1048 – Cinnamon Stick | Spice Friends 3

Notable Language:

• Don Drapering
• Lagging Indicator
• Split screen Simulcast

Notable Culture:

• Mad Men
• Robert’s Rules of Order
• John Berger

Notable Talking Points:

• Matthew Weiner’s working on a 4 page pamphlet
• Well, that was a pretty quick shift in my feelings
• So many layers of seeing

Episode 1048 – Cinnamon Stick | Spice Friends 3

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcast, my patron peeps.  I love singing to my patron peeps.  Patron peeps, thanks you…thanks, you.  Thanks, and let’s get on with the show.

 

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.  It could be thoughts on your mind, thoughts you’re thinking about about the past, the present, or the future.  It could be feelings, anything emotionally coming up for you about those thoughts, or the past, the present, the future.  Feelings; they’re there.  Feelings; sometimes they’re there, sometimes they’re really there.  Sometimes you wonder where; feelings.

 

What more can I say?  I could say a lot more, but what do you…also, physical sensations.  Whatever else could be keeping you awake.  It could be changes in your time, your temperature, your routine.  You might not know; I’ve been there.  Waking up early, I say, what’s up with that?  I thought I was gonna sleep later.  A pacing dog; that’s what I had last night that was keeping me up.  Koa was pacing between my daughter’s room and my room.  Turned out, it was just…she just needed to be tucked back in.  I said, what’s going on?  I got out of bed; I said, what’s going on?  What can I do for you?  What can I do you for?  I figured we were on our way out the front door, but she said no.

 

I mean, she wasn’t…she was actually very clear, because you know, if she wanted to go to the restroom, she probably would have led me or she would have followed me, ‘cause I said well, I’ll tell you what; I’m gonna go up there, I’m gonna lead by example, use the old WC.  Then I came back down.  She was still down in my room, and she just literally wanted to be tucked in, I think.  I mean, she may have…my daughter may…here’s what I’m guessing, but maybe my daughter shifted where she was sleeping.  That threw Koa off; she got out of bed, she was gonna get back in bed, and she said, I prefer to be tucked in.  So, I just tucked her in in my room on her…what do you call it?  Her dog bed.  That’s what you call it, right?

 

Where a dog sleeps; a dog bed.  I put her green blanket on her, folded it over once, and then I put it on her, much like…talk about service.  Yes, I…these are the services I provide for my dog.  That’s why I also make a sleep podcast.  These things go together.  Oh, what time was it?  About…it was somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00 in the morning.  I was deep asleep until the pacing began, because I could hear it.  Also, I put a new nightlight, so I said okay, was that in my imagination?  No, can see the nightlights…and she paced like, nine or ten times.  But whatever’s keeping you awake, like I said, it could be something new every time or it could be something you’re…situational.  Whatever it is, I’m here to help.  I’m really here to keep you company whether you’re awake or asleep.

 

What I propose to do is I’m gonna try to create a safe place where you can set all that aside.  I smooth it, I pat it, I rub it down.  I provide a blanket.  I get practice with my dog.  I say okay, go ahead, lie down.  That’s what I said to her.  I said okay, so you don’t gotta go to the bathroom?  I said, do you want to lie down?  She lied down.  I said, do you want your blanket?  You want to be tucked in?  Okay, got it.  Job done.  So, I’m here to tuck you in in a little bit more different way than tucking in my dog, ‘cause actually, she doesn’t like to be…here’s the thing; when I tuck her in, no tucking involved.  I’ve found she doesn’t like to be tucked in, so I guess figuratively…it’s pretty close to tucking her in.  I drape her in.  I drape her down.  I give her the old Don Draper.  I don’t know what that means.

 

I mean, I guess I do; it sells her on going back to bed, ‘cause I drape a blanket over her.  But I found if I tuck it…tuck her in, one, she doesn’t like that ‘cause she either thinks that I’m trying to do something or I’m tickling her, and…but also, I think it just makes her too warm, where if the blanket’s just draped, she can move around.  She can get her feet out, you know?  If you got four paws instead of two feet, you’re probably…if you’re…my feet get warm sometimes.  I mean, she’s got four paws.  Oh, I was supposed to be introducing a sleep podcast; sorry.  This is my new product for…a note just for Koa.  Don Drapering.  You say Scoots, was that a movie dinner on a snowboard, the Don Draper?  Nope, it’s just when I put a blanket on my dog, folded-over blanket.

 

Not all the ways, but that’s when I call it the Don…when I sell her on going back to sleep by draping a blanket, I call it the Don Draper.  So, no, doesn’t have to do with snowboarding, but could be a skateboard move or…I’m sure it is somewhere.  Maybe ten years ago when it was relevant.  It could have been, but right now it’s not…none of it is relevant to making a sleep podcast, or barely relevant.  So, if you’re new, what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents.  I mean, what’s the kinda thing…if you watched Don…I could see Don Draper draping a dog, so actually, it fits within the character, too.  What’s the kind of thing Don Draper would do?

 

Not a perfect person, but probably would drape a blanket on a dog.  So, I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents, which you’ve already seen; superfluous tangents, pointless meanders, and creaky, dulcet tones.  I’ve gone off-topic where I was trying to introduce the podcast and I went off-topic early, and then I went off-topic again.  All that is part of the spirit of the show because this is a podcast you just barely listen to.  You just kinda listen or you can listen if you need to.  This podcast is here to be here for you, to keep you company, but it can keep you company in a way where you could be a little bit engaged with it or not engaged at all.  So, it’s a podcast you don’t really listen to.

 

You just kinda listen to it in a fuzzy way, kinda like the fuzzy blanket I put on my furry dog.  Oh, good question; I just felt it coming in from the audience.  No static…we’ve never had…with this particular blanket, we’ve never had a static issue.  Trying to think…it’s been a few years.  It has come up before.  I’m glad you asked that question, but no static.  I think maybe when we had…when I lived at a place with a hardwood floor, we may have had some static issues where I would have to touch something before I did the Don Draper.  Not the John Draper; I don’t know what that…the John Draper’s when I drape her after going to the john to warm her up.  So, okay…oh, so this is a podcast you don’t really listen to.  Also, it doesn’t really put you to sleep.  It’s here to keep you company while you fall asleep.

 

So, I make this show for everybody that’s listening, but I keep in mind that there’s a small percentage of listeners that maybe are going through something or have a type of insomnia or need a break during the day, and they need to listen, so I’m here to keep you company to the very end, and I think that’s really what works about this show, is that I’m here for you.  Maybe some part of your mind knows that and it can just listen to me ramble on and on and on instead of bugging you about the spreadsheet or whatever, the shopping list, or whatever’s keeping you awake.  So, those are two things to know.  The show is really supported by a foundation of this fact; you are important and you deserve a good night’s sleep.  You deserve a safe place and a bedtime you could feel good about.

 

That’s really…my dream would be to provide a bedtime that everybody can look forward to.  That’s not really achievable, but that’s what I strive for.  It’s just a fact; you really do deserve a good night’s sleep, and I know how it feels, as I said, in the deep, dark night, trying to get back to sleep after that one.  It was just like, where I was…I said okay, now I’m gonna get back to sleep.  Then it was a little bit elusive for me.  Then I also said well, should I just go for it and take her out?  She didn’t have to go to the bathroom.  But then…my mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep.  So, I’ve been there, I know how it feels, but I also know if you get the rest you need, if you get the rest you deserve, your life’s gonna be more manageable.  It’s gonna be better, and that means the world we all live in is a better place to be in.

 

If your life’s better, all our lives are better.  I know part of you might not feel that’s true.  It is.  It is really true and it really is important.  So, those are a couple things to know.  There’s also a bunch of other things that throw new listeners off.  One fact is this podcast just does not work for everybody.  I’m not everybody’s cup of tea.  But even for the hundreds of thousands of regular listeners, it takes two or three tries.  That’s what tons and tons of reviews say.  I would say the majority of our reviews say one of three things; I strongly loathe you, but people use more creative language than that, I…it took two or three tries and then I started realizing the podcast will never make any sense and now I fall asleep to it, or I’ve tried everything and everything was a little bit too normal for me and nothing worked until I found this show.

 

All those are really important to me, so if you loathe me, give it a few tries if you can, but you don’t have to.  Sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou has a ton of other sleepy stuff and sleep audio you could check out.  But give this show a few tries just in case it’ll work, or come back a few months later or a few years later.  That’s what other reviewers say.  They say, I loathed you at first and then a couple years later, I tried again and now I list…I love this show so much, I almost never listen to it, but it’s always playing.  So, give it a few tries and see how it goes.  Another thing about this show that I like to set up here is the structure of the show.  The show is structured in a very specific way, but you can adjust as you become a regular listener how you listen.

 

But really, because we…this is just the way we deliver the show and it kinda works for the majority of listeners, but you can change it up as you become a regular listener and see what works for you.  But the show’s designed in a particular way.  It starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.  Usually I say something funny.  Today I couldn’t think of anything funny or barely funny, if you’re a stickler.  That way, you feel seen and greeted and welcomed in.  Then there’s support so the show can be free on all plat…podcast platforms is what my goal is, and come out twice a week.  That’s what seems to work best.  The sponsors and the people that support the show on Patreon are the ones that enable that.

 

Then there’s support for listeners, and then there’s an intro which we’re most of the way through.  The intro’s around twelve to twenty minutes long.  The intro…the support can really throw people off, but then the intro, sometimes people think it’s part of the support or part of the housekeeping.  It really is a show within a show where I try to introduce what the podcast is, and then I go off-topic, I think about what my dog was doing last night or whatever it is, and then I think about Don Draper, and then I think about…and even part of my brain is still running.  Say well, what would you do on a snowboard if you…you say, but does it matter, Scoots?  ‘Cause it’s not relevant anymore.  I’d say come on, you know there’s a Don Draper project.

 

It might be Don Draper Junior or something, but there’s gotta be a Don Draper project in the…you know, somewhere, whether it’s a mini-series, a full-length motion picture, or another series.  I mean, probably.  Or a pamphlet.  You say oh yeah, there’s…yeah, Matthew Weiner just…oh, he just called in on my imaginary phone.  He said yeah, I’m working on a four-page pamphlet.  It’s as of yet untitled, untitled Don Draper pamphlets.  I’d say well, I love that, Matthew, ‘cause I’m sure that creative limitation is really gonna get the most out of you, and I’m not kidding; I’d be delighted to see it.  ‘Cause I’d say, what would even a Don Draper…I mean, other than being stunningly handsome and…I don’t know, super good at advertising and charming people and being interesting to say huh, this is interesting, watching this Don Draper.

 

What would I do?  I don’t think I would…could do that or would do that, but I like watching him do it.  Oh boy, TMI.  Okay, so that…don’t put that in the pamphlet.  Where was I?  Oh, the intro can get really…it goes on and on and on, so that can be frustrating if you’re new because you say, aren’t you gonna get to the point?  Aren’t you gonna get to the bedtime story?  Why are you going on and on about your dog and putting a blanket on it?  I say well, because the intro serves as a transition from being awake to going to sleep.  It’s part of people’s wind-down routine.  You could do that…whatever works for you.  Some people are getting ready for bed, some people are in bed, some people are sleeping, some…2% or 3% of people skip the intro, a few thousand people listen to story-only episodes on Patreon.  But for most people, you’re doing something calm, maybe, or you’re just getting comfortable.  That just helps ease you into bedtime.

 

It’s just what I’ve seen work personally and from all the sleepy information I’ve taken in over the past, whatever, seven, eight, nine years, is that winding down and having a transition, having a twilight, is what sets me up personally for success a lot of the time to get a good night’s sleep.  So, the intro is kinda this transition phase to ease you into bedtime.  Then after the intro will be support for the show.  Again, my goal; twice a week for free.  Then there’ll be a bedtime story.  Tonight it’ll be our episodically modular series.  Spice Friends I think is finally the title I decided on here on Episode 3 or Episode 4.  I think this intro’s for Episode 3 though, I hope.  Then there’s thank-yous at the end.  So, that’s the structure of the show, that’s why I make the show, and I’m really glad you’re here.  I work really hard, I yearn and I strive.  I really hope I can help you fall asleep.  Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a couple of ways I’m able to do this for you free twice a week.

 

Hey everybody, it’s Scoots here.  This is our ongoing episodically modular series, Spice Friends.  I have trouble saying that; Spice Friends.  It’s the tale of a world pretty much like our world and a little bit in the future.  Episodically modular means you can listen to them in any order, so even though this is Episode 3, don’t worry; you could listen to Episodes 1 and 2 after you listen to Episode 9 and 10, and just…or Episode 3 first and then Episode 1 and 2, ‘cause I’m gonna tell you everything you need to know right now.  That way, that’s…you say well, I like recurring characters, but I don’t like having to listen to things in order.  I say, that’s what episodically modular’s all about.

 

So, tonight’s episode and the series Spice Friends, this is one of those series…could have multiple titles; The Big Ones, Big Emojis, or the Spice Friends, because thus far, we knew about the Big Ones and our two main characters, President Willow Smith, and President…or the…and the astronaut.  I could…should have done a series…maybe that’ll be like the Winter Soldier.  That’ll be like a little Cold War espionage series I’ll do one other…some other day.  So, okay, so where were we?  Well, so, the series is about…so, President Smith, she’s the president of the Cooperative Nations, which is a broader, more…I think more than just what would be called the United States, but she’s what we would call President of the World.  That’s the easiest way to say it, but not in a…in some sort of elected way.

 

We haven’t gotten into any parliamentary procedure at all, but…’cause that would…say, that would actually keep…some people might say, Thomas Guide?  I want more Robert’s Rules of Order.  I’d say well, there’s probably a podcast out there for that, but this isn’t the one.  So, let’s just go with the fact President Smith is President of the World in shorthand…that took me five sentences to say.  The astronaut is an…is a astronaut that went to outer space and returned with some secret information, special knowledge, the special knowledge you need to solve a big problem.  In this case, the problem was the Big Ones.  Again, the Big Ones are something you’re familiar with, for the most part, if you’ve consumed any kind of film…if you’ve been around for the past…in any time in the last hundred years, you’ve probably seen them portrayed in different media.

 

They’re giant beings.  They like to step on stuff.  Sometimes they raise their voices, sometimes they get into dances with one another, they go out…they go to cities, they…skyscrapers tremble.  When you see a Big One and if you’re a skyscraper, you might…oh, especially neon signs.  If you’re a neon sign or someone that lives near a neon sign, you say oh boy, that’s a Big One.  Is that Moth Breath who was in this episode or Lizard Head or Ankylosaurus or Fur somebody?  I don’t know.  Those aren’t necessarily Big Ones, but…so, we lived in a world just like you see in the movies at one time.

 

Actually, when President Smith was vice president of the United States Smith, Big Ones came and her father, President Smith — they happened to be the first father-daughter president/vice president team — he did his best to deal with stuff and he dealt with it, or he bought us enough time, actually, and he got all the Big Ones on this island called Big One Atoll.  That had been our solution for a while.  But things go through phases.  But President Smith got them there, President Smith went to the big, big one in the sky.  President Smith actually took a super serum that turned President Smith into a Big One.  That happened before our series, though.  But it would have…would be a cool movie to see.

 

Probably won’t see it because people say that’s…doesn’t…they say, so a regular person…I say well, no, no, not a regular person; President Smith, a hero who had…now I’m telling you a backstory, but a hero who had lost a lot of stuff and still wanted to save so many things and still had so many things to save.  Gave all, not just everything, but also his humanity and his role as president of the United States to become a Big One himself to get the Big Ones to Big One Island again so Planet Zipper could put them in hibernation, also our entire planet in hibernation.  But it ends up, Big Ones hibernate longer if you get…if your whole planet gets hit by what I could assume is a hibernation ray or beam.  But so, yeah, this is probably a better point to introduce; all of the Big Ones for a while had been asleep on Big One Island, hibernating.

 

The astronaut returned from a trip to Planet Zipper where the astronaut was supposed to get secret knowledge to deal with the Big Ones on a longer-term basis.  President Smith, of course, she was like, this is great.  What do you got, some sort of serum or some sort of device, or what, some sort of technique?  He said yeah, I do have a technique; it’s called children’s programming and the joy of dance and song.  Even though this is fiction, so it’s not based in any sort of sound practices for teaching lessons through joy and dance, this astronaut was based…if they were in a non-fictional world, that of course would happen.  But they said yeah, we’re gonna teach song and dance to children, and everything’s gonna work out with these Big Ones.

 

Of course, President Smith said I have constituents here to deal with, and so, I’m gonna have to make alternative plans, because what are we gonna do?  Then a Big One awoke, Moth Breath, the moth…the big moth.  Then Moth Breath sealed all the other Big Ones in cocoons…or, not cocoons, but wrapped them in silk.  Then they found…we found out that the Big…that there’s some sort of followers of Moth Breath that were singing to Moth Breath, and they claimed to be able to control Moth Breath.  They said by the way, we want a bunch of stuff and a bunch of power or we’re gonna…Moth Breath’s gonna do stuff.  Now, we never determined if they were telling the truth or not, because the astronaut did point out well, it seems like this behavior is what Moth…how Moth Breath would behave either way.

 

Now meanwhile, President Smith was like well, what about this solution from Planet Zipper?  They had kinda introduced these characters called the Spice Friends over the past few years that were super popular on cereal and stuff, and they were supposed to launch a show.  Originally it was just supposed to be part of an…a broader show, but then last week it turned out…they said well, let’s go with the Spice Friends idea.  They taught a pretty simple lesson about how…dancing and saying hey, I see you.  I’m so glad to see you.  Welcome, come on in.  Oh, you’re having strong feelings?  Okay, I can see that.  I’m here to help, was more or less the crux of the show.  Ended up that that actually worked.

 

Oh, because the astronaut had a manifestation theory who said all of a sudden, these Big Ones appeared on Earth right around the time we started futzing around with splitting atoms and fusing them and fissioning them.  Basically, does that stir some sort of archetypal deep feelings in humans knowing that humanity has crossed a threshold of discovery where the threshold is empower…is powerful enough to un-humanity everybody?  Is that what…how come the Big Ones appeared then?  You know, a lot of people say well, probably ‘cause they want to eat that stuff or something.  The manifestation theory would say no, it’s because once we had those strong feelings, it created the Big Ones.

 

So, now I’m putting words in the astronaut’s mouth, but more or less…I think we could…maybe we could manifest the…something…and not in opposition to those feelings, but something that also manifests from feelings that are more positive and maybe more empowering.  Then if you don’t, how…what harm could it be in empowering children through song…the power of song and dance?  I’m sure someone would find a way.  But at least in this story, it’s a good thing.  Now, it turns out, the astronaut was right; they started doing these dances.  It did take a couple…a few different writing sessions and rehearsals.  All of a sudden, a giant cinnamon stick with a big smile, arms and legs, same size as Moth Breath appears in Moth Breath’s path as Moth Breath is approaching the shoreline of one of the…a country.

 

That’s where we left off.  Big smiling…big eyes, beautiful…beautifully kind-looking giant cinnamon stick.  Then a big moth known as Moth Breath.  But here, we’ve got a big Hollywood actor with a big…whose heart is bigger than anything else.  Well, maybe not as big as his smile and his charm, but probably it is.  That’s probably where it comes from, anyway.  Mr. Antonio Banderas.  Thank you, Scooter.  The ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, the friends beyond the binary, it’s time for an adventure with our Spice Friends.  Yeah, spicy.  Oh, thanks.  That’s Mr. Antonio Banderas and this is Spice Friends, everybody.

 

Okay, I’m recording here and I’m trying to asses how things are going.  I mean, this first recording, I’m still kind of having trouble absorbing things.  There is a giant, smiling cinnamon stick, one of the Spice Friends that I have seen.  Believe it or not, as an aside, that is actually my favorite cereal, Cinnamon Spice.  I know it’s changed over the years because originally it looked like cinnamon sticks and then there was some confusion around…that they’re not real cinnamon sticks; they were cereal.  So, then it was changed to its current incarnation.  But I love the flavor and the crunch.  So, I guess that makes it even harder for me as President of the World, shorthand, to think clearly.  If I hadn’t lived my life, I would think I was in a dream, and I still wonder if I’m in a dream.

 

But I know I’m not because I have a lot of responsibility to carry through with.  So, as I’m recording this, I just watched Cinnamon Spice come out of the sea, or appear in the sea.  It was a bright, sunny day; Cinnamon Spice came up and stood between the shore and Moth Breath, who was flying.  Moth Breath is kinda…been circling and yelling.  I’m watching multiple live feeds now, and I have a meeting because…I guess I have a meeting with you.  I’m waiting for you to contact me and come in here.  I don’t know who’s gonna be listening to this; maybe you will be, but it is heavy for me, and I can’t help but be excited to see what is happening, and I hope you’re right, and I hope this is the solution.  I also am trying to figure out what’s going on on Big Ones Atoll.  But yeah, part of me is like, this could be it.  This could solve everything.

 

Also, well, I don’t know.  So, okay, so Moth Breath is now moving in and Cinnamon Stick is…has been slowly backed towards the shore.  Okay, Moth Breath is kicking up a…oh, this is…we’ve seen this pattern of behavior before, kicking up a lot of sand and kinda creating a tornado with its wings.  Oh no, so Cinnamon Stick fell down.  This is a highly…Cinnamon Stick is getting buried in…there’s giant dunes on this shore and the dunes are…okay, well, huh.  Sorry, I’m not good at recording this ‘cause Cinnamon Stick is being buried in the sand and a sandstorm.  It’s hard to see, but it’s pretty clear that the giant dunes kinda rolled down onto Cinnamon Stick.  So, that was a pretty quick change in my feelings, ‘cause if Cinnamon Stick…okay, they said you were about to come in.  I’m gonna have to pause this recording.

 

But if that stick is not coming out of that sand, that’s one option down.  I have two options left, seemingly.  So, okay…so, okay, let me…oh, okay.  Okay, let me pause it.  I was recording something.  Okay, I’m back.  It’s been a little while since I hit Record on this.  I don’t know if this will stir your memories, but we talked about it.  You were excited and then you were less crestfallen than me, I think probably because you don’t have as much responsibility as me.  But you also had…you said trust me, it’s gonna be okay, don’t worry, or go ahead and worry, but it’s still gonna be okay.  Well, Cinnamon Stick will get through this.  For a short time, the whole world…there was news reports and takes on it that Cinnamon Stick was buried in the sand and not coming out.

 

Moth Breath seemed to be pretty thorough in its burying of Cinnamon Stick.  Then Moth Breath headed inland to deal with a port that had launched the ship that had the materials that was meant to create a distraction.  Now meanwhile, you had said don’t worry, we’re gonna go…we’ve got a show ready to go, live to air.  The writing team and the entire team has been working on ideas, and we’re gonna get Cinnamon Stick up.  You did this show about falling down, and saying again, these kinda same things; hey, I see you there.  I see you fell down.  Go ahead and get back up.  Wow, did that…?  Go ahead and get up.  You had some different chance and call-in responses to that.

 

Cinnamon Stick did un-bury itself and dust itself off, very similar to the message you gave to the children and the adults and the parents and the young adults and the older adults and the sentient mammals watching the show, or even non-sentient mammals, ‘cause I saw my cat watching it.  But my cat may be familiar with Cinnamon Stick, though not a giant cinnamon stick from the boxes of cereal that throughout my life I ate.  So, it was kinda convenient, I guess, with the cereal design at least, because then you created little mini-churros which are very similar to a cinnamon stick.  But I know that was just licensing.  I know you weren’t even on Earth working on the cereals.  But it was part of the plan.  I guess I did feel a connection to Cinnamon Stick, so I was relieved as Cinnamon Stick kinda started waving.

 

At the time I didn’t realize this, but at the same time was saying…looking at Moth Breath and letting Moth Breath know that Cinnamon Stick could see Moth Breath.  Moth Breath circled around, though Cinnamon Stick was still on the ground.  You said don’t worry, we have a plan.  You had already kinda done another show.  It meant a lot to me, I guess, because there was always these truisms, right?  Bend, don’t break was one of them that you kinda turned on its head, and lean in.  But also, what’s the chances that Cinnamon Stick’s natural shape…or I guess…well, the natural shape of a produced cinnamon stick which has curled in on itself would actually be perfect for absorbing wind gusts and propelling them back towards the gusts’ source.  So, I don’t know.

 

I can’t remember the song because I had so many things going on, but bend, don’t break, lean in, your natural shape will take, the wind will head back towards its wake or…I can’t remember.  It was catchy and I liked how there was dancing and leaning in.  I don’t know if this is just me, but the idea that Moth Breath was still in this passive action or passive-active conflict, again, very much different martial arts, even though at this point it was still at a distance, taking the wind, blowing it back at Moth Breath and Moth Breath getting more and more frustrated.  Now, at the same time, I had to take action because I didn’t know how this was gonna turn out.

 

I know how I wanted it to turn out, so I’d sent a large team undercover to Big Ones Atoll, and we had already kinda had a team there, but we sent a larger team to deal with these people that had a moth-based belief system, because they had gotten in and we did not know about them.  I mean, Big Ones Atoll is large and we try…even with the teams we have living there, they’re supposed to maintain a very, very low profile, because the worst thing that could happen is you wake the Big Ones up.  So, we sent them to meet…to gather up the people who believe in Moth Breath, who woke Moth Breath, and we’re gonna start interviewing them and trying to find out what’s going on, because you have your own opinion on it that Moth Breath was just…and now…okay, I’m watching.

 

Gonna have to stop, because this is another thing that’s about to unfold between Moth Breath and…oh, wait a second, so you had another song just coming out about spicy, and Moth Breath’s…tried to use its beak to take some Cinnamon Stick, which we learned from the whole cinnamon cereal, cinnamon stick thing; you don’t want to take a bite of a cinnamon stick.  It’s hard and spicy.  I like that spicy, spicy chant, that one.  But so, I don’t know.  I can’t…I do not want to be placed in my father’s position again, and I’m not talking about the position of becoming a Big One.  I’m talking about the choice my father made that led to all of that, because the choice I’m facing would be much more amplified in order to…so, I’m just hoping this works out, because we’re talking about a thousand times more powerful than what my father had to do.

 

But now they’re going back and forth in some sort of dance which looks like…oh, this is a bit like wrestling, like dramatized wrestling.  Professional wrestling, I think is what it was called.  They’re going back and forth, flipping one another, and spinning.  Moth Breath is diving and splashing.  I just wonder how this is gonna turn out.  This is interesting.  So, I guess I’ll have to wait ‘til you’re gonna catch me up.  Okay, so, I’m recording again and I’m…I have two things in balance; one is that this is still going on and you were very excited.  The whole world’s excited, for the most part.  A large portion of the world is cheering for Cinnamon Stick, though there does seem to be some fans of Moth Breath, which doesn’t seem to make any sense to me, but I guess people…contrarians are to the contrary.

 

You’re working, try…it seems like…’cause I guess my question is, can this…how much can we control this, right?  Then, can we win?  Can Cinnamon Stick defeat Moth Breath, and what does that mean?  It seems like Cinnamon Stick…that you’re kind of…I don’t know, lagging indicator’s the wrong word, but when you broadcast something, it has some effect, an indirect effect, on Cinnamon Stick.  Now, the good news is all the other reports have gotten…now, these aren’t helpful; they’re just good news, is that this participatory thing is being very well-responded to by children and adults throughout the world.  So, that is very, very exciting, is if we have a long-term solution, because the…so, it is helpful and you are helping with their feelings.  But I just don’t know in the face of two giant beings how helpful that is right now.

 

But it is a piece of good news that I want to talk about, because it helps me talk while I’m waiting here and watching this, and my advisors are trying to knock and say, can I…?  I say no, no, no; I need to focus.  I need my talk-out time to talk.  In this case, I’m talking to you.  I don’t know if you knew that I used to make recordings for my father before this.  Some would say it was silly and some I would delete, or most I would delete, because I knew he could hear me, or I believed he could hear me.  Sometimes I did; most of the time I just…another part of me said this is silly, but it does have a practical use.  Now, I would…I did…you did invite me into the writer’s room and performer’s room, and I will say that this is the first time I’ve seen you swept up in a wave of emotion, too.

 

Everyone there…the atmosphere is electric and I think you’re connecting with the atmosphere, and you do seem to think that Cinnamon Stick can win.  It’s interesting now, you being open to some consultations about strategy, and saying okay, well, we’re not gonna do…we’re just trying to slowly frustrate Moth Breath into making an error, or tiring out, even though we know nothing about the physiology or getting too close, and then Cinnamon Stick would embrace…I guess that’s your theory, is to embrace or use a cinnamon-embraced Cinnamon Stick, just like you channeled the wind through the channels of the Cinnamon Stick.  I don’t know, you said we’re working on open…open…you know, open up, or…I don’t know.  I didn’t follow all that ‘cause I said, okay…’cause I guess I always think, then what?

 

So, Cinnamon Stick would hold Moth Breath in an embrace, and then what are we going to do?  You said don’t worry, we’ll get to that when we get to that.  Again, I say okay, well, can Cinnamon Stick walk on the bottom of the ocean?  Can Cinnamon Stick swim?  I mean, Cinnamon Stick’s in a very…on the shores of a place that tried to plant a ship to use the Big Ones offensively and who now feel like we’re using…that that got turned against them.  So, I’m supposed to just trust that things are gonna work out, even though you said they’re not gonna work out 100% good or 100% bad.  So, I don’t know, I just needed to talk that out, then the stuff with the moth…people with the moth-based belief system.  So, this is just as confusing when I started getting reports in.  They said yeah, most of these people are young adults.

 

They’re almost kids.  We call them college age, that…and there are, you know, a range of adults and some younger children there, too, but that…they got caught up in this idea, particularly Moth Breath, and I think that Moth Breath just has this allure about it, maybe because of the journey it took over the history of the Big Ones, from actually being a caterpillar to a moth or whatever you call it, larvae or whatever.  That transformation, and then the fact that there were singers associated with…that it could be…I don’t know.  There was just…strange that out of all the Big Ones, that particular one had the most allure.

 

But it’s also a contrast to you, because…now, not everyone, as we’ve…as they’ve been getting reports of these interviews that have been going on with all these moth-based believers, that there are some people that really believe in it, just like you believe in Cinnamon Stick and this performance of joy and dance.  So, it is interesting, right, that this is happening, they’re both happening at the same time, and they do believe that they can influence Moth Breath and that Moth Breath…and they’re a little dismayed.  They said Moth Breath did what all of you couldn’t do; sealed up all the other Big Ones.  Then alls Moth Breath did was try to deal with the split atoms that were in that ship.  Like, why would one place try to send split atoms to another place to attract Big Ones?

 

Of course Moth Breath’s gonna try to deal with that, and that Moth Breath is the hero we’re looking for.  Now, there was different degrees of that.  There was people that just said well, just…I just hoped, or what else am I gonna do?  I wanted to take action.  So, I don’t know, I’m trying to identify and find the commonalities, because otherwise I would be in a place of just pure judgement where I can’t think clearly.  That’s why I do these talk-outs.  Okay, so they…apparently they arrived on the island, they made a home, they located Moth Breath, they had met over the interwebs and stuff, and participated and got interested and vetted one another.  They had a application process and…to see who was participating.  It was really, actually, thorough, and the reports I’m getting are very thorough.

 

Obviously it’s all easy to track, but that…you could join and you could gather information and participate in their discussions about Moth Breath and this mythology, or I guess in a sense, a religion.  You could do all that, but to get to the final stages for the most part, you also had to participate and to ease your way into being a part of this group, this community.  For the most part, part of me wants to say okay, but…except that they’re making other demands, right, for a lot of goods.  They said well, if you don’t listen to…and I think that might be the youth, or there’s theories coming in from the interviewers, that it’s like, two leadership groups of the moth-based belief system and one wants some more tangible results.

 

But again, looking at it from…if I…putting myself in their shoes, you say okay, well, what if the Big Ones are gonna be around for a long time?  Well, then we would need plenty of supplies and tangible goods for trade, and different things to keep us in a position of power.  So, I guess I can understand those demands.  Or if Moth Breath…I don’t think very many people are 100% in, right?  They say well, what if Moth Breath…let’s get what we can just in case things don’t work out.  What if Moth Breath doesn’t just…we don’t sing and Moth Breath does what we want Moth Breath to do?  Now, they were also searching for beings from another planet, and that’s a part of their belief system.

 

I haven’t quite…I haven’t had a chance to sit down and absorb everything, and I know this is somehow related to the history of Moth Breath, but some of that stuff was uncovered as not true and some of it was uncovered as plausible.  But these…they’re searching also for these two beings from another world that can also…so, they actually…they’re not exactly controlling Moth Breath directly; they’re making their pleas to these two twins from another world where apparently they have twins as well, and the twins are influencing Moth Breath.  But that’s happening on a vibrational level which goes into…somehow related to your manifestation theory, that…I don’t know.  It’s confusing, confusing stuff.

 

One of the things that sticks most out to me, though, is motivation, ‘cause I look at the similarities and I try to take three more steps…step into shoes and step also three steps back to look at things.  I look at your motivations and at least…and your actions; do they align with your motivations?  Which seems to be…or the other impacts of your actions, which is helping people feel their feelings about the Big Ones, and have some empowerment, right?  That does seem to not be a pure motivation, but the result and what is driving the action is an empowered thing.  I guess as a leader, I’d say okay, that’s a different kind of empowerment.  Harder, because I can’t even buy into it totally.

 

Again, I’m trying to figure out my choices that I have to make, and that I don’t want to make them, and that’s why I’m talking things out, too.  Now, the…everyone with a moth-based belief system, even with these two kind of leaders…leadership styles within their community, most of the belief is not coming from the same place.  Now, it’s not coming from a place that’s all good or all bad, but the feelings driving their actions and the results from their actions are more on the F-E-A-R zone, where they’re…that’s what’s guiding their choices.  So, you know, and kind of the vibrations that are heading out from them is like, what can we do?  Because this is not going well.  Almost a place of non-acceptance.  I can’t accept…huh, so I wonder if that’s really your theory, which doesn’t help me.

 

None of it helps me, I guess, ‘cause what if you’re really…I mean, this is just my imagination now, so maybe I’m operating from that same space of not feeling on solid ground, but what if you’re just trying to teach us to live with the Big Ones?  But then why would Cinnamon Spice materialize or come to our aid?  I don’t know.  So…but so, what we know from the Big Ones Atoll is that we don’t really know anything.  Why I’m talking things out is because I don’t want to make a choice.  I have one big option, which is to make the Big Ones Atoll go bye-bye forever.  But…and all of the leaders of the world, of at least Cooperative Nations, but a lot of the other places are aware, and to make Big Ones Atoll go bye-bye…it is an atoll and volcanic area.

 

While it’s very isolated, making it go bye-bye with all the Big Ones in a way that we would be pretty certain would have a impact on a large swath of the world; it would kinda change the geography of the world and impact everybody in a non-positive way, so it’s a trade-off, I guess you would say.  My father was placed in a position as president of the United States to make it with Nevada and California and the western states.  People never…even I could…never could have left that…I still am trying to go through those stages of healing from that, I guess.  I guess we never had a chance, because we were dealing with these other events of the Big Ones, and the changes in the world leadership and all those things.

 

I don’t know how much healing’s been going on with that, and that was on a much smaller scale, though a large scale.  So, it’s like, I don’t want to have to even make that choice because I don’t know what I would choose, right?  Even now, and I know what…I have everybody’s opinions but it stops with me.  But again, they say well, if the Big Ones awake and leave Big Ones Atoll, we should…again, we should have done this earlier or whatever.  I say no, no, we’re not doing anything ‘til the astronaut returns and we test out the Planet Zipper plan.  But I thought the Planet Zipper plan would involve some technology or some clear, tangible thing.  So, that said, as I’ve been talking, it seems like Cinnamon Spice is doing very well and I…just watching now, as Moth Breath has tried to do another strategy, but seems tired.

 

Doesn’t seem to have full power of flight.  Moth Breath is spitting now, silk spit.  I don’t know, a couple of them…Cinnamon Stick kinda batted back.  A couple have stuck on Cinnamon Stick, but it doesn’t seem…I don’t know if it was…if Moth Breath was trying to make Cinnamon Stick not be able to…oh, it did; okay.  My theory was right; it’s trying to cover up Cinnamon Stick’s eyes.  But I…you had already said okay, we do suspect that the Cinnamon Stick’s…are…that Moth Breath’s last move, which now I’m watching it, will be to try to seal Cinnamon Stick up in silk.  But it seems a little bit sloppy.  I don’t know if that’s because of the exhaustion of Moth Breath.  I mean, I don’t even know how long this has been going on for; days?  So, okay, so right now, Moth Breath is kinda circling and spraying Cinnamon Stick.

 

Okay, now more in a deliberate way.  ‘Cause again, we watched Moth Breath…I guess in the history of the Big Ones, we’ve seen this happen before in action, but not…when Moth Breath sealed up all the Big Ones on Big Ones Atoll, everyone was hibernating.  Okay, but Cinnamon Stick is getting sealed up in silk, in a silk kinda cocoon.  But you had said don’t worry, that’s what we suspect will happen.  We already have a plan and we have it already set in place.  Now everyone is watching.  Okay, so, they’re gonna go to split-screen and start airing the show.  Oh, and you’re using the spicy, spicy thing.  Oh, in a kind of…oh, and again, the same themes you’ve been using.  Okay, I see you.  You had something spicy touch something hot.  Oh, it’s hot; it’s spicy.  Oh, but to kinda let it out, feel it.

 

Again, about…don’t touch it again, or maybe not touch it…eat that again.  I think that’s what that…was that was that move said?  Or that doesn’t taste good?  Okay, so spicy, spicy…spicy, it’s hot…in a little back off.  Now Moth Breath is kinda circling above.  Oh, but you can kinda already see the heat coming from Cinnamon Stick.  Wow.  So, it is working, and this one’s even more of a direct…wow, I can even feel it.  That might sound…well, I guess…I don’t know if you feel it at the broadcasting, or your team feels it, but I guess I said it was…the feeling was infectious.  But I can…this is happening live, and I know that the children of the world will feel good about this, the people of the world, or at least I’m…maybe I’m imagining it; maybe I’m feeling it.  Wow, and the silk…Cinnamon Stick’s standing up; the silk is kind of…oh, no.

 

What is Moth Breath doing?  It landed not that far from Cinnamon Stick.  All the tatters of the silk…Moth Breath’s kinda yelling.  Cinnamon Stick’s trying to rip off some of the…oh, but some of it’s…wait a second, now Moth Breath is taking off with…oh, it looks like…okay, I’m gonna…I’ll be back here in a second.  I’m gonna…I gotta check in with you.  Okay, so, now it looks like our confidence was misplaced, that we…I don’t know how we fell into this, that…and you were very frustrated with yourself, not with me, and you said we lost…I mean, I guess I lost my…can you trust too much?  Or what’s the difference between trust and faith and overconfidence?  It seems like we got caught up in that wrestling idea, or the action, and I got caught up in it because I definitely underestimated Moth Breath.

 

As I watched things unfold, I fell into that over…I was swept away.  But it seems like at least apparently, Moth Breath…either Moth Breath made the most of a bad situation or had planned this and implemented it, created a sling and took off with Cinnamon Stick into the sky.  There’s nothing Cinnamon Stick can do, because Moth Breath flew pretty…is flying pretty high.  You said that you lost your direction.  I mean, this is all happening so fast.  It’s understandable, but that you kinda got caught up in the action inverses the purpose.  You’re still saying okay, we’re working on this.  We don’t know how this is gonna unfold.  Right now you’re telling people to just relax.  It’s gonna be okay.  But Moth Breath is definitely heading back to Big Ones Atoll, which leaves me in quite a position here.

 

We’ve told the Moth Breath-based beliefs…believers what…that they’re…that we’ve given the option to leave with a lot of our teams that are leaving Big Ones Atoll.  I mean, the return of a sentient Moth Breath, I mean, there could be…who knows what’s gonna happen with Cinnamon Stick and Moth Breath when they get to the island?  But also that I have to…we’ve given them the choice to stay, but that the island may not exist.  So, everyone’s getting as far away from Big Ones Atoll as they can.  But the reality is that this could work out in a way I don’t…could work out for the best in a way I don’t want it to work out for the best.  Now Moth Breath’s circling Big Ones Atoll, and…with Cinnamon Stick.

 

Well, Moth Breath dropped Cinnamon Stick right into the volcano and is now just circling the island and making a lot of noise.  Huh, the volcano seems to be…maybe that’s spicy?  Like, it’s ejecting things.  Huh, that’s probably not good.  There’s a lot of steam coming from the island.  Okay, but you’re calling me in, so let me…you’re of course gonna tell me to hope, so I hope you’re right.  Okay, so, I’m back again.  So, since we talked, Moth Breath has landed on the rim of the volcano and has been yelling and the remaining Moth Breath-based believers are gathered.  I don’t know how good Moth Breath’s eyes are, but singing and praising Moth Breath.  But you theorized, and your show has gone through with…and it was impressive to watch this team of…that had been assembled, of writers from around the world and experts from around the world.

 

Then the writers leaving and working on their own, and the performers that…I guess you said the most important things are, can we see Cinnamon Spice?  Which was more of a question for everybody’s heart.  Then to the team and to me, can we see the kids of the world seeing Cinnamon Spice?  I guess one thing is I guess I’m not sure I want to feel all this when I know what my choice has to be, right?  But then you said, can we see Cinnamon Spice seeing us seeing Cinnamon Spice or seeing the children of the world?  I said, holy John Berger, this is a totally different direction, though.  So, we’re seeing the children of the world having their real feelings seeing Cinnamon Spice, and we…and the children of the world are also supposed to be imagining or seeing themselves as Cinnamon Spice seeing that.

 

I don’t know how you did it; through song and dance and metaphor.  I mean, at least for me, you just broke it down clearly because I don’t know if I…I guess I didn’t need to pick up, or the children don’t need to pick up on that.  That’s what you were doing.  Then, that how Cinnamon Spice is doing, and then seeing Cinnamon Spice seeing Moth Breath and then seeing Moth Breath seeing the Big Ones, because there has been some activity with the Big Ones.  I don’t know, there’s reports on the ground; we cleared out so many people that one of the Big Ones is stirring from some volcanic activity.  But that also drove you to say well, how do you think Moth Breath is feeling about all this?  Then again, it seemed to work; I said, what, is this gonna manifest something else, or what?

 

I don’t know…and I did know that one of the things was stirring hot cocoa with a cinnamon stick, and that that suddenly everybody…but that you could do that literally or imaginatively, and thinking about the volcano and your feelings and all that.  I picked up on that metaphor.  Well, is it a metaphor?  Then steam started to rise out of the volcano and a different kind of steam.  Moth Breath just kinda sat there staring, looking, right, and then looking at the steam and then looking at the Big Ones, looking at Big Ones Atoll, looking at the moth-based believers, and getting more and more steamy.  That was kinda the song; steamy, it’s hot, steamy, it’s hot, steamy, I feel hot.  I mean, this is, again, strange to say, but I’m trying to talk things out and feel them and talk them out and feel them.

 

These are tools I’ve learned over the years, too, but I haven’t been in touch with those feelings about my father or about being in a leadership position and making choices that are tough and that I don’t want to make, and not wanting to have hope.  So, I could feel it, too.  But…and then also, while we got carried away earlier, when I was having feelings, and…but I was…that makes me feel steamy.  Steamy, it’s hot, it’s hot.  More and more steam seemed to pour over Moth Breath, and Moth Breath got wetter and wetter and steamier and steamier.  Then, I mean, I don’t know; I’ve seen some of the stills, I’ve seen some of the videos.  It did seem like there was a steam version of Cinnamon Stick there for a time, sitting next to Moth Breath and also enveloping Moth Breath.  First arm around the shoulder…I don’t know.

 

Or was that the dance that’s just in my head of sitting…putting your arm around somebody, having cocoa, stirring it with a cinnamon stick?  Is it my…I…but so, steamy, steamy, it’s hot.  Then a change started to occur.  Moth Breath started to get so wet and shaggy, and the steam kinda seemed to absorb Moth Breath in a steam cocoon, I guess is all you could say, and that we couldn’t see anything other than the steam pouring off the mountain and the steam and the fog surrounding Big Ones Atoll.  Then out of that, into the sky…and again, because of satellites and everything, we had the shots; there was drones from different media organizations.  Above the steam flew something that was different than Moth Breath but that was somehow a fusion of Moth Breath and Cinnamon Stick, flying with a kinda steamy, hot grace, higher and higher into the sky and out of our atmosphere, out of our world.

 

From all reports, we’re having trouble following them or tracking them, but that they’ve left Earth and they’ve passed…they…I don’t know where they’re going.  Part of me wants to say Planet Zipper, but…or…I don’t know.  So, I guess I can’t shake it.  Are they coming back?  What are they doing?  What was that?  But I don’t have that luxury, either.  I have to make a decision.  We have another Big One stirring, so I have to kinda take some time now to listen to the advice coming in, the opinions coming in, the facts coming in, and make a choice here and process it while we wait and see which Big One is waking up now.  Right now there’s still a lot of steam and fog.  Is there a Big One about to come out of hibernation?  Multiple Big Ones?  My choice…so, but I’m gonna feel my feelings about it, too.

 

I’m gonna feel steamy, I’m gonna feel spicy, but I’m also gonna try to see everybody that’s having those feelings inside me, and even when I consult with everybody, I hope.  So, in some sense, I guess I’m saying thank you, but also I’m saying thank you as a warning, because I’m gonna have other strong feelings, and that might impact how I…that I’m not treating you from a place of caring, of seeing you, how you’re seeing things, or seeing you having feelings from seeing things, too.  So, I hope I can stay connected to that.  So, thanks for putting that tool in my toolbox, and thanks for…I’ll miss Cinnamon Spice, but I guess I could have a bowl…I don’t know if I could have a bowl of it.  But I’m gonna rest for a little while before I try to move onto this next decision-making process.  So, if you’re listening to this, I’m gonna say good…I’m gonna see myself saying goodnight to myself.  Goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(www.leahtranscribes.com)