I'd say it's a healthy bet that most people are ready to move on to the new year. Mine wasn't exactly easy if I'm honest. That said, a lot has come out of it and I actually appreciate the events I was witness to in the course of reaching the proverbial finish line of December. No email responses in today's podcast. You and I, we haven't spoken in some time so I wanted to lean hard into pure conversation and some thoughts that have bounced around the plentiful free space in my head. I've read about three major books since last I uploaded and that has led to the ideal situation, I could not shut up about them even if I tried. From Caesar, to Wilbur Smith, to Charlie Chaplin's autobiography recently. I am so inspired by all these people. Titans of their world's each in their own right. But that's not all. What would a discussion be without speaking on the dangers of social media algorithms and the like. We go deep on the cast and I hope you enjoy getting lost there with me. Thanks for tuning in.

Living with out autism is one thing, abuse, something entirely different. Joseph joins me on the podcast for ep.29 to share his experience of having to grow up dealing with both. I think him a good example of what it is like to be repeatedly given a situation in which no one would fault you for giving up or becoming bitter but defying that choice and instead choosing to be a positive force.

I finally finished Caesar's biography and naturally there were some life lessons to take from it. Much having to do with how deflated we feel once we catch that mouse we've been chasing. So here is to useful enemies and never ever reaching our goals, no matter how at first, that defeat depresses us.

Who is your team and where are they? I was watching The Last Dance on Netflix recently and for a guy, me, who hasn't played team sports for the last decade, I definitely came away with a feeling like I still was. The realization being that we are always in a team. The game has changed but the goal remains the same, to win, to win life. Additionally I watched The Social Dilemma, and what a great cause for reflection on consumerism and marketing that was. Come with me won't you and share a few thoughts.

We are only young enough for so long, to take the ship we have built, out on a great adventure. Drew Walling, the founder of Garden Lab, made time in his busy schedule to sit down with me and discuss the how and why of his starting a business in Kyoto Japan.

We get the core of what makes for the best ramen. We venture into a semantics war on whether or not a husk is a real thing in regards to sake processing. This time on the interstice podcast we spare no time turning over ever proverbial rock in search of interesting topics. Oh, and we discuss where Japan's most and least beautiful women come from.

In this moment, what are you doing? Why are you doing it? Do you know? Have you really examined your behavior? When is the last time you did? I find these questions worth asking. It is all too easy to get lost in either, work, stress, or pure laziness, and accept for ourselves a vaguely satisfying life. A life that at a glance seems fulfilling, but like an iceberg revealing only a fractionally small amount of the truth, if we look closer, we realize that the satisfaction we feel is nothing more than procrastination masquerading as achievement. Most insidious is it's ability to make us feel as though this is not the case. Granting us the sensation of forward momentum, but utterly lacking in true mobility.

The topics hit hard and heavy on this episode. After uploading a comedic vlog I was called out for using a swear-word of the barely abrasive kind. This kind of condemnation usually comes at the behest of greater inclusion. What is, and will forever remain, ironically funny to me, is that calls for censorship, contradict the very thing that they are trying to protect. Nuance, freedom of expression, inclusiveness, must not ever become the hostage of propriety. And we must never think that they are immune to becoming so. What is most vile of censorship and thought crime, is it's ability to masquerade as virtue.

What's it like to start a business in Japan, possibly during one of the worst times in history to do so? Well my brave friend has found out. It's really amazing what he's done and his whole approach of relentless determination during a time that would make many others throw their cards in and claim no responsibility to the outcome, is nothing less than pure grit. It has left me wondering what can I do about my output in a time that I consider fairly sedate considering how little travel is possible. Ultimately I conclude that I can do so much more and should stop sitting on my ass. A fantastic revelation albeit one that requires more energy than I would like to expend.

The studio is mostly setup minus my computer I forgot at work so I didn't have my mic, but, oh well. Thanks for joining the podcast. Hope to see you in the comments. We cover a lot of ground from Caesar to stand-up.