Josh Gunderson's Blog, page 7

My Second Chance at Falling In Love with Taylor Swift (Even Though She’s A Zombie)

I was a very different person back in 2008 and I will be the first to admit it. I was a year away from finishing college with a pile of debt and two degrees, I was working in a job that I hated and was slowly sucking my soul out of my body, and I really did not like Taylor Swift.

I just wasn’t a fan and I didn’t understand all the hype. I really didn’t care. She didn’t appeal to me all that much, and it really didn’t help that her songs were played as nauseam at the grocery store where I was working. It was seriously all “Love Story”, “Teardrops on My Guitar”, “You Belong With Me” and all the others played over and over and over and over and over again.

Funny Side Story: One time I mentioned to a co-worker that I was shocked that we never heard Justin Beiber played in the story (someone who I still can’t stand) and she said “Um, he plays all the time.” I was super confused and then about ten minutes later a Beiber song came on and she pointed out to me and I was like, “I thought this was Taylor Swift?” The song in question was “U Smile” which I’m really upset I just had to listen to in order to confirm which song it was.

A search of my social media profiles even confirms that I wasn’t above poking fun at her from time to time with status updates such as:

“So Taylor Swift is single? Again? Please allow me to express my sincere shock at this sudden and unexpected turn of events.”

“Taylor swift waved at a boy yesterday and he didn’t wave back… So she will have a new album coming out tomorrow.”

“Met Taylor Swift at the airport this morning and complimented her on her dress. Now she’s sitting in a tree outside my window in a wedding dress with a guitar…this can’t be good…”

My tune changed a bit upon the release of Speak Now which was actually the first Taylor Swift album that I purchased. Funny how things can change in the span of two years. Not by much because I was still poking fun on social media and was really more of a closet fan.

Things didn’t really take a turn until 1989. The album, not the year. In case that was confusing.

I actually bought the physical special edition CD when it came out and I never buy CDs because I’m hip and with it and all about downloading or streaming or whatever it is the kids these days are doing.

Oh, they’re buying vinyl again? And cassettes? Well now I’m just old and confused.

1989 was the album that turned me into the “Taylor Swift Guy” at Halloween Horror Nights and earned me my weird ass 15-minutes of fame.

In case you weren’t around for that- I randomly started captioning my HHN photos on instagram with Taylor Swift lyrics. It started as a joke and turned into a personal challenge and then turned into a thing that people were talking about and sharing all over the place. It really only started because I was listening to 1989 a lot and it was just in my head. Then when it became a THING I went back and started listening to old stuff to have more captions.

That got me listening to everything I had never heard before and next thing you know, I was really digging the old stuff that I had scoffed at back in the day. I had been away from the muzak of the grocery store for so long; I was no longer cringing at the stuff I was forced to listen to over and over again.

She managed to win me over and from that point forward I was consuming all the Taylor Swift you could throw at me. I’ve watched the Reputation Concert on Netflix more times than is probably healthy and there are a number of her songs on my running playlist. There have been nights with tears and a bottle of wine and some Taylor Swift blasting in the background.

Hell, snag a copy of my book (You’re Doing It Wrong) and you’ll find all sorts of Taylor Swift references along with a chapter titled “Look What You Made Me Do.”

It, admittedly, took a while for Folklore to grow on me but mostly because I wasn’t in the headspace for that type of album at the time. But I love it along with Evermore.

And here we arrive to this particular day in history.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Taylor Swift released a new album today… well, a new, old album.

Today I get to experience old Taylor- who we were informed had died and apparently has come back from the dead… so you know what that means…

Zombie Taylor Swift

Today was exciting because I got to experience the thrill of a Taylor Swift release coupled with my newfound appreciation for her as an artist and a businesswoman. Like, she’s pretty damn genius.

I’m not going to sit here and write a review because if there’s one thing we all know I’m not good at- it’s writing a review. Let’s just say that I am here for this fun walk back in time and a chance to fall in love with the artists that everyone else was loving on back in the day.  It was nice to have a second chance to become a fan all over again from the beginning.

I think about the journey she has been on compared to my own. Between the time of Fearless and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) so much has changed. I moved states, started a business, wrote two books, faced my own fair share of heartbreak, faced down a global pandemic, found myself unemployed, and living alone with three cats.

I know that starts to seem bleak towards the end but I’m actually really enjoying my alone time with the cats and as for being unemployed- I’m taking time to explore my own creativity. Working on not one, not two, but three new books! The long-awaited follow-up to You’re Doing It Wrong and two works of fiction. All of them I’m really excited about and honestly wouldn’t have been inspired to create if it weren’t for this time of solitude that we find ourselves in.

Yeah, I’m scared of what is to come and what my life will be, especially if I don’t have better income than Florida Unemployment coming to me but for now I shall take a page out of Taylor’s playbook.

I’m gonna be fearless.

This is Supposed to be Fun, Right?

I have, admittedly, been on the struggle bus when it comes to finding what my own personal “new normal” looks like. You’d think that after a year of adapting to all the fun new buzzwords that I personally can’t wait to never hear again. These include (but are not limited to): Social Distancing, Quarantine, Lockdown, Unprecedented, and even New Normal is starting to get on my nerves.

On a happy note, I have gotten my first dose of the Pfizer Vaccine. I need to write about it because if I don’t tell the internet the obviously it didn’t happen. I am very sad to say that I didn’t get a sticker for my efforts which is some pretty solid bullshit but it’s on-par with all the other times I’m supposed to get a sticker and never do (ie: voting).

For those in general wonderment about the vaccine, I don’t have much to report other than my arm hurt for a couple days due to it being an intramuscular shot. The day after I got it, I was also just super drowsy and ended up sleeping a lot more than I had intended for the day.

I promise to try to remember to possible put my best effort into writing a post about the second shot but… as we can all see, I’ve been a horrible blogger this past year.

I honestly have to shout out all those people who are able to maintain a blog, a podcast, an instagram, a twitter- basically people that have mastered being able to do all the things at once. I honestly have no idea how they do it. I have found that I can do one at a time. My biggest focus has been on the podcast as of late because of how much time it actually takes to make that happen. But I’ve also been really bad about it because, even today, no new episode went up due to lack of recording one.

One thing I have done is actually started going back to the gym and running. I obviously haven’t gone in a while because- you know- global pandemic. Even when they opened back up, I was still working at the time, and worried about the well-being of myself and those that I worked in close proximity with. I froze my account and then just kind of forgot about it even after I wasn’t working anymore. I have been working out at home but a part of me really missed running.

Now, you’d think I’d go for a run in my neighborhood but when I tried that I almost died, a lot. The sidewalks around here are not that well taken care of and I’d try to run within my community but speedbumps and people that drive like asshats are a risk. I then tried going to the community center gym when it reopened but there are only two treadmills. One is broken to the point of just not working and the belt on the second one is wonky and feels weird to run on.

So back to the gym is has been.

I finally went for the first time this past Saturday and it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be. Mostly because I went at 6:30 in the morning. There was only about 5 people there when I arrived and maybe 5 or 6 more showed up while I was there. Everyone stayed away from everyone and it was nice.

The second hurdle to get over was the fact that I haven’t run on a treadmill or elsewhere in forever. Like, it’s been a really long damn time. I was convinced that it wouldn’t go well but surprisingly it’s almost like riding a bike… only there is no bike.

My body seemed pretty damn on board for what was happening and I managed to get through and felt pretty damn good.

I’m not saying I’m ready to go back to running marathons anytime soon, or even just half of one. Maybe a 10k but not a very good one. Probably a really awkward 5k.

But it’s all a step in the right direction and that is getting back on track. What’s actually been nice is the fact that I’m getting up stupid early to beat any potential crowds and getting shit done with the rest of my day. It’s actually been nice to adjust to being a normal human being again. Well, normal for me.

Now that I’m not bartending anymore I’m not keeping ridiculous hours, sleeping all day, staying up all night. I’m still working on getting a proper routine down for all of this (it’s only been three days now) but I feel good and it feels like good things are finally happening.

I mean, I could be wrong and everything will go to hell tomorrow, who knows.

Other than that, I’m just sitting here doing my thing. It’s been hard to write about stuff mostly because I have no stuff that seems worth writing about. My job search is frustrating, people are frustrating, life is frustrating.

Basically I feel like nothing going on in my life is particularly funny or entertaining. Granted, I have no idea why people come here and read my nonsense so many you want all the weird nitty-gritty.

I don’t know your life.

But whatever brought you here, or made you subscribe or keeps you coming back- I hope I can deliver for you as I sit and figure out what the hell I’m doing.

Again.

My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard

Just in case you’re having a rough week, I’ve decided that I’ll brighten your day with some pictures of baby goats. Well, just one baby goat.

Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of getting to know the folks at Machado Farm Foundation who both rescue animals and serve to educate the general public about those animals. They also have an awesome shop that you should check out for homemade soaps, candles and other awesome things. I’m sure I’ll do another post later.

Not too long ago seven absolutely adorable baby goats were born on the farm and I got to name one of them. I settled on Milkshake.

So here’s some photos of Milkshake to brighten your day.

You’re welcome.

128 Days Later

If I had a dollar for every time I have told myself I was going to write an update in the last 128 days… I’d probably have like a thousand dollars. I have been yelling at myself a lot but the desire to sit down and try to be fun and witty on the internet has been lacking. On top of which, I have been so heavily focused on building my podcast that trying to do anything else has been taxing. Add in the stress of trying to find a job in a city where tens of thousands of people have been laid off and are also looking for jobs.

Needless to say, I have been a bit distracted. I mean. It’s not like anything happening while I was gone, right?

Hold on, let me check CNN.

So I’m sad to report that ya’ll missed out on my pithy commentary on the following occurrences:

All of October
Halloween
The Presidential Election
The Presidential Election Days 2-5
The Presidential Election Part 5 Million
Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Years Eve/Day
The US Capital Riots
WTF IS AMERICA?!
Impeachment Episode 2
Inauguration Day (Finally)

I also got a really good idea for what I would do for my first post back but I didn’t act on it or write it down and by time I decided that doing so would be a good idea… I forgot what it was. Because of who I am as a person.

Why am I like this catch me sitting here trying to figure out my next steps. The hard part of trying to write anything blog wise is how little I feel I have to write about. I’m not travelling, I’m barely leaving my house, and my adventures are few and far between. I’m also at the point where I’m terrified to log into my Animal Crossing Island because I haven’t seen any of them since New Year’s.

Yeah, I rang in New Year’s sitting on my bed, drinking champagne, alone, and watching the Animal Crossing ball drop.

Strangely, not the worst New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had.

So I guess this is just my weird little update letting ya’ll know that I’m not dead and I swear I’m going to do better about updating. I’m sure I could think of some weird ass things to write about.

For now, I’m going to sit here at watch The Wolf of Wall Street because it feels oddly appropriate for what’s going on in the world right now.

A Beginners Guide to Not to Be an A-Hole at Halloween Horror Nights (Light): 2020 Pandemic Edition

WHILE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION: Are you registered to vote? Check or update your registration at www.vote.org before reading on. Use your damn voice and vote cause if you don’t there’s a pretty good fucking chance that we won’t be getting a full HNN next year. Don’t be that asshole.

For those of you not familiar with this ongoing series you can view “A Beginners Guide to Not Being an A-Hole at Halloween Horror Nights: 2018 Edition“

PROCEED:

When the news broke that Halloween Horror Nights would not be taking place this year I, like many, was heartbroken. I knew it was the right call for Universal to make but boy did it hurt. Mostly because if our country had gotten it’s shit together sooner we wouldn’t be in the position we are today. More so if everyone had learned from just about everything being cancelled this year- we wouldn’t still be facing down the barrel of economic disaster not only in Orlando, but the entire country.

Oh fuck, I forgot my normal disclaimer about foul language in this post.

WARNING: I’m probably gonna say bad things. You’ve been warned.

[image error]

Universal made the wonderful decision to give us all a much-needed serotonin boost but announcing that they were going to test out of a light version of HHN this past weekend. I wasn’t 100% on board with going but my friend Mellie peer-pressured me into it and I’m really glad shit did. We met up an hour before park open and joined the every growing line of people waiting to get in. We were lined up early enough that we were by the arches but from what I’m told the line went well into City Walk.

It was also the moment that we learned that people have no idea what six-feet looks like. There’s definitely a “size” and “penis” joke in there somewhere.

All said Mellie and I ended up having a wonderful day. Both of us thought we’d be in and out by noon, not anticipating wanting to stick around too long on what promised to be a busy weekend day. The universe had other plans for us and we ended up there until around 4pm. Not a bad thing.

A big part of it was because, despite being there early, we weren’t able to get virtual line tickets right away. When you’re battling a bazillion people for a spot, it’s totally understandable. As the day progressed, we managed to get spots to see both houses. I wasn’t too concerned about it because Mellie had been to the preview the day before and was able to do them both. I was just happy to be out of the house and getting some much-needed vitamin D.

[image error]

Ultimately we were able to visit the houses, enjoy the new Skeleton Bar, visit the Tribute Store, partake in the Scarecrow Stalk (kinda) and laugh til our sides hurt at the Horror Make-Up Show in an effort to get all our spooky fix in! Additionally we rode Revenge of the Mummy (my body had completely forgotten what roller coasters feel like…) and finally saw The Bourne Stuntacular.

[image error]

In an effort to keep the serotonin flowing, Universal announced this weekend that Halloween Horror Nights (Light) will continue this next weekend and then beginning daily operations in October. This is really exciting because we get a taste of the season while remaining safe and it’s at no extra cost beyond your day time ticket.

But here’s the thing. (What, did you think this was going to be all sunshine and rainbows? This is me we’re talking about)

While we had a great time on Saturday there were some less than ideal moments over the course of the day. It you saw my twitter feed at all, you’d know that I had a lot of emotions leaving the park for the day.

Here’s what that looked like (click for the full thread):

I feel like everyone needs to understand one thing about what's going on at Universal when it comes to the houses. This weekend is a TEST. If you want more hours, more virtual queue availability, maybe more houses-

— Josh Gunderson (@joshgunderson) September 19, 2020

Luckily for the internet my phone died while we were at the park and I had some time to cool down. (yeah that rant was me cooled down). I also waited a couple days to write this post because I was still pretty heated following our day at the park.

Here’s some things I think people should know moving into this light version of our favorite Halloween offering:

Understand How the Virtual Queue Works and Don’t Be a Dick About It

Like I mentioned, the virtual queue opened and filled very fast on Saturday. Like, we were in the park and ready to go and still didn’t get spots. Not to be dismayed, we continued about enjoying our day and regularly checked the app to see if we could get spots. Ultimately it happened and, you want to know something, we didn’t have to scream at team members.

I was BEYOND disgusted at the behaviors of people frustrated with the virtual queue filling up and saw many a vlogger being an asshole about it. Actually, most of my rage and aggression on Saturday was towards those ass-hats shoving cameras in everyone’s faces.

Over the course of the day Universal rolled out more spaces in the queue allowing us and many others to get in to see the beautiful houses. Turns out patience is a virtue.

Moreover understand the point of a virtual queue. It’s to keep people out of line. We’re living in a time when we need to be distant from others so the less people in line the better. Many people were expressing frustration at the near-empty queue space on the music plaza (is that what that’s called?) and getting very vocal about it.

Here’s the thing.

If that queue space is empty it means that the virtual system is doing its job. You have a time to come back and not have to a) wait in line and b) be near other people especially since many of them are too stupid to properly wear masks or social distance. More and more spaces opened up during the day so please just be patient and give it time. Sorry if it doesn’t fully line up with your plans but if 2020 has taught us anything- don’t even try to fucking plan stuff.

Ultimately, don’t be an asshole to team members who have no power or control over these systems. They’re just trying to do their jobs and allow you to have some fun and stay safe. Believe me, I have no qualms about calling you out on your shit should you be an ass in front of me.

Wear Your Fucking Mask and Do It Properly

If I had a dollar for every time that I witnessed team members having to tell people (sometime the same person multiple times) to pull their mask over their nose or just to wear them period- I’d be fucking rich. At one point I watched four, FOUR, different TMs tell the same man to pull up his mask and he ignored each and every one of them. I offered to kick him in the back of the knees and no one seemed to object to it… it was tempting.

Here’s the thing- I completely understand that wearing a mask for extended periods of time is uncomfortable. Wearing them outside while in Florida, even worse. But you made a choice to come onto this private property and spend your day there. So respect the rules. More than that, respect the health and safety of those around you. They have “mask-free” rest areas for you. Go there. Do that.

If you can’t handle it then please leave. And if you don’t want to listen to TMS, that’s fine- I don’t work there and I’m gonna tell you the same thing and be a hell of a lot less nice about it.

We were waiting in line for the Horror Make-Up show and man came right up to less than a foot away from us with his mask pulled down and asked if we knew what time the next show was. Me, ever the asshole, looked down at my watch and said, “Yeah it’s right around the same time you decide to wear your mask over your nose.”

I was just as schocked as him that I said it but at that point my rage with people was spiking and I needed to get it out. I had to witness friends that work as TMs get verbally assaulted by guests and one TM (who I didn’t know) was on the verge of tears because of how someone was treating her. It’s unacceptable and I won’t stand for it.

If I ended up getting myself kicked out of the park for getting into a fight with someone over being an asshole- it will have been worth it. Frankly if that guy had punched me I would have welcomed it because I would have become a GOD. At least in my own little twisted version of the world. It would have sucked but been hilarious all at the same time.

My point is- if the performers at Bourne Stuntacular do all the things they do while still wearing masks- you can handle it to.

Stand on the Social Distancing Markers Dumbass

I completely understand that over basically our entire lives we’ve stood a lot closer to each other in lines. If you’re a theme park person your brain wants to fill in all the available space. But we don’t live in that world anymore and to help us, they put fun little markings on the ground for us to stand on.

FUCKING STAND ON THEM!

Each of those markings are set at 6 feet away from the other which is the recommended distance for us to maintain from other people. If you look down and that marking is three feet behind you- you’re doing it wrong. Understandbly in some cases, maybe markings aren’t available. We had this with Skeleton Bar because the line extended beyond what I’m sure Universal had anticipated (something they were working to fix while we were still in line). At this point I’ve gotten pretty good at eyeballing six feet and when in doubt, I’ll put a little room between me and the party in front of me. This didn’t seem to be the case for the couple standing behind us who seemed keen to be right up my ass. Even as we entered space with markings- they couldn’t be bothered.

My favorite part was at one point when I was looking back and forth between them and the marking they should have been standing on instead of being inside my rectum and the girl mistook my horrible pantomime for “I want to talk to you.”

I didn’t. I never want to talk to you. Why must I have a face that says, “please talk to me, I’m going to love it”.

This is especially important in ride queues with a lot of switchbacks. Some of those markings are over 6 feet away and it’s because they are also distancing you from parties on either side of you. It’s not just front and back. It’s 360.

STAND ON YOUR MARK! And while we’re at it, just because you’re in line doesn’t mean you can take your mask off. I know that belongs up above but I’m still mad about it.

When you’re in the houses make sure you’re staying back from the party in front of you. For the most part they have team members to keep you separated but there were a couple times when they couldn’t. On our walk through of Bride of Frankenstein the guy behind us was right up my butt while we were stopped near the beginning of the house. He even felt the need to lean into my ear and comment about the bride screaming to which I replied, “yeah, she’s telling you to get the fuck away from me. Six feet dude.”

I clearly wasn’t trying to make friends.

Appreciate What You Have

Vloggers and so-called “theme park insiders” have been lacking in content for months and they are looking for any reason to create click bait (I’m looking at you WDWNT)- so many of them are creating content surrounding their “disappointment” in parts of the offerings. Namely the plexi-glass that was installed as an extra layer of safety for the performers.

Personally I had no issue with it. Hell, if anything I enjoyed that we were being pulsed into the houses and, at times, having to stop for the party ahead of us to advance further away. It gave me time to really take everything in. I also noticed that some plexi-glass was installed as an intentional attention-grabber to keep you from seeing the actual scare coming. Genius!

Hell, I was so happy to be in the soundstages and taking in the smell of Halloween horror nights that I was too overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness to notice plexiglass.

Fuck, I was happy with just having the tribute store and merchandise.

Has this year taught us nothing? Appreciate things. Universal didn’t have to open up these houses and offerings to us. They could have charged extra admission to the houses. They could have done any number of things but they chose to give us some happiness in these painfully shitty times.

So appreciate it and don’t be a dick.

Also can we appreciate how restrained I was while writing this… it’s why I waited four days to actually do it. I still have plenty of thoughts on some other things but I’ll keep them to myself for now.

But know that the floodgates of my word vomit have been opened and if people want to keep coming for me in my DMs then know that I’m not going to roll over and be quiet.

You’ve been warned.

10 Ways to Step Up As An Ally to Non-binary People

Back in August a complete misunderstanding on Twitter lead to a really great conversation with my friend Carrie about the non-binary gender identity. We recorded it for my podcast, The Millennial Agenda, and I couldn’t be more proud of the episode. Carrie is someone who has always inspired me and so many others and to have this conversation with them in an effort to educate myself, was nothing short of amazing.

You can check out the episode wherever you listen to podcast or just hit play:

If you are wondering what you can do to step up as an ally for non-binary people, here’s some information that I found very useful and have already put into practice for myself!

There are many ways to be inclusive of everyone, regardless of their gender identity. Our language and the way we speak is often embedded with hidden gendered cues.

Once we start to notice them, we can move towards using language that’s inclusive for all. Here are 10 tips you can start using right away!

Introduce yourself with your name and pronoun. Stating your pronouns reminds people that it might not always be immediately obvious what pronoun someone usesPut your pronouns in your email signature or social media profileInstead of addressing groups of people with binary language such as ‘ladies and gentlemen’, try more inclusive alternatives such as ‘folks’, ‘pals’ or ‘everyone’Use words that define the relationship instead of the relationship and gender. For example, use ‘parents’, ‘partner’, ‘children’ or ‘siblings’Not everyone is comfortable with gendered titles such as ‘Ms’ or ‘Mr’. Titles are not always necessary, but if they must be used it’s good to provide alternative ones such as ‘Mx’ (pronounced mix or mux)Use the singular ‘their’ instead of ‘his/her’ in letters and other forms of writing, i.e. ‘when a colleague finishes their work’ as opposed to ‘when a colleague finishes his/her work’Not everyone necessarily uses ‘he’ or ‘she’ pronouns and it’s important to be respectful of people who use different pronouns. The most common gender-neutral pronoun is the singular ‘they’ (they/them/theirs). Using people’s correct pronouns shows that you respect them and who they areUsing the pronoun ‘they’ is very useful when someone’s gender or identity is unknown. You will often already be using it without realising, i.e. ‘somebody left their hat, I wonder if they will come back to get it’Make sure that your workplace, school and college policies and documents use inclusive language, i.e. using ‘they’ instead of ‘he/she’ and avoiding sentences that imply two genders. Where specifically talking about gender identity, make sure it is inclusive of non-binary gender identities and not just trans men and trans womenWhen highlighting LGBT people in your events or as role models, make sure you include some non-binary role models too

It may take a bit of getting used to, but it causes you no harm and it will make that person feel acknowledged and valid.

The Great Animorphs Re-Read: The Invasion

You might recall back in July when I decided to re-read the Animorphs books for the first time in over 20 years. Kevin had sent me a link to download them all for free on PDF, which sounds shady but is actually sanctioned by the author. K.A. Applegate actually said back in 2011 that she’s on board with the books being available to audiences that still want to read them.

“We do not take them down. Or ask for them to be taken down. I think once the books are available to buy—paper or e—it would be nice if people who could afford it would buy. (our kids have very expensive tastes. You know: food and whatnot.) But for years they’ve been unavailable except by ‘pirated’ means. These men and women kept the series alive. They kept the books available. So no, we did NOT take these books down.”

I can honestly say that if there is a way to purchased and own the full collection in print- I’m going to be on board to buy them. Every once and a while I check ebay but authors don’t see residuals from resold books so I’d rather support the author when I can. That said, Animorphs are being rereleased as graphic novels and the first one comes out NEXT MONTH!!! Check it out on Amazon here!

My goal is to get as many people hooked as possible because we also have a movie coming out. I’d much rather have a TV series but I’m going to take what I can get and I want everyone to go see it.

[image error]

When I first started re-reading the books, I had imagined that I would write about them here and there. If you look back at that first post, I had gone through the first five books in the series and was going to dig into more. Then I got to talking to Kevin about it and thought it would be fun to record an episode of The Millennial Agenda about it and we did.

The plan from there was to read in chunks and talk about them but that also quickly changed. I realized that to do the series justice we’d have to dive in book by book because some of them just have SO MUCH to talk about.

[image error]

So there was one logical thing to do.

BONUS EPISODES!

Every Friday, starting today, there will be a bonus episode of The Millennial Agenda where we recap and discuss each book in the series. Today we started on Book One: The Invasion which is the kick-off to the entire series.

Here’s some info on the book:

Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about the night he and his friends saw the strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when they realized the “light” was only a plane — from another planet.

Here’s where Jake’s story gets a little weird. He and his friends are told the human race is under attack, but they’re given the chance to fight back.

Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen…

So if you would like to join us you can CLICK HERE to download the series on PDF to read along. Each book is a quick read, it typically takes me about 90 minutes to get through one but I’m also taking notes along the way so it might be faster for you to read through.

I hope ya’ll enjoy and have been listening along to the podcast! More to come soon!

Animorphs Edition: The Invasion






–



The Millennial Agenda





The Earth is being invaded, but no one knows about it. When Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco stumble upon a downed alien spaceship and its dying pilot, they're given an incredible power — they can transform into any animal they touch. With it, they become Animorphs, the unlikely champions in a secret war for the planet. The great Animorphs re-read has begun! For the first time in 20 years Josh is picking up the Animorphs books and exploring the series with his friend Kevin.  This week we dive into the first book in the series "The Invasion" and Josh has some questions. And some freak outs. And suggests that an alien race might have mated with a blender. What's not to love? 
Episodes Referenced: The Cancellation of JK Rowling 
Kevin's Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kevinrmori
You're Doing It Wrong: A Mixtape Memoir: https://amzn.to/3ijOLyV
Josh's Blog: http://www.avoidingneverland.com
Josh's Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/avoidingneverland
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheMillennialAgenda
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/TheMillennialAgenda
The Complete Animorphs Book Series Download can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bx2fri51hgon97/Animorphs%20-%20PDF.zip?dl=0










Animorphs Edition: The Invasion
29:23






The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling
38:55






My Cat Can Beat Up Your Honor Student
51:37






The Non-Binary Agenda
44:03






Wear Your Damn Mask, Karen!
31:27

Finding My New Normal

As I mentioned in yesterday’s ramblings- I’m officially out of work due to the COVID. It’s not a cute little furlough like we had back in March, it’s a full-on layoff. For the first time in 20 years I have no job, no plan, and no idea what’s coming next. Strangely- I’m kinda okay with it.

I will admit that I did spend the last week in a bit of a funk and took a much needed break from all social media. So many people like to believe that working in Social Media is all fun and games- taking pictures and posting memes, rinse and repeat. I mean, sure that’s part of it, but in all of that you are absorbing everything that is going on in the world.

I was mentally exhausted.

[image error]

Now I’m back and trying to figure out my next steps. Obviously I’m working on finding a new job because unemployment is the worst. But I’m also using this time to focus on me for the first time in a while and there is a lot to be done.

Over the course of 2020 I’ve been really bad at keep up with my personal things. Life has been consistent in screwing me over and it’s all really gotten to me. I haven’t been writing as much and therefore my blog has suffered. My Instagram has been severely neglected though I’ve been working on that more lately. I have actually been better about Twitter but that platform is easy for just posting whatever comes to your mind and letting it loose. I should probably be more polished but it’s 2020, who cares.

Sure, a lot of this can be blamed on COVID but I’m getting tired of using that as my crutch in these times. No more!

[image error]

A lot of people have been asking me what my plan is going forward. My plan is me.

It might sound a little bit selfish but I’ve been neglecting myself for far too long. I have always spent more time trying to do things to make others happy and have forgotten to take care of my happiness. Much of this extends before 2020 dug it’s ugly claws into all of us.

Fall is my favorite time of year and even though it looks a little different I’m not going to let that ruin my happiness. So tomorrow, my Halloween decorations are going up. It’s been on my to-do list for the past two days but I’ve kept pushing it to the bottom as I worked on other things. Tomorrow it’s number 2!

It takes baby steps and this is the first one. I’ve challenged myself to use this next month to focus on myself in a number of different ways. Physical, Mental, and Emotional.

So here’s to ending the year on my terms!

Let’s do this.

[image error]

Lockdown Part 2: The Revenge of the Rona

There is really nothing better than living in a country that doesn’t take a global pandemic seriously. It’s really a step above living in a state that doesn’t take a global pandemic seriously.

My favorite part was when we became an epicenter and a global laughing stock. According to the CDC website as of sitting down to write this, Florida is number 2 in the country. Looks like we lost out to California.

It’s the beginning of a new month and I’m sitting here, once again unemployed. This past week I was laid off from my job and I had quit bartending back in May. I’ve spent the past week at home and it has been an interesting journey. You’d think that I’d be used to it given the previous time of self-isolation but that isn’t the case.

Back at the end of March when everything first went to hell, I was in the process of looking for a new apartment which was actually more of a cause for stress than losing my job at the time. I found a place in the 11th hour and spent most of my lockdown getting settled in a new place. Next thing I knew it was time to go back to work.

But things are different now.

Back then I knew I had a job to go back to. Now is a different story.

I quit the restaurant because I was being put in an uncomfortable position by my managers. I took it up the ladder and nothing was done. It became apparent that I was working for people who didn’t give a damn about my safety, the safety of my co-workers or that of our guests. Additionally, overall management had gone beyond downhill. It wasn’t a good situation to be in. For the betterment of my mental and general health, I quit.

Things at my other job were going great until they weren’t. Our attendance numbers were decent when we first reopened but once the positive-COVID numbers in Florida spiked and the unemployment subsidy ran out- things changed real quick. It became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to keep our doors open and soon, the lay-off letters were in our hands.

So here I am.

I’ve been feeling oddly Zen about the whole thing. Sure, I’m really worried about what’s to come and I am applying for jobs as I find them, but I’m also excited to have this time. I was so pre-occupied during my last respite from reality that it really felt like nothing was all that different.

So now’s my time to shine. We have a new month ahead of us and I plan on using it to the fullest. What that means, who the hell knows. I just know that I’m not going to allow myself to stress about what is beyond my control. I’m excited to use this time to work on projects that I’ve been putting off and improve my current projects.

And here’s hoping USA can get it’s shit together sooner rather than later because I’m pretty sure Lemon is already sick of having my home all the time.

I’m a Terrible Influence on My Virtual Friends

So… I, like much of humanity, have become obsessed with Animal Crossing. I really never saw this coming. But the problem is I’m starting to become a horrible influence on my villagers in the most innocent way possible… if that’s even a thing.

For those not playing (really?) here’s what I’m referring to. Once you get to a certain level of friendship with your villagers, they ask you for thinks like coming up with a new catchphrase for them. Problem is one of them happened to ask while I was watching Supernatural on Netflix and there was a montage of one of the characters saying his catchphrase…

[image error]

Whelp, Bluebear asked me at the wrong time and so she ended up with Bobby Singer’s catchphrase resulting in conversations like this happening on my island:

[image error]

[image error]

[image error]

This is a shining example as to why I’m never going to have children.