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Welcome to Episode 131, where 
today I invite you to pause, 

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play, and rethink the table In a
world that celebrates strategy, 

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creativity, and connection and 
inclusion, we're taking a closer

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look how how board gaming 
intersects with the lived 

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experiences of gamers with 
Tourette's Syndrome. 

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As author and advocate Brad 
Cohen once said, I may have 

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Tourette's, but Tourette's 
doesn't have me. 

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We explore how the spirit of 
resilience thrives within the 

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hobby and on the bustling floors
of Borgon Conventions. 

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Join us as we unpack the 
challenges that prove 

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inclusivity is not just a rule, 
it is how the best games are 

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played today. 
Joining me is gamer and advocate

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Cassidy Ford to talk about what 
everyone needs to know about 

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supporting these patient and 
strong members of our hobby and 

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community. 
Cassidy, how are you? 

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I'm good. 
How are you? 

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I'm really excited to finally 
chat with you. 

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I know it's a long time coming. 
It is, it is. 

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I feel like I feel like 
listeners are going to hear me 

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say this for the next couple of 
episodes because you've been 

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really patient with me. 
I had you scheduled. 

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We we were going to do this and 
then I got sick and then it was 

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like trying to reconnect the 
schedules. 

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The next few episodes are me 
rescheduling all the people I 

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had to cancel on when I got sick
back in May. 

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So thank you for your patience. 
Well, I'm glad to be here. 

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I've been looking forward to it.
Yep, this is very important 

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topic for for me, of course, but
definitely for you, right? 

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So I appreciate you being 
willing to and open about being 

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vulnerable. 
You know, I've talked about 

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vulnerability a lot recently, 
and I appreciate your 

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vulnerability to come on and 
talk about what it's like to 

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live with Tourette syndrome and 
be a gamer going to a gaming 

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convention. 
Yeah, right. 

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I've made the choice and you 
know we're going to talk about 

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it today. 
I'm actually really eager to 

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have this conversation because I
know I'm going to learn from you

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about what to expect, but also 
maybe share a little bit about 

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why I made the decision to go. 
Which I am really interested in 

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hearing, but let let's start. 
I wanted to ask you this. 

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What are some excuse me, what 
are some common misconceptions 

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about individuals who and I 
don't know what the right term 

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is, suffer is is that's not the 
right word? 

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I don't like to think of it as 
suffering. 

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Help me out. 
What is the first of all? 

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Let's start there. 
What is the right verbiage that 

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I should be using? 
OK, well, let's, let's take even

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a step further back. 
Let's why don't I just share 

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kind of a definition of what 
Tourette syndrome is, OK, not 

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everybody understands, knows I 
run into people who don't even 

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know what Tourette syndrome is 
or have never heard of it 

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before. 
So that's, that's kind of a good

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place to start. 
But I, Tourette's syndrome is a 

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neurodevelopmental condition. 
So it's in your brain, but with,

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with your neurons in, in your 
brain, the messages that are 

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firing to your body where it, it
causes you to make unwanted 

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movements and sounds. 
So I basically my brain is 

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telling my body to jerk my hand 
or my shoulder or say one of my 

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tics is to say hopscotch out of 
nowhere. 

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You know, things, things like 
that. 

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And it can be on a scale from 
very mild where you have an eye 

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blink and that's it. 
Or well, I, I will have to say 

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to have Tourette's syndrome. 
There's a difference between 

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Tourette syndrome and tick 
disorders. 

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So Tourette's syndrome is 
defined by having one or more 

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vocals and motor ticks on a 
consistent basis for a certain 

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period of time and it's usually 
diagnosed in childhood. 

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And so which I can give you more
information. 

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You don't necessarily care about
all the scientific stuff, but 

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that is that's usually where I 
like to start when explaining 

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Tourette syndrome. 
And the verb is around it is 

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really, it's very personal to 
everybody. 

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I think that everyone who has 
Tourette syndrome talks about it

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differently and has a different 
feeling towards what's happening

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to them and therefore approaches
the world differently with their

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condition. 
So for me, I like to say I don't

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suffer from Tourette syndrome. 
I like to say, you know, I have 

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Tourette syndrome. 
It's like saying someone has 

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bipolar versus is bipolar. 
Those things don't define them. 

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It's what you started out today 
saying about, about Brad Cohen, 

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who says, you know, that's I 
have Tourettes, but it doesn't 

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define me, right. 
So those are usually when I'm 

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talking to folks, I, I don't 
have a good answer about how to 

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what words to use for 
Tourette's. 

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Only thing I can say is if you 
approach or if you are around 

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someone who has Tourette 
syndrome, take your cues from 

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them. 
So if they have a good feeling 

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towards their Tourette syndrome,
I don't know if anybody really 

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does. 
But if they have, if they had, 

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if they've come to terms with 
it, then use that language that 

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they're using. 
You know, it. 

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I, I don't think we ever want to
say, suffer through something, 

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but yeah, it's, that's not a 
very good answer, is it? 

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No, I think what I my take away 
from that was is that you, you 

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have it, Yeah, like like like 
you have a board game on your 

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shelf. 
Like, yeah, maybe it doesn't. 

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It doesn't define you, but it is
something that you present. 

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It's something that it's really 
complex. 

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If I say so it's the same thing 
as having diabetes. 

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It's the same thing as having a 
mental health condition or 

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having, you know, allergies. 
It is a condition that in this 

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case there's no cure for. 
And because it forces you to do 

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things, they're so public, I 
think is the difference go 

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around. 
I have allergies, but the only 

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time someone knows that I have 
allergies is if I'm sneezing. 

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And I can't control that with 
medication. 

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That's not necessarily the same 
with my Tourette syndrome. 

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And so then people are curious 
and they ask questions. 

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And my private life, it's like I
wear a heart monitor for 

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everybody else to see at all 
times. 

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It's a barometer of my thoughts 
and feelings, good or bad, 

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because they show up in my 
ticks. 

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They show up on my face. 
Don't play poker with me. 

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I have such a bad poker face 
that you think I'm a good poker 

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player. 
So. 

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But that's what your ticks do, 
right? 

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OK. 
So it's definitely, it's a 

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complex thing when you have a 
condition and it feels sometimes

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like the condition owns you and 
you have to fight not to let it 

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define you. 
So that's why I say it's a very 

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personal thing to each 
individual because everyone's 

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experience with DRESS syndrome 
is very different. 

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Sure I can, I can definitely see
that. 

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So is Tourette a form of neuro 
divergent or is it something 

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completely different? 
It's something completely 

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different. 
So, yeah, so that's a really 

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good question. 
And I think this actually is 

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something that I would like to 
kind of talk to you a little bit

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more about in a little bit, 
because I feel like as a gamer, 

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that definitely plays a large 
role in how I approach playing 

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games and, and, and relating to 
other people who play games with

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me. 
But because it is a neurological

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condition, right? 
Not that ADHD isn't or OCD 

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isn't, or things like that, but 
Tourette's syndrome is a 

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condition in and of itself. 
It is often it is accompanied by

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Co occurring conditions or what 
scientifically are called 

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comorbid conditions. 
And what that can mean is the 

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ADHD, the OCD, the mental health
conditions, things want, 

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behavioral issues, sleep issues,
all sorts of stuff. 

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That sensory processing 
disorder, which where we talk 

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about Gen. 
Con, it might be an issue for 

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me. 
Yeah. 

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But all of those Co occurring 
conditions are usually the ones 

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that fall into that neurodiverse
category, neurodivergent 

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category. 
Yeah, because that's a topic 

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that's that's huge because so 
many of the gamers and members 

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of the community are some form 
of neurodiverse. 

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It's not everyone, but I believe
statistically if I was reading 

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today it's like half. 
Is it really? 

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Yeah, I knew it was a lot. 
And of course, these are these 

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are self reported. 
The statistics that I read were 

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also based on gamers being open 
enough to share their where they

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fit, fit where they are on the 
scale of neurodivergence. 

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And they're not, they're not all
equal. 

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And that's what I take away from
what you just said, is that not 

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everyone who has Tourette are 
equal, right? 

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It's yeah, it's different. 
It's personal. 

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OK, That's good to know. 
So what about common 

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misconceptions that people who 
don't have Tourette think about 

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people who do? 
What's the first thing that you 

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think of when you think of 
someone with Tourette syndrome? 

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Tell me. 
Yeah, that that they just, they 

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curse constantly and 
uncontrollably. 

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And that has been reinforced by 
pop culture forever. 

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And I've never known anyone who 
has Tourettes. 

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I haven't knowingly known 
someone before meeting you who 

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has Tourettes. 
So the impression I get is 

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that's so far from the truth. 
Right. 

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It, it really is. 
I, I'm going to take another 

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step back because when I, when I
explain things about Tourette's,

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I, I need to make sure that 
everyone understands. 

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I know what I know based on my 
lived experiences. 

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It's the same for everybody else
in this world. 

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So when I talk about Tourette's,
it is conglomeration of just my 

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own experiences and then what I 
know from the folks in my 

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support group and my, my network
and my circle around me. 

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But at the same time, if I, if 
I'm speaking, I'm going to try 

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and base it on my own 
experiences. 

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The swearing or the cursing tech
that you're talking about is 

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called coprolalia. 
Coprolalia, people, copper 

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Lelia, Everybody pronounces it 
differently. 

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I actually, I have it. 
I don't know how to pronounce it

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because I will click on the 
little pronunciation button on 

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they pronounce it differently 
every time. 

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So I joke. 
I joke. 

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But really and truly, one in 51 
in 50 school age children either

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has a tick disorder of some kind
or Tourette syndrome, which is a

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number that blows people away 
when they think about how how 

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few, like how many people in 
their circle as a child they 

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could have known that had 
Tourette syndrome or a tick 

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disorder. 
Of the folks of that one in 50 

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that actually have Tourette's, 
only one in 10 folks with 

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Tourette syndrome have 
coprolalia. 

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And that is a very small number 
to that swearing tick that we 

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talked about that you see in the
media that is a butt of jokes or

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that is usually this, this 
stigmatized version of this 

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condition that you see is 
actually not that common at all.

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And my story is a little 
interesting because I wasn't 

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diagnosed. 
My ticks didn't start till I was

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17. 
And because of that and a few 

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other factors, I wasn't 
diagnosed with threat syndrome 

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until I was 25. 
And I'm 38 now. 

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In case anybody was wondering, 
ladies do tell their ages 

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sometimes. 
So I lived for a very long time.

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I lived eight years not having a
diagnosis. 

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I kind of knew what it was. 
I, I feel like I did know what 

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it was, but nobody wanted to say
the word Tourette's because it 

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was a dirty word, right? 
There's no cure. 

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And during that time is when my 
cursing ticks started. 

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And I learned, I think because I
was older and I was, I was more 

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mature when my ticks started to 
kind of cope with them a little 

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bit better. 
Sure. 

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Most people with Tourette, you 
know, can't, we can't suppress 

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our tics all the time. 
It's exhausting to do it. 

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It's literally physically and 
emotionally exhausting. 

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But I subconsciously do that now
because I had to going into 

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college and starting my 
professional career, which 

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goodness knows, I have stories 
about that. 

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You know, it's it's a coping 
mechanism that now has become an

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innate for me that's exhausting.
And so you would never know. 

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And that's why you said, and I 
appreciate that you said that, 

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that at least that you know of 
you didn't necessarily know if 

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someone around you had Tourette 
syndrome because we do suppress 

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when we can. 
Correct. 

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So why are we talking about 
this? 

226
00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,840
Yes, it's an important topic. 
Well, so the reason why I had 

227
00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,680
you on is because you're going 
to go to Gen. 

228
00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:44,240
Con. 
Yes, after I've talked to your 

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00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,360
ear about this, yeah. 
You're you're going to go to 

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00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,120
Gen. 
Con and it is the largest gaming

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00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:57,200
convention in the United States.
If you listened to Episode 129 

232
00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,920
with Chris where we talked about
Origins game Fair, we learned 

233
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,040
that Gen. 
Con is the number two largest 

234
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:11,880
convention in the world, right? 
Yeah, last year, 71,000 

235
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:17,000
attendees, I believe in 2023, 
the year before with the release

236
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,720
of Lor Khanna, which those of 
you who went to Gen. 

237
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,760
Con remember that fiasco, A 
logistics fiasco. 

238
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,120
Not that Lor Khanna is a fiasco.
It was a logistics fiasco. 

239
00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,240
Initially, I think it was over 
80,000 people crammed in two 

240
00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,280
very large buildings, the 
Indianapolis Convention Center 

241
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,680
and Lucas Oil Stadium and all 
the hotels connected. 

242
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,240
So there's a lot, there's a lot 
going on. 

243
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,960
Let's let's just let's just 
start with your how do you feel 

244
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,680
about that? 
Stressed as I'll get out, sure, 

245
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,040
but also at peace about it, you 
know? 

246
00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,520
I'm an adult grown human being 
and I've decided if I need to 

247
00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,280
take a step out I will remove 
myself. 

248
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,280
There's plenty of times, you 
know, I, I've been in very many 

249
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,720
meetings when I felt like I 
needed to scream or throw 

250
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,960
something, or I have thrown 
something or I have screamed and

251
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,440
I've had to remove myself from 
that meeting where I've had to 

252
00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,360
grow thick skin, be non 
apologetic about my condition, 

253
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,760
and also recognize my limits and
know when I need to step out. 

254
00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,960
So as much as that sucks, 
sometimes it is kind of how it 

255
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:28,480
goes. 
Gen. 

256
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,000
Con is going to be its own 
beast, right? 

257
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:37,560
So one of the things honestly, 
that I besides just knowing what

258
00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:42,400
my own limits are, I think that 
knowing that, I mean, you 

259
00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,600
described yourself, you 
described yourself earlier, kind

260
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,160
of like you have this Big 
Brother feel about like a 

261
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,160
protective streak and you you 
want to help kind of uplift and 

262
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:57,200
uphold everyone around you. 
And you're not the only one in 

263
00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,240
the world. 
I know it feels like that 

264
00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,920
sometimes, but there are really 
great people like you in the 

265
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,600
world and there are folks that I
know that will make sure that I 

266
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,920
take care of myself. 
Does that make sense? 

267
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:15,440
Like, okay, yes, yeah, I have to
trust. 

268
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,160
My question, my question to you 
is how many of those people will

269
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,320
be present at Gen. 
Con to help you with that? 

270
00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,520
Yep. 
So first and foremost, I have to

271
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,000
take care of myself so that that
is a thing. 

272
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,360
So I'm actually staying with a 
friend in Indianapolis. 

273
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,480
I I'm not staying at a hotel. 
He and I have had some 

274
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,880
conversations about the fact 
that it's an open door, 

275
00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,560
revolving door. 
If I need to come back back for 

276
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,880
a day and stay and hang out with
them or you know, I'm I'm not 

277
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:51,760
obligated to do anything the 
whole time that I'm there and. 

278
00:15:51,920 --> 00:16:18,640
Absolutely. 
Yeah, OK, good. 

279
00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:21,960
Some of them are going to be 
working in the convention, so 

280
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,480
that's going to be harder for me
to just be like, dude, Get Me 

281
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:27,360
Out of here. 
But I at least know a friendly 

282
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,400
face. 
And honestly, PJ, sometimes 

283
00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:31,880
that's all you need is a 
friendly face, someone who 

284
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,440
understands and knows you and 
knows what you're going through 

285
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,400
to just clap you on the back and
give you some encouragement. 

286
00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,080
Say, hey, there's a corner over 
there, or here's the secret 

287
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,280
bathroom, which apparently 
there's a secret bathroom, so I 

288
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:44,880
don't know the story behind 
this. 

289
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,080
So there's no secret bathroom. 
Never mind. 

290
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,600
No, no, no, there is no secret 
bathroom. 

291
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:58,840
All that to say, all that to say
is it's not easy. 

292
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:06,000
But if I were to sit to to sit 
at home and never do things that

293
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,440
aren't easy, I wouldn't be 
living my life right? 

294
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,359
Sure, Hopscotch. 
So here's the interesting thing 

295
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:14,160
about Gen. 
Con. 

296
00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,599
And this is even if you don't 
have to or you. 

297
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,400
Aren't. 
Neurodivergent, even if you're 

298
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,440
an extrovert who's gregarious 
and loving like myself, 71,000 

299
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,000
people, that can be 
overwhelming. 

300
00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,440
The challenge is the challenge 
is in that moment when things 

301
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,400
get overwhelming. 
Now my wife is more introverted,

302
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,840
so I'm very much aware when 
we're together. 

303
00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:39,920
OK. 
I'm looking for her cues to be 

304
00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,720
like, we need to get out. 
And sometimes there was one time

305
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,200
where I needed to get out. 
If, if, if I need to get out, we

306
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,800
need to get out, right? 
That's a big one. 

307
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:53,600
So the challenge is that the 
crowds can be so packed in and 

308
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,760
depending physically where you 
are in the vendor hall or the 

309
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,160
events area or on the floor of 
Lucas Oil. 

310
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,520
Although I the beauty of Lucas 
Oil is that it's because it's a 

311
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,560
stadium, it's very airy upwards,
right? 

312
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:14,600
So it feels less crowded. 
Unfortunately, you're probably 

313
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,280
not going to be on the floor of 
Lucas Oil unless you're paid 

314
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,040
for, prepaid for events or 
things of that nature. 

315
00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,920
I mean, that's not to say there 
aren't spaces for you to get 

316
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,280
away if you need to, or secret 
alcoves or hallways. 

317
00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:29,640
And there are a lot of them 
because it's a labyrinthine 

318
00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:32,160
convention hall. 
Sometimes just depending on 

319
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:35,760
where you are in that moment, 
yeah, will require, you already 

320
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:36,960
know this. 
It's going to require some 

321
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,640
control and patience on your 
part to get to that. 

322
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,640
Exactly. 
Yeah, that's probably, I think 

323
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,680
the biggest challenge. 
And that's speaking as someone 

324
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,200
who doesn't have Tourette's and 
is not neurodivergent, right, 

325
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:53,800
and thrives in that environment.
I too suffer from that. 

326
00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:56,600
It's a little too much. 
Got to back down, but then you 

327
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,960
got to wait. 
And I don't want, I'm not a 

328
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:04,800
patient man, so. 
OK, when I need to go, I need to

329
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,600
go. 
I'm the same way, OK, But yeah, 

330
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,200
hey, listen. 
OK, so I one of the most 

331
00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,560
glorious vacation I have 
traveled all over the world, 

332
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,440
right? 
I've had I've been blessed to be

333
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,280
able to do this. 
I have two stories for you in 

334
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,320
this moment right now. 
The first being the the first 

335
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:27,320
solo trip that I took vacation 
trip was to Universal Studios 

336
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:33,800
Orlando for five days by myself 
right when they opened up a new 

337
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,400
like fancy schmancy ride. 
So it was jam packed full. 

338
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,440
I did great. 
I thought it was wonderful. 

339
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,160
Like even though there was a 
million people there, like it 

340
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,680
was fine. 
However, I also went to India 

341
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:52,480
and being in India with the 
crowds in the cities in India, I

342
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,880
did not do well. 
That, however, was 15 years ago 

343
00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,240
and I have had to learn, and 
this is a lesson for anybody 

344
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,520
who's either going to junk on or
just in life. 

345
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,200
I have had to put in a lot of 
work to learn how to handle 

346
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,480
panic attacks, to learn how to 
cope, to have coping mechanisms.

347
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:17,160
To do breathing exercises to 
manage my condition and just 

348
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,120
manage stress in general, which 
is why I say that is a thing 

349
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,040
that is, it is helpful for 
anyone to know. 

350
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,600
But when I when I say you know 
that work, it's not, it's not an

351
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:32,040
easy thing for me to go into a 
crowd like that or go into a 

352
00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,680
boardroom or go into a new 
gaming room of people that I've 

353
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,000
never met before at Jason's 
Deli, which I did last fall. 

354
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:43,120
And now I've made great friends 
like, you know, is about the 

355
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:46,320
work that you put in and the 
attention and the presence that 

356
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,520
you feel, you know, about being 
present. 

357
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,640
And I don't know what's going to
happen at Gen. 

358
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,400
Con. 
I really don't. 

359
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,760
But I have faith in the work 
that I put in and I have faith 

360
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:04,960
in in and how well I know how my
limits and boundaries are right?

361
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,160
So. 
Absolutely. 

362
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:09,440
I am excited you're. 
Not going to. 

363
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,200
Persuade me I'm not. 
No, no, no, no would let me ask 

364
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,080
you about India. 
Were you in Mumbai or were you 

365
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:17,520
in Bangalore? 
Where were you? 

366
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,080
No, we went to Delhi, Kolkata 
and Agra. 

367
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,080
So we went kind of to, we didn't
go to like the commercial 

368
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,600
centers or anything like that. 
So I actually don't know what 

369
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,840
that's like. 
Have you been there? 

370
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:34,120
So I haven't, OK, but I have 
through my time working at 

371
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,760
various hotels over 15 years, 
I've worked with a lot of Indian

372
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,680
Americans and people are going 
to get tired of hearing me plug 

373
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,960
this. 
So Palgan, Palgan and his wife 

374
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,160
from Mosaic Games in Bangalore, 
they will be at Gen. 

375
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,800
Con. 
So make sure to look at their 

376
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,600
booth and go and say hi. 
Tell them PJ said hello. 

377
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:53,120
Anyone listening, if you're 
going to Gen. 

378
00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:55,480
Con, go say hi to Palgan. 
He's an amazing individual. 

379
00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:01,120
That conversation that we had on
the podcast was just was one of 

380
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:02,960
our most successful on our 
YouTube channel. 

381
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,160
Cool. 
I don't know, like it's blown 

382
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,760
all of them out of the water. 
We talked forever. 

383
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,760
It was so good to hear his 
perspective. 

384
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,920
And this is his first Gen. 
Con and he is. 

385
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,000
So it's four of them. 
It's him and his wife and two 

386
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,440
others from India who are coming
to Gen. 

387
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,680
Con. 
And then he's got a support 

388
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:25,080
group of people from Kansas City
who are gonna be joining him. 

389
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,000
So that's really great that they
have that presence of mind. 

390
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,640
But since you've been to India, 
and I mean, just that would be 

391
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:33,760
something. 
I know from my point of view, 

392
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:41,040
when I meet someone who's from 
Louisiana, it's like a sense of 

393
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,560
home. 
So if you make sure you because 

394
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,040
you visited his homeland, you 
can you could talk about that 

395
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,440
experience and give him a minute
to feel like home. 

396
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,480
I mean, I like to think that's. 
I love that. 

397
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,000
That you know so you. 
Just you know what you just even

398
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,480
brought up is is so huge. 
I don't, but I can't wait for 

399
00:22:58,480 --> 00:22:58,720
you. 
I'm. 

400
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,680
About to tell you. 
I am literally about to tell you

401
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,800
if I can amalgamate the thought 
in my brain. 

402
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:10,000
So no, what you just said is if 
you can talk to him about his 

403
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,920
homeland and bring him a little 
bit of home, that would make him

404
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,080
feel good basically, right? 
That'll make him that. 

405
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,560
That will mean something to him.
I at least I think so. 

406
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:24,160
Yes, that bridges a gap. 
That is a human to human 

407
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:29,120
interaction, communication, 
sense of community that two 

408
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:30,840
strangers can share. 
Yes. 

409
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,200
Our conversation right now, 
that's what this is. 

410
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,200
Someone who talks to me, who 
who, who, who has no idea about 

411
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,720
Tourette syndrome, who I may 
meet on the exhibit floor at 

412
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,720
Gen. 
Con, who sees me, ticks and asks

413
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,560
me if I'm OK or says bless you. 
And I said, no, that was just a 

414
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:48,280
tick. 
I'm fine. 

415
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:50,840
And then they asked me about 
Tourette syndrome. 

416
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:56,120
Every little exchange bridges 
that gap and makes that moment 

417
00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:58,320
more human. 
Human, right? 

418
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,040
And that is how on a daily basis
I get through life. 

419
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,200
And that is how I plan to get 
through Gen. 

420
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,000
Con because I I have to connect 
with the people around me. 

421
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,840
And each one of those makes me 
feel a little bit more like 

422
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,080
myself. 
And then I'm at home and then 

423
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,280
I'm more comfortable. 
And that's why the human 

424
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,320
conversation is so important. 
So important. 

425
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,160
Yeah, yes, Yeah. 
Well, OK. 

426
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,240
See. 
Yeah, I did something good. 

427
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,560
But that's exactly why you have 
this podcast, PJ. 

428
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:36,120
Like I, I just really feel how 
important it is to have these 

429
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:40,000
Cumber Cumber conversations and 
open up the door between two 

430
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,160
human beings that I've never met
him before. 

431
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,680
But now, because you told me 
about him, I'm going to go say 

432
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,000
hi and I'm going to I'm going to
check out his booth and maybe 

433
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:49,200
we'll be best friends from now 
on. 

434
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,520
Who knows? 
But. 

435
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:52,920
You probably will. 
I'm just going to tell you right

436
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,480
now, Be prepared. 
Yeah, yeah. 

437
00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,440
He's great. 
He's he's fantastic, you know, 

438
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,600
and the other thing too is 
that's something that I can't, I

439
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,400
can't provide, right? 
I've never been to India. 

440
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,920
So I won't be able to bond with 
him in that way. 

441
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,400
No, obviously I can bond with 
him in a different way. 

442
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,520
But but knowing that about you, 
like, Oh, no, that's yeah, we 

443
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,560
have to facilitate. 
We have to facilitate the human 

444
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,880
interactions and support one 
another in any way we can in 

445
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,880
order to nurture this community.
Yeah, rather than focus on, and 

446
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,800
people are probably going to get
tired of hearing me say it, 

447
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,040
rather than focus on the fear 
and the anger about what's going

448
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,400
on in the world, let's focus on 
building a community and doing 

449
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,840
it right. 
So tell me what can people do or

450
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,280
what should, what should people 
know and more. 

451
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,600
And so with that in mind, let's 
make it more personal. 

452
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,040
Yes, what can I do? 
What do I need to be aware of 

453
00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:54,760
when I finally get to meet you 
at Gen. 

454
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:59,360
Con and be the supportive person
and be able to read your ticks 

455
00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,160
versus, oh, that's you know what
I mean? 

456
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,120
Like how can like what do I need
to know? 

457
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,840
Relax, Just relax. 
I think, I think that is, I 

458
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,560
think that is kind of the 
biggest piece of advice I can 

459
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,680
give to the folks around me. 
There's always going to be a, a 

460
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,840
worry about I do this to you and
my best friend is, is she 

461
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,120
doesn't like to go to movies 
with people or out to dinner or 

462
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:23,640
out because she's very 
introverted, because she's 

463
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,320
always worrying about the other 
person having a good time and if

464
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,520
they're OK and how are they 
feeling right now. 

465
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,280
And I tell her all the time, you
need to focus on yourself, 

466
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,120
right? 
That's a whole other story. 

467
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:44,800
But I just, you know, I think 
that I it is always, it's always

468
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,920
going to be apparent if my ticks
are bad or if I'm stressed out. 

469
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,880
Like I said, I have no poker 
face or if I'm just kind of 

470
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,640
darting around or if my words 
aren't coming out right. 

471
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,720
It's usually because there's a 
lot of noise and a lot of 

472
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,680
stimuli. 
And there was a really great, I 

473
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,960
think I told Victoria this on 
the games you must. 

474
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,600
Do you ever listen to his 
podcast? 

475
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,040
I have not yet. 
It's on my list. 

476
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,280
There's so many podcasts. 
I mean it's. 

477
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:17,120
He asked me about something 
about how to respond to people 

478
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:23,120
when they have ticks and what he
should say, Basically similar to

479
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,240
your question, but specifically 
what he should say in response 

480
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,480
or do in response. 
And I used the example of 

481
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,640
Survivor Jeff Probst on this. 
I think it was the last season 

482
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,720
of Survivor. 
There was a person who had a 

483
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,000
stutter. 
One of the contestants had a 

484
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,080
stutter and he couldn't get his 
words out. 

485
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,360
Very much. 
Like I just like right now that 

486
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:49,640
happens to me when I can't get 
my words out or I stutter tick 

487
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,840
and Jeff, the hostel show, he 
stops everything and he asks 

488
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:55,720
him, what do you need in this 
moment? 

489
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,680
And that is all I need. 
I need someone to stop and say, 

490
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,000
what do you need from me right 
now? 

491
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,160
Because it could vary at any 
given time. 

492
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,040
Also, I am not your 
responsibility, which I fully 

493
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,000
recognize. 
So you don't need to not you 

494
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,840
specifically, but the people 
around me. 

495
00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:12,520
I'm always concerned about being
a burden to other people. 

496
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,520
And so, but that question is the
best question to ask. 

497
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,560
And that contestant responded to
Jeff and just said, I just need 

498
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,320
you to give me space to get my 
words out and that's all I need.

499
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:27,920
And the understanding by asking 
questions is, is it makes all 

500
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,400
the difference in the world. 
So those times if you are there 

501
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,600
or someone else is around and 
I'm taking a lot or, or I can't 

502
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,360
get those words out, just be 
like, hey, dude, you cool, good.

503
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,000
What do you need? 
What do you need? 

504
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:43,400
Food? 
Because the answer is probably 

505
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,080
always going to be yes, I need 
food. 

506
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,160
So that that is that is another 
quirk about me is that you will 

507
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,920
find that I am always hungry and
I get very hangry. 

508
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,280
But in reality, that's also a 
trick, a trigger for my ticks. 

509
00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:01,080
OK, so here's the good news. 
My wife has trained me well. 

510
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,760
We carry a ton of snacks. 
Yeah. 

511
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,120
OK. 
And so one of the things that 

512
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,640
gamers tend to talking about 
self-care, right? 

513
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,080
Gamers don't take care of 
themselves at board game 

514
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,160
conventions. 
But this is not an absolute, and

515
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,200
it's not about everyone, but 
diets. 

516
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:20,600
And I don't mean diets like, oh,
I'm on a diet. 

517
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:25,360
I mean regular, regular diet. 
Nutrition goes out the window, 

518
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:26,040
right? 
Yeah. 

519
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:32,040
There's not a lot of greens, OK,
So we've got like organic snacks

520
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,880
with fruits and nuts and things 
of that nature, things that we 

521
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,480
could just grab and go. 
Cuz the other thing is if you do

522
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,520
get a table, if you get a table 
at Gen. 

523
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,760
Con to play a game, that's 
another story for another day. 

524
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,360
You're probably not going to 
want to get up, so you don't 

525
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:47,840
want to be able to have food 
ready to go. 

526
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,920
And so we have a lot of snacks. 
So if you and I are hanging out 

527
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,280
and and you're hungry or hangry,
yeah, I will. 

528
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,240
I will be prepared because 
that's just, you know, it's been

529
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,720
ingrained in me. 
So we'll be we'll be ready for 

530
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,280
that for sure. 
I need to go grocery shopping 

531
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,160
when I get there and then I'll 
I'm going to have some snacks 

532
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,040
with me. 
So one of the things I was 

533
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,600
telling our mutual friend Jerry 
about this I, you know, 

534
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,720
intentionally and for better or 
worse, I made this decision 

535
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:21,800
because I have something called 
dyscalculia where like I, it's a

536
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,120
dyslexia of numbers and graphs 
and spreadsheets. 

537
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,640
And it's basically like dyslexia
but for numbers and time and 

538
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,080
space and rhythm and things like
that. 

539
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,840
It's a Co occurring condition 
with my Tourette syndrome, but 

540
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,160
when I opened up the Gen. 
Con spreadsheet for the events I

541
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,920
basically had a panic attack. 
I was like, I don't even know 

542
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,640
where to start with this. 
I can't even read the lines on 

543
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,040
it. 
It was so overwhelming to me 

544
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,040
that I just made the decision 
like then and there. 

545
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,560
I'm like, I'm not gonna buy 
tickets to all these things this

546
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:54,560
year. 
OK. 

547
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:59,440
What I and I think in talking to
Jerry, I may go back and see if 

548
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,600
there's just some random things 
in there that I feel like I now 

549
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,440
that none of my choices are 
limited. 

550
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,040
But also it makes it a little 
bit easier. 

551
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,400
It makes it a little bit easier 
for me to just say I'm just 

552
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,120
going to go out on a limb and 
try something new. 

553
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,560
Maybe I enjoy it, maybe I don't.
But it'll give me something to 

554
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,520
do and it'll introduce me to 
Gen. 

555
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,960
Con, Yes. 
Then the next year, if I choose 

556
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:24,920
to go back, I'll know what I'm 
doing. 

557
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:26,920
I won't be as overwhelmed, 
right? 

558
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,520
And I'll be more prepared. 
I have not a lot invested in my 

559
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,080
like financially invested in my 
trip to Gen. con at this point 

560
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,800
that precludes me from like if I
I'm not going to be so 

561
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,120
disappointed if I don't get to 
play that very important brand 

562
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,000
new super shiny game. 
Sure. 

563
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,440
You know, I just, I want to meet
y'all and I want to have the 

564
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,320
experience of the people and 
understanding what this is 

565
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:59,760
about, about, about about and 
it's it's like, you know, 

566
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,160
sometimes I get off track 
because of my tics, but. 

567
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:04,520
No, that's OK. 
I get it. 

568
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:06,640
Yeah, you're looking forward to 
seeing the people. 

569
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,560
Yeah, and, and understanding, 
you know, I'm new to the board 

570
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,520
gaming world in the sense of the
community of things. 

571
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,920
It's something that has been 
very special to me in the last, 

572
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,880
like, I don't know, since I 
started, I, I think I met my 

573
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:24,080
first gamers in like October, 
that outside of my original 

574
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,040
circle of friends. 
And it was a very good timing 

575
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,960
for me with everything else that
was happening in the world as a 

576
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,520
outlet. 
And I want to go to Gym Con to 

577
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,000
explore where that outlet can 
take me. 

578
00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,280
It could take you far and wide. 
Lots of different places, yeah. 

579
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,560
So I want to I want to talk 
about events for just a second. 

580
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:51,200
Yeah, I was going to ask you. 
About this So So now I have 

581
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,200
crafted over when we moved to 
Illinois. 

582
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,200
One of the beautiful things that
we discovered about moving to 

583
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,800
Illinois is that we no longer 
had to live in the board game 

584
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:05,520
closet because in Louisiana, it 
is sportsman's paradise and. 

585
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:06,960
Yeah. 
You don't play board games, 

586
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,880
right? 
That is unacceptable. 

587
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,560
And so you hide in the board 
game closet. 

588
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,600
Well, then you get to Illinois 
and it's like, wow, Midwest, 

589
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:15,520
it's a home. 
All the big board game 

590
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,240
conventions, everyone their game
game stores at galore. 

591
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,040
What it meant was that we're 
three hours away from 

592
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:28,520
Indianapolis and Gencot. 
So 2017 we just went on Sunday. 

593
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:33,880
2018 we just went on Sunday. 
2019 I went by myself just on 

594
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,080
Sunday. 
And then of course, 2020 there 

595
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:40,800
was no convention, but in 2021 
my wife and I decided we were 

596
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,760
going to do the full 4 day 
experience and get a hotel and 

597
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:44,680
everything. 
And we did. 

598
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,960
So I tell you all that to say 
that my advice to you about 

599
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,800
events that I'm about to share 
with you, I've crafted it over 

600
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,080
time. 
And so so I, we did it piece 

601
00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,080
meal and we figured out what 
events work for us, which don't 

602
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,320
work for everyone else. 
That's OK. 

603
00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:06,360
But here's what I believe, and I
tell any first time Gencon 

604
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,080
goers, this is this is 
important. 

605
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:14,239
And I, I think listening to you 
talk about your experience with 

606
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,400
Tourette and going through what 
we're looking forward to at Gen.

607
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,800
Con, I think that structure 
would help. 

608
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,159
Yeah. 
And the beauty of events. 

609
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:27,360
I'm a firm believer that if you 
need structure, or for whatever 

610
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:31,520
reason you need structure, you 
should at least schedule one 

611
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,800
event per day. 
That's great advice. 

612
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,920
Now, whatever that event is for 
you, you let that be, right? 

613
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:44,159
Like we figured it out, right? 
If there's a new hot game and 

614
00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:48,400
we're on the fence about buying 
it, whatever, we'll sign up for 

615
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,400
a learn to play where you get to
learn it, play the whole game 

616
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:53,840
and then you can go buy it. 
That has served us well in the 

617
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,719
past. 
We don't need to do that as much

618
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,640
anymore because we discovered 
another convention in Saint 

619
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,080
Louis, Geek Way, which is 
amazing. 

620
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,880
Less than 5000 people. 
It's all gaming and it's just 

621
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,440
great. 
That's another we're really big 

622
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,920
in play testing. 
We'd love to play test prototype

623
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,320
games and there is a space 
designated for that. 

624
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,920
You don't have to, you don't 
have to pay for the tickets, but

625
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,200
you do have to sign up for them 
in advance and they're in two 

626
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:25,360
hour windows, so you probably 
won't see me in the mornings. 

627
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:28,280
One of the things that I hate, 
and I know that this is 

628
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:32,000
contentious because everyone 
loves it, but I hate it and want

629
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,320
no part in it. 
And that's the running of the 

630
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:40,240
Nerds on Thursday morning with 
50 + 1000 human beings trying to

631
00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:42,120
get in the vendor hall just 
because it's opening for the 

632
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:43,280
first time. 
Like, you know what I'm going to

633
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:44,680
do? 
I'm going to schedule an 8:00 AM

634
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,880
play test in the first exposure 
play test hall, which ends at 

635
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,320
10:00, right at the time the 
doors open. 

636
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,640
I'm going to walk out. 
I'm going to stop at the water 

637
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,280
refill station and refill my 
bottle that I've been drinking 

638
00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:01,160
for the past two hours and just 
saunter my way in to the vendor 

639
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,400
hall, waving at everyone and 
slide on in and see what I want 

640
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,800
to see. 
I'm not up for sorry. 

641
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,040
I'm not OK. 
I love eating sardines. 

642
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,640
Jerry, I know you're listening 
and driving on your way to Gen. 

643
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,400
Con. 
You're probably listening to 

644
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,480
this. 
I want to say that I love you 

645
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,960
and I love Laura, and I'm sorry 
I did not enjoy your sardines at

646
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,320
Origins. 
I love sardines. 

647
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,400
I'm sorry we didn't get the 
number of views or whatever so 

648
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:31,200
that I could eat sardines, but I
don't like to be packed into a 

649
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:32,200
space. 
Yeah. 

650
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,640
No, like a sardine. 
So yeah, so. 

651
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,040
But again, and my wife and I 
figured that out, right? 

652
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,920
It's like we can do this. 
And we've met some really good 

653
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:46,440
people in the playtest hall, 
other play testers that like, so

654
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,400
we like, we've exchanged emails 
and personal contact. 

655
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,480
The only time we see them is in 
the playtest hall, which is 

656
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:53,520
great. 
That's so much. 

657
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:54,280
Fun. 
That's cool. 

658
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,320
Like I got to playtest Galactic 
Cruise, which everyone's talking

659
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:00,080
about. 
It's just taking the what, you 

660
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,040
know what? 
They were still in prototype, 

661
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,520
saw it, played it. 
I made a lot of great friends 

662
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,560
through through play testing, 
love play testing. 

663
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:09,880
So that's a really great 
opportunity that might not be 

664
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:14,560
for you, but there is an event 
that you are that is for you. 

665
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,640
And it's just really good 
because you have an event in the

666
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,680
morning. 
So it starts your day. 

667
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:23,400
I like to start my day and then 
you can free form. 

668
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,680
Maybe you need it in the 
afternoon. 

669
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,280
After all this stimuli, you need
a place to sit, focus on a 

670
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,280
single game. 
You could do that, right? 

671
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,040
But it helps to order and 
structure your data. 

672
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:39,040
Whatever event you choose, I 
firmly believe and encourage you

673
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:42,280
into doing that right. 
Okay, you're right cuz you can 

674
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,400
go to the Gencom website and you
can filter out everything that's

675
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,360
been sold out. 
So that spreadsheet that's so 

676
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,480
overwhelming. 
It's real small all the sudden. 

677
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,200
Yeah, which by the way, I never 
heard of that condition before 

678
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,400
the, I forget. 
What did you call it? 

679
00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:00,520
It's called discalculia or 
discalculia again, Discalculia. 

680
00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:03,880
I call it discalculia. 
I'm from Texas originally so I 

681
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,720
pronounce things a little funny 
sometimes. 

682
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:10,160
Well, but also trying to 
pronounce Greek and Latin roots,

683
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,000
so which I have a degree in 
both. 

684
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,280
So there we go. 
So yeah, that's kind of. 

685
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:16,720
I get it. 
Yeah. 

686
00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:19,440
I had never heard of that 
condition and that's 

687
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:21,880
interesting. 
And now either until now you 

688
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:23,280
can. 
I got tested for it. 

689
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,880
So interesting. 
Yeah, so now you could filter 

690
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,240
all the sold out stuff and it's 
a much smaller list and I think 

691
00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:31,480
it'll help you to find 
something. 

692
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,240
Weirdly enough, I know that's 
not how a lot of people would 

693
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,400
approach things, but that's in 
the moment. 

694
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,640
And I'm a planner, like, Oh my 
gosh. 

695
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,000
OK, Amanda Lee, if you're 
listening to this, you're going 

696
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,240
to be listening to this after 
I've met you this weekend. 

697
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:48,200
So I'm going to Alabama. 
I'm going to Mobile. 

698
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:52,760
Oh yeah, Spanish Fort. 
Yeah, so. 

699
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,160
So you're going to, you're going
to, are you going to Fort 

700
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,040
Morgan? 
I'm I'm going to be in Spanish 

701
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,440
Fort specifically so. 
OK. 

702
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:06,800
But who lives but an hour away 
but MTV 2 Nest Bored Mama, which

703
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,200
is Amanda Lee. 
Is that where she lives? 

704
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,520
She does not live very far from 
there, so I. 

705
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:13,840
Have. 
The opportunity to game with her

706
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,960
this weekend. 
The problem is that I don't have

707
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:21,600
a plan yet and it is Tuesday and
we're meeting on Friday and I am

708
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:26,320
like I need to but my own ADHD 
is sitting here being like 

709
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,160
haven't messaged her yet. 
I'm just sitting here stewing in

710
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,680
it and this is a cycle of that 
type of thing. 

711
00:39:31,720 --> 00:39:34,120
I'll put something off yet I 
need a plan. 

712
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:39,400
Whenever someone around me can 
limit my options to very few and

713
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,680
say these are your options. 
This is what will happen if you 

714
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,200
do each one of these and do the 
research for me, but lay it out 

715
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,080
so I can make the analysis and 
make the decision person. 

716
00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:55,840
I will marry you like I so it's 
it's good for me. 

717
00:39:55,840 --> 00:40:00,160
I needed to wait, I think to 
parse through the events. 

718
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:04,120
But I do completely agree with 
you that having that structure 

719
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,600
is important just to keep me on 
track. 

720
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:10,280
It made me feel like I'm not 
wasting my time, but also that 

721
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,960
I'm not stewing thinking hey 
that I'm not going to FOMO, that

722
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,800
I didn't make use of. 
My time, but B that the 

723
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:21,800
structure keeps me sane, you 
know, and has me looking forward

724
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:24,040
to another event and and things 
like that. 

725
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,480
So, yeah, but there's there's 
also the flip side of this too, 

726
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,920
where if I've learned anything 
throughout my career, my off 

727
00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:34,840
gaming kind of personal life is 
you never know what 

728
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:38,120
opportunities will open up to 
you and like doors will open up 

729
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:41,400
to you by the woman that you 
meet in the bathroom who fixes 

730
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,640
your makeup, like by the person 
in line at the hot dog stand. 

731
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,800
But and that's when I say being 
fully present and having those 

732
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:55,400
conversations and just not being
afraid to get out of your 

733
00:40:55,400 --> 00:41:00,040
comfort zone. 
I think, I think I think is one 

734
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:04,040
of the most important things. 
It's a balance of having 

735
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:08,040
structure and a plan, but also 
being willing to put myself out 

736
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,320
there in a way that's going to 
open up opportunities for me to 

737
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:11,600
just have fun. 
Yes. 

738
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:13,720
So with new people that I don't 
know. 

739
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:19,080
That's why, that's why I suggest
that you not, I mean, I'm 

740
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,720
suggesting it to you, but to you
out there in the ether. 

741
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,040
If you're going to Gen. 
Con, schedule one event per day.

742
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,360
Yeah, I'm not. 
I'm not a big planner. 

743
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:33,960
Yeah, But I have discovered 
through the 16 years of marriage

744
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:39,040
that I need an anchor event or 
an anchor point. 

745
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:40,000
Right. 
Right. 

746
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,880
So last year, for my 15th 
wedding anniversary, my wife and

747
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,320
I went to England for two weeks,
and we went to London for four 

748
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,360
days. 
It was my first international 

749
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:54,240
travel cool in my life. 
So we're landing in London in 

750
00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,280
the middle of the day on Easter 
Sunday. 

751
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:57,800
That's a bank holiday. 
Oh, my God. 

752
00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,320
What are we going to do? 
I don't know what we're doing. 

753
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:01,640
I don't know how we're going to 
get here. 

754
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,560
I mean, you know, OK, whatever. 
All the things that you deal 

755
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,440
with when you're traveling. 
And it doesn't meant to be 

756
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,480
international, but I booked a 
reservation for dinner at 6:00 

757
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,600
PM. 
So that meant that I could get 

758
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:18,520
off the plane, get on the train,
do whatever I'm free to do, and 

759
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:23,040
experience everything around me 
because I know I have an event 

760
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,600
at 6:00 PM and I gotta eat. 
So there we go. 

761
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,760
At least I know it. 
Yeah, it gives me something to 

762
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,120
rest upon, right? 
Yes. 

763
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,520
And you know, if it's a, if it's
a free event at Gencon, you 

764
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:38,680
don't have to show up. 
You should. 

765
00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,560
You should because the people 
plan to the event. 

766
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:44,760
They plan, yeah. 
Yeah, but what happens all the 

767
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:49,440
time is I really wanted to play 
luthier and I wanted to learn 

768
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,760
it, but they were sold out. 
But if I hang out at the table, 

769
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:53,680
maybe somebody won't. 
Maybe. 

770
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:54,920
Someone will. 
Yeah, they'll. 

771
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:57,640
Let you in sure you know so I'm 
not. 

772
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,440
I would never suppress 
serendipity. 

773
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:05,680
I would never suppress free. 
Yeah, OK, I said it. 

774
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,480
Serendipity I. 
Don't know. 

775
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:10,000
Why I'm? 
I don't know why I'm trying to 

776
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:13,840
say it. 
I'm trying to outsmart myself, 

777
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,560
that's the problem. 
You're too smart for your own 

778
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,160
good. 
You know, yeah, that's my fault.

779
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:21,680
That's always my problem. 
But yeah, I don't want to 

780
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:24,560
suppress that. 
I want you to be able to meet 

781
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,680
the woman in the bathroom who's 
like, we're about to play da, 

782
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:29,400
da, da. 
And you're like, I love da, da, 

783
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,240
da. 
And I can't wait to experience 

784
00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:32,600
that. 
Well, come on, girl. 

785
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:34,480
And there you go. 
Yeah. 

786
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:36,920
I have. 
A plan as well. 

787
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,600
Which is why I'm a big believer 
in an event in the morning. 

788
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:42,240
Sure. 
Yeah, Yep. 

789
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,280
Start the day with the structure
and then allow the freedom. 

790
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,760
Like that's that's why I love 
the 8:00 AM play test session 

791
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:55,760
because it's just, it's just 
really cool to get there. 

792
00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:00,040
I don't have to deal with the 
crowd and oh, by the way, I just

793
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,680
played a game. 
By the way, you were sitting in 

794
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:04,800
a sea of sardines while I played
a game. 

795
00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:07,280
Yeah, exactly. 
That's great. 

796
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,880
I'm also I'm unusual because I 
like to go to bed early. 

797
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:12,080
Sure. 
Yeah. 

798
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:13,520
Get up early. 
So me too. 

799
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:18,840
My wife and I, we like At 
Origins, we were up at 6:00 AM, 

800
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:23,320
so by the time the Convention 
Center opened, we had taken a 

801
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:27,800
swim in the hotel pool, had 
breakfast, and it already played

802
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:31,360
two if not three board games 
before the hall opens before 

803
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,120
everybody wakes up. 
So it's like, you know, you can 

804
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:35,880
play board games early in the 
morning you. 

805
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:38,960
In the morning. 
Stay up to 5:00 AM or 3:00 AM, 

806
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:40,360
you know, but. 
Well, that is early in the 

807
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:42,720
morning as well, but. 
It is, but it's, you don't have 

808
00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:47,080
to stay, you know, But yeah, 
everyone, everyone is different.

809
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:49,680
The problem is, is that everyone
that I hang out with like to 

810
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:51,440
stay up late. 
And so I'm gonna be. 

811
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:54,920
Exhausted. 
I will be exhausted, yes, yeah. 

812
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,400
And that's OK. 
That's all right, because my 

813
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:04,840
love for my friends overrides my
desire for order in the world. 

814
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,600
Most of the time as he looks up 
into the. 

815
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:10,680
I'm making sure that I believe 
what I just said. 

816
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:13,440
I was about to say I I'm 
questioning because the look on 

817
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:15,440
your face is just like, I'm not 
sure. 

818
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,840
No, no, it's, it's it, it is 
true. 

819
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:24,840
And Jerry has witnessed me stay 
up way past my desire. 

820
00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:29,520
You know, I you know, he's he's 
seen me in my absolute worst. 

821
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:32,080
That's funny. 
Yeah, I do. 

822
00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:35,000
Yeah. 
My love for my friends does 

823
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:42,800
override any of that. 
And the good thing is my wife 

824
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,040
and I have learned this year, 
Jen, kind of be interesting 

825
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:49,040
because she's going to be there 
Thursday and she's going to be 

826
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:50,880
there Sunday. 
OK. 

827
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,520
I will be there the full four 
days, so Thursday, if we see 

828
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:56,400
each other on Thursday. 
And, and I hope that we do 

829
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:57,960
because I want you to meet my 
wife because she's. 

830
00:45:57,960 --> 00:45:58,840
Yeah. 
She. 

831
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,600
She really is my better half. 
Everyone loves her, they like, 

832
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:04,800
everyone thinks I'm great. 
But when they meet her, they're 

833
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,080
like. 
PJ she's really that. 

834
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,440
She's the star here. 
She's the magic. 

835
00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:13,800
She's where all the magic 
happens and I'm not ashamed to 

836
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,320
say and admit that, but yeah. 
So Thursday it's going to be her

837
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:18,560
and I. 
We're going to be spending the 

838
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:21,840
time together and then, which is
pretty much going to be, we've 

839
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:24,640
got 2 events in the morning and 
then we're just going to wander 

840
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:26,800
the dinner hall and do whatever 
we want and hopefully meet 

841
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,080
people and that'll be great. 
But then she's going to leave. 

842
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:31,840
She's going to go stay with her 
sister for two nights and I will

843
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:33,560
be. 
So what I like to say is that 

844
00:46:33,720 --> 00:46:36,920
for Friday and Saturday I will 
not be PJ, but I will be 

845
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:38,840
meatball to meatball love. 
That. 

846
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:44,080
Yes, that'll be that'll be fun, 
but I still scheduled a 10:00 

847
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,600
play test session on Friday and 
Saturday to start my day. 

848
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:52,000
Sure, because I need that order 
and I love play testing. 

849
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,040
Is it? 
Too late to do that. 

850
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:56,480
Is that something I could even 
do at this point? 

851
00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:00,320
So here's something interesting,
how the play testing works, if 

852
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:01,400
it's something you're interested
in. 

853
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:04,480
And by the way, this is true of 
anyone else who's going to Gen. 

854
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:06,480
Con who's thinking about play 
testing. 

855
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:11,200
All the sessions are sold out. 
However, this is what happens. 

856
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,520
So you get a ticket and like I 
have a ticket, I will show up 

857
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,640
and then we wait in line and it 
is kind of a first come, first 

858
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:19,440
serve. 
So what you do is you get these 

859
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:24,240
vague descriptions of games and 
they're really more like focused

860
00:47:24,240 --> 00:47:27,640
on mechanics and a little bit of
theme, but they keep it vague 

861
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,400
because you don't want to know 
that you're going to play 

862
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,160
Galactic Cruise. 
What you want to know is that 

863
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:37,600
you're going to play a worker 
placement game where you are 

864
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:41,520
conducting cruise ships in outer
space and that's all you know, 

865
00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:45,160
right? 
And it plays one to four or this

866
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:47,920
or that, you know? 
And so you can look at those and

867
00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:49,320
choose. 
So if you're early enough, you 

868
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:50,880
can choose. 
Now, if you don't have a ticket 

869
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:54,960
right at the end when everyone's
gotten their seats and this 

870
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:58,400
happens every session, there are
going to be spots available. 

871
00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:01,040
And these P these designers need
play testers. 

872
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,920
So you're like, OK, then you can
come and you can go sit at a 

873
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:09,920
table on Sunday, on Sunday, 
because everyone's exhausted 

874
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,160
from all the gaming and late 
nights and everything. 

875
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:14,960
They're looking for people. 
Really. 

876
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,240
They are, yeah. 
They'll come out into the 

877
00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:20,160
concourse and be like, hey, you 
guys wanna come play test a 

878
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:22,360
game? 
Cuz we've got all these, you 

879
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,240
know, tables with designers and 
there's no play testers. 

880
00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:29,600
I've seen that happen as well. 
Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's, 

881
00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:32,680
it's crazy some of the games 
that I've gotten to see and I 

882
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:36,000
made some great relationships in
the process, which is beautiful 

883
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:37,720
for the podcast. 
That's the other thing too, is 

884
00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:42,200
that the playtest hall serves me
well as a podcaster because it's

885
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:45,400
all these first time designers 
who have no idea. 

886
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:47,800
Sometimes it's like deer in 
headlights and I'm like, OK, I'm

887
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:49,600
going to hold your hand through 
this. 

888
00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:52,320
First of all, you're coming on 
my podcast because I need 

889
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,080
content. 
But second of all, let's, let's,

890
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:56,160
let's. 
We could do this. 

891
00:48:56,160 --> 00:48:57,880
This is great. 
I'm a play tester and a 

892
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:00,720
podcaster, so I'm to it for one.
Yeah. 

893
00:49:00,720 --> 00:49:03,400
So that just serves me well. 
Sure. 

894
00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:06,120
But I've made some really great 
friendships out of the deal. 

895
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:10,480
And you can too. 
But yeah, I would say whatever 

896
00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:14,800
feels right for you, whomever 
you may be. 

897
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:17,920
But in this case, Cassidy, you 
know, pick, pick an event and, 

898
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:20,880
you know, just start your day 
and yeah, there you go. 

899
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:25,440
See, I, I can even give, I would
mean not having been to Gen. 

900
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:28,520
Con, right? 
Any event that I would go to, I 

901
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:32,240
think I would give similar 
advice about having that kind of

902
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:36,920
structure to it because that is 
just, that's just a helpful 

903
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:38,840
thing to kind of do. 
I'm that person that needs a 

904
00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:42,520
plan A, a plan BA, plan C, and 
if plan A doesn't work out, then

905
00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:44,560
I know I've got Plan B. 
And if Plan B doesn't work out, 

906
00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:47,440
then I've got plan C. 
And if that doesn't work out, 

907
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:50,280
I've exhausted all my options 
and I can just be flexible and 

908
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:52,760
I've been flexible the whole 
time because I'm having to 

909
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:55,920
pivot. 
So that is how I operate in my 

910
00:49:55,920 --> 00:50:01,840
brain and knowing that at the 
end of the day there, there's 

911
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:04,800
going to be a ton of stuff 
happening that, you know, we've 

912
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,080
talked about Jerry a lot. 
He's gonna have to watch this up

913
00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,320
or listen to this episode. 
But yeah, he's going to. 

914
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:12,840
He is. 
Driving on the Interstate on the

915
00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:15,360
way to Gen. 
Con right now, listening to us 

916
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:19,240
talk about him. 
It it it makes sense because he 

917
00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:21,920
is what you and I have in. 
Common. 

918
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:24,880
Yeah. 
So, but I was, well, now I 

919
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:26,200
forgot what I was talking to him
about. 

920
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:28,040
What was I talking to Jerry 
about this weekend? 

921
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:30,560
Because I had a we we were 
gaming this weekend. 

922
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,920
And he and I, yeah, he and I are
in the same town, essentially. 

923
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:39,240
I'm like 45 minutes from him. 
But he and I were talking about 

924
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:45,520
the, oh, the fact that there's 
just so much, there's so much to

925
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:49,600
do. 
And I told him one of my 

926
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:54,080
problems is I have an issue 
sometimes, sometimes, sometimes,

927
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:58,160
sometimes, sometimes I have an 
issue asking for what I want. 

928
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:03,080
I have an issue asking like 
putting myself out there if I 

929
00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:07,080
want something respectfully, 
politely, kindly, like 

930
00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:10,960
advocating for. 
I would really like to go into 

931
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:14,040
this session. 
If you have a free spot, pick 

932
00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:18,800
me, I usually am that person 
that set that sees someone else 

933
00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:21,560
sitting there that's been 
sitting there a long time that 

934
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:24,000
looks really disappointed. 
And I'm like, let them go. 

935
00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:26,440
It's fine. 
You know, let them. 

936
00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:28,040
I want to make them happy. 
I want to do that. 

937
00:51:28,040 --> 00:51:31,560
But I was talking to Jerry about
just sometimes you just really 

938
00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:36,400
need to advocate for yourself 
and ask for the things that you 

939
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:40,840
want and you can't. 
If you don't ask or if you don't

940
00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:44,240
show up, if you if you don't put
yourself out there, then the 

941
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:47,360
answer's always no. 
And so that's where I think my 

942
00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:53,040
biggest challenge is going to be
engine con, just like going to 

943
00:51:53,320 --> 00:51:55,680
that room and being like, do you
have any free spaces? 

944
00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:59,200
Because I really want to come in
there, you know, type type 

945
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,560
situation. 
So I'm going to give away some 

946
00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:03,240
of your secrets, Jerry. 
Sorry, Bob. 

947
00:52:03,560 --> 00:52:06,200
Oh no. 
I was, I was in the room for 

948
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:10,160
that original conversation. 
Wait, what? 

949
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:14,800
That he shared with me. 
Yes, yes, that, yeah, that that 

950
00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:17,920
is not a Jerry original. 
No, he did say it wasn't, but I 

951
00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:22,000
I wasn't going to share that. 
So no, it I want to say it was 

952
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:24,000
in Nashville at Tennessee game 
days it. 

953
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,880
Was he said it was, Yeah. 
It was Tennessee game, it was 

954
00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:31,400
him, it was myself, it was Adam 
from tabletop vibe. 

955
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:34,520
Adam is like, So what I love 
about Adam and Adam, I know 

956
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:37,800
you're probably going to watch 
this like when this drops rather

957
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:40,400
than wait because he's one of my
he just, he's my biggest 

958
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:42,160
supporter and he's like, I'm 
gonna watch this right away. 

959
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:47,040
Adam, Adam is all about 
supporting you, advocating for 

960
00:52:47,040 --> 00:52:49,800
yourself. 
Like, yes, that is a principle 

961
00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:53,480
that is just so sometimes 
violently and aggressive. 

962
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:55,560
He could be a little bit. 
I love Adam. 

963
00:52:55,920 --> 00:53:00,360
I would never change him, but 
he's, you know, he is all about 

964
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:02,880
self advocacy. 
Yes. 

965
00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:05,600
And so I can't remember who else
was in the room. 

966
00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:08,560
We were talking about that. 
If you don't ask, then the 

967
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:10,240
answer is no. 
Always no. 

968
00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:13,920
Always, always. 
So it's all about what you want.

969
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:16,880
What do you want? 
And then ask for it, right? 

970
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:19,200
Yeah, within reason. 
Yeah. 

971
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:23,120
There are some people who don't 
seem to understand. 

972
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,480
That Wow, Yeah. 
They don't quite get it. 

973
00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:30,280
You can advocate or you can be. 
Pushy. 

974
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:32,840
Yes, yes, thank you. 
Thank you. 

975
00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:36,160
Thank you for using that word 
instead of 1. 

976
00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:38,360
I wanted to use, but I can't. 
Yeah. 

977
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:44,040
You know, look, I'm a I'm a firm
believer in the fall of man. 

978
00:53:44,040 --> 00:53:46,800
I'm a fallen man myself. 
I understand that you're not 

979
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:48,480
perfect. 
I get it. 

980
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:51,880
But, you know, we just have to 
be kind to one another. 

981
00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:53,720
It's like a it's kind of A tag 
on. 

982
00:53:53,720 --> 00:53:56,200
I'm working on it, but I've kind
of end all my videos and 

983
00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:59,080
episodes with, you know, be kind
to one another and play more 

984
00:53:59,080 --> 00:54:00,720
games. 
I just think that's kind of. 

985
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:04,880
See that's. 
Great I remember well I was not 

986
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:09,680
a big fan of Jerry Springer and 
I'm totally dating myself now 

987
00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:13,760
talk show in the afternoon. 
He always did like this final 

988
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:18,560
thoughts that was so because he 
would put on display humanity at

989
00:54:18,560 --> 00:54:22,320
their worst, right? 
Because it was entertaining and 

990
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:24,720
people love to watch human train
wrecks. 

991
00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:27,640
But he would always end his 
episodes of these really 

992
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:29,880
meaningful, thoughtful responses
in it. 

993
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:33,000
That always stuck with me is 
like, at the end of the day, we 

994
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:37,160
have to be kind to one another. 
We have to be compassionate and 

995
00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:39,800
help us through our 
difficulties, whether it's, you 

996
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,640
know, finding a seat at the 
table or dealing with 

997
00:54:45,560 --> 00:54:49,120
neurodivergent issues or an 
angry child. 

998
00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:51,760
Like if you listen to two weeks 
ago, I had Susie on, we talked 

999
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:54,040
about bringing family to 
conventions and those 

1000
00:54:54,080 --> 00:54:56,960
challenges. 
That was a great episode, by the

1001
00:54:56,960 --> 00:54:58,880
way. 
I that's when I haven't, that's 

1002
00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:00,920
when I haven't listened to yet. 
I it's on my list. 

1003
00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:02,320
I need it. 
I'm going back. 

1004
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,360
But there were some that you did
that I was like super excited to

1005
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:07,960
listen to. 
So I started there and then I've

1006
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,120
got to go back. 
Yeah. 

1007
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:12,920
So we just got to be there for 
one another, and I'm looking 

1008
00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:14,920
forward to being there for you 
at Gen. 

1009
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:18,000
Con and hanging out in whatever 
capacity that looks like. 

1010
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:20,360
Yeah. 
Well, I do appreciate that. 

1011
00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:23,000
And, and really it truly, it 
goes back to so many of the 

1012
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:26,600
questions that you've asked me 
today or the things that we've 

1013
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:30,520
discussed has to do with the 
human condition, which I know is

1014
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:33,960
very highbrow and very like 
esoteric. 

1015
00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:35,240
If that's the right word, I'm 
thinking it. 

1016
00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:37,160
What's the word I'm thinking of?
Esoteric maybe? 

1017
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,880
That's the right word. 
Yeah, so, but it is just the 

1018
00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:45,560
kindness factor that you're 
talking about. 

1019
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:50,480
As someone who goes out into the
world and I get teary thinking 

1020
00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:54,080
about this as someone who goes 
out, I'm not getting teary. 

1021
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:56,920
I'm not getting teary. 
As someone who goes out into the

1022
00:55:56,920 --> 00:56:01,080
world on a daily basis, knowing 
that I can't help but look and 

1023
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:04,240
act different from other people.
I have to recognize that 

1024
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:08,040
everybody else also has their 
own story, that I have to put 

1025
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:11,200
myself in their shoes and 
understand what they're going 

1026
00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:13,120
through. 
Even if I'm having a bad day. 

1027
00:56:13,840 --> 00:56:17,200
By me doing that and reminding 
myself that I have to do that, 

1028
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:20,240
you can't help but engender 
kindness. 

1029
00:56:20,680 --> 00:56:23,360
And that's all I'm asking for 
people in return. 

1030
00:56:24,240 --> 00:56:26,120
So when I go to a place like 
Gen. 

1031
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:29,720
Klein and I meet people who are 
unkind, I can let it roll off my

1032
00:56:29,720 --> 00:56:31,480
back. 
What's the phrase that Jinx 

1033
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:34,080
Monsoon uses? 
Roll off the ducks back. 

1034
00:56:34,120 --> 00:56:36,120
Water off a ducks back. 
I think that's what it is. 

1035
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:39,520
So. 
But you have to kind of let it 

1036
00:56:39,600 --> 00:56:43,920
go, forget the unkind people, 
ask for kindness, give it in 

1037
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:46,040
return and appreciate it when 
you receive it. 

1038
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:49,120
And that is how I know I'm going
to be fine. 

1039
00:56:49,120 --> 00:56:53,840
And a large crowd of people on a
very stressful, seemingly stage 

1040
00:56:53,880 --> 00:56:57,680
of of things because I can seek 
that out and I can give that. 

1041
00:56:57,680 --> 00:56:59,600
And if I can't, I just need to 
take a break. 

1042
00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:02,160
And I'll go to my friend's house
and it'll be kind or it'll be 

1043
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:03,160
fine. 
But yeah. 

1044
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,120
It's something I, I think about 
it constantly. 

1045
00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:09,560
I'm very much very self aware 
is, you know, even the unkind 

1046
00:57:09,560 --> 00:57:14,200
people aren't, aren't 
necessarily unkind people. 

1047
00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:16,680
You know, we all have fallen 
short of the glory. 

1048
00:57:16,680 --> 00:57:22,600
So and I have made many mistakes
and I have been unintentionally 

1049
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:26,080
unkind or failed to be socially 
aware. 

1050
00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:30,200
It's it's hard because you're 
dealing with, like you said, 

1051
00:57:30,200 --> 00:57:34,680
it's a human condition. 
We're all imperfect and we're 

1052
00:57:34,680 --> 00:57:37,240
all complicated and we all carry
baggage. 

1053
00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:40,040
And you never know what people 
are going through in that 

1054
00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:43,120
moment. 
And it's yeah, it's, it's hard. 

1055
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:46,480
It's really hard. 
And trying to be responsible for

1056
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:49,600
everyone. 
My gosh, you can't do that, PJ. 

1057
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:52,600
But I'm responsible because I am
my brother's keeper and my 

1058
00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:56,480
sister and exactly, you know, 
and that that's a, that's a 

1059
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:00,360
fundamental core belief of mine.
And so I got to walk that out 

1060
00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:04,160
with fear and trembling. 
Parent, I'm like, hey, you know 

1061
00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:08,760
what, I was dealing with 
somebody today and over the 

1062
00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:13,120
weekend who I was very 
frustrated by This is this is 

1063
00:58:13,120 --> 00:58:15,680
just an example. 
I, I had a wonderful gaming 

1064
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:17,520
weekend. 
I went to my friend Dave's house

1065
00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:19,120
and then I went to Jerry's 
house. 

1066
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:22,720
I played games on Friday. 
I played Saturday, Sunday like 

1067
00:58:22,720 --> 00:58:26,800
it was, it was a great weekend, 
but I was also dealing with the 

1068
00:58:26,800 --> 00:58:30,480
fact that my home was flooding 
in Texas. 

1069
00:58:30,560 --> 00:58:34,080
Not my physical, my address, 
home, but like my home. 

1070
00:58:34,160 --> 00:58:37,280
Where you came from? 
Where I come from, my home was 

1071
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:39,680
flooding. 
My niece and nephew were at camp

1072
00:58:39,680 --> 00:58:44,240
in the middle of all this stuff.
My mom just put her dog down. 

1073
00:58:44,760 --> 00:58:48,240
She had surgery yesterday. 
There was a lot happening and I 

1074
00:58:48,720 --> 00:58:55,800
had to somehow separate out my 
fun and my community and my 

1075
00:58:56,160 --> 00:58:59,800
well-being and mental health 
this weekend and everything else

1076
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:02,880
that was happening. 
In the meantime, I'm working and

1077
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:07,000
there's this person who was 
upset and I finally today just 

1078
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:11,080
asked what was going on. 
I, I couldn't understand why 

1079
00:59:11,080 --> 00:59:14,200
they were so upset. 
And, and, and I realized they 

1080
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:17,080
were from Texas, Central Texas, 
dealing with the same floods 

1081
00:59:17,080 --> 00:59:20,800
that I was dealing with. 
They were having a really hard 

1082
00:59:20,800 --> 00:59:26,360
weekend and we bonded 
immediately because I asked and 

1083
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:29,920
my weekend that they made harder
and their weekend that I made 

1084
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:34,960
harder for them didn't matter 
anymore, you know, just because 

1085
00:59:35,080 --> 00:59:36,640
we communicated. 
Yes. 

1086
00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:41,120
And so that is that is a long 
way to get around to say, hey, I

1087
00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:44,040
had a great gaming weekend at 
the same time that it was really

1088
00:59:44,040 --> 00:59:49,160
kind of crappy, but I had an 
honest conversation with another

1089
00:59:49,160 --> 00:59:51,360
human being that just makes all 
the difference in the world. 

1090
00:59:52,560 --> 00:59:56,040
So. 
You got to play like Galileo 

1091
00:59:56,040 --> 00:59:58,240
Galilei. 
I did. 

1092
00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:02,040
It was great. 
No, I know that Jerry won. 

1093
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:04,880
I know Jerry won. 
That he made it. 

1094
01:00:05,080 --> 01:00:06,600
He made. 
It a bear everyone. 

1095
01:00:07,560 --> 01:00:10,760
Wait a good what did you think 
of that game cuz yeah, what did 

1096
01:00:10,760 --> 01:00:12,360
you think? 
I really enjoyed it. 

1097
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:14,720
Here's here's the secret sauce, 
PJ. 

1098
01:00:14,720 --> 01:00:18,280
I never win. 
I won four of our six games this

1099
01:00:18,280 --> 01:00:19,600
weekend. 
That's what I. 

1100
01:00:19,600 --> 01:00:21,480
Heard Jerry Sauce. 
Yeah, Yep. 

1101
01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:26,600
So I don't know what happened, 
but it was pretty great. 

1102
01:00:26,600 --> 01:00:30,880
I did not wing Galileo Galilei, 
but I I felt like it was a well 

1103
01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:35,760
balanced, fantastic, fun game. 
Even though I came in last place

1104
01:00:35,760 --> 01:00:39,680
and it was, it was a lot of fun.
So it's interesting. 

1105
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:42,960
So we played it on Saturday. 
We had a friend from Saint Louis

1106
01:00:42,960 --> 01:00:46,240
who came up to visit for the day
and it was one of the games we 

1107
01:00:46,240 --> 01:00:48,800
played. 
And then y'all played Galileo on

1108
01:00:48,800 --> 01:00:51,320
Sunday. 
So my wife and I played it 

1109
01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:53,160
because I was like, all right, 
let's play Galileo. 

1110
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,480
Galileo again. 
So here's what's interesting. 

1111
01:00:55,480 --> 01:00:57,920
If you played the game, if you 
haven't, then I'm going about to

1112
01:00:57,920 --> 01:00:59,240
tell you a little piece of the 
game. 

1113
01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:03,480
So one of the actions you can do
will trigger and attract 

1114
01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:07,360
inquisitors from the church. 
Because the whole idea is you're

1115
01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:12,040
challenging the contemporary 
thought that the Earth revolves 

1116
01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:16,520
around the sun and and the focus
is Galileo discovers Jupiter and

1117
01:01:16,520 --> 01:01:18,120
it's moons. 
So that's the the focus. 

1118
01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:21,320
There's the theme contextually, 
but you attract inquisitors and 

1119
01:01:21,320 --> 01:01:23,880
on your player board is like a 
little seller at the bottom, 

1120
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:26,160
which results in negative 
victory points. 

1121
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:30,360
However, you could take actions 
that will persuade them of your 

1122
01:01:30,880 --> 01:01:34,680
scientific findings, 
astronomical findings, and they 

1123
01:01:34,680 --> 01:01:38,080
will move forward and ultimately
gain you positive points. 

1124
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:40,080
Yeah. 
So here's the flaw. 

1125
01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:45,040
When my wife plays this game, 
she attracts all the 

1126
01:01:45,040 --> 01:01:48,360
inquisitors. 
So she ends up with like 6 to 8 

1127
01:01:48,360 --> 01:01:51,040
of them in her cellar and she's 
just getting all these negative 

1128
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:55,960
points. 
Meanwhile I attract one and then

1129
01:01:55,960 --> 01:01:59,680
I persuade him because I mean, 
this is a reflection of real 

1130
01:01:59,680 --> 01:02:02,400
life. 
It is easier to change one 

1131
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:07,720
person's mind than a groups and 
it it never fails. 

1132
01:02:07,720 --> 01:02:10,920
Twice over the weekend she'd 
gather up all the Inquisitors 

1133
01:02:10,920 --> 01:02:13,960
and struggle to get them into 
the positives. 

1134
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:17,120
And she eventually would. 
But yeah, she's fighting those 

1135
01:02:17,120 --> 01:02:18,520
negative points during the 
course. 

1136
01:02:18,520 --> 01:02:22,600
Of the game so. 
Much, meanwhile, Johann Kepler 

1137
01:02:22,600 --> 01:02:24,560
over here, because that's who I 
was playing Kepler. 

1138
01:02:25,080 --> 01:02:28,040
Copernicus. 
Bring one down, convince him 

1139
01:02:28,040 --> 01:02:30,880
that you know this is good. 
Keep moving and. 

1140
01:02:32,240 --> 01:02:35,200
Yeah, You know, I wish I could 
say it was the same way. 

1141
01:02:35,200 --> 01:02:38,600
So for us, Jerry and Jerry's 
wife said Judy like it was just 

1142
01:02:38,600 --> 01:02:43,680
really interesting because they 
won because they did early on 

1143
01:02:43,680 --> 01:02:47,800
get their folks, their 
inquisitors from they persuaded 

1144
01:02:47,800 --> 01:02:50,280
them earlier on. 
So then they multiple times, 

1145
01:02:50,280 --> 01:02:52,800
once they triggered another 
inquisition, they were able to 

1146
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:54,640
get more points. 
Yeah. 

1147
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:58,920
And so they were able to get 
that honestly, you know, it's 

1148
01:02:58,960 --> 01:03:01,480
just you know what bugs me about
gaming every time, but you're. 

1149
01:03:01,520 --> 01:03:05,840
Gonna to tell me yes. 
I am going to tell you I always 

1150
01:03:05,840 --> 01:03:09,320
get chosen first to go first on 
those little scrambler things. 

1151
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:11,400
Yes. 
I don't know why, you know, 

1152
01:03:11,400 --> 01:03:13,720
there's randomizers on the app, 
on the phone or whatever. 

1153
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:17,200
I always get chosen to go 1st 
and then I always end up either 

1154
01:03:17,200 --> 01:03:21,680
behind the person who's going to
have the exact same strategy as 

1155
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:26,160
me and get there a step ahead, 
right. 

1156
01:03:26,160 --> 01:03:29,040
So they're they figured out one 
step ahead of me and I'm just 

1157
01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:32,760
trailing along the entire game. 
So and and that happens 

1158
01:03:32,760 --> 01:03:37,560
inevitably and a lot of these 
like kind of mid weight kind of 

1159
01:03:37,560 --> 01:03:41,760
euro games especially. 
I don't know why, Jerry. 

1160
01:03:41,880 --> 01:03:44,480
Goodness help me. 
Jerry, come on. 

1161
01:03:44,880 --> 01:03:49,200
Come on, He got, I was one turn 
away every single time from 

1162
01:03:49,200 --> 01:03:52,840
getting the most points for the 
like going up the university 

1163
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:56,440
track or having the most 
inquisitors or whatever it may. 

1164
01:03:56,440 --> 01:03:59,560
Because in Galileo Galilee, by 
the way, guys, there are ways 

1165
01:03:59,560 --> 01:04:03,040
that you can get in points in 
game points for doing certain 

1166
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:06,200
things. 
And he got there one turn ahead 

1167
01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:09,480
of me 4 times. 
And I was just thinking how is 

1168
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:13,800
this possible? 
It was so infuriating. 

1169
01:04:14,280 --> 01:04:16,360
So yeah. 
Jeff Jerry. 

1170
01:04:16,400 --> 01:04:17,840
Yeah, that's Jeff Jerry right 
there. 

1171
01:04:17,840 --> 01:04:19,680
Oh my. 
Gosh, you know I don't tick when

1172
01:04:19,680 --> 01:04:21,600
I game. 
Not not very much, really. 

1173
01:04:22,080 --> 01:04:24,400
Yeah. 
Yeah, that's, that's cool. 

1174
01:04:24,560 --> 01:04:28,520
So when I'm concentrated, like 
talking to you, it's not so bad.

1175
01:04:28,520 --> 01:04:33,840
Or, you know, if I am focused on
planning out a turn or if I'm 

1176
01:04:33,840 --> 01:04:37,880
very relaxed or things like 
that, it's not nearly, you know,

1177
01:04:37,880 --> 01:04:39,160
as bad. 
Interesting. 

1178
01:04:39,520 --> 01:04:42,080
Yeah, it's just I, I don't know 
what it is. 

1179
01:04:42,080 --> 01:04:43,960
It's one of those things that I 
will preach from the 

1180
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:49,760
mountaintops about how good 
board games are for things like 

1181
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:53,560
Tourette's or with mental 
health, like for mental health, 

1182
01:04:53,560 --> 01:04:55,640
things along those lines. 
Not that Tourette's is a mental 

1183
01:04:55,640 --> 01:04:57,640
health condition, but you know 
what I mean. 

1184
01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:01,600
I do know what you mean and I I 
agree and I see that and I would

1185
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:03,760
I would scream from the rooftops
as well. 

1186
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:05,760
Absolutely. 
It's just another reason to 

1187
01:05:05,760 --> 01:05:09,760
convince people, the general 
populace, why this hobby 

1188
01:05:09,760 --> 01:05:14,600
matters, why this hobby must 
endure through all the things 

1189
01:05:14,600 --> 01:05:16,080
we're dealing. 
With for all the things. 

1190
01:05:16,080 --> 01:05:18,640
Yeah. 
So I was just thinking in my 

1191
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,440
head, this is so funny. 
I was thinking about the fact 

1192
01:05:21,440 --> 01:05:24,120
that I was so glad that you're 
in the Midwest now, because then

1193
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:26,600
you're out of the board game 
closet and that you can 

1194
01:05:26,600 --> 01:05:29,480
perpetuate this hobby and enjoy 
it and and live it. 

1195
01:05:29,800 --> 01:05:33,080
But then I was thinking about 
The Who dat thing, the about the

1196
01:05:33,080 --> 01:05:37,840
sports ball in Louisiana. 
And I had asked you what The Who

1197
01:05:37,840 --> 01:05:39,880
dat was from, because I don't 
know. 

1198
01:05:39,960 --> 01:05:42,040
I'm not a sports ball person. 
I'm a Braves fan. 

1199
01:05:42,040 --> 01:05:45,200
I watch baseball. 
Baseball is my jam, but like, I 

1200
01:05:45,200 --> 01:05:47,400
don't know the football thing. 
Apparently there's a football 

1201
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:48,840
team in New Orleans called the 
Saints. 

1202
01:05:49,120 --> 01:05:51,600
They have it. 
They have a chant called who dat

1203
01:05:51,600 --> 01:05:55,640
or like a phrase. 
And anyway, I definitely, for 

1204
01:05:55,640 --> 01:05:59,480
those of you who are listening, 
I just demon demonstrated my 

1205
01:06:00,160 --> 01:06:03,240
horrible lack of knowledge about
pop culture, sports and anything

1206
01:06:03,240 --> 01:06:08,160
in between for PJ the other day.
So all that to say is I'm glad 

1207
01:06:08,160 --> 01:06:11,080
that you're in the Midwest now. 
That's what made me think of Who

1208
01:06:11,080 --> 01:06:16,520
Dat, but that you have the 
opportunity to be so involved in

1209
01:06:16,520 --> 01:06:19,160
this community and doing 
something that you love and then

1210
01:06:19,160 --> 01:06:20,760
it makes you happy. 
Thank you. 

1211
01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:25,040
Thanks for noticing. 
Thanks for the encouragement. 

1212
01:06:25,040 --> 01:06:26,880
I appreciate it. 
Wow. 

1213
01:06:27,240 --> 01:06:29,760
Sometimes you feel like you're 
in an island and you're 

1214
01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:31,240
isolated. 
It's funny. 

1215
01:06:31,680 --> 01:06:34,080
Sometimes you know, it's just, 
it's, it's, it's different. 

1216
01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:38,920
The thing about this podcast is 
this is when I feel my truest 

1217
01:06:38,920 --> 01:06:45,480
self talking to a friend back 
home in Baton Rouge who, you 

1218
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:48,680
know, I mean, like it. 
It reminds me of who I was when 

1219
01:06:48,680 --> 01:06:50,720
I was an undergrad. 
I feel that. 

1220
01:06:50,880 --> 01:06:53,560
I feel that inside. 
And yeah, and it's about board 

1221
01:06:53,560 --> 01:06:55,600
games. 
Like, who would have thought? 

1222
01:06:56,080 --> 01:06:57,520
I know. 
Would. 

1223
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:00,920
Have well, you and I had a 
conversation too, because I 

1224
01:07:00,920 --> 01:07:05,120
started out playing solo board 
games, and I did it specifically

1225
01:07:05,120 --> 01:07:09,400
because it helped with my ticks.
I needed, I needed something 

1226
01:07:09,400 --> 01:07:12,680
talking about my time after our 
D&D campaign had ended. 

1227
01:07:12,680 --> 01:07:14,680
I enjoyed playing board games 
with my friends. 

1228
01:07:14,680 --> 01:07:18,080
So I said, why don't I play solo
board games and you and I talk 

1229
01:07:18,080 --> 01:07:20,800
to you do not enjoy playing solo
board games the same way that I 

1230
01:07:20,800 --> 01:07:23,000
do. 
And it's so interesting the 

1231
01:07:23,000 --> 01:07:25,880
avenues and the introductions 
that each of us have into this 

1232
01:07:25,880 --> 01:07:31,200
hobby and what really we find 
fulfilling and enjoyable and, 

1233
01:07:31,640 --> 01:07:34,920
and things like that. 
But it does not change the fact 

1234
01:07:34,920 --> 01:07:40,320
that we're all part of this 
common thread that kind of links

1235
01:07:40,320 --> 01:07:42,640
us all together, right? 
And I, I love that. 

1236
01:07:42,640 --> 01:07:47,800
I absolutely love that. 
So the Roman order, Cicero said.

1237
01:07:48,120 --> 01:07:51,560
All of the humanities are 
inherently linked as if by a 

1238
01:07:51,560 --> 01:07:56,360
common bond, and I find that to 
be true every single day. 

1239
01:07:57,440 --> 01:07:59,480
So. 
So Cassidy, thank you so much 

1240
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:02,200
for joining me. 
Thank you for being vulnerable 

1241
01:08:02,200 --> 01:08:05,280
and open and educating me and 
everyone who's listening. 

1242
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:07,440
I'm excited to see you at Gen. 
Con. 

1243
01:08:07,840 --> 01:08:11,320
I'm sure Jerry is going to be 
tickled pink on the drive home 

1244
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:15,600
or the drive to his name. 1000. 
Times and talked about him so 

1245
01:08:15,600 --> 01:08:17,120
much just. 
Because he's. 

1246
01:08:18,160 --> 01:08:20,800
Yeah, there. 
There is no one else like Mr. 

1247
01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:22,479
Worldwide. 
Oh, my God. 

1248
01:08:22,479 --> 01:08:23,080
Yeah. 
Thank. 

1249
01:08:23,080 --> 01:08:24,279
Thank you so much for doing 
this. 

1250
01:08:24,279 --> 01:08:26,399
I appreciate it. 
It's overdue. 

1251
01:08:27,359 --> 01:08:31,840
And I even wore purple in honor 
of Tourette's syndrome month, 

1252
01:08:32,279 --> 01:08:35,080
awareness month, which we were 
supposed to do a thing and then 

1253
01:08:35,080 --> 01:08:36,600
we didn't do a thing and I got 
sick. 

1254
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:41,319
So I see that you were the 
presence of my mind even before 

1255
01:08:41,319 --> 01:08:42,880
getting. 
I was like, OK guys, I gotta, I 

1256
01:08:42,880 --> 01:08:44,760
gotta address the part. 
I gotta you're. 

1257
01:08:44,880 --> 01:08:48,399
So funny. 
Well, you know, it's it's yeah, 

1258
01:08:48,399 --> 01:08:50,000
that's what I do. 
That's what I do. 

1259
01:08:50,279 --> 01:08:53,240
I really appreciate you being a 
driving force behind 

1260
01:08:53,240 --> 01:08:58,479
conversations like this because 
honestly, if it weren't for the 

1261
01:08:58,479 --> 01:09:02,479
vulnerability of someone asking 
the questions, because it takes 

1262
01:09:02,479 --> 01:09:07,439
a heck of a lot of courage to 
ask a question and say, I don't 

1263
01:09:07,439 --> 01:09:09,399
know, right? 
Yep. 

1264
01:09:09,479 --> 01:09:11,880
And that's the only way you can 
learn. 

1265
01:09:11,880 --> 01:09:15,800
And I'm always happy to answer 
those questions. 

1266
01:09:15,800 --> 01:09:18,560
And if you put yourself out 
there, I'm going to honor that. 

1267
01:09:18,560 --> 01:09:20,359
So I do. 
I really appreciate it. 

1268
01:09:20,359 --> 01:09:21,520
Yeah. 
Thank you. 

1269
01:09:21,920 --> 01:09:25,120
Thanks. 
Well guys, thanks for listening.

1270
01:09:25,120 --> 01:09:28,359
Thanks for sticking around. 
Please make sure to like and 

1271
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:31,399
subscribe. 
We're again trying to get to 100

1272
01:09:31,399 --> 01:09:34,439
followers or subscribers on 
YouTube by October, which will 

1273
01:09:34,439 --> 01:09:37,720
hit one year for YouTube. 
Yeah, a lot of lot of stuff down

1274
01:09:37,720 --> 01:09:40,920
the pipeline still to come. 
I've got a series that I want to

1275
01:09:40,920 --> 01:09:43,279
work on once Gen. 
Con is over, so that'll be 

1276
01:09:43,279 --> 01:09:44,080
exciting. 
Yeah. 

1277
01:09:44,279 --> 01:09:48,080
So just remember, be kind of one
another and play more games.