Hey! Didn't We Have a Podcast?

I miss my podcast.

OK fine. I miss our podcast - mine and Acr0nym's.

I had occasion to go back and listen to a portion of Episode 1 of Sharp Pointy Objects a few nights ago¹. Subsequently, I listened to all of Bomb Betsy's Episode 5, Part 2 and all of Episode 3, Podcast 0. And you know what I found out? Having some distance between the interviews, I can now listen to them much more objectively and I hear something I'd never accepted before.

Particularly for a novice, We're damn good. Sincerely. Really really good.

It's not often I say that about something I've produced and especially not when I'm new at it. But I'm going to say it anyway because I actually believe it is true. We...I am good.

So why did we stop, you ask?

Here's what happened...

First, Acr0nym got a new job. And this new job? It comes with a doozy of a learning curve. Then, he and his roommate, the illustrious Jive Turkey, decided it was time for Jive Turkey to find other living arrangements ² which would leave Acr0nym having his living space all to himself for the first time in more than a decade.

About the same time, I had a major shift occur at my own job. A change that's been exciting and happy but has also caused some training-related and major other-things-I-cannot-mention chaos as well as undefined job responsibilities which have kept me feeling as though I'm a fish out of water ever since.

Then I decided I was going to throw some creative energy into actually writing, you know, a couple of books and stuff. Which takes a lot of time. Meanwhile, Acr0nym was doing all sorts of Acr0nym-ism type stuff...starting seedlings, making plans to rearrange his house, drafting a SkyTalks talk for Def Con...

Oh yeah. Then Def Con madness hit and that's been a whirlwind.

So Sharp Pointy Objects? Fell completely off both our radars. So too did the upgrade and move of Jane In Her Infinite Wisdom off blogger and onto a more stable blogging platform and Acr0nym's server³.

But I told Acr0nym yesterday we had to start again. Because I miss it. I even think he misses it. We even went so far as to purchase a portable doo-hickey (that is the technical term for a portable digital audio recorder...uh...I think. What?! I'm not the audio engineer :p) so that we could take it on the road with us to Def Con. Not that I anticipate having any time where anyone will be relatively sober enough to interview. But we can test it out and record in the Intrepid on the way down.

Because we really need to start again. We're good. And we can only get better.

Here is to, hopefully, having new episodes for your listening pleasure soon.





1. Which was really kind of funny because, aside from the hilarity of the 3 women I had on the panel with me, you can totally hear, by the end, that I was obviously getting a cold. I'd forgotten that was the day I knew I was getting sick and was drinking hot tea and sucking on cough drops throughout the entire thing.

2. This was an amicable decision. Jive Turkey is full of win. It is my understanding they both felt as though they would rather remain close friends than continue to live together.

3. Dude, after Def Con, will you please please PRETTY FUCKING PLEASE get that security cert in place? I'll buy you a massage with a happy ending - make that two - if you'll just get that done. kthxbye

Sharp Pointy Objects: Episode 5...It's Live

I've often talked about my friend, Bomb Betsy, charter member of the Ducks 'n Puppies.

Bomb Betsy, Sufi Mag-to-the-Pie PIE, and Devo Was Right at Thanksgiving 2011

But I haven't told you much about the circumstances surrounding just how she ended up in Denver, how she and I met, and how we became friends.

That just changed.

On April 8, Betsy sat down with me to record an episode of Sharp Pointy Objects.

I am touched and honored that she would come talk with me about her story because her story is so amazing...and sad...and scary...and hopeful.

I love Betsy. Everyone who meets Betsy loves Betsy. I suspect, if you'll take a listen, that you'll love Betsy too.

Part 1: Taking the Girl Out of Wyoming

Part 2: Taking the Shrapnel Out of the Girl

I hope you'll honor Betsy by listening to her story. It's worth every life-affirming moment. I promise.

Confronting Biases

I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing episode 4 of Sharp Pointy Objects: Sex Work, A Converation, turned out to be. Acr0nym finished the final edits and posted it late Sunday night and, listening to its final version gave me such a thrill of pride.

Just in case you are new here, Sharp Pointy Objects is the podcast I created with Acr0nym. We've only, clearly, released 4 episodes but, based on the 4 we've released, it should be obvious that the premise of the podcast is to tell stories. Stories of humanity, bravery, the human condition, adversity, sexuality, relevant political/social/religious issues, and any other number of fascinating things.

I am especially proud of the three women who joined me to talk about particularly taboo topics, who were candid, blunt, and hysterically funny as they shared what life in The Life is like. To say I love each one of them is an understatement.

But...

Listening to the final cut, I began to ask myself questions about what other listeners might think and feel - listeners who hadn't had their minds opened to all the possibilities of sex and sexual pleasure and sexual deviance. What boundaries did we push up against? What questions did we raise? Were there things that were unclear? Did we talk about subjects that were uncomfortable? Abhorrent? Scary? 

I have very little bias when it comes to the freedom of sexual expression. 

Make no mistake. I do have biases. I wouldn't be human if I didn't. I just...I don't think about sex as something to get uptight about.

And yet, I also acknowledge there are many who do get uptight when confronted by acts that are confusing, uncomfortable, scary. I understand that there are people who have bias toward sexual deviance because it most decidedly does not float their boat and it's weird to think of the people whose boats are afloat by certain proclivities, like, say, electricity, being your neighbors, friends, and co-workers.

The people who are turned on by the same stuff you might find terrifying though aren't bad people. They aren't scary people. They aren't likely to rape and pillage your daughters. They're just people who like Rocky Road ice cream over vanilla. And that has nothing to do with you or your spouse or your children. It shouldn't concern you or threaten you or threaten your existence.

It just is.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this if you listened. Did we cross any lines for you? Were you uncomfortable? Did you have questions you were afraid to ask (if so, you know how to find me and I can promise I'll answer any question you might have as honestly and as respectfully as possible)? Did you pass judgment? On me or anyone on our panel? If so, why? Comment respectfully. I'll answer in kind.

Photo taken from the Global Illumination Council Facebook page

Variety Pack

I sat down on Sunday with three extraordinary women to record the 4th episode of Sharp Pointy Objects. This time, the panel was selected because all three are or were sex workers - phone sex workers, escorts, domatrix. I didn't really go in with an agenda. During the recording we touched briefly on what's been going on politically with women and our bodies but mostly I let the conversation flow in the direction they took it - and, trust me, they took it to some places I'd never considered. Afterward, exhausted and, yet, exhilarated, I drove home and thought to myself how fortunate I am to have such a diverse group of friends and resources in my life. I know geeks, hackers, sex workers, politicians, lobbyists, reporters, baristas, conspiracy theorists, stand up comics, artists, musicians, holistic food educators, mathematicians, poets, photographers, therapists, DIY experts, cartoonists, cheese specialists, DJs, engineers, geologists, sociologists, and every other -ologist you can think of. I know day sleepers, night sleepers, and weekend warriors. I know CLOWNS. I know gay people, straight people, queer people, ambiguous people, and transgender people. I don't even know all the titles and distinctions of everyone I know.

How in the world did I get so lucky to know and love so many amazing, smart, interesting, strange, gorgeous people? How? Especially when I don't think I'm particularly interesting. These fascinating people chose me as a friend. That's...wow. Extremely flattering.

Buckle up and stay tuned. Wow. Because wow. Just...wow!!!

Voices

I listen to a lot of public radio.

I don't suppose this comes as any surprise to most of you who are A) familiar with me and B) familiar with public radio programming.

So, when Acr0nym first suggested I host a podcast, and then, once I made the connection between podcasting and what I listen to every day in my car, I knew I could make a decent go of it. I certainly have spent 1,000's of hours listening to some of the very best and, while I may not be a trained professional journalist like Terri Gross, one thing I know how to do very well is to get people to talk about themselves and topics they care about. Even if I sometimes stutter.

I don't mind hearing my recorded voice. I've been living with this voice for 40 years so I've kind of gotten used to it. Sometimes, when I'm listening to the raw audio making edits, I'll hear myself laugh and start laughing aloud again...not at what's been said but laughing along with and at myself laughing. Which is weird now that I stop to think of it. Regardless...

I have a great, infectious laugh.

Anyway, that's not the point.

The point is that somehow I just knew I could be good at this podcast thing. I may never make any money off it. But I can do exactly what I've been doing and I can do it well. I have more confidence in my ability to do this than I do in my ability to write something enjoyable.

Maybe that's because the podcast isn't about me and my voice but of other people and their stories. When I write it's just me and I often don't think I'm particularly fascinating.

Again, not the point.

On Friday, I received an e-mail from a friend - someone who has made a career out of the public radio business - who, after listening to the Proof of Life episode without realizing it was only the second episode I'd done, said, "this is your destiny". He thinks I have something special. A little raw around the edges, yes, but a diamond in the rough.

I can only get better from here.

Once Upon a Time, There Was This Podcast...

HA! You all thought I'd forgotten I was the host of a podcast, didn't you?

Hee hee. Hee hee.

Well...you were wrong! I totally remembered!

The second episode of Sharp Pointy Objects - Proof of Life - is now live.

Go and listen. Now. Go!

Like Sand In My Underpants

February feels an awful lot like attempting to remove a too-tight, wet, bathing suit from a cold, shivering person who's been sitting around in its clammy moistness way too long.

It feels as though I'm pulling, pushing, shoving, rolling at stubborn lycra just trying to get it off and away from my body so I can sink into a hot tub of lavender bath salts and finally get rid of the chill of the dead months.

It's a damn good thing February is a short month. This dreadful feeling as though winter is and has always been has long overstayed its welcome (stupid leap year). I'm ready for the March of the lion and the lamb. I'm ready to step outside my front door without worrying about whether or not I need a coat AND gloves AND scarf. I'm ready to emerge from my cave without worrying if I need the boots that are good for snow but bad Bad BAD for my plantar fasciitis. I'm more than ready to see friends like the Gothfather and his lovely bride without worrying if I'm going to freeze to death on the patio at Shelter. I'm ready to drive to AND from work in the daylight and know I've got hours to spare before the sun sinks behind the Rocky Mountains. I'm ready to put away the snow brush and ice scraper. I'm longing for the days when I can legitimately complain about the heat.

Spring, I'm ready for you. Come to mama.

Here are some February sun flares for you though.

This week, I'm going to have my first Close Encounter of the Blog Kind when M of The M Half of the M-n-J Show comes to town. I am beyond excited! When you've been reading a blogger for awhile and feel as though you know them, it's simultaneously awesome and nerve-wracking to think about getting a rare opportunity to meet them over lunch or an after work cocktail or two. I mean, what if I spill salsa down my cleavage (as I'm prone to do)? Will she still like me? Regardless, when she e-mailed to say she'd be nearby, I jumped at the chance to sit down with her for an epic, I'm sure, gab fest. She did just get back from Costa Rica after all. Hmmmm...I wish Acr0nym were available to record a podcast mid-week.

Speaking of the podcast, this afternoon I'll be sitting down with my good friend, "Doctor" Finger, to record episode 2.  Sincerely, if I make it through recording without bursting into tears, it'll be a miracle. His story...it's...wow. I hope y'all who listen will find it as awesomely compelling and sad and wonderful and happy as I do.

If you aren't too busy and you want to "like" the podcast on Facebook, I'd be forever grateful. We're 2 away from 50 which feels pretty significant. You can find us here. I hate to shill for likes here. I've never done that before. And yet, for some reason, I'm able to solicit likes and listens when it comes to the podcast. As for Jane In Her Infinite Wisdom, I'm too cowardly to even put up a fan page. Why is that?

Speaking of meeting bloggers...

I realized yesterday after reading this entry filed under Jared's Journal at In the Pursuit of Happiness that a top priority on my wish/bucket list is to travel the country and beyond - possibly in an Airstream - to meet all my blogging friends and record podcast episodes with each and every one of you. So many of you feel as though you don't really have a tale to tell. In fact, Mike at Perception Is Reality Corner, left me a comment stating that he didn't think I'd be able to find a story in him in 5 days let alone 5 minutes. I beg to differ. Our stories vary in intensity and excitement but every single one of us has a tale to tell. I want to record all of them...like Jane's version of Story Corps.

Now...about that Airstream. Hmmm...maybe I should start a ChipIn account? *laughing*

That Podcast Thing

So...

You know that podcast thing - Sharp Pointy Objects?

I am floored by its reception.

When Acr0nym and I set out to do this thing, I truly didn't think we'd have more than a dozen or so people tune in or care. At least, not with the first episode...not until we'd established ourselves, got some practice under our belts, honed our collective voice, and just generally figured out what was what in a podcast world.

So...when we got 95 hits to the podcast on the very first day it was posted?

Excuse me. I have to go scoop my dropped jaw off the ground.

For those bloggers out there - the ones who watch and care about their statistics - I suspect you can appreciate why I'm flabbergasted and very very pleased. We've had 140 unique visitors and over 400 page views...in 4 days. For a brand new podcast, a brand new blog? That feels overwhelmingly huge.

Not only that but I'm more than appreciative of the reception we've received on Facebook. 45 "likes" and counting...in 4 days. Again, it's a modest number but for someone who is terrified of creating a Facebook fan page for this blog for fear of crickets chirping, 45 exceeds my wildest expectations - especially for the first episode.

Those are just numbers though.

What has meant the most to me have been the comments and the personal e-mails from people I know and from people I've never heard of contacting me, thanking me, telling me they felt as though they were a part of the conversation and wanted to jump in when they had something to say.

What's meant the most is having those same people ask me for more.

And more they shall have.

The Divatologist e-mailed me this morning and asked "How do you get so lucky to know all these interesting, erudite, and dynamic people?"  My response: "I somehow developed quite a discerning taste for unique, lively, interesting people and began collecting them early and often. It helps that I bribe them with baked goods."

You know I collect only the finest, right? I've got confirmations to record enough episodes to post bi-weekly podcasts over the next 6 months. That's barely scratching the surface of the people I know and love. You all aren't likely to get rid of Sharp Pointy Objects anytime soon.


In fact, we're set to record this upcoming Sunday with my very special friend and guest, "Dr." Finger, who has a story to tell...a magnificent story, a compelling story. A story of triumph, a story of fear, a story of success...and failure, of love, and the kindness of strangers.

Hey! Don't we all have a story to tell? You bet you do. I do too. Even if you don't think you do, give me 5 minutes and I'll find it.

Won't you be my neighbor? Won't you let me record you being my neighbor? Come on. You know you want to!

I TOLD You!

Sharp Pointy Objects - the podcast - makes it's world premiere tonight!

If you're interested in actually hearing me, in hearing my brilliant friends...

Click Here.

WOO HOO!

Finally.

I'm OK

I'm OK.

But I got the first real look at the scope of things last night when I made Lex take a picture.

I won't be posting it here because A) I suspect I could be in trouble with blogger for posting inappropriate images and B) I really do enjoy having people read my blog and don't want y'all to squick and never read me again. So, instead, I've taken a current picture of me (or, at least, one from the Nerd Crawl in September) and drew in exactly where the cut is in relation to my face as well as the 27 stitches it took to pull it back into place.

Yeah.

*takes bow*

I've spent much of last night and today feeling weepy, lost, sad. Much of this, I'm certain, is due to having been in shock. But I'm also having a difficult time comprehending - now that I've seen it - just how fortunate I am that I didn't lose my eye. I close my eyes to sleep and I can imagine it and that's terrifying.

I won't be going back to work until the stitches come out at the end of this week. It's not vanity. Honestly, I gave up the idea of physical beauty long ago - that's not how I'm beautiful. I just don't want to have to answer a lot of questions right now - questions I can't answer and maybe don't want to answer because the answers are embarrassing - and presenting myself with either a ginormous bandage that covers half my face or, worse, all the very distinct black stitches begs people to ask, "Holy shit! What happened to your face?!"

On the bright side, I am being cocooned, protected, and very well cared for by Lex who has cooked every meal for me, lovingly changed my dressings 3 times a day, taken care of the dishes, and made sure I was eating. He took the day off work today to make sure I wasn't alone at any point.

Modchen and #himself have continued to offer up their services to me and made a much needed run to Wal-Greens for supplies on icy streets in the cold last night.

Peej came over to clean our house tonight after having worked all day - making a special point to do it now, while I'm feeling lost, because she knows just how important it is to have a clean house when you're down and out.

Acr0nym has been working to finish up the first episode of the podcast on his own so that I can have that finished and off my plate of worries. He's also promised to come see me on Wednesday. He might even bring Spux. This makes me very very happy.

My boss and assistant managed to convince a floral shop to deliver me a last minute bouquet of lovely daisies and roses - the day before Valentine's Day no less - in sunny yellows and cheerful white.

Finally, I have Noodle here with me now. He fixed me supper and we're lounging in pajamas and in a few minutes I'm going to get held and everything's going to be OK.

I'm OK.


PS As an aside, before this happened on Saturday night, I'd been listening to the 2nd edit of the podcast. At one point, the Divatologist mentions how much she loves her hysterectomy scar - that scars are tattoos with better stories. I talked about what made me beautiful if not physical beauty. The irony is not lost on me.

I Haven't Blogged Since Thursday?!

The last 3 days have been a complete time suck.

I have no idea where I've been.

OK, yes, I do. I've been buried alive under 2 feet of snow and, somehow, that translates into falling off the internet...mostly.

Thursday night and most of the day Friday, I was occupied by Noodle. I don't know exactly how I came up with that particular identity for him but, for now, he's Noodle. I'm sure you'll get used to it. He arrived late. We cuddled. There was much laughter. There was some hanky sans panky. And he stayed until he had to go to work on Friday afternoon.

There were no shaving casualties.

The rest of my time has been spent working on the podcast and either digging my car out of its cave or worrying about digging my car out of its cave.

After 24 hours of melt time, it was still thigh deep on the passenger side.

The crater my car left when we finally got it excavated. That's Brad with the shovel.

Almost the moment it stopped snowing yesterday - 40 hours after it had begun - I went out, snow brush in hand, to survey the situation. I'd felt confident - gleeful - when I'd chosen my on-street parking spot Thursday afternoon before the first flake flew. I got the spot right on the corner of Walk/Don't Walk so that no one could park behind me and block me completely in *ahem*.

I did not take into account the fact that the City of Denver would do something quite so absurd as plow side streets during the storm. Nor did I take into account that this particular spot is a bit unprotected from the wind and drifting snow.

So, what I was confronted with yesterday afternoon, snow brush in hand, was a snow drift - 3 feet deep - on the passenger side of my car, a 2-foot plowed wall of ice chunks on the driver's side, and 2 feet of heavy, wet snow piled high atop every surface.

I set about to clean off the car itself anyway, laughing maniacally to myself the entire time thinking, "Well...at least the windows will be clear so I can see I'm not going anywhere from the inside."

It took about an hour.

Today then, I set back out to see about getting out of that forsaken space. Except this time, I posted on Facebook what I was doing and specifically called out my neighbor, #himself, to either point and laugh or come help.

Bless him and modchen. They came out, shovel in hand, and helped.

And then? Miracle of miracles! Brad - 2nd oldest friend in my virtual rolodex - cheerfully walked up and announced that he'd seen my post on Facebook and came over to lend his experienced, Wyoming-bred hands to the task.

It took less than an hour and we had Jane's Infinitely Wise, Reliable, Respectable car freed from its snow prison cell.

Thank you, nice neighbors and friends!

So...that's been the excitement of my weekend. And, just in case you're worried that there will be no podcast, I include these two little itty bitty sound bytes for your sampling pleasure. Mostly because I can.

The first is Diva. It is safe for work.







The second is Peej. It is most definitely not safe for work unless you've got headphones.

FYI: The first episode of the podcast is about self-image and self-esteem. Just in case you couldn't tell.

That's it for now! Ciao!

PS Except...Also? I can't make this stuff up. True life conversation between me and Lex just now when I caught him wearing his boxer shorts, old man black socks, and wrapping a bath towel around his waist:

Jane: That's about the cutest thing ever.
Lex: What?
Jane: You in your old man socks, boxers, and towel getting ready to get in the bath.
Lex: All that's missing is the sock suspenders.
Jane: At which point you'd totally let me take a picture of your feet, right?
Lex: No.
Jane: Why not? No one can identify you by your socked feet, you know.
Lex: Right but my feet have soles and everyone knows that photographs steal souls. My feet have souls...uh soles...uh...too. Keep away from the soles of my feet.

PPS I'm afraid to look at how many unread posts are in my feed reader.

Evidence

Of a podcast waiting to happen...

Clockwise from leftt: Diva, Peej, Jane, Cesqua

I cannot wait to share the ferociousness my friends put out into the podcast world yesterday!

Vacation Station Identification

I'm having one of those awesome fantasy housewife vacations, yo (why I just said yo, I cannot say).

You know that one where I get to sit around in my pajamas all day, snacking on Dove dark chocolate, and playing on the computer and then the non-husband comes home after working all day, cooks supper and does the dishes? Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. I'm fairly certain Acr0nym doesn't realize I'm here...yet...

Mostly because I'm staying extra specially quiet (no small feat) while attempting to pretend I'm not actually here. If Acr0nym notices I'm here, he may tell me to leave.

Besides, there's no tiara in this fantasy and you can't really hate me if I don't have a tiara, right?

Heh. Now he's getting ready to start laundry! Can this get any more awesome?! OK, well it'd probably be particularly awesome if he was doing my laundry but since I don't let anyone handle my underthings, it would be hard for him to do my laundry so I'll just relish the fact that he's doing his own laundry as I sit here...quietly.

[later]

He noticed me. It was likely all the hummus I ate for lunch. You know how that goes:

Beans, beans
The magical fruit.
The more you eat,
The more you toot.

Mental note: Next time you stay at someone's house as a guest, Jane - particularly one who will wait on you - refrain from the offer of the bean dip. It's a trap. A little like a bell around a cat's neck.

Anyway!

How I've thus far spent my Birthday Vacation:

I arrived at Acr0nym's safe and sound Sunday afternoon at which point we shopped for my vacation snax and wine and all manner of thrift store goodies because we could. Before you yell at me, yes, I know I have spelled snax incorrectly. However, you should also understand, sometimes words need to be misspelled for emphasis. Don't argue. Save your breath. I'm not listening. La-la-la-la I can't hear you!

Anyway!

The rest of Sunday and all day Monday was spent catching up with all my blogging friends. I laughed. I grimaced. I guffawed. And sometimes I cried...for the deaths of loved ones, for the death of a beloved cat, for the death of relationships. Emotions were all over the map and I was simply along for whatever ride came next chronologically. It was a trip well-worth taking but, I must confess, I'm glad the roller-coaster cars have come to a complete stop and the safety bars raised because by the time I went to bed (or the couch as it were) last night, I was exhausted.

Of note, this falling into slumber was precluded by Whirley Pop popcorn and two blissfully intense episodes of Game of Thrones. I've read the book, I just hadn't seen all the episodes yet.

Today was spent working in earnest on the new podcast.

Photo and mics provided by Acr0nym. Mosaic skull provided by Jive Turkey

We have a name! And a domain! And a logo in progress! And topics for the first half dozen episodes! We have original theme music and enthusiastic guests and snax! We have snax, by gum! We've tested audio and re-tested audio and tested audio some more (thank you, Jive Turkey, for braving the microphone for said tests) and then tested compression.

We have the first recording with guests scheduled for this coming Saturday. One guest informed me she's already picked out her outfit and "hawt" shoes for said recording. I said, "Honey, you know no one is going to see your shoes, right?"

Her response was the best ever! She said, "You know how you're supposed to put a smile in your voice when you're being recorded? Hawt shoes put a smile in my voice. So does talking about food while naked."

Thankfully, we won't be talking about food for the inaugural episode...uh...I don't think. For the record, naked food talk isn't a bad thing in my book. I just want to keep my audio engineer, Acr0nym, focused on the task at hand and I'm not sure he can stay focused if we're talking about food. Especially if Alton Brown gets mentioned.

Tomorrow is even more work on the podcast. I need to do some work deciding on format and more work on the initial scripting - not for the panel discussion but for the introduction and credits. We've also concluded I ought to do an episode zero to introduce the podcast and what kind of content I intend to include rather than try to do all that in episode one so I need to come up with something for that.

And then! Tomorrow night, we'll be heading down to a local pub where Devo Was Right spins each Wednesday night. This isn't something I can normally do during my work week since a 5 a.m. rise time is not conducive to staying out past 9 p.m. Thus, I'm taking full advantage of my ability to stay up late and go gallivanting about town to see my friends do what it is THEY love for once.

w00t!

Additional events scheduled: my weekly coffee klatch date with Spux, a comedy club adventure, a night out with geekery friends, the podcast recording and subsequent dance club fun (maybe...we'll see if I'm up to it), and a birthday gathering for Devo Was Right.

Somewhere in there, I hope, there will be cake. Just for me. Because mmmmm...cake.