So many performing artists find themselves sharing their lives with people from outside the artsy career pool. Coincidence? For Chris and Isaiah, two strong proponents of this odd-couple lifestyle, the benefits are manifold. Are there drawbacks? And what goes ON in the minds of these Citizens of the Real World, drawn like masochistic moths to people in the grip of the greedy artist life? This episode (featuring a dramatic sound-quality upgrade that occurs mid-cast) was inspired by a suggestion from celebrity Schmopera-blogger Jenna Douglas. You can suggest too!

-=- Show notes -=-

Twitter - Jenna Douglas
https://twitter.com/jennamariepiano

Schmopera
http://www.schmopera.com/

What Three Words
http://what3words.com/

IMDb - Dark Victory (1939)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031210/

YouTube - Clip from Dark Victory-Judy becomes blind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZeIpxAyaxs

Website - xkcd - (
https://xkcd.com/859/

Website - Cornell Astronomy - Ask an Astronomer
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/physics/81-the-universe/stars-and-star-clusters/stargazing/373-why-is-it-easier-to-see-a-star-if-you-look-slightly-to-the-side-intermediate

Website - Reddit - LPT:When trying to see an object in the dark dont look straight at it but slightly next to it, itll be way easier to see.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/3npg1p/lptwhen_trying_to_see_an_object_in_the_dark_dont/

YouTube - Codenames (Board Game) - How To Play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8RWBooJivg

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell

Life is crazy, OK? The ups. The downs! Even the middles... are crazy. And everything is exaggerated under the microscope of performance pressure. So it's healthy to try to keep an even keel when possible, yes? Honestly? We don't know.

Is it false and unhelpful to force "balance" in the face of the vicissitudes of life? For those of us whose ultimate Saturday night involves peace, quiet, and an early bedtime, adrenaline and nerves are hard to embrace. But what if life just Isn't about feeling normal?

Things get very real very quickly in this episode, and the whole discussion is capped off by what could possibly be the most depressing Benjamin Button tagline ever imagined. Remember: we know nothing.

-=- Show notes -=-

Video - Our (unused!) Acceptance Speech for the 2016 Podcast Awards #pc2016
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Foverthought%2Fvideos%2F1740566242853698%2F

Website - Daniel Taylor, Countertenor - 'Four Thousand Winter' CD
http://www.danieltaylor.ca/four-thousand-winter/

Book - 'The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi', by John Whenham, Richard Wistreich
https://books.google.ca/books?id=MvW1CPh84MwC

Website - Dan Benjamin, host of Back to Work
http://benjamin.org/

Article - 'Ontario funeral business dissolves the dead, drains liquid into sewer system', by
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.3643765/ontario-funeral-business-dissolves-the-dead-drains-liquid-into-sewer-system-1.3643771

Image - 'My Childhood Punishments'
http://www.overthoughtpodcast.com/images/My_Childhood_Punishments.png

Book - 'Tale of Genji'
http://www.taleofgenji.org/summary.html

YouTube - 'Gattaca' - Never saved anything for the swim back
https://youtu.be/GM-znjDGubE?t=3m14s

It took two false starts (Episode 35 and "The Bad One") and an 11th-hour data-loss scare before our discussion of Boundaries could be unleashed upon the world. [But aren't boundaries always difficult to establish? ...*sage nodding*...]

Chris can find himself going WAY beyond the call of duty in his dealings with certain hard-to-please clients... But is it keen business acumen, or poorly defined boundaries?

Meanwhile Isaiah reveals a shocking and unfortunate default mindset (another one?!) - a sort of evil twin to "innocent until proven guilty". Do we people-pleasers actually look for excuses to enable other people to take advantage of us? And are we just vulnerable to other people's problems because we're Sensitive Artistes?

This episode features our first attempt at introducing ourselves and "who we are today" at the top of the show. Because even we get our voices confused sometimes. For serious.

-=- Show notes -=-

Website - Car2go
http://car2go.com/

Website - IMDb - Lady Dynamite (TV Series, 2016-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4789300/

Website - Instagram - MaximumMabel (Isaiah's dog)
http://instagram.com/maximummabel

Article - 'Why Don't You Respond to My Awesome Email Messages?', by Merlin Mann
http://www.merlinmann.com/faqs/merlin-connectedness-and-the-so-called-s/why-dont-you-respond-to-my-awesome-email-messages.html

Article - Bring Versus Take
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/bring-versus-take

Article - 'Are You a People Pleaser?', by Sherry Pagoto Ph.D.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shrink/201210/are-you-people-pleaser

Article - '21 Tips to Stop Being a People Pleaser', by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/21-tips-to-stop-being-a-people-pleaser/

YouTube - Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, "Always Be Closing" Full Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4PE2hSqVnk

Featured Image - 'three-fifty-six/three-sixty-five', by Laura Bittner
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfsavard/5835640388
Modified to include Show Title and Overthought 'O-style' Logo

For the first time ever, Chris and Isaiah are podcasting simultaneously from the very same room!? To mark this momentous occasion, and the arrival of Episode Number Lucky 37, we're talking about Good Things! Positivity! Optimism! For one thing: why is it so much easier to focus on the negative? Perhaps we learn more from bad experiences - but is life appreciation a skill we can actually acquire? And is there some universal truth behind "The Secret" or is optimism naïve? We also bid goodbye — for now — to our omnivorous Disclaimer (with a duet recitation!). Episode 38 will herald somewhat of a new dawn in our format, but don't worry - if circuitous navel-gazing is what you've come for, circuitous navel-gazing you shall have.

-=- Show notes -=-

Website - Schmopera
http://www.schmopera.com/

YouTube - Lemur Requires To Scratch His Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Znh2WNem8I

YouTube - Viral Video UK: Monkey loves to be groomed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y21LdIwXk4c

Website - Instagram - Mabel The Dog
https://www.instagram.com/maximummabel/

Website - Classical Classroom, with host Dacia Clay | Houston Public Radio
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/shows/classical-classroom/

YouTube - 'Travelling Companion', by David Wilcox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jecs8ZUgw7U

YouTube - 'Louis CK - about airplane Wi-Fi'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFsOUbZ0Lr0

Featured Image - 'Cocoa Avocado Brownies' by Janet Hudson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/4677146181
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0); modified to include episode title and 'Overthought' 'O-style' logo/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

Dear Overthought Podcast Subscribers: This is not a drill. Things went seriously wrong this week, and, well, we didn't have time to make good. It's not that we didn't record. We did. It's just... Well, we all have off days — right?? Anyway. There are those among you with a macabre fascination for the depths of human neurosis. To you, and you alone, we offer up — with this caveat — a tangled, halting, and perversely meta cri de coeur uncomfortably reminiscent of an improvised open-mic homage to "Synecdoche, New York" performed by a pair of jet-lagged preteens with crippling social anxiety.

Sure, there's a compelling misquote or two. Yes, if you listen through to the end there's some pretty badass 1000-year old poetry juxtaposed against haiku that just couldn't be fresher (composed in real time, you guys). Aching to hear Mrs. Dalloway analyzed at length by someone who hasn't read it since college? Look no further. But, let us reiterate: it's no good. (Not Mrs. Dalloway — that stuff is gold... If memory serves.) We literally could not even get through the disclaimer, which was eventually abandoned on the wayside like a malfunctioning disposable camera.

But we'll make it up to you! Next week is Episode Number Lucky 37 and, for the first time ever, Chris and Isaiah will be recording In The Same Room. There's even a rumour it will be a Double Episode. Double Rainbow!! It's always darkest before the dawn?

-=- Show notes -=-

Book - The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/189048.The_Ink_Dark_Moon

Book - The Collapse of Western Civilization, by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K33E4J2/

Website - IMDb - The Hours
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274558/

Book - 'The Hours', by Michael Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/Hours-Novel-Michael-Cunningham/dp/0312243022

Featured Music: Sousa - With Pleasure (Dance Hilarious) - United States Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

Theme Music: Slyvius Leopold Weiss's Preludio in E Major, played by Jeff Carter
https://musopen.org/music/181/sylvius-leopold-weiss/ponce-preludio-in-e-major/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

In the most extreme occurrence of invasive OUTBREED (Overthought Unrelated Tangent Based on Recent Experience, Event, or Discovery) ever recorded, Chris and Isaiah set out to discuss one topic and end up spending the entire hour on a very different one.

While Chris contemplates wading into a new market (NEW! YORK! CITY!), Isaiah confronts old anxieties in the audition room. What would happen if every bad thing we're secretly afraid of actually came true? Are risks and investments wasted if we can't show our best selves when it matters most? How can we convince that tender little turtle of creative individuality to stick out his head in a hostile environment?

Startling Admissions! Shocking Techniques! Real World Tales In Gritty, Unflinching Detail! Begin befriending your own inner child today, with the help of our combined sixty-four (64!) years of life experience....

-=- Show notes -=-

YouTube - Katamari Damacy - Full HD gameplay on PCSX2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVVW41iAu5A

Article - 'The Weight Watchers: Candid photos taken by an obese woman reveal how strangers REALLY react to her on the street - from disapproving smirks to looks of disgust', by Siofra Brennan
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3385085

YouTube - David Wilcox performs "Start with the ending" at WDVX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKauiG9TRRs

Wikipedia - Sky Gilbert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Gilbert

Joel Klein Music - Maria Toilette
http://jkleinmusic.wix.com/mariatoilette#!work/cjg9

Book - The Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant: Madame Husson’s “Rosier” (Le Rosier de Madame Husson)
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/maupassant/guy/madame-husson-s-rosier/

Website - ImDB - Friends - 'The One with the Fake Monica'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583603/

Image - Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, but with WiFi
http://www.overthoughtpodcast.com/images/maslow-but-with-wifi.jpg

Featured Image: 'Reese Loves Pizza', by Donnie Ray Jones, (Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)) - cropped, and modified to include show logo and show title
https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/16700520875

Featured Music: Sousa - With Pleasure (Dance Hilarious) - United States Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

and it opens the door for us to fully realize our creative potential. Right? ........riiiiiight. The course of uvulas never did run smooth, as Shakespeare probably once said.

Singers so regularly hear that technique is our bedrock and our safety net that it seems obvious (to those of us living inside or own heads) that the path to consistency lies in closely monitoring and controlling the actions of our bodies. But singing is infinitely more than just the mechanics of bellows, reed, and resonance. And believing we can always achieve the desired results with just this limited view of "technique" is a recipe for frustration.

But can an overthinker ever learn to trust the less concrete forces that shape our art??? In this episode, the fellas spend an unprecedented amount of time on Highly Relevant tangents and preamble BEFORE even launching into the central theme, so if you hate fun, fast forward to 23:44!

-=- Show notes -=-

Clemance Hall Creative
https://www.facebook.com/clemancehallcreative/

WebMD - EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/emdr-what-is-it

Article - 'The surprisingly easy way to reduce your anxiety', by Amy Ellis Nutt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/04/07/the-surprisingly-easy-way-to-reduce-your-anxiety-thank-you-very-much/

Website - Altschmerz - Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/101336431208/altschmerz

YouTube - Schmopera - On Opera Singers and Recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKN27ZVONRQ

Image - A Guide for Walking from Chris' Place to Isaiah's Place
http://www.overthoughtpodcast.com/images/chris-walks-to-isaiah.jpg

YouTube - Natalie Dessay - Amor (Richard Strauss Opera Scenes & Lieder)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke7AU5NbHDE

Article - 'Use Interval Training to Hit Your 5K and 10K Potential', by Greg Hitchcock
http://www.active.com/running/articles/use-interval-training-to-hit-your-5k-and-10k-potential

Article - Wikipedia - Matsuo Basho
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D

Featured Image: 'Rubik's Cube Solution', by Patrizio Custico, via Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kirtaph/2919026200

Featured Music: Sousa - With Pleasure (Dance Hilarious) - United States Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

"It's 4 p.m. and I haven't been a useful member of society yet," says Chris at the top of the show. When schedules are self-directed, the pressure to make our time count can be at its worst. Which could be fine, were it simply to motivate us and then dissipate. Unfoooortunately, the feeling that we're not getting enough done often persists after - and even during - productive periods. In addition to causing general discomfort, this can interfere with our ability to recharge and with our capacity to enjoy the non-work side of life. Ironically, it can also actually impede creativity and productivity, leaving us skipping restlessly from one thing to the next in a vicious cycle of dissatisfaction. Why? Ask our pioneer ancestors, I guess. Chris and Isaiah peel back the layers in what is likely an ongoing exploration of what drives us to be driven. PLUS EXCITING SPECIAL BONUS: stay tuned til the end for a mini-preview of one thing our productivity is producing these days — a show written by Isaiah and starring Chris (alongside a cornucopia of other Canadian talent) next January!

-=- Show notes -=-

Image - Screen capture of Chris' daily step count
http://www.overthoughtpodcast.com/images/Chris_209steps.jpg

IMDb - 'The Entire History of You', Black Mirror
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089050/

'When You Die, Your “In Basket” Won’t Be Empty', by Richard Carlson
https://simplifime.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/when-you-die-your-%E2%80%9Cin-basket%E2%80%9D-won%E2%80%99t-be-empty/

Book - 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff', by Dr. Richard Carlson
http://dontsweat.com/

Book - 'Getting Things Done®', by David Allen
http://gettingthingsdone.com/

Book - 'Mindfulness with Breathing: A Manual for Serious Beginners', by Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
https://books.google.com/books?id=9OEsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27&lpg=PT27

YouTube - Cricothyroid Joint movement stretching the vocal folds of the larynx Melissa Largent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HczwMpcyXSs

YouTube - Dog of Wisdom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-UmfqFjpl0

YouTube - Family Guy, Season 13 - Scary Stuff, LUNCH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZeZ3770uvA

Featured Image: 'Bamboo' by Rob King, via Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/photobyrk/5641360963

Featured Music: Sousa - with_pleasure (dance hilarious) - United States Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

Are you an artist? Have you ever heard someone innocently say something like "Keep following your dreams!" and had an irrational attack of irritability? (If not, DO keep following your dreams! Passion gives your soul wings. #blessed). We know being a professional in the arts is a privileged position, but clichés about the magic and whimsy of the artist's life can still touch a nerve. Is it because we'll always be hungry to be taken seriously? Or does that free spirit from the TV commercials just bear no relation to our real lives? Chris and Isaiah unpack the reasonable and less-than-reasonable elements of this knee-jerk reaction, and in the process Chris composes a topical haiku - ON THE SPOT, you guys!

-=- Show notes -=-

YouTube - Leo Reisman Casino Royal Orchestra - Katie Went To Haiti 1939 Cole Porter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6RavpanzGc

Schmopera - 'The Business of Passion' by Isaiah Bell
http://www.schmopera.com/the-business-of-passion/

Schmopera - 'Performers: unwilling players of mind games', by Jenna Douglas
http://www.schmopera.com/performers-unwilling-players-of-mind-games/

Webpage - Tom Diamond, director
http://www.pov.bc.ca/bios/diamond.html

Featured Music: Sousa - with_pleasure (dance hilarious) - United States Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved

We're all familiar with that sickest of grown-up burns: I'mnotmad, I'm just disappointed. Well, we're all grown-ups now; howdowe cope when life disappoints us? With personal failure wecanalways turn our focus to trying to do better next time, butwhatabout when things just don't go out way through no fault ofourown? Do we get mad? Or do we somehow try to stay Zen? Like, doweliterally read half a book called "The Zen Way to MartialArts"[Penguin, 1992] and then try to convince everyone that wenowpractice The Way? Only one thing is certain: Overthoughtepisodesnow feature a wicked haiku sign-off.

-=- Show notes -=-

Bengal Spice Herbal Tea, by Celestial Seasonings
http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal/bengal-spice-herbal-tea

YouTube - Lean Startup Lessons: Changing Course on a BusinessIdeaWithout Giving Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO5ttpuIuvg

Book - 'The Lean Startup', by Eric Ries
http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/

IMDb - Black Mirror
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085059/

Wikipedia - Be Right Back (Black Mirror), Episode ofBlackMirror
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Right_Back_%28Black_Mirror%29

'Microsoft silences its new A.I. bot Tay, after Twitter usersteachit racism' [Updated], by Sarah Perez | TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/24/microsoft-silences-its-new-a-i-bot-tay-after-twitter-users-teach-it-racism/

Book - 'The Zen Way to the Martial Arts', by Taisen Deshimaru
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Way-Martial-Arts-Japanese/dp/0140193448

'Mozart's movements and behaviour: a case of Tourette'ssyndrome?',by Aidin Ashoori and Joseph Jankovic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2117611/

Book - 'The Inner Game of Music', by Barry Green, W.TimothyGallwey
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/848522.The_Inner_Game_of_Music

Book - 'The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to theMentalSide of Peak Performance', by W. Timothy Gallwey
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905.The_Inner_Game_of_Tennis?from_search=true&search_version=service

Twitter - @depressionarmy, Depression Army™
https://twitter.com/depressionarmy

Featured Music: Sousa - with_pleasure (dance hilarious) -UnitedStates Marine Band, via MusOpen
https://musopen.org/music/445/john-philip-sousa/with-pleasure-dance-hilarious/

© Copyright 2016, Isaiah Bell & Chris Mayell
All Rights Reserved