SlamKlunk

Trigger warning! 

A continuation of Part 1. In this episode, I start to dive deeper into my experiences with my parents and their homophobia, which gives more insight into how I began cementing the way I thought about myself. 


Intro and outro music (an amazing Black, LGBTQ+ artist): Cat Burns - ghostin

*Trigger Warning*

No, this isn't just an episode of me talking about my dog. There are many more layers of complexity to this story because this wasn't just your normal dog owner situation. Hercules quite literally saved my life on several occasions, and we were connected in a way that is truly hard to describe in this episode. He is such a huge part of my healing, and I will forever be grateful. 

I love you so much, Herc. To infinity and beyond.



Intro music: Healing - FLETCHER

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! In this episode, we're pausing the parental saga (don't worry, they'll be back) to talk about the things I've been going through the last couple of months. The bulk of that is my experience going on a 5-week trip. The weird thing is, I struggled to process good emotions? Yeah, I know it's confusing. Same here! We'll start to unpack this confusion. 



Intro/outro music by one of my favorite queer artists: FLETCHER

[CONTINUED TRIGGER WARNING] 

Disclaimer: My noisy neighbor was being just that - noisy. I tried editing to filter out as much of the knocking/pounding noises as I could, I promise!

Episode 2 will cover general updates on how life is going, and we'll begin taking a dip (or rather, cannonball) into the saga that is my parents. My parents (ft. entire Lebanese family) are the root of my trauma regarding my identity and how I saw myself.  Certainly, there's not enough time to cover all of it in one episode, but it's a start! Oh, and if you're wondering if they know I'm telling this part of my story, the answer is yes :) 

Intro music credit: FLETCHER - Healing
She's an amazing queer artist, check her out!

We've reached the end, everyone! Don't worry, though, not the actual end. This episode is a fully groggy me having a retrospective conversation with myself about the experiences of recording and releasing S1. No episode is perfect, and this is no exception! But hey, it wouldn't be SlamKlunk without it. There's always next season!

This episode covers concussion #5 and #6. I really should have just wrapped my entire body in bubble wrap at this point. I also talk about the extremely difficult decision to stop my basketball career, and why Disney/the pixie dust means what it does to me. This was an interesting one to record, everyone. 

What's it like transferring schools? Not the most fun thing I've ever done, but it had to be done. In this episode, I talk about what it was like moving from Oakland to Western, finding out Becky got fired, and concussion #3 and #4. Yes, this was when I really started to get unnecessarily ambitious with these head injuries. This time frame was when I truly started building my own pandora's box, and I didn't even know it. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments, or want to chat about any of SK! 

I'll be honest - I have been trying to think of ways to fluff this description but I don't think that's the right thing to do. This is a decently loaded episode about enduring the emotional abuse and manipulation by my college basketball coach. Let's just keep it as simple as that, shall we? 

I won't lie, everyone, this isn't going to be your jolly holiday episode. This is a pretty in-depth look at my teenage years. Stories on struggling with my sexuality (bringing on pretty serious depression), basketball becoming my saving grace, coming out to my parents as I went into college - you know, sunshine and daisies. Please keep in mind that if you are struggling with depression, please call the national suicide hotline at 800-273-8255. If not this, please talk to someone close to you or someone you trust.