dress with one arm crossed over her tits. Her eyes erotically connected with mine as her hands slowly slid the dress downward, seductively unveiling bit by bit of her amazing body. First were her braless tits, pear-shaped handfuls with the slight sag of an early-thirties mother and topped with aroused gumdrop size nipples on proportionately sized areola. With my attentive eyes and childlike smile suggesting approval, the maroon satin curtain continued descending to uncover a slender torso with modestly toned abs and a cute concave belly button. Once her hands reached the top flare of her hips, Stefani released the dress and let gravity pool it at her feet. Her flat stomach and thin waist gave way to supple curves of womanly hips, which then tapered back to meet her long legs. The toned muscles gracefully ebbed and flowed, punctuated by lean knees and petite ankles, all proportionate to the scale of her tall, trim frame. Stefani was a vision, standing before me in nothing but a pair of black satin panties consisting of a small triangle over her sex and thin ribbons of fabric extending outward over subtly visible hip bones. I quickly shed my sport coat and shoes and began opening the buttons down the front of my dress shirt as Stefani did a slow turn and playfully wiggled her amazing heart-shaped ass. I tore my gaze from her body and looked her lustfully in the eyes as she completed her turn, "Wow, you are absolutely incredible!" My shirt was completely unbuttoned and my full-mast erection strained obscenely against the front of my dress pants. I pulled the shirt tails out from under my waistband and started to unbuckle my belt, but Stefani interceded, "Please, let me." I dropped my hands to my sides as she closed the few steps between us and bent forward to kiss me as I sat on the edge of the bed. We shared a few short kisses before she placed her hands on my chest and gently pushed my torso back on the bed. I propped myself on my elbows as she began trailing kisses down the center of my chest and deftly pulled my belt free of its buckle while opening my slacks. By the time her kisses reached my waist, she was on her knees before me and nuzzled her face against my boxer short covered rod and began kissing along its fabric covered length. The eroticism of the sight and the feel of her warm breath would have easily put me over the edge had I not done everything in my power to hold back. Sensing my edging, Stefani relented her touch and curled her slender fingers under the waistband of my slacks and boxers. I lifted my hips to assist while she pulled the waistband toward herself and carefully lifted it over my straining bulge. Her eyes fixated on the vertical tower that sprung upward as soon as it was free of its prison, and continued staring as she pushed the unwanted clothing down my legs. Once she had my pants fully removed, she slowly slid her hands along the top of my legs while she placed a line of kisses up my right inner thigh. She made one last kiss right next to the base of my cock then nuzzled her face against it and cooed soft hums of contentment. Meanwhile, her right hand took a moment to caress my pelvic area before her long, slender fingers encircled my shaft and began to explore its girth and length. After a few moments, Stefani pulled her head away from me enough to visually inspect every detail of my cock as her hand slowly stroked up-and-down and moved it from side-to-side, exploring its network of veiny ridges and large swollen mushroom cap. Her attention resulted in a bead of clear pre-cum pooling on my tip, which she leaned forward and licked away before it dripped downward. With her visual inspection seemingly complete, Stefani continued to slowly stroke my cock while she moved her head downward and used her tongue to caress my loose hanging, neatly shaven balls and then envelope one of the globes fully in her warm mouth. At this point, the previous single bead of pre-cum gave way to a steady stream trailing down the side of my shaft and over the back of her hand. After giving both orbs equal treatment, her tongue followed my trail of precum over the back of her hand and up my throbbing shaft to its source. She looked me deeply in the eyes as she slowly took my engorged head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around its rim. I held the approaching orgasm at bay by brushing her curly locks aside and placing my hands on the sides of her cheeks to gently guide her off my cock. I continued guiding her up to me where she put a leg on each side of my hips to straddle over me. I pulled her face down to mine and kissed her with passionate urgency as her naked chest pressed against mine and my still leaking cock sandwiched between my stomach and hers. As we kissed, she shifted her position upward so her panty covered sex rested on my shaft and then began to slowly rockng her hips, using my cock to work the fabric into her moist folds. My hands instinctively cupped her ass and reinforced her grinding motions. Kissing tapered off as our breathing became heavier and Stefani raised her torso off my chest to find a slightly different position on my cock. We continued to look into each other's eyes as my hands left her ass to explore the alluring tits hanging above me, seductively swaying in time with her motions. I held them for the very first time, massaging and gently squeezing the milky masses while her erect, gumdrop size nipples punctuated my palms. Her heavy breathing was interrupted when my fingers playfully pinched at the swollen nubs, so I took that as encouragement to lift my head and give them some oral stimulation. My mouth covered one, then the other, swirling my tongue and suckling as Stefani increased the speed and force of her hip movements. Realizing the pressure once again building in my balls, I swiftly rolled our semi-conjoined bodies and reversed our positions, with Stefani now on her back and me sliding off the edge of the bed to kneel between her legs. She raised her hips as I grasped and pulled the thin satin ribbons from her hips. They slid toward me and the sodden triangle of fabric reluctantly separated from her wet folds to reveal a small, neatly trimmed patch of hair immediately above glistening and rosy pink gateway petals. They were naturally opened wide to display her well-lubricated inner flesh and partially cloaked love-button. With her panties fully removed, I gently opened her knees and started to lean forward. Stefani understood my intent, bent her legs upward, and opened them widely to allow me full access. Like she had done to me earlier, my lips left a line of kisses up her inner thigh as my nose inhaled her intoxicating scent. Having reached my destination, I gently licked the outer lips on each side of her opening before sucking each into my mouth and giving equal treatment. Stefani's hands had found my head and were offering reassuring encouragement to continue the oral pleasures. My hands also wandered, alternating between holding her hips and kneading her tits as my tongue's attention became more fervent. I moved from her labia to firmly lick the length of her central opening, gently brushing over the top of her clit. Stefani responded by tensing her legs and clenching my hair in her hands. I returned down to cover the core of her sex with my mouth and swirl my tongue around the entrance to her tunnel. Stefani moaned and continued pulling at my hair as I very slowly moved my attention upward. Eventually, my mouth centered over her pearl and the tip of my tongue tenderly circled around it, before firmly pressing against it. She moaned loudly and every muscle in her body tightened as I changed from licking to sucking on her button. I was rewarded with a flood of her cordials and a long series of rhythmic contractions. I gave her outer petals a few more gentle licks and caressed her flat stomach with my hands while she recovered from the height of her pleasure. When she returned to consciousness, she breathlessly whispered, "Come here." and motioned me toward her. I stood from kneeling at the edge of the bed and climbed between her still splayed legs to hold myself over her. Stefani quietly said, "Thank you. You have no idea how amazing that was; how amazing it is to be here with you." as she tenderly wiped her juices from my cheeks and mouth. I responded, "It's been an amazing couple of months. I haven't felt this way about someone since;” I was speaking from my heart without the filter of my head when I realized the inappropriateness of what I was about to say, and adjusted my statement to, "; well, for a very long time." Stefani looked me lovingly in the eyes, cupped my cheek with her hand, and said, "It's okay to talk about her. Julie is still part of you and always should be. I know how much you love her and it means a lot that you would even mention me in the same breath." I leaned down with an appreciative kiss as I held myself over her. One kiss led to another, then to another and another, until our tongues were tangled and our mouths continually joined. We made out with renewed urgency and Stefani reached between our bodies to wrap her hand around my still steely rod. She broke our kissing long enough to beg, "Please, I need you inside me." Our kissing resumed as she guided my cock toward her opening and rubbed its engorged glans up and down her slit several times before removing her hand. Her arms encircled my neck as we kissed and I shifted my hips to seat the tip of my cock firmly against her gateway. Stefani moaned into my mouth when she felt the pressure, and tightened her arms around my neck when the head slowly pushed through her stretched but slippery opening. I cautiously rocked my hips, pausing frequently and allowing her passageway muscles to relax around my rigid cock. She urged me to continue by mumbling into our locked mouths, "More; more; more;” I applied a little more pressure with each motion of my hips and her body slowly welcomed me deeper and deeper. Signaling she wanted more, Stefani wrapped her long legs around me, interlocking her ankles behind my ass and flexing her legs to draw me further inside. With confidence that Stefani was wanting more, I broke our kissing and took her hands in mine, pinning them above her head as I held my body above hers. She seemed excited for me to take control and relaxed her legs while still keeping her ankles interlocked behind me. I began increasing the speed and force of my thrusts, eliciting yelps of pleasure as my cock explored new depths. The bed shook with our quick motions, as did Stefani's curly tresses and motherly tits. The expressions of pleasure on her face were incredibly erotic and I changed to longer, slower strokes to delay my pending orgasm and prolong our pleasure. She understood what I was doing and agreeably pleaded, "Kiss me." I did, and we made love with our mouths while she reinforced my long, slow, intentional pelvic motions with her legs wrapped around me. That tender moment was emblematic of everything we both wanted and needed. There was an unspoken connection between our souls, bridging our broken pasts and forever joining us into the future. Our bodies responded physically to the emotional and spiritual joining. Stefani's by weeping in happiness through a long, rolling orgasm; and mine by releasing eight years' worth of pent-up passion deep into her womb. Completely consumed by the intensity of the experience, Stefani rolled with me as I collapsed beside her on the bed, our legs still intertwined and my cock slowly softening inside her residual contractions. I looked knowingly into her tearful eyes and said softly, but with conviction, "I love you." Stefani pressed her forehead and sniffling nose into my neck and replied, "I love you, too; even more than I thought I did before tonight." We laid silently in each other's arms, exchanging occasional pecks of affection, until my flaccid cock slipped from Stefani's sex followed by a flood of our combined juices. She quickly cupped her hand to her crotch and scurried to the ensuite bathroom. While she was in there, I quickly slipped on my boxer shorts, opened the bedroom door, and stepped out into the loft to check on the girls. The house was silent and the sleigh bells on the basement doorknob appeared undisturbed. Satisfied all was well, I was walking back in the bedroom and was closing the door when Stefani emerged from the bathroom, still naked, and proclaimed in a hushed voice, "David! I've never been so full of cum in my life!" I shrugged my shoulders as I approached her saying, "You're the one that turned me on so much." then pulled her into a passionate embrace and kiss. She returned my kiss then pulled away saying, "I think I would like some more." as she pulled down my boxer shorts and dropped to her knees in one swift motion. She engulfed my limp cock into her warm mouth and massaged it with her tongue until it began to swell. One hand massaged my balls while the other cupped my ass cheek and pulled me into her ministrations. Once I had a hint of rigidity, she began bobbing her head and applying suction to further draw out my length. Working my cock in and out of her mouth, she made sure the sensitive underside of my glans remained in full contact with her tongue. It didn't take long for me to reach a full, raging erection. Sensing that with her mouth, Stefani confirmed with a couple quick strokes of her hand before standing and moving toward the bed. I watched in rapt attention as she climbed onto the center of the bed, positioned herself on her elbows and knees, and seductively wiggled her ass in the air. She looked at me over her shoulder with lust in her eyes and implored, "Take me!" I quickly climbed on the bed and positioned myself behind her. My hands playfully grabbed her hips and pulled her back into me, sandwiching my thickened shaft against her ass. She responded by wiggling her ass, which served to neatly seat my rod between her cheeks. I held her hips with my hands and rocked a few times to slide the underside of my cock against her cheeks. Having played around enough, I shifted backward on my knees and cupped a hand under her sex. I briefly caressed her inflamed and eager mound before dipping two fingers further into her very well lubricated slit. Stefani uttered encouraging moans as my fingers worked in and out of her dripping wet hole. Knowing we were both ready for the main event, I pulled my copiously coated hand from her mound and used it, along with the pre-cum already dripping from my tip, to spread lubrication along the length of my throbbing shaft. Stefani looked back at me as I held her hip with one hand and guided my cock toward her opening with the other. We both gave prolonged moans as our heightened arousal allowed me to penetrate her fully in one long push. Once inside her, she looked back at me and renewed her original request, "Take me!" And so I did. With my hands holding her hips and pulling her back against my pelvis with every stroke, I began lustfully pistoning in and out of her tunnel. She buried her face into the mattress and squealed with delight as I pounded into her roughly, causing her hanging pear-shaped tits to swing violently with my harsh pummeling. After a while, my hands moved to cradle the milky fruits and feel their rippling movements against my palms. As I became winded from the extended punishment I was giving Stefani, I used the supple handfuls to raise her torso toward me and aggressively kiss the nape of her neck as my cock momentarily slowed its assault. Stefani muttered unintelligible encouragements as her tunnel walls pleasured in the slowed movements of my veiny shaft and bulbous head erotically sliding in and out. In the course of my affection, her breathing quickened and became shallower as she ascended toward climax. Knowing she was close, I gave her sensitive nipples a quick squeeze, pushed her torso back down to the mattress, and grabbed her hips to resume my forceful penetrations. My lustful plunging quickly put Stefani over her summit and she emitted long moans of pleasure punctuated only by the impacts of my pelvis against her ass. Her body began quaking and, unable to support herself, crashed forward face down on the bed. My body followed hers downward and pinned her against the mattress as I gave a few more hard thrusts before pushing myself as far into her depths as possible, and releasing volley after volley of cum. Her walls sheathing my cock spasmed through a long drawn-out orgasm, milking every drop of seed from my cock. I held myself over her while our mutual orgasm slowly subsided. Not wanting to smother her with my weight, I rolled off to her side, leaving a strand of cum as my cock slipped from her warmth and dragged across her ass. Still laying on her stomach, Stefani turned her head and motioned me toward her for a series of lovingly soft post-coital kisses. She then repeated her earlier actions of cupping a hand to her crotch and making her way to the bathroom, to which I chuckled and she returned a playfully stern expression and wagging finger. I checked on the girls again while she was in the bathroom and then we both decided we should get a little sleep before they would be up for Christmas morning. Stefani set the alarm on her phone and we drifted off to sleep naked in each other's arms. Wake Up Call. I didn't hear the alarm, but Stefani did and apparently decided to give me a different type of wake-up call. I awoke to the feeling of wet warmth around my morning erection. I looked down to see a mass of dark curly hair slowly moving up and down over my midsection. I reached out and brushed aside her mane to see her looking up at me, the corners of her mouth smiling from around my cock. She briefly pulled it from her mouth and offered a cheery, "Good morning handsome." I replied, "Good morning beautiful." before she returned her attention to pleasuring me. She resumed slowly making oral love to my glans and moved one hand to massage my balls as she worked. After a while, she began to take more of my shaft with each downward motion until my engorged head began flirting with the entrance to her throat. She had no perceivable reflex to the contact and, on the following downstroke, wiggled her head a little to work my crown past the restriction. Once past the threshold, she took my full length, burying her nose firmly into my pelvis. She held herself there for several moments before pulling herself off my cock, then repeating the actions again and again. I had never experienced that feeling before and it didn't take long for me to be overcome by the pleasure. While buried deep in her throat, I urgently warned, "I'm going to cum! I'm going to cum!" Stefani strained to push her head down further and take in every possible millimeter of my cock before purposefully constricting her throat around the head of my cock. My hands grasped at her curly locks as I launched forceful jets of cum directly into her throat. After the first few ejections, she pulled back to remove my crown from her throat and to milk the remaining cum into her mouth with a rhythmic bobbing motion. She looked into my eyes as she swallowed my seed and continued fellating my organ until it softened in her mouth, then simply said, "Merry Christmas, David." Christmas Morning. I had started a fire in the great room fireplace after Stefani's morning gift and was faking blanket-covered sleep on the sofa when I heard little footsteps clamoring up the basement steps and bursting through the sleigh bell alarmed door. The girls scurried across the room in their new pajamas, taking the shortest route to the Christmas presents under the tree, and began eagerly exploring which packages were for whom. I pretended to be waking up and put on a show by pushing the blanket aside, stretching my arms in an exaggerated fashion as I sat upright, and saying, "Merry Christmas, girls!" Just then, I saw Stefani coming down the loft stairs and continuing the ruse by drearily rubbing her eyes and smoothing her disheveled curls. She had apparently gone shopping in my closet and was wearing one of my old t-shirts, which was long enough on her to almost completely cover a pair of my boxer shorts beneath. She echoed, "Merry Christmas everyone!" The girls distractedly replied, "Merry Christmas," as they continued sorting through gifts under the tree. Stefani sat down next to me on the sofa and folded one leg beneath her. After confirming the girls were not looking, I turned my head and gave Stefani a quick peck on the lips before suggesting, "Girls, do you want to pass out all the presents?" They excitedly responded, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and enthusiastically went about checking tags and making stacks of presents where each recipient was seated. I reached over to take Stefani's hand in mine, our fingers interlaced, as we soaked in the holiday atmosphere. During their process, Toni and Lizzie independently delivered a package for either me or Stefani and noticed us holding hands. Interestingly, they both had similar reactions which amounted to hesitating for a moment, then going on about what they were doing as if us holding hands was expected and logical. Once the girls had all the gift bags and wrapped boxes distributed, we took the civilized approach of taking turns, each of us opening a present while the others looked on. Toni and Lizzie each received an assortment of clothes, girly trinkets, and a couple electronic items. Stefani and I were especially moved when the girls exchanged gifts they had personally selected for each other, then embraced in an extended hug. On my next turn opening a gift, I was genuinely touched when I unwrapped a shirt-box size package from Lizzie to find a small ceramic coin dish, hand-painted in red and green with speckles of gold glitter. Also in the box was an impressively detailed color pencil drawing of Lizzie, Toni, Stefani, and me all holding hands and standing on Lizzie's little bridge behind our house. Stefani and I reserved our presents to each other until all the others had been opened and the girls were happily playing with their new toys. We sat on the sofa watching them and shared occasional discreet touches of affection before exchanging our gifts. I'm sure we would have both selected different items had we known the deepening of our relationship that would occur on Christmas Eve, but they were still meaningful in a retrospective way. I opened an absolutely beautiful mechanical wristwatch with an ornately engraved metal band. As I was admiring its craftsmanship, I noticed the side of the clock face was inscribed with intricate script, "Thank you for being on-time. --Stefani" Knowing the deeper significance of those words in Stefani's painful past made my gift to her equally meaningful. I presented her a small box which she opened to reveal a delicate silver pendant necklace containing a marble-size translucent brown gemstone. Her slender fingers picked up a small printed card inside the jewelry box that read, "Legend of Apache Tears -- This gemstone native to Superior, Arizona bears the tears shed by Apache women after loss of their men defending the sacred homelands. For those who possess an Apache Tear, their emotional body will be cleansed of old traumas or wounds and they need not cry again, because the Apache women cried enough for the one who holds the stone." Stefani carefully placed the card back into the jewelry box and closed the case saying, "Thank you, but I think you are my real healer." I replied, "I know you are mine." and gave her a short but meaningful kiss. Our lips pulled away from each other to find the girls sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree, distracted from playing by the sight of us kissing. Stefani was quicker thinking than me and asked the intentionally leading question, "How would the two of you feel about the four of us spending more time together?" To my surprise, Lizzie put her toys aside, walked over to the sofa and gave Stefani a giant hug. She said something to Stefani while they hugged, but I couldn't make out the words. Toni followed Lizzie's lead and came over to give me a hug. Her face buried into my neck, she said with the honest wisdom of a child, "You make my mom happy." Not understanding the full significance of what had just occurred, Toni and Lizzie returned to playing while Stefani and I silently held hands and just enjoyed the moment. My mind drifted to recount the last couple months, and last 24 hours, as the fingers of my free hand idly twisted and twirled a small piece of wrapping paper. While Stefani and I had commonly tragic backgrounds that drew us together, that is not why I loved her. That was simply the key that opened our guarded doors and freed our real selves. I loved her for being the intelligent, quick-witted, caring, compassionate, and cheerful person I had come to know once she let me inside her world. When we were together, especially with Lizzie and Toni, we felt like a real family. There was genuine care and warmth. Lizzie's reaction to hug Stefani earlier surprised me, but it shouldn't have. I did the best I could to raise her, but I was still only one man. She didn't have a mother figure in her life and, looking back over the last couple months, I could see the special bond she was starting to form with Stefani. I vowed to myself right then that I would focus on doing the same with Toni. Her earlier statement of, "You make my mom happy." and the picture she drew of the four of us holding hands, told me she was clearly more astute to the situation than I was aware. My heart yearned for the impromptu family the four of us had started to become and, more importantly, it yearned for Stefani in a way I hadn't felt since Julie. I glanced down at my free hand and observed that my fidgeting fingers had unconsciously produced a little twisted rope circle from the scrap of wrapping paper. In that moment, I realized that my heart knew what it needed. The girls had moved their play downstairs while I was lost in my thoughts, and Stefani and I hadn't said anything in quite some time. She eventually broke the silence, and my distant stare, by asking, "Are you okay? What's wrong?" I responded, "Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing." before continuing with conviction, "I know this is going to sound impulsive, but I've never felt more clearly about anything in my life." I lifted my free hand with the little wrapping paper ring and said, "I love you, Stefani. Will you marry me?" She quickly and emphatically answered, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and her eyes filled with tears as I slipped the makeshift giftwrap ring over her finger. She then leapt into my lap, cradled my face with her palms, and passionately kissed me through her weeping. The Idea. We introduced the idea to Lizzie and Toni as we were all playing board games that Christmas afternoon. It would be an understatement to say they were thrilled about being sisters and living in the same house together. Stefani and I hadn't even begun to consider logistics of being a family. Would we live in my house, her house, a new house? Regardless, the girls immediately started planning how they wanted to decorate a shared bedroom. Stefani asked if they might each like their own room, an idea which the girls quickly dismissed. As the girls' planning continued, Stefani discreetly moved her hand under the table and onto my thigh, giving it affectionate caresses and little love squeezes. I gave her a contented smile, then a moment later she interrupted the girls' conversation to ask, "Would the two of you like to sleep in the tent downstairs again tonight?" Of course they said yes, but I think Stefani and I were even more excited than they were. When the evening wound down, we tucked them into bed and headed upstairs to my bedroom. Stefani decided she would like a shower so we gathered towels and toiletries, sharing plenty of kisses and touches as we did. We reluctantly parted and she proceeded into the bathroom. I heard the glass door open and close, then the sounds of splashing water indicating she was in the shower. I gave her about 10-minutes to freshen up before stripping naked and going in to surprise her. I opened the shower door to see her rinsing shampoo from her hair. She continued rinsing without interruption, but acknowledged me by saying, "I was hoping you would come in." My hands explored her body while she attempted to rinsed her hair, my hardened cock occasionally poking and pressing against her as we moved. She gave up rinsing after a few moments and we urgently kissed in each other's arms, our wet naked bodies pressed together and responding to the slippery contact. After some extended foreplay, I turned Stefani away from me and motioned for her to place one foot up on the tiled shower bench, then entered her from behind in that standing position. She steadied herself against the shower walls as I passionately took her in that standing position, my hands alternating between her holding her hips and kneading her soapy tits. Stefani giggled as I eventually pulled out of her and the combined product of our orgasms trailed down the inside of her leg and swirled down the shower drain. We did actually clean ourselves, of course with a lot of shared soaping, rinsing, and drying assistance, before taking our desire to the bed. We made love numerous times that night in various waves of passion, some tender and caring, some urgent and visceral, and all immensely satisfying to our bodies and souls. Announcement. Stefani told her parents about our engagement when they returned from their cruise. They were understandably concerned given the very short timeline of events and urged her to slow things down. They expressed the same to me when Lizzie and I met them for the first time over a family dinner. After eating, her parents took me aside to reinforce their concerns when I began talking somewhat cryptically, "I was perfectly content living day-to-day, just Lizzie and me as our own little family. Sure, I had fantasies about my wife still being alive, or meeting some beautiful woman that would fill that hole in my heart, but I didn't expect that to ever happen and certainly didn't seek it out. Then Lizzie met Toni, and I met a very; guarded; version of Stefani." Her parents gave each other knowing glances at that statement, and her dad offered, "And bitchy." I laughed and put my hands up in the air as if to mockingly plead, "You said it, not me." before I verbally continued, "Let's just say that her; cold; attitude led to us having a conversation and discovering we have some common experiences in our pasts. Anyway, that's when I truly met the real Stefani and began falling in love, not because of our common pasts, but because of the beautiful, intelligent, caring, compassionate, and cheerful person I came to know after she let me in. I didn't understand what was missing from my life until I truly met the real Stefani; and Toni. The four of us complete each other." Her parents' faces visibly softened as I continued, "I completely understand your concerns, and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to have your blessing. Your daughter is my fantasy, my fairy tale that I thought I would never find. I can wait a little longer." Her mom's eyes filled with tears and her dad held out his hand to shake mine saying, "You have our blessing. I trust the two of you to decide when the time is right." Blending. Stefani and I honored her parent's guidance and spent the next months growing together and falling deeper in love. We had frequent sleepover nights at both my house and hers and were really beginning to function as a family of four. Stefani was very much becoming a mother to Lizzie, and me a father to Toni. At some point that spring, we all knew the time was right. In early June, Stefani's parents and a small gathering of friends looked on as Stefani, Toni, Lizzie, and I stood on the bridge behind our house and officially became a family. It turns out maybe Lizzie was always right about that bridge. It did have a way of healing wounds and making everything right again. Based on a post by Architect 23 94, in 3 parts, for Literotica.

Full Episode only on Patreon.com/michaeldeconIn this gripping episode of The Michael Decon Program, Michael Decon reunites with Danish author and researcher Ole Dammegard, a veteran guest known for his deep dives into political assassinations and alleged false flag operations. Ole opens up about Sweden's recent constitutional changes blending criticism of NATO with labels like "conspiracy theorist" or "espionage," warning that his outspoken views could land him up to 18 years in prison if he returns home despite past honors like the Prague Peace Prize and adoption by the Apache nation. He shares how these pressures inspired his new "Demi Guardian Freedom Retreats" in Bali, intensive seven-day immersions from April 1-7 (Swedish) and April 18-25, 2026 (English), designed to empower attendees with tools to decode staged events, release fear, and foster truth-seeking networks in a stunning rice-field valley retreat center.​The conversation flows into Bali's unique spiritual culture, where locals responded to the 2002 Kuta bombing not with revenge, but with mass prayers for forgiveness, contrasting sharply with Western outrage cycles fueled by media and chemical "rushes" from anger. Ole links this to post-9/11 "War on Terror" escalations, including the Bali attack's rapid FBI presence and odd injuries suggesting beta-tested weapons, aimed at pressuring holdout nations like Australia into compliance. He reveals predicting or exposing 77 alleged attacks via forensic clues from insiders, emphasizing emotional balance and compassion as antidotes to propaganda's problem-reaction-solution playbook.​Ole advises everyday listeners to spot psyops by pausing fear-based narratives pumped through screens, treating them like marketing ploys that prime us for solutions like endless wars or restrictions. With AI blurring reality, he now limits interviews to maintain discernment, urging a shift from division to upliftment through personal energy "ripples." Tune in for this raw exchange on staying centered amid global deceptions, and check demiguardians.com/travelbali for retreat details.

　独立行政法人情報処理推進機構（IPA）および一般社団法人JPCERT コーディネーションセンター（JPCERT/CC）は12月5日、Apache HTTP Server 2.4における複数の脆弱性について「Japan Vulnerability Notes（JVN）」で発表した。影響を受けるシステムは以下の通り。

Featured Podcast Sponsor:  Precision Holsters holiday specials!  Episode #422: Gavin Glasenapp: From Special Operations Aviation to Defender Development On today's American Warrior Show, we will be joined by former 160th Pilot and the current Training Operations Manager at Delta Defense, Gavin Glasenapp.   Gavin Glasenapp is the Training Operations Manager at Delta Defense, supporting the U.S. Concealed Carry Association's nationwide instructor network. He brings a deep operational background built over two decades in the U.S. Army, where he retired as a Chief Warrant Officer Four.   Gavin spent the first half of his career in the AH-64A and AH-64D Apache community, serving as both an Instructor Pilot and Standardization Instructor Pilot. He later assessed into the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), flying the MH-47G on heavy-assault missions in direct support of special mission units. Across twelve combat deployments flying both the Apache and Chinook, he gained extensive experience in complex, high-risk environments.   After the Army, Gavin served as a police officer in Southeastern Wisconsin, completing advanced LE training, including ALERRT and SWAT school. He now leverages his combined military, law-enforcement, and instructional expertise to strengthen USCCA training programs and enhance the readiness and capability of responsibly armed Americans. Gavin enjoys multiple hobbies and spending time, especially traveling, with his soon to be wife, Jessica. This episode gives listeners a rare look at the training, standards, and mission profiles of the legendary 160th SOAR. Gavin Glasenapp explains what sets these pilots apart and how their approach to risk, planning, and contingencies offers powerful lessons for everyday carry practitioners. Rich and Gavin connect SOF aviation principles to personal defense, instructor development, and decision-making under pressure. A fascinating mix of story and strategy.

The Overtired trio reunites for the first time in ages, diving into a whirlwind of health updates, hilarious anecdotes, and the latest tech obsessions. Christina shares a dramatic spinal saga while Brett and Jeff discuss everything from winning reddit contests to creating a universal markdown processor. Tune in for updates on Mark 3, the magical world of Scrivener, and why Brett’s back on Bing. Don’t miss the banter or the tech tips, and as always, get ready to laugh, learn, and maybe feel a little overtired yourself. Sponsor Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all eCommerce in the US, from household names like Mattel and Gymshark, to brands just getting started. Get started today at shopify.com/overtired. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to the Overtired Podcast 01:09 Christina’s Health Journey 10:53 Brett’s Insurance Woes 15:38 Jeff’s Mental Health Update 24:07 Sponsor Spot: Shopify 24:18 Sponsor: Shopify 26:23 Jeff Tweedy 27:43 Jeff’s Concert Marathon 32:16 Christina Wins Big 36:58 Monitor Setup Challenges 37:13 Ergotron Mounts and Tall Poles 38:33 Review Plans and Honest Assessments 38:59 Current Display Setup 41:30 Thunderbolt KVM and Display Preferences 42:51 MacBook Pro and Studio Comparisons 50:58 Markdown Processor: Apex 01:07:58 Scrivener and Writing Tools 01:11:55 Helium Browser and Privacy Features 01:13:56 Bing Delisting Incident Show Links Danny Brown's 10 in the New York Times (gift link) Indigo Stack Scrivener Helium Bangs Apex Apex Syntax Join the Marked 3 Beta LG 32 Inch UltraFine™evo 6K Nano IPS Black Monitor with Thunderbolt™ 5 Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Brett + 2 Welcome to the Overtired Podcast Jeff: [00:00:00] Hello everybody. This is the Overtired podcast. The three of us are all together for the first time since the Carter administration. Um, it is great to see you both here. I am Jeff Severance Gunzel if I didn’t say that already. Um, and I’m here with Christina Warren and I’m here with Brett Terpstra and hello to both of you. Brett: Hi. Jeff: Great to see you both. Brett: Yeah, it’s good to see you too. I feel like I was really deadpan in the pre-show. I’ll try to liven it up for you. I was a horrible audience. You were cracking jokes and I was just Jeff: that’s true. Christina, before you came on, man, I was hot. I was on fire and Brett was, all Brett was doing was chewing and dropping Popsicle parts. Brett: Yep. I ate, I ate part of a coconut outshine Popsicle off of a concrete floor, but Jeff: It is true, and I didn’t even see him check it [00:01:00] for cat hair, Brett: I did though. Jeff: but I believe he did because he’s a, he’s a very Brett: I just vacuumed in Jeff: He’s a very good American Brett: All right. Christina’s Health Journey Brett: Well, um, I, Christina has a lot of health stuff to share and I wanna save time for that. So let’s kick off the mental health corner. Um, let’s let Christina go first, because if it takes the whole show, it takes the whole show. Go for it. Christina: Uh, I, I will not take this hold show, but thank you. Yeah. So, um, my mental health is okay-ish. Um, I would say the okay-ish part is, is because of things that are happening with my physical health and then some of the medications that I’ve had to be on, um, uh, to deal with it. Uh, prednisone. Fucking sucks, man. Never nev n never take it if you can avoid it. Um, but why Christina, why are you on prednisone or why were you on prednisone for five days? Um, uh, and I’m not anymore to be clear, but that certainly did not help my mental health. Um, at the beginning of November, I woke up and I thought that I’d [00:02:00] slept on my shoulder wrong. And, um, uh, and, and just some, some background. I, I don’t know if this is pertinent to how my injury took place or not, but, but it, I’m sure that it didn’t help. Um, I have scoliosis and in the top and the bottom of my spine, so I have it at the top of my, like, neck area and my lower back. And so my back is like a crooked s um, this will be relevant in a, in a second, but, but I, I thought that I had slept on my back bunny, and I was like, okay, well, all right, it hurts a lot, but fine. Um, and then it, a, a couple of days passed and it didn’t get any better, and then like a week passed and I was at the point where I was like, I almost feel like I need to go to the. Emergency room, I’m in pain. That is that significant. Um, and, you know, didn’t get any better. So I took some of grant’s, Gabapentin, and I took, um, some, some, uh, a few other things and I was able to get in with like a, a, a sports and spine guy. Um, and um, [00:03:00] he looked at me and he was like, yeah, I think that you have like a, a, a bolting disc, also known as a herniated disc. Go to physical therapy. See me later. We’ll, we’ll deal with it. Um. Basically like my whole left side was, was, was really sore and, and I had a lot of pain and then I had numbness in my, my fingers and um, and, and that was a problem the next day, which was actually my birthday. The numbness had at this point spread to my right side and also my lower extremities. And so at this point I called the doctor and he was like, yeah, you should go to the er. And so I went to the ER and, and they weren’t able to do anything for me other than give me, you know, like, um, you know, I was hoping they might give me like, some sort of steroid injection or something. They wouldn’t do anything other than, um, basically, um, they gave me like another type of maybe, maybe pain pill or whatever. Um, but that allowed the doctor to go ahead and. Write, uh, write up an MRI took forever for me to get an MRI, I actually had to get it in Atlanta. [00:04:00] Fun fact, uh, sometimes it is cheaper to just pay and not go through insurance and get an MR MRI and, um, a, um, uh, an x-ray, um, I was able to do it for $450 Jeff: Whoa. Really? Christina: Yeah, $400 for the MR mri. $50 for the x-ray. Jeff: Wow. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. Brett: how I, they, I had an MRI, they charged me like $1,200 and then they failed to bill insurance ’cause I was between insurance. Christina: Yes. Yeah. So what happened was, and and honestly that was gonna be the situation that I was in, not between insurance stuff, but they weren’t even gonna bill insurance. And insurance only approved certain facilities and to get into those facilities is almost impossible. Um, and so, no, there are a lot of like get an MR, I now get a, you know, mammogram, get ghetto, whatever places. And because America’s healthcare system is a HealthScape, you can bypass insurance and they will charge you way less than whatever they bill insurance for. So I, I don’t know if it’s part of the country, you know, like Seattle I think might [00:05:00] probably would’ve been more expensive. But yeah, I was able to find this place like a mile from like, not even a mile from where my parents lived, um, that did the x-rays and the MRI for $450 total. Brett: I, I hate, I hate that. That’s true, but Christina: Me too. Me too. No, no. It pisses me off. Honestly, it makes me angry because like, I’m glad that I was able to do that and get it, you know, uh, uh, expedited. Then I go into the spine, um, guy earlier this week and he looks at it and he’s like, yep, you’ve got a massive bulging disc on, on C seven, which is the, the part of your lower cervical or cervical spine, which is your neck. Um, and it’s where it connects to your ver bray. It’s like, you know, there are a few things you can do. You can do, you know, injections, you can do surgery. He is like, I’m gonna recommend you to a neurosurgeon. And I go to the neurosurgeon yesterday and he was showing me or not, uh, yeah, yesterday he was showing me the, the, the, the scans and, and showing like you up close and it’s, yeah, it’s pretty massive. Like where, where, where the disc is like it is. You could see it just from one view, like, just from like [00:06:00] looking at it like, kind of like outside, like you could actually like see like it was visible, but then when you zoomed in it’s like, oh shit, this, this thing is like massive and it’s pressing on these nerves that then go into my, my hands and other areas. But it’s pressing on both sides. It’s primarily on my left side, but it’s pressing on on my right side too, which is not good. So, um, he basically was like, okay. He was like, you know, this could go away. He was like, the pain isn’t really what I’m wanting to, to treat here. It’s, it’s the, the weakness because my, my left arm is incredibly weak. Like when they do like the, the test where like they, they push back on you to see like, okay, like how, how much can you, what, like, I am, I’m almost immediately like, I can’t hold anything back. Right? Like I’m, I’m, I’m like a toddler in terms of my strength. So, and, and then I’m freaked out because I don’t have a lot of feeling in my hands and, and that’s terrifying. Um, I’m also. Jeff: so terrifying, Christina: I’m, I’m also like in extreme pain because of, of, of where this sits. Like I can’t sleep well. Like [00:07:00] the whole thing sucks. Like the MRI, which was was like the most painful, like 25 minutes, like of my existence. ’cause I was laying flat on my back. I’m not allowed to move and I’m just like, I’m in just incredible pain with that part of, of, of, of my, my side. Like, it, it was. It was terrible. Um, but, uh, but he was like, yeah. Um, these are the sorts of surgical options we have. Um, he’s gonna, um, do basically what what he wants to do is basically do a thing where he would put in a, um, an artificial or, or synthetic disc. So they’re gonna remove the disc, put in a synthetic one. They’ll go in through the, the front of my throat to access the, my, my, my, my spine. Um, put that there and, um, you know, I’ll, I’ll be overnight in the hospital. Um, and then it’ll be a few weeks of recovery and the, the, the pain should go away immediately. Um, but it, it could be up to two years before I get full, you know, feeling back in my arm. So anyway, Jeff: years, Jesus. And Christina: I mean, and hopefully less than that, but, but it could be [00:08:00] up to that. Jeff: there’s no part of this at this point. That’s a mystery to you, right? Christina: The mystery is, I don’t know how this happened. Jeff: You don’t know how it happened, right? Of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Brett: So tell, tell us about the ghastly surgery. The, the throat thing really threw me like, I can’t imagine that Christina: yeah, yeah. So, well, ’cause the thing is, is that usually if what they just do, like spinal fusion, they’ll go in at the back of your neck, um, and then they’ll remove the, the, um, the, the, the, the disc. And then they’ll fuse your, your, your two bones together. Basically. They’ll, they’ll, they’ll, they’ll fuse this part of the vertebrae, but because they’re going to be replacing the, the disc, they need more room. So that’s why they have to go in through the, through, through basically your throat so that they can have more room to work. Jeff: Good lord. No thank you. Brett: Ugh. Wow. Jeff: Okay. Brett: I am really sorry that is happening. That is, that is, that dwarfs my health concerns. That is just constant pain [00:09:00] and, and it would be really scary. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. It’s not great. It’s not great, but I’m, I’m, I’m doing what I can and, uh, like I have, you know, a small amount of, of Oxycodine and I have like a, a, a, you know, some other pain medication and I’m taking the gabapentin and like, that’s helpful. The bad part is like your body, like every 12, 15 hours, like whatever, like the, the, the cycle is like, you feel it leave your system and like if you’re asleep, you wake up, right? Like, it’s one of those things, like, you immediately feel it, like when it leaves your system. And I’ve never had to do anything for pain management before. And they have me on a very, they have me like on the smallest amount of like, oxycodone you can be on. Um, and I’m using it sparingly because I don’t wanna, you know, be reliant on, on it or whatever. But it, it, but it is one of those things where I’m like, yeah, like sometimes you need fucking opiates because, you know, the pain is like so constant. And the thing is like, what sucks is that it’s not always the same type of pain. Like sometimes it’s throbbing, sometimes it’s sharp, sometimes it’s like whatever. It sucks. But the hardest thing [00:10:00] is like, and. This does impact my mental health. Like it’s hard to sleep. Like, and I’m a side sleeper. I’m a side sleeper, and I’m gonna have to become a back sleeper. So, you know. Yeah. It’s just, it’s, it’s not great. It’s not great, but, you know, that, that, that, that, that’s me. The, the good news is, and I’m very, very gratified, like I have a good surgeon. Um, I’m gonna be able to get in to get this done relatively quickly. He had an appointment for next week. I don’t think that insurance would’ve even been able to approve things fast enough for, for, for that regard. And I have, um, commitments that I can’t make then. And I, and that would also mean that I wouldn’t be able to go visit my family for Christmas. So hopefully I’ll do it right after Christmas. I’m just gonna wait, you know, for, for insurance to, to do its thing, knock on wood, and then schedule, um, from there. But yeah, Jeff: Woof. Christina: so that’s me. Um, uh, who wants to go next? Jeff or, uh, Jeff or Brett? Jeff: It’s like, that’s me. Hot potato throwing it. Brett: I’ll, I’ll go. Brett’s Insurance Woes Brett: I can continue on the insurance topic. Um, I was, for a few months [00:11:00] after getting laid off, I was on Minsu, which is Minnesota’s Medicaid, um, v version of Medicaid. And so basically I paid nothing and I had better insurance than I usually have with, uh, you know, a full deductible and premiums and everything. And it was fantastic. I was getting all the care I needed for all of the health stuff I’m going through. Um, I, they, a, a new doctor I found, ordered the 15 tests and I passed out ’cause it was so much blood and. And it, I was getting, but I was getting all these tests run. I was getting results, we were discovering things. And then my unemployment checks, the income from unemployment went like $300 over the cap for Medicaid. So [00:12:00] all of a sudden, overnight I was cut from Medicaid and I had to do an early sign up, and now I’m on courts and it sucks bad. Like they’re not covering my meds. Last month cost me $600. I was also paying. In addition to that, a $300 premium plus every doctor’s visit is 50 bucks out of pocket. So this will hopefully only last until January, and then it’ll flip over and I will be able to demonstrate basically no income, um, until like Mark makes enough money that it gets reported. Um, and even, uh, until then, like I literally am making under the, the poverty limit. So, um, I hope to be back on Medicaid shortly. I have one more month. I’ll have to pay my $600 to refill. I [00:13:00] cashed out my 401k. Um, like things were, everything was up high enough that I had made, I. I had made tens of thousands of dollars just on the investments and the 401k, but I also have a lot of concerns about the market volatility around Nvidia and the AI bubble in general. Um, so taking my money out of the market just felt okay to me. I paid the 10%, uh, penalty Jeff: Mm-hmm. Brett: and ultimately I, I came out with enough cash that I can invest on my own and be able to cover the next six months. Uh, if I don’t have any other income, which I hope to, I hope to not spend my nest egg. Um, but I did, I did a lot of thinking and calculating and I think I made the right choices. But anyway, [00:14:00] that will help if I have to pay for medical stuff that will help. Um. And then I’ve had insomnia, bad on and off. Right now I’m coming off of two days of good sleep. You’re catching me on a good day. Um, but Jeff: Still wouldn’t laugh at my jokes. Brett: before that it was, well, that’s the thing is like before that, it was four nights where I slept two to four hours per night, and by the end of it, I could barely walk. And so two nights of sleep after a stint like that, like, I’m just super, I’m deadpan, I’m dazed. Um, I could lay down and fall asleep at any time. Um, I, so, so keep me awake. Um, but yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s me. Mental health is good. Like I’m in pretty high spirits considering all this, like financial stuff and everything. Like my mood has been pretty stable. I’ve been getting a lot of coding done. I’ll tell you about projects in [00:15:00] a minute, but, um, but that’s, that’s me. I’m done. Jeff: Awesome. I’m enjoying watching your cat roll around, but clearly cannot decide to lay down at this point. Brett: No, nobody is very persnickety. Jeff: I literally have to put my. Well, you say put a cat down like you used to. When you put a kid down for a nap, you say you wanna put ’em down. Right? That’s where it’s coming from. I now have a chair next to my desk, ’cause I have one cat that walks around Yowling at about 11:00 AM while I’m working. And I have to like, put ’em down for a nap. It’s pathetic. It’s pathetic that I do that. Let’s just be clear. Brett: Yeah. Jeff: soulmate though. Jeff’s Mental Health Update Jeff: Um, I’m doing good. I’m, I’m, I’ve been feeling kind of light lately in a nice way. I’ve had ups and downs, but even with the ups and downs, there’s like a, except for one day last week was, there’s just been feeling kind of good in general, which is remarkable in a way. ’cause it’s just like stressful time. There’s some stressful business stuff, like, [00:16:00] a lot of stuff like that. But I’m feeling good and, and just like, uh, yeah, just light. I don’t know, it’s weird. Like, I’ve just been noticing that I feel kind of light and, uh. And not, not manic, not high light. Brett: Yeah. No, that’s Jeff: uh, and that’s, that’s lovely. So yeah. And so I’m doing good. I’m doing good. I fucking, it’s cold. Which sucks ’cause it just means for everybody that’s heard about my workshop over the years, that I can’t really go out there and have it be pleasant Brett: It’s, it’s been Minnesota thus far. Has had, we’ve had like one, one Sub-Zero day. Jeff: whatever. It’s fucking cold. Christina: Yeah. What one? Brett? Brett. It’s December 6th as we’re recording this one Sub-Zero day. That’s insane. Brett: Is it Jeff: Granted, granted I’ve been dressing warm, so I’m ready to go out the door for ice related things. Meaning, meaning government, ice, Brett: Uh, yeah. Yeah. Jeff: So I like wear my long underwear during [00:17:00] the day. ’cause actually like recently. So at my son’s school, which is like six blocks from here, um, has a lot of Somali immigrants in it. And, and uh, and there was a, at one point there was ice activity in the other direction, um, uh, uh, near me. And so neighbors put out a call here around so that at dismissal time people would pair up at all the intersections surrounding the school. And, um, and like a quick signal group popped up, whatever. It was so amazing because like we all just popped out there. And by the time I got out, uh, everyone was already like, posted up and I was like, I’m a, in these situations, I am a wanderer. You want me roaming? I don’t want to pair up with somebody I don’t like, I just, I grabbed a camera with a Zoom on it and like, I was like, I’m in roam. Um, it’s what I was as an activist, what I was as a reporter, like it’s just my nature. Um, but like. Everybody was out and like, and they were just like, they were ready man. And then we got like the all clear and you could just see people in the [00:18:00] neighborhood just like standing down and going home. But because of the true threat and the ongoing arrests here, now that the Minneapolis stuff has started, like I do, I was like wearing long underwear just, and I have a little bag by the door ready to like pop out if something comes up and I can be helpful. Um, and uh, and I guess what I’m saying is I should use that to go into the garage as well if I’m already prepared. Brett: Right. Jeff: But here’s, okay, so here’s a mental health thing actually. So I, one of the, I’ve gone through a few years of just sort of a little bit of paralysis around being able to just, I don’t know what, like do anything that is kind of project related that takes some thinking, whatever it is, like I’m talking about around the house or things that have kind of broken over the years, whatever. So I’ve had this snowblower and it’s a really good snowblower. It’s got headlights. And, uh, and I used to love snow blowing the entire block. Like it just made me feel good, made me feel useful. Um, and sorry I cough. I left it outside for a [00:19:00] year for a, like a winter and a spring and water got into the gas tank. It rusted out in there. I knew I couldn’t start it or I’d ruin the whole damn engine. So I left it for two years and I felt bad about myself. But this year, just like probably a month before the first big snowfall, I fucking replaced a gas tank and a carburetor on a machine. And I have never done anything like that in my life. And so then we got the snowfall and I, and I snow blowed this whole block Brett: Nice. Jeff: great. ’cause now they all owe me. Brett: I, uh, I have a, uh, so I have a little electric powered, uh, snowblower that can handle like two inches of snow. Um, and, and on big snowfalls, if you get out there every hour and keep up with it, it, it works. But, but I, my back right now, I can’t stand for, I can’t stand still for 10 minutes and I can’t move for more than like five minutes. And so I’m, I’m very disabled and El has good days and bad days, uh, thus [00:20:00] far. L’s been out there with a shovel, um, really being the hero. But we have a next door neighbor with a big gas powered snowblower. And so we went over, brought them gifts, and, um, asked if they would take care of our driveway on days we couldn’t, uh, for like, you know, we’d pay ’em 25 bucks to do the driveway. And, uh, and they were, he was still reluctant to accept money. Um. But, but we both agreed it was better to like make it a, a transaction. Jeff: Oh my God. You don’t want to get into weird Minnesota neighbor relational. Brett: right. You don’t want the you owe me thing. Um, so, so we have that set up. But in the process we made really good friends with our neighbor. Like we sat down in their living room for I think 45 minutes and just like talked about health and politics and it was, it was really fun. They’re, they’re retired. They’re in their [00:21:00] seventies and like act, he always looks super grumpy. I always thought he was a mean old man. He’s actually, he laughs more easily than most people I’ve ever met. Um, he’s actually, when people say, oh, he is actually a teddy bear, this guy really is, he’s just jovial. Uh, he just has resting angry old man face. Jeff: Or like my, I have public mis throat face, like when I’m out and about, especially when I’m shopping, I know that my face is, I’m gonna fucking kill you if you look me in the eye Brett: I used Jeff: is not my general disposition. Brett: people used to tell me that about myself, but I feel like I, I carry myself differently these days than I did when I was younger. Jeff: You know what I learned? Do you, have you both watched Veep, Christina: Yes, Jeff: you know, Richard sp split, right? Um, and, and he always kind of has this sweet like half smile and he is kind of looking up and I, I figured out at one point I was in an airport, which is where my kill everybody face especially comes up. Just to be clear. TSA, it’s just a feeling inside. I [00:22:00] have no desire to act to this out. I realized that if I make the Richard Plet face, which I can try to make for you now, which is something like if I just make the Richard Plet face, my whole disposition Brett: yeah. Yeah. Jeff: uh, and I even feel a little better. And so I just wanna recommend that to people. Look up Richard Spt, look at his face. Christina: Hey, future President Bridges split. Jeff: future President Richard Splat, also excellent in the Detroiters. Um, that’s all, uh, that’s all I wanted to say about that. Brett: I have found that like when I’m texting with someone, if I start to get frustrated, you know, you know that point where you’re still adding smiley emoticons even though you’re actually not, you’re actually getting pissed off, but you don’t wanna sound super bitchy about it, so you’re adding smile. I have found that when I add a smiley emoji in those circumstances, if I actually smile before I send it, it like my [00:23:00] mood will adjust to match, to match the tone I’m trying to convey, and it lessens my frustration with the other person. Jeff: a little joy wrist rocket. Christina: Yeah. Hey, I mean, no, but hey, but, but that, that, that, that, that’s interesting. I mean, they’re, they, they’ve done studies that like show that, right? That like show like, you know, I mean, like, some of this is all like bullshit to a certain extent, but there is something to be said for like, you know, like the power of like positive thinking and like, you know, if you go into things with like, different types of attitudes or even like, even if you like, go into job interviews or other situations, like you act confident or you smile, or you act happy or whatever. Even if you’re not like it, the, the, the, the euphoria, you know, that those sorts of uh, um, endorphin reactions or whatever can be real. So that’s interesting. Brett: Yeah, I found, I found going into job interviews with my usual sarcastic and bitter, um, kind of mindset, Jeff: I already hate this job. Brett: it doesn’t play well. It doesn’t play well. So what are your weaknesses? Fuck off. Um,[00:24:00] Christina: right. Well, well, well, I hate people. Jeff: Yeah. Dealing with motherfuckers like you, that’s one weakness. Sponsor Spot: Shopify Brett: let’s, uh, let’s do a sponsor spot and then I want to hear about Christina winning a contest. Christina: yes. Jeff: very Brett: wanna, you wanna take it away? Sponsor: Shopify Jeff: I will, um, our sponsor this week is Shopify. Um, have you ever, have you just been dreaming of owning your own business? Is that why you can’t sleep? In addition to having something to sell, you need a website. And I’ll tell you what, that’s been true for a long time. You need a payment system, you need a logo, you need a way to advertise new customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that is where today’s sponsor, Shopify comes in. shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gym Shark to brands just getting started. Get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready to use [00:25:00] templates. Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand’s style, accelerate your content creation. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping, to processing returns and beyond. If you’re ready to sell, you are ready to Shopify. Turn your Big Business Idea into with Shopify on your side. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today@shopify.com slash Overtired. Go to shopify.com/ Overtired. What was that? Say it with me. shopify.com/ Overtired [00:26:00] cha. Uh, Brett: the, uh, the group, the group input on the last URL, I feel like we can charge extra for that. That was Jeff: Yeah. Cha-ching Brett: they got the chorus, they got the Overtired Christina: You did. You got the Overtired Jeff: They didn’t think to ask for it, but that’s our brand. Christina: shopify.com/ Overtired. Jeff Tweedy Jeff: What was, uh, I was watching a Stephen Colbert interview with Jeff Tweedy, who just put out a triple album and, uh, it was a very thoughtful, sweet interview. And then Stephen Colbert said, you know, you’re not supposed to do this. And Jeff Tweety said, it’s all part of my career long effort to leave the public wanting less. Christina: Ha, Jeff: That was a great bit. Christina: that’s a fantastic bit. A side note, there are a couple of really good NPR, um, uh, tiny desks that have come out in the last couple of month, uh, couple of weeks. Um, uh, one is shockingly, I, I’ll, I’ll just be a a, a fucking boomer about it. The Googo dolls. Theirs was [00:27:00] great. It’s fantastic. They did a great job. It already has like millions of views, like it wrecked up like over a million views, I think like in like, like less than 24 hours. They did a great job, but, uh, but Brandy Carlisle, uh, did one, um, the other day and hers is really, really good too. So, um, so yeah. Yeah, exactly. So yeah. Anyway, you said, you saying Jeff pd maybe, I don’t know how I got from Wilco to like, you know, there, Jeff: Yeah. Well, they’ve done some good, he’s done his own good Christina: he has, he has done his own. Good, good. That’s honestly, that’s probably what I was thinking of, but Jeff: It’s my favorite Jeff besides me because Bezos, he’s not in the, he’s not in the game. Christina: No. No, he’s not. No. Um, he, he’s, he’s not on the Christmas card list at all. Jeff: Oh man. Jeff’s Concert Marathon Jeff: Can I just tell you guys that I did something, um, I did something crazy a couple weeks ago and I went to three shows in one week, like I was 20 fucking two, Brett: Good grief. Jeff: and. It was a blast. So, okay, so the background of this is my oldest son [00:28:00] loves hip hop, and when we drive him to college and back, or when I do, it’s often just me. Um, he, he goes deep and he, it’s a lot of like, kind of indie hip hop and a lot. It’s just an interesting, he listens to interesting shit, but he will go deep and he’ll just like, give me a tour through someone’s discography or through all their features somewhere, whatever it is. And like, it’s the kind of input that I love, which is just like, I don’t, even if it’s not my genre, like if you’re passionate and you can just weave me through the interrelationship and the history and whatever it is I’m in. So as a result of that, made me a huge fan of Danny Brown and made me a huge fan of the sky, Billy Woods. And so what happened was I went to a hip hop show at the seventh Street entry, uh, which is attached to First Avenue. It’s a little club, very small, lovely little place, the only place my band could sell out. Um, and I watched a hip hop show there on a Monday night, Tuesday night. I went to the Uptown Theater, which Brett is now a actually an operating [00:29:00] theater for shows. Uh, and I, and I saw Danny Brown, but I also saw two hyper pop bands, a genre I was not previously aware of, including one, which was amazing, called Fem Tenal. And I was in line to get into that show behind furries, behind trans Kids. Like it was this, I was the weirdest, like I did not belong. Underscores played, and, and this will mean something to somebody out there, but not, didn’t mean anything to me until that night. And, uh. I felt like such, there were times, not during Danny Brown, Danny Brown’s my age all good. But like there were times where I was in the crowd ’cause I’m tall. Anybody that doesn’t know I’m very tall and I’m wearing like a not very comfortable or safe guy seeming outfit, a black hoodie, a black stocking cap. Like I basically looked like I’m possibly a shooter and, and I’m like standing among all these young people loving it, but feeling a little like, should I go to the back? Even like I was leaving that show [00:30:00] and the only people my age were people’s parents that were waiting to pick them up on the way out. So anyway, that was night two. Danny Brown was awesome. And then two nights later I went to see, this is way more my speed, a band called the Dazzling Kilman who were a band that. Came out in the nineties, St. Louis and a noisy Matthew Rock. Wikipedia claims they invented math rock. It’s a really stupid claim, uh, but it’s a lovely, interesting band and it’s a friend of mine named Nick Sakes, who’s who fronted that band and was in all these great bands back when I was in bands called Colos Mite and Sick Bay, and all this is great shit. So they played a reunion show. In this tiny punk rock club here called Cloudland, just a lovely little punk rock club. And, um, and, and that was like rounded out my week. So like, I was definitely, uh, a tourist the early part of the week, mostly at the Danny Brown Show. But then I like got to come home to my noisy punk rock [00:31:00] on, uh, on Thursday night. And I, I fucking did three shows and it hurt so bad. Like even by the first of three bands on the second night. I was like, I don’t think I can make it. And I do. I already pregame shows with ibuprofen. Just to be really clear, I microdose glucose tabs at shows like, like I am, I am a full on old man doing these things. But, um, I did get some cred with my kids for being at a hyper pop show all by myself. And, Christina: Hell yeah. A a Jeff: friends seemed impressed. Christina: no, as a as, as as they should be. I’m impressed. And like, and I, I, I typically like, I definitely go to like more of like, I go, I go to shows more frequently and, and I’m, I’m even like, I’m, I’m gonna be real with you. I’m like, yeah, three in one week. Jeff: That’s a lot. Christina: That’s a lot. That’s a lot. Jeff: man. Did I feel good when I walked home from that last show though? I was like, I fucking did it. I did not believe I wasn’t gonna bail on at least two of those shows, if not all three. Anyway, just wanted to say Brett: I [00:32:00] do like one show a year, but Jeff: that’s how I’ve been for years this year. I think I’ve seen eight shows. Brett: damn. Jeff: Yeah, it’s Brett: Alright, so you’ve been teasing us about this, this contest you won. Jeff: Yeah, please, Christina. Sorry to push that off. Christina: No, no, no, no. That’s, that’s completely okay. That, that, that, that’s great. Uh, no. Christina Wins Big Christina: So, um, I won two six K monitors. Brett: Damn. Jeff: is that what those boxes are behind you? Christina: Yeah, yeah. This is what the boxes are behind me, so I haven’t been able to get them up because this happened. I got them literally right in the midst of all this stuff with my back. Um, but I do have an Ergotron poll now that is here, and, and Grant has said that he will, will get them up. But yeah, so I won 2 32 inch six K monitors from a Reddit contest. Brett: How, how, how, Jeff: How does this happen? How do I find a Reddit contest? Christina: Yeah. So I got lucky. So I have, I, I have a clearly, well, well, um, there was a little, there was a little bit of like, other step to it than that, but like, uh, so how it worked was basically, um, LG is basically just put out [00:33:00] two, they put out a new 32 inch six K monitor. I’ll have it linked in, in, in the show notes. Um, so we’ve talked about this on this podcast before, but like one of my big, like. Pet peeve, like things that I can’t get past. It’s like I need like a retina screen. Like I need like the, the perfect pixel doubling thing for that the Mac Os deals with, because I’ve used a 5K screen, either through an iMac or um, an lg, um, ultra fine or, um, a, uh, studio display. For like 11 years. And, and I, and I’ve been using retina displays on laptops even longer than that. And so if I use like a regular 4K display, like it just, it, it doesn’t work for me. Um, you can use apps like, um, like better control and other things to kind of emulate, like what would be like if you doubled the resolution, then it, it down, you know, um, of samples that, so that. It looks better than, than if it’s just like the, the, the 4K stuff where in the, the user interface things are too big and whatnot. And to be clear, this is a Macco West problem. If [00:34:00] you are using Windows or Linux or any other operating system that does fractional scaling, um, correctly, then this is not a problem. But Macco West does not do fractional scaling direct, uh, correctly. Um, weirdly iOS can, like, they can do three X resolution and other things. Um, but, but, but Macs does not. And that’s weird because some of the native resolutions on some of the MacBook errors are not even perfectly pixeled doubled, meaning Apple is already having to do a certain amount of like resolution changes to, to fit into their own, created by their, their own hubris, like way of insisting on, on only having like, like two x pixel doubling 18 years ago, we could have had independent, uh, resolutions, uh, um, for, for UI elements and, and, and window bars. But anyway, I, I’m, I’m digressing anyway. I was looking at trying to get either a second, uh, studio display, which I don’t wanna do because Apple’s reportedly going to be putting out a new one. Um, and they’re expensive or getting, um, there are now a number of different six K [00:35:00] displays that are not $6,000 that are on the market. So, um, uh, uh, Asus has one, um, there is one from like a, a Chinese company called like, or Q Con that, um, looks like a, a complete copy of this, of the pro display XDR. It has a different panel, but it’s, it’s six K and they, they’ve copied the whole design and it’s aluminum and it’s glossy and it looks great, but I’d have to like get it from like. A weird distributor, and if I have any issues with it, I don’t really wanna have to send it back to China and whatnot. And then LG has one that they just put out. And so I’ve been researching these on, on Mac rumors and on some other forums. And, um, I, uh, I, somebody in one of the Mac Roomers forums like posted that there was like a contest that LG was running in a few different subreddits where they were like, tell us why you should get one of, like, we’re gonna be giving away like either one or two monitors, and I guess they did this in a few subreddits. Tell us why this would be good for your workflow. And, um, I guess I, I guess I’m one of the people who kind of read the [00:36:00] assignment because it, okay, I’ll just be honest with this, with, with you guys on this podcast, uh, because I, I don’t think anyone from LG will hear this and my answers were accurate anyway. But anyway, this was not the sort of contest where it was like we will randomly select a winner. This was the moderators and lg, were going to read the responses and choose the winner. Jeff: Got it. Christina: So if you spend a little bit of time and thoughtfully write out a response, maybe you stand a better chance of winning the contest. Jeff: yeah, yeah. Put the work in like it was 2002. Christina: Right. Anyway, I still was shocked when I like woke up like on like Halloween and they were like, congratulations, you’ve won two monitors. I’m like, I’m sorry. What? Jeff: That’s amazing. Christina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jeff: Nice work. I know I’ve, you know, I’ve been staring at those boxes behind you this whole time, just being like, those look like some sweet monitors. Christina: yeah, yeah. Monitor Setup Challenges Christina: I mean, and, uh, [00:37:00] uh, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, and I, I’m very much, so my, my, my only issue is, okay, how am I gonna get these on my desk? So I’m gonna have to do something with my iMac and I’m probably gonna have to get rid of my, my my, my 5K, um, uh, uh, studio display, at least in the short term. Ergotron Mounts and Tall Poles Christina: Um, but what I did do is I, um, I ordered from, um, Ergotron, ’cause I already have. Um, two of their, um, LX mounts, um, or, or, or, or arms. Um, and only one of them is being used right now. And then I have a different arm that I use for the, um, um, iMac. Um, they sell like a, if you call ’em directly, you can get them to send you a tall pole so that you can put the two arms on top of them. And that way I think I can like, have them so that I can have like one pole and then like have one on one side, one Jeff: I have a tall pole. Christina: and, and yeah, that’s what she said. Um, Jeff: as soon as I said it, I was like, for fuck’s sake. But Christina: um, but, uh, but, but yeah, but so that way I think I, I can, I, in theory, I can stack the market and have ’em side by side. I don’t know. Um, I got that. I, I had to call Tron and, and order that from them. [00:38:00] Um, it was only a hundred dollars for, for the poll and then $50 for a handling fee. Jeff: It’s not easy to ship a tall pole. Brett: That’s what she said. Christina: that is what she said. Uh, that is exactly what she said. But yeah, so I, I, the, the, the unfortunate thing is that, um, I, um, I, I had to, uh, get a, like all these, they, they came in literally right before Thanksgiving, and then I’ve had, like, all my back stuff has Jeff: Yeah, no Christina: debilitating, but I’m looking forward to, um, getting them set up and used. And, uh, yeah. Review Plans and Honest Assessments Christina: And then full review will be coming to, uh, to, I have to post a review on Reddit, but then I will also be doing a more in depth review, uh, on this podcast if anybody’s interested in, in other places too, to like, let let you know, like if it’s worth your money or not. Um, ’cause there, like I said, there are, there are a few other options out there. So it’s not one of those things where like, you know, um, like, thank you very much for the free monitor, um, monitors. But, but I, I will, I will give like the, the, you know, an honest assessment or Current Display Setup Brett: So [00:39:00] do you currently have a two display setup? Christina: No. Um, well, yes, and kind of, so I have my, my, I have my 5K studio display, and then I have like my iMac that I use as a two to display setup. But then otherwise, what I’ve had to do, and this is actually part of why I’m looking forward to this, is I have a 4K 27 inch monitor, but it’s garbage. And it, it’s one of those things where I don’t wanna use it with my Mac. And so I wind up only using it with my, with my Windows machine, with my framework desktop, um, with my Windows or Linux machine. And, and because that, even though I, it supports Thunderbolt, the Apple display is pain in the ass to use with those things. It doesn’t have the KVM built in. Like, it doesn’t like it, it just, it’s not good for that situation. So yeah, this will be of this size. I mean, again, like I, I, I’m 2 32 inch monitors. I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with that on my Jeff: I Brett: yeah. So right now I’m looking at 2 32 inch like UHD monitors, Christina: Yeah,[00:40:00] Brett: I will say that on days when my neck hurts, it sucks. It’s a, it’s too wide a range to, to like pan back and forth quickly. Like I’ll throw my back out, like trying to keep track of stuff. Um, but I have found that like if I keep the second display, just like maybe social media apps is the way I usually set it up. And then I only work on one. I tried buying an extra wide curve display, hated it. Jeff: Uh, I’ve always wanted to try one, but Christina: I don’t like them. Jeff: Yeah. Christina: Well, for me, well for me it’s two things. One, it’s the, I don’t love the whole like, you know, thing or whatever, but the big thing honestly there, if you could give me, ’cause people are like, oh, you can get a really big 5K, 2K display. I’m like, that’s not a 5K display. That is 2 27 inch, 1440 P displays. One, you know, ultra wide, which is great. Good for you. That’s not retina. And I’m a sicko Who [00:41:00] needs the, the pixel doubling? Like I wish that my eyes could not use that, but, but, but, Jeff: that needs the pixel. Like was that the headline of your Reddit, uh, Christina: no, no. It wasn’t, it wasn’t. But, but maybe it should be. Hi, I’m a sicko who only, um, fucks with, with, with, with, with, with, with retina displays. Ask me anything. Um, but no, but that’s a good point. Brett: I think 5K Psycho is the Christina: 5K Sicko is the po is the po title. I like that. I like that. No, what I’m thinking about doing and that’s great to know, Brett. Um, this kind of reaffirms my thing. Thunderbolt KVM and Display Preferences Christina: So what’s nice about these monitors is that they come with like, built in like, um, Thunderbolt 5K VM. So, which is nice. So you could conceivably have multiple, you know, computers, uh, connected, you know, to to, to one monitor, which I really like. Um, I mean like, ’cause like look, I, I’ve bitched and moaned about the studio display, um, primarily for the price, but at the same time, if mine broke tomorrow and if I didn’t have any way to replace it, I’ve, I’ve also gone on record saying I would buy a new one immediately. As mad as I am about a [00:42:00] lot of different things with that, that the built-in webcam is garbage. The, you know, the, the fact that there’s not a power button is garbage. The fact that you can’t use it with multiple inputs, it’s garbage. But it’s a really good display and it’s what I’m used to. Um, it’s really not any better than my LG Ultra fine from 2016. But you know what? Whatever it is, what it is. Um. I, I am a 5K sicko, but being able to, um, connect my, my personal machine and my work machine at the same time to one, and then have my Windows slash Linux computer connected to another, I think that’s gonna be the scenario where I’m in. So I’m not gonna necessarily be in a place where I’m like, okay, I need to try to look at both of them across 2 32 inch displays. ’cause I think that that, like, that would be awesome. But I feel like that’s too much. Brett: I would love a decent like Thunderbolt KVM setup that could actually swap like my hubs back and Christina: Yes. MacBook Pro and Studio Comparisons Brett: Um, so, ’cause I, I have a studio and I have my, uh, Infor MacBook Pro [00:43:00] and I actually work mostly on the MacBook Pro. Um, but if I could easily dock it and switch everything on my desk over to it, I would, I would work in my office more often. ’cause honestly, the M four MacBook Pro is, it’s a better machine than the original studio was. Um, and I haven’t upgraded my studio to the latest, but, um, I imagine the new one is top notch. Christina: Oh yeah. Yeah. Brett: my, my other one, a couple years old now is already long in the tooth. Christina: No, I mean, they’re still good. I mean, it’s funny, I saw that some YouTube video the other day where they were like, the best value MacBook you can get is basically a 4-year-old M1 max. And I was like, I don’t know about that guys. Like, I, I kind of disagree a little bit. Um, but the M1 max, which is I think is what is in the studio, is still a really, really good ship. But to your point, like they’ve made those, um. You know, the, the, the new ones are still so good. Like, I have an M three max as my personal laptop, and [00:44:00] that’s kind of like the dog chip in the, in the m um, series lineup. So I kind of am regretful for spending six grand on that one, but it is what it is, and I’m like, I’m not, I’m not upgrading. Um, I mean, maybe, maybe in, in next year if, if the M five Pro, uh, or M five max or whatever is, is really exceptional, maybe I’ll look at, okay, how much will you give me to, to trade it in? But even then, I, I, but I feel like I’m at that point where I’m like, it gets to a point where like it’s diminishing returns. Um, but, uh, just in terms of my own budget. But, um, yeah, the, the new just info like pro or or max, whatever, Brett: I have, I have an M four MacBook Pro sitting around that I keep forgetting to sell. Uh, it’s the one that I, it only had a 256 gigabyte hard drive, Jeff: what happened to me when I bought my M1, Brett: and I, and I regretted that enough that I just ordered another one. But, uh, for various reasons, I couldn’t just return the one I didn’t Jeff: ’cause it was.[00:45:00] Brett: so now I, now I have to sell it and I should sell it while it’s still a top of the line machine Christina: Sell it before, sell, sell, sell, sell it before next month, um, or, or February or whenever they sell it before then the, the pros come out. ’cause right now the M five base is out, but the pros are not. So I think feel like you could still get most of your value for it, especially since it has very few battery cycles. Be sure to put the battery cycles on your Facebook marketplace or eBay thing or whatever. Um, I bought my, uh, she won’t listen to this so she won’t know, but, um, they, there was a, a killer Cyber Monday deal, uh, for Best Buy where they had like a, the, the, the, so it’s several years old, but it was the, the M two MacBook Air, but the one that they upgraded to 16 gigs of Ram when Apple was like, oh, we have to have Apple Intelligence and everything, because they actually thought that they were actually gonna ship Apple Intelligence. So they like went back and they, like, they, they, you know, retconned like made the base model MacBook Air, like 16 [00:46:00] gigs. Um, and, uh, anyway, it was, it was $600, um, Jeff: still crazy. Christina: which, which like even for like a, a, a 2-year-old machine or whatever, I was like, yeah, she, my sister, I think she’s on like, like a 2014 or older than that. Like, like MacBook Air. She doesn’t even know where the MagSafe is. I don’t think she even knows where the laptop is. So she’s basically doing everything like on her phone and I’m like, okay, you need a laptop of some type, but at this point. I do feel strongly that like the, the, the $600 or, or, or actually I think it was $650, it was actually less, it is actually more expensive than what the, the, the Cyber Monday sale was, um, the M1, Walmart, MacBook Air. I’m like, absolutely not like that is at this point, do not buy that. Right? Like, I, especially with eight gigs of ram, I’m, I’m like, it’s been, it’s five years old. It’s a, it was a great machine and it was great value for a long time. $200. Cool, right? Like, if you could get something like use and, and, and, and if you could replace the battery or, you know, [00:47:00] for, for, you know, not, not too much money or whatever. Like, I, I, I could see like an argument to be made like value, right? But there’d be no way in hell that I would ever spend or tell anybody else to spend $650 on that new, but $600 for an M two with Jeff: Now we’re talking. Christina: which has the redesign brand new. I’m like, okay. Spend $150 more and you could have got the M four, um, uh, MacBook Air, obviously all around Better Machine. But for my sister, she doesn’t need that, Jeff: What do we have to do to put your sister in this M two MacBook Christina: that, that, that, that, that, that’s exactly it. So I, I, I was, well, also, it was one of those things I was like, I think that she would rather me spend the money on toys for my nephew for Santa Claus than, than, uh, giving her like a, a processor upgrade. Um, Jeff: Claus isn’t real. Brett: Oh shit. Jeff: Gotcha. Every year I spoil it for somebody. This year it was Christina and Brett. Sorry guys. Brett: right. Well, can I tell you guys Jeff: Yeah. [00:48:00] Brett Software. Brett: two quick projects before we do Jeff: Hold on. You don’t have to be quick ’cause you could call it Brett: We’re already at 45 minutes and I want Jeff: What I’m saying, skip GrAPPtitude. This is it? Brett: okay. Christina: us about Mark. Tell us about your projects. Brett: So, so Mark three is, there’s a public, um, test flight beta link. Uh, if you go to marked app.com, not marked two app.com, uh, marked app.com. Uh, you, there’s a link in the, in the, at the top for Christina: Join beta. Mm-hmm. Brett: Um, and that is public and you can join it and you can send me feedback directly through email because, um, uh, uh, the feedback reporter sucks for test flight and you can’t attach files. And half the time they come through as anonymous feedback and I can’t even follow up on ’em. So email me. But, um, I’ll be announcing that on my blog soon-ish. Um, right now there’s like [00:49:00] maybe a couple dozen, um, testers and I, it’s nice and small and I’m solving the biggest bugs right away. Um, so that’s been, that’s been big. Like Mark, even since we last talked has added. Do you remember Jeff when Merlin was on and he wanted to. He wanted to be able to manage his styles, um, and disable built-in styles. There’s now a whole table based style manager where you Jeff: saw that. Brett: you can, you can reorder, including built-in styles. You can reorder, enable, disable, edit, duplicate. Um, it’s like a full, full fledged, um, style manager. And I just built a whole web app that is a style generator that gives you, um, automatic like rhythm calculations for your CSS and you can, you can control everything through like, uh, like UI fields instead of having to [00:50:00] write CSS. Uh, but you can also o open up a very, I’ve spent a lot of time on the code mirror CSS editor in the web app. Uh, so, and it’s got live preview as you edit in the code mirror field. Um, so that’s pretty cool. And that’s built into marts. So if you go to style, um, generate style, it’ll load up a, a style generator for you. Anyway, there’s, there’s a ton. I’m not gonna go into all the details, but, uh, anyone listening who uses markdown for anything, especially if you want ability to export to like Word and epub and advanced PDF export, um, join the beta. Let me know what you think. Uh, help me squash bugs. But the other thing, every time I push a beta for review before the new bug reports come in, I’ve been putting time into a tool. Markdown Processor: Apex Brett: I’m calling [00:51:00] Apex and um, I haven’t publicly announced this one yet, but I probably will by the time this podcast comes out. Jeff: I mean, doesn’t this count? Brett: It, it does. I’m saying like this, this might be a, you hear you heard it here first kind of thing, um, but if you go to github.com/tt sc slash apex, um, I built a, uh, pure C markdown processor that combines syntax from cram down GitHub flavored markdown, multi markdown maku, um, common mark. And basically you can write syntax from any of those processors, including all of their special features, um, and in one document, and then use Apex in its unified mode, and it’ll just figure out what. All of your syntax is supposed to do. Um, so you can take, you can port documents from one platform to another [00:52:00] without worrying about how they’re gonna render. Um, if I can get any kind of adoption with Apex, it could solve a lot of problems. Um, I built it because I want to make it the default processor in marked ’cause right now, you, you have to choose, you know, cram Christina: Which one? Brett: mark and, and choosing one means you lose something in order to gain something. Um, so I wanted to build a universal one that brought together everything. And I added cool features from some extensions of other languages, such as if you have two lists in a row, normally in markdown, it’s gonna concatenate those into one list. Now you can put a carrot on a line between the two lists and it’ll break it into two lists. I also added support for a. An extension to cram down that lets you put double uh, carrots inside a table cell and [00:53:00] create a row band. So like a cell that, that expands it, you rows but doesn’t expand the rest of the row. Um, so you can do cell spans and row spans and it has a relaxed table version where you don’t have to have an alignment row, which is, uh, sometimes we just wanna make quickly table. You make two lines. You put some pipes in. This will, if there’s no alignment row, it will generate a table with just a table body and table data cells in no header. It also allows footers, you can add a footer to a table by using equals in the separator line. Um, it, it’s, Jeff: This is very civilized, Brett: it is. Christina: is amazing, Brett: So where Common Mark is extremely strict about things, um, apex is extremely permissive. Jeff: also itty bitty things like talk about the call out boxes from like Brett: oh yeah, it, it can handle call out syntax from Obsidian and Bear and Xcode Playgrounds. [00:54:00] Um, and it incorporates all of Mark’s syntax for like file includes and even renders like auto scroll pauses that work in marked and some other teleprompter situations. Um, it uses file ude syntax from multi markdown, like, which is just like a curly brace and, uh, marked, which is, uh, left like a double left, uh, angle bracket and then different. Brackets to surround a file name and it handles IA writer file inclusion where you just type a forward slash and then the name of a file and it automatically detects if that file is an image or source code or markdown text, and it will import it accordingly. And if it’s a CSV file, it’ll generate a table from it automatically. It’s, it’s kind of nuts. I, it’s kind of nuts. I could not have done this [00:55:00] without copilot. I, I am very thankful for copilot because my C skills are not, would not on their own, have been up to this task. I know enough to bug debug, but yeah, a lot of these features I got a big hand from copilot on. Jeff: This is also Brett. This is some serious Brett Terpstra. TURPs Hard Christina: Yeah, it is. I was gonna say, this is like Jeff: and also that’s right. Also, if your grandma ever wrote you a note and it, and though you couldn’t really read it, it really well, that renders perfectly Christina: Amazing. No, I was gonna say this is like, okay, so Apex is like the perfect name ’cause this is the apex of Brett. Jeff: Yes. Apex of Brett. Christina: That’s also that, that’s, that’s not an alternate episode title Apex of Brett. Because genuinely No, Brett, like I am, I am so stunned and impressed. I mean, you all, you always impressed me like you are the most impressive like developer that I, that I’ve ever known. But you, this is incredible. And, and this, I, I love this [00:56:00] because as you said, like common Mark is incredibly strict. This is incredibly permissive. But this is great. ’cause there are those scenarios where you might have like, I wanna use one feature from one thing or one from another, or I wanna combine things in various ways, or I don’t wanna have to think about it, you know? Brett: I aals, I forgot to mention I aals inline attribute list, which is a crammed down feature that lets you put curly brackets after like a paragraph and then a colon and then say, dot call out inside the curly brackets. And then when it renders the markdown, it creates that paragraph and adds class equals call out to the paragraph. Um, and in, in Cramon you can apply these to everything from list items to list to block quotes. Like you can do ’em for spans. You could like have one after, uh, link syntax and just apply, say dot external to a link. So the IAL syntax can add IDs classes and uh, arbitrary [00:57:00] attributes to any element in your markdown when it renders to HTML. And, uh, and Apex has first class support for I aals. Was really, that was, that Christina: that was really hard, Brett: I wrote it because I wanted, I wanted multi markdown, uh, for my prose writing, but I really missed the als. Christina: Yes. Okay. Because see, I run into this sort of thing too, right? Because like, this is a problem like that. I mean, it’s a very niche problem, um, that, that, you know, people who listen to this podcast probably are more familiar with than other types of people. But like, when you have to choose your markdown processor, which as you said, like Brett, like that can be a problem. Like, like with, with using Mark or anything else, you’re like, what am I giving up? What do I have? And, and like for me, because I started using mul, you know, markdown, um, uh, largely because of you, um, I think I was using it, I knew about it before you, but largely because of, of, of you, like multi markdown has always been like kind of my, or was historically my flavor of choice. It has since shifted to being [00:58:00] GitHub, labor bird markdown. But that’s just because the industry has taken that on, right? But there were, you know, certain things like in like, you know, multi markdown that work a certain way. And then yeah, there are things in crammed down. There are things in these other things in like, this is just, this is awesome. This Brett: It is, the whole thing is built on top of C mark, GFM, which is GitHub’s port of common mark with the GitHub flavored markdown Christina: Right. Brett: Um, and I built, like, I kept that as a sub-module, totally clean, and built all of this as extensions on top of Cmar, GFM, which, you know, so it has full compatibility with GitHub and with Common Merck by out, like outta the box. And then everything else is built on top of that. So it, uh, it covers, it covers all the bases. You’ll love it Christina: I’m so excited. No, this is awesome. And I Brett: blazing fast. It can render, I have a complex document that, that uses all of its features and it can render it in [00:59:00] 0.006 seconds. Christina: that’s awesome. Jeff: Awesome. Christina: That’s so cool. No, this is great. And yeah, I, and I think that honestly, like this is the sort of thing like if, yeah, if you can eventually get this to like be like the engine that powers like mark three, like, that’ll be really slick, right? Because then like, yeah, okay, I can take one document and then just, you know, kind of, you know, wi with, with the, you know, ha have, have the compatibility mode where you’re like, okay, the unified mode or whatever yo

Il y a deux semaines, l'armée israélienne a lancé une opération majeure dans le nord de la Cisjordanie occupée contre les groupes armés palestiniens. Notre correspondante s'est rendue dans la région de Tubas lorsque le bouclage de la zone a été levé. Un studio sens dessus dessous, du mobilier cassé, des bris de verres au sol, et à la place de la fenêtre un trou béant, le mur a été dynamité. Nous sommes au troisième étage de la maison de la famille Abadi. Visage tuméfié, Mahmoud, 75 ans, raconte l'intervention de l'armée israélienne à son domicile fin novembre, une opération antiterroriste disent les Israéliens, les soldats cherchaient des armes.  « J'ai dit " que se passe-t-il ", il a commencé à me frapper, il m'a dit de lever les mains, j'ai levé les mains. Et il a dit " où sont les armes ". Alors, j'ai dit moi, je ne suis qu'un civil, je n'ai pas d'armes, je ne connais rien aux armes. » Mahmoud Abadi a été interrogé pendant 2 heures, puis les militaires ont fait exploser le studio de son fils. Le fil détonateur pend encore sur la commode. Le vieil homme l'assure, il n'a aucune activité politique ou militaire : « Je ne suis ni du Fatah ni du Hamas. Je le jure, je ne suis pas du Hamas et j'ai dit au soldat : tu sais pourquoi ? parce que c'est le Hamas qui t'a amené ici après le 7-Octobre. Je ne suis ni du Hamas ni du Fatah. » Omar Abu el Hassan, le responsable de la communauté d'al Faara raconte comment s'est déroulé l'opération : « Vers 3 heures du matin environ, ils ont envahi le camp de réfugiés et ils sont partis vers 21 heures. Ils ont bloqué les rues. Ils ont occupé certaines maisons dans ces cas-là, ils les transforment en casernes militaires. Personne ne peut ni sortir ni entrer du camp, et ils ont commencé à fouiller les maisons, à vandaliser, à casser des choses. Les communications étaient coupées. » Sur la totalité de la région de Tubas, l'opération a duré six jours. Le gouverneur Ahmad Asaad fait le bilan du raid israélien : « C'est une opération militaire dans tous les sens du terme. Des hélicoptères Apache ont bombardé des maisons avec des mitrailleuses lourdes. On parle d'environ mille soldats, trois brigades de l'armée étaient présentes dans le gouvernorat de Tubas. » Au cours de l'opération, 200 personnes ont été arrêtées, douze sont restées détenues par l'armée israélienne.

AutoIT3 Compiled Scripts Dropping Shellcodes Malicious AutoIT3 scripts are usign the FileInstall function to include additional scripts at compile time that are dropped as temporary files during execution. https://isc.sans.edu/diary/AutoIT3%20Compiled%20Scripts%20Dropping%20Shellcodes/32542 React2Shell Update The race is on to patch vulnerable systems. Various groups are aggressively scanning the internet with different exploit variants. Some attempt to bypass WAFs. https://blog.cloudflare.com/5-december-2025-outage/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/china-nexus-cyber-threat-groups-rapidly-exploit-react2shell-vulnerability-cve-2025-55182/ Apache Tika XXE Flaw Apache s Tika library patched a XXE flaw. https://lists.apache.org/thread/s5x3k93nhbkqzztp1olxotoyjpdlps9k

Host Shannon Huffman Polson is the founder of The Grit Institute and host of The Grit Factor Podcast, where she helps purpose-driven leaders build grit, resilience, and purpose in their lives and organizations. A former U.S. Army Apache helicopter pilot and one of the first women to fly the Apache in the Army, Shannon brings real-world leadership experience from the military and corporate boardroom to her work as an author, speaker, and leadership educator. She is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World, which distills lessons from elite leaders across industries and the armed forces. Through The Grit Institute, Shannon combines research, storytelling, and actionable frameworks to help individuals and organizations navigate transitions, overcome challenges, and lead with impact. Her work empowers people to connect with purpose and bring values-based leadership into every facet of life and work. Whether in the cockpit, the classroom, or the boardroom, Shannon champions a mission to cultivate courage, purpose, and authentic leadership for a better world. Guest Bio Dr. Ruth Gotian, Chief Learning Officer and Associate Professor of Education in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, is a globally recognized expert in mentorship and leadership development.  Hailed by Nature, Wall Street Journal, and Columbia University, she was named a top 20 mentor worldwide. Thinkers50 ranked her as the #1 emerging management thinker in 2021, LinkedIn recognized her as a top voice in mentoring in 2023, and she was named a Top 50 Executive Coach in the world in 2024 (Coaches50 list).   A semi-finalist for Forbes 50 Over 50, Dr. Gotian is a prolific contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Psychology Today, where she shares insights on 'optimizing success.'  With a focus on the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, Olympic and NBA champions, she's also an award-winning author of The Success Factor and The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring. Summary In this conversation, Shannon Huffman Polson sits down with Dr. Ruth Gotian, a world-renowned expert in leadership, high performance, and success. Together, they explore what truly sets high achievers apart—from astronauts and Olympic athletes to top-performing leaders. Dr. Gotian shares insights from her groundbreaking research on motivation, resilience, and peak performance, revealing practical strategies anyone can apply to excel in their personal and professional life. They also discuss the mindsets that drive exceptional achievement, the habits that separate elite performers from the rest, and how purpose, curiosity, and continuous learning fuel long-term success. Whether you're a leader, creator, or someone striving to improve, this conversation offers actionable wisdom to help you elevate your performance and live with intention. Key Takeaways What Dr. Ruth Gotian has learned from studying the world's highest performers The mindsets and daily habits that drive exceptional success How purpose fuels resilience and long-term motivation The importance of curiosity and continuous learning Practical tools you can start using today to elevate your performance Why high achievers think differently—and how you can too Resources Website: https://ruthgotian.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rgotian

On this weeks War Council we talk the week 13 battles! we have the week 14 Pick em, with some NFL News that may help/hurt your fantasy team. Write in to the show for help FFWC23@gmail.com

In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, host Robert Dougherty is joined by business development director for Boeing Attack Helicopter Programs, Terry "TJ" Jamison, as they discuss the changing strategy of attack helicopters in modern warfare and the development of "launched effects". Jamison, a 30-year veteran of the US Army, has previously commanded an air cavalry squadron in Iraq and a combat aviation brigade in Afghanistan. The former Apache attack helicopter pilot retired from US military service as a colonel with more than 5,000 flight hours in helicopters, such as the AH-64D Apache Longbow and CH-47 Chinook. The pair discuss a range of topics, including: The evolving impact of "launched effects" and the uncrewed options for attack helicopters, such as the AH-64E Apache. The changes that the United States military is making to its own attack helicopter strategy, role and capabilities. Modern helicopter warfare examples seen in the Ukraine–Russia conflict and the implications being discussed in the public regarding attack helicopters. Manned and unmanned teaming technology being developed to empower aerial platforms, such as the AH-64E Apache and MQ-28A Ghost Bat. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

A small detachment of the 9th Cavalry from Fort Bayard in southern New Mexico Territory tracks a band of Apache who were likely responsible for an attack in Arizona Territory. The detachment follows the Apache into the Florida Mountains where the soldiers quickly find themselves surrounded. In the fight to escape the trap, the brave actions of Corporal Clinton Greaves help save his unit. Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Use this link for Free Shipping and 365-day returns: Quince.com/lotow Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We're @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When did the Old West truly begin, and when did it finally come to an end? Some trace the Wild West's start to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, while others think it was much late,r as cowboys started trailing herds out of Texas. As for the end, many point to 1890, when the U.S. Census Bureau declared the frontier closed and Wounded Knee marked the last big clash between the Indigenous and the U.S. Army. But where does the true lie? Did the Old West really begin with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, or was it much earlier when the acquisition of the horse forever changed the landscape of the Great Plains? And if the Old West was over by 1890, then why did stagecoach robberies and gunfights continue well into the early 1900s? Also discussed are Apache raids from the 1930s, the Billy the Kid wannabe John Miller, Billy Dixon, Clay Allison, my favorite drink of choice, and much more! Legends & Outlaws Calendar!  https://wildwestcalendar.com/   Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/   Buy Me A Coffee!  https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwest   Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/   Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/   Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/   Join Patreon for ad-free bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November is Native American Heritage Month, and in the lead-in to this week's convo, I speak about the whitewashing of U.S. history, not to be a Thanksgiving buzzkill (sorry, not sorry), but because truth matters. Then I invite listeners into a conversation that explores the critical differences between Western and Indigenous perspectives on leadership. My guest, Wyatt Kelly, is a young Apache leader, public policy manager, and self-described ‘yelder.' Wyatt opens up about his experiences growing up as an urban Native, then shares about his work in public policy and community health. I ask him how his leadership style runs counter to conventional colonialist models, and he shares stories about uplifting Native communities, sponsoring youth initiatives, and fostering meaningful everyday connections. Our conversation highlights the significance of storytelling, intergenerational knowledge, and empathy in leadership. We wrap with a call to action to support Native organizations, uplift Indigenous voices, and make way for leadership approaches that have cross-cultural well-being in mind. Wyatt Kelly is a young Apache man, a dedicated advocate, creative, and organizer deeply rooted in community health and well-being. His efforts span across urban and rural Indian Country, where he focuses on equity, healing, and Indigenous self-determination. Whether leading statewide public health initiatives, advising on policy, or contributing to research, Wyatt weaves together traditional knowledge and modern innovation to uplift Native communities. He currently serves as a statewide manager, trusted advisor to the State of California, and collaborator on numerous Native-led projects and initiatives. Guided by the principle of acting for the next seven generations, Wyatt is committed to transforming systems, centering Native voices, and helping build a future rooted in sovereignty, strength, and community well-being.Referenced In This Episode:Yavapai-Apache Nation Remembers Exodus Day (article)Dr. Bernard Navarro — The 7th Generation PodcastCCUIH — California Consortium on Urban Indian HealthSage LaPena — Traditional Native HerbalistSupport the showThe stories and opinions shared in this episode are based on personal experience and are not intended to malign any individual, group, or organization.Join The Deeper Pulse at Patreon for weekly bonus episodes + other exclusive bonus content. Follow The Deeper Pulse on IG @thedeeperpulse + @candiceschutter for more regular updates.

Jane Technologies built real-time inventory streaming technology that connects cannabis dispensary point-of-sale systems to online ordering platforms—solving a technical problem that hadn't been cracked before in the space. As a West Point graduate and Apache helicopter pilot who found cannabis instrumental in his transition from military service, Socrates co-founded Jane with his brother (a computer scientist) in 2014-2015, deliberately choosing the "pick and shovel" software play over plant-touching operations. Operating in a market where major VCs won't invest, credit card networks won't process payments, NASDAQ won't list your stock, and regulatory missteps can mean federal charges, Jane developed an extreme discipline around capital efficiency and risk management that offers tactical lessons for any founder building in constrained or emerging markets. Topics Discussed: Jane's technical innovation: streaming real-time physical inventory from store shelves to online platforms Regulatory timing: the Cole Memo, state-by-state legalization momentum, and using adjacent players as risk indicators Risk taxonomy: creating frameworks to convert market uncertainty into scored, calculable risk decisions Strategic positioning as infrastructure provider versus licensed operator to manage legal exposure Customer evolution: illicit market operators meeting institutional players in the middle, and what survives Capital structure constraints driving operational discipline: no traditional payment rails, no public markets, limited institutional capital Competitive moat building through regulatory complexity rather than despite it Jane's decision framework on legal gray areas and why "maybe" always means "no" GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Use adjacent players as regulatory canaries, then move decisively: Jane launched after observing the 2013 Cole Memo and early state legalization in Colorado and Oregon, but critically didn't move until seeing Weedmaps and Leafly operate without legal consequences. Socrates explains: "We also didn't want to be the first...No one seemed to be getting thrown in jail at that time. And so we said, okay, let's get some good lawyers. Let's be able to understand our left and right limits, but let's go do this now." This isn't about being first-mover or fast-follower—it's about identifying specific de-risking events that signal the inflection point. Jane watched for: (1) regulatory clarity documents, (2) expansion velocity across state markets, (3) other operators achieving scale without enforcement action. Founders in emerging categories should map these trigger events explicitly rather than relying on intuition about timing. Build compliance infrastructure as a moat, not overhead: Jane deliberately avoided "touching the plant" to stay outside the highest-risk licensing category, positioning as B2B infrastructure rather than a licensed operator. While competitors took shortcuts on compliance to move faster, Jane developed the internal discipline to work within state regulatory frameworks and alongside regulators themselves. The company's philosophy: "go where it's hard." When regulatory complexity is high and shortcuts are tempting, building the compliant solution that becomes the standard creates a defendable position. As markets mature and enforcement tightens, shortcut companies fail while compliant infrastructure survives. The tactical implication: in regulated markets, treat compliance work as product moat-building, not cost center overhead. Structure legal and compliance as core product development. Convert uncertainty into scored risk through systematic information gathering: Socrates articulates the critical distinction: "There's a real difference between risk and uncertainty. Uncertainty is unknown...you try to position yourself to make uncertainty known so that you can decide and score it. Hey, is this a reward or is this a risk?" Jane's framework: (1) identify the unknown factors, (2) gather information to convert unknowns into knowns, (3) score both upside and downside explicitly, (4) decide whether the scored risk justifies action. The company wouldn't cross lines even when competitors did because certain risks (federal charges, business termination) represented non-recoverable outcomes regardless of upside. Implementation: maintain a risk register where each strategic decision explicitly documents what's uncertain versus what's a calculated risk, with clear go/no-go thresholds based on downside scenarios. Capital constraints create competitive advantages through forced discipline: Operating without access to Sequoia checks, IPO paths, or Visa processing meant Jane had to master unit economics and profitability early. Socrates reflects: "This is stuff that traditionally, you go public, you raise billions of dollars, and then you decide how to get profitable. Then you decide what your cost of capital is and free cash flow, man, we had to learn that at a very young age." The result: "really good fundamentals" that scale as the business grows. While competitors in less constrained markets can mask poor unit economics with cheap capital, Jane built sustainable business mechanics from day one. The tactical approach: "ruthlessly prioritize what you do and do not build" and "scrutinize every dollar that comes in and out of the business." For founders with capital access, consider artificially constraining spend to force the same discipline rather than optimizing for growth at any cost. Optimize for survival duration, not growth velocity: Jane's entire strategy centers on outlasting competitors in a market where shortcuts eventually kill companies. Socrates: "This is not a game of speed. This is not a game of size. This is a game of endurance. And you want to just last...if we make a fatal decision and we get arrested or we do a felony or something like that, then the business is probably over." The company explicitly embraced being early, knowing they'd face years before the market fully matured, but positioned to compound advantages while others burned out. Their decision framework: if a strategic choice risks ending the game entirely (legal exposure, existential financial risk, fundamental trust violation), it's off the table regardless of upside. For markets with long regulatory or adoption cycles, model scenarios for 10+ year timelines and ensure your burn rate and strategic decisions support that duration rather than optimizing for 18-month milestones. //  Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM  

Es wird mal wieder Zeit, eine kleine Bilanz des Vaterseins zu ziehen – diesmal mit der bescheidenen Frage: Wären wir eigentlich gern unser eigener Vater gewesen? Nach vielen Worten des Lobes, ein paar Laut-werd-Momenten und Max' Streit der Woche landen wir bei einer Beobachtung, die uns jedes Mal irritiert und amüsiert: Wie Kinder reagieren, wenn sie uns beim Küssen erwischen. Und bevor die Folge, völlig erwartbar, in einen netten Plausch unter Tierfreundinnen abdriftet und Jakobs Nager-Idee die nächste Evolutionsstufe erreicht, fragen wir uns noch, ob Nina Chuba und Apache 207 eigentlich pädagogisch wertvoll sind oder die Wahrnehmung unserer Kinder so beeinflussen, wie wir's lieber nicht hätten. Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte: https://linktr.ee/beste_vaterfreuden Du möchtest Werbung in diesem Podcast schalten? Dann erfahre hier mehr über die Werbemöglichkeiten bei Seven.One Audio: https://www.seven.one/portfolio/sevenone-audio

A combat Apache pilot loses his identity after war, survives a devastating crash, and discovers the God who had been pursuing him all along. This powerful testimony from Jeremy Gronau will challenge and encourage you. Jeremy Gronau, a combat Apache pilot who survived Taliban ambushes, a catastrophic car crash, and the loss of his military identity shares how God used pain, trauma, and near-death moments to lead him to Christ. Gronau walks through childhood loss, deployment, spiritual wrestling, addiction, a life-changing crash, and the moment God met him in an operating room. Today he helps veterans and first responders rebuild their identity in Christ through biblical counseling and discipleship. Learn more about Warriors in Christ: https://warriorsinchrist.one Hit Subscribe, share this episode with your community, and drop a comment on what landed hardest for you. Want more reinforcement? Subscribe to our newsletter, The Forward Edge, to go beyond the podcast and dig deeper into these topics and more: https://marchordie.substack.com! Join us daily for encouragement and biblical truth with the Mighty Oaks Daily Devotional, you can sign up for reminders: https://mightyoaksprograms.org/daily-devotional Follow March or Die:https://instagram.com/MarchOrDie https://Facebook.com/MarchOrDieShow https://TikTok.com/March_or_Die Follow Jeremy:https://instagram.com/jeremystalnecker https://jeremystalnecker.com Follow Sean:https://instagram.com/seantopgunkennard https://youtube.com/@SeanTopGunKennard Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Send us a textAlright, slackers—Peaches drops your daily dose of military reality on November 20th, no sugarcoating, just the gritty facts. He breaks down special warfare selection like it's a bad date: show up with the raw goods or get ghosted. Plugs the Operator Training Summit because apparently you need Taylor Starch to teach you not to wreck your knees while pretending to train. Then it's Apache love—10th Mountain's new toys for terrain domination, Poland live-fires extending kill range because why not? Army's vaccine U-turn lets ex-officers herd back the mandate rejects; Navy's got a fancy new destroyer for whatever "multi-mission" means this week. F-15Es playing long-range from Diego Garcia, F-35 export drama stirring Middle East pots, record Somalia strikes zapping terrorists in "self-defense." Space Force promos (yawn), Coast Guard's drug hauls and flood heroics—oh, and they might not actually have swastika issues, but who knows? Peaches mocks crayon-eaters, geeks on aviation, and chuckles at Trump shutting down a reporter with "quiet little piggy." If you're whining about prep pains, maybe skip this and stay mediocre.⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 - Peaches Schools You on Special Warfare Real Talk00:40 - Podcast Fluff: Intro and Summit Sales Pitch03:07 - Apache Overkill: 10th Mountain's Latest Death Birds05:30 - Navy's Overpriced Tub: USS Barnum Jr. Arrives07:57 - Somalia BBQ: Peak Airstrikes on Bad Guys09:55 - Coast Guard Wins: Drug Busts and Flood Saves12:06 - Trump's Mic Drop: Shut Up, Little Piggy

East of Phoenix, the desert rises in a wall of jagged stone—hostile, ancient, and hungry for stories. The Superstition Mountains have long been treated with reverence and fear: a place of portals and judgment in Apache and Pima tradition, a trap for prospectors, and the beating heart of America's most enduring treasure legend.In this episode, we trace the Superstitions from sacred ground to cursed obsession—through creation myths, ghost lights and headless riders, to the tangled history of Jacob Waltz and the Lost Dutchman's Mine. We follow the fever that claimed Adolph Ruth and so many others, and ask why the hunt never ends—even when the geology says it should.Some places hold gold. Others hold stories. In the Superstition Mountains, the story is the treasure. LINKS FOR MY DEBUT NOVEL, THE FORGOTTEN BOROUGHAUDIBLE - THE FORGOTTEN BOROUGHwww.hauntedamericanhistory.comBarnes and Noble -   https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forgotten-borough-christopher-feinstein/1148274794?ean=9798319693334AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQPQD68SEbookGOOGLE: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=S5WCEQAAQBAJ&pli=1KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-forgotten-borough-2?sId=a10cf8af-5fbd-475e-97c4-76966ec87994&ssId=DX3jihH_5_2bUeP1xoje_SMASHWORD: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1853316 !! DISTURB ME !! APPLE - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disturb-me/id1841532090SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/show/3eFv2CKKGwdQa3X2CkwkZ5?si=faOUZ54fT_KG-BaZOBiTiQYOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/@DisturbMePodcastwww.disturbmepodcast.com YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@hauntedchris⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok- @hauntedchris LEAVE A VOICEMAIL - 609-891-8658 Patreon- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/hauntedamericanhistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter- @Haunted_A_HInstagram- haunted_american_historyemail- hauntedamericanhistory@gmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Following on from X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode 307, Jermayn Parker and Matt Kyme explored the many elements that were vital to making a Phantom story something that hits the mark for phans. One of those elements was Old Jungle Sayings, in this podcast we do a deep dive into Old Jungle Sayings!According to DeepWoods.org, a story cannot be a Phantom story without these sayings appearing more than once in a while. These sayings are in many ways responsible for the mystifying aura seen in Phantom stories.We look at what are these Old Jungle Sayings and go over some of our personal favourites or sayings that stick in our memories. There is 100+ in various subtle changes to choose from!We go all nerdy and look at the origins of them in the Phantom universe, from Old Native Sayings to Old Jungle Sayings. We compare them from a cultural impact and psychological role compared to real-life proverbs and religious mantras.The comparison doesn't stop there as we compare our Phantom's Old Jungle Sayings with oral proverbs preserving legendary heroes like Maui the Maori (New Zealand) demigod, and fear-based lore enforcing social norms, which you can see in the Bedouin, Apache, and Amazonian tribes from around the world.Our final step in our nerdom travels down Old Jungle Sayings is we compare this storytelling element to comic characters like Batman, Tarzan, Judge Dredd, Conan, and the famous meme master Chuck Norris.The Phantom is the only character with all of 1) Formally repeated, structured sayings (like folklore or scripture)2) A generational myth actively maintained by the sayings ("The Phantom never dies") and 3) A tribal culture that embraces and perpetuates the myth as truthBatman and Zorro come close in terms of urban/fear-based mythology but lack the ritualistic repetition and communal cultural buy-in.This may end up being our smartest, most in-depth, and nerdiest Phantom podcast ever! We hope you enjoy it!You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube channel. Support the show

In this powerful Veterans Week episode, The MisFitNation welcomes US Army Veteran Tammy Flake — a leader, advocate, businesswoman, and champion for veteran wellness and community connection. Tammy served from 2004-2008 as a Unit Supply Specialist and Arms Room Specialist with the 3-101 Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, supporting the Apache helicopter mission. She earned her Air Assault qualification and deployed to Iraq (2005–2006), where she played a key role in maintaining readiness and equipping soldiers for their missions. Today, Tammy brings that same discipline and compassion into her life as a wife, mother of five, entrepreneur, VFW Post Commander, and Utah VFW State Surgeon. She is driven to combat veteran suicide and works closely with Heroes Haven, which provides mentorship, connection, and healing for veterans seeking purpose after service. This conversation is about service, identity, transition, family, leadership, and hope — and the belief that no veteran should ever be left behind. Learn more about Heroes Haven: https://www.dashooah.com/heroes-haven Subscribe & Follow:

Remote on-site handcrafted sex machine!

In this episode we build with El da Sensei on everything from Jersey hip hop history to what's next on his journey. He reflects on Apache's impact, shares perspective on TV placements, and weighs in on how AI in the music industry. El talks about the demo version of “Wrong Side of da Tracks” with Lord Jamar, he discusses his collaboration with DJ Views on a new EP, and lets us know about his upcoming European tour with Mr. Len. Real stories, real knowledge, straight from one of Jersey's finest.

 #839 Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/839 Presented By: FishHound Expeditions, Smitty's Fly Box, Mountain Waters Resort, Jackson Hole Fly Company Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Ben Smith of Arizona Wanderings walks us across Arizona — from the high-country creeks that hold Apache trout to the canals and reclaimed ponds around Phoenix, where carp and tilapia lurk. He talks native-fish recovery efforts, the best shoulder-season windows for trout, small-stream tactics (long leaders, stealth, and micro presentations), and the surprisingly wide variety of warm- and cold-water opportunities within a few hours of the city. Along the way, Ben shares how he started blogging, why he still ties flies and furled leaders, and how junior angler programs are getting kids bitten by the fishing bug. #839 Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/839

  Remains of missing Apache teen found by police this week   Anchorage school's Yup'ik immersion program adds 70 students  

What if your dog is more than "just a pet"? In this heartfelt solo episode, Mellissa explores the sacred role our animals play in our spiritual lives as teachers, mirrors, and bridges between the human and the wild. Drawing from her own Apache ceremonial experience, her work with intuitive veterinarian Dr. Vanessa Gafferrer, and her deep connection with her dog Lucy, Mellissa shares how our animal companions help us remember our primal selves, model unconditional love, and guide us through seasons of change and grief. You'll also meet Louie, the newest (and most mischievous) member of Mellissa's family, and hear reflections on what animals teach us about joy, patience, and the magic of presence. If you've ever felt your dog understood you more deeply than words could explain this one's for you. In This Episode, You'll Learn: How animals serve as spiritual teachers and energetic mirrors What Mellissa's Apache family taught her about dogs in ceremony The ways pets connect us to the primal and the divine How intuitive veterinary medicine can reveal the emotional link between human and animal What Lucy and Louie are teaching Mellissa about aging, play, and love Have your animals shown up as spiritual teachers in your life? Share your stories in the comments or in the Wisdom Collective.   More Resources:

Früher drehte er Musikvideos mit Apache 207 und Bausa, heute Angelvideos in Norwegen: Dustin Schöne hat schon als Kind leidenschaftlich gerne geangelt. Inzwischen hat er daraus einen Beruf gemacht. Bei Youtube und Instagram sehen hunderttausende Menschen seinen Angel-Content, mit seiner Firma Nays verkauft er Köder und Angel-Equipment für mehrere Millionen Euro. Im OMR Podcast erklärt der Unternehmer, wie er den Sprung in sein neues Leben geschafft hat, warum er bislang nicht bei amerikanischen Angel-Turnieren antritt, obwohl man dort Millionen verdienen kann, was er bei Survival-Trips erlebt, bei denen er sich ohne Nahrung in der Wildnis aussetzen lässt – und was eigentlich seine Freundin Lena Gercke zu dem ganzen Thema sagt.

"The movie has been called one of Corman's dullest films." Roger Corman month continues with a low-wattage western murder mystery about a white man who teaches a biracial woman how to love by manhandling her and killing her brother. Dick Miller is in it but you have to wait 64 minutes before he shows up.

On today's episode of Vinyl Fridays Brandon & AP Lindsay welcome the founding members of the fabulous Chicago band Babe Report. They discuss the formation of the band, their early musical projects, Ben regales us with tales of growing up in Rockford, and Brandon tries to compare flutes to octopuses. Then they listen to records by Prewn, The Bats, Cusp, Jane Pow and more! Babe Report Links: Bandcamp: https://babereportchicago.bandcamp.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babereport_theband/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@babe.report -----------------------------------------------------------------Bed music: Apache by Jorgan Ingmann Apache 65' by Davie Allan & The Arrows Biradio.libsyn.com Instagram: @birp60406 Facebook: @blueislandradio TikTok @birp60406

Guest Bio: Renee Kylestewa Begay is from the Pueblo of Zuni in Southwest New Mexico. She is a mother to three daughters and married to high school sweetheart Donnie Begay. During her undergrad, she founded the Nations movement—a national ministry...Good morning. It's October 30th, 2025. Can you believe it? So I'm releasing these videos. Today's videos on resilience. Four distinct cultures coming at you. Jenny McGrath. Me, Danielle, my friend Renee Begay from New Mexico and Rebecca Wheeler, Walston. Tune in, listen to the distinctly different places we're coming from and how we're each thinking about resilience. And then find a way that that impacts you and your own community and you can create more resilience, more generosity, more connection to one another. It's what we need in this moment. Oh, and this is The Arise Podcast, and it's online. If you want to download, listen to it. There you can as well.   Renee Begay (00:14):Okay, cool. Okay, so for those watching my introduction, I'll do it in my language. So my name is Renee Bega. I just spoke in my language, which is I'm from the Pueblo of Zuni tribe in Southwest New Mexico, and I shared the way that we relate to one another. So you share the clan system that you're from. So being a matrilineal society, we belong to our, there's lineage and then we are a child of our father's side of the family. And so I belong to the Sandhill Crane clan as my mom is my grandma. And then my daughters are Sandhill Crane, and then I'm a child of the Eagle Clan, which is my dad's side. So if I do introduce myself in Zuni and I say these clans, then people know, oh, okay, you're from this family, or I'm, or if I meet others that are probably Child of Crane, then I know that I have responsibility toward them. We figure out responsibility toward each other in the community and stuff, who's related to all those things. Yeah. And here in New Mexico, there are 19 Pueblo tribes, two to three Apache tribes, and then one Navajo nation tribe. So there's a large population of indigenous tribes here in New Mexico. So grateful and glad to be here.(02:22):Yeah. I guess I can answer your question about what comes to mind with just the word resilience, but even you saying a d Los Muertos, for me that was like, oh, that's self-determination, something that you practice to keep it going, to remember all those things. And then when you mentioned the family, Jenny, I was like, I think I did watch it and I looked on my phone to go look for it, and I was like, oh yeah, I remember watching that. I have a really short-term memory with books or things that I watch. I don't remember exactly details, but I know how I felt. And I know when I was watching that show, I was just like, whoa, this is crazy.(03:12):So yes, I remember watching that docuseries. And then I think Rebecca, when you're talking about, I was thinking through resilience feels like this vacillation between different levels, levels of the individual in relation to the community, how much do we participate in self discovery, self-determination, all those things, but then also connect it to community. How do we continue to do that as a community to stay resilient or keep practicing what we've been taught? But then also generationally too, I think that every generation has to figure out based on their experience in this modern world, what to do with the information and the knowledge that is given to us, and then how to kind of encourage the next generation too. So I was just thinking of all those scenes when I was listening to you guys.Rebecca (04:25):Yeah, when you said the generational thing that each generation has to decide what to do with the information given to them. This past weekend in the last week or so was that second New Kings march, and there's some conversation about the fact that it was overwhelmingly white and in my community that conversation has been, we weren't there. And what does that mean, right? Or the noticing that typically in this country when there are protests around human rights, typically there's a pretty solid black contingency that's part of that conversation. And so I just have been aware internally the conversation has been, we're not coming to this one. We're tired. And when I say I say black women specifically in some instances, the larger black community, we are tired.(05:28):We are tapping out after what happened in the last election. And I have a lot of ambivalence about that tapping out. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it does make me think about what you said that in this moment my community is taking the information given to them and making a conscious choice to do something different than what we have done historically. So that's what I thought about when you were mentioning the generational sort of space that's there. What do we do with that and what does that mean about what we pass to the next generation?Danielle (06:09):Through this moment. So I think it's interesting to say, I think Rebecca said something about does your resilience, what does it feel grounded in or does it feel solid? I can't remember exactly how she put it. And yeah, she's frozen a bit on my screen, so I'll check in with her when she gets back. And I would say I felt like this week when I was thinking about my ancestors, I felt in having conversations in my family of origin around race and assimilation, just that there was this in-between generation. And I mean like you mentioned the voting, you saw it in our voting block, the Latino voting block pretty clearly represented.(07:09):There was this hard push for assimilation, really hard push and the in-between. And I feel like my generation is saying that didn't work. And so we know the stories of our ancestors, but how did we interpret those stories to mean many of us, I would say in our community to mean that we don't fight for justice? How did we reinterpret those stories to mean the best course was silence or forgetting why people migrated. The reason for migration was not because there was a hate for our land. That's very clear to me. The reason for migration was what we see now happening with Venezuela. It was ongoing oppression of our people through the, well, in my case, through the Mexican government and collaboration with the United States government that exacerbated poverty and hunger, which then led to migration. So do we forget that? It seems like we did. And in some, I wondered to myself, well, how did a guy like Cesar Chavez or I, how did they not forget that? How did they remember that? So I think resilience for me is thinking Los was like, who were my ancestors remembering why they moved and remembering what this moment is asking me to do. Is it asking me to move somewhere and maybe physically move or mentally move or I don't know what the movement means, but it's some kind of movement. So that's kind of what I thinkRenee (09:07):I'm seeing the importance of, even just in this conversation, kind of the idea of the trans narrative across all communities, the importance of storytelling amongst each other, sharing stories with each other of these things. Like even just hearing you Danielle of origins of reasons for migration or things like that, I'm sure very relatable. And we have migration stories too, even within indigenous on this continent and everything. So I think even just the importance of storytelling amongst each other to be able to remember together what these things are. I think even just when we had the opportunity to go to Montgomery and go to the Rosa Parks Museum, it, you hear the macro story of what happened, but when you actually walk through the museum and read every exhibition, every paragraph, you start learning the micro stuff of the story there. Maybe it wasn't everyone was a hundred percent, there was still this wrestling within the community of what to do, how to do it, trying to figure out the best way to do good amongst each other, to do right by each other and stuff like that. So I just think about the importance of that too. I think Danielle, when you mentioned resilience, a lot of times it doesn't feel good to practice resilience.(11:06):For me, there's a lot of confusion. What do I do? How do I do this? Well, a lot of consultation with my elders, and then every elder has a different, well, we did this, and then you go to the next elder, oh, well we did this. And so one of my friends said three people in the room and you get four ideas and all these things. So it's just like a lot of times it doesn't feel good, but then the practice of it, of just like, okay, how do we live in a good way with each other, with ourselves, with what faith you have, the spiritual beliefs that you hold all those, and with the land, all that stuff, it's just, yeah, it's difficult to practice resilience.Rebecca (12:03):I think that that's a good point. This idea, the reminder that it doesn't always feel good. When you said it, it's like, well, duh. But then you sit for a minute and you go like, holy crap, it doesn't feel good. And so that means I have to be mindful of the ways in which I want to step away from it, take a step back from it, and not actually enter that resilience. And it makes me think about, in order to kind of be resilient, there has to be this moment of lament or grief for the fact that something has happened, some type of wounding or injury or threat or danger that is forcing you to be resilient is requiring that of you. And that's a moment I always want to bypass. Who has time to, no, I don't have time to grieve. I got stuff I got to do, right?(13:06):I need to make it to the next moment. I need to finish my task. I need to keep it together. Whatever the things are. There are a thousand reasons for which I don't want to have that moment, even if I can't have it in the moment, but I need to circle back to it. Once the chaos sort of settles a little bit, it's very difficult to actually step into that space, at least for me personally, probably somewhat out of the cultural wider narratives that I inhabit. There's not a lot of invitation to grief element or if I'm very skilled at sidestepping that invitation. So for me, that's what comes to mind when I think about it doesn't feel good. And part of what doesn't feel good for me is that what there is to grieve, what there is to process there to lament. Who wants to do that?(14:10):I think I told you guys outside of the recording that my son had a very scary car incident this week, and several people have asked me in the last 48 hours, are you how? Somebody said to me, how is your mother heart? Nothing in me wants to answer that question. Not yesterday, not today. I'm almost to the point, the next person that asked me that, I might smack you because I don't have time to talk about that. Ask me about my kid. Then we maybe could ask me about myself and I would deflect to my kid really fast.Jenny (14:59):I'm thinking about, for me, resilience feels so connected to resistance. And as you were sharing stories of migration, I was thinking about my great great grandparents who migrated from Poland to the States. And a few years ago we went to Poland and did an ancestry trip and we went to a World War II museum. I really traced World War I through World War ii, but it really actually felt like a museum to resistance and seeing resistance in every tier of society from people who were Nazis soldiers smuggling out letters that were written in urine to people making papers for people to be able to get out.(16:05):And I found myself clinging to those stories right now as ice continues to disappear people every day and trying to stay situated in where and how can I resist and where and how can I trust that there are other people resisting even if I don't know how they are, and where can I lean into the relationships and the connections that are fostering collective resistance? And that's how I'm finding it as I am sitting with the reality of how similar what we are experiencing in the US is to early days of Nazi Germany and how can I learn from the resistance that has already taken place in former atrocities that are now being implemented by the country that I live in.Rebecca (17:41):That makes me think, Jenny of a couple of things. One, it's hard to breathe through this that we are perilously close to Nazi Germany. That feels like there's not a lot of vocabulary that I have for that. But it also makes me think of something that Renee said about going to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, and stepping really close to the details of that story, because I don't know if you remember this, Renee, but there's one exhibit that talks about this white law firm that was the money behind the Montgomery bus boycott and was the legal underpinning behind that. And I don't think I knew until I went to that museum and saw that it's like one picture on one poster in the middle of this big exhibit. And I don't think I knew that. I know a lot of things about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Busboy.(18:53):I've taught them to my kids. We know about her and the bus and all of that, but the details and to know that there was this group of white people in 1950 something that stepped forward to be resistant in that moment. And it's like, gosh, I didn't know that. And it makes me, Jenny have the question, how many more times has that happened in history? And we don't actually have that information. And so the only larger narrative that I have access to is how white people were the oppressors and the aggressors in that. And that's true. I'm not trying to take anything away from that. But also there was this remnant of people who said, not me, not my house, not my family, not today, not tomorrow, not at any time in my lifetime. Am I going to be on the wrong side of history on this conversation? And I think that that's probably true in many places and spaces that we don't have access to the detail of the stories of resistance and alliance that is there across people groups, and we don't have that information.Jenny (20:21):It makes me think of something that's front of mind just because we were in Detroit last week as we talk about Rosa Parks, she lived the end of her days in Detroit in a home that the CEO of Little Caesar's spot for her,Wow. Where it's like one, it's tragic to me that such a heroine had had to need some financial assistance from some white CEO, and that was what that CEO decided to use his money towards is really beautiful for me. And you can go to her house in Detroit. It's just a house now. But it is, it's like how many of these stories we know that actually are probably for good reason if they're happening right now, because it's not always safe to resist. And we were just having breakfast with a friend today talking about, and or what a brilliant show it is and how resistance probably needs to be underground in a lot of ways in this current moment.Danielle (21:54):Do you know the animal for Los Martos, Renee? Maybe it, it's the Libre. It's the spirit animals from Mexican folklore, and they come out and they have to, traditionally they represent three of the four elements like air, water, earth, and fire. And so they put them on the altars and they're like spiritual protectors or whatever. And they highlighted during this time, and I don't know if any of y'all have seen some of the videos of, there's a couple videos where there's a couple of these more racist folks trying to chase after a person of color, and they just trip and they fall out their face on the pavement and talking with a couple of friends, some Mexican friends, they're like, oh, Libre has got that. They just bam flat, just the idea that the earth tripped them up or something. I love that. Something in the spirit wall brought them to their knees. So yesterday I took Luis is like, what are you doing? I made him go get me all this spray paint. And I put these wood panels together and partly we had at home and I was using his wood. He's like, don't paint all of it, but I was painting this panel of this que and I'm going to put it in downtown, and it's not something I'm doing and I'm thwarting the government. But it did feel resilient to paint it or to think about the spirit world tripping up these guys. It gave me some joyRebecca (23:42):But I actually think, and I've talked to you about this a little bit, Danielle, I think what I love about that is that there's something in the collective story of Mexican people that you can borrow from, that you can pull from to find this moment of resilience, of resistance, of joy, of relief release. And I think we need to do more of that. So often when we step into our collective narratives, it's at the pain points, it is at the wounding points. And I think that I love that there's something of something that you can borrow that is a moment of strength out of our collective narrative. I think that that's actually how you grow resilience. I think it is how you learn to recognize it is you borrow from this collective narrative, this moment of strength so that you can bring it with you in this moment. I think that that's who Rosa Parks has been in my community to me in my family, I think I've told you guys this before, but I have a daughter who's now in college, but when she was in elementary school, we had a whole thing for a semester with a bus driver that just had it out for black and brown kids on her bus route to the point that all the white kids in our little suburban neighborhood were like, what the heck is wrong with a bus driver coming after all the brown people?(25:13):And I remember actually borrowing from the story of Rosa Parks to say to my daughter, this is how we're going to handle this. What does it look like for you with dignity, but really firmly say, you cannot mistreat me. You will not mistreat me on this bus route. And so to me, the story, what you're telling Danielle, is that same sort of, let me borrow from this folklore, from this narrative, something to give to myself, to my family, to my people in this moment. I love that. I'm going to borrow it. I'm going to steal it. So send me a picture of the painting.Renee (26:03):Yeah. Have you guys talked about, I guess expressions or epigenetics, I guess with resilience with epigenetics, when we do experience hardship, there's a certain way of taking that hardship in and either it alters our expression or our reaction, our behavior and how we carry that through across generations. But I was thinking of that word even with Jenny when you were talking about resilience to you, you remember it maybe probably in your body as resistance because of your great grandparents. My question was, or even just with D Los MTOs, the spirits that help that are kind of like protectors, did you guys sense that as information first or did you feel it first kind like that there's this feeling inside, you can't really quite pinpoint it, but you feel it as a practice and then when you do get that information, you're like, ah, that's what it was. Or is it the other way? I need information first. And then you're like, okay, it confirms this. I dunno. I don't know if that's a clear question, but I was just kind of curious about that. Even with the Rosa Parks, this is how we're going to do it, this is how we remember it, that was successful in its ways. Yeah.Jenny (27:54):I think for me personally, the more stories I learn, the more of me makes sense. And the same great grandparents were farmers and from where they lived to the port sold vegetables along the way to pay for their travels. And then when they got to the port, sold their wagon to pay for their ship tickets and then just arrived in the states with practically nothing. And there's so much of a determined hope in that, that I have felt in myself that is willing to just go, I don't know where this is going to lead to, but I'm going to do it. And then when I hear these stories, I'm like, oh yeah, and it's cool to be with my husband as I'm hearing these family stories, and he'll just look at me like, oh, that sounds familiar.Danielle (29:07):I think there's a lot of humor in our family's resistance that I've discovered. So it's not surprising. I felt giddy watching the videos, not just because I enjoyed seeing them fall, but it did feel like the earth was just catching their foot. When I used to run in basketball in college, sometimes people would say, oh, I tripped on the lines. The lines of the basketball court grabbed them and just fell down. And I think for a moment, I don't know, in my faith, like God or the earth has its own way of saying, I'm not today. I've had enough today and you need to stop. And so that's one way. I don't know. I feel it in my body first. Yeah. What about you? Okay.Renee (30:00):Yeah, humor, definitely A lot of one elder that I knew just with crack jokes all the time, but had the most painful story, I think, of boarding school and stuff. And then we had the younger generation kind of just ask him questions, but one of the questions for him to him was, you joke a lot, how did you become so funny? And then he was just like, well, I got to do this, or else I'll like, I'll cry. So there's just the tragic behind it. But then also, yeah, humor really does carry us. I was thinking about that one guy that was heckling the lady that was saying free Palestine, and then he tripped. He tripped backwards. And you're like, oh.(31:00):So just those, I think those captures of those mini stories that we're watching, you're like, okay, that's pretty funny. But I think for us in not speaking for all indigenous, but even just within my community, there's a lot of humor for just answering to some of the things that are just too, it's out of our realm to even just, it's so unbelievable. We don't even know what to do with this pain, but we can find the humor in it and laugh about the absurdity of what's happening and And I think even just our cultural practices, a lot of times my husband Donnie and I talk about just living. I don't necessarily like to say that I live in two worlds. I am part of both. I am. We are very present in both of just this westernized society perspective, but we do see stark differences when we're within our indigenous perspective, our worldview, all those things that it's just very like, whoa, this is really different.(32:27):There's such a huge contrast. We don't know if it's a tangent line that never crosses, but then there are moments where when communities cross that there is this possibility that there's an understanding amongst each other and stuff. But I think even just with our cultural practice, the timeline of things that are happening in current news, it's so crazy. But then you look to, if you turn your head and you look toward the indigenous communities, they're fully into their cultural practices right now, like harvest dances and ceremonies and all those things. And it's just kind of like, okay, that's got grounding us right now. We're continuing on as it feels like the side is burning. So it's just this huge contrast that we're constantly trying to hold together, living in the modern world and in our cultural traditions, we're constantly looking at both and we're like, okay, how do we live and integrate the two?(33:41):But I think even just those cultural practices, seeing my girls dance, seeing them wear their traditional clothing, seeing them learning their language, that just my heart swells, gives me hope that we're continuing on even when it feels like things are falling and coming apart and all those things. But yeah, real quick story. Last week we had our school feast day. So the kids get to kind of showcase their culture, they wear their traditional clothes, and kids are from all different tribes, so everybody dresses differently. We had a family that was dancing their Aztec dances and Pueblo tribes in their Pueblo regalia, Navajo students wearing their Navajo traditional clothes and all those things. So all these different tribes, everyone's showcasing, not just showcasing, but presenting their cultural things that they've been learning. And at the very end, my daughter, her moccasin fell off and we were like, oh, no, what's happening? But thankfully it was the end of the day. So we were like, okay. So I took apart her leggings and then took off her moccasin and stuff. Then so we started walking back to the car, and then my other daughter, her moccasin leggings were unwrapping.(35:17):We were laughing, just walking all the way because everyone, their leggings were coming apart too as they were walking to their car. And everyone's just laughing all like, okay, it's the end of the day. It's okay. We're falling apart here, but it's all right. But it was just good to kind of have that day to just be reminded of who we are, that we remain, we're still here, we're still thriving, and all those things.Rebecca (35:56):Yeah, I think the epigenetics question is interesting for the story arc that belongs to black American people because of the severing of those bloodlines in the transatlantic slave trade. And you may have gotten on the ship as different tribes and different peoples, and by the time you arrive on US soil, what was many has merged into one in response to the trauma that is the trans glamorous slave trade. So that question always throws me for a loop a little bit, because I never really know where to go with the epigenetics piece. And it also makes me understand how it is that Rosa Parks is not my ancestor, at least not that I know of. And yet she is my ancestor because the way that I've been taught out of my Black American experience to understand ancestry is if you look like me in any way, shape or form, if there's any thread, if there is a drop of African blood in, you count as an ancestor.(37:13):And that means I get permission to borrow from Rosa Parks. She was in my bloodline, and I teach that to my kids. She's an elder that you need to respect that. You need to learn all of those things. And so I don't usually think about it until I'm around another culture that doesn't feel permission to do that. And then I want to go, how do you not catch that? This, in my mind, it all collapses. And so I want to say to you, Renee, okay, every native person, but when I hear you talk, it is very clear that for you ancestry means that tracing through the clans and the lines that you can identify from your mother and your father. So again, not just naming and noticing the distinction and the differences about how we even understand the word ancestor from whatever our story arcs are, to listen to Jenny talk about, okay, great grandfather, and to know that you can only go so far in black life before you hit a white slave owner and you lose any connection to bloodline. In terms of the records, I have a friend who describes it as I look into my lineage, black, black, white, nothing. And the owner and the listing there is under his property, not his bloodline. So just noticing and naming the expansiveness that needs to be there, at least for me to enter my ancestry.Rebecca (38:56):Yeah, that's a good, so the question would be how do generations confront disruption in their lineage? How do you confront disruption? And what do you work with when there is that disruption? And how does, even with Rosa Parks, any drop of African-American blood, that's my auntie, that's my uncle. How do I adopt the knowledge and the practices and traditions that have kept us going? Whereas being here where there's very distinct tribes that are very different from one another, there's a way in which we know how to relate through our lineage. But then also across pan-Indian that there's this very familiar practice of respect of one another's traditions, knowing where those boundaries are, even though I am Zuni and if I do visit another tribe, there's a way that I know how to conduct myself and respect so that I'm honoring them and not trying to center myself because it's not the time. So just the appropriateness of relationships and stuff like that. So yeah, that's pretty cool conversation.Danielle (40:40):It was talking from a fisherman from Puerto Vallarta who'd lived there his whole life, and he was talking, he was like, wink, wink. People are moving here and they're taking all the fish. And we were like, wait, is it Americans? Is it Canadians? He is like, well, and it was people from other states in Mexico that were kind of forced migration within Mexico that had moved to the coast. And he's like, they're forgetting when we go out and fish, we don't take the little fish. We put 'em back and we have to put 'em back because if we don't put 'em back, then we won't have fish next year. And he actually told us that he had had conversations. This is how close the world seems with people up in Washington state about how tribal members in Washington state on the coast had restored coastline and fish populations. And I thought, that is so cool. And so his whole thing was, we got to take care of our environment. I'm not radical. He kept telling us, I'm not radical in Spanish. I want my kid to be able to fish. We have so much demand for tourism that I'm worried we're going to run out, so we have to make this. How do we make it sustainable? I don't know. It just came to mind as how stories intersect and how people see the value of the land and how we are much more connected, like you said, Renee, because of even the times we can connect with people across thousands of miles,(42:25):It was really beautiful to hear him talk about how much he loved these little fish. He's like, they're little and they squirm around and you're not supposed to eat. He is like, they need to go back. They need to have their life, and when it's ready, then we'll eat them. And he said that in Spanish, it sounded different, but sounded way better. Yeah. Yeah. In Spanish, it was like emotional. It was connected. The words were like, there's a word in Spanish in Gancho is like a hook, but it also can mean you're deceived. And he is like, we can't deceive ourselves. He used that word. We can't deceive ourselves that the fish will be here next year. We can't hook. And with the play on words, because you use hook to catch fish, right?That's like a play on words to think about how do we preserve for the next generation? And it felt really hopeful to hear his story because we're living in an environment in our government that's high consumer oriented, no matter who's in charge. And his slowing down and thinking about the baby fish, just like you said, Renee is still dancing. We're still fishing, felt good.Renee (43:59):I remember just even going to Juno, Alaska for celebration when all the Alaskan tribes make that journey by canoe to Juneau. And even that, I was just so amazed that all the elders were on the side on the shore, and the people in the canoe did this whole ceremony of asking for permission to come on the land. And I was like, dang, even within, they're on their own land. They can do what they want, but yet they honor and respect the land and the elders to ask for permission first to get out, to step out. So it's just like, man, there's this really cool practice of reciprocity even that I am learning. I was taught that day. I was like, man, that's pretty cool. Where are those places that will help me be a good human being in practicing reciprocity, in relationship with others and with the land? Where do I do that? And of course, I remember those things like, okay, you don't take more than you need. You always are mindful of others. That's kind of the teachings that come from my tribe, constantly being mindful of others, mindful of what you're saying, mindful of the way you treat others, all those things against. So yeah. So I think even just this conversation crossing stories and everything, it's generative. It reminds us of all these ways that we are practicing resilience.(45:38):I was going to tell you, Danielle, about humor in resilience, maybe a little humble bragging, but Randy Woodley and Edith were here last week, and Donnie and I got to hang out with them. And I was telling them about this Facebook group called, it's like a Pueblo Southwest group. And people started noticing that there were these really intimate questions being asked on the page. And then people started realizing that it's ai, it's like a AI generated questions. So with Facebook, it's kind of maybe automatically implemented into, it was already implemented into these groups. And so this ai, it's called, I forget the name, but it will ask really sensitive questions like cultural questions. And people started, why are you asking this question? They thought it was the administrator, but then people were like, oh, they caught on like, oh, this is ai. And then people who kind of knew four steps ahead, what was happening, they were like, don't answer the questions. Some people started answering earnestly these really culturally sensitive questions, but people were like, no, don't answer the questions. Because they're mining for information. They're mining for knowledge from our ways. Don't give it to them.(47:30):So now every time this AI robot or whatever asks a question that's very sensitive, they just answer the craziest. That's a good one of them was one of 'em was like, what did you learn during a ceremonial dance? And no one would ask that question to each other. You don't ask that question. So people were like, oh, every time I hear any man of mine, a country song, they just throw out the crazies. And I'm sitting there laughing, just reading. I'm like, good. Oh man, this is us. Have you ever had that feeling of like, this is us. Yes, we caught on. We know what you're doing. This is so good. And then just thinking of all these answers that are being generated and what AI will spit out based off of these answers. And so I was telling Randy about this, and he just like, well, this is just what used to happen when settlers used to first come and interact with indigenous people. Or even the ethnographers would come and mind for information, and they gather all this knowledge from indigenous communities. And then these communities started catching on and would just give them these wild answers. And then these ethnographers would gather up this information and then take it to the school, and the teachers would teach this information. So maybe that's why the school system has some crazy out there information about indigenous peoples. But that's probably part of what's happened here. But I just thought that was so funny. I was like, oh, I love us.Rebecca (49:19):Yeah, that's going to show up in some fourth graders history report or social studies report something about, right. And I can't wait to see that. Yeah, that's a good idea. So good. That feels like resistance and resilience, Renee.Renee (49:40):Yeah. Yeah. Humorous resistance. It just, yeah. So one of the questions is, have you ever harvested traditional pueblo crops?(49:52):And then some puts, my plastic plants have lasted generations with traditional care.So unserious just very, yeah, it's just so funny. So anytime I want to laugh, I go to, oh, what did this ai, what's this AI question for today? Yeah. People have the funniest, funniest answers. It givesYeah, yeah. Jenny's comment about it kind of has to go underground. Yeah. What's underneath the surface?Danielle (50:36):I have to pause this, but I'd love to have you back. Rebecca knows I'm invited every week. May invited. I have a client coming. But it is been a joy.  Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

Phishing with Invisible Characters in the Subject Line Phishing emails use invisible UTF-8 encoded characters to break up keywords used to detect phishing (or spam). This is aided by mail clients not rendering some characters that should be rendered. https://isc.sans.edu/diary/A%20phishing%20with%20invisible%20characters%20in%20the%20subject%20line/32428 Apache Tomcat PUT Directory Traversal Apache released an update to Tomcat fixing a directory traversal vulnerability in how the PUT method is used. Exploits could upload arbitrary files, leading to remote code execution. https://lists.apache.org/thread/n05kjcwyj1s45ovs8ll1qrrojhfb1tog BIND9 DNS Spoofing Vulnerability A PoC exploit is now available for the recently patched BIND9 spoofing vulnerability https://gist.github.com/N3mes1s/f76b4a606308937b0806a5256bc1f918

Host Shannon Huffman Polson is the founder of The Grit Institute and host of The Grit Factor Podcast, where she helps purpose-driven leaders build grit, resilience, and purpose in their lives and organizations. A former U.S. Army Apache helicopter pilot and one of the first women to fly the Apache in the Army, Shannon brings real-world leadership experience from the military and corporate boardroom to her work as an author, speaker, and leadership educator. She is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World, which distills lessons from elite leaders across industries and the armed forces. Through The Grit Institute, Shannon combines research, storytelling, and actionable frameworks to help individuals and organizations navigate transitions, overcome challenges, and lead with impact. Her work empowers people to connect with purpose and bring values-based leadership into every facet of life and work. Whether in the cockpit, the classroom, or the boardroom, Shannon champions a mission to cultivate courage, purpose, and authentic leadership for a better world. Guest Bio Sam Ushio is the founder and Chief Ikigai Officer of Ikigai Lab, a social enterprise that blends ancient Japanese wisdom with modern science to help people and organizations align purpose with measurable impact. Drawing on two decades in corporate leadership and consulting, Sam's work focuses on human sustainability, values-based growth, and bringing humanity back into business. A former financial services executive, Sam experienced a pivotal moment that transformed his understanding of success—from financial growth to personal and purposeful growth. His family's story, rooted in Japan over a century ago, deeply shaped his worldview and introduced him to the authentic essence of Ikigai—the Japanese concept of a "reason for being." Through Ikigai Lab, Sam works with global brands and leaders to create cultures where people thrive through alignment of strengths, values, and daily actions. His frameworks integrate positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and ancient wisdom, inspiring people to live with awareness, gratitude, and intention every day. Sam is also the creator of the Ikigai Summit (soon to be rebranded as Repurpose), an annual event that explores how purpose-driven leadership can reshape organizations and communities for a more meaningful future. At his core, Sam believes purpose isn't a destination—it's a daily practice. His mission is to help others discover and live their Ikigai through the simple yet profound act of aligning who they are with how they live and lead. Summary In this conversation, Shannon Huffman Polson and Sam Ushio explore the concept of Ikigai, its origins, and its significance in personal and professional life. They discuss the importance of family legacy, personal growth, and the misunderstandings surrounding Ikigai, particularly the common four-circle Venn diagram. Sam shares his journey of discovering Ikigai through his family's history and emphasizes the need for gratitude, intentionality, and the integration of personal values in daily life. The discussion also touches on the impact of Ikigai on organizations and the importance of spirituality and rituals in Japanese culture. Takeaways Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning 'reason for being'. Personal stories shape our understanding of purpose. Financial growth should not compromise personal growth. Gratitude and awareness are essential for a fulfilling life. Ikigai is about aligning daily actions with personal values. The four-circle Venn diagram is a common misunderstanding of Ikigai. Daily life (sekatsu) is central to understanding Ikigai. Mindset and emotional intelligence are crucial for personal development. Reflecting on influential people can help clarify one's values. Ikigai can enhance both personal and professional fulfillment.     Chapters 00:00 – What Is Ikigai, Really? Sam Ushio introduces the real meaning of Ikigai—not just an abstract idea of life's purpose, but the alignment of daily actions with personal values and priorities. 01:05 – Purpose as the Foundation of Grit and Resilience Host Shannon Huffman Polson shares how purpose became central to her research on grit and leadership, setting the stage for the conversation. 02:57 – Sam Ushio's Journey from Corporate Success to Purpose Alignment Sam reflects on his background in financial services, the "lightning bolt moment" that shifted his path, and his discovery of a deeper calling through Ikigai. 03:48 – The Power of Family Heritage and Migration Sam shares his great-grandparents' story—leaving Japan to support a 1,200-year-old shrine—and how that legacy shaped his modern understanding of purpose and sacrifice. 08:19 – Realizing the Limits of Financial Growth Sam explains how a career focused solely on financial metrics led to personal disconnection—and how redefining growth became the start of his transformation. 11:03 – The Value of Failure and Creative Experimentation Sam describes his early entrepreneurial struggles and creative experiments that didn't work, emphasizing how failure built clarity and resilience. 13:30 – Discovering the Family Photo That Changed Everything A 100-year-old family photo surfaces at just the right moment, sparking deep reflection and connecting Sam's modern journey to ancestral purpose. 14:52 – Rediscovering Ikigai Through Family Wisdom Sam's Aunt Julie plays a key role in reconnecting him with the true Japanese essence of Ikigai—as a philosophy of balance, awareness, and daily living. 16:33 – Debunking the 4-Circle Ikigai Myth Sam and Shannon unpack the viral "Venn diagram" of Ikigai, exploring how Western interpretations often miss its true meaning rooted in sekatsu—daily life. 20:12 – Ikigai as Daily Alignment, Not a Destination Sam reframes Ikigai as the daily practice of aligning values with actions—living your reason for being moment by moment, not chasing a final goal. 24:21 – Frameworks for Living with Purpose Exploring the fusion of Japanese wisdom and positive psychology, Sam discusses using values and strengths (via CliftonStrengths) to guide intentional living. 26:10 – From Purpose to Measurable Impact Sam connects Ikigai to measurable outcomes in leadership and business, linking emotional awareness, cognition, and behavior to results. 32:10 – How to Begin Your Ikigai Journey Sam offers a practical starting point: reflect on a person who has shaped you, explore the values behind their influence, and connect that to your own life purpose. 34:05 – Practicing Ikigai in Daily Life (Sekatsu) Sam introduces the "Minimum Viable Purpose" concept—testing small daily actions outside your comfort zone to grow purposefully, not perfectly. 38:05 – Purpose in the Age of AI A discussion on how AI is shaping human purpose and connection, and how grounding in values helps navigate rapid technological change. 40:15 – Inside Ikigai Lab: Bridging Humanity and Business Sam explains how Ikigai Lab helps organizations and teams connect individual purpose to measurable impact through human sustainability frameworks. 43:04 – Building Awareness and Intention Across Generations Sam discusses bringing the Ikigai philosophy to workplaces, universities, and communities to help people live and lead with intention. 49:23 – Returning to Japan: A Full-Circle Journey Sam shares the emotional story of returning to his family's ancestral shrine in Japan, honoring generations of purpose, resilience, and continuity. 53:29 – The Sacred in the Everyday Shannon reflects on her trip to Japan, the power of ritual, and what it means to recognize the sacred in daily life—connecting to the heart of Ikigai. 56:11 – Purpose as a Verb, Not a Goal Sam and Shannon conclude that Ikigai isn't something you find once—it's something you live daily, through curiosity, courage, and continual growth.     Resources Website: https://ikigailab.co/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samushio/  

Adrian Primeaux is a sixth-generation ceremonial practitioner from the Yankton Sioux, Apache, and Mexica tribes. With nearly two decades of experience teaching and guiding others through spiritual practices, he now helps healers and coaches align their life's work with ancestral wisdom and modern tools. Adrian's approach blends ceremonial knowledge, holistic education & modern skills to help others clear energetic blocks, deepen their connection to purpose, and create meaningful impact in their communities and online spaces. On this Episode:    Adrian Primeaux | @a_m_p_media | @adrianprimeaux Adam Jackson | @adam___jackson Connect with Sacred Sons:  Start Here–Check In With Sacred Sons: Check-In Survey    Join The Circle Online Community: Join The Circle Join a Sacred Sons Event Near You: Event Calendar   Shop: Sacred Sons Apparel & Cacao  Instagram: @sacredsons  Website: sacredsons.com   YouTube: Sacred Sons    Music: Ancient Future Want to become a Sponsor of Sacred Sons Podcast? Sponsorship Request Form   

Did Daphne du Maurier design the paratroopers' maroon beret? Why was the defence of Malta so poor? What do the Army Air Corps do? Join James Holland and Al Murray as they discuss a broad range of topics in this show, including the hagiography of RAF ace, Sir Douglas Bader, and some top WW2 book recommendations. Start your free trial at ⁠patreon.com/wehaveways⁠ and unlock exclusive content and more. Enjoy livestreams, early access to podcast episodes, ad-free listening, bonus episodes, and a weekly newsletter packed with book deals and behind-the-scenes insights. Members also get priority access and discounts to live events. A Goalhanger Production Produced by James Regan Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Social: @WeHaveWaysPod Email: wehaveways@goalhanger.com Membership Club: patreon.com/wehaveways Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet my friends, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton! If you love Verdict, the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show might also be in your audio wheelhouse. Politics, news analysis, and some pop culture and comedy thrown in too. Here’s a sample episode recapping four Thursday takeaways. Give the guys a listen and then follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Who Do You Trust? Clay Travis outlines a Gallup poll that reveals trust in the media has plummeted to a record low of just 28%, compared to over 70% in 1980. Clay explores why Americans no longer trust legacy media, citing misinformation during COVID-19 and the Russia collusion narrative. He challenges listeners to share which media figures they still trust, emphasizing the difference between agreeing with someone’s opinion and trusting their factual accuracy. Make it Make Sense Clay also breaks down the controversy over illegal immigrants receiving healthcare benefits in the Democrats’ continuing resolution. While Democrats claim federal funds aren’t directly paying for undocumented healthcare, Clay explains how federal dollars flow to states like California, New York, and Illinois, which then allocate funds for these services. He ties this to COVID-era spending that Democrats want to make permanent, warning that these embedded costs are fueling the shutdown fight. Practicing Gratitude Clay continues the conversation on the collapse of trust in media, sparked by a Gallup poll showing confidence at historic lows. Clay shares listener reactions and humorously calls out fellow radio host Jesse Kelly for ordering $75 tequila shots, tying it into a broader discussion about gratitude and humility in media. Clay argues that many in mainstream media lack appreciation for their privileged positions, contrasting that with his own daily practice of gratitude and the conservative ethos of thankfulness for living in America. The American Dream An in-depth interview with Congressman John James, who is running for governor of Michigan. James responds to Al Sharpton’s false claim that Michigan lacks Black congressional representation, calling out identity politics and emphasizing policy over race. He outlines why Michigan will be the epicenter of U.S. politics in 2026 and 2028, citing open gubernatorial and Senate seats, competitive House races, and the state’s pivotal role in presidential elections. James stresses the need for strong Republican leadership to restore trust, improve education, strengthen the economy, and secure election integrity. He also shares his inspiring personal story—from growing up in Detroit to graduating West Point, serving as an Apache pilot in Iraq, and building a successful business—underscoring his commitment to faith, family, and service. Clay's Got Balls! Clay promotes his upcoming book “Balls”, which argues why young men and sports fans should vote Republican, and says he's going to donate all proceeds to charity and asks the audience which charity he should support. Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8 For the latest updates from Clay and Buck: https://www.clayandbuck.com/ Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Social Media: X - https://x.com/clayandbuck FB - https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/clayandbuck/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ClayandBuck TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clayandbuckYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.