First, it's a very personal episode. Mayhap too personal. I've been spending alot more of my time in the present lately...actually, I've been doing that for awhile now. It's not that I didn't care about my past or the way my actions have shaped me...but, you get it, right? Why dawdle in the past when there's so much goodness in the future...or at least, the possibility for goodness? Entropy's a bitch man, but it will not be denied. Might as well greet it with acceptance and hope. So there's that...it's a very personal episode. In a weird way, it's where this 20 year old podcast has been going all along...to episode 388. And that's the other thing, in a way...this is also a celebration of 20 years of my podcasting. Now...I'll be honest with you...because what would be the point of dishonesty? 20 years is meaningless....I mean in a quantifiable way. It's a tick on the clock. It's only 31% of my lifespan thus far. Fellow runners have been with me for almost a third of my life....but, THAT's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that we got to spend any time together at all. That's what I'm celebrating. It's an anniversary, sure....but the word "anniversary" comes from the latin "annus versus" - year turning....and that's led to the latin term "anniversarius" meaning returning yearly. Returning to what exactly? I'm looking forward...but okay, let's acknowledge the past. Hi there past, you're looking...thinner. Well, it's been nice catching up, gotta run. I've always found the image and characteristics of the ouroboros disturbing. A serpent that eats it's own tail, a snake that consumes itself. That can't end well. But in a way this episode, the 20th anniversarius of Phedippidations does go back to the very beginning...maybe you can think of it as getting back to where I started, or even better: a new start away from the past. I don't know, just call it a new take on an oldy by a goody? Or...if that doesn't work how about: Let's reboot the baby. But of course that implies we've already given the baby the boot...we're just doing it again. Other things you should know: I started writing this episode back on March 23rd, of this year, 2025...at exactly 1:42 in the afternoon. So...I took my time on this one. 222 days exactly....that's 7 months 8 days. Yeah, I wasn't in a rush to get this out. I'm not into numerology or anything magical like that, but the fact that I did borrow the final audio from episode 222 of this goofy little podcast is a surious correlation: and those are cool. As to why I didn't get this out, well...I was doing other stuff. I was otherwise occupied...and as the weeks went on, I wasn't sure that I'd actually ever find the time to finish writing, recording and "oh MY holy invisible flying spaggetti monster in space" actually editing this thing. But I found some inspiration and time. So, on Friday October 31st at noon eastern time...there will be a new episode for you to listen to. Or not. You're call. It doesn't really matter anymore. Maybe you'll listen, maybe not, maybe you'll like it, or maybe you'll barely get through the first 3 minutes...that's completely up to you. I won't be offended either way. I don't know if anyone's listening to this anyway. I really don't, and I really don't care that much. I made this more for myself than anyone else, but if you want to check it out: great...I guess...and like I said, if you don't...well that's great too.