Everyone Should Listen To This Before School Starts (Even if you're not a student) | Prof WeeklyEp 9
00:00:00:05 - 00:00:06:18
Evan
Hey, everybody, welcome back to the weekly show. I'm Wade, aka professor, not this. I'm here with Evan, and we are heading back to school this week.
00:00:06:18 - 00:00:19:23
Wade
That's right. On this episode, find out what Wade's favorite scent of candle is from Bath and Body Works. And you can find out what our childhood trauma was from the school bus. Let's get right into it.
00:00:20:09 - 00:00:22:06
Unknown
You.
00:00:22:06 - 00:00:30:22
Evan
back to school. We go back to school. Wait. It's a back to school episode. It's.
00:00:30:22 - 00:00:36:24
Wade
It is the back to school observed. I cannot think of a better way to start out than that beautiful serenade have.
00:00:36:25 - 00:00:41:05
Evan
Do we need to start more segments with musical intros?
00:00:41:05 - 00:00:46:01
Wade
With music? Oh, art. So underappreciated. Fun to the arts, I say.
00:00:46:04 - 00:00:47:25
Evan
Yes, fun to the arts indeed.
00:00:47:26 - 00:00:51:00
Wade
Hot topic, but fun to the arts.
00:00:51:02 - 00:00:56:14
Evan
I don't want to have a cold take here, but I would say we need to fund more art.
00:00:56:17 - 00:00:58:04
Wade
Art is good. Do more of.
00:00:58:04 - 00:01:16:15
Evan
A lot of a lot of our listeners, our big artists, some very talented musicians, some awesome artists. They've got some great stuff. So keep it up. we've we've enjoyed everything that people have been posting in the discord, too. If you're not on the discord and you're listening to this and you want to hang out with some really fun people up in the discord.
00:01:16:19 - 00:01:18:01
Wade
Yeah, we'll put it in the show notes.
00:01:18:07 - 00:01:20:06
Evan
Okay, back to school, though. This is our.
00:01:20:10 - 00:01:21:11
Wade
Back to school.
00:01:21:14 - 00:01:25:08
Evan
The air is fresh.
00:01:25:11 - 00:01:40:11
Wade
I've got my Oxford, you know, the Oxford button down there on. We're ready to get back into learning, back into academia. You know, it's been a minute since we've actually been in school though, right?
00:01:40:11 - 00:01:42:16
Evan
Yeah. I mean, that's it's it's an interesting thing to.
00:01:42:16 - 00:01:44:01
Wade
Do a weekly.
00:01:44:01 - 00:01:49:06
Evan
Show that's about learning and started in the middle of the summer.
00:01:49:08 - 00:02:05:15
Wade
It really is. It really is. But, you know, I but we use this term lifelong learners, right. And I think that we're at our best when we are learning throughout our lives, learning new things. You're never too old to learn something new. You can teach an old dog new tricks.
00:02:05:18 - 00:02:08:29
Evan
You can. You teach an old blade new tricks. We're about to find out this.
00:02:09:06 - 00:02:10:29
Wade
We are about to find out. And,
00:02:11:01 - 00:02:18:09
Evan
But I think there's a bit of an announcement. we have some exciting news that came in earlier this week. Would you like to share the news?
00:02:18:12 - 00:02:41:25
Wade
I would love to. So if you're on Twitter or anything like that, you've probably seen me excitedly announce that, I got my first educational grant. This is my first one. Absolutely amazing. Oh, but not just any educational grant. but this one. enables me to start what I call, an experiment called the Game Lab.
00:02:41:28 - 00:03:06:06
Wade
so in my class this fall, I'm going to be, teaching a class called Mythos to Logos, which is reconstruction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of religious traditions through Final Fantasy 16. And the way that I kind of pitch to the class and especially, you know, this grant proposal was on Tuesdays. It's a two day a week class.
00:03:06:06 - 00:03:31:00
Wade
Tuesdays I'll be lecturing classically, and then on Thursdays we've got, a host of PlayStation fives and copies of Final Fantasy 16. And, students will actually play in real time with small groups while I'm interspersing lectures. So it's going to be a very active sort of, lab, basically where they are playing through a game and getting some teaching to accompany that game in real time.
00:03:31:04 - 00:03:44:17
Wade
I'm super excited. I'm going to get to research the impact of using this methodology and then make some publishing in the spring, which is going to be just rad, like it's it's a cool sort of dream. How does it.
00:03:44:17 - 00:03:51:13
Evan
Feel to have the opportunity to make it real? I've talked to you on the phone yesterday. You called, you were so excited and.
00:03:51:15 - 00:03:53:03
Wade
Yeah, you've been dreaming. I mean this.
00:03:53:03 - 00:03:54:02
Evan
For a while.
00:03:54:05 - 00:04:25:25
Wade
Well, here's what I'll say. Like, I know that this works. I know it works. I've done it in pilot groups in, my own dissertation. I mean, this was the dissertation was a precursor to what this game lab idea and design is. The Twitch streams that I do, it's a precursor to this sort of thing. So the opportunity to actually try it out and test it in a classroom setting at the authorization of my university is absolutely amazing.
00:04:25:25 - 00:04:47:23
Wade
So huge shout out to the University of Alabama. you know, I mean, we are, always in the top in football, right? And in sports. But, in education, it's also really exciting that we are, pushing new boundaries and really breaking new ground. I love that they're taking a chance on this sort of thing. So all awesome.
00:04:47:23 - 00:05:07:28
Evan
Stuff. I think it's a fantastic opportunity. I think big thanks for the grant makers and givers to yeah, even the project and the opportunity for you department to let you to try it out and you know, for you and everybody who helped you write the grant and has been kind of supporting you along the way, I think you said you wanted to give kind of a heartfelt thank you to.
00:05:08:05 - 00:05:31:08
Wade
Yeah. And I think that, you know, not just the University of Alabama, not the, the, College of Education, over there, but also I have to give a shout out to our community and stuff. Last fall, I did a semester long lecture play series on Final Fantasy 16, and, I invited everybody to be, research collaborators with me.
00:05:31:08 - 00:05:50:00
Wade
What do you see? What do you think about this? And I tested some of these ideas out, and, they flooded the discord with ideas and insights, and I took those to heart. and, funny story, one of the supervisors over in my, my college saw some of those streams and said, yeah, this would be an amazing class.
00:05:50:00 - 00:06:05:08
Wade
This would be an amazing class. And so really, a huge thank you to our community because you helped make this happen. You were part of investing in the future of education. So thank you. Thank you from the deepest part of my heart. Thank you.
00:06:05:10 - 00:06:30:00
Evan
I think it's very cool that just by participating in some of the things that you do with the lecture plays and, you know, watching and listening this show, thanks for tuning in. You're able to contribute and build to spaces that didn't exist before, the educational spaces to incorporate play in this way, to help teach and bring people closer together, create spaces for people to share about their lives.
00:06:30:00 - 00:06:51:19
Evan
And then you talk about the end of your classroom experience, like the campfire moments where you memorialized these experiences. It's really taking things off of the screen and into real life. We've talked about our fantasy the reality segment, and it's really neat to me to be able to help host and then get to know everyone in the community, and for them to know that.
00:06:51:21 - 00:06:52:12
Wade
You are.
00:06:52:12 - 00:07:17:10
Evan
Creating spaces when you comment on the YouTube page, when you interact in the discord, when you jump in on a stream, you're a part of creating spaces that didn't exist in the past. and it's really hard to feel like that's happening digitally and authentically. But I have just seen the beauty in a lot of the folks that participate and just the care that they have for each other and for kind of the spaces around them that they enjoy.
00:07:17:10 - 00:07:25:05
Evan
And it's very cool to have this kind of space be carved out, and for you to get to do some research and get some data on it at the same time.
00:07:25:12 - 00:07:48:07
Wade
Right. How cool is that? I mean, I love that that we have a channel that is not just like a great community and stuff, but we are making a tangible impact, in the future of education, at the ground level with new 18 to 25 year olds that are beginning their education journey and setting the trajectory for the rest of their lives, right?
00:07:48:12 - 00:08:01:19
Wade
Not every Twitch stream, not every YouTube channel can say that they're doing that. But like, you guys helped create this and I do not miss that. So, I, I don't know what you've got going on today as you listen to this, but know that you made a difference. How cool is that?
00:08:01:23 - 00:08:26:18
Evan
Well, I think that that is amazing. And it ties right into our back to school. It absolutely does, because I think going back to school is kind of a moment that we all remember, and it was a little different for everybody. But it sticks out to me that it's similar to not knowing who is going to be in your class to, oh, you should go to school, and you knew that you were going to kind of make some new friends.
00:08:26:18 - 00:08:29:10
Evan
Or maybe did you ride the bus growing up? I know not.
00:08:29:10 - 00:08:34:21
Wade
Everybody. One day, one day I rode the bus and it didn't go well, so I was a call rider. There.
00:08:34:23 - 00:08:38:13
Evan
Right. Okay. Well, we need to talk about the difference between bus riders.
00:08:38:13 - 00:08:41:19
Wade
I wasn't one of those kids.
00:08:41:21 - 00:09:13:01
Evan
Sounds like there's a story in there somewhere that maybe, actually, trauma. I'm actually really interested in attacking that, but I think that's part of what back to school can be for us in this season, too. It's just it's this newness, this idea of, of a clean slate. Can you describe that feeling in the air when you were a kid and you went back to school and kind of relate it to what it feels like to go back to school at a university these days, because not everybody's on like a university campus.
00:09:13:01 - 00:09:17:13
Evan
So, but the vibe on campus when back to school starts up.
00:09:17:15 - 00:09:39:22
Wade
Was totally different. You know, when when I think about elementary school and high school, I think of freshly shaven pencils like that smell that just, like, permeates the air and like, you've got your brand new pencil box, your new, like, three ring binders, some Lisa Frank, maybe you've never really. Lisa, Frank and all the girls had those and.
00:09:39:24 - 00:09:42:14
Evan
Like, transcending the gel on the pencil.
00:09:42:16 - 00:09:48:28
Wade
The most acid trippy sort of thing you've ever seen is like, what? It's my math binder is great.
00:09:48:28 - 00:09:59:01
Evan
All the things that we used to do. Like when you take the mechanical pencil and, like, pretend like you were giving yourself a shot or like your neighbors or like, pinch your finger in the three ring binder. You know, I.
00:09:59:01 - 00:09:59:20
Wade
Have the question.
00:09:59:20 - 00:10:01:03
Evan
Holding on for the air.
00:10:01:05 - 00:10:15:24
Wade
This is something that I to, you know, the worth of other people buy. so no, no pressure here. But did you ever color code your binders according to subjects? What what were the colors that you selected for different subjects?
00:10:15:24 - 00:10:41:11
Evan
This is emblematic of my entire life. I would color code my binders, and I would approach the semester with the greatest of intentions, and then it would always just end up as, like the first two pages for the first two class. And I just wouldn't even make it through the first day before I just did. Oh, the color coding system and just became like a backpack stuffer, because there was that kind of there's two kinds of people in elementary school.
00:10:41:13 - 00:10:42:25
Wade
And they are on this stream.
00:10:42:25 - 00:11:01:18
Evan
Yeah, they're they're you're but. Oh, yeah. Are we at odds here? We are not is your binder right? You have your clip and you have your hole punch. And you got to organize everything and you have your color code in your folders. Then you have people like me who are ambitious that we could do that. I create the perfect system in my mind, and then I am unable to follow that system in any capacity.
00:11:01:18 - 00:11:08:21
Evan
Growing up and I end up just being like a backpack smasher. Now, I wasn't like the trash compactor because there was you.
00:11:08:21 - 00:11:10:11
Wade
There are those. Yeah, yeah.
00:11:10:12 - 00:11:23:05
Evan
Where they just open up the backpack and then they just slam the papers in and it just becomes this almost, core sample of their semester when they need to go through something, they're like, hold on to that. What? That assignment was from August.
00:11:23:08 - 00:11:27:11
Wade
I guess they started digging in September. Mary Poppins bag style, like.
00:11:27:11 - 00:11:35:07
Evan
Yeah, exactly what they're like. Archeologists. Like, they're like dusting staff. There's, like a cosmic brownie. Little Debbie somewhere.
00:11:35:10 - 00:11:41:15
Wade
I hate that idea. Like. Yeah, it's like top. That is vividly, as you just described it.
00:11:41:18 - 00:11:43:27
Evan
Favorite Little Debbie snack?
00:11:44:00 - 00:11:45:07
Wade
I like a Swiss cake roll.
00:11:45:08 - 00:11:47:13
Evan
Oh, I think I'm an oatmeal cream pie guy.
00:11:47:19 - 00:11:55:10
Wade
No, can't go wrong there. So you're also also the favorite of, the one and only coach Nick Saban.
00:11:55:13 - 00:11:55:28
Evan
Oatmeal cream.
00:11:55:28 - 00:11:58:16
Wade
Pass out the day. Oatmeal cream pie. Wow.
00:11:58:16 - 00:12:01:07
Evan
You know I like it because it has the illusion of health.
00:12:01:10 - 00:12:04:00
Wade
Yeah. Yeah I know that you're a Georgia guy, but, like.
00:12:04:03 - 00:12:05:00
Evan
I have a lot of.
00:12:05:02 - 00:12:05:06
Wade
Fun.
00:12:05:07 - 00:12:07:22
Evan
Right? Nick Saban even though he's caused me.
00:12:07:22 - 00:12:08:10
Wade
Well he a.
00:12:08:10 - 00:12:09:04
Evan
Lot of misery and.
00:12:09:04 - 00:12:15:16
Wade
Heartache. He produced your guy right Kirby smart. So like yeah he did Nick Saban in waiting.
00:12:15:22 - 00:12:23:21
Evan
He did he did refine my boy Kirby smart I really yeah I do appreciate it. It's yeah. If we can get into that art on our college football episode.
00:12:23:27 - 00:12:24:10
Wade
Absolutely.
00:12:24:10 - 00:12:28:27
Evan
Coming up the college football game coming out and now we're locked in because we said it out loud. Yeah. Oops.
00:12:28:28 - 00:12:29:24
Wade
This happened.
00:12:29:27 - 00:12:46:26
Evan
So when it comes to the start of school in a university, give me give me the feel for those who aren't on a university campus. So here you are. You, we know, elementary school waiting on the bus, the nervousness. Right. what are the students feeling as they're coming back to school here on our university campuses across the country.
00:12:46:29 - 00:13:07:12
Wade
College students are, usually pretty eager to get back. If you were a sophomore, junior or senior or beyond. Right. 50 or 60 or however many years we've been there. we're depending on your journey, but freshmen are balls of anxiety, you know, and I found that to be the case universally. As long as I've been on a college campus.
00:13:07:12 - 00:13:28:03
Wade
Freshmen are timid. And because they don't really know anybody, they may have known some people from their high school that have come to college, but there is some anxiety mixed with excitement. What's it going to be like? They are living into a brand new rhythm in the freedom is almost crippling, because they've always been told where they had to be, what they had to do at every stage of their life.
00:13:28:03 - 00:13:49:05
Wade
And here they are, unleashed on a college campus, sometimes in a whole city, and said, here you go, here's your life, choose wisely and, choose your major wisely. It's going to determine who you are and what you do for the future. Choose your your friends, your your fraternity, your sorority, your, student group. Whatever you're in, choose wisely.
00:13:49:05 - 00:14:18:03
Wade
And so there's a heightened level of intensity of decision making there. And, they eventually get into it usually about halfway through the semester, maybe in the spring semester. They find their groove, they find their people. But at the end of the day, it begins with that anxiety. And I think that any time you're starting the school year, even now, I even though I'm, I'm on the other side of things as faculty, you know, there's anxiety for me.
00:14:18:03 - 00:14:35:08
Wade
It's like, oh, gosh, like some of those middle school fears of like, I know I'm, I'm pretty great, but is my class going to think I'm cool? Like, I know want to think that like I on the one hand I want to be a professional like, oh, I don't want them to. It doesn't matter if they like me, like, I don't need them to respect me.
00:14:35:08 - 00:14:42:28
Wade
But on the other hand, it's like you want to be like, you don't want to have your rate. My professor like tank or anything, but how?
00:14:42:28 - 00:14:45:15
Evan
I need to check your rate, my professor and I.
00:14:45:15 - 00:14:48:05
Wade
Please don't. it's,
00:14:48:07 - 00:14:49:19
Evan
I'm going to do it now. Well.
00:14:49:22 - 00:14:52:22
Wade
It's usually like he doesn't check emails and you're just so.
00:14:52:25 - 00:14:58:18
Evan
Good for you. Good for you. Man was not born to slave to check emails. Thank you. Man, the.
00:14:58:18 - 00:14:59:17
Wade
War of work.
00:14:59:21 - 00:15:03:25
Evan
Man does not need to exist in the digital inbox. We were made for more.
00:15:03:28 - 00:15:07:08
Wade
Was made for more. That I move embarked for real. So true.
00:15:07:11 - 00:15:29:21
Evan
Let's talk about that nervousness that comes with a new start. I think it starts in general. There's a nervousness that could come with a reverence for the task, but we're all entering into a new season, and I like seasonal change because it gives us the ability to choose new things and kind of have a fresh start. Now, you talked about how you were a bus rider for one day.
00:15:29:23 - 00:15:30:23
Wade
Yeah.
00:15:30:25 - 00:15:32:08
Evan
What happened there?
00:15:32:10 - 00:15:52:01
Wade
Well, it wasn't that big of a deal. But like, you know, it was my first day and I wasn't sure I was getting on the right bus. It kind of stressed me out. I got on the right bus, oddly enough. And then I sat there and like, because I it wasn't even the first day of school was like mid semester of like the fall or whatever.
00:15:52:04 - 00:16:05:23
Wade
Everybody had already like broken into their alliances, their clans, their tribes on the bus. Okay. And I'm like, where do I fit in? It's like the new guy and a turf war on a bus because it is like it is like.
00:16:05:24 - 00:16:06:05
Evan
It's a.
00:16:06:07 - 00:16:24:12
Wade
Turf war, right? And I was like, I don't know where I fit in. And so like, we go into my neighborhood, not remember this. This is weird. I, we go into my neighborhood in the bus and like, I started to freak out because they pass my street and I'm like, no, no, I get off here like an, I don't know, like other stops and all this stuff.
00:16:24:14 - 00:16:27:20
Evan
A hundred yards might as well be 20 miles when you're a kid.
00:16:27:23 - 00:16:40:00
Wade
It is, it is. Especially without my bike. So I was like, I need to get off here. I need to get off here. And so, like, there was nobody I could ask because I didn't have any friends on the bus at least.
00:16:40:01 - 00:16:40:25
Evan
Wait.
00:16:40:28 - 00:16:59:10
Wade
It was hopeless. Wait. And so, you know, the bus turns around, and I like curry off and like, my mom, but I run into the house and there's my mom. She's like, how's the was like, not happening. Like, I'm not doing that again. So we made another accommodations. Like it was just that it wasn't dramatic, but it was stressful.
00:16:59:14 - 00:17:22:12
Evan
Yeah, it sounds like there was a little bit of trauma. I had a similar. Yeah, not fun experience. First riding the bus when I moved to a new area of town and moved in early elementary school, kind of in the middle of the school year. So I school had already started. I started school in home state, and then a few weeks in we moved and I went to a different school.
00:17:22:12 - 00:17:31:28
Evan
So people had already known each other. I didn't start fresh with everybody, and I'm riding the bus and I'm kind of like, nervous, what's going on? You know, I have my Wolverine backpack, which is really exciting.
00:17:31:28 - 00:17:33:13
Wade
Good choice. Timely, too.
00:17:33:13 - 00:17:46:23
Evan
Oh, yeah. No. Yeah. I used to just drag it home from the bus stop on the sidewalk. It would develop holes on the bottom. And my mom was like, why do I have to buy you a new backpack every year? And then she saw me walking home, just dragging, dragging it. She's like.
00:17:46:25 - 00:17:50:12
Wade
I filled with crumpled up pieces of paper because you just shove them in their.
00:17:50:12 - 00:18:16:05
Evan
Mouth. Yes. I'm beginning to see why we need to make these purchases every year. and so I'm sitting on the bus and it's hot because we're in the south and it is humid. And you just had those little tabs that pulled down the window, you know, you. I mean, you can feel it if you've ridden on, like, a big yellow school bus, you know, that kind of feeling where you're trying to, like, stick your little fingers in the tab to drop the window one side down?
00:18:16:06 - 00:18:40:07
Evan
Remember to pinch your fingers. Well, the windows open and all of a sudden there's a wasp in the bus. Oh, and so what happens when there's a wasp or a bee around elementary school kids is it is like a scene from Jurassic Park where like, the Raptor gets loose in the food court and it's just panned? yeah.
00:18:40:07 - 00:18:44:21
Wade
It's a yeah, it's lizard brain, a frenzy, just like, yeah.
00:18:44:21 - 00:19:07:29
Evan
Total panic shrieking people jumping over the seats. They're crawling around. And then our poor bus driver, who certainly did not get compensated enough to deal with us, is coming back. They're trying to like Swat at oh my gosh, wasp. And I'm just like kind of tucked in the corner. I don't really know anybody. I'm very new. And they finally boom, they get the wasp right.
00:19:08:01 - 00:19:17:18
Evan
Wasp crumples against the side of the window and then falls down right into my seat, right into my shoe.
00:19:17:20 - 00:19:18:02
Wade
Oh my.
00:19:18:02 - 00:19:31:14
Evan
Gosh. And it's still alive and it's mad. So now I have a wasp in my shoe that is just repeatedly stinging my foot at, oh seven. And like so great. And and I knew I'm the new kid.
00:19:31:15 - 00:19:32:23
Wade
That is traumatizing.
00:19:32:24 - 00:19:36:07
Evan
It's like, hey, you're the new kid. We're just going to assault him with a wasp.
00:19:36:07 - 00:19:46:01
Wade
And so I'm like, yeah, I get to. And it's like that scene in Legend of Zelda, if you like, knock over the beehive or whatever, and then they just chase you around, you relink.
00:19:46:01 - 00:19:52:22
Evan
That's exactly how it felt. And I and I, and I like dramatically limped home, you know, because it's like, you know, one of the worst dragging.
00:19:52:26 - 00:19:58:05
Wade
I have the image in my head and it is the saddest thing. It's like Charlie Brown dragging.
00:19:58:07 - 00:19:58:24
Evan
Yeah.
00:19:58:27 - 00:20:00:13
Wade
Drag is diagnosed.
00:20:00:16 - 00:20:00:24
Evan
With this.
00:20:00:27 - 00:20:03:26
Wade
Oversize, swollen foot. Stung by the wasp.
00:20:03:26 - 00:20:06:27
Evan
Stung by a wasp. Yeah. I couldn't do it. And I couldn't do it,
00:20:06:27 - 00:20:13:16
Evan
Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of the episode. Our mini game. Stretch break. Let's hit that music.
00:20:13:18 - 00:20:32:07
Wade
Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. But a bump, bump bump bump. But I really don't know if you know the tune of this song. Heaven. I'm, losing my. I'm gonna. I'm growing in concern. It's like a it's like a bass undertone. But then also it's like, oh.
00:20:32:10 - 00:20:35:08
Evan
I don't I don't know the melody.
00:20:35:11 - 00:20:42:01
Wade
As much time as you spend in the Gold Saucer gambling in Final Fantasy 14. I am shocked.
00:20:42:06 - 00:20:52:05
Evan
I like the scratch off tickets, I love it and I just it gives a chance. I've been playing, whatever the Vermilion Arts is with your minions.
00:20:52:05 - 00:20:53:28
Wade
Oh my gosh, I'm.
00:20:54:00 - 00:20:55:03
Evan
You know, whatever.
00:20:55:05 - 00:21:00:14
Wade
I'm so glad you found it. I knew you would love it. It's like Pokemon in Final Fantasy 14.
00:21:00:15 - 00:21:15:04
Evan
It's I, I'm having I'm having a nice time. so it's that time of the episode, our mini game Stretch break, where we take a break. So we're going to stretch. Wherever you are listening, make sure that you get some stretches into, like, you know, Roosevelt, my dog is stretching Miami can't see.
00:21:15:05 - 00:21:29:09
Wade
Oh, I can do my shoulder exercises. I went to a physical therapist yesterday just to, like, do an annual sort of checkup sort of thing. And, they taught me some brand new shoulder stretches. And let me tell you what pain.
00:21:29:11 - 00:21:30:24
Evan
My pain for.
00:21:30:27 - 00:21:34:13
Wade
Physical therapists are professional pain makers are to.
00:21:34:19 - 00:21:36:26
Evan
Their torture.
00:21:36:28 - 00:21:38:07
Wade
It's modern day torture.
00:21:38:07 - 00:21:42:19
Evan
It's torture. Is that what somebody would call someone who tortures a torture wrist?
00:21:42:19 - 00:21:47:02
Wade
It's not a torture or a torture arrest because they specialize in it.
00:21:47:02 - 00:22:02:07
Evan
Yeah. Well, good. So, you know, be kind to your body. And, when you use the minimum stress rate, you get to know each other. And we do that using our bingo wheel of vulnerability. But we have some new cards that we're going to go through to. Why don't you introduce the cards and then we'll get to get to the numbers?
00:22:02:10 - 00:22:17:08
Wade
Absolutely. We are using from the heroes planner. and heroes Journal, company, the side quest deck. And so they have a great set of series of, cards and resources to help people think differently about the mundane tasks in their lives.
00:22:17:15 - 00:22:32:13
Evan
Shout out side quest deck. All right, everybody, there's numbers one through 50 in the bingo wheel of vulnerability. And so I'll give it a little shake so you can hear it. So there you go. and we're going to get to number I'm going to say 14.
00:22:32:15 - 00:22:37:09
Wade
I also was going to say 14. But I guess I'm going to go 1313 okay.
00:22:37:09 - 00:22:52:14
Evan
So listener check it out. Guess guess a number one through 50. We'll see if you're right. Here we go. Tell me when would true ruin. Oh.
00:22:52:16 - 00:22:54:00
Evan
What if we get it right.
00:22:54:02 - 00:22:57:23
Wade
Oh, like I'm always excited.
00:22:57:26 - 00:22:59:22
Evan
You are not going to believe this.
00:22:59:24 - 00:23:01:11
Wade
Am I.
00:23:01:14 - 00:23:04:04
Evan
15, though? No.
00:23:04:05 - 00:23:06:24
Wade
Oh, my gosh, that's the closest we've ever been.
00:23:07:01 - 00:23:12:12
Evan
It's the closest ever. So this there. If you guessed 15, you got it. if you had just gone above instead of below.
00:23:12:12 - 00:23:14:10
Wade
Four, I know, I why did I go below?
00:23:14:16 - 00:23:16:16
Evan
We're dialed in to the way I should aim higher.
00:23:16:16 - 00:23:17:08
Wade
That's the message.
00:23:17:12 - 00:23:33:23
Evan
That's the lesson. That's great. All right, what's our question here? As we get to do each other and always to everybody's been doing like answers to the questions for the weekly show in the discord or dropping it in the YouTube comments, or whatever. Please feel free to drop your answers. We want to know what's what's going on.
00:23:33:26 - 00:23:35:06
Evan
So all right, so.
00:23:35:09 - 00:23:57:08
Wade
These these cards are typically in the form of a challenge. But I try to to reframe it so we can talk about something similar that we've done recently. So today's challenge is spend some quality time with an animal. As Missy Lyons says, there is no better place to heal a broken heart than on the back of a horse.
00:23:57:10 - 00:23:59:15
Wade
Yeah, you hear that banger quote there?
00:23:59:15 - 00:24:06:10
Evan
We all just etched, etched into my memory all the time.
00:24:06:10 - 00:24:07:26
Wade
Forever. that one.
00:24:08:01 - 00:24:14:18
Evan
So it's an accessible thing for for people to like and listen.
00:24:14:20 - 00:24:17:05
Wade
It's a it's a picture of, like, cowboy
00:24:17:09 - 00:24:32:27
Wade
I am casually going to drop the Missy Lyons quote the next time I'm at a dinner party to say, It is just like that no greater feeling than on the back of a horse. So here's my question, Evan, when was the last time you spent some quality time with an animal?
00:24:32:29 - 00:24:35:04
Evan
last night this morning. Emily.
00:24:35:06 - 00:24:42:02
Wade
Oh there she is. Come here. And there is. Sweet Millie. Oh, no.
00:24:42:05 - 00:24:43:18
Evan
Oh, no. Come here.
00:24:43:18 - 00:24:51:17
Wade
Honey, something terrible is happening right now. There. Oh, no. No, no, there she is. No glory! Oh, my gosh, you guys.
00:24:51:23 - 00:24:55:18
Evan
Lots of quality time with Millie. And she's. Are you camera shy right now?
00:24:55:21 - 00:24:59:14
Wade
She is gigantic. She's much bigger than I saw last time.
00:24:59:19 - 00:25:01:19
Evan
She just got a haircut. Look at my beautiful.
00:25:01:19 - 00:25:04:08
Wade
Oh, look at that new haircut.
00:25:04:10 - 00:25:05:14
Evan
Hello.
00:25:05:16 - 00:25:08:09
Wade
Millie. So, I mean, you're spending quality time with her right now.
00:25:08:10 - 00:25:20:11
Evan
That's good, I am, yes it is. Do you want to hang out with the rest of the segment? Yeah. Oh it's so yeah, I'd say like right now I love spending quality time with animals. They're like Pokemon, but real life they are.
00:25:20:11 - 00:25:44:28
Wade
They are. so similarly, my dog is not, in the room. He is sleeping literally in my bed under my covers with his head on my pillow right now, one of my dogs, the other one is at my feet, but she is sleeping. but, Fisher, I spent about an hour with him the other day, and he learned not only to fetch a Frisbee, but to catch it in his mouth and bring it back to me.
00:25:44:28 - 00:25:59:05
Wade
I mean, this was a great afternoon with Fisher. I just got back, I posted it on Instagram and put some nice red 13 Cosmo Canyon music in the back, and I was like, this dog is so good that was though, some great quality time with my dog.
00:25:59:07 - 00:26:02:29
Evan
Oh that's great. And I have all of Millie's hair in my mouth right now. So this is.
00:26:03:02 - 00:26:05:13
Wade
That is also quality time with your dog.
00:26:05:14 - 00:26:10:17
Evan
So listener not no, no better time than the back of a horse. So yeah.
00:26:10:17 - 00:26:11:29
Wade
I don't always remember get.
00:26:11:29 - 00:26:12:21
Evan
Some quality time.
00:26:12:25 - 00:26:13:22
Wade
Oh, it's a good day.
00:26:13:24 - 00:26:30:03
Evan
if you, if you haven't been to a pet store recently and just walked around and just kind of interacted with the animals, like, it's fun, like, like little like ferrets running around or lizards or fish, you know, get some, get some time in nature. Go watch some squirrels out in the yard. Whatever is right.
00:26:30:06 - 00:26:46:10
Wade
Oh that's great. yeah. And you can also, at least in our town in Tuscaloosa, you can go to the, animal shelter and take dogs out on Friday afternoons just for a nice afternoon. Give them a nice walk and stuff. You don't have to keep it. Just, like, give it a good day and then return.
00:26:46:17 - 00:26:47:05
Wade
Return back.
00:26:47:11 - 00:26:50:11
Evan
Well, and show off your pets in the in the weekly show chat on the.
00:26:50:15 - 00:26:51:08
Wade
We'd love to see it.
00:26:51:08 - 00:27:01:02
Evan
We want to see love pet pictures. I need to know the names of your pets, those kinds of things. Let's let's celebrate our, animal companions and our interdependence as pets together.
00:27:01:05 - 00:27:04:25
Wade
As Missy Lyon said, there is no better time than on the back.
00:27:04:25 - 00:27:06:00
Evan
Of a, well, better time.
00:27:06:06 - 00:27:08:02
Wade
We are going to use that so much now.
00:27:08:02 - 00:27:09:19
Evan
There's no better time than the back.
00:27:09:23 - 00:27:11:04
Wade
Thank you missy, thank you.
00:27:11:04 - 00:27:18:06
Evan
Thank you so much. Who we definitely know you who you are a totally who is a what was the name again?
00:27:18:08 - 00:27:19:25
Wade
Missy Lyons.
00:27:19:27 - 00:27:22:08
Evan
Missy Lyons do you know that name? Oh.
00:27:22:10 - 00:27:24:18
Wade
Lioness. No, I've never heard of me.
00:27:24:18 - 00:27:31:00
Evan
Okay, we need to learn. So, you know what? Before we end this segment, I'm going to look up who Missy Lyons was because we can't just, like, drop.
00:27:31:01 - 00:27:39:19
Wade
I think it I think it's a, I think it's the first female bull rider. That's my guess. For who?
00:27:39:19 - 00:27:43:05
Evan
Missy Lyons autocomplete as Missy Lyons obituary.
00:27:43:05 - 00:27:46:16
Wade
As for yeah, so.
00:27:46:18 - 00:28:01:07
Evan
Okay, so Missy say Missy Lyons was the author of Bound by Desire. Oh, no. So this quote says there's no better place to heal a broken heart than the back of a horse.
00:28:01:09 - 00:28:04:00
Wade
Well, that was an adaptation of I've ever heard one. Okay.
00:28:04:00 - 00:28:12:12
Evan
Time out. She might have been a romance author. oh. My God.
00:28:12:15 - 00:28:33:16
Evan
Do you know? Okay, she said, okay. Here's some other quotes from Goodreads. Response. I feel alive when you kiss me. When they confronted her like this, she felt like a delicate freaking time bomb, just waiting for a time and place to explode. She had to remember not to look at him when he smiled like that.
00:28:33:18 - 00:28:35:09
Wade
Missy. Oh my.
00:28:35:09 - 00:28:49:17
Evan
Gosh. Barbaric is letting the woman suffer to be alone for the rest of her life. The supernova sun would be cooler than the fire lighting our desire. Cowboys don't go around breaking hearts.
00:28:49:20 - 00:28:58:25
Wade
Cowboys don't go around breaking hearts. My gosh. Oh my gosh. Sometimes I steal them though. So good. Missy Lyons we've learned so much today.
00:28:58:25 - 00:29:02:26
Evan
Yeah I don't know. I'm not I'm not going to dig too much more into these.
00:29:02:29 - 00:29:06:19
Wade
I wouldn't for the safety and sanctity of the show.
00:29:06:19 - 00:29:09:21
Evan
I think I it I don't know if this one's staying in.
00:29:09:21 - 00:29:13:14
Wade
I can not if you want no more Google at your own risk.
00:29:13:16 - 00:29:15:28
Evan
Some of the recipes cut it off half upstream.
00:29:15:28 - 00:29:17:00
Wade
No. Oh my.
00:29:17:00 - 00:29:17:18
Evan
Gosh.
00:29:17:18 - 00:29:31:22
Evan
I wonder what you would say, the advice that you give to your students that are coming in to take advantage of that kind of new start opportunity, and how could that apply to us, maybe, who aren't even in school anymore?
00:29:31:24 - 00:29:38:29
Evan
We can kind of capture some of the energy and the crispness in the morning air waiting for the bus. As we enter the season.
00:29:39:02 - 00:29:58:05
Wade
I give two pieces of advice to my freshmen. I said, the first thing is because you are now the master of your schedule, you have freedom to choose. I'm going to share some wisdom that I got from my dad. My dad was a marine. my dad, was very disciplined, habitual, that whole sort of thing.
00:29:58:08 - 00:30:16:20
Wade
And, he used to come in and wake me up about 6:00 am before class, before I went off to school in the mornings. And, I would, you know, roll over and be like, groggy the whole deal or whatever. And, he would, like, knock on my door, say, hey, wait, get up, get up, get up.
00:30:16:23 - 00:30:40:21
Wade
And then when I didn't, he would come back in. He would say, without fail. wait. Get up like you meant to. And it's like, And sometimes he would say something like, start the day like you mean to. And essentially what he was meaning was, don't start your day by accident. And what I found is if you start your day by accident, you're going to live on accident that day.
00:30:40:24 - 00:30:54:16
Wade
but if you start your day on purpose, you're going to live on purpose that day. Live like you want to. And that to me has been the biggest piece of advice that's really taken me through my life. I start my day like, I mean to that I'm going to live my day like I'm into. And, I share that with my students.
00:30:54:16 - 00:31:14:12
Wade
And so I ask them, I take them through an exercise of like, how does your morning wake up ritual determine the rest of your day? How are you doing that with intention and paying attention to what you need for the day? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they say, but your morning ritual is, I think, the most important thing that you can do for the day.
00:31:14:12 - 00:31:29:16
Wade
So what's the thing that's going to start you out on the right foot? get you out of bed on the right side, the whole deal. You know, all the cliche sayings. what? What is that? So, Yeah. Start the day like you meant to. That's number one for me. And it. I'll tell you, man, I get hit with students.
00:31:29:21 - 00:31:37:02
Wade
They're like, I have been waking up and living on accident. Let me. Let me try something different. That's a cool thing. That's number one for sure.
00:31:37:04 - 00:31:45:29
Evan
Yeah. You talked about, there's a heightened level of, intensity in decision making is what you said earlier.
00:31:46:01 - 00:31:46:19
Wade
Yeah.
00:31:46:21 - 00:32:07:17
Evan
There's a heightened level of intensity and decision making. I wonder if you could break that down a little bit more. What is it that makes that decision making feel so heightened? And what can people pay attention to in those moments to really take advantage of the fact that they're just not in the same routine? There's newness and new opportunities and new time things that you could take on.
00:32:07:19 - 00:32:31:24
Wade
Yeah. you know, Brené Brown in, her incredible TEDx talk on vulnerability, the power of vulnerability. She talks about this crippling decision making sort of thing and how choices are vulnerable, decisions to to put yourself out there for certain things are vulnerable. And we avoid vulnerability. And yet vulnerability is the key to finding our life's greatest sense of meaning.
00:32:31:24 - 00:32:53:03
Wade
Validation, happiness, joy. It is the seat of joy. And it comes through vulnerability and the way that that relates. The reason that I bring that up is whenever you are making a decision, really starting in college, by saying yes to one thing, you are innately saying no to a host of other things. I want to be an engineer.
00:32:53:03 - 00:33:14:24
Wade
Well, that means that you're probably not going to be, you know, a poet. you could be, I guess. But you're saying no to other potential opportunities right off the bat. That doesn't mean that you can't backtrack and go a different way later in life. But you are saying yes to an opportunity for this moment. The person you date, you're saying yes to one person, no to others, and in most circumstances.
00:33:14:26 - 00:33:41:08
Wade
And, you know, when you when you choose to get married, you're saying yes to one person and no to a myriad of other options. and I think that decisions start to lock you in. And so the, the groups that you are associating with, the fraternity, you join or reject or get rejected by, whatever the case may be, these can feel daunting.
00:33:41:11 - 00:34:11:02
Wade
And, kind of the key determinants of your future. And, I think that the reason that I bring that up is because this is why a lot of my students have some anxiety over the choices that they are making. And so anything that we can do to help them make decisions with clear heads with, without that, that brain fog or comparison game or the sense of, what are they doing over there?
00:34:11:02 - 00:34:21:02
Wade
And how can I be like that? Anything we can do to to build that mental, emotional IQ sort of thing as they make those decisions? That's that's good stuff.
00:34:21:07 - 00:34:47:05
Evan
I think how can those of us who aren't going back to school anymore capture some of that energy? That. Oh, that's the beauty, newness, the opportunity. I think this is. Yeah, to be able to live into this a little bit and there's some great opportunities that exist to try to totally get a fresh start. What would you say to people who aren't on a campus, who don't have kids going back to school, necessarily, that kind of stuff.
00:34:47:07 - 00:35:08:16
Wade
So seasons change and semesters starting, even if you aren't in school or nobody that you is in your life is in school. Any time that there's a significant societal change like that, it can serve as a restart for you. So even when I wasn't faculty and I was out of school, I would still kind of reset myself in August.
00:35:08:16 - 00:35:25:15
Wade
And the reason for that is that was kind of my rhythm of life already. And I just kind of continued that, everybody kind of has a reset at New Year's, so that's an easy one. But how do you reset yourself in June when the semester ends and you're starting your summer? What did you want to do this summer?
00:35:25:19 - 00:35:45:17
Wade
And, how can you set yourself on a trajectory so that you don't waste it? Here's the thing. You may be sitting here right now thinking, hey, I did not accomplish all the things that I wanted to this summer. Well, the good news is fall is coming. So what does it mean for for September for you to to reset yourself?
00:35:45:17 - 00:36:07:25
Wade
And what rituals do you need to put in place? I keep using this word ritual, and I think that I should, elaborate on that a little bit. A ritual is essentially something meaningful for you that helps clarify your mind. Now, there are religious rituals and that has a whole component, but there are habitual rituals as well. It's the thing like, well, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I'm going to go for a two mile run.
00:36:07:26 - 00:36:30:05
Wade
Then I'm going to have eggs and bacon immediately. That's a ritual. If it is serving you in the way that a ritual might, giving you a clear head and a way to start your day, or to end your day for that matter. do you have a post work ritual that helps you wind down from work mode and get into family time or, evening time or whatever it is?
00:36:30:05 - 00:36:42:16
Wade
That's why we talk about games. For games, it's a ritual sort of thing, so that you can take care of yourself and go into your gaming into, with a kind of clear head and really get the most out of that.
00:36:42:19 - 00:37:23:18
Evan
Yeah, the seasonal reset that you're talking about is an interesting thing, because I think some of us are really into these opportunities for reset, and then others of us have a hard time feeling like we can do a reset because we feel like we committed something and it didn't work. But it seems like you experience a lot of folks whose lives are changing and external circumstances maybe change what you thought your life was going to look like in a certain season, and adaptability for us to be able to use the seasonal reset to kind of look at this kind of back to school focus, is a really good opportunity that I think we can
00:37:23:18 - 00:37:34:17
Evan
make permission for each other, as communities to take advantage of, because we do need that feeling of that fresh start that my grade is a zero. It doesn't matter.
00:37:34:17 - 00:37:34:25
Wade
What your.
00:37:34:29 - 00:37:51:10
Evan
Grade was for that class. Like the chat, that chapter is closed. I'm going to learn what I can from it and I now want to take and apply what I learned to kind of to this next season, and then it's going to come to a close at some point when the air gets crisp and then the weather starts to get cold.
00:37:51:12 - 00:37:56:24
Evan
But we do tend to lose that a little bit when we get out of that academic rhythm.
00:37:56:26 - 00:38:19:09
Wade
Yeah, I like to think in terms of who was I in this last season and who do I want to be in the next season? I do pretty frequent check ins now. I'm a little bit more like conscious because that's kind of my world, my my wheelhouse, I guess, like, you know, self-improvement, you know, religious life, that sort of thing.
00:38:19:09 - 00:38:34:05
Wade
What are the habits that are helping me live into the life that I want to live? You know, how am I making meaning of the world around me? So I do a lot of journaling and taking stock of, like, okay, so this is where I've been. This is where I want to go. What are the steps I need to get there.
00:38:34:05 - 00:38:51:26
Wade
And so, you know, even right now as I'm looking at the fall, I'm asking myself, so what are the things that I want to read? what are the games that I want to play? I mean, a lot of our viewers tune in chiefly for the video game content, let me tell you. Like, I have a game backlog that's like, you know what?
00:38:51:26 - 00:39:09:10
Wade
This is a fall game for me, you know, or this is a spring where I'm putting this off and it has nothing to do with the release schedule. This is really important. I my life is not dictated by a release schedule. unless it's Final Fantasy, I guess. because then, like, everything goes out the window where the Final Fantasy is.
00:39:09:14 - 00:39:33:05
Wade
Yeah, but for games that I'm interested in, I'm going to say there's going to be a time for that. And when makes the most sense for me. Okay. And so I know that this fall, I really like to get into, I really like to get into the seasons that I'm in. And so there's, there's a few horror games that I'm wanting to play in the month of October.
00:39:33:05 - 00:39:33:14
Wade
Right?
00:39:33:19 - 00:39:34:24
Evan
It's going to be fun.
00:39:34:26 - 00:39:53:14
Wade
And it's going to be a blast. Right. I've got a friend that's like, hey, I want to play Outlast trials. And I'm like, well, I'm not playing outlast trials multiplayer in the summer. The summer is a time of rejuvenation, of excitement in the sun and all that kind of stuff. I'm going to play like Blitzball and Final Fantasy ten for the billionth time.
00:39:53:14 - 00:40:08:12
Wade
Instead, we're going to hold off outlast trials until the fall, because that is one of these rituals that improves my mood and my emotionality, you know? And so it's just, you know, coordinate your life, play games the way you mean to.
00:40:08:14 - 00:40:28:29
Evan
Yeah. What I love because it did seem like a more intentional way to help people understand that, like, you want to change your life, make your bed in the morning. Right? Like, yeah, that. Yeah. It's like, okay. Like I get it that like the intentionality sets you up for the way that you set your day up and you start off on a good foot with an active choice.
00:40:28:29 - 00:40:51:16
Evan
But the way that your dad phrased it is a lot more helpful to me, because it connects the meaning behind the behavior. I wonder how this idea of a new game and how games can help with living into seasonal resets?
00:40:51:19 - 00:41:08:18
Wade
Well, let me explain that a little bit more. You know, I have been sitting on a lecture play series for Final Fantasy seven rebirth, ever since I finished the game. You know, I was taking meticulous notes as I played through it the first time I played the last two chapters on stream and got a lot of really cool information.
00:41:08:18 - 00:41:35:05
Wade
I've been working on video essays and all this kind of stuff over the course of the summer, and there was a temptation to really get on the hype train of like, people were streaming rebirth. It was like all the buzz and all that kind of stuff. But I knew that summer wasn't the best time for that. I knew it wasn't, I knew it wasn't for me and my mental state, but I also knew that it wasn't like people cannot have the same level of regularity in the summer as they do in the fall.
00:41:35:05 - 00:42:03:02
Wade
You know, because people are taking vacations. It's family time. It's beautiful outside at least in North America. And so it's like you want to be out instead of like glued to an educational stream or something. So I'm starting my rebirth play. in September when school is back in and we've got a little bit more rhythm and margin, because I think that that's a season where people are thinking about moving forward, about resetting, about growth, a rebirth in some ways, right?
00:42:03:04 - 00:42:19:17
Wade
Some where you're not thinking about that in the same way. And so I try to be aware and conscious of what I'm playing and what when I'm doing it. every year I used to back in the day, and I'll probably mention this in my Electric Play series. I would start up my fall every year by playing Final Fantasy seven.
00:42:19:22 - 00:42:43:29
Wade
I've played that game 25, seven times. Yeah, since it was released in 1997 and, part of it is because it was part of my ritual of resetting. Right. There was something about that story that hit me in a way that reminded me of my own identity and how identities change over time and who I am, who I want to be, and the people that get to go on that journey with me.
00:42:44:01 - 00:42:53:14
Wade
So for me, selecting a game that is meaningful to be like my canon season starter for me is really good.
00:42:53:16 - 00:43:33:25
Evan
You said there's something about that story that reminds you of your identity. Yeah, I wonder what it would look like and what you would think about other things that you can do in your lives in a seasonal change that remind you of your identity? I think about music especially like an album that you listened to when you were a certain age, or movies that you can watch, or a book that you can read, or things that you used to do that remind you of your identity and what you who you were when you were younger and how play specifically, is a big contributor to getting back into that state with the way that you
00:43:33:25 - 00:43:38:27
Evan
interact with the like story in the music, in the game.
00:43:39:00 - 00:44:19:24
Wade
Here's what I'll say. and, you know, this is not research based. This is just my observation. There is a powerful thing that happens when we feel that moment of nostalgia. Nostalgia is almost like a prescription or identity loss, because when you find something to be nostalgic, when you are remembering, that first moment or this feels like home, this feels familiar, what you're in effect doing is you are remembering a time in your life that was filled with something joy familiar at home ness.
00:44:19:26 - 00:44:41:18
Wade
you're not nostalgic for bad times, right? that's that's a whole different thing. But when you feel nostalgia, there's a warmth in you. And I think anything, whether that is music or a game or something like that, it connects you deeply to a time in which you long for. Maybe it was a simpler time, maybe it was a relationship.
00:44:41:21 - 00:45:10:06
Wade
Those are grounded moments for us and I that's I think that's why I try to revisit things that made me. It's why we ask the question of a lot of our guests. If you had a required reading list of a video game, what would it be? Well, this tells us not just what we should play, but it tells us a lot about the people were talking to you know, it says, okay, this this is a game that made you, I love that conversation that we had with Matt from AMG Studios.
00:45:10:06 - 00:45:31:17
Wade
You know, this guy that makes games. Well, what's the game that made you. Yeah. And I love that because it's the one that when I replay it, it reminds me, to this day, Mario 64 will do that for me. when I played Mario 64 and Mario.
00:45:31:19 - 00:45:31:29
Evan
Yep.
00:45:32:00 - 00:45:59:01
Wade
Wahoo! Yeah, all of that. Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. That was when I began getting into, a little bit of cinematography in video games. Are you ready for this? This was a curve ball, right? And so I remember that I used to select tracks from CDs that I got, and I would play them and I would fix the camera and have the most dramatic angles of Mario jumping, and especially in the last stage and stuff.
00:45:59:07 - 00:46:20:05
Wade
And I would sync it up. so like pre video editing, not as over here. Like that's what I used to do. And every time I play Mario 64, now that feeling of like, wow, something that I did in 1996 connects to what I'm doing here in 2024. And I had no idea. But it it roots me.
00:46:20:05 - 00:46:21:17
Wade
It grounds me.
00:46:21:20 - 00:46:32:04
Evan
I'm freaking out a little bit because you have just walked straight into the my next question as we oh really wrap up truly, I feel I feel like we're mind melded here.
00:46:32:06 - 00:46:32:15
Wade
Yeah.
00:46:32:22 - 00:46:59:26
Evan
You yeah. I'll just state the question as I was going to ask it as I kind of wind down and you do a interesting and amazing job of using outside things to memorialize games that you play or moments in life, and you talk about nostalgia and nostalgia being rooted in a lot of ways in like the sense of smell and taste and experience.
00:46:59:28 - 00:47:22:13
Evan
Yeah. And so I know that you have like, certain sense of candles that you will light so that you can create a space and you can like, smell, and it puts you in the environment to play a game. And you'll go get a certain snack that reminds you of like a moment in time to kind of memorialize. I do that a part of the season, and I think that's so cool.
00:47:22:13 - 00:47:41:25
Evan
It's a neat way to do these little micro celebrations and set the stage for the things that you're going to experience. Yeah. And so I wonder if you could talk everyone through and encourage them a little bit to like go out and spend 10 or 15 bucks on a candle. Yeah. Snack from when you were younger, like get it, get us going.
00:47:41:25 - 00:47:45:02
Evan
Bring the juice. Like, dude, it's so good. Set that season apart.
00:47:45:03 - 00:47:59:24
Wade
This is so funny that you mentioned this because I realized I had done something without even realizing it. The other day I went to Bath and Body Work. Shout out Bath and Body Works! They're not a sponsor of the show, but they could be one day, with your help. Bath and Body Works is my go to right?
00:47:59:24 - 00:48:06:17
Wade
I love mahogany teakwood. We're about to flannel season. I was, like, one of my all time favorite scents from them. you can.
00:48:06:17 - 00:48:08:10
Evan
Hear it going off in the distance.
00:48:08:13 - 00:48:35:17
Wade
You hear it and, at the beginning of summer, early, early summer, they put out kind of an orange tinted body spray in candle called Canyon. And it reminded me of Cosmo Canyon from Final Fantasy seven. And so when I was in Cosmo Canyon playing Final Fantasy seven rebirth, I lit that freaking candle, sprayed that body spray, and it makes me think of Cosmo Canyon every time.
00:48:35:17 - 00:49:02:06
Wade
So in the morning, I'll, like, spray myself or whatever. It's like, not a key. Red 13. I'm ready for the day. Like it's so dumb. But it's one of those things that's like, I am immersing myself a little bit more even to this day. You guys like when I smell the flannel smell. I think of Metal Gear Solid five, because that was the first time I bought that candle and I just had it lit in my living room.
00:49:02:08 - 00:49:23:29
Wade
And like, now I like solid snake snake. And it's like flannel, like, know. But I love that you go that little bit extra mile. and these are rituals that I do all the time. This has really become more of a ritual episode, right? Like talking about the rituals that we perform to to live the kind of life that we want, but it's seasonal.
00:49:24:02 - 00:49:45:22
Evan
Seasonal reset and seasonal shift. Yeah, I'm into that. And connecting play. Yeah. Back into our lives. Like it's not just escape. It is a part of ritual that actually helps us to engage and gain perspective. That's what we've said video games can be and are, and we're just kind of week to week walking through what that life is.
00:49:45:22 - 00:50:04:20
Evan
So when you listen to the show each week, it's going to encourage you. You're going to hopefully laugh a little bit and you're going to be ready to go. So I would say get out, go, go spend 10 or 15 bucks on a candle. Go buy a special snack. Like if you're looking to engage in this season in this seasonal reset, like go treat yourself a little bit, okay.
00:50:04:23 - 00:50:12:21
Wade
Feed yourself. That's so good. Yes. That's you making it event. You know, make it make it something that you meant to do.
00:50:12:21 - 00:50:14:24
Evan
And that's we want to hear about it too.
00:50:14:25 - 00:50:16:06
Wade
So we want to hear about it.
00:50:16:08 - 00:50:17:07
Evan
Toss it in the discord.
00:50:17:10 - 00:50:18:07
Wade
Do those rituals.
00:50:18:07 - 00:50:21:20
Evan
With the message. Let us know what those rituals are. We'd love to talk about them.
00:50:21:28 - 00:50:53:05
Wade
Let me tell you what I'm doing now. So like I sometimes purchase collector's editions for the latest Final Fantasies, right? And I, I actually received a every time. so I've got this postcard set, for Final Fantasy seven rebirth. And what I've done with the postcard set is it's got these locales on the back. I've written to myself like a small little log of the things that I did in that region on the back of the postcard, right now, I could have sent these postcards like grandma, whoever.
00:50:53:09 - 00:51:11:12
Wade
They're not going to care about that. But now I've got like a small, like memorial of my time and Final Fantasy seven rebirth. So cool. Then the same thing with Dawn trail. I got the, the like a leather, two little notepad that means nothing to those of you that don't play 14. But Tilly lore is one of the places.
00:51:11:12 - 00:51:27:21
Wade
So I spent some time after doing some quests where I'll record that and write it in a journal. This just helps me immerse a little bit more in. It also helps me think deeply about the game and my own life and I. That to me is like the perfect thing. That's why I love this game series so much, I think.
00:51:27:21 - 00:51:47:18
Evan
So that is great. Well, thanks everybody for tuning in. and thanks for the discussion, Wade. As we kind of talk about seasonal back to school reset, I'm excited to get back into it. And this is a fun thing to get to memorialize that. And I want to, you know, you guys don't always get to see the cast behind the episodes.
00:51:47:18 - 00:51:52:16
Evan
And who really makes these things happen. And I want to introduce this is Mister Smiley.
00:51:52:18 - 00:51:53:21
Wade
Mr. smiley.
00:51:53:21 - 00:52:09:04
Evan
This is our this timer. Mister smiley is telling us that we need to wrap up this segment. Shout out to Mister Smiley. And shout out to Back to School and fall. So go get your back to school supplies. Enjoy it. Enjoy your ritual. Any parting words for the folks?
00:52:09:06 - 00:52:12:02
Wade
Hey, live like you meant to. That's it.
00:52:12:04 - 00:52:17:29
Evan
Live like you meant to. All right, everybody, we'll see you next episode.
00:52:19:04 - 00:52:37:14
Speaker 1
Thanks, everybody for tuning in. This is our and viewers like you moment from PBS. If you grew up watching that thanks to you viewer listener for watching and tuning in. We really appreciate it. Thanks to sing for the laughter for these. Their music for this episode, it's awesome. And thanks to Nick Smith who did our graphics, we hope that you guys are having a great back to school.
00:52:37:14 - 00:52:48:00
Speaker 1
Whether you're headed back to school or someone in your family is, or you're just taking a chance to make this a fun season and life, then we wish you the best and we will see you next episode. Thanks again for tuning in.
