Latest / Currently Curious / Voice Note from Camilla
Transcript
- Camilla: Hi guys, I am doing a solo episode today. That feels kind of crazy because this is the first time I'm recording a solo episode and on camera. Kind of icky. but it shouldn't be. Like, why is it? I don't know. Something about knowing that you can see me just talking to myself for an hour feels kind of embarrassing. It's also not gonna be an hour, it's gonna be much shorter. Who knows how how long, but yeah, I it's just me this week. Natalie is so busy. I'm really hoping we can do an episode together because she needs to fill you in, you guys. She has so much that has happened in her life in the last month or so. So it would be really great to hear from her. And recently we had an episode out with Parker and then an episode out with my friend Lexi. Those are both super fun. I'm hoping to record a part two with Lexi. As you will hear in the episode, have heard in the episode past tense. we recorded that episode with some information. We've had much more information since. So I think it'll be a really fun part two, which we'll hopefully have. I'm really hoping to do an episode with Ricky, my husband. I think that would just be so fun, but I don't know when we're gonna record it because we're always with the kids, and once the kids are asleep, I don't know. I'll check in with him, see if he has any creative ideas of when to do it, which does bring me to my next thing, which is that like I mean, it's not my next thing, but I need to find a babysitter. My kids are four and two. We've never had a babysitter. My mother in law sometimes watches the kids. Shout out Granna when she's in town, like and gives us a little time to do something, but we don't have any childcare otherwise. And it's time we get some child care. So we need to find a babysitter that we love. that's that. and yeah, there I have a few more episodes with people in mind, and I just need to schedule them and get them out. we've flipped we've switched our platform. Not that you guys necessarily need to know how the sausage is made, but for a long time we've recorded through Audacity, just audio recording, and then we were also doing Zoom recordings, so we had some video clips for TikTok and stuff, and then we were The word like a distributing our podcast through a platform called Podbean. We've now switched everything over to a platform called Riverside. So it records our audio, records our video, and does distribution. So that's great. That's taken and editing, honestly. So it's taken so much off my plate, which has been really nice. And it feels like a higher quality product for less work. So Yeah, it's a little more money, but it it's felt really worth it to me. that's the update there. Let me tell you what I've been watching. This is the thing I'm really excited to talk to you about. Okay. A little while ago, my husband Ricky was like, hey, there's this platform called Dropout. It's like the new college humor streaming platform that they purchased or they got all of I can't remember this person's name now. Hertzog. A certain artist Ricky knew about who did like a very specific cartoon style. Anyway, all of their stuff is on there. I think we should get it and watch it. I think it'll be really cool. And you don't need to pull my arm to twist my arm. Yeah, sure. Like, let's try out a new streaming platform. So we downloaded this platform dropout. We watched some of this artist and it was good. It was fine. but we also just got like Deep into the world of dropout. Now, if you're listening to this and you know about dropout, you're gonna be like, my God, I love dropout. And you'll be thinking of all the things I'm about to mention. But if you're listening to this and you're like, what is dropout? I have never heard of this, which was me mere months ago, mere weeks ago, dare I say. No, probably months ago now. Okay. It is the best way I can describe it, is it is like if a group of It's not is like it is. A group of comedians has a streaming platform. It's actually this man named Sam Reich. He's the host of quite a few shows on there, and you'll see his face all over. But it's like you see these same rotating casts of people. You'll recognize some people, like one of the comedians on it is on SNL. Some are like quite TikTok famous. Like I recognize some faces from TikTok. Y some you'll just recognize from seeing in other places, like Vic Michaelis does some stuff with Iraglass of this American life. so yeah, there's all this crossover stuff, but they are just so funny. And there are different shows. So one of them we love is VIP with Vic Michaelis. Vic hosts a show where they have comedians on who get full like prosthetic makeup, costume, hair. Blind, so they don't know what they're being. And then really quickly they have to come up with this character, and Vic Michaelis interviews them as that character. Some of them are so funny. So that's one of the shows on Dropout We Love. Another one is Game Changer. Sam Reich is the host, and every episode is a game show, but it changes each week. So it's like one, and and the contestants never know what they're coming into. So the game show starts and it could be. Like you get points for telling the truth. And it turns out your partner is behind the scenes saying whether or not you're lying or telling the truth. It could be that it's you're spinning a wheel and you get a different rule you have to put on your body. Like you have to talk in a silly voice or you have to do these things. And everyone is just, it's a new new group of comedians, but they're you recognize them from all the other dropout shows. They they feel like your friends. I Sometimes when I hear people talk about things with such excitement, it almost like turns me off. Like I'm like, ugh, I don't think I can try that. I is, you know, or it might sound like I'm like overselling it and maybe I am. And it's just, you know, when you're into something and it's like a new thing you're into, and you're just you kind of are like, How did I not know about this? And I want everyone in the world to know about this because it is so good. But it's also one of those things where I feel like I found this really niche thing through Ricky, but actually like Tons and tons and tons of people already know about this and love this, but I'm just like just getting on board. anyway, there are so many good shows on it. So if you're listening to this and you don't know about it, you have an extra $7 a month or something like that, and you want to some support smaller artists, like I can't recogn recommend it enough, but I want to give you the disclaimer that at first you're gonna be like, this is kind of a little quirky. Like this isn't so much my humor. And you're going to just just keep going for a little bit. Because it's one of those things where like the more you watch it, the more you will recognize faces and the more you'll be like, this person is so funny. Let me give you a couple names to search within the app. Anna Garcia. Anna Garcia is one of the comedians that is like heavily in rotational dropout. And she is hysterical. She is hysterical. I highly recommend watching her, especially, I think she's done two or three of the VIP with Vic Michaelis, where she's a character. my god, she's so funny. And she's on Game Changer a lot. She's so funny on many others. Anyway, highly recommend looking up Anna Garcia, Lisa Gilroy, who's actually, I think, gaining some popularity right now. I think she was in the Scrubs revival, the reboot of Scrubs. I saw her in there and she's been in like a few things. So anyway, she is really funny, very quirky, but like so funny. Vic Michaelis, the host of VIP, also does other things. They are hysterical. Vic, I highly rem recommend looking up Vic Michaelis. Such a unique sense of humor. anyway, that's I owe I'm not gonna just rattle off more names, but what I can say is that if you need some entertainment in your life, that's a great place to start. What else are we watching? Taskmaster as always. If you don't know, Taskmaster is a UK show. We watch it on YouTube. I think that's where it's available in the US. And it's UK comedians and occasionally comedians from other countries doing a 10-week 10 10 week challenge. What am trying to say here? 10 weeks of challenges. They're watching them la and I don't even know how to describe it in a succinct way. All I'll say is it's really funny and it's totally worth checking out. There are some incredible, I think, seasons or series, because it's the UK, 15, 16, 17 are all really, really good. Don't quote me on that. You can look up both Chris Ramsey's season and Rosie Ramsey's season. They're a married couple, but they were on different seasons and both of their seasons were epic. Chris's especially. I would highly recommend starting with Chris Ramsey's season of Taskmaster if you want to get started and kick off and then bop around. And if that's such a good show. Anyway, that's another thing we're watching right now. we really only have time to watch things after the kids are asleep. We get like a couple of hours in bed and we Watch all kinds of different funny things together. I really wanna watch the new traders, both the UK celebrity traders and the US normal people traders, but I'm not. I'm kind of watching Dancing with the Stars. I've never been a Dancing with the Stars person, but Connor Wood of Brook and Brooke Brook and Connor make a podcast is on Dancing with the Stars this season. I love Brooke and Connor make a podcast. So I've Been voting for him. Is it time to vote for him right now? No, that's 5 p.m. I've been voting for him and I've been watching his clips. So I guess it's not really watching Dancing with the Stars, but when you only have so much TV time, you have to be kind of, you know, thoughtful about it. what else do I have to fill you guys in on? I just finished a book called Hollow Kingdom. It was for my book club. We chose a spooky book for the month of October. And I wouldn't say it's actually spooky. It's from the perspective of a crow who's surviving the apocalypse a human apocalypse. it's very funny and honestly kind of lovely and beautiful. And I highly recommend it. I deeply enjoyed it. I finished reading Song of Achilles, which was incredible. I sort of regret the way in which I read it because I didn't want It to be over. I knew Greek mythology and all that, it wasn't going to end happily. So I wanted to extend it so much that I read it truly, probably five to fifteen pages a day at a time. So it went on. I like really read that pretty slow until I got to the last few chapters. And then I just like couldn't put it down for obvious reasons. I loved it. It was beautiful, but I do wish I'd read it a little faster. I think because I read it so slowly because I wanted to drag it out that I maybe took it a little too far. But it was beautiful and I would totally read it again and I would recommend it. what else have I been reading? Well, I've been listening to the Crescent City books because Sarah J. Mass is coming out with new books, and people say that you need to have read Crescent City, which was the series I hadn't read. I'd read the Throne of Glass series and I had read The Avatar series. And so I listened to Crescent City. And here's what I'm gonna say: unpopular opinion. I don't really like any of them that much. Okay. Which is crazy to say because God knows how many pages those series of books are altogether, thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of pages. I'm not crazy about any of them. I'm really not, and I know that that's an unpopular opinion. I think How do I want to say this? Look, I'm not saying that they are bad. Although I think you could sort of objectively say it's not incredible writing. I'm not saying they're bad. And I think there are parts of all of them that are quite enjoyable. It's kind of like when you're watching a TV show and you know the TV show isn't very good. You're probably not going to recommend it to anyone. But it's like, yeah, I, you know, it's nice to have on. That's sort of how I feel about it. So anyway, I read, I listened to, read, listened to, you know, whatever. Same saying these days, Crescent City. And it was fine. It was fine. And as I was reading it, I had this moment where I was like, why am I even doing this? Because I don't even know that I'm gonna read the new books. So why am I going to this trouble to like slog through a three book series that I would say is undoubtedly the worst of the three series she's done? All because like it might tie into these new books that are coming out. I mean, that I might, that I probably won't even read. So that's that was an interesting choice. But I did it at the same time as my friend Rachel. And there's something so nice about listening or reading at the same time as a friend and being able to text each other and be like, you know, what's going on with that? There's a series of books Parker wants me to read, The Raven Boys, and I've promised her I'll read and I want to read and I intended to do that in October. So maybe I'll give those a go next. I don't really have anything on my list right now. I do. I have a mile long TBR, but yeah, there's that. And what else is going on? Do I want to get into the preschool of it all? Do I want to? Probably not. But I'll say this. I went into this year truly believing I was gonna put my son Calvin in preschool and that he was going to go to preschool to you know, gain some independence and some all of this stuff. it just hasn't ended up being what I thought it would be. And maybe it would be, and I don't really know what I'm saying or really what I want to say or what I want to share, but I'll just share that I think the experience of trying to find something that feels right for my son is strengthening in me the That parenthood demands, which is disregarding others' thoughts, opinions, chirps in your ear in favor of knowing what is best for your child, and knowing that you are doing the best you can for your child. And I think that that was something that I needed strengthened, and that parenthood leaves no room, but. For you to strengthen. I really Have relied for a long time on the approval and opinions of others, in all kinds of areas of my life, especially people who I love. And I think just going down this path where I realized more and more obviously my son needs alternative education, that that is what is best for him. whether that will end up being homeschooling or I don't know some sort of private situation Waldorf who who knows? I don't have the answers yet, but I know to foster my son's innate gifts and strengths and to protect his sensitivities and mental health that going the route of you're going to preschool because that's what kids do, you're going to school because that's what kids do it is not what right now is best for him or what he needs or what would work f well for him. and so yeah, I've like really been reminded in this phase of my life, nobody knows my children better than I do. Nobody. Nobody on earth knows my children better than me. And it is my job to protect them, prioritize them, and do what is what I believe is best for them. Even if that means making others upset, uncomfortable, mad, Disappointed. even if that means people whisper about what I'm doing and what that might mean and all kinds of things, that's none of my business. And it's my job to protect my children from that and to show them that we don't have to follow paths previously traveled, and we can actually create our own paths and what is right for us, and that normal does not equal best. And So yeah, so that's been something that's like really been heavy on my mind and in my family right now. and that has felt a little lonely at times. But I'm really grateful for the people around me, including obviously Ricky, my husband, the kid's dad, and my mother in law, who know my kids so well and love them so well. people in my life who've just like know my kids and see my kids and who are like, yeah, I I trust your thoughts and opinions about this and that feels right to me too. And and that's felt good. And also like I don't need that, you know? Like I would I think even honestly, even if Ricky was like, you know, I just think we should do this because that's what people do, I would have to say, I no, I disagree. And I would say, no, I disagree. So it feels good to strengthen that muscle of like, I know what is best for my children. And I and sometimes that requires like tension or some fighting for it, you know. And That has happened at other points of parenthood, but it's like coming up again and and you know what? Like Yeah, seeing it as an opportunity to strengthen my will and my It's weird, right? Like I I I'm an adult I'm 36 years old, but there are definitely still parts of me that feel like a child that needs other people's approval and a pip and okay is. And sometimes I have to remind myself, like nobody else has to agree with my opinions or my decisions that that it this is my life. And yeah, anyway. That's that. let's think what else. I was thinking of something else I was gonna share. okay. Two sort of new things that I'm doing that are quite exciting. One, I have started a playgroup on Fridays. Like, what does playgroup mean? Great question. Nobody asked, but I would have if I'd heard this. Basically, I decided sort of within this whole like preschool decision with my son, and sort of deciding what is best for him. I know that one of the things he really needs and that I really need actually is consistent socialization. And so I basically just decided no one's gonna make that happen but me. So I printed out some flyers locally and I've been connecting with parents. and Friday mornings we're meeting at different parks around the city, kids of all ages, parents, you know, And just making friends. And we've only had one so far last Friday. We have another one this Friday. But I'm excited about it. I went to library storytime this morning and told some more parents about it there. And they're gonna come this week, it seems like. So yeah, it's kind of a new exciting thing in my life. It's exciting for a few reasons. One, it's checking a few boxes of you know, like things that I know our family would benefit from. Socialization, community, routine, getting out. So that feels good. And then also I have lots of big ideas, don't I always? But about opening a play space here one day. Like there's there are very few indoor play spaces for children in the area I live in. and we really need that niche. I don't have a capital to open it right now, but when I do, which I will. I'm gonna need a whole bunch of people to email and say, hey, come to this. And so it's it's also building a community and a network, which feels great. who knows what'll happen with that. But then here's my other business idea, which has just been like so on my mind. I remember years ago, I read Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Big Magic. And one of the biggest takeaways from that book was the idea that was the idea that ideas are entities in and of themselves, and that Ideas come to us, and we can either grasp those ideas and jump on them, or those ideas will move on and find someone else. I know it's woo-woo like a little funny, but it really stuck with me. And so often when I have these ideas, I like grab them, I'm like, no, you're mine. I'm going to make this happen. And so I've had this one for a little while now. And so I keep thinking I have to do this because I don't want it to float away. But my idea is. This is As I've just mentioned in this episode already, and as anyone who knows me, who's listening and knows my family will know, my son Calvin, precious angel, sensitive baby, loves the idea of movies. However, he is a very sensitive soul with a very precious heart. And anything that is stressful, scary, Sad, like too strong of an emotion, he's out. If it's tense, he's out. Now there are a few exceptions to the rule. There are some movies he's managed to like, you know, really grit his teeth and get through through his such, such strong will. But there are so many that he can't really handle yet, even though he wants to so, so badly. So here is my idea. I am going to start making YouTube videos for children walking through the plots of movies, explaining the scary bits, talking through them, showing what the scary characters look like, talking about how the music makes it feel a way, wants to make us feel stressed or sad or tense and reminding kids that it's not real. Anyway. You sort of talking through our movie. So if, for example, there are other children, which I know there are, like my son out there in the world, who, for example, really want to watch Lion King because who knows why, for a million different reasons, they can, before watching the movie, they can watch the video I make where I say there are some things that happen in this movie that are really sad and that are really scary at times, but we're brave. And we can always turn it off. And this is what the scary guy looks like. And you'll see him at this time. And it's gonna kind of seem like he's gonna eat this mouse, but he doesn't end up meeting the mouse. And you know, just like talk through it, and then children feel empowered to make the decision to either, yeah, I want to watch the movie, and I already know that that's the bad guy. His name is Scar, and I know he's not really gonna swallow that mouse. And that's Mufasa, Simba's dad. And I know he's gonna die. And I know that that's gonna be really sad. But and I can actually fast forward this bit, or I can close my eyes, or I can close my ears, or do whatever helps me get through it if I want to, or I can just turn it off. But then children can feel empowered to make these decisions because I think sometimes it's the unknown, like with all things, like with us adults too. It's like you go, they go into these movies. And also I would just like to say, for f's sake. Why are kids' movies so intense and scary? It's crazy. There are really so so so few kids movies and TV shows actually that do not insist on having this insane arc of like tension building and relief. And kids do not need that. Kids do not need artificial adrenaline spikes. Like If we're giving children screen time as parents, I want my child to feel soothed, to get some rest time for their bodies and a little bit of downtime for their minds. And I just think that this, like, I don't know. I mean, the old Disney movies are like some of the worst, absolute worst out there. But honestly, the new movies are no better. And I don't understand it because I know I'm not the only one. Look, I know there are plenty of kids who just will watch anything and you'll put it on T V and them and they're happy to sit through it. But I know that there are so many kids out there who feel really sensitive to these things. Like, why is why is why is some studio not made a line of movies that are easily digestible, low stimulation. I just don't get it. There's a hole in the market. Fill it. Come on. Anyway, that's my idea to make those videos. And I'm really excited about the idea. And I so I want to get started. There are some things I need to like nail in. And then quite honestly, I just need to find the time to do it. but I'm excited about it. Okay, I think that's it. I think that's it for today. I've talked to myself for twenty-seven minutes now. quite impressive, honestly. And I'll be back next week with some great guest, I have no doubt. And until then, have a beautiful week. Thanks for being here. also, just to say, I do know that we have no intro, and I do know that we have no outro right now. I haven't quite figured out how to do that on Riverside yet. The new platform that I mentioned we we've switched to. Once I figure it out, Natalie and I will put our brains together and we'll figure something out, but probably not for this season. And I don't really think anyone cares. So thanks for being here.