ordinary is okay

hey there.

this is a smol post. this is me reminding myself that not everything has to be

BIG AND IMPORTANT AND PROFESSIONAL AND

perfect

that you can write blog posts by opening your computer and typing your thoughts out and sometimes – sometimes you have to be casual and spontaneous to access the deepest of revelations.  sometimes the most sincere words come out when you're sitting at the computer, typing stream-of-consciousness, not worried about the result. 

reality: i want to post on this blog more
problem: every time i think about posting, i feel pressure and can't even decide on a topic
solution: stop treating it like the declaration of independence

i started writing this post randomly, but now i'm serious about this. i really want to blog more often, but i'm so held back. so this blog is gonna change a little, maybe. i'm gonna be okay with just typing out what i think and posting it. posting without a fancy little graphic, sometimes.  just writing, journaling, giving my thoughts permission to exist.

not everything is an official document that must be signed by 56 people and framed on the wall and protected with laser technology

it's okay if it has typos

heck, i even warned you in my blog header - we're gonna have typos. and it's funny cause i'm not notorious for making typos when i type.  it goes beyond that – i think i was reminding myself that we don't have to be perfect.

who cares about typos, anyway

so this is my declaration of independence, and maybe it isn't as fancy as i would have wanted it to be.  but i think there's a lot of power in letting things be casual.  occasionally, i'll start writing a random story, just for fun.  a few pages in, i start really liking it.

"wow caroline, you might onto something. this is genius. everyone's gonna love it."

as soon as i label the thing as 'extraordinary', everything gets harder. i have to keep impressing myself.  we have Standards now, and everything i write is suddenly not-good-enough. something happens in the transition from ordinary to extraordinary.  what started out as a random, enjoyable thing now has stakes, and often times, stakes and creativity don't get along.

maybe just...let some things be ordinary. let them live their lives without recognizing them as amazing. when the time comes, you can look back and say wow, that's an extraordinary thing.

write your declarations of independence on plain white paper, and don't ask anyone to sign off until the thing is finished. for the time being, it's okay to be ordinary.

*clicks publish without making any fancy graphics and feels wildly rebellious*
~ Caroline :)

star

how do you breathe life into people

–   not metaphorically –

how do you grasp their lungs and hold on

until they remember they are alive

how do you catch your own breath

long enough to tell them that

they are more beautiful

than you have words for

we live in the same world

so I will always be here for you

but how do you breathe life into people

I’m asking for celestial hands

while dust falls, mocking, from my lips

I am no god

so I make maps

simple words on lined paper

constellations that are more than burning stars

I leave a space for you

courageous space traveler

you will find your way home one day

stain the page: when inspiration scares you

"let your dreams be big enough to scare you" ~arielle estoria

That's a quote from one of my favorite spoken word poets, in her poem, If I Could Tell You Anything.

But sometimes...it's really hard to do.

I skirt around the topics I’d rather not dredge up.  The things that I’d have to pull too far out of the ocean in order to get them to stay on the page.  I don’t want to turn out my heart that far. I don't want people to see. I don't want myself to see.

I’ve been doing it a lot lately.  I normally write based off of my most current emotions; the prominent joys and fears in my life at the moment.  Sooooo, when I’d rather not commit those to paper, I end up not writing very much.

Does inspiration...ever scare you?

Every time I sit down, I can only think of one thing to write.  And I refuse to write that thing down.  Because I’m scared of it. Or I think I’ve already spent enough time beating the topic to death and there’s nothing to do but just wait until my emotions move on to the next big thing.  Whatever the reason is, my reluctance to just accept the ‘inspiration’ that’s been given to me shuts everything down.  

Everything I write feels shallow and uninspired, ‘cause...it usually is. I basically just pulled it out of thin air and pieced some random, distant emotions together in place of what’s actually going on.  (That’s also the reason I almost never write poetry when I want to - only when I overflow.  Which is often enough that it’s not really a problem xD)

I’ve been thinking around this topic for a while now, but it just struck me harder than usual: what a blessing it is to be able to find inspiration in these emotions.  How valuable is writing those raw, real scenes that articulate my existence and remind others of their own?  

What am I missing by pretending the present isn’t here?

I want to start writing what’s real. Raw.  I want to write myself again, into everything I do.  Today’s Thanksgiving, and I’m thankful for words, thankful for even the present moments that feel too heavy to write down. I’m thankful for finding inspiration around me and of course, all the amazing people who love me and those who write with me.  

In the coming year, I’m going to try and give myself the opportunity to write what’s really there. I’m going to stop hiding from the emotions and ideas that feel a little too big to embrace head on.  I’m gonna dare to let those words stain my page.

Have you ever felt this way? What's keeping you from writing what's on your heart?

This Moment, and the Next

Dear Stranger...

I don't know who you are, or what you're going through right now. Wherever you are, though, you are not alone.  If nothing else, I am sitting in this coffeeshop as I write this, hoping you have so many reasons to smile today. Either way, you're living in a moment right now. Soon, you'll be on to the next moment, and this is both a good and a bad thing.

I want to challenge you to really *live* in this moment.

If it's a good moment, love it with everything you have. Don't ignore it by worrying if the next moment will be as good. Forget that anything beyond NOW even exists, and just live in your moment.

And if it's a bad moment, remember that yes...there is a future. There will be another moment after this one. And dear stranger, I firmly believe your future will be a good one. I promise you - you haven't run out of good moments. There is light in the future and there is light in your eyes and even right now, right here - be hopeful.  ♥

Burrow deep down into the present and feel it for all it's worth.  Make peace with the darkness - get just comfortable enough that you can remind it that it can't stay forever.  Make peace with yourself - admit to yourself that you are beautiful, in just the right ways, and let me tell you -

you are indeed beautiful.

You are capable of doing this - take a breath and another breath until you're in the future and this moment is better than the last and

sometimes progress seems small even under a microscope.

but it's worth it, and I believe in you.

love,
a friend

The Friendly Neighborhood Journal is Coming to You!

So, I've been alluding to a Thing on Twitter for a really long time....
.
.
.
and it's finally here.

In collaboration with the amazing Aimee Meester, I present to you...

Do you like writing letters to people?
Do you like getting mail from frens who live in places you've never been before?
Are you friendly? I hope so.

Then you should definitely join our group of nice people writing nice things to each other.  The Friendly Neighborhood Journal is a lil journal that will be passed around the country (and likely the world), accumulating journal entries from many frens.

If you sign up, we'll put you on the route and someday in the next few months, the journal will arrive at your doorstep. You'll be able to read through what everyone before you has written, then contribute something of your own - art, poetry, encouragement...then you'll send it on to the next person! (Note: international people can definitely sign up, and we'll just make sure the person before you is okay with shipping internationally.)

me with #thefriendlyneighbhorhoodjournal

You can follow the journey through the Twitter hashtag, #thefriendlyneighborhoodjournal, and post your own picture with the journal when it gets to you.

One of the best things is that you have no idea who's gonna ship the journal to you. You might get it from a beautiful person you've never talked to before, or maybe it'll be your best friend from Twitter, and they'll have sent you a personal letter to and maybe a nice bookmark in the package.  It'd be so cool if you made some new writing frens or pen pals out of this as well. Feel free to mail extra stuff along with the journal for the next person!

Comment or email thefriendlyneighborhoodjournal@gmail.com with any questions, and sign up soon, because there's always the possibility that this will be a Cool Thing and run out of space before you can say "duh-caroline-and-aimee-are-already-cool".  If you know someone who'd love this kind of thing, share this post with them and peer pressure encourage them to sign up!

I can't wait to see where this lil guy goes. :)

- sign up here -

Much love,

Caroline (and Aimee) 💙

Feeling Alive

Sometimes, if I hold still for long enough,

or look at something really closely,

or breathe in deep enough,

I can feel myself living.

It’s really hard to explain.  

Most of the time, I feel like I live inside my head.  There’s a lot of thinking and analyzing and planning for the future, I guess?  I exist mostly in my thoughts.  For this reason, I end up feeling kind of distant sometimes.  Like the world is this thing that I have to actually reach out to in order to interact with. I don’t actually live in it.  

Maybe everyone’s brain is like this, whether they write entire blog posts about it or not. Maybe it’s just an introverted, INFJ, writer-penguin-Caroline thing.

Then, there are distinct times when I actually feel….alive.  

Usually, it’s a certain smell or image that does it.  It’s a little moment of ‘enlightenment’ or awareness that lasts just a second or two.

/ / the smell of rain / /

/ / staring at a forest. a whole forest. / /

/ / the smell of wood and old window sills / /

/ / fall and spring / /

/ / a song you used to know by heart, and maybe still do / /

/ / fresh snow / /

Fall is the best time for this feeling.  There’s so much ‘life’ in the air, somehow. Sometimes I can smell Fall as early as late July.  It’s like I filter out that little hint in the air, and my soul remembers it and I just get really happy.

Most of the time, it’s a really random thing. Something that gives me sense of nostalgia for memories that make me feel like I’m living in my childhood again, when I didn’t live in my head so much.

I’m not sure why I wrote this post, exactly, other than to put this feeling into words.  It came nowhere near capturing the feeling, but I wrote it down anyway.  It feels so good to feel...alive.

Do you ever feel this feeling of 'aliveness' or awareness? What's your favorite season - and have you been able to smell Fall yet? I promise I will finish that Identity series soon oops xD

(PS I just switched my comment system from Discus to the original Blogger comments, because people were mentioning that it wouldn't let them comment. So please let me know if you have problems with it! I think it deleted lots of old comments on other posts *sad faceeeee* but hopefully it will let more people start commenting again. -.- )

Don't Be a Dark Squishy Turtle - Take a Break (Identity Series: Part 1)

I don't know how to do this.

I feel like I say that a lot.  But honestly, every once in a while, inevitably, I come back to this point.  Very often, that sentence applies to a lot of things in my life.

"I don't know how to blog consistently."
"I don't know how to keep my emotional state steady for more than about a day or two (or an hour or two)."
"I don't know how to coerce inspiration into visiting me."
"I don't know how to be myself."

Who am I?  I guess it's a normal question to be asking right before college. The crazy mess of high school is over, and now that my time isn't constantly taken up with homework, sports, concerts, poetry slams, and other performances...I'm not really sure what to do with myself.

I've tried to do a lot of creative things this summer. I've done a lot of creative things this summer.  I want to feel like "myself" again.  Except, when I tried to go back to that, I started to realize that I didn't even know what I was trying to go back to.  Some part of myself has been left behind...or moved forward?  I'm not sure.  *cue existentialist identity crisis #37 of this week*

PAUSE.

*the wild Caroline returns after abandoning this post for about a week*

*doesn't know what's going on (AKA nothing's changed)*

Plot twist, I'm gonna do a little series on identity.  Fitting, since I'm about to go to college, I'm a introspective little bean, and I have an identity crises about every five minutes. Obviously, I'm an expert on the topic.

Actually, I've really been learning a lot lately.  So expect a few (maybe shorter-than-normal?) posts on identity - both metaphorically, literally, and sarcastically in the next week or two. Probably Broadway musical references.  And If I randomly never post another part of this series, well....I mean, identity is hard, man!  I probably got amnesia and forgot I had a blog. (A good and convincing excuse that I should use here more often.)

Before I forget where this post was even going...

Take a break.

Like, you owe the world nothing?  The globe keeps turning if you sit back and don't write that post today?  Empires rise and fall in the presence of your action and non-action and there is no correlation there.

In other words, it's okay to be inconsistent with blogging (and other things in life. Obviously, please consistently water your pet cactus - but like, other than that?).  There are 'rules' and stuff for blogging if you wanna get "popular" - 'post on the same day each week', 'go follow other blogs', 'keep your content & voice consistent', etc.  And yeah, that stuff can work pretty well.

But at the cost of your enjoyment being viciously ripped away and stomped on by Dementors?  Not worth it, friendo. If you're struggling to keep up a blog right now, it's okay.  Keep struggling, instead of forcing yourself to be perfect.  Because you might attain that 'perfection', but there's always going to be consequences.  (AKA every fantasy book ever - because it's TRUE.)  In high school, I did a lot of stuff that I liked. Kept my grades up, took challenging classes - and everyone said I was "successful".

But...

I was just stalking my own archives (as you do), when I found this post that describes EXACTLY how I've been feeling lately.  (Funny how I thought I learned that lesson....I guess it's like those college classes, the ones that are like 'yay you can retake this one as many times as you want hooray')

"But ignore the late nights.  Ignore the stress and irritation.  Close your eyes to the tears, because these are just side effects.  Just tiny inconveniences, not long term, that must be overcome.  Until they started to disable me.  Too tired, too stressed.  Working harder to keep up with the "standards".  If I complete my to-do list, I'll finally feel good. Then I can be happy, carefree.  But until then, just gotta plug through. 

And then I just couldn't. I got to a point where I physically and mentally could no longer maintain the demands I'd built up for myself.  I simply couldn't keep playing the deadly game, courting the idol.  There reaches a point for every human being at which they realize that they are not invincible.  The longer it takes, the harder it hits. " (Read the rest)

I kinda feel invincible sometimes.  I think I should be.  But on the inside (the part I keep ignoring, because duh, who even needs those vital organs anyway?)  I am hurting.  Stuck in the lie that my identity is how well, how fast, how much...I do things.  My brain is a little too heavy from the weight of all that pressure and performance and self-imposed standards.

It's kind of like being a turtle.  A very fast turtle, who likes to zip around all day and has a very hard shell, but is all squishy and dark and ouch inside.

Don't be a dark squishy turtle.

Take a break.

Who are you?  Have you taken a break recently?  Are you going to remember that your identity isn't based off of how many things get done in day? Please do. 💙

things i love

- remembering what it feels like to be inspired

 - having so many words inside of me that i can physically feel their warmth

 - eating ice cream and cookies and chocolate, all at the same time

 - just looking at my dog for a really long time and thinking about how cute he is and the fact that he loves /me/

 - writing letters to strangers and leaving them, not knowing who's going to pick them up

 - taking showers in complete darkness and thinking for a really long time

 - stars

 - surprise messages from friends

 - handwritten letters

 - being calm enough to do art for no reason other than doing art

 - when my words have an impact and i can actually see it

 - waking up and feeling good and smiling

 - the smell of rain and old wooden window sills

 - hugs. really long hugs. 'i-understand-you-and-love-your-soul' hugs. random hugs. all the hugs.

- sitting in silence with other people

 - the color blue

 - when people ask how i'm feeling, and they actually want more than a generic answer

 - feeling calm and at peace with myself and the inevitable lack of order + knowledge in my life

 - randomly finding new friends, yelling at them about things, and generally getting along amazingly after only 29 seconds

 - not feeling like i have to perform for anyone, and not wanting to

 - watching fire burn black and blue and red while everything around you is dark

 - trees. climbing them + smelling them + feel a mutual sense of nurture

 - books that make me feel powerful and 'like myself'

 - finding words and colors that feel just right

 - becoming a blanket burrito during the winter

 - friends who are frens no matter where you live or how long it's been since you've seen them

 - coffee that repairs my insides

 - letting my brain wander and loving the places i end up in

 - the feeling of being in the city, surrounded by people, alone

what do you love?

The Bright Eyes Project Podcast + Interview with the Creators

*glances around surreptitiously*

I probably shouldn't be talking about this.

There are probably scary space things that will find me after I click "publish", and this post and my blog and me will all disappear to wherever the scary space things live. Not that I'd know, or would tell you if I did.

I really shouldn't be giving you this information, but there's a new thing out there.  Out there in a world full of broken gum ball machines, disappointingly-empty chip bags, and cute sweaters that unravel the first time you wear them....there's something more.  Something stellar.

Brought to you by the highly feared esteemed Athena Institute, I give you -

Described as "X-Files meets space", this chilling and relatable podcast debuted just a few days ago!  I stayed up till midnight so I could listen immediately...it was so worth it.  Episodes will be released once every two weeks in 30 minute (ish) installments.  And I am here to give you everything you need to know (and might get in serious trouble for knowing). Don't blame me if you disappear or find yourself suddenly asking questions you never knew had always plagued you. You chose to keep reading.

My dear fren Aimee Meester is the evil mastermind behind this beautiful thing, and I am very proud of her amazing creation. She is joined in her scheming by Sydney Fontaine (the voice of Trish) and  Cyrus Fontaine (music and sound effects).  Stacia Joy is responsible for creating the blessing that is this beautiful cover art.

"Throughout a year of hyper-realistic scenario simulations and practical opportunities, students in the Bright Eyes Project will be tested and challenged in their assigned field of study. They will grow in their abilities as crew members and future heroes, within the contexts of the chain of command, official protocol, and diplomacy. Upon graduating from the project, successful students will be fully prepared to enter the next stage of their lives and shape the future of humanity in increasingly advanced ways."

LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brighteyespodcast/file-01-im-not-the-pilot

LISTEN ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRVLfiQGBBE

You aren't ready for this.  I am not ready for this.  Trish Odessa, finally going out into the world to prove herself, probably isn't ready either.

from Aimee's website. chilling, isn't it? go there to see even more classified info!

(As a rule, I absorb all of Aimee's creative endeavors with a great deal of caution, because she seems to have a penchant for writing really intense, emotionally-gripping stuff that usually ends in the tears of me and all of our friends. Thank you, friend, for the tough love, I didn't need those characters to survive anyway.)

---

If you want a visual idea of what The Bright Eyes Project is about, the  Pinterest board for it is spectacular.  And here's the Spotify playlist Aimee listens to as she plots our doom this great podcast that won't destroy us at all definitely not.  Listen to it and be inspired in a creepy way.

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aesthetic

// stars //

// silence and doubt //

// blue and purple and white //

// and a splash of red //

// questioning everything //

// this was a mistake //

// forging ahead //

// fear // 

---

AND NOW, for your further enjoyment and intrigue, I have temporarily abducted Aimee, Sydney, and Cyrus for interviews and forced them to give me all the gifts gifs.  PLEASE WELCOME THESE GENIUSES WITH WILD APPLAUSE.

What is your foremost emotion at the moment?

(YES SHE CHOSE A JIM GIF - GOOD CHOICE, AIMEE, GOOD CHOICE)

I've been surrounded by so much hype and encouragement and kind words and support since even before this weird little thing came out, and it's honestly unreal right now. I'm riding this wave of TOTAL ABSOLUTE HYPE and getting so much feedback and drowning in nice Twitter messages, so this is me hugging all of you. I love y'all.

What was your original inspiration for Bright Eyes?

 

It was actually Star Trek: Beyond! I came out of the theater after that movie feeling a renewed love for all things spaceships and sci-fi, and my brain started working. I wanted to write a novel that was a bit Star Trek, a bit Ender's game, and then the whole fiction podcast thing started to fall into place and it went from there.

How is writing a podcast different than writing normal fiction?

 

You think it's going to be easy -- you just have to change the style, right? 

It is not easy. 

The thing I have to remember is that I'm not writing a fiction novel, I'm writing essentially a TV script. Every time I sit down to write an episode I have to remember that I'm writing for just a voice, and a specific voice at that. I have to keep in mind Sydney's tone and the way she says things and write in a way that's going to compliment that. I have to give 'stage directions' for sound effects and such, but I have to remember that it's all audio, that I can't describe things and it has to sound as natural as someone talking fairly normally. It uses a totally different part of your brain and requires more thinking (somehow) right from the start, and it takes some getting used to.

Is this going to make me cry (again)? *glares*

 

It is 100% going to make you cry again. It's making me cry again. There's so much coming and honestly, not even the rest of my team knows about the worst of it, so they're probably going to hate me too.

Can you see yourself somewhere in this podcast - in one of the characters, in the story, etc.? What part of this project reminds you of yourself?

 

Absolutely! So much of this podcast is about being a teenager and what it's like to be a teenager, navigating a messy confusing world while you're still growing, and a lot of those feelings come from my personal experience as, y'know, a teenager. The characters you'll hear in this podcast are heavily influenced by me and the people around me, and something that especially comes from me is this theme and feeling of feeling like you need to be the best, you need to prove yourself, you need to be enough. Most of these characters are really chased by the idea that they have to pull it together and be perfect and prove that they're ready for all of this, and that's something that they struggle with very much. So much of that is from me and it's definitely one of the main themes.

What was the most fun part of working on Bright Eyes? The most challenging?

​Not gonna lie, this whole thing has been a blast. Probably the most unique fun I'm having with this one is the feeling of collaboration! It has its own challenges, but when you're working with people who get the story you want to tell and mesh with you perfectly, you get something beautiful out of it. I love hearing Cyrus put music and effects to my words and change it from something flat to something alive. I love working with Sydney and creating a character together, with me building off her voice and her building off my words until we come up with something amazing. I can't get enough of it. It's so much better than it would have been on my own.

Of course, it's challenging, too, and the most challenging part is the actual writing of it. I'm getting better at that, I think, but I've always been a novel-writer, and this is a very different type of storytelling that requires very different skills and parts of my brain. It's often extremely hard to figure out the right way to say a thing so it sounds natural and to keep everything bare-bones and minimal.

When you were young, what did you want to "be" when you grew up?

​

Y'know, I...never had a particular thing I wanted to be? It feels like most people do, but I never did. I wasn't a very ambitious kid. And then I started writing and it all went out the window. 

---

What is your foremost emotion at the moment?

Mostly SUPER EXCITED. There's such satisfaction in working on something for months and finally having it out for everyone to experience.

Can you see yourself somewhere in this podcast - in one of the characters, in the story, etc.? What part of this project reminds you of yourself? 

I definitely do. I really think Trish's story relates well to most young people. We have all experienced being right on the cusp of something and feeling utterly unprepared and small. For Trish, she's facing a literal massive expanse. For me - I don't know. Life is scary sometimes. We gotta face stuff that's difficult and mysterious but we do it and we grow. I love how this story exemplifies that.

What was the most fun part of working on Bright Eyes? The most challenging? 

The most fun part for me has definitely been the collaboration, the problem solving and just getting to take a concept and words and make it a thing. I've loved getting to know Aimee and becoming team mates and friends - she's such a gem. I've loved how we each have a finger print on the final project with each episode. The most challenging part for me has been getting into Trish's headspace and figuring out how she's going to act and react. It's so interesting to play a character that's so unlike myself. I love this character so much and wanting to do her justice and really get to know her has been a really mind bending, fun challenge.

When you were young, what did you want to "be" when you grew up? 

Prepare to be surprised. The two most prominent occupations that I aspired to were writer (not shocking) and TRAIN CONDUCTOR. I have no idea where I got that idea but I was always fascinated by trains. It didn't work out but I still love trains.

How do you think voicing Trish's character allows you to shape her personality beyond what’s written on the page?

Well first off, it's been a blast just kinda developing Trish between my literal voice and Aimee's voice as a writer. I feel like we've been able to play off each other in that sense. But I think words and intonation in general are so powerful, and it a different experience to hear this story spoken then when I'm in preproduction reading the scripts. So I think really a lot of development happens just in that process. I also find that Trish really wrestles with herself and her feelings about what's going on around her, and you can really start to feel that underlying tension as the story progresses.

---

What is your foremost emotion at the moment?

Right this very moment? I'm in the place between over caffeinated and running on adrenaline. Today was a show day for my band, and as I'm writing this we're on our way home. Of course, I'm also incredibly excited for the release of the podcast! It's been so incredible working with Aimee and Sydney and creating something we're really proud of!

Can you go into detail about your role in the podcast with sound/music?

My main responsibility on Bright Eyes is composition. I read the scripts, and write themes and ambiances for different characters and scenes. Working with Aimee, this mostly mean writing scary sounding music! I also take care of sound design. I a character sets down a coffee cup, or an alien eats an MC, I come up with a sound effect and mix it in with the voiceover. As an audio engineer, this is like being a kid in a candy store. I can't tell you details, but I can tell you that I've already used recordings of pouring milk in an upcoming episode.

Can you see yourself somewhere in this podcast - in one of the characters, in the story, etc.? What part of this project reminds you of yourself?

I have a deep-seated love for angsty YA drama. I geek out over '90s cartoons and Harry Potter in a big big way, and in a sense this project reflects those interests. There's also a character named Milo who you hear a bit about in Episode 1 that I relate to as a person. He's a little aloof and artsy. That's me in a nutshell!

What was the most fun part of working on Bright Eyes? The most challenging?

I think the most fun part so far may be the collaboration. Of course, I love the music and the challenge of making the show sound compelling, but it has been so much fun just being on the team. We all have a lot of common interests, and on our off days we do stuff like watch Lost and group text about it. The most challenging thing is definitely the file management. I have to keep track of dozens of audio clips for every show, and I'm a disorganized mess on the best of days! Still, it's been a growing experience for me. I'm devising a file system that works for me and keeps files from getting lost!

When you were young, what did you want to "be" when you grew up?

When I was young I wanted to be a chef. When high school rolled around, my interests shifted to animation and film, and programming and a million other things. It turned out to be good, because I use most of those skills to some capacity now almost on the daily. But I still love to cook! My word of advice to young people is always to learn to cook. No matter where you are at in life, you don't need much to make yourself a good meal. It's the simplest way to improve your quality of life!

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LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brighteyespodcast/file-01-im-not-the-pilot

LISTEN ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRVLfiQGBBE

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Thanks for your time, mah wonderful podcast frens! I wish you all the good times in continuing with this project, please have mercy on us, and don't report me to the Athena Institute for writing this really informative post thanks love you bye.
Everyone else - say hi to Aimee, Sydney and Cyrus in the comments below! Give them all the love and beg them for mercy + another episode very soon aka in two weeks. And let me know -

Is anyone else terrified that Aimee is already requiring milk-pouring sounds this early on??! 0.0  Have you already listened to the first episode (FANGIRL WITH ME)?  Are you equally scared that The Athena Institute is reading this post and is going to send the scary space things after me - and you, for reading it?  What are you doing to pass the time while we wait for the next episode?