The Talking Place

Hey look, it's Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know, it's been a weird few years and all with everyone realizing what actually took place to cement Thanksgiving as a holiday. It seems like a collective agreement happened to take this once chill and cozy holiday and cover it up with garland and lights. I get it! But... hear me out... Why can't we just, you know, still be thankful for things?

That's what this show is about. It's me remembering what Thanksgiving is. Recalling some of my earlier years, like what I used to do every Turkey Day, and whatever traditions we did. Funnily enough, I don't really talk about food! 

This is just me talking out loud about the day. For a while now, I've been glossing over it and just trying to get to Christmas ASAP. Which, don't get me wrong, I still do lol. But I'm trying to still enjoy Thanksgiving this year, and I feel like we all should. 

Not sure if I'll put out another show before this holiday weekend, but if I don't, I hope everyone finds something to be thankful for! 

Until next week! 

Links and Info Discussed

Here are some of my perfect for Fall recipes that would be great on Turkey Day! 

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From cupcakes to Oreos!

This is one of those shows I've been wanting to do for a long time! I'm glad the schedules were finally kind and we were able to connect because I really enjoyed this one!

I had the pleasure of talking with Desiree, who I've known for over 10 years! Crazy how time flies. When she worked with Wilton, she was the one who helped me get my footing as a blogger. Giving me an opportunity that I mention on the show I had zero business having haha. And now, she’s the Global Media Relations Manager at Mondelēz International, which to us commoners, sounds like a big deal! But for her, it's a Tuesday.

On the episode, we catch up on our history, and then talk about some of the roads that got her to where she is now. Mostly, I think the biggest takeaway is how important it is to have an emotional connection with what you do. And what better way to be connected to memories and nostalgia than with snacks!

Lastly, we touch on a big promotion Oreo is doing for Thanksgiving! Sadly, I couldn't get her to crack and slip out some secret upcoming collaborations, but you can't say I didn't try!

Come check out her journey! 

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Links and Info Discussed

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If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

Contact The Talking Place

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

If you're looking to join me for an episode,

This is STILL Halloween!

Here I am, with back-to-back episodes this week to celebrate Halloween! I feel like the movie episode before this one was good, but it lacked the Halloween oomph!, you know? Well, where that one lacks, this one makes up for it big time! 

In this episode I go over thrillist.com's Best Halloween Candies of All Time! I mean, that's quite the honor, don't you think?

They listed 31 different candies! But for this episode, I just focused on the top 10. After that, I went through and picked some honorable mentions from the list. And THEN I did the unprecedented and rapid fired the entire list of 31 different candies! Ooooooooh the horror!

It was fun! There was even a cameo by my 12 year old where he gave me his top 3 candies real quick. Oh, and for the record, It was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II where Mikey was eating a butterfinger in Ralph's ear. Seems like there was a discussion between some other guys pertaining to the same scene. I laughed when I found it on YouTube. 

I really liked how this episode came out and I look forward to getting a hold of so much candy now! Freaking seriously, I think I'm going to go trick or treating with my own bag! 

A huge thanks and shoutout to Ve6a5 and the rest of the EZFM discord! Their conversation about Halloween candy is what inspired me to record this show! 

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Links and Info Discussed

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If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

Contact The Talking Place

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

If you're looking to join me for an episode,

This is Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Even though I had all month to keep updated and do the thing, here I am, scrambling away and trying to get something out at the last minute. I swear, it's like I sabotage myself on purpose because it's how I work best. ANYWAY! Here we are! What are we talking about?

Halloween movies! Well, I guess we'll use that term loosely, haha.

Don't get me wrong, these are good watches for the season, but of course, there could be better ones. These are what I'm working with though. It's the ones we have here on hand and I try to not depend on streaming services unless I really have to. So which ones am I talking about? Well, for you, I'll go ahead and list out everything I mentioned and talked about. What can I say? I'm a swell guy.

As you can see, there's a few "that's not Halloween!" on there. I know! But for THAT explanation, you're going to have to listen to find out. Just know, we didn't even watch all of these! Time is a horrible, terrible thing that is relentless on its quest to push life along. 

I will say though that I briefly went over some general physical media talk. I keep teasing the full show/talk about physical media but I've yet to find the courage to actually do it.

I also get into Shout! Factory news and pickups. Listen to the show to hear what exactly is Shout! Factory, but just know they distribute movies and have recently been bought out so there's fear of them not moving forward in their current form. So, I'm taking advantage of their fire sales and grabbing some cheap movies that I have been wanting from them. They're on that list above, but which ones are they, hmmmm?!?

OK, that's that. Yeah, this could have been more halloween, I'm sorry. But hey! You got something, and that's something! 

Hope you enjoy and stay safe. 

Until next time!

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Links and Info Discussed

I have a personal take on the whole Shout! Factory situation, something that I didn't really want to dive into on the podcast because I wanted to keep it on topic. But if you want to see my views on it, head over to the blog and check out the link below for the show notes for this episode!

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If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

Contact The Talking Place

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

If you're looking to join me for an episode,

Gotta Gotta Catch Em' All!

Happy Pokémon weekend! It's been a few years since the release of Pokémon Legends ARCEUS, and ever since, the world has been awaiting the net release in the Legends line of games. 

And here we are! Pokémon Legends Z-A is now in the wild and ready to be encountered! And in this show, I get into the excitement for it and how much I can't wait to play! 

Also talk about the fun of going to another midnight release with the kid! I'm still paying off my sleep debt, as I'm falling asleep while typing this. But I have zero regrets!

But, seeing as how I haven't played it yet, I figured why not talk about something I do know...

So I took this time to talk about my top 3 favorite Pokémon games! From when I started catching pocket monsters till now, I nail down my top 3 fairly easily. What are they? Listen to find out! 

As always, enjoy the show!

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

Finally, the -ber months are here!

October is upon us! And with it comes all the glory of fall and spooky season! I think this is the first time that I'm actually on the ball enough to plan things out for shows. Usually, I'm struggling pretty hard with schedules and timing and I'm getting some sort of Halloween themed show out just before the night itself. But not this year! This year, I'm trying to stay on top of it! So here we are, on October 3rd, ready to fully enjoy the season. 

So what do I have planned for this show?

Absolutely nothing! Bwahahahaha. Listen, I'm not perfect ok?! But at least I came with something! 

Below you'll find the link to my show last year where I talked all about Halloween movies. I really really like how it came out because I added in sound clips from whatever I was talking about. It was such a great production, that Disney themselves took notice and told me what a great job I did! Of course, they did it in their own special way that only they can do, so I'd like to take this time to thank them for their copyright claim on YouTube.

Aside from that recap and the movies discussed there, I go over what I've been reading... again... Listen, I read, ok?! It's what I'm going to be talking about. At least it's something different every time. Not like when I used to update about games I've been playing on Future Monkeys and it was just me talking about Destiny again for 20 minutes. 

Oh! And the final chapter (pun totally intended) in my Goodreads vs. The StoryGraph debate. Which is the true winner?! Listen to find out! 

If you're wondering about the books I talked about:

Affiliate links for purchasing anything is below if you're interested!

I also got into game talk which then turned into a full on review for dbrand's Switch 2 Killswitch. I'm not sorry about it! Actually, I did exactly what I said I was going to do and made a YouTube video. I think it came out really good! Please go check it out. Like, comment, subscribe, all that good stuff.

UNBOXING/REVIEW | dbrand Switch 2 Killswitch (+ Savage Raven's Standgrip + R.D.S. Mario Kart World Traveler Deluxe Case)

No, you don't have to SMASH that like button, but gently pressing it would be just fine. 

I also talk about a game that MAYBE I'll get to this October. One I've been trying to play for years now but never give the chance. Which game?! Listen and find out! 

Lastly, I put out the call to anyone listening if there's something you want to talk about for this spooky season. Also, if you have something else to call it rather than "spooky season" because I feel like that has already outstayed its welcome. 

As always, enjoy the show!

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

I Don't Play Video Games No More, I Never Play Video Games....

....Except for a little bit of God of War, I never play video games.

Ugh, I hate how much I love that song. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here you go, thank me later! -- Tenacious D - Video Games -- ANYWAY!

Welcome to this week's show! And as you probably guessed, it's all about video games! I recorded this over a month ago hahahaha. It's the last of my pre-recorded shows that I had in stock so after this week look forward to updated content. 

I get into a few topics this week:

I feel like an entire episode can be dedicated to JUST the aspect of collecting for the Nintendo Switch 2. Heck, maybe I'll do that. So let this be an introduction to it because my goodness, the bug has hit me hard. Needless to say, I'm happy with the system and I look forward to the future with it. 

And of course, I talk all about the games I've been playing:

With honorable mentions of Donkey Kong Bananaza which I still haven't picked up, my absolute hype for Pokémon Legends Z-A, and how physical copies of games are bring replaced by codes in boxes (I mention Red Dead Redemption, the Assassin's Creed games, and Prince of Persia The Lost Crown)

Which, spoilers since I recorded this, I actually did pick up Red Dead for $30! I thought I was getting a crazy deal but it just seems to be the going price now. So jump on that if you're wanting a cartridge instead of a code in the box! 

I have no idea what next week's show will be about, but I look forward to talking about something!

As always, enjoy the show!

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

R.I.P. FOMO

ANOTHER book show?! After last week's show where I talked about what I've been reading, it's like my book era made a u-turn and smacked me in the face! But it's definitely not how it was before. As you'll see and hear.

Today, I'm joined again by Sara! You may remember her from a previous book show back in December of 2023, where we discussed her ever-growing discord server dedicated to special edition books and reading in general. But more recently in May of 2024, we also got together - along with Autumn Miller of @TheAutumnBookReads - for a book show all about different monthly book boxes and their appeal.

This time though, we got together as more mature minded lovers of books. In both our previous shows we were all about collecting and having the new hotness whenever it came out. Which most of the time, was on a steady monthly basis. But after more than a year since the last episode together, we found ourselves in a different boat. 

In this episode, we talk all about the burnout of all these book boxes. How so many monthly subscriptions add up, and how we ultimately don't really need them. We still have a love and appreciation for Special Edition books, but it's not anywhere near the level of need that it once was. 

FOMO is dead. The bubble feels like it popped. And if anyone says otherwise, remember denial is not just a river in the Amazon. 

But that's not to say the industry is dead. Fairyloot and Illumicrate are not shutting their doors down. It still seems like they are very much thriving. There are always people knocking down the doors of waitlists in hopes of getting in. But know also, there are many out there just like Sara and myself who don't feel the need to keep up anymore. 

We still love to read though! And we get into what we've been into as well. What we've been enjoying and not enjoying. And how audiobooks have helped us keep up when our busy eyes can't. 

It was a great show, packed with all sorts of discussions about books and monthly subscription boxes. It was a pleasure to have Sara on again and hopefully we don't have to wait another year to have her on again.

Until next time!

Links and Info Discussed

Below you'll find Amazon Affiliate links/other store links for all the books we discussed on the show! Remember, if you use any of these links, I'll get a small percentage back (especially for audiobooks!). So thank you for supporting my blog/podcast! 

If you're not subscribed and want to sign up for a trial of Audible, check out my link here to get started! 

Don't be afraid to utilize your local library to read or listen to almost all of the titles above! It's what I do if it's not an exclusive to somewhere.

Where to Find This Week's Guest

General Information

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

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If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

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You can keep up with my reading progress over on The StoryGraph! 

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Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

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I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

Reading is fundamental

This episode I'm going on about books I've been reading! It's been a while since I got deep in a book, heck, it's been a while since I've updated anything about reading anywhere. So what did I talk about??

First off, a community question. Let's see if you read the show notes before listening to the show:

Who do you think won my loyalty? Goodreads or StoryGraph?

A few months ago, I was in the process of moving everything over from Goodreads to StoryGraph. Just so done with the laziness of Goodreads and the inability to update anything to make it feel like it's not from the early 2000's. 

The answer is in the show! Go see who I picked!

Second, I have a nice little list of books I've read recently. These go back to around April or so, and I hadn't updated them anywhere. I mean, as of right now they've been updated on my feeds, but when I recorded this, it was the first time I ever said anything about them! So which books? Let's see:

SPOILERS, I DNF'd one of these books! Hahaha. Sorry, not sorry. 

Which one did I not finish?! Go ahead and guess and then listen to show to see which one it was. It's probably not one you'd think. 

Anyway, that's what this week's episode is all about. I'll have links below for all these books on Amazon. While I strongly support going out to your local book shop, Barnes & Noble, or the library, using these affiliate links below will help out the podcast and me. So thank you! 

I'll also throw a link in for a book centric Discord that I am currently in. One I've linked to before, and will be linking to again in *checks watch* yeah, in a few weeks. Wink-wink.

As always, enjoy the show!

Here are all the books I discussed!

If you're not subscribed and want to sign up for a trial of Audible, check out my link here to get started! 

Here is the book centric Discord server I'm currently in! Tell them I sent you, I'll get a free cookie. 

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below! 

A Blog is Worth a Thousand Posts

For the record, this was recorded back in April. Right in the midst of my blogging resurrection. Like everything else I was neck deep in, I took a break from that as well for the summer. I am currently in the process of cleaning off the dust and getting back into things, so let me get my bearings.

BUT! It doesn't mean I don't agree with what I said a few months ago. I am still very very much on my high horse with blogging. I feel like the internet would be a better place for it if we all found a way back to such joy scrolling (yeah, I said it! I think it fits).

While I'm still casting aside social media on a personal level and haven't thought about going back, I still use it for professional reasons. Sharing the show, or things about my shop, it's as inevitable as Thanos. 

But it doesn't change the fact that all the points I made about blogging being better are still 100% true. So hear me out!

Tell me what you think! Head over to my blog where the show notes are for this episode (linked below) and tell me how you feel about blogs today. 

As always, enjoy the show!

When I decided to get back in the flow of blogging, I wrote up quite a few - rather lengthy - blog posts about it. If you want to check them out, I highly recommend. Not because it's me, obvi. But because it gives a lot more insight as to why I think the way I think about blogging. Those posts are:

I was going to link to Bloglovin', because back in April I checked and saw it was actually alive. Buuuuuuuuut it's dead again LOLOL. I managed to find out what happened to them though. Head over to the blog where I go into more detail. HAHA, see what I did there?!

 If you're wondering where you can subscribe and download The Talking Place,

If you're looking for the show notes for this episode, or for

Here is everywhere to find me, gaming wise! 

I opened up an Etsy Shop! Check it out and help support everything I do! https://designingbyknight.etsy.com

If you'd like to contact the show, say hi, all that jazz, you can do so below!