Driven to Drink

This is my Paul’s Boutique.

Haven’t you said that before, Greg?

Yes. Yes I have. And I hope to be able to say it many more times over the course of my life.

Who doesn’t want their next Paul’s Boutique to always be just around the corner?

Right?

P.S. If my final Paul’s Boutique before dying is even within “shouting at the top of my lungs with gale force winds at my back and a wall of amplification on an otherwise quiet day” distance of actual Paul’s Boutique, I will die a sat

You read that right.

Greg makes Gin...and...tonic.

Not...a...gin and tonic (though that does happen at the very end), but rather makes gin...and then...makes tonic.

This podcast spans multiple mini-episodes traversing the steps in the making of the gin and the tonic and the gin and tonic.

Got it?

Good.

Now listen.

Thanks.

Backpfeifengesicht (roughly, "BACK-fifengehzeekt") is a German word.

German words can be so wonderful, expressing depths and nuances of emotion in single words.

Backpfeifengesicht. A face in need of a slap.

You know it when you see it.

I mean, c'mon.  You...KNOW IT...when you see it.  Downturned lips from a lifetime of pouting about this or that.  Weak cheeks and chin.  Kind of amorphous features that simply shout, "Of, ffs, just slap me!"

Mark and I discuss, 1. child abuse, emotional trauma, and the impact it has on victims and those one-degree of separation from said abuse/trauma, and 2. Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno.

Also, we infuse levity and laughter throughout. However, we recognize that laughter in the face of abuse and trauma can easily feel insulting and offensive.  We sincerely apologize from the outset if our attempt to move through a difficult conversation causes you (additional) suffering.

Love you all.

G&M

Is Bocephus an apostle?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Do yinz remember Mark?  Know Mark?!

He's a gem.

Here you have the first segment of a conversation in three parts.

2017 has been heavy.

So although the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye was pouring, and Mark and I cannot avoid shenanigans, Tom Foolery, and whatnot, there is a depth and perhaps lamentive undercurrent.

Stick with us, it's worth it.

When relentless low-level anxiety intensifies, pries open the door to depression, and abruptly rebounds somewhere in the vicinity of a blissed and coked out Robin Williams...it's exceptionally hard on both the person experiencing said tripolar mental health jambalaya as well as said person's life partner and children.

It's been said by generations of people wiser than me that it takes a village to raise a child.  I'm here to tell you that it also takes a village to raise an adult.

Here you go, lovely folk of the D2D community.

It's a full hour of Jason and me followed by outtakes from the introduction.  So yeah, also an introduction.

Good stuff, here.

mwua, mwua

(Is that how you spell the sound of a dramatic kissy noise?)

Hi.

Jason is back for a two part conversation.

Today we talk about Pittsburgh's 20th mayor, Billy Joel, and my potential as an obituary writer.

At the end, after the last seconds of "Captain Jack" conclude, I've attached a lengthy outtake reel.  So really, you should stick around.  Or, fast forward.

I should have brought the proper recorder with me to Los Angeles, along with windscreens.  But I had no idea how deeply I would fall in love with so much of L.A. and that I might want to record some of it with more than my phone.  Alas, I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat unprepared.  But, because most of our phones are better-than-average video, audio, and photographic recorders, I was prepared enough.

Please enjoy my Santa Monica Pastiche.

I got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

(Where?)

Down in my heart.

(Why?)

Because I got to listen to the second half of my recent conversation with Oliver yesterday as I polished up this podcast for all o' y'all today and it brings me joy.  Down in my mf'ing heart.

I hope it brings you even a fraction of the original emotion of the interaction.

Have a listen.

-G&O