In this episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker ease into a gently wandering conversation before a quick trip to Chicago. As with every episode of this calming podcast, the discussion moves at a relaxed pace, offering soft-spoken companionship that can help quiet racing thoughts and make it easier to unwind at the end of the day. Their relaxing conversation begins with a recent visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario, where they reflect on the Leonard Cohen exhibit and a small gift from the gallery shop. From there, the dialogue drifts naturally through everyday observations — Amanda talks about getting her nails done, Marco shares his attempts to understand new AI tools, and the two pause to appreciate simple neighbourhood moments involving their postman and blooming tulips.
The conversation continues through practical topics like water main servicing and water pressure at home, leading to surprisingly soothing talk about garden hoses and daily routines. Along the way they exchange a little neighbourhood gossip, discuss travel details like flying out of Billy Bishop Airport and choosing an aisle or window seat, and end up talking about food — including Toronto’s beloved Korean restaurant The Owl of Minerva. As always, the calm rhythm of the show makes it perfect for background listening while working, relaxing in the evening, or settling in to fall asleep and ease anxiety after a long day.

​Water Pressure & The Owl of Minerva
(Original airdate: April 19, 2023)

Marco:  easy reference to it. Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation about mundane things. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: As always, our Mostlies sometimes. I'm Amanda Barker.

Marco:  Last episode was Michelle Miracle, a dear friend of ours. We talked about her art and Mishmash Art Stash, which is her company.

Amanda: And she's been, uh, she's been doing some fairs and some art shows and lovely places where people can stroll and buy a magnet or two.

Marco:  We had a few listeners comment on her art on our Instagram page, so that's really nice. By the time our listeners hear this, we will be home from a trip. We're heading to Chicago right now, so we're heading. We're getting Ready all those last minute preps before you hop in a cab to the airport.

Amanda: That's actually us right now. So taking a moment, got dressed, and gave ourselves a little bit of extra time this morning to just hop on the mic and check in.

Marco:  Record this episode. Chicago, one of my favorite cities to go to, so. Looking forward to it, are you?

Amanda: Yep.

Marco:  Yeah. You know, I wasn't earlier this week, but now that it's upon us, I'm raring and ready to go.

Amanda: I feel the opposite.

Marco:  Oh, really?

Amanda: I was looking forward and now I'm feeling a little hesitant.

Marco:  Amanda got her nails done today. I did for Chicago.

Amanda: You know, I don't always get my nails done. I've been trying some other approaches with my nails, as in doing them myself, with some varying results. However, I was filming for the last few weeks and I did some stunts, in fact, and. And with that, um, my nails were kind of a wreck. They needed professional help, and I'm very glad that I sought professional help for my nails.

Marco:  And now we're heading to Chicago for work too. I didn't mention that. So, um, Amanda has a few things she has to print out before we

Amanda: leave, and then we're off that little to do list. Right. Make sure we have our passports.

Marco:  Now, the last episode you and I recorded, we talked about not being able to go to the Ontario Art Gallery to see an exhibit.

Amanda: Oh, yeah.

Marco:  Because we went on a Monday when it was closed, and we got to see that exhibit before it left the art gallery.

Amanda: Is it going elsewhere, do you know?

Marco:  I didn't look to see. I know that it is where the next destination was.

Amanda: Well, that said, if you look up Leonard Cohen exhibit, um, do seek it out, if you can, in your city. It's a very comprehensive and somewhat immersive exhibit. Um, it's as you and I discussed, maybe leave some things out of his life, but for the most part, uh, um, it's a beautiful look into his art.

Marco:  Yeah. And, uh, one of the things that struck me that I was thinking about just the other day is there's a letter that's that. That Leonard received from Joan Baez, which is under glass. And she writes her phone number, call me, whatnot. And I saw her on an interview with. On one of the talk shows, and I was like, I wonder if this

Amanda: phone number, should we text her.

Marco:  Maybe we should. How's it going?

Amanda: I think it was back when landlines were a thing. And who knows who whose phone number

Marco:  that is, who owns that now? But I just. That was one of the Things that really struck me.

Amanda: It's interesting now. Pretty much. If we want to get in touch with somebody, we can, right? It's not hard to get in touch with somebody.

Marco:  There is a way to find them. Anyways.

Amanda: Sure.

Marco:  Most, most definitely. I'm trying to, uh, look into this chatgpt and learn that.

Amanda: Oh, really?

Marco:  I just want to be aware of it. I hear so much about it and uh, so I want to just. I just want to go online and play around and see exactly how it works. So at least I'm aware of that element.

Amanda: Up, uh, for a. Why you want to do some. We could do. I wonder if there's a way we could input this podcast and have it do its own version of it.

Marco:  I should chat. Use some AI to get topics. What are some topics to talk about on the podcast and see what, what comes up. You can ask AI stuff. Whatever you want.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco:  And uh, I'm hoping the postman will come before we head to the airport.

Amanda: We love our postman. His name is Dominic. I think we've talked about him in the past. Lovely, lovely man. When I have time, he and I have some nice conversations. And, uh, he's always nice to see. I hope he never stops being our postman.

Marco:  Honestly, he's so great. Uh, one of the other things that is interesting, this happens to us often, Amanda, that we are away from our home as tulips are about to bloom.

Amanda: It happens often.

Marco:  It happens so often.

Amanda: Lilacs too. It's like all the good flowers bloom when we're away, I think.

Marco:  And I looked in our garden, we have these beautiful paper white tulips.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco:  Or creamy tulips. I don't know what you'd call them, but they're really pretty in color.

Amanda: I planted them, I think, my first year in this house. Like I planted them before we were even married, I think. And uh, when I planted them, they were pretty short and yellowy color and I really wanted them to be long and white. And what I've learned is that over the years, tulips get longer and wider and whiter.

Marco:  Well, these ones, These ones got whiter.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco:  Creamier. They're not quite white.

Amanda: They're off white. Yeah, they're beautiful. We may or may not see them.

Marco:  We also had some beautiful tulips that a friend brought us back from Holland.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco:  And because our front yard, for lack of a better, better term for it, there is a fire hydrant there. And last year they had to replace the fire hydrant. Or two years ago, I believe. It was. And so they dug up all our front yard and no one told me otherwise I would have taken our flowers out. But those tulips didn't make it.

Amanda: Did not make it.

Marco:  And sure enough, folks, as we speak, they're going to be doing some water main pipe work in front of our home. So this time I blockaded some of our flowers with some, uh, metal gates and I spoke to the people and I kind of indicated how they can not trespass on our front yard or trapeze our flowers. And so I have high hopes, Amanda, that we're going to come back to a.

Amanda: What are your hopes for this water main situation?

Marco:  Well, the interesting thing about the water main situation is they're going to be doing work. So they have laid these pipes. Would you call them, I don't know what you'd call them. Tubes, PVC pipes, Tub pipes that are on the curb right now.

Amanda: Yeah, they're fat though.

Marco:  Yeah, they're fat.

Amanda: A pipe to me feels thin. These are big, fat.

Marco:  Sure, sure. Yeah, you're right.

Amanda: Yeah. Along the sidewalk though.

Marco:  So, um, I'm sure there's a term for it and it's not coming.

Amanda: Big pipe.

Marco:  No, it's not big pipe.

Amanda: That pipe.

Marco:  Um,

Amanda: okay, a double wide.

Marco:  A double wide, sure. So the um, the gentleman came to look at our water meter because they had to put a new on and off valve on it. So they said to me, we're going to have to access your garden hose in the front. And I said, okay. And this is when I realized they might be stepping on our garden. And I said, what do you need to do with that? And they're like, we have to take a, a hose from this new PVC pipe that they're putting. It's not a pipe, it's something else. Water main, water tube, water.

Amanda: Mhm.

Marco:  Channel. And we're going to pipe the water into your home from there while we're doing work. So he said, basically, we're pumping water into your home through your front water hose. And I said, oh, that's interesting. So that'll be a couple of days. And he said, no, that'll be a couple of months. And I said, how is our water supply going to be pumped in from our front garden hose or the tap there? Yeah, well, friends, you'll, you'll.

Amanda: I have to wonder, like I said, it's like taking a drink through your bottom.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda: I'm just not sure that it's going to work out.

Marco:  I don't know.

Amanda: It may hydrate you though.

Marco:  Sure, sure. Um, but you know, it's funny, our relationship with a garden hose is quite an interesting thing because here in Canada, if you leave your garden hoses outside during the winter, they can crack and break.

Amanda: Yeah, for sure.

Marco:  And, and hoses are a big menacing thing that can get out of hand if you don't coil them up properly. And I'm always fighting with garden hoses, I find. Yeah, I'm always trying to buy hoses that won't crack or break. And I had to cut one last year because I needed a little strip of garden hose for my air compressor. Uh, um, as weird as that sounds. And I couldn't find the one that we usually have, so I was like, uh, I'm gonna have to cut this garden hose here. And so my relationship with garden hoses is quite interesting.

Amanda: Mine is a little more mundane, but I am interested that each of the houses on our street now features a city issued garden hose where they're going to be pumping this water in. And for some reason I keep thinking, what if the Google truck comes by, the Google Earth van comes by and that ends up being the photo of all of our homes for a while.

Marco:  That's what you've been thinking.

Amanda: Yeah. And also there's a house a few doors down from us that's for sale. And, um, this house has been for sale for quite a while and they've. I'm not sure, it seems like they keep getting offers and then they, and then they raise the price.

Marco:  This sounds like neighborhood gossip.

Amanda: You're a bit first. Dominic the mailman.

Marco:  Grab your tea. Amanda's gonna be spilling some.

Amanda: The house down the street. Um, I guess I won't give the address.

Marco:  No, I don't think you should give the address.

Amanda: No, probably not. Unless you want to buy a home and be our neighbor.

Marco:  Private. Message us DM us on Instagram, we'll

Amanda: send it to you. Anyway, um, they started that journey, I think a year ago, something like that, almost a year ago. And it was one price and then they raised the price and then they took it off the market and then they've done the same thing again. One price and then another price raised. So I don't know if they get offers and they think, okay, we can get more. But, uh, in any event, now it's going to be. It hasn't sold and, and now it's going to feature a water hose. And so if you're moving into that home, but maybe that's the best time to do it, doing renovations and stuff.

Marco:  Amanda has a bigger issue with the fact that they're claiming their backyard is a parking garage.

Amanda: So on the listing, dear friends, it has a. It's listed with a garage. None of the houses on the street have a garage, nor are they allowed to have a garage by city bylaw. Also, to be fair, I looked into our back because I was like, what can we do? I wanted to. At one point I had thought maybe I could just not. We could just not have a backyard and have more house. But by city bylaws, you're not allowed to do that. Although in these streets, no one seems to care.

Marco:  It's true.

Amanda: Maybe I shouldn't have paid attention, but

Marco:  I think if you have a garage, it has to be covered. That's what makes it a garage.

Amanda: It is not covered. It is a back deck.

Marco:  Just can't park on your back deck and call it a garage.

Amanda: It's your backyard.

Marco:  It's your backyard.

Amanda: It's basically parking in your backyard with a. And there's a gate that's wide enough to accommodate a car. So they're calling that a garage. They also. If we're just going to get into slagging the house. No, I think.

Marco:  Don't we. I don't want you to slag.

Amanda: Called it a semi, which in Canadian terms. It's a Canadian. British term. More often you hear semi or detached. We say that a lot in these cities.

Marco:  Um, what do you say?

Amanda: In the US you just don't say semi or detached. You'd say duplex. You'd say triplex. You'd say, um, you would say townhouse, I think, or row house is what it is. But in any event, they called it a semi, which means that it's, I don't know, like a duplex, for lack of a better term. But it's connected to, you know, the other 50 houses on the street. It's just at the end. So it does have. But it's not like it has a yard. The. The other side is an alleyway.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda: It's not really the definition of a subby. Neither here nor there, I suppose. Sure, they'll sell it eventually and with a big old hose and people will be getting their water through a hose. Do you think our showers are going to be affected?

Marco:  Well, that was my concern. Where your concern is a Google truck coming by. I don't know why that's not my

Amanda: biggest concern, but it is in my head.

Marco:  Biggest concern. Mine is the water pressure, because you know me, my thing is all about water pressure.

Amanda: Exactly.

Marco:  And one of the reasons I always Said that I would have difficulty living in Italy is because of their lack of water pressure. M. Beautiful, um, country. Yes, agreed. Great food, lovely people, but no water pressure. And that's where I draw the line, Amanda. Ah. And in North America, we're spoiled because our water pressure, generally speaking, is quite strong. And so for me, strong water pressure is, uh, important. Always has been, probably always will be.

Amanda: I don't know what my most important thing is. I like having 24 hour groceries. I think now it's access to Uber Eats.

Marco:  Oh, really?

Amanda: Or like delivery.

Marco:  Yeah, uh, the convenience of that.

Amanda: Kind of just knowing that with a press of a button I can order pretty much whatever I want. I enjoy. I don't need to use it all the time. I just, in fact, I don't use it, uh, too often. But maybe once a week, maybe, maybe depending on the week. But there are, I don't know, there's a lot of places where you just can't have access to. For me, food is the most important thing.

Marco:  Fair enough.

Amanda: Access to variety of food.

Marco:  I see.

Amanda: So in Italy, obviously the food wherever you are is amazing. Um, but you know, the sushi, not so much.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda: The Mexican cuisine, you might have to find.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda: When I lived in Korea, it was similar. The food was amazing. Uh, and I love Korean food and I really can eat it every day. And I proved that because I did. However, we would go through to great lengths to be able to go get nachos, a burger. Um, at that time you could get burgers, but like a pub with a burger or fish and chips, things like that. Um, we would maybe go on the subway for an hour or two to go to like, um, an American chain restaurant, as silly as that sounds.

Marco:  We actually live near Koreatown here in Toronto and that's where Amanda had her nails done,

Amanda: although they are not Korean at that place.

Marco:  As we were driving by, there was a restaurant that caught my eye that I want to go to called the Owl of Minerva.

Amanda: Very popular restaurant, very popular, Multiple locations.

Marco:  There's multiple locations.

Amanda: It's chained Toronto chain.

Marco:  I actually think it's based in London. London, Ontario. And they've brought chains here. I don't believe it's Toronto specific or that's where it started in. The most fascinating thing about the Owl of Minerva is the, I guess, owner and chef, which I would say is a middle aged Korean woman, has a graduation cap on her head.

Amanda: Yeah. I don't know.

Marco:  As the emblem to the restaurant. So it's very unique, shall we say. So I'm really wanting to dine there. So.

Amanda: Well, the owl of Minerva in Greek mythology traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. So, uh, it represents wisdom. So maybe that's why she's wearing a graduation cap.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda: I don't know how it relates to, like, Bibimbap and other ddeokboki, Korean delicacies.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda: Um, but you're right. There's, um. I'm looking if you go to do a plug.

Marco:  Of course.

Amanda: Owlfamily Ca. That's cute. Owl Family.

Marco:  That's the website. Yeah.

Amanda: Owlfamily Cat. Uh, it looks to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Uh, 6, 7. Seven locations. Seven locations serve you in the Owl of Minerva.

Marco:  So join the owl family.

Amanda: I don't know why it's called that.

Marco:  It's so great. I'll tell you this, you don't forget the name of that restaurant when you drive by it.

Amanda: That's true. It's a very memorable name, most definitely. And now associated somehow, inexplicably, with, uh, Sundubu Chige.

Marco:  We are going to the small airport.

Amanda: Yes.

Marco:  Which is called Billy Bishop, our favorite, which is in the city, versus going to the Toronto International Airport, otherwise known as Lester B. Pearson, which is not in Toronto, it's in Mississauga, so it's in another borough, let's say close to the city. But this particular airport is so great because it's on our side of the city, so it doesn't take us long to get there.

Amanda: And.

Marco:  And they used to have free coffee and free drinks when you got to that airport because it was small and quaint.

Amanda: It's true.

Marco:  And I miss that.

Amanda: Even still, they have, you know, one little coffee shop and a little lounge. Dear friends, it is like going to, um, a living room. It's like. It's a beautiful flying experience.

Marco:  It's like. Remember that television program Wings?

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco:  It's kind of like what they flew out of. I think it's true.

Amanda: That was a very small airport in that show.

Marco:  So that's where we're heading to.

Amanda: It's lovely. You know, there's not a lot of locations, but Chicago is one of their places that they fly to daily, I believe. So it works very well for us. But, yeah, it's sort of one. If you can imagine, one big lounge, one big room, you know, with a little coffee shop on one side and lounge on one side, like, um, you know, bar on one side.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda: Nothing big or terribly fancy. And then a big. It's like a big circle, and there's just doors. And then they just do a little, sweet little announcement. Amanda and Marco, you're going to want to go to door four.

Marco:  That's right.

Amanda: Go hop on that sweet little plane to Chicago.

Marco:  We'll often bump into friends at that airport, too. M which is kind of neat.

Amanda: And all the planes are jets that I don't know the name of the jet, but they. They're two seaters. Or, um, not two. They're four seaters, but two on each side of the aisle. So you're always going to get either an aisle or a window seat, which I love. No one gets stuck in the middle.

Marco:  Which is your preference, Aisle or window?

Amanda: What do you think?

Marco:  The window.

Amanda: I love a window, but I don't mind an aisle.

Marco:  I like an aisle.

Amanda: Well, we're both happy. See, this is why it's a great experience.

Marco:  Although technically, you booked the.

Amanda: It's true. I'm the aisle and you're the window. So, um, if you want to switch it up, you better.

Marco:  I'll just say. I'll call the flight attendant over and say, this woman's in my seat before

Amanda: I get nice and comfortable because I have my process that I think I've documented on this show. But I like to take my headphones out and my other headphones out. So I have headphones for my phone and headphones for my tablet. I like my tablet on the back of the seat in front of me. My book, in case I feel ready to read in the. In the back of the seat in front of me this time around, I'll bring my notes for the work we're going to do because I have not even looked at them.

Marco:  Amanda still has to print them. That's one last thing we have to do before we go.

Amanda: So I'll probably be doing work on the plane or at least studying.

Marco:  I will be editing this episode on the plane. So there we go.

Amanda: So actually will be coming to you or the episode will be coming to you all from Chicago. The windy City.

Marco:  That's right.

Amanda: Do you think it'll be windy?

Marco:  Uh, it's supposed to be nice weather.

Amanda: I don't think it's windier than here.

Marco:  I'm bringing my jacket. My heavier jacket.

Amanda: Yeah, me too, I think, because it was snowing last night. Did you know that?

Marco:  In Chicago here. Oh, no, I didn't know that.

Amanda: I was snowing two nights ago here, and then again today a little bit. It was snowing.

Marco:  No, I didn't know that.

Amanda: Yeah. So we still have to dress. It got. It was summer.

Marco:  Last week, they made us, like, turn on the air conditioner. And I was like, I think it's a bit early.

Amanda: Never too early for air conditioning. And then we did open up, for the record, everybody was like, uh, we did open up every window in the house and try to create a cross breeze. And it was still over 80 degrees in the house. So that's when I put my foot down and said, we need help. We need, like, my nails. We needed to call in the professionals and turn the air conditioner on.

Marco:  And there you. There you go. Well, wherever you are, I hope you are feeling cool and comfortable. Like a cucumber. Um, is that the expression?

Amanda: I. Cool like a cucumber? I suppose like a cucumber with a nice comfy duvet.

Marco:  You know what happened? I was. I was taking out the organic waste before we left, and the bag spills open. Yeah. And so I had to deal with that.

Amanda: That's what we're leaving people on.

Marco:  No, I cleaned it up. Everything's fine.

Amanda: And everything's fine and everything's wonderful.

Marco:  I just thought I'd share that as a last minute. It just took me a moment longer. Well, I'll let you go print your notes, and I will, uh, hail a cab, and hopefully by the time the cab comes, Amanda will be downstairs with their notes and we'll be ready.

Amanda: When he says he'll hail a cab, what he means is I'll check both Lyft and Uber and see who has

Marco:  better rates, which Amanda does. And she's always. But, but, but don't book the one where we have to share it, but the direct one.

Amanda: No, I won't. Yeah, I won't. I'm not that I'm cheap, but I'm not that cheap.

Marco:  Amanda's. Amanda's great for things like that. Like, she knows these apps really well. And one time I had to order free food without Amanda on one of those apps, the Uber app, or whatever it was. And our, uh, friend was over, and she's vegetarian or she doesn't eat meat. And I was ordering pizza, and sure enough, somehow, between selecting the one I wanted and placing the order, a bacon pizza arrived in its place. So. So now I'm always like, I don't know why I can't seem to do that with the apps, but, uh. But it's not my strength, shall we say? It's not my strength. Texting is more my strength, so.

Amanda: And, uh, the winner is Uber over Lyft. They're a little cheaper.

Marco:  All right. So, uh, with. On that note, wherever you are, we hope you have a lovely day, afternoon or evening. And until next time, we hope you were able to listen and sleep.

In this gentle episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker settle into a calm, meandering conversation about routines, habits, and the quiet rhythms of everyday life. If you enjoy slow, relaxing conversations that help quiet racing thoughts, this episode offers the perfect background listening for winding down, easing anxiety, or drifting off to sleep.
The conversation begins with Amanda reclaiming the word “mundane,” celebrating the beauty of ordinary moments and everyday routines. Marco shares his love of making lists while Amanda reflects on how routines help bring calm and structure to daily life. As always, the discussion wanders comfortably into unexpected territory — including Marco recalling the word “mendacity” from A Streetcar Named Desire while hilariously struggling to remember the name of actor Burl Ives.
Along the way, they talk about watching a local television channel that isn’t very local at all, figuring out the weather based on forecasts from other cities, and the journey of a fancy espresso machine finding its place in their daily routine. Marco also describes his preferred vessel for heating tea water, while Amanda shares an example of a small routine that works perfectly when you discover it.
The episode continues with a surprising detour into macadamia nut trees, a discussion about different types of sugar they’ve tried, and Amanda reluctantly revealing the audiobook she’s a little embarrassed to admit she’s currently listening to. In a final cozy moment, Marco and Amanda discover they are both waiting for the same book from the library.
As always, The Insomnia Project offers slow, calming conversation designed to help listeners relax, unwind, and gently fall asleep. If you drift off before the episode ends, that’s the highest compliment you can give us.
You can also enjoy ad-free episodes of The Insomnia Project with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com.
Follow along and stay connected:
Instagram: @theinsomniaproject
Twitter/X: @listenandsleep
Website: theinsomniaproject.com
Quotes from the episode:
“The key to happiness is not… I don’t remember now.” – Amanda
“Moo-cadamia.” – Amanda
“You sometimes have a heavy hand with the maple syrup.” – Marco

​Routines
(Original airdate: March 29, 2023)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a mundane conversation to help you drift off to sleep. We're the only podcast we hope you never get to the end of. And thank you for joining us today. I'm um, your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:  I'm Amanda Barker. I feel like we are reclaiming the word mundane.

Marco:  Yeah, we are.

Amanda:  You know, because you say mundane and there's an immediate, um, you know, connotation with that word, that mundane means obviously boring or less than. But I think for us, and I haven't looked up the actual definition in the dictionary.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  I think mundane is. There's a level of comfort in the mundane. A level of, um, organization, symmetry, you know, um, that type of normalcy that we sometimes need.

Marco:  Something that's ordinary. That's why we intentionally picked mundane versus boring, because we're never trying to be boring, because that would feel false. But rather we just want to talk about ordinary things that can help you just sort of not think of anything else.

Amanda:  I like thinking about, um, especially when I'm trying to sleep, but kind of always when I need some comfort. I like routine.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  I'm a creature of routine. I find there's a real comfort in routine, the mundaneness of routine. Do you find that as well?

Marco:  Yeah, I do. I like. I'm a list maker. So if I can go through my lists and so I have my list that I accomplish every day. For example, my. While I was waiting for you to come into the booth today, I was actually going through all the emails that I have received and knocking them off my list. And I've recently. Or I continue to sort of pare down the emails I receive so that there's less and less coming my way.

Amanda:  I think lists. List making gets a bad rap sometimes.

Marco:  Oh, really? I never heard it getting a bad rap.

Amanda:  I listened to a book very recently. I finished it yesterday. I wasn't in love with the book.

Marco:  Okay. So you don't have to mention it.

Amanda:  No, I don't have to plug it or anything. Um, but it really kind of talked about this one woman's journey where she was like, oh, I was just a. I was a slave to my lists. And. Okay, I get it. I mean, I think there's room for spontaneity in this world. Of course I do. But I do think, um, you know, and maybe this comes from the fact that you and I do live

Marco:  some,

Amanda:  uh, would argue a more spontaneous or unpredictable life. That we are the people that most want and need and crave lists. Routine. Is mundanity a word?

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Mundane ness. Well, it's a word now.

Marco:  Mendacity.

Amanda:  Oh, I like that. The audacity to be mundane.

Marco:  Sure. Mendacity is actually a word.

Amanda:  Does it mean the audacity to Be audaciously mundane.

Marco:  I don't know. I know it's from, um. Big Daddy says it in A Streetcar Named Desire. He says, you have the mendacity. I don't think it's a positive thing. I don't know that because I. I've

Amanda:  seen that play like three times live and I don't think I've ever remembered that particular line.

Marco:  So, um, the actor who played Big Daddy on the screen.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  Is the singer who sings that. Those Christmas carols. I can't remember his name. Pearl Ives played Big Daddy.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  And the way.

Amanda:  I didn't know that.

Marco:  Yeah. And so when he does that sort of grand, grandiose speech where he starts sort of putting the male character. I forget who it is. Not Stella, obviously.

Amanda:  Oh, um, the guy with a broken leg.

Marco:  The guy with a broken leg played by Marlon Brando.

Amanda:  It's like cat or kid or Marlon Brando.

Marco:  So he says mendacity. I remember that speech. And that's the word that I remember the most from that speech. That sort of puts me in that if I was to play Big Daddy or when I think of that Big Daddy role, I m. Think of how he says that. So it has always sort of stuck with me.

Amanda:  Um, Mitch. Is that his name? Mitch? Stanley Kowalski. Is it Stanley?

Marco:  Well, I don't know, but mendacity means the quality or state of being mendacious.

Amanda:  I think it's Stanley. Yeah.

Marco:  To blow the whistle. Or mendacity and hypocrisy. So not so great. The quality. Yeah. Mendacious.

Amanda:  I didn't even know that word.

Marco:  I know now I'd have to look up mendacious. It's, uh, given to. Or the characterization by description, uh, or falsehood of divergence from absolute truth.

Amanda:  Oh, interesting. Okay. All right. Well, that's a different meaning, I think. Um, but for me, I think, you know, I'm really. I need to connect to routine and mundaneness. Uh, to me it's a comforting life raft as I sail through this life.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Yeah. So one of the things I was thinking about this morning was morning routines.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  And the comfort of a morning routine as you wake up from your slumber. Yeah. For us, for you and I, on a day, again we have. Every day is different for us because we, like so many people, we are what you would call, I suppose, freelance.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  I've never thought of myself that way, but I guess that's what it is. Freelance workers. So, you know, depending on the day, we have, uh, a different employment, different company. Some days we have Off. Some days we don't. Um, I really just.

Marco:  Some days we're doing two jobs in a day.

Amanda:  For me, this week is mostly about filming. I'm filming a project right now, so that's. I'm not doing it today, but I'm sort of preparing for it today.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  And, um, as luck would have it, which I'm happy about because we had a pretty robust weekend.

Marco:  Yes, we did.

Amanda:  So with that being said, um, ah, a comforting morning for me, which is actually, could be a Monday morning, could be a Sunday morning, could be any morning, um, is to slowly wake up and then you and I, actually, we're TV creatures. We like to put the TV on, but we won't put it on anything too alarming.

Marco:  No, we generally put it on a local channel. And when I say local, I don't even mean a local to our city.

Amanda:  Our city is too big for the type of mundane ness that we crave.

Marco:  So we turn on the channel that is of a city about an hour away from us.

Amanda:  Huh. Smaller city.

Marco:  Smaller city. And we listen to them talk about small things going on in that city.

Amanda:  We do. We watch them navigate recipes. We watch them talk about pop culture.

Marco:  Going to the furniture store near that just opened, or the local theater and

Amanda:  what play they're putting on this month.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda:  It's that type of thing.

Marco:  One of my favorite things is when they have the weather person on and we have to sort of figure out what the weather will be in our city based from an hour away.

Amanda:  They're an hour west of us. It's usually what's coming our way.

Marco:  We figure out, okay, if the wind is coming from there. That means we'll probably. So not even looking at our own weather channel, but trying to figure out what our weather will be based on what we watch from another city's weather.

Amanda:  Do you think this is a sign that we should just be moving to that smaller city? No, no.

Marco:  No, I don't.

Amanda:  You have no desire to move there?

Marco:  Not really. I like our city.

Amanda:  Yeah. And as we've said before, our home, we're very lucky in that we have a fairly quiet neighborhood and quiet home in a relatively big and bustling city, so. Well, not relatively. Toronto's big.

Marco:  Yeah. And the crocuses are out.

Amanda:  And the crocuses are out. So part of a morning routine for me at this time of year would be to watch a little bit of that comforting News network. Again, local play. An author, someone from the local hockey team. Again, not local to us, but there's a comfort in the smallness there. And then maybe leaving you in the bed. I might go downstairs, I might put on a coffee.

Marco:  Most definitely.

Amanda:  Um, so for us that means putting on a stovetop, um. Machina. Right.

Marco:  Machinata. Yeah, I guess you could call it machinata. It's an espresso that's a violet sort of.

Amanda:  So everyone has their own coffee. If you drink coffee, that is, or tea. Um, they have their own routine. Uh, with that. For us, our routine is filling up. A stovetop espresso maker. Yes. We've even been gifted fancy espresso machines in the past. Secondhand. Uh, I should say it's. We've never asked for a fancy espresso machine. It wasn't something we registered for when we get married or anything like that.

Marco:  Right. We've had two sort of machines that sit on your counter that you have to then use pressurized water and make sort of a barista style coffee. And they never quite come out the same. And so we always go back.

Amanda:  They're hard to clean. Yeah.

Marco:  And they take up room.

Amanda:  Yeah. Which we don't have a ton of.

Marco:  Truthfully. Yeah. And there's. They just don't work for us. We've tried them and uh, we have lots of friends they work for and more power, in fact.

Amanda:  No. Some people love their machines and the routine of operating that machine.

Marco:  Certainly that last machine we received, we were the third person to receive the machine. So the original owner friends of ours, but they were very good friends with our good friends. So it went to our good friends Trevor and Dale, who we often mention on the podcast, who then gifted it

Amanda:  to us or said, no, no, you've got it wrong.

Marco:  I don't have it wrong.

Amanda:  Yeah, you do. So that machine, unless I'm talking about a different machine, maybe we are. Um, was from Daniela and Joel. No, we gave it to them. Right. Oh, I thought it came from them.

Marco:  No, see, that's where I was bringing it. So it came to us from.

Amanda:  So I remember the journey backwards, I guess.

Marco:  Yeah. Ah.

Amanda:  I really thought it came from them.

Marco:  No.

Amanda:  Okay. I reversed it in my brain. I apologize.

Marco:  It came to us and then.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  Daniela asked me, she just so happened to ask, do you know where I could pick up.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  One of those machines? Because her partner really enjoys that kind of coffee. And I said, we have one. Do you want it? And I said, do with it what you will. And um, they've been using it and she's been enjoying. Went to the right person.

Amanda:  So it started with Frank and Aaron. Then it went to Dale and Trevor. Then it came to us, Amanda and Marco. Then it went to Daniella and Joel. Oh, that's really funny. I didn't quite realize that. I apologize.

Marco:  And Joel really enjoys that coffee. Mhm. And Daniela says he knows how to work the machine, so she only lets him sort of deal with the coffee from there.

Amanda:  Well, that's their morning routine in Calgary.

Marco:  You know, it's in Toronto.

Amanda:  Oh, is it?

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Right. Uh, they split their time, um, location.

Marco:  Where did that machine end up?

Amanda:  Uh, yeah. Wouldn't it be great if it traveled the country? Um, so for us, um, we've realized, and I think there's some grace in that. Realizing that this for. For you and this may not be a coffee, might be an espresso machine.

Marco:  Sure. Um, a tea kettle.

Amanda:  A tea kettle. A home. You know, I think there's some grace in learning that a smaller version, which sometimes we're told, you know, not to aspire, you know, we are supposed to aspire for bigger or, uh, more.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Just isn't the right fit for you. I recently was watching one of my favorite design shows, Hometown.

Marco:  Can I just say that like the kettle, for example, I prefer to drink my tea from the kettle pot that you put on the stove that boils and whistles versus the one that has the coil. The coil.

Amanda:  The plug in.

Marco:  Yeah, the plug in that you have to press the thing down. I think tea tastes better for me with that whistling kettle.

Amanda:  On a stove.

Marco:  On a stove. I don't know if it's the whistle that does it for me. Just the sound. M. You know, a auditory sound. There's the watch. You don't burn yourself as you pick it up. So there's that element of danger and how. How bubbly the water is or how heated the water is when you pour it onto your tea. That, that for me, I just want to say is my favorite.

Amanda:  Well, absolutely. And different people have different things. Some people use a microwave to microwave their water hot and then. And then put a tea bag in it. That's not my journey.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  But that's maybe somebody's routine.

Marco:  Hey, listen, if it works for you and it makes you happy and it sets your day, by all means.

Amanda:  The plug in kettles are great for work. Or um, you know, a countertop place where you don't have access to a stove or burner or hob, as I found people in the UK call it.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  From again, the various design shows that

Marco:  I watch or if you set up like a coffee tea station in your bedroom so you wouldn't have to go down. That probably would be useful.

Amanda:  You and I have discussed that possibility. There isn't a ton of room to it in our bedroom, but there's one tiny little corner that could maybe be utilized. But then we would have to put a hob. I'm going to start using that word now. Um, but for our UK listeners, we don't call it that. We usually call it a burner or, um, a stovetop. I don't even know what we call that. A stove top or a hot plate.

Marco:  Hot plate, I guess. Yeah.

Amanda:  Hot plate. Yeah.

Marco:  But you were saying about Hometown or something.

Amanda:  Well, I was just saying that sometimes the smaller version that we societally often think of as less than is the right one for you. And I think there's a real comfort in knowing that the smaller, cheaper, less version is the one that fits for you in your life. And in Hometown, they were actually talking about homes. And of course, they're renovating homes, and that's the show. And they find a home for someone and they tell them, okay, here's your budget, and here's what we can do with that budget. And of course, it's part of the allure of, uh, that show is that it's set in Mississippi, uh, where homes in that particular town are relative inexpensive compared to, say, Chicago or Los Angeles or London. Yeah, exactly. Um. Um, but one of the things I thought was really interesting is I heard, um, they were doing an interview segment, and the people who are the hosts of the show, the Napiers, is their name? Aaron. And, uh, I was gonna say Mickey, Mick McNapier. Somebody from our world.

Marco:  Yeah, Aaron.

Amanda:  An improv person.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Ben.

Marco:  Ben. Yeah.

Amanda:  Anyway, they were. She said, you know, this woman wanted a big home be perfect for entertaining. And then they asked her about her home, and she said, oh, no, I don't want a big home for entertaining. I have a small kitchen that fits six to eight people, and that's how I like it. And I thought that was really lovely because we're just conditioned to say, oh, you want a kitchen that can fit 12 people for Thanksgiving or whatever it is. And, um, you know, our big brunch on, um, the weekend, or host a party.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  And there's. That's lovely, too, if that's what you want and that's what you have. But I think there was a real grace to saying, that's not what I want. So that's not what. I could have that, but that's not what I want.

Marco:  Bucking the trend that says this is what's desirable for what suits your needs.

Amanda:  And also having. Taking comfort in what you do have. Having what you want, you know, wanting what you have. Uh, or what? There's an expression in that. I forget what.

Marco:  That wanting what you have, it's.

Amanda:  You know, the key to happiness is not. I don't remember now, but I guess

Marco:  you won't find the key to happiness.

Amanda:  The key to happiness is wanting what you have. Not sure.

Marco:  Having what you want.

Amanda:  I'm missing a piece of this. Okay, I'll have to look it up. Anyhow, um, so in our morning routine, we have, uh, an espresso gets made.

Marco:  Yes.

Amanda:  Usually in the morning, milk gets frothed for that espresso.

Marco:  Today was mental. Today was macadamia milk. Mac nut milk, as they say. Who says in Hawaii they were calling

Amanda:  it Mac nut milk. Oh, interesting.

Marco:  Macadamia nut milk.

Amanda:  Yeah, we have some. And I just thought.

Marco:  What's funny is, when I came home with the macadamia nut milk, Amanda says, you don't like that. I'm like, what? She's like, we had it before. And you said you. Absolutely.

Amanda:  But you know what? The one we had before, I believe, was a different brand.

Marco:  Yeah. Because this one's actually quite.

Amanda:  I like this one.

Marco:  Yeah, me too.

Amanda:  I guess it depends on the brand.

Marco:  With nut milk, I think it's called milk. Milkadamia, I think, is what this brand is called.

Amanda:  Milkademia. Is that what it's called? I think you're right. Or M. Moocadamia.

Marco:  Ah, I doubt it's mookadamia.

Amanda:  I think that's what it is.

Marco:  Like moo is in a cow. Moot. Moose. Moocadamia. Okay.

Amanda:  I don't know. Anyway, that's something. It's a play on macadamia and milk. I just don't remember what the play is. Same as I don't remember the key to happiness.

Marco:  The interesting thing about macadamia trees, macadamia nut trees, is that they were native to Australia, but they weren't commercially, um, grown in Australia to be consumed. And when the tree was brought to Hawaii, that's when it became more of a consumable product. And then what happened was it became popular in China, and so the price of macadamias went up. And what China has done, or so I've been told, is they have planted and are growing macadamia orchards, which should be coming into fruition, I guess, or coming to fruit or bare nuts in the next few years, which could. I was going to call you Daniela. Which could Daniela Lascalik, if you're listening or Amanda, drop the price of macadamia nuts throughout the world. So pay attention to the price of macadamia nuts, which is pretty high now, and what will happen in the next five years.

Amanda:  Oh, my goodness.

Marco:  Took a little detour there. You weren't expecting.

Amanda:  Back to our morning routine. And actually to the quote that's been sort of, um, gnawing at me. There's a few versions of it.

Marco:  Um, laughs, and the whole world laughs with you.

Amanda:  Uh, the first version is, I should say, attributed to Rabbi Hyman Schlattel, which is, happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

Marco:  Okay, I like that.

Amanda:  Uh, but the one I've heard more is, success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting what you get.

Marco:  I like that, too.

Amanda:  Yeah, so I think there's a few things with that. But anyway, that's pretty cool. But we're not really talking about success, too. We're talking about. Well, I mean, success in your own comfort and happiness.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  And how you navigate your life through your morning routine. Um, so anyway, a coffee gets made.

Marco:  Coffee definitely gets made. Coffee gets drunk.

Amanda:  We have a few different versions of sweetener that we put in the coffee. Sugar. Um, but we have honey sugar as well. Today I actually used brown sugar.

Marco:  Oh.

Amanda:  I've been exploring the cabinets and seeing what we need to sort of use up.

Marco:  We tried to use blackstrap molasses. I liked it because our friend Trevor told us to do that.

Amanda:  And actually, it's good for me because I need iron.

Marco:  Okay. I think there's iron, so maybe we'll get more of that.

Amanda:  You didn't like it, though.

Marco:  I know, but that's fine. Just. I just maybe have to get used to it.

Amanda:  M. So, um, we've tried that. Xylitol, of course, when we have it.

Marco:  Um, honey sometimes.

Amanda:  Probably my favorite sugar substitute. Uh, honey sometimes.

Marco:  For me, my favorite is maple, um, Syrup.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  But you sometimes have a heavy hand with the maple syrup.

Amanda:  Well, I just think maple syrup is delicious and makes things delicious. But, yeah, I'm heavy handed in general.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  With all my pores, as you know.

Marco:  If you ever get Amanda to pour you a cocktail, you'll only ever need that one.

Amanda:  I do have a heavy hand. Um, anyhow, and today, part of our routine was I brought that coffee back up to you. And actually, during the coffee, waiting for it to percolate on the stove. M. I put on a soothing audiobook that I started yesterday.

Marco:  Oh, what book is that?

Amanda:  Um, you know, it's it's, um, almost. I'm almost embarrassed to be listening to it. But it was what was available at my library, which is what I listen to.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Because I listened to them through the Libby app, and the one that I was listening to today was called the Latte Factor.

Marco:  Oh, I like this.

Amanda:  So it's basically saying, you know, you're richer than you think.

Marco:  I know this thing. This is the theory of this gentleman, I believe. Yeah.

Amanda:  But it's got a lot of, um, backlash, certainly in the last few years. It was only written four years ago, which is interesting to me, because I think the backlash has existed longer than that. But what I came to learn was that he was a speaker on Oprah, and So he probably 20 years ago or so introduced this theory. Basically. Um, I haven't gotten that far into it yet, but basically, if you can afford a latte every day, if you can afford to buy L out every day, then you can afford a house or whatever. But it's gotten a lot of backlash because of.

Marco:  It's a bit simplistic.

Amanda:  It's a bit simplistic and maybe doesn't take into account things like, you know, privilege and inflation, et cetera.

Marco:  Are you enjoying the book, though, so far?

Amanda:  I actually am. Um, I thought my theory with any book, any TV show, any movie, put it on for 10 minutes, see how you feel after the first 10. If you're still engaged and still, even if you're, like, not sure about it, then no one's making you listen to that book or watch that movie. You can always turn it off. So I figured yesterday I couldn't find anything else available that I wanted. Sure, I put a bunch of things on hold, which is good practice, um, because sometimes I forget to do that, and then I have nothing to listen to. It's a library, so they take a while to become available. But this one was available right away. And so I thought, well, it's only four hours of my life. Let me. It put. Listen for the first 10 minutes, see what it. You know, I have to listen to the reader if I like the voice.

Marco:  Right. Of course. There's a lot of elements. Are you in the mood in that particular time of your day? Night, week?

Amanda:  Exactly. Am I going for a walk? Am I making dinner? What type of thing do I want to listen to somebody speak on? So anyway, I actually have to say I'm probably about 30 minutes into it at this point.

Marco:  Oh, wow. I didn't realize that.

Amanda:  I listened to it while I was cleaning up after dinner last Night. And I'm kind of enjoying it.

Marco:  Listen, that's fine.

Amanda:  I'm comforted in the same way that we're talking about mundane conversation and comfort. There's comfort to me in re examining. I always like to re examine my relationship with money.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Whether it's taxes or for some people, that's not their thing. But I find it very comforting to just relook at things, maybe look at it from a new light. Is there any opportunities for me to adjust my thinking or my spending or any of those things? I enjoy that.

Marco:  That said, we did go to a Starbucks because you wanted the extra points. So they do hook you with details like that. I'm looking at a book. Yeah.

Amanda:  But now I have a free Starbucks.

Marco:  Fair enough. Um, I have a book that I'm interested in examining that a friend of ours, Megan, posted on social media that she was enjoying it.

Amanda:  Put a hold on.

Marco:  I put a hold on it.

Amanda:  That's so funny.

Marco:  And there's like a. I'm assuming we're

Amanda:  talking about the same book.

Marco:  Yeah, it's called how to Keep House while Drowning. And what's funny is there are 26 copies at our library and there are 119 people waiting for. Waiting. So both of us are in that 119 waiting for the.

Amanda:  Let's see who. It's a race to see who gets that library.

Marco:  Is it available on, uh, Libby. On Libby, yeah, it is. Okay.

Amanda:  And it's only three hours, so immediately when I saw that one. Great. I'll put a hold on that. So I did. So that's in my queue.

Marco:  I haven't done that on Libby yet. I put a hold on the actual book.

Amanda:  Yeah. You're more into the tactile books. I haven't done that in a while. I find if I want the tactile book, I find more lately that I'll buy the book. But if. If it's an audiobook form, I'm finding that I can't really listen to fictional narrative on audiobook. I don't know why I prefer to read that, but fair for listening. Anything in the biography, self help world, even personal essays, narrative stories, that type of thing. Uh, those are the types of books I like, especially the personal narratives and that type of thing.

Marco:  Anything nonfiction, I prefer if a audiobook version is available to listen that way.

Amanda:  So I put that book on waited for the coffee to percolate. That doesn't really percolate. I guess it does.

Marco:  Brew is, I believe how we say it in the coffee world.

Amanda:  It is kind of A percolate, though. Yeah, it is, because it pops up a little bit.

Marco:  But I believe brew is what you use.

Amanda:  I'm waiting for the coffee to brew, and I, uh, unloaded the dishwasher because last night I thought ahead, and I like to put it on a little timer so it goes, you know, so that I can add after dinner. We might have more dishes to add. For example, I made a little plate of grapes and cheese last night to bring to bed so you and I could have a watching TV in bed

Marco:  snack, which I know you're not supposed to do. Watch TV in bed, but that's what suits us.

Amanda:  Well, again, some people would say you're not supposed to live by your lists, but I find that comforting. Or you're not supposed to have your espresso from a stovetop, uh, but rather from a fancy machine. All that matters is that you do what is right for you.

Marco:  I agree with that.

Amanda:  So, grapes and cheese in bed for me, not every night, but some nights. And TV in bed is the right choice for us. And for us, the comforting choice, actually.

Marco:  Indeed.

Amanda:  So that's what we do, you know, not every night. Um, but, um, anyway, that was my morning routine. And then I unloaded the dishwasher because it was all nice and clean. And just when I put the last fork and mug away, coffee was ready. I heated up that macadamia milk and made you a latte, and up the stairs I went, and you were watching, you know, the local weather of a town an hour away.

Marco:  There you go. Well, whatever routine you have in the morning, we hope it works well for you. Until next time, we hope you enjoyed this episode of the Insomnia Project. Please rate, review and subscribe. Tell your friends about our podcast and we hope you were able to listen and sleep.

You’ve Got Mail | Calm Mailbox Musings
In this gently meandering episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker turn their attention to the quiet and nostalgic world of mail. From stamps and postcards to address labels and the small rituals of visiting the post office, the conversation explores the simple pleasure of sending and receiving something through the mail.
The hosts reflect on the charm of different post offices, the designs of stamps that catch their attention, and the small thrill of opening a letter or package that arrives unexpectedly. Along the way, they ask listeners to consider their own postal habits: What is your favourite post office? What kind of stamps do you find most interesting? And what kind of mail do you most enjoy receiving?
As always, the conversation moves slowly through everyday observations, allowing the ordinary details of life to become calming and comforting. The Insomnia Project is designed to provide gentle background listening that helps quiet racing thoughts and guide listeners toward sleep. If you drift off before the episode ends, we consider that the highest compliment.
You can now enjoy ad-free listening with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com.
Follow along for updates and more calm conversation on Instagram @theinsomniaproject, Twitter/X @listenandsleep, and at theinsomniaproject.com.

​Back from Oahu

(February 28, 2023) 

Marco:  Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, lie back, chill if you will, and listen to this podcast and hopefully it'll help you, you know, bring you somewhere soft and cool and easy and hopefully even make you fall asleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:  I'm Amanda Barker. Or it could give you a, uh, soft and warm feeling.

Marco:  Sure, whichever you're.

Amanda:  Whatever after. Yeah.

Marco:  Amanda, we have not posted, uh, an episode for a bit because I felt under the weather and I didn't really have a voice.

Amanda:  Mhm. That's true.

Marco:  So we did not post. So you're gonna get two this week to make up for last week not having one. And thank you to our patrons who have been hearing a lot of content Actually, or even watching a lot of content because we've been really upping our Patreon. Patreon game. And, um, we just got back from a wonderful trip that we were on,

Amanda:  and we got back from podcamp. I didn't know if you want to talk about.

Marco:  Of course. Yeah. So we.

Amanda:  Lots to talk about.

Marco:  So much to talk about. Uh, we participated at podcamp and, and we were able to, uh, bestow some podcasting knowledge to potential podcasters. So thank you for being there and listening to our panel discussion and our session.

Amanda:  So podcamp is a. For those not in the podcasting, you know, world, um, even though you're listening, that. That might be the. The breadth of what you do with podcasting and. Or you may be a fellow podcaster. Podcamp is sort of a conference, uh, festival, more of a conference that happens usually, uh, this time of year in Toronto, but they haven't had it. So it was nice to, uh, to kind of get back into it.

Marco:  That's right. We were able to participate in front of a live audience, and we got some great responses. I want to thank everybody at podcamp, uh, for putting that on.

Amanda:  I did a panel. You did a session? A session, Yeah.

Marco:  I wasn't feeling well enough to do the panel, so Amanda said, don't worry, I'll hold the fort. And she certainly did.

Amanda:  I did my best.

Marco:  You did awesome. Speaking of awesome, we just got back from a wonderful trip. Amanda wanted to take me on a trip for a, you know, um, what do you call it? Like, an important birthday?

Amanda:  They call it something a milestone.

Marco:  Milestone birthday. And so Amanda's like, where do you want to go? And I'm like, I'd really like to go back to Hawaii. And so she.

Amanda:  To which I said, I don't know if that is going to be possible,

Marco:  because getting there is not. Not cheap, is it?

Amanda:  Not from Toronto.

Marco:  No.

Amanda:  However, nor is it short. But, um, our dear friends at YYZ Deals, uh, which is based out of Toronto. So, um, anyway, it's this guy who has a travel blog. He's had it for many, many years, and I've been a big fan. And we've certainly taken lots of trips that have come up. Sometimes their flight glitches, but more often their, um, you know, really just, oh, look, they're selling these for cheap for the next week or so. And it's. He's not sponsored by anyone. He's not selling anything. It's just a guy who loves to

Marco:  fly, and he just. He just shares that knowledge. And I should mention Though we follow it on yyzddeals.com because YYZ is our airport code. He also has versions for YUL.

Amanda:  Y. YVR.

Marco:  YVR. Um, Calgary's. I can't remember.

Amanda:  Yeah. So different ones across Canada.

Marco:  Halifax. So look, type in your airport code if you live in Canada and then deals.com and see what deals you might get. They're not a sponsor. It's not a sponsor of the show. We just happen to have used it a few times.

Amanda:  We used it last time we went to Hawaii. Very similar flights. Very, very inexpensive flights. And this time as well, um, it's for people who, you know, you may have your eye on a few places in the world, um, but you have some flexibility. It's not for people who need to book a trip a year in advance for their two week holiday in June or whatever. It's not for that. It's more like, wow, there's a deal on.

Marco:  Can we make it happen?

Amanda:  Do you think we can go?

Marco:  Yeah, I think we can make it happen.

Amanda:  Yeah, Whatever. So we booked these, I think in November. And, uh, we went to Hawaii before with them. We went to Italy long time ago.

Marco:  That's right.

Amanda:  On a crazy trip. That was crazy.

Marco:  Um, because it was supposed to be, you had to leave from New York to Milan and then anywhere else in Europe to anywhere else in the world. And it was like 300 bucks.

Amanda:  It was, it was great for both of us. Yeah.

Marco:  And so we had, we had points to get to New York, so everything.

Amanda:  So we went to New York, we flew to Milan, and then we, uh, didn't end up doing the next leg of the trip, which was to India, because I had a theater contract. But we did the Milan part and it was great.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Five days in Italy. Can't beat it.

Marco:  And so we went to the island of Oahu.

Amanda:  We did.

Marco:  And then Amanda said we were speaking with friends who.

Amanda:  This past trip, I should say this past trip. Not while we were in Milan.

Marco:  No, no. This past trip that we just got back from, we went to the island of Oahu. And for me, Hawaii is a very special place. I just love it. There's something about those particular group of islands that really speak to me.

Amanda:  They're very magical.

Marco:  They're very magical. And we have good friends who also love Hawaii and actually introduced us to, to, to their love of Hawaii.

Amanda:  Yeah. They were going to go on a honeymoon to Thailand. Yeah. To Southeast Asia.

Marco:  But at that time there was something

Amanda:  going on with Thailand. I don't remember. So they decided not to, um, a Month or two before and instead rerouted and went to Hawaii and fell in love with it. And they've been back, I think, four or five times.

Marco:  So they.

Marco:  They made their love sort of trend. You know, we. We were curious and we wanted.

Amanda:  We get to hear about it from them. And, uh, so, uh, In, I think 2018, we went to the Big Island. So the four major islands of Hawaii, starting from left to right, are Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and the island of Hawaii known as the Big Island.

Marco:  Um, and there's Molokai and Lanai in there as well.

Amanda:  And also Nihue.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  But, um, which are smaller islands and that do have populations on them, but much smaller.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Um, so I know I was loud on that one.

Marco:  Sorry about that.

Amanda:  Uh, so in terms of places that we could go, um, those four are the. Were the ones that. They're the ones that have the. The airports and. Or the, you know, domestic.

Marco:  Lots of flights in and whatnot.

Amanda:  Lots, but depending on the airport. So, yeah. Um, a few years back, we went to the Big Island. It is the biggest of the four. We, the way we did that island, we had a week on that island. And we would sort of do three days in one location and then drive in a direction for an hour or so and then. Yeah, that kind of thing. Um, so we got these tickets to Oahu. And, uh, for those who don't know Hawaii as well, um, that's where Honolulu is, where the very famous Waikiki beach is.

Marco:  The North Shore, where the North Shore

Amanda:  is beautiful as well.

Marco:  A lot of surfing happens in that area.

Amanda:  One of, like, the great surf capitals of the world is the North Shore of Oahu, for sure. Um, and, um, just thinking what the other great surfing capitals must be. Cape Town, the Gold coast of Australia.

Marco:  California.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  California off the shores of Portugal, have really, really large waves.

Amanda:  Brazil as well.

Marco:  Brazil for sure.

Amanda:  Yeah. In any event, um, so, uh, we realized that we had booked just the way the flights worked out. I wanted to go for a decent. I wanted to go for at least a week.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda:  And so we booked Oahu, but it is a smaller island. And we kind of thought maybe we don't just stay on Oahu.

Marco:  Actually, it was Matt, our friend Matt, who said if you drive to the north part of the island, you can see the other island, Kauai.

Amanda:  You can see Kauai, which is the most. The leftest most island, um, on a map.

Marco:  Isn't Nihu, I guess.

Amanda:  Well, Nihu's sort of under it, but.

Marco:  Okay, okay, sorry.

Amanda:  But yeah, I guess is even more left. But anyway, um, and I said, well, if you can see Kauai, maybe we could go. And both he and Melissa said, that's a great idea. You have Almost, I think nine days or 10 days. Why don't you sort of split it up? So that's what we did. So we flew into Oahu, had a night in Oahu, and then got on a plane the next day and went to Kauai. It's a 20 minute flight.

Marco:  Um, it takes you much longer to get to the airport, stay in the airport than the actual flight itself to

Amanda:  wait for the plane. And actually more than once, the first time we did that flight, we got to the airport early enough that they just put us on an earlier plane. And then the second time we got on the wrong line because we thought, oh, this is our flight boarding and our ticket. They weren't very timely flights.

Marco:  Our tickets wouldn't scan. And that's how we figured out that we were trying to.

Amanda:  For the people in the line trying to go on the wrong flight. But, um, yeah, they sort of leave when they leave kind of thing. And, uh, although it was really lovely flying Hawaiian Air. So, yeah, we went to Kauai and we went to the north shore of Kauai, uh, in the town of Princeville and sort of the famous beach there is Hanalei Bay. And there's uh, lots of beaches up there. Gorgeous.

Marco:  The interesting thing about Kauai, or one of the things that I fell in love with with Kauai, they have a lot of chickens just roaming the island. All these chickens and roosters.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  And so in the morning there's multiple roosters crowing, cock a doodle doing. I don't know what you would call that crowing.

Amanda:  A rooster crow.

Marco:  Yeah, yeah. Crowed like from say 7 in the morning till 9:15, constant crowing of these roosters to get you up.

Amanda:  Yeah. Uh, they have taken over the island for sure.

Marco:  All because there was a hurricane, I think, in 1992 that disrupted a chicken coop or two.

Amanda:  Or several.

Marco:  Or several. And let loose these hens and roosters,

Amanda:  which is not the story I was told. I was told that explorers. I was actually told, and this is completely wrong, that Portuguese explorers, of which there are a lot, um, that did come through the islands in the 16, 17, 1800s, um, that they had decided they would leave a bunch of hens and roosters on Kauai so that they'd come back and they'd have dinner or whatever. That's not. I don't know who told Me that. That's not the story.

Marco:  I know that explorers, uh, left pigs in Florida.

Amanda:  Well, maybe I'm conflating two stories.

Marco:  I don't know. But I know I've heard them leaving pigs so that when they return, they'd have Spanish maybe.

Amanda:  I don't know, like Ponce de Leon and Magellan.

Marco:  This could also all be just, you know, stor stories that get passed down that are not 100 accurate.

Amanda:  Did you learn about the great explorers supposedly, when you were young? Um, Amerigo Vespucci, which I know.

Marco:  Amerigo.

Amanda:  Amerigo Vespucci. No, I didn't.

Marco:  Maybe I did, but I didn't really.

Amanda:  We all had to do projects on them in, like, grade four or five. And I did Ponce de Leon, the fountain of youth he was looking for.

Marco:  Wow.

Amanda:  Didn't work out.

Marco:  I'll tell you this. We saw, uh. Speaking of fountains, we saw several wonderful waterfalls.

Amanda:  Oh, my God. Beautiful.

Marco:  On our travels, including for anyone who can remember this, if you remember the television show Fantasy island from its first incarnation with, um, Ricardo Monteval. Thank you. And, uh, Hervey Villas and then other people who followed. When the opening sequence happens, you see a plane sort of flying, and you see these two waterfalls that are kind of in tandem. We went to go see those waterfalls.

Amanda:  We did. Yeah. They're beautiful.

Marco:  Yeah. We saw some wonderful waterfalls. Of course, the roosters. The water there was certainly a current, uh, when we were there.

Amanda:  Beautiful snorkeling in Kauai as well.

Marco:  Amanda's a good snorkeler. I'm not such a good snorkeler. What fish did you see this time?

Amanda:  I don't know fish names.

Marco:  Well, describe them to us.

Amanda:  Um, I think I saw tiger fish.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  I saw lots of yellowy fish. Whatever Dory is. On Finding Dory. Finding Nemo.

Marco:  I saw her, but that's Dory's blue.

Amanda:  Okay. But I think I saw that. It looked like that with the eyes on the top and the sort of spout on the bottom.

Marco:  Yeah, I think. I think that fish is called a tang. Like the drink.

Amanda:  Yeah, like the drink. Um, I saw one fish that was really neat. It was, like, almost like a black and white, um, zebrafish. Oh, well, almost, but it was, like, speckled, like little stones of white. Uh, I also saw a very big, um. Looked almost like what I would think an orange roughy would look like. Like, very kind of gruff and, um. But it was gray. Okay.

Marco:  A gray roughy.

Amanda:  Maybe a gray roughy.

Marco:  It'd be strange if you saw an orange roughy in Hawaiian waters. Because orange ruffy is an Australian fish.

Amanda:  Is it really? I didn't know that. I thought it was a Chilean fish.

Marco:  That's Chilean sea bass.

Amanda:  I get them mixed up because they're both overfished, right? Yeah, yeah.

Marco:  Otherwise known as a tooth fish.

Amanda:  Um, I saw one, a lot of ones that had, like, teeth. Things that, like, almost like shrimp. Like little things that, like, clean out the water. Like, clean out, like that scavenger for. For clams or things like that.

Marco:  Are you talking about, like, whiskers on the bottom of their chin?

Amanda:  But the whiskers, like, do the work. Do you know what that means? Do you know that?

Marco:  I. I know what you're describing, but that's not what those whiskers do.

Amanda:  But.

Marco:  Oh, well, I don't know what they don't. I don't think they're whiskers. Scavenge for fish, but I could be wrong.

Amanda:  Lots of great fish.

Marco:  Yeah. I saw a school of. Of fish. A school of gray fish.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  And I saw some sea urchin, and I saw urchin. Urchins. Urchins, Yes. I saw a couple of sea urchins. Uh, and, uh. Yeah. And then we saw some turtles.

Amanda:  We saw some turtles.

Marco:  We saw some beautiful turtles.

Amanda:  Yeah. And monk seals.

Marco:  We did see some monk seals on.

Amanda:  Monk seals on Kauai. Turtles on Oahu.

Marco:  I thought Amanda had seen the monk seal because we were looking for a spot on the beach. And what they do when these animals come to shore is oftentimes they'll put, like, a barrier, just. Just some. Some rope around them to give the monk seal and the turtles their space. And so no one sort of trips over them or disturbs them while they're basking on the beach and resting. We had put our blankets down and, you know, found our spot. And then a few minutes later, Amanda turns to me and says, oh, my goodness, there's. There's this giant thing on the beach. And I said, yeah, that's the monk seal. We walked by and it had a huge sign that said, don't disturb the monk seal.

Amanda:  Uh, I didn't see it.

Marco:  She didn't see it. And when she saw it, she was really surprised.

Amanda:  It's a really quite taken aback when you're lying on a beach and then a gigantic seal is next to you, it's off putting.

Marco:  Sure, sure. And we saw three turtles. Do you remember their names?

Amanda:  Um, I only remember the one name. The other ones were Hawaiian names, so I don't remember them.

Marco:  Which name stood out for you, Olivia?

Amanda:  Dawn.

Marco:  Which is they named these turtles this.

Amanda:  I can look. I might have photos of this.

Marco:  Amanda might have photos. But, um, here, I'll look. What they do is they cord off their green turtles. And what they do is they cord them off and then they put little names and how old they are and how often they come to that particular beach, which was known as Turtle Beach. And we really drove quite a bit to go to Turtle beach and it certainly rewarded us with a few turtles that were just hanging out. And, uh, you can adopt another name.

Amanda:  Was JP.

Marco:  JP, how old was JP? 23. Right.

Amanda:  JP was 22 to 27 years old.

Marco:  And what does it say about JP?

Amanda:  JP's Hawaiian name is Miya Nui. JP first appeared at Ah, Lanakia in March of 2015. Since then, Mia Nui has become one of our most frequent visitors to the beach. Um, J.P. was the first new turtle to begin regularly basking here at Lanakia. I guess that's where we were after three new turtles joined the ohana, which means family, in 2010. Take note of JP's tail growing longer. It says the only obvious distinction between a male and a female, the turtle's nickname, J.P. was bestowed in honor of Malama and Honu's father, Joanne Pettigrew.

Marco:  Okay, so it's great. Um, hanu means turtle in Hawaiian as well. And, and so they named them and they allow you to sort of adopt a turtle. So, you know, you sponsor the turtle for conservation and preservations and for these people to be there. There's always someone on the beach ensuring that no one disturbs the turtles and so.

Amanda:  Have more hot turtle news.

Marco:  I would love more hot turtle news.

Amanda:  Okay. We also met Punahele. Um, Hawaiian name Punahele, which means the favorite one. Punahele was a faint quarter size crescent shaped indentation. Has a faint quarter size crescent shaped indentation on the second right lateral scoot. She is another of our Honu turtle that can be found basking here year round. During 2019, she appeared on the beach more than any other turtle. In 2020, Punahele undertook the 1000 mile round trip migration to the French Frigate Shoals to nest. She left Lanakai on April 13, 2020. Took a meandering route. See, they have them all tracked. And um, and then she built a nest, it looks like. And then she came back August 18, 2020.

Marco:  There you go.

Amanda:  That's how she spent her summer of 2020.

Marco:  So before Amanda gets to the third turtle, the one that we remember most, a friend of mine just celebrated his milestone birthday and I wanted to get him something. And so, you know, it's hard because most of us have everything that we could possibly need, um, and want. And so what do you get someone who has that and you want to celebrate. So I'm going to sponsor our next

Amanda:  turtle whose Hawaiian name is Ipoh, but

Marco:  her English name is Olivia Dawn.

Amanda:  Yeah, we'll find out why.

Marco:  And the reason I want to sponsor Olivia dawn is she's just a little bit younger than my friend.

Amanda:  She's the eldest and so he's still older than her. So Ipoh, which was her Hawaiian name, means sweetheart. She's 47 years old. She weighs 230 pounds. In 2004, Ipoh made the 1000 mile round trip migration to the French Frigate Shoals to nest. We'll have to look up these shoals. It took her 35 days to get to the shoals. Data gathered from the time depth recorder attached to her shell revealed that Olivia dawn made a noteworthy deep dive of 443ft, which is 135 meters.

Marco:  That's nothing to snark at.

Amanda:  No, I mean I wouldn't snark at Olivia Dawn, a 47 year old turtle. It was almost 11 years until she returned to nest again. She was the 101 of over 850 turtles recorded as nesting at the shoals in 2015. Ippo lives in our cove year round. Whether she hauls out in the morning or afternoon, she can still be seen on the beach at sunset 86% of the time. I don't know who did that math.

Marco:  But so, so Olivia Dawn. Olivia dawn likes that beach, which is nicknamed Turtle Beach.

Amanda:  Mhm, mhm.

Marco:  And so if you, I think it's called. Yeah. If you are wanting to sponsor a Hawaiian turtle. Do we have the website?

Amanda:  Sorry, Lanakia Beach.

Marco:  Lanakia Beach.

Amanda:  Yeah. Yeah, I've said it wrong. Um, Yep. Let me just look.

Marco:  Amanda will look. But so, um, they were giving us a lot of information and they gave us some, uh, some bookmarks and they said if you want to sponsor one of the turtles, you can, um, I'll

Amanda:  say it, but it's gonna, it's gonna take some doing and I can, I

Marco:  can put the website.

Amanda:  So just know that if you're drifting off. Don't worry, we will post this elsewhere.

Marco:  It'll be in our show notes, but

Amanda:  it's Malamanahanu.org okay, so M M A L A M M A N A H O N U dot O R G and honu.

Marco:  Honu is one of the few Hawaiian words that, that we know. I have committed to memory.

Amanda:  Yeah. Which means turtle.

Marco:  Which means turtle.

Amanda:  What other Hawaiian words did you have?

Marco:  You know, I know man is kane. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it correctly.

Amanda:  Uh, you know, woman is wakine. And I had a dream that I was singing it over and over.

Marco:  Oh, that's. That's pretty.

Amanda:  Two days ago. Yeah, I actually got up. This happened to me again last night, but I didn't record it. But often I get up and I'll just record because there's songs playing in my dream and I'll just sing them into my phone.

Marco:  That's wonderful.

Amanda:  I don't do anything with them, but. Well, as long as there's songs I've never heard before and so I sing them into my phone.

Marco:  I didn't know you were such a mistress. No.

Amanda:  Yeah, it happens. Lately, M. It's been happening a lot. But, um, yeah, sometimes I woke up

Marco:  the other night and I had some scenes in a movie in my. So I. I went downstairs and I wrote them. Um, Amanda and I. This is something that Amanda has done that I. I followed suit on. And I really love is when we get letters in the mail, bills, um, or whatnot. We keep the envelopes as scrap paper and they're perfect size to jot things down. And so I wrote the scenes on, um, these empty envelopes.

Amanda:  That's why my envelopes were downstairs. Now, there's one thing I want to say. If you're drifting off and you have thoughts that come into your head, I don't want people to get caught up thinking they have to go and write them down. There's a great author who's the guy that wrote that book with Dolly Parton

Marco:  crime author James Jameson.

Amanda:  James Patterson said, I will not anymore, no matter what the idea is. Get up from my bed and write it down. And often when you do that and you think, okay, I'm gonna, uh, write down this dream or whatever, it's not as great as you think it is in the moment. You read it after I wrote a whole stand up routine once I came downstairs and wrote it all down. I had dreamt it. I never read it again, but I don't think it was particularly funny.

Marco:  Well, there you go. I also want to mention that we're using new mics today.

Amanda:  Microphones.

Marco:  Microphones. Microphones. Yeah. So I used, um, the monies that we've raised from our patrons to purchase these microphones, and hopefully it'll take care some of the sound issues of Popping Peas and Other things that.

Amanda:  Oh, really? Is that the idea?

Marco:  Well, yeah.

Amanda:  You. You move your feet a lot, mister.

Marco:  Do I.

Amanda:  Do you realize how much you move your feet when you talk? All I hear is. It's like oceans. All I hear is that sound, and I always think, oh, the mic's going to pick it up. But I guess it doesn't.

Marco:  I'm, uh, mimicking Hanukkah.

Amanda:  Yeah, you are, honey. What are other. I wanted to say, speaking of hanu, what are other. So hanu. Wakine. Wakine or wahine?

Marco:  Wahine, I think, is woman.

Amanda:  Yeah. Uh, so what else do we know?

Marco:  Ukulele. Ukulele is ukulele as we know it.

Amanda:  Melakiliki maka is Merry Christmas. It's not.

Marco:  It's not.

Amanda:  It's just them taking the Hawaiian Alphabet and saying Merry Christmas, which I never knew until recently.

Marco:  And, um, speaking of the Christmas episodes or the holiday episodes, I'm going to take them down so I have them for next year in case our listeners are like. Because sometimes I'll take them. They're like, we don't have the holiday episodes anymore. Well, I saved them for December, so they'll be coming down very soon.

Amanda:  So, um, what other words do you know in Hawaiian?

Marco:  Oh, Amanda, you're, like, putting me on the spot. I'm, um, trying to think of other words. So, uh, I know. What was falls. Falls. I think I knew falls in Hawaiian.

Amanda:  Oh, I don't know.

Marco:  Take a second. You know the. The pork. The Kahlua pork.

Amanda:  Okay. It's.

Marco:  It's the style of, uh. Um. It's not made with Kahlua, the alcohol.

Amanda:  Right.

Marco:  It's what they call that particular pork.

Amanda:  We learned that Waikiki means, uh, bubbling water springs.

Marco:  Yes. Waile, I think, is falls. Yeah, I'm. And I. And I'm.

Amanda:  Walea was the name of the fall. The fantasy Island Falls, I think.

Marco:  Yeah. So these are some words that we have.

Amanda:  You see that a lot. Or waimea. You see a lot in Hawaii.

Marco:  I did appreciate that they did have Hawaiian words alongside English words. Um, for you to sort of learn

Amanda:  a word we heard a lot was ono.

Marco:  Ono for something that's really tasty or delicious.

Amanda:  Yeah, very ono. And in fact, watching the news in Hawaii, they do use these words in the news in the morning shows. They'll, you know, they're speaking in English, but then they'll. They'll bring in the Hawaiian words whenever they can. Shaka, which is that hang loose, kind of keep it easy.

Marco:  Mahalo is the one word that I used every day, which is thank you. Mahalo.

Amanda:  So there, yeah, you know, a few words.

Marco:  And I think that brings us to the ultimate Hawaiian word for, uh, our listeners, because we're. We're right to the end, Amanda. And that's aloha.

Amanda:  And aloha means hello, goodbye, and also love.

Marco:  And there you go.

Amanda:  And thank you to our ohana, which can mean family, but also community gathering of friends or anybody that gives you that familial or family feeling.

Marco:  I want to thank, uh, everyone we encountered in Hawaii. Everyone was so lovely. And to you, our insomnia family, uh, for joining us today. We will have an episode up tomorrow to make up for the episode you didn't get last week. Until then, we hope you were able to listen and sleep.

Amanda:  Mahalo.

Costco, Hoodies and Styles of Pizza
In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco shares a previously released Patreon conversation with special guest Chris Bond from the We Like Theme Parks podcast. Originally recorded as a bonus episode, this relaxed and easygoing chat is now being shared with all listeners.
Marco and Chris settle into a calm conversation about some wonderfully everyday topics. The episode begins with a discussion about the unique world of Costco — the oversized aisles, the irresistible snacks, and the curious joy of browsing bulk items. From there, the conversation drifts into the world of hoodies and sports caps, exploring what makes a hoodie truly comfortable and which styles of caps stand out.
Naturally, the episode eventually turns to one of life’s most comforting foods: pizza. Marco and Chris compare different pizza styles, including the famous contrast between Detroit-style pizza and Chicago-style pizza, reflecting on what makes each one unique.
As always, the conversation unfolds slowly and casually, making it perfect background listening while you wind down for the evening. The Insomnia Project is a podcast designed to help quiet racing thoughts, relax the mind, and gently guide listeners toward sleep. If you don’t make it to the end of the episode because you drift off, we take that as the highest compliment.
You can now enjoy ad-free listening with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com.
Follow along for updates and more calm conversation on Instagram @theinsomniaproject, Twitter/X @listenandsleep, and at theinsomniaproject.com.

​Costco, Hoodies and styles of Pizza

(Original aidate: Fev 15, 2023)

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. I am, um, your host, Marco Timpano. We hope that you will listen, relax, chill, enjoy, give us feedback, give us your suggestions. And I'm just so happy with Chris Bond, a good friend of mine. Chris Bond, welcome.

Chris Bond:  Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited.

Marco:  So we both have a love. So we talked about root beer, we talked about slushies, we talked about the cottage, and we talked about hot Tubs. But something else that you and I have a love for is Costco. And I got to tell you, I don't know if this is an experience that you have, but whenever I'm in a different place. So, for example, we were in Hawaii and we drove by a Costco, and my wife Amanda immediately knew that we had to go there and we rented a car and she goes, do you want to go to the Costco? And I'm like, no, we're in Hawaii. I didn't want to. But meanwhile, you know. And she's like, I can see it in your face. You want to go to the Costco. And so we went to the Hawaiian Costco. And if there's any Hawaiian listeners out there, anyone who's in Hawaii, uh, I love your Costco. I'm going to say that first on the Big Island. And the reason I love to go to different Costco's is they have different things. So in the Hawaiian Costco, they had surfboards for sale.

Chris Bond:  Oh, yeah, I believe it.

Marco:  And they were beautiful.

Chris Bond:  Yeah.

Marco:  Now tell me, what do you love about Costco's Costco?

Chris Bond:  I feel like there's. First of all, there's so much to love about Costco. It's really hard to just pin it back to a handful of things. And I can completely see why you had that experience. Marco, think about when you go to Costco here, you can buy hockey equipment, sticks, bags, hockey tape. I mean, it can be very local. Um, but what's unique about your Costco experience is, first of all, I also like to go there and have the kind of. It's almost a rite of passage. You have the hot dog and soda for A$50. If you want to dabble into the slice of pizza or the chicken wings, you can. It's very extremely reasonably priced. Sometimes I like to do that before I shop. Or sometimes I get a really good kind of, um, I get really hungry and an appetite. Just driving around and seeing all the food and sampling here and there that once I'm done the shopping, I wheel my cart up and then I hit that Costco food really hard. But something. There's. There's an area in Costco and I feel like every Costco has it. Tell me what you think.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  There's like a middle section that is always a seasonal kind of, um, grab bag, if you will.

Marco:  Sure.

Chris Bond:  Of items that show up in the center section. You know, that does the left hand side or. I mean, I'm using my Costco as a template here. But of course, of Course it's your typical areas with your, your spices and your, your hard items, your condiments and soups and. And then you fit to the book

Marco:  section and the um, underwear and socks section.

Chris Bond:  There's always the clothes, there's the appliances and the hardware and all those things. And then you get up to the freezers and you get the food and the cheeses and anyway, but there's always a section that's a seasonal section and you never know what's going to be in there.

Marco:  You're right. Christmas time you get different kinds of wrapping paper. There might be different sort of ornamentational things you can put in front of your house. Uh, you know, summertime, there might be like, um, you never know, you might get that fake grass grass kind of thing with a putter and a couple of blue golf balls. Like there's. It's a grab bag of surprise.

Chris Bond:  Yeah. And those are the weird things that always get me. And I always make a point to journey through those too. Or three aisles. Sure. I have no idea what's in here. And I usually come out with something. Um, I think most recently I came out with a love seat. Like a camping chair. That was two, was two camping chairs. It's a love seat camping chair. And it was a great value. I think I only paid $50 and it was perfect for camping. And we like to camp and cottage. And I also now I can do it in snuggle with my wife. Um, or I can have both of my kids goof around in it.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  Would you ever think to go to a store and buy a camp like a chair love seat? No. But when it's presented to you at Costco and it's at such a value, you can't help but throw it in your cart.

Marco:  And the quality is always top notch. So you could buy, you could probably find a double seated, um, camping chair or what do you call them? Um, canvas.

Chris Bond:  Like a camping chair. No, I think you said, yeah, you

Marco:  could, you could find that maybe online and through various sort of ordering online websites. And they'd send to you, but the quality wouldn't be what is the standard quality of Costco?

Chris Bond:  Yeah, and you know you're going to get good quality. And if there is an issue, Costco is great for returns and exchanges. No problems, hardly any questions asked. And I find that the stuff that they do offer, none of it is low quality. Um, no, there's that you will always see something that you never saw. For instance, um, or something unique, uh, like around any, sometimes seasonal Gifts, whether it's a Christmas thing or a Halloween thing, there'll be some Christmas decoration or unique thing or outdoor piece that you would never see anywhere or just think to look for.

Marco:  Yes.

Chris Bond:  And there it is. And you look at it and you're like, I want that, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money on it. Oh, it's really reasonably priced. Well, now I can justify buying this unique thing that I was not looking for. So it's always a surprise to go down those seasonal aisles. And I really enjoy it. And a lot of it is. Can be gifts, too. Rando gifts, you know, Chris.

Marco:  So we're both performers and writers and producers and we both have agents. And so for Christmas or for the holidays, I like to get my agent a thank you gift for all the work that he has gotten me through the year. And I always go to Costco because they'll have. Have unique, high quality items that make a perfect thank you gift or holiday gift. So one year it could be fancy honeys with, um, you know, little dipping sticks and containers and whatnot, or I'm trying to think. But we bought some wonderful items like jams from all over the world and there was like 13 of them, well packaged. And every year it's something different. But I always go to that seasonal section. One time I got, um, actually it was before we went to Hawaii. I got a snorkel mask and fins from the seasonal section. And it was. They were great. And I have them, I put them in my closet so that when we go somewhere tropical, we always pull them out. They have more than you expect. So they have the basic items, but they have a lovely mesh bag that it all fits in. They have, you know, the colors that make them stand out. And there's just something about them, the quality and the way it's made that makes me happy. So I'm a huge Costco fan.

Chris Bond:  Couldn't agree more. And it might be some kind of outdoor patio furniture. It could be something for camping. It could be. I think one year we bought one of those sun tents, those half shield tents, if you have young children and you're on the beach, so they have some shade, but it's an area they can just, they can sit and play in. Last thing I was thinking of when I went shopping that day, but I saw it and I was like, wow, that isn't expensive at all. Looks handy. I'm gonna grab it. And it feels good and it's. You feel a good value. You didn't have to go Hunting. And it's a surprise. Yeah. So I gotta, I gotta tip my hat to Costco for showing me things I never knew I needed and wanted.

Marco:  And listen, I just want, I just opened up one of my Costco olive oils, which is my favorite olive oil that I can get. And I get it at Costco. Have you ever purchased a hoodie or a baseball cap from Costco? And if not, I want to talk about that because that's something else that you like.

Chris Bond:  I do. Um, I can't say I've bought baseball caps, perhaps a hoodie. Um, I've definitely bought like a sports jacket there. And not. When I say sports, Jack, I don't mean like a, like a, like a work jacket, like a fancy jacket. I mean like a sporting, like an Adidas or a Bench or kind of a summer jacket. Um, but I can tell you what I do buy there. I definitely buy my underwear there.

Marco:  Yes.

Chris Bond:  I have to, I fully, fully endorse the Calvin Klein, um, elastic waist boxer briefs for comfort and style. They look great, they feel great. They so breathable. I know there's like, there's very fancy underwear that you can get for the value. You can't beat a, uh, three pack for $25 of CK underwear. They're perfect.

Marco:  There you go. I'm a huge fan of their Kirkland Lake bicycle short underwear. So that's, that's the brand that I gravitate to. Once again, comfortable, stylish and, and well made. But I want to shift back to hoodies and caps. Please let's get away from Costco because I have a list here and We've already spent 10 minutes on Costco and I have a feeling this is going to be a, ah, two parter that we'll record the second part later on. But let's dive into hoodies and baseball caps.

Chris Bond:  Um, I grew up as a big sports fan. I love baseball. I love sports. I like to support all my teams. But in so much that when I was younger, you know, sports caps kind of became in style as well.

Marco:  Sure.

Chris Bond:  So I started to buy caps of different teams just based on I like their logo, I like their colors. So it became more about me not only being a sports fan. It was, did I have a hat that matched the rest of my outfit? Did I have a tracksuit that I wanted to match or a hoodie that I wanted to match my hat to?

Nidhi:  Right.

Chris Bond:  And then I started to gravitate towards some of the brand stuff like Kangal or bench, um, or Adidas or just cap sport. Yeah. Just caps. Um, whatever it was. Billabong.

Marco:  Sure.

Chris Bond:  Um, just these caps. Because some of the styles were really unique. They weren't just a hard black or green or red. You were getting patterns, and you were getting leather, and you were getting just some unique looks. And, uh, I've just continued to kind of buy them and be interested in them, and, uh, I. Hasn't stopped. I would say I buy maybe two hats a year, maybe. Yeah, maybe three.

Marco:  How many in your entire collection?

Chris Bond:  Um, I would say I have. Here's the thing is, I'm married with children, and I live in a very small condo, and so space is at a premium. So I would say that maybe annually or every other year, my wife says, you got to get rid of some of these hats.

Nidhi:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  Okay. So the collection is always in flux.

Marco:  I see.

Chris Bond:  I would say I got about 30 to 40 hats, okay. That are living in the house, and I think I have 10 that are on, like, a permanent rotation.

Marco:  Your top four, five hats. What are they? Caps, I should say.

Chris Bond:  Ooh. I have a. My favorite one I have right now is a. Is a white Toronto Raptors world champion hat. But it's a beautiful, um, Mitchell and, um, that throwback company, Mitchell and Ness.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  It's all white with, like, white embroidery with the, uh, the Larry o' Brien trophy on the side. There was a lot of championship Raptor gear that came out, and this I thought was just beautiful. You can't even really, at a glance, see that it's a Raptors championship hat.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  Once you really look at it, you can o. I see world champion Raptors. So it's style more than Raptors. But I obviously, I'm a huge Toronto Raptors fan, so I also have a Toronto Raptors regular championship hat that I enjoy, and I wear. I would say top five. You said. Oh, boy. I have another Toronto Raptors hat that is a trucker hat. Okay. So it has a plaid finish with the old vintage dinosaur logo on it that's really oversized.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  Um, so I really enjoy wearing that. Most of the caps I wear are flat caps. You know, it's a bit more of a hip, hip hop kind of urban look, um, that I do wear, but sometimes I like the properly baseball ridged cap.

Marco:  In other words, bend it, bend it. So it has, like, almost like a C shape over your eye eyebrows. Let's.

Chris Bond:  Yes.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  Uh, yeah, I. So I like that. Another cap that I wear more of, like, baseball style is. I have a Quebec Nordic hat. Again, this is Mitchell and Ness throwback. They make some of the best hats, uh, Wearer and Mitchell and Ness make some of the best stuff.

Marco:  And so are they comfortable to wear or they're just stylish in a way that no other cap is stylish?

Chris Bond:  Well, I mean you can get, listen, baseball hats or caps, they can get very expensive and you can get very specific. Uh, some of the cheaper ones that are, have the kind of the plastic adjustable fit.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  Those are great. But when you start getting into like more. I don't want to call them bespoke fits but specific hat sizes. Like your seven and three quarters.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  Um, those can get very expensive. You know, once you really know your hat size you can get some very specific looks and hats. And I love those hats. They just fit so much better than the adjustable.

Marco:  Yeah.

Chris Bond:  And they're so much more comfortable because they're, they're fitted for your head. Um, what's interesting is you get that fitted hat and then you get a haircut and all of a sudden that hat feels a little looser.

Marco:  Um, what is your hat size? Just for future reference?

Chris Bond:  I think I'm seven and three quarters. That's. I think I said it. Yeah.

Marco:  Always like you know, Chris Bond's birthday, Christmas. I need to know these things, you know.

Chris Bond:  Yeah. If I need another hat, if my wife has thrown out some and I need to replenish.

Marco:  So Quebec North Dinks hat. What is. I think you got one more or two more hats to put on this list.

Chris Bond:  Um, uh, the Quebec Nordique I have.

Marco:  Do you have one that's a non sports cap that you like to wear?

Chris Bond:  I do. I have a hat that I really love. It's my, it's an Evil Dead the Musical hat that it's, it's a beautifully made uh, it was, I think it was new era but it was a fashioned style of like new era cap with the embroidered logo. I mean obviously that's some merchandise from um, a project I've worked on but uh, I've had it for years. It's a great fit. I try to only wear it on special occasions or when I'm doing. If I'm going to like a, like a fan expo or something kind of nerdy or genre based, I might pop that on. Um, I also have, I still love my, my kangal, my vintage kangal caps. All white or all black with just the kangaroo. Um, I also have a tan colored one that's got some leather on it.

Marco:  I um, know that one. Yep. Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah.

Chris Bond:  But I try to rotate them. I also have Some really older caps. I have a Seattle Supersonics. I know I'm saying sports, but this is a team that doesn't exist anymore.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  From when they did exist. Uh, kind of the old school starter, um, caps, when this was in vogue in the late 80s, early 90s.

Marco:  This is an original, um, sports team cap that doesn't exist versus the Quebec Nordiques, which is no longer a team. Uh, retro made hat.

Chris Bond:  Correct. Yeah. Mitchell and Ness does a lot of, like, bringing these caps back and bringing these styles back, which is great. Mostly focused on basketball and hockey. Uh, but, uh, I bet if you live in Seattle, there's a ton of the Supersonic stuff, but when you live in Toronto, there isn't. So I have this old. Before I was a Raptor fan, I was a Supersonics fan. Um, so I had Sonic's stuff and I still have them and I wear them from time to time. But yeah, I have a general rotation of hats. And then every now and then I might sub in something special from the vintage collection, uh, if you will.

Marco:  This is amazing. Okay, so what makes a good hoodie? And tell our listeners what a hoodie is in case they call it something else.

Chris Bond:  Well, I think it's, um, like a heavy sweater with a hood. You know, maybe it's got drawstring to, you know, firm up the hood. Uh, it could be. There's different kinds of hoodies. There's. Whether it's a, uh, half zipper, a full zipper, or it's just a pullover. I think those all qualify as hoodies. There's even hoodies that are sleeveless that, ah, you might wear a T shirt underneath.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  It's a little more for fashion than it is for comfort or warmth.

Marco:  In parts of Canada, they'll call, um, the hoodie a snuggle bunny. I think it's those pullover ones that have, you know, the pockets that you can sort of put in the middle of your.

Chris Bond:  Oh, that's a snuggle bunny.

Marco:  Yeah, I think that's a snuggle. But I think. I think it's used more in the Prairies of Canada, where they use that term. But it's a Canadian term.

Chris Bond:  I have those. Yeah, absolutely. Um, they're great. Um, yeah, I think the hoodie is very in vogue, definitely in kind of urban circles. And, you know, you're getting my. I'm wearing the flat hats and the hoodies, but a lot of it is for comfort. It is fashionable and it is comfortable. I like a bigger set. Ah, hoodie. Um, it's something Easy to throw on if it's just chilly outside.

Marco:  Sure.

Chris Bond:  I, um, find that what I love about hoodies is actually the hood. If I'm outside and get a little cool, throw up the hoodie. The hoodies also keep my ear set in place when I have my apple ear pods on.

Marco:  Sure, of course.

Chris Bond:  Kind of helps with my weird shaped ears. Um, and there's, I mean, there's so many ways you can go. Whether it's. If you're looking for a sports style hoodie or something that has. Is embroidered with something that might be something nerdy. Right. Fun. I mean, I have, I have a We Like Theme Parks podcast hoodie that I was, I got off t public that I had made that I love. I wear it at the theme parks. Comfortable.

Marco:  Uh, I just want to mention that's your podcast called We Like Theme Parks and if there's people who are fans of that, can they get that hoodie too? Or is it just an exclusive one for you?

Chris Bond:  Nope. Absolutely. All the we like theme park T shirt stuff is available on Teepublic. If you go to the We like theme parks podcast welikethemeparks.com there's a link to Teepublic. If you go through there, you can find all our stuff.

Marco:  What is Teepublic and should I have an Insomnia project something on this Teepublic?

Chris Bond:  Why not? You absolutely could. Um, it's a, it's a reseller of T shirts where you can. The beauty part of it is there's a zillion different designs on the site. So if you're nerding out about anything that you're interested in, let's say, Marco, you like pizza and you type in pizza. There's going to be 200 different designs of pizza that you can order on a shirt and you can customize the size, the style of shirt, whatever you like. Completely customizable. And it isn't just stop at shirts, it's mugs, it's anything you want. Stickers, you name it.

Marco:  Um, so I'll leave that open to my Patreons or my patrons here on Patreon if they want to Insomnia project merchandise. Um, if not, check out We Like Theme Parks on Teepublic and maybe you'll, you'll gravitate to the hoodie that you speak of. Anyways, continue. I'm sorry, I felt, feel like I cut you off there and you were getting right into.

Chris Bond:  My point is, is that you could design something yourself for the Insubnia project or Even if you have catchphrases or things like. Or parts of the show that you want to express in a shirt, it doesn't just have to be your logo. It could be anything.

Marco:  Oh, cool.

Chris Bond:  So in theme park land, uh, what's very in vogue in theme parks right now is wearing a shirt or a group of you wearing the same shirts or something that expresses your theme park fandom. Whether it's, I'm a Disney princess or, you know, uh, Walt's got all my money, or my other car is a minivan. Uh, Dole whips. Dole whips and dole whips, what have you. Uh, there's a ton of that stuff, and some of it is stuff that we designed ourselves at Wayne, like theme park. We like theme parks that's available on Teepublic. But also other designers have been other stuff too. But, Marco, you could just add your own designs and have a line of,

Marco:  uh, listen, project where I'll leave it to my patrons. If they think I should do it, I'll do it. Otherwise, I'm just gonna. I'll. I'll let that. For you. For you. Maybe I could have a pajama or a night shirt or, you know, those sleep masks and write listen on one eye and where your nose would be and then sleep on the other eye. We'll see. We'll figure that out. But I never heard of that. So that's why I was.

Chris Bond:  Yeah. One of these guys. Yeah. I love it.

Marco:  Yeah.

Chris Bond:  When I. When you said sleep mask, I immediately thought of something for, um. What do you call it? Like, the oxygen masks?

Marco:  Oh, the. Like the.

Chris Bond:  The sleep apnea masks.

Marco:  Yeah.

Chris Bond:  Customizable sleep apnea.

Marco:  I don't know about that. That might be a little bit much, but, um, I want to jump now from hoodies to another thing that you and I share that we enjoy, and that's pizza. Because you're a big connoisseur of pizza. I'm a big connoisseur of pizza. I think our listeners. I'm sorry if this is making you hungry, but what makes a good pizza for you?

Chris Bond:  Chris, I would say that we. I would wager that you and I have different tastes when it comes to pizza. Okay, Marco, you are authentically Italian, and I'm sure you appreciate a very good pizza. And I think we've had some nice pizza together. Uh, a pizza where you said, chris, you must try this pizza. And I went and I tried it, but I have very simple tastes as well, and I like big lot of. A lot of meat and Sauce and cheese, uh, a lot of spice. I like really, uh, rich. And I will haven't say the way you can say the word dirty. Dirty pizza.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  There's a pizza right now in the city. Can I talk about something local?

Marco:  Yes.

Chris Bond:  That I love trying to think of the name of it. It's Detroit style pizza. Have you had Detroit style pizza?

Marco:  Uh, yes, I have. And Detroit style pizza for our listeners. Do you know what makes it Detroit style pizza?

Chris Bond:  I think it's the pan. It's a pan pizza.

Marco:  It's the pan pizza. But it's also important that the cheese gets distributed towards the edge of the pan so it forms like a cheese crust on the side of the pizza. And it tends to be a thicker pizza, not like a Chicago style pizza, which is very thick, but thicker than let's say a, uh, wood oven pizza. And they tend to be more square in shape. Is that true? Like they're more rectangular square. Okay, so that's. That if I'm not mistaken, is what sort of helps define Detroit style pizza. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt.

Chris Bond:  No, you're not. No. You've opened up a really interesting topic of debate because a Chicago style deep dish is a lot of bread, it's a lot of dough, and I think the cheese goes underneath the ingredients. You know what I mean? Um, yeah.

Marco:  It becomes more. Truly is more like a pie.

Chris Bond:  Yeah.

Marco:  Than what we know pizza to be, in my opinion. In other words, it's deep dish. You get the cheese, um, underneath and everything else is on top. So it can be very, um, wet. It can be a very wet pizza.

Chris Bond:  Yeah. Anyway, but as far as being Italian goes, that Detroit style pizza has like a focaccia kind of experience. When you think of when you make a nice focacciata when it's, it's typically can be in a pan, you've got your olive oil and you might slice the cheeses and put them inside. I feel like this is a really nice medium where you get that, that really oiled kind of pan bread with all the nice, uh, spices and you know what makes a really good focaccia, but, but, but just riddled with rich, lot of sauce, a lot of cheese right up to the edges like Marco was suggesting. And I got to tell you, the Detroit style pizza is kind of my favorite right now. But it's not cheap. It's a, it's a premium pizza. When you want to have it, it's. It's pretty fancy. And this isn't anything like any, um. What's the Detroit Style pizza that we have here. Little Caesars.

Marco:  Right.

Chris Bond:  I still, I still enjoy Little Caesars.

Marco:  Um, but if that's not Detroit style, Little Caesars is just your regular sort of.

Chris Bond:  It's not Detroit style, but it's pizza from Detroit. Like the Little Caesars is from Detroit.

Marco:  Oh, is it really? I didn't know that.

Chris Bond:  Mike Ilitch is the Little Caesars King. He owns the Rebels and the Pistons and all of Detroit. He's the guy, um, the Detroit pizza man. But. So they have Detroit pizza, but this is a Detroit style pizza. And I believe the restaurant in Toronto is called Descendants.

Marco:  I. I thought it was called Detroit style Pizza, but maybe that's just. It's. It's logo or whatever.

Chris Bond:  Maybe there's more than one.

Marco:  There's one not too far from your house on Queen Street. I believe that's Descendants.

Chris Bond:  Yeah, it's okay.

Marco:  So it's Descendants. Okay.

Chris Bond:  Yeah, it's, uh, really great. It's probably my favorite pizza. And recently I had a birthday with my dad, and my dad is a huge pizza guy. And so what I did was I got four different pizzas. I got his favorite pizza that I know he like I said, what's your favorite pizza, dad?

Marco:  And what was it?

Chris Bond:  It's from Papa DiGiorgio's, which is near our good friend Trevor and Dale's house.

Marco:  Yes.

Chris Bond:  It's called the Godfather pizza. It's got like Sicilian sausage on it. Delicious pizza. So I got that and then I went and I got one of these Detroit style pizzas as well.

Marco:  Which flavors did you get for that?

Chris Bond:  It was a very Canadian kind of excel, bacon, button mushrooms, uh, pepperoni, onion. Yum, yum. And then I went and got a Little Caesar's pizza because I wanted the pizza with the cheese and the crust.

Marco:  Okay.

Chris Bond:  To have that experience. And then I got a pizza Nova

Marco:  Pizza, also a great pizza.

Chris Bond:  I love it.

Marco:  I love a pizza Nova pizza.

Chris Bond:  Yeah. Good.

Marco:  I really do. Yeah.

Chris Bond:  But something simple. I got that one because the kids just like pepperoni and cheese. And I thought my dad might turn his nose up to the other pizzas. But my dad was all over this Descendants Detroit pizza and was like, this is the best pizza I've ever had.

Marco:  What a lovely idea. If you have a friend or someone who really enjoys pizza and it's a spirit special day for them to go and get their favorite pizza, your favorite pizza in the third or fourth different style pizza for you to have. Truly a pizza party for their birthday or special occasion.

Chris Bond:  Yeah, that's a legit pizza party. But Marco, let's talk about your pizza, because I know you have, like, I think you have more refined taste. You're a bit more of a gourmand in your sensibilities when it comes to pizza.

Marco:  Well, here's my thing. You can listen to my podcast, Eat and Drink, where I take deep dives into pizzas I like. I'll just say this when I go to a pizza restaurant, a pizzeria, let's say, not a, uh, not a sort of takeout or order, but when you sit down and you could have pizzas or pastas, let's say I, uh, will always get the simplest pizza, like a margherita, because that's where you can tell if the pizzeria knows what they're doing. Because it's got three ingredients, so you can't mask mistakes and you can't make it taste better by adding a lot of different flavors or putting so much spice in it that you can't taste anything else. The margherita pizza will tell you if the place that you're in truly knows what they're doing.

Chris Bond:  It's true.

Marco:  And Chris, I gotta say, we have to talk about night markets, cars, jeeps, freezies, um, apple cider board games. We're going to have to do that. Another episode down the line for our patrons. So I hope you enjoyed this bit of a dive or this continuation with my buddy Chris, as we dived into topics that we both share and enjoy and other ones that you have an expertise in. Thank, uh, you so much for doing this again.

Chris Bond:  So happy to be here. And, uh, I think it's great that you're shining a light on some of these delicious pizzas for some of your patrons to enjoy.

Marco:  But I hope, uh, whoever was listening was able to just chill and enjoy this episode because I certainly enjoyed doing it with you.

Chris Bond:  Chris. Thank you so much. I enjoyed it too, Marco. Thanks.

Marco:  Check out his podcast if you haven't already. We like theme parks. Wherever you listen to this podcast, you'll find his folks. Until next time, I hope you listen and sleep sa.

In Chorreador & Fall Gardening, Amanda and Marco step away from their usual setup and settle into an unintentionally atmospheric recording space — complete with squeaky chairs and the soft hum of everyday life in the background. The ambient sounds blend gently with their voices, creating a naturally calming podcast experience that feels warm and unpolished in the best way.
The conversation begins with familiar household comforts like radiators and their steady clanks before drifting south to the traditional Costa Rican coffee maker known as the Chorreador. Marco and Amanda describe the wooden stand and cloth filter that make this brewing method so distinctive, savoring the ritual of slow coffee preparation. From there, the episode meanders into fall gardening — planting bulbs, outsmarting squirrels, and noticing the seasonal rhythms of places like Toronto and its famous black squirrels.
As always, the pace is soft and unhurried. This relaxing conversation is designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts. Let the gentle talk of coffee and cool-weather gardening wash over you as you drift toward rest.

​Chorreador & Fall Gardening


(Original airdate: October 25, 2023)

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, lean into your rattan squeaky chair as we are going to do today on today's podcast. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano, also in

Amanda:  a rattan squeaky chair, Amanda Barker.

Marco:  We are not in our studio but we wanted to, uh, ensure that we, we had a podcast episode for you today. So we are not in the most ideal recording situation, but we are certainly with our most ideal listeners.

Amanda:  It's morning time and some of you listen to this podcast. In fact, I know it's funny because

Marco:  this podcast was never designed for people to listen to when they wake up. It was designed for people to help them fall asleep.

Amanda:  Well, a lot of things, uh, take on a new purpose for things they were never intended to do. And, um, and we're happy about that. I mean, a lot of people like to listen to this while driving. They just want some natural, easy conversation while they drive.

Marco:  I don't recommend listening to this podcast

Amanda:  while you're driving or operating machinery.

Marco:  Heavy machinery. It's always heavy machinery. What heavy machinery do you operate during

Amanda:  the day that I can't operate? If I'm on certain medications, I guess.

Marco:  Car.

Amanda:  A car would be a big one.

Marco:  That forklift that I operate, you know, the backhoe.

Amanda:  The backhoe, yeah. Um, I'm trying to think of any

Marco:  actual lawnmower, I guess while you're thinking, I also.

Amanda:  For the wreckage. I've never been on a lawnmower. It's not a chore I enjoy.

Marco:  Fair, fair. We, you may hear trucks and cars going by. We're doing our best to mitigate that, but that's just the sound of where we are.

Amanda:  The sweet sound of a cabin in the woods, pretty much that has a

Marco:  lot of trucks near the road. I, uh, also had to turn off our water pump. Oh. That's why I'm like, I'm going to turn the water off. Because it makes. It makes a constant sort of noise,

Amanda:  tick, tick, tick, boom kind of sound.

Marco:  Well, I think it's more of a click, chill click.

Amanda:  It's actually a kind of click, tick, hiss.

Marco:  I think there's more of a beat to it than a click. I feel like the. The sound is a little bit more, you know, there's more length to the sound.

Amanda:  I think it's like a radiator where it's like, tick, tick, tick, tick, and then a like, release. Like a hissing sound.

Marco:  Okay, yeah, I'll buy that. I'll buy that.

Amanda:  Okay. Have you ever lived with a radiator that. Like one of those old timey radiators like that because they're quite loud in buildings.

Marco:  I lived with a radiator. It sounds like. Have you ever lived with.

Amanda:  Have you ever taken in a radiator as a companion?

Marco:  No. Uh, yes, maybe I have, but the radiator was very. Was new, so it didn't make that noise. And that would be new. York. Yeah. So.

Amanda:  Yeah. Um, so my residence in university that I lived, um. I had two different rooms there in first year and then a different one in second year. So especially I lived on the top floor in my third year. It was a hot little, tiny, tiny, tiny room. And those radiators, man, the clanking. Clanking. You never. That university was just the constant clanking sound of radiators and train. And a train going by twice a day.

Marco:  I do like the sound of trains going by.

Amanda:  It is a very comforting sound. Yeah.

Marco:  I did want to mention Amanda last week episode was only 10 minutes long and it wasn't. It wasn't meant to be a full

Amanda:  episode, but do we upload that as a full. As an episode episode?

Marco:  I did that by mistake.

Amanda:  Oh. I thought I was a Patreon.

Marco:  It was supposed to be. And it's a long story, but you and I have been recovering from a long. A longish kind of illness and we haven't been able to record as much as we'd like. So if anyone's listening right now and they have the sniffles or under the weather, we totally sympathize with you. You're not alone.

Amanda:  So for the last month, I have to say, and I just said it to a friend, I felt like I was living under a weighted blanket.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  So. Which is not the worst feeling, to be honest.

Marco:  No. Listen, if. If you enjoy weighted blankets, which I do.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  Then it's a great feeling. But you're not so, so much of a fan of weighted blankets.

Amanda:  I'm not. I'm. I'm a fan of the idea of weighted blankets. But then my hot feet don't like them. I have a confinement thing that I deal with.

Marco:  I'm a fan of the idea of apple cider. It's just the taste of it that I don't love. And, uh. And to watch your shaking of the table.

Amanda:  I'm sorry I was laughing.

Marco:  I know we're on the worst.

Amanda:  Funny that you like the idea of apple cider but not apple cider itself. That makes me laugh.

Marco:  I love anything apple. Right. I love apples. I love apple pie. I love cooking with apples. I love all that. Except apple cider, which I love, which I thought I'd love. Cider made with apples. So the alcoholic version of apple cider and candy apples. Not my favorite.

Amanda:  So candy apples and I don't have a good relationship for lots of reasons.

Marco:  Much like radiator. Is it someone else you've invited into the home that you've had?

Amanda:  Yes, candy apples. I Do want to love them, but my teeth are not fans. They don't get along with my teeth, so I stay away from them. But, um, apple cider I love and I used to always buy big jugs of it and I. I gotta be honest, I don't buy it anymore because I know I'm the only one drinking it.

Marco:  Then don't buy the big jug. Buy the smaller jug.

Amanda:  Yeah, I might do that. Uh, but that said, you do love an eggnog.

Marco:  I do love an eggnog. And we're approaching eggnog season and I'm not gonna lie, I saw eggnog ice cream in the store for an inexpensive price and so I picked it up.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  And I'm gonna have some. Not today, but I'm gonna have a little bit as a treat in the next day or two.

Amanda:  Soon I'm gonna go to that coffee shop chain and go get you an eggnog latte.

Marco:  They never make it the way I want it.

Amanda:  I know. The thing about that too is they used to have my all time favorite flavored latte of flavored lattes in the. In the beauty pageant. Of flavored lattes.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  M. The one I was always gunning for was the gingerbread latte.

Marco:  I like a gingerbread latte too, but they discontinued it. What are you gonna do? You can make your own.

Amanda:  I know, but I'm not gonna do that.

Marco:  Speaking of coffees, I don't know if I've mentioned this in the past and all our listeners who email us and write to us, please continue doing so. I don't always see them right away, but we will get to them. So Diane commented a while ago on our podcast. I think it was on the Facebook page. Page.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  That she's been making cappuccinos every morning for most of their married life. We're talking, you know, upwards of 20 years.

Amanda:  Great.

Marco:  Their recent trip to Costa Rica got them reacquainted with chorrerado.

Amanda:  What's that?

Marco:  Choreo. Sorry. And I have to turn my face to look at my computer.

Amanda:  And so a chorero.

Marco:  A choreto.

Amanda:  Not a chorerato.

Marco:  No, a choreto. Know what?

Amanda:  A ch.

Marco:  It's. It's an intense chedo. Um. And there's some skill and experience required to make the chedo.

Amanda:  Please tell me all of this.

Marco:  The right grind, the right water temperature. I love it. Because now we're dealing with science and the time taken to pour it in a circular motion. Oh. So I'm going to take a look at it. And once again, we may have talked about it and if we have, while we're dipping back into it. But look at this thing you have to use, Amanda.

Amanda:  Oh, it's one of those science kit things.

Marco:  It's really cool.

Amanda:  And it looks like. Is that. Am I thinking right? Like I've seen some, some coffee being brewed and it looks like a beaker.

Marco:  Well, the chorado consists, and this is, I'm reading it from Wikipedia, of wooden stand, Amanda, which holds an, um, elongated cotton bosita.

Amanda:  Wow.

Marco:  Do you know what a bosita is?

Amanda:  No idea.

Marco:  It's a little bag shaped rather like a pocket. So picture almost like, you know, when you get tea and you put it in your own, um, tea bag. Uh, mhm.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  What would you call that?

Amanda:  Like the. When you. When you get. But it makes sense because I'm. Because I'm learning Italian. What's it called again?

Marco:  Well, this is Spanish and it's called a Bolsita.

Amanda:  No, I know. Bowl. Oh, with an L. I was thinking Borsa purse.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Uh, and then sita, I figured is a dominion. Yeah. So not quite.

Marco:  But yeah, I hear what you're saying. So it's kind of like a little filter, um, pocket.

Amanda:  Yeah, like the tea filters you get from a tea shop when you put loose tea in. That's what you're trying to say.

Marco:  Yeah. So the mouth of the bosita is held open by a circular wire or wooden rim. So picture a plank of wood that has a hole. Cut it into it.

Amanda:  Huh.

Marco:  And then if you were to take a coat hanger and fashion it into a circle with a handle as if you were going to blow bubbles with it, but instead you put your Bolsita in it, and that would allow you to lift the bosita in and out of that wooden plank.

Amanda:  Uh-huh.

Marco:  Now, I've never made this coffee and I've never seen this, uh, device. I'm just going from what I see in the photo and what I read, Amanda. Okay, so don't. I don't want anybody who makes pulsitas to be upset, nor do I want people.

Amanda:  We don't want a Pulsita spleen.

Marco:  I certainly don't want. No one wants to both sit. No one wants to be Bolsita spleen, but that's what I'm doing right now. So the stand used to hold a coffee or coffee pot on its base is at the bottom. So you could put your little coffee mug underneath the bolsita, uh, which is being held up by this Wooden stand. Does that make sense?

Amanda:  Kind of.

Marco:  The bolsita is suspended from the top of the chorado. Uh, chorado stand m. Hanging above the container.

Amanda:  Wow.

Marco:  The chorado can be made at home simply. And as Wikipedia says cheaply.

Amanda:  I don't. I just. It looks like quite a contraption to have on your kitchen counter.

Marco:  It's actually very basic carpentry and sewing skills.

Amanda:  But, guys, it's sewing and carpentry for coffee.

Marco:  Yeah. But once you make the Bolsita out of linen and I make the.

Amanda:  Are you gonna make this?

Marco:  I mean, we have so many coffee devices in our home as we speak.

Amanda:  We have very little counter space, and it is very filled with.

Marco:  But if you want me to make a bolsita or.

Amanda:  I don't. I don't not want you to make a Bolsita.

Marco:  So the carpentry doesn't look. Doesn't look too difficult because you would just need four dowels and two pieces of wood, which you would put one piece of wood, a little small plank, a rectangular plank, or.

Amanda:  Can I just buy this? Probably, like, online. I type it in and I can buy it.

Marco:  There's another truck going by. Probably.

Amanda:  Amanda, is that the pulsita truck? Coming to deliver a pulsita on live podcast.

Marco:  The word choredo is related to the Spanish verb chore, meaning to drip or trickle. Oh, that's why, um, that's why.

Amanda:  What's the word in Italian for that? Do you even know? Like, I've never.

Marco:  Drip or trinkle.

Amanda:  Trickle. I've never even heard a word in Italian that would mean that

Marco:  I know gotcha means drip. Like a drip. Like a drop. Okay, so I'm sure it's related to that. You could look it up, perhaps. Well, Diane did mention that it takes time and patience. I do love a coffee that takes patience. Like a. Like a Turkish coffee. I don't necessarily love. This sort of coffee's got to be made fast. M. Press the button, it's in. Ready? Instantly.

Amanda:  Opposite of my parents.

Marco:  Listen, if you'd like instant coffee, more power to you.

Amanda:  Instant coffee. Not sprinkles in a hot water. Have you ever had that, by the way?

Marco:  I've had. I've used it in making milkshakes when I want coffee. Make milkshakes. Oh, you use those. Yeah. So that's when I'll use it. Not that it. Listen to me. As if I'm making a lot of coffee milkshakes.

Amanda:  Well, I've never seen. And you go, hey, do we have that instant coffee for that Coffee milkshake

Marco:  I need to have. That's not, that's not something I've done.

Amanda:  When have you done that?

Marco:  Listen, I'm sure I've done it in the past.

Amanda:  Sure.

Marco:  I would use it. Okay, so here's where I would use those instant coffee granules. If I was making hot chocolate.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  And I wanted a bit of a coffee or mocha kind of flavor to it. Put some of those sprinkles in m. Your hot chalky. Uh, in your hot.

Amanda:  I like a hot chalky man in the winter. There's nothing I like more than a little hot chalky in my mouth. I don't know.

Marco:  Sorry. No, I was shaking the table. I was like, yeah, everything we're on right now is wicker. Every move we make, it's a wicker.

Amanda:  It's a wicker wonderland where we are and.

Marco:  Wicker, of course. And it's.

Amanda:  And it, you know, it's a wicker world in the autumn.

Marco:  Um, so back to the coffee.

Amanda:  Back to the bosita. Uh, the construction and the sewing involved with coffee making.

Marco:  So the coffee cup or pot is placed beneath on the bottom stand. Also on the bottom.

Amanda:  That makes sense. You drip it in and you drip it in through the purse thing.

Marco:  Through the bolsita. Boiling water is poured on top.

Amanda:  Okay. Not unlike a lot of coffee situations.

Marco:  Sure. And the liquid seeps through making coffee, which drips into the waiting container. But unlike, um, let's say North American drip coffee.

Amanda:  Sure.

Marco:  This one here is based on its grind. So I bet it has a tighter grind, which means that the water takes longer to go through, which also means you get more of the coffee essence and you get more notes of the coffee.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  Um, and I bet it's fantastic and delicious. And I'll be honest with you, I would totally be into this thing. More so than a French press.

Amanda:  Right? I know you don't. You don't have a lot of love for the French press.

Marco:  Listen, I. I love the idea of the French press.

Amanda:  Oh, really? Do you?

Marco:  I like the way the contraption looks. It has a neat kind of look to it. I like everything but the taste of the coffee when it's made through a French press.

Amanda:  Fair enough. Fair enough.

Marco:  So don't forget to wash and dry your Bolsita after each use because you can reuse it as dry Bolsitas produce the best results.

Amanda:  Oh, who knew?

Marco:  Um, so, yeah, so that's, that's my, uh.

Amanda:  Speaking of coffee and variations of that, what did you have in your coffee this morning?

Marco:  So Like I said, we're not it. We're not at home right now. We're not in our ideal. I think we've established that recording, um, location. And Amanda made me a coffee. She woke me up, actually, very early because she had to record an audio audition for a bank of some sort of voiceover.

Amanda:  It's a glamorous, glamorous life that we all live here.

Marco:  So we had to throw a blanket over Amanda's head and have her under the blanket with the microphone, which we're not doing now because we don't have enough blankets to do that. And, um, recorded the voiceover. I edited the voiceover, and then I said, okay, let's record the podcast on squeaky chairs. And so you're like, let's do it.

Amanda:  The only way I could get him up was to lure him with a coffee.

Marco:  So she said, I have a coffee for you. And I knew something was up. And then I said, and I know we don't have milk up here. And I said, where did you get the milk? Knowing that there's an A coffee I got yesterday in the car. And I thought you took that coffee, the remainder coffee, I see, and poured it into this coffee to milk. Ify it. The milk. Ification of the coffee.

Amanda:  No, I did not do that.

Marco:  Instead, we wisely bought condensed milk and stored it in the cupboards up here.

Amanda:  Yeah. For that reason. In fact, I got it on sale. It was cheap, so.

Marco:  So we had coffee with condensed milk, which is, I believe, what a Vietnamese coffee is.

Amanda:  Sort of the base of Vietnamese coffee.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Ah. And it's delicious.

Marco:  It's a bit sweeter. It's got a, uh.

Amanda:  I was a heavy pour with the condensed milk because we're only going to be here a little bit longer.

Marco:  So the viscosity of the coffee is a bit. Bit thicker.

Amanda:  Sure.

Marco:  It's darker and it's tasty.

Amanda:  Yeah, it's really tasty.

Marco:  So on that note, I woke up really enjoying it, and we. We did. We did that little audition, and it sent out. I wanted to mention, because we talk a lot about flowers and gardening, but we rarely, if ever have talked about fall gardening.

Amanda:  Uh, let's do it.

Marco:  And our listener and I don't have. I think it's. Dee said last week that they really enjoy when we talk about T. T, E. Sorry, not D. Yeah, okay. We're talking about coffee.

Amanda:  D is somebody else.

Marco:  Yeah. I want to shout out both T and D, who are listeners, and we

Amanda:  think it was T. Then I'm pretty

Marco:  sure it was T. Yeah. Okay, So I am taking my calla bulbs out of the ground. I have to because I think they're gonna freeze. And I, and we had such beautiful.

Amanda:  But how expensive were they?

Marco:  They're not cheap.

Amanda:  Every year you're a little more. And this is true for all of us, you're a little more like your mother.

Marco:  Well, I mean, I don't. Listen, my mother has a green thumb.

Amanda:  Yeah, she does.

Marco:  And I don't necessarily, but she does

Amanda:  take those calla bulbs out every year

Marco:  though, because we're in a zone where they would freeze in the ground.

Amanda:  It's called Canada.

Marco:  No, there's certain zones.

Amanda:  Oh, I see.

Marco:  So I think we're in zone five. But if we were in Windsor, which is much more southern, or if we

Amanda:  were in Victoria bc, Windsor is that much more southern. Really?

Marco:  Yeah, I think, I think Windsor's in four. And I think like Victoria bc.

Amanda:  I don't know if I buy that.

Marco:  You have a phone right there. Look up the zones.

Amanda:  Okay, so what am I looking at? Gardening zones?

Marco:  Yeah, gardening zones, I guess. I don't know. All right, so I'm taking my calabulps out and I've planted tulips. I planted 50, that's five, zero tulips because they made a mess of our front. And all my flowers except my peonies, um, which I, I corded, uh, off, I guess. I, I, I put those little metal wire gates in front of them so that the workers, the city workers who are working in our front didn't destroy them. But I planted 50 tulip bulbs.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  So I cannot wait till next year till those tulips come up. But I can't find crocus bulbs. And I'm a little bit upset by that because I love crocus bulbs and I had seen them in the store, but I think I'm too late for them.

Amanda:  Oh no. Maybe online we could get them though.

Marco:  There's also that large gardening center not far from here.

Amanda:  Oh, that's a good idea. Maybe we, we go there.

Marco:  They should. They're just a bit expensive. I find that gardening center.

Amanda:  Yeah, but it's end of season.

Marco:  True.

Amanda:  I think maybe we go there anyways.

Marco:  So I've planted my, I've planted my tulips.

Amanda:  All right. I'm looking at this map here and

Marco:  they've got a peachy pinkish tone to it. What's that called? You have, you have like a ring that has a, an orange pink tone to it.

Amanda:  I don't like an ombre, I don't know.

Marco:  No, it's like orange and pinky. Oh, that's me.

Amanda:  Orange and pink. I mean, there's no. No word for orange and pink.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  Uh, you mean like a mixture of orange and pink? Yeah. No, but you're talking about tulips that are both orange and pink. Like they're orange with a pink rim or pink with an orange rim. You're not talking about something. A color that's between orange and pink?

Marco:  I think I'm talking about a color between orange and pink.

Amanda:  Well, then it would be like a salmon.

Marco:  Yeah. But a bright salmon. Anyways, I have salmon tulips. I'm gonna call them salmon tulips.

Amanda:  Tasty.

Marco:  That are coming up. And, um, I can't wait for those then. So we have flower pots here in front of the cottage that. The flowers this year had a decent start.

Amanda:  You got them in early.

Marco:  I got them in early.

Amanda:  I had nothing to do with them this year.

Marco:  They were having a good time.

Amanda:  May. There were some geraniums, right?

Marco:  They were. No, they weren't geraniums. I didn't buy geraniums this year.

Amanda:  Well, what are the. What are those?

Marco:  They're not geraniums. They're, um. Oh, other flowers. I can't think right now. Uh, were they geraniums? There were geraniums and other flowers.

Amanda:  Yeah, they were geraniums.

Marco:  Yeah, you're right.

Amanda:  They were geraniums.

Marco:  I like geraniums. Yeah, I know not everybody loves geraniums, but I like geraniums in pots in front of places.

Amanda:  Well, they get full sun, so you need a hearty flower out there because we're also not here a ton.

Marco:  So they had a great start. Heart of the summer. Beat them down a bit. And now it's as if there's new, different flowers in those pots because they're different colors.

Amanda:  It's a second bloom. The blooms look different.

Marco:  Different and beautiful. And not blooms on the geraniums. These are blooms on the secondary flower.

Amanda:  Both, though.

Marco:  But there's geraniums out there. I don't think so.

Amanda:  Yes. So the pink flowers.

Marco:  Yes.

Amanda:  Are geraniums.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  And they have had a second bloom.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  And they look. They're small blooms. They almost look like. Like hearty roses or, um, begonias. They almost look like begonias, but they're not. They're geraniums.

Marco:  And then the secondary flower, whatever those were, whatever it was, they were kind

Amanda:  of like a ground cover flower. Yeah.

Marco:  They were meant to just spill over

Amanda:  and fill the pot.

Marco:  And fill the pot, and they didn't really spill over. But now they're beautiful.

Amanda:  Yeah, they're living their best life.

Marco:  So.

Amanda:  So I feel bad because we're gonna take them out soon. I mean, the truth is we probably already would have, but we've had a bit of a funky fall.

Marco:  Yeah, we've had a funky fall.

Amanda:  And so we have been up and now we are up and here they are and they're. They're having a second bloom, just like us in life. And you know, Amanda, I wish everyone a second bloom. Yes, I really do.

Marco:  Yeah. And then I got a rose. So it's not a rose. It's um. Okay, so there is. We had a whole rose episode, remember?

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  So last year, end of season, I planted a bunch of. What's that flower? Did you find out the zones were.

Amanda:  Yeah, I did. I didn't want to interrupt you.

Marco:  No, no, talk about zones because I'm going to look up this flower.

Amanda:  Okay. So we are Toronto, from what I can tell is in the zone five.

Marco:  That's what I said.

Amanda:  Yeah. And then I think you're right. I think down and I guess it is Windsor. And just the tip of Windsor and the southern tip of Nova Scotia. And then BC is its own thing. I mean, BC is like zone 7B 8A. But tip of Windsor is, um, I guess a 7A. Just a tiny little part of it. So you're not wrong.

Marco:  What about Victoria?

Amanda:  Um, yeah, so Victoria is an 8B, I think. Looks like it's very temperate there, so. Yeah, I didn't know. I really didn't know. But yeah, there are some growing zones, so it's good to know. I didn't know Windsor was that much more south than us. Because I think of Detroit as a pretty cold, windy city.

Marco:  I think Detroit, it starts to go up. It's. I think Detroit is m. The Windsor's

Amanda:  on the border to Detroit.

Marco:  Yeah, but I think Windsor. Then you start heading up because there's more Michigan that's higher.

Amanda:  It's true, there's. I always think of Detroit as the highest point of Michigan. And you're right, it is absolutely not so. Good point. What are you looking for?

Marco:  I'm looking for this, um, flower that I planted outside. It was, um. So I really dug this flowering plant that looks like a hibiscus, but the size of the. Of the bloom of the flowers, almost the size of a small plant.

Amanda:  I thought it was a hibiscus.

Marco:  It's a type of hibiscus.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  It's like the rose of Sharon or the rose of. I can't Remember if it's the Rose of Sharon or the Rose of. It's got, it's got a name that uh, is a woman's name. So Rose of Esther. Rose of Sharon. Rose of something.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  I was trying to look it up and of course there's a rose.

Amanda:  It looks like Rose of Sharon. I think you have it.

Marco:  But the Rose of Sharon looks, looks like a big bush and that's not what.

Amanda:  Yeah, but anything can look like a big bush if it grows long enough and in the right temperature. If it's in zone 8B, that's a bush. But you look at that.

Marco:  But that's not what it looks like.

Amanda:  It looks like that's the Rose of Sharon in the, in the 6B zone.

Marco:  Okay. Well anyways, I bought this end of season at the store we call Canadian Tire here in Canada, which sells more than tires.

Amanda:  We don't call it that. It's called. Called that.

Marco:  Right. They were getting rid of a lot of their plants that you should have planted early in the season.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  So I picked up like five of them because I want these giant blooms planted. Five? M Only one survived. M not happy about that. But the one that survived had beautiful late blooming blooms.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  They were the size of a hand, not the size of a plate. I guess it takes a couple years for them to bloom to the size of a, let's say a 10 inch plate.

Amanda:  Sure.

Marco:  I'm excited.

Amanda:  Sandwich plate, if you will. You want, you want a dinner plate?

Marco:  No, I don't necessarily need a flowering plant that's the size of a dinner plate, but a sandwich plate would be nice. Okay, I'll post a photo on our.

Amanda:  Uh, right now they're dessert plates.

Marco:  Yeah, right now they're desserts. Dessert place.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  Maybe if you were going to serve an after 8 on a plate to be finished.

Amanda:  A dinner mint.

Marco:  A dinner mint plate. So I'm very happy about that. Do you have any insight into fall gardening? I love a November rose. October. November roses. They're so beautiful.

Amanda:  M Hm. Well that was the thing. When I first went to England for the first time, I just couldn't believe that there were roses still blooming in, in January and just December. January. I just didn't even understand that that was a possibility. Which. And then you go to England in June and you're. The temperature is actually not completely dissimilar. Like it's just. They don't have the variation of season that we have. They have seasons, but they just don't have the variation of seasons. That we have here.

Marco:  I don't know. Every time I go to England in the summer, it's always really hot.

Amanda:  Oh, really?

Marco:  Yeah. It never rains when I'm in England. Everyone talks.

Amanda:  We were chilly when we were there for that wedding in June.

Marco:  You were chilly.

Amanda:  Okay. Um, in any event, um, I don't live there, so. Fall gardening. I think the biggest thing is trying to protect bulbs when you first plant them from squirrels and birds. Squirrels in particular or any possums are now a thing for us, which we don't mind. Um, raccoons.

Marco:  I don't. Raccoons growing, living under our porch. Not fun.

Amanda:  We think it was living under a porch. There was some skunk skunkle activity happening. We're not exactly sure. Um, so I think that's the biggest thing because once bulbs have had a season, they flowered, the season has passed, and then you just wait on them for next year. Then. Then they seem to be. The skunks don't want them. They don't have interest in them. But what's hap. What's happened? Oh, that's the fridge.

Marco:  That's the fridge now. Yeah.

Amanda:  It's like, what is that? What's happened is, um, we've had to have a lot of our front little tiny patch dug up by the city. It's fine. They had to do it twice. Twice. It was a. It was a very dirty, dirt filled summer and they repaved everything in front of our house. Which means you'll know which one is our house because my initials are now in the pavement.

Marco:  Amanda's like, I'm gonna write my initials in the pavement. I said, do it. Thinking she would do, you know, like an inch size of writing. No, she did like five inches. You can spot it from space, what you wrote.

Amanda:  And what's hilarious is they, they. And this is an aside, but they put fresh cement, a fresh new cement sidewalk right in front of our house. And then I open the door to go out to work and they just look at me like, uh, there's nowhere to walk.

Marco:  I know.

Amanda:  So I had to get creative, Kind of climb the tree over through the dirt. I mean, it was crazy.

Marco:  In a suit, no less.

Amanda:  But I just. I was in a suit, but I just was like, what was. I just looked at them all and they went, uh. And I just said to them simply, what was the plan? You know, there are humans living in this house. What was the plan? And they didn't have one.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Anyhow, um. Yeah, I have big initials outside, um, but less plants. So that first planting of those bulbs, you really got to try and protect them from squirrels. And there's lots of different intel around that. I think the best thing to do is just get them really deep because you don't want to do something that's inhumane to the squirrels.

Marco:  Sure, sure, sure. Or I don't want to do something I don't. For the record, I don't think skunks eat bulbs.

Amanda:  I think it's the squirrels.

Marco:  Yeah, but you had said skunk.

Amanda:  I just wanted wildlife.

Marco:  Sure. We don't have. We don't have deer, but deer often will.

Amanda:  Yes.

Marco:  Bulbs. They don't like daffodil bulbs.

Amanda:  They're. Well, I was told squirrels didn't like daffodil bulbs.

Marco:  Lies our squirrels delicacy. It's their foie gras.

Amanda:  I think Toronto squirrels are a different breed anyway. They're very hungry and big, but.

Marco:  And black. We have. Really?

Amanda:  Yeah. We are known for the black squirrel.

Marco:  I said Washington D.C. right?

Amanda:  Yes. Because we actually sent black Squirrels to Washington D.C. sounds like we sent them as a. As a weird joke gift, but we sent them to deal with a population of something. I can't remember.

Marco:  They had a, um, chestnut problem.

Amanda:  They had. They had a overabundance of something that only squirrels could help with.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda:  And um. And so they sent Ontario black squirrels to DC So you'll still see black squirrels in DC from time to time.

Marco:  They're beautiful, but man, are they.

Amanda:  They're big. They're not what I thought of when I thought of squirrels. I thought of something akin to a chipmunk. These are a whole different beast.

Marco:  Yeah. Anyways, so that's our winter gardening and Chorado episode.

Amanda:  I guess you could say. No. Two great bedfellows. Like a. Like a bachelor and his radiator.

Marco:  There you go. On today's episode. We hope you enjoyed it and we hope at this point you have fallen deep asleep. Until next time. We hope you listen and sleep.

In Not a Sponsor of the Show, Marco and Amanda settle into a playful, softly spoken conversation filled with everyday products, spirited opinions, and the ongoing joke that none of these companies are actually sponsoring the podcast. Amanda reflects on her evolving relationship with coffee — including a memorable debate with a less-than-cheerful waiter — while Marco shares his experiments with wine and the distinct personality of Concord grapes. The discussion drifts into crabs, lobsters, and the idea of “specialty tests,” before landing in a sweet and slightly sticky jam-making story complete with small triumphs and gentle mishaps.
As always, this calming podcast unfolds at an unhurried pace, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts at the end of the day. The tone is light, cozy, and comfortably mundane — perfect for background listening while you wind down at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up. Nothing here is urgent or overly exciting; it’s simply two familiar voices wandering through small topics, creating a steady, reassuring rhythm to guide you toward rest.

​Not a Sponsor of our Show
(Original airdate: Sept 3, 2025)

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help guide you or drift you off or maybe even bore you to sleep or relaxation or just chill time. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. I just had an exceptional cup of

Marco: cappuccino which Amanda made for me as well.

Amanda: Sip of cappuccino, my very first sip. So every now and then you make a coffee or some whatever tea and you go, d***, that was good.

Marco: Yeah. So there you go. Amanda's on point today.

Amanda: It went into my mouth and I was like, oh. And of course that's because I'm sure I put a lot of sugar, of course. And a lot of milk, a lot of non coffee additives. Do you, you have you ever drank

Marco: black coffee oh, without sugar? No.

Amanda: Like black coffee? Yeah.

Marco: Not that I can think of. No. Like if there's like no sugar around and someone's giving me a coffee like

Amanda: an even espresso instead here.

Marco: No, I always put sugar. You know, I like things sweet.

Amanda: I. I don't know, I'm very jealous. I don't know if jealous is the word. Jealous is actually always a word I've struggled with because I don't know if I've always figured out what it means, but I'll use it in this context. I'm very jealous of people who can drink black coffee. I wish I had that skill. I wish I was like, you know what I'd love just a strong black coffee.

Marco: Do you know, do you always need milk in it or do you always need sugar?

Amanda: I need something. Okay, listen, I mean, milk and sugar for me is the way to go.

Marco: Milk over cream or cream over milk.

Amanda: If we're talking regular drip coffee, cream.

Marco: I see.

Amanda: But I mean, lattes were my gateway into coffee. I didn't drink coffee until I was in my 20s.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: And which is probably more common than I realize. And then I didn't drink. So the first caffeinated non soda drink, like coffee related drink I had when I was in university. This is a long time ago. The popular Canadian chain known as Tim Hortons, they introduced.

Marco: Not a sponsor of the show.

Amanda: No, no. They introduced what they called a French vanilla cappuccino. Now it was none of those things, actually. It was neither French nor vanilla nor cappuccino, but it was delicious.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: And I was, I think, well, I might have been nine. No, I think I was 20. Yeah, third year. So 20. And I was like, oh, okay, this is like a hot chocolate, but apparently has coffee in it. I can drink this. So that was the only thing I drank in the coffee world for quite a while. And then other places, gas stations, whatever followed suit. So then I would drink those. And then when I was in my mid-20s, sure, I had traveled, I'd moved back to Canada and that was the summer they introduced the ice cap iced cappuccino again, arguably. I mean, it does have ice in it.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: I wouldn't say it's a cappuccino, it's just a coffee related beverage. But it's delicious and it's still one of my favorite things, as you know.

Marco: Amazing.

Amanda: I don't know, is that an exciting journey to take people on?

Marco: Well, you got cappuccino splained this weekend by a waiter and it was like,

Amanda: my goodness, that waiter just needed to be right about all the things he was not right about. And I was like, are we really having this. Can I say p****** contest?

Marco: Well, you did. We shouldn't.

Amanda: Do you want to go back and do it?

Marco: No, it's fine.

Amanda: Just that offensive word. So I like how he just grumbles. Yeah. So that's my coffee journey. And then when I was in. When I moved to Ontario, we're talking

Marco: about the waiter that was.

Amanda: I know, I know. But I wasn't done my journey.

Marco: Oh, sorry. It's a long coffee journey.

Amanda: Well, we'd love to hear yours.

Marco: After, I think I was about four and my mother would give me milk, warm milk with a little tinge of coffee in it and some cookies. And that was my breakfast gateway.

Amanda: No wonder you're addicted.

Marco: That was my journey.

Amanda: You basically had it in your bottle.

Marco: Not quite. Not quite. But soon, soon thereafter. I think it's because my parents would drink coffee in the morning and so I would have milk and I think they would just pour a teensy bit in to make me feel included.

Amanda: Yeah. First being first child, you probably wanted to be part of it.

Marco: Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure.

Amanda: I'm sure you did.

Marco: I'm sure.

Amanda: And then when I finally moved to Ontario, this was finishing my journey. I. There was a Starbucks next to my office where I worked for seven years. And so about halfway through that, I. I started going and getting a latte in the afternoon. A lot of people I worked with smoked back then.

Marco: Oh, I see. That's right.

Amanda: So they would get to go outside and have little breaks. And I wanted that, but I didn't really want to smoke. So I would go and buy a, you know, at that time, $5 latte more now, obviously. And I remember somebody joking that I had a latte mortgage because of all the money I spent at Starbucks, which is probably.

Marco: Was that person, the smoker? Because that was.

Amanda: She was. She was one of the smokers. Yes, that's a good point.

Marco: I have two smokers that are at my workplace and they get breaks all the time. They're always going on a smoke break. I'm like, when was the last time I took a random break?

Amanda: I'm going to go for a little promenade.

Marco: I'm going to go for a little, you know, prance walk.

Amanda: And that. That's what we should all be doing is taking a prance walk break. A prance walk.

Marco: Imagine you're walking by.

Amanda: We start a trend of prance walkers

Marco: who walk by office buildings. And there's people prancing around.

Amanda: Oh, my goodness.

Marco: That would be the best. Oh, there must. They must be on a prance walk.

Amanda: Absolutely. So then the question. Oh, the, the waiter. We're going to talk about this waiter.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: So we had a beautiful weekend. And part of that weekend was a beautiful brunch to honor a friend. And so we, we sat down. We were a little late. We were just late going. It had been the late night the night before. So when we got to the brunch place and they told us they were going to get there but early, and they all did. So when we got there, they were all.

Marco: They had just got made to eating.

Amanda: Yeah, they just gotten their food and. Which of course is fine. So we sit down at the end and this waiter comes over and he's like, have you been here before? We've been there a lot. We go to that place a lot. But that's fine. He didn't know that. And so I ordered a cappuccino.

Marco: As did I.

Amanda: Now, the cappuccino was good, decent. It came in a gigantic cup.

Marco: It was a vat of milk.

Amanda: Yeah. It was a big bowl. So you look at it and you go, okay, not actually a cappuccino, but delicious and serves the scene. And I should mention, it's a French restaurant that does a really great brunch.

Marco: Yes, it does. Not cheap, but it does do a good brunch.

Amanda: And they always take reservations and they have lots of space and they're a nice area of town. So all of that is going for them. And that's why we go there a lot. But the reason I'm not naming it.

Marco: One, not a sponsor of the show.

Amanda: No. And two, this waiter. So then I'm looking and they had a soft shell crab Benedict. And I think he said, are there any allergies that I should know about? And I said. And I was actually like, oh, the soft shell crab Benedict goes. And he. Before I even stopped, he kind of snapped at me and said, we're completely out. We're completely out. I said, oh, that's okay. I can't eat it anyway. He goes, oh, do you have a seafood allergy? Well, no, I don't. I have an exoskeleton allergy, which is a bit different.

Marco: It's a fun allergy, folks, to have the old exoskeleton allergy.

Amanda: It's like you're complaining about it. I'm allergic to the actual shells. I can't eat the actual shells. I can eat what was Inside the shells, but not these shells themselves. And he said, well, you wouldn't eat the actual. We wouldn't. I said, so with soft shell crab, you eat the shell. He goes, no, you don't eat the shell.

Marco: And.

Amanda: And I said, oh, well, typically you do. That's how I found out about my allergy, actually. And he wanted to debate me. He goes, we wouldn't serve you the shell. And he goes, well, it's not really the shell you're eating.

Marco: The crab has been molted. But it's the molted shell. It's the developing shell that you're eating.

Amanda: Exactly. The developing shell. It still has a crunch to it. Indeed, it's still a shell. And I'm still allergic to it. And here we are back and forth, and it's like, well, they don't have it anyway, so why.

Marco: And I'm just like, I just want my coffee. I just want to drink my coffee in peace.

Amanda: So he had a little of my vat of milk. In your vat of milk. He crab splained me, but fine. And I. And then Marco said, I'm going to order. That looks tasty. I'm gonna order that.

Marco: It was a galette with an egg on it.

Amanda: Yeah. And he said, it doesn't have any goat cheese. I don't like. I don't eat goat cheese. He's not allergic, but he doesn't like it. It'll ruin his meal.

Marco: Yeah, I don't love the taste. I love cheese. I do love cheese.

Amanda: And he said, no, no, it doesn't have any goat cheese. I'm looking at the menu, and I'm like, hang on. I thought I saw that. It did. So I look. Well, it did. So I said, no. So I order. And I said, actually, babe, you can't order that.

Marco: He calls me babe in the restaurant.

Amanda: Well, I don't know if I did, but I said. He's like, no, it doesn't. And then he takes his order. And then I said, except it does have goat cheese in it. It's right here. I don't know how I said it. So then Marco was like, oh, well, no, I'm not gonna order that. Then I just said, so. Then he looks at the menu, and

Marco: he's like, we can do it without. I'm like, no, I want cheese on my galet.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: The whole reason you get a galette is because it comes with cheese.

Amanda: So then we both order whatever it is we order. And. Which was good. The food was good.

Marco: Yeah, it's good.

Amanda: And so then he comes by. Now, I've had this big cappuccino, but it's a French place, and I've many times in the past ordered a cafe au lait. So I said, can I get a cafe au lait? He's like, so do you want just milk and coffee? And I was like, excuse me? He's like, do you want. Like, See, every time. Now I'm telling the story. I said, I sound like the jerk, because I didn't really say, excuse me, do you want milk and coffee? And I said, well, yeah, cafe au lait. Like a steamed milk and coffee. I goes, because we. That's just a steam milk and coffee. And I said, okay, yeah, that's what I want. And he's like, because we do. We could do espresso with steamed milk for cafe au lait. And I said, and then he points to my drink, goes, that's a cappuccino. Now he's explaining to me what it is. And at this point, I went, well, no, actually, that's not a cappuccino. And he said, yes, it is. And I said, it's kind of a latte with foam. This is far too big to actually be a cappuccino, like, if we're really going to get into it. And he said, well, we're very generous with our cappuccinos. And I said, absolutely. In Italy, this wouldn't be a cappuccino. Maybe it's a French cappuccino.

Marco: It would be a latte, is what it would actually be. Yeah, actually it would be a latte with foam. Coffee soup is what it would be based on the size zuppa du cafe.

Amanda: So now he's explaining.

Marco: He's coffee splaining.

Amanda: And I was like, you don't get to tell us what a. What a cappuccino is.

Marco: We've only had.

Amanda: I haven't complained about the one you served me, but now that you're. Now that you want to explain it

Marco: to me, We've only had about 15 episodes where we specifically talk about coffee on this podcast. Certainly not. Someone needs to tell the waiter at

Amanda: that restaurant he just was snippy.

Marco: He was in a mood, man.

Amanda: Yeah. And he just wanted to make me wrong, but he was always wrong on the end of the conversation. And I said, well, no, in Italy, it wouldn't be. Is what I said. Call it whatever you want here. And so then he's like, well, yeah, we're generous. And I said, okay. So anyways, I want a cafe au lait. And he's like, so, espresso with steamed milk. And I said, no, I want coffee with steamed milk. Like, I don't understand. They have it on the menu. Just give me the one that you have on the menu.

Marco: He probably was confused because you had a cappuccino, the espresso. So he wanted to make sure that you were getting what you. Okay, I guess.

Amanda: That's terrible.

Marco: He probably assumed you wanted what you just had. And then you got into your little cappuccino debate of 2025.

Amanda: And, well, since he was gonna crab splain me, I couldn't.

Marco: One thing you don't do, and that's crustacean splain my wife. Because that happened once with lobster. And you may remember that Amanda's from Boston and from New Brunswick, two arguably lobster capitals of the world. And we had a waiter try to explain tail versus claw and what meat

Amanda: was better, because he was like, for this, for more money, you can get two claws. And I was like, but for less money, you can get a tail and a claw. So why wouldn't I do the less money Tail in a claw.

Marco: This was the special lobster fest.

Amanda: And he's like, well, the claw meat is very good, actually. It's very succulent. Claw meat is actually. And I went, no, no, I know what a lobster claw tastes like, and that's fine, but I'm not gonna pay more money for a claw when I can get a tail. In the hierarchy of lobsterdom, that's not how it's gonna work.

Marco: There you go.

Amanda: So, yeah, that's the tales of crustaceans at restaurants.

Marco: On a brighter note, sure, Amanda had picked so many grapes recently. And for the record, in the hierarchy of fruits that Markle enjoys and doesn't, grapes is on the bottom. I think it's just under passion fruit, which I'm allergic to is grapes. And Amanda picked 10 pounds of grapes she brought home, and I was like, what? And not like, beautiful or. No, I shouldn't say beautiful.

Amanda: They were actually beautiful.

Marco: They were. They were exceptionally beautiful, but they weren't eating grapes. They weren't, like, seedless.

Amanda: Yeah. They're not your red seedless or your white seedless grapes.

Marco: No. They were Concord grapes or Merlot grapes that you make wine from.

Amanda: Now is Merlot from the Concord grape. I didn't think it was.

Marco: No, Merlot grapes are Merlot grapes, and Concord grapes are Concord grapes.

Amanda: These are Concord grapes.

Marco: Okay. Because they're a bit sweeter, but the skin is very thick, and it has a lot of seeds, and it is a bit of a chew versus, versus some of the grapes you might.

Amanda: It's one of those grapes that you can pop into your mouth and put the skin aside, which I would think of as like a wine grape, but it also has a fair seed in it. So it's not an easy grape to eat.

Marco: No, it's meant to do other things. So Amanda brings ten pounds of these grapes home and I just look at her and I'm like, what are we going to do with them? And ten pounds of beautiful looking, like perfect pick.

Amanda: I mean really, like at its. When you draw grapes.

Marco: Yeah, it's at its peak. Like that was the day to pick them. Most certainly.

Amanda: Yeah, for sure. Now here's my question to you because you know a little bit more about winemaking than I do.

Marco: Thank you.

Amanda: Do you, can you make a wine? I mean, I suppose you can, but do you make a wine from Concord grapes?

Marco: You could. It's not going to be. It's not going to be. It's going to be a bit sweeter. It's going to be. I, I think if I'm not mistaken, and you can look this up, I think Menischewitz wine is made with Concord grapes.

Amanda: Oh, interesting.

Marco: I could be wrong though. I don't want to offend anyone, but I know that there's probably some wine that's made with Concord grapes. I would imagine it would be a filler grape. So you would blend it with other grapes to create volume or to create sweetness.

Amanda: I see.

Marco: Now, I have never worked with Concord grapes when making wine and I should say when I made wine, once again, I was maybe 13 year old. 13 years old and my dad was making wine and I was just commanded to do certain wine making things like grab the, grab the crate of grapes and throw them in here, turn this to crush the grapes. I make my father sound like a cartoon character, but he's. He wasn't that pleasant when he was telling us to do stuff. But he wasn't a man on a wine mission. So. Yeah. My experience with wine making is as a young child or as a child with my dad. And then I did wine tours in Italy on a bicycle. So I didn't actually do anything. I just kind of explained what the process was when our, our guests asked about it.

Amanda: So a few things. First off, Manischewitz is from Concord.

Marco: Oh, great. I'm glad I got that right.

Amanda: Concord grapes. And I double check something too. I always feel affinity for Concord grapes because I really grew up with Concord grape everything. Concord grape jelly, Concord grape Jam.

Marco: Notice how Amanda says Concord. Oh, you say it, like, with the

Amanda: Massachusetts accent, because that's where Concord grapes are from.

Marco: Concord, Massachusetts.

Amanda: They are.

Marco: There you go.

Amanda: Yeah. And that's a big cranberries for us, obviously, Massachusetts and cranberries. There's a big connection there. But also Concord grapes.

Marco: We had wonderful cranberry wine, if you remember, years back. Anyway, sorry, back to the Concord grape. So I was right. Menischewitz has made.

Amanda: You were right. And so. But here's the thing. We don't make wine friends. I don't have a winemaking facility in this. We have a studio, not a winery, downstairs.

Marco: And also, you need the right equipment to make wine. It's quite a process, or process, depending on what.

Amanda: And if you've ever gone to someone's house and they're like, here's the wine I made, and it's been nasty. Or beer. Have you ever done that? Like, people are like, here's our wine. And you're like, oh, my, that's awful.

Marco: Well, to be quite honest with you, my dad and all his friends who made wine, made quality wine.

Amanda: They made good wine. I drank your dad's wine. It was great.

Marco: I can't think of.

Amanda: But. But, you know, even I have a

Marco: friend, Stephen, who used to make beer, and it was really good.

Amanda: I think the Italians figured out wine and beer probably, too. And fermentation.

Marco: Oh, I would say that a great number of people, not just Europeans, make great wine. You know, it really depends on knowing how to do it. Like, how to having the equipment and fermenting it, etc. Etc.

Amanda: I just know I've been to people's houses in my past, and they're like, we made this beer, or we made this wine and it has not been good. Or, here's a bottle of our wine for Christmas. And you're like, oh, my, that's not good. So that would. Anyway, you and I both know enough about good and bad that we know we wouldn't make anything good, Right?

Marco: So we've had. We have all these Concord grapes in our kitchen.

Amanda: A ton. I was like, so we've talked about this organization a few times this summer. So I'm part of an organization called Not Far from the Tree. And we go around, you pay $10. That's it. To be part of this. And you get asked to go to picks, and you pick fruit, and you divide that haul of fruit between the homeowner yourselves and a food bank. Food bank gets half always. Or food bank or food organization or organization that can do Something with it. In this case, the grapes went to, I think, a woman's ymca where I assume they're going to go ahead and make a jam or jelly or something for them.

Marco: Or wine.

Amanda: Or wine, I guess. But I'm going to go ahead and assume a jam or jelly or they just eat them. Because people do eat them. Our nephew, we were, you know, he's 10, and we were like, he's like, ooh, grapes. And we were like, yeah, but you're not gonna like these grapes. Well, seed skin. He was made to eat grapes, that kid. His Mediterranean blood was like, here we go. And he just inhaled tons of those grapes.

Marco: He just ate them, skin and all, seeds and all.

Amanda: And he was like, I couldn't believe it. But, you know, they don't keep forever. So I had them only a few days and I was like, I've gotta do something with these. So we made 23 jars of jam. Jelly, but I actually think it was jam.

Marco: Oh, it's. That's jam.

Amanda: I think it came out more like jam.

Marco: What's the difference between jam and jelly?

Amanda: That's technically jelly, but reads more like a jam.

Marco: I don't get what that even means.

Amanda: Okay, so a jam, my understanding is a jam is sort of macerated fruit that has been sort of mashed into maybe a bit of a. I don't want to use this word, but gelatinous spread. But mashed into a fruit spread, like you can, you can taste the strawberries, there's chunks of the cherries in it. Whatever it is you're having. That's typically a jam, a jelly, which is what I was doing with these and is you boil, boil, boil it all together and you take all the seeds and skins and stems and everything else out of it so that you've made basically a juice. You boil that juice down, you create a syrup with it, and then from that syrup you add natural fruit pectin.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Which makes it into the jelly.

Marco: All right, this is what.

Amanda: And sugar.

Marco: This is what foodnetwork.com, not a sponsor of the show says the difference between a jam called the show, not a sponsor, versus jelly. Jams and jellies are both soft. Is your soft sweet spreads made from fruit? Is it a sweet spread made from fruit?

Amanda: It is.

Marco: Sugar or pectin.

Amanda: I used both.

Marco: Okay. The main difference between jam and jelly is that jam is made with fruit, whereas jelly is made with fruit juice. As a result, jam and jelly have different characteristics. Texture. Jam has a semi firm consistency and the cooked down fruit lends it a chunkier texture. Whereas jelly has a firmer consistency than jam and is uniform in texture. Jelly is more translucent than jam. But both jams and jellies are used as spreads. So that helps define. And I think you're right, it is kind of more of a jam than a jelly.

Amanda: It is. Even though I cooked it like a jelly and I used a jelly process, possibly because I put so much pectin right in it, it really kind of reads more like a jam, which I prefer. So I'm happy about that. But I did remove all, or at least most anyways of this. I mean, I tried to remove all of the skins and certainly all of the seeds. So none of that exists in it. It's just. But I think it's because I put so much pectin in.

Marco: I see, I see.

Amanda: So that it really almost started and I really boiled it down so I really kind of touched. Started to chunk up in a way.

Marco: It took a long time.

Amanda: It took forever.

Marco: And the house actually smelled like what it smells like when you make wine.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: So that's, that's really, you know, it brought memories of that back to me. Amanda, to be honest with you, in

Amanda: the cottage, we did it. It did take all day, though. It was an all day affair.

Marco: Pleasant, pleasant memories, I will say.

Amanda: I've already gifted three jars of jelly

Marco: jam and we got to some to

Amanda: call it jelly jam.

Marco: We got to sample it and it was actually quite good.

Amanda: So we gave it to our friends and they're like, oh, let's try it now. And then I was like, actually we should it because before I give it anymore, I need to try. Because you spend the day making this thing. The last thing you want to do is sit down to a little jar of it. Like you don't want to eat it.

Marco: Now. My, my thing was, did it seal? Like did. Was there a vacuum seal? And I know there's several ways to do that. I know when we would make tomato sauce, we would put them in a drum, big barrel, I should say, and heat it for hours and hours and hours. I know that when I've seen my mother make jams, as long as you tighten it while it's still warm, but really tighten it. So.

Amanda: And it has to be pretty hot.

Marco: Yeah, it has to be. It has to be hot. Like basically, Amanda poured the, the liquid jam jelly into the jar. I, I sealed it, then I sat it on the, on a cheesecloth, on a, A dishcloth. What do they call dish towels?

Amanda: Yeah, tea towels In Canada. They call Them tea towels.

Marco: Tea towel. And then I waited a few minutes and then silicone glove. Silicone, you know, don't burn your hands in the oven glove. What do you call those? Oven mitt.

Amanda: Yeah, I like don't burn your hands in the oven glove.

Marco: I have to describe it. And then I took that and I and I gave it one more crank and it really close and I could see that it was concave the top right. And so I was kind of satisfied that this probably means that it was sealed.

Amanda: It was sealed. Yeah, we would have known. They would have popped back up.

Marco: And then I sealed it with a kiss on the top of the jam jar.

Amanda: No, he did not.

Marco: Okay, well, that's 23. 23 kisses to 23 people. All right, folks, that is the end of our podcast. Before we go, I just want to remind our listeners who want to take advantage of the ad free system that we have going on right now. A lot of listeners want this podcast to be ad free. So if you go to insomniaproject.supercastca you can subscribe and for 10 days you'll get it free to see if it's for you or not. And then there will be a monthly charge of I think $5 Canadian if that's for you, if it's not. And you just enjoy listening to the podcast as is. Of course, we always welcome any listeners. And if you have friends or family who you think might enjoy or colleagues or people who are seem stressed on the street, let them know about our podcast because the more listeners, the better. Of course we welcome you into the Insomnia project family, if you will.

Amanda: Absolutely, absolutely. But yeah, so many people have been asking for it. So we, Marco did a lot of work to make sure that that could happen.

Marco: Yeah, it was like really making trying to get the best system for our listeners. And please let me know how Supercast works for you folks, because once again, they're not a sponsor of the show and I want to make sure that it, it does work for our listeners. And on that note, we hope you have a lovely rest of your day, afternoon or evening depending when you listen and we hope you're able to listen and sleep.

In Bell Peppers, Butterflies & Book Challenges, Marco is joined by friend of the show Nima Kharrazi for a gently winding conversation that begins with the humble bell pepper and gradually stretches as far as the shores of Hawaii. Along the way, Nima reflects on his love of photography, Marco playfully challenges him to write a book, and a small but memorable butterfly story adds a light, unexpected smile to the mix. The topics shift naturally, without urgency, creating the kind of easy rhythm that feels both curious and calm.
As always, this calming podcast episode is designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or simply provide steady background listening when racing thoughts need something soft to settle against. The tone is unhurried and conversational — engaging enough to keep you company, but relaxed enough to let your mind drift. Whether you’re winding down at bedtime or taking a quiet pause during the day, let this wide-ranging yet gentle exchange guide you toward rest.

​Bell Peppers, Butterflies & Book Challenges
(Original airdate: August 13, 2025)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to sort of help you drift off and find your way to sleep. I'm pretty excited today, so I'm trying to measure that or monitor my excitement because I have A wonderful guest, a good friend of mine who's joining us here on the podcast. Also another podcaster, great creative, awesome storyteller, fantastic drummer, inspirational speaker. It's my delight to invite my great friend Nima Kharrazi to the podcast today.

Nima: Oh, thank you, Marco. It's always such a pleasure to be on this lovely podcast.

Marco:  Nima, I'm so happy you're here because for our listeners who never made the association, Nima is the person who tells me if the ads are too loud in California, so he'll always message me. Unfortunately, he doesn't have access to the podcast around the world or he'd probably let me know. Hey, in Bristol right now your podcast is really loud. They have an ad that's really loud and it's specific to each, to each city, country. I don't know how they work it. Having said that, Nima, I am closer and closer to being able to offer listen or ad free episodes. I've even got a new icon for it, whatever your podcast artwork for. Yeah, so I'm really excited about that. That's going to be happening hopefully by next week. I'm just doing all the little, making sure the episodes get migrated to that website, et cetera, et cetera. So we'll see.

>> Nima Kharazi: Especially for a podcast as tranquil as this one, I know that most people use it to fall asleep too, right? And I actually have a friend of mine who was telling me he was having trouble sleeping and he said that he was trying to exhaust himself at the end of the night so that he would just be so tired that. That he could just shut his brain off and fall asleep. And I said, do yourself a favor and listen to the Insomnia project. It is boring on purpose and low dulcet tones. When I want to take a nap. It doesn't take much, but I've taken to recently listening to like a spa music.

Marco:  Sure.

>> Nima Kharazi: Kind of thing. My wife, the lovely Michelle, or as miracle as a lot of her friends refer to her as, she listens to white noise.

Marco:  Right.

>> Nima Kharazi: So those kinds of things have been around for a while, but I told my friend about it. I haven't heard back from him yet, but he hasn't complained about it. So it.

Marco:  Well, there you go.

>> Nima Kharazi: Might be a. You have another listener.

Marco:  I hope so. That's always nice. Listen, if you find value in this podcast, please share it with your friends. Let your friends know because we always love to have new listeners joining us the podcast and then get to know you. Lima, you're looking fantastic. These days I Must say.

>> Nima Kharazi: Oh, thank you. I actually just changed my workout regimen this week and I did something I don't normally do, okay. Where I have a really bad habit of feeling like I want to start something either at the beginning of the month or the beginning of the week. And so last week I said to myself, I'm going to start doing a full body workout three days a week. So instead of having a day where I do pulling exercises and a day where I do pushing exercises and a third day where I just focus on legs, I'm going to do all three each time, three days a week. And it means I have to start over with lower weights because I'm doing like 13 different exercises. But still, it'll be worth it. And anyway, so I was gonna start it last week, but then I said to myself, I'll start on Monday. It's okay. So started on Monday, not the beginning of the month. I did not want to wait until the next month to start. And then I went into Chat GPT. Okay, not a sponsor of the podcast, but they and ChatGPT. And I said, I walk for 30 minutes and then I go do my workout. Then I hit the sauna for 30 minutes and it's 180 degrees Fahrenheit. And ChatGPT responded with, if you're doing that three days a week, you should really only do 20 minutes because that's the peak level. After 10 minutes, you're not getting any more benefits and you have to super hydrate afterwards. And it's a whole thing. So I. I did my workout on Monday and I did 30 minutes of sauna Tuesday. I spoke with chat GPT, okay. And I got this feedback. Then I did a bunch more research. Then today is Wednesday. I went to the gym again, and today I started my 20 minutes and I never had. It was the right amount of time. You know what it made me think of?

Marco:  What?

>> Nima Kharazi: And I know, I know it's going to sound like I'm making this up, but your podcast is exactly how many minutes?

Marco:  26.

>> Nima Kharazi: 26, 26 minutes. Because that is the perfect amount of time for a nap.

Marco:  Well, NASA said that 26 minutes is the perfect amount of time for a nap to get the full benefits of that nap. Anything less, your body doesn't get the benefits of it. Anything more. Let's say 30, 35 minutes. And then you wake up groggy.

>> Nima Kharazi: And. And it's.

Marco:  And it. And it's not ideal. So the ideal amount of time, according to NASA. NASA, if I'm not mistaken, is 26 minutes. And so when we started the podcast, we were really particular about making sure it got right to 26 minutes. So I would be editing, you know, within an inch of the podcast, right. And then it just became too, too hard. So about when it gets to about 25 minutes, I start to wrap it up. You might hear me trying to corral Amanda, who starts another story as. And I'll even give her a signal, like, as if I have my index finger in the air and I'm doing, like a lasso with it, right? Do this. Like, I gotta wrap up. And that's what I meant. It's like, I just want to say. And she goes on to another story, and I'm like, now we're 28 minutes, and it's just going to be a longer podcast. But generally speaking, we try to hit the sweet spot is 26 minutes and 26 seconds.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah. And I think for me, I'm a real stickler on time. Like, if I think I walk for 30 minutes, it's not a. I walk this many miles. It's I. I go for a walk for 30 minutes and then get my heart rate up to X amount, and then I go into the gym. So I made that conscious effort, but I started recognizing in myself when I was at the gym, when I would sit in the sauna, if I was at 20 minutes, I felt like that was the right amount of time. And in the last 10 minutes, I was really suffering. And I spoke to someone about this, and they said, yeah, but there's like a euphoric, kind of like a runner's high that happens in the sauna after 25 minutes. And I said, I never feel that. It always feels like work.

Marco:  Oh, you just describing exercise feels so uniform for me. I am not. I. Even the thought of going into a gym, I just. It's not. It's not for me. That's not me.

>> Nima Kharazi: That's.

Marco:  I haven't found what's perfect for me yet. But it's not that. And I've tried. You know, I always say I feel like I'm lighter when I subscribe to a gym membership, but then I never go in. Right. But it's like, no, I know for a fact. And Nima and I have this discussion fairly often where at a certain point in your life, you know what you don't like, no matter how many times people want to insist on, you're gonna like this. And for me, it's bell peppers. Every color of bell pepper, but in particular, green and red. I don't like them. I can't digest them. If you like them, more power to you. I don't resent you. I'm happy for you. Eat all the bell peppers. I don't want them. Now, both my mother and my mother in law, when I say that to them, I cannot eat them. I don't like them. They disagree with me. They don't hear that. They're just like, we've got to find that bell pepper that works for you. And it's like, no, no. And I feel that way about gyms and other things where it's like, that's just not for me. And it's okay to say no when you know it's not for you.

>> Nima Kharazi: I actually have the same negative reaction to bell peppers. And it's amazing to me how many people say, yeah, but have you tried it in this? Have you tried it with that? We have a stuffed bell. And I'm like, listen to me. Just be happy I'm not standing in front of you in the bell pepper line, right? There's all these bell peppers at the grocery store that you get to enjoy and all the different colors they come in. And I will be on the other side getting fennel. Like an adult.

Marco:  Love it. Your bell peppers, my mom's favorite thing is like, the orange ones aren't so bad. They're lighter. They're not. And I'm like, look, at this point, even the thought of eating it, I don't want it. I just do not want it. Thank you. And the interesting thing is I love all peppers, all other peppers, with the smile on my face. But it's the bell pepper. And so every once in a while we forget to put that in. When we order, especially Thai food, we always have these. No bell peppers, right? We forget and then we get a plethora.

>> Nima Kharazi: It infiltrates any sauce that it's in. Even if you pick it out, you can still taste the bell pepper and everything. And no, listen, no hate to people who love bell peppers.

Marco:  They're good for you.

>> Nima Kharazi: I love that for you.

Marco:  They're colorful. They. They add a schward de viv to any salad you put them in.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah, sure.

Marco:  I have a challenge for you. I have a challenge for you, Nima, that I just thought of while you were talking. Actually, I was like, nima is such a great person to confide in or talk to. If you're going through great things or if you're going through not so great things and you have a bit of time on your hand these days. I would Challenge you to write a book. I think you would be great. A great author of a book, an inspirational book. How, you know, certain things in your life have inspired you or what lessons learned. You know, things I learned from being Iranian. Whatever it is, you pick it. If you wrote a book and pub and self published it.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah.

Marco:  I would be the first to buy it and to promote it because I think you would be a great author if you spent like even an hour a day writing your book. I think that would be great. So I'm gonna toss that your way as a challenge. Whether you do it or not is entirely up to you. But that's just a thought that came to my mind.

>> Nima Kharazi: I love that idea. I have a few children's books in my mind. I have a friend of mine who's a composer, and I spoke to him about it one time and I said, I have three children's books that I have written in my head and I just have not put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to get it down somewhere visually that I can see it and then I can manipulate it into an actual book. Sure. And I feel bad about that. And he looked at me with this such a smile. And he said, I have so many symphonies up here. And he pointed to his head and I was like, okay, good. So we're in good company.

Marco:  Yeah.

>> Nima Kharazi: I do like the idea of writing a book also. I. Can I. Let me just say this. I know that we actually had a topic, but this is so much more fun. And we can get to it if we get to it. One of the things that drives me bonkers.

Marco:  Yes.

>> Nima Kharazi: Is when you ask someone, what do you want? Like, you should write a book. And then they go, there's so many books out there. Right. And you go, I'm sorry, is there only one burger joint in your country? Is there only one pizza place place? Is there only one Italian spot?

Marco:  Like, sure.

>> Nima Kharazi: There's so much. There's all the way from fast food. And I mean, literally the only drive through I have never seen is Italian because that would just not make sense. But every other type of food that is like what we know as fast food centric has that. And then there's all the way from that to like elevated Michelin stuff star restaurants. There's space for everybody from franchises and corporations to mom and pop shops, holes in the wall that have been around for 20, 30 years. And you get to enjoy all of that. And there's people opening a new fill in the blank spot every month.

Marco:  Yes.

>> Nima Kharazi: And you're like, I. Everyone's written a book about, so whatever. Who care? You're. I'm a photographer. People have taken all the photos that I've taken in the past, I promise. Yeah, so I just saw a butterfly yesterday and it was so pretty and I've been trying to. I've been trying to find it. I've seen it around my neighborhood. This butterfly, beautiful yellow butterfly.

Marco:  Do you know what the butterfly is called?

>> Nima Kharazi: It's, I think it's called a leopard tail butterfly or maybe a tiger tail butterfly. I actually ended up getting a picture of it and.

Marco:  Oh, you did? Can you send that picture and I'll put it on our Instagram?

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah, I will.

Marco:  Oh, it's beautiful. If it's the, if it's this, it's not the. The swallowtail came up.

>> Nima Kharazi: It is. Yeah, the western tiger swallow tail.

Marco:  Oh wow. Yeah, the tiger swallow. It's gorgeous. Okay, great. If you don't mind.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah. So I was. So I was walking like a last week and I saw it and I had this idea of like I'd love to take a photo of that thing, but it just wouldn't land. Sure. Then I went back to my walk and then finally yesterday I was walking and I saw it. It was in this little area with these like garlic flowers and I just waited. I stopped walking and I waited and I watched it and it finally landed to get some nectar out of these flowers and then I finally caught its photo and then I looked it up on my phone and it's this beautiful western tiger swallowtail. And it just even something like that that makes me think if you look up a western tiger's world, there are thousands of just user created, user generated content. Right. Just like tons of people that have seen this butterfly and thought, that's so pretty, I should take a photo. Who am I to take a decent photo of this thing, put it in a frame, try to sell it at a, at a show. And yet that's what I've done my whole life is take photos of things that everyone else has taken photos of, put it in a frame and then offer it for sale or show it to friends and share it online and say, hey everyone, I did, did this thing that everyone else has done. And everyone goes, hey, good job. So in the same vein, writing a book or writing a movie or writing or you know, whatever, I think it's, it's very. We need to be nicer to ourselves overall. And so you.

Marco:  All it takes is picking up the pen and starting with the first word or clacking the first keys and starting with the first words and just go from there. And, you know, that's with writing a book. It goes to. It goes. Stands to reason. With any endeavor you've always wanted to do, but maybe told yourself that you can't or that there's already enough of those things out there, I would say just go give it a try. Doesn't hurt to try. And I should mention that Nima's coming to us from Santa Clarita, California. I'm here in Toronto. I didn't mention that off the top. And so, yeah, I would love to see you as an author in some shape or form. So I'm just going to throw that challenge out to you. Nima.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah. You've only written one book so far, right?

Marco:  I've only written one. I'd like to write more, but I'm not as prolific in the summer. I find the summer is when my creative juices kind of dry up, if you will. Or, like, they're just. It's just too hot for me to do anything. But in the fall and in the winter, I'm much more, you know, active. So who knows? I've always wanted to write, like, you know, these books where it's like, what I've learned as a podcaster, let's say how, you know, it's like not saying it right, but, you know, those, like, the things that I learned as a podcaster that apply to your life. I'm not saying podcasts are fill in the blank there. Right. But I've. I've always wanted to write one of those kind of. Kind of books, and I think there's a market for that kind of stuff because those are the kind of books I like to read. I love to read books where it's like, here's some tips I learned I share with you.

>> Nima Kharazi: But I think, Marco, you particularly as a person who has hosted multiple podcasts, had so many guests on, and has produced so many podcasts that when people ask me, what is the one thing that. That you noticed that has changed in you since you've started podcasting? There's two things that have changed in me. The first thing is I. The way that I speak has changed, okay? In that I try really hard not to use ums and us as. And you can tell if I've been recording a lot lately because I will use fewer of them. And the reason is because I'm training myself to not use them when I'm recording, so I have fewer things to have to edit out of that conversation. In the podcast. But the second thing is, especially if you're doing a co hosting podcast or an interview type episode, you learn to be very patient and you learn to ask a question and then hold space. And I think oftentimes when you talk, even when you talk to friends, if someone is sharing, and I'm guilty of this so much, so often that when someone is sharing a story and they say, we went to Mexico and I've never ridden a horse before, but we got on these horses and we rode them into the ocean and then afterwards we got to brush the horses and we got to do all this stuff and it was so great and it was really just a great experience and we had so much fun. I want to share with them in that moment that, oh, when I was a kid, I also used to ride horses and we did. That's not the point. You don't need to connect every dot to every dot so you can just go, oh, that was about, how did you feel? What was that like? Was it scary at first and then exciting and then. And then enjoyable? Did you appreciate it after the fact more was you do it again. Those are the kinds of questions that you do in as a podcaster that if we also did in real life, like miracle says something often to me and it has really changed my life. Before we go into a party or any sort of event where there's people there, she'll remind me sweetly and gently, try to be interested, not interesting.

Marco:  Right?

>> Nima Kharazi: Oh, I mean, what a great life lesson.

Marco:  Yeah, people always make. Remember how you made them feel then, you know, I mean, so if you. And when someone feels listened to, they'll always feel like you are an awesome person. Like, oh, it's so great. You know, Nima so asks great questions or really is so attentive or whatnot. You make them feel like they're important by listening to them and following up on what they've said with other inquiries or curiosity or whatnot. It's a great, it's a great life lesson, actually. Yeah, the other life lesson, when you were talking about, you know, doing, doing the project or doing the, the event or thing you always wanted to do. I've mentioned this before on the podcast. One of my favorite expressions in Italian is tradire e fare CE mezzo mare, which means between doing, between saying and doing, there's half the c. So, you know, you could say it's like, yeah, yeah, everyone always talks about, actually, you know, I should write a book. I should have write a book. But those who actually sit and do it. They cross half the sea and they get it done right. So it's pretty awesome. So I challenge you. I would love to read your book, Nemo.

>> Nima Kharazi: Oh, yeah, I'd love that. I'd love to. To get into. I think you might. I think I will learn something just from the process of starting to write a book and where. Where all of that lives for me.

Marco:  No doubt. And you said that you have a. A love for photography, too.

>> Nima Kharazi: Oh, yeah.

Marco:  I didn't know that. I knew you were a very skilled photographer, but I didn't know you've been doing that for quite some time.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah, I was in. I. I was in Hawaii, and I saw these guys skim boarding, which is like a very thin. Almost like a very thin boogie board. It's a wooden board.

Marco:  Okay.

>> Nima Kharazi: And you use it just when the waves come up to the shore, when it's just about an inch or 2 inches deep after the wave crashes, when it comes up, that's where they skim along the water. And it's a very difficult skill. And you have to be very light and very young and very agile. So it's usually like kids that do it. And. And it's also not very dangerous. And these three kids were doing it, and at one point, one of them just got flipped up into the air like a seal being tossed by an orca. And I just happened to snap that photo. And then another time, the waves, there were these. It's very interesting. In Hawaii, depending on the island that you go to and the time of the year, there are. The waves kind of come in sets, so they'll come in, like, three waves, and then you wait a beat, and then it's two waves and then three waves. And then you'll have, like, a three to five minutes of no waves at all. And if you happen to, like, look up from your picnic and you look, oh, my God, there's no waves at this beach. That's amazing. And then if you look within, like, five minutes of that, there's a ton of waves happening.

Marco:  Sure.

>> Nima Kharazi: So there was this, like, a lull that was happening longer than another one. And the. The one of the kids just had his. His skim board in front of him, and he was just on his knees on the beach looking, like. Looking a little forlorn and a little bit with yearning at the ocean to kind of turn on again. And it was so beautiful. So I took a couple of those shots and I took a couple of really lousy pictures while we were there, too, and then came back And I saw some cool stuff. And then I started going to beaches and beaches kind of became like a real big deal for me. And most places that I go, I try to look at, like, kind of the, the sandy beach or the rocky beaches of the, of the Upper west coast out here, like Seattle, Oregon have really rocky beaches. But then I love, like white powder sand, like in cool Boracay in the Philippines, black sand beaches, red sand beaches in Hawaii. So that kind of became a thing and then wildlife became a thing. And yeah, it all just kind of meshed together into this, like, passion and love. And I'll be honest, as, as much as I love doing photography, Miracle has a better eye than I do. She's. I mean, she's not called Eagle Eye Miracle for no reason.

Marco:  We used to call her Whale Eye. Whale Eye Miracle. And not because she had a large eye or anything like that, but because she could spot whales when we were on the boat, she could spot whales miles and miles away.

>> Nima Kharazi: Oh, yeah.

Marco:  She's like, there's a whale. And we're like, where? And then you'd see just a plume, a little burst of, of, you know, spray of, of water coming from its blowhole. And it was like, oh, my goodness, Miracle, you've got a whale eye. We kept saying, she's like, I really don't like the way that sounds. But that was our nickname for her. Well, listen, Nima, it's been a pleasure. Maybe, maybe you'll stay on for a bit more and we'll record a continuation for our Patreons on this episode. Okay, great. So we hear more from Nima for all the Patreons patrons out there who subscribe to Patreon. Until then, until next time. You know, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. I want to mention and give a shout out to your podcast, My gastric sleeve. I believe you've sunset it.

>> Nima Kharazi: I have, yeah.

Marco:  But it's a great podcast.

>> Nima Kharazi: Yeah, it. And it has just a few. There's a few bonus episodes of some interviews that are going to be happening in the next year or two, but it's real slow and steady and it, but it is, it's up there. There's a ton of. There's like 90 plus episodes. And it goes all the way from my gastric sleeve surgery to a revision and then a secondary revision. So it has all the ups and downs and good and bad. So wonderful.

Marco:  Thanks so much, Nima. Until next time, listeners. And until next time, Nima, I hope you were able to listen and slee.

In Who Is Your Schneider?, Marco and Amanda ease into a softly nostalgic conversation that begins with the idea of being “house proud” and gently wanders into classic sitcom territory. Inspired by Schneider from One Day at a Time, they playfully explore which characters filled that same role in other beloved 80s and 90s shows. Along the way, they reflect on memorable performers like Tom Hanks during his Bosom Buddies days, Donna Dixon, Holland Taylor, and the ever-charismatic Meshach Taylor from Designing Women. It’s a gentle stroll through television history, filled with affectionate trivia and lighthearted curiosity.
As always, this calming podcast unfolds at an unhurried pace, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts at the end of the day. The nostalgic theme makes it perfect for background listening — familiar enough to feel comforting, but mellow enough not to keep you awake. Whether you’re winding down at bedtime or simply looking for steady companionship, let this cozy reflection on sitcom side characters guide you toward rest.

​Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you find your way to sleep and who knows, drift off or just chill, explore. You don't fall asleep. That's fine too. You're just tuning in and finding a place where we're going to talk about nothing of importance. So feel free to drift off. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. I had a thought.

Marco: Yeah, sure.

Amanda: Do you know the term house proud?

Marco: No.

Amanda: Oh, you've never heard?

Marco: Well, house proud means you're h. Proud of your house.

Amanda: I think so. Yeah. Like you're like, I like my house. I want it to look good. I want people to like it.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: Do you feel that way?

Marco: Yes, I Do. Yeah, I do.

Amanda: I feel like we used to have a lot more people over and we were more house proud. And so we haven't had that because you used to record quite a bit in the studio with various guests. This studio, of course, being in our house. So I always was like, you know, we have to get it. What I always called show ready. House proud, I guess would be another. But I'd always be like, okay, we have to get the house ready. Like, make sure, you know, everything's good, put away, clean, swept, the bathrooms are in working order. You know, maybe not our bedroom and the bathroom there, but everywhere else. Everywhere else, yeah. And although we'd have. I know we'd have friends and I'd be like, it's okay, you can show them our room or whatever, you know, I don't think that'll be the case tomorrow. You're recording tomorrow and I'm tired and I'm like, oh, I have to get the house show ready.

Marco: Yeah. And so it's always a bit of a mad scramble. I'm sure a lot of people throw things in closets.

Amanda: But then you feel good after. Then you're like, it's true. Or like when you have company over, you know, like you're having a little get together and you're like, oh my gosh, we have to get it ready. And then. But then that feeling after they leave and you're like, now they're gone and we have a clean house. What a bonus.

Marco: It is a good feeling, I have to say. We're almost there. I'm gonna get up early as well and really spiff up everything.

Amanda: That's what I'm thinking because I'm just. I don't know what it is right now. I'm just so tired at night.

Marco: So I have a lot of things going on tomorrow. So I'm already feeling tired for tomorrow. But I'm just trying to. I'm just trying to chill and just like, you know, work things out one thing at a time. One foot forward is how I look at it.

Amanda: I always try to. I think that's a good way to be when I'm with my mom, God love her, she will, you know, if I have anything I have to do at all when I'm at my parents house, which I was two weeks ago, I'll be like, oh, I just have to do this thing. And then they'll be like, oh, well. And it becomes this all encompassing thing. Like, you know, I'm Mandy to them. So they'll be like, mandy has to do this. Mandy. We gotta get this. Mandy. Oh, okay. Well, Mandy's thing. And it becomes this. And I almost don't want to tell them if I have, you know, which I inevitably try to get it all done before I see them so that I can just be with them the whole time and not have to jump on my computer for any reason. But, you know, sometimes there's one or two things that you're like, I just have to make sure I get this email out. Or in the case of last visit, I had a little writing thing that I'd pretty much done. But, you know, I just had a bit of. I just needed to see it with fresh eyes, do a bit of editing before I sent it off. Well, I don't want to say I made the mistake of telling them, but I wanted to be transparent. Hey, I just got to do this thing. And so once I did send it off, my mom was like, now you can relax now that thing is done. And I just said to my mom, like, mom, I can't look at things like that. I mean, she meant it in the most wonderful way. But if I look at things like that, then it's always going to be, once I get this thing done, I can relax. But the truth is, the lives we all live, especially you and I being, you know, contract. But I think that's everybody.

Marco: I think also when it comes to our parents who are retired, like my mom, who seems to think that time is, you know, for me to get home at a reasonable time, I have to be. Be on the highway before 3 or just around 3 o'. Clock. And she doesn't seem to realize that when I'm at her place and everything she has to say, she holds to the last minute. She's like, oh, just one more thing. Let me show you this. Can you do this? I'm like, I need to get on the road.

Amanda: Which is hilarious, because when she wants to leave a place, she wants to leave that place. There is no stopping her.

Marco: You have to leave.

Amanda: Shoes are on. And she's like, you can feel it. Like she's getting irritated and like, come on, come on, let's go. Yep.

Marco: And she was always someone who was quick and fast and, like, ready to jet.

Amanda: And she still is at 78.

Marco: Yeah. Not when I'm ready to leave.

Amanda: No. So anyways, our parents, I mean, we're lucky to have them. Like, the thing is just, I'm trying to look at life to your point of just one day at a time. And not once we get this Thing done then, you know, because the lives that we live. But I don't think we're unique. I think that's everybody. There's always something, right? Sure.

Marco: You mentioned One Day at a time there. And do you remember Schneider from the television series One Day at a Time?

Amanda: No, Schneider.

Marco: Schneider was.

Amanda: I did like that show, though.

Marco: So when I was a kid, I didn't really. I didn't really realize the significance of the. Of the show. A divorced mom with two kids.

Amanda: Yeah, I didn't, you know, all that stuff. For us, I think as kids, the premise was kind of arbitrary. It really could have been anything. An alien living with a family was a premise and we loved it.

Marco: But the fix it guy, or he wasn't the landlord, but you know, the guy who would. The maintenance person who lived in the. In the complex, wherever they lived, was named Schneider.

Amanda: How often do you see your maintenance person when you live in a complex?

Marco: Well, back in the day, if you were on a television sitcom, you saw them often. They were often coming. And Schneider was kind of like. Like a less cool Fonz on the series. So he was like the interesting character, the rugged guy in a T shirt and a belt. And he always had a fun little quip. Right. So you're always waiting for Schneider to come on. And I was just thinking, how many of those characters do you have in real life, the Schneider person?

Amanda: Well, we probably do.

Marco: We do.

Amanda: I'm trying to think. Oh, speaking of Schneiders, we have to get our. Sorry, this is probably not making for great radio, but we're now on radio. We used to say that when I worked in radio. Well, this is probably not great radio. And then we just do the bit anyway. But we have to do our maintenance on our heating system or whatever the thing it's called. We have to get the maintenance guys to come and. Maintenance.

Marco: You're getting the.

Amanda: We need Schneiders.

Marco: We need Schneiders to come to our

Amanda: house and our Schneiders. Is it going to be the same people that put installed it?

Marco: No, I don't know the Schneiders because I like them.

Amanda: Because in that case, our Schneiders is a lovely team of one older Korean man and one younger Korean man. And I was so happy to have them over because as people know who've been following this for a long time, I lived in Korea. I love Korea in general, and I love the Korean people. So I was so happy to have them.

Marco: I anticipate we'll have one person come over and he will be more. Or she will be more like a Schneider type.

Amanda: Oh, my goodness.

Marco: With a belt buckle that has all the, you know, bells and whistles that you need for maintenance repairs.

Amanda: Folks, stay tuned. For what? Whoever our Schneider ends up being.

Marco: I know.

Amanda: Who are some of those other characters in those 80s 90s sitcoms? There was Alvin in Designing Women.

Marco: Right? Right.

Amanda: He wore the overalls.

Marco: Right. And he was like.

Amanda: He was a painter.

Marco: No, he was the guy who delivered their furniture. I don't think his name was Alvin.

Amanda: Elvin.

Marco: Elvin.

Amanda: Wasn't it Elvin with an E?

Marco: We're talking about What's Designing Women?

Amanda: The guy with the overalls and only one overall was done up.

Marco: The actor's name was Meshach Taylor.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And his role.

Amanda: I think we're talking about two different people.

Marco: You're talking about Designing Women, right?

Amanda: Or am I talking about Murphy Brown?

Marco: That. See, I don't know. I never watched Murphy Brown.

Amanda: I'm gonna have to do a look. But who was the guy that had the white overalls? Kind of a mullet. See, that's not me. Shut down.

Marco: I think you're thinking of Family Ties and Alex's sister's boyfriend, the guy who was like, whoa, whatever.

Amanda: Oh, no, that was Keith. Oh, my goodness. Okay, I got a lot to look up. I'm gonna start with that. I'm gonna start Family Ties boyfriend. What was his name?

Marco: I think the actor's name was Valentine was his last name.

Amanda: I like that. You know, the Scott Valentine. But what was the guy's name? Nick.

Marco: Nick.

Amanda: So that was Nick.

Marco: Okay, so he was.

Amanda: So we've got that one figured out. Yeah. Mallory's boyfriend, Nick.

Marco: What about Meshach Taylor's role on Designing Women? I don't think it was Alvin. I can't remember his name.

Amanda: I don't know how to spell Meshach.

Marco: M E. Shock. Okay, so he. When he would come up, it was fun. He was funny. I remember.

Amanda: I love Meshach Taylor.

Marco: And he used to.

Amanda: Anthony Bouvier on. On Designing Women. Right.

Marco: And he delivered their furniture.

Amanda: He's from Boston.

Marco: And when he would come on the screen, he would often work with. What's her name? Delta Burke. And they would have funny little moments.

Amanda: Right. Okay. So Elvin, I think, must have been Murphy Brown.

Marco: On Murphy Brown, I did not really watch. I know that. What's her name? Was it Murphy Brown? Candice Bergen, I believe, is her name. Her father was a ventriloquist guy who had a ventriloquist dummy.

Amanda: In real life.

Marco: In real life, he was very famous.

Amanda: Okay. Eldon was his name, Not Elvin. And his name was Robert Pastorelli.

Marco: Oh, that guy.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: Wasn't he a painter or something? He painted her house or something. Just a fix it guy.

Amanda: I don't understand again, what did he do? Like, I. Like, how often is a painter in your life when you work? Like, that was like a news show. Right, right.

Marco: She was a Barbara Walters type.

Amanda: Right.

Marco: She was the head of the news.

Amanda: Why would a painter. You know what I mean?

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: I don't know. I didn't watch that show. That show did not make me laugh. So I guess he was the comedic beat. The painter who would paint in a white overall. That one thing was unbuttoned as you described.

Amanda: Yeah, but I just don't understand. Yeah. Lovable house painter. Eldon Bernanke on the series Murphy's Brown. Yeah. He was a house painter. Was she just constantly getting her house painted? He was in like almost every episode, it felt like.

Marco: I mean, you watched the show. I didn't. So I couldn't tell you.

Amanda: I don't remember.

Marco: I couldn't tell you. But yeah, the Fonz was the original,

Amanda: sort of Meshach Taylor.

Marco: The original Meshach Taylor. Schneider, whatever. But he was cool.

Amanda: Well, the house is a little different because the Fonz was not a maintenance guy.

Marco: No, but he was a motorcycle guy.

Amanda: Yeah, but we're talking. I think we're getting into a very specific genre of maintenance people on 80 sitcoms. Schneider, who was a maintenance guy. Eldon, who was the house painter. Somehow on Murphy Brown. Meshach Taylor, who was the furniture deliverer. Anthony Bouvier on designing. Because they were designers. Is that what it was?

Marco: They were designers in Atlanta.

Amanda: So. So the guy that delivers the furniture makes some sense. Right?

Marco: You know, the Fonz, for the record, that was like a 70s show, not an 80s show. 70s, 80s. Like it crossed over.

Amanda: Yeah. Okay.

Marco: And the Fonz lived upstairs and he fixed motorcycles and he was just cool. All he had to do was be cool.

Amanda: It's funny that he lived upstairs. Like this idea like that they had an upstairs renter. Yeah. Because it's so interesting. Like that time in the 50s, like my. My mom. Like my parents grew up in a lot of apartments and stuff because that was the reality. Right. In the city in the 50s.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: But then I think suburbia kind of happened sort of right after that.

Marco: Did your folks have a cool guy live upstairs?

Amanda: A Fonz.

Marco: A Fonz, too?

Amanda: Yeah, my dad's was. My dad was a drummer, so a lot of his friends were cool guys.

Marco: I did not expect A yes to that question.

Amanda: Well, not lived, but he had Uncle Peter. Uncle Peter was his cool friend who had like really, really curly hair.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: And Uncle Peter was often doing odd jobs.

Marco: There you go.

Amanda: Like hire Uncle Peter to do it. He was not my uncle.

Marco: It all comes back. Right. So you did have a Schneider, I guess.

Amanda: Who was your Schneider?

Marco: My dad had to be the Schneider was everyone's Schneider. My dad was because he was a Fix it. My dad could fix a lot of things.

Amanda: Yeah. He was so handy.

Marco: So he was the Schneider of our house, that's for sure. And other people's places. And by proxy, I became my dad Schneider's assistant and.

Amanda: Oh, you were little Schneider.

Marco: I was little Schneider.

Amanda: Petite Schneider.

Marco: I was pretty petitioner. And for the record, one day at a time. Never had a petite Schneider. But my dad had a petite Schneider. And my dad, like a surgeon, he would ask me for tools that I had no idea what they were.

Amanda: But what an education for you.

Marco: Not at the time. He would yell at me if I didn't know what the particular wrench he asked for was. And I'm like, I've never heard of this wrench, but I should know what it is or whatever tool he wanted. Now I know what those things are. And now I am handy. And most recently, I had Amanda help me move a fridge on a dolly. And so. So I like to think that my Schneider's not as short tempered as my dad's Schneider was. But I'm pretty handy. I'm a pretty handy guy.

Amanda: Now there's another kind of 80s, 90s or 70s sitcom. Sorry to interrupt you. You are handy. Yeah, but now I'm stuck on this supporting role thing, which, by the way, is my ideal role. Like, I love booking. I've done a few. I have a few very small brushes with very small fame, but got to be that thing of like, yeah, we're gonna bring her back for another episode. You know, she's the wacky teacher. She's the Kurt secretary. I played a few of those. And it's a delight when I know that I get to come in for another episode and deliver a line or two.

Marco: Have you played the fix it person or the house painter?

Amanda: Not yet.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: The painter is a really interesting choice, but there is also the supporting role of the wacky CA character. Right. Like too wacky for every episode, but a lovable character that you're like, oh, here comes wacky person.

Marco: Like Monroe on Too Close for Comfort.

Amanda: I think.

Marco: Do you.

Amanda: I don't remember who that is.

Marco: Do you remember the premise of Too Close for Comfort?

Amanda: No.

Marco: So the white haired guy. I forget his name. I'm sure Bill's gonna be like shouting right now.

Amanda: Yeah, the white haired guy, Bill Antonio. Hi.

Marco: Was a cartoonist and used to do a duck no cow cartoon.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And he had two.

Amanda: Maybe, I don't remember the show.

Marco: Two hot daughters, a blonde one.

Amanda: Okay. Is that the pitch that he had hot daughters?

Marco: I mean, I don't know how else to describe it.

Amanda: I don't know if any of this. It feels very inappropriate. But it was probably the 70s.

Marco: It was. No, it was the 80s and that's how it was pitched. You can read a synopsis of that.

Amanda: That he had two hot. Who were the hot daughters?

Marco: The blonde one and the dark haired one.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And the blonde one was a bit more ditzy and the D haired one was more academic. And they had a neighbor who was Monroe, played by Jim Bullock, I think is his name.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Who was like this zany, almost childlike character. And I don't know what he did. I think he. Was he a fix it person or did he just live next door? Well, wow.

Amanda: The zany. So I'm trying to remember the name of. And I had it and I lost it. There was a woman. So my mom was a dance teacher, choreographer in that world. And so she would sometimes. We had a big theater in the area. So sometimes she would. The woman who ran it at the time would come over and my mom would. She'd kind of pitch like the musical to my mom. Like, my mom didn't know it or it wasn't like now where you could just Google it and watch the Tonys or whatever. So she would come over and explain either the premise of the musical or play the cassette tape or the album, the record. I mean, when I was really little, to my mom. So that she would come over and pitch like, to my mom, will you do this musical? Will you choreograph it?

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: I think her name was Ro Rosemarie. I don't know, but she was kind of the. The closest I can think of for sitcom characters.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Is. Would be Joey's agent on Friends.

Amanda: Okay.

Amanda: That kind of. She would come over, chain smoke the entire time. Like you would know she was. The house would smell for two days after because she just never stopped smoking. I remember she would bring like film strips, like those little like super eights of the movies. If there was a movie, or she'd play the record or whatever. My mom would have to like listen to it. And I'd be little, she'd have a

Marco: Super 8 of a movie.

Amanda: Yeah, I remember she came over and had the Super 8, I guess. No, well, what, what were the things? And you put it in the projector and you projected it on the wall. Okay.

Marco: Of a movie. So.

Amanda: Yeah, so she had. I remember she had all of her and she wanted my mom to choreograph all of her at this theater.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: My mom didn't know the music. You know, we didn't have the album. Maybe it hadn't. Probably hadn't come out yet. But anyway, the movie had just come out or whatever and my mom hadn't seen it. So she brought over the movie in the. Isn't that what that's called, a Super 8?

Marco: I know. I feel like a Super 8 is smaller.

Amanda: Okay, well, whatever it was the film that you put in the projector, a film reel of Oliver, she brought that over. I mean, it was before vhs. Okay, or maybe it wasn't before vhs, I don't know. But VHS was like a new fangled thing anyway. So I remember she brought the film of Oliver and they projected it on the wall and I sat with Rosemarie, I think, was that her name? Chain smoking for the Hingham Conservatory Music Theater or whatever.

Marco: Amazing.

Amanda: In Massachusetts and watched Oliver with them. I'll never forget it. But this woman was just like, you know, long nails, a crazy bun piled sort of haphazardly on top of her head, like, lacy blouse and red stiletto heels.

Marco: Amazing.

Amanda: She just was like a torrent of smoke.

Marco: I just picture Rosemarie from D*** Van D***.

Amanda: Oh, I don't know who that is.

Marco: She was a comedy writer, the female comedy writer on the D*** Van D*** Show.

Amanda: What was the premise of the D*** Van D*** Show?

Marco: I mean, I. I was really, really young when I saw the repeats of it, so I can barely tell you. I can tell you that he trips over the ottoman when he walks in and there was like a writing room.

Amanda: So they're actually writing a show for him.

Marco: I don't know if they were like. I think they were writing a show. I don't know if it was for him, but it was Rosemary, the guy with the dark hair, the bald dude and D*** Van D*** and they would write their little show, they would write a comedy show. And I think Rosemary and the dark haired guy were the comedic writers and the rest I don't know. And Rob Reiner's father was one of the writers, I think, both of the D*** Van D*** show and was one of the writers in the writing room on the D*** Van D*** Show.

Amanda: Oh, wow.

Marco: That's the best I can remember, but I couldn't tell you anything other than that. I just happen to like sitcoms, so I know a little bit about a lot of sitcoms, even though I haven't seen them. So name a sitcom. I'll tell you who the Schneider is on the sitcom.

Amanda: My Two Dads.

Marco: My Two Dads was Two fathers. One was buttoned up and one was more cool. Right.

Amanda: I think so. That was a real. That was. Everyone loved that premise. One's a nerd, is a cool guy,

Marco: and I don't know who the Schneider is on that show. That's. That's about all I know about that. That show.

Amanda: Okay, let me think of another one. How about the one with Tom Hanks and they dressed up like bosom buddies. Bosom buddies, yeah. That was. God, I love that show.

Marco: That great. That show.

Amanda: So, I mean, they were the crazy ones, weren't they? Kind of.

Marco: They were. Well, they were two guys who pretended to be women so that they could live in a. Yeah. In a dormitory or in a. In a.

Amanda: All women's dorm.

Marco: It wasn't a dorm, but it was a dorm.

Amanda: Like, I think back then it was

Marco: at like a halfway. It was like a house.

Amanda: It was not a halfway house.

Marco: It was a.

Amanda: Can I just say, back then, up until the 80s, there were places where you could live like an apartment, but just women. But you'd have a shared bathroom.

Marco: Exactly.

Amanda: Almost like a tenement. That's what I was trying to say.

Marco: But it's not a dormitory because that's.

Amanda: They would call it a dorm. Yeah, yeah. It's not associated with a college or university, but it would be more of a dorm, because I don't think dormitory has to be part of a college or university. But in any event, you could call it a tenement. Maybe. But I mean, that's because I remember when I was going to move to New York, they still existed. And I was sort of looking at them like these houses for young ladies, just so it was all women. So there was like a safety component. Sure, sure. But you shared bathrooms and things like that. Yeah. So that. And it was cheaper and. And it was even when I looked like the cheapest place to live in New York at the time.

Amanda: And

Marco: I think the house mother was played by that older actress now, Holland.

Amanda: Holland Taylor.

Marco: Holland Taylor, I think Holland Taylor, yeah. And there was the blonde, the big statuesque blonde. And I want to say that was Donna Dixon. I could be wrong.

Amanda: I Can't help you there. I think.

Marco: I think she ended up marrying Dan Aykroyd.

Amanda: Oh, really?

Marco: Yeah, I think. I think so. And then there was the shorter woman with the dark hair who was kind of, you know, bigger, and she was funny.

Amanda: Bigger.

Marco: She.

Amanda: He's doing b*** motions.

Marco: No, I wasn't doing b*** motions.

Amanda: You were.

Marco: Was doing bigger. She's bigger.

Amanda: I'm offended by all of it.

Marco: Well, anyways, she was the funny one.

Amanda: Yeah. Okay.

Marco: Okay. And that was the story there.

Amanda: That was always the lot. But. But I guarantee you one thing about the 80s. Go back and look, and she's not as big as you remember.

Marco: Fair enough.

Amanda: Because they would have these characters and they would be the. The chubby, funny ones. And then you go back and you're like, they weren't chubby.

Marco: Now, can you find out if it was Holland Taylor who played the. The house mother on Bosom Buddies?

Amanda: Oh, my goodness. I did not know I'd do a deep dive.

Marco: I need to know if Dan Aykroyd married the blonde one.

Amanda: I can't do all of this. This is a lot of work.

Marco: You just have to type in Bosom Buddies.

Amanda: I will, but it's not gonna be who did Dan Aykroyd marry?

Marco: Well, I'll know when you mentioned her name.

Amanda: Buzzum Buddies. Oh, so you know this woman's name if she married Dan Aykroyd?

Marco: Yeah, I was. I was young when that came out, but I remember it being very funny. And I bet if I watched episodes today, they wouldn't be very funny.

Amanda: Oh, my goodness. Can I read you the pitch? So I'm gonna pitch this to you like it's a series today and you're a producer. Okay, Margo, here's the show I want to do. Kip and Henry, two young studs working for a New York ad agency, come home to find their apartment building being demolished.

Amanda: Right.

Amanda: Amy, the receptionist, convinces them to move into her complex. Oh, she's the inn. The problem is that it's a complex. So they're calling it a complex. A complex for women only. But the rent is cheap. To get the low rent joint. The low rent joint. All they have to do is dress in drag. Okay. Enter Buffy and Hildegard, AKA Kip and Henry. Who was Hildegard?

Marco: Hildegard was, I think, the short one. I think, the other guy. Yeah.

Amanda: And Buffy was Tom Hanks.

Marco: Hanks. I think so.

Amanda: Sonny and Isabel are two cuties living in the same building. Sun, Sunny. Being heavily pursued by Kip. Or was it Buffy. The ruse is eventually known by all the women in the building, but by now, Buffy and Hildegard are each just one of the girls. The show was a launching point in the careers of eventual movie megastar Tom Hanks, who played the Kip Buffy role in the series. Okay. Anyway, the cast. So Peter Scolari.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: And Tom Hanks.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: It'd be hard to be Peter Scolari and be like, I was good too,

Marco: and he was great in New Heart.

Amanda: He was great. Oh, yeah, he was great. Okay. Wendy Jo Sperber is Amy Cassidy. Donna Dixon.

Marco: Thank you.

Amanda: Was Sunny Lumen all right? So did she marry? I'm pretty sure. Do you want me to look? Yeah, of course. All right. And Holland Taylor was Ruth Thumper.

Marco: There you go. I mean, I was a kid the

Amanda: last time I saw me as Holland Taylor. So Holland Taylor was playing a battle axe back then.

Marco: Yes, she's been a battle axe for years and she does it so well.

Amanda: I get it. I play them too. Donna Dixon. Let's just see. She's looked. Yep. Dan Aykroyd. They're no longer together. Oh, sorry to say. Well, but they were together a very, very long time.

Marco: They had a good run.

Amanda: They had a very good run. They made some albums. You know.

Marco: Who was the Schneider on Newhart? And we'll end it there.

Amanda: Who? The Schneider on New.

Marco: Like, who was the. Was it Larry? Larry.

Amanda: Which Newhart? The new. You're talking about the. The new heart that we watched.

Marco: Well, the new heart that was before that. I was a little kid once again and I think my parents watch it and Marsha Wal was the receptionist.

Amanda: So the original. So it was the Bob Newhart show and that was six seasons from 1972. So then what's the one we're talking about?

Marco: It's called Newhart.

Amanda: It's just called Newhart. Yeah. And who am I looking up?

Marco: I don't know.

Amanda: Henry Mancini did the theme song.

Marco: Okay, I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell you the theme song of Newhart.

Amanda: If you heard it, you would know it. Yeah. The handyman. Tom Poston as George Utley. The sensitive, dutiful, trustworthy, but slow witted handyman. Yeah.

Marco: He wasn't very funny though, that guy. He was a character actor. You've seen him in everything. Tom Poston.

Amanda: Well, then Larry, Darrell and Darryl must have been right. Yeah. William, Tony. William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss and John Volstead. Gosh, Larry Darrell and Daryl were really funny. You know, Newhart, we love Newhart so much. I mean, who didn't right from that time? But my family loved it so much. I'm just trying to see when it aired, because at that time. Yeah, 1982 to 1990.

Marco: So during those years, you guys ran an inn.

Amanda: We ran an inn in Vermont, surprisingly, with Bob Newhart. He based the show on it. No, but we were going. My family would commute to Canada, back and forth from New England to Canada. So we had a lot of experiences through Maine and then obviously in rural New Brunswick, but we weren't living there yet. So we were experiencing rural New Brunswick, but we hadn't fully settled there anyway. And we did by the time we had started going, sort of as the show just started airing a little bit after it, and then by the time it ended, we were fully settled. So that kind of any fish out of water into a rural existence, like the movie Baby Boom was my mom's favorite movie because it's the same kind of premise was very important to my family. We saw ourselves in that. So there you go.

Marco: Well, there you go. Well, folks, that's the end of this episode, which, where we cover a lot of sitcoms from the 80s.

Amanda: Didn't know we were going to do that today.

Marco: I hope you enjoyed it and I hope some of you actually found it uninteresting enough that you were able to chill.

Amanda: And if you're still with us and you know, tell us who your Schneider is.

Marco: Yeah, tell us who.

Amanda: Let us know.

Marco: Yeah, we'd love to know that. Until next time, we hope you were able to listen and sleep.