Podcasts about joel you

Have you ever watched a viral video on social media and wondered how it captured millions of views? What magic formula did the creator use that made you hit the share button without hesitation? In today's episode of Insight Out, I'm thrilled to have ⁠Joel Lalgee⁠, a social media sage and content wizard, especially when it comes to making waves on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok. In this episode, we discuss the craft behind viral content, the importance of developing a recognizably unique voice, and the strategies for keeping viewers hooked from the first second. Joel shares the invaluable insights he gained from his triumphs on TikTok and LinkedIn. We explore the world of social media algorithms, discover what makes posts attention-grabbing, and look into the effectiveness of niching down to create impactful, resonant messages. Joel opens up about the balance between entertaining and informative content, the value of engaging directly with your audience, and the relentless pursuit of improvement through content iteration. Tune in now, and gain the knowledge you need to make your content truly stand out. Here's what you can expect in this episode: Loving content creation means consuming and understanding it. - (06:01) Social media platforms focus on revenue through ads. - (13:30) The Power of Niching Down - (19:10) Joel covers LinkedIn credibility and text in videos for attention. (20:18) Simplify speech and writing for more impact.- (25:03) Competition for attention in content creation. - (30:06) Blocking time for priorities in calendar is key for building a brand. - (34:00) Using funny, entertaining content for marketing strategy. - (38:50) Monetizing meme accounts and TikTok challenges, preferring content monetization - (47:20) Building relationships through unique content is essential. - (57:07) Focus on real relationships, not just gaining followers.- (1:04:19) Key insights: Mastering the perfect hook, line, and sinker for your videos Riding the hashtag highway to get your content seen Time juggling like a boss between work, family, and content creation Real talk on the common facepalms content creators make Notable quotes: “At a certain point, you have to just do some of this stuff... you've got to do it as well and test it out.” (10:46) - Joel “After four years of just creating content, I just don't care... I'm just more interested in what works and what doesn't.” (11:10) - Joel “Once I get past that three to five-second mark... whatever I say after that doesn't matter as much... So that's what I think of with a good video.” (20:23) - Joel "You're not just competing against other people on LinkedIn, you're competing against Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, the news, the newspaper, every podcast in the world. Everybody's competing for that same thing." (39:29) - Joel “At the end of the day, if you just do trending stuff all the time, you're never gonna really create like something that people recognize because it's just they're following the trend. They're not following you.” (46:58) - Joel "having a point of view is so important. And whatever the point of view is, a point of view is what's going to get the conversation going." (48:45) - Joel Resources Joel: Joel's Company Website: ⁠https://www.therealestrecruiter.com/⁠ Social Media ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellalgee/⁠ ⁠The_realest_recruiter⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Therealestrecruiter⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/the_realestrecruiter/⁠ ⁠https://twitter.com/Humanheadhunter⁠ Billy Samoa  https://www.instagram.com/billysamoa/ https://www.youtube.com/@BillySamoa https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/ This is an encore episode and was originally published on February 2, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Just Schools Podcast, Jon Eckert interviews Joel Hazard, a longtime educator and leader passionate about unlocking untapped talent in students and educators. Hazard shares his journey from student-athlete to educator, reflecting on the mentors who saw potential in him when he couldn't see it himself. The conversation highlights the importance of creating environments where every individual's gifts are recognized—especially those who don't see their own potential. Hazard shares how small moments of encouragement can spark confidence in both students and colleagues The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Be encouraged. Mentioned: Student Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner Connect with us: Baylor MA in School Leadership EdD in K-12 Educational Leadership Jon Eckert LinkedIn X: @eckertjon Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl   Jon Eckert: Joel, it's great to have you in the podcast studio today. We just finished a great conference yesterday where you facilitated a panel. But you got to this point in your career through some interesting ways, because you're a great athlete... Weren't sure you were going to be an educator. Joel: Correct. Jon Eckert: I don't even know if that was ever on your radar. But talk to us about how you got where you're at today. Joel: Yeah. Well, first, thanks for having me. Greatly appreciate the time to sit and talk about these things. Well, in a nutshell, I did not see myself in education at all. I thought I was going to be a firefighter. I did not like school. I was a kid who stayed back in elementary school; very academically defeated. Didn't feel I had anything to give to education. But my parents being who they are, I was heavy in sports, they said, "Hey, you got to be in school if you're going to play sports. And if you're not going to do well in school, you're not playing sports." Long story short, I tolerated school for as long as I could because I really wanted to play sports. And so long story short, by God's grace, was blessed enough to go earn a scholarship, play at Boston College where my dad went, my older brother went as well, and really sitting back and saying, "Hey, if I don't go pro, I'll go ahead and be a firefighter. It's one thing I don't really have to do additional school for, and I can serve my community." Always wanted to serve people in some capacity. Just leave my thumbprint on the world, somehow, some way. As it were, it was one of those things I was thinking heavily about. The professional realms, that didn't work, and so I had to get a job quick. I was freshly married to my wife, and the only thing that made sense to me was education. It was either sports or education. I get into education at a Christian school early on and fell in love with the kids. I love kids. You ask me to this day, I love kids. I love just little kids that are just fresh, innocent, and just so full of life. Love that. Jon Eckert: What level did you get a job at? Joel: I was ninth grade. Jon Eckert: Okay. All right. Very good. Joel: Ninth graders are a different breed. They're knuckleheads, but funny kids. I learned so much about myself just interacting with them. And so next thing you know, my mentor at the time said, "Hey, listen, I just want to let you know most educators leave in three years. They're going to leave in three years, and I don't want that to be for you." And so my competitiveness kicked in and say, "I will not be that. I'll stay at least three years." Three years turned into five, five, 10, 10 to 14. And I was at that school for 14 years. And in that time, being surrounded by sports, I coached three sports, being around athletes, being around coaches, and being around teachers, that just poured into me, it was just something I was like, "Okay, I can do this long-term." And so here I am in leadership. I'm finishing up on my 20th year in education. Jon Eckert: Wow. Wow. Well, we're grateful that you have. You've been a great partner to the Center for School Leadership. I think I heard correctly too. Did you get invited to an NFL combine after your time at Boston College? Joel: I did. Long story short- Jon Eckert: It was a bit of a side note, but- Joel: Long story short, I was in the master's program at BC, Education department. And I was going through, and I'm like, "I don't know if I want to be a teacher. I want to go out," right? Jon Eckert: Yeah. Joel: Make millions. And so long story short, agent comes back and says, "Listen, you're about 5'9 3/4s". The smaller you are, the faster you have to be." And so I said, "All right." I left grad school, left and trained for three months, trained for three months. And I did my pro day at BC and by God's grace hit the 44, 41-invert, the whole thing. And so during that time, I was planning a wedding throughout that whole time. And so long story short, what ended up happening is a Canadian football league came down and said, "Hey, we're going to be trying out people too." And so I tried out for them. And they come back after the draft happens. I don't get drafted, whatever. And they said, "We want exclusive rights on him. We want him to come to Canada." My agent says, "Hey, you can go to the Patriots, try out with them, Seattle, Cincinnati, try out for them, or you can go the CFL route. They have exclusive rights on you." And so I'm about to get married. "I'm like, I need money now." I went the CFL route, and within a day, day and a half, I was like, "This is not what I want to do. This is not what I thought." And decided to step away, came back home, got into education. That's how it all happened. Jon Eckert: Okay. That's a great side story. Again, we've been talking before we jumped on about untapped talent and untapped potential, and so I'm so grateful that education has tapped some of your potential. Talk a little bit about some of the people that were integral in doing that, because as leaders, we want to help other people be that for kids. Can you talk a little bit about some of the people that were impactful for you that way? Joel: Oh, absolutely. First woman that comes to mind is Ms. Astrella, my resource teacher at the time. If you're a kid in the '80s, you know resource teachers, you get pulled out of the class. You got to take that walk of shame to the door. You can't really stay in the reading groups. You can't really stay in any of the other groups; you have to be sent out to a special room. And it was really at that time, I'm getting pulled out, I'm just academically defeated. I'm stupid, I'm worthless. I don't know what's going on. This is why I can't stand school. But Ms. Astrella, yeah, she's at my foundation. She brought me in. She loved on me. She believed in me outside of your parents, right? Jon Eckert: Mm-hmm. Joel: And there's a bit of you that says, "Hey, your parents got to love you. Your parents got to do this." And so when you're in that mindset, of discount what they say, how they love on you. My parents loved on me, supported me, but at the time you're thinking they have to. But Ms. Astrella was that foundation that came in, worked with me, held me accountable. She was not playing around. Held me accountable, believed in me. Made me do it over if I did it wrong. And so really helped me to get some of that academic confidence back. And then next thing you know, she becomes my second grade teacher. And it was like I was back in resource class. She would hold me in from recess if I did it wrong. She would love on me. She would communicate with my parents. Oh man, my parents and her work on a constant communication thread at the time. And she was at my foundation, absolutely. And then as I started to become more academically confident, I had coaches that would pour into me. And those were the people, believe it or not, that were at my wedding. I had coaches and teachers at my wedding. Yes. And so those are the people that have meant the world to me because they believed in me at a time I didn't believe in myself. Jon Eckert: Well, and it's interesting that you didn't see yourself as an educator- Joel: No. Jon Eckert: ... and that you had these people, these coaches and teachers pouring into you and it just took time. And going up to the CFL and saying, "Hey, this isn't for me, and then, no, firefighting for whatever reason isn't for me." And then you get in with the kids, and the kids are always what's sell- Joel: [inaudible 00:07:42] education. Jon Eckert: Yes. That's it. There's a lot of other interesting things about education, being a constant lifelong learner and being able to go deep into content and some other thing. There are things that are appealing, but if the kids don't sell you on education, you're in the wrong profession. Joel: Absolutely. Jon Eckert: The paycheck's not going to do it, so it's got to be the kids. I love that. You got to ninth grade. And as a former middle school teacher, in my mind, those ninth graders are super mature kids. And we all know that your knucklehead characterization might be more accurate most of the time. But you went from there, ninth grade teacher, you moved up the ranks. I'm assuming, did you coach at all as well? Joel: Coach three sports. Football, basketball, track all the way up. Jon Eckert: Okay. You're living life with these kids, and you're doing this- Joel: Absolutely. Jon Eckert: And now you're in the center working with us building out networks of leaders. Talk a little bit about how that's helped you and some of the other work you've done tap the potential of educators in the field, because I think there is a lot of talent in our field that goes unrecognized. Talk a little bit about how you've done that. Joel: Absolutely. It really comes from me having to live it out. I believe I was on tap talent and there were people that surrounded me and said, "Hey, you would be good at this. You'd be good at this." And I'm like, "Yeah." But you hear it multiple times. When you interact with those people, you start to believe it. And so by God's grace, I've been able to put in a lot of leadership roles is because I believe, trusted people and friends and other leaders that say, "I'm going to put you in this so you can lead." And so what I've done is ever since getting into leadership, I have felt it's had to be my obligation to look at that untapped potential. And there's a lot. I believe in every school there's untapped potential. I've usually found it not in the obvious cases of those that are working on their degrees, it's mostly those are your quiet leaders, your working bees that are out there and are just wanting to do their best for the kids. That's the talent that I've been able to shine a light on and say, "Hey, you can do more in this." Jon Eckert: Well, in our master's program, we have a number of people that'll enter the program, it's a master's in school leadership, and they'll say, "I don't know if I'm really going to be a principal," or, "I don't know if I'm really a leader. I try to do really good work, and I have great colleagues." I'm like, "You're the exact person we want in this program." And so we've seen so much of that going on. And could you just share briefly the example you had on your panel that you were facilitating yesterday with the participant in the front who was a little reluctant? Joel: Yes. Jon Eckert: Can you take that away? Joel: Yes. She was actually the highlight of my panel. And so the panel, you're in there with leaders all throughout Texas. And you have the panel up front that is sharing their wisdom, their experience. And you can just tell, leaders, when they go to conferences, I believe they're the most vulnerable simply because they're there, and it's one of the most comfortable spaces to where any leader can say, "I don't know. And I'm just trying to connect with other people." And so how I like to run panels is I don't like to give to get model. They're there to give, you're there to get, and then you move about your way. We're going to participate, we're going to support one another. And one of the ways in which I do that is I create a very uncomfortable environment in regards of I'm just going to call on you and you're meant to contribute. People don't like that. And so there was a woman in the very front row. And I said, "All right, guys, here's your Q&A for the panel. If you don't ask questions, I'm just going to call on you and you're going to have to have a question." And so everyone has a heightened sense of I better have something ready. And so we had a couple of participants, and I saw this woman sitting in the front row all by herself. And I said, "Hey, I'm coming to you next." And she says, "Oh, gosh." And she just had this look of he's going to call on me; I got to have something ready. And you could tell she was nervous. I said, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not going to call on you now, but you're going to end our session with the last question." And you could tell she was sitting there, she was processing because all the pressure was on her. And as the Lord would have it, she asked one of the most profound questions that the panel actually had to really sit back and really think and say, "That was a great question." That is untapped potential right there is because now that individual who didn't want to do it, at least somebody like me who, I didn't know her from Adam, but for me to say, "You're going to end our panel with your question," and for her to be validated in the question she asked, she left the conference with a smile. I was able to give her a hug afterwards. And hopefully she left more confident than what she came in. Jon Eckert: Well, and wasn't your panel on engagement? Joel: Engagement, yes. Jon Eckert: Again, future leaders. Joel: Yes. Jon Eckert: And so it's engagement over comfort. And sometimes comfort is the enemy of engagement. If you feel like, oh, I'm not going to get called on. I can just be back here and blend into the woodwork. And you didn't let her be that comfortable. And the whole group benefited from that engagement. And again, that's the point. And so you do a lot of work with Black male educators through the center. And that's one of the things, we are trying to get more voices into the work we do because when you don't engage the body of Christ, you don't engage the world of students that you serve and you don't have a wide range of perspectives in there, it's not about representation so much, it's a we are impoverished when we miss those voices of that educator in the front who doesn't come in or we miss a whole population of people who don't have a voice because we're not in conversation, and we're not in community with them. How have you had some successes with bringing some different voices into conversations and spaces where they might not have typically been? Joel: Right. Well, when you look at the group Black male Christian educators, and it can be Christian educators or public educators as well, I really wanted to help create the group. I don't want anyone thinking that I spearheaded. I wanted to help create the group is because when you look across the demographics, Black males make up 2% out of those two- Jon Eckert: Of the teaching population. Joel: Of the teaching population. 2%. And me being a Black male, I'm saying, "Yeah, I have a heart for this. I need to keep more in." And so we create a space to where we can come to the table and we can talk about some of our general realities and then also be an encouragement to one another and really push ourselves to really think outside of our current position. And so the group has been very great. We come together and we're extremely vulnerable. And we're saying, "Hey, how can we better our environments for all students?" But before we can do that, we have to feel encouraged like any teacher. We have to feel encouraged, we have to feel we can do the work, and we just have to feel we have a space and opportunity to go somewhere and just be unfiltered and just say what we got to say within its rawest state to really brainstorm what other people who we feel understand some of our general realities. And we all do that. We do it on a woman's level, men's level, principal level, head of school level. We all have these groups. The group is not to silo our thought process or silo our experience, but sometimes we just need to break away from the group to regroup and then come back in the group and participate. Jon Eckert: Yeah. George Yancey is a sociologist on campus, and he comes in and speaks to my classes. And he tells our students of color, "Hey, if you just need to step away from these conversations that you're constantly having to represent your entire race or ethnicity, give yourself permission to step away because that conversation's going to be there." And so so many students can feel this, and certainly educators can where every time there's another committee on inclusion or mattering or belonging, it's like, "Oh, well, we got to make sure we get Joel on that committee." It can be exhausting. Now, the impulse is right. We want to get the wisdom from Joel as an educator who's had this unique experience of coming through with a... I have to say you're the only person we've ever had on the podcast that runs a 44 40 and had a 41-inch vertical, so that's the real claim to fame. But we want Joel's perspective because of what he brings to it. And so that's a good impulse, but it can also be exhausting. How have you found a balance between retreating into community and then stepping out into places where it's going to be uncomfortable? But you have to be engaged because you care about each kid? How have you balanced that? Joel: You just said it. It's really thinking about the kids who will benefit from this. And so it's one of those things, you feed the teachers, they don't eat the kids when you think about it. Jon Eckert: That's good. Joel: And so I sit back and I say, "Hey, my voice is as equally important as everyone else's voice at the table." Can it be exhausting? I know it can be exhausting from a position level. I know principals are fatigued in their role, in their experience. I know heads of school are fatigued in their role. I know teachers are fatigued. I know women are fatigued. And so we're all fatigued. But given our experiences, it sets a unique fatigue, if that makes sense, for each group. And so for me, what keeps me going is knowing that there is real fatigue, absolutely, but my voice is as equally important at that table. And it's one of the things of letting people know, especially as you look within the world we're in today, I'm not saying my voice and my experience needs to dominate the conversation, by no means. I'm an ingredient to this whole thing just like everyone else is. My experience is not meant to be worshiped or idolized, nor is it meant to be ignored. And so I just want that part of the conversation, not to dominate it, but it's a part of it so we can get a collective understanding of who's in the room. What are the unique experiences? And then how do we navigate those experiences as we move forward together to make sure all of our students are understood, heard, and valued. For me, I sponsor kids in my head. Sponsor kids are what kid out there or kids out there or groups out there would benefit from my experience at the table? Jon Eckert: Well, I would also say, because I totally agree with the unique levels of fatigue based on positionality, whatever that is, I also would say there's also a unique opportunity for joy and energy from that because as you bring that voice and you represent each kid in your mind, there's a different level of... It animates you differently. And so while I always want to acknowledge the hard work that educators do, it's also really meaningful. And our work is so much more interesting than so many other people who do work that earns more money, that adds value to society, that is... I don't ever want to prioritize one profession over another, but being in the profession that makes all others possible, we, as educators as a group, have this unique opportunity for energy and fatigue that are imbalanced. And so I'm willing to endure a little more fatigue because of the opportunity and the energy that comes when we get to do meaningful work together. Would you agree with that or am I being a little too- Joel: No, no, no. Jon Eckert: ... toxically positive? Joel: I would agree. I think everyone knows nobody stays in education for the money. They don't. There has to be a high element of joy that you get, satisfaction that you get that you're imparting wisdom. And to be honest with you, that these kids are gracious enough to invite us in their journey. And so I think we stay for the relationship. I think we stay because we have something to impart to the next generation. Those that don't like kids or don't like that will fizzle out. They'll self-select out eventually. No, that joy is an important component of what we do. Jon Eckert: Yeah. Well, and you pointed fatigue out, and the other night we were talking at dinner and you mentioned how, as educators, we should follow a kid through the day to understand how exhausting it is. And I was recounting an administrator in Illinois who had done that. She got to third or fourth period, and she was just exhausted from the day. I do think we have to remember our students are also uniquely fatigued and also have unique opportunities for joy and energy, we just need to tap into that more. And sometimes it takes us stepping into their shoes to see, oh, yeah, I forgot what this was like. Yeah, I appreciated your point about that. Joel: And it was told to me early on, "A great administrator never forgets what it's like to be a teacher." You ever say that in front of a teacher, they will stand up, they will applaud, encore, whatever. The second part of that is, "A great teacher never forgets what it's like to be a student." Jon Eckert: That's right. That's right. In the good and the bad, the fatigue and the joy. Joel: Absolutely. Jon Eckert: Lightning round. We always do a few questions at the end where we just get a sentence or two answer. I'm terrible at keeping my answers concise, but we'll see how well you do. You're fast, so let's see how well you can manage this. What's the worst piece of advice you've ever received as an educator or just in general? And then the best piece of advice. We'll take those in whatever order you want to take them. Joel: Yeah, the worst case, the worst advice, just get by. That's the worst. Just get by. Hey, I'm trying to really do this, or I'm trying to bring this to the classroom, something a little different. I'm still racking my brain over it. "Hey, just get by. Just do what you got to do." Jon Eckert: Yeah. That's what's exhausting. Joel: Worst advice. Jon Eckert: Yeah. All right. Joel: Best advice, listen to the kids. As you're customizing things, as you're thinking about the kids, when was the last time you listened to the kids on what they want, how they listen, how they process? Best advice. Jon Eckert: Well, and we tried yesterday at our conference to bring in... And I think we did. We said we had expert consultants coming in at lunch. And then 15 minutes before lunch, 20 students come in and they're going to be expert consultants for people as they work on their problems of practice, how they're going to increase their gritty optimism and tell their leadership story. I really wanted to debrief with the students, but they had to go back to class before... I really wanted to get their take on what they were doing because I think about 10 of them had no idea what they were walking into, and they're standing at the back of the room being described as expert consultants on something that they don't know about. But that was our attempt, to listen and get leaders to listen. And I think we need to treat them in that way because they are, in fact, the partners in the learning process that so often get left out of the conversation when they're the whole focus of what we do. Joel: The whole focus. Absolutely. One of the things I've asked teachers over the years is, "Give me your hardest math problem. Give me the hardest concept in, whatever, science or whatever class. And I ask you, 'Can I find it on Google? ChatGPT. Can I look it up on ChatGPT?'" And chances are you can. And so what does that say? Is we've seen a shift in education, especially in the instruction. Now these kids are equipped with all the information they could possibly want, but they need guides. They need someone to help them sift through that information. And so as you look, it's like education has always been this. I'm here to be a reliable and trustable guide to get these kids through some of the obstacle courses and help jump these hurdles so that they'll be fully functioning, successful individuals in the world and impact the world for a greater good. Jon Eckert: Yeah, that's good. They need wisdom is what they need. And that's what they need us for. And that's what I think greater educators do. Speaking of wisdom, best book you've read in the last year? It doesn't have to be education, but what's the best book you've read? Joel: I've read. Well, I would have to say The Student Leadership Challenge. I teach a leadership class, Go Lead. Shout out to Jason Beard over at Mount Paran Christian who designed the course. But The Student Leadership Challenge is a great book. It's able to put leadership on a student level. Things to think about: What is your commitment level? Why do you want to lead? How do you lead? And that student leadership challenge allows us to go deeper into why somebody would want to lead. But not only that, why would someone want to follow you? Jon Eckert: Yeah. Love that. We'll wrap up with this. What gives you the most hope as you look forward to the time ahead we have in education? Joel: The most hope I see is people keep coming to conferences, number one. Students keep showing up. Parents. Despite where you are at in your education journey, but parents keep dropping their kids off to our schools. And here's something we have to acknowledge. Parents drop them off at our schools, and we have seven hours with them. If they play sports, that's an additional two, two and a half, depending on their level, so they're with us for nine, nine and a half hours. Most active parts of the day. Parents continue to drop them off because there is some level of trust they have with us. That gives me some hope that parents are still looking to partner with educators. And we're looking to get that trifecta to where it's the parent, it's the teacher and the student involved in this process. That continues to give me hope. Jon Eckert: No, that's a great place to end. Joel, thanks for your time, thanks for your leadership. Appreciate all you do. Joel: Thank you for having me. 

Have you ever watched a viral video on social media and wondered how it captured millions of views? What magic formula did the creator use that made you hit the share button without hesitation? In today's episode of Insight Out, I'm thrilled to have Joel Lalgee, a social media sage and content wizard, especially when it comes to making waves on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok. In this episode, we discuss the craft behind viral content, the importance of developing a recognizably unique voice, and the strategies for keeping viewers hooked from the first second. Joel shares the invaluable insights he gained from his triumphs on TikTok and LinkedIn. We explore the world of social media algorithms, discover what makes posts attention-grabbing, and look into the effectiveness of niching down to create impactful, resonant messages. Joel opens up about the balance between entertaining and informative content, the value of engaging directly with your audience, and the relentless pursuit of improvement through content iteration. Tune in now, and gain the knowledge you need to make your content truly stand out. Here's what you can expect in this episode: Loving content creation means consuming and understanding it. - (06:01) Social media platforms focus on revenue through ads. - (13:30) The Power of Niching Down - (19:10) Joel covers LinkedIn credibility and text in videos for attention. (20:18) Simplify speech and writing for more impact.- (25:03) Competition for attention in content creation. - (30:06) Blocking time for priorities in calendar is key for building a brand. - (34:00) Using funny, entertaining content for marketing strategy. - (38:50) Monetizing meme accounts and TikTok challenges, preferring content monetization - (47:20) Building relationships through unique content is essential. - (57:07) Focus on real relationships, not just gaining followers.- (1:04:19) Key insights: Mastering the perfect hook, line, and sinker for your videos Riding the hashtag highway to get your content seen Time juggling like a boss between work, family, and content creation Real talk on the common facepalms content creators make Notable quotes: “At a certain point, you have to just do some of this stuff... you've got to do it as well and test it out.” (10:46) - Joel “After four years of just creating content, I just don't care... I'm just more interested in what works and what doesn't.” (11:10) - Joel “Once I get past that three to five-second mark... whatever I say after that doesn't matter as much... So that's what I think of with a good video.” (20:23) - Joel "You're not just competing against other people on LinkedIn, you're competing against Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, the news, the newspaper, every podcast in the world. Everybody's competing for that same thing." (39:29) - Joel “At the end of the day, if you just do trending stuff all the time, you're never gonna really create like something that people recognize because it's just they're following the trend. They're not following you.” (46:58) - Joel "having a point of view is so important. And whatever the point of view is, a point of view is what's going to get the conversation going." (48:45) - Joel Resources Joel: Joel's Company Website: https://www.therealestrecruiter.com/ Social Media https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellalgee/ The_realest_recruiter https://www.youtube.com/@Therealestrecruiter https://www.instagram.com/the_realestrecruiter/ https://twitter.com/Humanheadhunter Billy Samoa  https://www.instagram.com/billysamoa/ https://www.youtube.com/@BillySamoa https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/ This is an encore episode and was originally published on February 2, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A collaborative approach is being taken by Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts to procure offshore wind projects in the region. Dan-Bunkering is providing a solution to challenges posed by the Jones Act. And GE Vernova is cutting tons of employees at LM Wind Power. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen Hall: All right, Joel, I have instructions from above that I am to mention the Uptime Tech News newsletter. So I am mentioning it right now. If you have not subscribed to Uptime Tech News it contains all the stories and all the research that we've done and we're talking about on the podcast. If you wanna read more in depth about those stories, we're gonna give you all those links and details there. Plus we include all the weekly stock updates and the whole thing is free. So if you go to weatherguardwind.com and subscribe there, or you can click the link in the show notes, you can belong to Uptime Tech News, our wonderful newsletter. Joel, now my conscience is clear. Joel: You can sleep well tonight knowing that you did your part to spread the uptime tickets. So here's the other thing too, guys, is if you subscribe to that newsletter, when you get into it, all of the companies that we mentioned, Hey, what about this new solution here? These guys are doing this thing. That's cool. Are these ladies over here designing this or blah, blah, blah. Like all of those companies. Are hyperlinked right in there. So you can go find them real quick. If you want to research basically what we're talking about. Allen Hall: Because it does give you a focus for the week on what to be looking at, what's moving, what's trending without you having to go search the internet. And I am a recipient of other newsletters. I get it. We created our own because there was just, there was a lot of fluff and a lot of these newsletters and things that didn't matter to us as a business and to, I think the larger industry. Particularly in North America. And so we felt Hey, let's just do it ourselves. Let's just make it free. And we're doing the work anyway. So we'll just open up to all our listeners for free. So go to weatherguardwind. com sign up for Uptime Tech News. Click in the show notes below, sign up for that thing. And that will make everybody on my team very happy. Up along the East coast, there has been four developers submitting bids for a total of a little over six gigawatts of offshore wind. Along the sort of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, offshore area. The bidders were Avangrid Ørsted, South Coast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore. Back in late last year Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts had signed a MOU to collaborate together on offshore wind procurement, because they were all doing it separately and competing against one another, and they all had slightly different wording and contracts, and it made all the bidders confused and upset about it. So they decided to combine them. Finally, the Massachusetts is looking for about 3. 6 gigawatts, Rhode Island about 1. 2, and Connecticut is headed for about 2 gigawatts. So Massachusetts received bids from Avangrid, South Coast Wind Energy, and Vineyard Offshore. And the final decisions on project will be decided in August, which seems like an eternity, everybody. Rhode Island will evaluate proposals from all four bidders with a decision expected in about three months. Makes a little more sense.

Have you ever watched a viral video on social media and wondered how it captured millions of views? What magic formula did the creator use that made you hit the share button without hesitation? In today's episode of Insight Out, I'm thrilled to have Joel Lalgee, a social media sage and content wizard, especially when it comes to making waves on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok. In this episode, we discuss the craft behind viral content, the importance of developing a recognizably unique voice, and the strategies for keeping viewers hooked from the first second. Joel shares the invaluable insights he gained from his triumphs on TikTok and LinkedIn. We explore the world of social media algorithms, discover what makes posts attention-grabbing, and look into the effectiveness of niching down to create impactful, resonant messages. Joel opens up about the balance between entertaining and informative content, the value of engaging directly with your audience, and the relentless pursuit of improvement through content iteration. Tune in now, and gain the knowledge you need to make your content truly stand out. Here's what you can expect in this episode: Loving content creation means consuming and understanding it. - (06:01) Social media platforms focus on revenue through ads. - (13:30) The Power of Niching Down - (19:10) Joel covers LinkedIn credibility and text in videos for attention. (20:18) Simplify speech and writing for more impact.- (25:03) Competition for attention in content creation. - (30:06) Blocking time for priorities in calendar is key for building a brand. - (34:00) Using funny, entertaining content for marketing strategy. - (38:50) Monetizing meme accounts and TikTok challenges, preferring content monetization - (47:20) Building relationships through unique content is essential. - (57:07) Focus on real relationships, not just gaining followers.- (1:04:19) Key insights: Mastering the perfect hook, line, and sinker for your videos Riding the hashtag highway to get your content seen Time juggling like a boss between work, family, and content creation Real talk on the common facepalms content creators make Notable quotes: “At a certain point, you have to just do some of this stuff... you've got to do it as well and test it out.” (10:46) - Joel “After four years of just creating content, I just don't care... I'm just more interested in what works and what doesn't.” (11:10) - Joel “Once I get past that three to five-second mark... whatever I say after that doesn't matter as much... So that's what I think of with a good video.” (20:23) - Joel "You're not just competing against other people on LinkedIn, you're competing against Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, the news, the newspaper, every podcast in the world. Everybody's competing for that same thing." (39:29) - Joel “At the end of the day, if you just do trending stuff all the time, you're never gonna really create like something that people recognize because it's just they're following the trend. They're not following you.” (46:58) - Joel "having a point of view is so important. And whatever the point of view is, a point of view is what's going to get the conversation going." (48:45) - Joel Resources Joel: Joel's Company Website: https://www.therealestrecruiter.com/ Social Media https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellalgee/ The_realest_recruiter https://www.youtube.com/@Therealestrecruiter https://www.instagram.com/the_realestrecruiter/ https://twitter.com/Humanheadhunter Billy: https://twitter.com/BillySamoa https://www.instagram.com/billybelieve/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCjQ9RSxYqDS4_VxBHNyQJw https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“White people suck!” This is a self-stated fact. White people are the only ones going around saying that shit. I mean, everyone else thinks it, it's true. Lots of people say it—just in other ways. Not exactly like that. “White people suck!” White people say this about themselves, as if they're not getting a little bit of fucking sociopathic joy out of it. I lived with a white a supremacist that may or may not have known he was a white supremacist. *may or may not have* He would say shit bordering on the brink of slight psychological torture. He'd say shit like “WE made OURSELVES the TOP RACE” Like, the fact that you're using words like ‘we' and ‘ourselves' indicate that YOU believe yourself to be a member of the so-said “top race” Not true. White people are not the top race. There are more retarded white people in the world than any other races. White people have been historically racist to the point that they fucked up their own gene pool imbreeding. Like: yes. They have held a majority of the money ans power on this planet for long enough that the entire world is programmed to think blue eyes are prettier— People with blue eyes have easier lives, period. Period. They get away with so much shit. This is a result of white dominance. It's true. But this guy. Lol. This guy would say things like “WE made ourselves the TOP RACE” And then further contradict himself by saying things like, “I don't believe in race” He was a narcissist. Yeah. Only thing worse than a narcissist? A white supremacy narcissist who doesn't know or understand he's either of those things. FUCK. I took him to my gym—but only because he let me stay in his spare bedroom for $11. Flex. More on that later. I personally think it's because he was a white supremacist trying to physiologically terrorize me by continually bringing up the effects of white power on my entire existence— BUT. He would say the most ignorant shit, that wasn't entirely ignorant—like he made decent and factual points, it was just ignorant that he was talking about it at all. To me. A homeless, black woman. It was like he was rubbing it in my face. For ten days he pretty much just came up with extremely inventive ways to approach me and be like “I'M WHITE AND YOURE BLACK AND MY LIFE IS AWESOME AND YOUR LIFE SUCKS BECAUSE I'M A WHITE MAN, AND YOU'RE A BLACK WOMAN!!!!l” I'm like, dude…shut up. “WHITE PEOPLE SUCK!” Okay. You're egging on a race war. I still don't hate white people. At this point I just see they're typically power tripping sadists. It's okay. Like everything he said or brought up apparently to try to make me feel better—actually made me feel WORSE to the point where I decided he was doing this on purpose. I'm like, This is the new white power movent: We make a majority of them homeless, lure them into our domiciles, and then remind them that hey don't have domiciles. Because of us. Pretend to feel sorry about it, mentally torture and disable them, and then send them back into the streets to squabble and kill each other! Perfect. But no, they are not the “top race” There are more retarded white people than anyone else— We even had one as President for 8 years! I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. I don't hate trump. He's just mentally disabled, being politically correct. I don't hate him! He's hilarious! When he's not directly effecting my existence— Hes funny. But: a perfect example of what the Caucasian's have done to themselves. And the fact that it doesn't matter, because when you have millions of dollars, you can be a literal retard, and rule the world! Wow! No, it's okay. I'm not racist. I went from his place—directly to a homeless shelter, where 99% of women there were black. I learned to love-hate everybody equally. Black people love to talk on the fuckin phone. So come lights out, everybody's on the fuckin phone, I'm like, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Everybody's on the phone. I'm like “Bro, if you actually have all these people to talk to, you should have somewhere to stay other than this dump.” I'm like, “I'm obviously here cause I'm a piece of shit and nobody loves me— You're on the phone from 11 PM till forever and you can't just go to their house and sleep there?! No! Then get off the phone cause that person ain't SHIT!” They ain't shit. But dudes are next level psycopaths. All of them. Staying at a women's shelter was eye opening. I would overhear conversations like, “BUT I LOVE YOUuuuuUu” Dudes be fucking chicks up in the head. All the way up. BITCH you're in a HOMELESS SHELTER. If he lets you sleep in this bitch even for 5 seconds he ain't SHIT. Get off the PHONE. Black people—or really—poor people, they love to talk on the phone. I don't know. I don't get it. I realized at a certain point i talked too much, and I was spending all my talking time talking to toxic people. So I stopped. Kind of. I talk to myself on my podcasts. Still can't decide if that's toxic or just what god wants so— I mean the downloads keep going up. Whatever. I should have a house. Dudes be having females out here homeless, worried about THEM. Woaaaahhhh. Anyway. But I realized: people love to talk on the phone. On the bus. At the gym. Wherever. Just “Talk talk talk/- Yap yap yap” about the dumbest shit. I realized how non bianary I am because females talk about the dumbest fucking shit. All dudes talk about is females so - I'm jaded at this point. Inequality is balls. This is how I learned the meaning of “no justice no peace” Like, the perpetual race war in this country has just created this division and unrest and it so fucking chaotic— But it's not just a race war. Dudes are fucking sick, intolerant. Greedy, destructive creatures. It's MAN WORLD so if you have a tiny dick or are an ugly female—you live at the bottom of the world. SUCKS TO SUUUUUUCK. “No justice, no peace” Colored people love to be loud—they've spent so much time being oppressed, it's apart of the culture to be like, “FUCK YOU, I'M HERE! WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!” I'm like, I get it. This is the definition of “disturbing the peace” After a week of this ridiculousness, I'm like, hey, maybe they're not racist: they just want you to be quiet. Lol that's not funny. They're like, “Ugh, this guy's breaking the law, he's disturbing the peace” The other cops like, “Just shoot him; if we arrest him he won't shut up” Lol that's terrible. Whatever. Colored people have been so neglected and oppressed now they kill each other. Whatever. There's no color to that shit. It's just men. Men are killers. But of course—I'm torn. I love babies—the only way you're gonna get one of them is to love a man—and once he impregnates you he can do whatever else to you he wants. He owns you after that. And you're just—tied to him. Destructive. Honestly, though—the difference between a good man and a bad man, or even a good woman and a bad woman—is a good mother. You have to have that. So I fucked up. I'm a whole trash can. But now I love/hate everybody equally. Everybody's fucked up. I hate myself the most. What! I'm homeless! That makes me a piece of shit! I'm shitty. And I get it. It's cultural oppression. This culture has been bred on slavery and neglect and oppression and so now you have to act out and be loud and ridiculous and rowdy. Okay. I get it. I do. But at this point, I'm like “This is the apocalypse, I'm ready for the world to end.” I don't give a fuck about whose black whose white what's right what's wrong, I'm like, “Nobody pays enough money for me to be miserable for 8-16 hours a day, I don't have a place to sleep or a friend in the world, just end it already, God, “ “Just fucking blow it all up. “ I'm ready for a nuclear fuckin war. “Drop that nuke directly on my face.” I want to be ground zero. Fuck this whole place. Fuck this existence. I'm over it. I don't care about anything. My basic needs aren't being met and I'm over it. I don't even have a fucking HOME. You need a home just to have a BODY. The only shit you do In your house is because you have to take care of your BODY for it to work. You have to shower. You have to eat. You have to sleep, These are not recommendations!! These are requirements, Once I realized that a great enough evil existed in the world to allow this to happen— I got over it. I'm like “fuck this race war” Where's the real one?! Drop some bombs in this bitch. Humans are fucked up. Black. White. Everybody in between. Everybody's fucked up, yo. Greed fucked up humanity. All of it. —but I spent some time in this women's shelter and I sterted to realize: maybe it's just because it's a man's world. Half these femakes are in here talking about being hung up on niggas— NIGGAS. And they're in a homeless shelter. I had been celibate for quite some time at this point; but it seemed like every goddess I met in this place was broken—and that brokenness came from the sacrifice of loving men, and having children. Men are fucked up! Needy, greedy, selfish motherfuckers. I'm not saying there aren't any good ones— There are. They're just married. I respect marriage so much. I respect marriage so much— to the point where, I ended mine, when I realized “This is not how marriage is supposed to be.” It's fucked up. The good ones are taken, usually. And the sad thing is, Sometimes people stay in toxic relationships long enough that they become toxic. That happened to me. I stayed with the wrong person just long enough to realize, like, “Great, now I'm shitty, too—you motherfucker” FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER. I would rather slit my wrists up and down than ever go back to my ex. Yep. I've committed suicide 27 times since I left my marriage. You know what the first successful suicide attempt was, though? My fucking marriage. UGH. FUCK THESE NIGGAS. They'll have you fucked up. They'll have you homeless. They don't care! They have dicks! They can just fuck you up—then walk away, and fuck somebody else up. And the thing is: there's always some dumb, useless 18 year old somewhere that's gonna think he's GOD. She's useless—except in ONE WAY. To him. Then when he's done with her? Yep. Trash pile. Fuck these dudes. So I'm in this women's shelter, where of course, as if I need more of a reminder that most men ain't shit *most, not all. Done offend men. They'll kill you. They'll worse than kill you. They'll knock you up; ruin your body; cheat on you—they'll fuck you up— Then kill you. So I'm in this shelter, and after the first night, they're like “okay, you have to have a physical, then a psyche assessment, then you'll get a permanent housing assignment” I'm like “okay” So I get my appointment, and I look at it, and the appointment for the psychiatric evaluation is like 10 days away— I'm like, “Wait a minute: So you're going to make me wait 10 days in a dirty, chaotic, gross fucking nasty place—10 sleepless nights surrounded by hood rats and garbage all over the place and shitty toilets, where it's freezing fucking cold and even the cops and the staff are fighting all the time—THEN you're going to give me a psyche evaluation?” “Yeah” Fuck the system. I'm just jaded. I love/hate everything and everyone the same. You know why? Cause it's the same fucking emotion. They're not opposites. They're just opposite ends of the same spectrum of the same exact emotion. Passion. Passionate fury Passionate love Passionate rage. All really the same thing. The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is fear. Weekend on a Tuesday R3HQB & Laidback Luke Love, much like death Is just an illusion another contusion, confusion I'm a loose fuse confusious Lucius, Lucifer loosens Two tooth's, apathetic: I'm so pathetic, No sympathy for the devil No empathy for the dead SUPACREE//Chak Chel is grocery shopping at stop n shop Why stop n shop CAUSE THERES NO WHOLE FOODS IN THE HOOD. Racist ass motherfuckers. Supacree. No, Dude. No. Okay! Chak Chel! Mm. -_- I need to talk to you. Please. Step away. Wait! M—no. [she moves to the left—he moves to the left—she moves the right right—he moves the the right.] *sighs* [she removes a stone from her pouch, and throws it on the ground: it opens up into a black hole like vortex.] Where does that go. I don't know. *she gestures, waving her hand in front of the hole* Uhh— She stares into his eyes and steps into the portal, which swallows her into a void. Oh, my God! He stares off into the distance worriedly— Seconds later, just outside the storefront, a portal opens—supacree/CC is set gently at the bus stop; DILLON FRANCIS, still inside the store, stares at her out the window, flabbergasted as she boards the bus, staring back at him through the window. The bus drives away. Why Dillon Francis Idk I died and went to hell and back and back to hell again An irrelevant disheveled devil drinking a rebbl in the back of the bus Full of disgust, looking busted and fucked up I'm stuck in a nightmare, I can't wake up Where's Shia laboeoff? It's wild and rough Inspired enough By being in lust Pretending it's love But it's nothing Jimmy Fallon FLASHBACK : season 4 ANANDAR has an interesting medallion. one time I fucked this dude cause he looked just like Skrillex; like that wasn't somehow gonna be a disaster. I mean, my life was already 100% crap—I thought: Couldn't really be much worse. Might as well fuck this dude: Not like I could ever get the real thing. Turns out I was wrong twice. FLASHBACK: season 6 SKRILLEX is obsessed with SUPACREE. Huh. Oh wow, yeah. Yeah. So what does Dillon Francis want out of this? Figure it out! Uhhh!! What about deadmau5? JOEL ZIMMERMAN I want nothing to do with this DEADMAU5 …are you sure. JOEL Yes. KASKADE enters swiftly. JOEL Ugh, this dude DEADMAU5 WHAT UP, HOMIE. KASKADE WHAT IS UP. JOEL Ugh. RYAN GARY RADDON enters, nonchalantly. RYAN …am I late? JOEL You made it! RYAN Well, I promised. DEADMAU5 You are late. KASKADE Ugh, this dude. RYAN Nobody likes you. DEADMAU5 Say that to my face. RYAN Where is it. KASKADE Ooh. Burn. JOEL Oh-Kay. Let's go. Lol. Where are these dudes going. I guess we'll see. PASQUALE. Ahem. PASQUALE— Yes? What are you doing? Working on something. Working on what. Something. PASQUALE WHAT. GET IN HERE. Fine, I don't have eyes— I super sauna Flora-Fauna Outer space And out of stardust Superstardom Flawed, But by design, Align with all of ‘em Fine, I really don't find you Kind of attractive Damn, I'm damaged Do you mind Or do you plan on dying anytime Fine I can't be white, But can be tiny, That way, finally, When I'm someone's wife; I'm the right weight and height for them to like me Enough that they might— I mean just might Not cheat. Horrible. All I want is your attention— A ten A ten-tension I wnant your attention A ten A ten-tension Locker number 87 was taken and though it hadn't immediately bothered me in the same way that it had a few days before, the unsettling feeling in the moments following at least prompted me to write something down. It did bother me to think of him with anyone else—and even sensing it or seeing it had set me off in a way I could neither explain nor describe, first sending me into a whirlwind which culminated in meeting Anandar, and secondly tailspinning me into a fit of fury —and while I still loved Sonny, there was something I felt for Dillon I couldn't entirely explain, and while the world was suddenly full of beautiful people—beautiful white people, to be exact— I realized I didn't want nor was I truly fit for any of them anyway, not that something like that mattered in my time of desperate need and desperation, unable to accumulate the focus or energy I needed to move up and out from this trench I was in, whatever it meant besides falling prey to the grueling captapilism on which the country I was raised to love was built, without it benefitting me in any way besides aesthetic. GODDAMMIT, DILLON FRANCISz WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO— Yeah, that's right— I'm gonna throw up. Don't throw up in my house. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE— YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE, BITCH— Aw, shit, it's on. KAAAAAHHHHMEEEEE— Is this dragon ball Z? No, it's FUCK YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING If I hear Renaissance one more time, I might just— I might just You're right It's white power, it's alt right, I can't fight it It's alright It's just another night In the heights In the no flight list I'm on hiatus, I'm high, thanks plankton I'm pinapple, might just wine Or whinehouse, If I had my own house, despite this Whatever This records all hype, Supply and Demand I'm a Diamond For your demon Indegenous genetics yet I'm homeless, on stolen land I'm hopeless, once again I stole this l, I am Sam I'm alone in this— Here's your quest for fire, ya dumbass, It's bombastic, I'm so past it Just wanna throw a bomb at it; Used to catalogue albums Now I'm analog, all bad, I'm so mad I wanna take it all back Like all that This is Allllllll, that this is— Is she coming back? Maybe. MAYBE?! Look, just give me my 10 bands, bro. 10 bands?! ‘Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Solace In Dancing.' Oh man, they hate us Why God, do they hate us Light skinned ballerinas— Life is what you make it Raise up from this hatred Make my grave With raising canes and gravy Make the best of what you gave me Questions in my mind arising Or are racing I'm erasing pain but gazing at the TV thinking God, Why do they hate us Why do they hate us? USA Why do they hate us Why Why why Why do they hate us A master hypnotist; Why waste a wish on this— The fog, or mist obscured my vision Interest in THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE. Now, wake up. OH MY GOD. What do you want? I want to wake up from this nightmare, I want to be white, with blue eyes and long blonde hair I want to go to Long Island on the ferry, I want to be there, But clearly, I'm here, and I'm sorry But I'm growing wary That God's even aware of me I hate this. Oh shit. What, man. I just realized— we're all gonna get really old. Maybe… —or we're gonna die. Yeah, that's why I said “maybe” That's fucking terrifying. Dude, you're like 40–how are you just coming to grips with your mortality? …I don't know. *hits bong worriedly* I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER!!! Damn, Drake Bell; I didn't really think this would carry over into the 7th season, but—I gotta hand it to you; You stay fucking up. Dammit. What. I fucked up. You just stay fucking up And I stay fucking up And I say I'm over it, But I'm a stray puppy; A squirrel that's in search of a nut And you are what you eat So I guess I'm a butt Or bananas I've had it I almost miss my hammock I take that back I ________ Manhattan Hey, you gotta stay stateside. What. For what. NEWS: WORLD WAR III Ah, fucking shit. So, what am I supposed to do for mon— MILITARY: Get over here— No. Look, it's SkrillexZ. No. How about— No. Believe it or not, I want what you want, m I love what you love, and then some; Gone for a walk in the park, With my heart in my pocket, I hope she shows up soon I hope that she's all that you've always wanted Since I'm not, And when I'm gone My songs remind you of what Love was, The love that I had, And the love that I loved just to love And the love that I wrote in the songs that You offered I hope she shows up And she's all that you wanted; I want what you want, And I love what you love, I promise l I hope she shows up soon She's all that you wanted; I wanted to love you, But want what you want, hun I promise; I'm just coming off a long one I love you for the long haul, And then some // I keep on forgetting That I'm not that pretty to, Or around you So I'll just— Do what I do, And move into the room Where my room meets you, In the vacuum of time and— Collisions, and splinters Unseasonable winters and Missed kindergarten graduations, I'm assuming at least I can't move, Or can't focus, Can't write many words, Or recite all my poems There's just not enough time left That I have Imm mindless I might have to find A flight To the homeland, and I don't want to fight, in this war I was drafted; I wrote that before, Now I'm captain Disasterous… Has it begun yet? It hasn't been fun yet, Just tragic I haven't forggtten the traffic I still have the hat. I just might not be black But I'm back on the blacklist , I guess Sending signals, distress Matching sigmas, And sigils, Invested in candle light vigils Twisted like pretzels; The rest of the West is in shambles And I'm steady rambling, Scrambling What's the preamble, pastor? Last again firstly, And first again last; How's that feel? How's dinner after a hot meal, 2 days of cornmeal, I'm horny, But still won't eat honey All out of money l l Submitting to your said supremacy This, I'll remember— It's cinders and embers and ashes l The fire you search for Went out in the rain that I called for The dance that I managed to salvage From out of the past, Like the misters and masters I asked for the land that I am back And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand I should want for nothing, But I find you at the forefront, Sniffing cocaine Yelling my name In the most profane way Ah, down the alley, she goes But— WHY ARE WE RUNNING YOU DID THIS, TIMMY, DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME TIMMY CAUSE YOU'RE TIMMY, SHUTTHEFUCKUP! I'm losing control, now I can't get out of it Or into it I'm on a roll now; The role of my life, It turns out, Was just my life Now I'm lifeless inside “Yeah right” *sigh* “Like anybody loves me” *crying* “Like anybody likes me” Yeah, that's right Just lay down and die; Lay down in the street like a dog, “If you like” Attack on my psyche The love of my life was just like me He might be Are we even? What do you believe in? A seething scar on my iris. Dine in and drive ins. I'm meant to die now, that was my life, it seems; It's over for me, The American dream turned nightmare; I haven't seen this stream, I should lie here, I haven't been myself in a while, I'm liable to set the whole ass world on fire— Like I'm on a fire escape, Trying to tape my mistake At the brokenshaker; Makes sense in LA, But it's just another day here How's the weather? It's awful That's what I heard at the office tomorrow, I'll probably drown in my sorrows, A crown on and borrowed objects In my honor, No, dont't stop here This is bat country Now some Sunni blū shit Or SUPACREE, whoever she is: Nonexistent. Here's a spaghetti and shit sandwhich, Dillon Francis, I believe in magic, I swear, I just can't stand it I hate this planet; Might be nice if I could manage to— goddamnit. Captain. Where's she at? Off the map… There is no “off the map” Off the grid. Well, there's that. THE LEGEND OF SUPACREE We've been collecting data about this woman for a number of years. It's a woman? CUT TO: SUNNÏ BLŪ is not a woman. *gross stupid rapper shit* So I finally found the picture, And just stare at it I never really know what else to do So I just stare at it I used to keep it in the background, As my wallpaper, But couldn't stand it I'm just a fanatic, i-- I am Just a fanatic Damn I'm just a fanatic I never found my attic and My speaker set was stolen Just before one was about to blow (Before one was about to blow) I think I might go get my passport So I can just flee But I just don't know where to go (But I just don't know where to go) You probably hate me Or I hate me just enough for just the both of us I told you, I'm so sorry (I am sorry, I am sorry) You don't have to worry, I would never follow you; Online, or in the streets I'm just a fiend, I'm just an addict (Likeness is what you've attracted) So, there is no moving forward And there is no going back I want to go to Harvard But there is no going back And I used to think I had it, Turns out, I'm just "average" Got a job, But couldn't stand it, I I'm just a fanatic, i-- I am Just a fanatic Damn I'm just a fanatic I woke up from a bad dream And your music was so calming But I didn't really listen I was really only waking I just wished that I could listen But I wish a lot of things I wish to make this song I'm writing And wish you'd approve of me I wish that I was really pretty So I didn't have to try I wish I was so pretty that I could just look you in the eye I wish that you would stop and peep my Twitter page while scrolling by I wish that maybe I was half as pretty as my pretty vibe I wish that anytime I did something, you loved it every time I wish that when I think about you, I don't always have to cry I wish the girl who took the photograph was right here by my side; So I could ask if she or God herself adjusted all the light I want to know if she or God herself adjusted all the light I want to know not wonder why you both are always on my mind I wish I knew if she or God herself found peace where I found mine {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U. Very much so. Senator, a word. How many words? At least three. Why is it always three? MEANWHILE *in a deep meditative state VIA DILLON FRANCIS* *no, it's Hanzel* Shutthefuckup. Listen. This is a lot. Breathe. [stops breathing] I've got burning questions. That's just syphilis. I— It only stings a little; It only burns a lot— You were my love, I thought Lost, lost, at once But here you are, And not often have I wanted To imagine you a star Another catharsis Another conundrum The world is at war, And the source that we come from, Abolished, So long lost and gone from our thoughts Now, Think fondly of lust, As she fondled the heart that she clutches From dawn until dusk, After sunset, Once buried but polished, recovered And thought of more often, Than spawned in the rust of the under and all of the marvelous— What was it? What? “The Jimmy Fallon Conspiracy” That is a good band name! What was the other one? “Bad with Matches” I like that. There was one more… Uh… {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

“White people suck!” This is a self-stated fact. White people are the only ones going around saying that shit. I mean, everyone else thinks it, it's true. Lots of people say it—just in other ways. Not exactly like that. “White people suck!” White people say this about themselves, as if they're not getting a little bit of fucking sociopathic joy out of it. I lived with a white a supremacist that may or may not have known he was a white supremacist. *may or may not have* He would say shit bordering on the brink of slight psychological torture. He'd say shit like “WE made OURSELVES the TOP RACE” Like, the fact that you're using words like ‘we' and ‘ourselves' indicate that YOU believe yourself to be a member of the so-said “top race” Not true. White people are not the top race. There are more retarded white people in the world than any other races. White people have been historically racist to the point that they fucked up their own gene pool imbreeding. Like: yes. They have held a majority of the money ans power on this planet for long enough that the entire world is programmed to think blue eyes are prettier— People with blue eyes have easier lives, period. Period. They get away with so much shit. This is a result of white dominance. It's true. But this guy. Lol. This guy would say things like “WE made ourselves the TOP RACE” And then further contradict himself by saying things like, “I don't believe in race” He was a narcissist. Yeah. Only thing worse than a narcissist? A white supremacy narcissist who doesn't know or understand he's either of those things. FUCK. I took him to my gym—but only because he let me stay in his spare bedroom for $11. Flex. More on that later. I personally think it's because he was a white supremacist trying to physiologically terrorize me by continually bringing up the effects of white power on my entire existence— BUT. He would say the most ignorant shit, that wasn't entirely ignorant—like he made decent and factual points, it was just ignorant that he was talking about it at all. To me. A homeless, black woman. It was like he was rubbing it in my face. For ten days he pretty much just came up with extremely inventive ways to approach me and be like “I'M WHITE AND YOURE BLACK AND MY LIFE IS AWESOME AND YOUR LIFE SUCKS BECAUSE I'M A WHITE MAN, AND YOU'RE A BLACK WOMAN!!!!l” I'm like, dude…shut up. “WHITE PEOPLE SUCK!” Okay. You're egging on a race war. I still don't hate white people. At this point I just see they're typically power tripping sadists. It's okay. Like everything he said or brought up apparently to try to make me feel better—actually made me feel WORSE to the point where I decided he was doing this on purpose. I'm like, This is the new white power movent: We make a majority of them homeless, lure them into our domiciles, and then remind them that hey don't have domiciles. Because of us. Pretend to feel sorry about it, mentally torture and disable them, and then send them back into the streets to squabble and kill each other! Perfect. But no, they are not the “top race” There are more retarded white people than anyone else— We even had one as President for 8 years! I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. I don't hate trump. He's just mentally disabled, being politically correct. I don't hate him! He's hilarious! When he's not directly effecting my existence— Hes funny. But: a perfect example of what the Caucasian's have done to themselves. And the fact that it doesn't matter, because when you have millions of dollars, you can be a literal retard, and rule the world! Wow! No, it's okay. I'm not racist. I went from his place—directly to a homeless shelter, where 99% of women there were black. I learned to love-hate everybody equally. Black people love to talk on the fuckin phone. So come lights out, everybody's on the fuckin phone, I'm like, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Everybody's on the phone. I'm like “Bro, if you actually have all these people to talk to, you should have somewhere to stay other than this dump.” I'm like, “I'm obviously here cause I'm a piece of shit and nobody loves me— You're on the phone from 11 PM till forever and you can't just go to their house and sleep there?! No! Then get off the phone cause that person ain't SHIT!” They ain't shit. But dudes are next level psycopaths. All of them. Staying at a women's shelter was eye opening. I would overhear conversations like, “BUT I LOVE YOUuuuuUu” Dudes be fucking chicks up in the head. All the way up. BITCH you're in a HOMELESS SHELTER. If he lets you sleep in this bitch even for 5 seconds he ain't SHIT. Get off the PHONE. Black people—or really—poor people, they love to talk on the phone. I don't know. I don't get it. I realized at a certain point i talked too much, and I was spending all my talking time talking to toxic people. So I stopped. Kind of. I talk to myself on my podcasts. Still can't decide if that's toxic or just what god wants so— I mean the downloads keep going up. Whatever. I should have a house. Dudes be having females out here homeless, worried about THEM. Woaaaahhhh. Anyway. But I realized: people love to talk on the phone. On the bus. At the gym. Wherever. Just “Talk talk talk/- Yap yap yap” about the dumbest shit. I realized how non bianary I am because females talk about the dumbest fucking shit. All dudes talk about is females so - I'm jaded at this point. Inequality is balls. This is how I learned the meaning of “no justice no peace” Like, the perpetual race war in this country has just created this division and unrest and it so fucking chaotic— But it's not just a race war. Dudes are fucking sick, intolerant. Greedy, destructive creatures. It's MAN WORLD so if you have a tiny dick or are an ugly female—you live at the bottom of the world. SUCKS TO SUUUUUUCK. “No justice, no peace” Colored people love to be loud—they've spent so much time being oppressed, it's apart of the culture to be like, “FUCK YOU, I'M HERE! WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!” I'm like, I get it. This is the definition of “disturbing the peace” After a week of this ridiculousness, I'm like, hey, maybe they're not racist: they just want you to be quiet. Lol that's not funny. They're like, “Ugh, this guy's breaking the law, he's disturbing the peace” The other cops like, “Just shoot him; if we arrest him he won't shut up” Lol that's terrible. Whatever. Colored people have been so neglected and oppressed now they kill each other. Whatever. There's no color to that shit. It's just men. Men are killers. But of course—I'm torn. I love babies—the only way you're gonna get one of them is to love a man—and once he impregnates you he can do whatever else to you he wants. He owns you after that. And you're just—tied to him. Destructive. Honestly, though—the difference between a good man and a bad man, or even a good woman and a bad woman—is a good mother. You have to have that. So I fucked up. I'm a whole trash can. But now I love/hate everybody equally. Everybody's fucked up. I hate myself the most. What! I'm homeless! That makes me a piece of shit! I'm shitty. And I get it. It's cultural oppression. This culture has been bred on slavery and neglect and oppression and so now you have to act out and be loud and ridiculous and rowdy. Okay. I get it. I do. But at this point, I'm like “This is the apocalypse, I'm ready for the world to end.” I don't give a fuck about whose black whose white what's right what's wrong, I'm like, “Nobody pays enough money for me to be miserable for 8-16 hours a day, I don't have a place to sleep or a friend in the world, just end it already, God, “ “Just fucking blow it all up. “ I'm ready for a nuclear fuckin war. “Drop that nuke directly on my face.” I want to be ground zero. Fuck this whole place. Fuck this existence. I'm over it. I don't care about anything. My basic needs aren't being met and I'm over it. I don't even have a fucking HOME. You need a home just to have a BODY. The only shit you do In your house is because you have to take care of your BODY for it to work. You have to shower. You have to eat. You have to sleep, These are not recommendations!! These are requirements, Once I realized that a great enough evil existed in the world to allow this to happen— I got over it. I'm like “fuck this race war” Where's the real one?! Drop some bombs in this bitch. Humans are fucked up. Black. White. Everybody in between. Everybody's fucked up, yo. Greed fucked up humanity. All of it. —but I spent some time in this women's shelter and I sterted to realize: maybe it's just because it's a man's world. Half these femakes are in here talking about being hung up on niggas— NIGGAS. And they're in a homeless shelter. I had been celibate for quite some time at this point; but it seemed like every goddess I met in this place was broken—and that brokenness came from the sacrifice of loving men, and having children. Men are fucked up! Needy, greedy, selfish motherfuckers. I'm not saying there aren't any good ones— There are. They're just married. I respect marriage so much. I respect marriage so much— to the point where, I ended mine, when I realized “This is not how marriage is supposed to be.” It's fucked up. The good ones are taken, usually. And the sad thing is, Sometimes people stay in toxic relationships long enough that they become toxic. That happened to me. I stayed with the wrong person just long enough to realize, like, “Great, now I'm shitty, too—you motherfucker” FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER. I would rather slit my wrists up and down than ever go back to my ex. Yep. I've committed suicide 27 times since I left my marriage. You know what the first successful suicide attempt was, though? My fucking marriage. UGH. FUCK THESE NIGGAS. They'll have you fucked up. They'll have you homeless. They don't care! They have dicks! They can just fuck you up—then walk away, and fuck somebody else up. And the thing is: there's always some dumb, useless 18 year old somewhere that's gonna think he's GOD. She's useless—except in ONE WAY. To him. Then when he's done with her? Yep. Trash pile. Fuck these dudes. So I'm in this women's shelter, where of course, as if I need more of a reminder that most men ain't shit *most, not all. Done offend men. They'll kill you. They'll worse than kill you. They'll knock you up; ruin your body; cheat on you—they'll fuck you up— Then kill you. So I'm in this shelter, and after the first night, they're like “okay, you have to have a physical, then a psyche assessment, then you'll get a permanent housing assignment” I'm like “okay” So I get my appointment, and I look at it, and the appointment for the psychiatric evaluation is like 10 days away— I'm like, “Wait a minute: So you're going to make me wait 10 days in a dirty, chaotic, gross fucking nasty place—10 sleepless nights surrounded by hood rats and garbage all over the place and shitty toilets, where it's freezing fucking cold and even the cops and the staff are fighting all the time—THEN you're going to give me a psyche evaluation?” “Yeah” Fuck the system. I'm just jaded. I love/hate everything and everyone the same. You know why? Cause it's the same fucking emotion. They're not opposites. They're just opposite ends of the same spectrum of the same exact emotion. Passion. Passionate fury Passionate love Passionate rage. All really the same thing. The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is fear. Weekend on a Tuesday R3HQB & Laidback Luke Love, much like death Is just an illusion another contusion, confusion I'm a loose fuse confusious Lucius, Lucifer loosens Two tooth's, apathetic: I'm so pathetic, No sympathy for the devil No empathy for the dead SUPACREE//Chak Chel is grocery shopping at stop n shop Why stop n shop CAUSE THERES NO WHOLE FOODS IN THE HOOD. Racist ass motherfuckers. Supacree. No, Dude. No. Okay! Chak Chel! Mm. -_- I need to talk to you. Please. Step away. Wait! M—no. [she moves to the left—he moves to the left—she moves the right right—he moves the the right.] *sighs* [she removes a stone from her pouch, and throws it on the ground: it opens up into a black hole like vortex.] Where does that go. I don't know. *she gestures, waving her hand in front of the hole* Uhh— She stares into his eyes and steps into the portal, which swallows her into a void. Oh, my God! He stares off into the distance worriedly— Seconds later, just outside the storefront, a portal opens—supacree/CC is set gently at the bus stop; DILLON FRANCIS, still inside the store, stares at her out the window, flabbergasted as she boards the bus, staring back at him through the window. The bus drives away. Why Dillon Francis Idk I died and went to hell and back and back to hell again An irrelevant disheveled devil drinking a rebbl in the back of the bus Full of disgust, looking busted and fucked up I'm stuck in a nightmare, I can't wake up Where's Shia laboeoff? It's wild and rough Inspired enough By being in lust Pretending it's love But it's nothing Jimmy Fallon FLASHBACK : season 4 ANANDAR has an interesting medallion. one time I fucked this dude cause he looked just like Skrillex; like that wasn't somehow gonna be a disaster. I mean, my life was already 100% crap—I thought: Couldn't really be much worse. Might as well fuck this dude: Not like I could ever get the real thing. Turns out I was wrong twice. FLASHBACK: season 6 SKRILLEX is obsessed with SUPACREE. Huh. Oh wow, yeah. Yeah. So what does Dillon Francis want out of this? Figure it out! Uhhh!! What about deadmau5? JOEL ZIMMERMAN I want nothing to do with this DEADMAU5 …are you sure. JOEL Yes. KASKADE enters swiftly. JOEL Ugh, this dude DEADMAU5 WHAT UP, HOMIE. KASKADE WHAT IS UP. JOEL Ugh. RYAN GARY RADDON enters, nonchalantly. RYAN …am I late? JOEL You made it! RYAN Well, I promised. DEADMAU5 You are late. KASKADE Ugh, this dude. RYAN Nobody likes you. DEADMAU5 Say that to my face. RYAN Where is it. KASKADE Ooh. Burn. JOEL Oh-Kay. Let's go. Lol. Where are these dudes going. I guess we'll see. PASQUALE. Ahem. PASQUALE— Yes? What are you doing? Working on something. Working on what. Something. PASQUALE WHAT. GET IN HERE. Fine, I don't have eyes— I super sauna Flora-Fauna Outer space And out of stardust Superstardom Flawed, But by design, Align with all of ‘em Fine, I really don't find you Kind of attractive Damn, I'm damaged Do you mind Or do you plan on dying anytime Fine I can't be white, But can be tiny, That way, finally, When I'm someone's wife; I'm the right weight and height for them to like me Enough that they might— I mean just might Not cheat. Horrible. All I want is your attention— A ten A ten-tension I wnant your attention A ten A ten-tension Locker number 87 was taken and though it hadn't immediately bothered me in the same way that it had a few days before, the unsettling feeling in the moments following at least prompted me to write something down. It did bother me to think of him with anyone else—and even sensing it or seeing it had set me off in a way I could neither explain nor describe, first sending me into a whirlwind which culminated in meeting Anandar, and secondly tailspinning me into a fit of fury —and while I still loved Sonny, there was something I felt for Dillon I couldn't entirely explain, and while the world was suddenly full of beautiful people—beautiful white people, to be exacta, I realized I didn't want nor was I truly fit for any of them anyway, not that something like that mattered in my time of desperate need and desperation, unable to accumulate the focus or energy I needed to move up and out from this trench I was in, whatever it meant besides falling prey to the grueling captapilism on which the country I was raised to love was built, without it benefitting me in any way besides aesthetic. GODDAMMIT, DILLON FRANCISz WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO— Yeah, that's right— I'm gonna throw up. Don't throw up in my house. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE— YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE, BITCH— Aw, shit, it's on. KAAAAAHHHHMEEEEE— Is this dragon ball Z? No, it's FUCK YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING If I hear Renaissance one more time, I might just— I might just You're right It's white power, it's alt right, I can't fight it It's alright It's just another night In the heights In the no flight list I'm on hiatus, I'm high, thanks plankton I'm pinapple, might just wine Or whinehouse, If I had my own house, despite this Whatever This records all hype, Supply and Demand I'm a Diamond For your demon Indegenous genetics yet I'm homeless, on stolen land I'm hopeless, once again I stole this l, I am Sam I'm alone in this— Here's your quest for fire, ya dumbass, It's bombastic, I'm so past it Just wanna throw a bomb at it; Used to cetalogue albums Bow I'm analog, all bad, I'm so mad I wanna take it all back Like all that This is Allllllll, that this is— Is she coming back? Maybe. MAYBE?! Look, just give me my 10 bands, bro. 10 bands?! ‘Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Solace In Dancing.' Oh man, they hate us Why God, do they hate us Light skinned ballerinas— Life is what you make it Raise up from this hatred Make my grave With raising canes and gravy Make the best of what you gave me Questions in my mind arising Or are rasing I'm erasing pain but gazing at the TV thinking God, Why do they hate us Why do they hate us? USA Why do they hate us Why Why why Why do they hate us A master hypnotist; Why waste a wish on this— The fog, or mist obscured my vision Interest in THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE. Now, wake up. OH MY GOD. What do you want? I want to wake up from this nightmare, I want to be white, with blue eyes and long blonde hair I want to go to Long Island on the ferry, I want to be there, But clearly, I'm here, and I'm sorry But I'm growing wary That God's even aware of me I hate this. Oh shit. What, man. I just realized— we're all gonna get really old. Maybe… —or we're gonna die. Yeah, that's why I said “maybe” That's fucking terrifying. Dude, you're like 40–how are you just coming to grips with your mortality? …I don't know. *hits bong worriedly* I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER!!! Damn, Drake Bell; I didn't really think this would carry over into the 7th season, but—I gotta hand it to you; You stay fucking up. Dammit. What. I fucked up. You just stay fucking up And I stay fucking up And I say I'm over it, But I'm a stray puppy; A squirrel that's in search of a nut And you are what you eat So I guess I'm a butt Or bananas I'be had it I almost miss my hammock I take that back I ________ Manhattan Hey, you gotta stay stateside. What. For what. NEWS: WORLD WAR III Ah, fucking shit. So, what am I supposed to do for mon— MILITARY: Get over here— No. Look, it's SkrillexZ. No. How about— No. Believe it or not, I want what you want, m I love what you love, and then some; Gone for a walk in the park, With my heart in my pocket, I hope she shows up soon I hope that she's all that you've always wanted Since I'm not, And when I'm gone My songs remind you of what Love was, The love that I had, And the love that I loved just to love And the love that I wrote in the songs that You offered I hope she shows up And she's all that you wanted; I want what you want, And I love what you love, I promise l I hope she shows up soon She's all that you wanted; I wanted to love you, But want what you want, hun I promise; I'm just coming off a long one I love you for the long haul, And then some // I keep on forgetting That I'm not that pretty to, Or around you So I'll just— Do what I do, And move into the room Where my room meets you, In the vacuum of time and— Collisions, and splinters Unseasonable winters and Missed kindergarten graduations, I'm assuming at least I can't move, Or can't focus, Can't write many words, Or recite all my poems There's just not enough time left That I have Imm mindless I might have to find A flight To the homeland, and I don't want to fight, in this war I was drafted; I wrote that before, Now I'm captain Disasterous… Has it begun yet? It hasn't been fun yet, Just tragic I haven't forggtten the traffic I still have the hat. I just might not be black But I'm back on the blacklist , I guess Sending signals, distress Matching sigmas, And sigils, Invested in candle light vigils Twisted like pretzels; The rest of the West is in shambles And I'm steady rambling, Scrambling What's the preamble, pastor? Last again firstly, And first again last; How's that feel? How's dinner after a hot meal, 2 days of cornmeal, I'm horny, But still won't eat honey All out of money l l Submitting to your said supremacy This, I'll remember— It's cinders and embers and ashes l The fire you search for Went out in the rain that I called for The dance that I managed to salvage From out of the past, Like the misters and masters I asked for the land that I am back And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand I should want for nothing, But I find you at the forefront, Sniffing cocaine Yelling my name In the most profane way Ah, down the alley, she goes But— WHY ARE WE RUNNING YOU DID THIS, TIMMY, DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME TIMMY CAUSE YOU'RE TIMMY, SHUTTHEFUCKUP! I'm losing control, now I can't get out of it Or into it I'm on a roll now; The role of my life, It turns out, Was just my life Now I'm lifeless inside “Yeah right” *sigh* “Like anybody loves me” *crying* “Like anybody likes me” Yeah, that's right Just lay down and die; Lay down in the street like a dog, “If you like” Attack on my psyche The love of my life was just like me He might be Are we even? What do you believe in? A seething scar on my iris. Dine in and drive ins. I'm meant to die now, that was my life, it seems; It's over for me, The American dream turned nightmare; I haven't seen this stream, I should lie here, I haven't been myself in a while, I'm liable to set the whole ass world on fire— Like I'm on a fire escape, Trying to tape my mistake At the brokenshaker; Makes sense in LA, But it's just another day here How's the weather? It's awful That's what I heard at the office tomorrow, I'll probably drown in my sorrows, A crown on and borrowed objects In my honor, No, dont't stop here This is bat country Now some Sunni blū shit Or SUPACREE, whoever she is: Nonexistent. Here's a spaghetti and shit sandwhich, Dillon Francis, I believe in magic, I swear, I just can't stand it I hate this planet; Might be nice if I could manage to— goddamnit. Captain. Where's she at? Off the map… There is no “off the map” Off the grid. Well, there's that. THE LEGEND OF SUPACREE We've been collecting data about this woman for a number of years. It's a woman? CUT TO: SUNNÏ BLŪ is not a woman. *gross stupid rapper shit* Very much so. Senator, a word. How many words? At least three. Why is it always three? MEANWHILE *in a deep meditative state VIA DILLON FRANCIS* *no, it's Hanzel* Shutthefuckup. Listen. This is a lot. Breathe. [stops breathing] I've got burning questions. That's just syphilis. I— It only stings a little; It only burns a lot— You were my love, I thought Lost, lost, at once But here you are, And not often have I wanted To imagine you a star Another catharsis Another conundrum The world is at war, And the source that we come from, Abolished, So long lost and gone from our thoughts Now, Think fondly of lust, As she fondled the heart that she clutches From dawn until dusk, After sunset, Once buried but polished, recovered And thought of more often, Than spawned in the rust of the under and all of the marvelous— What was it? What? “The Jimmy Fallon Conspiracy” That is a good band name! What was the other one? “Bad with Matches” I like that. There was one more… Uh… {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

“White people suck!” This is a self-stated fact. White people are the only ones going around saying that shit. I mean, everyone else thinks it, it's true. Lots of people say it—just in other ways. Not exactly like that. “White people suck!” White people say this about themselves, as if they're not getting a little bit of fucking sociopathic joy out of it. I lived with a white a supremacist that may or may not have known he was a white supremacist. *may or may not have* He would say shit bordering on the brink of slight psychological torture. He'd say shit like “WE made OURSELVES the TOP RACE” Like, the fact that you're using words like ‘we' and ‘ourselves' indicate that YOU believe yourself to be a member of the so-said “top race” Not true. White people are not the top race. There are more retarded white people in the world than any other races. White people have been historically racist to the point that they fucked up their own gene pool imbreeding. Like: yes. They have held a majority of the money ans power on this planet for long enough that the entire world is programmed to think blue eyes are prettier— People with blue eyes have easier lives, period. Period. They get away with so much shit. This is a result of white dominance. It's true. But this guy. Lol. This guy would say things like “WE made ourselves the TOP RACE” And then further contradict himself by saying things like, “I don't believe in race” He was a narcissist. Yeah. Only thing worse than a narcissist? A white supremacy narcissist who doesn't know or understand he's either of those things. FUCK. I took him to my gym—but only because he let me stay in his spare bedroom for $11. Flex. More on that later. I personally think it's because he was a white supremacist trying to physiologically terrorize me by continually bringing up the effects of white power on my entire existence— BUT. He would say the most ignorant shit, that wasn't entirely ignorant—like he made decent and factual points, it was just ignorant that he was talking about it at all. To me. A homeless, black woman. It was like he was rubbing it in my face. For ten days he pretty much just came up with extremely inventive ways to approach me and be like “I'M WHITE AND YOURE BLACK AND MY LIFE IS AWESOME AND YOUR LIFE SUCKS BECAUSE I'M A WHITE MAN, AND YOU'RE A BLACK WOMAN!!!!l” I'm like, dude…shut up. “WHITE PEOPLE SUCK!” Okay. You're egging on a race war. I still don't hate white people. At this point I just see they're typically power tripping sadists. It's okay. Like everything he said or brought up apparently to try to make me feel better—actually made me feel WORSE to the point where I decided he was doing this on purpose. I'm like, This is the new white power movent: We make a majority of them homeless, lure them into our domiciles, and then remind them that hey don't have domiciles. Because of us. Pretend to feel sorry about it, mentally torture and disable them, and then send them back into the streets to squabble and kill each other! Perfect. But no, they are not the “top race” There are more retarded white people than anyone else— We even had one as President for 8 years! I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. I don't hate trump. He's just mentally disabled, being politically correct. I don't hate him! He's hilarious! When he's not directly effecting my existence— Hes funny. But: a perfect example of what the Caucasian's have done to themselves. And the fact that it doesn't matter, because when you have millions of dollars, you can be a literal retard, and rule the world! Wow! No, it's okay. I'm not racist. I went from his place—directly to a homeless shelter, where 99% of women there were black. I learned to love-hate everybody equally. Black people love to talk on the fuckin phone. So come lights out, everybody's on the fuckin phone, I'm like, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Everybody's on the phone. I'm like “Bro, if you actually have all these people to talk to, you should have somewhere to stay other than this dump.” I'm like, “I'm obviously here cause I'm a piece of shit and nobody loves me— You're on the phone from 11 PM till forever and you can't just go to their house and sleep there?! No! Then get off the phone cause that person ain't SHIT!” They ain't shit. But dudes are next level psycopaths. All of them. Staying at a women's shelter was eye opening. I would overhear conversations like, “BUT I LOVE YOUuuuuUu” Dudes be fucking chicks up in the head. All the way up. BITCH you're in a HOMELESS SHELTER. If he lets you sleep in this bitch even for 5 seconds he ain't SHIT. Get off the PHONE. Black people—or really—poor people, they love to talk on the phone. I don't know. I don't get it. I realized at a certain point i talked too much, and I was spending all my talking time talking to toxic people. So I stopped. Kind of. I talk to myself on my podcasts. Still can't decide if that's toxic or just what god wants so— I mean the downloads keep going up. Whatever. I should have a house. Dudes be having females out here homeless, worried about THEM. Woaaaahhhh. Anyway. But I realized: people love to talk on the phone. On the bus. At the gym. Wherever. Just “Talk talk talk/- Yap yap yap” about the dumbest shit. I realized how non bianary I am because females talk about the dumbest fucking shit. All dudes talk about is females so - I'm jaded at this point. Inequality is balls. This is how I learned the meaning of “no justice no peace” Like, the perpetual race war in this country has just created this division and unrest and it so fucking chaotic— But it's not just a race war. Dudes are fucking sick, intolerant. Greedy, destructive creatures. It's MAN WORLD so if you have a tiny dick or are an ugly female—you live at the bottom of the world. SUCKS TO SUUUUUUCK. “No justice, no peace” Colored people love to be loud—they've spent so much time being oppressed, it's apart of the culture to be like, “FUCK YOU, I'M HERE! WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!” I'm like, I get it. This is the definition of “disturbing the peace” After a week of this ridiculousness, I'm like, hey, maybe they're not racist: they just want you to be quiet. Lol that's not funny. They're like, “Ugh, this guy's breaking the law, he's disturbing the peace” The other cops like, “Just shoot him; if we arrest him he won't shut up” Lol that's terrible. Whatever. Colored people have been so neglected and oppressed now they kill each other. Whatever. There's no color to that shit. It's just men. Men are killers. But of course—I'm torn. I love babies—the only way you're gonna get one of them is to love a man—and once he impregnates you he can do whatever else to you he wants. He owns you after that. And you're just—tied to him. Destructive. Honestly, though—the difference between a good man and a bad man, or even a good woman and a bad woman—is a good mother. You have to have that. So I fucked up. I'm a whole trash can. But now I love/hate everybody equally. Everybody's fucked up. I hate myself the most. What! I'm homeless! That makes me a piece of shit! I'm shitty. And I get it. It's cultural oppression. This culture has been bred on slavery and neglect and oppression and so now you have to act out and be loud and ridiculous and rowdy. Okay. I get it. I do. But at this point, I'm like “This is the apocalypse, I'm ready for the world to end.” I don't give a fuck about whose black whose white what's right what's wrong, I'm like, “Nobody pays enough money for me to be miserable for 8-16 hours a day, I don't have a place to sleep or a friend in the world, just end it already, God, “ “Just fucking blow it all up. “ I'm ready for a nuclear fuckin war. “Drop that nuke directly on my face.” I want to be ground zero. Fuck this whole place. Fuck this existence. I'm over it. I don't care about anything. My basic needs aren't being met and I'm over it. I don't even have a fucking HOME. You need a home just to have a BODY. The only shit you do In your house is because you have to take care of your BODY for it to work. You have to shower. You have to eat. You have to sleep, These are not recommendations!! These are requirements, Once I realized that a great enough evil existed in the world to allow this to happen— I got over it. I'm like “fuck this race war” Where's the real one?! Drop some bombs in this bitch. Humans are fucked up. Black. White. Everybody in between. Everybody's fucked up, yo. Greed fucked up humanity. All of it. —but I spent some time in this women's shelter and I sterted to realize: maybe it's just because it's a man's world. Half these femakes are in here talking about being hung up on niggas— NIGGAS. And they're in a homeless shelter. I had been celibate for quite some time at this point; but it seemed like every goddess I met in this place was broken—and that brokenness came from the sacrifice of loving men, and having children. Men are fucked up! Needy, greedy, selfish motherfuckers. I'm not saying there aren't any good ones— There are. They're just married. I respect marriage so much. I respect marriage so much— to the point where, I ended mine, when I realized “This is not how marriage is supposed to be.” It's fucked up. The good ones are taken, usually. And the sad thing is, Sometimes people stay in toxic relationships long enough that they become toxic. That happened to me. I stayed with the wrong person just long enough to realize, like, “Great, now I'm shitty, too—you motherfucker” FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER. I would rather slit my wrists up and down than ever go back to my ex. Yep. I've committed suicide 27 times since I left my marriage. You know what the first successful suicide attempt was, though? My fucking marriage. UGH. FUCK THESE NIGGAS. They'll have you fucked up. They'll have you homeless. They don't care! They have dicks! They can just fuck you up—then walk away, and fuck somebody else up. And the thing is: there's always some dumb, useless 18 year old somewhere that's gonna think he's GOD. She's useless—except in ONE WAY. To him. Then when he's done with her? Yep. Trash pile. Fuck these dudes. So I'm in this women's shelter, where of course, as if I need more of a reminder that most men ain't shit *most, not all. Done offend men. They'll kill you. They'll worse than kill you. They'll knock you up; ruin your body; cheat on you—they'll fuck you up— Then kill you. So I'm in this shelter, and after the first night, they're like “okay, you have to have a physical, then a psyche assessment, then you'll get a permanent housing assignment” I'm like “okay” So I get my appointment, and I look at it, and the appointment for the psychiatric evaluation is like 10 days away— I'm like, “Wait a minute: So you're going to make me wait 10 days in a dirty, chaotic, gross fucking nasty place—10 sleepless nights surrounded by hood rats and garbage all over the place and shitty toilets, where it's freezing fucking cold and even the cops and the staff are fighting all the time—THEN you're going to give me a psyche evaluation?” “Yeah” Fuck the system. I'm just jaded. I love/hate everything and everyone the same. You know why? Cause it's the same fucking emotion. They're not opposites. They're just opposite ends of the same spectrum of the same exact emotion. Passion. Passionate fury Passionate love Passionate rage. All really the same thing. The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is fear. Weekend on a Tuesday R3HQB & Laidback Luke Love, much like death Is just an illusion another contusion, confusion I'm a loose fuse confusious Lucius, Lucifer loosens Two tooth's, apathetic: I'm so pathetic, No sympathy for the devil No empathy for the dead SUPACREE//Chak Chel is grocery shopping at stop n shop Why stop n shop CAUSE THERES NO WHOLE FOODS IN THE HOOD. Racist ass motherfuckers. Supacree. No, Dude. No. Okay! Chak Chel! Mm. -_- I need to talk to you. Please. Step away. Wait! M—no. [she moves to the left—he moves to the left—she moves the right right—he moves the the right.] *sighs* [she removes a stone from her pouch, and throws it on the ground: it opens up into a black hole like vortex.] Where does that go. I don't know. *she gestures, waving her hand in front of the hole* Uhh— She stares into his eyes and steps into the portal, which swallows her into a void. Oh, my God! He stares off into the distance worriedly— Seconds later, just outside the storefront, a portal opens—supacree/CC is set gently at the bus stop; DILLON FRANCIS, still inside the store, stares at her out the window, flabbergasted as she boards the bus, staring back at him through the window. The bus drives away. Why Dillon Francis Idk I died and went to hell and back and back to hell again An irrelevant disheveled devil drinking a rebbl in the back of the bus Full of disgust, looking busted and fucked up I'm stuck in a nightmare, I can't wake up Where's Shia laboeoff? It's wild and rough Inspired enough By being in lust Pretending it's love But it's nothing Jimmy Fallon FLASHBACK : season 4 ANANDAR has an interesting medallion. one time I fucked this dude cause he looked just like Skrillex; like that wasn't somehow gonna be a disaster. I mean, my life was already 100% crap—I thought: Couldn't really be much worse. Might as well fuck this dude: Not like I could ever get the real thing. Turns out I was wrong twice. FLASHBACK: season 6 SKRILLEX is obsessed with SUPACREE. Huh. Oh wow, yeah. Yeah. So what does Dillon Francis want out of this? Figure it out! Uhhh!! What about deadmau5? JOEL ZIMMERMAN I want nothing to do with this DEADMAU5 …are you sure. JOEL Yes. KASKADE enters swiftly. JOEL Ugh, this dude DEADMAU5 WHAT UP, HOMIE. KASKADE WHAT IS UP. JOEL Ugh. RYAN GARY RADDON enters, nonchalantly. RYAN …am I late? JOEL You made it! RYAN Well, I promised. DEADMAU5 You are late. KASKADE Ugh, this dude. RYAN Nobody likes you. DEADMAU5 Say that to my face. RYAN Where is it. KASKADE Ooh. Burn. JOEL Oh-Kay. Let's go. Lol. Where are these dudes going. I guess we'll see. PASQUALE. Ahem. PASQUALE— Yes? What are you doing? Working on something. Working on what. Something. PASQUALE WHAT. GET IN HERE. Fine, I don't have eyes— I super sauna Flora-Fauna Outer space And out of stardust Superstardom Flawed, But by design, Align with all of ‘em Fine, I really don't find you Kind of attractive Damn, I'm damaged Do you mind Or do you plan on dying anytime Fine I can't be white, But can be tiny, That way, finally, When I'm someone's wife; I'm the right weight and height for them to like me Enough that they might— I mean just might Not cheat. Horrible. All I want is your attention— A ten A ten-tension I wnant your attention A ten A ten-tension Locker number 87 was taken and though it hadn't immediately bothered me in the same way that it had a few days before, the unsettling feeling in the moments following at least prompted me to write something down. It did bother me to think of him with anyone else—and even sensing it or seeing it had set me off in a way I could neither explain nor describe, first sending me into a whirlwind which culminated in meeting Anandar, and secondly tailspinning me into a fit of fury —and while I still loved Sonny, there was something I felt for Dillon I couldn't entirely explain, and while the world was suddenly full of beautiful people—beautiful white people, to be exacta, I realized I didn't want nor was I truly fit for any of them anyway, not that something like that mattered in my time of desperate need and desperation, unable to accumulate the focus or energy I needed to move up and out from this trench I was in, whatever it meant besides falling prey to the grueling captapilism on which the country I was raised to love was built, without it benefitting me in any way besides aesthetic. GODDAMMIT, DILLON FRANCISz WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO— Yeah, that's right— I'm gonna throw up. Don't throw up in my house. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE— YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE, BITCH— Aw, shit, it's on. KAAAAAHHHHMEEEEE— Is this dragon ball Z? No, it's FUCK YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING If I hear Renaissance one more time, I might just— I might just You're right It's white power, it's alt right, I can't fight it It's alright It's just another night In the heights In the no flight list I'm on hiatus, I'm high, thanks plankton I'm pinapple, might just wine Or whinehouse, If I had my own house, despite this Whatever This records all hype, Supply and Demand I'm a Diamond For your demon Indegenous genetics yet I'm homeless, on stolen land I'm hopeless, once again I stole this l, I am Sam I'm alone in this— Here's your quest for fire, ya dumbass, It's bombastic, I'm so past it Just wanna throw a bomb at it; Used to cetalogue albums Bow I'm analog, all bad, I'm so mad I wanna take it all back Like all that This is Allllllll, that this is— Is she coming back? Maybe. MAYBE?! Look, just give me my 10 bands, bro. 10 bands?! ‘Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Solace In Dancing.' Oh man, they hate us Why God, do they hate us Light skinned ballerinas— Life is what you make it Raise up from this hatred Make my grave With raising canes and gravy Make the best of what you gave me Questions in my mind arising Or are rasing I'm erasing pain but gazing at the TV thinking God, Why do they hate us Why do they hate us? USA Why do they hate us Why Why why Why do they hate us A master hypnotist; Why waste a wish on this— The fog, or mist obscured my vision Interest in THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE. Now, wake up. OH MY GOD. What do you want? I want to wake up from this nightmare, I want to be white, with blue eyes and long blonde hair I want to go to Long Island on the ferry, I want to be there, But clearly, I'm here, and I'm sorry But I'm growing wary That God's even aware of me I hate this. Oh shit. What, man. I just realized— we're all gonna get really old. Maybe… —or we're gonna die. Yeah, that's why I said “maybe” That's fucking terrifying. Dude, you're like 40–how are you just coming to grips with your mortality? …I don't know. *hits bong worriedly* I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER!!! Damn, Drake Bell; I didn't really think this would carry over into the 7th season, but—I gotta hand it to you; You stay fucking up. Dammit. What. I fucked up. You just stay fucking up And I stay fucking up And I say I'm over it, But I'm a stray puppy; A squirrel that's in search of a nut And you are what you eat So I guess I'm a butt Or bananas I'be had it I almost miss my hammock I take that back I ________ Manhattan Hey, you gotta stay stateside. What. For what. NEWS: WORLD WAR III Ah, fucking shit. So, what am I supposed to do for mon— MILITARY: Get over here— No. Look, it's SkrillexZ. No. How about— No. Believe it or not, I want what you want, m I love what you love, and then some; Gone for a walk in the park, With my heart in my pocket, I hope she shows up soon I hope that she's all that you've always wanted Since I'm not, And when I'm gone My songs remind you of what Love was, The love that I had, And the love that I loved just to love And the love that I wrote in the songs that You offered I hope she shows up And she's all that you wanted; I want what you want, And I love what you love, I promise l I hope she shows up soon She's all that you wanted; I wanted to love you, But want what you want, hun I promise; I'm just coming off a long one I love you for the long haul, And then some // I keep on forgetting That I'm not that pretty to, Or around you So I'll just— Do what I do, And move into the room Where my room meets you, In the vacuum of time and— Collisions, and splinters Unseasonable winters and Missed kindergarten graduations, I'm assuming at least I can't move, Or can't focus, Can't write many words, Or recite all my poems There's just not enough time left That I have Imm mindless I might have to find A flight To the homeland, and I don't want to fight, in this war I was drafted; I wrote that before, Now I'm captain Disasterous… Has it begun yet? It hasn't been fun yet, Just tragic I haven't forggtten the traffic I still have the hat. I just might not be black But I'm back on the blacklist , I guess Sending signals, distress Matching sigmas, And sigils, Invested in candle light vigils Twisted like pretzels; The rest of the West is in shambles And I'm steady rambling, Scrambling What's the preamble, pastor? Last again firstly, And first again last; How's that feel? How's dinner after a hot meal, 2 days of cornmeal, I'm horny, But still won't eat honey All out of money l l Submitting to your said supremacy This, I'll remember— It's cinders and embers and ashes l The fire you search for Went out in the rain that I called for The dance that I managed to salvage From out of the past, Like the misters and masters I asked for the land that I am back And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand I should want for nothing, But I find you at the forefront, Sniffing cocaine Yelling my name In the most profane way Ah, down the alley, she goes But— WHY ARE WE RUNNING YOU DID THIS, TIMMY, DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME TIMMY CAUSE YOU'RE TIMMY, SHUTTHEFUCKUP! I'm losing control, now I can't get out of it Or into it I'm on a roll now; The role of my life, It turns out, Was just my life Now I'm lifeless inside “Yeah right” *sigh* “Like anybody loves me” *crying* “Like anybody likes me” Yeah, that's right Just lay down and die; Lay down in the street like a dog, “If you like” Attack on my psyche The love of my life was just like me He might be Are we even? What do you believe in? A seething scar on my iris. Dine in and drive ins. I'm meant to die now, that was my life, it seems; It's over for me, The American dream turned nightmare; I haven't seen this stream, I should lie here, I haven't been myself in a while, I'm liable to set the whole ass world on fire— Like I'm on a fire escape, Trying to tape my mistake At the brokenshaker; Makes sense in LA, But it's just another day here How's the weather? It's awful That's what I heard at the office tomorrow, I'll probably drown in my sorrows, A crown on and borrowed objects In my honor, No, dont't stop here This is bat country Now some Sunni blū shit Or SUPACREE, whoever she is: Nonexistent. Here's a spaghetti and shit sandwhich, Dillon Francis, I believe in magic, I swear, I just can't stand it I hate this planet; Might be nice if I could manage to— goddamnit. Captain. Where's she at? Off the map… There is no “off the map” Off the grid. Well, there's that. THE LEGEND OF SUPACREE We've been collecting data about this woman for a number of years. It's a woman? CUT TO: SUNNÏ BLŪ is not a woman. *gross stupid rapper shit* Very much so. Senator, a word. How many words? At least three. Why is it always three? MEANWHILE *in a deep meditative state VIA DILLON FRANCIS* *no, it's Hanzel* Shutthefuckup. Listen. This is a lot. Breathe. [stops breathing] I've got burning questions. That's just syphilis. I— It only stings a little; It only burns a lot— You were my love, I thought Lost, lost, at once But here you are, And not often have I wanted To imagine you a star Another catharsis Another conundrum The world is at war, And the source that we come from, Abolished, So long lost and gone from our thoughts Now, Think fondly of lust, As she fondled the heart that she clutches From dawn until dusk, After sunset, Once buried but polished, recovered And thought of more often, Than spawned in the rust of the under and all of the marvelous— What was it? What? “The Jimmy Fallon Conspiracy” That is a good band name! What was the other one? “Bad with Matches” I like that. There was one more… Uh… {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

“White people suck!” This is a self-stated fact. White people are the only ones going around saying that shit. I mean, everyone else thinks it, it's true. Lots of people say it—just in other ways. Not exactly like that. “White people suck!” White people say this about themselves, as if they're not getting a little bit of fucking sociopathic joy out of it. I lived with a white a supremacist that may or may not have known he was a white supremacist. *may or may not have* He would say shit bordering on the brink of slight psychological torture. He'd say shit like “WE made OURSELVES the TOP RACE” Like, the fact that you're using words like ‘we' and ‘ourselves' indicate that YOU believe yourself to be a member of the so-said “top race” Not true. White people are not the top race. There are more retarded white people in the world than any other races. White people have been historically racist to the point that they fucked up their own gene pool imbreeding. Like: yes. They have held a majority of the money ans power on this planet for long enough that the entire world is programmed to think blue eyes are prettier— People with blue eyes have easier lives, period. Period. They get away with so much shit. This is a result of white dominance. It's true. But this guy. Lol. This guy would say things like “WE made ourselves the TOP RACE” And then further contradict himself by saying things like, “I don't believe in race” He was a narcissist. Yeah. Only thing worse than a narcissist? A white supremacy narcissist who doesn't know or understand he's either of those things. FUCK. I took him to my gym—but only because he let me stay in his spare bedroom for $11. Flex. More on that later. I personally think it's because he was a white supremacist trying to physiologically terrorize me by continually bringing up the effects of white power on my entire existence— BUT. He would say the most ignorant shit, that wasn't entirely ignorant—like he made decent and factual points, it was just ignorant that he was talking about it at all. To me. A homeless, black woman. It was like he was rubbing it in my face. For ten days he pretty much just came up with extremely inventive ways to approach me and be like “I'M WHITE AND YOURE BLACK AND MY LIFE IS AWESOME AND YOUR LIFE SUCKS BECAUSE I'M A WHITE MAN, AND YOU'RE A BLACK WOMAN!!!!l” I'm like, dude…shut up. “WHITE PEOPLE SUCK!” Okay. You're egging on a race war. I still don't hate white people. At this point I just see they're typically power tripping sadists. It's okay. Like everything he said or brought up apparently to try to make me feel better—actually made me feel WORSE to the point where I decided he was doing this on purpose. I'm like, This is the new white power movent: We make a majority of them homeless, lure them into our domiciles, and then remind them that hey don't have domiciles. Because of us. Pretend to feel sorry about it, mentally torture and disable them, and then send them back into the streets to squabble and kill each other! Perfect. But no, they are not the “top race” There are more retarded white people than anyone else— We even had one as President for 8 years! I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. I don't hate trump. He's just mentally disabled, being politically correct. I don't hate him! He's hilarious! When he's not directly effecting my existence— Hes funny. But: a perfect example of what the Caucasian's have done to themselves. And the fact that it doesn't matter, because when you have millions of dollars, you can be a literal retard, and rule the world! Wow! No, it's okay. I'm not racist. I went from his place—directly to a homeless shelter, where 99% of women there were black. I learned to love-hate everybody equally. Black people love to talk on the fuckin phone. So come lights out, everybody's on the fuckin phone, I'm like, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Everybody's on the phone. I'm like “Bro, if you actually have all these people to talk to, you should have somewhere to stay other than this dump.” I'm like, “I'm obviously here cause I'm a piece of shit and nobody loves me— You're on the phone from 11 PM till forever and you can't just go to their house and sleep there?! No! Then get off the phone cause that person ain't SHIT!” They ain't shit. But dudes are next level psycopaths. All of them. Staying at a women's shelter was eye opening. I would overhear conversations like, “BUT I LOVE YOUuuuuUu” Dudes be fucking chicks up in the head. All the way up. BITCH you're in a HOMELESS SHELTER. If he lets you sleep in this bitch even for 5 seconds he ain't SHIT. Get off the PHONE. Black people—or really—poor people, they love to talk on the phone. I don't know. I don't get it. I realized at a certain point i talked too much, and I was spending all my talking time talking to toxic people. So I stopped. Kind of. I talk to myself on my podcasts. Still can't decide if that's toxic or just what god wants so— I mean the downloads keep going up. Whatever. I should have a house. Dudes be having females out here homeless, worried about THEM. Woaaaahhhh. Anyway. But I realized: people love to talk on the phone. On the bus. At the gym. Wherever. Just “Talk talk talk/- Yap yap yap” about the dumbest shit. I realized how non bianary I am because females talk about the dumbest fucking shit. All dudes talk about is females so - I'm jaded at this point. Inequality is balls. This is how I learned the meaning of “no justice no peace” Like, the perpetual race war in this country has just created this division and unrest and it so fucking chaotic— But it's not just a race war. Dudes are fucking sick, intolerant. Greedy, destructive creatures. It's MAN WORLD so if you have a tiny dick or are an ugly female—you live at the bottom of the world. SUCKS TO SUUUUUUCK. “No justice, no peace” Colored people love to be loud—they've spent so much time being oppressed, it's apart of the culture to be like, “FUCK YOU, I'M HERE! WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!” I'm like, I get it. This is the definition of “disturbing the peace” After a week of this ridiculousness, I'm like, hey, maybe they're not racist: they just want you to be quiet. Lol that's not funny. They're like, “Ugh, this guy's breaking the law, he's disturbing the peace” The other cops like, “Just shoot him; if we arrest him he won't shut up” Lol that's terrible. Whatever. Colored people have been so neglected and oppressed now they kill each other. Whatever. There's no color to that shit. It's just men. Men are killers. But of course—I'm torn. I love babies—the only way you're gonna get one of them is to love a man—and once he impregnates you he can do whatever else to you he wants. He owns you after that. And you're just—tied to him. Destructive. Honestly, though—the difference between a good man and a bad man, or even a good woman and a bad woman—is a good mother. You have to have that. So I fucked up. I'm a whole trash can. But now I love/hate everybody equally. Everybody's fucked up. I hate myself the most. What! I'm homeless! That makes me a piece of shit! I'm shitty. And I get it. It's cultural oppression. This culture has been bred on slavery and neglect and oppression and so now you have to act out and be loud and ridiculous and rowdy. Okay. I get it. I do. But at this point, I'm like “This is the apocalypse, I'm ready for the world to end.” I don't give a fuck about whose black whose white what's right what's wrong, I'm like, “Nobody pays enough money for me to be miserable for 8-16 hours a day, I don't have a place to sleep or a friend in the world, just end it already, God, “ “Just fucking blow it all up. “ I'm ready for a nuclear fuckin war. “Drop that nuke directly on my face.” I want to be ground zero. Fuck this whole place. Fuck this existence. I'm over it. I don't care about anything. My basic needs aren't being met and I'm over it. I don't even have a fucking HOME. You need a home just to have a BODY. The only shit you do In your house is because you have to take care of your BODY for it to work. You have to shower. You have to eat. You have to sleep, These are not recommendations!! These are requirements, Once I realized that a great enough evil existed in the world to allow this to happen— I got over it. I'm like “fuck this race war” Where's the real one?! Drop some bombs in this bitch. Humans are fucked up. Black. White. Everybody in between. Everybody's fucked up, yo. Greed fucked up humanity. All of it. —but I spent some time in this women's shelter and I sterted to realize: maybe it's just because it's a man's world. Half these femakes are in here talking about being hung up on niggas— NIGGAS. And they're in a homeless shelter. I had been celibate for quite some time at this point; but it seemed like every goddess I met in this place was broken—and that brokenness came from the sacrifice of loving men, and having children. Men are fucked up! Needy, greedy, selfish motherfuckers. I'm not saying there aren't any good ones— There are. They're just married. I respect marriage so much. I respect marriage so much— to the point where, I ended mine, when I realized “This is not how marriage is supposed to be.” It's fucked up. The good ones are taken, usually. And the sad thing is, Sometimes people stay in toxic relationships long enough that they become toxic. That happened to me. I stayed with the wrong person just long enough to realize, like, “Great, now I'm shitty, too—you motherfucker” FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER. I would rather slit my wrists up and down than ever go back to my ex. Yep. I've committed suicide 27 times since I left my marriage. You know what the first successful suicide attempt was, though? My fucking marriage. UGH. FUCK THESE NIGGAS. They'll have you fucked up. They'll have you homeless. They don't care! They have dicks! They can just fuck you up—then walk away, and fuck somebody else up. And the thing is: there's always some dumb, useless 18 year old somewhere that's gonna think he's GOD. She's useless—except in ONE WAY. To him. Then when he's done with her? Yep. Trash pile. Fuck these dudes. So I'm in this women's shelter, where of course, as if I need more of a reminder that most men ain't shit *most, not all. Done offend men. They'll kill you. They'll worse than kill you. They'll knock you up; ruin your body; cheat on you—they'll fuck you up— Then kill you. So I'm in this shelter, and after the first night, they're like “okay, you have to have a physical, then a psyche assessment, then you'll get a permanent housing assignment” I'm like “okay” So I get my appointment, and I look at it, and the appointment for the psychiatric evaluation is like 10 days away— I'm like, “Wait a minute: So you're going to make me wait 10 days in a dirty, chaotic, gross fucking nasty place—10 sleepless nights surrounded by hood rats and garbage all over the place and shitty toilets, where it's freezing fucking cold and even the cops and the staff are fighting all the time—THEN you're going to give me a psyche evaluation?” “Yeah” Fuck the system. I'm just jaded. I love/hate everything and everyone the same. You know why? Cause it's the same fucking emotion. They're not opposites. They're just opposite ends of the same spectrum of the same exact emotion. Passion. Passionate fury Passionate love Passionate rage. All really the same thing. The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is fear. Weekend on a Tuesday R3HQB & Laidback Luke Love, much like death Is just an illusion another contusion, confusion I'm a loose fuse confusious Lucius, Lucifer loosens Two tooth's, apathetic: I'm so pathetic, No sympathy for the devil No empathy for the dead SUPACREE//Chak Chel is grocery shopping at stop n shop Why stop n shop CAUSE THERES NO WHOLE FOODS IN THE HOOD. Racist ass motherfuckers. Supacree. No, Dude. No. Okay! Chak Chel! Mm. -_- I need to talk to you. Please. Step away. Wait! M—no. [she moves to the left—he moves to the left—she moves the right right—he moves the the right.] *sighs* [she removes a stone from her pouch, and throws it on the ground: it opens up into a black hole like vortex.] Where does that go. I don't know. *she gestures, waving her hand in front of the hole* Uhh— She stares into his eyes and steps into the portal, which swallows her into a void. Oh, my God! He stares off into the distance worriedly— Seconds later, just outside the storefront, a portal opens—supacree/CC is set gently at the bus stop; DILLON FRANCIS, still inside the store, stares at her out the window, flabbergasted as she boards the bus, staring back at him through the window. The bus drives away. Why Dillon Francis Idk I died and went to hell and back and back to hell again An irrelevant disheveled devil drinking a rebbl in the back of the bus Full of disgust, looking busted and fucked up I'm stuck in a nightmare, I can't wake up Where's Shia laboeoff? It's wild and rough Inspired enough By being in lust Pretending it's love But it's nothing Jimmy Fallon FLASHBACK : season 4 ANANDAR has an interesting medallion. one time I fucked this dude cause he looked just like Skrillex; like that wasn't somehow gonna be a disaster. I mean, my life was already 100% crap—I thought: Couldn't really be much worse. Might as well fuck this dude: Not like I could ever get the real thing. Turns out I was wrong twice. FLASHBACK: season 6 SKRILLEX is obsessed with SUPACREE. Huh. Oh wow, yeah. Yeah. So what does Dillon Francis want out of this? Figure it out! Uhhh!! What about deadmau5? JOEL ZIMMERMAN I want nothing to do with this DEADMAU5 …are you sure. JOEL Yes. KASKADE enters swiftly. JOEL Ugh, this dude DEADMAU5 WHAT UP, HOMIE. KASKADE WHAT IS UP. JOEL Ugh. RYAN GARY RADDON enters, nonchalantly. RYAN …am I late? JOEL You made it! RYAN Well, I promised. DEADMAU5 You are late. KASKADE Ugh, this dude. RYAN Nobody likes you. DEADMAU5 Say that to my face. RYAN Where is it. KASKADE Ooh. Burn. JOEL Oh-Kay. Let's go. Lol. Where are these dudes going. I guess we'll see. PASQUALE. Ahem. PASQUALE— Yes? What are you doing? Working on something. Working on what. Something. PASQUALE WHAT. GET IN HERE. Fine, I don't have eyes— I super sauna Flora-Fauna Outer space And out of stardust Superstardom Flawed, But by design, Align with all of ‘em Fine, I really don't find you Kind of attractive Damn, I'm damaged Do you mind Or do you plan on dying anytime Fine I can't be white, But can be tiny, That way, finally, When I'm someone's wife; I'm the right weight and height for them to like me Enough that they might— I mean just might Not cheat. Horrible. All I want is your attention— A ten A ten-tension I wnant your attention A ten A ten-tension Locker number 87 was taken and though it hadn't immediately bothered me in the same way that it had a few days before, the unsettling feeling in the moments following at least prompted me to write something down. It did bother me to think of him with anyone else—and even sensing it or seeing it had set me off in a way I could neither explain nor describe, first sending me into a whirlwind which culminated in meeting Anandar, and secondly tailspinning me into a fit of fury —and while I still loved Sonny, there was something I felt for Dillon I couldn't entirely explain, and while the world was suddenly full of beautiful people—beautiful white people, to be exacta, I realized I didn't want nor was I truly fit for any of them anyway, not that something like that mattered in my time of desperate need and desperation, unable to accumulate the focus or energy I needed to move up and out from this trench I was in, whatever it meant besides falling prey to the grueling captapilism on which the country I was raised to love was built, without it benefitting me in any way besides aesthetic. GODDAMMIT, DILLON FRANCISz WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO— Yeah, that's right— I'm gonna throw up. Don't throw up in my house. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE— YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE, BITCH— Aw, shit, it's on. KAAAAAHHHHMEEEEE— Is this dragon ball Z? No, it's FUCK YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING If I hear Renaissance one more time, I might just— I might just You're right It's white power, it's alt right, I can't fight it It's alright It's just another night In the heights In the no flight list I'm on hiatus, I'm high, thanks plankton I'm pinapple, might just wine Or whinehouse, If I had my own house, despite this Whatever This records all hype, Supply and Demand I'm a Diamond For your demon Indegenous genetics yet I'm homeless, on stolen land I'm hopeless, once again I stole this l, I am Sam I'm alone in this— Here's your quest for fire, ya dumbass, It's bombastic, I'm so past it Just wanna throw a bomb at it; Used to cetalogue albums Bow I'm analog, all bad, I'm so mad I wanna take it all back Like all that This is Allllllll, that this is— Is she coming back? Maybe. MAYBE?! Look, just give me my 10 bands, bro. 10 bands?! ‘Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Solace In Dancing.' Oh man, they hate us Why God, do they hate us Light skinned ballerinas— Life is what you make it Raise up from this hatred Make my grave With raising canes and gravy Make the best of what you gave me Questions in my mind arising Or are rasing I'm erasing pain but gazing at the TV thinking God, Why do they hate us Why do they hate us? USA Why do they hate us Why Why why Why do they hate us A master hypnotist; Why waste a wish on this— The fog, or mist obscured my vision Interest in THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE. Now, wake up. OH MY GOD. What do you want? I want to wake up from this nightmare, I want to be white, with blue eyes and long blonde hair I want to go to Long Island on the ferry, I want to be there, But clearly, I'm here, and I'm sorry But I'm growing wary That God's even aware of me I hate this. Oh shit. What, man. I just realized— we're all gonna get really old. Maybe… —or we're gonna die. Yeah, that's why I said “maybe” That's fucking terrifying. Dude, you're like 40–how are you just coming to grips with your mortality? …I don't know. *hits bong worriedly* I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER!!! Damn, Drake Bell; I didn't really think this would carry over into the 7th season, but—I gotta hand it to you; You stay fucking up. Dammit. What. I fucked up. You just stay fucking up And I stay fucking up And I say I'm over it, But I'm a stray puppy; A squirrel that's in search of a nut And you are what you eat So I guess I'm a butt Or bananas I'be had it I almost miss my hammock I take that back I ________ Manhattan Hey, you gotta stay stateside. What. For what. NEWS: WORLD WAR III Ah, fucking shit. So, what am I supposed to do for mon— MILITARY: Get over here— No. Look, it's SkrillexZ. No. How about— No. Believe it or not, I want what you want, m I love what you love, and then some; Gone for a walk in the park, With my heart in my pocket, I hope she shows up soon I hope that she's all that you've always wanted Since I'm not, And when I'm gone My songs remind you of what Love was, The love that I had, And the love that I loved just to love And the love that I wrote in the songs that You offered I hope she shows up And she's all that you wanted; I want what you want, And I love what you love, I promise l I hope she shows up soon She's all that you wanted; I wanted to love you, But want what you want, hun I promise; I'm just coming off a long one I love you for the long haul, And then some // I keep on forgetting That I'm not that pretty to, Or around you So I'll just— Do what I do, And move into the room Where my room meets you, In the vacuum of time and— Collisions, and splinters Unseasonable winters and Missed kindergarten graduations, I'm assuming at least I can't move, Or can't focus, Can't write many words, Or recite all my poems There's just not enough time left That I have Imm mindless I might have to find A flight To the homeland, and I don't want to fight, in this war I was drafted; I wrote that before, Now I'm captain Disasterous… Has it begun yet? It hasn't been fun yet, Just tragic I haven't forggtten the traffic I still have the hat. I just might not be black But I'm back on the blacklist , I guess Sending signals, distress Matching sigmas, And sigils, Invested in candle light vigils Twisted like pretzels; The rest of the West is in shambles And I'm steady rambling, Scrambling What's the preamble, pastor? Last again firstly, And first again last; How's that feel? How's dinner after a hot meal, 2 days of cornmeal, I'm horny, But still won't eat honey All out of money l l Submitting to your said supremacy This, I'll remember— It's cinders and embers and ashes l The fire you search for Went out in the rain that I called for The dance that I managed to salvage From out of the past, Like the misters and masters I asked for the land that I am back And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand I should want for nothing, But I find you at the forefront, Sniffing cocaine Yelling my name In the most profane way Ah, down the alley, she goes But— WHY ARE WE RUNNING YOU DID THIS, TIMMY, DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME TIMMY CAUSE YOU'RE TIMMY, SHUTTHEFUCKUP! I'm losing control, now I can't get out of it Or into it I'm on a roll now; The role of my life, It turns out, Was just my life Now I'm lifeless inside “Yeah right” *sigh* “Like anybody loves me” *crying* “Like anybody likes me” Yeah, that's right Just lay down and die; Lay down in the street like a dog, “If you like” Attack on my psyche The love of my life was just like me He might be Are we even? What do you believe in? A seething scar on my iris. Dine in and drive ins. I'm meant to die now, that was my life, it seems; It's over for me, The American dream turned nightmare; I haven't seen this stream, I should lie here, I haven't been myself in a while, I'm liable to set the whole ass world on fire— Like I'm on a fire escape, Trying to tape my mistake At the brokenshaker; Makes sense in LA, But it's just another day here How's the weather? It's awful That's what I heard at the office tomorrow, I'll probably drown in my sorrows, A crown on and borrowed objects In my honor, No, dont't stop here This is bat country Now some Sunni blū shit Or SUPACREE, whoever she is: Nonexistent. Here's a spaghetti and shit sandwhich, Dillon Francis, I believe in magic, I swear, I just can't stand it I hate this planet; Might be nice if I could manage to— goddamnit. Captain. Where's she at? Off the map… There is no “off the map” Off the grid. Well, there's that. THE LEGEND OF SUPACREE We've been collecting data about this woman for a number of years. It's a woman? CUT TO: SUNNÏ BLŪ is not a woman. *gross stupid rapper shit* Very much so. Senator, a word. How many words? At least three. Why is it always three? MEANWHILE *in a deep meditative state VIA DILLON FRANCIS* *no, it's Hanzel* Shutthefuckup. Listen. This is a lot. Breathe. [stops breathing] I've got burning questions. That's just syphilis. I— It only stings a little; It only burns a lot— You were my love, I thought Lost, lost, at once But here you are, And not often have I wanted To imagine you a star Another catharsis Another conundrum The world is at war, And the source that we come from, Abolished, So long lost and gone from our thoughts Now, Think fondly of lust, As she fondled the heart that she clutches From dawn until dusk, After sunset, Once buried but polished, recovered And thought of more often, Than spawned in the rust of the under and all of the marvelous— What was it? What? “The Jimmy Fallon Conspiracy” That is a good band name! What was the other one? “Bad with Matches” I like that. There was one more… Uh… {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

“White people suck!” This is a self-stated fact. White people are the only ones going around saying that shit. I mean, everyone else thinks it, it's true. Lots of people say it—just in other ways. Not exactly like that. “White people suck!” White people say this about themselves, as if they're not getting a little bit of fucking sociopathic joy out of it. I lived with a white a supremacist that may or may not have known he was a white supremacist. *may or may not have* He would say shit bordering on the brink of slight psychological torture. He'd say shit like “WE made OURSELVES the TOP RACE” Like, the fact that you're using words like ‘we' and ‘ourselves' indicate that YOU believe yourself to be a member of the so-said “top race” Not true. White people are not the top race. There are more retarded white people in the world than any other races. White people have been historically racist to the point that they fucked up their own gene pool imbreeding. Like: yes. They have held a majority of the money ans power on this planet for long enough that the entire world is programmed to think blue eyes are prettier— People with blue eyes have easier lives, period. Period. They get away with so much shit. This is a result of white dominance. It's true. But this guy. Lol. This guy would say things like “WE made ourselves the TOP RACE” And then further contradict himself by saying things like, “I don't believe in race” He was a narcissist. Yeah. Only thing worse than a narcissist? A white supremacy narcissist who doesn't know or understand he's either of those things. FUCK. I took him to my gym—but only because he let me stay in his spare bedroom for $11. Flex. More on that later. I personally think it's because he was a white supremacist trying to physiologically terrorize me by continually bringing up the effects of white power on my entire existence— BUT. He would say the most ignorant shit, that wasn't entirely ignorant—like he made decent and factual points, it was just ignorant that he was talking about it at all. To me. A homeless, black woman. It was like he was rubbing it in my face. For ten days he pretty much just came up with extremely inventive ways to approach me and be like “I'M WHITE AND YOURE BLACK AND MY LIFE IS AWESOME AND YOUR LIFE SUCKS BECAUSE I'M A WHITE MAN, AND YOU'RE A BLACK WOMAN!!!!l” I'm like, dude…shut up. “WHITE PEOPLE SUCK!” Okay. You're egging on a race war. I still don't hate white people. At this point I just see they're typically power tripping sadists. It's okay. Like everything he said or brought up apparently to try to make me feel better—actually made me feel WORSE to the point where I decided he was doing this on purpose. I'm like, This is the new white power movent: We make a majority of them homeless, lure them into our domiciles, and then remind them that hey don't have domiciles. Because of us. Pretend to feel sorry about it, mentally torture and disable them, and then send them back into the streets to squabble and kill each other! Perfect. But no, they are not the “top race” There are more retarded white people than anyone else— We even had one as President for 8 years! I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. I don't hate trump. He's just mentally disabled, being politically correct. I don't hate him! He's hilarious! When he's not directly effecting my existence— Hes funny. But: a perfect example of what the Caucasian's have done to themselves. And the fact that it doesn't matter, because when you have millions of dollars, you can be a literal retard, and rule the world! Wow! No, it's okay. I'm not racist. I went from his place—directly to a homeless shelter, where 99% of women there were black. I learned to love-hate everybody equally. Black people love to talk on the fuckin phone. So come lights out, everybody's on the fuckin phone, I'm like, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Everybody's on the phone. I'm like “Bro, if you actually have all these people to talk to, you should have somewhere to stay other than this dump.” I'm like, “I'm obviously here cause I'm a piece of shit and nobody loves me— You're on the phone from 11 PM till forever and you can't just go to their house and sleep there?! No! Then get off the phone cause that person ain't SHIT!” They ain't shit. But dudes are next level psycopaths. All of them. Staying at a women's shelter was eye opening. I would overhear conversations like, “BUT I LOVE YOUuuuuUu” Dudes be fucking chicks up in the head. All the way up. BITCH you're in a HOMELESS SHELTER. If he lets you sleep in this bitch even for 5 seconds he ain't SHIT. Get off the PHONE. Black people—or really—poor people, they love to talk on the phone. I don't know. I don't get it. I realized at a certain point i talked too much, and I was spending all my talking time talking to toxic people. So I stopped. Kind of. I talk to myself on my podcasts. Still can't decide if that's toxic or just what god wants so— I mean the downloads keep going up. Whatever. I should have a house. Dudes be having females out here homeless, worried about THEM. Woaaaahhhh. Anyway. But I realized: people love to talk on the phone. On the bus. At the gym. Wherever. Just “Talk talk talk/- Yap yap yap” about the dumbest shit. I realized how non bianary I am because females talk about the dumbest fucking shit. All dudes talk about is females so - I'm jaded at this point. Inequality is balls. This is how I learned the meaning of “no justice no peace” Like, the perpetual race war in this country has just created this division and unrest and it so fucking chaotic— But it's not just a race war. Dudes are fucking sick, intolerant. Greedy, destructive creatures. It's MAN WORLD so if you have a tiny dick or are an ugly female—you live at the bottom of the world. SUCKS TO SUUUUUUCK. “No justice, no peace” Colored people love to be loud—they've spent so much time being oppressed, it's apart of the culture to be like, “FUCK YOU, I'M HERE! WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!” I'm like, I get it. This is the definition of “disturbing the peace” After a week of this ridiculousness, I'm like, hey, maybe they're not racist: they just want you to be quiet. Lol that's not funny. They're like, “Ugh, this guy's breaking the law, he's disturbing the peace” The other cops like, “Just shoot him; if we arrest him he won't shut up” Lol that's terrible. Whatever. Colored people have been so neglected and oppressed now they kill each other. Whatever. There's no color to that shit. It's just men. Men are killers. But of course—I'm torn. I love babies—the only way you're gonna get one of them is to love a man—and once he impregnates you he can do whatever else to you he wants. He owns you after that. And you're just—tied to him. Destructive. Honestly, though—the difference between a good man and a bad man, or even a good woman and a bad woman—is a good mother. You have to have that. So I fucked up. I'm a whole trash can. But now I love/hate everybody equally. Everybody's fucked up. I hate myself the most. What! I'm homeless! That makes me a piece of shit! I'm shitty. And I get it. It's cultural oppression. This culture has been bred on slavery and neglect and oppression and so now you have to act out and be loud and ridiculous and rowdy. Okay. I get it. I do. But at this point, I'm like “This is the apocalypse, I'm ready for the world to end.” I don't give a fuck about whose black whose white what's right what's wrong, I'm like, “Nobody pays enough money for me to be miserable for 8-16 hours a day, I don't have a place to sleep or a friend in the world, just end it already, God, “ “Just fucking blow it all up. “ I'm ready for a nuclear fuckin war. “Drop that nuke directly on my face.” I want to be ground zero. Fuck this whole place. Fuck this existence. I'm over it. I don't care about anything. My basic needs aren't being met and I'm over it. I don't even have a fucking HOME. You need a home just to have a BODY. The only shit you do In your house is because you have to take care of your BODY for it to work. You have to shower. You have to eat. You have to sleep, These are not recommendations!! These are requirements, Once I realized that a great enough evil existed in the world to allow this to happen— I got over it. I'm like “fuck this race war” Where's the real one?! Drop some bombs in this bitch. Humans are fucked up. Black. White. Everybody in between. Everybody's fucked up, yo. Greed fucked up humanity. All of it. —but I spent some time in this women's shelter and I sterted to realize: maybe it's just because it's a man's world. Half these femakes are in here talking about being hung up on niggas— NIGGAS. And they're in a homeless shelter. I had been celibate for quite some time at this point; but it seemed like every goddess I met in this place was broken—and that brokenness came from the sacrifice of loving men, and having children. Men are fucked up! Needy, greedy, selfish motherfuckers. I'm not saying there aren't any good ones— There are. They're just married. I respect marriage so much. I respect marriage so much— to the point where, I ended mine, when I realized “This is not how marriage is supposed to be.” It's fucked up. The good ones are taken, usually. And the sad thing is, Sometimes people stay in toxic relationships long enough that they become toxic. That happened to me. I stayed with the wrong person just long enough to realize, like, “Great, now I'm shitty, too—you motherfucker” FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER. I would rather slit my wrists up and down than ever go back to my ex. Yep. I've committed suicide 27 times since I left my marriage. You know what the first successful suicide attempt was, though? My fucking marriage. UGH. FUCK THESE NIGGAS. They'll have you fucked up. They'll have you homeless. They don't care! They have dicks! They can just fuck you up—then walk away, and fuck somebody else up. And the thing is: there's always some dumb, useless 18 year old somewhere that's gonna think he's GOD. She's useless—except in ONE WAY. To him. Then when he's done with her? Yep. Trash pile. Fuck these dudes. So I'm in this women's shelter, where of course, as if I need more of a reminder that most men ain't shit *most, not all. Done offend men. They'll kill you. They'll worse than kill you. They'll knock you up; ruin your body; cheat on you—they'll fuck you up— Then kill you. So I'm in this shelter, and after the first night, they're like “okay, you have to have a physical, then a psyche assessment, then you'll get a permanent housing assignment” I'm like “okay” So I get my appointment, and I look at it, and the appointment for the psychiatric evaluation is like 10 days away— I'm like, “Wait a minute: So you're going to make me wait 10 days in a dirty, chaotic, gross fucking nasty place—10 sleepless nights surrounded by hood rats and garbage all over the place and shitty toilets, where it's freezing fucking cold and even the cops and the staff are fighting all the time—THEN you're going to give me a psyche evaluation?” “Yeah” Fuck the system. I'm just jaded. I love/hate everything and everyone the same. You know why? Cause it's the same fucking emotion. They're not opposites. They're just opposite ends of the same spectrum of the same exact emotion. Passion. Passionate fury Passionate love Passionate rage. All really the same thing. The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is fear. Weekend on a Tuesday R3HQB & Laidback Luke Love, much like death Is just an illusion another contusion, confusion I'm a loose fuse confusious Lucius, Lucifer loosens Two tooth's, apathetic: I'm so pathetic, No sympathy for the devil No empathy for the dead SUPACREE//Chak Chel is grocery shopping at stop n shop Why stop n shop CAUSE THERES NO WHOLE FOODS IN THE HOOD. Racist ass motherfuckers. Supacree. No, Dude. No. Okay! Chak Chel! Mm. -_- I need to talk to you. Please. Step away. Wait! M—no. [she moves to the left—he moves to the left—she moves the right right—he moves the the right.] *sighs* [she removes a stone from her pouch, and throws it on the ground: it opens up into a black hole like vortex.] Where does that go. I don't know. *she gestures, waving her hand in front of the hole* Uhh— She stares into his eyes and steps into the portal, which swallows her into a void. Oh, my God! He stares off into the distance worriedly— Seconds later, just outside the storefront, a portal opens—supacree/CC is set gently at the bus stop; DILLON FRANCIS, still inside the store, stares at her out the window, flabbergasted as she boards the bus, staring back at him through the window. The bus drives away. Why Dillon Francis Idk I died and went to hell and back and back to hell again An irrelevant disheveled devil drinking a rebbl in the back of the bus Full of disgust, looking busted and fucked up I'm stuck in a nightmare, I can't wake up Where's Shia laboeoff? It's wild and rough Inspired enough By being in lust Pretending it's love But it's nothing Jimmy Fallon FLASHBACK : season 4 ANANDAR has an interesting medallion. one time I fucked this dude cause he looked just like Skrillex; like that wasn't somehow gonna be a disaster. I mean, my life was already 100% crap—I thought: Couldn't really be much worse. Might as well fuck this dude: Not like I could ever get the real thing. Turns out I was wrong twice. FLASHBACK: season 6 SKRILLEX is obsessed with SUPACREE. Huh. Oh wow, yeah. Yeah. So what does Dillon Francis want out of this? Figure it out! Uhhh!! What about deadmau5? JOEL ZIMMERMAN I want nothing to do with this DEADMAU5 …are you sure. JOEL Yes. KASKADE enters swiftly. JOEL Ugh, this dude DEADMAU5 WHAT UP, HOMIE. KASKADE WHAT IS UP. JOEL Ugh. RYAN GARY RADDON enters, nonchalantly. RYAN …am I late? JOEL You made it! RYAN Well, I promised. DEADMAU5 You are late. KASKADE Ugh, this dude. RYAN Nobody likes you. DEADMAU5 Say that to my face. RYAN Where is it. KASKADE Ooh. Burn. JOEL Oh-Kay. Let's go. Lol. Where are these dudes going. I guess we'll see. PASQUALE. Ahem. PASQUALE— Yes? What are you doing? Working on something. Working on what. Something. PASQUALE WHAT. GET IN HERE. Fine, I don't have eyes— I super sauna Flora-Fauna Outer space And out of stardust Superstardom Flawed, But by design, Align with all of ‘em Fine, I really don't find you Kind of attractive Damn, I'm damaged Do you mind Or do you plan on dying anytime Fine I can't be white, But can be tiny, That way, finally, When I'm someone's wife; I'm the right weight and height for them to like me Enough that they might— I mean just might Not cheat. Horrible. All I want is your attention— A ten A ten-tension I wnant your attention A ten A ten-tension Locker number 87 was taken and though it hadn't immediately bothered me in the same way that it had a few days before, the unsettling feeling in the moments following at least prompted me to write something down. It did bother me to think of him with anyone else—and even sensing it or seeing it had set me off in a way I could neither explain nor describe, first sending me into a whirlwind which culminated in meeting Anandar, and secondly tailspinning me into a fit of fury —and while I still loved Sonny, there was something I felt for Dillon I couldn't entirely explain, and while the world was suddenly full of beautiful people—beautiful white people, to be exacta, I realized I didn't want nor was I truly fit for any of them anyway, not that something like that mattered in my time of desperate need and desperation, unable to accumulate the focus or energy I needed to move up and out from this trench I was in, whatever it meant besides falling prey to the grueling captapilism on which the country I was raised to love was built, without it benefitting me in any way besides aesthetic. GODDAMMIT, DILLON FRANCISz WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO— Yeah, that's right— I'm gonna throw up. Don't throw up in my house. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE— YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE, BITCH— Aw, shit, it's on. KAAAAAHHHHMEEEEE— Is this dragon ball Z? No, it's FUCK YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING If I hear Renaissance one more time, I might just— I might just You're right It's white power, it's alt right, I can't fight it It's alright It's just another night In the heights In the no flight list I'm on hiatus, I'm high, thanks plankton I'm pinapple, might just wine Or whinehouse, If I had my own house, despite this Whatever This records all hype, Supply and Demand I'm a Diamond For your demon Indegenous genetics yet I'm homeless, on stolen land I'm hopeless, once again I stole this l, I am Sam I'm alone in this— Here's your quest for fire, ya dumbass, It's bombastic, I'm so past it Just wanna throw a bomb at it; Used to cetalogue albums Bow I'm analog, all bad, I'm so mad I wanna take it all back Like all that This is Allllllll, that this is— Is she coming back? Maybe. MAYBE?! Look, just give me my 10 bands, bro. 10 bands?! ‘Ukrainian Ballerina Finds Solace In Dancing.' Oh man, they hate us Why God, do they hate us Light skinned ballerinas— Life is what you make it Raise up from this hatred Make my grave With raising canes and gravy Make the best of what you gave me Questions in my mind arising Or are rasing I'm erasing pain but gazing at the TV thinking God, Why do they hate us Why do they hate us? USA Why do they hate us Why Why why Why do they hate us A master hypnotist; Why waste a wish on this— The fog, or mist obscured my vision Interest in THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE. Now, wake up. OH MY GOD. What do you want? I want to wake up from this nightmare, I want to be white, with blue eyes and long blonde hair I want to go to Long Island on the ferry, I want to be there, But clearly, I'm here, and I'm sorry But I'm growing wary That God's even aware of me I hate this. Oh shit. What, man. I just realized— we're all gonna get really old. Maybe… —or we're gonna die. Yeah, that's why I said “maybe” That's fucking terrifying. Dude, you're like 40–how are you just coming to grips with your mortality? …I don't know. *hits bong worriedly* I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER!!! Damn, Drake Bell; I didn't really think this would carry over into the 7th season, but—I gotta hand it to you; You stay fucking up. Dammit. What. I fucked up. You just stay fucking up And I stay fucking up And I say I'm over it, But I'm a stray puppy; A squirrel that's in search of a nut And you are what you eat So I guess I'm a butt Or bananas I'be had it I almost miss my hammock I take that back I ________ Manhattan Hey, you gotta stay stateside. What. For what. NEWS: WORLD WAR III Ah, fucking shit. So, what am I supposed to do for mon— MILITARY: Get over here— No. Look, it's SkrillexZ. No. How about— No. Believe it or not, I want what you want, m I love what you love, and then some; Gone for a walk in the park, With my heart in my pocket, I hope she shows up soon I hope that she's all that you've always wanted Since I'm not, And when I'm gone My songs remind you of what Love was, The love that I had, And the love that I loved just to love And the love that I wrote in the songs that You offered I hope she shows up And she's all that you wanted; I want what you want, And I love what you love, I promise l I hope she shows up soon She's all that you wanted; I wanted to love you, But want what you want, hun I promise; I'm just coming off a long one I love you for the long haul, And then some // I keep on forgetting That I'm not that pretty to, Or around you So I'll just— Do what I do, And move into the room Where my room meets you, In the vacuum of time and— Collisions, and splinters Unseasonable winters and Missed kindergarten graduations, I'm assuming at least I can't move, Or can't focus, Can't write many words, Or recite all my poems There's just not enough time left That I have Imm mindless I might have to find A flight To the homeland, and I don't want to fight, in this war I was drafted; I wrote that before, Now I'm captain Disasterous… Has it begun yet? It hasn't been fun yet, Just tragic I haven't forggtten the traffic I still have the hat. I just might not be black But I'm back on the blacklist , I guess Sending signals, distress Matching sigmas, And sigils, Invested in candle light vigils Twisted like pretzels; The rest of the West is in shambles And I'm steady rambling, Scrambling What's the preamble, pastor? Last again firstly, And first again last; How's that feel? How's dinner after a hot meal, 2 days of cornmeal, I'm horny, But still won't eat honey All out of money l l Submitting to your said supremacy This, I'll remember— It's cinders and embers and ashes l The fire you search for Went out in the rain that I called for The dance that I managed to salvage From out of the past, Like the misters and masters I asked for the land that I am back And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand And we're all just grains of sand I should want for nothing, But I find you at the forefront, Sniffing cocaine Yelling my name In the most profane way Ah, down the alley, she goes But— WHY ARE WE RUNNING YOU DID THIS, TIMMY, DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME TIMMY CAUSE YOU'RE TIMMY, SHUTTHEFUCKUP! I'm losing control, now I can't get out of it Or into it I'm on a roll now; The role of my life, It turns out, Was just my life Now I'm lifeless inside “Yeah right” *sigh* “Like anybody loves me” *crying* “Like anybody likes me” Yeah, that's right Just lay down and die; Lay down in the street like a dog, “If you like” Attack on my psyche The love of my life was just like me He might be Are we even? What do you believe in? A seething scar on my iris. Dine in and drive ins. I'm meant to die now, that was my life, it seems; It's over for me, The American dream turned nightmare; I haven't seen this stream, I should lie here, I haven't been myself in a while, I'm liable to set the whole ass world on fire— Like I'm on a fire escape, Trying to tape my mistake At the brokenshaker; Makes sense in LA, But it's just another day here How's the weather? It's awful That's what I heard at the office tomorrow, I'll probably drown in my sorrows, A crown on and borrowed objects In my honor, No, dont't stop here This is bat country Now some Sunni blū shit Or SUPACREE, whoever she is: Nonexistent. Here's a spaghetti and shit sandwhich, Dillon Francis, I believe in magic, I swear, I just can't stand it I hate this planet; Might be nice if I could manage to— goddamnit. Captain. Where's she at? Off the map… There is no “off the map” Off the grid. Well, there's that. THE LEGEND OF SUPACREE We've been collecting data about this woman for a number of years. It's a woman? CUT TO: SUNNÏ BLŪ is not a woman. *gross stupid rapper shit* Very much so. Senator, a word. How many words? At least three. Why is it always three? MEANWHILE *in a deep meditative state VIA DILLON FRANCIS* *no, it's Hanzel* Shutthefuckup. Listen. This is a lot. Breathe. [stops breathing] I've got burning questions. That's just syphilis. I— It only stings a little; It only burns a lot— You were my love, I thought Lost, lost, at once But here you are, And not often have I wanted To imagine you a star Another catharsis Another conundrum The world is at war, And the source that we come from, Abolished, So long lost and gone from our thoughts Now, Think fondly of lust, As she fondled the heart that she clutches From dawn until dusk, After sunset, Once buried but polished, recovered And thought of more often, Than spawned in the rust of the under and all of the marvelous— What was it? What? “The Jimmy Fallon Conspiracy” That is a good band name! What was the other one? “Bad with Matches” I like that. There was one more… Uh… {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Joel Burcat. He writes a series of environmental thrillers that you'll want to hear about. Before I bring on my guest, I'll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You'll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I'm a Blubrry affiliate, but that's not the only reason I'm telling you this. I've been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it's one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you're in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it's a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn't require a long-term contract, and it's just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn't that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I've included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi: Hi, everyone. My guest today is a practicing environmental lawyer and he writes environmental legal thrillers. Kind of makes sense. In any case, he has also edited legal publications, but today we'll focus on his fiction. Although given the subject matter and being a former EPA attorney myself, I can already picture this interview spinning out of control. In any case, it has that potential. I'm pleased in any case to have with me thriller writer and environmental attorney, Joel Burcat. Hi Joel. Joel: Hi Debbi. It's great to be on your program. Debbi: Well, it's great to have you here. Thank you for coming on and thank you for waiting. I was reading your guest post and I focused in on those words, "gray area,” and I thought, boy, that's exactly where I like to write, in those gray areas. And I always end with a kind of a bittersweet twist. I can't seem to come up with a completely happy ending. It's as if, okay given these laws, given this set of circumstances, here's the best we can do. How do you come out on that? Do you think lawyers have a tendency to do this? Is it a legal thing or is it always mystery writers? Joel: You know, it seems to me that it's relatively easy to write a story that's in black and white. I'm not picking on him and certainly nobody can pick on Lee Child, but Jack Reacher is always sort of a black and white kind of character. You know he's always on the good side and that the other guy is always on the bad side. There's no gray area in there. And with so many other writers, it's very, very clear, not necessarily with writers, but certainly with books that they write or characters that they write, you know, that they are the good guys and that the antagonist is absolutely the bad guy. And in fact, the antagonist can be, be really, really, really bad, and then you've got your good guy, your hero, your the protagonist. You know, it seems to me that it's relatively easy to write a story that's in black and white. I'm not picking on him and certainly nobody can pick on Lee Child, but Jack Reacher is always sort of a black and white kind of character. You know he's always on the good side and that the other guy is always on the bad side. ... And what I found in real life is that typically p...

Joel Matthew, Founder and CEO at Fortress Consulting, started his company after his experience selling advertising at CBS radio and television. When he “could not make the sale” because the companies he approached did not want to drive prospects to  their poorly-designed websites, he took action. Joel figured he could solve their problem (and his) by finding creative agencies to build content and great technical website and app developers to get out their messages. When he could not find that marriage of creative and technical in one organization, Joel founded Fortress Consulting to “bridge the gap.” Fortress Consulting began as an advertising agency, web designer, and app developer, but settled on being a digital marketing agency. (Joel says he loves the trackability and measurability of digital.) The agency's focus expanded to include  content development, video podcasting, and creating customized, tailored digital marketing strategies to drive increased traffic and revenue to client sites.  Fortress serves clients worldwide in a wide range of industries but finds the “sweet spot” for its strategies and price points with companies with over $20 million in revenue. From his seven pre-agency years in media, Joel learned customer relationship management and how to build friendships with customers. “Fortress family,” he explains. “That's how we treat our customers and our employees.” Before COVID, he relied on face-to-face social interactions to forge strong client relationships. The pandemic has “leveled the playing field,” so that customers now focus on the “value you bring, who you've worked with, and your results.” Joel continues to “show the love” for his clients by contacting them to see how they are doing and by returning to them a percentage of their marketing investment in the form of thoughtful, personal gifts. He reminds us that 80% of a company's business often comes from 20% of its customers . . . and it's those customers he wants to reward. While a business might need more margin in order to afford to “gift,” Joel says it's not so much about the cost of the gift as it is about thoughtfulness. He repeatedly emphasizes the importance of really knowing clients.   Income streams for Fortress are diverse. Retainer clients for digital marketing, social, SEO, pay-per-click,  content, or even integrated campaigns provide long-term recurring income. “Homeruns” come when the agency builds client websites and apps. Launching a site is a cause for celebration . . . celebrating the client in much the same way as does the earlier-mentioned gifting. Expanding services have brought in new levels of clients and the ability to justifiably increase fees.  Joel can be contacted at his agency's website at gofortress.com or on social with screennames that are some combination of Fortress or GoFortress. He also started a higher education company this past year. Beyond Academics' purpose is to “discover, design, and deploy” strategies that enable higher education and lifelong learning initiatives to thrive in the “new normal.”  Information about Beyond Academics, which sits in the position of a “client company” of Fortress, is at beyondacademics.com Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I'm joined today by Joel Matthew, CEO and Founder at Fortress Consulting, based in Chicago, Illinois. Welcome to the podcast, Joel. JOEL: Thanks a lot, Rob. ROB: Excellent to have you here. Why don't you start off by telling us about the focus areas of Fortress Consulting? What is it that y'all are known for? JOEL: Sure. When I first started, I struggled with how to describe it because we're part advertising agency, part web solver, app solver. So I just defaulted to saying we're a digital marketing agency. It's evolved over the years. We're heading into our 10th year in business. The way that I would say it's presently constructed is a lot of brand strategy, marketing, consulting, go to market strategy, but then our bread and butter and our passion lies in digital. Digital for us includes website design/development, building apps, and then customized, tailored digital marketing strategies to get our clients more traffic and more revenue to their sites. ROB: Are there any particular segments you focus on, whether that's a size of firm or a particular vertical market? JOEL: Yeah. We've gone through exercises to try to define this. As far as verticals go, we're pretty broad, more of a generalist approach. We've got clients in real estate, in legal, in technology, in retail – everything you could think of. Higher education, large nonprofit. But that's been really where we've focused: trying to serve everybody. We now have focused that a little bit more. Our ideal target are companies over $20 million because, based on the price points and based on the strategies that we like to employ, that seems to be a sweet spot for us. But we've got clients larger, smaller, everywhere in between. ROB: Is there a geographic pull around the Chicagoland giant area? Or has it become pretty dispersed on that side as well? JOEL: It's all over. Yeah, we have clients outside of the U.S. as well now – France, Canada, all over. But I'd say about 60% is in the Chicago market and 40%, we've got clients on both coasts and south and pretty much all over now. ROB: That's such a fascinating aspect. We really haven't talked much on the podcast about how there are so many agencies and consulting firms – and these clients you're talking about, these are meaningful, material – $20 million in revenue is a real size client. There are probably a bunch of agencies and development partners in their local area that they could work with, and they might like to meet up for a meal or coffee. But generally they just don't. You don't see an agency that's hit any sort of meaningful size and scale – I don't see them where they're just in their local area. How has your journey been in finding these clients outside of your geography? How do they come to you? JOEL: That's a great question. I look back at my career, 7 years in media and corporate for large corporations and television and radio, and I look at what I learned at each of those places, and one of my findings of what I learned from my time in television was customer relationship management and building friendships with my customers. I really took that when I started Fortress. We have this phrase, “Fortress family,” and that's how we treat our customers and our employees. A lot of that is entertaining and face to face and taking them out for games and taking them out for drinks or dinner or whatever that looks like, but especially with COVID, the game has changed. That is basically off the table. So now it's all about what value you bring, who you have worked with, what results you can show. It's kind of leveled the playing field a bit. So that's how we've been able to attain clients from all over the country. They see what we're doing for our clients that we started with locally, and it's more of the thought process of “How do I get some of that?” Now especially, people who work from home, they're virtual, they're remote, and it's less about taking them out to a nice dinner than it is about, “Hey, jump on Zoom, tell me how it's going and let's connect.” But there still is that personal aspect where you want to know what's going on with them in their lives or their families and what they're about, a vacation they just took, so you have those human touchpoints as well. ROB: Is there anything in your client entertaining – have you adopted any sort of gifting strategy or something to still show some love, even though you can't get together? Or has it been more on the personal side? JOEL: My wife and our CFO are not fans of this, but I'm big on gifting and going big on this. I look at it as a certain percentage of the revenue, and our clients get hooked up. I want something that's going to impress them and something that is going to be memorable, not “Hey, here's a branded phone charger” – which is actually what we did last year, which I still think is kind of lame. But yeah, I want to go big for the guys that – they say 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. I'm going to take care of those guys in a major way. ROB: You mentioned as a percent of revenue; even if you said 1% of client revenue is a gift, that's a meaningful thing. How many people are on your team right now? JOEL: We've got 15 here in Chicago and then we've got 40 guys overseas. ROB: You extrapolate that out – this is, I would imagine, a multimillion dollar business. So even 1% of revenue is a lot of money on gifts. JOEL: It is. ROB: How do you think about giving the right sort of gift for the client? Is that natural to you, or by having a meaningful allocation, do you find you can give an impactful gift without knowing exactly what they want? JOEL: It goes back to that personal aspect of knowing your customer. When Apple released AirPods, I was going to get AirPods for everybody. I found out from talking to people that some people didn't like AirPods. They liked the Beats version better because they worked out and it was a better fit. So just talking to people and knowing your customers helps with that. But I get a lot of joy from giving gifts and taking care of our clients, so it does come naturally. I see it as they've been with us for this long, and I want to make sure we take care of them and surprise them in some kind of meaningful way. ROB: I want to take some notes on that. It's such a good point. Some agencies you talk to keep a very thin margin and are very efficient, and they can deliver lower cost, but I've found that with that comes a limited ability to be generous in how you serve them and how you give back to them. So I think it's good to think about how to run a business with enough margin to gift the customer well. JOEL: Right. Yeah, it doesn't need to be anything big; it's not necessarily that you have to spend a lot of money. It's just the thoughtfulness of it is huge. For one client who I knew was into working out, we got him $99 Beats headphones and he was very excited about it. Obviously, they can all afford it themselves, but there's just a different element when your thoughtfulness goes into it. ROB: Early on, when you mentioned website development, app development, there can be such a range of expectations, particularly on the website side. You can really get into some engagements where somebody has a small site and they want small changes and they expect it to be done with a very limited budget – how have you found to manage expectations on a minimum project size for web and mobile development? Has that come naturally from that $20 million minimum revenue target? Or how have you navigated that? JOEL: That's been a challenge for us too. Obviously, any entrepreneur knows that when you're first starting out, you're doing stuff for cheap just to get some experience or to build up your client base or network or portfolio, and then the floor rises and all of a sudden you're doing a site for $1,000 and then it becomes $5,000, then it becomes $10,000, then it becomes $20,000 and so on. It has been a challenge because, for instance, one of our clients who's a private equity firm in LA has been working with us for years, so any time they buy a company, they come to us for all the branding and the digital assets and the websites. Three years ago, our pricing was probably a quarter of what it is now. Fast forward 3 years, now they're coming to us and saying, “Hey, we need an overhaul on our site.” Our pricing is now 4x what we charged their portfolio companies. But the feedback I'm getting is, “Wow, your quality has increased a ton. We can see you have people, you have a process,” so it warrants the price tag. ROB: A lot of times that price tag grows gradually and you kind of grow into it. Has there ever been a proposal that you sent out and internally, your jaw hit the floor when you realized what you had written up and the price tag you'd put on it? JOEL: [laughs] Yeah, I'm starting to have those realizations now more because we've actually grown quite a bit this year. Our average size of client has risen as we get into different services. But I don't send anything out without the expectation that we're going to win it and we're going to get it. I very rarely leave a pitch where I don't think we won it. Not much of it catches me by surprise, but yeah, there were a couple deals this year where it's like, hey, that's an extra zero than what we're used to, and it could be a game-changer if that comes in. So yeah, there are those. ROB: Congratulations. Joel, when we rewind the clock on Fortress Consulting, what's the origin story of the company? How did you come to start the company and what were those embryonic next couple of steps that made it into what it is now? JOEL: I would say it was always a desire to start something and do something. I really looked up to my older cousins, who were entrepreneurs and business guys. They were my role models for starting something. That's why I initially called it Fortress Consulting, because I wanted it to be broad enough where I could go in a bunch of different directions. But ultimately what was the lightbulb moment for me – I was working at CBS Radio and Television; I met with five clients in a row and they were all like, “Joel, I'd love to advertise with you, but my website's horrible. I can't send people to this website.” So for me, that was my lightbulb moment. I was like, I have a background in technology. I know how to code. I could probably hack this together or I could find some people that can do it so that it would be a mechanism for me to get more advertising revenue. Ultimately I started doing some research in the Chicago market for companies that could handle the creative side like an ad agency and the technical side of a web developer/app developer. I didn't really see anybody talking about it that way. What I found in my research was there were a ton of very creative advertising agencies that were building beautiful things and creating great campaigns but couldn't write a line of code. On the flipside of that, you have all these great developers and tech shops that would launch a website and then just pat you on the back and you're on your way and didn't think about the creative side or business side of how to generate traffic, how to generate venue. What happens after we deliver this technology platform? That was ultimately my lightbulb moment for creating Fortress. Initially our tagline was, “We bridge the gap between creative and technology.” That was how we started. ROB: That's an interesting mix. We've had this conversation a couple of times lately – the project-oriented nature of delivering a lot of websites and some applications versus the potentially ongoing partnership on the marketing side. But also, those are two different beasts. Delivering a software product or a site can be a little bit objective. It's done and the client is a lot of times the client itself. With marketing, you're getting outside of the client's world and asking to get a customer or a consumer in. How do you think about the different degree of accountability for results? For me, building a technology product, there's a level of certainty to it, and there's a high degree of uncertainty, I think, on the marketing side. But maybe you see it differently. JOEL: Yeah, it's definitely very nuanced and there are major differences. But the beauty of the way our business is set up is we have our recurring revenue from retainer clients who are on the digital marketing side or they're doing social with us or they're doing SEO or pay-per-click or content campaigns. Or often now it's integrated campaigns. They're on a monthly retainer with us. But then we hit these homeruns with these websites and apps, and those are the peaks and valleys of “I just closed this huge deal and this is major revenue on this project.” But yeah, ultimately what we've been focused on lately is really defining the scope of what we do so that we have a clearer understanding of what “done” looks like – because “done” to us may be different than “done” to the client. So we're very buttoned up on what the scope looks like. But the beauty of this business and why I started, and my frustration when I was working in television and radio, is a client would hand me $250,000 or $500,000 to run a campaign and there would be no tracking or attribution or data or analytics. I would have to go back to them 30 days later and say, “Hey, how'd it go? Are you selling more cars?” or “Are more people coming to the bank?”, and I felt like that was such a blind spot. So for me, that was one of the major reasons that I started Fortress. With digital, the beauty of it is every dollar they give us, I can track it and I can track it all the way down to the sale, down to the conversion. Based on the access levels that we have, I can track it from the ad to the click to what happened on the website to the actual sale. On the digital marketing side, it's great. We're really focused on data and analytics of proving the ROI. You gave me a dollar; I turned it into $1.50 or $5.00 or $7.00, whatever that looks like. On the website side, it's easier to quantify because you can see it, you can feel it. You know what your site looked like before and now you know how amazing it looks now, and you see it. What we're getting at now more is just making that more of a celebration, a launch party for when we launch a site. It goes back to the earlier topic of gifting, making it more a celebration of “Hey, you guys launched. Congratulations. Here's all this stuff.” With the digital marketing campaign, it's more of an ongoing, you're in the trenches on a long-term basis. And we want to keep those guys on forever, but it's a challenge for us to keep delivering quality results. ROB: What are the core marketing channels that you and your team are focused on, and what are the things you're maybe experimenting with right now? JOEL: The core marketing channels – we're really focused on content and video. It used to be “Hey, we'll do SEO for you and we'll do pay-per-click or search engine marketing and we'll do social media.” A lot of it is focused on content now. We put people in three tracks, typically, on our social side. One is they're not great at creating content and so we help them with that; they are good at creating content, so we can help them with strategy and scheduling; and then there are the guys that don't know what they're doing at all, and we can help them with strategy and content. So content is really something that we're focused on. Creating video. We have somebody in-house now who's really talented. She's originally a journalism major, but she's got great skills on video as well, so now we're starting to crank out these 1- to 3-minute videos, getting into helping our clients get on podcasts. Those are newer channels that we're exploring now. One of our clients that we helped launch their podcast were spending six figures a year in radio with programming and actually getting their content on radio. Since then, they've seen this shift to digital and podcasting and streaming, so they pulled all of their terrestrial radio, traditional radio budget and basically handed it to us and said, “Hey, navigate us into this digital world.” So podcasting and creating content is a huge focus for us right now. ROB: Got it. That makes sense because once you have the content, then the distribution mechanism can really vary with the client, vary with the strategy, vary over time, and vary with what's working. I would say amazingly, the podcast world still tends to be a little bit of a Wild West in terms of, if you're a listener, finding something you want to listen to; if you're a podcast host, finding guests; if you're a guest, finding hosts. How do you look to navigate what can be a very dispersed world, I think? JOEL: Yeah, you're totally right. It's almost like everybody you talk to has a podcast and it's like, “Hey, subscribe here, subscribe there.” I talk about this with a few of my colleagues. There's just saturation of everybody has a podcast. So now it's, how do you make it more meaningful? How do you make it more impactful? How do you think creatively on how to deliver the content? One of the nice things that we're doing with this podcast that we just helped launch for a client is they have the content, they interview these high level thought leaders, and then at the end of it, they have this roundtable, almost like kitchen table talk of dissecting what they just learned or heard about. So you get to hear from the same people over and over again. I thought it's just such a great idea of differentiating yourself in the podcast space. ROB: Got it. When you think back on this journey, Joel, of Fortress Consulting, what are some things you have learned along the way that you might do differently if you were starting over today? JOEL: I look back and I think everything, the good and the bad, are all learning lessons. So I don't know what I would do differently. I think what has helped make us successful is I've really latched onto mentorship and putting smart people in a room and trying to learn as much as I can from them. I would probably accelerate that more. One of the learning lessons for me that I've learned as our team has grown is I was always quick to hire and slow to fire, and that was a major learning lesson for me. At first it's like, “Oh hey, you want to work for us? Cool, come on, you're in” and not as focused on, do they fit our culture? Are they about our core values? Are they the right fit, not just with their skillset? Now we're pivoting that into much slower to hire. They have to fit a lot more boxes to come on board with us. And then just having a shorter leash on the flipside of that too, not to drag things out that need to be nipped in the bud sooner. ROB: How do you think about that filtering for culture? A lot of times results can be objective; culture fit can be subjective, particularly when it comes to how you do the work. How do you ask those questions up front? JOEL: I attended a conference and I was floored because they had something called their Culture Deck. It was modeled after Netflix – they have their Culture Deck, and it is like 100 pages about what they're about, what they stand by, what they believe. So we created ours, and we called it Fortress Foundations. It was eight things that we're about – seven or eight things; it's evolving. We have it up on a poster on our wall in our office. So now we're focused on hiring based on that. We actually have it on our website too. We'll have people that want to come work for us see that and say, “Hey, I'm on board with this. This is what I'm about too.” So it helps with that cultural fit when you have it documented, you have it displayed, and you proclaim that “This is what we're about. This is who we are.” You'll start to find more of those people gravitating towards you. ROB: What are some of those key things for you? JOEL: It's evolved. The number one thing is “We over me.” It's focused on what we can build together as a team. I tell people all the time, even though I'm the owner, it's not about me. It's about what we can do together as a team. We'll go further as a team than we will with me just as an individual. That seeps into how we tag-team on work together. You'll have designers jump in and help do quality assurance testing on a website, and we'll have developers give feedback on design. We'll have copywriters that sit in on a sales meeting. It's focused on teamwork. Really, when you asked about why I started and what was the push, it was really I saw how it was in corporate America, how it was just this rat race. There was no love, no loyalty, politics and all the above. Really, I strive to create a culture and team where that didn't exist. We're at a good size now where it's not an issue and we're all rowing the same way at the same speed. So “We over me” is one. Another one is “Family first,” which is something that is antithetical to what you hear at a business. But I really do firmly believe if you don't have peace and happiness in your family life and personal life, you're not going to perform at your highest when you're in the office. So if somebody has a personal issue or issue with their kid or a loved one, I'm like, “Get out of here. Go handle it and then come back when you're ready and you have your game face on.” I really do believe family is first. I expect everybody to have that balance between work life and home life. ROB: It's so valuable, and I think it really helps set apart an independent firm versus – we were talking beforehand a little bit about how people can go work for a big, big company and they can optimize their entire career around salary. That won't always happen in an independent consultancy or agency, but they can like coming to work and they can like who they work with in a way that sometimes you just can't on the enterprise side. JOEL: Right, exactly. It's interesting; I've hired two people that I used to work with in corporate. One was a manager level and one was more on the analyst side, more of the level that I was at when I was there. I joke around with them like, there's a whole reprogramming process here where you don't have to worry about somebody micromanaging you. You have authority. We'll hold you accountable, but you have authority to make decisions, and if it's the wrong decision, it's okay. We'll deal with it. But there's this whole corporate reprogramming that I joke around with our team about. This is a different way of doing business that I find the team really buys into. It fires them up, and it's just a different vibe, different mindset here. ROB: Excellent. Joel, when you think about what's coming up for Fortress or for the broader marketing world, what are you excited about? What's next? JOEL: I'm really excited about the ways that people are consuming information and consuming content. I have another company that I've started this year in the higher education space. We're all about how students are learning – and we don't even want to call them students anymore; we want to call them learners and focus on lifelong learning. You can't do the same things over and over again. As much as the pandemic is tough on people and has forced us all to think differently and shift and disrupt, it's a good thing overall. Businesses are adapting, people are adapting, people are pivoting. They're innovating. I'm excited to see what comes out of this, and I think the people that are doubling down on marketing and advertising and learning more about who they are and their customers are going to come out of this 3-4 years ahead of their competitors that went into self-preservation mode and just tried to survive it. ROB: We're certainly entering a new season as well, because a lot of the pandemic ad inventory has been aligned with the election. Now that we're post-election, for the most part – we're in Georgia; we still have a Senate runoff here – but I would imagine to an extent, there's inventory freeing up for people who are ready to double down. What have you seen? JOEL: Yeah, that is absolutely true. I spent 7 years in the media, and during political times it was overrun with political, and political got special rates, so it'd bump out other advertisers. We've got several clients that were just waiting for this election to end so they could start releasing budgets and really getting after it. But yeah, that's exactly right. There's less clutter now. I wish there was clear, definitive answers on things already, but we're heading into a season where marketers can really stand out and ad dollars are slashed. I was talking to another agency owner just yesterday about it, and he's like, “Man, all our friends in media are getting crushed. They're getting their ad budgets slashed and people are tightening up.” But that means that it's an opportunity for the advertisers that do want to be there to get great rates, to get placement that they normally wouldn't have, to have their budgets go further than ever before. ROB: Wow. That's definitely fascinating. I take your point about – two things. Number one, there's still some remnant political advertising going on. Number two, there's still some uncertainty that clients are probably not ready to fully pull the trigger on until we have tremendous clarity. I would just say when we have one person who says they're going to be the president and one person who says they're not, that's probably going to be the real comfort level for people. JOEL: Right. ROB: [laughs] Hopefully that's about as unpolitical as I can say that. I don't know. JOEL: No, you're right on. ROB: [laughs] Very good. Joel, when people want to track you down and when they want to find Fortress Consulting, how should they connect with you? JOEL: They can go to our website at gofortress.com. You'll find who we are, what we're about, some of the work that we've done, and what we do there. But yeah, the best way is to go to our website or follow us on social. We're at some combination of Fortress or Go Fortress as our screennames. But the website would be the number one place to go at gofortress.com. ROB: If people want to dig into the work you're doing in the education space, what is that? JOEL: I'm glad you asked. That's at beyondacademics.com. That's something that we're really excited about, me and our other two co-founders, about what the future of education looks like and how that industry is going to completely change in the next year to 3 years. ROB: Just on a little detour, nuts and bolts, in terms of structuring, how have you structured that venture alongside Fortress? Are they completely separate? Are they linked in any way? JOEL: They are completely separate, but the beauty of Fortress is it's almost like Beyond Academics came      meetings and our copywriters and our developers and just lay out what they need. So we're able to support Beyond Academics through Fortress, and it's just a great relationship where essentially Beyond is a customer of Fortress, and we get to see this whole thing develop from just a concept to where we're at now. ROB: Fantastic. We'll get that into the show notes. Joel, thank you for joining us. Best wishes to you and to Fortress as you finish out the year. JOEL: You as well, Rob. Thanks very much. ROB: Be well. Bye. Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

Joel: Gentlemen, we’re doing regular episodes from here on out. Ed: What about a holiday episode? Joel: You’ve already had one, Ed. Ed: We’ve had one, yes. But what about Second holiday episode? The flow of the seasons continues! Cicely’s Day of the Dead is trickling into Thanksgiving and we’re thankful for a double-holiday-packed episode this week! Co-hosts Lee and Charles wind down the year by yakking about tomatoes, silver linings, inflation, and more! This week we have Harvest Moon guest starring! Harvest Moon was an extra on this very show and she drops by the pod to talk about her time there. Stay to the end to hear her stories about pranks, casting the show, and much more! patreon.com/northernoverexposurepodcast Harvest Moon means "A light shining forth in the midst of darkness." Harvest Moon's website: https://iamharvestmoon.com/ Theme music by Matt Jackson Podcast Artwork by Lazerkitties instagram.com/lazerkitties Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and SoundCloud. write in: northernoverexposurepodcast@gmail.com twitter: twitter.com/NorthernOverPod

In this episode, we have Joel Jensen from Tax Sentry explain exactly why real estate is so powerful when it comes to tax benefits.  --- Transcript:   Michael: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode, The Remote Real Estate Investor, I'm Michael Albaum. And today I'm joined by Emil Shour. And today as our guest, we have Joel Jensen from Tax Sentry, and Joel is a tax expert and guru, and is going to be talking to us today about what we as investors need to know about income taxes and how to strategize and plan for our taxes so that we can come out ahead. So let's get into it.   Theme Song   Michael: Joel, thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate you taking the time.   Joel: Sure. I love to be here.   Michael: Awesome. So can you give all of our listeners a little bit of background about yourself and how long you've been working in the tax space and kind of what you've been doing?   Joel: You bet. So I graduated with my master's degree from Brigham Young University in the early nineties. So it feels like a long time ago, but from there I went to work for Ernst and Young, which is one of the, we'll call them the last four large service firms out there. When I was there, they were the big six. Now I kind of call them the final four, but I was with Ernst and Young for about 10 years working on large audits, large compliance, scc transactions, that type of thing. And after doing it for 10 years, the part of the job I really, really liked was working with people, you know, the interactions I had with people, the part I didn't like was feeling like that was just servicing kind of these large companies.   So what I decided to do was leave Ernst and Young kind of start my own firm. So I could actually have a significant impact on an individual's tax and financial circumstances where I felt it was much more gratifying for myself personally. And I've been doing that for almost 20 years now, became a real estate investor myself, probably back in 2005. So I've been doing that as well on the side, which I really enjoy some houses, own some rental properties. So since then, I guess I'm in the real estate game, but my full time job is CPA. Great.   Michael: You know, it's so counterintuitive that you mentioned that the favorite part of your job working at one of the big six of the big four was interacting with people. Cause all the accountants I know the worst part of their day is when they have to interact with people.   Joel: I know there's probably only lasted 10 years, right? I'm like, ah, this isn't for me. I gotta go, gotta get out. I gotta get out now while I can.   Michael: Awesome. Awesome. So, and I love too that you're an investor because you drinking the Koolaid too. And so really talking and preaching and consulting on the things that you're also doing.   Joel: Correct. Yeah. So I think it helps, you know, if you're dealing with a CPA, for example, that at least they have a working knowledge of what it is that you do. And since I am in the real estate game, obviously I have lots of real estate clients, even contractor clients, anyone, even within the field of real estate, whether they own it or provide services to people who own real estate, that kind of outlines a significant of my clients.   Michael: Great, great. So I wanted to jump into the meat and potatoes of this tax discussion right away. And I'm gonna let Emil kick it off in talking about deductions and kind of what those are, what those look like, what people should be aware of.   Emil: So the various types of deductions that real estate investors should have on their radar are property taxes, property insurance, mortgage, interest, property management, fees, property repairs, and maintenance, capital improvements, and ongoing maintenance and advertising expenses. So things like the cost to list a rental, to find a new tenant marketing your property for sale. Those things are also deductions as well.   Joel: Let me go through maybe the aspect of what it is like to actually own a property. So I go out and I buy a rental property. I'm going to bring that in. I'm going to put a renter in there and I'm going to earn rental income, right? So that's kind of the basic premise of when I own a rental property. Now what's offsetting part of that revenue are some of the standard deductions, like you mentioned. So oftentimes when we buy rental real estate property, we're financing it. So we have mortgage interest, right? We're deducting against that revenue. We have insurance that we have to pay to insure the property that we're also going to deduct against that revenue. Oftentimes it's maybe it's our self, right? Maybe we're managing a property and we don't have a management company that's doing it. Or let's say the property is, I don't know, a hundred miles away from me.   So I have to get a property management company involved. So I got to pay them in order to do it. So I may have some of those types of fees, maybe some HOA fees for owning the property that are due, especially in kind of a condominium space, right? Condos or maybe apartments or multi-doors, rental properties, that sort of thing. I may have some of those fees as well. You know, advertising, whether I'm advertising something for a person to rent or whether I'm advertising for maybe a home to sell all those costs, kind of go in to offset my particular rental income that I'm earning. So if you can think of kind of, if I take, you know, lots of people have experienced with their personal homes, right? And they say, look at all these outgoing bills, you know, utilities, interest in my property, taxes, all those things, think of it in those terms, all those same expenses that you have for your personal home, you're still going to have for your rental property. Cause it is still house, right? In most cases, right? So you're going to have those expenses. Now, all of those things that you're paying out for that property become deductions against your revenue. So I would just look at it as kind of all the expenses that are associated with the property. I get to deduct to get any rental income that a renter is paying me.   Michael: And that's so different than like you mentioned on our primary residence. If someone has a primary and they have a property tax bill, they don't get to deduct that against any income because there isn't an income, but they don't get to deduct that against them. So it sounds like pretty much everything on a rental property, if it's an expense as a deduction.   Joel: Yeah possibly can be, yeah. So let's make it easy. So I got to go change a light bulb for someone because they don't have a ladder. So I go to Depot, I buy a light, I go over to my rental property. I put that light bulb in, I get the cost of that light bulb and I get a mileage deduction for driving down home Depot and for driving over to my rental property and then for driving back to my house. So that encapsulates two actual deductions that I may have going for me to offset some of that income. So I always tell people, look at what it took for you to make a dollar. Let's do it at the bare bones minimum. What did it take for you to make a dollar in conjunction with that rental property? How did you spend your time? How many miles did you drive?   What were you buying on behalf of that rental property? What were you buying in order to maintain that property or service that property? For example, you know, renters in there, I managing it myself, got to have a cell phone right now that's cell form becomes a deduction against the rental income. Probably got to have internet if I'm going to list something. Well, now I get to write off my internet as part of the operations of that rental property. So I always say really take a hard look. What did it take for you to make a dollar? Okay, what did it take for you make a dollar and that's probably what you're going to be able to deduct on your tax return as part of that real estate operation.   Michael: That's great.   Emil: So all those things we just mentioned are those fully deductible or is it only 50% or some partial amount?   Joel: Ah, good question. Because of the new tax code limits as personally from our property tax perspective, right? So we can only deduct up to $10,000 worth of state or property tax on our personal tax return. But when it comes to my rental activity, I don't have those same kinds of limitations or I'm deducting property tax in full I'm, deducting my mortgage interest. I'm deducting, you know, the cost of the light bulb in full. Most of those aren't limited or don't have limitations as far as my deductability against the rental property.   Michael: So then Joel, is it accurate to say, let's say I made $10,000 in rental income in the year and I spent $6,000 in these various expenses that we just mentioned, the delta, there is four, 4,000. So that I ended up with $4,000. But is that what's taxed?   Joel: That is what's taxed. Yeah. It's your bottom line. Sometimes people get revenue. I an accountant right. So I kind of speak in the account language. So sometimes people think revenue, Oh, I'm texting revenue. This renter just paid me $24,000. Now I got to include $24,000 in my income tax return. And that's what I'm taxed on. But in actuality, what happens is you're taxed on the net. Okay. So I take maybe that $24,000 or in your case, the $10,000 I deduct the $6,000. I'm only taxed on the four grand, not on that top line number.   Michael: Great, great, super, super powerful. And so that kind of leads in actually to the next point that I want to talk about, which is this thing called depreciation, which I think most investors have heard about maybe not sure how to use or what it actually means. So can you give everyone an idea and a breakdown of what depreciation is and how we can use it to our advantage?   Joel: Sure. Now I will say If I own a rental, you must take depreciation expense. It's not something that you can leave off. I've seen tax returns that were given to me after the fact of rental operations for people that wanted me to review it. And then I look at depreciation and there's no depreciation. So know that you have to depreciate a rental property. And what that means is the IRS is giving us basically a useful life. If you will. They're saying that I go buy a rental property. It's useful. Life is 27 and a half years. So I'm going to define the cost of that property over that 27 and a half years. And I get a yearly expense of whatever that number ends up being that yearly expense is awesome because I'm able to deduct that. Let's take back your scenario of 16,000 worth of expenses, like with 4,000, right?   But those six thousands were hard, cash, outflow numbers or dollars. I still get to deduct my depreciation that gets that four grand. And now maybe I'm only taxed on $2,000. Right? So depreciation is a wonderful thing because it's also kind of a non-cash item. Okay. I bought the property, it has a loan on it, or maybe it doesn't. Maybe I was able to take the property down in full when I initially purchased it. But I still, even under that scenario, get to depreciate the property. So I'm not paying for the depreciation. It just happens automatically once I purchase it.   Michael: And so you mentioned that it's based on the purchase price. Is that right?   Joel: Based on the purchase price. That's correct. Yep.   Michael: So, In our $10,000 rental example, if we bought the property for a hundred thousand dollars, I did the math really quick, here,   Joel: Thank you.   Michael: I wasn't going to put you on the spot. And we say that residential property is 27 and a half years. Right? Commercial property is 39 years.   Joel: Correct.   Michael: And so if it's residential property, we divide the purchase price by 27 and a half. If it's commercial property, we divide the purchase price by 39 years. So let's take our a property. We bought for a hundred thousand dollars divided by 27 and a half years, we get $3,636 of depreciation every year,   Joel: Every year until that 27 and a half years has passed.   Michael: Got it. So going back to our $10,000 in revenue example, we had $10,000 in rental income, $6,000 in expenses. So it leaves us with $4,000 net gain. But now you're saying we get to deduct an additional 36 36 and meaning our taxable income is going to be like 40 bucks for the year?   Joel: Correct? Yep. Holy smokes. Yeah. So that's the power of appreciation. That's why it's so great. So when I buy a rental property, a great position to be in because of depreciation is to be what I call cash positive. Meaning that the revenue that I'm earning is greater than the cash outflow for any expenses that I have. But because I have this depreciation figure, right, I can actually have a loss on my tax return yet still be cash positive in the real world. I mean, that's the power of real estate. So when people say, Hey, I want to go into real estate. There are tons of tax benefits. Oftentimes that's what they're referring to. That I can create loss on my tax return and offset. Maybe my wages, my w two wages from my employer, even though I'm cash positive when it comes to the actual activity of the property.   Michael: So what another way of saying that be at the end of the year, I can end up with a thousand dollars in my pocket, but actually offset the income that I've earned from my W2 and get taxed at a lesser   Joel: That's correct. Yup. Yup. I see it all the time.   Emil: I love that you guys brought this up because this is why people tout the benefits of real estate, right? It's like everyone knows there's huge tax benefits and this is the biggest one where you can actually be making money all year cashflow positive, but because of depreciation, you're showing either no gain or a loss potentially offsetting your personal income, so.   Joel: That's correct. Yep. Maybe you have that scenario, loss, cash positive. The other thing that happens with real estate is our gains, right? So our appreciation just to the value of the property over years tends to go up. So when I sell it, I'm going to sell it at a higher dollar than when I purchased it for, and the entire time I'm owning it, I'm showing all these losses, but I'm still reaping these cash, positive cash, positive cash flow numbers that are coming through. Yeah. It's a real powerful game when it comes to real estate. That's why I'm in it, right?   Michael: That's right. That's right.   Joel: Yup.   Emil: Probably a little bit more tactical or advanced, but okay. Let's say I've owned the property for 27 and a half years. Right? I've taken full depreciation now I want to sell it. Right. One strategy we've talked about on prior episodes is using a 1031. So let's say 1031. So I have no capital gains on the sale. When I 1031 will my new property, will I be able to depreciate that one over 27 and a half years or what happens to this amount? I've depreciated all that time.   Joel: So it depends on basis, right? And typically what happens in 1031 exchanges, if you held it for that long and then 10 31 to a new property. I mean, that would be a pretty phenomenal thing, but, but what we do is oftentimes people are selling something to get into something that's larger or bigger or creates more revenue. Right? So it depends on my basis. So if I had something that was worth 300,000 and appreciated at all 27 and a half years, I 1031 exchange that and do something that's 500,000, I've already depreciated $300,000 with my basis. So now I grabbed that additional 200 grand and now I'm going to start depreciating that once I own that new property. Yeah. So I don't depreciate the same thing twice.   Emil: Okay.   Michael: Got it. Got it. And so speaking of depreciation, something that I'm doing actually for the first time, this year is a cost segregation study. Can you share with everybody Joel, what that is and how that might be used to help?   Joel: Yeah, that's really, I mean, that's really powerful because we're talking about depreciation, the benefits of appreciating a property now that 27 and a half years oftentimes can seem like a long time. And if you get into the commercial space with 39 years, can you imagine, you know, you're going to hold something through 39 years. That may seem like a really long time for most people. I think that it would be. So what a cost segregation does is it allows someone to go in and start piecemealing the actual individual cost of a property. Okay. So you may have cost for electrical wire, plumbing, drywall, roofing, wood, steel, nails, screws, light fixtures, you know, all of these different costs now. And realistically a life's not going to last 27 and a half years. So what a cost segregation does is it breaks down at home, into all its individual components and then assigns lives to those individual components.   So rather than depreciating a hundred percent of the cost over 27 and a half years, you may be able to have a bunch of costs that you're depreciating over five years or over 15 years, you're accelerating that depreciation. You're taking more of it upfront again to maximize that possible loss that you have. So when anyone buys a property, I say, look into cost-seg. I mean, it's a great way to accelerate those numbers, to get a whole lot of loss upfront because oftentimes people are looking at holding rental properties, you know, five years, 10 years, 15 years, then maybe they want to cash out for the appreciation or get into something else. But it allows during those holding periods to take advantage of as much loss as possible,   Emil: Are there professionals who just help you do? Like how do you even do that?   Joel: There are actually, yeah, there are professionals. You have to do it yourself. I mean, these things actually don't even cost that much. In fact, I had a client who, okay, it's all relative in terms of cost, but he purchased a $2 million commercial building, a $2 million. He did the cost segregation on that study. I think it only costs him about $7,000. And I was able to save him upwards of 60 grand on his tax return. Okay. So that's the power of that cost X study. They're not that expensive. And some peak times people say, Oh, I didn't buy a $2 million property. I just finding a residential home. It only costs me, you know, 350,000 or $400,000. If something still do the cost segregation study, you don't know how long you're going to hold the home. Right? Most people don't hold it 27 and a half years. So go in and do it. Accelerate your depreciation, take a bunch of those expenses up front while holding the property.   Emil: Michael, can I ask you, why did you decide, I know you have several properties. Why did you decide to do a cost segregation on this one specifically? Yeah. So it's a great question. I was doing a bunch of rehab, like a ton of ton of ton of rehab on both the properties that I'm doing, these cost segregations on. And it was just reading about tax strategies and things to do with properties that you've rehabbed. And this came up as one of the best things to do, because like Joel was mentioning so much of the rehab is the stuff, the baseboards flooring, light fixtures, plumbing, all that kind of stuff. So if I can get some of those benefits back for the cost that I had to spend to do the rehab, that's huge. And so Joel, did I understand you to say that you can do a cost segregation study, even if you haven't done any kind of rehab, you can just go buy a property.   Joel: Yeah. Even if you go buy a property, you can do a cost segregation on that property even without rehab. So I would always tell people know, look at that really, really give it a good look because it's probably going to be worth your while.   Michael: That's great. And so we mentioned about how that depreciation is captured and addressed in terms of basis. When we do a 10 31 and step up into something else, but let's say someone's owned a property for 10 years. They've taken depreciation on it the whole time. And then they're just looking at being done with real estate investing. They sell the property, they're going to pay the capital gains. Cause it's been some appreciation what happens to that depreciation? I can't just go away. Right.   Joel: It doesn't go away. So it's what we call it recaptures. So the appreciation that you take over time when you sell the property recaptures, or it comes back into income and I'm taxed on it and that's what ends up happening. Yeah. Okay. But it's a good trade off because as revenue is coming in and cash is coming in, I want those deductions. And when I sell my house for the gains that I'm going to make off of the appreciation of that house, that's when I have the cash and it's easier for me to afford then the tax on those numbers right on that recapture. So when I have the cash, go ahead and I'll take the recapture when I'm having that little bit of income come in. I want the expense to offset.   Michael: That makes sense. Yeah. I was just wondering, you know, what's the difference if you're taxed on it now or taxed on it later,   Joel: That's the cash flow projection. Right. So dealing with my cash flow, I want the cash flow as much as I can right now, you know, and then hit me with it later when I have a big abundance of a onetime cash coming in.   Michael: Got it makes total sense.   Emil: Okay. I want to shift gears here a little bit and talk about passive income versus pass through deduction. So can you walk us through that, Joel, and what the differences and why it's relevant for people?   Joel: Yeah. So excluding capital gains, when we're talking about income from operations, really, I'm just going to narrow it down to two. We call them active and passive. Hey, passive income deals with the rental side of real estate. And the reason people like it so much, it's because there's no self-employment tax associated with it. So in essence, it comes to us as cheaper income. So if I have a retail operation or something where I'm just going out and I'm selling widgets, you know, that I put together, that's all active income. So if I make a hundred grand, I have to pay self employment tax on that a hundred grand, on the flip side with passive income rental real estate. Again, let's say I make $20,000 off of that rental real estate. I don't pay any self employment tax, which is roughly about 15% on that income. And that's on top of income tax by the way. So it comes to me cheaper. It's cheaper income for me to make. So people love it as much passive income as you can get because it's cheaper income take it.   Michael: Interesting so if someone just to reiterate, if we got rid of the self employment thing, if I'm making a hundred grand at my w two job and somebody else is making a hundred grand in passive income after all of the expenses, right after depreciation, all that good stuff, that's their taxable income. And my W2 is a hundred grand. The person who has the investment income, the passive income is going to walk away with more dollars.   Joel: Correct.   Michael: If your head just didn't explode, go back and look that again. Joel: Yeah, that's exactly right. The person with the passive income will come out ahead every time.   Emil: I'm so glad you made that point because I think a lot of, when we're thinking about our ultimate goal of how much passive income do I need to be financially independent or whatever, it's actually less than what you'd need from your W2. That's correct. If you're making whatever a hundred grand, 150 grand, whatever it is, you don't need to make that much in passive income. It's actually less because you're taxed differently.   Joel: That's right. It's cheaper income. It goes a lot further   Emil: Love that.   Michael: Love, love that. Anything else we should know about passive income or passive deductions?   Joel: No, that's probably the biggest thing. Just the difference between active and passive. I mean, that's kind of the best thing to know about those two. Yeah.   Michael: Perfect. Okay. So Joel, now shift to talking about something that we've mentioned previously about capital gains instead of income taxes. And so can you tell us what is a capital gain and why is it important to know about and how has it taxed?   Joel: Yeah. So what a capital gain just means when I sell an asset, they have a different tax classification for rates of how I will be taxed on the game that I make from the sale of that asset and rental real estate, when I own a property or rental income during the time that I own that property, when I sell that property, the gain that I make off that sell is based on the capital gains rates. And typically it's much cheaper. Okay. Then ordinary income again, or active income again right now. I mean, there are some beautiful things when it comes to capital gains or capital gains rates. I mean, I can't remember the last time they were this low.   Did you know that you actually will pay 0% capital gain if your other income is under $80,000? Now there is a great tax strategy and planning to go through for timing. And when maybe it may make a whole lot of sense to sell a rental property above $80,000 to about $500,000. You're only taxed at 15%. Now this is all based on if I held the property over one year, okay, okay. After one year I get longterm capital gains rates above $500,000. My other income sources are above 500 grand. I'm going to pay 20%. So you have, so it depends on your other sources of income to how much capital gains, how much longterm capital gains you're actually going to pay. So if you're going to sell a property, really look at how can I mitigate some of those other sources of income to ensure that I get the lowest possible longterm capital gains rates, lots of tax planning, opportunities that go into that. And   Michael: Is this something new that you mentioned that, that this has changed recently?   Joel: Yeah. So it's something new with the whole, yeah. With the, with the new tax change that happened a couple of years ago. It's, you know, they're always kind of fussing about when it comes to capital gain rates and how they want to treat them. This is one of the aspects that came out of it. If you think about just comparing capital gain rates to ordinary income rates where I may, let's say I had, you know, a nice job, I made 150 grand. I sold the property, made another a hundred thousand, that a hundred thousand is only gonna be taxed at 15%. Whereas if I'm married, filing, jointly, my other income is going to be taxed at 22%. Right. Roughly. And so it just comes at a lower rate. So it's, I mean, capital gains rates. I mean, it's so beneficial from trying to put money back in your pocket, especially from a timing perspective nowadays.   Emil: So if I was retired and I have a property, so my other income is income outside of the rental property business.   Joel: Yeah. Okay. So if of your rental property, so if you look at a 1040 tax return, you look at all the various lines, dividends interest W2 wages, business income from partnerships or escorts, or however that may be. So you look at the total of that. That's how they measure it. So what is your income sources? And that's, what's going to dictate the capital gain rate that you're going to pay.   Emil: Got it. Okay. So if I've retired, I have a couple investment properties. I don't have any other sources of income. Right. It's just my rental properties. I go to sell that. I'm not paying, I'm making less than 80K, so I'm on…   Joel: Yeah, so if you're under, so if you're married, filing jointly, you're under 80 grand. Yeah. So it also makes for some interesting tax planning as well. If you have a few rental properties and you're going to go, you know, let's say I have four or five and I'm going to go sell one. I may go to my rent and say, guess what? December is free. It's on me. Congratulations. I don't want your money. Right. Just cause I want to stay standard that 80 grand. So that's why I say there's all kinds of tax planning opportunities to do, especially timing wise when it comes to selling a rental property. So I'd sit down with a CPA, go through it, go through your scenario and then, you know, make some decisions.   Emil: Interesting.   Michael: That is awesome.   Emil: Yeah.   Michael: Is there a good time or if you know, Joel, you know, if I want to utilize your services. When would it be the ideal time to start planning strategically for their taxes, yesterday?   Joel: Yeah. Yesterday and today. Because if you come to me, if you're coming to me now say, Hey, what can I do for last year? I'm going to say, well, you kind of handcuffed me. There's not a whole lot I can do for you last year because we're all cash based taxpayers. So when we report our kind of activity for the year to the IRS and to the state, it's based on January through December, right? So effectively, I need to make all my decisions and spending and do what I need to do between January and December. And when you come sit down with me to do your tax return or the compliance aspect of your operation, then we're just looking back and saying, okay, what did you do? How did things go? Right? That's the easy part. That's just basically reporting. It's nothing more than that. But the actual savings happens throughout the year. It happens throughout the year.   Michael: Okay, great.   Emil: You can see, obviously when you have multiple properties, it makes so much sense to work with a tax professional. Do you think, even if I'm just starting out, I have my first property, I've traditionally done my own taxes. Should I really enlist a CPA's help. So it's kind of a loaded question for them.   Joel: I'm going to self promote myself bias maybe slightly, but okay. But I'm going to give you a real example for this one. Okay. That it has nothing to do with taxes really. I mean really. So when I left Ernst and young, this would have been, you know, 20, some odd years ago. I decided because I'm an accountant and then cheat by nature, right? I mean, most accounts are cheap. You've met us, you've met, you've met my fellow people, right. We're cheap by nature. So I thought that I would save money if I built my own computers rather than going out and buying from Dell, maybe it was only saving a couple hundred bucks, but I thought, Oh, that's a great way that I can set. I can save some money. Then after building my own computers, I thought I was a smart little guy. And I would build my own server, which I did, which led me to building my own phone systems, which I did, which led me to try and to build my own website, which I failed miserably at.   But what would happen is during tax season, when everyone was working, we would do our most billing and our invoices words the highest throughout the year. And someone's computer broke. Guess who? The first person they called us, it was me. Hey, come fix my computer. So I leave my desk, go down there. I may spend two, three hours trying to fix their computer. But guess what I wasn't doing during those three hours during the highest billing rates that I have throughout the entire year, collecting money, right? I wasn't billing anyone. I wasn't doing anything that I could collect money. And at the end of the day, it ended up costing me way more to do it myself. Then it was to hire all that stuff out. And I like to call it team stacking, right? So you gotta look at what is your team? How am I stacking and putting all that together?   So now I have someone that deals with my phone system that deals with all my it, stuff that I need. I have a lawyer that deals with this I'm in real estate. So I have a general contractor that deals with all that stuff. So I don't have to do it so I can focus on what it is that makes me the most money, which is tax planning and tax compliance, doing tax returns. So I would suggest that as well, to someone even new and real estate team stack yourself, put people in place that will allow you to focus on what it is that you want to do and how you want to make money. Because I can promise you, you will never see as many tax things as I do. You'll never have those discussions or read all those wonderful IRS bulletins that even put me to sleep, right? So you wouldn't be doing all that stuff like I would be doing it. So team stack yourself, focus on what it is that make you money, put all those other things together and let them worry about that stuff.   Emil: I fully agree with you. I have a full time job. I'm trying to focus on the actual real estate investing and all these things have a family. I would much rather leave it to somebody who knows what they're doing. Who's living and breathing it all the time, rather than trying to learn it myself. And this is also one of those things where it's a high ROI thing to me, like a good tax professional is going to be able to figure out how to save you more money than you can go figure out into yourself. So I am with you and I have no bias.   Joel: Exactly. So the question should be when you go down and sit with someone isn't can I deduct this right? The question should be, how do I deduct this? Right? And then you leave to someone like me to go through and say, give you the house, okay. This is what you need to do. This is the support and documentation that you need to have. And this is how we can structure it, right. That's where tax planning comes in. And that's why it's so important. So even if you're just starting, I would make sure that I get connected with someone who understands the business that I'm doing, understands the real estate game and can start advising me upfront what to do and not making stumble over. Maybe some of those mistakes, someone who tries to do it on their own would find   Emil: Absolutely agree.   Michael: It's so good. Yeah. I concur with you both. Not nothing like that. That's great stuff. Okay. Last couple of things I want to touch on Joe, before we get into some high level questions, but can you talk really briefly? I know we had another episode of 1031 exchanges, but can you just touch on 1031 exchanges and opportunity zones?   Joel: Yeah. So I'll just touch on them really briefly 1031 exchange allows me to sell a property and re-invest all the gains I make off that property into a new one and not pay any tax. So essentially it improves my buying power, right? So I'd say I own something for 200 grand. I sold it for 300 grand. That a hundred thousand dollars worth of gain, I just invest the whole 300 grand into a new property. And it reduces the cost of that property effectively improving my purchase power. So it's a tax deferment strategy that can work really, really well for people.   Michael: Great.   Joel:  From an opportunity zone standpoint, though, that can get really complicated. So let me just, uh, let me just leave you with two points and maybe, and maybe people can remember this. First of all, opportunities zones are for those economic distress communities. I mean, often they are identified and you can find them. You can do searches online to find out where the opportunities zones are located. But what the IRS tries to do is give you some type of benefit. If you're willing to go into those opportunities zones and make investments into businesses, the issue that you need to be aware of is that first 50% of your income has to come from the opportunities zone for that company. Okay. 50% of it has, which means that if you're a manufacturer doesn't work really well. If you want to go into an opportunity zone, however, if you're a real estate investor works really, really well because I can go into an opportunity zone, buy a building and earn all my income, my rental income from inside the zone, which means that if I hold onto that property for 10 years, I get to sell it tax free. Yeah. So that's the benefit. I'm going to give you a benefit when you sell it right when I sell it, because it can be tax free, but there are lots of rules surrounding how I need to go about buying that property, holding that property, making income from that property. So opportunities don't get really complicated, but just sit down with someone who understands that they can walk you through it, but it can make a really, really great investment from a rental property standpoint.   Michael: Fantastic. One last question for you, Joel, is what are some common mistakes? You see new investors making?   Joel: Common mistakes?One is that they lacking in documentation for support of how they spend money. Because oftentimes when it comes to let's say audit, okay. If the IRS was going to look at someone's activity and they wanted to audit it, a lot of your ability to support the expenses that go into your tax return is based off of documentation. The other one I would say is most people don't include all their expenses. They look at them very, very narrowly, right? So if I own a rental property, there are some big ones that just stand out. Insurance, mortgage, interest, property taxes. I mean, those are some of the big ones that are just there. But if you go back to our conversation earlier, when I talked about going to home Depot, buy a light bulb going over, I'm looking at mileage, what did it take for me to actually earn a dollar? People never really take a step back and look, maybe go through your credit card statements, your bank statements, you know, even cash that you spent dealing with. If you have a general contractor or someone like that, like what was the money I spent with you? You really have to take a hard look at all of your expenses that went into the activity of that rental property, because that's where you're going to see your benefit. I mean, taxes. Oftentimes we call it death by a thousand paper cuts because it's all these little things that kind of, I miss miss, miss, miss. And when I accumulate all of them, it's a really big total, right? So really look at how you're spending your money and spending your time.   Pierre: I have a question.   Michael: Shoot Pierre Pierre: What would be sufficient documentation for driving Home Depot? Is taking a spreadsheet and counting your miles good?   Joel: Yeah. Spreadsheet could work. You can go onto Google maps. It's a beautiful thing. Get some directions and just print that out. There also lots and lots of apps that will help you identify your mileage, where you went that are really, really useful. Like my like Mile IQ or Tax Bot. It's almost like, you know, the right swipe, left swipe. So it tracks all your mileage. And you're just going through swiping personal, personal business business business. And it's really easy to do it creates the log for you. So I would always tell people to use technology to your advantage, especially when it comes to tracking what you spent and doing your documentation for anything that goes into your tax return. But this spreadsheet would work just as well.   Michael : Great. Okay. So now we'll move onto the section of the show that we call the quick fire questions. So these are going to be kind of yes or no either or type questions. You ready Joel?   Joel: Go ahead.   Michael: High property taxes or high income taxes?   Joel: High property taxes.   Michael: Because you can deduct them, right?   Joel: Because I can deduct them.   Michael: I love it. High rent growth or low vacancy.   Joel: Low vacancy, it's easier for me to manage my cash.   Michael: Nice consolidation or diversification.   Joel: I like diversification because I just think it's more fun.   Michael: Cashflow or appreciation?   Joel: I take cash flow. I want a dollar today.   Michael: Love it. Local or remote investing?   Joel: Ooh, that's a good one. I go where the deal is. So I don't care.   Michael: Right. Single family or multifamily?   Joel: Multifamily. Because basically in that instance, I've just adding zeros, but doing the same thing.   Michael: Yep. Turn-key or master project?   Joel: Oh, that's another good one. I'm going to say, well, nowadays based on the situation, I'm going to do turnkey, but under normal circumstances, I would like a master project just again, because I think it's more fun.   Michael: Okay. Great. Last two. Midnight oil or early bird worm?   Joel: Early bird worm, for sure.   Michael: Awesome. And then text message or email?   Joel: Text message. Yeah. My email inbox gets over flooded with emails.   Michael: Yep. I know how that goes. Awesome. Well Joel, thank you so much for taking the time and spending the time with us. This has been really great. What's the best way for someone to get in touch with you if they've got tax questions or tax needs?   Joel: Yeah. So if they want to get in touch with us, I would actually go to taxhive.com/roofstock. You can sign up. We'd love to talk to you for 30 minutes. We'll give you a free consultation. Maybe we can improve some of the stuff that you're doing. Give you some suggestions, whatever it is that you would like to do, but we're happy to help and give you any advice we can on an individual basis. I think it can be a little more relevant that way.   Michael: Fantastic. And again, the name of your company is?   Joel: So we're Tax Sentry, but if you go to taxhive.com, that's where you can find us.   Michael: Fantastic   Emil: H-i-v-e?   Joel: H-i-v-e.   Michael: Great. Emil, any final thoughts?   Emil: No. Joel, thank you so much. I actually, I learned a ton about real estate investing taxes myself. So thank you so much for coming on.   Joel: Sure. Love it. Happy to be here.   Michael: Always a pleasure looking forward to hopefully chatting again soon.   Joel: Thanks guys. Okay, everyone. Well, that's our show. Thanks so much for listening. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. I know both Emil and I got a ton of knowledge and golden nuggets out of it. So again, a big thank you to Joel and we can hopefully have him on again. Thanks so much for listening and happy investing.   Emil: Happy Investing  

Joel Marion is the co-founder and CMO of BioTrust Nutrition with more than $600 million in sales, 3.5 million customers and 17 million email subscribers. Joel is also the founder of transformation insider. Joel is one of the top email marketers in the world. Joel helped propel BioTrust to be one of the fastest-growing companies in history.  Episode Highlights:  Joel went to a private Christian school and was athletic growing up. The lessons Joel learned in a team atmosphere playing basketball. Being competitive teaches you what’s required to be someone who’s winning more often than losing. There’s a lot of trust that’s built in the team atmosphere. After going away to school he realized all of his best friends were back home. After Joel got introduced to Body 4 Life it changed the way he was working out. How Joel completely changed his personal health and won the Body 4 Life contest. After being published by his friend, Joel got rejected from other fitness magazines and asked for feedback. You have to learn what people want and then give them that. Joel became a teacher for three years while he was getting other projects off the ground. Joel got his first book bought and then it bombed. Why you can’t play the “if” game. Joel wanted to make $20,000 a month and became obsessed with direct response marketing. Joel took his same book that flopped and repackaged it into a course and made almost $500,000 on it. Joel realized that to take his business to the next level he would need to grow his network and pursue a joint venture. Joel started BioTrust and grew to over $100 million in sales in a year. In their first month, they did $4 million with one product funnel. 3 Key Points: When you take uncommon actions you can achieve uncommon results. Sell them what they want, give them what they need. You can scale what you do quickly when you get your entire industry on your team. Tweetable Quotes: “You have to learn what people want and then give them that.” -Joel “You don’t know what you don’t know until you learn it” -Joel “The reason I can have so much success is that I have the whole industry on my side.” -Joel Resources Mentioned: Visit Travis’ website at Buildyournetwork.co (http://www.buildyournetwork.co/) Join the Build Your Network Facebook group BYN.media/fb (http://www.buildyournetwork.co/fb/) Join the Build Your Network University Facebook group here byn.university (https://www.facebook.com/groups/bynuniversity) . Leave a rating and review for the Build Your Network Podcast on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-network/id1268488944) Watch Travis’ free masterclass on how to build the network of your dreams at threenetworkingsecrets.com (https://threenetworkingsecrets.com/squeeze-page) Get equity-free investments from Clearbanc at clearbanc.com/travis (http://clearbanc.com/travis) Try ZipRecruiter for free at ziprecruiter.com/byn (http://ziprecruiter.com/byn) Download the Himalaya App in the Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ximalaya.ting.himalaya&hl=en_US) For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy (https://www.acast.com/privacy)

更多英语知识，请关注微信公众号: VOA英语每日一听Tom: Hey, Joel, you got your hair cut.Joel: You can notice that. I don't have much hair left. You can see that it got cut.Tom: Yeah, why don't you grow it out?Joel: Actually, you can't notice right now cause it's cut so short but my hair's curly, so if I let it, and I'm bald on top now, so if grow it out I look like Bozo the clown.Tom: Did you have long hair before?Joel: Actually in college, I had long hair. I grew it out pretty long and then, you know, my hair is really blond. I don't know if you can tell now. It's gotten a little bit darker, but it was down to my shoulders and really curly.Tom: Wow.Joel: Yeah.Tom: When did you start losing it?Joel: I noticed sort of at the end of college, when I had long hair because it didn't grow nearly as long in the front. I always wanted it to be really even: long in the front and back, but it was, it grew much faster and much thicker in the back than in the front.Tom: So when it's all gone, are you going to start combing it over?Joel: No, I don't want to have the comeover. I, actually, my wife likes bald heads, so I'm lucky, so I just cut it really short.Joel: It's funny though. When I was really young, well when I was born, I was bald until I was maybe one year old or so, and I had very thin white straight hair, so it was perfectly straight, until I was about 13 years old, and as soon as I hit puberty, "booing"! My hair suddenly got curly, so as a self-conscience young adolescent, that was a but of a shocking experience for my hair to go from straight to curly almost overnight. Yeah.

In this episode of the DistantJob podcast, we talk to Joel Martinez. Joel Martinez is a Senior Developer at Microsoft, a prolific writer, and a huge advocate for remote work.During our conversation, we talk about how to stimulate focus on a team, how to know if a team is ready or not to work remotely, what can remote employees do to be proactive in showcasing their work, and much more - Joel is a genuine practical expert in the field.If you would like to receive the transcript of this episode and previous episodes to read, annotate and love forever and ever (creepy!), subscribe at https://distantjob.com/blog/category/podcast/Want to continue the conversation with Joel? You can reach him on his website at www.codecube.net As always, if you enjoy the podcast, we humbly ask that you leave a review on iTunes or your podcast syndication service of choice – and if you could share it, that would be even better!Need that one incredible employee to bolster your team?  Get in touch at https://distantjob.com/contact/, and we’ll find you who you need.

On this week’s episode Dave and Joel celebrate the gift of boats with hot tubs before breaking down the current state of the deal to bring the Raiders to Vegas. Joel proposes his “alternative timeline” theory of understanding the Ballers universe while Dave tries to figure out exactly why the Rock might be an “enemy of the league”. Dave and Joel go on to break down the rest of the big moves, doctor’s visits and baby mama drama on this week’s episode of Ballin’ Out. Have questions for Dave and Joel? You can email the show at sstrassmore@gmail.com or reach the guys on Twitter @davekcollins or @joelsinensky.

This is a replay of episode 26 with Katy Walker and Joel Mejia. Life can sometimes overwhelm us. We get bogged down by all the negative things around us. That's why it was such a pleasure to do an interview with people like Katie and Joel. Their positivity, and inspirational work is something we should all aspire to follow. --- Katy Walker and Joel Mejia are the co-directors of the Time is Art documentary, a film that follow’s Jennifer Palmer’s journey after her aunt’s death and her exploration of synchronicity. They are also the minds behind Things Are Changing Productions, a creative collective that produces youth media programs, indie films, and music videos. In this episode we explore what you must do to take action, why you should work with limitations, and the benefits of empowering others. Here are three things you can learn from Katy and Joel: You should look inward for answers Looking inward is one of the most empowering things people can do. Many of us go days without taking the time to look within ourselves for answers. We are so busy trying to be productive that we forget to think things through. Most of the time, the answer we are looking for is already within us. The next time you are stuck looking for answers, pause and look inside yourself. You might be surprised by what you discover. Limitations make you more creative Big budget blockbusters have an almost an unlimited amount of money to work with. They are given every resource they may need, which might be the reason so many of them fall flat. Joel believes the best way to get the most out of an artist is to give that artist some limitations. When you are up against a wall, you are forced to come up with a creative solution, which often lead to the best results. Most of us believe the more free you are, the easier it is to be creative. The problem is, this gives you t oo many options. The next time you are stuck, give yourself some limitations. You may be surprised by the results. The benefits of empowering others Katy and Joel are big believers in empowering other people. They believe apprenticeships are a powerful form of teaching. When someone becomes your apprentice, they are not being forced to learn. They are looking for long term value and a longer term education. They are also running a series of workshops along with the film. This encourages people to engage and collaborate with others, which leads to a more powerful experience. They want people to connect through the film and the workshops and create long terms connections from it. Read more shownotes from episode 26 with Katie and Joel

Hi and thank you for listening to the Welding Tips and Tricks Podcast episode 7.  For this podcast we were able to catch up with Joel Buschmann to ask him a few questions about his life from a snotty nosed college kid to starting his business Overkill Racing and Chassis.  We had a lot of fun talking with Joel and we think that you'll enjoy hearing his story of life altering decisions that may inspire you to follow your dreams, as he did.  So download this episode, put those earbuds in, drop your hood, and enjoy!     Show Note and Times:   0:00 - 0:32           Intro  0:32 - 3:16           What does Joel build  3:16 - 4:16           Mig or Tig  4:16 - 6:33           Frame repairs  6:33 - 9:00           Heat treating Chromolly  9:00 - 10:45         Wire for Chromolly  10:45 - 12:30        Hastelloy with repair  12:30 - 14:17        Physics  14:17 - 15:18        What machines are you running  15:18 - 18:35        Air cooled/Water cooled  18:35 - 32:07        Joel's backstory  32:07 - 33:22        Searching Mig Welding online  33:22 - 34:52        José Gomez @lostartforge  34:52 - 35:40        Quick study  35:40 - 36:32        The original Mig welding video  36:32 - 38:00        Perfect practice makes perfect  38:00 - 43:40         Tungsten grinder and prep  43:40 - 48:15         Types of tungsten  48:15 - 49:25         Help code  49:25 - 54:45         Approaching a new truck  54:45 - 58:36         What got you on Instagram  58:36 - 59:24         WT&T App #sharemyweld  59:24 - 1:01:38      4th grader asking a 5th grader  1:01:38 - 1:02:20    Future social media  1:02:20 - 1:04:01    Fabtech shot  1:04:01 - 1:04:30    @frankfleurquin 1:04:30 - 1:09:15    Joel's best advise  1:09:15 - 1:10:36     PH.D.  1:10:36 - 1:13:00     Physics  1:13:00 - 1:13:43     Information age  1:13:43 - 1:19:17     Thanks Joel and closing    Where you can fine Joel? You can find Joel on Instagram @overkillracingandchassis On the web at www.overkillchassis.com   Where can you find us at?     You can email Welding Tips and Tricks Podcast directly at WeldingTipsandTricksPodcast@gmail.com.     We would really like to hear your thoughts about this podcast and what would make it better for you, the listener.  Please leave us any questions that you would like to hear about welding, or questions you'd like to know about ourselves and future guests.   Give us a Call   You can also now call and leave us a voicemail!   (915)308-7024     How to reach us individually      Jody Collier           http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/                              Welding Tips and Tricks on Youtube                              @Weldmonger on Instagram                     Jonathan Lewis     http://www.superiorweldandfab.com/                              @Superiorwelding on Instagram                              Superiorwelding on Youtube                          Roy Crumrine        http://www.crummywelding.com/                              @CrummyWelding on Instagram Where can you find a Tig Finger? You can find Tig fingers and other great welding supplies, like stubby gas lens kits, here at this link http://weldmongerstore.com/.  All of which are great tools to have in your job toolbox and also your home shop box.   This Podcast has been brought to you by Weldor's for Weldor's so that you can listen to Weldor's talk about Welding while you're Welding!       Podcast music can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3UyYZ85Tiw Doctor Vox -Endgames   Royalty Free Download