Podcasts in My Earbuds

I grew up on talk radio. As far back as I can remember, my grandfather listened to 1080 AM KRLD Monday - Friday until he stopped driving in 2003. We only heard music in the car on the weekends. He hated to dislike music, so he avoided listening to it on the radio. I am the same way. Spotify is cool but sometimes my random eclectic choices can be distracting. I don't need help being distracted. My alternative so I can get through my day are podcasts. Just in case someone doesn't know its definition.

A podcast is an episodic series of digital media files, which a user can set up for automatic download via web syndication to a local computer or portable media player whenever new episodes become available. The word arose as a portmanteau of "iPod" (a brand of media player) and "broadcast." (Wikipedia)

While I am working and counting someone else's calories, I listen to NPR podcasts, Code Switch & Pop Culture Happy Hour, and America's Test Kitchen to keep me in a professional mindset. I just listen to them. But the podcast that help me type blog posts, I listen to and/or comment some. LoL I listen to many but I do have a preferred group that I must listen to. All of them can be found on ITunes & Sound Cloud. I being an android user, I listen to them mostly on Sound Cloud. Since I engage (sometime it's just a rating) with some of these, I'll talk about them, in the I found them. The latest will be first.

Series-ly

So, did I need to listen to a podcast about web series? Yes, I Did!!! It's New! I saw their tweet about their podcast while live-tweeting. I ran to listen to the first two episodes. OMG, Mary & Brittany are fun as they dissect an episode like true web series watchers!!! I'm so glad they can't see me signifying with them like they are giving a Sunday sermon. Right now they are recapping Chef Julian, a Sexless spin-off. So, if you are not current on the show, don't go run over there if you don't want to be spoiled.

Just Say Words 

Ok I found this show because Jamie from BGN was being interviewed. He seemed fun but I'm a BGN fan, I may have been biased. So, I listened to another episode and I knew then he was going on my preferred list. He has dry wit commentary on news & issues ranging from race, tech & pop culture. I actually comment on his show. LoL It's that engaging to me. I like his "Who's Mans is This" segment. But my favorite is his "Give Satan a Swirly" sign off signature. You know the little church girl in me can't wait to say that to somebody. And I'll make sure to credit my source.

Love Hour 

Ok, I actually don't listen this show on Sound Cloud. Since I am a KevOnStage fan on YouTube, I listen to podcast with his wife, MrsKevOnStage on there. He's a comedian who is a Christian and he and his wife honestly talk about social & marital issues. He's funny to me but together they are hilarious & inspiring. I learned about the 5 Love Languages (gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service (devotion), and physical touch (intimacy)) from her. And you guys know how I feel about learning new stuff to understand myself.

Dormtainment 

Issa Rae introduced them to me via her show, Ratchet Piece Theater. They are a modern comedy group, rappers & actors. They were actually in a web show I loved called That Guy. I was looking for a prepared playlist of their music and I came across their podcast. Never listen to their music because I was laughing at their podcast. Just some guys in their 20s talking about pop culture & social news items. Since I avoid mainstream pop culture news outlets (except Dish Nation), these guys are music to my ears.

Black Girl Nerds 

I still can't tell you how BGN entered my life. I don't even care. I'm just glad have they are in my life. I read the blog. I wear the merchandise. Why? Because I'm a Black Girl Nerd and without BGN I wouldn't know who on the web that looks like me that talks about some of the stuff I like. Even many of the podcast I listen to. My first introduction to them was their previous podcast on Blog Talk Radio and I just following them to Sound Cloud. BGN talk about plethora of topics. They have opinions about TV Shows & movies like Orange is the News Black, Star Wars & X-Men. They've interviewed comic book creators, vloggers like Andre from Black Nerd Comedy, social commentators, and actors & actresses like the cast of The Different World. They also talk about representation of Black Women and Fan Boy issues. Yep, I Shake My Booty to Black Girl Nerds!

Yep, I am listening to podcasts as I type. I'm listening and living vicariously through those that went to the San Diego Comic Con. It's one thing to view it on YouTube & Social Media. But to hear about the experiences of those that were there is so cool to me.

Any of you guys listen to podcasts? Let me know in the comments.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Web Show Bae and other Web Show Chatter

I have started and erased this post 3 times last week. In offline land, I have curbed my web show chatter. Seeing the Clues & Taking the Hints. I just make "small" lists for those who are interested in watching now.

But Facebook reminded me of the blog post that I first told people about my web show addiction. I was reading the list and most of those show have ended. So, I decided to make this post about the newest shows that I haven't talk about yet. Yeah, even those who have "list" of what I watch, haven't heard me talk much or at all about these shows. Of course, hover the title or season number to watch the show.

Herbs & Honesty
I became aware of Willard Hill's music because it was featured on a show called Rider on Black & Sexy TV. I've been a fan of New Orleans music for decades. I really love zydeco & bounce. So, when I heard the track featured, I became an instant fan. Then I saw his social commentary show on Black & Sexy TV and enjoy it as well. I think my favorite episode so far is "Clubbed to Death". Oh and each episode he has a great ending quote, "Don't Chase the High, Chase Your Higher Self". I love that.

The New Shade of Black
Remember when one of my favorite web series the Unwritten Rules ended (*side eye* Read It Here). Well, the Craig character got a spin-off. The Unwritten Rules were about being "Black" in the office. This is about him and his three marketing business partners live "Black" in society. Oh here's the kicker, one of the partners is not black. It has serious moments but it is tongue & cheek comedy. I love "the NEW Baller" episode. Because we all know all Black men can play basketball. LoL

Clayton
"She set out to do a documentary on her life as a Criminal Attorney. She got more than she bargained for" That's the tagline I almost missed. On Twitter & Instagram, I am a Blocking Beast. I will block an account that I don't think to represent me in a snap. And for every web show I watch, there is 2-3 I can't watch. I don't relate to the content. *shrug* The creator of Clayton follow request me on IG and I look at the pics on there and watched the trailer. I was hooked at the premise of this drama. Then I binge-watched (Shocking because I am a horrible binge watcher) so I could be current for the next episodes. This show has suspense & twists for days. For the past 2 weeks, (Yes, it's that current) Tuesday & Fridays are pearl-clutching days for 5-15 minutes. For those moments, I am Tracy Clayton's screen advisor. That's what Tracy needs, a friend like me. Tuesday can't come quick enough.

You Do You (Buzz Feed) Season 1 Season 2
Don't judge me. We take the quizzes. We're using the hacks. I watch the web show. It's silliness. It makes me happy I am out my 20s. But even they seem cooler than me when I was their age. Friends being friends and living life.

So, that's the new stuff. Now, let me tell you about who I am watching some of this stuff with. His name is Tone (And that can be his blog name). I met him at the beginning of the year. He was interested in me. Well, of course, I told him I was celibate. I say that at least by the 1st date so a guy can go on about his way if he would like. Well, he said, "Oh, you're like this show I watch called Sexless" I replied "What you know about Sexless? You don't watch Black & Sexy". We talked for I know a couple of hours about the web shows we watch. Our date on Valentine's Day was "Web Show & Hang".

We marathoned (Windows is saying that is not a word) Sexless & Chef Julian to get us ready for the season finale of Sexless (which was a Valentine's Day episode) & the Q & A with the cast afterward and ate Pei Wei take out. It was fun. Now, the whole dating thing went out the door by mid-March. But web show talk time is still popping. We've introduced each other to shows the other was not watching. Then last week, I found out that on his phone my name is Web Show Bae. I actually think that is funny. As long as no drama come because of it, I can be Web Show Bae. It's just fun to have someone in the offline world to consistently discuss web shows with. It was kind of lonely. Online posting is fun and I have met a few people on Twitter because of web series. Saturdays after 6 pm are Lit. But to have a tangible person that I can touch & talk to makes feels good. Oh and to the people on FB that I gave a list to, he's who provided the help schedule. I'm trying to be on his level.

So, that is the web show update, I guess. I trimmed my total list down a lot. I don't like waiting on a series that will not come back. Oh and nothing has properly ended so I can do a review of it. Check these shows out if you would like. Oh, and if you watch web shoes let me know what you watch in the comments.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Because I Still Believe...

I would like to be in a dating relationship. I do want to get married. I joke about not getting married until I'm age 65 (He has a check & I have a check) as a joke. Yet, life might be taking me to task on that idea. I was having quick (under 5 minute) talk about Will I ever get married with my friend, Blog name, Jay-May and it hits me. I HATE whining about me being single. LoL But I am going to have to learn to stop discussing my desire to be in a relationship with a few people in my life. Those people fall under one or many of these 3 categories:

• People who think they have a kinship and go on an on about the woes of being single. (No "Being Single" conversation should last more than 15-20 minutes and I don't like having that conversation more than once a month.)
• People who want to tell me why I am single (and strange enough unhappy). Yeah, they are an assuming bunch of self-appointed advisors.
• People(mostly those who MUST be in a relationship to survive) who feel they need to play match maker (offline & online). I'm even going to stop joking with these folks because they do not get my brand of comedy at all.
  

It freaks me out and I never see those annoying behaviors creeping up. I'm always deep in before it dawns on me that I am having This conversation. Having the conversation too much places my mind in continual thoughts like:

• Am I actually too Lame to be dating. Am I too Serious to date?
• While going off the market and getting me together, did I missed Mr. Right?
• Was there ever a Mr. Right? Am I like Apostle Paul, Oprah and countless of others who feel like single(non-married) life is the life for me?
• What if I have some funky aura that causes potentials to be grossed out?

I don't like dealing with those kind of topics unless I am suppose to be doing the "Me" work and I must deal with these certain points head on to function in life. But just to dwell on them makes me feel desperate. I Hate feeling desperate. That's how I spent to much time dating losers just because they liked me.

I mean those losers were life lessons but, I don't need to be in that headspace all the time. That headspace is the venue for dating pity parties. I got other stuff to do other than to attend that life sucking event.

Because I still have the faith in romantic love, doesn't mean I need to be down on myself because I not experiencing it now. No one should be down on themselves. And I am refusing to be pull into the talk anymore.  Oh well, back to my self-love inner lair. I'll stay there until I am to share this love with another.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Olympic Priorites

I am excited about the Olympics. I know Rio de Janeiro is going to have a very bright & colorful Opening Ceremony. The Summer Olympics are like my Super Bowl. Unless we are not in an event, I always cheer for the USA. Even when I was a stressed out nursing student, I watched the Summer Olympics. I Do Not Miss the Olympics. But the year's games are already bothering me. Looks like I am going to have to put some prayer on these games.

The threat of the Zika virus has been the major issue since the discovery of the disease in the world. Many athletes are not going to the games because the fear. Many are not. I feel like the sale of Deet containing insect repellant should rise in that country for 4 weeks.

Then matter of athletes have sex with prostitutes and each other became headline news. I really don't understand why this became an issue. I not blind to the fact that any of the athletes are having sex during the events. But in my opinion, Any Athlete Not Disciplined Enough Not to Have Sex During the Olympics Shouldn't be There. IOC to provide 42 condoms per athlete at 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Really!!! That comes to 450,000 condoms. I'm a major proponent for Safe Sex but I think that money could go to something more important, like cleaning the sewage in the water ways of Rio.

This is their job. If they can't do their job to the Best of their ability, then let the consequences fall as the may. But the IOC, International Olympic Committee is helping to protect the athlete wrap. The news broke the other day that,

Yes, I said sewage. A day after the news about the condoms came out, we find out that Guanabara Bay still has waste in it. Guanabara Bay water still overrun by sewage as Rio Olympics loom Before the games 80% of the waste was suppose to cleaned up via moneys from pledges. And for pictures provided by the IOC were just chemicals to treat the water for cosmetic appearances.

It went back to it's trashed state after two weeks. For shots during the games, they going to do same thing. The Rio airport sits near the bay. Many events including sailing, beach volleyball & the swimming triathlon will be in or near this body of water. I guess athlete will have to whole their noses near the water. That's a bunch of crap.

Just like these Olympics priorities. That why I'll be praying for each athlete like I know them personally. I think they'll need it. Go For the Gold!!!

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Put Them Back In

I am so weirded by the subject of this post the only pictures, the only pictures on her will be reactions to this subject. If you need visuals of what I'm talking about, Research It, Yourself.

I try to ignore as much pop culture foolishness as I can. But when I see something that could be problematic I have to speak on the topic. But you guys know this already.

Have y'all heard of labia or vulva cleavage? Yeah, I thought it was the new name for camel toe. It's not. I was on THE Essence Magazine's Youtube channel and they were critiquing Nene Leakes labia cleavage, Seemly Instagram models & celebs like Nene Leakes are wearing high cut one piece bathing suits so high & tight that their labia is close to or is actually hanging out and only their clitoris is covered. It's been seen since 2013 but now in 2016 it is now being widely talk about I'm afraid that this "trend" will become too commonplace soon.

When it comes to Respectability Politics, I am lean to the Conservative Right. I tend to believe as i was reared, "People used to have to wonder what your body looked like". All private parts (top & bottom, men & women) should be covered as much possible. I have large breasts and I try to cover a much of my cleavage as comfortable & fashionable as I can. I've also worn the too short dresses that some thought were actually tops. Luckily, I know how to squat. But to wear something to high and type that my sexual parts are seen is not kosher at all.

Maybe everyone did not receive health education as well as I did. So maybe, they don't know why their exposed "lips" is dangerous for their health. Both sets of labia are to serve to protect & cushion the vaginal opening & transmits sexual sensation. I have a feeling somebody "learned" about the joys of the second function without taking consideration of the first function. Bathing suit material is a tad thinner than other textiles and hiking it up make a few more openings on the sides. So, what is protection you from the elements of the natural world? And unless the bathing suit is made of & treated with all natural fibers, the vagina is also being expose to the chemicals (dye, cloth softening products, washing agents) in the suit. Sounds like a recipe for vulvitis (inflammation of the vulva, the external female mammalian genitalia that include the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, and introitus (the entrance to the vagina). Wikipedia). That can't be something you want.

I hope this Stops soon. I hope it never becomes a norm. Please pull your bathing suits down and put privates back inside. Leave that show behind closed doors. And if you someone participating in this choice, that is not a just cause to touch them unwillingly. Keep your hands & objects to yourself.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Our History Textbooks Left Out the Section About Kids Menu (Food Know-It-All)

My belief is if you look at the backbone of your eating habits & food ideas, your family or whoever reared you is bracing it up. Think about it, how many "rules" about food have you carried over from your childhood to your adult life. I am typing this post and I literally hear a 10-year-old OUTSPOKEN_DIVA ask me the following questions:

• Did we ever go to IHOP? Yes, when we get to college.
• Remember those Hot Wings at Cousin Fran's wedding we finally had when we were 8, are they still around? Yes, there are now whole restaurants specializing in flavored wings
• Do we still like Ravioli Casserole? Unfortunately, we do. But only once a year. (Now, I'm fighting a craving for Ravioli Casserole (Chef Boyardee with Cheddar Cheese mixed in), I've had it already this year. LOL Blame Public School Lunches)
  

Growing up, we didn't eat out often. Until I was 12, my home had three families(My Grandparents, My Mom & her 3 kids and My Youngest Aunt & her 2 kids) residing in it. Home Cooking was the best economical choice for our home. My grandmother cooked during the week and my aunt & my mom cooked on the weekends. Sometimes on Saturdays (once a month on a Friday), fast food or takeout was brought in. Eating out was rather special for us. We ate out

• When we went out of town
• When we went shopping with mom & grandparents (Easter, Back to School, Christmas)
• Church Functions
• If you were in the car when my grandfather decided to show off the latest restaurant he tried with the credit union board after Sunday church service

Now when going out to eat there were 4 rules.

• Behave!!!
• Don't order anything you can eat at home.
• Anything you order, You Better Eat
• If eating at a cafeteria or buffet, there should be two vegetable choices on your tray

I don't remember ever ordering off of any Kid's Menu at a Standard, Sit down restaurant. I was allowed to color but I remember ordering off the regular menu. My mother hated Kids Menus. "This is a Mexican restaurant, why is there a hamburger on the menu." "Who eats a plate of Macaroni & Cheese? Vegetarian Kids eat vegetables, too".

Once I could read I could see that everything on the kid's menu was stuff I could eat at home. Many of you may see that rule as being bougie or stuck up. I see it as not wasting money. 3.99 for a basic grilled cheese sandwich, fries & a drink that I probably ate already at school earlier in the week. Yeah, I was picking the taco plate off the regular menu. Now, I just heard my grandmother say, "And you better eat all of it". LoL

Once I got older I agreed with the food experts, nutritionists, dieticians & doctors in the 90s and beyond, Kids Menus needed a facelift. (Well, at least at Standard, Sit Down restaurants, I agreed. Healthy Fast Food is an Oxymoron, in my opinion. If people want their families to eat healthily, Don't Eat Fast Food.) I didn't understand why was there a Kids Menu.

Very few homes I knew of served separate dinners for the adults & the children. And all of those were because of medical requirements & extremely picky eaters. Most homes served everyone the same thing. Adults didn't eat chicken, dressing & green beans while the children eat corndogs & fries. In my own home, the only times the children ate something different than the adults were fried fish night (bone-in fish & fish sticks) and the chitterling meal for New Years (I still eat a separate dinner). So, why do restaurants have a separate and not so equal menu? I finally learned why.

What we know of public children & youth dining in America started with the Volstead Act (The Act to prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of alcohol). In the century leading up to the dry laws, children rarely ate out. Only the children of well off families ate out or stay in hotels Restaurants not attached to hotels didn’t even serve children, because they got in the way of boozy grown-up fun. Prohibition took effect in January 1920, the dry laws forced the hospitality industry to rethink its policy on children: The Waldorf-Astoria in New York in 1921 became one of the first establishments to beckon to children with a menu of their very own. But even as restaurants began to invite children in, it was with a new limitation: They could no longer eat what their parents ate.

The earliest children’s menus didn’t look so different from the playful ones we know today. The Waldorf-Astoria put Little Jack Horner on the cover of their pink-and-cream booklet; as he pulls out his plummy thumb, a dish runs away with a spoon. But then there was the food—the bland, practically basic food. There was flaked chicken over boiled rice, mixed green vegetables in butter; a splat of prune whip. And the one dish that appeared without exception, the chicken nugget of the Jazz Age was a plain broiled lamb chop.

A pediatrician Emmett Holt, first published a book called The Care and Feeding of Children, in 1894, it stayed in print for nearly half a century, teaching mothers, nurses, and, apparently, chefs that young children weren’t to be given fresh fruits, nuts, or raisins in their rice pudding. Pies, tarts, and indeed "pastry of every description" were "especially forbidden," and for no reason were such items as ham, bacon, corn, cod, tomato soup, or lemonade to pass a child's lips before his 10th birthday. Holt didn’t explain his guidelines but it this medley of medicine and morality that still dictated the first 20 years of children’s menus. Restaurants packed them with everything Emmett Holt said to, and they did it proudly.

Then came Dr. Spock with the 1946 publication of Baby and Child Care. Benjamin Spock succeeded Emmett Holt as the nation’s chief childrearing expert which emphasized nurture over discipline. But, for all the collective relaxing over children’s diets in the postwar years, the children’s menu was not abandoned.

Look at those prices

Restaurants were now dependent on its marketing benefits; children didn’t want to give up booklets that doubled as clown masks or featured punch-out airplanes; and parents, quite understandably, had become attached to the low prices. So the children’s menu persisted. Meanwhile, a growing processed-food industry made it powerfully cost-effective to rewrite. By the 1970s, the children’s menu as we know it today was basically in place: The design was as colorful as ever, but the food had been restricted to its present-day palette of browns and yellows.

Again as we see now, our little ones eat a little healthier in restaurants. They at least have a variety of choices, now.

French Fries have a new buddy, Garden Salad & Broccoli with the Grilled Cheese meal. Yes, I've shared this information with my mother. She was shocked that the practice went back so far.

She didn't eat in restaurants until she was an older teenager. (Jim Crow, Segregation, the 1960s) Meals were home-cooked or takeout, only back then for my family. And with this new knowledge she now just dislike not hate Kids Menus. She wishes that would be abolished and parents teach their kids how to make food choices in restaurants. Well, Like Mother, Like Daughter!!!

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Gotta Catch Some Common Sense

Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO) is a location-based augmented reality mobile game, developed by Niantic, published by The Pokémon Company, and part of the Pokémon franchise. It was initially released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices, starting with Australasia, the United States, and parts of Europe, with Asian and other European releases to follow The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices. Although the game is free-to-play, it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. (Wikipedia)

Y'all know 4:5 times I am not doing the trendy thing. Pokemon Go is one of them. I'm not playing it. I know about Pokemon. I used to watch the cartoon. Pokemon has seen some of my money. Just last Christmas, I bought my nephew, Monkey Toes some trading cards. That's what he's into so, Ho, Ho Ho Merry Christmas.  But like Words with Friends & Candy Crush, I won't be lead to play it.

Now, just because others are Gotta Catch 'Em All doesn't mean I was going to be mean. Then I saw some headlines.

Holocaust Museum, Auschwitz want Pokémon Go hunts out

Arlington National Cemetery is a no-go for Pokemon Go 

Now, I have to hit folks with the side eye. I'll say it the creators & publishers Niantic & The Pokemon Company as well as some(Keyword is...) of the game should all the blame. None of them are using common sense & respect.

Yes, I said the creators. I was under the impression that Pokemons had permission at these places so that they could be caught. I saw a restaurant called Sushi Bayashi at Trinity Groves, that's here in Dallas on Facebook encouraging people to Come Catch 'Em All there. I was shocked when places like the Holocaust Museum & Arlington National Cemetery have people in them catching Pokemon. Trinity Groves is an open air culinary & entertainment destination. People are supposed to have fun there. (I can't imagine the increase is sighting of people sitting around on their phones in public.)The other two places are not socializing places. I just think it is disrespectful for the company let this issue run amuck. Who failed but "passed" the research & development and allowed this to happen?

But the company is only 50% of the blame. The players who decided to enter these revered places are just disrespectful. Heck, common sense should say. "I shouldn't run around this place where people are coming to learn about a dark cultural event in the world". But in a world where the police have to put out tips to keep players safe,

As Pokémon Go Consumes Country, Police Nationwide Issue Safety Tips 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Maybe I need to develop an app to test common sense levels and that would determine what apps you could be allowed to download based on your level. Lord, the number of smart phones shut off because the number of people not even at the level to handle one will blow my mind.

Y'all Be Careful!!! Don't be Dumb. And Respect Everyone While You Catch 'Em All.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms