Written and read by Will Conley.
A Bedtime Story for Weary Princesses and Confused Frogs by willconley
A Bedtime Story for Weary Princesses and Confused Frogs by willconley
Showing posts with label Podcasts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Podcasts. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Will Evans asks, and unintentionally answers, "Where are our Byrons? Where are our modern Shelleys?"
My Twitter connection @semanticwill (real name Will Evans) wrote a blog post in 2010 entitled "Whispers," the opening lines of which I quote:
I started reading the post silently to myself, but before I could do so "in its entirety," I reached for my old cheap microphone. I recorded it in my own voice. After listening to the recording and noticing the terrible "pops" the old cheap microphone caused, I walked out of the house, bought a new cheap microphone at a Rite-Aid, and recorded it again. This is the result.
"Oh, I quite realize no one here will read this, at least not in its entirety. I have resigned myself to this reality, and perhaps the motivation for posting so very little in recent weeks. But once in a while it’s worth testing the waters."
I started reading the post silently to myself, but before I could do so "in its entirety," I reached for my old cheap microphone. I recorded it in my own voice. After listening to the recording and noticing the terrible "pops" the old cheap microphone caused, I walked out of the house, bought a new cheap microphone at a Rite-Aid, and recorded it again. This is the result.
I strongly urge you to listen to the whole post and read it here.
Friday, June 11, 2010
A Dedicated Wife and Mother Generously Shares Her Experiences with Bi-Polar Disorder
This is the 5th and latest episode of Searching for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown, my weekly radio/podcast show in which I interview for 50 minutes one interesting person who has a light to shine in the dark places.
We also get goofy on occasion, as let's face it - I have no idea what the hell I am doing. As if that ever stopped me from doing anything.
This week's episode deal's with bi-polar disorder. My guest today is Christy, a.k.a. "Charlie Angel," a.k.a. http://twitter.com/IZTAES, a.k.a. http://iztaes.blogspot.com, who was married to a man with bi-polar disorder and has two children with the condition.
Christy posted a story in late April at her blog Tea and Oranges relating her experiences with those living with bi-polar disorder. In the pieces she lauded the courage of the band Blue October, whose lead singer has the disorder and spreads awareness by openly talking about it. Such openness is not a common thing, given the stigma associated with the illness.
I found Christy's post to be compassionate, passionate, and balls-out honest - and so asked her to be on my show. She managed to take time out of her busy schedule (she has five children!) to share what she knows.
There is no stigma here at The Search for Meaning. Christy's attitude is just as brave and open as that of Blue October. The interview went swimmingly, in my opinion.
As always, share and enjoy this MP3. Stream it, download it, repost it, whatever you want to do with it. I want everyone to hear this.
For some unknown reason (insecurity?), I used the eff word once near the beginning. So if you share this with grandma, just bang on some pots and pans when I say it.
I am striving to keep my "um"'s to a minimum. Feedback of any type is welcome.
Download now or listen on posterous
Searching_for_Meaning_at_the_Brink_of_the_Unknown_-_Episode_5_-_2010-06-11_-_Will_Conley_with_Christy_Angel.mp3 (12793 KB)
We also get goofy on occasion, as let's face it - I have no idea what the hell I am doing. As if that ever stopped me from doing anything.
This week's episode deal's with bi-polar disorder. My guest today is Christy, a.k.a. "Charlie Angel," a.k.a. http://twitter.com/IZTAES, a.k.a. http://iztaes.blogspot.com, who was married to a man with bi-polar disorder and has two children with the condition.
Christy posted a story in late April at her blog Tea and Oranges relating her experiences with those living with bi-polar disorder. In the pieces she lauded the courage of the band Blue October, whose lead singer has the disorder and spreads awareness by openly talking about it. Such openness is not a common thing, given the stigma associated with the illness.
I found Christy's post to be compassionate, passionate, and balls-out honest - and so asked her to be on my show. She managed to take time out of her busy schedule (she has five children!) to share what she knows.
There is no stigma here at The Search for Meaning. Christy's attitude is just as brave and open as that of Blue October. The interview went swimmingly, in my opinion.
As always, share and enjoy this MP3. Stream it, download it, repost it, whatever you want to do with it. I want everyone to hear this.
For some unknown reason (insecurity?), I used the eff word once near the beginning. So if you share this with grandma, just bang on some pots and pans when I say it.
I am striving to keep my "um"'s to a minimum. Feedback of any type is welcome.
Download now or listen on posterous
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Rick Hamrick shines as my latest guest on "Searching for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown" (Ep. 4)
I am very proud of techie and seeker Rick Hamrick for having reached this radiant place in life. The man really does shine, and made me the interviewer feel quite at ease discussing such matters as the stages of life, money, and, of course, shining.
I suspect Rick has worked hard at becoming such a fun guy. There is plenty ahead of him - and enough behind him - for conveying some very solid observations about life, the universe, and everything. Incidentally, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is not "42," as you will hear.
As always, this show is entirely improvised, and there is no agenda. I apologize for my um's.
Download now or listen on posterous
Searching_for_Meaning_at_the_Brink_of_the_Unknown_-_Episode_4_-_2010-05-15_-_Will_Conley_with_Rick_Hamrick.mp3 (11722 KB)
In Rick's own words, a short backgrounder:
Rick is a father of four grown daughters, all wonderfully unique in their interests and passions. He is a career IT guy who has been between gigs long enough that the gap is beginning to look more Grand Canyonish by the day. Most recently, his wife's career is his focus as he seeks to be all the help he can be in publishing Choosing Easy World, his wife's first book released by a major publisher.
All of that "what does he do" stuff is great, yet there is more going on than just stuff he does.
A few years ago, Rick claimed to be a Sufi mystic masquerading as a corporate IT guy. Now that he is not a corporate IT guy--or is one without portfolio--he has more time to exhibit more of the inner mystic.
While it is still a tongue-in-cheek claim, as he has never formally studied Sufism or any religion, there is something to be said for claiming who you think you can be, then becoming it.
That's where Rick is now. He is becoming. We don't know what, but he is becoming.
(http://hamguin-nohiding.blogspot.com/2008/06/start-where-you-are-my-sacred-life.html)
(http://hamguin-nohiding.blogspot.com/2009/07/unfettered-unafraid-not-hiding.html)
I suspect Rick has worked hard at becoming such a fun guy. There is plenty ahead of him - and enough behind him - for conveying some very solid observations about life, the universe, and everything. Incidentally, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is not "42," as you will hear.
As always, this show is entirely improvised, and there is no agenda. I apologize for my um's.
Download now or listen on posterous
In Rick's own words, a short backgrounder:
Rick is a father of four grown daughters, all wonderfully unique in their interests and passions. He is a career IT guy who has been between gigs long enough that the gap is beginning to look more Grand Canyonish by the day. Most recently, his wife's career is his focus as he seeks to be all the help he can be in publishing Choosing Easy World, his wife's first book released by a major publisher.
All of that "what does he do" stuff is great, yet there is more going on than just stuff he does.
A few years ago, Rick claimed to be a Sufi mystic masquerading as a corporate IT guy. Now that he is not a corporate IT guy--or is one without portfolio--he has more time to exhibit more of the inner mystic.
While it is still a tongue-in-cheek claim, as he has never formally studied Sufism or any religion, there is something to be said for claiming who you think you can be, then becoming it.
That's where Rick is now. He is becoming. We don't know what, but he is becoming.
(http://hamguin-nohiding.blogspot.com/2008/06/start-where-you-are-my-sacred-life.html)
(http://hamguin-nohiding.blogspot.com/2009/07/unfettered-unafraid-not-hiding.html)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A mixed review of my tweets and radio show by one bold fan.
This is the most balanced unsolicited feedback from a stranger I have yet received for my writing and speaking.
The feedback which you are about to read came to me via DM (direct message) on Twitter - rapid-fire, unrelenting. It is in response to my pot-stirring, "fence-sitting" tweets of the day - as well as to my radio interview series "The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown", in which I interview one person per episode about whatever they are passionate about.
The DMs sent to me by this person add up to a full-on letter - so that is how I edited and am presenting them here: as a letter.
The letter is blunt, opinionated, critical - to me, amusing - yet balanced with the proper dose of ego-soothing sugar to help the medicine go down.
Well done, anonymous fan. And thank you. I am listening. Your message may even sink in some year. You know how learning and self-improvement can be. Slow.
Here is the letter:
I love the image of you sitting on the fence, not declaring whose side you are on! I'm glad you know about [inner] division. Just don't divide by 0. It's an absurdity.
In the background, I see a line of barbed wire fences on the horizon. In the foreground, I see an extension of a steel gate - like one guard guarding a driveway. If your contention is that you are not sitting on a barbed wire fence as opposed to a steel tubed fence, then it's just semantics that you jest with. Both cases still present a fence.
Enjoy your "pot stirring." It's a refreshing change to the banal tweets.
(At this point I thanked this person for the metaphorical feedback, assured him or her I would be deciphering it for days to come, and complimented him or her on his or her way of criticizing.)
I feel summarily dismissed. Thanks for the criticism/compliments of me, though I did not ask for it. I really enjoyed Ep 2. [of The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown]! Good sound quality! Your guest for Ep. 2 [Michael Hill, Twitter handle @michaelowenhill] is very articulate and interesting. Good choice on your behalf. I wish though that you had not interrupted him so much.
I find the majority of your tweets somewhat pretentious and purposefully inciting. I Imagine that is your intention, to be taken tongue-in-cheek.
("Good feedback. Thank you. Dismissed? Bullshit.")
Are you always so laconic? I felt dismissed because you did not address sitting on the fence. It sounded like, "You are a good girl, and now run off."
("Just listening.")
You are quick-witted as well! We all have our areas of conceit; your pride centers around viewing the world beneath your superiority. I don't really know you, and as you pointed out, as authors we have no powers over how others view our tweets. But on the whole, I respect you. I admire you for pointing out our foibles. There are so few willing to be open to ridicule or conjecture.
It is my hope that you will not take offense if I have a different viewpoint. I am a fan and will enjoy listening to more of your shows. I value you.
("Can I use your feedback as a testimonial?")
Please do use it - all.
And that was that.
Now how often does a company or a person(ality) present balanced testimonials to promote their product/show? Not often. That's how superior I am.
Now listen to my radio show. You can find it for free right on my Posterous blog, http://willconley.posterous.com. Look for posts titled or tagged The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown. Stream or download it freely. I ain't a-scared.
The feedback which you are about to read came to me via DM (direct message) on Twitter - rapid-fire, unrelenting. It is in response to my pot-stirring, "fence-sitting" tweets of the day - as well as to my radio interview series "The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown", in which I interview one person per episode about whatever they are passionate about.
The DMs sent to me by this person add up to a full-on letter - so that is how I edited and am presenting them here: as a letter.
The letter is blunt, opinionated, critical - to me, amusing - yet balanced with the proper dose of ego-soothing sugar to help the medicine go down.
Well done, anonymous fan. And thank you. I am listening. Your message may even sink in some year. You know how learning and self-improvement can be. Slow.
Here is the letter:
I love the image of you sitting on the fence, not declaring whose side you are on! I'm glad you know about [inner] division. Just don't divide by 0. It's an absurdity.
In the background, I see a line of barbed wire fences on the horizon. In the foreground, I see an extension of a steel gate - like one guard guarding a driveway. If your contention is that you are not sitting on a barbed wire fence as opposed to a steel tubed fence, then it's just semantics that you jest with. Both cases still present a fence.
Enjoy your "pot stirring." It's a refreshing change to the banal tweets.
(At this point I thanked this person for the metaphorical feedback, assured him or her I would be deciphering it for days to come, and complimented him or her on his or her way of criticizing.)
I feel summarily dismissed. Thanks for the criticism/compliments of me, though I did not ask for it. I really enjoyed Ep 2. [of The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown]! Good sound quality! Your guest for Ep. 2 [Michael Hill, Twitter handle @michaelowenhill] is very articulate and interesting. Good choice on your behalf. I wish though that you had not interrupted him so much.
I find the majority of your tweets somewhat pretentious and purposefully inciting. I Imagine that is your intention, to be taken tongue-in-cheek.
("Good feedback. Thank you. Dismissed? Bullshit.")
Are you always so laconic? I felt dismissed because you did not address sitting on the fence. It sounded like, "You are a good girl, and now run off."
("Just listening.")
You are quick-witted as well! We all have our areas of conceit; your pride centers around viewing the world beneath your superiority. I don't really know you, and as you pointed out, as authors we have no powers over how others view our tweets. But on the whole, I respect you. I admire you for pointing out our foibles. There are so few willing to be open to ridicule or conjecture.
It is my hope that you will not take offense if I have a different viewpoint. I am a fan and will enjoy listening to more of your shows. I value you.
("Can I use your feedback as a testimonial?")
Please do use it - all.
And that was that.
Now how often does a company or a person(ality) present balanced testimonials to promote their product/show? Not often. That's how superior I am.
Now listen to my radio show. You can find it for free right on my Posterous blog, http://willconley.posterous.com. Look for posts titled or tagged The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown. Stream or download it freely. I ain't a-scared.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Now available for download: "The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown" Ep. 2 with @MichaelOwenHill
The next installment in my radio series that asks the question, "What the hell is going on?" With honored guest Michael Owen Hill of St. Paul, Minnesota. I enjoyed our freewheeling conversation.
The thing I like the most about doing this series is establishing multiple beginnings. As the subject matter tends to dart from topic to topic, the podcast is intended to give a glimpse, a menu, a selection of things about the guest.
We aim to expand our mind. Enjoy the podcast and share it freely. Subscribe to this blog to make sure you don't miss any episodes of The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the unknown.
Download now or listen on posterous
Searching_for_Meaning_at_the_Brink_of_the_Unknown_-_Episode_2_-_2010-05-15_-_Will_Conley_with_Michael_Owen_Hill.mp3 (11732 KB)
The thing I like the most about doing this series is establishing multiple beginnings. As the subject matter tends to dart from topic to topic, the podcast is intended to give a glimpse, a menu, a selection of things about the guest.
We aim to expand our mind. Enjoy the podcast and share it freely. Subscribe to this blog to make sure you don't miss any episodes of The Search for Meaning at the Brink of the unknown.
Download now or listen on posterous
Monday, May 17, 2010
Searching for Meaning at the Brink of the Unknown Ep. 2 with guest Emma Alvarez Gibson
Hi all.
I am releasing Episode 3 of "Searching for Meaning..." early because of the great timing. Writer, publisher and brand strategist Emma Alvarez Gibson (@ealvarezgibson on Twitter) discusses today's release of the new magazine Delish Mag (http://delishmag.com).
As the host I also made sure we went off on many tangents and abrupt topic changes to see what we could learn about life itself.
Enjoy and spread this recording far and wide, if you are moved to do so.
- Will
Download now or listen on posterous
Searching_for_Meaning_at_the_Brink_of_the_Unknown_-_Episode_3_-_2010-05-16_-_Will_Conley_with_Emma_Alvarez_Gibson.mp3 (9457 KB)
I am releasing Episode 3 of "Searching for Meaning..." early because of the great timing. Writer, publisher and brand strategist Emma Alvarez Gibson (@ealvarezgibson on Twitter) discusses today's release of the new magazine Delish Mag (http://delishmag.com).
As the host I also made sure we went off on many tangents and abrupt topic changes to see what we could learn about life itself.
Enjoy and spread this recording far and wide, if you are moved to do so.
- Will
Download now or listen on posterous
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