QPOD - queer journeys podcast

Today's bonus episode guests aren't queer, but we'll still be talking about this topic with your LGBTQ podcaster and discussing with a queer lens. -- I’m excited to be chatting with Brian and Cathy about their experience being first time parents. Baby boy is currently 7.5 months and they talk through their challenges, ups, downs, and things they learned along the way.

I interviewed Riya about her experiences as an officiant here in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. She’ll be sharing how she got interested in officiating weddings, how to find an officiant, what’s the process of getting married, changes during covid, what are the benefits of being legally married, and her favorite wedding memories. It's an uncommon job and career to be an officiant, but it's lovely to be a part of someone's very special day.   I'm very happy and thankful that same-sex marriage is legal and valid in all of the United States- I grew up when that wasn't the case. I even walked door-to-door to speak with people about recognizing same-sex marriage when it came on ballot for a vote. We publicly talked about how homophobia and the banning of same-sex marriage would be harmful to people in California.   I'm so glad Riya can provide an LGBTQ+ knowledgeable and positive experience to gay couples and other members of the LGBT community in their weddings.   Find out more about Riya and 1 Hour Marriage’s services:  Riya’s officiant yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/officiant-riya-palo-alto Riya’s massage therapy practice: www.svbodyrenewal.com  Marriage and immigration services: https://www.1hourmarriage.com/

We’re interviewing Livvie Lin, 6 months after their double incision top surgery, to chat about their experience. This is our Part 4 video in our surgery recovery series as we wanted to increase the visibility of Asian-American queers, especially those who are non-binary.  Top surgery is a gender-affirming surgery option for FTM (female-to-male) and FTN (female-to-neutral) who wish to alter their chests and reduce dysphoria. Some undergo this surgery to have a gender neutral chest and some prefer a more masculine result. This surgery was done with Dr. Scott Mosser in San Francisco, California who is a Bay Area transgender specialist. --- More about Livvie --- Livvie's website as a voiceover artist: https://www.livvielin.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/livvielin

Today's guest isn't queer, but we'll still be talking about this topic with your LGBTQ host who views things through a queer lens. Marwin is on the show today chatting about his PRK procedure and recovery after 6 months. For those who don’t know what PRK is, it is a type of refractive surgery to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. It’s the first type of laser eye surgery for vision correction and is the predecessor to the popular LASIK procedure. I’ve actually had Lasik done, but I am curious to hear about peoples’ PRK experience.

I’ll be interviewing Jess Giang about her experience working in the Animation & Film industry. Jess is currently a Rough and Final Layout Artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks.   We’ll be answering the questions below and more:   -  What is your title and what do you do at work?   -  How did you find your first job in the animation industry?  -  How do you identify in terms of your queer / LGBT identity? Jessica is a queer, Vietnamese Canadian woman. How has you identity affected your career? -  What’s one of the favorite pictures you worked on? Jessica has worked on major pictures like Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Over the Moon. If you want to find out more about Jess, check out her Twitter: https://twitter.com/jess_giang

I’m super excited today to be hosting a conversation with Annie Ma-Weaver on wellness, being a modern woman, having a shared last name, getting an MBA, and living in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Annie is a powerhouse. She got an MBA with Honors from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business while working full time doing high-level partnerships at Google. She’s also got 2 BA’s from Columbia University where she majored in the same subjects as me actually, dual degrees in Economics and Psychology, except she graduated cum laude. As amazing as these accomplishments are, I’m most interested in hearing (1.) why she decided to get an MBA while working (it’s really difficult) and (2.) how Annie continues to thrive as a working mom. Note: Annie works out every morning and recommends this challenging pilates class and (now) online studio: Burn Pilates, find them here https://www.burnbylc.com/

What's it like to grow up on the island of Trinidad and go off to study at MIT?

What inspires someone to attend a school like this? What inspires someone who grew up in a small island in the Caribbean who's entire population is less than that of major cities to choose to move far away and take on a totally different challenge?   

Risha grew up in Princes Town with a teacher mom and a paramedic dad. Tune into today's episode to learn about applying to college, falling in love with science and math, how they eventually ended up in Cambridge, being an international student, dorm culture, having summer internships, and studying abroad in Israel, India, the UK, and more.

Today's bonus episode guest isn't queer, but we'll still be talking about this topic with your LGBTQ podcaster and discussing with a queer lens. I’m super excited to be chatting with Dr. Brandon Chen, MD about his experience, thoughts, and side effects after getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. My goal has always been to make education and personal experiences available and accessible, so I thought this would be an amazing chance to share one person’s story as well as provide some hope for the future. Many of my family and close friends are on the front lines right now as healthcare professionals saving lives; it’s very personal and important for me for us to all do our part in preventing the spread of COVID-19.  

There’s a lot of misinformation going around about the vaccine, and I figured it would be best to hear about it from someone who’s actually gotten the vaccine and works as a frontline healthcare provider. Dr. Yufan Brandon Chen is a board certified and practicing OBGYN here in California. He comes onto the show today to share his candid experience after getting his vaccine yesterday for coronavirus.

Queer athlete Rebelspud comes onto the channel today to give a recap of her ACL & MCL tear, surgery, recovery, and rehabilitation. We wanted to share her experience to help those out there who are about to go through the same thing or are currently living it at the moment. We talk about how she maintained her mental well-being during recovery and tips for folks in their journey. Thank you Rebel Spud for being on the show today, find out more on her YouTube with diary-style vlogs, updates, and rehab exercises:  https://www.youtube.com/rebelspud

Today's guest isn't queer, but we'll still be talking about this topic with your LGBTQ podcaster and discussing with a queer lens. -- I’m excited to be interviewing Christa about her decision to become a yoga instructor and her experience as a teacher. We talk about certification, training, and changes during COVID. Christa’s been practicing yoga for 12 years and teaching for about 10 years at this point.