Building A Better Dave

Today I'm talking about my time at the Spark Christian Podcast Conference in Grapevine Texas this week. I got to hear Tara-Leigh Cobble speak twice and WOW what a story.  She (in two years) has 75 million downloads of her Bible Recap podcast. Would I get up the nerve to ask her on my show? If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to buy me a coffee. Mentioned in this episode The Chosen (it's pretty cool!)

So on Tuesday, I had to crawl through the back window of my house after locking myself out of my house - wait for it - twice.  On Friday I had one of my "Sweating buckets, getting dizzy, can't decide if I'm going to have explosive diarrhea, vomit or passout" sessions. This now has fairly nasty stomach pains. I injured my stomach on Tuesday with a nasty scrape. This is Friday.  I wake up a few times during the night. It hurts to move in bed. Each time I wake up, the pain is moving higher up my body. We've gone from belly button, up higher and higher, and now my chest is tight, and I'm having issues taking a deep breath. The question and conversations that go through your head when you can't decide if you're having a heart attack or not were not what I had expected. One would think if you thought you were having a heart attack you would call 911. Not me. I know how much an ambulance is, and my Dad was thrifty, and apparently so am I.  I am also the son of my Mom who never wanted to be a bother to anyone. She al

Today I explain some side effects of 2020.  COVID 19 where 19 stands for how many pounds did you gain? It turns out 444 lbs is heavy.  I may have more deliveries in the future. My gut is ruining my aim I have carried on a Jackson tradition  Sometimes life has to hold a mirror up until you acknowledge it.

While many people may find themselves crying watching This is Us, I thought things had taken a weird turn when I found myself choking back tears when I was watching the Real World Reunion (on the Paramount Network). When I feel this way, I have a mental picture of one of those Submarine doors that has almost opened and water starts gushing out, and I get there just in time to spin that wheel and lock it up and go back to whatever I was doing... I decided to try Better Help, and it's not cheap, but if my arm started bleeding for no reason, I'd go get it checked out.  Just writing down why I thought I should talk to someone made me feel better. If you need a journal check out Penzu.com and in this case, I just had to write why I was signing up for this service. Just going through that process made me feel better. I met with the counselor and after talking she suggested I read The Grief Recovery Handbook, 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition: the Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce, and Other Losses Inc

This episode really makes me sound weird. What I'm getting at is how things make you feel.  “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou My second marriage wasn't always bad. My wife and I had a running gag of dragging a stuffed bear with us to events. It was funny. He was behind the speaker at our marriage.  My ex-wife named him Roy. I use to give Roy a voice and make him say terribly dark things that make it hilarious coming out of a cuddly bear.  When we divorced, she kept Roy, and I kept another bear that I had purchased to give to her (but later decided not to - mature I know...)  I decided to buy my own Roy. It turns out that was harder to do than originally planned.  How do you make people feel? If a stuffed toy can bring happiness, can you imagine how you can make a person feel? One last thing, I know this makes me sound like COVID has cracked my sanity. I'm fine. I know this is weird. 

I found myself in my new old house. This was different. I had no speakers, no Internet, and my phone was there, but that wasn't going to work.  I was alone - with just my thoughts.  I wasn't sure what would happen, but sometimes when I'm left alone with just the voice in my head things can go negative.  The house (without the noise to distract me) sent my brain into the archives of thoughts that I had not remembered in decades.  The brain is amazing, and I enjoyed a trip down memory lane.  Enjoy the show? If you feel so moved, Buy Me a Coffee    

Today I share some insights into love and living with people who had disorders.  I currently get annoyed with how cashiers bag things at the store. I end up with twice as many bags as needed. It just seems everywhere I turn, I'm opening a drawer, a pocket, a box, and its all bags. Love is knowing someone's characteristics that drive you nuts, and accepting them. It's part of what makes them who they are. You can try to change them, but you and I both know that the chances of that succeeding are slim and none.  So you hang in there, and focus on the good things, and accept those things you can't change. 

I lost a lot of sleep worrying about talking to my sister. My sister (who I love dearly) has always had my back and has a very unique set of skills. While never officially diagnosed, I think it is safe to say she has some form of Aspergers. This can make things "fun." My brother and I (and, well everyone else) knew it made more sense for me to take over the house I grew up in (where my sister occasionally lives), but just cause it makes sense doesn't mean my sister would go for it. She's not a fan of change at all. Logical things don't always resonate with her (she won't eat Devil's Food Cake...). So how do I get her on board to let me take over the house so she can go live permanently in a better house with a better neighborhood? Today I talk about how some things you think are hard, may not be as hard as you think. I took on the challenge of my sister, and I put off doing my taxes as long as I could.  If you are putting something off cause it looks "Hard" it may not be as hard as you think.  I do always f

It's always weird how any stories in my childhood involving animals of some sort have a weird outcome, In this case, it was lightning bugs. I took a second tonight and really let myself go back to the front yard. To the time of being a kid and shouting when you achieved your goal. When the only thing you needed to worry about was if you had any empty peanut butter jars (of course you did cause you would store food in them).  It was a time when you did not have to worry about anything. You were safe. It was all about fun, friends, and fireflies.

Why is it that the people that seem to make the best points ae comedians?  The other night I watched 8:46 by Dave Chappelle. It's an amazing presentation. I also loved his last special on Netflix called Sticks and Stones. Then at 4 in the morning, it came to me: DAVE CHAPPELLE IS MY HERO.  He makes me do all the things I said a good podcast should do. He makes me laugh, cry, think, or groan. If it doesn't do any of those it should be educating or entertaining me and DAVE DOES ALL OF THOSE.  Check him out  Dave Chappelle 8:46 Dave Chappelle Sticks and Stones Sample Like the show? Buy me a coffee

I am an ill-informed middle-aged white dude. A black man was lynched in 2020 in broad daylight as George Floyd was pinned to the ground by police and later would die.  I often hope someone will come along and teach me so I'm not so ill-informed on how to act, what to say, etc when it comes to people of color. It's time for white people to take a step and do our homework. The better we understand, the better we communicate. The better we understand, the better we live.  Mentioned in this episode.  Conan O'Brien interviews Van Jones White People Training YOUR HOMEWORK The 13th Documentary (free on YouTube)

I've never been able to get passed the "woo woo" part of Yoga. However, when I see fit people one of the words that comes up in regards to how they stay fit, it's Yoga. Lost In My Yoga Class Any time I tried yoga the instructor would go through different posts like: Funky Firefly Young Puma Sad Palm Tree Be the Embryo Hords of Locust Legs behind your head Silly Kitty Grump Turtle Baby Rhino and I would be still trying to figure out the Sad Palm Tree as they are finishing up. I also love how your are supposed to keep your head facing down. How do I see what you're doing with my eyes facing the floor? DDP Yoga I got sucked in by some videos of people with serious hurdles who have lost hundreds of pounds doing Yoga (and I'm assuming eating less junk). I decided to give it a shot and was surprised how (without using any weights) I was working up a sweat. Here are some links (not affiliate links) www.ddpyoga.com Guy loses tons of weight video Guy couldn't walk can now run Support the Show Buy Dave a coffee at www.

I watched a movie called Bowling for Columbine, and one part really caught my attention and that is how many things on the news are based on fear.  Killer bees Swine Flu Bird Flu and many other things. Everything seems fear-based.  BLACK OR WHITE There is a song by the Monkees called "Shades of Gray" and while it was talking about equal rights for people of color, but it made me notice that now you are either a scary cat who is afraid to go outside or a nutjob who won't "Let you tell me what to do" and is doing pushups on a sidewalk to prove it.  There is no "gray area" and as I think about it I would think the rules for New York city might be different than the rules needed for Farm Town Iowa with almost no people, that maybe the rules could be different. However, on TV dialogue is no encouraged. You're either one side or the other... It makes me worried. Dialogue and having open minds are what can lead to the best decisions. 

 I just have a really weird thought today. I don't know why this popped into my brain. I'm making my breakfast. And this thought pops into my brain and that was: How did Adam and Eve figure out how to have sex that first time? Did Eve look down and go, that's weird. You have a thing? And I don't? Or was it a case where she was bending over to pick up something and Adam tripped him? Did God come down with a PowerPoint presentation and show this slot A into tab B Was it an Instinct? I had a dog named Dudley. And when we brought him home, the first thing we did was buy a bunch of squeak toys. And the first thing he did was hump them all. Like, wow, that dog needs a release of some sort. Apparently. I don't know what's going on with that dog, but he really likes that monkey. So, it was a very weird thought. And maybe it's because it's May 2020. I'm in the middle of a pandemic.  

April is the month that all my relatives died in. Mom, Dad, Aunts, it just seems like every day my phone reminds me how many years ago somebody died.  Throw on top of it being locked in due to a pandemic it makes from some interesting dreams. I never had a Dad dream. I had a GREAT mom dream, but no Dad dream and then... Nothing good happens at four in the morning. Not even hanging out with LeBron James. Nothing better than waking up at 4 am PISSED OFF.  The pandemic is real. A friend of mine lost his best friend for life and was 40 or 50 and nowhere near a nursing home or age 80. It's real. My latest trip to Walmart leads me to believe people are dropping their guard.  Stay Safe Mentioned in this episode I can only imagine movie Support This Show Buy Dave a coffee

I had something happen yesterday, and you just kind of think, well, that was weird. And that was a, I think I told you about my neighbor next door who had a really old mom who eventually died. And for some reason, he had a fruit basket, and he gave it to me along with some other things in his freezer that he didn't eat, but his mom would, and he has since moved out. The neighbor immediately to my right has moved out. So I'm hoping a Claudia Schiffer type person will move in and want a podcast. That would be awesome. Meanwhile,  back at the couch, Oh, thank you so much for the fruit basket. I do eat fruit, apples, oranges. And I stuck it on the couch cause we were talking in my living room and it sat there for a long time, and it's wrapped in plastic, so nothing to worry about. Well, it's at there for weeks cause I kept buying more fruit and forgetting about it. I've done a lot of traveling recently, and I was amazed that when you live in a hotel and everything is neat and vacuumed, and then you return to a ho

Why are people in their 50's wearing bikini's news like they've found a long lost animal species? HERE IS ANOTHER ONE! see https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/elizabeth-hurleys-flawless-figure-baffles-010458031.html   REAL HEADLINES Elizabeth Hurley Skips the Gym to Relax In Revealing Dress Elizabeth Hurley Gets Cozy In Sexy LBD Elizabeth Hurley Is Sneaky & Sultry In Cleavage-Baring Ninja Suit Elizabeth Hurley Eyes Up Christmas In Open-Chested Jacket, Bikini Bottoms & NO Bra Elizabeth Hurley Admits Bizarre Similarity She Shares With England's Queen Elizabeth I don't get why this is acceptable to comment on a female's appearance if its the media. Isn't that still objectifying?  I'm so confused.  DID YOU LIKE THIS? Buy Dave a Coffee and help keep the lights on here at Building a better Dave.

A mall that was a part of my childhood is on life support and in April the last store (JC Penny). I'm not sure why this is making me so sad. Sure it's part of my childhood, but I guess in a way the Mall is a mirror of me. It was so big and so strong, and now it's on its last breathe.  If something so big and strong can die, then it's just a reminder that we all need to maximize our time on the planet.  I'm walking around the mall, taking mental pictures of its 860,000 square feet because soon I won't be able to.  MENTIONED Bookends by Simon and Garfunkle. on YouTube

My Dad would always let me know that life is not fair.  I have found that weight loss is a lot like walking the wrong way on one of those moving sidewalks at the airport. If you're walking the wrong way you would need to really walk fast and then if you stopped for a second you would be catapulted backwards very very quickly.  I had to wear a suit for the first time since 2018 and my "Lucky Green Suit" no longer fits. This brought on a bunch of emotions and I took a second to take a second to embrace the hatred of myself, the disappointment, the frustration, and really took a second to remember how this feels.  I have fooled myself with lies like "one won't hurt" and many others.  It's working. I'm back down to 222 and headed the right way. It's not easy. It's not fair, but life's not fair.

While I plan for it, and know its coming, and still make the day special, not celebrating Christmas on December 25th is still a little weird.  Today I talk about how it appears people have given up on going to Christmas on Christmas Eve. I miss soft, warm, candlelight services of my childhood with my whole family.  What did I do? I went to the movies....