My new job has a really different commute than my old one. It's in the car, as opposed to on the train. I'm fortunate in that I can take express lanes to get there, and so I mostly avoid traffic. I was unsure I would like the commute, but it turns out I'm really enjoying it. I listen to podcasts, or talk on the phone with friends and family, and on the whole find it an enjoyable part of my day. It goes by fairly quickly. Really, what's about a half hour commute seems like 30 seconds sometimes.
One of the things I love about my brother is that we sort of play this relay-tag game with one another, philosophically. When we first met, he was Christian, and I was an atheist. Over the years, that's changed. Now he's an agnostic, and I'm a tao-chia taoist (which makes me a non-theist, not an atheist, or theist, or monotheist, or polytheist).
So his views and my own are often quite compatible. One big thing we share is an appreciation for the taoist idea of wu-wei, or non-action. The basic premise of which is that everything in the universe is already unfolding as it should. You don't need to do anything special for the sun to rise.
Surprisingly, this comes up a lot because of our work on the Big Little Podcast. Some social ripple will happen in an online community related to ageplay, or we'll get a problematic call or email, and the question comes up - what is it we need to do about it.
Here's a typical exchange we have over such issues:
I'm glad we're of the same mind on these things. We'll not get right on that.
One of the things I love about Missy is that, like me, she's not really completely a grownup. Every so often she'll do something totally ridiculous, just to make me laugh.
Sunday, it was this:
What you can't see from the picture is the way she stomped around and made ridiculous monster noises as she did this. I laughed my face off.
I love her so much.
My friend Matti brought me an awesome surprise yesterday.
The t-shirt, not the cat
If you can't make it out, it's a t-shirt with a somewhat forlorn looking shark on it that says I JUST WANT A HUG.
Such a thoughtful, sweet, funny gift. Matti (and his brother, Andy) are exactly that - quirky, gentle, generous folks. They really are like big kids, who are happy to share something nice with a friend, and get joy out of the pleasure of giving it. I'm blown away by it. It's my new favorite shirt.
Andy had on this other amazing shirt that I need to go looking for, and which fans of comic books, and cute cats will love. It was this one:
How fracking adorable is that, right?
I think Matti and Andy are "supurr" friends of mine. Thanks you guys!
Friday night it was another night of casting.
Not this kind actually
Brother, Mae, and I recorded another episode of The Big Little Podcast. This time it was a personal interview, with Ollie, our girl Kate's partner. I love Ollie, who was charming, sweet, raw, brave, and open. It's going to be a terrific show when it hits the feed in a few weeks.
After the show, as we often do, we had "after dark" time, where we kept the stream going, invited in a few friends to the Skype conference, and just jawed it up for a while. (Actually until about 2:30 in the morning. Oy, such a tired headache the next morning.)
You know what? I LOVE IT. I love the whole process, from start to finish. I love brainstorming topics and talking points with brother, finding guests, scheduling them, being on the air, doing promotion, the whole damn thing. I love every second of it.
Periodically we get fan mail which is lovely, and sometimes, heartfelt entreaties for help from listeners. This thing we do, it makes a difference. I'm so glad for it. It's one of the most important things in my life.
I don't see it stopping any time soon.