1235 – Notebooks of Journey Into the World Of Friends – Series Review
Pen and paper makes way for a bedtime story role, playing digital.
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Episode 1235 – Notebooks of Journey Into the World of Friends – Series Review
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, navels everywhere…how come ‘navel’ is only used in navel-gazing? I guess no one says, how’s your navel…? I guess, yeah, you can't say…you wouldn’t say that. But I’ve heard of Fuzzle…Fuzzy Navel, which is a drink, navel-gazing…other than that, is it just…? It’s called a belly-button, right? There’s probably an official…is ‘navel’ the official term? Is navel…am I using ‘navel’ correctly? Because I was gonna say…this will be a fuzzy episode of navel-gazing because we’re gonna be…this will be…these are the extra-sleepy episodes where we talk about storytelling in the podcast and stuff like that. So, we’re gonna be looking at this season of Journey Into the World of Friends, where it went…a lot of unexpected twists.
Not plot twists; meanders, and maybe talk about what’s coming up or the influences of what’s coming up in our next series. If you’re new, welcome to…if you’re a regular listener, this is great, 'cause you could sleep through this, then you could listen to it during the day and not…as background noise…not pay attention to it, and then fall asleep to it again. Then if you wake up and you need…then you say…and then on the fourth try, you say, you know what? I need a little comfort in the deep, dark night…you could listen to it yet again, and then years from now you could listen to it. So, that’s the beauty of the show. If you’re new, though, this is a podcast that’s meant to take you…to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff while you fall asleep. It’s a very different show, but you are welcome here.
I’m so glad you’re here. I really hope this podcast can help. It is kind of niche or whatever you want to say…I don't know how to put it. It’s very different and probably different than what you’re expecting. But I would say give it a few tries. Lots and lots of people over the ten years I’ve been making the show said, hey, it took two or three tries for me to realize, oh, this show is as fuzzy…it is…yeah, it’s a fuzzy show of…the kind of…yeah, you’re right. You may be right. I don't know, 'cause I fell asleep…or it kept me company and made me feel less alone in the deep, dark night. Those are the essential things I’m here to do. For some reason, if you already loathe the show…you say, Fuzzy Navels…I don't know. If you’re a fan of Fuzzy Navels, that’s great.
I’m not saying anything bad about…you say…I mean, people do have strong feelings about navel-gazing 'cause you never hear, like, great job navel-gazing there on those thousand podcasts you made. I’m not even sure what it means. Luckily…I’m surprised I was never…a teacher never said it to me; like, why don’t…can you quit your navel-gazing? ‘Cause I guess in a…talk about giggling…a giggling classroom. I’m sure there was times…I don't know if I ever was gaving at my…gaving or gazing at my navel in class, but I was doing a lot of gazing out the window, that thousand-yard stare, and at my desk. I’d gaze at anything. But I was…I don't think I’ve ever gazed at my navel in that way. As a matter of fact, you say…most of the time you say, well, I’m just doing…I’m just double-checking.
That lint-collector in my laundry does not collect all lint. My navel’s got a backup, you know? My navel’s got your back. How about that? I do have to walk by my washer and dryer, but when you see your dryer, just say, don't worry; my navel’s got your back, buddy. My navel has…that one piece of lint that’s gonna get by…did you know that this is supposed to be an efficient start of a sleep podcast? So, I’m glad you’re here, I guess is my point. Oh, if you don’t like the show…I went on a tangent when I was gonna tell you. If you don’t like the show, we have a website set up — sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou — with other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there. But do give the show a few tries. You really have nothing to lose because the show is ad-supported, so it’s free to listen to and check out.
So, just kinda see how it goes, and hopefully you’ll become part of this family of gazers and daydreamers who keep each other company in the deep, dark night. So, I’m really glad you’re here. What we got coming up is support. Most people enjoy listening to the show linearly, to this ad-supported version, but I’ll explain in the intro if you decide, huh, I’d prefer a different experience. There are ways to adjust the show for free, or…become a premium member, you get access to different stuff. But for most people, they just let the show ease them into bedtime and then they fall asleep later on. So, see how it goes at first.
So, we got support coming up; that’s how the show is free for everybody, then there’s a long, meandering intro which is separate from the support, and that’s meant to ease you into bedtime and help you drift off, kinda part of your bedtime routine, and then later on will be a bedtime story kinda looking at a couple…our recent series. Those are usually really lulling because I’m trying to remember, hey, why did I make this creative choice? You say…and people are always like, you put a lot of thought into…I say, well, I do because it’s important. But it’s kinda thoughts you could sleep through, obviously, like the rest of this intro. So, that’s that, and then…yeah, I’m glad you’re here and I really appreciate you coming by. Thanks for making the show possible, my bore-friends.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether that’s thoughts on your mind, thoughts about the past, present, the future, thoughts about me, thoughts about the weather. I don't know, I mean, I have a lot of thoughts. They’re always going.
A lot of times, I don't even notice. I talk about…it’s been going on a lot recently, rehearsing for life; rehearsing speeches, rehearsing…like, some part of my brain…and that’s on autopilot. It’s rehearsing ways to impress people…of ways that only in rehearsal does it go well. It says, well, we need more information about current events. I say, well, which ones? Well, popular ones, pop-culture ones. I say, okay. Man, that’s…'cause think about this one, and we’ll lay it on people, our wisdom…but it doesn’t usually…it doesn’t…it’s just doing that in the background. It’s not actually engaging me. Whenever I engage it, it says…I say, you realize when I go to talk to somebody, it’s like the definitely of pratfall, like a verbal…it could be a verbal or physical pratfall. I’m just trying to keep practicing, but IRL.
My brain says, okay, then we’re gonna say, are you familiar with the history of onomatopoeia? You say, well, we don’t…I don't think that’s even a word. You know, I was thinking about haikus the other day. Say, where exactly are you gonna use that? Just in case. I’m just practicing. So, anyway, I’ve gone on that tangent before. But those are the thoughts that go through my mind all the time, particularly…as soon as stuff quiets down. That’s why I go through this stuff. Thoughts, feelings, my feelings start coming up, physical sensations, it could also be other stuff; changes in time, temperature, routine, work schedules, travel, guests, anticipating something positive or anticipating something…you say, well, I gotta get ready for this test or this life event, or I’m helping somebody or I’m going through something.
The reason I list all that stuff is to let you know you’re not alone. I know this is digital. I know it’s pseudo, but that doesn’t change the fact of how it feels for me and a lot of other people in the deep, dark night. It feels lonely even when we’re in the room with other people. This show is kind of like…is meant as a interruption to that, I guess, or a distraction from that loneliness by letting you know, hey, I know how that feels. Maybe it doesn’t feel that way for you. Maybe it’s something different, and that’s the other great thing, is there’s a lot of people listening.
So, while I may not be able to relate to how you feel or what you’ve been through…I mean, I’m pretty sure I can at least on some level, but just in case I can't because I’ve never been through it, there’s enough people listening right now…there’s someone listening right now who is leaning in and can relate to how you feel, and they want to validate it, to use a regular defined word, and say, hey, that is tough 'cause I know how it feels, and I hope this podcast can help you. That’s what other people are doing right now, and they’re thinking of you. I know in a indirect…and here’s a thing; across the world. So, we’re…we are bound together in some nice way that’s different, a fuzzy way.
We’re bound together by…there’s the…Huey Lewis never sang about it, but the power of Fuzzy Navel…I mean, that could be one of our…that’s not quite a catchphrase, but that’s what this show has, half a catchphrase. The power of Fuzzy Navel. You say, I think you have the tense wrong on that. You’re talking about Fuzzy Navel the drink? No, no, no, the spirit of fuzzy…I don't know. Anyway, so, whatever’s keeping you awake, I’m here to take your mind off of that and to keep you company so that you could fall asleep, to cut through the loneliness so that you could drift off at some point and get the rest you need, because you deserve a bedtime you don’t have to dread, that you don’t have to even…you know what I mean.
This show hopefully will provide that for you, the rest you need so your life is a little bit better, so you could be out there flourishing. That means our world’s a better place to be in. The way I do it is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents. This is a podcast you just kinda barely listen to, almost like background noise, but you could listen to it if you need to. So, it is like a friend rambling on the phone or in the other room, or a half-heard conversation or a fuzzy picture. I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff, but you just can kinda passively listen. Uh-huh, uh-huh. You don’t even have to verbalize it. You could say, uh-huh, fuzzy…yep, as fuzzy as a navel.
So, this is a podcast also that’s not…I don't put you to sleep; I keep you company while you fall asleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m gonna be here over an hour to keep you company. There’s over 600 free ad-supported episodes ready to go for you to choose from. So, I’m gonna be here, 'cause there are people that listen all night long and stuff. I’m here to keep you company whether you’re awake or asleep, to be your your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your bore-bestie, your neigh-bore, your Borbie, your bores, your bore-bruh, your bore-sib, your bore-cuz, your bore-friend, to keep you company whether you’re awake or asleep and just take your mind off of stuff.
‘Cause there’s people who can't sleep or who listen to the show during the day who need a break, so I’m here to the very end whether you’re listening or not. Yeah. So, that’s…those are two things to note. Another thing that’s important…I kinda mentioned it earlier; most people don’t like this podcast when they first get here. Most people are searching for something to help them fall asleep. So, you get here; you’re already probably frustrated, you need some rest, and then you listen to me ramble about weird…you say, what is…? This is not what…I expected something much more…someone that maybe…I didn’t expect relatability, 'cause I can relate to this rambling. I expected somebody…I mean, for me. This is just my experience; pressure-filled aspiration. ‘Cause when I…that’s why I started making the show.
I said, well, I can't…I don't think I could be like this person who is floating above the trees and then looking…oh, and saying, oh, look at that pine cone. Hello, pine cone. I mean, I could do that in a genuine way, but it’s gonna be different and weird because then, whatever, I’m gonna anthropomorphize the pine cone or I’m gonna wear it like a hat instead of having a calm relationship with it and saying, okay…that’s why I have sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou set up, 'cause there’s shows that are more straightforward and relaxing. This show is more like a friend, a goofy friend, here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff. So, it’s okay if you don’t like the show at first.
Most of the people that pay for the podcast because they love it so much and they want it to be there and they want to have a customized experience, those people didn’t like the show when they first listened, or they didn’t…they said, this is not what I expected. So, just see how it goes because once it clicks, if it does for you, you say, oh I’ve been looking for this the whole time. I had no idea. Or maybe it’s situational. I hear from people, too…they say, oh yeah, that got me through this time, and I know the podcast will be there again if I need it. So, just see how it goes. The other thing that people have very strong feelings about is the structure of the show, and it is…to offer a podcast where paying for it’s optional that is consumed by a lot of people, we’ve taken feedback and come up with the structure over the years.
But it is adaptable if you need it to be. But at first, just kinda listen linearly, 'cause that’s just how most people listen to the show. It doesn't mean it’s right or wrong. It’s just that…how we design the show with that consideration in mind, to benefit the most people it can, and to be flexible. So, the show starts off with a teaser; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and I say something silly so you feel seen and welcomed in. Or, today I already went on a long tangent at the beginning of the show, the teaser, which for most podcasts would be about thirty…fifteen, thirty seconds, but for Sleep With Me it’s a bit longer. But it’s just a greeting to say, hey friend, come on in, or hey friend, you don’t need to come in. You could just look from afar and say, maybe I’ll come in.
Then there’s sponsor support and our Supporter Zone so the show’s free. Paying for it’s optional. That benefits a lot of people. Then there’s a long, meandering intro which is separate from the support. But once…I don't know, I just have to point this out; the intro is a lot…it’s, for most people, the…most people…the only part of the show they hear. It’s the part of the show that’s familiar but different every time, and it’s a part of their bedtime routine, their wind down. The intro is not designed to put you to sleep. It may put people to sleep and that’s great, but for most people it’s part of easing you into bedtime. Again, if you don’t like the intros, you could start the show at twenty or thirty minutes.
If you listen all night, you’re probably…your best experience is supporting the show directly, unless it works for you, 'cause again…yeah, but there’s people that support the podcast just to listen to intros. So, just kinda see how it goes at first. But for a lot of people, the intro is just a fun thing to ease you into bedtime, where we’re slowly calming down. That’s what’s been proven to work and works in my own life. Then there’s support again, and then there’s our bedtime story, and that’s when most people start to drift off. The bedtime story starts around thirty minutes in, twenty, thirty minutes in, and tonight I’ll just go on a bunch of tangents about making Journey Into the World of Friends and what maybe…if I have time, talk about what our next series might be.
Yeah, so that’s…and then at the end, there’s thank-yous and goodnights. So, that’s the structure of the show. That’s why I make the show. I work really hard. A team of people work really hard on this show because we care, because it’s a interesting, creative challenge, and because I’ve been there and I know how it feels. So, I really work hard and I yearn and I strive. I really hope this show can help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a couple ways we’re able to do it for you for free twice a week.
Alright, hey everybody, this is Scoots and this is our review…like, a look back and maybe a look forward at our next series of our episodically modular series, Journey Into the World of Friends. These are very lulling episodes, they tend to be, but then for people that are interested in the process, they may do a day listen of this episode. So, yeah, it’s where I look at kinda the series. Especially with this one, there’s a lot of unexpected things. Yeah, I guess…it’s interesting 'cause it’s like, some stuff I’m like, oh, did I talk about this? But it’s like, probably not. So, yeah, let’s see…let’s set some agenda here.
I guess we could start out with…instead of the concept, some of the nuts and bolts of it, just 'cause that’s what’s in front of me, is…so, this was the first series starting on Episode 8, apparently, where I moved from handwriting…handwritten notes or writing the show with handwriting on pen and paper to hand-writing the show digitally. So, I’ll just talk a little bit about that process. But if you’re a patron and you’re interested in that, I could probably provide the handwritten notes in a way. I just gotta figure out…maybe I need to watermark them. I don't know. This is something we’ve done in the past. Let me walk through that past history and one other digital attempt I did make that did not work.
Okay, so, throughout the history of the show, both for the TV recaps and the written episodes, I hand-write them. I’ve used a multitude of different…pens aren’t that important to me. I’m left-handed and I’m not…I do buy pens, but then you also…pens appear in your life. I like nice…I’m not super particular about my pens. If you are, that’s totally cool. I could be particular, but then it’s like…and there have been times I have, but then I just lose the pens. So, that’s the only reason I’m not particular about the pens, is I’m more of a lost-and-found pen person. Not in the Lost and Found. But with pens, Stephen Stills said it best; write with the one you’re with. Pens. Was that the song? It wasn’t a Crosby, Stills, and Nash song; it was just Stephen Stills. When you’re writing and you…it’s…write with the pen you have.
Write with the pen you’re with. It doesn't necessarily apply to other stuff, but it does with pens. So, okay…but so, here’s the different things I’ve written in over the years, and I’ve jumped back and forth. For many eons of the podcast — 'cause this goes back to 2014 or 2013 — I would go back and forth between legal pads and composition notebooks. There was huge benefits in each one. I would buy them in bulk, obviously. Not huge bulk 'cause I don’t have a garage, but I’d buy them, whatever, a certain number at a time. I don't know which one I started with. Probably legal pads, but maybe it was composition books or whatever…probably I started with whatever I had on-hand.
Then at some point I think I developed a preference for a long time of legal pads, but a couple issues with legal pads and my lifestyle. There’s no way, the way I live my life, that the first couple pages of that legal pad are gonna be staying on there. Also…so, that was one down…the main downside of the legal pad. One, for a left-hander, a legal pad’s great for writing, though you don’t have anything to rest your hand or your arm on. Really good for having plenty of space and stuff like that, but the downside is you lose your top page. You also don’t have a cover page, so at first glance…I would write it usually on the ripper-offer thing at the top if I remembered. Then you could technically lose pages in-between depending on how messy I am, 'cause I’m just a messy person. My life involves a lot of transferring. It always has.
For the…long time, it was like, I was literally…I would get up, get ready for work, pack everything I needed for work and working on the podcast, bus, bike, or walk to the train station, take a train to work, write on the train ride to work. Sometimes I would switch work places in the middle of the day, so I’d take another train and write on the train again, and then I would take the train home and write on the train yet again, and then put everything back in my bag and then do it again. Even now…so, that was the downside of a legal pad, is just…whatever. It didn’t work. Now…so, then at some point I was switching back and forth using composition books. Man, this is great sleep podcast material. I don't mean to pat myself on the back, but I had no idea…even though I probably talked about this before.
Composition books; a lot of benefits. Sturdy, I would say hardy except with one exception which is a critical one, which we’ll get to. A little teaser there. It has a front cover, but usually there’s an abundance of pages, so, with the way Scoots organizes thing…the front cover may not always be accurate because what if I changed it up in the middle of the thing? Including the fact that at some point…okay, and this kinda goes into a downside; maybe too many pages. Because what would happen is…at some point I said, well…I was working…again, describe…going into working at different locations…really a lot of improvisational-style working. Not improve performance, but I have thirty minutes; I’m at this location which is not at home. What should I be working on for the podcast?
I don't have…maybe it’s not working on a laptop. So, it’s like, oh, maybe I should be watching a TV recap. So, what I did a lot of times with the composition books is I would work from the back for a TV recap, and then the front with a written episode. Circumstantially, that’s a good solution for the circumstances. But for organizational purposes and ease of use, it just had a lot of downsides. One was there’s so many pages, so then you get into the middle sections…and I might have been like, hey, if this is Breaking Bad, where’s the next episode?
Or that…but the critical problem with composition books — and again, with me and composition books — is at some point I’m gonna need something to be torn outta there, and that means a…and I’m not…I may not decide to just go…like, when you tear out a page in the composition book, the corresponding opposite page immediately detaches. What if that page is a thing? Also, I don't honestly know why…I mean, I could see with legal pads it was just losing of pages that was…and not…just not being able to, at a quick glance, say, what is in this composition book?
‘Cause to be honest, the time schedule, even now with this podcast, is very…there’s just so many pieces that go into making the podcast, and having the proper mind frame…and so, if I could get all the way down and set up to record and go through and the process and then I realize I have the wrong notebook, that just…keeping those errors…that’s just a obstacle to making a good show and of consideration of my time, like taking care of future Scooter or whatever. That would happen a lot, even with my next solution. But at some point — and I’m not exactly sure why — I think probably the number of pages…well, okay, the number of pages and also really taking two composition books with you…and, oh, by the way, the composition books with removable pages is the same issue…the tear-out pages is the same issue.
Those things are…a sturdy composition book without removable pages is sturdy even in Scoots’ book until I violate the time-space principle of a composition book and start to impact its integrity by ripping a page out. So, I think it was just the impossibility of traveling on a regular basis…a daily basis with two composition books, a laptop, other…maybe other supplementary materials; a laptop charger, pens, my lunch, anything else I need for work or now that I work from home three…two to three days a week…two composition books and a laptop; that’s really pushing the limits of a laptop sleeve and putting it in the main section of my backpack. So, probably those are the reasons I left composition books.
At some point…and again, I don't know the number; A4, A5, but in some sense…some point, I got…maybe I picked up a couple, and, I don't know, people that went to university…or at least my university or college experience in the US was that you would take most of your essay-based tests in these college…these small, square notebooks or test booklets that…those ones had a soft cover. Maybe they were called…I don't remember what we would call them. They were light blue. Blue book? Is that what they called them? At some point, I think either during a giveaway at a conference or something, I got a couple of those, or maybe I bought some. Or, I don't know, but I had access to a couple of those and I was kinda playing around with them. Maybe it was even personal journey…journaling.
I said, wait a second, can you just buy these? Then I realized…then I went into that world, which has been the world probably since…I mean, definitely before 2018. Maybe I’m guessing, so I shouldn’t say ‘definitely’, but more than likely, at least five, six years of…this would have been up until recently of these A…we’ll call them A5s even though I don't know if they’re A5s…which have a paper-board cover. They have a certain number of pages which is usually enough pages to do two episodes of a TV show or about two episodes of a sleep podcast…a written sleep podcast. They have a blank front cover that most colors you could write on and say, hey, this is Episode 5 and 6, or hey, this is Great British Bake Off 2 and 3. Then if it goes over, I say, plus half of four, one of two, and they…you could get them in different colors.
So, then at least I would know…and it still…I never had a system, so…but at least at a glance, I’d say, okay, that’s Journey Into the World of Friends 5…is red. Both of those…if you have two of those, one for your TV recap and one for your written episodes, they easily fit in a lap…they don’t take up a lot of space. They’re also sturdy. If I was traveling on a trip, even taking three of them…two that I’ve already started writing in…let’s say I’m going out of town for a week or even two weeks…easily to take…it’s easy to take three, maybe even four, but four may be more than I need. They’re very sturdy and they’re short enough…and I just have…and maybe fragile enough that I’d never tear pages out of them.
‘Cause again, like the composition book…I guess I more have a sense of their fragility, so I just don’t take pages out of them. I mean, not 100%. I’ve broken that rule, but I’ve regretted it. But they also have their back cover, so it’s like, if I need to write something down, maybe I just write it on the back cover. Okay, this moves into our new…current setup, which who knows how long this will last. But a couple things I tried in the interim there, so you can kinda see what the things are. At some point, when…I think maybe before the Patreon or once we had a Patreon, I said, what if I took pic…like, I digitized our written notebooks? So, long-term listeners will remember a lot of stuff around this probably better than me.
So, I would take…I would use an app called Scannable that would create a PDF, and I'd just take pictures. But that was very time-consuming. I even tried paying my daughter to do it, but it was like…it was just very time-consuming and it just didn’t work. It was no workable way…believe it or not, I have…there was even a time where I was giving giveaways of those. Like, you could do some stuff and I would send you one of my old notebooks that I digitized. But again, that was also pretty labor-intensive, where I said, well, shouldn’t I just be working on what’s gotta get done for the weekend? So, that didn’t really work even though in the grand scheme of things, it would have been like, oh, that would have been cool to have everything digitized.
But I just don’t have the…even if I had the system, I don't think we would have the time. Or at this point where everybody’s pay that works on the show…it’s like, okay, there’s no way to offset that time or labor cost. So, that went out of the window. But at some point, on some forum somewhere where they talk about discounts and writing stuff, there was a discounted system where it was like, a notebook that was erasable and digitizable. It wasn’t digital. It was paper-like, but it was a plastic…not quite like…I don't know how to describe it. I think it was called Rocketbook. Conceptually, it was a pretty cool idea. It was semi-permanent ink that you could erase. But I did find with the lefty situation, that was a issue.
Then again, so, you would write in the notebook and it probably had like, twenty pages, and then you could take…digitize it with their app and then erase it with a special…I think a spray and a wipe or whatever. But with…I think the main downside of that was, again, having the time to do a system like that and also being left-handed. Okay, so, fast-forward to actually just this spring. I was in conversation with someone outside the podcast in a different business that involves a lot of handwriting and legal pads, actually. They said, you know, I just switched from legal pads to this…now, they had a dedicated device for it, but they were…I was like, can you tell me…? They had mentioned in passing how happy they were. They were a friend so I said, hey, can you tell me more about this?
They were telling me all the benefits and showing me it, and I was like, wow, that really seems to work. So, at first I literally was about to jump in with this dedicated device. But then I said, somehow…and again, this is just my choice. It’s not right or wrong choices…and knowing myself, I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not spend any money just yet. Then I kinda reassessed and read some reviews, and again, then I said, I think this I gonna be a good choice. Then I said, okay, let’s reassess it one more…it wasn’t super-expensive, either. But it was just the idea of adding a new device where you kinda get into this…and it seems very portable and very thin, but it’s like, okay, a couple issues. This is just from my unique situation.
One…okay, if I go out of town now…so, I have dyslexia, so I already have…I can’t…and part of my wind-down routine is reading a book on a Kindle because I need…I can…it’s more…it has accessibility features so I can read when I go to bed. So, literally, I can't…and it doesn’t have the blue light like you have to worry about with your phone or a tablet. So, I really…it really is difficult for me to sleep if I go…somehow I go out of town and I don't have a Kindle, because it’s just part of my routine. It’s a comfort thing and it’s an accessibility thing. So, if I go anywhere, even for one night, I really have to have that device with me. Then I already have to have my laptop with me, right?
Then if I’m gonna be gone longer than two or three nights, I probably…it’s definitely easier on me to have the old broken iPad which is a old iPad I have with a cracked screen. I have a screen-protector on it. Oh, that’ll become part of the story, actually, the current screen protector. But so, I said, okay, I have to have that. I could watch stuff on my phone or my laptop, but again, most apps don’t allow you to download stuff onto your laptop to watch, and trying to take notes on a plane while you’re watching something on your phone where you’re looking for details is just not good for the podcast. So, I said, oh, do I really need…? Mixing another device into that mix, as nice as it sounds and it sounds like it’s workable, is probably not a good idea. Then I also was like, well, what if I don't like it?
I could return it but within, whatever, thirty days. But it’s like, what if it’s day sixty…? It just didn’t seem like a good use of resources, to be honest, with me. If I’m not gonna use it for two to three years, even if it’s only a couple hundred bucks…that’s kinda my thing, is like…okay, let’s say it’s three hundred bucks. Let’s say it’s three-hundred-sixty-five bucks, even though I think it was less than that. You say, okay, you think you’re gonna use it every day for two years, or most days two years? Okay, that’s fifty cents. Okay, three…then three…you think you’ll use this every day for three years, maybe? Then you’re at thirty-three cents of daily…okay, so, that’s kinda…I don't know. That’s just one of the ways I use…to think about my…like, okay, that’s a pretty good deal if you’re using it and writing every day.
Fifty cents is a bargain. But if you’re only gonna use it for six months, it’s just…so, anyway, so those are the things. So, then what I did was I said, what about one of these pencils you could use with…could I use a pencil with my old, broken…my old, cracked-screen iPad, or a Stylus or something? Then…I have a old Stylus, a couple of them. You know, just a finger-replicator, we’ll say. Then I said, well, I gotta get a better screen protector for my iPad, just for the cracked screen, for people using it’s protection. So, I got one that was a little bit more texture, and then I tried that with the Stylus. But again, the left-handed part was a issue. But I said, okay, this is…and again, I’m still working in my pen-and-paper notebook, so…during this time.
These are just ongoing experiments in the spring. Then I returned to that idea and I said, no. Then I said, wait a second, you’re using this old, broken iPad which is sooner or later gonna get…you’ve way exceeded the three-year mark of owning this iPad and of…you’re still getting use out of it, but maybe you shouldn’t be work-using it. Maybe you should just get a new device where you could…that…what if you could get a new device that you could watch stuff for the podcast on it, write in it, and do other…read e-mails or watch stuff when I’m recording the podcast or whatever? So, that’s what I stumbled on, is just, oh, why don’t you replace your iPad and get a Apple Pencil too or whatever?
So, eventually…and then I found out, okay, well, what app would I use? Again, I tested this stuff before I made the purchases. I don't know if that’s super important, but finally, that’s what I got to. I said, okay, let’s do that. So, then I…and then I was comfortable. I said, okay, if this doesn’t work, I still have a device that I’m gonna get value out of and still can use it for the production of the podcast in a lot of ways, even if I don't use it to hand-write notes. But I…and I’ll be honest with you; I’ve been absolutely blown away with the ability…so, I got…so, this is just what I’m using, again, but I got a smaller…what is it? Mini iPad, I have the Apple Pencil 2, I believe, and then I use a app called Goodnotes.
Again, I was able to test that out with a monthly subscription, though they have annual subscriptions, I think, or maybe there was a trial and you purchased it. So, the benefits of that have been…it’s about the same size of the notebook I was already using, there’s settings for left-handers, and with some testing and learning, it’s like…it’s pretty much like hand-writing, pen and paper, though you can erase a little bit easier and you could create different…I mean, I create different notebooks. So, basically, I guess that’s it about where we’re at, starting on Episode…and now it’s easy for me to look back…that it was Journey Into the World of Friends 8 that I started testing it out. I can even see that there’s different pen styles and stuff.
You could kinda choose…I started with graph paper, which I seem to prefer, but lately whatever…the auto-update now is choosing plain paper for me, so I have to figure out that setting. So, okay, so that’s it of the nuts and bolts. That was the first half. Okay, let’s get into this Journey Into the World of Friends, though. So, conceptually, those of you that listened…if you haven’t listened to Journey Into…what is it? Is it called Journey Into the World of Tomorrow? Or something like that. They both start with ‘Journey’? I think so. Maybe that was the…but whatever, we did a series a few years ago where…Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow, I think it was called? I mean, I make this pod…JLOT…yeah, it was called…JLOT was the shorthand. Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow.
So, that’s what I would have put on the front of the notebook, JLOT 1. That was…came out of that time we all spent at home in 2020 and playing DnD with family members, and then saying, hey, what about doing something like this as a series, a group of friends playing a roleplaying game? It also came from my daughter and I taking that…the Yale or Harvard happiness course and trying that out and saying, okay…just one of the things was like…I dunno, we…I think we both ended up doing some imagineering. Oh no, no, no, this was a different course. We took an imagineering course, I think. I’m pretty sure. I don't know. So, anyway…I don't know, I guess. Turns out I have no idea. Laurie Santos, right? So, whatever, part of whatever…one of those two things was like, huh, what’s up with this Tomorrow Land?
It doesn’t work in Disneyland or Disney World, in my opinion. So, I was just playing around with those ideas and then I said, wait a second, this is separate from the sleep podcast as a shared interest with my daughter and a hobby for relaxation. But then I was like, huh, this is interesting. It’d be cool for characters to explore something new. Then I said, oh, wait a second, this could be like a campaign in a DnD adventure. So, that was where that series came out of, about friends going into it…and then I said, oh, wait a second, this could also be the same theme park. It could take place in the same world as the girl from a theme park or girl…the theme park raised…a girl who raised a theme park; a theme park who raised a girl…untitled series we have, theme park girl, girl in a theme park, which is another older series you could check out.
I don't know if it’s pre-600 or not, but if it is and you support the show directly, you can listen. Or it might be post-600. Okay, so, that series went well, I thought. I said, okay, at some point I liked the characters. I liked their interactions. I liked a couple things about it. So I said, I’d like to return to that someday. Then I also have had for years this idea of the girl in a theme park…any time I ride…what’s that called? Small World, my story brain absolutely explodes. It’s like, if everybody in this ride was sentient, this is a story…a load…a story load. What do they call it, motherload? Yeah. I’m constantly taking notes when I’m riding that ride…of like, okay…and then…for the girl in a theme park. But it’s never quite…this has been, whatever…since I made that series.
Any time I ride that ride, I’m taking the same notes, so…but it never quite has gotten over that, of like, that final hump to go into production. Then at some point I said, wait a second, this could also be the adventure for the…Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow. I said, yeah, this would be cool, them…if it was a one-off adventure of them going into this attraction. Then initially, to be honest, I said, okay, well, what if we did…what if we could have both? Then I said…this is the kind of conversations I honestly have with myself in the relax times of pre-writing. Like, when I’m taking a shower or walking the dog; okay, well…okay, well, so you…what do you mean you’d have both? I’d say, well, we could do two timelines.
Maybe we switch back and forth or maybe we do five episodes with the adventurers and then five episodes with the girl in a theme park. Then I said, okay, okay…but again, I don't have pre-writing time, so there isn’t…it’s just part of my creative process, too. I think it’s better if I focus on one series. Even if I did have time, which I don’t conceivably see how that would happen, the idea of me writing on one series for two hours or whatever and then switching to the other one…like, if there was a magical gift of time or something, that just…I don't see that…I don't know. That brain shift…I don't know about it. So, it’s just better if I’m pre-imagining. So, I can't…and again, the podcast is a moving train and I know this is hard for…if you’re not in this kind of production to wrap your head around it.
‘Cause a lot of people say, well, why don’t you just take a break or put out repeats or put the show on hold? But those things…it just doesn’t work for the sustainability of the podcast. The podcast has to stick to a regular schedule with new releases in order to exist, even for the old content to be there. It’s just kinda the mechanisms of the creator economy. It just is. I mean, I’ve found that to be workable at this point, but it has limitations. So, that’s a limitation of it, is…for me, it’s like, okay, I’ve gotta be putting out every other week or recording every other week unless there’s…I schedule a break way ahead of time…an episode of the written series. It’s just what I prefer, to be honest. Even sometimes hard…it’s like, even when it’s hard work or intense work, it’s like, well, that’s my preference. I think it’s what works for the show.
Sleep With Me is supposed to sound free and easy, but this kind of stuff is what makes it sound free and easy, and it’s a creative challenge that I enjoy 60% of the time. Okay, so, it doesn't give me a lot of time to pre-prep series or know where they’re gonna go, but that’s, I guess, a freedom, too. So, I didn’t have time to…literally…and today’s the day, just to jump ahead. Yesterday I finished and recorded Journey Into the World of Friends’ finale, so this morning was the first day writing on the new series that’s gonna come out that I’m gonna record in about two weeks, Episode 1. So, that’s literally the lead time. I have bare…just a bare concept and a few images and ideas, and then I’m gonna deliver Episode 1.
Again, it’s different rules for a sleep podcast than a TV show or a film or a book or a short story. It’s just a different rule system. But that’s always kinda…Sleep With Me is…it becomes what it is while I’m making it. So, that…and I guess that’s…so, that leads into, yeah, this show or this series became what it was as I was making it. But when I was initially getting ready to make it and even writing the first episode or two, I thought it might be this two-hander or whatever you want to call it, or two-timeliner, but they would not…but they’re not…the timelines are maybe…they’re not…they’re in parallel, not overlapping. I didn’t want it to become an interactive timeline. So, these timelines would have remained separate because…I don't know, I just thought that they just seemed very…distinctly separate things in separate tones.
I think that’s important because that’s what ended up happening, was like, okay…yeah, but as I was writing with Journey Into the World of Friends and inhabiting those characters and that kind of narrative voice of that show, I could easily, even on a gut level, sense the distinctness of like, how do you go from this style to a totally different style of the girl in the theme park, which is…those episodes were narrated by each attraction about her presence there or by…they’re kind of this third-party narrator, and they just had a different style and feel to them. She, as a character, has a very different style and feel. It’s just a much different…even though they’re taking place in the same worlds…I would say that that one’s ethereal in a sense, maybe? I don't know. So, I was troubled by that, to be honest.
I said, okay, this is creatively troubling. Clearly, as I was getting Episode 1 done, I was like, okay, I can't just go to another Episode 1 with girl in a theme park. I’m not…I don't have the substance here. I’m not even sure what this Journey Into the World of Friends…I want to get this story flushed out a little more. So I said, okay, well, maybe we’ll do a back-half or maybe we’ll produce enough and mix them up after I’ve written them. Maybe I’ll do three and then three and then three and then three. But that gut sense that like, I don't know if this is workable…and honestly, a lot of times I do have to put myself in the listeners’ shoes and say, what would that be…experience like?
Even if they’re six episodes apart or four episodes apart or whatever, it’s like, that’s…if it’s jarring to me creatively, switching, it’s probably gonna be jarring to a listener even though…I think you know what I’m saying. So, at some point during the process, that idea was just set aside and I said, no, I’m just gonna focus on this, probably around Episode 2 or 3 or 4. It was like, no, the conception…I’m just gonna stick with this story. Or, whatever, not conceptually; I’m gonna just stick with this. Honestly, at the time, I said, well, maybe we’ll just cut it short. We’ll make ten episodes. So, that was…that’s one creative Venn…part of the Venn diagram. I don't know. Or whatever, one creative area. There was a couple others.
This was the second year that I wanted to produce seasonal episodes within a episodically modular series, when I’m recording them ahead of time and writing them ahead of time and there’s a very fluid schedule. This year was slightly more successful, and probably next year will be even more…oh, next year I’m hoping to wrap it up so we can do a seasonal series. But this year was slightly more successful. I was able to record a Halloween episode that could have been used other places. So, it was a vague Halloween episode. Then I wanted to record a turkey-day-style episode, but I said, okay, I don't think that’s workable and…within the schedule 'cause we just didn’t have a ton of wiggle room, which I’ll talk about, too.
But then I did get to the point where it was like, okay, let’s do…we do…we could do a holiday-style episode, and then I was able to just write a holiday-style episode that was its own campaign or whatever, its own little adventure. Now, the other thing that happened was…while initially I was like, well, this could be ten episodes, suddenly this became one of our…and whatever you want to call them; modern era of Sleep With Me where we stuck to ten or twelve episodes. This one will clock in at — not counting this episode — twelve…fourteen. Plus, this episode is fifteen…with a little holiday break, I think. So, yeah…which is just because the story asked that of me, honestly. Honestly, I could have probably gone…I mean, I could have stayed in that world. It just was one of those…a world of unlimited choices.
Keeping it on the rails versus where would they go next or what other rooms or what other…it really is…that’s why I was doing so much writing while I’m on that attraction, which bodes good for one day. Not in 20…early 2024 or probably…maybe not in 2024…the girl in the theme park going there. But yeah, honestly, probably not in 2024. So, but there was another big creative…a couple big creative decisions that we’ll kinda wrap up with. I kinda feel like the analogy is one of those…was almost like a mural. If you had a fifty-foot stretch of wall…and I’m not a visual artist, so…but you have a mural that the artist is drawing from the left side of the fifty thing all the way to the right side of the fifty, and as they’re drawing it, it becomes more and more detailed until they get to the end where it’s very detailed.
Then they go back and then they add…they’re just drawing outlines, and then they go back. At about twenty-four feet, you notice that there’s some light colors, and then slowly colors and more details and more and more depth and visual elements develop until you get to the fiftieth foot. I don't know exactly…it’s a metaphor because the development of the show kind of felt like that to me, this show, and just as…and some people don’t like this that make stuff, and I’m not one to say there’s a right way or a wrong way. This is just the creative choices I was making within a very specific context. But it’s like, for Sleep With Me at least and in my opinion, that’s okay, to be like, I think I’m making this. Oh, wait a second…and then by the end, being like, oh, this is much clearer than what you started with.
So, when I started, even before I knew that there wasn’t gonna be a split…but even when I started, I said, okay, we got a situation here, because when we did the first series, we were playing DnD on a regular base…a weekly basis and we were very familiar and our brains were just…I was the DM and so, I was in a DM head space and I was just kinda familiar with the beats of a daily…a weekly meeting and of the structure and stuff. I think…I don't know. So, I’m not…I was not in that place when I got to starting the series. There’s a big, important thing there…is like, when I first started, I said, holy cow, now I’m gonna have to write a campaign because I don't have this…these faint images from looking at something that are still in my brain.
I’m gonna have to write a campaign from scratch and then have the characters play the campaign and then…so, I’m gonna have to write the campaign, then have the characters…then write the characters playing the campaign, which is two separate layers of writing, two different styles of writing. At first I said, okay, let’s go for it, man. Definitely a fun, creative challenge, especially…hey, okay, this campaign is gonna be just in this one attraction. So, I did a bunch of research, did a bunch of reading, bought some new books, looked over those books and resources, familiarized…re-familiarized myself with some of the rules and what are people thinking when they’re going in to develop campaigns. That’s very time consuming and it’s a different style of work than writing episodes of a sleep podcast.
So, it tended to stretch out what it was taking to produce the first couple episodes. Even at some point, maybe in the first episode, I said, okay, wait, first of all…I don't know. So, where I slowly started shedding some of these ideas. Or maybe it was in the first…writing of the first episode? Maybe the second one, though I can remember planning the…plotting the campaign very specifically. So, home base, starter adventures, motivations, secret motivations or want versus need for each of the characters. Okay, what are the rumors? The kind of first things…this is very DnD, but this is, again, another important kind of part, is like, this show became not a DnD…whatever those podcasts are called. Actual-play or whatever. That was what Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow was.
It was a fictional, fictional, actual-play podcast. Fictional characters playing a fictional campaign, like actual-play…but so, this show was very different eventually. But I started out making that; okay, this is gonna be fictional characters playing a fictional roleplaying game campaign. So, you have to write both kinds of fiction. It’s fun; don’t get me wrong, but writing a DnD campaign is just a different style of writing. Then writing fictional people playing that campaign is a totally different style of writing. It may not sound like it, but it is. One is much more analytical and intellectual and very building…a world based on concrete rules, and then another one is based on interpersonal dynamics and choice…whatever. It’s different…just different styles.
So, I realize from…a lot of people that listen to these shows realize there’s the budgets for the podcast and the time budget is one of those show…one of those budgets for the show that is very limited even with more resources. I mean, well, right now we don’t, but even if we had more resources, that time budget just wouldn’t shift very much just 'cause there’s only…so, it’s just a reality. So, very quickly I said, okay, we’re coming…I’m coming up short on the time budget, so this isn’t working. So, at some point I was like, wait a second, what if they…? It actually happened way more organically than it sounds, 'cause now I’m quarter-backing it 'cause I don't know the episodes.
But basically, it started with them in the town which was a Main Street, USA, train station area, and it was blocked off and they were there. Like, very…If you’ve played those games before, they had their call to…initial call to adventure from the Baron of the Boil. Now, meanwhile, that’s one thing, but then also I had to think about the actual players and write their thing. I said, okay, they haven’t played together in a while. There’s been some interpersonal things because there has to be interpersonal C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T even in a sleep podcast, otherwise the show would be too boring and it wouldn’t work. So, there has to be different levels of C-L…you know. Interpersonal is only one. But so, I don't know. At some point I said, okay, this just isn’t working.
But it was more like on a daily basis, so it was subtle 'cause it was like, they went from where they were…I think maybe that took two episodes for them to head out, then they headed out to this plaza and they encountered the polliwogs and toads and stuff. Again, it was like, at some point in there I realized, oh, they’ll be making the adventure. I can remember I was running in Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley and either thinking about the episode or listening to it and saying, okay, yeah, this is gonna work better if they’re designing the campaign. It doesn't just work on one level; it worked on the personal level, too, 'cause it’s like, what are these characters’ investment in this game and their personal investments in one another and how does that play out in the story?
It’s a different story if there’s a DM and there’s a set campaign you’re following that’s set that…and then you create the interpersonal story…how many layers of fiction are we…? I think there’s three layers? But that’s different and if you have a strong…it offers one opportunity, like we saw in the first series. It was very straightforward and it actually had, whatever, red herrings. It’s like, okay, we have to collect these three pieces of this staff and go here and then do this, where this one it was more…I don't know. I don't know how to explain. I can just explain that eventually we got to the fact where it’s like, okay, this will work better for the character story, too. If they’re working together, that just has more elements at this point.
I don't know, for some reason that part of the story, the human part of the story, the heart of the story, was more interesting for them to try to build a campaign together, particularly 'cause there was a new romantic…there was romantic changes and a new romantic partner in the series, and it was very vague, but that their world…they were experiencing new changes to their world that they lived in. Again, so vague that…like I said, when I started the series, I didn’t quite know that. But as I got on, I was like, oh, more and more details were getting filled in in my head, at least. Maybe not in the story. Oh, they’re all living just together in this one place now, which they didn’t plan on doing. They’re kind of escaping through this game.
Then it suddenly became…wait a second…and I had no intention of this when I planned it, but it was like, does this…? The story changed on me where I was like, I think these characters need to be in this game. Just, where there’s this creative shift. It was subtle but it was like, hey, they need to live in the game. Again, those details became more and more thing…as I was like, okay…even though…even at the end, I wanted to kind of explain away or put a button on it and have them return home or have a reason why they didn’t return home. I mean, there is reasons in the story world, but it’s not so clean.
Because I said, well, this just isn’t clean, really…but where it suddenly just became…okay, the characters are gonna…this world…almost like that, like where they were…wait a second, we’re…it’s like, that’s the mural analogy taking it deeper. It’s like…and this happens when you’re writing a lot of times, or I do. Not in this series, but where it’s like, that person is drawing the mural and they’re realizing they’re drawing…they’re like, I’m in the mural or I’m…wow, I didn’t realize I’m writing…drawing out these…oh boy, I didn’t realize that looks like the person I’m unhappy with.
So, I don't know, there was something about it and it also came…I’m sure…I can't point to this directly, but there is this thing of listening to listeners but not…and the seeds being planted and empathizing and having compassion, putting myself in the listeners’ shoes…of like, just these subtle things that people…and I mean, please don’t send me harsh feedback, because that won't help. But I don't know, just the idea that a actual-play show has this exclusivity to it. I don't know, I have to have a sense that that also influenced where this became suddenly a story that was just a work of fiction and not fictional, actual-play…fictional fiction of actual-play fiction. But the fun thing was it became this mechanism that you could still…I could still play with and the characters could still play with.
It was like, there was never a point until the very…close to the last few episodes where it was like, they were 100% sure this was real. This is me pulling the cover off; where I was sure how it was gonna end until, I don't know, 10, maybe? 11? 9? I don't know when, 'cause I haven’t listened to those episodes in a while. But where I was like, oh no, this…they…this is it. This is not a dream. I didn’t want it to be a dream. Or, this isn’t some metaphorical experience. No, this is real. You’ve transferred into this world. I don't know, that changed the stakes and stuff, mostly the emotional stakes. But why was I talking about that? I don't know. So, I don't know, it just became important.
Oh, that in some sense, it just became a story of characters and…and I think, again, maybe sometimes…it’s like, they needed to Journey Into the World of Friends to journey into their own world of friends. But on the…they actually did journey into the World of Friends. I didn’t realize that that third part would be there, where it’s like, no, no, you have journeyed into the World of Friends. That wasn’t my intention naming the series or starting the series, but it was…if there was some…what do they call the…omniscient or whatever thing in that story universe, they would have said, no, you have journeyed…this wasn’t metaphorical. You’ve journeyed into the World of Friends. I’m sorry. You’re gonna be okay. If Emma Otter was there at the end of this…don't worry, all will be well.
But yeah, you fully journeyed into the World of Friends, which is cool because I didn’t expect that to be like…I mean, I don't know what year we’ll return to this world, but 2027…I don't know. It’s interesting to me what the story setup…and in a unintentional way it was like, okay…and even at the end of the last episode; like, okay, this could have played out a lot of different ways with different adventurers. So, I don't know. That’s that. The only other important thing is like, moving forward to the next series is…so, I won't talk about it too much so then I’ll have plenty to talk about when we’ve concluded that series. But it’s like, I still haven’t 100% figured out the narrative voice for the next series.
I think I have a general idea of it, but some of the concepts have popped, where I had the initial images and the initial thing I was curious about, which you’ll all…I’m writing the first episode, which those will be a big part of the first episode, but that it won't be maybe until I record it…like, oh, okay, this is what the narration’s gonna feel like. But I do want to keep it in mind that there is a shift, because I know that’s just a listener preference thing. It’s also a cool creative constraint, is who is narrating this? Why? What do they know and what is that narration style? I’m still…I had one idea last week or two weeks ago that was new. I said, I don't know, man. Then this idea was like, oh, what about this? I started to see who they were, where they were, and how they were talking about the general story.
Then I said…then this past week, when it’s gotten closer ‘til today, I said, well, I don't know. Does it need to shift or will that work? So, I don't know, just grateful I get to make a sleep podcast and face these challenges and that…and I get people that ask, does it matter…? I say, no, no, this is cool that I get to…this is the context of the show, that most people sleep through it…is a part of this whole creative construct that makes it fun. It’s like a totally different challenge. It has different…it has…a lot of the rules are similar in my belief, that some part of our brain is tracking this and even like this, it has to come to a conclusion even if people aren’t listening or not, and it has to follow a familiar structure.
But within that familiar structure and some of the familiar things about narrative stuff…narrative stuff…that within a sleep podcast, there’s this huge other operating rules that you’re allowed to do, like fiction within fiction within fiction. You can read that, too. But I don't know, there’s just…some of the rules are a little bit looser, which makes it great, and of course the…whatever…what do they call that person that’s checking…? Coherence? Not coherency, but coherency is one thing we don’t necessarily need as much of, and that other C word about this…that doesn’t make sense when you listen to Episode 3, but then Episode 7 doesn't make any sense. I say, yeah, yeah, you’re definitely right about that. Yeah, I don't know, it’s dreamy, man. So, yeah, I’m glad you’re here. I really appreciate it, and goodnight, everybody. All will be well, as Emma Otter says.
[END OF RECORDING]
(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)
-
Journey Into The World of Friends
Navel-Gazing
https://grammarist.com/idiom/navel-gazing/
https://www.askhandle.com/blog/navel-gazing-meaning
Digital Handwriting
https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-note-taking-tablet/
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/best-e-ink-tablets/
https://www.pocket-lint.com/best-note-taking-tablet/
Blue Test Booklet
https://www.thoughtco.com/blue-book-1856928
https://www.thoughtco.com/blue-book-1856928
https://uvamagazine.org/articles/blue_books
A Series Paper Sizes
https://www.kwikkopy.com.au/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-a-series-paper-size
https://theuijunkie.com/why-this-is-the-standard-paper-size/
https://www.printing-plus.co.uk/news/standard-paper-sizes/
DOWN TO BUSINESS
How come navels are only used for navel-gazing?
Is Navel the official term for a belly button?
A fuzzy episode of navel-gazing
I guess you could say this show is niche
No one ever compliments navel-gazing, eh?
A lulling interrogation of my creative choices
Deep Dark Night United
Ramada (SWM+ Testimonial)
PLUGS
Hand in Hand; The Midnight Mission; Trevor Project; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program
SPONSORS
AquaTru; Helix Sleep; Wild Health; Polysleep; Odoo; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive
INTRO
Rehearsing for Life
Rehearsing ways to impress people that obviously never go well
I need more pop culture knowledge
Verbal Pratfall
I was thinking about haiku the other day
When am I going to use this, brain?
The show is a distraction from loneliness
We are bound together in a nice way
The Power of Fuzzy Navel
That’s certainly the start of a powerful slogan
Sure, Scoots, right, as fuzzy as a navel, sure
I didn’t expect to relate to this rambling
I expect Pressure-Filled Aspiration!
I could talk to anthropomorphized pinecone if that would help you
There’s no pressure to come into this room right now
We’re gonna try to slowly calm it down
We might preview the next series, too
STORY
A look back and a look forward
The nuts and bolts of this series
Starting on ep 8, I moved from handwriting notes to handwriting it digitally
In the past, I’ve exclusively physically written them down
I’m left-handed, so pens and I have a contentious relationship
I’m more of a lost and found pen person
I’m not precious about pens
Write with the pen you’re with.
I go back and forth between legal pads and composition notebooks
I buy them in (small) bulk
The first couple pages of that legal pad are just not gonna stay on there
And there’s no cover so it’s hard to keep track of what’s where
My life involves a bunch of transferring stuff and writing on trains
Notebooks vs Legal Pads
Composition books might even have too many pages
Improvisational-Style Working (ISW)
My work day is constantly changing
Or I’d work from the back for a different process
But then it was the opposite of organized
When you tear one page out of a composition book, the corresponding opposite page also falls out
I’m trying to take care of Future Scooter
2 compositions and a laptop really pushes the limits of my bags
It might be an A4 or A5 size?
Memories of the Blue test booklets
Wait, I can just buy these??
It’s enough pages for about 2 eps of TV shows or 2 written eps
And you can clearly label them
And they come in different colors
And they take up a lot less space
Around the Patreon, I decided to scan my notes
But that was just really time-consuming and difficult
I used to give away notebooks to listeners, man, why??
A notebook that was erasable and digitizable
I think it was called Rocketbook?
And there was a way to erase it with a spray and wipe
I was talking to someone who does a lot of writing for their job
A dedicated digital writing device
But then I got cold feet about adding a new device
I need to read on a Kindle because of its accessibility features
Reading is part of my wind-down routine
The Ol’ Broken iPad also has to come for work purposes
It’s just really hard to watch something on my phone for work
Do I really need to add another device to the list?
Would I use this every day for 2 years? 3? (That’s how I do my math)
Could I use a stylus with my old broken ipad?
Maybe if I get a better screen protector
But being left-handed is tough with that route
What if I get a new device for writing and replacing the iPad?
Okay, what app would I use?
And if it’s not great for writing, then I’ll still use it for other things
A smaller mini iPad, Apple Pencil 2, and GoodNotes
And it’s really working better now
That’s the nuts and bolts of it
Let’s get into JIWOF now
The old one was called Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow
My daughter and I took that Yale or Harvard happiness course?
Oh wait, nevermind, it was an imagineering course
What’s up with Tomorrowland?
Maybe this could be a DnD campaign
This could also tie into our old series, Theme Park Girl
My brain always explodes when I ride “It’s A Small World”
Then I realized it could be part of the DnD campaign series
Relaxing during the Pre-Writing Phase
But I don’t really have pre-writing time
Production is really a train that can’t stop
I really have to plan taking breaks in advance
I basically have just a week or two of time before the first episode of the next series is due
I first thought this might take place in 2 parallel timelines
But as I kept going, I realized how different the 2 narrative styles were (JIWOF vs Girl in the Theme Park)
It was hard to reconcile these 2 different tones
Would this experience be jarring for the listener?
Let me just focus on JIWOF
I also wanted to produce seasonal episodes within the modular series
I recorded a vague Halloween episode and a Holiday episode
We didn’t have time for a Turkey Day Episode
This went from 10 episodes to 14, plus this = 15
That’s what the story asked of me, tbh
A world of unlimited choices
That bodes well for potentially returning to this world some day
A mural analogy from a non-visual artist
As time goes on, the mural becomes more refined and colorful
I’m always surprised by what it ends up being
When I did JLOT, I was DM’ing weekly in real life
I was very familiar with the structure of DnD
But with JIWOF, I was gonna have to write the campaign and then write the characters playing the campaign
Prepping a campaign is very time-consuming
Each character’s Wants and Needs
JIWOF became a not-actual play
Different styles of writing
The time budget for the show is very limited
They did have the initial call to adventure
But I also had to consider the interpersonal issues of the players
There’s gotta be C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T, even for a sleep podcast
Then I realized the players needed to design the campaign themselves
I was running in Strawberry Canyon when I had that epiphany
Then the story changed on me
The characters needed to be in the game
It didn’t feel right to have them return home so cleanly
Fictional Fiction of Actual Play Fiction
It was a great mechanic for the players
I didn’t know how it was going to end until episode 10 or so
It was, in fact, real
They actually did journey into the world of friends
This could’ve played out a lot of different ways with different adventurers
I’m still figuring out the narrative voice for the next series
Initial images have popped
The creative constraints of having a narrator
We’ll see if it works
The fact that people sleep through this makes it fun in a different way
We don’t need much coherency here
Or continuity
It’s dreamy, man
All Will Be Well
ORIGINAL PATRON THANKS (400 – 500)
Joe, Erica, Leonard, Vanessa, Meow, Allonge, Jessica J, Patricia L, Ariel, David, Victoria, Daniel, Elizabeth, Gustvao, Erin, Jason, Stephanie, Neal, Kimberly, Chris, Ben, Patrick, Fred, Mary, Christopher, Chelsea, Sophie, Joanne, Patti, Laura, Alec M, Aaron, Paul, Ian, Brendan, Tammy, Justin P, Tony, Jess K, Fern, Matthew P, Ragnar, Pam, Allison, Shawn M, Russell, Delia, Nicole, Daniel A, Meredith, Thomas, Stephanie, Katherine, Paul, Carey, Tara M, Chloe, Ryan, Jenny, NY, Cory, Jillian, Kiri, Melanie, Jake, Kevin K, Daniel, Andrew, Amy, Stephanie, Christy, Steve, Christy, John, Kathy, Jacob, Julie, Dobbs, Kathy, Amie, Katie, Diane L, Dianne M, Matt, Glitterati, Elaine, Hello, Salasa, Nicole S, Theresa, Peter P, Ian, Joel, Jessica, Wendy F, E, Nancy, Gregory, Damon D
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1,235
Title: Notebooks of Journey Into The World of Friends – Series Review
Deep Dark Night United: Ramada (SWM+ Testimonial)
Plugs: Hand in Hand; The Midnight Mission; Trevor Project; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program
Sponsors: AquaTru; Helix Sleep; Wild Health; Polysleep; Odoo; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive
Original Patreon Thanks: Joe, Erica, Leonard, Vanessa, Meow, Allonge, Jessica J, Patricia L, Ariel, David, Victoria, Daniel, Elizabeth, Gustvao, Erin, Jason, Stephanie, Neal, Kimberly, Chris, Ben, Patrick, Fred, Mary, Christopher, Chelsea, Sophie, Joanne, Patti, Laura, Alec M, Aaron, Paul, Ian, Brendan, Tammy, Justin P, Tony, Jess K, Fern, Matthew P, Ragnar, Pam, Allison, Shawn M, Russell, Delia, Nicole, Daniel A, Meredith, Thomas, Stephanie, Katherine, Paul, Carey, Tara M, Chloe, Ryan, Jenny, NY, Cory, Jillian, Kiri, Melanie, Jake, Kevin K, Daniel, Andrew, Amy, Stephanie, Christy, Steve, Christy, John, Kathy, Jacob, Julie, Dobbs, Kathy, Amie, Katie, Diane L, Dianne M, Matt, Glitterati, Elaine, Hello, Salasa, Nicole S, Theresa, Peter P, Ian, Joel, Jessica, Wendy F, E, Nancy, Gregory, Damon D
Notable Language:
- Navel
- Verbal Pratfall
- The Power of Fuzzy Navel
- Pressure-Filled Aspiration (PFA)
- Anthropomorphized Pinecone
- Write with the pen you’re with.
- Improvisational-Style Working (ISW)
- Semi-Permanent Ink
- Pre-Writing Time
- C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T
- Fictional Fiction of Actual Play Fiction
- Coherency
- All Will Be Well
Notable Culture:
-
- Huey Lewis
- Stephen Stills
- Blue Test Booklet
- Rocketbook
- Journey Into The Land of Tomorrow
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Disney
- Tomorrowland
- “It’s a Small World”
- Actual Play Shows
- Strawberry Canyon, Berkeley
- Emmet Otter
Notable Talking Points:
- Rehearsing for Life
- Rehearsing ways to impress people that obviously never go well
- I need more pop culture knowledge
- Verbal Pratfall
- I was thinking about haiku the other day
- When am I going to use this, brain?
- The show is a distraction from loneliness
- We are bound together in a nice way
- The Power of Fuzzy Navel
- That’s certainly the start of a powerful slogan
- Sure, Scoots, right, as fuzzy as a navel, sure
- I didn’t expect to relate to this rambling
- I expect Pressure-Filled Aspiration!
- I could talk to anthropomorphized pinecone if that would help you
- There’s no pressure to come into this room right now
- We’re gonna try to slowly calm it down
- We might preview the next series, too
- A look back and a look forward
- The nuts and bolts of this series
- Starting on ep 8, I moved from handwriting notes to handwriting it digitally
- In the past, I’ve exclusively physically written them down
- I’m left-handed, so pens and I have a contentious relationship
- I’m more of a lost and found pen person
- I’m not precious about pens
- Write with the pen you’re with.
- I go back and forth between legal pads and composition notebooks
- I buy them in (small) bulk
- The first couple pages of that legal pad are just not gonna stay on there
- And there’s no cover so it’s hard to keep track of what’s where
- My life involves a bunch of transferring stuff and writing on trains
- Notebooks vs Legal Pads
- Composition books might even have too many pages
- Improvisational-Style Working (ISW)
- My work day is constantly changing
- Or I’d work from the back for a different process
- But then it was the opposite of organized
- When you tear one page out of a composition book, the corresponding opposite page also falls out
- I’m trying to take care of Future Scooter
- 2 compositions and a laptop really pushes the limits of my bags
- It might be an A4 or A5 size?
- Memories of the Blue test booklets
- Wait, I can just buy these??
- It’s enough pages for about 2 eps of TV shows or 2 written eps
- And you can clearly label them
- And they come in different colors
- And they take up a lot less space
- Around the Patreon, I decided to scan my notes
- But that was just really time-consuming and difficult
- I used to give away notebooks to listeners, man, why??
- A notebook that was erasable and digitizable
- I think it was called Rocketbook?
- And there was a way to erase it with a spray and wipe
- I was talking to someone who does a lot of writing for their job
- A dedicated digital writing device
- But then I got cold feet about adding a new device
- I need to read on a Kindle because of its accessibility features
- Reading is part of my wind-down routine
- The Ol’ Broken iPad also has to come for work purposes
- It’s just really hard to watch something on my phone for work
- Do I really need to add another device to the list?
- Would I use this every day for 2 years? 3? (That’s how I do my math)
- Could I use a stylus with my old broken ipad?
- Maybe if I get a better screen protector
- But being left-handed is tough with that route
- What if I get a new device for writing and replacing the iPad?
- Okay, what app would I use?
- And if it’s not great for writing, then I’ll still use it for other things
- A smaller mini iPad, Apple Pencil 2, and GoodNotes
- And it’s really working better now
- That’s the nuts and bolts of it
- Let’s get into JIWOF now
- The old one was called Journey Into the Land of Tomorrow
- My daughter and I took that Yale or Harvard happiness course?
- Oh wait, nevermind, it was an imagineering course
- What’s up with Tomorrowland?
- Maybe this could be a DnD campaign
- This could also tie into our old series, Theme Park Girl
- My brain always explodes when I ride “It’s A Small World”
- Then I realized it could be part of the DnD campaign series
- Relaxing during the Pre-Writing Phase
- But I don’t really have pre-writing time
- Production is really a train that can’t stop
- I really have to plan taking breaks in advance
- I basically have just a week or two of time before the first episode of the next series is due
- I first thought this might take place in 2 parallel timelines
- But as I kept going, I realized how different the 2 narrative styles were (JIWOF vs Girl in the Theme Park)
- It was hard to reconcile these 2 different tones
- Would this experience be jarring for the listener?
- Let me just focus on JIWOF
- I also wanted to produce seasonal episodes within the modular series
- I recorded a vague Halloween episode and a Holiday episode
- We didn’t have time for a Turkey Day Episode
- This went from 10 episodes to 14, plus this = 15
- That’s what the story asked of me, tbh
- A world of unlimited choices
- That bodes well for potentially returning to this world some day
- A mural analogy from a non-visual artist
- As time goes on, the mural becomes more refined and colorful
- I’m always surprised by what it ends up being
- When I did JLOT, I was DM’ing weekly in real life
- I was very familiar with the structure of DnD
- But with JIWOF, I was gonna have to write the campaign and then write the characters playing the campaign
- Prepping a campaign is very time-consuming
- Each character’s Wants and Needs
- JIWOF became a not-actual play
- Different styles of writing
- The time budget for the show is very limited
- They did have the initial call to adventure
- But I also had to consider the interpersonal issues of the players
- There’s gotta be C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T, even for a sleep podcast
- Then I realized the players needed to design the campaign themselves
- I was running in Strawberry Canyon when I had that epiphany
- Then the story changed on me
- The characters needed to be in the game
- It didn’t feel right to have them return home so cleanly
- Fictional Fiction of Actual Play Fiction
- It was a great mechanic for the players
- I didn’t know how it was going to end until episode 10 or so
- It was, in fact, real
- They actually did journey into the world of friends
- This could’ve played out a lot of different ways with different adventurers
- I’m still figuring out the narrative voice for the next series
- Initial images have popped
- The creative constraints of having a narrator
- We’ll see if it works
- The fact that people sleep through this makes it fun in a different way
- We don’t need much coherency here
- Or continuity
- It’s dreamy, man
- All Will Be Well
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