VODKA O’CLOCK 1539
JOSH NEFF
AMBER LOVE 14-SEP-2015 Now you can sponsor Vodka O’Clock and AmberUnmasked.com through PATREON. Just go to Patreon.com/amberunmasked to pledge as little as $1.00 per month creation which could mean per Vodka O’Clock episode or through written content.
Returning to the show is JOSH NEFF who you’ve heard before on episode 1516 and a few older shows! We talk about mental health, life decisions, charity projects, politics, our hatred of supermarkets, and pumpkin spice shaming.
Download on iTunes, Stitcher or listen here.
LIFE AND MENTAL HEALTH
Every time Josh and I talk, we openly share about our different mental health challenges. This episode, instead of merely mentioning that it exists, we dedicated most of the hour to exploring issues of depression, anxiety, and ADHD.
We discussed this year’s big milestones in our lives: Josh experienced one of those big milestones in life when he recently dropped off his daughter at college. Plus, he’s strongly considering leaving his job to make a new life in a brand new city. For me, I have a story in a new book that’s now available for pre-order. PROTECTORS: HEROES includes authors such as Neliza Drew, Harlan Ellison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Reed Farrel Coleman to name only a few. There are over 50 stories and they were edited by Thomas Pluck. All the proceeds benefit PROTECT.org.
“Even at my most depressed, I think the world is a beautiful place and I interact more with good people than I do with bad. And so, I try to express it as much as possible. I want to share that enthusiasm with other people.†~Josh Neff
Josh is one of the few people that also speaks as openly as I do about Depression and mental illness in ways that’s more voyeuristic into his life than simple tweets saying, “I’m depressed.†We talked about photographing our Depression to show the various sides of what it’s like. We can still experience great happiness and joy, but that doesn’t mean that the illness is miraculously cured. It’s always there in a haunting way, waiting to find a weak spot to come in.
“When Hailey was born my first thought was that I needed a drink and that hospitals should have bars in them.†~ Jenny Lawson, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Our celebrity role models in mental health: Jenny Lawson the Bloggess, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day.
“I’m not gonna cry right. I’m not gonna cry right. I’m just gonna squeeze this lemon like it’s this fucking guy’s head.†~ Amber
Recently, I had another troll come onto AmberUnmasked to say I’m fat and ugly. Despite having an incredible night, I still thought about that fucking comment in the morning.
Josh has found a way to approach interacting IRL with other people by recognizing when someone is “cognitively different†as opposed to seeing everyone as a labeled disorder vs “normal.â€
AUTUMN THINGS!
We’re both huge fans of the spice. PUMPKIN SPICE. But every year there are more memes that mock, particularly white girls, for enjoying something as trivial as a pumpkin spice latte. (PS - My pumpkin carving gallery)
Why can’t people be allowed to enjoy what they want without ridicule? How is this any different than trying to troll “fake geek girls†for liking what they do at the level that they do?
There’s a difference in shaming someone’s reaction to a sports team winning by looting and setting things on fire compared to someone enjoying a thing be it a movie, a coffee, or a book. You don’t have to shame someone for liking comics or sports or fucking goddamn delicious lattes. And you should never riot over pumpkins like New Hampshire did in 2014. Unless there’s an economic catastrophe due to pumpkin shortages, enjoy the pumpkins and don’t be assholes.
Like haunted things? Is that enjoyment or terrifying? When a “fun†haunted house tourist event can send you into a panic attack, it’s probably a thing to avoid. Josh equates scare factors to April Fool’s Day pranks. They’re mean with intention.
REMINDERS:
- Tell people you appreciate them. Keep it simple. “I appreciate you/what you did.â€
- You don’t have to enter every conversation.
- Have pride in what you accomplished.
- Surround yourself with people you admire.
LINKS:
Twitter and Instagram: @JoshuaMNeff
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.