Family-run businesses and building community

photo of tools to paint pottery on a table

In the Before Times, we went to Burst of Butterflies more often than you might expect people to go to a pottery-painting place. It was a family-run business in the city I worked in, and they opened a satellite location closer to home (and easier to park) than the original place. We painted canvases. We … Read more

Christmas, shipping delays, and a different solution

Prices of seemingly everything are going up. Delays in arrival of products and materials/components have been going on for over a year now but also seem to be increasing. The shipping delays are in part due to a shortage of workers (which is largely due to losing people—temporarily, long-term, or permanently—to COVID) but also because … Read more

Children and tricky subjects

My conversation with Debra on Ordinary Chaos, included some talk about child sex trafficking or the sex slave trade. Between that and some statistics she gave on domestic violence, I felt it appropriate to put a warning at the beginning of the episode and also to mark it explicit in my podcast hosting service. Many … Read more

Show love to the creators

In yesterday’s episode of Ordinary Chaos, Chris talked about wanting his writing to make a difference to people, whether he made money on it or not. He’s not alone in this wish. I took the mic for a moment to tell listeners—and now I’m telling you, readers—if you are consuming content made by someone else … Read more

It’s critically important you’re in the audience

Rocket Kid did some week-long theatre day camps over the summer, each of which ended with a performance in their classroom. Classes were small, and the teachers held the performance until each child had someone in the audience to see them. Due to COVID mitigation strategies, each child was permitted two audience members. Chairs were … Read more