In A Calm Conversation to Help You Sleep | Flip Flops & Spa Reflections, Marco and Amanda ease into a softly meandering chat that gently carries you toward rest. In this penultimate episode of the season, they reflect on small but memorable moments — from Amanda’s unexpected flip flop blowout and her decision to retire her “Archies,” to the soothing contrast of a visit to a Russian banya filled with warm steam and eucalyptus-scented calm. The conversation unfolds slowly, with light humour and thoughtful pauses, as Marco invites listeners to reflect on their favourite moments from the season.
As always, this calming podcast is intentionally unhurried and low-key, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, and quiet racing thoughts. It’s perfect for background listening at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up, when you need something steady and reassuring. There’s no urgency here — just gentle storytelling, soft reflections, and the comforting rhythm of two familiar voices to guide you peacefully toward sleep.

A Calm Conversation to Help You Sleep _ Flip Flops & Spa Reflections
(Original airdate: October 22, 2025)


Insomnia Project ranked sixth on list of top insomnia podcasts for 2025

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. I say that every episode, or almost every episode, and I hope it does help you find Your way to sleep. Or at the very least, at the very least, it just kind of calms and chills you out. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:I'm Amanda Barker. Hi.

Marco:Hey, Amanda. So we, got in the top 10 of the top 70 insomnia podcasts for this year of 2025.

Amanda:That's incredible.

Marco:We are sixth.

Amanda:That's amazing.

Marco:Yeah. And thank you, everybody. That also includes international sleep podcasts, too. So if you take that, if you those away, we are even higher up on the list. But not to discount anyone's podcast, of course, we celebrate all, podcasts, including sleep podcasts. And I want to thank our listeners who reached out and congratulated us and have been supporting us and telling their friends about us as a sleep podcast.

Amanda:Wait, are we the number one in Canada?

Marco:Oh, are we the number one sleep podcast in Canada? On this list? On this list.

Amanda:You know what?

Marco:I'll look as we do the podcast.

Amanda:That's incredible.

Marco:Yeah, that's pretty great, right? I'm really. I'm really excited. And it's one of those things which I just found out.

Amanda:I need to post about it. You know, I am trying to reignite a healthy relationship with social media.

Marco:Good.

Amanda:I'm not there yet, but I'm. But the effort is there, and I'm going to keep trying to move in that direction because I want to be connected to people, and I find it very tricky. And for me, the easiest, best feeling thing is to not do anything. But then there are times when I want to post, and it's a tricky thing for me.

Marco:Listen, sometimes you just have to do what's right for you in the moment and not worry or let social media sort of, be a albatross around your neck.

Amanda:I am a Virgo.

Marco:Yes, you are.

Amanda:Established this. And so I am, by definition, a frustrated perfectionist. So there's probably new definitions. That's an old one. But you know, somebody who wants to do it perfectly, and if they can't, then they don't do it at all.

Marco:You know what I tell a lot of my students?

Amanda:Yeah.

Marco:So I teach.

Amanda:I mean, I don't. So tell me.

Marco:This is one of the first things I tell my students, and I share this with all of you, and my students are students, at a college here in Toronto. I teach a podcasting course, if you can believe it.

Amanda:But I think it's. To be honest, and we didn't mean. I'm, not. I know you weren't intending to plug this, but can I name the college.

Marco:Oh, of course you can. I'm very proud of it.

Amanda:It's George Brown College. And I actually think that's open to anybody in Canada because it is an online class.

Marco:It's open up to anyone in the world, actually.

Amanda:So anybody that wants to learn podcasting, that's the class to take. I mean, you've had. Unbelievable. Mark, let me. Let me tell you this. And he did not ask me to say any of this. And as always, we planned none of this. But he is a phenomen phenomenal, caring teacher that goes the extra mile. He really, truly is. And he's really gifted in just wanting to help people and help them be the best they can be. I hear you when you teach in this studio, and I hear how much work you're doing for them and how you're helping them every step of the way. So if podcasting is something. But you are like me, a frustrated perfectionist, and you're like, I want to do it, but I don't know. And I don't know if it'd be good, that is absolutely the class to take. I think the next one is in January.

Marco:I think so, yeah.

Amanda:So anyways, podcasting at George Brown College here in downtown Toronto. But again, it's online and open to anyone in the world, so there you go.

Marco:From what I can tell, it's the only Canadian podcast in the top 10. But I haven't done a deep dive, so.

Amanda:Well, we're going to go with that until someone tells us otherwise.

Marco:But we have listeners from all over the world who I really appreciate. This is our penultimate episode for this season, so it's the second last.

Amanda:Now, that said, we've had a few unexpected little divots, pivots, and breaks.

Marco:Yes, we have.

Amanda:Every now and then, there's been a week where we haven't been able to deliver. So I think what I'd like to do is make a commitment here that we can do more. If we do have a season end, and, we do have a bit of a more scheduled break, let's really dive deep into our Patreon in that time. I think that's what we can offer.


In December, we do one episode to celebrate winter and the holidays

Marco:Right, so what's coming ahead, folks, is this is the second last episode for this season. Next week will be our last episode. Then we will have a month break of November. And if you're a new listener, what happens is in December, we do one episode for every day in December to celebrate the winter and the holidays for that month.

Amanda:Exactly.

Marco:So you'll get Every day you'll get an episode. November you won't, but December you will. And there'll be some past episodes, there'll be some new episodes. They'll have a holiday theme, so they might be a bit brighter and more exciting, let's say.

Amanda:I don't know if exciting is the right word because I do find actually, though, for me, me, I actually personally find those episodes more relaxing.

Marco:There you go.

Amanda:Because I do find something that has a bit of jolliness, a bit of mirth, a bit of joy, a relaxing thing, because it makes me feel that all is well in the world and I need that for my sleep. So, some people might even be like me and find them more relaxing, those holiday episodes. But yeah, we deliver one every single day of the month in December. Yeah, that's our gift to ourselves and to you. And like you said, some are fan favorite episodes that come back and then some are new, and it's a really fun little mixture of everything.

Marco:For our listeners who enjoy those episodes, please let me know what you would like me to record in December as a theme for the holidays so that I can. The new episodes that I do, I can incorporate your suggestion or if there's

Amanda:any you want to hear again, or re air if they're not accessible to you because there's a couple. Like, Christmas at the Farm is one of my ultimate favorite episodes you've ever recorded.

Marco:Natasha Boomer.

Amanda:Yeah, that one's a great one.

Marco:It was a challenge of an episode because she likes to swear in it and she. She's very,

Amanda:That woman, man, she's. She's a force.

Marco:So, yeah, if you have a theme or a topic that you want me, want us to cover for that seasonal 31 days of podcast, let us know.


I always say that podcasting is the perfect imperfect medium

I will get back to what I was saying with regards to what I tell all my students, please. So at the start of my class, I always say that podcasting is the perfect imperfect medium. In other words, one of the things that people, myself included, or especially myself, enjoy about podcasts is that they're not perfect like a radio show, and that not every podcaster is a celebrity who has a full studio with audio engineers. Most podcasts are done independently. And so you hear the little blips and blops and snips and snobs in the episodes, and I kind of love that because not the snobs. The snobs are the hardest things to edit out. And there's a joy in hearing real people talk about real things.

Amanda:That's a Good point. So I should approach my social media not as a thing that I have to be perfect at, but as a thing I can be rough and real for.

Marco:Yeah. Just enjoy, the sips and sops.


My flip flops that are Canadian made blew out in Palm Springs

Amanda:All right.

Marco:All right.

Amanda:Sips and sops. I have something I want to talk about. I just read.

Marco:Oh, this is great.

Amanda:I look down at my feet, and it made me think of something, and it made me think of something else. And so here we are. So I'm wearing my new. My newest addition to my shoe collection, which is a pair of Birkenstocks. now I'm gonna go ahead and tell you the real reason I have them.

Marco:Sure.

Amanda:We were in Palm Springs.

Marco:Ooh, fancy.

Amanda:I know. We were being fancy, and we were in Palm Springs last month, and I had a pair of shoes. I don't want to. I want to bring the mirth, but I have to say they were shoes that are Canadian made. And they're. They're flip flops with arches. They're called Archies. And one of their big claims was they'll. You'll never have a flip flop blowout. They're made and they're well made shoes. I thought so. I was like, yeah, well, they blew out, folks.

Marco:So they were flip flops that blew out, even though the company says they're flip flops that will never blow out.

Amanda:Yeah. And they were not helpful at all when I went on there, when I tried to tell them or I, didn't want money back. I just. They're like, we can give you like, 10% on a new purchase, which is not as good as the sale they had on. So I didn't go that route. But I hate that.

Marco:I hate when. When they have a claim and they don't stick by it. But that's. That's me.

Amanda:I was sad about it. Okay, sure. but I don't want to bring any anger.

Marco:But the joy came.

Amanda:The joy came in that the funny thing, the serendipitous thing that happened is that they blew out. And do you know what I mean when I say blew out?

Marco:I would imagine if they're flip flops, the thong piece that goes between your toes broke apart.

Amanda:That's exactly what happened. There's different ways that can happen. In my case with those Archies, it just snapped. And I think it was because it was hot and they just weren't used to it. So it's too bad when you lose your love of a product or company, especially. I was trying to support Canadian, but. Oh, well. Anyway, they blew out in front of a Birkenstock store.

Marco:Oh my goodness.

Amanda:So I had to go into the Birkenstock store and I found a pair that were on sale and they were similar to those flip flops that went into the garbage. which I wasn't happy about because they're not cheap at all, those flip flops. Nor are Birkenstocks, but these happen to be on sale. And they're. Are they plastic or what?

Marco:They're molded plastic, I guess.

Amanda:But they don't even. They're Birkenstock plastic. So they feel richer and more supportive somehow, I guess now that I need to plug a company.

Marco:But they're doing just fine.

Amanda:I, I think they are.

Marco:But I'll say this, they're very comfortable, these shoes. As someone who is flat footed.

Marco:So insomnia is one of the things I, I suffer from and flat footedness.

Amanda:So folks, get ready for the Flat Footed podcast coming soon. Can you imagine?

Marco:Imagine I just do a podcast where

Amanda:I talk about flat feet. Like so specific.

Marco:You probably could if you have someone who's flat footed in your life.

Amanda:My grandfather is flat footed.

Marco:Or you're flat footed yourself.

Amanda:Ah, I am not flat footed. I am, I have all kinds of arch.


Amanda Blade says flat footed people should always wear Birkenstocks

Marco:Let's assume you've meet someone who's flat footed.

Amanda:I have. Yeah.

Marco:Okay. So what you need to let them know is that they should never ever have their barefoot on the ground. They should always put it. Yeah, they should always put it into a Birkenstock.

Amanda:Are you kidding?

Marco:Yeah, flat footed.

Amanda:I didn't know this. I thought having your feet on the ground was like a healthy thing we should all be doing.

Marco:If you're doing it to like connect with the earth, that's one thing. But if you're walking in your home.

Marco:As people do in their socks or barefoot. If you're flat footed. My. My chiropodist says you should.

Amanda:I'm just gonna say we do not disperse medical advice. No, we don't on this program. So just. You should never, never say never. But what you have been told by

Marco:your chiropodist and what I have discovered for myself. Putting my foot in a Birkenstock slipper or sandal. Sandal has made quite a difference and I wish, I wish I knew this years ago.

Amanda:Oh wow.

Marco:I will say this though, and once again, we do not dispense medical advice nor are we receiving any sort of funds from Birkenstock or any other shoe company.

Amanda:But our cheese can suck it.

Marco:There you Go. I'll say this. Birkenstocks, if you're going to wear them for the first time. So if you've never worn a Birkenstock before and your salesperson doesn't tell you this, you heard it from Marco. It's the type of sandal you need to ease into. So the first day you wear it, you wear it for an hour and then you remove it. The next day you wear it for two hours. You slowly, gradually wear your Birkenstock. What you do not want to do is having never worn a Birkenstock and wear them for the day because they're built in a way that will actually make you feel quite a bit of, soreness if you've never worn them and you don't break them in.

Amanda:I think even as a high arched person.

Marco:Oh, you're high arched?

Amanda:Well, you know, I grew up dancing. So arches were like. You wanted the, you wanted the most developed arch you could find.

Marco:Sure.

Amanda:So anything you could do to do it, you're constantly pointing your toe. Right.

Marco:I see, I see.

Amanda:I don't have the world's best arches. I would have wanted a more pronounced arched arch if, if I could choose what my feet look like. But, anyway, but, but certainly more than you and probably more than the average person. anyhow, I would say the same actually for any super Archie. arched shoes like Birkenstocks. again, not Archies, because they have broken my heart. But, yeah, I think you can't just. I don't think you can just wear them like I can't think. I don't think you go from zero to full Burk. Full Birkenstock.

Marco:Sure.

Amanda:You know, I think you do have to kind of let your feet get to know and your body get to know. This is what we're doing now. So I think that's fair for anyone.

Marco:And if you don't have a plastic Birkenstock and you have the cork based

Amanda:one which I had years ago. Yeah.

Marco:There is a product that you can use a sealer to seal the cork because after a while of wearing it, the sealant around the cork will start to wear away.

Marco:And you want to protect that sealant. So there's also that available.

Amanda:I actually have. I forgot. I forget. At their Birkenstocks, I have Birkenstock leather boots.

Marco:Oh, and how do those work for you?

Amanda:They're great for standing.

Marco:Oh.

Amanda:but that said, they're not my favorite to walk in.

Marco:those boots were Made for standing.

Amanda:They were so for work. They're great. They're also, you know, if you can imagine, a Birkenshock shoe tends to have a big profile. And so in boot form, they're a little bit, like, chunkified. I little bit feel like I'm in, like, Blade Runner or something. Like, they're big. but the wonderful man at the wonderful Toronto Birkenstock store, when I bought them, however many years ago, that was like, five, seven years ago maybe. because I do have one leg longer than the other. He built up my only shoes that are actually built up for my legs. He built up one side of them.

Marco:That's why Amanda. It's so fun to slow dance with Amanda because she has one foot.

Amanda:Well, it's getting worse as I get older, as all of us are.

Marco:We just go around in circles.


Virgo talking about two very different spa experiences

Amanda:Okay, all right. Sorry I interrupted your bit there. but being the Virgo that I am, the reason I was staring and pondering my own Birkenstocks that are on my feet right now is because I'm debating, do I wear those or do I wear my cheap flip flops to a spa that I'm going to in two days? Oh, I am going to a spa. And not only that, I was at a spa yesterday, so there's a lot of spa.

Marco:What did you wear to the spa you were at yesterday?

Amanda:I wore their flip flops that they give you, although they don't really give them to you. It's just like a rack of all different, weird, random styles of flip flops.

Marco:And, choose your own adventure.

Amanda:Yeah, so I'll talk about. They're two very different spa experiences. yeah, I guess I'll dive into that.


Nidhi is the creator of the Insomnia Project podcast

So I went to the Russian baths

Marco:yesterday, and for longtime listeners, you'll know that Nidhi had mentioned this bath many years ago.

Amanda:So, yeah, if you haven't listened to that episode and you're still awake. The Niddy Russian Bath episode.

Marco:And some of our listeners went to

Amanda:that bath after listening to the episode.

Marco:After listening. And they weren't expecting what they initially got when they arrived. So.

Amanda:So I guess I should walk us through what happened. so Nidhi, the original creator. Co. Creator of the Insomnia Project. and our dear, dear friend of both of ours and of the show, of course.

Marco:She's so awesome.

Amanda:And you'll have her on soon. I think. I will have her on for our Christmas episodes.

Marco:I'll have her for Christmas episodes. I always find it a great treat when she comes into the studio. Because I don't have to tell her. She has an ease.

Marco:With the mic and with me. That is so delightful.

Amanda:Anyway, she's been an ease for us our whole life. I mean I, Nidhi came into her life. we'll just do a little dive on Nidhi here. she came into her life because I was teaching yoga a long time ago and I would teach the only classes I could. I would teach whatever class any studio would give me. And the only classes they would give me at this one particularly popular studio where everybody wanted to both take and teach. The only ones I could get were the 6:30am classes. So I would get up and I'd have to be at that studio for like 5:45 and have it all ready to go. And you know there are people that, that's part of their routine every day is going to yoga or a few times a week or whatever. And so she was doing a one month unlimited pass trying out all these different classes. And so she and I just began talking after she, after the class and we realized we had a lot in common. And it actually came from a place of me wanting to help her out. She was sort of telling me, oh, this is what's going on with my job and da da da. And so I was like, oh, you should connect with my friend or my, someone I've done some work with. I think you guys, there might be a connection there for you if you're looking, you know, just those types of connections. So I gave her my name and number, I gave her names and number of two or three different people for her to connect with for various opportunities or whatever. And I think what happened was we kept in touch. I think we were on each other's social media back then, Facebook. And we kept in contact and I might have invited her to a few things. I don't remember exactly but the next sort of stage or level of our friendship was. And I'm m not sure how you two connected, but she became the stage manager for me for a show I was doing that ended up being a really interesting show. Should I tell more about that?

Marco:You don't have all the time in the world so you'd have to briefly dip in that and dip out.

Amanda:Okay, well if any listener wants to hear more about it and they're still awake, you can let us know. But I'll just tell you this. It was a show about Randy Quaid and his wife, Evie Quaid. So Randy Quaid the actor. And it was about at that time, they were seeking, refugee status in Canada from the United States.

Marco:Maybe just say the title and people can look at it. Okay.

Amanda:It was called Release the Stars, the Ballad of Randy and Evie Quaid. Anyhow, and she was the stage manager for that show. And one of the remarkable things about that show is that Randy and Evie Quaid, on our final closing night, showed up, and it was a small fringe show, an audience of 50 people, max, each night. So it was quite an extraordinary memory and experience for all of us. So she was on that journey with me, and so we kept in touch, and then I went on tour. And you guys continued to hang out.

Marco:That's right. That's right.

Amanda:And you met for coffee, and then you came up with the podcast idea, and we sit here today.


Musk went to the Russian Baths for his birthday last month

So there you go.

Marco:There you have it. so you went to the Russian bath.

Amanda:So I went to the Russian Baths with her. So for my birthday, which was last month, she gave me a card and said, for your birthday present, we will book a time. It's a surprise, so let's book a time. It's an experience I want to give you. So I went, okay, so that date that we settled on was yesterday.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:That we booked, you know, six weeks ago or whatever.

Marco:And.

Amanda:And so she just. She texted me, I'm going to pick you up at 11:30. I was like, okay, great. And she said, bring a bathing suit. And so I was like, do I need flip flops? And she's like, not unless you get, you know, skeeved out by wearing communal flip flops. And I was like, girl, we met in a hot, sweaty yoga studio. So I'm good. So anyway, And off we went to the Russian Path. And I didn't know that that's where we're going, but I knew it was a place that involved me wearing a bathing suit, so that narrowed down at least my options on some level. And then we went out west, the west end of the city, into Mississauga. So. Okay, that now narrows down things. And then I was like, okay, wait, I think I know what's happening. But I wasn't prepared for the experience. But it was a really cool and unique experience.

Marco:the interesting thing is it's in a strip mall. Right? So you pull up to a strip mall.

Amanda:Yeah, like, almost barely a strip mall, but, yeah, it's a strip mall, but it's not even. Like, when you pull into the strip mall, it's not like, okay, there's a, you know, a pharmacy and a, shawarma place and a Russian bath. It's like, there's a restaurant and a bunch of things, and then there's no signage for it, so you really have to know it's there. And then you pull into the side door of the strip mall. So not a door. You don't walk through a front door.

Marco:Like a speakeasy spot.

Amanda:Honestly, it is. There's no. There's a tiny little sign on the side door, but you would have to. The only way to find it is to know it's already there.

Marco:If you know, you know.

Amanda:Exactly. And so anyway, we did. We went in. the woman immediately was like, have you been here before? And she was like, it's her first time. Ah, but it's not mine. And so she went, great. And then we went into the change room. Niddy's locker didn't work, so we just. She could have got another locker, but she just went, you know what? She went back out. I think they were dealing with something else. And she's like, let's just share a locker. So we did. And, in we went. So it's very, You know, everyone has different experiences of what they imagine a spa to be. and I was reminded a lot in that experience that Russia is very close to Finland. So I have been into some Finnish spas because of my time in Thunder Bay, which has a strong Finnish population and has, like, three different pancake. Finnish pancake houses, one of which has spas. Like, spas are big. Like saunas, I should say. Saunas are a big part of Finnish culture.

Marco:It's interesting because in modern Russia, Yeah. A sauna is often called a finished. A Finnish banya.

Amanda:Oh, really?

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda:So they refer to it.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda:So, and the decor there is very unique. I don't know. I mean, that's part of the real fun and charm, I think, of it, really. So we went and changed and put on our bathing suits. And so then you go from there. There is what, Nidhi described aptly as, like, if somebody from Soviet Russia. So that specific time in history. So I'm going to say, like late 70s, early 80s Soviet era, had a cottage in Muskoka. It's like Soviet propaganda posters, but also like, you know, Muskoka chairs and like. Anyway, there's like a lounge.

Marco:Okay, okay.

Amanda:And so the lounge has, like, dimly lit someone's old den, from the 70s with Russian stuff everywhere. We didn't spend much time in there, but it was an interesting thing to look at. And then you open the door and you're into all the heated, different things. So there's a wet sauna, and that's the biggest sauna. Then a smaller dry sauna, a Turkish hammam, steam room. Yeah. some muskoka chairs in there for just rest in between. And a bench as well. And, a cold plunge, wooden tank. And then, like, shower where you pull the. You pull the pulley thing and then you get a good dunk of cold water.


The Russian guy does a treatment where he slaps you with branches

So that's. And you do whatever circuit you want with those four or five elements.

Marco:Okay, cool.

Amanda:Yeah, it's not huge. It's like the size of, like, honestly, like a big living room or something. So it's. If you're somebody from this area or not, and you've been to, say, therma. Or if you're from, like, Los Angeles, you've been to Glen Ivy, which I haven't been to, but I've seen my friends go there a lot, so I've seen pics, you know, that kind of like, outdoor sprawling spa. This is not that place. It's, small, and hidden in the bowels of this. Behind the stores of the strip mall. But what's truly remarkable is that you can do the circuit. You can do it however you want. There is this guy, there who sort of really tries to engage you. The Russian guy. Okay.

Marco:he's an employee.

Amanda:Well, these women were joking. What if he's not an employee? What if he's just, like, a super fan? But no, I think it's his. I don't know if it's his spa. I asked him if it was his spa. He said yes, but I don't know. But, you know, he's volunteering his services to do the treatment where he, like, slaps you with branches.

Marco:Yeah. Those branches are either white birch or oak, or they can be eucalyptus. They're called banevenek.

Amanda:They were not eucalyptus, because I know a eucalyptus sleeve and that was not them.

Marco:Banya bissau is also how they're often called.

Amanda:So, I guess oak. I don't know. The leaves were interesting looking and I,

Marco:you know birch, what birch leaves look like, right?

Amanda:Yeah. It wasn't birch, Uncle Sammy.

Marco:It was oak.

Amanda:It was oak, I guess. Yeah. They had a distinct interesting look to them. Sure. and he does that in the wet sauna, and you're all kind of sitting there, and he just comes in with his person that he's going to do it to, and he tells everybody to move and lets the guy lay down while we all Kind of huddle in one corner.

Marco:And you just watch the guy.

Amanda:And you just watch the guy. Everyone's just watching the gu. Have getting slapped. Yeah.

Marco:With the branches. Okay. I don't think. I don't think they call it getting slapped.

Amanda:What do they call it? A treatment?

Marco:Getting branched.

Amanda:I don't think they call it getting branched.

Marco:They totally call it getting branched. I got branched at the sauna.

Amanda:I'm gonna get branched.


We try to make the podcast 26 minutes, because 26 minutes is ideal

If I go over our time. What's our time right now?

Marco:We've gone over.

Amanda:Have we?

Marco:Yeah, we're 27 minutes.

Amanda:Oh, I'm sorry. It's all right. Well, I'll. I'll continue on just for a bit more.

Marco:We try to make the podcast 26 minutes, because 26 minutes is the ideal number. a time for a short nap. And we do 26 episodes. Today's the 25th episode, so.

Amanda:Well, I will tell you this. The thing I loved the most was the restaurant that, as you go in through the sauna, on the other end, there's another door, and there's this entire restaurant in there. And the decor of it is like that. What is that style called? Looks like a Polish hunting lodge. Like the. I know it's Russian, so Russian finish, but, like, the wood with the white kind of stuccoy.

Marco:But it's. No, it is, though. Scandi meets.

Amanda:I don't know.

Marco:I don't know.

Amanda:Ottoman Empire.

Marco:Sure.

Amanda:Okay. Anyway, And there's tons of, like, Russian vases and tchotchkes and, like. Do you say chachka or Chachki?

Marco:I think you asked me this last episode.

Amanda:Oh, really? Yeah, it's really burning on my brain. In any event, I say Chachi from Happy Days. Amazing. everybody loves. Isn't.

Marco:No, Everybody loves Raymond. Joni loves Chachi.

Amanda:Oh, Joanie loves Chachi, but she doesn't love Raymond. Curious.

Marco:No, she doesn't.

Amanda:We had pierogies. We had the most delectable fried dough sort of pancakes that were different than finished pancakes, surprisingly, but definitely delicious. Like, they were very puffy. And we had cabbage rolls that were amazing. And. And two incredibly delicious vodka cocktails, which, after all that sweat, hit you pretty hard.

Marco:Wow.

Amanda:and then we went shopping for couches. So there you go. That was my day.

Marco:Well, that sounds like a great Saturday afternoon.

Amanda:It was. It was an amazing day with Nidhi, and she's great. And then we came back here, watched some Dateline, and ate Korean food, and it was just the best time.

Marco:And Amanda. So are you going to the Question Bears? Will you Bring your burks to your next spa.

Amanda:I'm not sure. And this is what I'm really hung up on because I'm worried that they're too generic because they're just black and that someone else is going to walk off with them because that's happened to you.

Marco:Yes.

Amanda:So do I. A, wear them and just hope for the best. B, wear my flip flops that say relax on them. No one else is going to have those, but they're not as comfortable as these, admittedly. Or C, plan to wear these but borrow, those little button things that are from, Crocs that my niece would have. And I could, like, fasten one on here so that, like, they stand out. Yeah. So there's like a little ladybug or something on them.

Marco:If you could vote on which A, B or C, Amanda should do.

Amanda:I hope you're not awake. I hope nobody votes, but if you

Marco:want to go for it until then,

Amanda:I mean, I hope you vote if you're awake, but not if you're. I hope you're sleeping.
Marco:Fantastic.
Million Podcast put us in top 10 of their top 70 podcast of 2025
Well, until next time, I want to thank Million Podcast. That's who put us in the top 10 of their top 70 podcast of 2025. Thank you, million Podcasts. I want to thank our listeners, especially those ones who reached out, you know who you are, to say, you know, they were proud of us and they thought we should be higher. And I want to thank Nidhi, of course, and all our listeners. We hope you were able to listen and sleep. And Amanda, good luck with your shoe or your flip flop decision. We'll have that answer for you next week on our last episode for this season, season 10, the month of November, you'll have to listen to some back issues. And if you do listen to some of our back episodes, let us know what your favorites are and maybe we'll do a redo of that topic, in season 11. Until then, we hope you're able to listen, enjoy your flip flop or sandal and sleep.

In A Good Hair Day, Marco and Amanda settle into a softly spoken, delightfully detailed conversation all about hair — the triumphs, the mishaps, and the small rituals that surround it. From the mysteries of hair dye and the convenience of dry shampoo to memorable cuts (both good and not-so-good), they share stories, light tips, and playful observations that feel familiar and gently humorous. It’s an episode that lingers on the everyday, finding calm in topics that are surprisingly universal.
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 warm and easygoing, making it perfect for background listening while you wind down at bedtime or settle back in after a middle-of-the-night wake-up. There’s nothing too loud or dramatic here — just steady companionship and soft laughter to guide you toward rest.

​A Good Hair Day
(Original airdate: Aug 29, 2025)

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 or at least relaxation.

Amanda: Hi, I'm here.

Marco: That's Amanda and I'm Marco Timpano.

Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker and some good news.

Marco: Amanda, what's up? So for our listeners who've been asking about AD free, listens for our podcast. I've been able to get the Insomnia Project onto a service that will provide that. So if you go to insomnia project.supercast.com you can get yourself a subscription so that you don't hear the ads that will sometimes appear at the start of this podcast. Now, I do have a 10 day free sort of offer going on so that you can test it out. It's new to me too, Amanda. I've never used this service before, so I'm hoping it will work out for everyone. And don't worry if you didn't write that down. I will have it in the show notes. It's the Insomnia Project.Super Cast.com A lot of our listeners were asking for this sort of service, if you will, and we'll see how that goes. Amanda?

Amanda: Yeah? Did you hear that little crinkle?

Marco: I heard the crinkle, yes.

Amanda: Oh, okay, folks, true story. I dyed my hair, dyed my roots.

Marco: You've got Amanda with a dyed bag on her head right now.

Amanda: I'm at an age where I'm dying my roots and so they're sitting patiently for me to wash them out.

Marco: How long do you have to wait for that dye to take hold?

Amanda: I don't know. I usually say about 20 minutes. For me, it's like I want to get the hair, but if I've dyed any of my scalp, I don't want that super glued on. So a little column A, a little column B. Maybe it should be 30, but I do 20.

Marco: Now, here's a tip for our listeners because my mother is a hairdresser, was a hairdresser all my life. And so I was around her, a

Amanda: very good hairdresser, I will say.

Marco: I was around her doing hair forever.

Amanda: Hair stylist. I think hairdresser is one of those antiquated terms. Maybe like sunbathing. We don't really say that anymore, do we? I. I think suntan lotion. Remember we used to call all sunscreen suntan lotion?

Marco: I still call it suntan lotion. Okay, so here's a hot tip for any listener that might dye their hair and get splashes on their skin and they want to get those splotches of dye off their skin.

Amanda: I feel like splanche is a word you created.

Marco: What do you call it? Mark a little.

Amanda: Yeah, dye.

Marco: Dye marks.

Amanda: Yeah. I mean, I think we know what you mean by splanche.

Marco: I think splanche is the better word.

Amanda: It is the better word.

Marco: So if you have ash, cigarette ash, or Other ash. And you put that ash with a little bit of water and make almost, for lack of a better term, ash paste. And you take that ash paste and you rub it on your splanch. Your dye splotch will come out.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And it will not dye your skin.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Yeah. So that's a little. That's a little hot tip for any.

Amanda: Will it work for my sunspots?

Marco: No, that's not recommended.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: By any dermatologist or the Insomnia Project podcast to use that for those purposes,

Amanda: because I have those, too. They came along with the. With the need for dye. Yeah, the need for dyeing my roots. I don't need a ton, but just a little bit in the front of

Marco: sunspot cream or of dye cream.

Amanda: Dye cream.

Marco: I see. Okay. Yeah. Oh, my goodness.

Amanda: And I don't usually dab. I just do it when I go on to set when I'm shooting something, because I. I often. I'm actually, I'll just say quite addicted to spray hair root dye, if you know what that is.

Marco: Yeah. So it. It's basically hairspray, but color comes out of it, Is that correct?

Amanda: Exactly. And I love it because it fills in. My hair is always. I've always had very thin hair, so it kind of fills in a bit of the thinness. Listen, I'm not going to say it looks amazing.

Marco: I've noticed that we have a few out here.

Amanda: Yeah, I started buying them in bulk.

Marco: Amanda likes to spray.

Amanda: Well, because I do it for auditions.

Marco: Right. So.

Amanda: Because the way the light hits my head on auditions, it can look

Marco: sparse.

Amanda: Sparse and shiny, too.

Marco: Shiny and sparse.

Amanda: It dulls the shine of my hair, which I know is not something you normally would seek, but for camera, you don't want glare on your hair.

Marco: For new listeners, we are both actors, and so Amanda has to do auditions. And when she's on set, she means when she's filming.

Amanda: The secrets behind the audition. Spray dye and a whole lot of love. And ash paste.

Marco: Now, what's the difference between that dye spray and dry shampoo, which you also like to use?

Amanda: Well, they have two very different things.

Marco: They seem very similar to me.

Amanda: Well, dry shampoo can come out as a certain color, and actually I prefer it when it does come out as not a white spray. But dry shampoo basically came from. There was an old. A lot of people would put baby powder or talcum powder in their hair to sop up grease. If you have, again, thin hair like I do, you know, you. You could only go a day or two at Most without washing it. And I remember, I think I was camping once and someone said, oh, the. Just bring some baby powder and put it in your roots and it'll you, your hair won't look like it had any grease in it. It won't look like it's dirty. So I started that. But you know, people don't want to use talcum powder, so I get that. So they've started dry shampoo and that sort of came from that, I think. And now it's a spray that doesn't have baby powder in it. But it does much the same thing. It takes the grease. It's a powder that absorbs the grease from your roots.

Marco: I see. Okay.

Amanda: Sometimes it gives it a little bit extra body and then sometimes it is the color of your roots. But it's not meant to dye your roots. It's just meant to not create white splashes in your hair. Which sometimes as women especially we have. Like I'll, I run auditions too, so sometimes I'll have actresses that come in and they clearly just put a bit of dry shampoo in the back and didn't really look at it. So I'll see like a white spray there in the back.

Marco: I see, I see. Wow.

Amanda: But the camera doesn't notice, so it's fine.

Marco: What are your hair secret tips or what are some essentials you have with regards to your hair?

Amanda: I've had the same cut since I was about 10 years old. I've grown it out a few times. I've cut it a few, a very few times. But I've pretty much had shoulder length brown hair forever. Because my hair is thin, it doesn't really grow out super strong, so it doesn't last. It just starts to look kind of. I can tell when it needs a cut. It just doesn't. It's not strong, thick hair that can grow long. It just isn't that kind of hair.

Marco: But I'm talking about like, do you have anything that like is an essential? Like I know my niece, for example, she likes to sleep with a silk bonnet. Do you have any, like, things that you do with your hair? Any, any things that you're like, I always want to have.

Amanda: Well, other than the dry shampoo and the root spray. And I really do live by the root spray now because I just feel like it makes me look like I have a little bit more hair than I do.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: That's why I put it in.

Marco: I see.

Amanda: It's not even really usually to touch up my roots, although obviously that's its own Little journey. Well, that's. That's its main purpose, sure, in life, but it just fills in the gaps, the thinness on the sides. It kind of fills it in. And I prefer that. But beyond that, I. Well, it really depends. You have to get to know your hair. I think. I think people go through fads especially, but women do anyway, when we're young. Sure. And so we want certain kinds of hair. And, you know, now there's a lot more things you can attach to your hair. But at the end of the day, your hair is going to want to do certain things and it's not going to want to do other things. Like, I don't know where the term cowlick came from. It always is a weird term. But those who have it know what I mean. It's that thing where you try to cut bangs and they just don't sit in a straight line on your forehead. They sort of curl up and have their own little part.

Marco: As if a cow licked your head.

Amanda: Is that what it is?

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: Can't be.

Marco: I mean, if a cow licks you your hair, it's going to force it up.

Amanda: I mean, there's a lot of things that would force hair up that I would think of before a cow's tongue.

Marco: I think everything should be measured by cows, by bovine and farm animals. Remember during COVID there was a sign that said you have to be three Canada goose or geese away from.

Amanda: Away from someone.

Marco: What a great way to measure one

Amanda: canoe or something like that. Yeah.

Marco: I was on a bender of like, you should measure everything by foul. How tall are you? Oh, I'm about five chickens and a goose.

Amanda: I'm three pheasants high this year. Yeah. Anyway, I don't remember what we were talking about.

Marco: A cowlick.

Amanda: Oh, cowlicks. Yes.

Marco: So you couldn't do that.

Amanda: I guess my overall advice is, and this happens sort of in your 20s, 30s, you just get to know your hair. If your hair curls up, then lean into that. My hair is the kind that a little bit of humidity or no blow drying and it will kind of wave, it'll become wavy. But so I have to kind of lean into that if that's what I'm going for on that particular day.

Marco: That's a good point. Because not everybody can get the same hairstyle of, say, a celebrity or someone on television they like because their hair just doesn't. Won't do that. And so you could learn the hard way, if you go somewhere and say, I want to get this cut, and they're like that your hair won't. Won't do that.

Amanda: Yeah. Alternately, if you have really thick hair, like I don't have thick hair. But if you have.

Marco: Sister does.

Amanda: She does. My niece does. Good friends of mine do you know, you really have to lean into what that hair is and what looks good with that hair. There's going to be things that just don't really work out. I think so. I think that's, for me, the main thing. Now, if you do have sort of thinnish, wavy, ish hair, then one of the things that I live by. Okay, here we go, folks, since you've asked. Is hot rollers. And I read a few years ago, Reese Witherspoon had a book. It was a pretty frivolous book. It was sort of like tips from a Southern girl or something like that. I don't remember what it was called, but one of the things she said is the only way I know how to do my hair is hot rollers. And I have to say that is one of my tips. Beyond tips, because it is the quickest way to make your hair. I'm going to say this to make your hair look intentional, might not be the intention that you always want, but it makes it look intentional. So if you've got hot rollers or if you have an aunt or a grandmother or something that had them, you know you can get them. And they're not very big. Like the hot rollers of yesteryear were big, huge cases of rollers. They took up a lot of space. I'm not really a fan of those. I have sort of two sets. They're both really small, about the size

Marco: of a pencil case, maybe a bit taller. Is the size that Amanda has it. They're very compact.

Amanda: I would say a pretty big pencil case.

Marco: Okay, okay. Like smaller than the size of a loon.

Amanda: Yeah, the size of a loon. Not a Canada goose, but a loon. Loons are quite small. So, yeah, a bigger or medium. A small to medium sized bird or a goose.

Marco: A gosling. A gosling. That's.

Amanda: But not Orion. Anyway, so hot rollers. And then in that little roller pack, you'll have some sometimes that are different sizes. Some are smaller for like tighter curls and then some are bigger for a more rounded kind of flip kind of curl or just to give it some body. Those work really great in my hair because I plug them in. They're kind of cooking for 10 minutes while I take a shower, do my makeup, whatever. Usually what I do is I plug them in first thing, make a Coffee, come back upstairs. If I'm showering, great. If I'm not, then dry shampoo it is. Do my makeup or put them on, put them in my hair, spend 10 minutes doing my makeup, and then by the time my makeup is done, the rollers have done what they're gonna do, probably. And then I take them out, brush it out, and then my day's ready. So 20 minute hair. You know, 10 minutes for hair, 10 minutes for makeup. That's about it for me. So that's one thing I really, really live by, actually. Are those hot rollers. Straighteners never really worked for me. There's a trend in the world. It's been. I shouldn't say it's a trend because it's been for the last 10 years, where people curl their hair with straighteners and they go for that look, or they use a curling iron that doesn't have. How do I say this? A self clipping thing. They wrap the hair around the barrel.

Marco: It's just the tube, it's just the cylinder without the.

Amanda: You can also do that same thing with a straightening iron. Like slowly move the straightening iron in circles. That is what they do on set. That is what hair and makeup artists usually use. It's too much work for me. I've never had a lot of luck with it. I do it sometimes, but I don't do it a whole lot.

Marco: Do you remember the crimping iron to crimp your hair?

Amanda: Oh, I sure do.

Marco: Did you ever crimp your hair?

Amanda: Yeah, I sure did. Did you ever crimp your.

Marco: I wish I had hair to crimp.

Amanda: But I mean, back in the day even. No, no.

Marco: I mean, why would I crimp my hair like that?

Amanda: For fun? Because eventually everybody, if you see a crimping iron, you like, just gotta know, is it gonna work?

Marco: No, I didn't. My thing was too. Because my mother was a hairstylist, I was always around hair things, so that stuff never intrigued me.

Amanda: I see.

Marco: It's always amazing because. Because I. As ever since I was a child, like, since since birth, I've been around my mother doing women's hair. And so I have a keen eye on women's hair just by being around it. And I'll often say to Amanda, like, oh, our friend got a really good haircut. And she's like, how can you tell? I'm like, oh, I can just tell. It'll grow out nicely. And you got a haircut recently and you were iffy about it, and I said, oh, no. I said, Amanda, this cut is really good. Is she did a good cut on you. Just give it a day or two. Because sometimes you can tell how good a haircut is by how it grows out. So if it's because a hairstylist can make your hair look great on the day.

Amanda: Right.

Marco: But once that day is gone and you wash your hair and whatnot, the haircut will reveal itself. And if it's a good cut, you'll be able to do things with your hair. If it's a bad cut, in a few days or a week after it goes out, it's just going to be a splonch of mange.

Amanda: A splanche of mange.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: So one of the things that was a little different, that cut, she really wanted to put more layers in my hair. Hairdressers like to. Hairstylists like to put layers in hair. I'm going to say this. I do find my friends that have thick hair. They go to the hair stylist salon, sure person. They get haircuts. They inevitably say, he or she decided, we decided to do some layers. Sometimes it's we like having a baby. We decided this time we were going to do some layers. Maybe it looks good on the day, but then they just especially like thick, kind of coarser hair just looks like frizzy mullet, choppy chop. I just don't like it. Just not for me. I mean, listen, some people want frizzy mullet, choppy chop.

Marco: How do you feel about your hair cut now that you've had it for a couple of weeks now?

Amanda: It's okay. She left a little bit too much length and cut a little bit too much layer for me. But I don't mind it. I mean, it's been okay. It's a bit too layered for me.

Marco: It looks good. It does look good.

Amanda: Thank you.

Marco: Let me ask you this, Amanda. You had mentioned some trade secrets from the set that hair stylist will do. Are there any other trade secrets that our listeners might not be aware of because they're not on set that a makeup person or a hair. Hair and makeup people do to actors that you're like, oh, that's a really interesting or great little tip that you've noticed? Certainly makeup people do things that are really fascinating.

Amanda: I, when I was on the set of Handmaid's Tale, they used a product on me that I fell in love with and I've used. I went and sought out and I've used it a bunch of sets. It's called, I think, Osis. It's a little red bottle of powder. And I think that's the name of it. Osis. I think it's, like, 20 bucks. And it stiffens the roots. It's a little bit of powder that you shake into your roots. So I guess it's a teeny bit like a dry shampoo that way, but it stiffens your roots. So when you. If you just sort of rub your roots after putting it in, your hair suddenly, instantly has so much body, it's crazy. Okay, now you can't. It's not a product to be recommended if you're, you know, going on a date and you want that person to. To stroke their fingers through your hair. No, it.

Marco: It'll concrete up.

Amanda: It. Yeah, it turns your roots into concrete. But. But it's amazing. And. And it's concrete that can, like, activate every time you kind of rub it.

Marco: Oh, really?

Amanda: Yeah. So you can have a lot of body in your hair. I mean, arguably, I've done it, and people have been like, oh, wow, that's really high. You know, now you've overdone it. When I'm trying to, like, show off. I see.

Marco: I see.

Amanda: Okay, so that was one that I used. You know, something happened when makeup artists had to wear. Well, when talent had to wear masks and so on. Makeup artists changed the way they made up faces. And I noticed now that that change has continued. Okay, so sometimes now they'll make up eyes first. It used to always be you start with the skin. You. You do foundation. You get the skin to a place where you want it, then you do the sort of like, you're doing your base level, like building a house. Like you.

Marco: The foundation of your face. Like I do, you put the walls

Amanda: in, and then you get into the windows and the cabinets. So that would be the eyes, the brows, the.

Marco: What's the cabinet, the nose, the windows and the cabinets.

Amanda: Oh, okay. I don't know. Whatever. You get what I'm saying? And that's how I always approach makeup. I always do something. Skin cream, foundation, and then whatever I feel like doing with my eyes, my cheeks, my lips, which is usually the eyes are the only thing that takes any kind of time in that, because the rest is just smear color on and hope for the best. But I've noticed more and more people changed it because the person you're working on might have a mask on. So they would just do eyes first.

Marco: I see.

Amanda: So they would do the eyes and really concentrate on the eyes, and then they would sort of lightly work around the skin. Of course, Things have changed a lot in the last 10 years because filming has changed.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: So it used to be if you were filming, you'd come home with a very thick mask of makeup on. If anything, the reverse is true. Now you can wear so little makeup because any powder, anything will show up.

Marco: Yeah. Because the quality of the film or video, 6K or whatever it is now picks up everything.

Amanda: I'm going to be honest, and you can say what you want about me. I, on the regular, wear more makeup, certainly to auditions, certainly in day to day life, probably. Well, maybe not day to day life, but at two auditions and filming, I wear more makeup myself than usually what they put on me.

Marco: Oh, I see.

Amanda: Generally speaking, sometimes they'll do my eyes a little bit more dramatic or something and that'll be neat. But generally speaking, I'll be like, I don't even look like I have anything on. But that's intentional that it can't look like you're wearing makeup. So I get it.

Marco: It's.

Amanda: It's a hard medium.

Marco: I always love how makeup artists on set will have a way of giving you the products you might need. So for example for me would be like a lip balm and making sure that it doesn't get contaminated. So it's like they'll give you a little. Yeah, like a little scooper of individual lip balm. So you're not using the same one that someone else is using.

Amanda: You're not.

Marco: And. Or things like that. Just the way they do that. I always love. I always love that.

Amanda: Right now realizing the mascara that I've been wearing this week, which is a new one I've tried, there's a trend in mascara where they have what they call tubes, like little extra fibers or extra pieces.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: To kind of give your eyelashes a little more, I don't know, extra love volume. I guess what happens is it's really hard to get off. And then you. You've washed off your makeup, but you still have these sort of like chunks of mascara and you don't want to go to set.

Marco: You probably need to just put some warm water on it.

Amanda: That's the thing, they don't really respond to water. You need oil. You need an oil based product.

Marco: Oh, do you have an oil based product?

Amanda: I used to. I don't right now, but I think they're gone. How did. Yeah, I've been peeling them off, but then I don't want to rip my eyelashes off either, so. Yeah. Tips from set.

Marco: Yeah, that's so great. I'm sure listeners Will appreciate some of those tips. And, you know, it's always great to share with people things like that.

Amanda: I'm trying to think of other things that they've done in the past, like everyone has their own way of doing. I had to wear a halo once. Do you know what that is?

Marco: No.

Amanda: That is extra hair. And it's like a headband that they sort of hide in your hair. They kind of brush over it so you don't see the headband.

Marco: So it's a headband that has hair

Amanda: attached to it on the bottom part. Yeah. So that you put it on and then it's underneath your existing hair. So it just looks like your existing hair is one layer of hair. And if you match it. Right. That the bottom hair looks. You might not even notice that there's sort of layering in there and it just looks like extra hair. I wore that once for a Christmas movie. Now, I loved it when I had it on. I felt like a glamazon. But when I look back at some of the footage, my mother voiced her opinion on that. She did not think it looked good, so. But I loved it on the day. So I felt really glamorous wearing a halo. But they're heavy.

Marco: Oh, I see.

Amanda: Yeah. And I remember the act. One of the actors in that film, they wanted her. They were talking about wearing one, and she said that she had shot a series, and they. That the hair and makeup person said, let's try Halo. Really? Let's put a halo for the series. That she did. And she didn't. It wasn't. She didn't think it was necessary for a character, but she wanted to go with it. And she said, I had headaches all year because the hair was so heavy and thick that they would put on me. So, yeah, wigs are a thing. Right. That happens a lot on sets. I did a 1920s piece once, which was super fun to shoot, and that was all wigged. Everything was wigs, which was amazing.

Marco: And I imagine that saves times time too. Right. Because they can just put the wig on, you set it and then.

Amanda: Well, what's interesting is a lot of times wigs are not the full hair, so they incorporate your real hair into the wig. So in that one, the wig was just sort of the back part of my hair, but the front part of my hair was still my hair. So they just made the front part match the back part so that the back part had sort of a more of a 1920s style. Did I just kick the table?

Marco: You kicked the table, yeah, I'M sorry.

Amanda: Well, you move. You never stop moving.

Marco: I don't move, but I never kicked the table.

Amanda: I didn't kick it. I just brought my foot down.

Marco: Well, when you do that, it shouldn't be on the table because it makes all this metal reverberate.

Amanda: Well, no one's perfect. And you also drank a big drink with lots of glugs. And I didn't say anything about that, did I?

Marco: I did it when you were talking so they wouldn't hear the glugs. These are the behind the scenes secrets of recording in a. In a booth that you have to also monitor, too.

Amanda: Yeah, I'm trying to think if there's any other little tips and tricks.

Marco: Now, when you go to set, what do you do with your hair and your makeup? You wear no makeup so that the makeup artist can do it.

Amanda: You have to come with clean, washed, dried hair. Sometimes the dried part is hard because you're like, oh, I got to wash my hair and I got to run. So then you're like, if you're like me and you have thin hair, you kind of hope it'll dry in the car, which it will. But clean, wash, dried hair. Sometimes when people have hair that has its own mind, they'll kind of style it just a little bit to help it start in that direction.

Marco: Fair.

Amanda: And then the hair person can decide what they want to do about that. But. Or with that. And always. Except for twice. Twice I've been told to come with makeup on, but that's very, very rare. Usually it's a clean, moisturized face. I did not moisturize my face last night. I just didn't feel like it. So. So I need to wash my hair

Marco: now and moisturize your face.

Amanda: Moisturize my face.

Marco: All right. And just said I go on that note, we hope your hair is washed and your face is moisturized as you listen to this podcast. Or if it's not, that's fine too. We won't tell. But we hope you enjoyed the show. Once again. I'll just remind our listeners that we now have a way that you can listen to the podcast episodes without ads. And that's the insomnia project.supercast.com I'll have it in the show notes. Until next time. I hope you were able to listen to this podcast and find your way to sleep.

In Guest Rooms, Palm Springs, and a Chicken, Amanda and Marco ease into a softly wandering conversation about hospitality, travel, and a few unexpected animal encounters. They begin by reflecting on the comforts they like to offer in a guest room — the small, thoughtful details that make someone feel at home — and what it’s like to shift between being a host and being a guest. From there, Marco shares a curious moment from their recent trip to Palm Springs, which leads to a gentle exploration of the word “non-plussed” and how language can surprise us.
The episode drifts further into lighthearted stories involving a chicken, a cow, and even a goat, each tale told with calm affection and quiet humour. 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. It’s perfect for background listening at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up — just steady companionship, mild musings, and a soft place for your thoughts to land.

​Guest Rooms, Palm Springs, and a Chicken
(Original airdate: Sept 24, 2025)

This podcast is meant to help you drift away and fall asleep if you can

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you drift away and fall asleep if you can. Otherwise, just listen and hopefully this podcast will calm you in some way Shape or form? I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: You said hopefully funny. You're like, hopefully the buggers will calm you.

Marco: I felt like a weird whistle in the fully part of hopefully come out of my mouth, so it made me pause for a second.

Amanda: Well, I'm Amanda Barker, Marco Timpano's weird whistle.


Our podcast episodes are on supercast now for anyone who wants ad free listens

Marco: Amanda, I want to mention this right off the top of this, episode. Our podcast episodes are on supercast now for anyone who wants to have ad free listens.

Amanda: You've been working so hard to make that happen.

Marco: And what happened, Amanda, was I put them all up with just an RSS feed, but it included.

Amanda: What does that mean, an RSS feed? RSS feed for those of us who don't understand.

Marco: I'll get to that in a minute.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: When I use that feed, it put the, it put the ads on with those episodes. so some of the people who subscribed to it had said the ads are there. And so I had to contact them and see what was going. Going off there. And now I have to upload each episode going off, what was. What was happening. And so I have to upload each episode individually. So I have this season and last season. I'm uploading all the seasons.

Amanda: He's been working hard, folks. I didn't even know this until this moment, what exactly was happening, but now I understand.

Marco: Yeah, so, so you want ad free listens, you can go to the insomniaproject Supercast CA where you can subscribe and get ad free episodes. So there you have it.

Amanda: And that's obviously by demand. So you've been working hard to make that happen.

Marco: Yeah, some people.

Amanda: Because we did have it before and then they were no longer available.

Marco: Exactly. And some people are perfectly fine just listening to the podcast on their favorite podcast player. And the ads don't bother them, so that's great too.

Amanda: And we work hard to make sure that the ads that are there are ones that hopefully are. Are in tune with the cadence of the podcast. We do our best.

Marco: Sadly, I don't have as much say in that. Yeah, based on ACAST sort of puts them up. And I've, I've had many conversations with them asking them to put calmer ads in those spots.

Amanda: But we love to hear your feedback. if the ads aren't working for you, or anything.

Marco: Yeah, there's an alternative. If there's an episode you would like to hear, let us know.


Amanda, we had some wonderful guests stay at our house last week

So, Amanda, I wanted to talk about this. We had some wonderful guests stay at our house last week.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: How do you like to prepare a guest room and. Or what do you like in a guest room?

Amanda: Oh, interesting. Well, you and I were also guests at our friend's house, the week prior.

Marco: Oh, yes, we were.

Amanda: He looked at me like I was crazy.

Marco: I was like, we were. And I was like, yes, we were, we were.

Amanda: And one thing that I noticed that our host did was she put photos of us and them in that room, which I thought was so sweet. So I like to do the same for my guests. And so I did the same and I always have photos of my family in that room Anyhow, so I featured the photos of the wedding photos and so on of our two wonderful. Are we going to say who our wonderful guests were?

Marco: Well, we certainly can.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: It was our nephew and our sister in law, Carrie, and they were beyond delightful guests and they're some of our favorite people in all the world. M. And I have to say I

Amanda: got to go to two museums in two days, which is super fun for me. Well, an aquarium is an aquarium. A museum.

Marco: This aquarium, which is the Ripley's aquarium in Toronto, feels like it has a lot of information. So there's a lot of knowledge based information one can gain from that aquarium. So I would say it certainly museum esque.

Amanda: A living museum.

Marco: A living museum. And where was the other museum you went to?

Amanda: It was the Royal Ontario Museum, affectionately referred to as the rom. And I haven't been there in a while, so it was nice to go back.

Marco: Here's a fun fact. if you live in Toronto and you have a library card, you can go to the website and they will have certain museums where you can get a pass to those museums. As long as you bring the pass that you get or on, on your phone and your library card and show them, they will let you and three other people in.

Amanda: I have to say, a library card is a magical, magical thing. We've said it many times on this podcast and since we both have our TPL cards, our Toronto Public Library cards, I was able to use that and the night before, get a pass for a family of four to the Royal Ontario Museum. That's quite a gift.

Marco: It is a gift. And libraries are a gift.

Amanda: They are.

Marco: And if you are thinking I want to donate to a, ah, charity or something, look in into your library, your local library, and see what they may need. M. Money always goes, far for them, but they might need volunteers and just investigate your library before I go

Amanda: back to the guest room and attend your library because they need to show that they are needed. And so, you know, check out a book, read a magazine, go get an audiobook.

Marco: They have lecturers that come. They have guest speakers.

Amanda: That's true.

Marco: Sometimes they'll have, like, workshops. Wonderful. If you're like, oh, the winter keeps me inside. I don't have a lot to do in the winter. Look at your library.

Amanda: And there are over. I mean, we're just so passionate about this. But there are wonderful apps. The overdrive app here in Toronto, I use also the Libby app, which I think you can use, I think, anywhere in the world. And it connects to your local library, and you have access to all of their ebooks, audiobooks, and more.

Marco: Honestly, I have to say a, special shout out to the Waterloo Public Library that had me as a guest speaker one time, because of this podcast and how much we love libraries

Amanda: and full circle, I won a bunch of things at that event, including passes to the aquarium that we went to.

Marco: There you go.


So back to the RSS feed before we get to the guest room

So back to the RSS feed before we get to the guest room.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: So an RRS feed stands for Real Simple Syndication, and it is the feed that contains all the information in this case of our podcast. And so what that feed does is it sends a signal to our podcast directory, which in this case is acast, and that feed gets sent to them with all the information. So the show notes, the recorded episode, the picture of our artwork, all that is the RSS feed.

Amanda: Tell me more, because I'm finding this is putting me to sleep.

Marco: So the RSS feed that I used, I just uploaded it to Supercast, thinking, oh, Supercast will remove the ads. But that RSS feed had the ads embedded into it. And so when I sent the RSS feed to Supercast, the ads were embedded into that RSS feed. And so I have to send each episod episode individually to Supercast.

Amanda: Thank you. I'm glad we got that.


Amanda: I like towels for guests. I like to give guests towels, okay

Marco: So back to the guest room. Amanda. I like to give guests towels, okay. So that they have their own lovely towels. And I always try to get our nicest, softest towels for our guests.

Amanda: Yeah, I don't know if any of our towels are particularly soft these days. I think we're in need of some new towels.

Marco: I want to get towels just for guests. So like a, two body towels, or what do you call the big towel?

Amanda: What about those ones we took from Turks and Caicos? Those are nice. I know I stole them from a resort, but still, they don't.

Marco: They look like resort or beach towels to me.

Amanda: I don't know.

Marco: They're pretty nice, but they just look like beach towels.

Amanda: All right, fair.

Marco: I want nice guest towels.

Amanda: I. I like towels that go around me. I don't like it when towels don't go fully around me when. When I kind of put them together and there's a little split down the middle.

Marco: It's so funny because Carrie got you a g. Enormous.

Amanda: Oh, you know what we didn't get? We didn't put the towels out. Oh, I feel so dumb.

Marco: Why?

Amanda: Because I said, what towels should we put out? And you said, these ones we didn't put out. The towel she gave us the big.

Marco: The big giant one that goes around our bodies three times. Yeah, I guess we could have.

Amanda: Why didn't she gave us those?

Marco: Well, Carrie, if you're listening, you'll have to come back.

Amanda: You'll have to come back.

Marco: If you come back, we'll make sure you get them. And the simple solution is we have them back as guests.

Amanda: Yeah. Which my nephew said. We'll be back. It's one of the last things he said very, very sweetly.

Marco: Yeah. So I like towels. I like, I don't know what else I like in a guest room, but. But yeah, I would say towels are important.

Amanda: Okay. There's nothing else you need as a guest.

Marco: Nice pillow, comfortable bed. If I can.

Amanda: I like making sure there's a phone charger in there.

Marco: Oh, that's smart.

Amanda: Yeah. But then it's hard because some people have different kinds of phones and.

Marco: True.

Amanda: So what do you have? One of each, I guess.

Marco: Well, you could have the little. The little nubbin that the phone charger goes in.

Amanda: Definitely the technical term.

Marco: What do you call that little piece? The piece that. The.

Amanda: The nubbin.

Marco: The nubbin. The little nubbin that. Your phone charger.

Amanda: You call it all. A charger. You call the charger.

Marco: The cord.

Amanda: You call the wall thing. The charger.

Marco: What do you call. Each one has a different.

Amanda: I don't know, the core. I don't know, the cord. The charging cord, and then the charging port.

Marco: Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

Amanda: Or the nubbin.

Marco: The nubbin port. One of them, anyways. You choose your own adventure there. Your little nubbin of a charger, I was remembering.


It feels like Palm Springs is like the distant cousin of Miami

So we recently went to Palm Springs with our friends that we were at their place. We were guests at their place. And the hotel that they took us to in Palm Springs was so delightful. It had this beautiful, color to it that was almost pink, almost beige inside.

Amanda: I think that's the official tone of

Marco: palm Springs almost pink, almost beige.

Amanda: I think there's a lot of pinky sort of Miami. It feels like Palm Springs is like the distant cousin of Miami.

Marco: Yeah, it's art deco, it's pastels mid century. It has all that. If you haven't been to Palm Springs, it's a lovely.

Amanda: Drag queens and show tunes.

Marco: Yeah, that's Miami too.

Amanda: Yeah. I think they're cousins.

Marco: They are?

Marco: They are.

Amanda: One's in the desert, one's on the ocean.

Marco: But still, I would say that, Palm Springs is the calmer cousin.

Amanda: Yeah, I think you're right about that.

Marco: The smaller, older, calmer cousin.

Amanda: Chiller.

Marco: Chiller, yeah.

Amanda: More. More retired cousin.


Did you enjoy Palm Springs? I did. Did you? I was surprised at how A, hot it was

Marco: Did you enjoy Palm Springs?

Amanda: I did. Did you?

Marco: I was surprised at how A, hot it was. I knew we were in the desert,

Amanda: but B. Yeah, you know, it's gonna be hot. But it was hot. It was hot. And smaller than I thought.

Marco: It was smaller than I thought.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: But really quite delightful.

Marco: And you know me, I like to go on a knickknack store. Oh, I should tell. I should tell the story of going into that one store.

Amanda: I don't know. Oh, sure.

Marco: So I went to Starbucks to get a cool drink and I decided to

Amanda: get the, by the way, the Starbucks downtown Palm Springs. I am sorry to interrupt you, but they give like unlimited venti ice waters to everybody and I have to just shout them out because all day, every day, people come in just needing water and they just go for it. They don't.

Marco: They don't roll their eyes.

Amanda: Nope.

Marco: They don't question it.

Amanda: Here's the water. Use the bathroom. Do what you gotta do. We get it.

Marco: So I'm in this wonderful Starbucks in Palm Springs and I wanted to get a cold drink and I know that Amanda doesn't like strawberry, so I didn't get the strawberry lemonade in case Amanda wanted to have some of that drink.

Amanda: Although, to be honest, I don't mind a strawberry drink, but.

Marco: Oh, really? Okay, that's good to know.

Amanda: Yeah, I mean, it depends.

Marco: But anyway, so I decided to get the, Dragon fruit drink. And they said, do you want it with coconut water? And I'm like, sure, like milk or water. I feel like it was milk.

Amanda: It looked milky. Yeah, it looked like a thick. I mean it really. Now listen, I just shot up Starbucks, but it looked like a Pepto Bismo kind of situation.

Marco: It was that color pink. It was a bright, thick, thick pink.

Amanda: And you got a Venti, like a large one.

Marco: I got a Venti because I thought you were going to drink some and Amanda did not want any.

Amanda: I took one sip and went, I'm good.

Marco: So I'm, walking around with this ginormous pink drink and I'm loving life. It's warm. And we go into this fancy store that sells greeting cards and Christmas ornaments.

Amanda: There's a lot of those stores, I have to say, in Palm Springs. There's like a rack of sequin tops. And then the rest of it is like funny, irreverent cards and coffee table books. Yeah, like the, you know, there's like kitschy versions of that and then nicer versions that are campy kitschy, but like also nice. This was more of the latter. Like the campy kitschy nice versus just gag gifts.

Marco: Now a lot of these stores that we went into had a little table to put your drink. This one did not. I need to mention that.

Marco: And so I'm like, you walked in

Amanda: and it said, put your drink here. Which I think is a lovely courtesy because you need a drink to be walking around Palm Springs. It is that hot.

Marco: And once again, this place did not have it.


Amanda spilled a pink drink in a store that was white

Marco: So I think you know where this is going. And everything in this store is white. White tiles, white walls, white, white, white. Even the. Even the man who owned it were white.

Amanda: How could this story end?

Marco: So I'm having a great time and I'm talking to my good friend Nima. And Nima and I are just like, you know, looking at stuff and I'm like, oh, Nima. Or I said, amanda, look at this. Because I saw a really, chunky necklace that was 50% off that I thought you might like, didn't like it. As I turn to kind of gesture to where it was, the drink falls out of my hand. And you know, when you go to grab the drink and you just make it worse, it splonches on the floor and there's just pink everywhere.

Amanda: It's just a sea of, pink ooze.

Marco: I'm mortified.

Amanda: On white tile and white furniture and white everything.

Marco: Yes, I'm mortified. The person who's behind the counter, who I'm assuming is the owner, because it seemed like he was. The owner was non plussed in the

Amanda: largest way, was not having it.

Marco: So I was like, oh my.

Amanda: And by the way, the word nonplussed you. And I might use it wrong just for the rest of the.

Marco: Okay, well he was.

Amanda: If that's triggering for anyone.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: So he wasn't having it.

Marco: He was not happy. So I'm of course, apologetic and wanting to clean it up. And he just throws me a paper towel roll.

Amanda: Yeah, I know. He was like, usually there's a. Like, oh, it's okay. Yeah. No, there was none of that.

Marco: And he kicks a. He kicks a garbage to me. He kicks his little garbage can. Waste basket to me. And I. Sopping it up. And I've done a decent job cleaning up. Shout out to Nima, who was also helping me. M. I'm on the floor in this store, and then the owner throws me a Windex bottle to continue cleaning his floor. And I did. And then I was a little bit annoyed, but I was like, okay, I should. I was the one who spilled it. So I cleaned the floor where I spilt the pink drink was spotless. And then I quickly exited the store. And as I'm leaving, I'm telling Amanda, I want this. This ornament. Buy this. But I was too embarrassed to stay

Amanda: in the store, so I bought the ornament. Just. So we bought something too, because we. I mean, I think you handle it as well as anyone. And you work next to a Starbucks. People are going to come in with their big drinks.

Marco: Exactly.


Nonplussed has two very different meanings, neither of which is ours

So that was the incident in Palm Springs. But you had a lovely little photo shoot in Palm Springs.

Amanda: I did. I was actually just looking up the word nonplus.

Marco: Oh, yeah. So what does it mean?

Amanda: It's such a confusing word. So why don't you define it as you use it and I'll define it as I use it because it has a lot of meaning for me.

Marco: It's someone who's really not impressed. So beyond not impressed. Eye rolly. doesn't want to give you the time.

Amanda: So the opposite would be to be plussed. Like, I'm non plussed. I'm not into it. Yeah, I'm very plussed about that.

Marco: I don't think you can say plus.

Amanda: Well, I don't. You can say whatever you want.

Marco: You're right.

Amanda: We did. We used to say overwhelmed. We never used to say underwhelmed. People, probably don't remember that, but there was a song called underwhelmed, and it was a. It was like that. It was like saying plussed. Because. And. And then the lyric of the song, it's by Sloan, for those in Canada.

Marco: I don't even know that song.

Amanda: She was underwhelmed, if that's a word. I think it's not, because I looked it up. So it. Underwhelmed. We all say underwhelmed.

Marco: Was that a lyric from the Song.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Yeah, that's a lyric from the song, but it was not a lyric. Like, it was not a word back then.

Marco: I see.

Amanda: But we started saying it. Oh, that was very underwhelming.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: But we. We'd always say overwhelming. We wouldn't say whelming.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: Anyhow, I use it the same way, but I've always known that I probably use it wrong. So I'm going to read you. There's two very different definitions, neither of which is ours. I don't know.

Marco: Oh, wow.

Amanda: So the first one is of a person, a person being surprised and confused so much that they are unsure of how to act. I wish. So here's the example. He would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at that idea.

Marco: Well, then I wasn't home plused by dropping my drink in that store.

Amanda: And then the second version is not, disconcerted. Or rather, unperturbed would be a synonym. I remember students being nonplussed about the flooding in the city as they become accustomed to it over the years.

Marco: So this person was the opposite of nonplussed because he was not happy.

Amanda: Yeah. And then there's a. Why does nonplussed have two meanings? In the 1580s, the word was used as a noun to mean a state where nothing more can be done or said.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: In the next decade, it transitioned to a verb that meant to perplex in the 1650s.

Marco: Is that what we're talking about? The next decade?

Amanda: In the 1590s?

Marco: Oh, my goodness.

Amanda: Okay. I don't know how anyone knows that. Wow. So I don't know. It has a lot of meanings, and I think we're all using it a little right and a little wrong.

Marco: Oh, there you go. Okay, well, that's good to know.

Amanda: Maybe we'll just start saying plussed.


We have guests coming to our home this month, I'm telling you

Marco: So you had this photo shoot?

Amanda: I did, yes.

Marco: And I think everyone was plussed with

Amanda: was silly and fun. Our very dear friends, wanted to do it because we were in Palm Springs, so she wanted me to wear muumus or feathers or sequins. And, And we just wanted to celebrate our sort of mutual milestone birthdays together.

Marco: It was awesome.

Amanda: Yeah, it was really fun because she had had hers, in Palm Springs, and it was very close to my birthday. So. Yeah, it was really fun.

Marco: We had a great time. And we had a great time with our guests who visited last week.

Amanda: Yeah, we did. Yeah.

Marco: And we have guests coming. Not to our home, but a,

Amanda: lot of friends and family this month, I'm telling you.

Marco: In October.

Amanda: That's a good gift, isn't it?

Marco: We have my aunt coming from Italy.

Amanda: Oh my goodness. No one knows the dates though. Ask every member of the family. They're all like, sometime in October.

Marco: I asked my sister and she said, I think October 7th. And then I thought, my mother will know because it's her sister.

Amanda: I've heard October 4th.

Marco: And my mother's like, isn't it October 7th? I'm like, I'm asking so that I can make plans.

Amanda: No one knows.

Marco: No one knows. So sometime I know they'll be here for Canadian Thanksgiving and explain who is coming. My mother's sister, my aunt Loretta, and

Amanda: her two granddaughters, all of whom who live in Italy.

Marco: Right. So they'll be here and, it should be a lot of fun.

Amanda: What's interesting, if I may, is that your mother's younger sister who lives in Italy, who actually did a lot of her growing up in Canada.

Marco: That's right.

Amanda: and moved back to Italy, right?

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: She was born in Italy.

Marco: She was born in Italy. Came when she was younger than my mother.

Amanda: Very young. Like six, I want to say.

Marco: I think a bit older, but, I could be wrong.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: And. But maybe you're right. She was young and had three kids here.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: And then moved back to Italy and had three more kids.

Amanda: Kids. Okay.

Marco: And so there's six cousins I have in Italy. And,

Amanda: Oh, so she had three kids. Oh, I didn't realize that.

Marco: Yeah, she had three kids here.

Amanda: I thought she had four kids here.

Marco: No, three and then three there.

Amanda: I see.

Marco: So, okay, there you go. And so, and they're coming.

Amanda: And we're very plussed about it.

Marco: We are plussed about it. So my aunt and two of her granddaughters are coming, one of whom I've met when she was very young. Now she's 22.

Amanda: I met her as well. She's very cute. When we met her 20, well, I don't know, like 18 years ago, we

Marco: met her and the other granddaughter, who I don't know, she's got more granddaughters, more grandkids, but those two are coming.

Amanda: Well, you have six kids, you're gonna have a lot of grandkids, right? Yeah.

Marco: So there you go.

Amanda: and do the granddaughters speak English?

Marco: Most likely not.

Amanda: So that's going to be an interesting time.

Marco: So my niece is studying Italian and she's excited.

Marco: Because they'll be staying with them.

Amanda: Most likely her cool Italian cousins are coming.

Marco: And, you've been studying Italian very well. And so we'll see how it all goes.

Amanda: Yeah, I don't know. It's going to be interesting. What should we do with them in the city? Your aunt is going to visit with your mom.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: But these two Italian girls, what are we doing with them?

Marco: I would like to go on the library website and get some passes to various museums and things to do.

Amanda: So which ones do you want to go to?

Marco: If we can. This is the most difficult one to get at the library is the aquarium once.

Amanda: It's gonna be a lot of aquarium

Marco: for us this year. Funny. Funny thing is, I've always been fascinated by the undersea world, and I wanted to be a fisherman and a marine biologist and all those things as a child. So for me, going. Going to that aquarium, I'm always having a good time.


Amanda spent the day yesterday with a cow and a chicken

Okay, so Amanda gets hungry when she goes to the aquarium.

Amanda: I just love fish so much. But, you know, it's funny, I don't know about. I spent the day yesterday with a cow and a chicken, and I don't know, I might have to be off

Marco: milk as one does, and maybe chicken, too. Really?

Amanda: I don't know. We'll see.

Marco: Well, it's interesting because we had chicken for dinner.

Amanda: I know I had already defrosted it in the fridge, so I'm too frugal to. To just throw it away, but I don't know. We'll see how we move forward with this.

Marco: Now it begs the question, why were you hanging out with the chicken?

Amanda: And, I was shooting something I was filming, so I can't really go into. Go into what I was filming, but I was filming something that required me to be standing next to a cow for 12 hours and holding a chicken for most of that.

Marco: Okay, and did you build up a friendship with the chicken that you were holding?

Amanda: Yeah, I feel like the chicken and I were kind of operating as one.

Marco: Oh, cool.

Amanda: Yeah, I felt the chicken makes kind of like a noise, almost like it's purring.

Marco: Oh, really?

Amanda: When it's happy, I think so. When it's content, it kind of has like a. Like a purr. I don't know what it is. And I was like, oh, my gosh. It's like the chicken's purring.

Marco: Oh, cool.

Amanda: Yeah. And I think that's when it was just, like, really, really happy. When it was really, like, kind of hot next to my body. But it was kind of like, okay, I'm safe, I'm good. And I felt pretty good with that chicken.

Marco: Wonderful.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: Well, who knew. Who knew that a chicken could be Amanda's best friend.

Amanda: I mean, maybe. One thing I do know is that a cow cannot.

Marco: Oh, I see.

Amanda: We have another nephew who's obsessed with. Well, I don't know if he still is. I think he secretly loves them, but when he was quite young, obsessed with cows. And, listen, it's. I have a great respect for farmers, as do I, and all that they do. And I am glad that I am not one of them because I thought the feed smelled real gross. The chewing and the drooling and all of that. I can't talk about it much or I'll start to gag.

Marco: Okay, fair enough. Fair enough.

Amanda: Listen, everyone has different things.

Marco: Cows will be cows, is all I can say. Cows gotta be cows, I'm telling you.

Amanda: Funny.

Marco: I. You know, I. Working with animals on set is never easy because I had to. I had to work with a goat many years ago.

Amanda: You did?

Marco: Many, many, many years ago.

Amanda: I didn't know that.

Marco: You know Jameson Kramer. Yeah, Jameson Kramer, who's a great actor here in Toronto. Friend not of the podcast, but I

Amanda: know it sounds like he's famous the way we're talking about him.

Marco: Well, he and I were in this short film with Phil Luzzi, who's a friend of ours who's born on the same day as you.

Amanda: Toronto famous.

Marco: So the three of us are in this mystery and the.

Amanda: What is the story?

Marco: It's a. I've told you about this before. and I'm a crooked cop, if I remember correctly.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: And Jameson has a goat, and the goat solves the crime. And as I have.

Amanda: I'm sorry, what?

Marco: Yes, the goat realizes I'm a bad cop.

Amanda: Phil Lutzi's from sniffing you.

Marco: I don't even remember. Let's just say it wasn't the best script in the world.


Amanda: The climax of the film was all staged, obviously

Okay, so in the. What do you call the climax, I guess, of the. Of, the film. It's a short film. Couldn't even tell you the name of it. Couldn't tell you anything about it. Don't remember the director. Nothing.

Amanda: I have a feeling it's not on IMDb.

Marco: I don't think so. So. So I have a gun pointed at Jameson Kramer.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Because I'm a bad guy, Right?

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: It was not a real gun. It was like, you know, totally, totally safe. And the goat, with its. With its paw. What would you call a goat's hoof, I believe? Hoof. Knocks it out of my hand and. Oh, my gosh.

Amanda: And saves the day.

Marco: And saves the day. I think the goat pushes me downstairs I'm fine. But that's what happened in the scene, right?

Amanda: Oh, that's what was written to happen.

Marco: Yeah, but it was all staged, obviously. Right, but they had a. A. They couldn't use the actual goats hoof, so they had a, fake deer hoof or a deer hoof.

Amanda: Oh, my goodness.

Marco: A taxidermy deer hoof. That actually. So if you know your goat, you'll see the difference between the goat and the goat's hoof.

Amanda: I have a feeling the film had bigger problems than. Than the type of hoof.

Marco: But anyway, so, yeah, we had to work with this goat, and this goat was a diva, like, doing. Doing its thing and could only be on set for so long.

Amanda: Well, they're not made. I mean, animals are not made to be actors, you know, they're. They're animals. Goats got a goat, man. Cow's got a cow. And that chicken had to. Chicken.

Marco: Well, it sounded like the chicken was having a grand old time.

Amanda: I think she was. Yeah.

Marco: There you go. So anyways, that was our adventures for the last couple weeks. And. And hence, you haven't heard an episode because we've been all over.

Amanda: Hence, hence, she was a hen. And a beautiful hen.

Marco: And on that note, we'll say, we hope you had a lovely episode. You enjoyed this one, and until next time, we hope both of us and the chicken and even the cow and the French hen wants you to listen, or hopes you listened and fell asleep.

Amanda: Slept.

Marco: Slept. I couldn't think. All right, until next time, Amanda.

Amanda: We're both very. Bless.

In the Season 10 finale, Trailers, Top Hats, and Taking a Bow, Marco and Amanda settle into a cozy, softly spoken conversation that gently brings the season to a close. They reflect on the nostalgia of old-school movie trailers, the charm of top hats and dressing up for special occasions, and the quiet ritual of preparing for an event. What begins as a light chat about previews and personal style slowly unfolds into a soothing meditation on comfort, presentation, and the small routines that help us feel ready — not just for a night out, but for winding down as well.
As always, this calming podcast moves at an unhurried pace, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, and quiet racing thoughts. The tone is warm and reflective, perfect for background listening at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up. With heartfelt thanks to listeners around the world, Marco and Amanda close the season with steady companionship and gentle appreciation — a soft landing place for your thoughts as you drift toward rest.

​Trailers, Top Hats, and Taking a Bow
(Original airdate: October 29, 2025)


This is the last episode of the Insomnia Project for this season

Marco:Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help escort your way to sleep or to chill vibes. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. I'm Amanda Barker and this is the last Episode for This season, our 10th season of the Insomnia Project. Thank you all for coming on this journey with us. There's been some ups and downs at all around Samantha.

Amanda: oh, yeah, More ups and downs,

Marco:I think I would say so. I want to mention that we do have ad free episodes now on supercast.com if you go to the insomnia project.supercast.com you. You can subscribe for ad free. Of course, we have our Patreon as well. All that will be in the show notes. I'm just happy to be here with you today.

Amanda: I'm happy to be here too. And just a reminder, this is the final episode of this season, but in

Marco:December, as of starting December 1st, all the way to December 31st, we have our holiday episode. So every day for the month of December, you're going to get some past holiday episodes, you're going to get some new holiday episodes. They tend to be a little bit more festive, shall we say. Amanda Peppier. but the y're there for you for the holidays. And whether you have a large family around you for the holidays or just a small little unit, we are here with you in the month of

Amanda: December and use November as a time to regroup, which I usually like to anyway, just in my own personal life. Whether it's for your financial health or for your mental health or for your health, your health, November is a good time to take stock, right? December is usually full of a lot of hustle and bustle.

Marco:Indeed.

Amanda: People know that there's a break at the end, usually with work or whatever. So people are gearing up. and it's a shorter month ultimately, with some rest built in, I hope, for you anyway. but November's a good moment to just tie the bows, wrap the loose ends, dot the I's, cross the T's and go to sleep.

Marco:Oh, I love that. I think it's a great month as well to pick a day or two where there are immovable days where you've booked time for yourself. So if people are saying to you, are you available November 18th? You can say, oh, I'm sorry, I have appointments booked that day.

Amanda: I'm gonna do that.

Marco:Just make appointments for yourself so that they say, oh, we have an appointment, because no one needs to know. I think when you say, I have an appointment that day, no one says, oh, what's it for? Or they inquire further because you can always say, oh, it's something I'm doing. I'm actually not allowed. Not Able to talk about. But, I'll.

Amanda: People don't usually. I have an appointment. They're not like, what's wrong with you? You just go, oh, sorry, I have an appointment, I can't move.

Marco:Yeah, maybe, maybe close friends would be like that. I doubt your boss would be, I

Amanda: think your spouse, your family. But that would be it. I mean. Yeah, I think that's a great idea for those listeners who are bummed that we won't have an episode for. Until December 1st. We got 10 years of back catalogs.

Marco:That's right.

Amanda: So go ahead, take the time. Revisit your faves. Everyone loves the backpack episode. Just saying.

Marco:Everybody likes the backpack episode. I don't know what it is about that episode.

Amanda: I know exactly what it is.

Marco:What does that mean?

Amanda: It would put me to sleep. There's a method, and when you go through methods, it's relaxing, it's comforting. I always say, you know, I love an envelope. Give me parameters, give me the safe space. I might go beyond the envelope if it's talking about thinking ideology or creative, input. But I like structure. I realize that as a child, I liked it. I needed it. Anytime that I was given unstructured, time or unstructured, like, they'd say, choose whatever you want. It was overwhelming for me. I enjoy choices, I enjoy structure. So I crave that and I give it to myself. And structure for me is relaxing and it puts me to sleep. So when I go through each part of what I like to pack methodically in a backpack, I think there's a gentle structure to that that's soothing for me there.

Marco:Oh, I love that.

Amanda: Yeah, but are you like that?

Marco:I. I'm not quite like that. I like, might choose my own direction.


Actors need a safe space wherever they are, so they know

Amanda: This is where we go into Virgo versus Sagittarius land. me being obviously the Virgo. If anybody, pays attention to that, which you can. Or not, whatever. But you know, it's funny, I was just thinking this. We're actors. That's what we do. And I always say that actors need a safe space wherever they are, so they know where to go. Because sometimes a set or theater rehearsal hall or whatever can be big cavernous spaces and you don't know where you're supposed to be.

Marco:Yeah. Where you should hang out when it's a bit of downtime. So people know where to fetch you as well.

Amanda: Right, Exactly. And so this is why trailers are so important for actors. And we don't need them to be big, we just need a little tiny slip of a trailer with our character name on it or whatever. Sometimes we just have a number and a character name. That's fine. And we go into it and we make her. I feel so cozy. I have the best naps on set. My friend Trevor thinks I'm crazy when I say this, but there's nothing better than a, day on set for me where I have, like, one line or no lines, like my character sleeping or my character's part of the gang or whatever. But I don't have, like, any big scenes. And then they're behind shooting, so they're like, you're not gonna be on for another four hours. I'm like, good. night.


When you get cast in a film or TV series, you are brought

Marco:We should explain what a trailer is. Oh.

Marco:Because people who. They might have a vague idea, but they might not know. Speaking of structures. So when you arrive, if you get cast in a film or TV series, let's say a film, in this case, you are brought. You. You arrive on set at your time, and then usually a, AD or PA will direct you to where you sign in. And then they'll bring you to your

Amanda: ad, which stands for assistant director. But there's tiers of directors. There's the first assistant director, who's right there with the director, making sure things get done.

Marco:Called the first ad.

Amanda: Yeah. And then there's a second ad, which there can be a few second ads that are making sure things happen in different areas of the set. I don't know if there's a third 80.

Marco:There should be a third 80. Just to, scoop up all the mess that gets dropped by the first

Amanda: and second, which is sometimes a second AD is who's dealing with the background talent too. So there's that.

Marco:That's a big job. So they will take you, escort you to where your trailer is. And it could be, like Amanda said, it could be like, on the other end of this, on the lot. It could be in many different directions. You don't know. I know when I did Murdoch, it was like. And we'll just turn the corner. And there were the trailers.

Amanda: Hm.

Marco:And so they bring you to a trailer, and it's basically the trailer, like at the end of a truck. Right. Like, it's kind of like a. I'm trying to describe it.

Amanda: Versions. I mean, if you're like. Well, using Murdoch, actually. So this is Murdoch Mysteries, which Marco and I have both been in.

Marco:It's a great series. If you aren't aware of it and you're looking for something that is nostalgic in an old timey kind of way.

Amanda: And soothing.

Marco:And soothing, but with a bit of mystery. Look it up.

Amanda: Yeah, it's on PBS in the States, I think here in Canada. It's on ctv.

Marco:I know it's really big in the UK as well. It's really, really big. And I have to say, just on

Amanda: a little detour, Murdoch, we didn't see this coming.

Marco:Yannick, who plays Murdoch, is so lovely. Ah, he's a wonderful individual. And he didn't have to be as nice as he has been to me on several occasions when I've met him. And on set as well. And everyone on that set was particularly wonderful. So I just want to put that on the ground right now. From the first ad to the second ad, to all the ads to anyone on that set was just wonderful.

Amanda: Well, Murdoch is exactly an example of what I'm talking about. It's been around. I mean, I think I did the 18th season. I mean that you kind of get into a groove, I think after like three seasons with a, series. So imagine being on your 20th season, you know, sure. 21st, wherever they are. And the thing about Murdoch is it's so structured. They know what they're doing, they know what they're putting out. They have a beautiful costume warehouse. They have a studio. To your point, you go there and it's all very well laid out.

Marco:It's perfection. It's really.


Did you have a trailer on Murdoch though? I did. They had a structure erected for performers

Amanda: Did you have a trailer on Murdoch though?

Marco:I did.

Amanda: Oh, that's interesting. See, I didn't have a trailer on Murdoch. They had a structure erected for performers. And so I was in that. There were rooms, dressing rooms in there, like, you know, which is the same difference. I mean, basically what you want as an actor is just like, this is your place and we'll come and get you when you need it.

Marco:Well, I definitely had a trailer, so they brought me to my trailer.

Marco:And basically a trailer is like the trailer at the end of a hauling kind of truck. Right. A big steel container, let's say. And, and depending on how many trailers are in one container, could be several, could be one, could be, you know, multiple.

Amanda: There's three. A lot of times you'll see them in threes. And those are the bigger ones.

Marco:Yeah, yeah. So you have a little door, you open the door and there's it's, it's literally you can kind of stretch your arms.

Amanda: So this is what we call. So we call them bangers, but I don't know if that's.

Marco:Where did the term come up from?

Amanda: You know, who it Came from, I

Marco:think Andrea Martin call them bangers. I love Andrea Martin.

Amanda: Yeah. I think in her book she called them bangers. But anyway, because the ones when they have a lot of people working that day, and listen, some have their own bathroom, some have their own shower, some have a fireplace.

Marco:I had a fireplace once in one of my bangers.

Amanda: Yeah, they're. They're nice. Those are the bigger ones where you're like. It's. You have your own or you're splitting it in two or three. But if you're what we call a day player, and let's be honest, you and I often are, no shame in it. we go in, we do a character for a day and that's it. Then you could have a eight banger, a 12 banger.

Marco:It just means your trailer is going to be smaller. But if you're the star or the lead, you'll probably have a trailer. Just a large trailer all to yourself.

Amanda: Like, Yannick actually has a really cool,

Marco:like Winnebago, as is. Right. And as he should, because he's doing it for how many seasons?

Amanda: Well, 20. Something. Yeah. So anyway, the point being, I don't care as an actor or as a human, if you give me the tiniest little slip of a trailer, it can be, you know, a little tiny. Like, they're just like a little closet, almost hallway with a bench.

Marco:Whereas I require a Jacuzzi, a fireplace, a, sauna. No, like Amanda said. So when you open the trailer door. So I'll just explain it so that we kind of methodically go through it. So it'll. It'll say on the window of the door. Usually it's. It'll say your character name. Sometimes it'll say a number. On a rare occasion, it'll say your actual name. But I. I know it is my character name. So it said the character name. I was the baker on Murder Dark. I'm just going to use that one as my example.

Amanda: So it's a baker and I was judge. I don't remember my last. My last name. It's like Judge Fenchurch or something.

Marco:Okay, so, yeah, so it said that. So that. So then once you see where your trailer is, you're like, okay, that's my trailer. Great. So you go into your trailer, you open the door, you'll see how big it is. And usually your wardrobe that you're going to be wearing that day is hung on a hanger because you're going to change in your trailer as well.

Amanda: I think these had a fitting. Usually but prior to this, so you've talked about options with the wardrobe people. So they know. So you know it's going to be one of like eight options. And then you see what the director and the team chose hanging there.

Marco:Yeah. And it's usually really nicely pressed. It looks, it's just laid out so lovely. And you're like, oh, that's what I'm gonna be wearing today.

Amanda: And for us ladies, like your earrings, your watch, any of that stuff that they have chosen for the character is in like a little dish, like a little box next to it.

Marco:And there's usually like a little table.

Marco:Or a place where you can put your books or whatnot.

Marco:Usually there's also a television set kind of fastened, to the top corner of the trailer somewhere.

Amanda: But it never works with like a vcr. I mean it depends on what generation trailer you have. Some of them are old. Sometimes there's a bathroom in the back.

Marco:Yeah. Like at the end of your trailer that everyone uses. Or sometimes there's a bathroom and shower in your trailer.

Amanda: Well, that's what I meant. Like the back of your trailer will have a bathroom. Sometimes you open the door and then there's tape over and it's like do not use.


Downton Abbey lives on PBS on a loop in the States

So fine. So it hasn't been hooked up. But yeah, if you're in one of those like long ones, then yeah. There's usually a bathroom trailer that's nearby that you figure out pretty quickly where it is and you go to it. But you know what I love when you're in the trailer.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda: I love that people are coming in and out of it and there's a gentle rocking. Like you can hear people going up the steps. Because you have to go up steps to your little door.

Marco:And those steps are usually like, you know, grates, like metal. Metal sort of weaving.

Marco:It's kind of like that, like almost like fire escape stairs is what they're like.

Amanda: Yeah. Those metal stairs. So there's like a gentle rocking. So like when I did Frankie Drake, which is Murdoch adjacent.

Marco:It's a spin off, isn't it? Or no, it's adjacent, I don't think.

Amanda: No, because it was a different time frame.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda: So I don't think it was ever. I don't think they ever tried to do a real. But it was the closest thing to a spin off the same production company, there were same vibes. and it was a great show. and it lives on on PBS on like a loop in the States. Every time I Go to Florida. There it is. There's my episode. So I'm in a baseball episode.

Marco:I do love pbs. I have to say.

Amanda: I know PBS is soothing, especially when we go to my parents house in Florida.

Marco:We need the pbs.

Amanda: We need the pbs. It's like Antiques Roadshow. All the Murdochs. It's great. Anyhow, Bernadette Peters lives near there, so she's always doing like, please to like, please donate and you'll get the entire season of Downton Abbey.

Marco:Bernadette Peters is amazing.

Amanda: They played Downton Abbey on pbs.

Marco:That's pretty impressive. Yeah. Anyhow, Downton Abbey is awesome, too. If you haven't seen that series, watch it.

Amanda: Do you know in the States, I keep saying in the States, PBS has like its own app, and my parents, like, pay for it and stuff.

Marco:Oh, really?

Amanda: Yeah, like it's its own. I guess every channel has that now. But anyway, it's called Passport. I believe my mom's like, I have Passport. Like, I don't know what that.

Marco:What does that do?

Amanda: She gets all over Downton Abbey.

Marco:Oh, that's great.

Amanda: And her Frankie Drakes, I guess. I don't know.

Marco:We went to go see the Downton Abbey M movie and we dressed up as characters.

Amanda: We did. We were those people in like a

Marco:suburb, in a real suburb.

Amanda: Like in a place where there's no chance that anyone else is dressing up for that movie.

Marco:Our dear friends.

Amanda: There were some old people with cane, so that was like, as adjacent as it got, but.

Marco:So our dear friends Matt and Mel are our Downton Abbey watching buddies.

Amanda: Well, we. Yeah, we watched. We binged it with them, remember?

Marco:Yeah. And they're lovely, wonderful, fantastic friends.

Amanda: Well, that's nice.

Marco:And so they, Amanda's folks, dressed up from, Downton Abbey something or other.

Amanda: Yeah. In Florida. They dressed up. Specifically. My dad dressed up as Bates with the hat and the cane. And my mom dressed up as, Mrs. Crawley. Lady Crawley. She loves Lady Crawley.

Marco:I think that was the inspiration for our friends to say, let's dress up for Downton Abbey.


Amanda is much more reserved when it comes to dressing up

Now, here's an interesting fact.

Amanda: I remember showing them the picture and they're like, this is amazing. No, there was like a huge watching party where my parents lived for the final episode. And they went to, like, an auditorium where everybody dressed up.

Marco:So, Amanda. So our friends knew this. And then this film that recently came out, they're like, let's dress up. And one thing listeners, you should know is that Amanda's much more likely to be the one who wants to dress up. And make a bit of a spectacle. Whereas I'm much more. And it's weird because I know I'm an actor, I'm much more reserved when it comes to stuff like that. I don't like to be the center of attention if I'm not on stage.

Amanda: It depends. Last night I had an opportunity to dress up and I did not do it. It really depends. Sometimes I really do want to fade into the background.

Marco:So.

Amanda: However, you know.

Marco:But if I'm on stage, I enjoy being the center of attention and making sure that I make a spectacle, but in real life I'm less likely to do it.

Amanda: I think actually a lot of actors are like that. I just want to say, like, when it's your job to do that, which, like I was a mascot. So it was definitely my job to be the center of attention just in that world. But there's a comfort to not doing that.

Marco:Sure. Because you've.

Amanda: You've got that sort of need, that itch scratched, if you will. So in your job. So you don't have to do that in the rest of your life. Sometimes I think. Sorry. Sometimes I think people who are so dramatic and wanting to be the center of attention, it's like you just pick the wrong profession. You need a place to channel that so that your personal life doesn't have to look and feel like that. But anyway, sure.


Amanda and I dressed up for anniversary and went to a Titanic dinner

Marco:So anyways, Amanda really got dressed up and she was. You were fretting about something. You didn't have the right bloomers or something. I don't remember.

Amanda: I was for sure not wearing bloomers.

Marco:Whatever it was, you were like fretting.

Amanda: I think you're conflating to dress up.

Marco:No, you were.

Amanda: I think you're thinking about the Titanic.

Marco:No. Oh, yeah, you were, you were. But you were fretting in particular, for

Amanda: which, by the way, we, I think we talked about it, but that's what we did for anniversary. We dressed up. Same period, more or less. And dressed up and had a Titanic dinner. And that was fun.

Marco:And folks, I was assured everybody would be dressed up. And Amanda really made a large commotion about getting dressed up.

Amanda: the ticket said you must be dressed up.

Marco:And then I show up with my cane, my, my top hat, my monocle, all these things.

Amanda: I had a gigantic hat that I

Marco:didn't necessarily want to wear.

Amanda: And our friends were all in their slacks and T shirts, button down shirts.

Marco:And then we're stuck at the table with my cane that has rum in it and all this stuff given to

Amanda: you by Matt and Mel.

Marco:Given to me by Matt and Mel. And I've used that cane. So then I also use that cane and my hat. It's not. It's a bowler hat. for the. No idea. I forgot the bowler hat at home. But I had. I had a.

Amanda: By the way, I found a top hat at work, so I brought it home.

Marco:Oh, great.

Amanda: Because I feel like there's been a few auditions where you've needed one.

Marco:Listen, you know, now that I'm older, I'm always playing Scrooge in auditions. So he's like, oh, we need a Scrooge. Let's get this old guy. So, a top hat is really great for that. So anyways, we went to the suburb of all suburbs is where we went.

Amanda: Yeah, truly Ajax. I think it was Whitby.

Marco:Whitby, Same thing.

Amanda: And sorry, sorry for people from there. It is not the same.

Marco:People from there are not going to

Amanda: be happy and people from Ajax are not going to be happy.

Marco:People from Whitby or Ajax in the UK will not be happy either because

Amanda: it's not the same. Is there an ajax in the UK?

Marco:100%. There's gotta be.

Amanda: Really. I mean, there's definitely a Whitby.

Marco:People who use Ajax instead of Comet will not be happy.

Amanda: That's in the States. I mean, everywhere that exists in Canada. Like, they were not creative with their names. Like, there's 19 Halifaxes. Boston's like, sure, Boltons, you name it.

Marco:Ah. So, okay, so anyways, we went to that dressed up and it was fun. But me walking around in a movie theater getting popcorn with a cane and vest was a little bit odd because people were going to see action films and like, what's going on here? I know four random people dressed in the movie.

Amanda: I had a leopard print hat, if you remember, on that day. Anyway, yeah, but I think the key is find pieces that give you the thing. But then also when you actually watch the movie, like, make sure you're still comfortable because really it was just for our friends that we dressed up. We took some photos. It was fun.

Marco:It was fun.

Amanda: And then we took it all off and sat down and enjoyed our movie.


So back to the trailer before we end this episode. But one of the other things I wanted to say

Marco:So back to the trailer before we end this episode. So I wanted to mention there's also a long sort of bench with. With padding.

Amanda: yeah, I tried to say that.

Marco:Oh, sorry. No, we didn't. But we.

Amanda: I said it.

Marco:Okay. and that's where you can sit, nap, or lie. And that's where Amanda likes to lie.

Amanda: I know, and I try not to think about the fact of how many actors heads have hit this pillow that's sitting here in this trailer. But one of the other things I wanted to say, since we are back to that, I didn't think we were going back.

Marco:Always coming back to that.

Amanda: Circling back, as they say, is that it's the same in theater, in fact. And when I toured for three years, the first thing I would do when I came into a theater, when, you know, they would drop us off at the hotel because we were pampered actors while the tech crew had to go and deck the whole thing. We would have our lunch or breakfast or whatever. But once we got into the theater later in the afternoon, the very first thing that you do is, where is our green room?

Marco:Right.

Amanda: Where is our space? Our. And again, it's that safe space idea. It doesn't have to be big, doesn't have to be nice. Just show me where you want me to be so that when you come and get me, here I am.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda: and it's funny because I liken this too. And this is probably going to be a weird analogy, but I mean it in the most loving way. Remember when our good friends Dale and Trevor, they had a greyhound that they rescued. Do you remember?

Marco:Of course I do. All their animals love me.

Amanda: That's true. They don't care about me. But they. Marco has a way with all of their different pets over the years. Anyway, this was including a hedgehog that

Marco:they had liked me too.

Amanda: Oh, really?

Marco:Yeah, of course.

Amanda: The hedgehog was before my time.

Marco:You never met the hedgehog?

Amanda: No. Oh, no. The rabbit.

Marco:The rabbit loves.

Amanda: That was a big part of our lives. But, the hedgehog, I didn't know. Anyhow, and now you can't have hedgehogs in Canada.

Marco:That's right.

Amanda: They had the last hedgehog.

Marco:Wow, that's a great movie title.

Amanda: Last tango and hedgehog. Anyhow, sorry for my little throat clearing there. so I forgot what I was gonna say.

Marco:They had a greyhound.

Amanda: Oh, they had a greyhound.

Marco:And not the drink, which is vodka and grapefruit. juice.

Amanda: Grapefruit juice. Delicious.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda: this greyhound was named. They didn't name her. Greyhounds are already named. But there's a greyhound sanctuary, that rescues greyhounds and you can adopt them. So they had a beautiful greyhound named Rose. They always laughed that her career was not very long. She came in fourth for one race in Tampa and that was it. Anyhow, but she lived a wonderful life with them. And one of the things they realized in learning about her is that she would get very anxious if they left the house. But what they did, and this is true for a lot of dogs, they

Marco:got her a trailer.

Amanda: They got her a trailer called a crate. And that was her safe space. And so she knew that that was her place. No one else would come in. If they needed her, she'd be there. And there was such comfort for that dog to have that safe space. Right. And I often thought actors are like dogs in the best way because we just need that little tiny safe space to feel comforted. So I hope if you're still awake and listening, that you have your comforting little corner of, wherever that you are. That little corner, that's your safe space. That's all yours. Where people know where to find you.

Marco:Your own trailer.

Amanda: Yeah, your own trailer, your own crate, your own green room, whatever you want

Marco:to call it, decorated, how you wish. Make it your own personalized little trailer in your home.

Amanda: And take a nap.

Marco:And take a nap there.

Amanda: Because that's like, this is why I find a nap in a trailer the most comforting thing. I'm doing what I love. I'm getting paid, so there's always that. But I'm doing what I love. If they need me, they know where to find me. I want for nothing. I need for nothing. I'm happiest on a set, frankly.


The Insomnia Project thanks its listeners for listening for 10 seasons

And there's that gentle rocking of the trailer as people kind of come in and out going about their day, going to set, coming back from set, and maybe I'm not needed for a few hours. And that is the most comforting thing.

Marco:There you go. And we're doing what we love here on the Insomnia Project. Thank you for listening for 10 seasons. If you've listened from the beginning or wherever you joined us once again. If you want an ad free episode, go to the insomniaproject supercast CA and you can subscribe there or patreon.com the Insomnia Project. I want to thank all the listeners who have reached out this season over the years with messages on Instagram or Facebook or wherever, especially those who have given us great feedback. Those, who have, who've given us feedback where we need to pay more attention to certain things. We appreciate it all. So thank you for reaching out. We love our listeners. We think we have great, the best listeners actually. And please let your friends and family know about our podcast because that seems to be the best way to get the word out. And we get a lot of listeners that way.

Amanda: Absolutely. Yeah. If it works for you, it might work for a friend. And, and, you know, we're all just trying to find ways to get to a, comfortable, easy sleep.

Marco:And we're thinking we're thankful that you chose our podcast, of all the podcasts, to find your way to sleep until next season. We hope that you're able to listen and sleep.

In Road Trip & Comic Strips, Marco and Amanda invite you along for a cozy drive to London, Ontario, where the miles pass easily and the conversation flows without hurry. What begins as a gentle road trip reflection gradually drifts into the comforting world of classic comic strips, including The Far Side, Peanuts, and Cathy. They share which cartoons shaped their sense of humour and recall specific panels that still make them smile. From there, the discussion meanders into childhood memories — beloved dolls, the endlessly fascinating slinky, and those small objects that once held entire afternoons of attention.
As with every episode of this calming podcast, the tone is soft, relaxed, and intentionally low-stakes. It’s a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, and quiet racing thoughts at the end of the day. The nostalgic themes make it perfect for background listening while you wind down at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up. There’s no rush to reach a destination — just steady companionship, gentle laughter, and familiar memories to guide you toward rest.

​Roadtrips and Comic strips

(Original airdate Oct 2m 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 bring you to a place of relaxation, calm, chill, or hopefully even sleep.


Amanda and I drove to London, Ontario and back today

I'm your host, Marco Timpano I'm sitting

Amanda: here with my eyes closed. I'm Amanda Barker.

Marco: Amanda, you and I drove to London, Ontario and back.

Amanda: yes, we did. And I'm tired. It's a.

Marco: It's a bit of a drive. I will say that it is. It's a beautiful place.

Amanda: And a beautiful drive.

Marco: And a beautiful drive. And it was a beautiful day today, so I'm not complaining about any of those things.

Amanda: And we got to do beautiful work.

Marco: We did.

Amanda: Which we're always happy to have Universe here. Hear me?

Marco: Yes, exactly.

Amanda: But, I am tired, sure. As are you, I think. And I just closed my eyes for a half beat, and it almost felt like, you know in the morning when your alarm goes and you're like, I'm just gonna rest my eyes for 10 minutes. Yes, I'm in those 10 more minutes right now.

Marco: Fantastic.

Amanda: And I don't think I'm getting out of them. And I'm wondering, I think I might do this whole podcast with my eyes closed.

Marco: Oh, that'll be fascinating.


AD Free episodes are now on Supercast

Well, I want to acknowledge anyone who's listening who worked really hard today, too, and just let them know, listen, you worked hard today. You deserve to rest and ch. And, we're grateful that you were able to do that work. And now you're in a place where you're listening to our podcast and if

Amanda: you kind of are feeling well, I didn't really work that hard today. I'm going to tell you something. You did.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: And so you also deserve to have that feeling of a day well spent. Even if you did, quote, unquote, nothing, you, believe me, did lots of things. And it's a day well spent. And I want you to have that completely. Like you left, as we say as actors, you left it all in the room feeling like there's nothing else left to give.

Marco: Yeah. Ah.

Amanda: Except surrendering into peace and calmness.

Marco: I love that. And I want to say a special thank you to everyone who's reached out and helped me really figure out the super cast of, with our podcast. So if you want to hear AD Free episodes, they are now on Supercast. You go to the Insomnia Project, Supercast ca and you can get AD Free listens there. I will be putting more and more episodes up there. So right now there's three seasons and I'm going to be putting up more. So thank you for your patience with that as well, and thank you for being our listeners. It's always so, so nice.


Marco says aging makes him acutely aware of his bones

I was telling people about this podcast today, and they were all really fascinated about it.

Amanda: Marco, something's going on with me. I pulled the thing in my bum cheek.

Marco: Okay, we don't usually use that kind of language on this podcast. Yes.

Amanda: Right buttock.

Marco: Sure. I think those are lower back. Lower back.

Amanda: Well, but it's not your back.

Marco: Upper thigh.

Amanda: It's not your thigh. and the result of it. One of the results of it is that I'm acutely aware of my bones and I can feel them in the chair. Is that weird in a way I never have before?

Marco: Well, I don't know. I. I would just say that's part of aging.

Amanda: I know. I think it is.

Marco: Now, does. Does your.

Amanda: Your pointy bum bones? I don't know what those are called. This is not a science podcast.

Marco: Your coccyx.

Amanda: No, that's your spine. That's your spine. I'm talking about the ones that make contact with the chair. And you hope to have some flesh to. Between them and the chair. Well, there's less flesh for some reason. And now that's all I feel.

Marco: I see. Are they telling you it's gonna rain or not? Because if it's gonna rain, I want to bring our, pillows from outside in. Are you getting those premonition bone feelings? No.

Amanda: Premonition bones, no. but you remind me of my. It's so stupid. My favorite Far side comic.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: Which was three guys sitting on a porch, and one guy is like, oh, I think something's happening with the weather because my thumb is really big and his thumb is hurting. Then the other guy's like, oh, I think there's definitely a storm coming because I can feel it in my knee. And then the third guy has, like, this ginormous head and he's like, there's definitely a change in the weather because I think my head is really big and his head is, like, ginormous. I was probably 10 when I saw it or something, and it seemed very funny to me. It doesn't seem so funny now that I'm sitting telling you about farsight.

Marco: Well, when you have to describe a comic, it doesn't always.

Amanda: Comics don't always hold up.

Marco: No, but farsight is funny.

Amanda: I remember reading them in the back of the paper, like, growing up, and you were like, ha, ha. Like, they were never funny. Like Family Circus.

Marco: I had Family Circus books.

Amanda: Oh, so you were a big fan? A Family Circus fan?

Marco: I guess I was little. I think when I was little, it was a comic that you could read that was kind of funny, but not.

Amanda: Not really, though. I Have you ever looked at a Family Circus comic and actually laughed out loud?

Marco: I, mean, I don't know if I blurted out loud, like, you know,

Amanda: I'd say lulled, as the kids say. But the people who say LOL are not kids anymore. LOL is the middle aged. Used to be the millennial. Young millennials. Now they're middle aged. Millennials say people who sell lull have

Marco: bursitis like you do. It sounds like.

Amanda: And Reed Family Circus.

Marco: Well, I used to read Family Circus when I was young, and now as an adult, I don't think Family Circus speaks to me.

Amanda: Family Spurkus, Family Spurcus.

Marco: but I do like Calvin and Hobbes.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Always a favorite. I do like Far side.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Never got into Marmaduke. You seem like someone who would read Marmaduke.

Amanda: What does that mean?

Marco: I don't know.

Amanda: A Marmaduke reader. What was Marmaduke a dog?

Marco: It was a Great Dane.

Amanda: No. How do I seem like someone who is a Marmaduke reader?

Marco: You don't seem like the type of person who would read Kathy comics. You're not a cat. I don't think, you know, Blarg is not something that, you know, you would.

Amanda: I am a Kathy comic, so I don't need to read my life. You know what I mean?

Marco: Fair enough.

Amanda: No, I'm not into Kathy.

Marco: I used to work with someone who would say smooches all the time.

Amanda: Oh, yeah, people do say that. Is that what that's from?


Matt Groening comics gave lasagna a boost in late 80s

Marco: Yeah, I think so.

Amanda: Smooches.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: and I'm not into Marmaduke. And I don't even know what to do with that accusation.

Marco: Listen, Christmas is not that far away. You might get, Marmaduke's greatest comics.

Amanda: my sister went through a real Garfield phase.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Coincidentally, not coincidentally, she hates lasagna. No, she loves lasagna. And I think because of that comic, I think lasagna got a real big boost. Boost. I think nonnas around the world were, like, asked to make extra lasagna in the late 80s because of. And mid-80s, I guess because of, the rise in popularity from Garfield.

Marco: I think if you had a nonna, you didn't have to ask for lasagnas. They were just made.

Amanda: I, ah, guess.

Marco: Does your sister hate.

Amanda: Well, if you had a Valerie, which was what we had, we had to ask for lasagna.

Marco: Does your sister hate Mondays, is the question.

Amanda: I don't know. You're gonna have to ask her. so I would read her Garfield comics. and they were well read. And then we got into. Yeah, far side a little bit.

Marco: Loved far side.

Amanda: Yeah, far side was great. That was more late 80s. That was like the edgy one. But we actually got really into very early. I'm gonna say the last name wrong. Probably Matt Groening.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: The Simpsons before pre Simpsons. So he had. He had characters. Well, two were called Akbar and fez.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: I can't claim anything on them or remember too much, but we were really, really into Matt Groening or whatever his groaning.

Marco: Isn't it?

Amanda: It looks like groening, but I think it's pronounced groening or greening or. It's not a word that's pronounced as it's as you think it is. But anyway, whatever it is. So we got really into those and those felt very subversive. And I think they were considered as such again in the late 80s. And then as a 12 year old child. So think of the 12 year olds. We know a couple 11 year olds right now.

Marco: Yeah. Amanda has her eyes wide open right now.

Amanda: Friends, in case you're wondering. I didn't commit to that bit. but while I woke up, all this exciting, comic Marmaduke talk. Marmaduke talk always brings me back to the table. but the Matt Groening comics were seen as like this new, interesting, fun, exciting.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: Little fringe piece of comedy. And I, on the Branley new channel, started watching fox tv.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Back in the day. Back in the day, like 21 Jump street was their first show, I think. And they hosted the Tracy Ullman show. So I would watch that every Sunday night without fail on my little tv. Staying up, you know, telling my parents I went to bed and then watching the Tracey Ullman show in my room. And as we all know, the Simpsons. The Simpsons were the interstitials. And it was just a little like get that cool Matt Groening guy to do characters. And he didn't do Akbar and fez. He did this family. And we all know what they became, but they were just an offshoot of bigger plans he had. That's obviously what took off.

Marco: Did you ever read the Dilbert comics?

Amanda: No, I'm not a Dilbert fan.

Marco: Neither am I. How about peanuts? Chuck?

Amanda: I like peanuts. Peanuts. Of all the ones that were in the back of the newspaper, Peanuts was the one. Was the one I liked the most because I really liked snoopy and Woodstock.

Marco: I see those were your two favorite.

Amanda: Yeah. There was something really like dry witted about them that I enjoyed. How about you?

Marco: Yeah, I liked. I liked Charlie Brown and all those things. Peppermint Patty and, you know, the gang.

Amanda: Was she your favorite?

Marco: No, I don't think peppermint Patty was my favorite. I have, funny enough, I have a T shirt I bought. So I like soft, very soft T shirts. And oftentimes the softest T shirts are not the T shirts you think I would buy.


Bob Evans is a family-style restaurant originally from Pennsylvania or Ohio

So I have a whole collection from. What's that restaurant.

Amanda: Oh, Bob Evans.

Marco: Bob Evans had this super sale of T shirts when we were there once.

Amanda: We should explain Bob Evans because we don't even have them in our neck of the woods.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: Should I explain?

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: Bob Evans is a, family style restaurant that I think is originally from Pennsylvania or Ohio.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: And it kind of lives in those areas. Although, it's probably most states have Bob Evans now, but some more than others, for sure. And they have this thing where they serve. So it's like your typical diner food. Really.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: Things with gravy and a couple really good big salads. But they serve their salads and most of their things with like banana bread or cornbread or like a sweet, like sweet cranberry bread. Like almost like a desserty kind of bread.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: Which is genius.

Marco: And Amanda's all over it.

Amanda: I am.

Marco: Well, I shop the front area where they sell little cups and little salt and pepper shakers because you know that I love the knickknacky things while we were there. And they had a whole bunch of T shirts that were super soft and on sale. And so I have, an abundance of T shirts that say, I love biscuits and gravy. Flap my jack, will you? Things like that. Like sayings that you wouldn't expect me to wear. And I have a T shirt that I bought at the theme park not too far from our home called Canada's Wonderland that has peppermint patty on it. And it's blue and it's super soft and it says roller coaster hair and her hair is all messed up. And so these are the T shirts that I will wear. Not every day when I.

Amanda: And a special person was very excited about that shirt.

Marco: My nephew could not wait to see my pajamas. And that's one of these.

Amanda: I'm so excited to see Xiomarco's pajamas, and rightly so.

Marco: And I did not disappoint with my Peppermint Patty T. shirt. So I'm. I don't know why I got into this. Oh, we got into it because of comics.

Amanda: Wanted people to know that you every night faithfully sleep in a peppermint Patty. T shirt.

Marco: And it's fantastic. My favorite T shirt. So. So, yeah, those are the comics. I'm trying to think of other comics. Did you ever read calvin and hobbes?

Amanda: No, I didn't ever get out. Got into that, really.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: I mean, I think the Matt groening comics were my favorite, But I seem to pick those up over and over and think they were just so funny and cool.

Marco: do you remember there was this comic? I think it's an old comic that they would run in the paper. I don't even think they have comics in papers anymore.

Amanda: I know. It's.

Marco: When was the last time I read a newspaper? I picked up an actual newspaper, you

Amanda: know, when we were at the cottage last week. We've been doing a lot of cottage times.

Marco: A lot of renos.

Amanda: A lot of renos. Yeah. And, so anyways, I like being up in the neck of the woods, and we try to support all the local businesses as we do here.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: So there's a convenience store basically across the street almost, and we try to support them. So when we were up there, it just struck me there was a guy there buying the paper. Such a simple act. But it occurred to me, I don't know, the last time there's been somebody behind me or in front of me in a line just in a place just to buy a paper.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: But they must, because people read the paper, I guess. Still, I wish. I want to read the paper more. You should read the paper, because you know what? I don't want to read it on my phone. I want to read it.

Marco: No, you want to hold the physical paper.

Amanda: I do, actually, but then I don't. That's. I already have enough magazine. Like, I have a lot of papers.

Marco: Will you read the comics to me if you buy. If I buy you a paper?

Amanda: Yeah. Will you buy me a newspaper subscription?

Marco: No.

Amanda: I might ask for that for Christmas.

Marco: That's quite expensive.

Amanda: Oh, is it?

Marco: I think so. You get the paper every day.

Amanda: I don't want a paper every day. I want the Sunday version, the big, thick one that has, like, artists and musicians in it. I don't want to read headlines every day.


Amanda got so many magazines. Can you just subscribe to lifestyle section of a page

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: But I do want to read the like. Can you just subscribe to the lifestyle section of a page?

Marco: No, it doesn't. Then get a magazine.

Amanda: Well, we do that. I do that.

Marco: Yes, you do. There was a point where Amanda got so many magazines.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: That I was like, I just can't. There's too many magazines in the home

Amanda: that Was called the best year of my life.

Marco: Okay, well, there you go.


Is there a cartoon that you enjoyed watching as a child

So, bridging the gap between comics and cartoons, Is there a cartoon that you enjoyed watching? Like, I. I don't think you. You watched the Flintstones, did you?

Amanda: As a child, I watched a ton Flintstones, but I didn't particularly enjoy them.

Marco: Okay. Did you watch the Jetsons?

Amanda: Yeah, I felt about the same.

Marco: Okay. What about Jabber Jaw?

Amanda: I don't. Excuse me.

Marco: Jabberjaw was the shark that. That played in a band. I think you, didn't see too many of those cartoons. That was one of my favorite.

Amanda: Jabberjaw.

Marco: Yeah. Scooby Doo.

Amanda: I really did not like Scooby.

Marco: Oh, my goodness. Okay, so what cartoons did you like?

Amanda: The thing is, the real irony of my life is I didn't like animation.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: I still, to this day, don't really. And the reason this is an irony is that my sister is a professional animator.

Marco: This is the sister who hates Mondays but loves lasagna.

Amanda: These things are probably still true. She's such an artist. The fact that we're calling her a walking Kathy comic is kind of awesome.

Marco: no, I'm not calling her. I'm calling her a Garfield comic.

Amanda: Garfield meets Kathy and they had a baby.

Marco: No, I never said she was Kathy. I don't want.

Amanda: She hates Mondays. Oh, that's. Oh, I thought Kathy hated Mondays. I bet Kathy does hate Mondays.

Marco: Kathy likes to smooch.

Amanda: I don't get that. So she says smooches to.

Marco: I think so.

Amanda: No, but I thought Kathy was like, ugh, my boss in work. I'm going to cross my eyes and go, ugh. blarg. Isn't that Kathy?

Marco: Does your sister say blarg? Is she the type of person to say blarg?

Amanda: I don't live in the same city as her, so I. I don't have a. I don't keep. Keep eyes and ears on our blarg status. So I don't know, but, you know, we should say blarg more. No, you should say when you're driving and you're feeling a little ragey instead of yelling out Italian profanities, as you might. Blarg is what I want you to start yelling out. Just a good old blarg.

Marco: Okay?

Amanda: And I want. I want it to feel like you exhaled and number signs and dollar signs and asterixes came out of your mouth.

Marco: I'll do that. If you say smooches every time you kiss a friend or foe, I'll say

Amanda: it when I Kiss a friend or foe. But I will not sign an email off with smooches. You imagine smooches?

Marco: Can you do that? Your next email to your boss signed it off with smooches.

Amanda: She probably wouldn't mind. Okay. Yeah.

Marco: So funny.

Amanda: I still. It doesn't feel in character. I'd like to think it's not in character with me.


Amanda says there's something about cartoons that makes her nauseous

what were you gonna ask me? What cartoons did I watch as a kid?

Marco: Yeah, you watched.

Amanda: I watched a ton, but I didn't like any of them. I watched Tom and Jerry. All kinds.

Marco: Oh, Tom and Jerry. I didn't like Tom and Jerry.

Amanda: No, they're awful. But I watched them, but I didn't like them. That's what was on. We couldn't dial things up.

Marco: It's true.

Amanda: We had to watch what was on, and I didn't like any of it.

Marco: what about, like, the Bugs Bunny?

Amanda: Oh, I hated all of it.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Yeah, I really, like. There's something about it that makes me, like, sick to my stomach.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Like, I really. It might be because I was being. Eating, like, breakfasts that were making me feel nauseous while I watched it. That's what I actually think might have happened there. But the end result is that the whole thought of it makes me nauseous. I'm sure there's any cartoon I liked. Like, something experimental, maybe.

Marco: Okay. well, I liked a lot of cartoons, folks. In case you're like, what's wrong with Amanda? I liked a ton of cartoons.

Amanda: You know what I loved, though?

Marco: What?

Amanda: Anything for kids that wasn't a cartoon. So puppets like Fraggle Rock?

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: And I'm. If you're like, oh, she's younger than I thought. No, I was pretty old to, like Fraggle Rock, but I super loved Fraggle Rock.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Like, of all of them, that was probably my favorite.

Marco: I like the Muppets.

Amanda: I love the Muppets.

Marco: Yeah, the Muppets.

Amanda: I mean, any Jim Henson I was in. I like puppets. I like things that I can. There's something about cartoons that I can't connect to. Okay. Still to this day, like, all that bad CGI we had in, like, the early aughts. Every movie that was, like, cgi.

Marco: Sure. It's not for you?

Amanda: No, I. My brain just turns off.

Marco: I had. So while you had a Cabbage Patch

Amanda: doll, I had four.

Marco: Or.

Amanda: I like how you said it. Or cabbage branch doll. Or a,

Marco: Well, it's a glow worm. Used to squeeze it and it would.

Amanda: I never had a glow worm.

Marco: My sister had a glow worm.

Amanda: Glow Worms were expensive.

Marco: Well, she had one. I'm trying to think.

Amanda: You guys were rich.

Marco: I don't think so. I think she just got a glow worm for Christmas one year, and. And it was probably years after when. When it wasn't popular anymore or. I bet you had raggedy ends.

Amanda: And I did. Yeah, we did.

Marco: I had a Kermit doll I used to sleep with.

Amanda: My brother had a Kermit, and I. Well, guess what I used to sleep with.

Marco: a corn with two, like, eyes on it. Corn doll, you know?

Amanda: No, I slept with a Miss Piggy.

Marco: Oh, did you really?

Amanda: I had a Miss Piggy doll, and I loved her. And I would do the voice, and I'd do the hiya. And I'd, like, kick people with her little hooves.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: And I really was, like, channeling Miss Piggy, and I thought she was. And I would get, like, laughs when I, like, would make her talk.

Marco: And it all started there.

Amanda: It really did. I loved Miss Piggy. She was a woman who knew what she needed out of life.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: Ah, she had a lot of anger, but who doesn't, right?


I loved my Kermit doll. I still have it. And I, like, really loved my Miss Piggy

What woman in the 70s didn't have some anger?

Marco: Fair enough.

Amanda: That's how I felt with Miss Piggy. I was like, this woman knows what she wants.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Kind of don't love that she had to be a pig. But she. She. She brought it back, and she owned her pig space, and. And, that's just what she was. I. I liked Miss Piggy.

Marco: Isn't that funny? You had that doll, and I had the doll.

Amanda: I know. That's what I'm saying. And I, like, really loved my Miss Piggy.

Marco: I loved my Kermit doll.

Amanda: I can think of the dress that I used to put her in and. And the clothes I had for her. And I did sleep with her. Yeah. And she was, like, this big.

Marco: Oh, that's big.

Amanda: It was pretty big. How big was your ke?

Marco: Maybe this big. Oh, the legs. But the legs were longer.

Amanda: Yeah, the legs were long.

Marco: I still have it. I'll show it to you.

Amanda: Yeah, I don't have Miss Piggy anymore. I wish I did. I think her eyes closed, like. I think her. She had, like, eyeshadowy eyes.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: She had, like, a plastic face, but, like, plush body.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: And her eyes would open and close, I think.

Marco: Oh. So I guess she would be able to close her eyes through the whole podcast episode without a problem.

Amanda: She probably would be able to commit to that bit. She committed to a bit.

Marco: She certainly did, Miss Piggy.


You had four Cabbage Patch dolls when you were young

Oh, my goodness. And you had four Cabbage Patch dolls.

Amanda: I did. I did. I had. The first one had a weird name. I don't remember what it was, but I didn't like the name.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: So I immediately changed it to, Molly Jill.

Marco: Okay. Good old. She was Irish.

Amanda: You're.

Marco: You're.

Amanda: I liked the name Molly. I mean, at that time, I was known as Mandy Jill. So I don't think I was thinking too outside the box with that one. Then I got a second cabbage patch, and I kept the name that she came with, which was Spring Colleen.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: I thought that was a pretty name. Spring Colleen. she had. So Molly Jill looked like me. She had, like, brown hair and, like, ponytails. Dimples. They all had dimples. I guess. Some, had one dimple, some had two. Spring Colleen had short yellow hair.

Marco: Mm.

Amanda: Then I had a baby cabbage patch. You know the baby ones?

Marco: Yeah. With the hard, plastic bald heads.

Amanda: Yeah. I can still smell it. Like, they smell like baby powder.

Marco: Oh, really?

Amanda: Yeah. I can still, like, take myself back to that, like, olfactory memory of, like, the baby powder and the little cabbage patch bomb that you'd put the diaper on.

Marco: and his didn't have a little tattoo there, too.

Amanda: Yeah. Xavier Roberts. Name was on the bums.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: What happened to him?

Marco: Eh, never even heard of this person.

Amanda: Xavier Roberts was the.

Marco: The creator.

Amanda: Yeah. And it was a whole thing of, like, they're born in the hospital of cabbage patches or whatever. I don't know. but then the baby was like, Sean something, I think.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: But I also babysit a kid named Sean, so maybe I'm conflating that. And then I thought I had another one, but maybe I only had the three. My brother had one. My sister, I think, had one, I think.

Marco: Wow.

Amanda: So, yeah, we were into the cabbage patches big time. I was like, the cabbage patch generation, for sure. Are you looking up Xavier Roberts?

Marco: I am.

Amanda: Any. Any hot findings?

Marco: not really.

Amanda: Weird look on your face.

Marco: Well, because it said net worth, but I didn't want that. I wanted to know a little bit of. There's a. There's a lot of Xavier Roberts. That's why I was trying to figure out which one.

Amanda: I wish I had a Cabbage Patch bum right now, because then I wouldn't feel the bones in my bum on this chair.

Marco: Well, you're certainly saying that a lot here on the podcast, where we don't say that. sorry. Yeah. I think he also created the first skins bear. Have you heard of that?

Amanda: Nope.

Marco: Okay. So anyways. Oh, he. He created this when he Was young. Like, he was 26, I think.

Amanda: Wow.

Marco: Millionaire doing this. Okay, well, good for them. yeah, good idea. $.

Amanda: I guess it just had a little bit of enough of a gimmick, and then the frenzy started.


Everyone loves a Slinky, including you, probably, dear listener

Remember, that was one. That was one of the first frenzied toys.

Marco: Right?

Amanda: Right.

Marco: I had Stretch Armstrong, I think I talked about on the podcast once, before you could stretch his arms and legs. I was so excited to get it at Man Died. That's all I wanted, was Stretch Armstrong. And then you stretched him, and he stretched back, and that's all they did. But the commercial made it seem like there was so much more.

Amanda: Stretch Armstrong did commercials knew what they were doing.

Marco: let's just say I got it for Christmas. And what? By. By New Year's, I was all over it. Wow, man.

Amanda: What a Lesson learned.

Marco: Lesson learned, Right? Lesson learned.

Amanda: Now, where is he now, Mr. Armstrong?

Marco: No, he's nowhere to be found. I think I overstretched him.

Amanda: I have a feeling you weren't the only kid. Remember Slinkies?

Marco: Loved Slinkies.

Amanda: Yeah, but how long would that one last before it was, like, caught in your hair and then twisted all around, and then you'd put it back, and you get your dad to put it back. But then it was like that one, like, coil that got kinked. Ye. I didn't fully go back, and it was like, here's my Slinky now. But it had, like, the one, like, the big gap in it, and you're, like, trying to do it down the stairs.

Marco: I used to, like, rotate it over my head like a. Like a helicopter blade, and it would just stretch and stretch and stretch.

Amanda: I'm sure your parents love that.

Marco: Yeah. Yeah, it's a. It's. It's an interesting toy because it's just a coil of springs of metal.

Amanda: Clearly somebody did a metal coil at their factory or something. And some kid was like, this is amazing. And somebody was like, great, I got an idea, but let's make it so that it doesn't, you know, and it

Marco: has the best name. Slinky. Like, you know, it's a great name for what it is.

Amanda: Everyone loves a Slinky.

Marco: Don't we all? Well, I'm going to end the podcast by saying Blarg. Oh, thank you for listening.

Amanda: Today, I'm going to remind you that everyone loves a Slinky, including you, probably, dear listener. And if you don't, may you go to sleep. I mean, that would be a great way to drift off just. Just thinking about each one of your toys and the love you had for them as a child. Then just like, imagine that you're taking them, giving them a little love, putting them on your bed the way you might have. That's what I used to do.

Marco: Sure. And, I hope you have a lovely rest of your night. And we hope you were able to listen and sleep.

In Hair Dye, Pet Rocks & Other Oddities, Amanda and Marco wander through a collection of quirky memories and gently humorous observations that feel both nostalgic and comforting. From the pet rock craze and childhood TV favorites to hair dye experiments and the oddest things they’ve ever sipped, the conversation drifts with playful curiosity. They also reflect on the influence of late-night television, including The Tonight Show, and how those quiet evenings shaped their shared sense of humour.
This calming podcast episode unfolds at an easy, unhurried pace, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep or ease anxiety at the end of the day. The tone is cozy and conversational — light enough to follow, but soft enough to fade into the background when quiet racing thoughts need something gentle to rest against. It’s ideal for background listening while you wind down in bed or navigate a middle-of-the-night wake-up. With its offbeat charm and steady rhythm, this episode provides simple companionship and a peaceful place for your mind to land.

​Hair Dye, Pet Rocks & Other Oddities
(Original airdate: June 11, 2025)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you drift off to sleep. Hi, I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:I'm Amanda Barker. Are you holding your breath? A little bit.

Marco:A little bit.

Amanda:Aw, I feel bad. Why Well, I want you to breathe.

Marco:I'm trying to breathe, but I realize that I don't have water, so I'm just trying to regulate my breath. Thank you.

Amanda:I'm giving you water. It's going to make a jiggly sound. It has your sister's thing that she gave us in it.

Marco:Okay. Her gin.

Amanda:No, it's called instant iv.

Marco:Oh, and what's, what's that good for?

Amanda:I think it's electrolytes. I think it's supposed to hydrate you, but she said, you know, if you're thirsty all the time, which I have been, and if you have headaches and stuff and you're feeling dehydrated, that, that's, take one of those and it will hydrate you better.

Marco:Okay. Well.

Amanda:And I have a headache. I've had a headache for most of today and I think I've been dehydrated.

Marco:I see, I see that I would

Amanda:boost my water intake somehow.

Marco:Well, if you have a headache, you're not alone, folks. Thanks for joining us. We, we sympathize with you.

Amanda:I hope we are not your headache.

Marco:Yes, no doubt. Amanda, you colored your hair from last week. We mentioned that you were going to color your hair with that three dollar box of on sale color.

Amanda:So here's the thing about the three dollar box. I realized when I opened it up it's a really high, high end British product.

Marco:Oh, is it?

Amanda:Yeah, it's both of the, all the. It's actually quite great because it's a very environmental box of hair dye. They don't. They print all of the instructions on the inside of the box so that there's no paper wastage.

Marco:Oh, that's great.

Amanda:And the two plastic containers that you have to mix the dye right with, both of them are recycled. And they say, one says, I used to be a yogurt container.

Marco:Oh my goodness.

Amanda:And then the other is like I used to be a lip gloss pot or something like that. I can't remember. But anyway, yeah, they're, they're both like fully recycled plastic, post consumer recycled. And there's no ammonia in it, so I don't know. How does it look? I mean, it's still a little wet.

Marco:I think it looks good.

Amanda:Yeah.

Marco:Yeah. I hope it works out. It makes me sad because I could have bought more. I think I only bought a couple,

Amanda:but you never know and then you're ending up with a bunch of them. So. Yeah.

Marco:And if they didn't work out, then you'd be like, now I have this stuff to Deal with. So hopefully it works.

Amanda:We'll.

Marco:We'll see how it goes.

Amanda:Yeah. See what happens. Color my hair once the sun hits it maybe turns a weird ready color, but I think it's okay, right?

Marco:I think it looks good. Yeah, sure.

Amanda:Just doing the roots and.

Marco:What. Do you have any, like, prep that you do before you color your hair?

Amanda:Well, here's the thing. We're going to get deep into it. I'm really. I don't know if I would use the word addicted, but I'm very reliant these days and quite love and enjoy using and maybe obsessed with that spray root dye stuff, like the instant stuff. There's a bunch of companies that make them. There's like three or four on the market.

Marco:Batiste, I think, is the one you use.

Amanda:No, no, no, no, no, no. You're talking about dry shampoo.

Marco:Oh, okay. Sorry.

Amanda:That's dry shampoo. That's another end of the spectrum. No, no, what I'm talking about is it's instant root touch up.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:But I like it as well for a few reasons.

Marco:One, it's instant.

Amanda:Well, yeah, but even if I don't have roots showing, I tend to use it because I fill in where my hair is a bit thinner on the edges here.

Marco:I see. Okay.

Amanda:Sort of at the, you know, that thinning sort of part. I've always had it. I had it when I was a little kid. It's just a part where the hair is thinner and my hair usually curls up there.

Marco:So you're spray painting your head is

Amanda:what you're doing 100%.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:Yeah. Filling in the gaps. And I also like it because when we do auditions, which are all, you know, mostly, not all, but the auditions that we do at home, which is a big bulk of our auditioning life, just the way the lights are that we have, sometimes they shine on the top of my head and I. Anyways, it doesn't look great or it looks like gray. Even when it's not gray, it's just a bit of reflection. So when I spray that stuff, it dulls it so there's no shine.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:So my hair looks thicker and fuller and there's more color just from spraying the color in. Yeah, I know it's. Listen, I'm not saying it's glamorous or even advisable. I'm just saying that's what I use.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:But in terms of your question to prep my hair for dyeing, the thing is, I always have a bit of that spray stuff in my hair, so I really have to. And I don't always succeed, but I really have to try and get it out so that it. Because I can't dye the roots if it's covered. If it's covered with this spray stuff, I'm sure.

Marco:Of course.

Amanda:So I gotta. So it's a two wash process. That's why when I was dyeing my hair, I had to wash my hair, dry it, and then dye it, and then wash the dye out and then dry it again. So that's. So it takes longer. Now I have just, you know. And again, any people who are in the hair industry would not recommend any of the things I do. I'm sure. But whatever I have just put dye over the spray dye. It doesn't work great, but sometimes it's like in a pinch and I have to be quick. It's fine.

Marco:Yeah, fair enough.

Amanda:How much is residual left in there? But anyway. Yeah.

Marco:Wow.

Amanda:And this box also had a charcoal shampoo that you were supposed to wash your hair with before you dyed it to get rid of all the toxins. I didn't know that. And I had already washed my hair at that point.

Marco:Oh, my goodness.

Amanda:And dried it.

Marco:Wow, that sounds like. What's the name of this product?

Amanda:I don't remember. Okay, well, British Harmony, I think it was called Harmony.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:It's like Harmony Dye or something like that. It had like illustrations of women hugging each other in the front. Yeah. It's very. Usually it's like a woman in her hair and you're like, that's the color I want. But this was like women dancing.

Marco:That's how I want to feel after I dye my hair.

Amanda:Like watercolory women.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:Speaking of watercolors, our friend has a big art show.

Marco:Oh, that's right.

Amanda:Yeah.

Marco:Our friend in la, Michelle Miracle, has an art show. She does a really unique and interesting art that I really love. It has a nostalgic feel to me. It kind of feels like mid century modern, like something that would be in a home during that period. And it's watercolors. And it involves, I want to say tracing, but I know I'm not doing it justice. She does a really great job of outlining the watercolor effect and it gives it this sort of impression of sometimes underwater, sometimes visions of nature through color. It really is so unique and pretty and you could just stare at. It's just so lovely. And what's funny is, Amanda, I had asked Michelle if I could put some on mugs and on T shirts and stuff for our Patreons people. Our High donors, let's say. And she. She so graciously said yes. And so I did do that. And so some people have actually seen her artwork.

Amanda:She's at the Montrose Arts and Craft Festival now. I think that may have passed by the time we air this. But anyway, that was on June 7th and 8th. And, yeah, she does all these festivals, and it's really exciting. Yeah.

Marco:You can follow her at Mishmash Art Stash, and I'll put that in our. In our notes. And she's been on the podcast, and we talked about her artwork as well, so you can really.

Amanda:She really seems to approach art as a way of dealing with the frustrated perfectionist inside herself. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Like, you know, it doesn't have to be perfect and maybe things are never done, but don't judge yourself. Just go for it and see what ends up on the canvas, which is really nice. Yeah.

Marco:And she's not a Virgo like you.

Amanda:I know. She is a. What is she? Pisces? No, she's a Tour.

Marco:No, March. Right?

Amanda:Yeah, March 1st.

Marco:That's. That's Pisces.

Amanda:Pisces.

Marco:March. March.

Amanda:Pisces is. Oh, yeah, she is a Pisces.

Marco:That's not Taurus. Taurus is me.

Amanda:Yeah, she's a Pisces. That's. That's our second Pisces friend. No, I don't know a lot about Pisces, do you?

Marco:I can't remember Pisces so.

Amanda:Well, last night there were three. We were watching the Tonight show, which is not something we normally watch, but anyway, and all. Both Jimmy Fallon and the two people on the couch realized that they were all Virgos.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda:Which I am. Anyway. Tyler Perry was one of them.

Marco:Oh, that's right. That's right. I used to watch the Tonight show when I was a kid and Johnny Carson was the host.

Amanda:Yeah, of course you did.

Marco:And I wanted to stay up so, so much to watch it. Right.

Amanda:Yeah.

Marco:And I thought he was funny. I don't know. As a kid, I think. I think even if you didn't understand

Amanda:him, but your parents would be laughing. Right?

Marco:Right. And every once while, you'd understand joke. It would be like a very, you know, dad like joke. So as a child, you could. You could understand it. And I would often be able to stay up, but then I would fall asleep after the monologue kind of thing.

Amanda:Right.

Marco:It would, you know.

Amanda:Oh, poor little Marco trying to stay up to watch the Tonight Show.

Marco:But I think a lot of, you know, staying up to watch comedies when I was a Kid really influenced me into comedies. I used to watch Benny Hill and D***. D*** Allen at large, which was.

Amanda:What was that?

Marco:So it was. Those shows were already old by the time I watched him as a kid. Right. But you don't know that. And they were British shows back in the day where their style was very different to what we were used to watching with North American shows that we had access to.

Amanda:Right.

Marco:So you know, Benny Hill, his style of humor and whatnot. But D*** Allen at large was this comedian whose name was D*** Allen who would sit in a chair and smoke a cigarette and just tell stories. And I can't remember if he was Irish or. But he had just a way of tell funny stories really. And he would just sit in a chair and tell a funny story.

Amanda:Full show, I'm going to smoke and. And talk.

Marco:And they would be intercut with some sketches where he was.

Amanda:How do I get this?

Marco:Where he was a vicar. And it would be a short vicar. It would be a short little vicar sketch.

Amanda:Or why don't we say vicar over here? Like why didn't that. Why didn't that word cross the pond?

Marco:I don't know. A vicar, A vicar. He'd be a vicar and he would tell a story. But it was never. It wasn't as like body as Benny Hill. It was more cerebral, let's say. Okay, once again, this is through nine year olds.

Amanda:Right.

Marco:Remembering of it.

Amanda:Right. Though.

Marco:But yeah, I'll show you some D*** Allen at large. That sounds dirty but I'll show you, I'll show you some later on to see what you think of it. It just gets worse. Okay.

Amanda:You know, the Virgo that I am, I make like a mental list, like tallies of words that mean that we don't use in North America or words that mean different things. And one that I hear a lot, that always makes me laugh in British tv. British. And of course I watch a lot of home shows and renovation shows and things like that in England. But anyway, what is the word homely? Because over here to call somebody, you would call someone or something homely and

Marco:it would mean ugly or plain.

Amanda:Very plain. Yeah, yeah, either ugly or very. Like dowdy would be a synonym maybe. Sure.

Marco:I don't think ugly, I just think plain.

Amanda:Plain? Yeah. Like if I said she's pretty homely.

Marco:Yeah. I wouldn't.

Amanda:You wouldn't think she's good looking?

Marco:No, but I wouldn't think she was. Or they, whoever, male or female. I wouldn't think that they were ugly. I just think they look very Plain looking, Very. You know, you pass them, you'd walk right by them. You wouldn't even.

Amanda:Oh, see, I don't think that I think of homely as straight up not good looking.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:I wonder what the dictionary would say. But anyway, in the uk they always say it. They say homely, where we would say homey.

Marco:Oh, okay.

Amanda:Oh, this is very homey, we would say. But they say that's very homely, which kind of makes more sense for the word really, Like, Like a homely. But for whatever reason we say, oh, it's homey. But then homely has a totally different meaning. So it just always makes me laugh. That's one. Another one is to table something.

Marco:Oh, yeah, table something.

Amanda:But Americans, because as Canadians, we go both ways in terms of British, right?

Marco:Yeah. We have a lot of British words we use and we have a lot of North American words we use.

Amanda:So we say we'll table that bill. So what does that mean to you?

Marco:We'll put it aside and we'll work on it or whatever. We'll put a pin in it kind of thing.

Amanda:Okay. So that's the American version of it. To table it. Let's table that. Like it's become part of parlance in, you know, working vernacular. Sure. You know.

Marco:So what does, what does it mean to table a bill?

Amanda:Well, it means, is to put it on the table and work through it in British Parliament. Right. And Canadian government. I think they've got that. Right. Yeah. Okay, so you're tabling it, you're working through it. You're. You're putting it in front of everybody on the table and saying, hey, look at this. Whereas to table it in for American speak is, let's just table that for now. Let's just put it on the table and leave it there and work on something else.

Marco:I see.

Amanda:It's different, right? So like the opposite meaning, in fact. Really?

Marco:Wow. Yeah.

Amanda:No, let's put a pin in it.

Marco:Yeah, that's. That's how I would.

Amanda:Yeah, that's the American version of that. Isn't that funny?

Marco:Yeah. Although I do say Chesterfield, so I don't.

Amanda:Which is a brand, apparently. A British brand of couch.

Marco:That's right.

Amanda:Or sofa.

Marco:Chesterfield.

Amanda:Yeah, that's a. Remember we were in a workshop with an American person and this guy kept talking about his Chesterfield and she finally stopped and said, I'm sorry, I just don't know what you're talking about. What the heck is a Chesterfield? We all started laughing because he kept talking about his Chesterfield over and over and she was like, I don't know what that is.

Marco:So great. I love it when that happens where you talk about. Because I remember one time we were with our American friends, actually with Michelle Miracle, the artist we just spoke of, and we were playing with you, who

Amanda:is very homey, but not homely.

Marco:No, the opposite in the American sense.

Amanda:Anyway.

Marco:She's a very attractive woman, Michelle Miracle. Okay, so like you said that she's

Amanda:a very attractive woman.

Marco:Well, I didn't want people to think she's homey or homely, so.

Amanda:No, but she can make a beautiful home. But she is not, in your words, plain or in mine, ugly.

Marco:Right. So we're playing this game with Michelle Miracle, and you had to like each letter of the Alphabet you had to come up with with a word in that category. So I think it was clothing. And we had to go, like, in order or something. And Amanda landed on the letter C. And so Amanda says chemise. And then it comes to me to D, and I said something like denim. And we were going around, and then Michelle's like, hang on a second, hang on. What is chemise? And how are we letting that in? And so there was this really large chemise debate. And for people who don't know, to

Amanda:be honest, it wasn't just her, it was you. You were the one who kept saying shamise. Because I remember you going, shamise, shamise. I remember you saying it. I think she was convinced you were the one who were challenging me on this Scattergories game.

Marco:But it was a French word. You can't use foreign French words for English.

Amanda:My argument to this day is it is a French word that we use in English parlance. I'm just gonna keep using the word parlance.

Marco:Sure.

Amanda:Like, for example, we don't say. We say croissant, you know, which is a French word. I don't say, you know, half moon pastry or whatever. Like, I call it a croissant.

Marco:When are you saying chemise? I don't hear people saying chemise. I hear blouse.

Amanda:Okay, well, continue on with your story then. Cut to a. Cut to a few weeks ago.

Marco:So. And let's be honest, I was probably over playing it just like overplaying the chemise debate.

Amanda:You. You went through a phase where you really thought it was funny to, like, make fun of me or something.

Marco:Did I?

Amanda:Yeah.

Marco:That doesn't sound very nice.

Amanda:Call it bullying.

Marco:That doesn't sound shamish. That doesn't sound very nice.

Amanda:Well, you like to roast.

Marco:It's true. So the chemise debate and so after

Amanda:that, the great chemise debate of 2007, let's be honest, of July 2007 in

Marco:Miracle to this day will say chemise. Right. Like she'll say it as a joke or whatnot.

Amanda:My shamise. Yeah.

Marco:So we're watching television and of course, Amanda and I watch a lot of

Amanda:the Shopping Channel and British shows. All we do is watch tv. That seems like all we do.

Marco:It's so funny because now we know a lot of British celebs that are not celebs here.

Amanda:Alan Carr, for example.

Marco:Alan Carr with that show with Amanda.

Amanda:Amanda and Alan's Italian Adventure.

Marco:Really enjoy that. Amanda Holden is her name.

Amanda:I don't know.

Marco:She's a singer, something. She's on the. Not the Voice, but the British.

Amanda:Britain's Got Talent.

Marco:Yeah, something like that. And so we're watching the Shopping Channel and of course there's someone who's talking about sleepwear. Was it.

Amanda:Well, they had blouses and they were like, now, let's show you the chemise. And they must have said it a million times, this chemise and that chemise. And this is not a robe, this is a chemise, over and over and over. And I taped it and sent it to Michelle.

Marco:There's a lot of chemise talk, a

Amanda:lot of chemise happening. I looked up homely.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:The first definition is North American, a person unattractive in appearance.

Marco:Okay.

Amanda:So I think I was more Right. And then second, British of a place or surroundings, simple but cozy and comfortable, as in one's home. Okay. Yeah, yeah. We should look up table of Bill.

Marco:Yeah. Wow.

Amanda:Look at. Look at what you're learning today.

Marco:A lot of lexicon, a lot of Britishism versus Americanism. While Amanda is looking that up, I'm just going to say thank you to all our listeners in the uk. We have listeners in the uk. I love hearing from them. Of course, we have listeners in Canada, in the United States. I want to say hi to all of you. Australia, Bahrain, India, we have listeners all over the world. Feel free to give us a shout out on Instagram and we'll be sure to mention the country that you listen from, because I know there's a lot of listeners from all over the world.

Amanda:This is interesting. I see what happened with the. With the expression to table something. So it does mean to formally present a bill for consideration, but it can also mean to postpone discussion for a later time, because this is often done when there's not enough time or consensus to debate a bill fully at the current moment. So we Think of it as table A bill. Bring the bill forward.

Marco:Right.

Amanda:But as in most bills, things do get postponed and delayed. So that's where the American version, I think, comes in.

Marco:Wow.

Amanda:Yeah, Interesting, right?

Marco:Yeah, very interesting.

Amanda:Fascinating.

Marco:Yeah.

Amanda:I'm trying to think of other words that have two different meanings. Crikey.

Marco:Crikey. One guy says crikey a lot. Yeah. We should say crikey. I feel like that's associated with Australians.

Amanda:You know what word comes up in weird places is reckon, because you could say it in the southern us. I reckon you do this and I reckon that. I mean, they don't say it a lot, but they used to. But then the Brits say that one a lot. I reckon this and I reckon that

Marco:And I never say it. I would never say reckon.

Amanda:We would never say the word reckon.

Marco:There's certain words that would never come to mind in my mind. Same in Italian. There's a. There's a. An. Not an expression, but an article that you could use in cui. But I never use. Yeah, yeah. No, there's inkui or K. And I always. I always revert to ke. I don't know why. I just think it's easier. It just comes out of my mouth quicker. Or easier. I'm trying to think of words like that in English. Do I say anything that strikes you as British or whatnot? More British.

Amanda:Serviette. You always say serviette.

Marco:Of course.

Amanda:Give me a. Which I would say napkin. Canadians always say cutlery.

Marco:Cutlery. I say cutlery.

Amanda:Whereas Americans, for whatever reason, we say silverware. Like I would growing up, I would even say the plastic silverware.

Marco:Oh, wow.

Amanda:I know. Which doesn't make any sense when you actually stop and think about it. But we would call. I would call what you and I call cutlery. Growing up, I would always call it the silverware. One thing that came up not too long ago, and we might have talked about it on the show, but I had a friend who was trying to figure out what cocoa was.

Marco:Oh, cocoa.

Amanda:And it made me think about it because we were just helping our niece with an audition and I knew it was American because she was saying cocoa or everybody grab some cocoa.

Marco:Right.

Amanda:So. But here we would call it hot chocolate.

Marco:Right?

Amanda:Yeah, but it's the same thing. And sometimes Americans would call it hot chocolate, but much more often we would call it cocoa. Like cotton candy. Candy floss.

Marco:See, to me, cocoa is more like chocolate, like, but it's not.

Amanda:It's honestly the exact same thing as hot chocolate.

Marco:Right, right. But I See, cocoa is something you use to cook with versus, well, cocoa

Amanda:powder is what you're thinking, right? But cocoa, a cup of warm cocoa is what you would think of as a cup of hot chocolate.

Marco:One of my favorite wrestlers was Coco Beware.

Amanda:One of mine was Hot Chocolate. Stay back.

Marco:Oh, my goodness.

Amanda:Although that would be a great wrestling name.

Marco:So funny. Did you watch wrestling as a kid?

Amanda:Nope. I stayed as far away as I could from. And I didn't understand why anybody would watch it. And my dad, every now and then on a Saturday would have it on and I'd be like, why?

Marco:Why I would watch it because the characters were so fascinating and interesting. Like, one guy had a snake. His name was Jake the Snake Roberts.

Amanda:But I don't. It's lost on me. As a kid, it was lost on me. I'd be like, watch a movie. Then there's great characters in TV shows. Why are you watching people fight? I don't know. Wrestling is. I don't think I was the demo.

Marco:Sure, sure.

Amanda:And it never yielded to you? Not even close. Like, it. It repelled me.

Marco:Okay, that's fair.

Amanda:That's the only part I liked about it was that it was. Used to be wwf, which was also the World Wildlife Federation, but finally they became wwe. That. Which is interesting too, right? That.

Marco:That happened. Well, the whole story behind all that is just.

Amanda:Oh, really?

Marco:Yeah, we. Well, I think there's a. There's a podcast that. If you're looking for an interesting podcast called. What's it called? A minute. It's the one from CBC where it's like the power of persuasion or like the. Where they talk about ads and stuff.

Amanda:Oh, my gosh. You hadn't asked me.

Marco:Yeah, the. Under the influence.

Amanda:Under the influence.

Marco:Under the influence with. I can't remember the guy.

Amanda:Terry O'Reilly.

Marco:There you go. And I think he.

Amanda:By the way, great podcast.

Marco:It's a great.

Amanda:If you're still awake and listening, Terry O'Reilly, is that. That's a great podcast. All about marketing. And I read his book, by the way.

Marco:It won't make you fall asleep, but it's interesting. How was his book?

Amanda:It was great. It was like one long. I listened to it. So it was like one long version of the podcast or radio show.

Marco:Well, on one of the episodes, he was talking about WWF and how they retained that acronym over the Wrestling Federation.

Amanda:So interesting.

Marco:It's so fascinating.

Amanda:Yeah. Because they were both big organizations with the same acronym, as it turns out. Yeah, that's so interesting. Remember Greenpeace?

Marco:I loved Greenpeace. As a kid.

Amanda:Did you.

Marco:Yeah, these boats, like, 1989, saving whales.

Amanda:That was my whole, like, I just want to be on a Greenpeace boat.

Marco:Oh, no, I didn't want to do that. But I was like, no, I wanted to save the whales. I remember grade two. I wanted to. I talked to the librarian about, like, making signs, save the whales, and doing a little march.

Amanda:And did you do it?

Marco:No, because. And I had an idea on how to make the signs, but then I guess I didn't think about, like, where am I gonna march? I was gonna march around the school with a sign and try to get people to march with me.

Amanda:I love these ideas, these schemes you have as kids. I remember my sister and I. I think it was my sister and I, or my friend maybe, we decided we were going to paint all these rocks and then sell them.

Marco:Oh.

Amanda:So we were probably about that age, about seven. So we painted these rocks, and we were like, okay, rocks for sale. But it didn't really occur to us that in our backyard, we didn't really have foot traffic going through, like, in our mind. I didn't quite understand. You know, I lived on a pretty major road that didn't have sidewalks, Right? It was. And very kind of wooden, but yet it was. Route 98 was the name of the route anyway. Like a pretty major thorough route off of the i95. And so we didn't really, like. Because I wasn't in a sort of more shelter development, I didn't go out on that road very much.

Marco:Right.

Amanda:So. But we had a backyard, and we played in that. And. And so. Or here's another one. We would say backyard. You know what the Brits would call it? A garden.

Marco:A garden.

Amanda:They'll call. All of it is a garden. Whether it's. Whereas you and I would have, like, a flower garden or a vegetable garden that's a garden. But a bunch of grass we would never call a garden. But at least if I'm to believe all these shows that I've watched for years, they always say, oh, look at the size of the garden. And you're like, there's no garden. It's just some grass. But they'll call it a garden. So anyway, so we had our garden or back. You know, we had a garden and we had a backyard. And so on the porch, on our back porch, we, like, laid all this out. We're like, rocks for sale.

Marco:Amazing.

Amanda:And just sitting, like, waiting for people to come by. Like, I think in our head, we thought that there'd be like a traveling sales listen through the backyards.

Marco:Just.

Amanda:I mean, you hope. Not that there's not random strangers walking through, but we didn't quite figure out that that's not how that works. We just thought if you put something for sale, like people would people come.

Marco:Right, right. Well, listen, you could have been the precursor to the pet rock that that person who invented that or did that made a ton of money.

Amanda:Yeah, I always hear about the pet rock, but I don't ever really remember pet rock.

Marco:I don't either. Really?

Amanda:Yeah, that's more of an under the influence thing. I'm sure Terry O'Reilly does a deep dive on the pet rock.

Marco:There you go. Well, listen, thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoy this podcast and we actually hope you're asleep at this point, but if you're not, thank you for listening and we hope you were able to listen and sleep.

In this travel-inspired episode of The Insomnia Project, Amanda and Marco return from their European adventure with softly told stories from Rome and Budapest. They reflect on stepping through the Four Holy Doors and savoring the Four Holy Pastas, sharing small, sensory memories from their journey — the quiet awe of historic spaces, the comfort of a perfectly prepared plate of pasta, and the gentle rhythm of exploring a new city together. The conversation unfolds slowly, touching on light travel tips and the peaceful details that often matter most.
As with every calming podcast episode, the tone is warm, unhurried, and intentionally low-key. It’s a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts after a busy day. There’s no whirlwind itinerary here — just steady storytelling and easy companionship. Whether you’re listening at bedtime, during a middle-of-the-night wake-up, or simply using this as background listening while you unwind, let the memories of Rome and Budapest carry you toward a soft, restful drift.

​Four Holy Pastas and more...

(Original airdate: July 16, 2015)
 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. You sit back, relax, lie back, whatever you need to do. Listen, and hopefully we can bring you to a place where you feel comfortable enough to drift off or just chill. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: I'm back. I'm Amanda Barker.

Marco Both Amanda and I got some weird summer cold that really kind of took us down. So we're back.

Amanda: We are.

Marco And we're back from our trip. Amanda, we were going to talk about our trip.

Amanda: No. And we didn't. And I Think we had our niece.

Marco We had our niece in last time. LaMiast week. We didn't have a show because both of us were recovering.

Amanda: We were very sick. Yeah.

Marco But now we're back.

Amanda: Okay. We didn't have voices.

Marco We didn't. But we're back from our trip as well. We went to both Rome and Budapest in Hungary.

Amanda: Where do we be? Begin with that?

Marco Well, I wanted to go to Rome because it's the jubilee, and I had been there 25 years ago, and I had promised myself I would go back. And Amanda's like, let's make it happen. We had some friends who were going to be there for a day. So we're like, let's go and see if we can meet up with them as well.

Amanda: Yeah. They were on a trip to Sicily. They were organizing something through their work. And so it was almost like a. Locations scouting for them. And because they'll be back there. And so they were in Sicily, but all roads lead to Rome when you're in Italy. And so they were going to come and do a night or two in Rome. So we met up with them.

Marco And I had two objectives. One was to go through the holy doors, as I did 25 years ago. Not that I'm a religious person, but it was quite a cool experience. And to do the four pastas of Rome.

Amanda: The holy pastas.

Marco The holy pastas, if you will, which. If you're wondering what are the four pastas of Rome? So Rome has four pastas that are, you know, associated with them, that are part of Rome.

Amanda: Obviously, there's more than four pastas in the country we know as Italy. And when we say pastas, Marco, maybe we should be more specific.

Marco Okay.

Amanda: So these pastas are usually identified by, would you say the sauce, but also the type of pasta, or noodle, if you will. I know. You won't.

Marco I won't.

Amanda: That is used for them. But sometimes you can change that up a little bit, I've noticed.

Marco Sure.

Amanda: A little bit.

Marco There's certain ones you don't have with it. Please don't ask me what those pastas are. But you can always look it up. With the noodle is.

Amanda: But we could. We could answer that a little bit.

Marco Sure. So I'll just. I'll list the pastas.

Amanda: Why don't we go one at a time and talk about our feelings and where we had it and our experience in eating it?

Marco Sure. So pasta alla carbonara, or the carbonara, as a lot of people know it.

Amanda: So you had that the first night we were there. Now Whenever I've had a. I can't say it. Carbonata. Whenever I've had it, I've had it mostly with like a thick sort of spaghetti linguine kind of style of noodle. A long, thin, flat noodle. Right. Would you say that that's correct?

Marco Yeah, I've had it mainly like that as well here.

Amanda: Yeah. However, it can also be served with, as we had it there, a short plump noodle. A short plump noodle that. Like a circular tube. Tube noodle with some ridges.

Marco And I'll call that pasta. I won't call it noodles, because that's not.

Amanda: No, I know, but I'm just trying to. Because we're talking about pasta the dish.

Marco Right.

Amanda: And then we're talking about pasta, the noodles. So that is confusing. I know you don't love the word noodle, but just to be specific.

Marco Fair enough.

Amanda: So the cabanata you had the first night had those sort of almost like. Almost like rigatoni kind of noodles.

Marco Yeah. Bigger than rigatoni, though.

Amanda: Yeah. And then we had it again, did we not?

Marco Yes, we did. We did. We had it near the Parthenon. We had it. And that was a longer noodle, if I'm not mistaken.

Amanda: That was more of a spaghetti cabanata. So there you go. What makes a cabanata, Marco, and what doesn't make a cabanata?

Marco I mean, you do not put cream in a carbonara, first of all, you

Amanda: do not put cheese, I believe, in a carbonara. Do you?

Marco No, you can't.

Amanda: Oh, you do.

Marco Yes, but it is.

Amanda: But what? Cheese.

Marco Romano cheese. Because that's the cheese of Rome, which tends to be pecorino, which is a sheep's cheese. And it has guanciale, which is pork cheek and egg, and it is quite a rich dish.

Amanda: And not butter. There were some Americans near us who were saying how to make it and they said butter.

Marco Yeah. No, I don't believe there's any butter in a carbonara.

Amanda: Not normally. I don't think so. I think the egg yolk does a lot of that work.

Marco The heavy lifting.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco So, yeah. So the carbonara we had then after the carbonara, I would say there is the matriciana.

Amanda: So that is the only tomato based

Marco sauce of the four that we have.

Amanda: Of the four. And what else makes up alla matriciana? I know, I'm not saying it right.

Marco So matriciana is often served with bucatini noodles. That's the traditional way you have it. And it's a tomato sauce based pasta that has pork Cheek. Once again, guanciale, pecorino cheese, grated and onions. I think some people put capers in it, but I don't know if that's traditional or not.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah. So moving on with the pork cheek theme. The guanciale theme.

Marco Yeah.

Amanda: The next one we had was one neither one of us had ever experienced before.

Marco No, I was quite excited to try this one because I had never had it before. It's pasta alla gricia. That's G R I C I A. And that one, of course, pecorino cheese, black pepper. Once again, the pork cheek, or the guanciale, as they say.

Amanda: Seems to be a theme.

Marco Yeah. And I think that's all they put in it right now.

Amanda: Pepper as well, I believe.

Marco Pardon me? Pepper as well. Yeah. Did I not see a black pepper?

Amanda: You might have black pepper again, A creamy white base pasta with pork cheek. So it looks kind of like a cabanara, but it doesn't have the egg. It's more about the pecorino. Yeah.

Marco And once again, no cream in that pasta. And the last one is the cacio

Amanda: e pepe, which is very similar to alla gricia. It does not have the pork cheek,

Marco so it's pepper and cheese. That pizza there. So we had all four, and I was really happy.

Amanda: The pasta.

Marco You mean the pasta. Sorry.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah. You can have a cacio e pepe pizza as well.

Marco Sorry, did I say pizza?

Amanda: You did, yeah. Anyhow, so those are the four. So once again, the carbonara alla machicana, alla gricia. Gricia. Griche. Gricia. And then cacio e pepe, which usually

Marco has a longer noodle. And that one there we had actually made. It was finished off in a wheel of pecorino cheese.

Amanda: Can never go wrong when your pasta's made in a wheel of cheese. That one was fantastic. Oh, and we had actually, our quechu e pepe we had wasn't finished off in a wheel of cheels. It was actually presented to us in a bowl made of cheese.

Marco That's right. I'm sorry.

Amanda: So we really. So he wanted to go for the holy doors, and he was like, well, what do you want to do in Rome? And I was like, I just want to eat well, that's kind of it. What I didn't anticipate about Rome. I knew it would be warm.

Marco Yes.

Amanda: I knew it would be hot.

Marco Yes.

Amanda: I don't think I was prepared for how hot and humid it would be in early June.

Marco It was unseasonably hot. It made the news when we were in Budapest. And so it was an incredibly hot time in June when we were there.

Amanda: Yeah, it was really, really hot, folks.

Marco It doesn't help that the pavement is all cobblestone.

Amanda: And we walked everywhere and it was a sweat fest. But one of the great things about Rome is that there's water fountains everywhere. So if you have a nice reusable bottle, which we did. I tossed the one that I traveled with, which was like, I got for a dollar, which is why I was traveling with it and found one that was an upgrade from the Bialetti store, which we know makes mochas and things, to espresso. All your espresso needs. And it has a loop on the top, and so I could loop it through my tiny little purse hook and then have it as sort of part of my being. So I had. We had. Because it's so important to have a water bottle at all times. You know what a friend of mine at work said? He said, and isn't that the best tasting water? And I didn't.

Marco Oh, yes.

Amanda: I didn't think about it. But he's not wrong.

Marco No, he's not wrong at all.

Amanda: Yeah. For. For fountain water. It really was.

Marco Sure.

Amanda: Or tap water, really.

Marco I want to say this. One of the tips I always give people, especially when they go to Rome, but when they travel, when you're in Rome, there's so much one can see, as in other cities like Paris, London, London, New York City, Los Angeles, there's so much one can see. Buenos Aires, like, you name it, different parts of Japan.

Amanda: I mean, Tokyo, there's so much to see.

Marco You know, I always say this. Do one or two things that you really want to do and do them well. So that you can go and say, I did these two or three things and I did them well. I couldn't see everything.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco Rather than try to do everything in little small bits, bits and run from here to there, here to there. I always find that you have the best memories when you do that, because you're not racing from one spot to the other. You're enjoying the moment that you're there. And you can just, you know, even sit and have a coffee or a sweet and just sit and just enjoy where you are.

Amanda: Yeah. I always, you know, when I started traveling, because I lived in a small town, then went to university in a small town. By the time all that was done, that's Marco drinking. Hydrating.

Marco Sorry.

Amanda: That's all right. You're allowed to hydrate. We were just talking about how important it was. I. So I Started traveling a lot because I had been in very small, confined spaces for a while. Confined, but, you know, like isolated towns. Anyhow, I really just thought, oh, this is. I don't know when I'll be back in Europe. I better do as much as I can. I don't know when I'll be back in Paris. And then it became, I don't know when I'll be back in China. I don't know when I'll be back in Indonesia. And so I really was trying to get all of the things. And sometimes you go there and you didn't know about a certain museum or park or experience landmark. And then everyone starts talking about it and then you go, oh, well, I better do that thing. And it becomes this furious. For me anyway, checklist thing of like, oh, but we gotta do that. Are we gonna do that? When are we gonna do that? Could we do it tomorrow morning? And I fight that within myself every time I travel. But one of the things that I tell myself these days as a, you know, as not a 22 year old, but as somebody many, many years, you know, more than twice that age now,

Marco is how lucky you are to be with me traveling.

Amanda: Yes, yes. That's what I say to myself every different. Because I have Marco and I don't. I have all the sights I need

Marco every morning just looking at him.

Amanda: You are the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Marco Well, I gotta get that fixed.

Amanda: No, what I was gonna say is leave something for next time. You may go back. You may go, you may surprise. And you may not go back, and that's okay too. But life is long and you might go back to that city, that country, and experience what you're going to experience as you're saying. And it's okay to leave something for next time. For example, in Rome, I have not done the Coliseum tour. I haven't gone inside the Coliseum, but I imagine we'll be back in Rome at some point.

Marco I hope so.

Amanda: And if not, maybe sooner than later. I don't know.

Marco I've been. I've been inside it. So I.

Amanda: So I don't get to see it?

Marco No, no, you do, but just not with me. No, we'll do it next time. It'll be something that we put on our list to do.

Amanda: It wasn't what this trip was. This trip was the Holy doors. And then you asked me and I said, I want to eat. Well, and so we ate the holy

Marco pastas and we did. And they're for the record, they're not called holy pastas. That's just what we were calling them.

Amanda: We also went to Rome's. Funny, actually. Like, here's the thing. In Toronto, we have amazing restaurants, and that's just the truth, you know. Indeed, the more I travel, the more I realize how much that is the truth. And so Rome has some great restaurants. And so we went to one that had long ago been featured in the show Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain. And then we went to another one that had been featured in Stanley Tucci's Italy. So we went to, you know, some of these recommends that are been made famous by famous people or they're in the Michelin guide or whatever. But none of them were crazy expensive.

Marco No, they weren't. I have to say, it's one of the lovely things about Rome is that the food is very reasonable.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco At least where we went. And the people who work in the restaurant, even if you don't have a reservation, just speak to them and see what can be accommodated is my recommendation there. And they were very agreeable with regards to that, too.

Amanda: I have to go to Florida this week, and I'm thinking about it. Those meals are going to be more expensive indeed. At the, you know, whatever, bucket shuck place. Yeah. The fish. The fish shacks that I go to with my parents, which are wonderful. But I guarantee you those meals will probably be more expensive just due to the fluctuating currencies and all other things than probably anything we had in Rome. Think about it.

Marco Now, I do want to say Amanda had a great idea and she's a great travel companion, if I do say so myself. And she's like, let's go somewhere we haven't been since we're in Rome. We should be able to find inexpensive flights outside of Rome as long as we're within Europe.

Amanda: Well, that was also a little bit my compromise. I. I have been to Rome. So have you. And the holy doors were not something I would have sought out. That said, I loved doing them. I got a lot out of that experience and I quite enjoyed it. But I always want to go to. As I always want to have gone to as many countries as years I'm alive, so I'll say that again. So at 42, I made sure I had been to 42 countries and so on.

Marco So Amanda decides.

Amanda: So I have to go to a new country every year.

Marco In other words, Amanda's like, there's a few options, and Budapest was one of them. Now, Budapest was never on my radar. Budapest, as they say, it's been on mine.

Amanda: My peripheral Radar for quite a while, I think.

Marco Not for any reason. It wasn't on my radar. It just, you know, wasn't. I think I had a. I think I had a feeling that I would end up in Warsaw before Budapest. I don't know why. I couldn't tell you why. That's not one I've ever considered Poland anyways before. Hungry. I don't know why, but that was something I always just thought interesting. So when you're like, let's go to Budapest, I was like, sure, why not?

Amanda: We had a few options. I kind of narrowed it down for you. I was looking at Croatia as well. Sorry, a bit of mouth noises. I'm drinking my. My bubbly. So.

Marco So Budapest went out and I. I couldn't have enjoyed a place more for the short time we were there.

Amanda: Agreed.

Marco And I couldn't be surprised more because I knew nothing about Budapest. I generally consider myself someone who knows because I've always find it. I've always found countries and places fascinating. Even as a child I would do research. I would like know capitals and things. It was just. It was just my thing. But I didn't realize that Budapest has many, many spas, thermal baths.

Amanda: It is a city of thermal baths.

Marco And when someone tells you that, you think, oh great, they'll have a spa. Budapest has spas everywhere you look.

Amanda: And these spas, like the one we went to is not the biggest one. And it had 13 pools, just to give you an idea.

Marco And it was quite a decision. We narrowed it down to two.

Amanda: And let's see if we can remember the two. So it was between. I'm not going to say it right. Schlengzy. I don't think that's how you say it. Okay, well, it's S, Z, L, E, I, there's a G involved. And is that another Z or Zed involved? Anyhow, and that one is a little bit further out, but apparently massive.

Marco Big and highly.

Amanda: It's the biggest spa in Europe.

Marco And then the other one was the Gellert.

Amanda: Gellert, which is part of a very famous art nouveau hotel.

Marco Hotel Gellert, which is under the. Which is currently under construction and it's

Amanda: known for its beautiful art nouveau architecture. And so with much debate, we ended up Gellert because we do love art nouveau architecture.

Marco There was no debate. You said, I think we should go to Gellert. And I was like, okay, yeah.

Amanda: Well, I mean, I think originally I wanted to go to both, but I don't think we had both in us. No, we didn't have enough time. So that's why you say you leave one for the next time. Next time I'm in Budapest, I would

Marco go back in a heartbeat. And the spa that you chose was absolutely wonderful.

Amanda: Oh, it was exceptional. It was so beautiful. I feel like I'm there now just thinking about it. We started in the outdoor pool, which is I think the world's oldest wave pool, although that was not an operation. I don't remember any real waves. But then we went inside. I had. I brought a swimming cap. So if you're in Budapest, bring a swimming cap if you want to go to any of these. Because for whatever reason there was one pool where you had to wear it. I don't why that pool, I wonder. It was beautiful pool. Anyhow, for whatever reason, that was the one that you had to wear. Swimming cap. Now there were people. There was a woman with a shower cap. So swimming cap is a little bit of. And there was another one that I don't know, had made a swimming cap, I think. But anyhow, I had brought the one that I had. I just have one that's hot pink. I got it. It was the cheapest one I could find when I needed one. So anyway.

Marco And that's what we used or that's what you used?

Amanda: That's what I used, yeah.

Marco And we had a lovely time. We spent the whole day at that spot.

Amanda: It's amazing.

Marco What's great about it is that the art nouveau, art deco design of the building is original from the 1920s, 30s, gorgeous. And it just felt like you were in another time. Yeah, in that place.

Amanda: A couple years ago I read a book called A Gentleman in Moscow and I was really, really thinking of that book as I swam in this gorgeous turn of the century hotel in Budapest. Clearly not Moscow, obviously, but anyhow, it just. All those that time, you know, that turn of the century time of that area in the world and swimming in these gorgeous pools and it was. It was beautiful, you know, and hot tubs and cold plunges and you name it.

Marco So that was our trip. It was wonderful. I recommend the Ghost was so good in Budapest.

Amanda: Budapest, I was told it wasn't, but by someone who hadn't been there recently. So now there was a couple things that you can get that are the signature Budapest things. So maybe we should talk about those since we did Rama.

Marco Sure, of course.

Amanda: So one is goulash, which is that well known hearty stew that usually has beef and is the tomato broth with lots of vegetables, carrots and celery and Just a really hearty tomato based beef stew. And we had it once. It was exceptional, wonderful.

Marco I like a goulash on any day of the week. Like, goulash is something that I would have any day of the week.

Amanda: The meal that I really wanted to have in Budapest, and we did have, and it was phenomenal, is chicken pepper kash. I had a friend who was Hungarian and he would always talk about it.

Marco And.

Amanda: And so I. It was the only thing I knew about Hungarian cuisine. I'd forgotten that goulash is theirs. And so we sought that out at an amazing restaurant called Tati Farm to table. It was amazing. And it was a restaurant that owns a farm and the chicken.

Marco And we ate at a table.

Amanda: And we ate at a table. And then I'm trying to remember the name of the last thing and it's going to drive me crazy. Yonash.

Marco I don't even know what the last thing is.

Amanda: So it is a fried dough and typically it is covered with a sour cream, like a garlic sour cream and cheese. You're looking at me like you don't remember eating it.

Marco I don't remember eating this at all.

Amanda: Well, I have a picture of you eating it that says, are you hungry? Then eat Hungarian. Get it?

Marco Okay, I need this photo. We'll put it on our Facebook.

Amanda: And you're eating one of these things. But I'm trying to remember what this thing is called.

Marco Where was I eating this?

Amanda: Hang on, let me just look at these pictures.

Marco Sounds great. I would definitely eat that again. The food. And then we bought paprika to bring home.

Amanda: So much paprika.

Marco So much. And I said to Amanda, I said, will you cook with all this paprika that you've brought home?

Amanda: And.

Marco And you said, I will. And.

Amanda: And I have. And I made shrimp. And it wasn't. It was too strong. I put too much paprika in.

Marco So sometimes with spices, the less you use, the better. Like, the more flavor comes out. You don't have to.

Amanda: I didn't put my. Believe me when I say I put a tiny little sprinkle in. It's just very overpowering.

Marco I think Amanda just has a heavy sprinkle can.

Amanda: I'm sure I do in many ways. Can. Can people hear that sound?

Marco It's the.

Amanda: Our.

Marco I think we should just name it it's our Dryer. And something just fell off the dryer because it's spinning right now. Our washing machine and dryer. Oftentimes when we record, I have that going.

Amanda: So we just rectified that Sound, if you happen to hear it, it can be kind of a melodic sound. But anyhow, so that thing that I'm talking about, this fried dough, it had garlic, sour cream. Do you remember it? Cheese on top. Mine had bacon because I just. It was a. As my friend called it, a ham cation. Anyways, it's called a langosh.

Marco Yes. And it was delightful.

Amanda: Oh, my gosh. It's, I think, the thing I crave the most when I'm thinking of Budapest

Marco after a day of walking and spying,

Amanda: having that a beer and a langos sets everything right. Yeah. Which is exactly what we did. Yeah. I mean, I. Would people have asked us, would you go back to Budapest? In a heartbeat. It's an amazing city and like all cities, a very interesting history and. Yeah, I just. I think it's an incredible city and there's lots of art and so much culture and lots to political

Marco importance.

Amanda: Importance events.

Marco Yeah, sure. Have taken place there.

Amanda: Lots of, you know, marches and demonstrations and all sorts of things and. And wonderful, outspoken people who have a lot to contribute. It was just a really incredible city in every way. I really, really loved it.

Marco Indeed, indeed. So that was our little trip that we took. I'm glad we went. I'm happy to be home. And Amanda's gone cherry picking since then. We think we mentioned that we did

Amanda: go back to Rome after Budapest, I should say, because we went to a part of Rome not a lot of people, I think, venture out to. So I kind of want to just talk about that. Sure, of course.

Marco Yeah. So we on our way back, because we had a short stint back on the way home in Rome, rather than go right into the city, we stayed in the town that the airport is in, Fumicino, which. The airport is called Leonardo da Vinci. Rome Airport, International Airport. Fumicino. So sometimes you'll hear called Da Vinci Airport. Sometimes you'll hear it called Leonardo. Sometimes you'll hear it called Fumicino. I think Fumicino is what it's most often referred to now.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco And it's named after the town of Fumicino. So we decided to just stay in

Amanda: Fumicino, which is a lovely little beachside seaside town. Yeah, it's.

Marco It's more of a fishing village type.

Amanda: Sure.

Marco Than. At least we didn't see the beach.

Amanda: There is a beach there. Apparently Osteria, which is nearby, is the more beachy town, which we didn't go to. We stayed. Ostia.

Marco Yeah, Ostia. Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda: It's okay. I'm saying everything wrong today.

Marco Osteria Is a. Like a. Like a restaurant.

Amanda: Oh, yeah, that also sounds delicious.

Marco So we stayed in Fumicino, which I was kind of excited because I had been to Rome many, many times but never stayed in. In by the airport.

Amanda: And I need to say that I had a risotto, since we're talking about food and I know we don't talk about food a lot on this podcast. That's intentional, but it was a big part of the trip. Well, I had a risotto that I'll never forget. It was so good.

Marco Before the risotto, we were walking the seaside town, the fishing village, and so we got a paper cone filled with fried calamati.

Amanda: Oh, my God, it was so good.

Marco Yeah, so we had that as well. And what was it?

Amanda: They just give you a fry, a cone, a paper cone top it so it's overflowing with calamari and a wedge of lemon and say, here you go.

Marco You could get shrimp or calamati or mixed seafood. But for some reason we went with the calamari on that little chan. And what was it about the risotto that. That you found?

Amanda: So it had life changing crudo on top of it. I don't even. Was it a tuna crudo?

Marco No, I think it was a shrimp shrimp.

Amanda: Oh, shrimp crudo.

Marco So raw shrimp or. Or raw gumbo.

Amanda: No, you're right. It was raw shrimp. Oh, my God. I can't. My mouth is watering.

Marco Yeah, so Amanda had that.

Amanda: It was amazing. We all the restaurants there, as we were walking along, we were looking things up and everything was highly rated. Everybody had wonderful things to say about all of them. And there's a lot of sort of like tourists, but a lot of local tourists as well.

Marco You know, it felt like you couldn't go wrong with any restaurant you picked there.

Amanda: So we picked the one that had pride flags all over it.

Marco And we went to that, and we

Amanda: went to that and there was. We didn't know this as we're eating. Suddenly a drag show started.

Marco And so that was fun too. So, you know, so good. And I had pasta with clams, but they took the clams out of the shell to make the pasta fancy. I know, And I wanted the pasta, the clams in the shell. That's just me. But anyways, it was delicious nonetheless.

Amanda: It was a really, truly wonderful night. I'm trying to remember the name. Follous was the name of the restaurant.

Marco Yeah, Follous.

Amanda: F O L L. Just looking through my photos now as we talk about it all.

Marco Well, so that was our trip, right, Amanda?

Amanda: That was our trip. That was a week. We did a week between Rome and Budapest and it was awesome. I would highly recommend both. Although my feet by the end of Rome were on another planet. They needed some major like, they're just recovering now and it's been a minute

Marco since we've been back, so there you go.

Amanda: Yeah. But anyhow, well worth it.

Marco Wherever you are, however you celebrate your self and the food you enjoy, we hope you do. You don't have to travel to enjoy yourself. So we hope you enjoyed this podcast. Podcast. And we hope you're able to listen and sleep. Thanks, Amanda.

Amanda: Thank you. And thank you. Italy and Hungary.

In today’s gently nostalgic episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco begins by sharing some uplifting news about upcoming ad-free listening options for dedicated insomniac listeners. From there, he and Amanda ease into a warm exploration of the cinematic world of Tom Hanks — reflecting on his memorable roles, steady charm, and the comforting familiarity he brings to the screen. The conversation drifts naturally into memories of summer blockbusters, trips to Blockbuster, and evenings at the drive-in, complete with the imagined scent of popcorn and warm night air.
As always, this calming podcast unfolds in a soft, unhurried rhythm. It’s a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts at the end of the day. The gentle movie trivia and shared memories create ideal background listening — engaging enough to keep you company, but mellow enough to let your mind wander. Whether you’re winding down at bedtime or simply seeking a peaceful pause, let these reflections on films and summer nights carry you toward rest.

​Summer Blockbuster and Tom Hanks
(Original airdate: August 13, 2025)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm, relaxing, hopefully drifting conversation for you. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.
Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker

Marco: Amanda, I have some encouraging news. I've been looking into services that we can provide our listeners with ad free listens.

Amanda: Tell me.

Marco: And I'm getting very close. So I've been, I've been really diligent with following up on things.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: I've had a week where I wasn't able to follow up. And so as a result, because it was a long weekend for us, I did not follow up. But I'm going to work on it tomorrow and the next day.

Amanda: But you have been reaching out.

Marco: I have been reaching out.

Amanda: I feel like you're contradicting yourself just a little bit because you're like. But I haven't been following up. You have been.

Marco: I have been. I just, I have to reach. I have to send another email and see where it takes us.

Amanda: Okay. We don't need to stress our listeners out, but it is in process.

Marco: It is in process.

Amanda: Or as we say in Canada, it is in process.

Marco: Process. I heard someone say against the other day and I was like, I say against. I don't say against.

Amanda: Against is a real Canadianism.

Marco: I guess so.

Amanda: I guess from the British. But do even the British say against?

Marco: I'm not sure how they say it. Think of how you would say it with a British accent.

Amanda: Would you please? Would you mind holding your body against me? Yeah. They would say against and I don't know why I said that.

Marco: Pick up line. It's always nice to have a.

Amanda: That was my first use.

Marco: Pickup line. It's funny.

Amanda: And Bean is the other one.

Marco: Bean for Ben.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: I've been around the world and I,

Amanda: I, I, I can't find my baby.

Marco: In case anyone knows that one hit Lisa Stansfield. Yeah. I like that song. When it came out.

Amanda: Stanfield or Stansfield.

Marco: I know there's an underwear brand based in Halifax called Stansfield.

Amanda: This is a real. I think it's called Stanfield.

Marco: Stanfield. That's right.

Amanda: So this is a real stream of consciousness.

Marco: Isn't the airport named Stanfield? Stanfield International Airport.

Amanda: Oh, yeah, it is.

Marco: Is it named after the underwear.

Amanda: The underwear guy? I didn't know.

Marco: I think so.

Amanda: In Halifax is what he's saying, guys. Because he didn't finish that thought.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda: So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know.

Marco: Imagine your airport's named after an underwear person.

Amanda: I'm sure there's airports named after worse.

Marco: I guess so.

Amanda: I can't think of any. But I'm sure there are.

Marco: I'm sure there are a lot.

Amanda: Let's think of famous people who got airports named after them.

Marco: Sure. Lester B. Pearson is our airport but nobody calls it that anymore. When I was younger, we used to call it Pearson.

Amanda: People say Pearson.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Were you flying out of Pearson?

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Fair. They do. Charles de Gaulle.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda: I don't really remember what he did, but I know he led France, question mark.

Marco: He was the. Yeah. The president of France.

Amanda: President, yeah.

Marco: Leonardo da Vinci in Rome, which I've

Amanda: never heard it called that. I've only ever heard it called Fiumicino.

Marco: Right.

Amanda: But I guess that is what it's called.

Marco: Heathrow. Was Heathrow named after someone?

Amanda: Gotta be, right?

Marco: Right. Who was Heathrow?

Amanda: I don't know.

Marco: He sounds cool or something. Gatwick and Heathrow, I've been to both.

Amanda: Maybe those are places, maybe those aren't people. I don't know.

Marco: I think we're already offending the Brits with our. With your.

Amanda: I know I didn't start off on the right foot. Dulles.

Marco: Who's that named after?

Amanda: I don't. I think it was a general of some kind. That's in D.C. and of course, the other one in D.C. would be Reagan, right?

Marco: Yes, after Ronald Reagan.

Amanda: Ronald Reagan. So that airport. And then there's John F. Kennedy. Oh.

Marco: JFK, of course.

Amanda: Which is in New York.

Marco: LaGuardia. Named after a mayor.

Amanda: Oh, is that who he was? LaGuardia was a mayor.

Marco: Yeah, he was a mayor.

Amanda: So those are some of those. I don't know where. Boss. Who was named after. Like who? Logan. Of Boston's Logan Airport.

Marco: Oh, my goodness.

Amanda: Was.

Marco: I can tell you that Heathrow. What? I've been able to ascertain, and I don't use that word lightly, Heathrow Airport holdings is a company that is operated and managed by Heathrow Airport, based in London. But it doesn't tell me.

Amanda: Yeah, maybe it's just the name of the area.

Marco: Yeah, perhaps.

Amanda: I'm trying to think of some other ones. Can you think of some other ones? Maybe that. Maybe I've run dry.

Marco: Pierre Trudeau in Montreal.

Amanda: Oh, yeah.

Marco: Isn't there one?

Amanda: And there was Doraval, wasn't there?

Marco: Yeah. Who's Dorval?

Amanda: I don't know, but that was a. And Mirabel. Wait, it was Dorval and Mirabel in. In Montreal. And now it's just Trudeau, right? Airport.

Marco: No, no, it's. Trudeau is an airport that's not used as much anymore.

Amanda: Oh, maybe that was Mirabel and they renamed it.

Marco: I don't know. We don't usually fly into Montreal is the problem. We usually just drive there.

Amanda: Yeah, that's true. That's true. Trying to think of some other ones.

Marco: What are some of your favorite airports?

Amanda: I love the one in Incheon. I love the Korean airport, but I don't think it's named after any person that I can think of.

Marco: I love going to an airport in a place that you wouldn't go necessarily. Like you're going on a vacation or something. You're like, oh, we're going to, you know, St. Kitts and Nevis, and you find out the airport's named after somebody who was important in that place.

Amanda: And then you're like, I don't know, maybe I thought there were so many, but now I feel like I've. I've run dry.

Marco: Mirabel Airport is actually takes its name from not a person, but rather a former hamlet in the area.

Amanda: But I don't. That airport doesn't exist anymore, does it?

Marco: I don't know.

Amanda: I don't think it does.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: I think they used it for like film shoots and things. I know there was a, a Tom Hanks movie where he's like stuck in an airport.

Marco: That's right.

Amanda: And that was all filmed there.

Marco: I'm not even, I'm not even.

Amanda: I don't remember the movie.

Marco: All that can wait. Something like that.

Amanda: What? I don't.

Marco: No, I don't know. We can't get. Go down that road because we already received messages from Bill Singh.

Amanda: We did, we got, we got some hate mail from a good friend saying how, how dare you mix up Murphy Brown and Designing Women.

Marco: For the record, that was you, not me.

Amanda: That was me and I'll own it. I'll own the hatred.

Marco: Bill did say, if you're gonna do 80s television series, have him on the show. I should just have you and him on the show. The problem is it would be a four hour episode because you guys like,

Amanda: of him correcting me, of me saying crazy things and him saying, no, no.

Marco: It would be an hour of them just talking, catching up, which I'd have to edit out. And then.

Amanda: So we used to have a podcast and we invite you. I think it would, I think it would do a great job at maybe putting you to sleep any day. But we had a podcast called Born this Way. Right? Born this Day. What?

Marco: I love that you don't remember the

Amanda: name of the podcast, Born this Day.

Marco: It's not a Lady Gaga podcast. It was Born this Day. It was famous people born on that particular day.

Amanda: I remember. I was there. Anyhow. And so we talk about all the famous people that are born and every day and we went through every. We did 365 of them. It's all a blur now, but that was our. Our pandemic project, and it still exists, and it's me and Bill and Marco. Although some. Some were Marco and Bill, some were me and Marco, some were me and Bill. So any permutation of that. Very rarely was it the three of us.

Marco: It was a lot of work.

Amanda: It was.

Marco: It was a test of our contrition and it was a lot of work. It was a lot of work.

Amanda: You said it. You. You pitched it to me and I said, great, let's do it.

Marco: I didn't realize how much.

Amanda: A lot of writing that I did not do. Bill did all the. I mean, Bill did all of the writing.

Marco: You would just show up. Much like.

Amanda: Yeah, I was the worst. Yeah.

Marco: Okay, so I'm looking up the title of the Tom Hanks film.

Amanda: Oh, we're there again.

Marco: Yeah. Just because I don't want to leave people hanging. Catch me if you can.

Amanda: And what did you say? Wait around for me.

Marco: Something like that.

Amanda: Catch me if you can.

Marco: Catch me if you can. Yeah. DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

Amanda: No, that's not that movie.

Marco: It was in the airport. Yeah, it was an.

Amanda: Oh, no, no. Catch Me if youf can is Tom hanks chasing Leonardo DiCaprio. That's not the movie I'm talking about. I'm talking about a movie where Tom Hanks is a foreigner of some sort. I don't know. But not from the area that he's stuck in. He's like Polish or something, and he's stuck in an airport, and the whole movie takes place in an airport, and it's just him stuck in an airport.

Marco: I've never heard this film.

Amanda: Are you in his IMDb right now?

Marco: I'm not. I mean, I can. I can be if you'd like me to be. No, no, it's not the Da Vinci Code. Right?

Amanda: It's not the Da Vinci Code.

Marco: It's not Bosom Buddies, the musical, is it?

Amanda: I wish it was. That takes place somehow, inexplicably, at an airport.

Marco: Okay, let's see here.

Amanda: Are we just gonna do a Tom Hanks deep dive?

Marco: Sure, let's just do it. Know what? We're now here.

Amanda: See how many people we can put to sleep by reciting an IMDb.

Marco: Okay, I'll just mention the films and you tell me anything you know about the films.

Amanda: Okay, well. And we'll find that one.

Marco: All right. Castaway.

Amanda: He has that volleyball named Wilson, and he lost a lot of weight for it. And. And I always think about it whenever I see a FedEx man, big. I saw it when I was a kid and I. He. He basically introduced FAO Schwarz to the entire nation because he has that scene where he's playing the piano in FAO Schwartz, and then everybody had to go to New York and play that piano with his feet. Yeah.

Marco: Forrest Gump.

Amanda: We all know that movie. I'm not actually the biggest fan of that movie because I just felt like you could just throw anything into that movie. I remember watching it going, well, you could just. Just grab anything from history and put them into it. But I did cry at the end.

Marco: I really like that film.

Amanda: Well, great.

Marco: Oh, I think I might have found it. Could it be a Man Called Otto? Is that it?

Amanda: I don't. Is it?

Marco: I don't know. I don't.

Amanda: I don't know that one.

Marco: This film. Okay, so Otto is a grump who's given up on life.

Amanda: That's more recent film.

Marco: Okay. I think he was nominated for that film.

Amanda: Maybe.

Marco: All right, let's see here.

Amanda: Now, this film was like 15 years ago, easily. Okay. Do you want me to do it? Yeah.

Marco: Like, I'm. I can't seem to find the list anymore because I. I went to figure out what a man named Otto is.

Amanda: Man called.

Marco: A man called Otto. I don't know. An auto. Auto is one of those names where it's forwards and backwards. It's the same thing is that I called it Palindrome. I think.

Amanda: I think it is. Yeah.

Marco: Like mom or wow.

Amanda: Or

Marco: Knife fight.

Amanda: Yeah. What is all this? He's not in. Oh, he's a producer. This is showing me all his producer credits. But we want his actor credits.

Marco: Joe versus the Volcano. Do you remember that film?

Amanda: Tell me about that film.

Marco: It's. He's got to deal with the volcano that's about to erupt, and I think he's gonna throw someone in it. If I'm not mistaken, the love of his life. I think that's part of what's going on.

Amanda: Oh. You know, the problem is with Tom Hanks and IMDb is that he has

Marco: a lot of work.

Amanda: Well, he's produced. He's such a produce that it's showing me all the things he's produced, which, no offense, I'm not really. I don't really care about.

Marco: Was he in Saving Private Ryan?

Amanda: Was he.

Marco: He wasn't that right? Oh, man. If Tom Hanks listens to this episode. If you happen to be talking with Tom Hanks friend and he listens, I

Amanda: know we're in danger of that.

Marco: Well, but here's the thing. You never know who's friends with Tom Hanks. And then all of a sudden they're like, you gotta listen to this podcast where they have no idea anything you've ever done. And I. I'm a big fan of Tom Hanks. I really am. I do like his work. I think he's great on camera. Sully. He did that movie, Sully, where he. He lands a plane in the water.

Amanda: Elvis. He was in Elvis.

Marco: He plays the colonel.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah, expertly. Okay, I'm. I'm in his IMDb so.

Marco: Okay, so you name them and I'll tell you what the film's about. That'll check.

Amanda: The David S. Pumpkins Halloween short.

Marco: Well, that was a character he did on snl, so it's not a movie.

Amanda: Okay. Do you remember the Circle?

Marco: Yes. I hated that.

Amanda: Oh, I really like Emma.

Marco: Emma. Emma Hermanji. Granger.

Amanda: Whatever.

Marco: Hermione Granger. Emma Wilson. What's her name?

Amanda: Watson.

Marco: Emma Watson. And him, he's like. He's like a tech guy and he's figuring things out.

Amanda: Saving Mr. Banks. We never saw that one.

Marco: I think I saw a bit of it. He's like. He's like Walt Disney and he's trying to get people to put on Mary Poppins. I think he's trying to get Mary Poppins made or something.

Amanda: The Simpsons movie. He was also in something called Elvis Has Left the Building. Oh, I found the. I found the movie.

Marco: Okay, here we go.

Amanda: It's called the Terminal.

Marco: Oh, the terminal. As in the terminal. Okay.

Amanda: Victor Navarroski.

Marco: Oh, that's based on a true story. Yeah, yeah, I remember seeing that. Where the person. Yeah, yeah.

Amanda: And I don't really remember the premise. Let's read the premise.

Marco: Where did you see this film?

Amanda: In the theater.

Marco: Oh, yeah.

Amanda: Back when I used to do that.

Marco: We were talking about films we saw.

Amanda: Here we go. Okay. Victor Nevrosky reaches JFK airport from a politically unstable country. Okay? So I said he's Russian.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: But we don't know what he is. But prior to that, I said Polish.

Marco: So they used to, like. They used to, like, you use Moldovia as a country.

Amanda: Right.

Marco: Because everybody knows it's a country, but nobody knows politically what's going on. I shouldn't say nobody, but a lot

Amanda: of it is not a country. Babe.

Marco: Moldova is a country.

Amanda: Moldova is a country.

Marco: Moldova. Moldova.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: Anyway, due to collapse of his government, his papers are no longer valid in the airport, and hence he is forced to stay in the airport. Until the war cools down, he makes the airport his home, and he develops a friendship with the people who work there until he can leave. There you go.

Marco: It sounds very Forrest Gumpish. Does he sit on a bench?

Amanda: Tom Hanks is really great at doing fish out of water stories.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda: I think that's what you're getting out there. Because he has a real likability to him. And, like, I look at him and I. I see my dad for some reason, you know? Like, I think people see the people they love in him or themselves in him.

Marco: Okay, okay.

Amanda: Band of Brothers. He was in. I don't know if he was. Oh, yeah, no, he was the captain in Saving Private Ryan.

Marco: Yeah, I thought so.

Amanda: He did a lot of Toy Story.

Marco: He's the reason that they wanted to save Captain Private Ryan.

Amanda: What do you mean?

Marco: He's the captain who says we gotta save this guy?

Amanda: League of Their Own.

Marco: Yes. No Crying in baseball. Everybody knows that.

Amanda: He was in the Bonfire of the Vanities.

Marco: That was a huge book at the time. And they made it into a movie with Bruce Willis and I want to say Sigourney Weaver. I could be wrong, and it flopped.

Amanda: This movie gets referenced a lot when you know someone who's buying an old house.

Marco: The Money Pit with Shelley Long, if I'm not mistaken.

Amanda: What's that?

Marco: I'm pretty sure you've Got Mail with what's her face. They're the blonde Ryan who had a big career and then.

Amanda: And they had two movies together, did they not?

Marco: Sleepless in Seattle.

Amanda: I believe Mail is actually based on a French Christmas story.

Marco: I did not know that.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: Is that the one where it once.

Amanda: Perfumery.

Marco: Was that the one where she sells her comb?

Amanda: No, no, no, no. It's. We saw the play. Or. I saw it. I thought you saw it with me at soulpepper. Called Perfumery. And it was like a woman who's getting letters from a secret admirer and she doesn't know who it is, but it takes place at, like, I don't know, the 40s or something. So it was. Anyway, this Nora Ephron, I think, updated it with email and so on. So it's called you've got Mail, but it's based on a French. The play is called Perfumery, but I think the. The French story is even called something else.

Marco: Okay. Anyway, what came first? Sleepless in Seattle or you've got Mail?

Amanda: Sleepless in Seattle.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: You've got Mail was the big follow up.

Marco: I see. Okay.

Amanda: Yeah. I'm trying to find what his first movie was. But this is movies in tv. Oh, he had a. He did a episode of the Love Boat, as.

Marco: As is his. Right? Yeah.

Amanda: Oh, he did an episode of Taxi. Yeah. I'm just looking at stuff he did. He did an episode of Happy Days.

Marco: Of course.

Amanda: Three episodes of Family Ties. Was he the drunk uncle in Family Ties?

Marco: He was.

Amanda: I remember that he had, like, an alcohol problem.

Marco: Yeah, he was Michael. Michael Keaton. His. His, like, hero kind of thing was. It was his uncle.

Amanda: Yeah. And then it was like he was drinking. Splat. Well, his brother. I think they would have been the same age.

Marco: No, it was his uncle.

Amanda: Who's Michael Keaton?

Marco: Michael Keaton's uncle.

Amanda: Are you talking about Alex P. Keaton?

Marco: Alex P. Keaton's uncle.

Amanda: Okay, so Michael was the dad.

Marco: Right? Right.

Amanda: Splash, which love that film named. Used the unconventional joke name Madison for the. Because she. He says, oh, we're at fifth in Madison or whatever. And she goes, madison. I like that name. He's like, you can't be named Madison. That's not a. And thus began every Madison. You know, a bunch of little girls who are now in their 20s.

Marco: If you haven't seen Splash, I really recommend it.

Amanda: So. Good.

Marco: Now, Amanda, we were talking just to get off the Tom Hanks.

Amanda: Who knew we were gonna do a deep dive on Tom Hanks?

Marco: We were talking about the drive in movies recently, you and I, and we were talking about the first films we remember seeing at the drive in on that.

Amanda: We were driving the other day and we were talking about, yeah, I guess, drive in movies.

Marco: We were talking about maybe going to see a drive in. Like, we should go see a drive in film.

Amanda: And I said, when I was young, you know, you didn't just have the opportunity to call any movie theater and find out what was playing. Now, very soon after this, you did, like, you could actually call the movie theater and there'd be a recording of the movies.

Marco: Movie phone, I think it was called.

Amanda: Well, that was a different thing. That was any movie. But yeah, you could call the movie theater and they'd be like, this week playing at cinema, whatever. So I don't think the drive ins had that. So my parents said to us, and I think it was a Sunday. I don't know why I remember it was a Sunday, but it was a Sunday and it was gonna be so exciting. We're gonna go to the drive in, wherever there was a drive in.

Marco: Listen, when you were a kid, any opportunity to go to drive in just sounded like so much fun.

Amanda: So much fun. Movie from your car. Like, you get to eat popcorn in your car maybe. Like, it just sounded so much fun. So my parents were like, we're going to the drive in. So myself, I think my baby brother, I don't know, maybe somebody was babysitting him. My sister, who was 9, I was 7. And my parents pile in the station wagon. And it was one of those station wagon that had, like, the wood paneling on the side.

Marco: The best. Those are the best station wagons. Let me guess. You went to go see a fun frolic film. Summer blockbuster.

Amanda: Nope.

Marco: Okay. You went to go see something a little artsy, but still fun for kids.

Amanda: That's how it was pitched to us.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda: But also. Nope.

Marco: Okay, so tell us.

Amanda: It was not a Disney movie. It was not a kids movie. So we show up at the drive in and they are playing a movie called Firefox. Not. Not Foxfire, because I thought it was called Foxfire. And I looked it up, and that is a movie where Jessica Tandy owns a farm. Okay, so it wasn't that. Although that might have arguably been more interesting.

Marco: But anyway, Firefox, which I never saw, but I remember when there was, you know, those cable channels we had, like the C channel, right? Or First Choice or the other one, I can't remember, they would do ads for Firefox.

Amanda: Well, this was a lesser known Clint Eastwood movie that involved battle planes. So my dad was quite excited and he was like, we're gonna see Firefox.

Marco: I remember the planes kind of looked like the Tesla truck. They had this, like, weird look to them.

Amanda: If I'm not mistaken, they were very, like, mold that molded World War II molded metal look or whatever. Like aluminum that's been nailed down.

Marco: And you're seven, right?

Amanda: I'm seven. And so we're like, great, Firefox. We don't know what it is. And of course, my dad, in retrospect, was probably, like, great. I get to actually see a Clint Eastwood movie. I don't have to watch, you know, Dumbo or something. So we very quickly realized this was not a fun movie, nor was it a kids movie. I don't know if we were allowed to get snacks. I feel like we weren't.

Marco: Oh, that's even worse.

Amanda: I just remember being in the backseat of the station wagon where we couldn't really see. So great. And I think there were mosquitoes and thinking, this is the most miserable, boring night of my life. And when is this movie going to end? I just want this movie to end and, like, trying to, like, sleep because you Know, kids today would have. They'd be like, give me my tablet or something. But we didn't have any of those things. So it was just us and Firefox.

Marco: Firefox. A retired Air Force pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neural link.

Amanda: I was seven. That's all I'm gonna say.

Marco: So the. The first film I remember seeing at a drive in, and maybe you want to look this up while I say it was called Bustin Loose.

Amanda: Okay, see, that sounds more fun.

Marco: And it was fun. I remember really enjoying it because it starred Jimmy Walker, who you might remember from Good Times, who played Dino My.

Amanda: Dino My.

Marco: But that wasn't his name.

Amanda: Jj.

Marco: Jj. Thank you. And I remember being a kid and thinking, this. This actor is hilarious.

Amanda: Wait, it's Richard Pryor, though. Oh, Richard Pryor was the star. Not J.J. no.

Marco: I saw the one with J.J. on a bus. Then I'm getting the.

Amanda: The Bustin Loose is starring Richard Pryor, Cicely Tyson, Robert Christian, and George Coe. And the music by Roberta Flack.

Marco: No, I didn't see that film.

Amanda: Okay, so what film did you see?

Marco: Oh, what's the name of it? So it starred Jimmy Walker.

Amanda: All right, I have to look up his IMDb.

Marco: I'm sure he didn't have a lot of films.

Amanda: How many podcasts can you listen to where someone's looking up both Jimmy Walker and Tom Hanks in the same.

Marco: So I'm conflating these films because I'm sure I saw this Richard Pryor, Cicely Tyson film, which I couldn't tell you about, but I also saw one with. I remember being so excited to see Jimmy Walker in a film because he was known as a. As a television star.

Amanda: Wait, Jimmy JJ Walker? Yeah, trying to. There's a lot of Jimmy Walkers. Okay, we're going to look up his IMDb and see what. What, 63 actor credits? Hang on.

Marco: I used to love Good Times.

Amanda: Well, he was in Good Times. The Bold and the Beautiful. He did stuff.

Marco: No, I never watched that. I wasn't into soap operas.

Amanda: The comedian?

Marco: No.

Amanda: Sweet Lorraine, maybe Mr. Box Office?

Marco: No.

Amanda: What's the premise of this super shark?

Marco: I look for something around.

Amanda: What goes around comes around.

Marco: Maybe what was around? 1983. 1983. 84.

Amanda: I was young, big money rustlers.

Marco: No.

Amanda: Son of the Beach.

Marco: Maybe he was that. That sounds like a. I know.

Amanda: Wait, hang on. I'm gonna go back more.

Marco: Well, that's the experience I had my first Memory of going to the Drive In.

Amanda: Okay. What, yeah. What year would this have been?

Marco: 83. 84.

Amanda: He was in an airplane, right?

Marco: No. 82, perhaps.

Amanda: At ease. He was a sergeant. Oh, no, that's a show.

Marco: Okay. No.

Amanda: Well, anyways, he was in The Jerk Part 2.

Marco: No.

Amanda: Maybe. Doing time. That sounds right.

Marco: Doing time.

Amanda: Doing time.

Marco: Doing time. Yeah.

Amanda: Let's look at the premise of doing Time.

Marco: All right, this sounds familiar.

Amanda: Duke Jarrett is sent to jail at the John Dillinger Prison. However, the prison looks more like a zoo, more or less ruled by the prisoners themselves. That sounds like Boston Loose.

Marco: This sounds like something I would. Yeah. Oh, yes. This is the movie poster for sure. This is it. Okay. So this is the movie that I saw. I don't think it was appropriate for kids at the time. I think there may have been times. I think there may have been a lot of swear words and nudity and all that kind of stuff.

Amanda: I mean, arguably, Bustin Loose probably wasn't as appropriate either.

Marco: Well, I'm sure with Richard Pryor, but why would I have conflated the two?

Amanda: It makes total sense that due in time, people in a prison, that you would conflate that with Bustin Loose. People busting out of a prison.

Marco: Okay, so there you go.

Amanda: They're both kind of. I don't know if Bustin Loose is busting out of a prison, but he's busting out of something, so that makes sense. They're very similar premises.

Marco: And I did see both those films at the Drive in, and they're both

Amanda: kind of wacky, antic movies where he's busting out, you know, and, and, and going crazy. So I, I, I can kind of see that.

Marco: And I also saw Richard Pryor, didn't I? For some reason, I saw a lot of Richard Pryor at the Drive in movie. See no Evil, Hear no Evil. With Wilder. Gene Wilder.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco: I don't think they would make that movie today because one of them couldn't hear, one of them couldn't see.

Amanda: Right.

Marco: And they were. Yeah. And anyways, it was an 80s premise. Yeah. These are the movies I saw. I saw a lot of Richard Pryor, I guess I saw another Richard Pryor.

Amanda: I didn't get to go back to Drive in for many years after Firefox. And yes, I know Firefox is also a web browser.

Marco: Sure. And you and I sometimes go to movies, Drive in movies, and we kind of see. We see some good films.

Amanda: What's your favorite film we've seen at the Drive In?

Marco: Well, definitely not Sonic the Hedgehog, which we saw with my niece and my nephew.

Amanda: We did.

Marco: We went to go see Sonic the Hedgehog.

Amanda: The Hedgehog. We did.

Marco: I don't even remember not that long ago either. And Lynn was there and Roger were there and. Yeah, so we saw that. I think.

Amanda: I know. I'm trying to think. We saw that Jungle Cruise Disney movie.

Marco: Yeah, I didn't like that either. Did we see We Bought a Zoo at the Drive In Movie Theater too? Which is another movie I don't like. I guess I don't see movies I like at the Drive in theater. The more I think of it, we

Amanda: saw the Hulk at the Drive in movie. And I only remember that because I remember I fell asleep and I woke up at the very end and it was like a little dangling carrot Easter egg Iron man thing. And I woke up and that's all I saw the entire movie. You know what movie we saw? The Drive in that you would not think of as a Drive in movie, but actually it was really great. At the drive in was Straight out of Compton. We saw that at the drive in, you know, however many years ago. The one in Barry.

Marco: Right, right. Okay.

Amanda: That's the last good movie I think I've seen at the drive in, if

Marco: I think about it.

Amanda: Because the problem is we're taking kids, so we see kids movers.

Marco: I don't think Straight out of Compton.

Amanda: Well, that was. Maybe that's why I remember it. No, but we, We. We took the kids to that. Yeah, that jungle one. And then we took them to last year. What? It wasn't Sonic the Hedgehog last year. We took them to. It was a sequel and it was the one. And it has the. The. The. The Minions.

Marco: Oh, that's right, the Minion movies.

Amanda: I don't know.

Marco: I went to go see. What was that film?

Amanda: Despicable Me 2 or 3. I think it was Despicable Me 3. We saw.

Marco: I saw Trolls 2 in the proper theater. And let me tell you, you do need to see Trolls one to know who all the characters are.

Amanda: Which you had not seen.

Marco: Which I had not seen. I just knew that Justin Timberlake voiced one of the characters.

Amanda: So I should explain. He went to see trolls 2 with our friend's daughter because they wanted to see the horror movie that I was in and they could not take their. At the time, 8 year old, so took Marco to trolls 2 and apparently you fell asleep three times.

Marco: I was nodding off because I felt bad because every time I would turn to her and say, who's that? What's going on. She would try to explain it to me, but she was watching the film as well, so it wasn't fair. So my recommendation, if you're gonna see Trolls two, go see Trolls one first.

Amanda: That's a great learning.

Marco: All right. Well, that's the end of our podcast.

Amanda: What a weird one. It's a Jimmie Walker and Tom X.

Marco: It's a. It's a summer blockbuster podcast episode.

Amanda: Yeah. What's your favorite drive in movie, folks?

Marco: Yeah. What is your favorite drive in movie?

Amanda: If you're still with us.

Marco: If you're still with us. And if you're not, well, tune in next week.

Amanda: Dream about drive ins, and we hope

Marco: you were able to listen and sleep.

In Speech Writing, Summer Jobs & Scent Preferences with Mia, Marco welcomes a very special guest — his niece Mia — for a softly spoken, gently unfolding conversation. They begin by talking about Mia’s recent experience writing a speech, exploring how she thoughtfully balanced pacing, humour, and meaning to connect with her audience. The discussion naturally drifts into reflections on Marco’s teenage summer jobs and Mia’s interest in volunteering, creating a warm exchange about growing up, responsibility, and finding your voice.
The episode closes with a light and soothing chat about favourite perfume scents, lingering on the small sensory details that make everyday life feel personal and comforting. As always, this calming podcast is intentionally unhurried and low-key, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts. It works beautifully as background listening while you wind down for bedtime or simply need a peaceful pause during your day. There’s nothing urgent here — just gentle storytelling, easy banter, and steady companionship to guide you toward rest.

​Speech Writing, Summer Jobs & Scent Preferences with Mia

(Original airdate: June 2, 2025) 

Welcome to the Insomnia Project, Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation. That, of course, is meant to help you drift off to find your way to sleep. And if you don't find your way to sleep, that's fine. You can stay with us for the next 20 some odd minutes and we'll just talk about things that go nowhere. And you're welcome to stay or you're welcome to drift off. I'm happy to say that my guest right now is my niece, Mia. Welcome back to the podcast, Mia.

Mia: Hello. I'm so excited to be on this podcast once again. Zio.

Marco:Oh, I'm glad to hear it. So tell me, Mia, you recently had to do a speech.

Mia: I did.

Marco:What are some things you've learned about speech writing and doing a speech in front of an audience that you didn't know beforehand? What would you recommend for our listeners if they have speeches that they need to work on?

Mia: So recently, I'll give you guys a little bit of a background on what my speech was about. So I was chosen to be a valedictorian for my grade eight graduation, which was very exciting. I was a co valedictorian with another girl. So a few things I learned while I was writing my own speech were definitely when I first started, I gathered all of my ideas. I looked up quotes, I looked up things that I would need to include. Like the graduate expectations.

Marco:Sure. There was. There was like some expectations that they had that you would include in there.

Mia: Yeah.

Marco:Or a guideline.

Mia: Yes. So. And I also thanked the parents, guardians, teachers, families and other students. I made sure to include that. I also made sure to include a little spiel about the church because I do go to Catholic school.

Marco:I see. Okay. So there was a religious component to it.

Mia: Okay. So I made sure to include that. And I also added in some jokes. Like one joke I added in was about math.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: And another joke I added in was about awards.

Marco:So why would you say the humor is important in a speech? Why did you choose to go that route?

Mia: It's definitely important to include humor in your speech because it makes it very light hearted instead of a more serious. It's also very important to have elements of levity in your speech to help relax the audience, to give them a sense of happiness and joy, and also to settle them into their seats and to lighten the mood.

Marco:Okay. So taking your speech from the written word to actually saying in front of the audience, what was that like for you?

Mia: So it was very. I wouldn't say challenging, but I would say it was a bit of a new experience, because I had written things like this before, like projects or presentations, but nothing that I would really need to put my all into to really make it a resounding speech.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: So when I wrote out my speech, I gathered. So I had gathered all of my research prior, and I had organized it into a proper speech, and then I had read it out to my family, including Yuzio.

Marco:Right.

Mia: And they kind of gave me some feedback. So at first I started just a monotone, just kind of factual reading. And then they gave me some notes I edited, and I read it with emotion the second time. And then they gave me some new notes this time on how fast I was reading or what points to really emphasize or.

Marco:For me, I always find when I'm writing a speech that I like to write down points and maybe flesh out the speech a bit, but leave room for adding more points that might come to me later. Or, you know, when I'm reading it the first few times out loud, I'll find that it'll spark more ideas that I want to include into my speech. I don't know if you found that at all, but that was certainly something that I discover when I'm writing a speech.

Mia: I don't really think that I discovered that, but when I was reading it out, I definitely changed some words that tripped me up or that I didn't like, or I also maybe added something that could make it better, make it flow nice.

Marco:How important would you say it is to read your speech out loud?

Mia: Very important. I think it's like, to read it out is

Marco:some people will write a speech and not read it out loud until they're in front of their audience. And I couldn't do that. I would have to read it out loud first just to get my mouth ready for the feel of what I'm going to say. Right.

Mia: Yeah. I can't. I can't even think of the words to describe how important it is to read the speech prior to presenting it. Because if you're just reading it in your head, you go faster than you normally would when you're reading it. And you really need to pace yourself because when you're reading it, you sound slower in your head than you actually are. So if you're not pacing yourself properly when you read it, it'll sound, like, really fast to your listeners.

Marco:And it's important not to look at the page when you're doing a speech. Yes, you can certainly look down at the page, but that should not be the only thing you're doing. You should raise your gaze up so the audience looks like you're trying to connect with them.

Mia: Yeah. Eye contact is essential when you're doing a speech. I didn't really memorize it, but I like to read it over again and again until it's, like, embedded into my mind.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: So if I just quickly look down on my paper, I'll know where I am, and then my brain will just do the rest because it knows the words, and I can just focus on emotion, pace, tone, and anything else that I would need to regulate when I'm reading.

Marco:I see. I see. Now, did you watch other speeches before you wrote yours? And what resonates with you when you learn listen to a speech?

Mia: I did. So I looked up some speeches that were at my school, and I found one from a few years ago, and it was pretty good. I actually did think it was a good speech, but of course I didn't want to copy it. I wanted my own ideas. But it was good for me to listen to another speech to kind of get the idea of what. What I was going to start with, because I had very. I had a lot of trouble actually starting my speech once I started my speech. It just kind of flowed and flowed and flowed, but I have lots of trouble actually starting it.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: And then. But when I do start, like, goes perfectly. And then I can just. I have so many ideas, so I can just keep and keep writing.

Marco:Wow, that's really fascinating. Thank you for sharing that with us. You know, speeches are, you know, many people have to make them for, you know, could be at work, could be at a graduation, could be at a retirement party. Someone needs to make a speech. And it's good to have an idea of what other people do when they write speeches. For me, I always really want to leave my speech with a very impactful end. So I always try to figure out how am I going to end the speech where I basically have my final say, something that really resonates with the audience. How did you find your end of your speech?

Mia: So I believe that the ending. While I was ending my speech, I left a bunch of motivational kind of. Not quotes, but kind of motivational thoughts. Yes, motivational words, Motivational thoughts. Like, you can do this. Never give up. You are your own person. It has been an amazing journey. All of those things I included in the end because that's when the speech is wrapping up and we need some main ideas into these speeches. Speeches. And one thing I always want my audience to remember is that they are valuable people and especially for My grade at graduation, I definitely wanted to instill this thought into my listeners. You know, the beginning, the middle, and the end. The end, I feel, is the most impactful.

Marco:Sure.

Mia: It wraps up the whole speech, and I think it resonates with the speakers or with the listeners so much more. And the last thing I did, I ended with a quote. So I ended with a quote from St. John Paul II.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: And it was a quote about hope. I believe it was never doubt, never tire, and never give up. Something like that.

Marco:That's a pretty good quote. And so you looked for quotes from this particular person, and you were like, okay, let me find a quote to end on. I like to end on a quote, too. I think that's a nice way to wrap up a speech, too.

Mia: Yeah.

Marco:Did you write out your speech or did you type it on a computer?

Mia: I typed it on a computer, but I wrote out notes for myself. So I typed it, and then I printed it, and then I wrote little smiley faces or sad faces. When I had to change the mood, I wrote on every single page, slow down. So I would have those notes to slow down. Because it is so important to slow yourself down and give yourself a good pace. Because if people can't understand you, they won't understand your speech, and they won't

Marco:hear your speech if you go too fast. Right. People might lose things. I'll just say that you might be hearing the sounds of cars in the background. We're not in the studio right now, but I was fortunate enough to get my niece to record with me today. Okay, so that's you talking about speeches. Let me ask you this. Okay. So you've done your speech, you've graduated. What does your summer entail, or what are you hoping to do in the summer?

Mia: Okay, so this summer, I am going into grade nine, as you may know. So.

Marco:So that's high school.

Mia: Yes. So at my school, I'm going to a Catholic high school, and we have to do 40 hours of community service. I'm not sure if just Catholic schools have to do it. I'm sure that other.

Marco:Sure. Other schools.

Mia: Yeah, Other schools would have to do it.

Marco:That component, I think it's. Schools in Ontario make you do that. Yeah. I mean, when I went to school, we didn't have to do it, but.

Mia: Yeah, it's a new thing. I think it was implemented in the 2000s, but I think it's for all of Ontario, actually. Yeah.

Marco:And are you looking forward to doing these community hours or not so much?

Mia: Well, I mean, it is. It's Kind of like a chore. Right. But I feel that I can make it fun. Definitely. I can definitely do some stuff that I would love to do. One of the things I would love to do is shadow. So you and my Zia. Amanda. So that's your aunt, right? That's my aunt. Your wife.

Marco:Right.

Mia: So I would love to shadow her at her work because she works at a casting agency, and I just love watching the work that she does. I would love to hang out with her for a day and get my community service done. And same for you at your job or, I don't know, just bringing you coffee, even.

Marco:Listen, you can bring me coffee anytime. I'm always happy to get that.

Mia: Giving you assistance.

Marco:Sure.

Mia: And getting my community service hours done would be a dream, you know, spending the day with you guys. And also my aunt has friend who works in HR for a hospital, and possibly she could get me community service hours at the hospital, which I would love, because I would love to do that at the hospital.

Marco:Why? What is it about the hospital that really has you?

Mia: So one of my dreams would be to become a doctor or work in a hospital. And I would love to see all the doctors at work. Obviously, I wouldn't do anything. Maybe just, like, bring them papers and stuff, but I think it would be really cool to just immerse myself in that environment.

Marco:Yeah. And sometimes you'll just be the person in the front who directs people to where they need to go, you know, like information.

Mia: That would be really cool.

Marco:You get to know your way around the hospital, too.

Mia: Yeah. And also, I wouldn't mind doing things like. Like maybe being a camp counselor in the future or working at a. Even a retirement home just to, like, help out.

Marco:That's really lovely.

Mia: Yeah. Help out the seniors there.

Marco:And do you. Like you said, camp counseling is something you might want to do. Do you like going to camp? Because camping is not my thing at all.

Mia: I'm actually going to a camp this summer, in August, I think. Yeah. So I'm very excited about that. And I would love to be a camp counselor, I don't think this summer, but maybe next summer. I would love to do that, you know, especially with little kids, like those day camps where they kind of come, like an art camp or something like that.

Marco:I think you would make a very good camp counselor. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Listen, I mean, I remember some of my summer jobs were all over the map when I was young, and probably the worst summer job I had was around Father's Day. I got hired to spray cologne on people as they walked into a mall.

Mia: Oh, yeah.

Marco:And then I would come home, and I would just be drenched in the smell of this cologne. And the problem was I didn't like the smell of that cologne either. And so it was kind of a double whammy of, you know, people did not want to be sprayed, and I don't blame them. And standing around with a bottle of perfume in your hand for hours and hours and hours trying to get people to spray or buy it. Not for me.

Mia: I can imagine little Marco just going, would you like some of this cologne, sir? And then spraying it on them. Oh, that would be awful. Honestly, I would not take that job now.

Marco:You know, it's. What's. What's interesting is, you know, when you're getting your first jobs, oftentimes it's places near your home. Right. And when. Where I grew up in the suburbs, there weren't a lot of places nearby that would hire high school students, but they had just opened up a theme park, and so a lot of my friends worked at that theme park. So I would go to the theme park, which is called Canada's Wonderland, in case anyone's wondering. And I would see my friends, like, at the. You. What's it called where you put money, you get to play games, and you compete for prizes? What's that called?

Mia: Just the game station.

Marco:The game station. Or they would work at the ice cream station, and they'd always put extra ice cream for me. And I had a friend, she worked at the pick a pearl station. Yeah. So they had a tank of oysters, and you would pick an oyster and you'd pay. I think at that time, it was like $19.99. You'd pay $19.99, and they'd open the clam or oyster, actually. Yeah, they'd open the oyster, and you could find one pearl or you could find. You would always find at least one pearl, but sometimes you would find two or three, and I only found one, but I had a friend who did that for me.

Mia: Nice. That's so cool. Wait, for free?

Marco:No, I paid for it, but okay.

Mia: Yeah, that's cool. Did you ever want a job at Canada's Wonderland?

Marco:You know, it's funny, because I didn't apply there. It wasn't so close to my house. I don't know why I didn't apply there, to be honest with you. But I got a job close. Closer to my home at a country club.

Mia: Oh, were you, like, a golf caddy?

Marco:No, I wasn't. Thank goodness. That's not my scene at all. But there was. So where I lived at the time, it was very suburban, and like I said, there wasn't much around. So if you wanted to go to, let's say, a fast food place, you'd have to drive to the main street. And that was maybe 10, 15 minutes away. And I did work at a fast food restaurant when I was. That was one of my jobs. But there was this country club that was much closer to my home. And I don't know how I applied. I think my mom had friends who went to that country club, and they said to my mom, your son should apply or something like that. So I went, put on my resume, and I got hired as a bar waiter to serve alcohol because this country club would do. They would do cocktails and stuff before people went into the restaurant. And then I worked in a restaurant, and that was my journey in the restaurant field.

Mia: Nice. And you worked at a restaurant for a long time with my mother, I believe that's right.

Marco:So once again, for some reason, it was much easier to get jobs in restaurants where we lived. And so there was an old doctor's house in a neighboring town, and this doctor's house from the 1800s had been converted over the years into a lovely restaurant. It had a very picturesque sort of old, old home feel, and it was like, on a lot of land, and it was really pretty. And so I worked at this place called the Doctor's House. And then your mom got hired at the doctor's house too, and we were both working at the doctor's house. Once again, I worked in the bar in this particular instance, and your mom worked in. In the restaurant. And we had to wear, like, period cloth waiter clothing. It was really weird. So your mom was kind of in a long dress, and I think she wore a bonnet. Did she wear a bonnet?

Mia: Did she? I remember her talking about it. It was like plaid and orange, I think.

Marco:Yeah, it was like a plaid, green and orange.

Mia: Yeah.

Marco:Apron on a really, like, long dress, kind of like Little House on the Prairies type outfit for her. And I had like a. I had like a.

Mia: Like a dress shirt.

Marco:It had like, no collar. So it had like a. Like a. I think they call it a mandarin collar. And it had, once again, the sleeves were very much like the mandarin collar. And so I had puffy sleeves with cinched cuffs. Oh, and a tight neck. And then once again, a green platty kind of vest. Yeah.

Mia: Oh, that sounds awful.

Marco:It wasn't great, let me tell you. And we're in this doctor's house, this former doctor's house that was now a kind of fancy restaurant, if you can believe it. And it had a huge brunch, and everybody would come there for brunch, or they'd have a lot of showers, wedding showers or baby showers in this place. It was like that kind of a place.

Mia: Well, other than these questionable outfits, did you enjoy your time working there?

Marco:I did. I did enjoy it. You know, it was interesting. It was an interesting group of people who both owned the restaurant and who worked there. So I had a couple pals that worked there, and it would be fun. And then, you know, your mom worked there, so I would see her in the, you know, serving. Serving the restaurant. And then I worked in the restaurant for a short, short time, but I. I stayed mainly in the bar. And it was not because I wanted to work in the bar. It was just. That's where I got hired in that particular place.

Mia: Yeah, that makes sense. And that's really cool.

Marco:Would you ever want to work in a restaurant?

Mia: Yeah, I definitely would. There are some restaurants in my hometown that seem pretty cool, and there's also some in a mall nearby that are, like, really funky. Like that one restaurant that we went to, me, you and my Aunt Sonia, when we went shopping.

Marco:Oh, that's right. Do you remember the name of it?

Mia: Something to do with turtles.

Marco:Turtle Jacks.

Mia: Yeah, it was such a cool restaurant. It was very funky. Like, the walls were green and blue with lots of artwork and lots of, like, pictures everywhere. And they served, like, really good food. I would love to work there. And the staff seemed really fun.

Marco:Yeah, they seemed happy, which is always an indication that the restaurant's running very well. Yeah, that's very interesting. You know, if I think back to my first jobs, how funny they were. I worked at a. At a mall, in a card shop, in a fancy card.

Mia: Like birthday cards.

Marco:Yeah. And posters. It was like black and white posters and cards and like, I don't know, funky cards. Like very, like, artistic photograph cards. The. The place was called Athena for any of our listeners who might have been like, I remember that place, but it was like this place where you go and buy fancy cards or a really cool black and white photo or you get something framed. Yeah. And I didn't love having to do the frames because you'd have to measure it and really be, like, very close to the whatever border they wanted. It was too much math. Too much math for me.

Mia: And how long did you work there?

Marco:I want to say I worked for There for a year or two. And then I got a job at Sears in the shipping department where I would load cart. I would take out anything that got shipped. Shipped to Sears in these big trucks. I would have to take off the truck, and then I would have to. If you were coming to pick up, say, a lawnmower, you'd come, you'd give me your thing. I'd go get you the lawnmower from the back and put it in your car. I did not love that job. My friend. My best friend at the time was a security guard at the same mall. And the security area and the shipping area were right next to each other. And so he was on all these, like, escapades of, like, pretending to be a shopper and watching people in. In the Sears while I was loading all these heavy things in and out of the. The big truck. And I didn't enjoy that at all. I was kind of like, I wanted to work with him, but they wouldn't let us work together.

Mia: Yeah, that sounds like a sucky job, if I'm being honest. But, I mean, it doesn't sound so bad compared to some of these other jobs you've had. Like the spraying cologne on people who are like, get this cologne off of me. You know? I mean, I wouldn't want cologne sprayed on me just randomly for no reason either.

Marco:Is there a cologne of perfume that you enjoy the scent of?

Mia: well, so my. My aunt, your wife, loves Jo Malone, and recently she got me into Jo Malone and gave me little samples of all the bottles that she's had.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: So I. I got some gift cards recently, and I would love to go down to Sephora or another shop, even the Jo Malone shop, and pick some up, I think.

Marco:Is there a scent in particular you like or.

Mia: My favorite scent? I think it was orange blossom.

Marco:Oh, orange blossom.

Mia: Or something to do with pine.

Marco:Pine?

>> Speaker B: Yeah.

Marco:I thought it was bluebells or something.

Mia: No, that's the. Isn't that the scent that Harry and Megan used for their wedding? Or was that blueberry something?

Marco:I can't remember. This is something you'd have to ask your aunt. My wife Amanda, who's in the other room there.

Mia: Yeah. What is she doing? Drinking a Coke?

Marco:I think she's. She's just resting while we do this, but we'll figure out what the cologne is that or the perfume is that you want to get.

Mia: She gave me that sample first, and I was like, oh, I love this stuff. It was that. It's that big bottle that she has, and it's my favorite, and I would love to get a little bottle that next time I go to the mall.

Marco:Yeah, I wonder.

Mia: I think it had something to do with cardamom, actually.

Marco:Was it cardamom mimosa or mimosa cardamom? Because I think that's one of the scents she has.

Mia: Yeah, I think it was. But I also liked one that had to do with pine, but she didn't give me a sample, but I remember. So one of my favorite things to do with my aunt is getting ready for, like, going out, and she always lets me pick her perfume.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: And one that I always picks or one that I always picked is something to do with pine. I don't remember the full name, though. It's like, something and pine.

Marco:Okay.

Mia: But it is so good. That is, like, an herbal smell. And then mimosa and cardamom is like, a more floral smell.

Marco:Okay, there you go. Well, listen, I hope you get the scent you like. There's. I'm sure they have plenty of scents for you to try.

Mia: Definitely will.

Marco:And I'm sure one will. Will suit you just fine. And. And thank you for being a guest on the podcast again, Mia.

Mia: Of course. Oh, my gosh. I love being on this podcast, and I love helping these wonderful listeners get

Marco:their sleep very well. Well, thank you very much. And to our listeners, we hope you were able to listen and sleep good.

In Sniffles, Faucets and Brown Eyes Susans, Marco and Amanda ease into a softly spoken conversation while both feeling a little under the weather. Their shared sniffles set the tone for a mellow, gently meandering episode filled with small stories and light reflections. Amanda looks back on her university days with a warm, nostalgic lens, while Marco offers a few practical hot tips and fondly recounts some of his more mischievous gift-giving pranks — playful moments that feel cozy rather than chaotic.
As always, this calming podcast is intentionally unhurried and low-key, designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts at the end of the day. The conversation wanders naturally from topic to topic, making it perfect for background listening while you wind down in bed or rest during a middle-of-the-night wake-up. There’s no urgency, no big reveal — just steady companionship, gentle humor, and the comforting rhythm of two familiar voices. Settle in, let your thoughts soften, and allow this quiet exchange to guide you toward rest.

​Sniffles, Faucets and Brown Eyes Susans
(Original airdate: May 28, 2025)

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you drip, drift. Not drip, drift off.

Amanda:  You can drip to sleep.

Marco: You can drip. You can feel like you're dripping into your bed from a nice tea kettle.

Amanda:  Do you often imagine things when you fall asleep? Like dripping into a bed?

Marco: No, not dripping into a bed, but I. I imagine myself as some sort of snug sea creature.

Amanda:  Really?

Marco: Yeah, like a clam. Like I get the. I get all the blanket around me. A clam or a.

Amanda:  You imagine that you're a clam?

Marco: Yeah. What's that expression? Snug as a clam or something like that?

Amanda:  Definitely not.

Marco: What is it?

Amanda:  Bug in a row?

Marco: No, but what's the clam one? Cute as a clam. Clam up. Clam.

Amanda:  I clammed up.

Marco: No, there's something about a clam.

Amanda:  Pork and clams. Pork and clams is a delicious Portuguese dish. I envision that I'm on a raft, that I'm lying on a raft. Floating. Yeah.

Marco: That's cool.

Amanda:  Like, you know, on the water. Not like a deep ocean, but like a calm, kind of gently waving lake.

Marco: Wow.

Amanda:  Yeah, I imagine that I'm just like floating on a raft.

Marco: That's Great.

Amanda:  Not every night, but.

Marco: And sometimes I picture myself as like a. An eel in a cave, just laying there.

Amanda:  Really?

Marco: Yeah. Then again, I love sea creatures, so you know me. That's a relaxing thing for some people. An eel isn't the most relaxing thing, I think.

Amanda:  I think if you were anything, if you believe that you were an animal in a past life, I think you were definitely in the ocean.

Marco: Of course. Yeah.

Amanda:  What, you think you're an eel or clam?

Marco: No, I'm probably neither of the two, but. But yeah, something in the ocean.

Amanda:  What do you most identify with?

Marco: That's a good one.

Amanda:  I mean, is that too deep a question?

Marco: I think so. I think so. Both Amanda and I are a little bit under the weather.

Amanda:  More you than me.

Marco: True, true.

Amanda:  I. I don't know. It's the weirdest thing. I worked with somebody yesterday, and at the beginning of the day, he was sniffling a little bit, but that's not unusual for him. He has allergies.

Marco: Sure, sure.

Amanda:  So. And it didn't seem to be too much.

Marco: Oh. So we're getting. We're Nancy Drewing this. We're figuring out.

Amanda:  Well, I don't know. But anyway, he was sniffling a bit, and I said, do you have allergies? And he's like, oh, yeah, bad allergies. And I was like, oh, that's usual for him. But then by the end of the day, he didn't look great. And I was like, he's like, I'm going to go. And I was like. And he wasn't leaving particularly early, but he's often the last one to leave when we do the work that we do together. And I was like, are you all right? And he was like, I'm not all right. I'm not. I'm super sick. And I was like, oh. And, you know, it's that. That mix of concern for this person. And then also, I just spent, you know, eight hours in a room with you, so I'm not thrilled about that. So I did what I do, which is spray a ton of propolis into

Marco: my mouth, which I want to just re. Mention this. We've mentioned the podcast before. We really think propolis helps. So look into it. If it's right for you, get the spray kind. That's the kind that I like.

Amanda:  And especially I should have probably sprayed it, like, earlier in the day if you had known. Yeah. But it's a good reminder. I mean, it's just the world we live in, you know, and we. We. Lots of people come through our Doors. And I also think, like, viral load is a thing, right? Like, so if you're with somebody eight hours, that's going to be different than saying hello to somebody quickly, maybe. Anyway, sure. All this to say today. I had sort of one thing I had to do, but it was a bigger thing. And that was at 3:30. And then at around 11:00 clock, I started getting like fevery. And then I thought, okay, is this just psychosomatic? Am I in my head? You know the thing. So I started feeling fevery. Then I started feeling like, really, like lethargic. Not sniffly, but that's usually the last thing for me is sniffly. And then I felt like, oh, I am fighting something off. At first I thought it was just nerves maybe, but then I started getting the chills. Oh.

Marco: And they weren't electrifying.

Amanda:  They were multiplying, but not electrifying.

Marco: Little grease reference there, in case anybody's wondering.

Amanda:  Thank you. And I had a sweater on and a vest over that in the house. And the house was.

Marco: Speaking of which, the 75 degrees. The vest is a heated vest, although

Amanda:  I didn't have the heater sort of plugged in on it, but which we

Marco: love, by the way, those heated vests.

Amanda:  Vest gift. Your sister like scored with those.

Marco: My sister gave us vests that have a pocket where you plug in a. What do you would call them, Amanda?

Amanda:  A power bank.

Marco: A power bank. And then at the collar. Not at the collar, at the. Where you'd put a lapel.

Amanda:  Like a breast pocket area.

Marco: You press a button and you can change the heat designation.

Amanda:  You can. You can like rev it up. Super duper. And usually what it will do is mine. Anyway. Ours are different, but. But maybe they're not. Mine will rev up and then it'll be like, okay, this is the temperature we're going to chill at. And then it'll like, kind of go into like, this is our mode. But if you want to keep revving it, you can, but you'll use the battery faster.

Marco: It heats you up, but your arms stay nice. Arms stay nice and cool.

Amanda:  But I mean, it heats the core of your body up. And that's sort of the point. Anyway, I did not have it plugged in, but. And I did get sweaty and then I got kind of like nervous for my thing. And then. So once that was done, I felt a lot better. But. I don't know about you, but. But I have throughout my adult life realized that I can sweat out if I got a cold coming on. I can sometimes cure Myself by sweating it out. Have you ever had that?

Marco: Nope.

Amanda:  I remember, particularly in university, we had this. I'll try not to make this story too long, but I was the social chair of my residence.

Marco: You can make it as long as you want. That's what this podcast is about. Just don't make it too exciting, so.

Amanda:  Well, it really is not so social. So the school I went to was very residence focused. Right. I went to a small school, liberal arts school. It was all about, you know, it had a sort of. It's not an Ivy League school, but it definitely wanted to be and had that kind of vibe. The school is called Mount Allison University in New Brunswick.

Marco: For the record, I had never heard of it when I met Amanda. I still don't believe it's a place.

Amanda:  Thank you for that. In my school's defense, because I must. I'm sorry. It was ranked the number one undergraduate school in all of Canada.

Marco: How many years ago?

Amanda:  Many years in a row.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:  In the last 20 years. Many years in a row. Actually, 30 years.

Marco: Still doesn't make me know it any better.

Amanda:  Fair enough. Anyway,

Marco: this is often a debate we have in the house, by the way.

Amanda:  Here's the thing. I mean, it's very true and very humbling because I, being from the east coast, obviously knew about it. And also being a kid that, you know, when you live in a rural area, you actually sometimes know about your country more because you know, it's not where you live, so you educate yourself on everywhere else. So all that to say. I was very educated at what the universities were, and so that's part of why I picked that one and so on.

Marco: But I went to York University, where they really tried hard to make you feel like a number, and they succeeded.

Amanda:  Now, that said, we have family members that are right now attending York. A family member, it's true. Who's doing her PhD at York. And she does feel. She feels anything but a number.

Marco: Actually, I will say this. York had a joint program with Seneca College, and I really valued that.

Amanda:  So, yeah, you got. You got two degrees in once. Why don't you tell everybody what you got? I have a frag up our university degrees.

Marco: I have a BA in linguistics, and then I have a college diploma in Radio and Television Arts.

Amanda:  You can just say certification.

Marco: Broadcast journalism.

Amanda:  Okay. Broadcast nernalism. You need some water here.

Marco: I need water. I'm like a clam that doesn't have water.

Amanda:  He never brings water. And I'll always be like, do you need water? And he'll be like, no, I'm fine. And then his voice inevitably does this and he starts coughing and then he's like, do you have any water? Anyhow, it was humbling because when I moved to Toronto, everybody was like, where's that? I've never heard of it. Because there you go. Because people in Toronto knew what they knew and they didn't have to go through the McLean's rankings and all that because. So that clank is Marco drinking my water.

Marco: It's true. It's true.

Amanda:  Anyhow, so all this to say it was a very, you know, there were ivy on the buildings and that kind of thing, and beautiful sandstone buildings home. We had a homecoming weekend, which was a big deal and all that stuff. So. And our football team, we, you know, cheered. We all would go out and cheer for versus like York has a football team. Would you even know what they're called?

Marco: I do, actually. The Yeoman.

Amanda:  No.

Marco: Is it York Yeomans? Yeah, I think so.

Amanda:  Really? Okay.

Marco: Pretty sure. And we didn't have ivy on our concrete walls. We had concrete on the concrete walls at my university.

Amanda:  If there were ivy, then somebody would surely rip them down, chop that.

Marco: Chop that growth down.

Amanda:  A Italians in that area. And they. They would not let a building get covered in. In ivy because it would degrade.

Marco: I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. No.

Amanda:  Okay. There was a lot of tree chopping.

Marco: My family chops a lot of trees.

Amanda:  So Amanda's complaining defense. When the trees are going dead, then it's good to chop them because they could wreak havoc. So I.

Marco: Let's. Let's be true and honest. My mom likes to chop down a tree.

Amanda:  She loves to chop down a tree and burn it.

Marco: She chops it and then she burns it as if.

Amanda:  And it just makes me laugh because it's at the cottage where, you know, there's beautiful forests and things, and it's like, oh, there's too much. I can't see out the window. Chop, chop, chop.

Marco: She likes to chop down a tree. That's all I can say.

Amanda:  Anyway, so I was the social chair, so that was a big deal because we were very residency. Like you lived in residence for the first two years, usually at my school. And so in my second year, I was the social chair of Palmer hall, which doesn't exist anymore because they chopped it down. They chopped it down. So too much ivy on that one. I think it was an old building. When we showered, we had to the rooms that had the baths and showers in them. Also had like three toilet stalls in them. So if you can imagine, it would be like three toilet stalls and then a shower in the room.

Marco: It sounds like a prison is what you're describing.

Amanda:  So when you flush the toilet and someone was in the shower, you had to yell flushing so that they could stand out of the shower because it would get really hot.

Marco: Stories like this make me like York more and more and more.

Amanda:  Anyhow, I mean, they tore Palmer down, but this was before that. And so we had a. Like a rally, like a pep rally for the houses, which I don't even understand. But the only reason I remember it is because my co social chair and best friend at the time and. And still Michelle lehay, who I've never

Marco: had on the podcast. I need to have her on the podcast.

Amanda:  She'd love it.

Marco: Yeah, I need to have her on the podcast.

Amanda:  She could tell you a lot about a lot of things. But rugby was something she was very into back then. A big rugby player. And because of that, she had a rugby game that night. And so she couldn't lead the house in their spirit. Cheers. So I had to do it. And I had no voice because I was so sick. And I went and I spent like three hours running around and doing these chants and doing all these things and there were games and stuff. And at the end of the night, as though. Even though I went in sick as a dog, I was just. I couldn't believe it. I was cured. I had like the cold that I had had and I was really quite sick going into it. I was like, how am I going to get through it? And I was fine.

Marco: Oh, there you go.

Amanda:  And so I learned that you can sweat your way. For me, anyways, I could sweat my way out of a cold. It was like a real finding. And I think I did that today because I had this meeting, audition, whatever you want to call it, and I was really nervous about it because it was important. Yeah. And I sweat a lot in nerve also because I was having the chills and stuff. But then once it was all done, you felt better. Felt a lot better. So maybe I got rid of it, but we'll have to see. I think we need a nice long sleep tonight.

Marco: I hope so. I like to be miserable and complainy when I'm sick and that classic sort

Amanda:  of lucky me

Marco: feel sorry for me,

Amanda:  the man cold or whatever they call it. Yeah, you're like.

Marco: I fall into it.

Amanda:  You are the stereotype.

Marco: I am, totally. And I. Well, I do want to say this. If you're Listening and you're feeling under the weather. I just want to say we're here for you. We all go through it, and we want you to know that you can listen to episodes and not think in your not feeling great. And just let us talk your way. You don't just think.

Amanda:  Be the chicken soup or for your ears. Chicken soup or in hot soup into your ears.

Marco: We should. We should.

Amanda:  We usually do Korean soup in this house, which is chicken soup.

Marco: We should trademark that. Chicken Soup for the ears is our podcast. I like that a lot, actually. Maybe I'll get a T shirt made like that. And our listeners can use soup for your ears.

Amanda:  Because the truth is, a lot of people that listen to the podcast. Yes. The primary reason is so they can have some light conversation to fall asleep to.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:  But others use it simply to relax to.

Marco: Yeah. In fact, we have a new listener who is. Or a recent listener, I should say, who's a good friend of my sister's.

Amanda:  Yes.

Marco: Who listens to the podcast and then reports back to my sister who doesn't listen to the podcast. It's amazing about the goings on in our home. So she knows, or my sister's friend knows more about what's going on in the home than my sister. Julia is, I believe, is her name Julia?

Amanda:  I thought it was Lena.

Marco: No, it's Julia. Lena's also my sister's friend.

Amanda:  Okay. Well, hi, Julia. And hey, hi, Lena, too, if you're listening.

Marco: Lena should be listening, but she doesn't. Julia listens for everyone.

Amanda:  Hey, should we talk about the weird birthday present that we gave our friend this week? Because you and I haven't actually talked about this.

Marco: We haven't. And I just want to say this before I forget, a little hot tip for you. Oh, it's going to come out of nowhere. I'm just going to give it because otherwise I'll forget. If you have a faucet in your home and it's one of the.

Amanda:  This is really out of nowhere.

Marco: It's out of nowhere. So I apologize. I just don't want to forget. If you have a faucet in your home and it's one of the major brands like the Moen, the, I don't know, faucet brands. Roy Bell in Canada is a name. We happen to have a Roy Bell Rio Bell.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: Never heard of it. But I was like, oh, that's the one we have. But if you have one of those brand names or if you don't and something goes wrong with your faucet. So for Us it had the spouty part that you can yank like an old toilet that you could yank the chain and would flush. What would you call that?

Amanda:  I would call it a flexible movable spout. So it's one of those. Picture the faucet that looks like a big gooseneck hook. Yeah, gooseneck is a better way probably. But just that sort of long curvature that dips back down and so you can pull the end to, you know, pull it and it. Because we don't have the ones that have like what my mom used to have the little spray one on the side. We just have this. It's sort of an all in one and you could twist the tip of it so that it either does like a full stream or spray stream.

Marco: Right. So when you yank on the thing we always yell flushing in our house.

Amanda:  We do not.

Marco: Anyways, that yankable hose around it was starting to get sharp.

Amanda:  So yeah, the, the, the.

Marco: Sorry, I start to laugh because.

Amanda:  Why are you laughing?

Marco: The yankable hose doesn't sound like a technical term.

Amanda:  But also the sharpness of it is a weird thing. But it was like the metal was so sharp that was painted on or plated on I suppose started to peel for whatever reason. And the peeling because it was a metal plate I guess was jagged. And I two or three times got cut on it. And then I kind of tried to warn you about it. And then you got cut.

Marco: I got cut. And so then I call them up and if you call these companies, they will send you replacements. So we're getting, we're getting a whole

Amanda:  new gooseneck and we got it like 10 years ago.

Marco: Yeah, so don't tell them that because I think I told them last year is when I got it.

Amanda:  But for sure we did not get it last year.

Marco: So if you have a faucet, to

Amanda:  be honest, it was nine years ago.

Marco: They had to look up our model cuz they no longer carry it.

Amanda:  But hey, you don't know until you

Marco: call and we're getting it. So that's just a hot tip for our listeners. But you wanted to talk about.

Amanda:  Well since you're talking about taking things back, I will say this. If you shop at Costco, one of the great benefits is. And this is also for my sister in law who doesn't want to have anything to do with. She's not a Costco fan. But I will just say this. They will take anything back.

Marco: They will take it back.

Amanda:  They will take it back.

Marco: They will also if you have like food that goes bad, like let's Say you bought something. You can take a photo of it.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco: And they'll take it so you don't

Amanda:  have to bring back the old milk or whatever if it went off. But they don't need the receipt. They'll give you. You know, they'll deal with it one way or the other. But they're really, really good at, like, you know, if you're like, I wore this twice, and then something happened to it which shows that it was faulty on some level, the button popped off or it shrunk or whatever, they'll take it back. They're really, really good with that.

Marco: Okay, well, thank you for listening to that hot tip section of our podcast. Amanda, you wanted to talk about the birthday gift we recently gave.

Amanda:  I like how the hot tip session was just plunked right in the middle. So we have a friend, and I don't know if you really this realize this, but we often theme his birthday presents. One year we had like a pirate theme for him. I'm trying to think of other themes. Anyhow, this year was a very specific theme. The theme was marshmallows.

Marco: I was gonna say something totally different. Oh, you'll know why I won't say it. Okay, explain the gift and you'll.

Amanda:  So we got him. He likes to play games, as do we. And we, when we get together with them, we play games. And so we got him this card game called Arshmellows, which is marshmallows with large buttocks. Large buttocks.

Marco: It's a German card game, if you will.

Amanda:  They're very well developed looking bums and legs.

Marco: That's what I thought. That's what I thought the theme was. That's why I didn't say it.

Amanda:  Well developed bums.

Marco: Bums or whatever. Harshes, if you will.

Amanda:  So we also got him a s' mores kit and sort of some fun retractable marshmallow. What are they called? Like tongs.

Marco: Tongs, sure. Whatever you can put in the fire.

Amanda:  Yeah, those actually. Those look nice.

Marco: They do look nice. And listen. So the theme was marshmallow, which is an odd theme. Not that our friend is a marshmallow, you know, fanatic or whatever. We just found the theme and we went with it.

Amanda:  Enjoys a good marshmallow, though.

Marco: He also enjoys a good laugh.

Amanda:  Yeah, he does.

Marco: So when you can't think of a gift for someone, lean into something fun and themed.

Amanda:  Do a theme, find a few things. Because we liked the card game, but I was kind of like, I don't want to just give him this and so then we rounded it out with other marshmallow themed items, which actually, I think is great. I mean, the other thing we try to do with our friends is, you know, games are a thing, but we do enjoy them, and we'll play them.

Marco: Or games. That is.

Amanda:  Yeah, yeah, yeah. But other than that. Or card games. Sure, Case. Same. Same difference, I guess. But we are all very conscious that we have too much stuff, so we try to do, like, consumables, whether it's, you know, something to drink or eat. We don't do too many gift cards, but every now and then we do. I know you went through a phase where you did not like gift cards, but I think you're better with them now. Right?

Marco: I still don't love them.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: I don't love the fact that I then have to go and deal with the card.

Amanda:  Right.

Marco: It's not my thing. That's just not for me. Hey, listen, do I dislike a gift card? No.

Amanda:  I like a good gift card.

Marco: And because you're good with that. And Amanda will often be like, okay, today we're gonna use gift cards, and we have a fun day of going around and using.

Amanda:  And we did that.

Marco: We did that a couple weeks ago.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco: Maybe if I take myself out of my curmudgeonous. That is a lot of fun. When we do do well, you're extra

Amanda:  curmudgeonly because you're a little bit under the weather. I'm really hoping a good night's gonna sleep. And lots of vitamin C, which I've made you take in in the last hour or two. Will. Will help curb this thing.

Marco: Another gift I gave recently, which I'm very. I have a. I don't know what you'd call it. An odd sense of humor. I got a puzzle from.

Amanda:  You have a Machiavellian streak in you. You have a. I wouldn't say odd sense of humor. You have a different devilish sort of sense of humor. One of the things. And I knew this about you very early on in knowing you before I knew you very well. But one of the things I could tell. You love to set a sort of wheel in motion, Whether it's a little prank or even a little fun rumor. You love to sort of drop that in the water and then watch people try to deal with it. You just love it. So when we work together in theater, you know, it was improv and very interactive. So I would watch him maybe pass something around and see, you know, like, a little rumor. And I used to say to him, you're like Iago in Othello. You love to just drop a little suggestion and then watch and see what happens among the cast. Always in a very playful and I would say, harmless way.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:  In a way that you would get such glee out of it. And so you also love to give gifts like this.

Marco: So our friend, it was her birthday, and so I went to a second hand shop, I guess you'd call them in England.

Amanda:  I've learned they call them charity shops.

Marco: Charity shops. Second ham shop, a donation center shop. Places where you can get things at a discounted rate and where, you know, you can find a lot of variety stuff. So I went and I got a puzzle.

Amanda:  Mm.

Marco: And it was a particular puzzle. I'm watching my P's as I say that. On the mic. On the mic. And I took the puzzle out of the box and I put it in a brown box.

Amanda:  But you should explain the puzzle.

Marco: I will. And so I gave the puzzle in the brown paper box to a friend and said, here's your birthday puzzle. Figure it out.

Amanda:  So she did not have a picture to base it on.

Marco: And the puzzle was rectangular. It wasn't a square puzzle. It was a rectangular puzzle of rays gliding themselves like a manta ray or stingray gliding themselves through the water. So it was very, very blue.

Amanda:  It was mostly blue with dark blue. And so just tones of blue, really, in the water, maybe a little bit of a gray, but mostly just blue on blue on blue.

Marco: And so she looked and she's like, it's all blue. And I said, have fun. Happy birthday. And so that's like your favorite thing

Amanda:  when she had to do that, that she had to work through that.

Marco: So her parents came over and she said, you know, it happened to be a day where my parents came over, and it was not actually Mother's Day, to be honest. It was Mother's Day. And we've had a cold snap here, so the weather hasn't been so lovely.

Amanda:  It's been a cold May friends, Very cold May.

Marco: And so they were kind of stuck in the house. And Dale, our friend Dale, friend of the show, said, do you guys want to do a puzzle? And her parents are like, yeah. She's like, I've got this puzzle. And she showed the picture on the puzzle, or I have this mystery puzzle that Marco gave me. And her parents are. And she goes, you decide. And they're like, mystery puzzle. And so they were building it. And you know how you oftentimes when you're making a puzzle, you do the edges.

Amanda:  I hate puzzles. So not really, but I guess you

Marco: do the edge pieces because they're. They're. They're flat.

Amanda:  You figure out your border, right?

Marco: And they couldn't figure out the border because it wasn't turning out to be square. And then Dale said, I bet it's not square. And they figured out that it was not square. And they figured out the rectangle.

Amanda:  A long, skinny, rectangular puzzle. Evil, Evil. Evil. Machiavelli lives in you.

Marco: I know. It was so good. And then they told me how they. Dale's daughter was able to figure out what the puzzle was based on the name that was, I guess, on a puzzle piece. And so I was really deep search. I was really proud. I was really proud.

Amanda:  They got pretty far. They got far as far as Dale's gonna get. She's like, we did the border. We figured out the thing. The rest of it is blue. And I think we're good.

Marco: And I'm happy. I'm happy. I didn't feel like they had to do the puzzle, but I just wanted them to challenge of it.

Amanda:  Just knowing that they were trying was what your true joy came from, of

Marco: course, and that it was frustrating and a challenge and all those things.

Amanda:  When I first met Marco, the very, very, very first moment I met him, he sat down at a table with a bunch of people who are now my friends, but I didn't know any of them because I was new to the cast, and he had been there at that point, you know, five plus years, so he knew everybody really well. Anyway, he sat down at this table, and he said, guess what? I just did. So I listened like the rest of the table, and he said, I got a bag of those. What are those flowers that are yellow with the brown. And I was like, brown Eyed Susans. And he was like, yeah, that's the

Marco: first thing Amanda ever said to me. Brown Eyed Susan.

Amanda:  And it's true.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda:  Do you remember it?

Marco: Yeah, I think I can remember it.

Amanda:  Yeah. I was excited that I knew the name of the flower so I could add something to this conversation. And I was like, brown Eyed Susan. And you went, yeah, yeah, that's it. Brown Eyed Susans. Anyway, I got this huge bag of brown Eyed Susan seeds, and I planted it in my mother's backyard. And I kind of was like, I mean, I didn't know what your mother's backyard looked like at the time, so none of this really made sense. But the glee that you had, you're like, in the spring, she's gonna be like, not know what these are. And all These Brown Eyed Susans are gonna come up. And I remember thinking, if that was my mom, she'd probably just pull them because she'd think they were weeds. But what happened in that? I never got the end of that story.

Marco: So my mother had a long, beautiful garden at the time. It was long and rectangular, much like the puzzle that we gave. That had rocks in it.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: And it was like kind of irises and colorful flowers. And all the flowers. Yeah. They all kind of work together in color and theme. So Brown Eyed Susans did not work in this scheme.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: And my mother has a really gifted green thumb.

Amanda:  She does, yeah.

Marco: And so I planted all these.

Amanda:  As does mine, by the way.

Marco: That's true. And I planted all these brown Night Susan seeds and was happy to just see what would happen.

Amanda:  And what happened?

Marco: They grew in the most wonderful spots. And my mother was really impressed.

Amanda:  Really?

Marco: What she did. Yeah.

Amanda:  Is that actually the truth?

Marco: Yeah. They grew like.

Amanda:  It was like, I never knew the end of this story.

Marco: I thought they would pop up randomly.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: But they only sort of popped up in certain areas of the garden.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco: And they looked really pretty because they gave a different dimension. And my mother just thought she had planted them in front of them.

Amanda:  She thought she had planted them because

Marco: it looked so nice. And I was like, well, that didn't turn out the way I thought it would.

Amanda:  But I will never forget, forget this man. And I just kept thinking, this grown man. Well, one, I was confused because I was like, why are you at your mother's house? I didn't. Not, why are you at the mother's house? But I think you were living with your mom. And I was a little bit like, who lives with their parents?

Marco: No, because I had the house before I moved there.

Amanda:  You didn't have the house at that point, though.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:  So I guess you did live with your mom at the time, which confused me a little bit because I was like, do you live with your mom? And then truthfully.

Marco: Well, I had lived.

Amanda:  You had lived away. I had lived in an Oregon moment in your life. You were living with your mom. It's not like you had only lived with your parents. But I didn't know that. And so I was just trying to process that. And again, that's not weird. It just was weird for me in that moment, truthfully. I also was just trying to figure it all out. So I was, okay, this guy lives with his mom, but also his idea of a good time is planting flowers that his mother doesn't know about. Like, it just. The whole concept of this story was, like, so foreign to me. Now it makes complete sense now that I know you and love you.

Marco: And there you go. And that's what you do if you love somebody. You plant flowers they don't expect in their garden.

Amanda:  Well, when you live with somebody and you, I mean, it's a gift. Those. Those Brown Eyed Susans might still be there to this day.

Marco: They might. They might very well be. All right, I'm going to call Flushing before I end this podcast episode. Thank you for listening.

Amanda:  We have to do it like we did in PA Palmer Hall, Flushing.

Marco: Flushing. I. I would recommend when you have your day tomorrow or later on today, anytime you have to flush, just sing that out to the family, see how they take it.

Amanda:  Or maybe do a little research on Flushing, New York.

Marco: Sure. Why not?

Amanda:  Why not? Why not just figure out Flushing in your life and how that applies. It's the word of the day for tomorrow.

Marco: If you're not feeling well or you have family members or friends who aren't, tell them that this is chicken soap, chicken soup for their ears. And they can.

Amanda:  And it'll flush out all the bad, all the toxins, as they say in yoga class.

Marco: There you go. Until next time. We hope you were able to listen and of course, sleep.