The Folium Diary

By The Folium FoundationTechnology Arts Books Fiction

The Folium Diary episodes

June 16Daisy ♊ Drop
Keep your petal to the metal and don't ever, ever settle.
- Daisy Belle
Thank you for listening to Daisy Drops!
Starring:
Sofia Puen as Daisy Belle
Samantha Church as Jane
Alex Pontois as Buckshot Betty (vocal clone used in this episode)
Laurel Machak as Raff
Isabella Doherty as Cherie Hazzard
Other voices by Eleven Labs
Original photography by MaYa
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
10 min
May 15Daisy ♉ Drop
Yes, I am a teddy bear mom! I had a picnic for my furry family last week. I don't have favorites (don't want to hurt the feelings of my other stuffies), but if I did, it would have to be Daisy and Belle - a momma bear and baby bear set. More pics!
There is a flower within my heart
Daisy, Daisy
Planted one day by a glancing dart
Planted by Daisy Belle

Whether she loves me or loves me not
Sometimes it's hard to tell
Yet I am longing to share the lot
Of beautiful Daisy Belle

We will go tandem as man and wife
Daisy, Daisy
Wheeling away down the road of life
I and my Daisy Belle

When the night's dark we can both despise
Policemen and lamp posts as well
There are bright fires in the dazzling eyes
Of beautiful Daisy (and!) Belle
🧸💕🧸
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
10 min
April 15Daisy ♈ Drop
DAISY🤒DROOPS
New 📸 on ko-fi!
I forgot to say Juan's full name is Juan Julian! His friends in Progreso call him Juan, but in Cherán they called him Julian, so that's what I did here, but forgot to explain. Smoke, why didn't you catch this before I posted it? Smoke: < because you said I had a big head! > 😼 Such a lovely cat 😽
Juan's parents are Anna and Jorge. Anna is Hector and Henry's younger sister. Henry said he and Hector realized Anna was better suited to run the family business than either of them, so they both emigrated so that she could shine, and she has. What nice big brothers! Besides growing amazing avocados, she created a software company - care to guess its name? (hint: 🥑)

Jorge is a wonderful artist who runs the The Mayan Gypsy and decorated all the rooms. They put me up in the Bohemian Lair and it was so cool. Juan took me to a disco called X'O, where we met some of his friends, who were all dressed so well – I felt a bit dowdy in my sweats and t shirt. Even so, one of Juan's female friends was giving me side-eye, which translates in any language to "are you a threat?" I disarmed her with one of my Daisy Love perfume drops, saying it was from my fiancé Stuart (wont Stuart be surprised!). She retracted her claws and we ended up dancing together – these kids know how to party! (Later, Juan asked if it was true I had a fiancé, and when I explained, he said something in Spanish, which I looked up to mean "that's a relief" - hmm). Ok, enough Teen Drama!

Juan is proud of his new plane, a Halcón 2.1. Well, it's the company's plane, which they use to check on their avocado groves spread around the peninsula. The plane is brand new, and Juan just got his pilots license in January, so it still has that 'new plane' smell. You can read more about it here.

Cherán is an amazing place, or really, I should say the people there are amazing. They were fed up with corruption and abuse and did something about it. I'm going to practice my Spanish so I can read more of the original documents, but here and here are articles in English.
And then there's Raff and her bomber - no, not a bomber! She flies a Bombardier 8000, which is the fastest commercial jet on the market. I'm sure Raff would fly an actual bomber if she could get her hands on one – don't give her any ideas! I made a picture of her plane in purple - she's painting it for her job with the Valkyries.
Next month: May-hem with Mom! 🫯
(Btw, that's me using my down time to catch up on my reading - Bloody Jack rules! 🏴‍☠️)
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
7 min
March 16Smoke 😺 Signal
Smoke 😺 Signal: A Daisy Drop Special
I was in the kitchen reading this article to Linda when Smoke jumped in my lap and made it known in no uncertain terms that she wanted to narrate this as a podcast episode. Smoke has been itching to get back in the show ever since Cher made her a co-host last December (either that or it's fleas 🙀). We worked on her voice for hours until she was satisfied - such a diva. Smoke thinks what humans say about animals says more about themselves than they realize.
We hope you enjoy it, but please don't send Smoke any fanmail - her big head barely fits through the cat door as it is 😽
"A cozy nap is the best idea"
- Dinky-Poo
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
3 min
March 16Daisy ♓ Drop
🍄 A mystery laid to rest 🕊️
🥑 A new adventure begins 🛫
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
7 min
February 16Daisy ♒ Drop
...CONTINUED FROM LAST EPISODE
Cherie said the key to the lost room is where I would be sure to "step on it". At her birthday party, in the same parlor I was sitting in while reading Mr. Davies letter, I made the mistake of confessing I had left the LEGO piece on the floor that she stepped on weeks before. Mr. Davies had bought a LEGO set of the X-Men Mansion because he thought it looked like the Lodge. He put it together himself and made a nice case for it, but left the other pieces out for guests (and pests such as me) to play with. After a battle in which Rogue whipped Wolverine, I couldn't find Wolverine's head. I guess Cher's foot found it. Oops! When I told Cher, she laughed and said 'forget about it', which should have been a red flag – The Folium Never Forgets.
That night, at the Girl's Only Parlor Party, where Cher did the Dance of the Seven Veils (flashing some very chic lingerie), we took off our shoes for a limbo contest (which I won, by the way). Afterwards, I put on my bunny slippers, but when I stood up there was a stabbing pain in my left foot, and I yelped. Everyone crowded around to see what was wrong – except Cher, who was rolling on the floor laughing. When I pulled off the slipper, there was Wolverine's head stuck in my instep – and she calls me the monster!
To make a short story long, the key was inside the Mansion and I had no trouble finding it, but I checked for booby-traps, just in case – with Cher, you can't be too careful.
If Cher thought I needed a clue to find the room she would have left one - 'no brain, no pain', as they say in informatics – but she hadn't, so I considered the options. The basement was full of offices, a bar, the spa, etc, so the top floor was the logical place to start. I discarded the guest rooms – McMenamins would make sure those were secure (can't have guests disappearing unintentionally, can we?)
That left the housekeeper's store-room, which I entered stealthily around 6pm. I'd been here before, either helping the housekeepers or swiping shampoo, and been fascinated by the laundry chute. Sam once joked about throwing me down the chute to see what would happen...I think he was joking. I checked around the chute and opened the hatch – nothing. I stepped back, and noticed narrow seams in the wall – as if the wall itself was a door. I looked for a keyhole, but there was only a light-switch. I flipped the switch on and off, but nothing happened. I tried again, and noticed a click when the switch was up. I pulled on the switch, and the panel opened, revealing a keyhole! Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide this place, I thought, as I turned the key and a section of the wall swung open...maybe I should have knocked first. Too late now!
The room I saw was small but comfortable. I stepped around the laundry chute and entered. It was spotless. There was a small bed, a desk with a lamp and chair, and a mini-fridge. One wall was covered with pictures of mushrooms. The other wall was shelving, with neat stacks of magazines, each issue in its own plastic sleeve. I picked up the closest one – the face staring back was regal in appearance. It looked like an old movie magazine, and there were two copies of this issue, so before I had time to think about it, I slipped the less pristine copy in my sweatpants and turned back towards the door. My foot bumped the desk, and something on it lit up - I had jostled a smartphone. The image on the screen was an elderly man with a white beard and jolly smile, who I didn't recognize, next to another person who was very familiar – Cherie!
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
5 min
January 16Daisy ♑ Drop
WELCOME TO DAISY DROPS!
Written, recorded (on a zoom call with Mom), and edited by Daisy - that's me! Yes, there may be a little room for improvement - I'm getting a better mic and practicing vocally vexatious tongue twisters every day. The next episode in February should have a nice glow-up. Tune-in and see!
Ps. Here is the 'boring' material I left out of the show (that's reverse psychology...but if I tell you that, does it reverse the reverse? Whatever! Just read this. Please.)
When I got back to the Lodge, there was an envelope in my employee mail slot marked 'FY👁️ Only'. I took it to our favorite parlor to open, and inside was a Lodge key-card and a note, which read:
Miss Daisy, you are hereby promoted to Special Assistant to the General Manager (not Special Assistant General Manager, sorry). This key-card opens every electronic lock in the Lodge. Miss Hazzard modified it (some might say hacked) to be untraceable, and it will never expire. I did not approve this alteration and know nothing about it. Ahem.
While perusing the Lodge's original blueprints – something she apparently enjoyed in her spare time – Cherie found what appeared to be an old room that was never wired for key-card access. When she showed it to me, I recalled that Sultan, our lobby lion (That's what she looks like to me, anyhow), has a wooden collar, and on it is a carved wooden key (I concede lion's do not usually wear collars). Miss Hazzard said she was intimately familiar with Sultan – at which point she blushed – and would check it out. Later, she said she replicated the key with the Lodge's 3D printer (I didn't know we had such a thing – did you?), and would look for the room when she had time.
Well, you know Miss Hazzard and time – they often seemed to be unfamiliar with the concept of each other (Did she tell you about the time I found her in the parlor at 4am watching a sumo wrestling tournament live from Japan while nibbling from a plate of sushi obtained from who-knows-where? I admit to aiding and abetting such behavior by procuring a bottle of sake from the cellar. But I digress). The last time we spoke, she said she never got around to exploring the room itself. I told her to pass the key on to you, as you have a similar spirit of adventure. She said she would leave it someplace where you were sure to 'step on it'. I trust you know or can deduce what that is supposed to mean.
One more thing: you might not want to mention your promotion (or the key, or the Whackamolé Movie Club), to the new General Manager until you're sure they have the same... esprit de corps, shall we say.
It's been a pleasure getting to know you, and I wish you all the best,
Henry Davies
A secret promotion! A lost room! A hidden key! See, I told you it was boring.
TO BE CONTINUED...
The Folium Diary reruns:
08/01 Hello World
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 The Original Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
5 min
January 12Contest Results
Our winners are:
Alex in Michigan
Colin, of North Yorkshire
Heather in Northern California
Jaidyn, from British Columbia
Jain in Denham, UK
Kathryn, from Boston
Werner in South Africa
Congratulations Everyone!
Visit The Athletic Community to view their many fine products 🧦🚲
Support the show
The Folium Diary will be rerun in August, one week per day:
08/01 Hello World!
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
2 min
January 10Contest Closed
The contest and question period are now closed, and Fan Mail is disabled. Please tune in Sunday night for the results, and thank you for your participation.
Support the show
The Folium Diary will be rerun in August, one week per day:
08/01 Hello World!
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
1 min
January 08Favorite 📖 Page
What's your favorite page in the Diary?
Support the show
The Folium Diary will be rerun in August, one week per day:
08/01 Hello World!
08/02 The Girl From Spaceship Earth
08/03 Valuing Life
08/04 The Hard Crowd
08/05 Nomadic Theory
08/06 Frankenstein
08/07 The Operating System
08/08 Decolonizing Wealth
08/09 Astrology Is Real
08/10 Doppelgänger
08/11 Digital Communion
08/12 Parable of the Talents
08/13 Danielle vs Bloody Jack
08/14 The Folium Dispatch
08/15 Daisy Drops
1 min

About The Folium Diary

From the publisher's feed

The Folium Diary begins as the playful audio journal of Cherie Hazzard, a brilliant, elusive young woman documenting her “internship” with a mysterious project called the Folium. Through books,…