Podcasts about Congratulations

This episode we are celebrating the people that have increased their credit score!! Congratulations!! But, these credit card companies are not lowering your interest rates to reflect your improved credit score. This episode we let you know how to negotiate with your credit card company to get the interest rates you deserve! Pod'up good people and let's negotiate. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/2bg. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There is much to discuss in the cosmos for pop culture this week as Melinda Barkhouse-Ross returns to talk to Gerald about the HUGE acquisition by Microsoft in its 68.7 billion dollar purchase of Activision-Blizzard. What will this mean for Activision-Blizzard and the gaming industry, will Playstation and Sony respond, what will be the benefits for XBOX Games Pass subscribers, and what hard choices will Playstation fans have to make in the future? The conversation gets tense as "Diablo Superfan" Melinda is none too pleased by the recent developments. Plus TJ Johnson weighs in on the big news as well and looks at what key elements of the deal should not be overlooked. Plus Melinda and Gerald have a couple of episode fours for The Book of Boba Fett and Peacemaker to talk about and Gerald shares some thoughts on which one came out looking better this week (SPOILERS). All this and they comment on the harsh realities of the cost of Netflix going up, Ozark's return for season four, and some initial impressions of the first Moon Knight trailer for the Marvel series coming to Disney+ on March 30. A ton to catch you up to speed with on our latest PCC Multiverse! For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), Vampires and Vitae, and Retro City Games!

This week, Marshall, Nick, Wil, and Brent gather to introduce a Hugo award reaction show recorded during World Con. Congratulations to FIYAH Magazine! Links mentioned during the show: FIYAH N.E. Davenport  The Blood Trials Twitter: @Nia_Davenport LP Kindred  Twitter: @LPKindred Gabriel Salmeron Instagram: @gabrielfsalmeron Twitter: @GFSalmeron Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Twitter: @wil_ralston Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert @fiyahlitmag Fiyah Lit Magazine Now, just keep writing!

This week's Summit Session is a 2-part episode because we had to hear the story in its entirety and thats how the cookie crumbled. In summer 2021 Matt Mochella set a brand new Unsupported FKT (Fastest Known Time) of the 46 High Peaks in just under five days, breaking the previous record by more than 24-hours! An amazing story of determination and grit. In part 1 Matt breaks down his planning, gear, food, and takes us through the first couple days, day by day, peak by peak. Congratulations, Matt!Pick up my new 140+ page High Peaks eBook, "From 1-to-46: A Complete Guide to Climbing the 46 High Peaks". Available now at www.46of46.com. Click on the eBook tab and download to your phone or tablet. Kindle users can download via the Kindle App Store.If you want to support the show and you enjoy what I do with this podcast head over to www.46of46.com or visit www.46of46store.com to pick up a t-shirt, hoodie, hat, sticker, and more. I appreciate all the support.Want to book a time with me to help you plan out your next hike or your entire 46'er journey? Maybe your entire Northville-Placid Trail thruhike? I can help you plan it out start to finish and give you all the tips and tricks you'll want to know to have a successful day in the woods. Check out 46of46.com to find out more information.As always use the promo code "46podcast" to save 15% off your order at www.PureAdirondacks.comPick up some Campfire Blend steeped coffee packs for your next camping trip at www.RecessCoffee.com and save 10% with the promo code "recess46"If you're in the market for a new tent check out www.CruaOutdoors.com

Congratulations! You've survived an entire year of Joe Biden's presidency. We know it wasn't easy. Let's take a few minutes to reflect with Stu Burguiere on the accomplishments and hurdles that have led to our collective depressive state. Then, foreign policy expert Jason Killmeyer returns to the program to discuss Biden's recent comments on the situation between Russia and Ukraine and to assess the damage his careless pontificating may have stirred up.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special Super Wild Card Weekend Recap that is recorded completely by Zion! The 9 year old gives it his best as he goes through all 6 of the Super Wild Card Weekend games and give the player of the game for each contest as well. Congratulations to the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Rams for advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs. As always, Theme music by The Riley Brothers Band. Find them at therileybrothersband.bandcamp.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brodie-sports/message

About PetePete does many startup things at Allma. Links: Last Tweet in AWS: https://lasttweetinaws.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/petecheslock LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petecheslock/ TranscriptAnnouncer: Hello, and welcome to Screaming in the Cloud with your host, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group, Corey Quinn. This weekly show features conversations with people doing interesting work in the world of cloud, thoughtful commentary on the state of the technical world, and ridiculous titles for which Corey refuses to apologize. This is Screaming in the Cloud.Corey: This episode is sponsored in part byLaunchDarkly. Take a look at what it takes to get your code into production. I'm going to just guess that it's awful because it's always awful. No one loves their deployment process. What if launching new features didn't require you to do a full-on code and possibly infrastructure deploy? What if you could test on a small subset of users and then roll it back immediately if results aren't what you expect? LaunchDarkly does exactly this. To learn more, visitlaunchdarkly.com and tell them Corey sent you, and watch for the wince.Corey: This episode is sponsored in part by our friends at Redis, the company behind the incredibly popular open source database that is not the bind DNS server. If you're tired of managing open source Redis on your own, or you're using one of the vanilla cloud caching services, these folks have you covered with the go to manage Redis service for global caching and primary database capabilities; Redis Enterprise. To learn more and deploy not only a cache but a single operational data platform for one Redis experience, visit redis.com/hero. Thats r-e-d-i-s.com/hero. And my thanks to my friends at Redis for sponsoring my ridiculous non-sense.  Corey: Welcome to Screaming in the Cloud. I'm Corey Quinn. I am joined—as is tradition, for a post re:Invent wrap up, a month or so later, once everything is time to settle—by my friend and yours, Pete Cheslock. Pete, how are you?Pete: Hi, I'm doing fantastic. New year; new me. That's what I'm going with.Corey: That's the problem. I keep hoping for that, but every time I turn around, it's still me. And you know, honestly, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.Pete: Exactly. [laugh]. I wouldn't wish you on me either. But somehow I keep coming back for this.Corey: So, in two-thousand twenty—or twenty-twenty, as the children say—re:Invent was fully virtual. And that felt weird. Then re:Invent 2021 was a hybrid event which, let's be serious here, is not really those things. They had a crappy online thing and then a differently crappy thing in person. But it didn't feel real to me because you weren't there.That is part of the re:Invent tradition. There's a midnight madness thing, there's a keynote where they announce a bunch of nonsense, and then Pete and I go and have brunch on the last day of re:Invent and decompress, and more or less talk smack about everything that crosses our minds. And you weren't there this year. I had to backfill you with Tim Banks. You know, the person that I backfield you with here at The Duckbill Group as a principal cloud economist.Pete: You know, you got a great upgrade in hot takes, I feel like, with Tim.Corey: And other ways, too, but it's rude of me to say that to you directly. So yeah, his hot takes are spectacular. He was going to be doing this with me, except you cannot mess with tradition. You really can't.Pete: Yeah. I'm trying to think how many—is this third year? It's at least three.Corey: Third or fourth.Pete: Yeah, it's at least three. Yeah, it was, I don't want to say I was sad to not be there because, with everything going on, it's still weird out there. But I am always—I'm just that weird person who actually likes re:Invent, but not for I feel like the reasons people think. Again, I'm such an extroverted-type person, that it's so great to have this, like, serendipity to re:Invent. The people that you run into and the conversations that you have, and prior—like in 2019, I think was a great example because that was the last one I had gone to—you know, having so many conversations so quickly because everyone is there, right? It's like this magnet that attracts technologists, and venture capital, and product builders, and all this other stuff. And it's all compressed into, like, you know, that five-day span, I think is the biggest part that makes so great.Corey: The fear in people's eyes when they see me. And it was fun; I had a pair of masks with me. One of them was a standard mask, and no one recognizes anyone because, masks, and the other was a printout of my ridiculous face, which was horrifyingly uncanny, but also made it very easy for people to identify me. And depending upon how social I was feeling, I would wear one or the other, and it worked flawlessly. That was worth doing. They really managed to thread the needle, as well, before Omicron hit, but after the horrors of last year. So, [unintelligible 00:03:00]—Pete: It really—Corey: —if it were going on right now, it would not be going on right now.Pete: Yeah. I talk about really—yeah—really just hitting it timing-wise. Like, not that they could have planned for any of this, but like, as things were kind of not too crazy and before they got all crazy again, it feels like wow, like, you know, they really couldn't have done the event at any other time. And it's like, purely due to luck. I mean, absolute one hundred percent.Corey: That's the amazing power of frugality. Because the reason is then is it's the week after Thanksgiving every year when everything is dirt cheap. And, you know, if there's one thing that I one-point-seve—sorry, their stock's in the toilet—a $1.6 trillion company is very concerned about, it is saving money at every opportunity.Pete: Well, the one thing that was most curious about—so I was at the first re:Invent in-what—2012 I think it was, and there was—it was quaint, right?—there was 4000 people there, I want to say. It was in the thousands of people. Now granted, still a big conference, but it was in the Sands Convention Center. It was in that giant room, the same number of people, were you know, people's booths were like tables, like, eight-by-ten tables, right? [laugh].It had almost a DevOpsDays feel to it. And I was kind of curious if this one had any of those feelings. Like, did it evoke it being more quaint and personable, or was it just as soulless as it probably has been in recent years?Corey: This was fairly soulless because they reduced the footprint of the event. They dropped from two expo halls down to one, they cut the number of venues, but they still had what felt like 20,000 people or something there. It was still crowded, it was still packed. And I've done some diligent follow-ups afterwards, and there have been very few cases of Covid that came out of it. I quarantined for a week in a hotel, so I don't come back and kill my young kids for the wrong reasons.And that went—that was sort of like the worst part of it on some level, where it's like great. Now I could sit alone at a hotel and do some catch-up and all the rest, but all right I'd kind of like to go home. I'm not used to being on the road that much.Pete: Yeah, I think we're all a little bit out of practice. You know, I haven't been on a plane in years. I mean, the travel I've done more recently has been in my car from point A to point B. Like, direct, you know, thing. Actually, a good friend of mine who's not in technology at all had to travel for business, and, you know, he also has young kids who are under five, so he when he got back, he actually hid in a room in their house and quarantine himself in the room. But they—I thought, this is kind of funny—they never told the kids he was home. Because they knew that like—Corey: So, they just thought the house was haunted?Pete: [laugh].Corey: Like, “Don't go in the west wing,” sort of level of nonsense. That is kind of amazing.Pete: Honestly, like, we were hanging out with the family because they're our neighbors. And it was like, “Oh, yeah, like, he's in the guest room right now.” Kids have no idea. [laugh]. I'm like, “Oh, my God.” I'm like, I can't even imagine. Yeah.Corey: So, let's talk a little bit about the releases of re:Invent. And I'm going to lead up with something that may seem uncharitable, but I don't think it necessarily is. There weren't the usual torrent of new releases for ridiculous nonsense in the same way that there have been previously. There was no, this service talks to satellites in space. I mean, sure, there was some IoT stuff to manage fleets of cars, and giant piles of robots, and cool, I don't have those particular problems; I'm trying to run a website over here.So okay, great. There were enhancements to a number of different services that were in many cases appreciated, in other cases, irrelevant. Werner said in his keynote, that it was about focusing on primitives this year. And, “Why do we have so many services? It's because you asked for it… as customers.”Pete: [laugh]. Yeah, you asked for it.Corey: What have you been asking for, Pete? Because I know what I've been asking for and it wasn't that. [laugh].Pete: It's amazing to see a company continually say yes to everything, and somehow, despite their best efforts, be successful at doing it. No other company could do that. Imagine any other software technology business out there that just builds everything the customers ask for. Like from a product management business standpoint, that is, like, rule 101 is, “Listen to your customers, but don't say yes to everything.” Like, you can't do everything.Corey: Most companies can't navigate the transition between offering the same software in the Cloud and on a customer facility. So, it's like, “Ooh, an on-prem version, I don't know, that almost broke the company the last time we tried it.” Whereas you have Amazon whose product strategy is, “Yes,” being able to put together a whole bunch of things. I also will challenge the assertion that it's the primitives that customers want. They don't want to build a data center out of popsicle sticks themselves. They want to get something that solves a problem.And this has been a long-term realization for me. I used to work at Media Temple as a senior systems engineer running WordPress at extremely large scale. My websites now run on WordPress, and I have the good sense to pay WP Engine to handle it for me, instead of doing it myself because it's not the most productive use of my time. I want things higher up the stack. I assure you I pay more to WP Engine than it would cost me to run these things myself from an infrastructure point of view, but not in terms of my time.What I see sometimes as the worst of all worlds is that AWS is trying to charge for that value-added pricing without adding the value that goes along with it because you still got to build a lot of this stuff yourself. It's still a very janky experience, you're reduced to googling random blog posts to figure out how this thing is supposed to work, and the best documentation comes from externally. Whereas with a company that's built around offering solutions like this, great. In the fullness of time, I really suspect that if this doesn't change, their customers are going to just be those people who build solutions out of these things. And let those companies capture the up-the-stack margin. Which I have no problem with. But they do because Amazon is a company that lies awake at night actively worrying that someone, somewhere, who isn't them might possibly be making money somehow.Pete: I think MongoDB is a perfect example of—like, look at their stock price over the last whatever, years. Like, they, I feel like everyone called for the death of MongoDB every time Amazon came out with their new things, yet, they're still a multi-billion dollar company because I can just—give me an API endpoint and you scale the database. There's is—Corey: Look at all the high-profile hires that Mongo was making out of AWS, and I can't shake the feeling they're sitting there going, “Yeah, who's losing important things out of production now?” It's, everyone is exodus-ing there. I did one of those ridiculous graphics of the naming all the people that went over there, and in—with the hurricane evacuation traffic picture, and there's one car going the other way that I just labeled with, “Re:Invent sponsorship check,” because yeah, they have a top tier sponsorship and it was great. I've got to say I've been pretty down on MongoDB for a while, for a variety of excellent reasons based upon, more or less, how they treated customers who were in pain. And I'd mostly written it off.I don't do that anymore. Not because I inherently believe the technology has changed, though I'm told it has, but by the number of people who I deeply respect who are going over there and telling me, no, no, this is good. Congratulations. I have often said you cannot buy authenticity, and I don't think that they are, but the people who are working there, I do not believe that these people are, “Yeah, well, you bought my opinion. You can buy their attention, not their opinion.” If someone changes their opinion, based upon where they work, I kind of question everything they're telling me is, like, “Oh, you're just here to sell something you don't believe in? Welcome aboard.”Pete: Right. Yeah, there's an interview question I like to ask, which is, “What's something that you used to believe in very strongly that you've more recently changed your mind on?” And out of politeness because usually throws people back a little bit, and they're like, “Oh, wow. Like, let me think about that.” And I'm like, “Okay, while you think about that I want to give you mine.”Which is in the past, my strongly held belief was we had to run everything ourselves. “You own your availability,” was the line. “No, I'm not buying Datadog. I can build my own metric stack just fine, thank you very much.” Like, “No, I'm not going to use these outsourced load balancers or databases because I need to own my availability.”And what I realized is that all of those decisions lead to actually delivering and focusing on things that were not the core product. And so now, like, I've really flipped 180, that, if any—anything that you're building that does not directly relate to the core product, i.e. How your business makes money, should one hundred percent be outsourced to an expert that is better than you. Mongo knows how to run Mongo better than you.Corey: “What does your company do?” “Oh, we handle expense reports.” “Oh, what are you working on this month?” “I'm building a load balancer.” It's like that doesn't add the value. Don't do that.Pete: Right. Exactly. And so it's so interesting, I think, to hear Werner say that, you know, we're just building primitives, and you asked for this. And I think that concept maybe would work years ago, when you had a lot of builders who needed tools, but I don't think we have any, like, we don't have as many builders as before. Like, I think we have people who need more complete solutions. And that's probably why all these businesses are being super successful against Amazon.Corey: I'm wondering if it comes down to a cloud economic story, specifically that my cloud bill is always going to be variable and it's difficult to predict, whereas if I just use EC2 instances, and I build load balancers or whatnot, myself, well, yeah, it's a lot more work, but I can predict accurately what my staff compensation costs are more effectively, that I can predict what a CapEx charge would be or what the AWS bill is going to be. I'm wondering if that might in some way shape it?Pete: Well, I feel like the how people get better in managing their costs, right, you'll eventually move to a world where, like, “Yep, okay, first, we turned off waste,” right? Like, step one is waste. Step two is, like, understanding your spend better to optimize but, like, step three, like, the galaxy brain meme of Amazon cost stuff is all, like, unit economics stuff, where trying to better understand the actual cost deliver an actual feature. And yeah, I think that actually gets really hard when you give—kind of spread your product across, like, a slew of services that have varying levels of costs, varying levels of tagging, so you can attribute it. Like, it's really hard. Honestly, it's pretty easy if I have 1000 EC2 servers with very specific tags, I can very easily figure out what it costs to deliver product. But if I have—Corey: Yeah, if I have Corey build it, I know what Corey is going to cost, and I know how many servers he's going to use. Great, if I have Pete it, Pete's good at things, it'll cut that server bill in half because he actually knows how to wind up being efficient with things. Okay, great. You can start calculating things out that way. I don't think that's an intentional choice that companies are making, but I feel like that might be a natural outgrowth of it.Pete: Yeah. And there's still I think a lot of the, like, old school mentality of, like, the, “Not invented here,” the, “We have to own our availability.” You can still own your availability by using these other vendors. And honestly, it's really heartening to see so many companies realize that and realize that I don't need to get everything from Amazon. And honestly, like, in some things, like I look at a cloud Amazon bill, and I think to myself, it would be easier if you just did everything from Amazon versus having these ten other vendors, but those ten other vendors are going to be a lot better at running the product that they build, right, that as a service, then you probably will be running it yourself. Or even Amazon's, like, you know, interpretation of that product.Corey: A few other things that came out that I thought were interesting, at least the direction they're going in. The changes to S3 intelligent tiering are great, with instant retrieval on Glacier. I feel like that honestly was—they talk a good story, but I feel like that was competitive response to Google offering the same thing. That smacks of a large company with its use case saying, “You got two choices here.” And they're like, “Well, okay. Crap. We're going to build it then.”Or alternately, they're looking at the changes that they're making to intelligent tiering, they're now shifting that to being the default that as far as recommendations go. There are a couple of drawbacks to it, but not many, and it's getting easier now to not have the mental overhead of trying to figure out exactly what your lifecycle policies are. Yeah, there are some corner cases where, okay, if I adjust this just so, then I could save 10% on that monitoring fee or whatnot. Yeah, but look how much work that's going to take you to curate and make sure that you're not doing something silly. That feels like it is such an in the margins issue. It's like, “How much data you're storing?” “Four exabytes.” Okay, yeah. You probably want some people doing exactly that, but that's not most of us.Pete: Right. Well, there's absolutely savings to be had. Like, if I had an exabyte of data on S3—which there are a lot of people who have that level of data—then it would make sense for me to have an engineering team whose sole purpose is purely an optimizing our data lifecycle for that data. Until a point, right? Until you've optimized the 80%, basically. You optimize the first 80, that's probably, air-quote, “Easy.” The last 20 is going to be incredibly hard, maybe you never even do that.But at lower levels of scale, I don't think the economics actually work out to have a team managing your data lifecycle of S3. But the fact that now AWS can largely do it for you in the background—now, there's so many things you have to think about and, like, you know, understand even what your data is there because, like, not all data is the same. And since S3 is basically like a big giant database you can query, you got to really think about some of that stuff. But honestly, what I—I don't know if—I have no idea if this is even be worked on, but what I would love to see—you know, hashtag #AWSwishlist—is, now we have countless tiers of EBS volumes, EBS volumes that can be dynamically modified without touching, you know, the physical host. Meaning with an API call, you can change from the gp2 to gp3, or io whatever, right?Corey: Or back again if it doesn't pan out.Pete: Or back again, right? And so for companies with large amounts of spend, you know, economics makes sense that you should have a team that is analyzing your volumes usage and modifying that daily, right? Like, you could modify that daily, and I don't know if there's anyone out there that's actually doing it at that level. And they probably should. Like, if you got millions of dollars in EBS, like, there's legit savings that you're probably leaving on the table without doing that. But that's what I'm waiting for Amazon to do for me, right? I want intelligent tiering for EBS because if you're telling me I can API call and you'll move my data and make that better, make that [crosstalk 00:17:46] better [crosstalk 00:17:47]—Corey: Yeah it could be like their auto-scaling for DynamoDB, for example. Gives you the capacity you need 20 minutes after you needed it. But fine, whatever because if I can schedule stuff like that, great, I know what time of day, the runs are going to kick off that beat up the disks. I know when end-of-month reporting fires off. I know what my usage pattern is going to be, by and large.Yeah, part of the problem too, is that I look at this stuff, and I get excited about it with the intelligent tiering… at The Duckbill Group we've got a few hundred S3 buckets lurking around. I'm thinking, “All right, I've got to go through and do some changes on this and implement all of that.” Our S3 bill's something like 50 bucks a month or something ridiculous like that. It's a no, that really isn't a thing. Like, I have a screenshot bucket that I have an app installed—I think called Dropshare—that hooks up to anytime I drag—I hit a shortcut, I drag with the mouse to select whatever I want and boom, it's up there and the URL is not copied to my clipboard, I can paste that wherever I want.And I'm thinking like, yeah, there's no cleanup on that. There's no lifecycle policy that's turning into anything. I should really go back and age some of it out and do the rest and start doing some lifecycle management. It—I've been using this thing for years and I think it's now a whopping, what, 20 cents a month for that bucket. It's—I just don't—Pete: [laugh].Corey: —I just don't care, other than voice in the back of my mind, “That's an unbounded growth problem.” Cool. When it hits 20 bucks a month, then I'll consider it. But until then I just don't. It does not matter.Pete: Yeah, I think yeah, scale changes everything. Start adding some zeros and percentages turned into meaningful numbers. And honestly, back on the EBS thing, the one thing that really changed my perspective of EBS, in general, is—especially coming from the early days, right? One terabyte volume, it was a hard drive in a thing. It was a virtual LUN on a SAN somewhere, probably.Nowadays, and even, like, many years after those original EBS volumes, like all the limits you get in EBS, those are actually artificial limits, right? If you're like, “My EBS volume is too slow,” it's not because, like, the hard drive it's on is too slow. That's an artificial limit that is likely put in place due to your volume choice. And so, like, once you realize that in your head, then your concept of how you store data on EBS should change dramatically.Corey: Oh, AWS had a blog post recently talking about, like, with io2 and the limits and everything, and there was architecture thinking, okay. “So, let's say this is insufficient and the quarter-million IOPS a second that you're able to get is not there.” And I'm sitting there thinking, “That is just ludicrous data volume and data interactivity model.” And it's one of those, like, I'm sitting here trying to think about, like, I haven't had to deal with a problem like that decade, just because it's, “Huh. Turns out getting these one thing that's super fast is kind of expensive.” If you paralyze it out, that's usually the right answer, and that's how the internet is mostly evolved. But there are use cases for which that doesn't work, and I'm excited to see it. I don't want to pay for it in my view, but it's nice to see it.Pete: Yeah, it's kind of fun to go into the Amazon calculator and price out one of the, like, io2 volumes and, like, maxed out. It's like, I don't know, like $50,000 a month or a hun—like, it's some just absolutely absurd number. But the beauty of it is that if you needed that value for an hour to run some intensive data processing task, you can have it for an hour and then just kill it when you're done, right? Like, that is what is most impressive.Corey: I copied 130 gigs of data to an EFS volume, which was—[unintelligible 00:21:05] EFS has gone from “This is a piece of junk,” to one of my favorite services. It really is, just because of its utility and different ways of doing things. I didn't have the foresight, just use a second EFS volume for this. So, I was unzipping a whole bunch of small files onto it. Great.It took a long time for me to go through it. All right, now that I'm done with that I want to clean all this up. My answer was to ultimately spin up a compute node and wind up running a whole bunch of—like, 400, simultaneous rm-rf on that long thing. And it was just, like, this feels foolish and dumb, but here we are. And I'm looking at the stats on it because the instance was—all right, at that point, the load average [on the instance 00:21:41] was like 200, or something like that, and the EFS volume was like, “Ohh, wow, you're really churning on this. I'm now at, like, 5% of the limit.” Like, okay, great. It turns out I'm really bad at computers.Pete: Yeah, well, that's really the trick is, like, yeah, sure, you can have a quarter-million IOPS per second, but, like, what's going to break before you even hit that limit? Probably many other things.Corey: Oh, yeah. Like, feels like on some level if something gets to that point, it a misconfiguration somewhere. But honestly, that's the thing I find weirdest about the world in which we live is that at a small-scale—if I have a bill in my $5 a month shitposting account, great. If I screw something up and cost myself a couple hundred bucks in misconfiguration it's going to stand out. At large scale, it doesn't matter if—you're spending $50 million a year or $500 million a year on AWS and someone leaks your creds, and someone spins up a whole bunch of Bitcoin miners somewhere else, you're going to see that on your bill until they're mining basically all the Bitcoin. It just gets lost in the background.Pete: I'm waiting for those—I'm actually waiting for the next level of them to get smarter because maybe you have, like, an aggressive tagging system and you're monitoring for untagged instances, but the move here would be, first get the creds and query for, like, the most used tags and start applying those tags to your Bitcoin mining instances. My God, it'll take—Corey: Just clone a bunch of tags. Congratulations, you now have a second BI Elasticsearch cluster that you're running yourself. Good work.Pete: Yeah. Yeah, that people won't find that until someone comes along after the fact that. Like, “Why do we have two have these things?” And you're like—[laugh].Corey: “Must be a DR thing.”Pete: It's maxed-out CPU. Yeah, exactly.Corey: [laugh].Pete: Oh, the terrible ideas—please, please, hackers don't take are terrible ideas.Corey: I had a, kind of, whole thing I did on Twitter years ago, talking about how I would wind up using the AWS Marketplace for an embezzlement scheme. Namely, I would just wind up spinning up something that had, like, a five-cent an hour charge or whatnot on just, like, basically rebadge the CentOS Community AMI or whatnot. Great. And then write a blog post, not attached to me, that explains how to do a thing that I'm going to be doing in production in a week or two anyway. Like, “How to build an auto-scaling group,” and reference that AMI.Then if it ever comes out, like, “Wow, why are we having all these marketplace charges on this?” “I just followed the blog post like it said here.” And it's like, “Oh, okay. You're a dumbass. The end.”That's the way to do it. A month goes by and suddenly it came out that someone had done something similarly. They wound up rebadging these community things on the marketplace and charging big money for it, and I'm sitting there going like that was a joke. It wasn't a how-to. But yeah, every time I make these jokes, I worry someone's going to do it.Pete: “Welcome to large-scale fraud with Corey Quinn.”Corey: Oh, yeah, it's fraud at scale is really the important thing here.Corey: This episode is sponsored by our friends at Oracle HeatWave is a new high-performance accelerator for the Oracle MySQL Database Service. Although I insist on calling it “my squirrel.” While MySQL has long been the worlds most popular open source database, shifting from transacting to analytics required way too much overhead and, ya know, work. With HeatWave you can run your OLTP and OLAP, don't ask me to ever say those acronyms again, workloads directly from your MySQL database and eliminate the time consuming data movement and integration work, while also performing 1100X faster than Amazon Aurora, and 2.5X faster than Amazon Redshift, at a third of the cost. My thanks again to Oracle Cloud for sponsoring this ridiculous nonsense.Corey: I still remember a year ago now at re:Invent 2021 was it, or was it 2020? Whatever they came out with, I want to say it wasn't gp3, or maybe it was, regardless, there was a new EBS volume type that came out that you were playing with to see how it worked and you experimented with it—Pete: Oh, yes.Corey: —and the next morning, you looked at the—I checked Slack and you're like well, my experiments yesterday cost us $5,000. And at first, like, the—my response is instructive on this because, first, it was, “Oh, my God. What's going to happen now?” And it's like, first, hang on a second.First off, that seems suspect but assume it's real. I assumed it was real at the outset. It's “Oh, right. This is not my personal $5-a-month toybox account. We are a company; we can absolutely pay that.” Because it's like, I could absolutely reach out, call it a favor. “I made a mistake, and I need a favor on the bill, please,” to AWS.And I would never live it down, let's be clear. For a $7,000 mistake, I would almost certainly eat it. As opposed to having to prostrate myself like that in front of Amazon. I'm like, no, no, no. I want one of those like—if it's like, “Okay, you're going to, like, set back the company roadmap by six months if you have to pay this. Do you want to do it?” Like, [groans] “Fine, I'll eat some crow.”But okay. And then followed immediately by, wow, if Pete of all people can mess this up, customers are going to be doomed here. We should figure out what happened. And I'm doing the math. Like, Pete, “What did you actually do?” And you're sitting there and you're saying, “Well, I had like a 20 gig volume that I did this.” And I'm doing the numbers, and it's like—Pete: Something's wrong.Corey: “How sure are you when you say ‘gigabyte,' that you were—that actually means what you think it did? Like, were you off by a lot? Like, did you mean exabytes?” Like, what's the deal here?Pete: Like, multiple factors.Corey: Yeah. How much—“How many IOPS did you give that thing, buddy?” And it turned out what happened was that when they launched this, they had mispriced it in the system by a factor of a million. So, it was fun. I think by the end of it, all of your experimentation was somewhere between five to seven cents. Which—Pete: Yeah. It was a—Corey: Which is why you don't work here anymore because no one cost me seven cents of money to give to Amazon—Pete: How dare you?Corey: —on my watch. Get out.Pete: How dare you, sir?Corey: Exactly.Pete: Yeah, that [laugh] was amazing to see, as someone who has done—definitely maid screw-ups that have cost real money—you know, S3 list requests are always a fun one at scale—but that one was supremely fun to see the—Corey: That was a scary one because another one they'd done previously was they had messed up Lightsail pricing, where people would log in, and, like, “Okay, so what is my Lightsail instance going to cost?” And I swear to you, this is true, it was saying—this was back in 2017 or so—the answer was, like, “$4.3 billion.” Because when you see that you just start laughing because you know it's a mistake. You know, that they're not going to actually demand that you spend $4.3 billion for a single instance—unless it's running SAP—and great.It's just, it's a laugh. It's clearly a mispriced, and it's clearly a bug that's going to get—it's going to get fixed. I just spun up this new EBS volume that no one fully understands yet and it cost me thousands of dollars. That's the sort of thing that no, no, I could actually see that happening. There are instances now that cost something like 100 bucks an hour or whatnot to run. I can see spinning up the wrong thing by mistake and getting bitten by it. There's a bunch of fun configuration mistakes you can make that will, “Hee, hee, hee. Why can I see that bill spike from orbit?” And that's the scary thing.Pete: Well, it's the original CI and CD problem of the per-hour billing, right? That was super common of, like, yeah, like, an i3, you know, 16XL server is pretty cheap per hour, but if you're charged per hour and you spin up a bunch for five minutes. Like, it—you will be shocked [laugh] by what you see there. So—Corey: Yeah. Mistakes will show. And I get it. It's also people as individuals are very different psychologically than companies are. With companies it's one of those, “Great we're optimizing to bring in more revenue and we don't really care about saving money at all costs.”Whereas people generally have something that looks a lot like a fixed income in the form of a salary or whatnot, so it's it is easier for us to cut spend than it is for us to go out and make more money. Like, I don't want to get a second job, or pitch my boss on stuff, and yeah. So, all and all, routing out the rest of what happened at re:Invent, they—this is the problem is that they have a bunch of minor things like SageMaker Inference Recommender. Yeah, I don't care. Anything—Pete: [laugh].Corey: —[crosstalk 00:28:47] SageMaker I mostly tend to ignore, for safety. I did like the way they described Amplify Studio because they made it sound like a WYSIWYG drag and drop, build a React app. It's not it. It basically—you can do that in Figma and then it can hook it up to some things in some cases. It's not what I want it to be, which is Honeycode, except good. But we'll get there some year. Maybe.Pete: There's a lot of stuff that was—you know, it's the classic, like, preview, which sure, like, from a product standpoint, it's great. You know, they have a level of scale where they can say, “Here's this thing we're building,” which could be just a twinkle in a product managers, call it preview, and get thousands of people who would be happy to test it out and give you feedback, and it's a, it's great that you have that capability. But I often look at so much stuff and, like, that's really cool, but, like, can I, can I have it now? Right? Like—or you can't even get into the preview plan, even though, like, you have that specific problem. And it's largely just because either, like, your scale isn't big enough, or you don't have a good enough relationship with your account manager, or I don't know, countless other reasons.Corey: The thing that really throws me, too, is the pre-announcements that come a year or so in advance, like, the Outpost smaller ones are finally available, but it feels like when they do too many pre-announcements or no big marquee service announcements, as much as they talk about, “We're getting back to fundamentals,” no, you have a bunch of teams that blew the deadline. That's really what it is; let's not call it anything else. Another one that I think is causing trouble for folks—I'm fortunate in that I don't do much work with Oracle databases, or Microsoft SQL databases—but they extended RDS Custom to Microsoft SQL at the [unintelligible 00:30:27] SQL server at re:Invent this year, which means this comes down to things I actually use, we're going to have a problem because historically, the lesson has always been if I want to run my own databases and tweak everything, I do it on top of an EC2 instance. If I want to managed database, relational database service, great, I use RDS. RDS Custom basically gives you root into the RDS instance. Which means among other things, yes, you can now use RDS to run containers.But it lets you do a lot of things that are right in between. So, how do you position this? When should I use RDS Custom? Can you give me an easy answer to that question? And they used a lot of words to say, no, they cannot. It's basically completely blowing apart the messaging and positioning of both of those services in some unfortunate ways. We'll learn as we go.Pete: Yeah. Honestly, it's like why, like, why would I use this? Or how would I use this? And this is I think, fundamentally, what's hard when you just say yes to everything. It's like, they in many cases, I don't think, like, I don't want to say they don't understand why they're doing this, but if it's not like there's a visionary who's like, this fits into this multi-year roadmap.That roadmap is largely—if that roadmap is largely generated by the customers asking for it, then it's not like, oh, we're building towards this Northstar of RDS being whatever. You might say that, but your roadmap's probably getting moved all over the place because, you know, this company that pays you a billion dollars a year is saying, “I would give you $2 billion a year for all of my Oracle databases, but I need this specific thing.” I can't imagine a scenario that they would say, “Oh, well, we're building towards this Northstar, and that's not on the way there.” Right? They'd be like, “New Northstar. Another billion dollars, please.”Corey: Yep. Probably the worst release of re:Invent, from my perspective, is RUM, Real User Monitoring, for CloudWatch. And I, to be clear, I wrote a shitposting Twitter threading client called Last Tweet in AWS. Go to lasttweetinaws.com. You can all use it. It's free; I just built this for my own purposes. And I've instrumented it with RUM. Now, Real User Monitoring is something that a lot of monitoring vendors use, and also CloudWatch now. And what that is, is it embeds a listener into the JavaScript that runs on client load, and it winds up looking at what's going on loading times, et cetera, so you can see when users are unhappy. I have no problem with this. Other than that, you know, liking users? What's up with that?Pete: Crazy.Corey: But then, okay, now, what this does is unlike every other RUM tool out there, which charges per session, meaning I am going to be… doing a web page load, it charges per data item, which includes HTTP errors, or JavaScript errors, et cetera. Which means that if you have a high transaction volume site and suddenly your CDN takes a nap like Fastly did for an hour last year, suddenly your bill is stratospheric for this because errors abound and cascade, and you can have thousands of errors on a single page load for these things, and it is going to be visible from orbit, at least with a per session basis thing, when you start to go viral, you understand that, “Okay, this is probably going to cost me some more on these things, and oops, I guess I should write less compelling content.” Fine. This is one of those one misconfiguration away and you are wailing and gnashing teeth. Now, this is a new service. I believe that they will waive these surprise bills in the event that things like that happen. But it's going to take a while and you're going to be worrying the whole time if you've rolled this out naively. So it's—Pete: Well and—Corey: —I just don't like the pricing.Pete: —how many people will actively avoid that service, right? And honestly, choose a competitor because the competitor could be—the competitor could be five times more expensive, right, on face value, but it's the certainty of it. It's the uncertainty of what Amazon will charge you. Like, no one wants a surprise bill. “Well, a vendor is saying that they'll give us this contract for $10,000. I'm going to pay $10,000, even though RUM might be a fraction of that price.”It's honestly, a lot of these, like, product analytics tools and monitoring tools, you'll often see they price be a, like, you know, MAU, Monthly Active User, you know, or some sort of user-based pricing, like, the number of people coming to your site. You know, and I feel like at least then, if you are trying to optimize for lots of users on your site, and more users means more revenue, then you know, if your spend is going up, but your revenue is also going up, that's a win-win. But if it's like someone—you know, your third-party vendor dies and you're spewing out errors, or someone, you know, upgraded something and it spews out errors. That no one would normally see; that's the thing. Like, unless you're popping open that JavaScript console, you're not seeing any of those errors, yet somehow it's like directly impacting your bottom line? Like that doesn't feel [crosstalk 00:35:06].Corey: Well, there is something vaguely Machiavellian about that. Like, “How do I get my developers to care about errors on consoles?” Like, how about we make it extortionately expensive for them not to. It's, “Oh, all right, then. Here we go.”Pete: And then talk about now you're in a scenario where you're working on things that don't directly impact the product. You're basically just sweeping up the floor and then trying to remove errors that maybe don't actually affect it and they're not actually an error.Corey: Yeah. I really do wonder what the right answer is going to be. We'll find out. Again, we live, we learn. But it's also, how long does it take a service that has bad pricing at launch, or an unfortunate story around it to outrun that reputation?People are still scared of Glacier because of its original restore pricing, which was non-deterministic for any sensible human being, and in some cases lead to I'm used to spending 20 to 30 bucks a month on this. Why was I just charged two grand?Pete: Right.Corey: Scare people like that, they don't come back.Pete: I'm trying to actually remember which service it is that basically gave you an estimate, right? Like, turn it on for a month, and it would give you an estimate of how much this was going to cost you when billing started.Corey: It was either Detective or GuardDuty.Pete: Yeah, it was—yeah, that's exactly right. It was one of those two. And honestly, that was unbelievably refreshing to see. You know, like, listen, you have the data, Amazon. You know what this is going to cost me, so when I, like, don't make me spend all this time to go and figure out the cost. If you have all this data already, just tell me, right?And if I look at it and go, “Yeah, wow. Like, turning this on in my environment is going to cost me X dollars. Like, yeah, that's a trade-off I want to make, I'll spend that.” But you know, with some of the—and that—a little bit of a worry on some of the intelligent tiering on S3 is that the recommendation is likely going to be everything goes to intelligent tiering first, right? It's the gp3 story. Put everything on gp3, then move it to the proper volume, move it to an sc or an st or an io. Like, gp3 is where you start. And I wonder if that's going to be [crosstalk 00:37:08].Corey: Except I went through a wizard yesterday to launch an EC2 instance and its default on the free tier gp2.Pete: Yeah. Interesting.Corey: Which does not thrill me. I also still don't understand for the life of me why in some regions, the free tier is a t2 instance, when t3 is available.Pete: They're uh… my guess is that they've got some free t—they got a bunch of t2s lying around. [laugh].Corey: Well, one of the most notable announcements at re:Invent that most people didn't pay attention to is their ability now to run legacy instance types on top of Nitro, which really speaks to what's going on behind the scenes of we can get rid of all that old hardware and emulate the old m1 on modern equipment. So, because—you can still have that legacy, ancient instance, but now you're going—now we're able to wind up greening our data centers, which is part of their big sustainability push, with their ‘Sustainability Pillar' for the well-architected framework. They're talking more about what the green choices in cloud are. Which is super handy, not just because of the economic impact because we could use this pretty directly to reverse engineer their various margins on a per-service or per-offering basis. Which I'm not sure they're aware of yet, but oh, they're going to be.And that really winds up being a win for the planet, obviously, but also something that is—that I guess puts a little bit of choice on customers. The challenge I've got is, with my serverless stuff that I build out, if I spend—the Google search I make to figure out what the most economic, most sustainable way to do that is, is going to have a bigger carbon impact on the app itself. That seems to be something that is important at scale, but if you're not at scale, it's one of those, don't worry about it. Because let's face it, the cloud providers—all of them—are going to have a better sustainability story than you are running this in your own data centers, or on a Raspberry Pi that's always plugged into the wall.Pete: Yeah, I mean, you got to remember, Amazon builds their own power plants to power their data centers. Like, that's the level they play, right? There, their economies of scale are so entirely—they're so entirely different than anything that you could possibly even imagine. So, it's something that, like, I'm sure people will want to choose for. But, you know, if I would honestly say, like, if we really cared about our computing costs and the carbon footprint of it, I would love to actually know the carbon footprint of all of the JavaScript trackers that when I go to various news sites, and it loads, you know, the whatever thousands of trackers and tracking the all over, like, what is the carbon impact of some of those choices that I actually could control, like, as a either a consumer or business person?Corey: I really hope that it turns into something that makes a meaningful difference, and it's not just greenwashing. But we'll see. In the fullness of time, we're going to figure that out. Oh, they're also launching some mainframe stuff. They—like that's great.Pete: Yeah, those are still a thing.Corey: I don't deal with a lot of customers that are doing things with that in any meaningful sense. There is no AWS/400, so all right.Pete: [laugh]. Yeah, I think honestly, like, I did talk to a friend of mine who's in a big old enterprise and has a mainframe, and they're actually replacing their mainframe with Lambda. Like they're peeling off—which is, like, a great move—taking the monolith, right, and peeling off the individual components of what it can do into these discrete Lambda functions. Which I thought was really fascinating. Again, it's a five-year-long journey to do something like that. And not everyone wants to wait five years, especially if their support's about to run out for that giant box in the, you know, giant warehouse.Corey: The thing that I also noticed—and this is probably the—I guess, one of the—talk about swing and a miss on pricing—they have a—what is it?—there's a VPC IP Address Manager, which tracks the the IP addresses assigned to your VPCs that are allocated versus not, and it's 20 cents a month per IP address. It's like, “Okay. So, you're competing against a Google Sheet or an Excel spreadsheet”—which is what people are using for these things now—“Only you're making it extortionately expensive?”Pete: What kind of value does that provide for 20—I mean, like, again—Corey: I think Infoblox or someone like that offers it where they become more cost-effective as soon as you hit 500 IP addresses. And it's just—like, this is what I'm talking about. I know it does not cost AWS that kind of money to store an IP address. You can store that in a Route 53 TXT record for less money, for God's sake. And that's one of those, like, “Ah, we could extract some value pricing here.”Like, I don't know if it's a good product or not. Given its pricing, I don't give a shit because it's going to be too expensive for anything beyond trivial usage. So, it's a swing and a miss from that perspective. It's just, looking at that, I laugh, and I don't look at it again.Pete: See I feel—Corey: I'm not usually price sensitive. I want to be clear on that. It's just, that is just Looney Tunes, clown shoes pricing.Pete: Yeah. It's honestly, like, in many cases, I think the thing that I have seen, you know, in the past few years is, in many cases, it can honestly feel like Amazon is nickel-and-diming their customers in so many ways. You know, the explosion of making it easy to create multiple Amazon accounts has a direct impact to waste in the cloud because there's a lot of stuff you have to have her account. And the more accounts you have, those costs grow exponentially as you have these different places. Like, you kind of lose out on the economies of scale when you have a smaller number of accounts.And yeah, it's hard to optimize for that. Like, if you're trying to reduce your spend, it's challenging to say, “Well, by making a change here, we'll save, you know, $10,000 in this account.” “That doesn't seem like a lot when we're spending millions.” “Well, hold on a second. You'll save $10,000 per account, and you have 500 accounts,” or, “You have 1000 accounts,” or something like that.Or almost cost avoidance of this cost is growing unbounded in all of your accounts. It's tiny right now. So, like, now would be the time you want to do something with it. But like, again, for a lot of companies that have adopted the practice of endless Amazon accounts, they've almost gone, like, it's the classic, like, you know, I've got 8000 GitHub repositories for my source code. Like, that feels just as bad as having one GitHub repository for your repo. I don't know what the balance is there, but anytime these different types of services come out, it feels like, “Oh, wow. Like, I'm going to get nickeled and dimed for it.”Corey: This ties into the re:Post launch, which is a rebranding of their forums, where, okay, great, it was a little crufty and it need modernize, but it still ties your identity to an IAM account, or the root email address for an Amazon account, which is great. This is completely worthless because as soon as I change jobs, I lose my identity, my history, the rest, on this forum. I'm not using it. It shows that there's a lack of awareness that everyone is going to have multiple accounts with which they interact, and that people are going to deal with the platform longer than any individual account will. It's just a continual swing and a miss on things like that.And it gets back to the billing question of, “Okay. When I spin up an account, do I want them to just continue billing me—because don't turn this off; this is important—or do I want there to be a hard boundary where if you're about to charge me, turn it off. Turn off the thing that's about to cost me money.” And people hem and haw like this is an insurmountable problem, but I think the way to solve it is, let me specify that intent when I provision the account. Where it's, “This is a production account for a bank. I really don't want you turning it off.” Versus, “I'm a student learner who thinks that a Managed NAT Gateway might be a good thing. Yeah, I want you to turn off my demo Hello World app that will teach me what's going on, rather than surprising me with a five-figure bill at the end of the month.”Pete: Yeah. It shouldn't be that hard. I mean, but again, I guess everything's hard at scale.Corey: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah.Pete: But still, I feel like every time I log into Cost Explorer and I look at—and this is years it's still not fixed. Not that it's even possible to fix—but on the first day of the month, you look at Cost Explorer, and look at what Amazon is estimating your monthly bill is going to be. It's like because of your, you know—Corey: Your support fees, and your RI purchases, and savings plans purchases.Pete: [laugh]. All those things happened, right? First of the month, and it's like, yeah, “Your bill's going to be $800,000 this year.” And it's like, “Shouldn't be, like, $1,000?” Like, you know, it's the little things like that, that always—Corey: The one-off charges, like, “Oh, your Route 53 zone,” and all the stuff that gets charged on a monthly cadence, which fine, whatever. I mean, I'm okay with it, but it's also the, like, be careful when that happen—I feel like there's a way to make that user experience less jarring.Pete: Yeah because that problem—I mean, in my scenario, companies that I've worked at, there's been multiple times that a non-technical person will look at that data and go into immediate freakout mode, right? And that's never something that you want to have happen because now that's just adding a lot of stress and anxiety into a company that is—with inaccurate data. Like, the data—like, the answer you're giving someone is just wrong. Perhaps you shouldn't even give it to them if it's that wrong. [laugh].Corey: Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens this coming year. We're already seeing promising stuff. They—give people a timeline on how long in advance these things record—late last night, AWS released a new console experience. When you log into the AWS console now, there's a new beta thing. And I gave it some grief on Twitter because I'm still me, but like the direction it's going. It lets you customize your view with widgets and whatnot.And until they start selling widgets on marketplace or having sponsored widgets, you can't remove I like it, which is no guarantee at some point. But it shows things like, I can move the cost stuff, I can move the outage stuff up around, I can have the things that are going on in my account—but who I am means I can shift this around. If I'm a finance manager, cool. I can remove all the stuff that's like, “Hey, you want to get started spinning up an EC2 instance?” “Absolutely not. Do I want to get told, like, how to get certified? Probably not. Do I want to know what the current bill is and whether—and my list of favorites that I've pinned, whatever services there? Yeah, absolutely do.” This is starting to get there.Pete: Yeah, I wonder if it really is a way to start almost hedging on organizations having a wider group of people accessing AWS. I mean, in previous companies, I absolutely gave access to the console for tools like QuickSight, for tools like Athena, for the DataBrew stuff, the Glue DataBrew. Giving, you know, non-technical people access to be able to do these, like, you know, UI ETL tasks, you know, a wider group of a company is getting access into Amazon. So, I think anything that Amazon does to improve that experience for, you know, the non-SREs, like the people who would traditionally log in, like, that is an investment definitely worth making.Corey: “Well, what could non-engineering types possibly be doing in the AWS console?” “I don't know, jackhole, maybe paying the bill? Just a thought here.” It's the, there are people who look at these things from a variety of different places, and you have such sprawl in the AWS world that there are different personas by a landslide. If I'm building Twitter for Pets, you probably don't want to be pitching your mainframe migration services to me the same way that you would if I were a 200-year-old insurance company.Pete: Yeah, exactly. And the number of those products are going to grow, the number of personas are going to grow, and, yeah, they'll have to do something that they want to actually, you know, maintain that experience so that every person can have, kind of, the experience that they want, and not be distracted, you know? “Oh, what's this? Let me go test this out.” And it's like, you know, one-time charge for $10,000 because, like, that's how it's charged. You know, that's not an experience that people like.Corey: No. They really don't. Pete, I want to thank you for spending the time to chat with me again, as is our tradition. I'm hoping we can do it in person this year, when we go at the end of 2022, to re:Invent again. Or that no one goes in person. But this hybrid nonsense is for the birds.Pete: Yeah. I very much would love to get back to another one, and yeah, like, I think there could be an interesting kind of merging here of our annual re:Invent recap slash live brunch, you know, stream you know, hot takes after a long week. [laugh].Corey: Oh, yeah. The real way that you know that it's a good joke is when one of us says something, the other one sprays scrambled eggs out of their nose. Yeah, that's the way to do it.Pete: Exactly. Exactly.Corey: Pete, thank you so much. If people want to learn more about what you're up to—hopefully, you know, come back. We miss you, but you're unaffiliated, you're a startup advisor. Where can people find you to learn more, if they for some unforgivable reason don't know who or what a Pete Cheslock is?Pete: Yeah. I think the easiest place to find me is always on Twitter. I'm just at @petecheslock. My DMs are always open and I'm always down to expand my network and chat with folks.And yeah, right, now, I'm just, as I jokingly say, professionally unaffiliated. I do some startup advisory work and have been largely just kind of—honestly checking out the state of the economy. Like, there's a lot of really interesting companies out there, and some interesting problems to solve. And, you know, trying to spend some of my time learning more about what companies are up to nowadays. So yeah, if you got some interesting problems, you know, you can follow my Twitter or go to LinkedIn if you want some great, you know, business hot takes about, you know, shitposting basically.Corey: Same thing. Pete, thanks so much for joining me, I appreciate it.Pete: Thanks for having me.Corey: Pete Cheslock, startup advisor, professionally unaffiliated, and recurring re:Invent analyst pal of mine. I'm Cloud Economist Corey Quinn and this is Screaming in the Cloud. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice, whereas if you've hated this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice along with an angry comment calling me a jackass because do I know how long it took you personally to price CloudWatch RUM?Corey: If your AWS bill keeps rising and your blood pressure is doing the same, then you need The Duckbill Group. We help companies fix their AWS bill by making it smaller and less horrifying. The Duckbill Group works for you, not AWS. We tailor recommendations to your business and we get to the point. Visit duckbillgroup.com to get started.Announcer: This has been a HumblePod production. Stay humble.

Jamie Monroy aka Degenerate2018 on Twitch sits in again with Gerald as they discuss Scream taking the top spot at the US box office over Spider-Man: No Way Home. Does this mean that the web-crawling megahit's time in the sun is fading? Or does it have more big money to make at the theaters? Plus the guys also share thoughts on the just-ended season one of Yellowjackets on Showtime and why this popular program is similar (and different) to shows like Lost and Manifest. And they also touch on the upcoming Netflix zombie series All Of Us Are Dead possibly becoming another amazing hit from South Korea and IGN's reaction to the very real possibility of the latest XBOX-Playstation battle being closer than people think. What's the key reason why XBOX is doing so well this time around? All this and TJ Johnson shares thoughts on Spider-Man: No Way Home and answers the lingering questions on HBO Max's Peacemaker and Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett canonical importance and if these shows will end up just being nothing more than streaming network fill-in. For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

Discover why Mark Cuban's investments are crypto related. The article is here. My new book is here! These bonuses are available when you buy my newly released book, 3 Steps to Quantum Wealth: The Wealth Heiress' Guide to Financial Freedom by Investing in Cryptocurrencies on Amazon, here.  As a thank you for buying the book on Amazon, you will receive a: Set of 4 Wealthy Mindset Blueprint audio recordings to help you create a wealthy mindset ($197 value) Webinar with Linda called “Financial Freedom by Investing in Cryptocurrencies” ($1,500 value) On the webinar you will learn: -The wealth building potential of the 8 cryptocurrencies mentioned in the book -Why they will experience exponential growth -Strategies for accumulation The winners of the drawing are announced today!   Winners of the autographed copy of "3 Steps to Quantum Wealth" are:   1. Vera W. 2. Natasha 3. KS Lowe 4. Shr C 5. DJB 6. Amber Watson-Tardiff 7. Matthew H. 8. SLS 9. Kristel Picinic 10. Em K. 11. Mike Nichols 12. Christopher Locatell 13. Hanky 14. VANU 15. Shelley from NJ 16. Matt Man 17. Elizabeth Curie 18. Dawno 19. VXX 20. Valerie 21. TB 22. Rhonda K. 23. Robert 24. Jan P. 25. Anonymous - the person whose review headline was "Might be the most important book you read in 2022"   Winner of the Wealth Mentoring session is: brittny   Winner of $100 of XRP is: Kelley Farley   Winner of a lifetime membership in the Be Wealthy & Smart VIP Experience is: Marla Pennington   Congratulations to all! Please contact me at lpjhome at gmail.com.   We will run this contest one more time!   If you leave a book review on Amazon, you also will be entered into a drawing to win one of the following: An autographed copy of the book (25 people will win) $100 of XRP Cryptocurrency ($100 value) A 30-minute Wealth Mentoring session with Linda ($500 value) A lifetime membership in the Be Wealthy & Smart VIP Experience ($3,998 value) so you can invest alongside Linda and receive her investment updates and recommendations Winners will be announced on the podcast March 7th.  The link to the book bonus page is here.  Are you investing well for financial freedom...or not? Financial freedom is a combination of money, compounding and time (my McT Formula). How well you invest, makes a huge difference to your financial future and lifestyle. If you only knew where to invest for the long-term, what a difference it would make, because the difference between investing $100k and earning 2% or 10% on your money over 30 years, is the difference between it growing to $181,136 or $1,744,940, an increase of over $1.5 million dollars. Your compounding rate, and how well you invest, matters!  INTERESTED IN THE BE WEALTHY & SMART VIP EXPERIENCE? -Asset allocation model with ticker symbols and % to invest -Monthly investing webinars with Linda -Private Facebook group with daily insights -Weekly stock market commentary email -Lifetime access -US and foreign investors, no minimum $ amount required Extending the special offer, enjoy a 50% savings on the VIP Experience by using promo code "SAVE50" at checkout. More information is here or have a complimentary consultation with Linda to answer your questions. For an appointment to talk, click here. PLEASE REVIEW THE SHOW ON ITUNES If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review. I love hearing from you! I so appreciate it! SUBSCRIBE TO BE WEALTHY & SMART Click Here to Subscribe Via iTunes Click Here to Subscribe Via Stitcher on an Android Device Click Here to Subscribe Via RSS Feed WEALTH HEIRESS TV Please subscribe to Wealth Heiress TV YouTube channel (it's not just for women, it's for men too!), here. PLEASE LEAVE A BOOK REVIEW Leave a book review on Amazon here. Get my book, “You're Already a Wealth Heiress, Now Think and Act Like One: 6 Practical Steps to Make It a Reality Now!” Men love it too! After all, you are Wealth Heirs. :) Available for purchase on Amazon. International buyers (if you live outside of the US) get my book here. WANT MORE FROM LINDA? Check out her programs. Join her on Instagram. WEALTH LIBRARY OF PODCASTS Listen to the full wealth library of podcasts from the beginning. Use the search bar in the upper right corner of the page to search topics. TODAY'S SPONSOR Get Think and Grow Rich or another book on Amazon from my recommended financial books list, and be sure to get started checking off the books you have read. Be Wealthy & Smart, is a personal finance show with self-made millionaire Linda P. Jones, America's Wealth Mentor™. Learn simple steps that make a big difference to your financial freedom.  (Some links are affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you.)

You made it! Today marks 100 episodes of going on this tremendous sales journey with Nikki Rausch and the Sales Maven Community. For the 100th episode special, you get to meet three important people who played a huge role in this journey. Join this celebration of 100 episodes with the Sales Maven Team who works to make this business happen. Your very own Sales Maven, Nikki Rausch, is here to offer tips, techniques, and strategies to master your sales conversations. Discover methods to place yourself in the position to thrive in business and produce true value for your audience. Today, listen to the Sales Maven Team reflect on working together and discuss your questions for Nikki on this episode of the Sales Maven Show. After the team brainstormed ideas on how to celebrate the 100th episode, Nikki decided that there's no better time to bring the team on the podcast than this. During the episode, listen as Nikki introduces each member, along with what each person contributes to the Sales Maven business. Get ready to officially meet Kathy Bliss, Melissa Spindler, and Jayme Richardville. These three ladies make up a robust team that significantly contributes to making the Sales Maven business move forward. In today's episode, the Sales Maven Team talks about working together, exploring strategies together, and being efficient team members. Introductions are followed by a round of fun, personalized questions for Nikki that the team gathered. Altogether, this team is an example of delegation evolving into a group of women who recognize a great flow and bond over a belief in the value of Sales Maven. Listen to the team's stories as they celebrate 100 episodes, and be sure to apply their lessons of teamwork for your own business when you start recruiting your own team. Nikki wants to invite you to join the Sales Maven Society, don't miss this opportunity for you and Nikki to work together. Bring your questions, concerns, sales challenges, and she provides answers and guidance to boost your confidence. Join the Sales Maven Society here, click add to cart, and then checkout and use coupon code: 47trial to get your first month for $47.00!   In This Episode: [00:42] - Welcome, and thank you for listening! [03:29] - Kathy Bliss is the magician working the backend of the Sales Maven community. [06:04] - Nikki recalls how Kathy's ability to learn new skills allows her to go deeper in her role, and help the business expand.  [08:36] - Nikki says Kathy was instrumental in optimizing the official site and revenue generation processes. [10:22] - How many hours a week does Kathy work with Sales Maven on average? [12:40] - Melissa Spindler keeps everyone together with client retention and bonding with the Sales Maven Society and clients. [14:54] - Melissa is the mind behind the networking meeting for Sales Maven Society members. [17:24] - Jayme Richardville explores the different roles she plays as part of the Sales Maven Team. [20:05] - Nikki shares that Jayme is super effective with SEO, which boosted the business. [22:15] - The ladies of the Sales Maven Team express their gratitude for each other as they work together. [25:05] - Can people work with the ladies of the Sales Maven Team for separate projects? PART 1 [27:32] - Can people work with the ladies of the Sales Maven Team for separate projects? PART 2 [30:00] - What is Nikki's advice on what not to compromise when first starting sales? [32:10] - What is Nikki's biggest “reach for the stars” dream? [33:58] - Nikki shares which kind of non-business books she enjoys reading, and talks about what she does in her free time. [36:50] - Is Nikki a morning person or a night person? What is Nikki's pet peeve? [38:30] - Does Nikki have pets? [40:00] - What are the other jobs Nikki did in the past? Is there one that she really didn't like? [42:40] - What is the best compliment Nikki received? [44:22] - Kathy, Melissa, and Jayme share which compliments they like to receive. [46:49] - Congratulations on 100 episodes. What does it feel like for the Sales Maven Team? [48:55] - Why are people singing to Nikki these days? [51:02] - Thank you for listening. Nikki is so grateful you are here!   Find Nikki: Nikki Rausch nikki@yoursalesmaven.com @yoursalesmaven Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram Sales Maven Society To download free Resources from Nikki: www.yoursalesmaven.com/maven  

Every year, between 20 and 30 lucky people get a phone call that goes something like this: "Congratulations! The MacArthur Foundation has determined that you are a GENIUS, and we'd like to send you some Mo-NAY! Unlike my parody of the actual phone call, the money is serious — these days, $625,000, paid over five years. To use however they want. Now that's great for them, but so what? How does this have anything to do with copywriting? It's simple. These people get the award because the foundation gives it to them explicitly because of their creativity and originality. Something every good copywriter wants to get better at, too. Now… stay with me here… What if you could travel around the country interviewing these people and coaxing from them their creativity secrets? Well, maybe you could. But someone already did. And she wrote a great book about it. Denise Shekerjian interviewed 40 MacArthur fellows, as they are officially called. The book she wrote is titled "Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born." I cherry-picked some of the best revelations. Especially those thought would help us copywriters increase our own personal creativity. So, here's what we're gonna do. I selected three categories that all of us can relate to: intuition vs. judgment… luck… and staying power. The last one being, what motivates you to stick with a problem or a project that is giving you a hard time? And for each of the three categories, I shared insights from three MacArthur geniuses. Nine in all. There's no one answer that the author got from every genius on every topic. Which makes sense, since these people are unusual individuals. They range from movie directors to composers to anthropologists to professors. And who knew that professors could be so creative? But some of them really are. We'll take a tip from each genius and then look at how some of their ideas could prove to be a boon for a copywriter or other creative entrepreneur. link to the book: Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born, by Denise Shekerjian https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140109862 Download.

Kelly's “Tossing of The Stash” is in progress and we have a discussion of what to do with all that handspun! Plus, project updates and the announcement of our Crochet Along winners. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Transcript available at the end of the show notes. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). I've knit about half of the second side. Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I started this beanie using Little Sheep in The Big Woods. I was trying to finish this for our Two Ewes Crochet Along, but after ripping it out three times, I admitted defeat and set the project aside. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Finished the first sock and worked on the second sock. Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. I joined under the arms and knit five stripe repeats (3 rows brown, 6 rows green). Looking at the amount of yarn I have left I was concerned I would not have enough for green. I called Kelly and we designed stripes using Fibonacci Sequence. The plan now for the stripe sequence will be: Four repeats of 3 brown, 6 green Three repeats of 5 brown, 6 green Two repeats of 8 brown, 6 green The ribbing will be brown. After the body is complete I will knit the collar in green and then assess the yarn situation and decide how to finish the sleeves. Kelly's Projects Last minute crocheting: I finished the Pebblebrook Beanie (Ravelry link) out of my Invictus club yarn from last year. It's a green and gray and yellow variegated yarn and it turned out great. It will join the other charity hats that I have to get sent out.  I also finished two crocheted Mother Bears. One was half done and I found it during the stash tossing and finished it up (Ravelry link). Then I got inspired to make one last one (Ravelry link) to go with the last tag I had. These need to get into the mail, too.  Two more crochet projects were finished for this episode. I made a cat bed (Ravelry link) using lots of my spirit yarn and then fulled it a little. The starting point for the pattern was Crochet Round Cat Bed by Humbug Designs (Ravelry link). This will go on the porch for Minnie to sleep on. Then I made an ear saver to use with my masks when I'm teaching. The pattern I used was One Button Mask Ear Saver by Robin Kline (Ravelry link). I wear it up near the top of my head, but you can also wear it behind your neck. I've already worn it for several hours and it was comfortable and stayed put. I'm still working on a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I'm using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks.  Finally, I started a sockhead hat (pattern by Kelly McClure) using some leftovers from the Rachel pullover.  Crochet Along Thank you to everyone who participated. Listen to the episode to hear who won a pattern of their choice up to $12.00 Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway  January 13 - February 28 Drop by our Ravelry thread and let us know your favorite dishcloth pattern and you will be entered to win a skein of our hand-dyed cotton and a Two Ewes' dishcloth instructions. Never made a dishcloth? Tell us if you are a dishcloth newbie. Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly 0:22 and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the Episode Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hi, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 I'm doing great too. I have been decluttering, purging. Marsha 0:52 You know you've been doing you've been tossing of the stash Kelly 0:55 Tossing of the stash. That's right. That is what actually I am doing. Marsha 0:58 Is any tossing going on? Or is it just been reorganizing the stash? Well, let's just talk about it. Okay, so tell me everything Kelly 1:05 Last time we... last time we recorded I think I had already started. I had taken everything downstairs and laid it out on the studio floor, all the knitting yarn from various places in the house, because I keep it in various places. I had dug stuff out. Then I decided I needed to move it upstairs to the spare room where I could close the door and nobody could see it. Nobody meaning Robert couldn't see it. Just because I wanted to leave it messy for a while. And he likes things cleaned up and neat. So yes, and he was cleaning the living room, taking down the tree throwing away Christmas ornaments. So we did do some some tossing of the Christmas ornaments. So you know I was in that mood. So I brought it all upstairs and I laid it out on a tablecloth. It's about the size of a double bed sheet, flat sheet. And then I started organizing it and I did a little bit more organizing today. It's been out for more than... well for two weeks essentially. It's been sitting here inspiring me and also making me wonder about myself! [laughing] Marsha 2:21 okay, well Dr. Marsha is here listen to it. So tell me all about it. Kelly 2:26 Okay, well, I decided to-- we talked a little bit about what how I should go about the organization process and and so the first thing I ended up doing was taking all of the commercial skeins, commercial hand dyed, well, just commercial skeins that I had purchased on purpose. I had obtained on purpose. And I put-- It ended up that -- I thought this was true. And I was right. It's a very small batch! Not quite as small as I thought. Because I still have all that Rauna. The Finnish yarn that we got crazy about the year I was making argyle socks and we got all these different color combinations. So I had quite a bit of that. I had quite a bit of that still unused, but it fits in-- I have this wooden, like rice basket I guess it's called. I got it at a garden show. It's a wooden basket that came from, I think it came from--they said it came from Vietnam or someplace. Anyway. It's not that big. And it fits all of it. Marsha 3:03 Mm hmm. Kelly 3:42 So that's my like, "I got this intentionally" kind of yarn. And then the rest of it is a combination of handspun, leftovers, some of which are handspun, and spirit yarn. And then a little bit. like a small amount of like farm yarn that I didn't include in the commercial skeins. It's all natural colors and it went-- it seemed like it went better with the batch of yarn that was all handspun so I put it in that batch. but I... you know... So I have. ..I have over 13 skeins of Rug Yarn plus extra balls leftover from previous rug projects. I have five skeins of extra bulky yarn. I have over six skeins of white handspun-- you know natural creme handspun. Seven skeins of cotton handspun for a cotton project. I have about six skeins of luxury-- what I would consider to be luxury yarn. Some of that is leftovers. There's silk and silk and cotton and silk and wool angora, and that kind of stuff. I have three skeins of handspun from commercial dyed braids. That's it. And lots of leftovers. Some Wensleydale skeins, some suffolk skeins, a bunch of CVM leftovers. Anyway, so what am I going to do with it? The problem with that is, what am I gonna do with it? You know, like I was thinking with the handspun like, I don't want to get rid of it. I mean, I don't want to throw it, right? I don't want to toss it. I want it to be used but when I think about using the rest of the yarn from all the handspun sweaters that I made, and I've got quite a bit of yarn, I think I have five handspun sweaters that I have leftovers for. And when I think about you know making a hat or I can make mitts or I can make a scarf. Like that feels like making an adult layette. [laughing] Marsha 6:19 Yes, funny! [laughing] Kelly 6:26 I just, I don't feel like that's an adult thing-- to wear a hat and a sweater and mitts and socks that all match. Marsha 6:37 Yeah. So well because it-- because I even sometimes question if I have on hand knit socks, hand knit sweater, hand knit hat. Like then put a scarf on it seems like it's too much. Like too much hand knit. And they don't even match. So if it's all matching like... and you don't want to make something for Robert because that's not cool having matching--husband and wife matching outfits. [laughing] Kelly 7:02 Out of the CVM that I made the Orcas run sweater, I did make him a hat with the Orca pattern on it, which he likes. But yeah, we don't actually dress alike! [laughing] I have made some charity hats with some leftover handspun but you know it's not washable. So anyway, that's kind of my my, my dilemma with this yarn. I like it and I want to use it but I don't know what I'm going to use it for. What I did do though, is that a lot of the partial skeins I did collect them all. And I put them into my mother bear kit for making Mother Bears and I had... I realized when I did that, that I had a half a bear in the bag. And I haven't made a mother bear in a really long time. And I realized why when I put the additional yarn into the bag. It's because I was making a bear and I was using like three skeins of different weird... some handspun leftovers to get to the right weight of yarn for the bear. You know it's holding two strands together holding three strands together, running out because I was using these little you know, hazelnut sized balls of yarn, and then having to splice in the new one. I thought, why was I making my life so hard? Why not when I get down to that little amount of yarn? Or if I have something that's really so fine that it doesn't make a good bear? Like why would I put it in the kit. So I... so I cleaned up that bear Mother Bear kit put in new, threw away some stuff from there, put in new yarn into the Mother Bear kit and then I actually got inspired to finish that bear and make it make another bear which that's getting into my projects. But I did get a little bit inspired by stuff. So that was good. But it does kind of show me just some kind of gaps in what I have or overages overages in skeins. Like do I really need this much of my leftovers? No, because I don't know what I'm gonna do with them. And why do I spin so much yarn for a sweater? I guess because I don't know how much I'm going to need and I don't want to run out. Kelly 7:02 Well, actually, I would say that's true. I for me, that's true. Okay, so right now I'm knitting with with my handspun which I'll talk about this project later on, but I didn't have enough for a sweater. I'm always trying to do enough for a sweater but I didn't have enough so I had to spin up another color to make stripes. So I mean I think too, with your spinning, you're not... You're spinning the yarn to be spinning the yarn. Kelly 7:10 Yeah Marsha 7:24 Not spinning the yarn necessarily to make a sweater. Isnt' it true? Kelly 8:40 Right. Marsha 8:40 You talked about this before is that the fiber tells you what it wants to be. What type of yarn it wants to be. And you spin that yarn and then you figure out what project right? You're just...you're caught up in the, you know, you're spinning yarn, you're not thinking about what to make Kelly 10:26 Yeah, and the difference too, is like, you're spinning braids. Marsha 10:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 10:33 And I'm just spinning what comes off my drum carder. Marsha 10:36 Right. Kelly 10:37 And so you know, if you have a full fleece, and you just card and card and card, then you feel like you have to spin everything you carded. And that might be more than what you need for this sweater. So I am not complaining at all! I have a wealth... A wealth of yarn, including a wealth of my own handspun. But it was good to see for example, with the Rug Yarn, like, Okay, I have really some really nice Rug Yarn. But a lot of it is leftover from a wall hanging project that I did that was in greens and grays. Mostly. And so that's what I have most of-- green and gray. And then I have that and a little bit of Burgundy. And then I have the combo spin that I did. That's more blues. But it's all really super dark. And I think I need something light. Because otherwise the values are all going to be the same and whatever pattern I do in a rug, a punch needle piece, is gonna... you won't really see the pattern, I think. Marsha 11:47 So they're too dark to overdye another color. Kelly 11:50 Yes. Marsha 11:52 Okay. Kelly 11:53 In fact, a lot of them are dark gray overdyed. Dark green, dark gray overdyed with burgundy. Yeah, yeah, they're too dark to overdye. So I just--I need to spin more rug yarn in a lighter color. [laughing] Marsha 12:09 Okay. So I'm going to inject here with a few... Dr. Marsha has a few comments. I'm not a licensed therapist. No, as you say. So we... Marsha 12:22 Marsha I'm going to interrupt you. However, you are a licensed yarn stasher. Marsha 12:32 Yes,[laughing]... some of the yarn from your... the adult layette yarn? [laughing] All that leftover sweater yarn and whatnot. Can-- and I don't know what the weight of it is. It's pretty fine. It's not like it's worsted weight. But anyway, here's my point, can it be combined to be my go-to project, the garter squish blanket. It can be combined in some ways to make doubled up or added to... let me just back up. This is not how you have to do the garter squish. But the idea is you have one main color that goes through the whole blanket that's worsted weight. And then you have you keep changing out the other worsted weight yarn that you're carrying along with it to make the stripes or the pattern or whatever you decide to do. But it doesn't have to be that way. You know, right. So I don't know, if you have enough yarn that could be enough of a background color? Or, like my case where I didn't have enough yarn. There was sort of that camel colored yarn that I was using as the background. But I didn't have enough it in the same shade to do the whole thing. So we did a gradient. Do you have enough of the handspun that could be the background color? That maybe you overdye to make it more similar and do like a gradient? And then you know what I'm getting at? Kelly 13:59 Yeah, yeah, Marsha 14:00 just need to spin more yarn to well, to use up the sweater bits. Kelly 14:08 Yeah, that's an idea. Marsha 14:11 If you have a lot of the... Because didn't you say one sweater you have like three skeins leftover? Kelly 14:18 Something like that. Marsha 14:21 Can it be.. is that the sort of terracotta color for dark green forest? Kelly 14:27 Yeah, I have three skeins of that plus a ball, plus another skein that's undyed of the exact same yarn. Marsha 14:36 So even though you have say--you have three possibly four skeins of that yarn dyed that terracotta color, can you overdye it so make something? Now it's a pretty deep terracotta but can you make one like brown and one burgundy or something and then use those as the contrasting color for a background color. Kelly 14:59 You Yeah, that's a good idea. That's a really good idea. Marsha 15:05 Because you sent me a picture of all these bits. Kelly 15:11 You can put it in the show notes if you want. Marsha 15:14 I'm looking at...you have a lot of natural colored yarns that maybe you could just dye. Well and what is that? So, this is not good podcasting because people cannot see this picture. But the picture of the... there's a whole bunch of natural colored yarn. That's undyed. It looks like it's your handspun undyed which I don't know what the yarn is. Okay, so I'm looking at the picture that shows the right hand side of the sheet in the lower right hand corner. Kelly 15:41 Oh, uh huh. Marsha 15:43 I don't know how much is there. But if you could just take all those and you could maybe dye that if that's enough for your background color. Kelly 15:49 That might be. There are six skeins. The two balls in the front of that picture are bulky, so they won't work. But there are six skeins of the Oxford that I spun this summer and three skeins of the Columbia that I spun the summer before, I think in the summer spin-in. So there are six skeins there. They're roughly the same, they're three ply, roughly the same weight. And also they have the same kind of the same feel to them. They're not identical, but they would go together in a project. That's a really good idea I hadn't thought about a blanket of handspun Kelly 15:50 Well that garter squish is just a great way to use up a lot of yarn, because you're using it held double, even if it's worsted weight, you're holding it double. Right? Kelly 16:39 And, and people had mentioned, people had been mentioning that, you know, like, oh, that sounds fun. And I thought it sounded fun, too. But the thing I always thought was I don't have enough. I don't... that sounds funny. I don't have enough of the same kind of thing to be able to do it. But I do if I think about my handspun in using the sweater leftovers. Marsha 17:01 Mm hmm. Kelly 17:02 I do have enough, I think, Oh, that's interesting. Okay. Marsha 17:07 And then I'm, I'm going to... I bought a pattern. So it's Lily Scrap Blanket. Kelly 17:13 Oh, I'm going to look it up, too. Marsha 17:15 The Designer is Jen Peck. And it's like a chevron pattern. It's knit with fingering weight. And I don't know what all... I mean, this may not work that great. And so what you do is you basically take all of your sock weight scraps, and you just wind them into one big ball. Just randomly wind all the colors into a big giant ball. And you just loosely knot them together. So you can either-- you can put them together like with a long tail and then choose to weave them in. Or you can put just a loose knot. And so when you get to that point, you can take it apart and rotate it if you want, you know, spit splice it. And so I'm looking at the pattern because I actually printed this out and I've been gathering up my yarn. It's a free pattern. Kelly 18:01 Yeah, I'm looking at it right now takes about 1000 to 1400 yards. Marsha 18:07 Yeah, so it's a nice pattern, because it's all... it makes a chevron. And as I say, I have been ...all my socks scraps I've been saving to make this blanket. And then also I have skeins of yarn --sock weight yarn-- that I bought that I don't think I'm ever going to make socks out of it. And so I was thinking just breaking those apart and putting them into the blanket. Kelly 18:34 Right. Marsha 18:35 But anyway, that's another idea. I don't know if it's the right weight. But maybe, Kelly 18:42 yeah, yeah, actually, that would work. Because all of my handspun, I mean, it's the same-- the Targi lamb is heavier, but the rest of my handspun is all about the same weight. Mm hmm. That's an interesting idea. Or holding them double. And then in some places using just one skein of a heavier yarn. Marsha 19:06 Because you know, the other thing, too, is that this is... I don't even think that they have gauge. Yeah, it says gauge is not important for this product. So it wouldn't. So you could just take and you could figure out what your... if you have a heavier weight yarn, you could just figure out how many stitches to the inch you're getting and then figure out, you know, how wide you want? How many you would want to cast on? Well, you know, that whole conversation we've had about using up yarn for the garter squish. I mean, I think the same idea with this is that you're probably not locked into a certain weight of yarn. Right? You'd have to just figure out Kelly 19:41 how to make whatever you're using roughly the same. Marsha 19:44 Right. And then also, didn't somebody in our crochet along did a sort of Chevron shaped blanket and that's crocheted. Yeah, so that's another thought. Kelly 19:54 Yeah. Yeah, it's a really nice. The chevron pattern is a really nice kind of traditional crochet pattern. It reminds me of my grandma's. She made millions, millions of Afghans out of that pattern. Okay, well, that's cool. That gives me some ideas. Marsha 20:14 It's better than putting it in a compost pile. Kelly 20:16 Yes, exactly. Marsha 20:19 And and also, you're getting a new trailer, you might need a blanket for the trailer. Kelly 20:23 Well, that's, that is something that I thought of, too. Yeah. And I want to finish that quilt. That's another thing I dug out was my pieced quilt top. Marsha 20:34 Mm hmm. Kelly 20:35 I think I want to finish that quilt for the trailer. So we'll see. Yeah, that's a good idea. I did get inspired to make one more thing. Moving into my projects. Besides the two bears, I did get inspired. And I used up quite a bit of yarn that have been hanging around for a while to make a cat bed for Minnie. She had been sleeping on a sample woven piece, a narrow piece that I had, we had just folded and positioned it, but it kind of looked messy. And so I made a basket inspired by some of the people in our crochet along. I made a basket for her out of some various old yarns from the weaving room and the early 2000s when those felted bags were kind of popular. Marsha 21:31 Mm hmm. Kelly 21:33 And I had some leftovers from that. And one of the yarns-- I did call you about this, but I wanted to tell people about the yarn that had cow hair in it. I thought that was pretty cool. Marsha 21:45 Yeah, we were gonna talk about this. Kelly 21:47 Yeah. And I didn't I didn't put that in the show notes. But I'll just I'll just say that there was this one singles yarn from Sweden. That yeah, that was like 20% Cow hair. And you looked something up on it. It suggested that it was Highland cow. So that was very interesting. But the main point of this is I got rid of probably...Let's see... I got rid of two balls and three pretty close to full partial skeins. So that made a big dent. One of those little piles that was laying on the tablecloth is gone. Totally gone, because I used it in this cat bed. So that's nice. Marsha 22:38 That's very good. Yeah. Kelly 22:40 And then I felted it so it's sitting on the sitting on the porch right now. So that's a... besides the two Mother Bears that was another finished project. So I finished... Well, I finished the Pebblebrook Beanie that I was working on last time out of the Invictus club yarn. And then I finished the two Mother Bears and I finished the cat bed. So I've been crocheting up a storm during my vacation from school. So it's been really nice. Marsha 23:08 Nice. Yeah. Kelly 23:11 Oh, and then one other crochet project that I did as as a nod to our crochet along which we'll talk about our winners later in the episode. I'm going to be teaching in the classroom on campus this semester, as everyone knows. I'm so excited. And I'm going to have to wear a mask and the masks don't really fit my face very well. And the ear loops, I always have to shorten them. And I usually will shorten them with a little knot. I tried twisting them but that didn't work very well. I tried shortening them, the ear loops, with a little knot. And that works okay, but it makes my ears stick out. And I don't need my ears to stick out any more than they already do. So my vanity! And I saw this ear saver, it's called One Button Mask Ear Saver. And it actually holds for me, I put it going up over the, kind of, the top back of my head. Kind of like the actual N95 masks have two elastics one goes behind your neck and one goes over your head. Marsha 24:25 Mm hmm. Kelly 24:26 And so I use it like that. It connects to the ear pieces, but then it straps across my head. And it works great. And I got to use a button from my button stash. Marsha 24:37 Yay! Very nice. Kelly 24:38 Because you know it's adjustable. You close it with a button. I wore it while I unpacked boxes and threw away stuff. Again another organizing and throwing away project. I worked for about four hours. One day while I unpacked things in my office at school, and it it didn't slip off. It was comfortable. I didn't have that ear pain that you sometimes get from wearing the mask for too long and I didn't have to really adjust it or anything. So it was nice and I get a nice tight fit. It feels like wearing one of those you know the N 95. Because it's actually holding on from the back of my head. So anyway really nice. That was my last crochet--most recent crochet project so... That did not use any stash to speak of. It's a very small project-- took me about an hour, including sewing on the button. So and then I'm working on the pair of socks that I was talking about last time out of the Bob Ross happy little mistakes. And the other thing I got inspired to do... Now this is with leftovers, but I promise never to wear it at the same time as I wear the sweater. [laughing] The the yarn is again, Invictus yarn. It's the Yak Luxe that I used for my Rachel sweater. Marsha 26:08 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:09 And then that yarn that you got me. Marsha 26:12 Oh, right. Kelly 26:12 I can't remember what it was called. But it was anyway, it's all in kind of blue green. Marsha 26:18 It was the yarn from Iceland from Iceland. Kelly 26:21 Yeah. And so anyway, I saw those scraps were sitting there. Pretty significant amounts were leftover. And so I put them all in a knitting bag. And I'm making a Sock Head Hat to replace the Sock Head hat that I have that I have been wearing since 2015. Marsha 26:45 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:47 And it's so faded that it's pretty much unrecognizable--the difference between the outside and the inside of the yarn. So I'm almost to the to the crown decreases on a sock head hat. Marsha 27:02 Whoa, nice. Kelly 27:02 Yeah. So it'll be nice. This will be for you know, going on walks and stuff. Not to match my sweater. AlthoughI guess I could but I don't know. I don't know about that. Marsha 27:13 There's no crime in wearing it to match. Yeah, yeah. What a knitting fashion patrols going to come and arrest you? [laughing] Kelly 27:19 Well, we'll see. Yeah, after I've laughed so much about adult layettes. [laughing] Oh, dear. So yeah, that's my new start-- this sock head pattern. So that's... so I've got two things on the go, the socks and this Sock Head hat pattern. And all the rest of my stuff for this week is finished objects. Marsha 27:46 Yay. Very nice. Kelly 27:48 Yeah. As you say, though, it's still in my house. Actually, the Mother Bears are going and the beanie is going so those are all those are all to be sent away. I haven't done it yet. Marsha 28:04 Well, let me ask you, I'm just going to go back to the tossing of the stash. Because the other thing too, I guess I wanted to ask is, do you even want to-- do you want to make anything out of that yarn? I mean,... Kelly 28:19 The yarn I've already knit with... mm hmm yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I don't want it to not be knitted. Marsha 28:31 That's another possibility is pass it along to someone else. Kelly 28:34 Yeah, yeah. And let it be their problem Marsha 28:40 Well, it may not be their problem, it's spirit yarn, right? Kelly 28:43 Exactly. Marsha 28:44 I don't think so negatively. Kelly 28:46 That's true. It would be there it would Marsha 28:48 Someone might really want it. Kelly 28:50 It would be their... I don't know it always feels like a great find when you when you find a good spirit yarn so so yeah, it'd be someone else's great find. Marsha 29:01 I'm gonna just say something... This has absolutely nothing to do with knitting but about what other people value or want that we don't want. And I don't know if they have this in the rest of the country but here in Seattle there's this Buy Nothing. It's Buy Nothing and then fill in your neighborhood. And so I live in the Maple Leaf Neighborhood so it's Buy Nothing Maple Leaf. And you cannot sell anything. It's all stuff that you give away for free or you can ask for things. And so I've been posting up things you know, like I got rid of a toaster. Like things that were duplicates that I didn't need, you know, like combining households. So it's surprising to me sometimes the things that I thought actually people would want-- nothing. Crickets. So I just bring it to the goodwill and and then I've also had a problem--and I hope I have no Buy Nothing Maple Leaf listeners listening to this--but sometimes it's really difficult to get people to come I'm in a timely manner to pick things up. And so then it'll be like seven days, and then I'll text and they're like, Oh yeah, yeah. And then they never show up and so I just take it to the goodwill. But I had all those Styrofoam pellets that you use as packing material, and I had been saving it. Because with the new deck, my thought was I was going to put in the bottom half, fill half the pots... I have very heavy concrete pots that were going to go on the deck and so to reduce the weight, I've heard that you actually put in styrofoam pellets in the bottom of your pot. Not loose, but I had bought like a mesh bags that I was going to fill the pellets and put in the bottom of the pots. I ended up not doing that because I used smaller pots. The bigger pots went elsewhere. So I had... I think I had eight trash bags of pellets. Kelly 30:50 Oh man! Marsha 30:51 You can't get rid of that stuff. It just goes in the... it can't be recycled, it just goes in the garbage. Yeah, and so I went to to UPS stores and they wouldn't take it because they can't take it anymore because of the pandemic. I went to a UPS and FedEx store and they wouldn't take it and so I thought I'm just going to post it up on Buy Nothing Maple Leaf. And within 20 minutes a guy said, I think we can use that at work. Let me check with my boss. He checks with his boss and he comes and picks it up that evening. Kelly 31:23 Wow! Marsha 31:23 He comes by and he picks up eight bags of this stuff and I was like all this stuff like it's so weird the stuff that I think has value nobody wants but the stuff that has like it's actually a burden to me. Kelly 31:35 It's acually garbage! Marsha 31:36 It's actually a huge burden to me. It is literally garbage. Well I don't want it to be garbage but if I was to dispose of it I would be considered garbage. But I thought somebody can use it, I just can't find anybody.And he was so prompt he was the fastest of any of my Buy Nothing people. Kelly 31:54 [laughing] Oh my gosh! Marsha 31:55 One man's junk is another man's treasure. Okay, but moving on the the infamous Nanny Meyer tea cozy for Brian. I'm halfway done with the second side. I do a couple rows a dy Kelly 32:09 Oh, yay, Marsha 32:09 So I'm making progress on that. Still working on my socks, nothing to report there. I'm three quarters of the way done with the Quick Switch hat by Abby Knits. The one I'm making for Ben the yarn is Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK. So I'm working on that intermittently. So I have kind of moved on. What I'm really sort of obsessed with now is this phrancko.com sweater. I don't know what to call it. I'm just calling it my Phrancko Designs sweater or the striped sweater for Ben. But this one I'm making for my son, Ben. And just to remind people, it's the handspun in a kind of a barberpole green and brown and then a solid, three ply Brown. And I talked about this in the last episode that I knew I had measured Ben and entered all the information into phrancko.com. And printed out my pattern. And I forgot last Saturday to join their group, I completely forgot. So I'm going to try... Every Saturday at 2:30 they have a Zoom call. And I'm going to try and join that again. This Saturday, I made a note to myself, because I forgot last Saturday but to show them my progress. But what I started, the reason I had spun the solid brown is I didn't have enough of the brown and green. So I'm just gonna call it the green. But I didn't have enough of that to do an entire sweater. So I spun the brown and the idea, I was gonna do stripes. So Kelly, you and I had a big conversation about this because I had joined under the arms. And at that point, I started-- I did one stripe before I joined under the arms and then joined under the arms and I knit another four brown stripes separated by.... So my was my stripe sequence was going to be three brown, excuse me, three rows of brown, six rows of green, three rows of brown, six rows of green, and I was going to do that all the way through the sweater. But after doing five repeats of that, I got concerned about how much yarn I was going to have. I didn't think I'd have enough green to finish the whole sweater and the arms and the collar and everything. So I called you and we had a really great conversation and of course, your go-to striping sequence, right, which is the Fibonacci sequence. Kelly 34:44 Go Fibonacci. Marsha 34:46 So I ripped back and Kelly how should we describe this? Well, you explain Fibonacci. Kelly 34:53 Okay. So the Fibonacci sequence. It starts with one and then the second number to the sequence is also one. And then the third number of the sequence is two, because if you add one and one, you get two. And then the next number in the sequence, you take the two and add it to the previous number, the one, and you get three. And then three plus two is five. And so each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers prior. And all of those numbers are called Fibonacci numbers. You don't have to use them in order. But I like to use them in order. And so you have your stripe, you're using them for your stripe sizes, right? So three rows, a three row stripe is one size. A five row stripe is another size. That's another Fibonacci number. The next Fibonacci would be three and five is eight. So an eight row stripe would be another Fibonacci number. And then eight and five is 13. And so that's another Fibonacci number. And they get bigger as they... the stripes get bigger as they go. Marsha 36:04 Right Kelly 36:05 Depending on how many stripes, you know how many stripes you want, and how you organize them. So so tell us what you're doing, Marsha. Marsha 36:14 So first, I'm going to say that the green is considered my main color. So every stripe, brown stripe is separated by six rows of green, that's going to be consistent through the sweater, right? Kelly 36:27 Yeah. Marsha 36:28 But then my brown, I'm doing four stripes of brown with three rows of brown. So a three row, brown stripe four times, then a five row brown stripe three times, and then an eight row stripe twice, then the plan is to do six rows of the green, and then my ribbing will be all in the brown. And so the next sequence should be 13 rows, which I think is going to be enough for my ribbing. That's what we talked about. Yeah, that makes sense to what I'm saying now. And I think this is all going to work out perfectly. Because if we add up all these rows, it's 97 rows, which will be about what I need. That plus the yoke equals about 21 and a half inches. Kelly 37:34 Perfect. Marsha 37:35 I'm sorry, I said that wrong. Those stripes sequence plus the yoke equals 19 and a half inches which is what I need for the body before I start the ribbing. And then the ribbing will be the extra two inches to make the body length the 21 and a half inches. And I hope I'm saying that in a way that makes sense to people, that people can understand. Kelly 37:54 Yeah, I think you did. Although I mean, I was there with you when you were working it out. Marsha 37:59 I know! Kelly 38:00 But I think it'll be nice, because you'll have, you'll have four small stripes, and then you'll have three medium sized stripes. And then you'll have two large stripes, and then you'll have one really large stripe in the ribbing. And so it's kind of getting heavier. You know, the weight of the dark brown is getting heavier as you go down. It's getting less frequent, but they're getting, but the stripes are getting wider. So I think it'll look really nice. I have never been... I have to say I have never been disappointed by Fibonacci. Marsha 38:33 So I have my little cheat sheet that I will take a picture of and put in the show notes. Kelly 38:40 Oh, good. Marsha 38:41 Yeah, visually what I'm doing, and I've checked off, you know what I've done so far, people will see what I'm doing. It'll be obvious, I think when you see, when I take a picture of it and post in the show notes. And then the plan is when I finished the body, I'm going to go back and do the collar next in the green. And then we're going to do I'm going to do another assessment of the, of the yarn supply and then we're gonna have to figure out stripes for the the sleeves. And I'm not sure if I will just... I only have a bit of a dilemma, because well, that's not exactly true. I guess the sleeves are about the length...Well, the sleeves are about the length of the entire body. So that means my stripe sequence is going to be a little bit different. Because the entire body of the finished sweater is 21 and a half inches. A part of that is solid green. Right? The sleeves are 21 and a half inches of stripes. Mm hmm. So we're going to have to do something there. There's going to be another phone call. [laughing] Kelly 39:53 Another consultation. Marsha 39:55 Yes, a consultation. But I have... Yes. So I will have to talk... I will actually talk to Dr.Locke who really is a doctor of mathematics. So to help me through this, and because the math will work, right? Kelly 40:11 Yeah. Yeah. So your only constraint for the sleeves is going to be how much yarn you have left. Marsha 40:19 Yes. And so Ben may get a short sleeve sweater. He may have what they call like a wrist... Kelly 40:33 bracelet length! Marsha 40:34 Bracelet length Kelly 40:39 Oh my gosh. Well, I think you'll have it. I mean, I think you'll have enough it's just a matter of how you how you can figure it. Yeah. Marsha 40:48 Actually, I'm sort of laughing because he might actually wear a bracelet length sweater because he was home last weekend. And I said, what he was wearing, I said it's so bizarre but it's kind of stylish in its own way. Kelly 41:08 Oh, yeah? Marsha 41:10 So he had on like long underwear or something. He'd gone for a bike ride so he had on like, I don't know if it was long underwear or leggings or something. I guess you wouldn't call it leggings for men but it's like some sort of warm pants like... I guess long underwear. Socks that are... like he has these Christmas socks you know those those acrylic socks that you can buy that have like designs on them? He had some Santa socks on his Teva sandals, cut-off shorts over it like those Carhart work pants that he'd cut off. That's over it. And then he's drawn with like, permanent marker all over them. And then where their are holes? He's sewn up the holes, hand stitched up holes, and then... [laughing] a hand knit a hat that I had made for him. Oh, no, it was the... I was think it was the one I made out of sock scraps. No, it was the very first handspun. I made a hat for him. And my handspun is like rope. Kelly 42:17 Oh yes. The five pound hat! Marsha 42:20 The five pound hat and it has no life to it at all. It does is just saying it's just like sits on his head like a bucket hat. Yeah. And then something on the top and I've completely lost track of what was on the top. But anyway, he looks kind of stylish in sort of a bizarre way. So maybe he might wear a bracelet length sleeve. Kelly 42:42 Oh my gosh. Yeah. Marsha 42:43 Anyway. Kelly 42:44 Well, they don't get in the way. You know? If you have your sleeves a little shorter. Marsha 42:49 So then my last project is the beanie, the Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a hook. And I started this using Little Sheep in the Big Woods. And so I was... I started this...was going to try and finish it for the crochet along. But sadly, after I ripped it out for the third time I thought I can't. I can't rip it out. I can't do it again. And so it was...now I had 24 hours. And I thought you know what, it's okay. Even though it's it's our... It's like my crochet along, like ours that we're doing as part of our podcast. I I can't do it. I couldn't do it again. So it's all right. Kelly 43:40 Yeah. Next time. Marsha 43:42 I don't know the thing about is I did really well on the the brim. I got that figured out. I did really well. I had to call you about picking up the stitches, I guess I would say to start the... I have to say I don't know how we ever learned to knit or crochet without YouTube because I watched tons of tutorials about how to make the bobble. We talked. And I'm just like these bobbles are not working right. And I still was doing them wrong. And then I ripped it out. We had a conversation I ripped it out I started again... like that's not right. So I ripped it out and like that's when I thought I can't start again. So... Kelly 44:22 Yeah, the thing about crochet. I like charts, this doesn't have a chart. I like charts because the thing I always found the most difficult about crochet is where... which hole do you put your hook in? Marsha 44:35 Yes, right. Kelly 44:36 It's a it's a fabric full of holes. And then you have to figure out which hole is the right hole to put the hook into for the, you know, for the next stitch. And I always found that to be really perplexing. Marsha 44:50 And so with mine, my Bobbles were stacking on top of each other because I was putting... I was picking the wrong whole. So my bobblrd just stacked on top of each other, and like, that doesn't look right. And because they're supposed to sort of nestle into each other, so it ends up sort of looking like basket weaving, right? Kelly 45:09 Yeah. Marsha 45:10 So anyway, I did take a class years ago on crochet. And I made-- I did make a shawl. Kelly 45:18 You made the virus shawl. Marsha 45:20 Yeah, I made that. But I, I'm not that familiar with crochet. Like I've been looking at like sweaters and stuff, but I don't even know how you get gauge. I don't know how you-- like the hat is not that critical, but like I don't really know enough about crochet to do a sweater for sure. I need to at least figure out how to do the hat before I would move on to a sweater right? No, there's some great patterns out there in crochet you know, so Kelly 45:52 Yeah, Marsha 45:52 beautiful things! Kelly 45:54 Those are interesting to me because I never thought of crochet really as garments. You know, growing up my grandma crocheted blankets. She crocheted doilies, she crocheted those modular bedspreads out of little tiny, small hexagon things. You know, with crochet thread. But crochet in a garment, excepted a garment for a doll, you know, doll clothes, was not something that I had ever thought of. So that was new to me when you know, as an adult, I came back to crochet. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 46:30 Yeah, cuz I had sort of this sense that crochet was not particularly fashionable, you know, But it is, I'm completely wrong on that. It's, there's some really, really nice patterns. And so I would like to know more about it, but I need a bit more hand holding. Kelly 46:45 And I, I, I don't feel like I'm super comfortable with crochet. And I especially didn't a few years ago when we first started having the crochet along. But I have to admit, I did a lot of crocheting growing up, you know, I mean, like making doll clothes and doll blankets and blankets for stuffed animals and giant long strips that I didn't, you know, have a purpose for. I know, there was a lot... I did a lot of crocheting as a kid. And so the learning part of it, I don't really remember. I didn't learn all the details, but the kind of the sort of basics, you know, the kind of basics of crochet and the language of croche, I don't remember learning it. I just have known for a really long time. So yeah, so I, you know, that it's, it's challenging. Marsha 47:39 I learned the just the basics, like how to chain stitch. I didn't even know what the names were. My great aunt showed me. But I don't know how to increase and decrease and yeah, you know, so I am interested, though, and what I would say... What I do like about crochet, and I've said this before, when we were having a conversation many years ago in the podcast about crochet, is you only have one live stitch. So if you do make a mistake, it's really easy to get back and get back on track. Because you're not having to, you know, knit back stitch by stitch or rip it all out and then pick up those stitches. It's very easy to correct anything. To rip back and get started again. But not under a crochet along deadline. Kelly 48:32 Right. Marsha 48:34 Anyway, so that's it for me for projects. All right. So Kelly, we need to talk about the crochet along. Kelly 48:42 Yeah, it just finished up a couple of days ago. And we have some prizes. So we had one thread for chatter and finished objects. We had 14 people participating in the discussion. And there were 20 projects that were linked. I'm not counting them up. I'm just... there at the top of the Ravelry thread it talks aboutit, so if you link your project it counts it. Nine patterns were linked, and 84 total posts. So lots of people had multiple projects in the in the crochet along so I think it was a success. Marsha 49:25 And we had some new people participating. Kelly 49:27 We did and that's always fun. I like when we have a different kind of along and end up with some people that we haven't seen in the threads before. So that was a nice thing to see. Marsha 49:39 So let's just say, we have four winners, and each has won a pattern of their choice up to $12. So Kelly, do you want to announce the winners? Kelly 49:51 Sure. And winners should just get in touch with I guess me and then let me know the pattern that you want. Our first winner is JoyLaine1, Joy. She made a basket that was partially my inspiration for... she and Natalie's baskets were my inspiration for making the cat basket when I saw that pile of orange yarn that I had when I did the tossing of the stash. So she's our first winner. And then we have Shelly, Purpledogwood. She's the one that made all of the pumpkin and Santa hats. Marsha 50:43 Yes, Kelly 50:43 That we talked about last time. And then our third winner, Misnim, Missy. She's the one who inspired me to make the ear savers. She posted about making the ear savers. And then that reminded me that I had saved that pattern for the one with the buttons long ago, and that I needed to get busy on that for for my, my school semester, this coming up. And then finally, our last winner is SuperKip, Natalie. And she made quite a few things. We talked about her baby toy. And she made a moses basket that she is using for yarn and made quite a few things. So those are our four winners. So Joy and Shelly and Missy and Natalie, message me on Ravelry or email me, Two Ewes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. And let me know what pattern you'd like. You've won the pattern of your choice. Congratulations! Marsha 51:56 Yes. Congratulations. And thank you for participating. It's fun. Well, what do I know? It was not fun for me. [laughing] Kelly 52:08 I'm sorry. But I do think it's a cool hat. And I do think you know, Marsha 52:15 I did too. But another time. Let's not go.. let's not go back there, right.[laughing] But anyway, just laughing! Kelly 52:25 And then we still have our winter weave along going on. It started in October, but it will go through the end, through the end of March. Marsha 52:37 So Kelly, we need to talk about our next giveaway that we're doing. Yes. So this is going to be this is inspired by the tossing of the stash. Kelly 52:48 Yes, it is. Marsha 52:50 So one of the things that you found in your stash is I don't know how many years ago it was that I had acquired a whole bunch of cotton yarn, mercerized cotton yarn. And we did a big dye-A-thon when I was at your house one summer. And we still.you found that you still have this cotton yarn in your stash, some of it because you have made dish cloths out of a lot of it. But we still have quite a bit, several skeins, quite a bit. So it is inspired our next giveaway which is we're going to put a thread on the Ravelry, our Ravelry group and just let us know your favorite dish cloth pattern. And you'll be entered to win a skein of our hand dyed cotton yarn. Hand dyed by the Two Ewes. And you'll also receive a Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dish cloth pattern. And if you've never made a dish cloth, just tell us if you're a dish cloth newbie, if you just just check in on that in the thread, and then we'll have a drawing for a skein of our hand dyed cotton yarn and a dishcloth pattern. So we're recording this on January 13. So it'll be posting in the next couple of days. So it'll start as soon as you hear this and it ends February 28. So go into the thread and let us know your favorite dish cloth pattern and or if you're a newbie, and you may be one of the lucky winners! Kelly 54:37 And I am going to... I'm going to lower expectations just a little bit about the dish cloth pattern. Because okay, because it's mostly just a stitch pattern. I'm not a pattern designer. You know, it won't be tech edited. I'll just let you know how I started. You know, what size needles I use, what the stitch pattern is that I use, and how I bind it off. Marsha 55:08 Okay, so it'll be... so yes, we will lower the bar on the pattern! Kelly 55:14 It's not a professionally designed and tech edited pattern. It's the the kind of pattern that your that your grandma would pass alongto you. Marsha 55:26 Yeah. When you're sitting next to each other on the sofa, Kelly 55:29 I'll send it to you on a scrap of paper, on the back of a receipt.[laughing] Oh, I'm sorry, no, it will be-- I will write it nicely. But yeah, it's not an official like designer kind of pattern because I'm not a pattern designer. And then one other thing that I just have to disclose about this yarn if you win it. Some of them-- because it was our--we were experimenting with dyeing cotton. Some of them have quite a bit of bleeding happening. And so if you're doing your dishes, the first time, you may find that the water turns, whatever color the dish cloth is. But after you've done that, first, you know, after you've done that first round of dishes, I can verify. Or if you don't want to deal with that you can just toss it in the washing machine before you even use it. Marsha 56:25 But not with your whites! Kelly 56:26 But not with your whites, correct. Yeah, toss it into a colored load. And it'll be... it'll be fine. But I just... Marsha 56:33 We really have-- we really have lowered the bar on this contest. Kelly 56:37 Well, it is my destashing really, right? Marsha 56:42 Yeah. You will be helping Kelly out. [laughing] Kelly 56:45 Yes. You will be getting cast off yarn! Doesn't that sound good? [laughing] Actually, I have to say I do love the dish cloths made out of this yarn. They're kind of stiff and scrubby. Because it's a firm yarn, you know. So they work really well. And you will like them. If you win this and you make one of those dish cloths, I think you will like it. So Alright. And then the last thing, we have some listener feedback. I just wanted to... I just wanted to to talk about...Caroline in Somerset, Southwest England, suggested because we had said, you know, what would people like to hear on the podcast in the coming year? She suggested that people might like to hear about yarn stores around the world, and maybe a bit of the history of the yarn store or the history of the town that they're in. And she told us about a yarn shop called All About the Yarn, she says its on a cobbled street called Catherine Hill. And yes, it is a hill. And it's so called because hundreds of years ago, Catherine Hill, the street is called that because hundreds of years ago, there was a chapel called St. Catherine's. So she gave us a first little snippet of information about the yarn shop and the street that the yarn shop is on. But I thought that was a good idea. And so we may we may turn that into something for the for the new year. So thanks for the idea Catherine. And then Irena emailed and said that she was so glad to hear us back that she had had thought perhaps we might not be coming back. She knows a lot of the podcasts that she listens to have you know, sort of disbanded. And so she was really glad to hear us coming back. And she did say she loved it when Marsha would go on long trips. So I think that will be in the not near future. Kelly 56:47 Yes, my travel buddy Kim and I have had many conversations about where we go next. But we're not quite ready to get on a plane yet. We're not quite ready. I don't know, it will happen. Right? But not right away. Yeah, not right away. Kelly 59:14 Yeah. Yeah. But it was nice to hear. It was nice to hear that Irena was was waiting for us to come back. And I have to also give a shout out to Kent of Kent on Instagram because when we posted the last episode... It's so funny when you know the listeners have kind of inside jokes. Because he commented on the Instagram posts that it was good that we were... that our episode was up because he had been sitting and refreshing his podcast app over and over. That gave me... that gave me a laugh. And then finally, Anna said you know, cut yourself some slack. That was her message to us because we were talking about missing episodes. She said, During the pandemic you are my company, you made my frustrations okay and normal. She said, Of course, she likes all the, you know, travels and conferences and knitting event talk. But she also likes hearing the frustrations of teaching online, dogs, and the isolation that was what most folks were going through. So she says, you keep it real. You kept it real, gave me an outside contact and reinforced all that was essential and made me laugh. So that was really nice. Thank you, Anna, for that comment. And yeah, we do, we are cutting ourselves some slack for the the difficulties of the past couple of couple of years, and probably some difficulties going forward. But yeah, we'll keep sharing. You'll hear. You'll hear me whine. [laughing] Marsha 1:00:54 I am going to take a picture here. I'm sitting here at my desk thinking about the dogs. I am going to take a picture. I'm sitting at the desk recording, and I'm just going to take a picture of Enzo laying on the bed, and I'm going to post this in the show notes. Kelly 1:01:09 Oh good. Marsha 1:01:09 Yeah. He cracks me up. You know, I think it's a poodle thing. I'm turning away from the microphone. Now. I think it's a poodle thing that they lay on their... Maybe all dogs do it. But they lay... he lays on his back. And then he has his head like twisted all the way back down almost to his hips kind of it looks so uncomfortable. Kelly 1:01:29 yeah, it's not every dog. I think it must be a poodle thing. Marsha 1:01:34 Because they're so floppy. Yeah. And yeah, Kelly 1:01:37 None of my dogs have ever laid like that. Marsha 1:01:43 Yeah, he's so funny. Very. He's so floppy. Anyway. That's a dog story. Well, I thought I have to say I thought it was really very, it felt really good to know that people missed us because...Well, I wasn't really feeling guilty. Because it's like life gets... we just are busy in life, you know, the teaching thing and blah, blah, blah, all of that. But the fact that people were like, Well, where are they? Refreshing the app! There were many comments about like, you know, Oh, good! You finally posted! We were getting worried. So that was nice. And it's also it's nice that that we have been.. we're still in the middle of the pandemic...but that people have found us so enjoyable during the pandemic too. Kelly 1:02:29 Yeah, it's nice, it's very nice to hear! It is nice to hear that. That it's a bright spot, right, for people. Marsha 1:02:37 Yeah, yeah, we're giving people something. I don't know. I don't know exactly what we're giving them. But we're giving them something. [laughing] Kelly 1:02:43 Yeah, and it's a bright spot for us too, I mean, I always look forward to Marsha 1:02:47 Oh, yeah. Kelly 1:02:47 To getting on and talking to all of you. Marsha 1:02:53 Yeah. Kelly 1:02:54 And in fact, we have more to say, we have more in the show notes this episode than we actually did in the episode. And that's happened to us the last probably three times. So yeah, that we've recorded. So. Yeah. Marsha 1:03:10 Yeah. So. Okay. Anything I think we need to say? Kelly 1:03:14 I think that's it.Okay, I'm off to professional development for two hours. Marsha 1:03:22 Ah, in person or online? Kelly 1:03:24 Zoom. Yeah, okay. So I'm really not off. I'm off to the downstairs. First I have to get dressed. And then I have to appear on Zoom for a professional development day. Marsha 1:03:37 All right. Well, I'm gonna wake the dog up and take him for a walk. Kelly 1:03:42 Oh, my goodness. [laughing] Marsha 1:03:47 He needs some exercise because he's got his pandemic five that we still haven't gotten off. So we're working on that. So well, all right, Kelly. We'll talk. I'll let you go. I'll let you get to your your zoom call and we'll talk in two weeks. Both 1:04:03 Alrighty, bye. Kelly 1:04:06 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:04:13 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:04:21 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 1:04:24 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jamie Monory aka Degenerate2018 on Twitch returns for an under the weather Melinda as we pay respects to the late Bob Saget, and honor our own Josh Pederson on his new addition to the family. They get into the action for this week talking about the reboot of Scream out this weekend in theaters and if people are ready to see Ghostface wanting to play a game once again. The guys are also lamenting over the final episode of Dexter: New Blood and lament on how the audience has responded to it and if it will actually be revived by Showtime once again. Netflix has its eyes on reviving The Raid: Redemption action movie series but is that sitting well with superfan Gerald? All this and Cameron Sullivan from the Jacked Up Review Show stops by to predict the future for HBO Max now that they are no longer doing day-and-date with its theatrical films. Plus Jamie and Gerald have thoughts on Euphoria's success, Attack on Titan's final season, and Oh Dear! What will Disney do now that Winnie the Pooh has gone into the public domain? All this and more on our latest PCC Multiverse! For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!  

Allen: All right, welcome, everybody. Today I have a very special friend with me, I want to let you know that she is a..I mean, she's been doing amazing, since she got started with trading with us. And the thing that stood out for me was that when she, she was going through our credit spread Mastery program, she did not attend any of the coaching calls, which most of the students think that's like the the highlight of it, because it's one on one coaching, but she did not attend any of them. And it was because that she works a full time job. And you know, at a very stressful I guess, manner of stressful, but it's a very important job for the government. And so she was working full time, she takes care of her family. So she does not like she had a lot of free time to do this stuff. And she's also in a different time zone in Hawaii. So take all those three things together. And it's like, wow, if she can do it, you know, I think everyone that has excuses, it just goes out the window. And I think it goes to show that when you want to do something when you really have a desire that you can figure it out, and then she's gonna tell you how well she did. But you know, I'm very proud of her. She did amazing. And so with that, you know, Lori, aloha. Lori: Thank you for inviting me here. Allen: No, it's wonderful. I'm glad to get you on here. You know, for whatever reason, trading is more male-dominated. And so whenever we see a female in it, it's like, wow, this is awesome. You know, and I think we need more females in the in the trading space. And we do, I do find it that females do trade better than men for whatever reason. You know, like, like, I remember when I was learning how to trade originally, and I got some back testing software. And then my wife would come and ask me, Hey, what are you doing? And I'm like, Oh, look, I'm doing this strategy now. And she, she'd be like, oh, you should do this. And this, and I'd look at her. I'm like, "you know, I just spent like the whole, you know, six weeks learning this thing, and you just come and you just go Blah Blah Blah and tell me what to do. No, it doesn't work that way". And she goes, 'Oh, yeah, let's try it". And I'm like, What do you mean? She goes, Well, you have a testing software, right? I'm like, yeah, she goes, all right. You test it your way, all test it my way. And because I had explained it to her, and I was like, you know, this is a like, I don't know what I think was a credit spread. I was like, you know, this is the trade and we want to just pick where the stock is not gonna go. You know, we don't have to pick where it's going. We have to pick where it's not going, and then make a decent profit. So I think that was the basic intro I gave her. And we tested it for like six months or so. And she beat the pants off of me. And she's like, Oh, this is easy. I don't understand why you hate it. Why can't you make more money doing it? Oh, my God, I was about to cry. But no, but still. So Lori, is your, are you married? I've never asked you before. Lori: Yes, I am. We kind of celebrated our 19th anniversary. Allen: Oh, awesome. Congratulations. Yeah, you don't look that old. Does your husband trade? Lori: Oh, he is actually a financial advisor. But oh, yeah. But his is mostly, you know, mutual funds. You know, trying to preserve capital for his clients and everything. And I wanted to do something that, you know, generated, you know, consistent cash flow, something that eventually would replace my, you know, salary that I get from my 9-5 job. Allen: Right. So what does he think about options in the way you're trading? Lori: He doesn't want to touch options. You know, didn't want to, you know, hey, don't go Forex, don't do options. Don't do crypto, you know, he's, he's pretty much the traditional, hey, let's do mutual funds. He doesn't even do individual stocks, either. It's more of a whole portfolio type of approach that he takes. Allen: Oh, wow. So yes, I can imagine the discussions you guys have had in the past. It's interesting, because when we do have a lot of clients, and they come in, and they're like, Yeah, you know, my wife really, really, she hates this stuff. Like, she won't let me do it. Or she, she doesn't she lets me do it. But you know, like, it wasn't an easy conversation. Oh, wow. Okay. So let's just start off, you know, how have you been trading? How's it going? How your results? Lori: Actually, it was because of your program. It's the first time I've been consistently making money. And I think a lot of it is because you provide the structure. And you know, when you were talking about, hey, there's not many women, and a lot of times they're better traders. I kind of equated my husband when he coaches basketball with the kids and stuff. He said, he always found that the girls did better than the boys because the girls would focus and master the fundamentals more than the boys would. The boys always want to do the trick shots and you know, be all fancy and I think that's what helps you teach the fundamentals of "hey, what to look for, step by step". And that's all I have to do is I just have to follow it. I don't have to try and come up with it. You know, fancy, you know things, it's just simple things to follow. And if I can follow it, I can make money. So.. Allen: That's awesome how long you been trading? Lori: I actually was 30 years ago, I got into mutual funds. So I think when IRAs first started, I was in the Air Force. And people who were higher ranking than me, were giving me advice and saying, hey, you need to start putting away money invest, do your maximum at that time thing was 1500 to 2000 A year into your IRA. And that's where I started, I was terrified to pick the worst mutual funds that didn't make (inaudible) money. And then I think probably maybe 10-15 years later, I just started saying, Hey, let's go do stocks, I didn't fare any better in stocks, I tried options. At one point, you know, I put aside a little bit of money, I lost it all. Because I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't have anybody to, you know, teach me how to do anything. I was just trying to, I was just kind of, you know, muddling my way through and not getting anywhere. So I found the value of finding somebody that can help me, you know, teach me the ropes. And I tried alert systems. And I don't know, I maybe I just kept picking the wrong alerts and I end losing money on the alerts. So.. Allen: But you kept trying. Lori: I kept trying, I see people making money. So if other people can do it, there's got to be a way for me to do it. And so, 30 years later on, I'm finally starting to make money. Allen: Wow. Better late than never I guess. Oh, yeah. You know, some people ask me, oh, can I start this? And can I, you know, can I start making money online or trading? And, you know, I got six months, I'm like, yeah, maybe we'll try to get you there. But yeah, usually it takes longer. But, but that's so but okay, so you're going from a place of where you've tried all these different things, and nothing really seems to be working. And then you go into what we do is like selling options. And that's a little bit more, I don't know, if it's more advanced, but people are more intimidated by that. So how did you make that leap? Lori: I knew you could make more money with Options just because you could leverage what, cuz I have a, you know, small account, you know, less than 10,000. And so I wanted something that was, I could generate money faster, and I knew options was the way to do it. But you know, you also hear on the everybody saying, hey, well, options is risky. And so it wasn't until I heard about yours, where you say, "well, you can do it safely". And so I just, I thought I'd give it a try. And listening to you know, starting off with the passive trading formula, kind of was the first introduction. And I said, yeah, it all makes sense. And so I, I just went all in with the credit spread Mastery program. Allen: Okay. And so what have your trading results been? Since you started that? Lori: Gosh, I didn't do the calculations, but I do have over, I think it's at least 80% win rate. The challenge came in when, you know, my first 20, something trades were all winners, and I had a loser, and I didn't follow your rules on cutting my losses. So that one, you know, kind of really messed up my overall profit. But it kind of highlighted. The other factor that I have to really take into account is the psychology of trading. And I just started reading a book on trading mindfully. And it highlighted all the things that I was doing, I would get overconfident and I wasn't, you know, things, hey, I don't really have to follow that rule or you know, kind of, and so then the losses came and then I get hesitant. Oh, my and that was a huge loss and you know, kind of weary about getting back in. So I kind of had to take a step back, and then I'm back in and I'm doing a lot better now. You know, I'm cutting my losses when I should be cutting my losses. So I think 2022 I think is going to be a really good year. Now that I'm starting to, you know, see what's I can do, where my weaknesses are and then building from there. Allen: Okay, good. So the name of that book is "trading mindfully"? Lori: I think it was "Trade Mindfully" Allen: "Trade Mindfully" Lori: Yeah. . Allen: Yeah, I'll take a look at that. Because, you know, like you were talking about basketball, you got the fundamentals. And you proved it because like you said, you did over 20 trades, or maybe you did the first 20 And then you had one loser. But I remember during our class, you had done well over 30 trades, and you only had like one loss. So I was like, Wow, you did better than I did in that in that three month timeframe. So I was like, okay, she's doing maybe I need to learn from her. So that was really cool, you know? And then since then, okay, so you're still winning. But the the issue was that you just didn't let you just didn't cover the loss fast enough. And so maybe that's why the.. Lori: Yeah, and I had a hard time, you know, after the class, we just started talking about scaling up, it's just really hard for me to pull that trigger of scaling up. So you know, I'm still doing the, you know, I'm just starting now okay, let's, let's go up to, you know, two contracts, or, you know, three, depending on how big the spread is. So I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with the bigger trades. Allen: Cool, and what strategies do you use? Lori: So, right now, mostly, I'm focusing on the credit spread mastery, I'm starting since you know, I'm getting closer to retirement, I'm starting to look at maybe getting some dividend paying stocks into my portfolio. Allen: Okay Lori: And some other long term consistent things. But I, I would actually like to get some, you know, now that I'm starting to get that baseline, I'd like to start getting into something more like swing trading, where I have the ability to kind of take advantage of the movements that in the stock market to make even more money. Allen: Okay, cool. Yeah. You know, the, the idea there were like, so you're talking about, okay, so you're doing credit spreads, you're also going to be, you know, buying dividend stocks. So that's like the second strategy, and then swing trading would be a third strategy. So I would probably advise you maybe to focus on one at a time, you know, you got the credit spreads under your belt. But if we can get a little bit higher in contracts, you'll feel a little bit more comfortable. And then you already have the the passive trading formula program where we all we talk about, you know, the dividend stocks and the covered calls the naked puts, that'll give you a good foundation. And then from time to time, when you do see an opportunity. If one of your favorite stocks is really has dipped below, then definitely you can add the swing trading to that, but like, from what you're telling me, I don't want you to jump didn't get too much and get just overwhelmed and confused about oh, what decision you know how well I use this rule over here and all that kind of thing. So But definitely, you have the ability. And then if you have more time, I'm sure you'll be able to pick it up really quickly. So So in terms of you said you had a $10,000 account. So how well are you up this year, down this year? Do you have an idea? Lori: I'm up this year? Um, Allen: About what percentage? Lori: I am up about 10 15% I think this year, Allen: Okay. And that's even after giving most of it back, right? Because you said you had some a couple big losses that you didn't stop. Yeah. So okay. Because when you were when you were in the class, and you know, you were hitting it, so if you do 30 trades or whatever, and you only have one or two losses, then you must have had a really big loss. So, but yeah, so now you're working on the mental aspect. And that's, that's really crucial, especially for scaling, because I think when it comes to scaling, that's the biggest, because otherwise, it's just numbers, you know, so if I'm trading one, or if I'm trading zero, or 10, is just an extra zero, the trade that I'm looking for is the same, we do the same type of work for that the strategies the same, the return that we're looking for is going to be the same percentage wise. It's just the seeing those extra digits that kind of gets us like, Oh, my God, oh, my God, you know, you're you're a little bit more careful. You're watching it, you might be overtrading. So I like it going from how many trades do you do at one time? Lori: I don't have more than six going at one time. Okay. And I try to spread it out. You know, no, more than a couple every week. I'm getting stuff in there. Allen: Okay. Yeah. So, you know, have you gotten yet from one to or? Lori: Yes, I have. Okay. And that just happened over the last few months. Allen: Okay. And then so now we're looking at what two to three, three to two to four? Lori: Yeah, maybe two to three. Allen: Okay. Good. I mean, see that, like, you know, we tell everybody that once you learn this skill? I mean, you can use it for the next 2030 years. Yeah. Right. So it's, we're not really in a rush to learn it. We're in a, we want to get consistent, and we want to get to the point where we're comfortable. And then once we understand it, it I mean, the numbers they compound so fast, and you've seen it, you know, you've seen it in your own accounts that, yeah, you just do it with and you have a regular just consistency. If you start doing 40 - 50 more percent a year. I mean, those numbers get really big really fast so you don't really need to like Oh, my I got to get it right now. You know, there's no rush. And I know.. Lori: There's gonna be another stock that will meet the criteria that'll fit the pattern. Allen: Yep. Like when, you know, I see some of these ads, you know, from the other gurus. They're like, Oh, yeah, you gotta buy this one stock by this date and this thing is going to happen - are you gonna miss it? I was like, well, you know, I mean, I could just go into the market, and every other week, there's another trade and there's 1000s of them available. So we don't ever have to have that scarcity mindset where it's like, Okay, I'm going to miss it. No, we got time, you know, every month is a new cycle, every week is a new cycle. And there's 1000s of stocks that fit our criteria that we could be trading on. So it's not like there's anything that we're gonna be missing out on. So, you know, even like, if you go, hey, you know, the holiday breaks are coming up, I'm just gonna take my money off the table and not trade for a little bit. And not go risking, because I don't feel like it. You know? So when you're going through this, what are some of the lessons that you learned along the way? Was there anything that would that stuck out to you like, oh, man, I wish I had known this before? Lori: Being patient, what you mentioned before that fear of missing out, you know, I had to it was hard not to chase after trades like wow, this one is, this would be a perfect one. But it had already taken off them just telling myself, hey, there's another one, just be patient look for the right criteria and stuff that meets the criteria. That I think was the hardest part from the psychology of it. And then what you helped was with trade management, right? How much I should put in a trade, you know, trying to help build up confidence. That was really hard, you know, because I went 30 years without really not making money to do and stuff. So trying to get the confidence, hey, that I can actually do this was a hard one as well, to kind of overcome. Allen: You still having issues with that? Lori: Oh, not as much. Now, now that I've seen some success. Allen: Awesome because I know, I know, I dealt with it. And I know others, I've seen it with others to where, if it if they go a long time, without having too much success, you know, maybe they do a little bit in one year. And then they give it back and goes up and down. And then they finally find something that works really well. And they're doing it, they're doing it. And then there's this element of self sabotage, you know, where like, I remember doing this, like, I would have months where I would make make, make, make make, and then I just wouldn't pay attention. I'd be like, all the trades are fine, I'm not gonna worry about it. And I wouldn't even check in on them. And then the market would start getting, you know, crazy. And then boom, big loss. It's like, Oh, what happened? Oh, duh, I didn't pay attention, you know, that I kicked myself. And I'm like, Why do I do that? It's like, oh, it's confidence is all, you know, comes back to all confidence. Most of you know, trading is like 90% of trading is all mental. Yes. So that's a big realization that you have there. So what what were the big? What were the big realizations that you had? Like, what was the any aha moments? Lori: The biggest, aha was my my mindset that, you know, I'm my own worst enemy, when it comes to trading? second guessing myself, especially after, you know, not getting anywhere for so long. You know, I'm thinking, Yeah, can I really do this, you know, maybe it's, you know, times gone, you know, maybe this isn't for me, you know, kind of giving up. But now, I've having a strategy, a structure, that was big for me, right, saying, Hey, this is, you know, and your stuff is so simple, you know, just, hey, look for it going in one direction over a period of time, you know, check the volatility, and hey, pick this delta and, you know, go ahead and put the trade so that you can get your 10% you know, you're not trying to shoot to, you know, make 300% in one trade, it is just keeping consistent over a long period of time. And that's big. Right? I don't I don't need that. 200% and, you know, two days kind of thing. I can do this over the long haul. Allen: Yeah. I mean, that's part of it. Like sometimes people see it for the first time. And they're like, Wow, that's kind of too simple. But, I mean, you know, you look at it over and over again over the years. Yeah, but it's been working. And I think it's continues to do it. So do you have any the stuff that was holding you back originally? Do you think that that you've overcome those obstacles? Now? Lori: They're still, I don't think I'll ever, you know, totally get over the mindset issues. That's just, I think, just human nature that, hey, we're gonna do well, we start getting a little overconfident or if we make a mistake, you know, you're going to be hesitant to kind of jump back in, but at least I'm aware of it now. And I can address it. So.. Allen: That's awesome. So where do you where do you see the future now, like you said, you know, next year you're looking at, it's gonna be a really good year, and then talk about further down the line - what do you think you're gonna be doing? Lori: I think I will end up doing this full time. Allen: Really? Okay. Lori: We're trading you know, part time to get a full time. Allen: Right. Right. Right. Lori: In about 3 years, I'll be able to retire from my job. And then, you know, I can see it where I don't have to worry about, Okay I'm going to have to live on a lot less money. I'll have something here that I can just maintain or even get, have a better lifestyle than I've got now. Allen: Nice. I love. I love hearing that. And then the fact that, you know, most people, they're like, oh, yeah, you know, I'm going to retire and then I'm going to move to the islands or somewhere. You're, you're already there. You're you're one step ahead of everybody else. Cool. Cool. Is there any any words of wisdom you would give to people who are you know, they're still maybe a little hesitant? They're like, No, no, is this? Is this stuff real? Is sounds too good to be true? What would you tell those type of people? Lori: It is real. All you got to do is follow that path that you have laid out. You have made it so simple, and I am so grateful that I came across your program. Allen: Cool. Okay, and then, so I still want to go back to your husband, like, I want him, I want to get him on board. I don't know how we're going to do that. But I want to, because I always bash financial planners a lot. You know, I mean, they they do a great job. But there's some bad ones. And there's something there -most of them are pretty good. And they're they want to help people, but the whole, their whole business model, it doesn't really work for, you know, people who want to do it themselves. If you don't want to worry about your money, you don't want to think about it or learn about it, then yeah, you give it to a financial planner, and you'll take good care of it. But if you.. Lori: That's the people he works with, he doesn't. He says, you know, he's run into people that are do it yourselfers and stuff. And he says, I can't help you there. That's just not his expertise. And so, but you know, he goes, Hey, if you get really good, maybe you can start managing people's money for him or, you know Allen: Yeah. Yeah, we have a few students that have gone that route. So it's doable. But I do know that once those financial planners, when they start seeing it, and they start learning it for themselves, they go, they go nuts, they can't believe it, they're like, well, I'd really like Oh, my God, I didn't Why didn't I know about this earlier? Because they're not talking about it, you know, they're not taught about options and the way their commission structures work. And then they have their whatever the broker dealers or their their business setup, it's too hard to handle all the little options. So it's cool, cool, awesome. Okay, so I think we've already covered like, you know, what was the hardest part was the the mental aspect. Yeah, you're still working on the scaling? So in you're retiring in three years? I think you said, so you're gonna focus on trading a lot more. Do you feel that you have any special skills? Or that drew you to this? Or can anybody just anybody off the street do it? Lori: I think anybody, if you if you can follow simple directions, you can do it. Yeah, it just takes a little bit of practice. And it's great, you know, doing, you know, start off with paper trading. That way you can get to get your confidence that really helped me is the paper trading because you make all your mistakes there. And it'll help you when you actually pull the trigger with real money. Allen: So when do you think you'll feel that you're you're okay with adding some more money to the trading account? Have you thought about that? Lori:  Ah, actually, I have not thought about that. Allen: Okay. Lori: I probably should. Allen: I'm not, you know, that's up to you. I am not licensed to give you financial advise. Yeah, but like, you know, because when when you told me, because first, I had seen your, your trades, and then later on, you told me that hey, I, you know, I want to scale it. So I was like, Okay, sure. And you're like, Well, I'm stuck with this account. I thought you had already probably added more to it, because you had so much success earlier on. Lori: I think maybe when I get more comfortable with the scaling that I will probably start adding more. But it still scares me. Right? Seeing the extra zero trying to go, you know, even when you said two to four, and you know, just okay and then I start to hang a little faster, so.. Allen: Well, yeah, then then you don't do it. You know, it's like, if you can't sleep at night, then yeah, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. And how much time do you does it take on your trading, how much time you spend? Lori: Oh, it doesn't take very long at all, maybe 20 - 30 minutes at the most so in the morning before I go to work.. Allen: Okay. Lori: ..and take a look. Either put some trades in or check what you know, how my existing trades are going to see if I have to manage any of those. Allen: And that includes everything so managing researching. Lori: Uh huh because because you walked us through on how to create a watch list. So I have my watch list and I just go through that you can easily find a couple of trades every day. And so just takes a few minutes to evaluate which one probably would be the best one that's going to get you your profit faster. Allen: Okay, and you're saying you're doing about two a week or so average? Yeah. Okay, so yeah, so everyday, you don't even need to find trades. It's, yeah, it's just whenever you need. Awesome Lori: So a lot of times, I'm just there trying to, you know, checking on my existing trades to, to see how they're doing. So, you know, that could be as quick as five minutes. Allen: And you check in. So okay, so you're in Hawaii time, which is three or four hours behind me. So when you go to work, what time is it? Like the market is going to close in a couple hours already? Is that how it works? Lori: The market closes? I think before lunchtime here in Hawaii. Allen: Okay. So yeah, so just one time while you're going before you're going to work, that seems to be enough. Fun time. Okay. Cool. Yeah, yeah, we have some students a, you know, they, they get, they get, they wake up early, and then they'll check it before the market opens. And then they check it when the market opens. And then they check it, you know, during lunch, and then a couple of times during the day and like, yeah, you're going too crazy, you know, just you need to chill out, relax. Don't make it so stressful. Lori: That's what I like about this system, I don't have to be on the computer all day watching where everything is going. So I can just 20-30 minutes a day at the most and I'm good. Allen: What was it originally, that made you want to get into trading was there are a specific reason or a desire that you had or? Lori: A lot of it is I wanted to be able to generate a full time income part time. I really didn't want to have to Okay, I got to keep getting up, you know, certain hours, do eight, nine hours a day come home and you know, then you got to take care of all the stuff around the house. You know, it's it's tedious after a while, so I wanted a little bit of more freedom more control of my time. Allen: Okay, makes sense. Makes a lot of sense. Yep. Didn't get there. Maybe right? there didn't get there. But the future now he's bright, but you got there eventually. So now the future looks really bright. And now you'll have, you know, probably when you retire when you do retire, then you'll have plenty of extra money to go do whatever you want. Lori: Like if my kids are interested, you know, they're tired of their jobs. And that's something I can pass on to. to them. That may be something they might want to. Yeah, you know, pursue. Allen: Yeah, that would be I mean, could you imagine? It's like, yeah, you know, I learned a little late, but if you learn it now you can you can quit your job years ahead of time, right? That would be like the biggest best gift you could give. Like, forget College, I'm just gonna teach you this. Cool. Okay, any final words you want to share with our viewers? Lori: She said, if, if I can do it, you know, after 30 years of struggling, you know, anybody can do it. You know, if you have the desire, and you're willing to follow the instructions, the rules, you can do it. Allen: I'll say, most said, well, Laurie, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your time. Appreciate your candor and being open about you know, the losses and sometimes people are a little bit you know, they try to they talk about the good stuff, but they don't really share all the all the hard stuff. But you're like, Yeah, you know, 30 years that sucked. And I know you know, you were a little shy, and I do appreciate you coming on you did you know, I'm sure this is going to help a lot of people, you know. Lori: I sure hope so.. Allen: They're gonna listen, they're gonna see it and they're gonna be like, "Wow, I want to be like Lori". All right, appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Lori: Thank you, Allen. LOVE ALLEN SAMA - OPTION GENIUS AND WANT TO LEARN MORE TRADING TIPS  AND TRICKS? HERE ARE SOME NEXT STEPS... SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST FREE 9 LESSON COURSE: https://optiongenius.com/  WATCH THIS FREE TRAINING: https://passivetrading.com  JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://optiongenius.com/alliance  Like our show? Please leave us a review here - even one sentence helps. Thank you!  

Congratulations to the Dawgs! Kayla and Joshua recap Georgia's thrilling 2022 National Championship win over Alabama. They also discuss Stetson Bennett and his future as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is a heart-full ride through some of our favorite themes: purpose, navigation, growth, and creation. Our guest, Liana Blackburn Snarburg dives head first into making and maintaining BIG life changes from diet to lifestyle and career path. She doesn't pretend it is easy, but she does have a recipe that works, and she shares it with so much flavor! If you are looking to make big moves (and savoring your LIFE) in 2022, this episode is for you. Quicklinks: January 13th Coaching Call: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflkbMMP1HaqPAGbRQAHkB_ih3cOH_ED6SHgm5PUcXtUNxOiQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Mailing List: Scroll to the bottom of the page at thedanawilson.com Adele Cabot, Vocal Coach:https://adelecabot.com/la-voice-joy/welcome/ Daily Dancer Diet https://www.dailydancerdiet.com/ Transcript: Intro: Welcome to Words That Move Me, the podcast where movers and shakers, like you, get the information and inspiration you need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. I am your host, Dana Wilson, and I move people. I am all about the tools and techniques that empower tomorrow’s leaders to make the work of their dreams and live a full life while doing it. So whether you’re new to the game or transitioning to your next echelon of greatness, you’re in the right place. Dana: Hello, Hello, my friend. And welcome to words that move me. I’m Dana and Ooh, who, who are you in for a treat today? If you are looking for motivation and a wind for your sales, as they say to set you out at sea on your journey, that is 2022. Mm I have got it for you today. Plus some, I mean, truly like remainder motivation. Um, it is truly hard to listen to our guest Liana Blackburn and not get fired up. In fact, during this, uh, interview, I even teared up a couple times, so get ready to feel your feelings. Um, this episode is a heartful ride through some of the biggest themes that we talk about here on the podcast. We talk about purpose navigation, growth creation so much so good, but first, before we get into it, we’re going to do wins as always. We start every episode with wins and today I am celebrating. And some of you may have seen me celebrate this on my Instagram. Uh, today I’m celebrating, being the proud owner of an electric scooter, shout out nine, but, uh, they didn’t pay me to say that, but like, I really love my scooter. Um, and this, this tremendous sense of bad-ass Surrey bombarding around my neighborhood and beyond, uh, with my husband on these scooters. That is my, when we used to, we used to joke that we might start a scooter gang someday. And now that joke is funny cause it’s true. Um, and there is a sub win here, a scooter sub when you know me never one when Wilson, that’s what they called me in grade school. I’m kidding. But wouldn’t that be cool anyways? I don’t think I’m going to go into my sub win. Now. I think I’m going to come back to that in another episode because there’s actually quite a lot to dig into with that. Um, so that’s it for me today celebrating my two person scooter gang. Um, now it is your turn hit me. What’s going well in your world. Congratulations. I’m so glad you’re winning thrilled for you. Keep it up. All right, now let’s do this. Let’s not drag this out any longer. I am so excited to share this conversation with Leanna because she is a person who loves to share i

What happens when a veterinary professional's own pet needs veterinary care? Do they schedule an appointment? Who cares for them, when are they seen, and how much do they charge? What are some of the potential disruptions and discord that bringing in our own pets for veterinary care can create in a veterinary practice? Perhaps more than you'd think… Hosts Dr. Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor, RVT explore the benefits - and potential pitfalls - of taking our own pets into the clinics we work in. From “picking staff favorites,” to micro-aggressions and staff tensions, to determining fair fees, and being asked to perform diagnostic tests or treatments on our ailing pets, this week we tackle a tough topic rarely discussed publicly. Beckie shares her recent experiences in not being able to get prompt care for her own pet and Dr. Ward offers some of the solutions he discovered in his clinics. Both express the need for being proactive on this issue, particularly given the current state of staff shortages and overwhelmed schedules. Viewfinders, this is a good one! Viewfinders, how do handle staff pets in your clinic? What problems and solutions have you found? Share them on our social media or email us at veterinaryviewfinder@gmail.com! Finally, as Dr. Ward says, “GO DAWGS!” Congratulations on Dr. Ward's alma mater the University of Georgia for winning the 2021-22 NCAA college football national championship this week by defeating rival University of Alabama!

01:48 - Kate's Superpower: Empathy * Absorbing Energy * Setting Healthy Energetic Boundaries * Authenticity * Intent vs Impact 10:46 - Words and Narratives Carry Power; Approaching Inclusive Language * Taking Action After Causing Harm * Get Specific, But Don't Overthink * Practice Makes Progress * Normalize Sharing Pronouns * No-CodeConf (https://webflow.com/nocodeconf) * No-CodeSchool (https://nocodeschool.co/) * Gender Expresion Does Not Always Equal Gender Identity 21:27 - Approaching Inclusive Language in the Written Word * Webflow Accessibility Checklist (https://webflow.com/accessibility/checklist) * Asking For Advice * Do Your Own Research/Work 29:18 - Creating Safe Places, Communities, and Environments * Absorbing and Asking * Authenticity (Cont'd) * Adaptation to Spaces * Shifting Energy 42:34 - Building Kula (https://kulayogadenver.com/) While Working in Tech * Community Care, Mutual Aid-Centered Model * Using Privilege to Pave the Way For More People * Alignment Reflections: John: The dichotomy between perfectionism and authenticity. Arty: Words carry power. Kate: Having an open heart is how you can put any of this into action. This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) of DevReps, LLC (http://www.devreps.com/). To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode) To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at paypal.me/devreps (https://www.paypal.me/devreps). You will also get an invitation to our Slack community this way as well. Transcript: PRE-ROLL: Software is broken, but it can be fixed. Test Double's superpower is improving how the world builds software by building both great software and great teams. And you can help! Test Double is hiring empathetic senior software engineers and DevOps engineers. We work in Ruby, JavaScript, Elixir and a lot more. Test Double trusts developers with autonomy and flexibility at a remote, 100% employee-owned software consulting agency. Looking for more challenges? Enjoy lots of variety while working with the best teams in tech as a developer consultant at Test Double. Find out more and check out remote openings at link.testdouble.com/greater. That's link.testdouble.com/greater. JOHN: Welcome to Greater Than Code. I'm John Sawers and I'm here with Arty Starr. ARTY: Thanks, John. And I'm here with our guest today, Kate Marshall. Kate is a copywriter and inclusivity activist living in Denver. Since entering tech 4 years ago, she's toured the marketing org from paid efforts to podcast host, eventually falling in love with the world of copy. With this work, she hopes to make the web a more welcoming place using the power of words. Outside of Webflow, you'll find Kate opening Kula, a donation-based yoga studio, and bopping around the Mile High City with her partner, Leah. Welcome to the show, Kate. KATE: Hi, thank you so much! ARTY: So we always start our shows with our famous first question. What is your superpower and how did you acquire it? KATE: My superpower, I've been thinking about this. My superpower is empathy. It can also be one of my biggest downfalls [laughs], which I actually think happens more often than not with any superpower. I once heard from a child, actually, they always seem to know best that too much of the good, good is bad, bad. [laughter] So it turns out sometimes too much empathy can be too overwhelming for my system, but it has really driven everything that I've done in my career and my personal life. As for how I acquired it, I don't know that you can really acquire empathy. I think it's just something you have, or you don't. I've always been extremely intuitive and if you're going through something, it's likely that I can feel it. So I think I'm just [laughs] I hate to steal Maybelline's line, but I think I was born with it. JOHN: You talked about having a downside there and I've heard – and I'm curious, because most people talk about empathy as a positive thing and wanting more people to develop more empathy, but I'd to love hear you talk a little bit more about what you see the downsides are. KATE: Yeah. As someone who struggles with her own mental health issues, it can be really overwhelming for me to really take on whatever it is you're going through. Especially if it's a loved one, you tend to care more about what they're feeling, or what they're going through and an empath truly does absorb the energy of what's happening around them. So although, it does influence a lot of the work that I do, both in my full-time career and opening my yoga studio and everything in between, it's also hard sometimes to set those boundaries, to set healthy, really energetic boundaries. It's hard enough to voice your boundaries to people, but setting energetic boundaries is a whole other ballgame. So it can tend to feel overwhelming at times and bring you down if the energy around you is lower than what you want it to be. ARTY: So what kind of things do you do to try and set healthy, energetic boundaries? KATE: Ah. I do a lot of what some people would call, including myself, woo-woo practices. [chuckles] Obviously, I practice yoga. I teach yoga. I'm super passionate about holistic, or energetic healing so I go to Reiki regularly. I'm in therapy, talk therapy. All of those things combined help me build this essentially an energetic shield that I can psych myself up to use any time I'm leaving the apartment. If it feels a high energy day, or if I'm meeting up with a friend who I know is going through something, I really have to set those boundaries is. Same thing kind of at work, too. So much of the time that we spend in our lives is spent at work, or interacting with coworkers or colleagues and same thing. Everyone's going through their own journey and battles, and you have to carry that energetic shield around you wherever you go. JOHN: One way I've often thought about having those sort of boundaries is the more I know who I am, the more what the limits of me are and the barrier between me and the universe is. So the work that I do, which includes therapy and other things, to understand myself better and to feel like I know what's me and what's not me, helps me have those boundaries. Because then I know if there's something going on with someone else and I can relate to it, but not get swept up by it. KATE: Yeah. It's so funny you say that because I was actually just having a conversation with a friend a couple weeks ago that has really stuck with me. I was kind of feeling like I was messing up, essentially. Like I was not fully able to honor, or notice all of the triggers of the people around me. I think especially at the end of the year and as a queer person who is surrounded by queer community, it can be really tough around the holidays. So that energy can just be generally more charged and I was finding it difficult to reconcile with my idea of perfection in that I really want to honor every person around me who has triggers, who has boundaries that maybe haven't been communicated, and it almost feels like you're almost always crossing some sort of line, especially when you're putting those perfectionism expectations on yourself. My friend was like, “I don't think it's as much about being perfect at it as much as it is feeling like you're being authentically yourself and really authentically interacting with those people.” I don't know if I can really voice what the connection is between being able to honor triggers and boundaries of the people around you and feeling like your authentic self, but there's something about it that feels really connected to me. As long as you're trying your best and feeling like you're coming from a place of love, or connection, or compassion, or empathy whatever feels most to you, that's really all we can do, right? JOHN: Yeah. I feel like that authenticity is such a tricky concept because the thoughts that you're having about wanting to be perfect and take care of everyone and make sure you're not triggering anybody and not stepping on any of your own things, that's also part of you that is authentically you. You may not want it to be that way, but it still is. [laughs]. ARTY: Yeah. JOHN: So I still don't have a really clear sense in my mind what authenticity really is. I think probably it settles down to being a little bit more in the moment, rather than up in the thinking, the judging, the worrying, and being able to be present rather than – [overtalk] ARTY: Totally. JOHN: Those other things, but it is tricky. KATE: Yeah. It can be tricky. Humans, man. [laughter] It really is like being a human and part of the human experience is going to be triggering other people. It's going to be causing harm. It's going to be causing trauma to other humans. That's just part of it. I think the more you can get comfy with that idea and then also just really feeling like you're doing everything you can to stay connected to your core, which usually is in humans is a place of love. You're rooted in love for the people around you. How could you criticize yourself too much when you know that you're coming from that place? ARTY: I feel like things change, too as you get feedback. In the context of any intimate relationship where you've got emotionally connected relationship with another person where you are more unguarded and you're having conversations about things that are more personal, that have at least the potential to hurt and cause harm. Like sometimes we do things not meaning to and we end up hurting someone else accidentally, but once that happens—and hopefully, you have an open dialogue where you have a conversation about these things and learn about these things and adapt—then I think the thing to do is honor each person as an individual of we're all peoples and then figure out well, what can we do to adapt how we operate in this relationship and look out for both people's best interests and strive for a win-win. If we don't try and do that, like if we do things that we know we're harming someone else and we're just like, “Well, you should just put up with that,” [laughs], or whatever. I think that's where it becomes problematic is at the same time, we all have our own limitations and sometimes, the best thing to do is this relationship doesn't work. The way that we interact causes mutual harm and we can't this a win-win relationship and the best thing to do sometimes is to separate, even though it hurts because it's not working. KATE: Yeah. I feel like sometimes it's a classic case of intent versus impact, too. Like what's your intention going into a conversation and then how does that end up actually impacting that person and how can you honor that and learn from that? That's actually one thing that I love so much about being a writer is that words do carry so much power—written word, spoken word, whatever it is. They hold so much power and they can cause harm whether we want them to, or not. Part of being an empath is caring a lot about people's lived experiences and I really see it as more than putting – being a writer and doing this every day, I see it so much more than just putting words on a page and hoping signs up for the beta, or watches the thing registers, or the conference. It's words can foster connection, words can build worlds for people; they can make people feel like they belong and I believe that I'm on this planet to foster that connection with each other and with ourselves. So it all connects for me. It all comes back around whether we're talking about being in a romantic relationship, or our relationship with our parents, or our caregivers, or the work that I do every day it all comes back to that connection and really wanting to make people feel more connected to themselves, to each other, and like they have a place with words. ARTY: Yeah. It's very powerful. Words and narratives, I would say too, just thinking about the stories that we tell ourselves, the stories that we tell one another that become foundational in our culture. It's all built upon were words. Words shape the ideas in our head. They shape our thoughts. They shape how we reflect on things, how we feel about things, and then when people give us their words, we absorb those and then those become part of our own reflections. KATE: Yeah. ARTY: We affect one another a lot. I think that's one of the things I'm just seeing and talking to you is just thinking about how much we affect one another through our everyday interactions. KATE: Yeah, and I think a lot of this comes down to – there's something you said earlier that resonated in that it's really about the action you take after you cause the harm, or after you say the thing that hurts the other person and it's less about – and that's what made me say intent versus impact because you see the impact, you acknowledge it, and you make a decision to lessen that next time, or to be aware, more aware next time. This is really at the core of all the work I do for inclusive language as well. It's just the core principle of the words we use carry a lot of power. And I was actually just chatting with someone in the No-Code space. We connected through Webflow a couple weeks ago and he said, “I think people are so scared to get it wrong when it comes to inclusive language,” and I experience this all the time. People freeze in their tracks because they don't know how address someone and then they're so scared to get it wrong and they're like, “Oh, so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,” and they're so apologetic. And then that makes it worse and it's just a whole thing. In this conversation, we were talking specifically about misgendering people. My partner is non-binary. They're misgendered every single day when we go to restaurants, when we are just out and about. So this is something that is a part of my life every day. I told him that fear is so real and I carry that fear, too because I don't want to hurt people because I want to like get it right. It comes back to that perfectionism, that expectation that I put on myself, especially as a queer person to get it right all the time. But so much of the good stuff lies in how you approach it and then how you fix it when you mess it up. Like, it's not so much about the thing, it's about the way that you approach it. If you approach inclusive language with an open mind, an open heart, and a real willingness, like true willingness to learn, that's what's important going into it and then you're already doing the work. You're already an ally. You're already however you want to put it. And then when you use an ableist word, or you use a racist word, or you misgender someone, your actions for following that speak volumes. I think we can really get caught up in the action itself and it's more about how you go into it and then how you try to fix it. ARTY: So I'm thinking for listeners that might identify with being in a situation of being in the headlights and not knowing how to respond, or what to do. Other than what you were just talking about with coming at it with an open heart, are there any specific recommendations you might have for how to approach inclusive language? KATE: Yeah. Yeah, I have a couple really, really good ones. So often, the way to speak more inclusively, or to write more inclusively is just to get more specific about what you're trying to say. So instead of saying, “Oh, that's so crazy,” which is ableist, you can say, “Oh, that's so unheard of.” That's a good example. Or instead of unnecessarily gendering something you're saying like, “Oh, I'm out of wine, call the waitress over.” It's server instead of waiter, or waitress. You kind of start to essentially practice replacing these words and these concepts that are so ingrained into who we are, into society at large, and really starting to disrupt those systems within us with challenging the way that we've described things in the past. So just essentially getting more specific when we're speaking. When it comes to misgendering people specifically, it's really important to not be overly apologetic when you misgender someone. I can give an example. If a server, for example, comes up to me and my partner and says, “Can I get you ladies anything else?” And I say, “Oh, actually my partner uses they/them pronouns. They are not a lady,” and they say, “Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Oh shit!” And then that makes my partner feel bad [chuckles] for putting them in that position and then it's kind of this like ping pong back and forth of just bad feelings. The ideal scenario, the server would say, “Oh, excuse me, can I get you all anything else?” Or, “Can I get you folks anything else?” Or just, if you're speaking about someone who uses they/them pronouns and you say, “Yeah, and I heard she, I mean, they did this thing.” You just quickly correct it and move on. Don't make it into a production. It's okay. We get it. Moving on. Just try not to overthink it, basically. [laughs] Get more specific, but don't overthink it. Isn't that like, what a dichotomy. [laughter] JOHN: That ties back to what you were saying about perfectionism also, right? Like you said, you freeze up if you try and be perfect about it all the time, because you can't always know what someone's pronouns are and so, you have to make a guess at some point and maybe you're going to guess wrong. But it's how you deal with it by not making everybody uncomfortable with the situation. [laughs] KATE: Yeah. JOHN: And like you said, ping pong of bad feelings just amplifies, the whole thing blows out of proportion. You can just be like, “Oh, my apologies.” Her, they, whatever it is and then very quickly move on and then it's forgotten the next minute. Everything moves on from that, but you're not weeping and gnashing and – [laughter] KATE: Yeah. JOHN: Well, it means you don't have to keep feeling bad about it for the next 3 days either, like everyone can move on from that point. KATE: Right. Yeah, and just doing your best to not do it again. JOHN: Yeah. KATE: Once you learn, it's important to really let that try to stick. If you're having trouble, I have a friend who really has trouble with they/them pronouns and they practice with their dog. They talk to their dog about this person and they use they/them pronouns in that. Practice really does make perfect in this – not perfect, okay. Practice really does make progress in this kind of scenario and also, normalize sharing pronouns. JOHN: Yeah. KATE: It's more than just putting it in your Zoom name. It's more than just putting it in your Instagram bio. A good example of really starting this conversation was during Webflow's No-Code Conf, our yearly conference. It was mostly online and we had a live portion of it and every single time we introduced someone new, or introduced ourselves, we said, “My name is Kate Marshall, my pronouns are she/her, and I'm so happy to be here with you today.” Or just asking if you don't know, or if you're in a space with someone new, you say, “What are your pronouns?” It's really is that easy. Webflow made some year-round pride mech that we launched over the summer and we have a cute beanie that says “Ask me my pronouns.” It's like, it's cool to ask. It's fine to ask and that's so much better than unintentionally misgendering someone. It's going to take some time to get there, but normalize it. JOHN: Yeah, and I think there's one key to that that has always stuck out of my mind, which is don't ask pronouns just for the people you think might have different pronouns than you would expect. KATE: Yes. JOHN: Make it part of all the conversations so it's not just singling somebody out of a group and saying, “I want to know your pronouns because they're probably different.” That's not good. KATE: Right, because gender expression does not always equal gender identity. JOHN: Yeah. KATE: You can't know someone's gender identity from the way that they express their gender and that's also another huge misconception that I think it's time we talk more about. JOHN: So we've been talking a lot about conversations and person-to-person interactions and inclusive language there. But a lot of what you do is it on the writing level and I imagine there's some differences there. So I'm curious as to what you see as far as the things that you do to work on that in the written form. KATE: Yeah. So this is actually a really great resource that I was planning on sharing with whoever's listening, or whoever's following along this podcast. There is a really wonderful inclusive language guidelines that we have published externally at Webflow and I own it, I update it regularly as different things come in and inclusive language is constantly evolving. It will never be at a final resting point and that's also part of why I love it so much because you truly are always growing. I'm always learning something new about inclusive language, or to make someone feel more included with the words that I'm writing. This table has, or this resource has ableist language, racist language, and sexist language tables with words to avoid, why to avoid them, and some alternatives and just some general principles. I reference it constantly. Like I said, it's always evolving. I actually don't know how many words are on there, but it's a good amount and it's a lot of things have been surfaced to me that I had no idea were racist. For instance, the word gypped. Like if you say, “Oh, they gypped me” is actually racist. It's rooted in the belief that gypsy people are thieves. [chuckles] So it's things like that we really kind of go deep in there and I reference this constantly. Also, ALS language is a really big consideration, especially in the tech space. So instead of – and this can be avoided most of the time, not all of the time. We do work with a really wonderful accessibility consultant who I run things by constantly. Shout out to Michele. Oh, she was actually on the podcast at one point. Michele Williams, shout out. Lovely human. So a good example is instead of “watch now,” or “listen now,” it's “explore this thing,” “browse this thing,” “learn more”. Just try not to get so specific about the way that someone might be consuming the information that I'm putting down on the page. Stuff like that. It truly does come down to just getting more specific as just a general principle. JOHN: So it sounds to me some of the first steps you take are obviously being aware that you have to mold your language to be more accessible and inclusive, then it's informing yourself of what the common pitfalls are. As you said, you have consultants, you've got guides, you've got places where you can gather this information and then once you have that, then you build that into your mental process for writing what you're writing. KATE: Yeah, and truly just asking questions and this goes for everyone. No one would ever – if I reached out to our head of DEI, Mariah, and said, “Mariah, is this thing offensive?” Or, “How should I phrase this thing to feel more inclusive to more people?” She would never come back at me and say, “Why are you asking me this? You should already know this,” and that is the attitude across the board. I would never fault someone for coming to me and asking me how to phrase something, or how to write something to make it feel better for more people. So it's really a humbling experience [laughs] to be in this position. Again, words carry so much power and I just never take for granted, the power essentially that I have, even if it is just for a tech company. A lot of people are consuming that and I want to make them feel included. JOHN: Yeah. The written face of a company is going to tell readers a lot about the culture of the company, the culture of the community around the product. KATE: Yeah. JOHN: Whether they're going to be welcome there, like what their experience is going to be like if they invest their time to learn about it. So it's really important to have that language there and woven into everything that's written, not just off the corner on the DEI page. KATE: Yeah. That's what I was just about to say is especially if you're a company that claims to prioritize DEI, you better be paying close attention to the words that you're using in your product, on your homepage, whatever it is, your customer support. I've worked with the customer support team at Webflow to make sure that the phrasing feels good for people. It truly does trickle into every single asset of a business and it's ongoing work that does not just end at, like you said, putting it on a DEI page. Like, “We care about this,” and then not actually caring about it. That sucks. [laughs] JOHN: Oh, the other thing before we move too far on from last topic, you're talking about asking for advice. I think one of the keys there, a, being humble and just saying, “I would like to know,” and you're very unlikely to get criticized for simply asking how something can be better. But I feel like one of the keys to doing that well is also not arguing with the person you've asked after they give you an answer. KATE: Right. Yes. Especially if that person is a part of the community that your words are affecting, or that your question is affecting. It's such a tricky balance because it's really not the queer community's job to educate people who are not queer about inclusive language. But when that person is willing to share their knowledge with the you, or willing to share their experience with you, you've got to listen. Your opinions about their lived experience don't come into that conversation, or shouldn't come into that conversation. It's not questioning the information that you're given, but then it's also taking that and doing your own research and asking more people and having conversations with your friends and family trying to widen this breadth of information and knowledge as a community. Like I said, kind of dismantling the things that we're taught growing up by capitalism, by society, everything that kind of unnecessarily separates and then doing better next time. I've actually had conversations with people who are very curious, who come to me with questions and then the next time I interact with them, they're just back to factory settings. That's so disappointing and just makes me feel like my energy could have been better spent having that conversation with someone who is more receptive. So I think it really is just about being open to hearing someone's experience, not questioning it, and then really taking that in and doing the work on your own. JOHN: Yeah, and part of that doing the work is also for the things that you can Google for the things where you can look at it from the guide, do that first before asking for someone's time. KATE: Yeah. JOHN: So that they're not answering the same 101 questions every time that are just written in 15 different blog posts. KATE: Yes. Especially if you're asking a marginalized person to do the work for you. JOHN: Yeah. KATE: Intersectionality matters and putting more work on the shoulders of people who are already weighed down by so much ain't it. [laughs] ARTY: Well, I was wanting to go back to your original superpower that you talked about with empathy. We talked a lot about some of these factors that make empathy of a difficult thing of over empathizing and what kind of factors make that hard. But as a superpower, what kind of superpowers does that give you? KATE: Ah, just being able to really connect to a lot of different people. I mentioned earlier that I believe it's my purpose, it's my life's work on this planet at this time to connect people to themselves and to each other. The more asking I can do and the more absorbing I can do of other people's experiences, the better I am at being able to connect with them and being able to make them feel like they belong in whatever space I'm in. I can't connect with someone if I don't try and get it. Try and get what they're going through, or what their experiences are. That's why I do so much time just talking to people, and that's why I love yoga and why I want to start this studio and open this space. Because we live in a world where we don't have a lot of spaces, especially marginalized communities don't have a lot of spaces that feel like they're being understood, or they're truly being heard, or seen. Me being an empath, I'm able to access that in people more and therefore, bringing them closer to safer spaces, or safer people, safer communities where they really feel like they can exist and be their full, whole, and complete selves. It's really special. ARTY: We also touched this concept of authenticity and it seems like that also comes up in this context of creating these safe spaces and safe communities where people can be their whole selves. So when you think about authenticity, we talked about this being a difficult and fuzzy word, but at the same time, it does have some meaning as to what that means, and these challenges with regards to boundaries and things. But I'm curious, what does authenticity mean to you? How does that come into play with this idea of safety and creating these safe spaces for others as well? KATE: Yeah. I feel like there's so much in there. I think one of the biggest things to accept about the word authenticity, or the concept of authenticity is that it's always changing and it means something different to everyone. We are all authentic to ourselves in different ways and at different times in our lives and I think it's so important to honor the real evolution of feeling authentic. There are times and days where I'm like who even am. It's like what even, but there's always this sort of core, root part of me that I don't lose, which is what we've been talking about. This ability to connect, this feeling of empathy, of compassion, of wanting to really be a part of the human experience. That, to me, kind of always stays and I feel like that's the authentic, like the real, real, authentic parts of me. There are layers to it that are always changing and as people, we are also always evolving and always changing. So those different parts of authenticity could be what you wear that make you feel like your most authentic self. It can be how you interact with your friends, or how you interact with the person, getting your popcorn at the movies, or whatever it is. Those can all feel like parts of your authentic self. That means something different to everyone. But I think that's such a beautiful part about it and about just being human is just how often these things are changing for us and how important it is to honor someone's authenticity, whatever that means for them at that time. Even if it's completely different from what you knew about them, or how you knew them before. It's this constant curiosity of yourself and of others, really getting deeply curious about what feels like you. ARTY: I was wondering about safety because you were talking about the importance of creating these safe communities and safe environments where people could be their whole, complete selves, which sounds a lot like the authenticity thing, but you trying to create space for that for others. KATE: Yeah. Well, the reality of safety is that there's no one space that will ever be a “safe space for everyone,” and that's why I like to say safer spaces, or a safer space for people because you can never – I feel like it's all coming full circle where you can never meet every single person exactly where they need to be met in any given moment. You can just do your best to create spaces that feel safer to them and you do that with authentic connection, with getting curious about who they are and what they love, and just making sure that your heart's really in it. [chuckles] Same with inclusive language. It's all about the way you approach it to make someone feel safer. But I do think it's an I distinction to remember. You're never going to be safe for everyone. A space you create is never going to be safe for everyone. The best you can do is just make it safer for more people. ARTY: When I think about just the opposite of that, of times that I've gone into a group where I haven't felt safe being myself and then when you talk of about being your complete whole self, it's like bringing a whole another level of yourself to a space that may not really fit that space and that seems like it's okay, too. Like we don't necessarily have to bring our full self to all these different spaces, but whatever space we're a part of, we kind of sync up and adapt to it. So if I'm in one space and I feel the kind of vibe, energy, context of what's going on, how people are interacting, the energy they put forth when they speak with whatever sorts of words that they use. I'm going to feel that and adapt to that context of what feels safe and then as more people start adapting to that, it creates a norm that other people that then come and see what's going on in this group come to an understanding about what the energy in the room is like. KATE: Yeah. ARTY: And all it takes is one person to bring a different energy into that to shift the whole dynamic of things. KATE: Yeah. The reality is you'll never be able to change every space and I think that's such a good point. It makes me feel like saying you have to be protective of your energy. If you go into a space and it just doesn't feel right, or there's someone who is in the room that doesn't feel safe to you, or that doesn't feel like they're on the same page as you, it's okay to not feel like you need to change the world in that space. Like you don't always have to go into a space and say, “I'm going to change it.” That is how change is made when you feel safe enough. That's why it's so important to foster that energy from the jump. That's just a foundational thing at a company in a yoga studio, in a home, at a restaurant. It can be changed, but it really should be part of the foundation of making a safer space, or a more inclusive space. Because otherwise, you're asking the people who don't feel safe, who are usually marginalized people, or intersectionally marginalized in some way. You're asking them essentially to put in the work to change what you should have done as the foundation of your space. So it's a such a delicate balance of being protective of your energy and really being able to feel out the places where you feel okay saying something, or making a change, or just saying, “No, this isn't worth it for me. I'm going to go find a space that actually feels a little bit better, or that I feel more community in.” ARTY: And it seems like the other people that are in the group, how those people respond to you. If you shift your energy, a lot of times the people that are in the group will shift their energy in kind. Other times, in a different space, you might try to shift energy and then there's a lot of resistance to that where people are going a different way and so, you get pushed out of the group energy wise. These sorts of dynamics, you can feel this stuff going on of just, I just got outcast out of this group. Those are the kinds of things, though that you need to protect your own energy of even if I'm not included in this group, I can still have a good relationship with me and I can still like me and I can think I'm still pretty awesome and I can find other groups of folks that like me. It definitely, at least for me, I tend to be someone who's like, I don't know, I get out grouped a lot. [laughs] But at the same time, I've gotten used to that and then I find other places where I've got friends that love me and care about me and stuff. So those are recharge places where I can go and get back to a place where I feel solid and okay with myself, and then I'm much more resilient then going into these other spaces and stuff where I might not be accepted, where I might have to be kind of shielded and guarded and just put up a front, and operate in a way that makes everyone else feel more comfortable. KATE: Yeah, and isn't it so powerful to feel cared for? ARTY: I love that. KATE: Like just to feel cared for by the people around you is everything. It's everything. That's it. Just to feel like you are wanted, or you belong. To feel cared for. It can exist everywhere is the thing. In your Slack group, or whatever, you can make people feel cared for. I have never regretted reaching out to a coworker, or a friend, or whoever an acquaintance and saying, “Hey, I love this thing about you,” or “Congratulations on this rad thing you just launched,” or whatever. It's the care that's so powerful. ARTY: I feel like this is one of those things where we can learn things from our own pain and these social interactions and stuff. One of the things that I've experienced is you're in a group and you say something and nobody responds. [laughs] KATE: Yeah. ARTY: And after doing that for a while, you feel like you're just shouting into the void and nobody hears you and it's just this feeling of like invisibility. In feeling that way myself, one of the things I go out of my way to do is if somebody says something, I at least try and respond, acknowledge them, let them know that they're heard, they're cared about, and that there's somebody there on the other side [chuckles] and they're not shouting into the wind because I hate that feeling. It's an awful feeling to feel invisible like that. KATE: Awful, yeah. ARTY: But we can learn from those experiences and then we can use those as opportunities to understand how we can give in ways that are subtle, that are often little things that are kind of ignored, but they're little things that actually make a really big difference. KATE: Yeah, the little things. It really is the little things, isn't it? [laughs] Like and it's just, you can learn from your experiences, but you can also say, “I'm not doing this right now.” You can also check out. If you are giving and giving. and find that you're in the void essentially, more often than not, you can decide that that's no longer are worth your time, your energy, your care, and you can redirect that care to somewhere else that's going to reciprocate, or that's going to give you back that same care and that's so important, too. JOHN: Yeah, and it sounds like starting a yoga studio is not a trivial undertaking and obviously, you're highly motivated to create this kind of an environment in the world. So is there anything more you'd like to say about that because that ties in very closely with what we're talking about? KATE: Yeah. It's so weird to work full-time and be so passionate about my tech job and then turn around and be like, “I'm opening a yoga studio.” It's such a weird, but again, it's all connected at the root, at the core of what I'm trying to do in this world. The thing about Kula is that it's really built on this foundational mutual aid model. So being donation-based, it's really pay what you can, if you can. And what you pay, if you're able to give an extra $10 for the class that you take, that's going to pay for someone else's experience, who is unable to financially contribute to take that class. That's the basis of community care, of mutual aid and it's really this heart-based business model that is really tricky. I'm trying to get a loan right now and [chuckles] it's really hard to prove business financials when you have a donation-based model and you say, “Well, I'm going to guess what people might donate per class on average.” So it's been a real journey, [laughs] especially with today's famous supply chain issues that you hear about constantly in every single industry. I have an empty space right now. It needs to be completely built out. Construction costs are about triple what they should be. Again, coming from this real mutual aid community care centered model, it's really hard, but I have to keep coming back. I was just telling my partner about this the other day, I have to keep coming back to this core idea, or this real feeling that I don't need to have a beautifully designed space to create what I'm trying to create. When I started this, I envisioned just a literal empty room [chuckles] with some people in it and a bathroom and that's it. So of course, once I saw the designs, I was like, “Oh, I love this can lighting that's shining down in front of the bathroom door.” It's like so whatever, stereotypical. Not stereotypical, but surface level stuff. I really have had to time and time again, return to this longing almost for a space that feels safer for me, for my community, for Black people, for disabled people, for trans people, for Asian people; we don't have a lot of spaces that feel that way and that's just the reality. So it's a real delicate balance of how do I like – this is a business and I need money, [laughs] but then I really want this to be rooted in mutual aid and community care. It comes back to that car and that inclusivity, creating authentic connections. It's tricky out there for a queer woman entrepreneur with no collateral. [laughs] It's a tricky world out there, but I think we'll flip it someday. I really think pioneering this idea, or this business model at least where I'm at in Denver, I think it's going to start the conversation in more communities and with more people who want to do similar things and my hope is that that will foster those conversations and make it more accessible to more people. JOHN: Yeah, and I think every time someone manages to muster up the energy, the capital, and the community effort to put something like this together, it makes it just slightly easier for someone else a, they can learn the lessons and b, they're more examples of this thing operating in the world. So it becomes more possible in people's minds and you can build some of that momentum there. KATE: Yeah. And of course, it's really important to note and to remember that I come from a place of immense privilege. I have a great job in tech. I'm white. I am upper middle class. Technically, I'm “straight passing,” which is a whole other concept, but it is a thing and this is the way that I'm choosing to use my privilege to hopefully pave the way for more people. I do not take for granted the opportunity that I'm given and like I said, intersectionality matters and all of that, but I still have a lot of privilege going into this that I hope turns into something good for more people. ARTY: It also takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur because you really have to just keep on going. No matter any obstacle that's in your way, you've just got to keep on going and have that drive, desire, and dream to go and build something and make it happen and your superpowers probably going to help you out with that, too. It sounds like we've got multiple superpowers because I think you got to have superpowers to be an entrepreneur in itself. KATE: Yeah. I don't know, man. It's such a weird feeling to have because it just feels like it's what I'm supposed to be doing. That's it. It doesn't feel like I'm like – yes, it's a calling and all of that, but it just feels like the path and that, it feels more, more natural than anything I guess, is what I'm trying to say. The more people follow that feeling, the more authentic of a world, the more connected of a world we're going to have. I see a lot of people doing this work, similar things, and it makes me so happy to see. The words of one of my therapists, one of my past therapists told me, “Always stick with me,” and it was right around the time I was kind of – so I'd started planning before COVID hit and then COVID hit and I had to pause for about a year, a little bit less than a year. It was right around the time I was filing my LLC and really starting to move forward. It was actually December 17th of last year that I filed my LLC paperwork. So it's been a little over a year now. He told me, “How much longer are you willing to wait to give the community this thing that you want to give them? How much are you willing to make them wait for this space?” And I was like, “Yesterday. Yesterday.” Like, “I want to give people this space immediately,” and that has truly carried me through. This supply chain stuff is no joke. [laughs] and it has really carried me through some of the more doubtful moments in this journey. Yeah, and I feel like, man, what powerful words. Like, I just want to keep saying them because they are such powerful words to me. How much longer are you willing to make them wait? And it's like, I don't want to. [chuckles] So I guess I'm going to go do it. [laughter] Throw caution to the wind. [laughs] JOHN: Well, I think that ties back into what you were talking about is as you were thinking about designing the space and what kind of buildout you're going to need, and that can be a guide star for what actually needs to be there. What's the actual MVP for this space? Does it need a perfect coat of paint, or is what's there good enough? Does it need all the things arranged just so in the perfect lighting, or does it just need to exist and have people in the room and you can really focus in on what's going to get you there? And then of course, you iterate like everything else, you improve over time, but. KATE: Right. JOHN: I love that concept of just cut out everything that's in the way of this happening right now as much as possible. KATE: Yeah, and what a concept, I think that can be applied to so many things. Who am I trying to serve with this thing and what do I need to do to get there? It doesn't have to be this shiny, beautiful well-designed creation. It just needs to serve people. The people that you want to serve in the best way possible, and for me, that's getting this space open and actually having it in action. ARTY: I think once you find something that feels in alignment with you, you seem to have lots of clarity around just your sense of purpose, of what you want to move toward of a deep connection with yourself. One thing I found with that is no matter how much you get rejected by various groups in the world, if you can be congruent and authentic with yourself and follow that arrow, that once you start doing that, you find other people that are in resonance with you. They're out there, but you don't find them until you align with yourself. KATE: Yeah. Community. Community is so powerful and I love that you just said alignment because that really is truly what it is. It's finding the thing that makes you feel like you're doing something good and that feels authentic to your core, to those core principles of you that never really change. The things that are rooted in love, the things that are rooted in compassion, or whatever it is you care about. Community, that alignment is absolutely key. It's also, when I say I was born with my superpower of being an empath, this desire to create this space feels, it feels like I was also born with this desire, or born with this alignment. So I feel like so many times it's just going back to the basics of who you are. ARTY: Like you're actualizing who you are. KATE: Yeah. Like full alignment, enlightenment, that all kind of falls into place when you're really making the effort to be connected to your core. ARTY: It seems like a good place to do reflections. So at the end of the show, we usually go around and do final reflections and takeaways, final thoughts that you have and you get to go last, Kate. JOHN: There are a whole lot of different things that I've been thinking about here, but I think one of the ones that's sticking with me is the dichotomy between perfectionism and authenticity, and how I feel like they really are pulling against one another and that, which isn't to say things can't be perfect and authentic at the same time. But I think perfectionism is usually a negative feeling. Like you should do something, you're putting a lot of pressure, there's a lot of anxiety around perfectionism and that is pretty much an opposition to being authentically yourself. It's hard to be in touch with yourself when you're wrapped up in all those anxieties and so, thinking about the two of them together, I hadn't made that connection before, but I think that's something that's interesting that I'll be thinking about for a while. ARTY: I think the thing that's going to stick with me, Kate is you said, “Our words carry so much power,” and I think about our conversation today out just vibes in the room and how that shifts with the energy that we bring to the room, all of these subtle undercurrent conversations that we're having, and then how a sort of energy vibe becomes established. And how powerful even these really little tiny things we do are. We had this conversation around inclusive language and you gave so many great details and specifics around what that means and how we can make little, small alterations to some of these things that are just baked into us because of our culture and the words that we hear, phrasing and things that we hear, that we're just unaware of the impact of things. Just by paying attention and those little subtle details of things and coming at things with an open heart, regardless of how we might stumble, or mess things up, how much of a difference that can make because our words, though carry so much power. KATE: Yeah. And the thing you just said about having an open heart is truly how you can put any of this into action, how you can remain open to learning about authenticity, or what it feels like to not fall into a trap of perfectionism, or how to speak, or write, or interact more inclusively with other human beings. I feel like being open, being openminded, being open-hearted, whatever it is, is just really a superpower on its own. Remaining open and vulnerable in today's world is hard work. It does not come naturally to so many people, especially when you're dealing with your own traumas and your own individual interactions and maybe being forced into spaces where you don't feel safe. To remain open is such a tool for making other people feel cared for. So if that's the goal, I would say just being open is truly your superpower. JOHN: I think that's the quote I'm going to take with me: being open is the key to making people feel cared for. KATE: Yes. I love that. ARTY: Well, thank you for joining us on the show, Kate. It's been a pleasure to have you here. KATE: Thank you so much. This has been just the energy boost I needed. Special Guest: Kate Marshall.

Congratulations! You got the new job! Now what? Don't simply go in, figure it out, and allow that new job or company to drive things for you! Listen in as Kimberly discusses what you should be doing over the next 90 days, from creating momentum to conducting listening tours. Understand all the pieces of the organization. When you understand the needs, you can brainstorm effective solutions and when you have effective solutions, you can execute flawlessly.    Tune in and start making an impact and creating value in your new job today!   KEY POINTS: - Congrats! You got the job! Now what? - What is a listening tour? - Why a listening tour is crucial - How to create your own onboarding plan - Look for opportunities to generate quick wins   QUOTABLES: “I think the biggest mistake that I see professionals make is that they are laid back now. Like I got the job, I just gotta go in and let me just figure it out.” “Remember that your job description is what you are hired to do. But it's up to you to leave your mark on the work.”   About the book Learn more at nextmovebestmovebook.com Books are available wherever books are sold!   Submit your questions for a future show  podcast@kimberlybcummings.com   Follow Kimberly on Instagram @kimberlybonline - instagram.com/kimberlybonline  Your Next Move is edited by Instapodcasts (visit at instapodcasts.com)

This week's episode begins with a chilling disaster from Florida's environmental history and hopes for long overdue resolution. Our guest is John Capouya, author of "Florida Soul: From Ray Charles to KC and the Sunshine Band." Florida has a surprisingly robust history of Soul Music which we discuss."Welcome to Florida" is presented by Visit Sarasota. For Soul Music in Sarasota, check out the calendar of events at the Van Wezel performing arts hall. Congratulations to Sarasota County's Siesta Key which has been named the #1 beach in the United States for 2021 by TravelAwaits.com. 

How do we congratulate a friend who closed on a new house? How about someone who just landed a new job? New partner? Today Guy explains תתחדש. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lehitchadesh – To be renewed; to be resumed – להתחדש “Acharei ha-chagim yitchadesh ha-kol” – After the holidays everything will resume – אחרי החגים יתחדש הכל “Yitchadshu ve-yashuvu yemei ha-hol” – The regular weekdays will also return” – יתחדשו וישובו ימי החול “Gam ata titchadesh” – You too will return renewed – גם אתה תתחדש Hitchadshut ironit – Urban renewal, urban regeneration – התחדשות עירונית Energia mitchadeshet – Renewable energy – אנרגיה מתחדשת Misrad ha-energia – Ministry of Energy – משרד האנרגיה Energiot mitchadshot – Renewable energies – אנרגיות מתחדשות Ha-energiot ha-mitchadshot – The renewable energies – האנרגיות המתחדשות Mitchadesh ha-masa u-matan – The negotiations have resumed – מתחדש המו”מ Mitchadshim ha-maga'im ben ha-medinot – The talks between the countries have resumed – מתחדשים המגעים בין המדינות Mitchadeshet ha-srefa – The fire has resumed – מתחדשת השריפה Ha-tnu'a hitchadsha – Traffic has resumed – התנועה התחדשה Titchadesh, titchadshi, titchadshu – Enjoy your new X – תתחדש, תתחדשי, תתחדשו Mishlochim be-natanya – Deliveries in the city of Netanya – משלוחים בנתניה Titchadesh al ha-oto – Congrats on the car – תתחדש על האוטו Titchadshi al ha-dira – Congrats on your new apartment – תתחדשי על הדירה Titchadshu al ha-bayit – Congrats on the house – תתחדשו על הבית “Titchadshu al she-hichnastem et bar ha-mayim” – Congratulations for starting to use the new water bar – תתחדשו על שהכנסתם את בר המים “Titchadshu al ha-tammy-arba” – Congrats on the Tammy-4 – תתחדשו על התמי-4 Mabrouq al ha-dira ha-chadasha – Congrats on the new apartment – מברוק על הדירה החדשה Shamati she-yesh lecha haver hadash, titchadesh! – I heard you have a new boyfriend, congrats! – שמעתי שיש לך חבר חדש, תתחדש Hitchadashnu be-mechonit chadasha – We got ourselves a new car – התחדשנו במכונית חדשה “Nireh she-ze ha-shavu'a shel Goldberg” – It seems that it's Goldberg's week – נראה שזה השבוע של גולדברג “She-rak shilshom hitchadesh be-havera chadasha” – Who only a day before yesterday got himself a new girlfriend – שרק שלשום התחדש בחברה חדשה Kshé-ba lachem lehitchadesh – When you feel like getting new stuff for yourselves – כשבא לכם להתחדש   Playlist and Clips: Lahakat Ha-nachal – Hitchadshut (lyrics) Energia Mitchadeshet  Titchadshu! Titchadshu al X Ikea Yael Nussbaum – Titchadshi Ep. no 96 about mabrouk Ep. no. 128 about “Mazal tov al ha-job ha-chadash”, congrats on landing the new job Ep. no. 257 about ir and hitchadshut ironit

Congratulations! Drawing on your personal and professional experience, you've created a service that addresses an obvious market need. Now, who's going to pay for it? Sarah's solution for onboarding parents and nannies is a good one, and clearly has a lot of potential. But she needs to re-examine her business model to maximize the customer base without pricing out either party. Listen in as Marc negotiates this tricky balance with her.Want to be a guest on "That Will Never Work" and get help with your business issues? Head to https://marcrandolph.com/guest (https://marcrandolph.com/guest), fill out the form, and leave a voice message right there on the site. While there, you can also sign up for Marc's newsletter – or else connect with him on Twitter (@mbrandolph) or on Instagram (@ThatWillNeverWork).

Ben Arnot from Smoking Hot Confessions returns as we talk a ton of pop culture including what our interest is in #HBOMax's #Peacemaker series, #Pixar's #TurningRed going straight to #DisneyPlus possibly meaning something bigger for Disney, a #Fallout Series coming to #AmazonPrime, #TheBoys getting a release date, and what's popular these days at the grilling and cooking capital of the internet, Smoking Hot Confessions? All this and we recall the brilliance of the late Sidney Poitier who passed away last week at 94 with Dawn Fobbs from the Mother-Daughter-Ish podcast as she goes into detail the legacy and influence that this cultural icon has left behind. For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

Hey. You see that? I know you do because it's a video on Spotify. Pretty neat isn't it? Movie wise: it exists. Congratulations starring Kate Beckinsale from the cult classic movie Click. You suck Peter Brolly. Thanks to Anthony Carrera for picking this episode on patreon.com/horrorsoup Instagram: @horrorsoup & @niteshiftvideo TikTok: @niteshiftvideo & @horrorsoup YouTube: @Horror Soup & @Nite Shift Video Twitter: @horrorsoupsucks Letterboxd: @horrorsoupcaleb & @niteshiftvideo illsuckyourblood@yahoo.com horrorsoup@yahoo.com Music for I'll Suck Your Blood is all created by Tom AKA "The Mutant Members Only Club". Artwork for I'll Suck Your Blood is created by Krystle AKA @werewolfcabaret on Instagram.

Happy New Year! With 2021 at its end, we went through the stats and read listeners' comments to select highlights from last year's top 10 real estate podcasts. Congratulations to all of the guests who made the list, and thank you to everyone who helped make 2021 such a great year for the show, including you! Without listeners like you supporting and sharing Real Estate Rockstars, this show wouldn't be possible. Here's to another great year! Visit hibandigital.com/toolbox Claim Real Estate Discounts, Free Trials, and More Visit hibandigital.com/resources Sponsors Rebus University - Get Over $10,000 in Real Estate Training for as Little as $97 Visit futureofrealestatetraining.com PadHawk - Find Your Market's Best Leads for FREE with a 7-Day Trial Visit padhawk.com Roddy's FLS - Discover Unbeatable Real Estate Deals with a FREE Foreclosure List Visit 4closure.info Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melinda Barkhouse-Ross and Gerald Glassford are back covering the latest news and trends in pop culture with a great list of topics for today's program. The consumer electronics world showcased its wares this week at CES 2022, and the hosts share their thoughts on what appealed most to them including Sony's new PSVR2, Samsung's Freestyle Projector, and Dell/Alienware's Concept Nyx. Plus the arcade wars heat up at CES between iiRcade and Arcade1up as both step up their game and go "pro"...but is this a good thing for consumers? Melinda and Gerald also talk about another delay for Morbius, the love for the Tuskan Raiders and Hutt twins in episode two of The Book of Boba Fett, and how Netflix has shown "smartitude" with its most recent #1 hits Cobra Kai and Don't Look Up. All this and former PCC Multiverse host Marcus De La Garza stops by to talk about how well Amazon is finishing up the final season of The Expanse and if there could still be a future that could be made for this cult sci-fi franchise. For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

On today's episode, I talk to musician John Vanderslice. Raised in rural North Florida, Vanderslice was forced into piano lessons as a young child, and eventually picked up the guitar and started writing songs as a teen. After moving to San Francisco in 1989, John made three records as a part of the experimental band MK Ultra, including the critically-acclaimed The Dream is Over. His obsession with recording craft persisted: while working as a waiter at Chez Panisse in 1997, he opened Tiny Telephone Recording as an affordable outlet for the Bay Area's indie rock community. Between 2000 and 2014, John released 10 records on Barsuk, Dead Oceans, and Secretly Canadian, and collaborated as a producer and musician on records by Spoon, the Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, Death Cab for Cutie and Tune-Yards. Taking a break from his own recording, he became a full-time producer for a number of years, and in 2018, John decided to leap back into his solo career with full force, releasing a number of albums and EPs, the latest of which is a tribute to Dave Berman entitled "John, i can't believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us, Love, DCB" This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

You found it! The secret to raising capital fast to fund your deals! Congratulations! What do you think?! Send your comments to info@reimorningshow.com or text me at 587-400-0721 "Edmonton The Cashflow Capital Of Canada" Webinar. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/edmonton-the-cashflow-capital-of-canada-tickets-214486654357?aff=efbneb

Congratulations, you've completed the Early World period! As we journey into the Patriarchs period, Jeff Cavins joins Fr. Mike to set the scene. They discuss the themes of Genesis 12-50, how it differs from the first 11 chapters of Genesis, and how it slowly reveals God's plan to redeem mankind. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

What's up trolls! Happy New Year! Welcome to 2022. Congratulations, you made it. We made it. Check out this episode where we bring back the segment "Name that Content!" as we review and deep dive all things 2021 Ladies in Waiting 2021!. We did a lot this past year. In this episode you will hear discussion of the good of 2021....some of the bad....and definitely some of the cheugy...I mean ugly :P Make sure you check this episode out ASAP! And don't forget to tell your friends. XOXO, Stay Trolly If you'd like to inquire about the LIW internship please email us at ladiesinwaitingpod@gmail.com or DM us on our IG Account: @Ladiesinwaiting_pod. Thanks so much.

Happy New Year!! This episode I chatted about new beginnings in all aspects of life.

Today while we got high we heard more horse snot on Covid. The Jester is over it. He's disgusted. Then The Jester explained how we are repeating history with the rise of the electronic vigilante group that The Jester dubbed The Brown Shirts. Who's going to the gas chambers next? The final story was about a true American hero. Whistle blower Tyler Shultz. Congratulations!! We are proud of you sir!! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/swtj/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/swtj/support

00:54 - Emily's Superpower: Being a Good Teacher * Greater Than Code Episode 261: Celebrating Computer Science Education with Dave Bock (https://www.greaterthancode.com/celebrating-computer-science-education) * CyberPatriot (https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/) 06:24 - Online College Courses vs In-Person Learning / Emily's Community College Path * Network Engineering (https://www.fieldengineer.com/blogs/what-is-network-engineer-definition) * Virginia Tech (https://vt.edu/) * Guaranteed Transfer Programs (https://blog.collegevine.com/an-introduction-to-guaranteed-transfer-programs/) * Loudoun Codes (http://loudouncodes.org/) * Emily Haggard: My Path to Virginia Tech (http://loudouncodes.org/2020/09/23/path_to_va_tech.html) 11:58 - Computer Science Curriculums * Technical Depth * The Missing Semester of Your CS Education (https://missing.csail.mit.edu/) 19:28 - Being A Good Mentor / Mentor, Student Relationships * Using Intuition * Putting Yourself in Others' Mindsets * Diversity and Focusing On Commonalities * Addressing Gatekeeping in Tech * Celebrating Accomplishments * Bragging Loudly * Grace Hopper Conference (https://ghc.anitab.org/) * Cultural Dynamics Spread 38:24 - Dungeons & Dragons (https://dnd.wizards.com/) * Characters as an Extensions of Players Reflections: Dave: College is what you make of it, not where you went. Arty: Teaching people better who don't have a lot of experience yet. Mandy: “Empowered women, empower women.” Empowered men also empower women. Emily: Your mentor should have different skills from you and you should seek them out for that reason. This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) of DevReps, LLC (http://www.devreps.com/). To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode) To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at paypal.me/devreps (https://www.paypal.me/devreps). You will also get an invitation to our Slack community this way as well. Transcript: MANDY: Hey, everybody! Welcome to Episode 265 of Greater Than Code. My name is Mandy Moore and I'm here with our guest panelist, Dave Bock. DAVE: Hi, I'm David Bock and I am here with our usual co-host, Arty Starr. ARTY: Thank you, Dave. And I'm here today with our guest, Emily Haggard. Emily is graduating from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's in Computer Science this past December so, congratulations. She has a wide variety of experience in technology from web development to kernel programming, and even network engineering and cybersecurity. She is an active member of her community, having founded a cybersecurity club for middle schoolers. In her free time, she enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons and writing novels. Welcome to the show, Emily. EMILY: Thank you. ARTY: So our first question we always ask is what is your superpower and how did you acquire it? EMILY: So I spent some time thinking about this and I would say that my superpower is that I'm a good teacher and what that means is that the people who come to me with questions wanting to learn something number one, my goal is to help them understand and number two, I think it's very important to make sure that whatever gap we have in our experience doesn't matter and that they don't feel that. So that they could be my 6-year-old brother and I'm trying to teach him algebra, or something and he doesn't feel like he is the 6-year-old trying to learn algebra. DAVE: I'll echo that sentiment about being a good teacher actually on two fronts, Emily. First of all, I am teaching your brother now in high school and just the other day, he credited you towards giving him a lot of background knowledge about the course and the curriculum before we ever started the class. So he seconds that you're a good teacher. And then listeners might remember, I was on a few weeks ago talking about my nonprofit and Emily was there at the beginning of me starting to volunteer in high schools. In fact, the way I met Emily, it was the fall of 2014. The first time I was volunteering at Loudoun Valley High School and one morning prior to class, there was going to be a meeting of a cybersecurity club. There were a bunch to the students milling about and there was this sophomore girl sitting in front of a computer, looking at a PowerPoint presentation of networking IP addresses, how the /24 of an IP address resolves and just all that kind of detail. Like very low-level detail about networking stuff and I was like, “Oh, that's interesting.” I wouldn't have expected a sophomore girl to be so interested in the low-level type of details of IP. And then the club started and she got up and started giving that presentation. That was not a slide deck she was reading; it was a slide deck she was creating. EMILY: Thank you. I actually remember that. [laughs] ARTY: So how did you acquire that superpower? EMILY: I think it was out of necessity. So going back to the story that David mentioned in high school, there was a cybersecurity competition called CyberPatriot that I competed in with friends and one year, all of a sudden, they just introduced network engineering to the competition. We had to configure and troubleshoot a simulated network and no one knew how to do that. So I took it upon myself to just figure it out so that my team could be competitive and win, but then part of the way that I learn actually is being able to teach something like that's how I grasp. I know that I've understood something and I'm ready to move on to the next topic is like, if I could teach this thing. So actually, I started out building all of that as a way to kind of condense my notes and condense my knowledge so that it'd stick in my head for the competition and I just realized it's already here, I should share this. So that's how I started there. Teaching network engineering to high schoolers that don't have any background knowledge is really hard. It forced me to put it in terms that would make sense and take away the really technical aspects of it and I think that built the teaching skill. DAVE: That relates to the club you started at the middle school for a CyberPatriot. How did that start? EMILY: That was initially a desire to have a capstone project and get out of high school a few weeks early. But I was sitting there with my friend and thinking about, “Okay, well, we need to do something that actually helps people. What should we do?” Like some people are going out and they're painting murals in schools, or gardening. It was like, well, we don't really like being outside and we're not really artistic. [chuckles] But what we do have is a lot of technical knowledge from all this work with CyberPatriot and we know that CyberPatriot has a middle school competition. So we actually approached the middle school. We had a sit down with, I think the dean at our local middle school. We talked about what CyberPatriot was and what we wanted to do with the students, which was have them bust over to the high school so we could teach them as an afterschool program. I guess we convinced him and so, a couple months later they're busing students over for us to teach. DAVE: Wow. And did they ever participate in competitions as middle schoolers? EMILY: Yes, they did. DAVE: Very cool. EMILY: Yeah. DAVE: Can you go into what those competitions are like? I don't think most of the audience even knows that exists. EMILY: Yeah, sure. So CyberPatriot, it's a cybersecurity competition for predominantly high schoolers that's run by the Air Force and you have a couple rounds throughout the year, I think it's like five, or so, and at each round you have 6 hours and you're given some virtual machines, which you have to secure and remove viruses from and things, and you get points for doing all of that. They added on network simulation, which was with some Cisco proprietary software, which would simulate your routers, your firewalls, and everything. So you'd have to configure and troubleshoot that as well and you would get points for the same thing. It builds a lot of comradery with all of us having to sit there for 6 hours after school and like, we're getting tired. It's a Friday night, everyone's a little bit loopy and all we've eaten is pizza for 6 hours. [laughs] DAVE: Well, that's a good jumpstart to your career, I think. [laughs] EMILY: Yes, for sure. MANDY: So while in college, I'm guessing that – well, I'm assuming that you've been pretty impacted by COVID and doing in-person learning versus online learning. How's that been for you? EMILY: I've actually found it pushes me to challenge the status quo. Online college classes, for the most part, the lectures aren't that helpful. They're not that great. So I had to pick up a lot of skills, like learning to teach myself, reading books, and figuring out ways to discern if I needed to research something further, if I really understood it yet, or not. That's a really hard question to ask actually is if you don't have the knowledge, how do you know that you don't have that knowledge? That's something I kind of had – it's a skill that you have to work on. So that is something I developed over the time when we were online and I've actually also done – I worked time for a year after high school and I took mostly online classes at the community college. Those skills started there, too and then I just built on them when I came to Virginia Tech and we had COVID happen. DAVE: Actually, I'd like to ask about that community college time. I know you had an interesting path into Virginia Tech, one that I'm really interested in for my own kids as well. Can you talk about that? EMILY: Yeah. So I, out of high school, always thought I'm going to – I'm a first-generation student. My parents did not go to college. They went to the military and grandparents before them. So I had always had it in my head that I am going to go and get that 4-year degree. That's what I want for myself. At the end of high school, I applied to Virginia Tech. I had a dream school. I wanted to go to Georgia Tech. They rejected me. Oh, well, that dream shot. I need to find something new. So I applied to Virginia Tech thinking it was going to be a safe bet. It's an in-state school, I was a very good student; they would never reject me and so, I applied for the engineering program and I was rejected. They did admit me for the neuroscience program, but it wasn't going to be what I wanted and I was realizing that I did not like either chemistry, or biology, so that would never work. And then at the same time, because of my work with CyberPatriot, I was able to get an internship in network engineering at a college not too far from where I lived. After I graduated high school, they offered me a job as a network engineer, which I took because my team was fantastic, I really liked my manager, and I was comfortable there. I took this job and I said, “Okay, I'm going to keep working on the college thing because it's what I always wanted for myself.” So I just signed up for community college and that was pretty tough working a full-time and doing community college until 11 o'clock at night and getting up the next day and doing it all over again. And from there, I decided that Virginia Tech was going to be the best option for me, just from a very logical perspective. I kind of thought Virginia Tech was a bit cult-y. I was never really gung-ho about going, but it made the most sense being an in-state school that's very well-known. I worked through community college and I applied to Virginia Tech again after 1 year at community college and they rejected me again. so I was like, “Oh no, now what do I do I?” And I realized I needed to make use of the guaranteed transfer program. One of the really cool things in Virginia at least is that a lot of the state schools have agreements with the community college, where if you get an associates with a specific GPA, you can transfer into that program and the university and your transfer's guaranteed, they can't reject you. So I was like, “Aha, they can't get rid of me this time.” Yeah, I did it and it's kind of a messy process. I actually went into that in a blog post on David has a nonprofit called Loudoun Codes. I wrote a blog post for his website and detailed that entire – being a transfer student is hard because there's a lot of credits that may not get transferred over because Virginia Tech is a little bit – all 4-year colleges are a little bit elitist in their attitude towards community college and they didn't take some of the credits that I had, which put me behind quite far, even though I had that knowledge, they said I didn't. So that added on some extra time and some extra summer semesters while I was at Tech. ARTY: Yeah. I did something similar with doing community college and then what you're talking about with the whole elitist attitude with the transfer and having a whole bunch of your credits not transferring and I'm definitely familiar with that whole experience. DAVE: Yeah. EMILY: And even now that I think about it, I remember community college, too. It's built for one specific type of student, which is great. I think they're really good at helping people who just weren't present, or weren't able to do the work and make the progress in high school. They're really good at helping those types of students. But as someone who did a whole bunch of AP classes, had a crazy GPA, they just didn't really know how to handle me. They said, “Okay, you've tested out of pretty much all of our math classes, but you are still lacking some credits.” So I had to take multi-variable calculus in community college in order to get credit to replace the fact that I tested out of pre-cal and which was kind of silly, but in the long run, it was great because I hear multi-variable calculus at Tech is pretty hard. But definitely, there's a lot of bureaucratic nonsense about college. Education is important. It's great. I've learned a lot of things, but there's still all these old ways of thinking and people are just not ready for change in college a lot of the time. The people who make decisions that is. DAVE: Well, I'd like to ask a little bit about the computer science curriculum that you've had and the angle I'm asking from when I worked at LivingSocial, I worked with one of the first group of people that had graduated from our bootcamp program and had transferred from other careers, spent 12 weeks learning software engineering skills, and then were integrated with a group of software engineers at LivingSocial. We would occasionally get into conversations about, well, if I learned to be a software engineer in 12 weeks, what do you learn in 4 years of college? So we started to do these internal brown bags that were kind of the Discovery Channel version of computer science. A lot of that material I've since recycled into the presentations I do at high school. But for your typical person who might have sidelined into this career from a different perspective, what's been your curriculum like? EMILY: I really like the parts of the curriculum that had technical depth because coming into it at my level, that's what I was lacking in certain areas. I had built the foundation really strong, but the details of it, I didn't have. The classes that Virginia Tech, like the notorious systems class and a cybersecurity class I have taken this semester, that have gone in detail with technology and pushed what I understood, those were my most valuable classes. There was a lot of it that I would've been happy without [laughs] because I'm not sure it will apply so much to my life going forward. I'm a very practical person. Engineer mindset; I don't want to worry about things that can actually be applied to the real world so much. So for me this semester, actually, it's been really challenging because I've taken a data structures and algorithms class where we're talking about NP complete versus NP hard, and what it would mean if we could solve an NP complete problem in polynomial time. It's really hard to care. It's really hard to see how that [laughs] helps. It's interesting from a pure math perspective, but coming into it as someone who was already in the adult world and very grounded, it feels like bloat. DAVE: Yeah. That stuff is interesting if you're are designing databases, but most of us are just using databases and that – [overtalk] EMILY: Right. DAVE: Stuff is all kind of baked in. EMILY: Yeah. DAVE: For the average person on a technical career path, we're far more interested in the business problems than the math problems. ARTY: I'm curious, too. There's also lots of stuff that seems like it's missing in college curriculum from just really fundamental things that you need to know as a software engineer. So did you have things like source control and continuous integration? I think back to my own college experience and I didn't learn about source control until I got out of college. [laughs] And why is that? Why is that? It seems so backwards because there's these fundamental things that we need to learn and within 4 years, can we not somehow get that in the curriculum? I'm wondering what your experience has been like. EMILY: So Virginia Tech, I think the CS department head is actually really good at being reflective because he requires every senior to take a seminar class as they exit. It's a one credit class; it's mostly just feedback for the school and I think it's really cool because he asks all of us to make a presentation, just record ourselves talking over some slides about our experience and the things we would change. That really impressed me that this guy who gets to make so many decisions is listening to the people who are just kind of peons of the system and what I said was that there are certain classes that they give background knowledge. Like there's one in particular where it's essentially the closest crossover we have with the electrical engineering department and it's really painful, as someone who works with software, to try and put myself in a hardware mindset working with AND gates, OR gates, and all that, and trying to deal with these simulated chips. It's awful and then it never comes back. We never talk about again in the curriculum and it's a prerequisite for the systems class, which has nothing at all to do with that, really. This segues into another thing. I've had an internship while I've been at Virginia Tech that's a web consultant role, or a development consultant role with a company called Acceleration. They run just a small office in Blacksburg and they have a really cool business model. They take students at Virginia Tech and at Radford, a neighboring school, and they have us work with clients on real software development projects. They pair us with mentors who have 5, 10 years of experiences, software consultants, and we get to learn all those things that school doesn't teach us. So that's actually how I learned Git, Scrum, and all that stuff that isn't taught in college even now and I went back to the CS department head and I said, “Replace that class with the class that teaches us Git, Scrum, Kanban, and even just a brief overview of Docker, AWS, and the concepts so that people have a foundation when they try to go to work and they're trying to read all this documentation, or they're asked to build a container image and they have no idea what it's talking about, or what it's for.” Yeah, going back to the original question, no, I didn't learn version control in college, but the weird thing is that I was expected to know it in my classes without ever being taught it because, especially in the upper level like 3,004 level, or 1,000 level classes, they have you work on group projects where Git is essential and some of them, especially the capstone project, are long-term projects and you really need to use Scrum, or use some sort of methodology rather than just the how you would treat a two-week project. Actually, it's interesting because David was my sponsor on my capstone project in college and he really helped my team with the whole project planning, sprint planning, and just understanding how Scrum and all that works and what it's for. DAVE: Yeah. I just shared a link that is a series of videos from MIT called The Missing Semester of Your Computer Science Education that talks about Git, version control and command line, using the back shell, stuff about using a database, how to use a debugger; just all that kind of stuff is stuff that you're expected to know, but never formally taught. ARTY: What about unit testing? EMILY: Okay. So that's an interesting exception to the rule, but I don't think they really carried it through, through my entire experience at Tech. So in the earlier classes, we were actually forced to write unit tests that was part of our assignments and they would look to see that we had – I think we had to have a 100% testing coverage, or very close to it. So that was good, but then it kind of dropped away as we went to the upper-level classes and you just had to be a good programmer and you had to know to test small chunks of your code because we'd have these massive projects and there would be a testing framework to see if the entire thing worked, but there was no unit testing, really. Whereas, at work in my internship, unit tests are paramount, like [laughs], we put a huge emphasis on that. ARTY: So earlier Emily, you had had mentioned teaching people that had no experience at all and the challenge of trying to be able to help and support people and learning to understand regardless of what their gap was in existing experience. So what are some of the ideas, principles, things that you've learned on how to do that effectively? EMILY: That's a really tough question because I've worked on building intuition rather than a set of rules. But I think a few of the major things probably are thinking about it long enough beforehand, because there's always a lot of background context that they need. Usually, you don't present a solution before you've presented the problem and so, it's important to spend time thinking about that and especially how you're going to order concepts. I've noticed, too with some of the best teachers I've had in college is they were very careful with the order in which they introduced topics to build the necessary context and that's something that's really important with complete beginners. The thing is sometimes you have to build that context very quickly, which the best trick I have for that is just to create an analogy that has nothing to do with technology at all, create it out of a shared experience that you have, or something that they've probably experienced. Like a lot of times analogies for IP addressing use the mailing service, houses on a street and things like that, things that are common to our experience. I guess, maybe that's the foundation of it is you're trying to figure out what you have in common with this person that can take them from where they are to where you are currently and that requires a lot of social skills, intuition, and practice, so. DAVE: That's a really good observation because one of the things I find teaching high school, and this has been a skill I've had to learn, is being able to put my mindset in the point of view of the student that I need to go to where they are and use a good metaphor analogy to bring them up a step. That's a real challenge to be able to strip away all the knowledge I have and be like, “Oh, this must be the understanding of the problem they have” and try to figure out how to walk them forward. EMILY: Yeah. DAVE: That's a valuable skill. EMILY: I think that's really rewarding, though because when I see in their eyes that they've understood it, or I watch them solve the problem, then I know that I did it well and that's really rewarding. It's like, okay, cool. I got them to where I wanted them to be. ARTY: Reminds me. I was helping out mentoring college students for a while and I hadn't really been involved with college for a really long time. I was working with folks that knew very, very little and it was just astounding to me one, just realizing how much I actually knew. That's easy to take for granted. But also, just that if you can dial back and be patient, it's really rewarding I found to just be able to help people, to see that little light go on where they start connecting the dots and they're able to make something appear on the screen for the first time. That experience of “I made that! I made that happen.” I feel like that's one of the most exciting things about software and in programming is that experience of being able to create and make something come to life in that way. Just mentoring as an experience is something, I think is valuable in a lot of ways beyond just the immediate being able to help someone things, like it's a cool experience being a mentor as well. EMILY: And I think it's really important, too as a mentor to have good mentors yourself. I was really lucky to have David just show up in my high school one day [laughs] and I've been really lucky consistently with the mentors in my life. In my internship that I mentioned, I worked with fantastic engineers who are really good teachers. It's difficult to figure out how to good teacher without having first had good teachers yourself and regardless of the level of experience I have, I think I will always want to have that mentor relationship so that I can keep learning. One of the things, too is a lot of my mentors are quite different from mine. Like I am a very quiet introvert person. I would not say I'm very charismatic. I would say David is the opposite of all those things. So wanting to build those skills myself, it's good to have a role model who has them. DAVE: Well, thank you for that compliment. EMILY: Yeah. MANDY: That's really interesting that you said to find mentor that's the opposite of yourself. I literally just heard the same thing said by a different person last week that was like, “Yeah, you should totally find someone who you want to be, or emulate,” and I thought that was really good advice. EMILY: I agree with that completely. There's a lot of conversation around diversity in computer science and that's definitely a problem. Women do not have the representation they should, like I've always gone through classes and been 1 of 3 women in the class. [chuckles] But I think one of the ways in which we can approach this, besides just increasing the enrollment number, is focusing on commonalities—kind of what I mentioned before— from the perspective of mentors who are different than their students. Maybe a male mentor trying to mentor a female student. Focusing on your commonalities rather than naturally gravitating towards people who are like you; trying to find commonalities with people who are different from you. I think that's important. From the student perspective, it's less about finding commonalities more about, like you said, finding the things you want to emulate. Looking at other groups of people and figuring out what they're good at and what things you would like to take from them. [laughs] So. DAVE: Yeah, that's been an interesting challenge I've noticed in the school system is that in the elementary school years, boys and girls are equally competent and interested in this material. By the time they get to high school, we have that 70/30 split of males versus females. In the middle school, the numbers are all over place, but in the formal classes, it seems to be at 70/30 split by 7th grade and I can't really find any single root cause that causes that. Unfortunately, I think I saw some stuff this week with Computer Science Education Week where students as young as first grade are working with small robots in small groups and there always seems to be the extrovert boy that is like, “It's a robot. I'm going to be the one that plays with it,” and he gatekeeps access to girls who are like, “It's my turn.” It's really discouraging to see that behavior ingrained at such a young age. Any attempt I try to address it at the high school level – well, not any attempt, but I feel like a lot of times I can come off as the creepy old guy trying to encourage high school age girls to be more interested in computer science. It's a hard place for me to be. EMILY: Yeah. I don't think you're the creepy old guy. [laughter] I think this is a larger topic in society right now is it's ingrained in women to be meek and to not be as confident, and that's really hard to overcome. That sounds terrible. I don't think people consciously do that all the time. I don't think men are consciously trying to speak over women all the time, but it it's definitely happened to me all over the place—it's happened at work, it's happened in interviews. I think getting over that is definitely really tough, but some of the things that have helped me are to see and celebrate women's accomplishments. Like every time I hear about Grace Hopper, it makes me so happy. I know one time in high school, David took a few other female students and I to a celebration of women's accomplishments and the whole thing, there were male allies there, but the topic of the night was women bragging loudly about the things that they've accomplished. Because that's not something that's encouraged for us to do, but it's something that it builds our confidence and also changes how other people see us. Because the thing is, it's easy to brag and it's saddening that people will just implicitly believe that the more you say you did. So the more frequently you brag about how smart you are, the more inclined people are to believe it because we're pretty suggestible as humans. When women don't do that, that subtly over time changes the perspective of us. We have to, very intently – I can't think of a word I'm trying to say, but be very intentional about bragging about ourselves regardless of how uncomfortable it is, regardless of whether we think we deserve it, or not. MANDY: I also think it's really important for women to also amplify other women, like empowered women empower women. So when we step up and say, “Look at this thing Emily did, isn't that cool?” EMILY: Yeah. MANDY: That's something that we should be doing to highlight and amplify others' accomplishments. EMILY: For sure. I've been to the Grace Hopper conference virtually because it was during COVID times, but that was a huge component of it was there would be these networking circles where women just talk about the amazing things that they've done and you just meet all these strangers who have done really cool things. It goes in both directions, like you said, you get to raise them up and also be encouraged yourself and have something to look forward to. ARTY: It sounds like just being exposed to that culture was a powerful experience for you. EMILY: For sure. ARTY: I was thinking about our conversation earlier about role models and finding someone to look up to that you're like, “You're a really cool person. I admire you.” Having strong women as role models makes it much easier for us to operate a certain way when we interact with other people, and stay solid within ourself and confident within ourself and not cave in. When all the examples around us of women are backing off, caving in, and just being submissive in the way that they interact with the world, those are the sort of patterns we pick up and learn. Likewise, the mixed gender conversations and things that happen. We pick up on those play of dynamics, the things that we see, and if we have strong role models, then it helps us shift those other conversations. So if we have exp more experience with these things, like the Grace Hopper conference and being able to go into these other that have a culture built around strong women and supporting being a strong woman, then you can take some of those things back with you in these other environments and then also be a role model for others. Because people see you being strong and standing up for yourself, being confident and they might have the same reaction to you of like, “Wow, I really admire her. She's really cool.” And then they start to emulate those things too. So these cultural dynamics, they spread and it's this subconscious spreading thing that happens. But maybe if we can get more experiences in these positive environments, we can iteratively take some of those things back with us and influence our other environments that, that maybe aren't so healthy. EMILY: Yeah. I agree. And I think also, it's important to be honest and open about where you started because it's easy, if you're a really confident woman walking into the room, for people to think you've always been that way. I think it's important to tell the stories about when you weren't, because that's how other people are going to connect with you and see a path forward for themselves. Definitely. I'll start by telling a story. I think it's just a million small experiences. I was a strong student in high school. I was very good at math. We had study halls where we'd sit in the auditorium and we'd all be doing homework, and students would often go to the guy in my math class who knew less than I did and ask for help. I would just sit there and listen to him poorly help the other students and mostly just brag about himself, and just be quiet and think about how angry it made me, but not really be able to speak up, or say anything. I'm very different now. Because of the exposure that I've had, I am much more quick to shut that down and to give a different perspective when someone's acting that way. MANDY: But how cool would it have been if that guy would've been like, “Don't ask me, ask Emily”? DAVE: That's a really important point because I hear women talk about this problem all the time and I don't think the solution is a 100% in the women's hands. I think that it's men in the room. My own personal experience, most of my career has been spent in government contracting space and, in that space, the percentage of women to men is much higher. It's still not great, but I think there's a better attempt at inclusion during recruiting. I think that there's a lot of just forces in that environment that are more amenable to that as a career path for women. And then when I started consultancy with my two business partners, Kim and Karen, that was an unheard-of thing that I had two women business partners and at the time we started it, I didn't think it was that big of a deal at all. But then we were suddenly in the commercial space and people thought it was some scam I was running to be a minority owned company and my partner was my wife, or I'd go into a meeting and somebody thought I brought a secretary and I was like, “No, she's an engineer and she's good, if not better than me.” It opened my eyes to the assumptions that people make about what the consulting rates even should be for men versus women and it's in that environment I learned that I had to speak up. I had to represent to be a solution to that problem. I think you can get in an argument with other guys where they aren't even convinced there's a problem to solve. They'll start talking about, “Oh, well, women just aren't as interested in this career path.” It's like, I've known plenty that are and end up leaving. EMILY: I think definitely having support from both sides has been really important because it is typically men in places of authority and to have them be encouraging and not necessarily forcing you into the spotlight, but definitely trying to raise you up and encourage you to speak out means a lot. ARTY: Yeah. I found most of the teams I've been on, I was the only woman on the team, or one of two maybe and early on, when nobody knows you, people make a lot of assumptions about things. The typical thing I've seen happen is when you've got a woman programmer is often, the bit is flipped pretty early on of that oh, she doesn't know what she's doing and stuff, we don't need to listen to what she says kind of thing and then it becomes those initial conversations and how things are framed, tend to affect a lot of how the relationships on the team are moving forward. One of the things that I learn as just an adaptive thing is I was really smart. So what I do, the first thing on the team I'd find out what the hardest problem was, that none of the guys could solve and figure it out, and then I would go after that one. My first thing on the team, I would go and tackle the hardest thing. I found that once you kick the ass of the biggest baddy on the yard, respect. [laughter] So I ended up not having problems moving forward and that the guys would be more submissive toward me, even as opposed to the other way around. But it's like you come into a culture that is dominated by certain ways of thinking in this masculine hierarchy, alpha male thing going on and if that's the dominant culture, you have to learn to play that game and stake yourself in that game. Generally speaking, in this engineering world, intelligence is fairly respected. So I've at least found that that's been a way for me to operate and be able to reset that playing field anyway. MID-ROLL: This episode is supported by Compiler, an original podcast from Red Hat discussing tech topics big, small, and strange. Compiler unravels industry topics, trends, and the things you've always wanted to know about tech, through interviews with the people who know it best. On their show, you will hear a chorus of perspectives from the diverse communities behind the code. Compiler brings together a curious team of Red Hatters to tackle big questions in tech like, what is technical debt? What are tech hiring managers actually looking for? And do you have to know how to code to get started in open source? I checked out the “Should Managers Code?” episode of Compiler, and I thought it was interesting how the hosts spoke with Red Hatters who are vocal about what role, if any, that managers should have in code bases—and why they often fight to keep their hands on keys for as long as they can. Listen to Compiler on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. We'll also include a link in the show notes. Our thanks to Compiler for their support. ARTY: Well, speaking of games, Arty, one of the things that Emily mentions in her bio is playing Dungeons and Dragons and this is an area where as well as I know Emily from her high school years, this is not something I know much about Emily at all. So I'd like to talk about that. Play, or DM, Emily? EMILY: Both. But I really enjoy DMing because it's all about creating problems to solve, in my opinion, like you throw out a bunch of story threads. The way I approach things is I try actually, unlike a lot of DMs, I do not do a lot of world building for places my players haven't been. I pretty much, there are bright light at the center of the world and anything the light doesn't touch doesn't exist. I haven't written it and I don't really look at it that often. So I'm constantly throwing out story threads to try and see what they latch onto and I'll dive into their character backstory to see what they are more predisposed to be interested in. It's like writing a weekly web comic. You don't have necessarily a set beginning and end and you don't really know where you're going to end up in between, but you end up with all these cool threads and you can tie them together in new and interesting ways. Just seeing the connections between those and being able to change what you want something to be on the fly is really cool and just very stimulating mentally for me. So it's like a puzzle exercise the whole time and it is also an interesting social exercise because you're trying to balance the needs of each person. I feel like D&D allows you to know people on a really deep level, because a lot of times, our characters are just – that we're playing. I guess, I didn't really explain what D&D is; I just made an assumption that people would know. It's a tabletop role playing game where you make a character. You're usually heroic and you're going about on this adventure trying to help people solve problems and these characters tend to be just naturally an extension of ourselves. So you get to see all the things that subconsciously the person doesn't real about themselves, but that show up in their character. I think that's really cool. DAVE: So do you have a weekly game, or how often do you play? EMILY: I try to run a weekly game. College often gets in the way. [laughs] DAVE: How many players? EMILY: It ranges from 3 to 4, sometimes 5. It's really cool because it's also, most of them are people that I met during the pandemic. So we've played predominantly online and this is the way we've gotten to know each other. We've become really close in the year, or so since we started playing together through the game that I DM and through the game that one other person in the group DMs and it's cool. It's definitely a way to kind of transcend the boundaries of Zoom and of video calls in general. DAVE: Hmm. ARTY: How did you end up getting into that? EMILY: It was just a friend group in high school. Someone said, “Hey, I would like to run a Dungeon and Dragons game. Do you want to play?” And I said, “Oh, what's that?” I've always loved books and reading so it was kind of a natural progression to go from reading a story to making a story collaboratively with other people. So that just immediately, I had a connection with it and I loved the game and that's been a huge part of my hobbies and my outside of tech life ever since. DAVE: Yeah. I played D&D as a kid in the late 70s, early 80s, but my mom took all my stuff away from me when that Tom Hanks movie came out that started the whole Satan panic thing. So I didn't play for a long time until my own kids were interested after getting hooked on Magic. Seeing my own kids interested in D&D, the story building, the writing, the math that they had to do, like I don't know why any parent wouldn't encourage their kids to play this game. It's just phenomenal. The collaborative, creative, sharing, math; it's got everything. EMILY: Yeah. I'm an introverted person so it takes a lot to make me feel motivated to be in a group with other people consistently, but D&D does that and it does it in a way that's not, I guess, prohibitive to people who are naturally shy. Because you're pretending to be someone else and you're not necessarily having to totally be yourself and you're able to explore the world through a lens that you find comfortable. DAVE: That's really cool. EMILY: I guess, also, it kind of goes back to our conversation about teaching. Being a DM, a lot of my players are people who have not played before, or very, very new. Like, maybe they've read a lot about it, maybe they've watched them [43:18] shows, but they maybe haven't necessarily played. D&D does require a lot of math and there's a lot of optimization, like you can get very into the weeds with your character sheet trying to make the most efficient battle machine, whatever and that's not really always approachable. Especially when I started introducing my younger siblings to D&D, I used versions, D&D like games that were similar, but not quite D&D. Like less math, a very similar amplified character sheets so you're looking at fewer numbers, or fewer calculations involved just to kind of get the essence, because there's a few core concepts in D&D. You have six statistics about your character that they change a little bit between different types of role-playing games, but they're pretty universal, I think for the most part. It's constitution, strength, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence, and charisma. Once you kind of nail those concepts down and once a person understands what those skills are supposed to mean, that really opens the gates to understanding a lot more about the core mechanics of D&D outside of the spell casting stuff and all the other math that's involved. I think just simplifying the game down to that makes them fall in love with the narrative and collaborative aspect of the game, and then be more motivated to figure out the math, if they weren't already predisposed to that. DAVE: So if somebody were interested in picking up a game trying to figure it out, where would they start? EMILY: It really to depends on the age group. If you're going to play with high school students, I would definitely say if none of you have played before, then pick up a player's handbook, maybe a dungeon master's guide if you're going to DM, you've never DM before because it gives a lot of tips for just dealing with the problems that arise in a collaborative storytelling game. And then probably just a prewritten module so you don't have to worry about building your own story, because these modules are stories that are written by professional game developers and you can take pieces of them and iterate it on yourself so you don't have to start with nothing. But if you are going for a much younger audience, I can't remember off the top of my head what it was, but it's essentially an animal adventure game. It's very much D&D without using the word D&D because I think it's a different company, it's copyrighted, and whatnot. But you have these little cute dog characters and they're trying to defeat an evil animal overlord who wants to ruin the town festival. It's very family friendly, like there's no death like there is in regular D&D and it's just a chance to engage with the character creation aspect of it. MANDY: That's really cool. So we're about heading towards our time, but I really appreciate you coming on the show, Emily and I wanted to just ask you, if you could give any advice to young girls looking to get into tech, or software engineering, what advice would you give them? EMILY: I think don't be afraid to walk off the path. A lot of my life has been kind of bucking the prewritten path that a lot of people are told is the best one because it didn't work for me, or whatever reason, and I think it's important just to not be afraid of that and to be courageous in making your own path. MANDY: That's great advice. So should we head into reflections, everyone? Who wants to start us off? DAVE: I'll start with one. I mentioned that when asked Emily about her path into college, that I was interested in a similar path for my own kids. I had a really strange college path that I started out a music major, ended up a computer science major, and had a non-traditional path. I've always believed that college is what you make of it, not where you went. Where you went might help you get your first job, but from then on, it's networking, it's personality, it's how well you did the job. Talking to Emily about her path, just reinforces that to me and helps me plot a path for what I might have my own children do. I have triplet boys that are in 9th grade. So we're starting to think about that path and not only would a path through Virginia Community College save us a fortune, [laughs] it would also be a guaranteed admission into Virginia Tech, or one of the Virginia schools so it's definitely something worth to consider. So I appreciate that knowledge, Emily. ARTY: I've been thinking a lot about how we can better teach people that don't have a lot of experience yet. We've got so much stuff going on in this field of software engineering and it's really easy to not realize how far that this plateau of knowledge that we live in and work with every day to do our jobs, and how important it is to bring up new folks that are trying to learn. One of the things you said, Emily was about teaching is being able to find those shared things where we've got a common understanding about something—you used metaphor of male delivery to talk about IP addresses, for example. But to be thinking in those ways of how do we find something shared and be able to get more involved with mentoring, reaching back, and helping support people to learn because software is super cool. It really is! We can build amazing, amazing things. It'd be awesome if more of us were able to get involved and have that experience and having good mentors, having good role models, all of those things make a big difference. MANDY: I just love the conversation that we had about men and women in technology and for me, I love to reiterate the fact that empowered women empower women and I even want to take that a step further by saying especially right now in our field, empowered men also empower women. So I think that that's something that really needs to be said and heard and not perceived as like Dave said oh, he felt like the creepy guy encouraging girls, or women to get involved in tech. I think it's cool. Dave has personally, he's mentored me. He's gotten me more interested. I used to do assistant work and now I'm learning programming and it's because I've been encouraged to do so by a lot of different men in the industry that I've been lucky to know. DAVE: Well, thank you, Mandy. You certainly have a who's who of mentors. MANDY: I am very, very lucky to know the people I know. DAVE: I'm quite honored to even be named on that list of people you know. [laughter] EMILY: I think the thought I keep coming back to is one that I've mentioned, but didn't really crystallize in my head until this morning when I was preparing for this recording is, I listened to David's interview and I thought about like, “Oh wow, he did really well on the podcast, all these things that I wish I did.” It really crystallized the idea that your mentor should be different from you and should have skills you don't, and you should seek them out for that reason. Mentors tend to be the people that I run into and I haven't really thought about it that way before, but that gives me a different perspective to go out and intentionally seek out those people. That definitely gives some food for thought for me. [laughs] MANDY: I love intentionally seeking out people who are different from myself in general, just to learn and get perspectives that I might have never even thought of before. But with that, I guess we will wrap up. Emily, it's been so nice having you on the show. Congratulations and best of luck on your exams. I know being – [overtalk] DAVE: I can't believe you took the time to do this with your exams coming up. MANDY: I know! EMILY: I'm procrastinating as hard as I can. [laughter] MANDY: But it's been so nice to have you on the show. Dave, thank you for coming and being a guest panelist and Arty, it's always wonderful to host with you. So I just wish everybody a happy new year and we'll see you next week! Special Guests: Dave Bock and Emily Haggard.

The Lakers small ball lineup continued, this time in a close game throughout as LeBron James and Malik Monk power the team to a 122-114 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Tune in as LakerTom from lakerholics.com returns to the program to cover what went right (and wrong for the Kings), Dwight Howard with a good game, and what to do concerning the contract situations with Stanley Johnson, Avery Bradley, and Austin Reaves on our latest Lakers Fast Break podcast! Gear up with your favorite Lakers Fast Break shirts and gifts in our Pop Culture Cosmos TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos For the best in daily fantasy sports betting, check out ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Players and Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and PropUp today! (Check your state for availability) Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com! Presented by our friends at the Hoop Heads Podcast Network, ThriveFantasy, NBA Draft Junkies, lakerholics.com, lakersball.com, Basketball University, Pop Culture Cosmos, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lakers-fast-break/support

It's time to celebrate as our guy Nate was named to the Black College Football Hall of Fame! Plus, Nate tells us what he was up to yesterday before asking (or perhaps demanding!) that the Cowboys offense gets Amari Cooper more involved. Get the ball in his hands. Please!

It's time to celebrate as our guy Nate was named to the Black College Football Hall of Fame! Plus, Nate tells us what he was up to yesterday before asking (or perhaps demanding!) that the Cowboys offense gets Amari Cooper more involved. Get the ball in his hands. Please!

Good morning everyone! Your favorite morning show is here and happy to see you. We have regular and iced coffee this morning, news, and a few questions to ask of you. Let's get into the news: - Tuesday the 11th there will be an informative event on immigration rights taking place at the Aurora Public Library. Sponsored by the library and the League Of Women Voters of the Aurora area, guest speakers will be present representing great organizations such as Family Focus Aurora Justice For Our Neighbors and VNA Health Care. Learn about legal services, resources and other ways of success at this great event. This forum will also be livestreamed on the Facebook page of the League Of Women Voters and will start at 6:30 pm. - The City Of Aurora aims to create a new commission dedicated to innovation & technology. There are many areas of scrutiny and specifics being worked on. Read the full article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct-abn-aurora-innovation-st-0104-20220103-b6b4xlzuhncjtgbbdkjvon64bi-story.html - Congratulations to our friend Karina Suarez-Darden and her recent feature in The Beacon News. As we know, our shared public health is an ongoing and urgent matter. We applaud all of the efforts by our friends and community partners in helping others to become healthy and aware. Read the full article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct-abn-east-aurora-vaccination-lag-st-0102-20220102-h4gbntnqljfw3d46xp3oyfhoai-story.html That's all the news for today dear people! We hope you all enjoyed the show. Tune in to Buenos Días Aurora tomorrow morning at 8 am. We have a great guest and a new inspiration as we begin in a new year. Have a great day and subscribe to the show on YouTube by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodMorningAuroraPodcast The second largest city's first daily news podcast is here. Tune in everyday to our FB Live from 8 am to 9 am. Make sure to like and subscribe to stay updated on all things Aurora. Twitter: goodmorningaur1 Instagram: goodmorningaurorail Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6dVweK5Zc4uPVQQ0Fp1vEP... Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../good-morning.../id1513229463 Anchor: https://anchor.fm/goodmorningaurora #positivevibes #positiveenergy #downtownaurora #kanecountyil #bataviail #genevail #stcharlesil #saintcharlesil #elginil #northaurorail #auroraillinois #auroramedia #auroranews #goodmorning #goodmorningaurora #news #dailynews #subscribe #youtube #podcast #spotify #morningshow #morningnews #tuesday #newyear #2022 #january2022 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/goodmorningaurora/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/goodmorningaurora/support

Congratulations, you've successfully made it to 2022.... Thank Goodness the mess we called 2021 is officially over... Or is it? On this episode we discuss the tools we use to create the Marriage WE WANT to have by the end of 22'.... because the truth is, without creation 22' is no different than 21'. We talk a lot about "the work" we put into our Creation-ship... this is the foundation for the work. We invite you and your partner to sit down and create this same conversation to start the year and we promise, if you do this with the best of intentions, 22' will not look like 21'. We discuss: What we're Proud of Where we were effective Where we were marginally effective Where we were ineffective What we're looking to create in 22 and spoiler, we share some exciting upcoming news so be sure to listen to the end.

Clinical Hypnotherapist http://carolinefitzgerald.net/ (Caroline Fitzgerald) reads from her yet-to-be published memoir- I Think I Might Die Without You. Sign up for https://michelleredo.com/ (Hit Pause), the newsletter of the Daring to Tell podcast at https://michelleredo.com/ (michelleredo.com) Follow me on Twitter @michelleredo

Jennifer Burns is a southern California mom who spent years being a people pleaser and suppressing trauma before she decided to take her life back into her own hands. Today she is a healing artist, creating beautiful works of art with resin and healing crystals. On this week's episode, Jen shares her incredible healing journey and teaches us what healing crystals are and how they can be a very powerful tool in recovering from trauma.  Healing Art By Jen Check out the Light After Trauma website for transcripts, other episodes, Alyssa's guest appearances, and more at: www.lightaftertrauma.com Support the Podcast Transcript Alyssa Scolari [00:00]: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Light After Trauma podcast. I'm your host, Alyssa Scolari. Happy to be here as always. We've got a guest episode today. I'm really looking forward to this. I feel like I said that all the time. I definitely need to stop saying this, but I'm really excited to learn about today's topic, which is we're talking all things like crystals and things like that. Alyssa Scolari [00:49]: So, this has been such a hype, using your crystals and manifesting and things like that. But I'm really curious about, what does that all mean? It can sound very, very woo, woo. And it definitely turns some people off because they don't believe in it, but I definitely think there is something there. So, today, we are talking about that and I cannot wait to learn more. Alyssa Scolari [01:16]: And we have with us a very special guest, Jen Burns, who is a Southern California mom, wife, healer, artist and a trauma survivor. She's in the process of finishing up a book about her life, which has been a life of abandonment and adoption, and abuse and of course and most importantly, healing. Living a life that was created from a sea of survival, and then one day, she ended up rebirthing into an artist and a healer. Alyssa Scolari [01:49]: And I have had the pleasure of having some conversations with Jen in the past, and she is awesome. So, I'm really, really excited to have her on the show today. So, that being said, hi, Jen, welcome to the podcast. Jennifer Burns [02:04]: Hi, thank you so much for having me. Alyssa Scolari [02:08]: Thank you for being here. Jen is a dear, dear, dear friend of the podcast. She is an amazing, incredible woman who I truly would not know if it weren't for the podcast. So, thank you Light After Trauma for introducing me to Jen and her amazing talents because you are one talented woman. Jennifer Burns [02:33]: Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [02:37]: So, before we get into your talents, I guess, can you share a little bit about your backstory? I know that you wanted... you were very intentional about your decision to come on the show. So, there's a reason for that. Would you mind talking about that? Jennifer Burns [02:54]: Oh, I would love to share a bit of my story. Just a regular mom, right? I have three beautiful children. I'm a wife and unfortunately suffered a really traumatizing childhood, just filled with a lot of abuse, abandonment, adoption. It's a huge, long, very complicated story. I do have a book that's going to be coming out, and it'll be very detailed. Jennifer Burns [03:25]: But I just was fine, right? I was becoming my young adult self in my twenties and didn't date a lot because of my abuse and stumbled upon, met this great guy. And there, my life started, right? But what I didn't anticipate is my pure survival mode that I was in at the time made me find a partner that led me down the road where I attached all of my thoughts, opinions, desires, everything on him. Jennifer Burns [04:08]: And I became exactly what he wanted me to be. I'm a chameleon and I do this in every aspect of my life actually. And I didn't know it though. You don't really even know you're doing it. And so, here I am flying along in my life and I have this great guy and we have the greatest relationship. Jennifer Burns [04:31]: And I used to pride myself on, "Oh, we've been together 20 years, and we've never had a single solitary fight. We've never had a single solitary argument." And everybody was looking at me like, "That's not normal." And I was like, "Yeah, but that's because I'm so amazing." Right? We're so amazing as a couple, and I'm so agreeable. Jennifer Burns [04:52]: Well, anyways, so flash forward, I'm a mother of three children now and I don't know exactly what happened except 42 years old. This is 10 years ago now. I woke up one day, and I was like, "Who is that? Who is that woman in the mirror?" I didn't recognize her. I didn't feel like her. I had literally lost the core of me, but I didn't even know it. Right? I just woke up and it was awful. It was a terrible feeling. I thought I was going to have a complete and utter nervous breakdown. Jennifer Burns [05:30]: And so, I started to dive in. And I had been so busy with the husband, so busy with my children. I mean, threw myself in. I was the doting wife. I was the over-the-top mom. I ran PTA. I mean, I was everywhere and I was everything for everyone, right, but nothing to myself, nothing. And I completely lost who I was. And it was almost as if my bucket was full and it was completely running over. And I didn't even want this to happen, but I literally was falling apart. Jennifer Burns [06:11]: And I was confused because I had always been in such control of my life. And I knew exactly what I was doing and how I was doing it. And I was happy, but I thought I was happy, right? It's just I was in that mode of, "I'm everything to everyone." And this is how I got through my childhood is being positive and showing everyone, "I'm fine. I'm fine." And I, I was not fine. Jennifer Burns [06:38]: And so, I believe that after all the years, your body and the universe and everything works together and you get to a point where it's like, "Nope, you've avoided yourself too long. And now, it's time, whether you want to do this or not." Alyssa Scolari [06:56]: Yep. Whether you're are ready or not, here we come. Jennifer Burns [06:59]: Yeah. So, I began working on me a little bit. And then, that was super uncomfortable. And I didn't even know what I liked, disliked, thought, nothing, except I was just sad and I was lonely. And I didn't even know I was losing my marriage. My marriage was falling apart because here I am, right, this perfect wife. And all of the sudden, I'm like, "I don't think I like you anymore. No and no." And it was terrible, literally. Jennifer Burns [07:35]: My kids were always fine because I could always fake it for them, right? This is 10 years in now. Now, my kids are 24, 21, 13. And now they can... and we're all empaths. And so, they're looking at me and they're going, "Mom, I know you're not okay because I can feel it. What is going on?" Jennifer Burns [07:59]: So then, I had to start sharing with my own children, right, here is this perfect mom who was just doing everything and portraying this beautiful image of positivity. And now, I feel like absolute shit. I feel like crap, and I'm falling apart. I had to get so vulnerable with my children. Jennifer Burns [08:26]: And that was awful because in my experience, your family are not necessarily the nicest people in your life. And I was so afraid of them not loving me if they really knew who the real me was, this broken woman, but really girl, right, that had never been fixed. I had never gone to therapy for anything. I happened to be involved with a man that was, I don't know, didn't really buy into all that. Of course, we pick, right, the opposite. Jennifer Burns [09:03]: And so, anyway, I've had to fight and fight and fight. Turns out now, my kids are my number one fans. They support me more than anyone on this earth. They have continually loved me. And it's a little bit of a role reversal, right? I can be sad and unsure. And they're the ones going, "Mom, you got this. You're good. You're okay." So, it's been huge. Jennifer Burns [09:35]: And only up until recently things with my marriage are significantly better as well. It took him a long time to come around though and really let go of what I had created. I did it. It's all my fault. I'm the one that created this perfect marriage. Right? So, here, he thought, we've been together 31 years, for 21 of them, this is his wife. And then, all of a sudden, I'm like, "Nope, never mind. Don't want to be that woman anymore." Alyssa Scolari [10:08]: Yeah. I mean, you speak too. There's so much that's in there, right? Even just starting with this concept of, and you use this word that I use very, very often, which is becoming a chameleon. I use that so often when it comes to either talking about my own trauma recovery, talking with my clients, because that often is what a trauma response is. We become a chronic people pleaser. And we take the shape of whatever that we take on the shape. We take on the likes, the beliefs of those around us. Jennifer Burns [10:52]: Yeah, because it keeps us safe. It keeps us safe. We know how to work a room. Right? Alyssa Scolari [10:57]: Exactly. Jennifer Burns [10:57]: We know, "Oh, I have to do this." Alyssa Scolari [10:58]: We are the best at it. Jennifer Burns [11:00]: We really are. But you don't even know you're doing it, really. It's so natural. It's so second nature. Alyssa Scolari [11:06]: It's a survival mechanism. Jennifer Burns [11:08]: It is. And then, I had to question, "Am I phony? Am I being fake and phony?" That's came up. And then, I realized, "No, no, no, that was a trauma response. I'm totally conditioned to survive like this." But now, I'm breaking it down. I never had a voice. I never thought that I could actually speak my mind. I saw other people doing it. And I thought, "Wow, how did they do that?" Jennifer Burns [11:38]: I'm so afraid of hurting someone's feelings, or my opinion was never good at all. I wasn't even allowed to speak in my home growing up. My opinion was nothing. I was invisible. And so, of course, in the real world, I thought, "Okay, I'm invisible. No one really cares what I have to say." Alyssa Scolari [11:57]: I'm going to continue to be invisible, yes. Jennifer Burns [11:59]: So, this is how I was. So, I now speak my mind. I say what I mean. And I mean what I say. And it is liberating and empowering. But the thing I found the most is my small little world around me. They didn't like it at all. They're like, "Whoa, who's this? Wait, you're not as soft and nurturing as you used to be." Right? Jennifer Burns [12:27]: I was finding my voice and speaking up for myself and setting healthy boundaries. And all of a sudden, this people, friends, family were like, "Oh no, I'm not sure I know who you are anymore." Right? So, it's been a journey for sure. Alyssa Scolari [12:45]: Yeah. And that in itself is again something that is so common, setting boundaries with people. When you've been living for everybody, but yourself, you tend to attract people in your life who become very used to that and almost dependent on the fact that you're always going to be there for them no matter what. Alyssa Scolari [13:05]: But then, you get to a point where you are no longer living for yourself. Or you're no longer living for other people. You're setting down, and people are like, "Who is that? I don't know that person. I don't really care for that person. Oh, you're doing things for yourself?" People don't like it. Jennifer Burns [13:25]: Yes, absolutely. I agree with that. And then, what also happens I think is they suck the life out of you by doing this, right? They literally just suck all your energy away from you. And you're so busy doing everything for them. And I had so many girlfriends that would call me. I was their counselor. I would fix everybody else's problems, but never spend the time and work on me. Jennifer Burns [13:56]: I had conditioned myself to be everything to everyone because that created some value in my life. It made me feel like, "See, you do matter. People do need you. They do want you." I mean, I was killing myself doing it though. I was really extending myself way too far. Alyssa Scolari [14:17]: Yeah, as so many, especially childhood trauma abuse survivors because we grow up thinking... we grow up with this idea that we are only worthy of love and we are only valuable so longer as we are useful to others. And the moment we are not is the moment where our intrinsic sense of worth becomes very, very shaky. Everything you're saying is... I think that so many people who are listening are going to relate because it's exactly how I felt. So many folks. Alyssa Scolari [15:01]: And so, for you, you discovered. How did you transform? I mean, you transformed yourself from the inside out. But then, you went on to transform your life from the inside out, your relationships with your children, your relationships with your husband. We are talking magnificent transformations, which, I mean, is incredible. Jennifer Burns [15:26]: Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [15:26]: Yeah, it's incredible in itself. Jennifer Burns [15:29]: It feels like it was this incredible endeavor. I appreciate you acknowledging it. Honestly, it was uncomfortable. And it was scary because I didn't really know what I was doing. And I think that us as survivors, we don't feel very confident about the choices that we make. And we do need all that external validation. We're not used to trusting ourselves. Jennifer Burns [15:55]: So, this is really what happened. I'm a very crafty person. I'm very creative. So, I always had an outlet like that. I used to be a wedding and event planner. I had my own wedding business for years. Oh, my God. It's amazing, amazing, amazing. But it's very fast paced. It's very last minute. You do everything in one day. It's a lot. Jennifer Burns [16:19]: And I was raising three kids, and I thought, "Oh, I need to do something else." But I always had to do crafts and I love to do... it was like I found that my mind could relax when I was crafting, but it would also not just relax. I call it floating into my childhood. I would float in and take little glimpses of my childhood. And then, I would float back out. I would be like, "Okay." And then, I'd float back out. Jennifer Burns [16:51]: I was constantly comparing, "Wow, look how good my kids have it. I'd have given anything for this kind of childhood." Right? When I would craft with them, I would teach them how to draw or paint. And it didn't matter, anything. Make flower arrangements. It just didn't matter. So, I took this to the next level. I started finger painting with my kids because I liked the way it felt in my finger. Alyssa Scolari [17:18]: The sensory, yes. Jennifer Burns [17:19]: Yes. It was way more. It was going deeper. And it was more raw and authentic. And it was just blending and it was the colors. And I was drawn to a color for a certain reason. And then, I started looking back and I thought, "Oh, these are so boring." I like that I painted that, but these are so boring. I want to embellish them somehow. And all of a sudden, I started finding different things to put on my paintings, and I found crystals. Alyssa Scolari [17:49]: Crystals. Jennifer Burns [17:50]: And I started picking up crystals and I was like, "Okay, am I crazy? I'm feeling something. What is this?" And I just got obsessed with crystals because of their energy. In certain times in my journey, I would be drawn to a different crystal because of their energy and what I was going through and my energy at the time. So, I started incorporating the two. Jennifer Burns [18:18]: And then, I started thinking, "Okay, how can I make these pieces permanent?" Because I didn't want to put a painting on a wall and then have it just fade over time or crystals fall off. And then, I found resin. And resin allowed me to permanently adhere the crystals to any surface. So then, I was like, "Oh my gosh." So, that's how my art came about. Jennifer Burns [18:46]: But as I dove into it deeper and deeper and deeper, I was not the only one being affected. I was just doing it for myself. And then, people would come over and they would see or feel something in my art and say, "Whoa, that..." and they could tell, "Wow, you were going through a dark time with that one." because I used all black obsidian. It's just Bloodstone and just different crystals that were really dark and heavy. Jennifer Burns [19:18]: But then, there could be this really gentle, bright pink rose quartz piece that was just pretty and soft and very loving. Right? Then people started asking me, "Well, would you make me one? And would you make me one?" And people were putting them in their homes and feeling the beautiful energy that would come off of them. Jennifer Burns [19:41]: Because now, I've gotten to the point as anybody in a craft, right? You learn to hone in on it a little bit more. I can work with a client now. And we can collaborate and I can set my intention in those crystals, and set it into their home. So, I can infuse them with the love and support, and strength or whatever it is they're needing and we can collaborate. And it's just a beautiful little marriage. Alyssa Scolari [20:10]: It's so beautiful. And I mean, I could talk about your artwork and I... for the listeners out there, Jen's website is linked in the show notes for today. When I tell you, if you've not done anything else, you need to go on, you need to look at this artwork. If you've never clicked on a link before in my show notes, let this be the one you do because- Jennifer Burns [20:34]: Oh, thank you. Alyssa Scolari [20:34]: ... her artwork is beautiful. And of course, that is something which you and I will absolutely be talking about that because I do want to get a piece from you for my office. And I knew that. We were talking and I saw your work long before I even moved to this new home. Alyssa Scolari [20:56]: And I showed my husband and, I was like, "Listen, when we move, we need to get a piece like this for our home." So, I'm really looking forward to that. So, I have some questions for you as I know some of the listeners might because there is so much crystal hype out there. Jennifer Burns [21:15]: Yeah, there is. Super popular now. Alyssa Scolari [21:18]: It is super, super trendy right now. But I have been trying to get to the bottom of what exactly it is. And I wasn't too sure. Right? Quick story, I wasn't too sure how I felt about the whole the crystal thing as I would call it. Lots of my clients would come in, and they would be like, "I have these crystals, and this does this. Then this is supposed to do that." Alyssa Scolari [21:50]: And I was like, "Okay, this is really cool." Not really sure if they're more than just rocks, but they're really pretty to look at. And I have had so many clients for so many years at this point be like, "Alyssa, you need to go and buy crystals. You need to get into this. It is so healing." Alyssa Scolari [22:11]: So, I was working with a marketing coach who sent me... I was searching for a house at the height of this wild housing market where homes were selling for $100,000 over asking price. And we could not find a home. When we would find a home that we fell in love with, it would be within minutes or hours, that house was already off the market with an offer that was $100,000 in asking price, all cash. It was a really, really stressful time. Alyssa Scolari [22:44]: We could not find a place to live. And my marketing coach, her name's [Pettya 00:22:52], she sent me this crystal. I don't remember the name of it, but it was blue. It was like a turquoise. Jennifer Burns [23:01]: It must be amazonite or something like that. Alyssa Scolari [23:03]: Yeah, something like that. Jennifer Burns [23:05]: Maybe a blue amazonite or something, yeah. Alyssa Scolari [23:08]: She was like, "I really want you to take this with you when you're going to look for homes." I shit you not, I took that out with me the next day when we went to go find a home. And we found this home that I live in now. We got it for asking price. Didn't pay a dime over asking price which is unheard of in this market. And I was blown away. Alyssa Scolari [23:38]: And then, I was like, "Okay, there might be something to this." Fast forward a few months, a couple weeks ago, my husband and I are in this cute little village near where we live, where there's lots of shops and nice little things. And there was this crystal shop. Now, I personally had never been inside a crystal shop before. And I went in, and I felt things. Jennifer Burns [24:02]: That's it. Alyssa Scolari [24:03]: Strange. I don't even have words for it. Jennifer Burns [24:08]: It's a vibration and an energy. Alyssa Scolari [24:12]: Yes, yes. While I was in there is that I noticed I kept coming back to this specific crystal. And I couldn't understand why because there were other crystals in there that were more sparkly or whatever. But there was a specific one I was very, very drawn to. And I left and I didn't look it up or anything. There wasn't a sign about what it's supposed to do for you. Alyssa Scolari [24:39]: I left and we were driving home and I was like, "I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about that one crystal." And I went to go look it up. And for the last several months, I have been struggling with GI issues, hormonal regulation issues, so many health problems. I looked up what that stone is often used for, regulating hormonal imbalances, healing your GI system. And I was like, "Oh, shit." Jennifer Burns [25:15]: Yeah, there is something to this. Alyssa Scolari [25:17]: I have now entered the world. Jennifer Burns [25:19]: [inaudible 00:25:19]. Alyssa Scolari [25:22]: Yes. Jennifer Burns [25:23]: That's awesome. Alyssa Scolari [25:23]: Can you please explain to us how does this process work? What is this? How can it help? Where should somebody even begin if they want to get started? Jennifer Burns [25:36]: Okay. So basically, think about it like this, over millions of years, thousands of years, however far back you want to go, the earth creates heat and pressure, right? And when they mine these crystals, you don't know how long they've been there, sitting there, waiting for someone to find them. Jennifer Burns [25:59]: And all that heat and energy and pressure creates a vibration and an energy into that crystal. So, after they mine it and they might polish it, sometimes you'll get it in a raw form or a polished form, however it is, it is going to emanate an energy. It's going to give you a vibration and an energy. And you need to cleanse your crystals. That's a whole another process. Alyssa Scolari [26:25]: The selenite sticks, right? Is that what people use to cleanse them? Jennifer Burns [26:28]: They do. Yes, selenite. You use the full moon. You can use water. Don't use water on selenite though. It'll dissolve. But other than that, yes, selenite. You can just place one nice stick of selenite within your collection of crystals. And it will actually help cleanse all your crystals. Jennifer Burns [26:48]: Because if you think about it like this, once you pick your crystal and you can do it exactly how you do it, just walking around, feeling what its calling to you because it's... and it'll change. You could go into that shop tomorrow and you might be drawn to a completely different crystal now because you might need a different energy source. Jennifer Burns [27:09]: So, once you pick your crystal and you bring it into your home, I set my intention with that crystal. I would like it to protect my home. I have obsidian by my door because it blocks negativity from coming in, things like that. I love to have rose quartz in my bathroom because it's all about self-love and self-care. Amethyst is everywhere in my house because it's basically healing. It's all about healing and calming. Jennifer Burns [27:37]: I mean, I have crystals everywhere as you can imagine. But once you pick a crystal, it's all about allowing yourself to hold it. But that's the other thing. People will put a gorgeous display out and never touch those crystals. It's fine. You can do that. And it will still bring in gorgeous energy into that room. But you also want to pick that crystal up, feel it. Let that transfer of energy happen. Jennifer Burns [28:07]: When you hold someone's hand and you feel something, the same thing happens when you pick up a crystal. Especially if it's a crystal you need, you will definitely be called to what you need. I even had picked up before we had our call today. I have about six crystals here that I know would be amazing in your life right now. I have literally pulled out some crystals. I'll tell them to you. Alyssa Scolari [28:36]: That's amazing. Jennifer Burns [28:37]: I can do it later, but this one specifically had to do with calming, healing and fertility. So, I don't know why I'm picking that up, but I am. So, just things like that. Things maybe just in the root chakra. Alyssa Scolari [28:54]: But you don't know why you're picking that up? Jennifer Burns [28:58]: Well, I know why, but I didn't want to say it out loud. Alyssa Scolari [29:03]: Oh, no. Jennifer Burns [29:03]: I mean, we've never talked about this. So, you know what I mean. I didn't want to make any assumptions over a recording. You know what I mean? Alyssa Scolari [29:12]: Yeah. No, that's fascinating to me because yes, I am actually seeing a surgeon tomorrow for endometriosis. Jennifer Burns [29:21]: Oh, wow. There you go. Now, funny story, it's not funny actually, about two years ago now, I used to take care of my aunt. And she had dementia, and she had no children. And I was the closest thing to a daughter to her, and very old school just won't talk about any of the toxicity or any of the abuse that happened in our family. You can't even talk to her about it. Jennifer Burns [29:52]: And her sister was one of my main abusers which was my mother. And you just couldn't talk to her about it. So, you just had to... I love her, but she was mean. And she had no filter and she would just say horrible things to me. And I was very upset by her all the time. Jennifer Burns [30:10]: So, jump in, I would have to take care of her because there literally was no one in the family. And I've already cut off this whole side of my family. So, this was very, very difficult for me. So, I'm going somewhere with this story. What this means is when I started taking care of her and she could still speak, and she would say awful things. And I started getting sick. I started getting sicker and sicker. Jennifer Burns [30:42]: I was fine. I wouldn't stand up for myself or anything because she's old and she didn't really... you're just nice like that. Right? But internally, I was getting so sick and I ended up getting sick at my other abuse point which was in my root chakra or my uterus. Right? So, I started bleeding out. Jennifer Burns [31:07]: I know this is a lot of information. But basically, I started hemorrhaging to the point where I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop at all. So, I had surgery and I was fine. And I went back to my aunt. And I was on the plane to go see her. I have had surgery. I'm fine now. I'm not bleeding anywhere. And I'm on the plane. And I'm about to get off the plane to go see her, and I have a complete explosion. Alyssa Scolari [31:36]: What? Jennifer Burns [31:37]: I know this is so much information. I'm a total open book, but yeah, it was really scary. Alyssa Scolari [31:43]: Oh, my gosh. Jennifer Burns [31:44]: My point is, my sickness was so deep within. I had to end up having surgery again. So, my point is, I grabbed my crystals, this, and I was new at this point with crystals. I didn't really understand the power. I got my crystals and I got crystals specifically for that area, my root chakra. Lots of red crystals, right, your carnelians, your bloodstone, moonstone, things like that. And I healed so beautifully, so quickly. And it was beautiful. Jennifer Burns [32:25]: Even my doctor was like, "You are doing amazing considering you just had two surgeries in two months." kind of thing. Crystals have been great for me personally. I use them in every aspect of my life. I use them every single day. Not only in my work, which I don't even consider work. I get to just have this job where I focus on me every day all day now, which is the opposite of what my life used to be. Jennifer Burns [32:56]: It's also ritualistic. And I think that is probably the biggest change in my life is I create my world to be so aesthetically pleasing with music, with lighting. I literally sit and I speak to my guides and I ask them to work with me daily. And I pick the crystals. And if I've collaborated with someone, I'll be pulling them in and having conversations with them and getting to know them, so that I can set the intention of this piece that's going to go in their home. Jennifer Burns [33:32]: And then, I sit for hours. Literally, I can spend eight hours in my studio, literally placing each and every crystal intentionally. And then, I set it in resin and it is just the most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life. And at the end of the day, I feel so internally at peace and that is new. I've never felt at peace in my life. And this is where it's coming from now, my work. And I started therapy three months ago because I was finally- Alyssa Scolari [34:12]: Congratulations. Jennifer Burns [34:12]: Thank you. I was finally at a point in my life because of my work now that I could allow my brain to go there. And so, I started EMDR, amazing, life changing. Alyssa Scolari [34:29]: Amazing. That's what I've heard. Jennifer Burns [34:31]: Literally. I can't really explain it except it works. It literally reprograms your brain. And you don't even... you feel silly in the moment. Is this really doing something? I can't even tell you how it has cleared the cobwebs of abuse in my body. It's amazing. Alyssa Scolari [34:54]: It is so amazing. And for the listeners out there, if you are curious to learn more about EMDR, it is a highly effective treatment for trauma. And you actually can go back earlier on in my episodes. I had Melissa Parks, I believe her name is. I mean, she was incredible and she breaks down exactly what EMDR is. So, please feel free to go back and check that out. But yes, EMDR is phenomenal. Alyssa Scolari [35:24]: Because I think so much of trauma, when we look at trauma in the western culture, it's so disembodied, right? It's just like we're not looking at how trauma is stored in your body. And I think EMDR does a decent job at trying to address trauma in a way that's not just talk therapy. Jennifer Burns [35:44]: Exactly. Because in a way, you really have to think about a moment that you want to work on. And that is the beauty of EMDR is you deal with one particular incident at a time. And for me, it was like I was getting to the point like, "Do I have something I need to think about?" Jennifer Burns [36:06]: I could literally do so many particular incidences, and it is so specific. It's not scary at all. It's actually quite a soothing process. And I don't know how it works in your brain. I really would love to learn more about that part. I'm just trusting my therapist and going with it. And I listen to everything. Alyssa Scolari [36:30]: Requires trust. Jennifer Burns [36:31]: It really does. But also, 100%, you have to be so open. And you have to know that it's going to work. You have to know that it's going to get in there and fix you. And I think that is the part of therapy I was always frightened of is I thought it just still seemed so overwhelming. And I didn't know what I was going to say or what was going to come out of me. Jennifer Burns [36:56]: And I also felt like, "How on earth am I going to go do that? And then, go back and go do the dishes, and cook dinner and be with my children." And I couldn't do that, right, because I'm always so high, positive. And so, this has allowed me to really go there, but not feel like I can't now go back and join my life right after. It's fine. Jennifer Burns [37:22]: Anyway, it's a beautiful process. And so, combined with... and I've tried lots of different things, but the EMDR, my art, and literally every single day choosing to take the time, I do it like a job now. I spend time on me as if it was my job. Now, I'm lucky. And I do get to do that. I don't have to actually leave my house and go to a job, 9:00 to 5:00, but I choose me as a job right now. And it's working. It's absolutely working. Alyssa Scolari [37:57]: So important. Yes, I have full body chills from all the things that you've said. I think it's so fascinating. And it's so fascinating that one of the things that came to you was a crystal that's supposed to help with fertility issues. It's just oh, full body chills. Jennifer Burns [38:19]: Exactly. Alyssa Scolari [38:19]: It's wild to me. Jennifer Burns [38:21]: Well, I used to mentor people intuitively, but this was before people knew that word. That word's thrown around a lot now. I mean, it really is. And I would never tell anyone, "Yeah, I'm an intuitive." They'd be like, "You're a what?" That's weird. But I would just know things about people and I call it getting a download. And I would get really quiet. People don't get quiet enough. Because when you get quiet, it is amazing what comes to you. Jennifer Burns [38:53]: And I think us as women, and I know it happens for men too, but especially women because we do everything based off our gut, which is never wrong by the way ever. If you sit there, you will get information on anyone. I mean, especially if you're in the presence. Alyssa Scolari [39:13]: You just have to be open to it. Jennifer Burns [39:14]: You just have to be quiet and open. And also, I really believe for me personally, I had to cut people out of my life. And I had to not feel bad about it anymore. I felt guilty. I felt like I can't do that. But people didn't understand it and thought I was being mean. But you know what? You have to surround yourself with beautiful people and people that think like you. Jennifer Burns [39:42]: And I still struggle sometimes with the family part of it. Because when the holidays are coming, right, I'm like, "Oh, I feel this sense of obligation to show up." But you know what? I don't anymore. And I don't even feel bad anymore because it's okay. It's for me. It's all okay. And it's for me. And they're not really banging down my door anyway, right? They're not really asking. So, it's okay. Alyssa Scolari [40:13]: Yes, it is so okay. I've had that experience too. Thanksgiving was the first holiday that I chose to spend it with who was safe. Jennifer Burns [40:21]: There you go. Safe, that's it. That's the perfect word. Alyssa Scolari [40:25]: Yeah. I mean, it was incredible. It was just incredible. And like you said, my family didn't knock down my door. Nobody was knocking down my door. So, it was like, "Well, I went where I felt the most loved, and it ended up being really fun." Jennifer Burns [40:42]: Oh, see, there you go. I think as trauma survivors, we're just constantly seeking safety and that soft place. And we never trust it. We always are expecting there to be this element of uncomfortableness somewhere. Jennifer Burns [40:57]: And it's so beautiful to choose joy now and sit in a place like that filled with family or friends that you do love and love you and accept you. You go home and you're like, "Oh, my gosh. I actually enjoyed this. And nothing bad happened today [crosstalk 00:41:16], which is amazing." My God, what a thought. Alyssa Scolari [41:20]: What a dream. I know. Jennifer Burns [41:23]: So simple. Alyssa Scolari [41:24]: Yes, and a place like that comes from, just like you said, making you a full-time job and making caring for yourself a full-time job. It's a beautiful- Jennifer Burns [41:33]: Yeah. And it doesn't have to be forever. Just even if it's a week, a day, a month, whatever you can to sit and really self-love, self-love. You don't have to have crystals to do this. Just literally get quiet. I talk to my guides and I say, "You know what? What do you have for me today?" or, "I really need your support today. I'm having, for some reason, a very nostalgic day and I'm sad." Jennifer Burns [42:01]: And in fact, I was thinking about this yesterday. The Christmas music has come on our radios and which is awesome. It's my favorite time of year. And I've created beautiful holidays in our family. That is my thing is holidays. We all get so excited now. Jennifer Burns [42:20]: I was thinking while I was driving my daughter to school. And I thought, "Oh, my gosh. She's so excited about Christmas, and so am I." But back when I was her age, I used to dread Christmas because I was home stuck with them. Right? And I would never enjoy Christmas. It wasn't enjoyable at all. I would just be living in fear. Jennifer Burns [42:44]: And so, I thought how beautiful it is to turn that around. And instead of hang onto that and always hate Christmas, now, I absolutely love it. And it's my favorite. Because I think again, you have to make a choice. You have to decide that was then. That's over. And this is now. And I think a lot of people can't differentiate that and get out of that. Alyssa Scolari [43:08]: It's a lot of hard work. It is a lot of hard work, which is why I have the utmost respect for you. I mean, I just- Jennifer Burns [43:16]: Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [43:18]: I love talking to you. Jennifer Burns [43:19]: Thank you so much. Oh, I love it. This has been so fun. Alyssa Scolari [43:23]: It's so great talking to you. And I learned so much. I was so excited for this, to do this interview. And I know that I had to postpone and it took me a little while, but truthfully, it's amazing. Jennifer Burns [43:38]: Glad you're good. Alyssa Scolari [43:38]: The timing of the universe is impeccable because I would not have had those experiences with crystals if we had done the interview back when we initially talked about it. Jennifer Burns [43:50]: That's right. Alyssa Scolari [43:52]: So, yeah, the timing of the universe is impeccable. Jennifer Burns [43:59]: I remind myself every day, "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be today." Alyssa Scolari [44:04]: That's exactly it. Yep, I am exactly where I'm supposed to be in this moment. Yes, that is a really important thing to remember, all of us. Jennifer Burns [44:15]: That's right. Alyssa Scolari [44:16]: Now, can you give out your website? It is going to be on the show notes. But can you just say what your website is so that people can find you? Jennifer Burns [44:23]: Yes, absolutely. So, it's healingartbyjen.com. And I also have an Instagram, @healingartbyjen, and it's constantly being updated. And you can also contact me through there to do commission pieces and special custom pieces for your houses. Alyssa Scolari [44:45]: All right, listeners, you know where that website is. Go find it. Her work is so breathtakingly beautiful. Jennifer Burns [44:54]: Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [44:55]: And I know you are in the process of writing a book. I would absolutely love to have you back on when you are promoting your book and things like that. Jennifer Burns [45:05]: Okay. Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [45:07]: So, this is not the last we will be hearing of Jen. Jennifer Burns [45:11]: Thank you. Alyssa Scolari [45:11]: And thank you so, so much for coming on the show today. Jennifer Burns [45:13]: Oh, thanks, Alyssa. This has been so fun. Alyssa Scolari [45:17]: Thanks for listening, everyone. For more information, please head over to lightaftertrauma.com, or you can also follow us on social media. On Instagram, we are @lightaftertrauma. And on Twitter, it is @lightafterpod. Alyssa Scolari [45:34]: Lastly, please head over to patreon.com/lightaftertrauma to support our show. We are asking for $5 a month, which is the equivalent to a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, please head on over again. That's patreon.com/lightaftertrauma. Thank you. And we appreciate your support.

GFA367. If you are reading this, you've survived the year 2021. Congratulations! We need to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to be alive. In this episode, we look back on Global From Asia's 2021 milestones as well as celebrating with an NFT event collectible. Let's tune in! The post 2021 Survivor! Celebrating the Milestones with a NFT Collectible appeared first on Global From Asia.

My professional purpose is to help you, the broker, optimize your productivity and help you become the best version of yourself. Why? "Because Happy Brokers Sell More Real Estate". I do that by helping you handle challenges and opportunities that you face every day. If you can effectively manage certain situations that arise on a daily basis in your business, you'll be more productive and live a life that is the best version of you. Today, I will explain what it will take to create momentum in the first week of the year so you can win the quarter, win 2022 and hit your 3 year vision. Today, we officially kick off 2022 and despite all of the craziness in our world, I feel a sense of optimism and hopefully you do too. Many of you had a breakout year in 2021! Congratulations! Isn't fun to come off a period of time where you can "see" the possibilities? With that sense of optimism, there should come a dose of reality and a pinch of caution. In 2021, we saw off the charts demand, super low inventory, historically low interest rates, lots of cash and availability to funds giving us a market that we might only see once of twice in a life time.

We wish you a #HappyNewYear with Jamie Monroy aka Degenerate2018 and Alex Monroy aka Atomicmonkii on Twitch stopping by for this week with Gerald as we open The Book of Boba Fett on Disney Plus with thoughts on chapter (episode) one. The group will Strike Fast and Strike Hard with thoughts on Cobra Kai season four, if it lives up to last year's stellar third campaign, and if Netflix will allow it to continue for a season five. They also take time to remember the amazing life of Betty White and wonder what the WWE is doing with Brock Lesnar winning the Raw Championship...again at WWE's Day One. All this and predictions for pop culture for 2022 on our latest episode of the Pop Culture Cosmos! For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

Congratulations on making it to the final lesson episode of Season Dos of Eat Your Spanish! Today's episode is another all time favorite of ours...there's a lot of heart in this one (and a big burp too!) We hope everyone is having a healthy and happy new year! Lots of love, Evan and Vanessa

#093 - Congratulations!You're a multi-millionaire.Yes, you are!  It doesn't matter what your bank account says.On this episode, learn how to change your attitude for success with a new perspective.Join The UnSalesperson CommunityWould you like to connect with fellow unsalesy Realtors and introverts in real estate and learn how they are doing it, share ideas, get inspiration and motivation?I have created the UnSalesperson Community! Unlike the mass market advice, here's your unique opportunity to learn from like minded people. Bounce ideas off of them and me. Some of the guests who have been on my podcast are in this community.Click here for more info.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/unsalesperson)

Here we summarize everything you have learned in Unit 2 of the Live Lingua Spanish Podcast, and offer a congratulations on your hard work so far in learning Spanish.

Our final episode of the year brings us the best of pop culture for Gerald Glassford in movies, television, and video games as he runs down his list of what he enjoyed the most this year. Plus he and Melinda Barkhouse-Ross share thoughts on what they're looking forward to what's expected to arrive in 2022. And John Orlando from the PVDCast returns to the program to hand out with Gerald the awards for Best Wrestler, Best Women's Wrestler, Best Tag Team, and Best Future Prospect as we grapple over who was the best in the squared circle for 2021 as we wish you a "Happy New Year" on our year-ending PCC Multiverse! For thousands of conversations that matter with thoughtful and amazing people (like us!), you can listen to LIVE or at your convenience, download the Wisdom App today! Gear up with your favorite Pop Culture Cosmos shirts and gifts in our TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos Presented by ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props! - Use promo code LFB when you sign up today and you will receive an instant deposit match up to $50 on your first deposit of $20 or more! - Download ThriveFantasy on the App Store or Play Store or by visiting their website www.thrivefantasy.com. Sign up and #PropUp today! Don't forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at popculturecosmos@yahoo.com! And also brought to you by Pop Culture Cosmos, RobMcZob.com, Indie Pods United, Lakers Fast Break, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

Congratulations, you have made it to the last day of the Bible in a Year journey! Fr. Mike concludes our journey through the Bible by reflecting on the promise of a new heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21. It is this profound promise that reassures us that Christ is the beginning and the end, the one who makes all things new, the one who wipes away every tear, the one who conquers death, and the only one who offers us everlasting life, a life without end. Today's readings are Revelation 21-22, Hebrews 11-13, and Proverbs 31:30-31. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

This week on Not Your Demographic, it's the end of the year as we know it! 2021 is almost a wrap, and Erin & Stella are closing out this disturbing year with bad bikini waxes and Supernatural obsessions. Here's hoping for a better 2022, but we're not holding our breaths! --- Books Mentioned: American Cult edited by Robyn Chapman And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes Under The Whispering Wood by TJ Klune Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales Dawn by Octavia E. Butler Imprudence by Gail Carriger Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron Monster She Wrote by Lisa Kruger and Melanie R. Anderson Afterward by Edith Wharton --- Follow us on Twitter & Instagram @NYDProductions and interact with us using the tag #NotYourDemoPod Support the show and join our Discord at Patreon.com/NYDProductions

Christina Ricci chats with Chris about how both their families are expecting babies soon (since this ep recorded, her baby was born! Congratulations, Ricci!!), how to negotiate device screentime with your kids, and what it was like to work on the new “Matrix” film. Her current show “Yellowjackets” on Showtime is amazing and “The Matrix Resurrections” is out in theaters and HBOMax on Dec. 22!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.