OK Boomer

How does a guy go from years in the navy and working as an electrician to teaching college and becoming an award winning poet? Bill Cushing explains how he did it and some of his ventures on an incongruous road to becoming an award winning author- and he shares it via his rotary phone in Glendale, California!

Imagine what it must be like to compete on the national level as an athlete. Imagine what would be like to compete on the national level as a wrestler. How about a female wrestler? A real Beauty AND a Beast, Keira Dafnis continues sharing a bit of her brief 17 years on planet earth as a wrestler and in thoughtful discussion about diversity, her own asexuality, and whether young people can be optimistic about the future.

How many resumes can list winning a beauty pageant and a wrestling tournament? At least one and it belongs to Keira Dafnis, a female wrestler who will continue her grappling in college. Only seventeen, she is an accomplished wrestler on both the state (Illinois) and national level. Her beauty pageant winning face regularly sports the badges of honor that a wrestling match produces: bruises, cuts, scrapes. Listen to Keira talk about the various challenges in her young life, not just about the uniqueness in being part of a male dominated sport.

"We cant' let ourselves think about what and who we are leaving behind or it will break us. My daily routine was in every sense life giving. And what will make me feel that way when I return to the States?"

Christine Herbert, Peace Corp volunteer and author of The Color of the Elephant, a book that recounts her African Peace Corp experience, answers this question and others in part 2 of her conversation with Boomer and Jimmy Ahmahdoofous.

Naked, afraid, and alone . . . well, she wasn't naked, but Christine Herbert did have some scary moments (poisonous snakes, floods) spending two years in the African nation of Zambia, thousands of miles away from friends, family, and even people of her race. No electricity in her mud hut was just one element of her experience that molded an unexpected transformation that challenged the way she understoond the world. She captures two years of wonder in her book "The Color of the Elephant" and shares the laughter, the mud, and the tears in her interview with Boomer and Jimmy Ahmahdoofuous.

Beware the worm! Has a worm ever sent someone to the ER? It sent Jake O'Donnell when he was performing the worm during a pub crawl in Madrid. Jake chronicles this story and other seminal moments of becoming a man in his book "Walk Like a Man(iac) and in part 2 of his conversation with Boomer.

Are you a fan of movies like the Hangover and Jackass series? How about David Sedaris or Dave Barry? If so, prepare to be a fan of Jake O'Donnell, author of Walk Like a Man(iac). Jake dares to bare his pre and post pubescent soul as he reflects upon the many "firsts" of his journey towards adulthood and beyond. He does this with great deprecating humor and detail, allowing us to laugh along with him about experiences most males (and most females) can identify: first kisses, first brushes with the law, first alcohol, first Mrs. Robinson. It's funny, it's awkward, it's real. O'Donnell shares some these seminal moments with Boomer and makes Jimmy Ahmahdoofus feel less uncomfortable about his own youthful transgressions.

Joel Gibbs is a veteran voice over artist who has tickled your ears with over 40,000 audio projects heard globally. He truly has done it all and often with celebrity voices. Allegedly, he emerged on the birthing table with a Bugs Bunny quip, "What's up, doc?" In this episode, Joel tells about a 20 minute practical joke that involved his mimicry of Paul McCartney.

Enroute to her next load pickup, semi owner/operator Misty Danner Johnson shares her experiences over the road, including how to avoid the danger of retread explosions, why she loves traveling across America hauling up to 80,000 pounds of freight, and whether she'd recommend the life of a trucker to others.