Podcasts

With the most drastic changes to lives in recent years – lockdowns, job loss, school shootings and other topics – taking care of your mental health is more important than ever.

JP and I talk about our individual lives and the dark days that brought us to the breaking point where mental health became a priority. Divorce, foreclosure, job loss, death of family members and a bunch of life events can be easier to deal with when spaced out, but when compacted back to back, we talk about how it changed the way we looked at the world.

I wish everyone a very happy new year! 2023 is here.

Big Time Fresh, Bella Mars and JP are not professional mental health professionals, so the suggestions are based on personal experience. To the listeners: a certified mental health counselor/therapist etc. is where you should start.

For more information on Mental Health, here are a list of resources:

https://mhanational.org/

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/

MentalHealth.Gov – Get Help Now

Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

Veterans Crisis Line

Dial 988 then press 1

Text 838255

As two former Californians, JP and I discuss our stance on guns now that we live in deep red states. After 25 years of friendship, we talk about a subject that we probably wouldn’t even consider relevant if we stayed in California. Unchecked mental health undoubtedly plays a part in how young people decide to use their firearm, so we also talk about the ways we are raising our kids so that mental health is a key component of their development.

Quick caveat: Neither of us are fully educated on the specific details of what we talk about so if it sounds wrong, you are probably right 🙂

What happens when the ones you count on to be there for you decide to leave the decades of good times, memories and promises of best friends forever without warning or reason? My friend of over 20 years joins me as we talk about the paths we embarked upon after high school and the lows, highs, achievements, loss, love and the reality of expectations. More importantly, we get into how what we separately thought what was rock bottom actually was the step that changed life for the better.

Thanks JP for being my (unofficial) therapist for the episode!

The subject matter that is referenced in this article may cause distress or discomfort to some sensitive topics around child trauma, abuse, neglect, assault and other potentially triggering information. Reader discretion advised.

With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the implications are catastrophic on so many levels. If the baby is born to a mother under the age of 13, how will she legally work? Does this mean the grandmother is given custody? What if the grandmother is unstable? If a 15 year old can’t work, doesn’t have a place to live, can’t pay for diapers, electricity, water or food then where does that life that began at conception go?

Read the related article written by Bella Mars (contains links to references)

A breakdown of Texas’ broken foster care system and the fines it’s facing

CPS employee tells 14-year-old to become prostitute

Federal judge blasts Texas DFPS for poor handling of children in foster care

Power to the Public: Tackling Child Welfare and Foster Care

Foster Shock

Bastrop foster care facility under investigation for reportedly trafficking children I FOX 7 Austin

Texas foster care organizations prepare for increased demand

Judge loses trust in Texas’ child abuse investigation of foster care facility and calls for federal inquiry

Texas Trends in Foster Care and Adoption

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Ricky joins me to talk about my strategies on how I help musicians and artists get out of the negative self-doubt and celebrate their progress.

But for the two of us….Are we successful or are we just adequate at checking off the boxes on the to-do list that we think makes us successful? For both of us, it took our rock bottom experiences to realize that there may not be a definition or end game. For the ambitious or the serial lifestyle changers who don’t see success in their life it might be time to think again.

Also we talk about how comedians are supposed to be offensive, why I am scared to do live streams and my story of the string of bad life choices that everyone supported at the time. And general banter that gets outta hand as per usual.

My friend of 18 years Ricky Vorias joins me to discuss music, politics and other things as we go from deep conversations to debates with the goal of annoying me. He succeeds so I annoy him with random facts about the band Queen.  

Here is a breakdown of the conversations:

Pick up the conversation in progress – start

Friends with benefits in your 30s – 5m10s

Noise Complaints past midnight 10m30s

Complaining about the process of making music – 13m50s

Music is business, not for the love of music – 18m20s

Requirements for holding political office – 22m25s

Civil War – 25m20s

Failed attempt to play a music game – 27m30s

Stranger Things (minor spoiler alert) – 29m00s

Shows to watch, Things to Listen to – 31m04s