KDTime: Twenty-Five

 Episode Twenty-Five

This episode was huge for me. I successfully completed twenty five episodes up to this point. It was January, I was feeling good and I was ready to do more for my podcast. Unfortunately this was the last episode I would do for the past six months. I know that's a long time, but a lot has happened in that time.

So many things I don't really want to get into because personally it took me a while to get through it. As you all can clearly see. I was so excited to announce the potential collaborate podcast, which did not happen at least it hasn't in the time frame that I was looking for it to. I am the type of person that usually gets an idea in my head and then I run with it. I want it to happen as soon as possible. I wouldn't call this a flaw, but it definitely isn't ideal to wait on others to get projects done. 

Which is why in school I would absolutely hate working in group projects. The timing was always an issue and when I was ready for things to be finished waiting on others to produce their parts was the hardest part. While I wanted to get the other podcast up and running things just didn't work out. I do not know if I will collaborate with another person. It's a lot to coordinate and schedules are tough to configure. 

On to some happier news in this excerpt:

"Personally, I think it was a good year. I was able to finish school on a very high note and I can finally say I have my bachelors. It doesn’t matter how long it took to get there because the journey was mine and mine alone to take. I had to keep pushing with the help of my friends and family. I lost people as well (not to Covid) but still it hurt just the same. We sometimes think about all the bad things and dwell on it for a lot longer than it is intended. I think the biggest thing I learned last year was to let things take their course and love on your family because you never know what can happen."

I still believe this wholeheartedly. You never know what can happen. I leave you with this Live Life as best you can and cherish those close; those who aren't close but still impacted your life deserve some thanks as well.

KDTime: Interview with Laura Bugge

Episode Twenty-Four

In this episode I have a great conversation with an old friend of mine from Sunshine Acres. We worked together during my first year and became really good friends from there. She also has a podcast. Two actually; Sway Element and Conjured Essence both hosted on Anchor the platform I'm using. We had all the good vibes reminiscing on old memories and mutual interests. It was a fun conversation between good friends.

My guest and I pretty much just went off the cuff on the interview and I helped promote her podcasts. If you want to hear more about her and even reach out.

ConjuredEssence is about intimate poetry read in a sensual setting. It gets you in different types of moods with the premise of enjoying a whispered detailed moment. If you enjoy hearing sultry words about the human body then this is for you.

SwayElement is more about people and their different experiences with a lot of interesting topics. Whether it's something light and fluffy or dark and twisted. You never know what kind of story you are going to hear on this podcast. Laura Bugge describes this podcast as one for people giving their truths and allowing a place to speak on those truths without judgement or backlash. It's really nice and I have an interview with her on this one, I believe it's episode 6. Check me out over there on her show as well as the entire series.

Her Instagram handles are @laurabugge_ @calm_sway @conjuredessence

Have fun!

KDTime: "In My Own Words" Analysis

 Episode Twenty Three

It is no secret I love NE-YO and I've talked about him in other episodes so this is not the first time his name has been mentioned on the show. This episode is specific to him and his first album. When I first heard "Stay" I was hooked and everyone and I mean everyone pinned NE-YO and Chris Brown against each other because they came out around the same time with similar vibes. Chris Brown was young and could dance really well like Michael Jackson. NE-YO can dance, but his style of dancing is more of a form of ballroom with a few twists. This is my opinion and not at all factual. It's just what I think NE-YO's dancing looks like. Anyway... It's been over 10 years that I've enjoyed and loved his music. I buy every album and listen to them to exhaustion. 

One of my best friends pointed out that I usually learn the lyrics to the music within the first run through of listening to the newest album. And I mean how could I not. Anytime we listen to a new album we know exactly which songs grab our attentions in the beginning. I usually pick a couple songs off the first listen and become obsessed and then I'll listen to all more times because after some time you find the hidden gem in the songs.

First album "In My Own Words" to me was a complete story. I'll tell you why and follow me on this. From the very first song we get an insight in what kind of journey we are about to partake. It starts off decently and takes a couple dips on the rollercoaster. But the title of the album is "in my own words" so we know from the beginning we are hearing NE-YO's side of the story.

Here's an excerpt from the show:

"In “Sexy Love”, like I said I was in love with this song when it came out. I was glued to the TV for when the music video was going to come out and I was beyond happy while listening to this song. It just flows so nicely and it makes you think you could fall in love and be so blissfully happy. In this song you can tell he sounds so deeply in love with his girlfriend and would risk eviction notices because they were basking in one another’s love. He doesn’t want to do anything but be with her and as lovely as that sounds it's unrealistic but sometimes you just wish a love like this would come knocking on your door. He is beyond disconnected to the world and looks so happy he can’t think of anything else. But things don’t last forever in this album because here we go again."

KDTime: Which Song is Better?

When this episode was being put together and published, I was returning back to the work office. Which felt like another weird shift because coming back to work the place was an eerie shell of itself. Going from having the place literally flooded with people to being able to hear a pen drop from another room clearly was unsettling, but just something to get used to. I didn't mind the quiet though because at times it was very peaceful.  

In this episode, I talk about what I don't want to return to in general which is ironic because now as I type this it is slowly getting back to the crowded nature that was once the norm. I do NOT like it at all. It is not fun and I didn't like being up on other people I still don't. If I can I will avoid crowds to great lengths. I talk about browsing/scrolling Buzzfeed and coming across this article on choosing between songs that have the same title. There are a lot of songs out there that have that exact same title but they sound completely different made by different artists.

Here is the link for yourselves:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmarder/which-of-these-songs-with-the-same-title-is-better

KDTime: Tag You're IT!

 This episode was really fun to do, right off the back I was super excited to share with you all list of songs that I related to the prompts given. The episode is called Tag you're it because just by listening you are officially tagged. I took the song tag challenge and now you can too. The challenge will be posted below. Comment your choices! Tweet me if you want! Of course the answers are all me.

Song Tag Challenge

A song you like:

1. With a color in the title - Purple Rain by Prince
2. With a number in the title - 5 Steps by Dru Hill
3. That reminds you of summertime - My Name is Jonas by Weezer
4. That reminds you of someone you’d rather forget - I Can Love You by MJB
5. That needs to be played loud - Kiss From A Rose by Seal
6. That makes you want to dance - anything soca or reggae related. Famalay by Machel Montano
7. To drive to - Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard
8. About drugs or alcohol - young wild free by wiz khalifa ft. Snoop Dogg
9. That makes you happy - Latch by Disclosure
10. That makes you sad - Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
11. You never get tired of - Dancing Queen by ABBA
12. From your preteen years - Crazy in Love by Beyonce & Hey Ya by Outkast
13. From the 70s - I’m Every Woman by Chaka Khan
14. You’d love to be played at your wedding - Right Here by SWV
15. That’s a cover by another artist - Teenage Dream by Katy Perry (Boyce Avenue)
16. That’s classic favorite - Respect by Aretha Franklin
17. You’d sing a duet with someone on karaoke - I’ve Had The Time of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
18. From the year you were born - I wanna sex you up by Color Me Badd
19. That makes you think about life - Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
20. That has many meanings to you - Miss Independent by Ne-Yo
21. With a person’s name in the title - Miss Jackson by Outkast
22. That moves you forward - Lovely Day by Bill Withers
23. You think everybody should listen to - Gorgeous by X Ambassadors
24. By a band you wish were still together - Independent Woman by Destiny’s Child
25. By an artist no longer living - One in a Million by Aaliyah 
26. That makes you want to fall in love - Unbreakable by Westlife 
27. That breaks your heart - Unbreak my heart by Toni Braxton
28. By an artist whose voice you love- Sexy Love by Ne-Yo
29. You remember from your childhood - Just the Two of Us by Will Smith, No Scrubs by TLC
30. That reminds you of yourself - Brown Skin Girl & I was Here by Beyonce

Song Tag Challenge Empty List

A Song You Like:

1. With a color in the title
2. With a number in the title 
3. That reminds you of summertime 
4. That reminds you of someone you’d rather forget
5. That needs to be played loud
6. That makes you want to dance 
7. To drive to 
8. About drugs or alcohol 
9. That makes you happy 
10. That makes you sad
11. You never get tired of
12. From your preteen years
13. From the 70s 
14. You’d love to be played at your wedding 
15. That’s a cover by another artist 
16. That’s classic favorite 
17. You’d sing a duet with someone on karaoke 
18. From the year you were born 
19. That makes you think about life
20. That has many meanings to you
21. With a person’s name in the title 
22. That moves you forward 
23. You think everybody should listen to
24. By a band you wish were still together 
25. By an artist no longer living  
26. That makes you want to fall in love 
27. That breaks your heart 
28. By an artist whose voice you love
29. You remember from your childhood 
30. That reminds you of yourself 

KDTime: One Score

Twentieth Episode

Frankly, I didn't think I would make it to 10 let alone 20, but I did it. Twenty episodes have been completed at this point and I was darn proud of myself. I thought long about what I wanted to talk about and came up with highlighting the top episodes that I enjoyed publishing. My favorite episodes were as follows the first one "Welcome to KDTIME", "Dating dot dot dot", "Let's Gooooo", "Tv Theme Songs" and "Big Ten". 

In this episode, I talk about the episodes that made me happy to do. I loved all the episodes from 1 to 20, but these stood out for me. You can tell how excited I am in each episode. I do try to keep that energy for all the episodes, but some topics pop off more than others.

Here's an excerpt from the episode:

"Ep 13: Tv Theme Songs I really enjoyed writing and creating this list of tv theme songs. I loved it so much I made another one that will be released very soon so stay tuned for that. I grew up watching TV and the theme songs are so catchy it’s like how could you not enjoy them. I don’t think there is a show that didn’t have a catchy theme song. Even the ones without lyrics are still pretty on point. This episode was fun and I enjoyed singing the tunes. I also received great feedback from it. So yea part two is on the way!"

I will do a part two, the list is ready! Trust me!!

KDTime: Do One Hit Wonders do Concerts?

 I was listening to a guilty pleasure playlist and some one hit wonders came on. I was listening on Spotify and it occurred to me that most one hit wonders most likely do not have concerts. They might open for other artists, but they do not have a concert of their own. And when I say concert I mean like packed stadiums/ fields/ or arenas. Speaking of concerts I tell you all which ones I've been to. My list is short because honestly, I wasn't that into going to watch people perform. It is nice to see though. 

Here's my concert history: 

1st concert: Up close & Personal tour Chris Brown & Bow Wow

Last concert: Queen & Adam Lambert

Next concert: Not sure 

Best: Ne-Yo Good Man Tour

Worst: None 

Have seen most: Jonathan McReynolds 

Have not seen but want to: Beyoncé

Something to think about. If they are a one hit wonder then they wouldn't really have concerts, so if an artist(s) has a concert series then they aren't a one hit wonder. If they just disappear after being successful, that doesn't make them one hit wonders either.

KDTime: Foodie Monday!

 Episode Eighteen

"Whoooooooooose hungry!?!?!?" quote from Spongebob Squarepants. One of my favorite episodes is the very first one way back in 1999 called Help Wanted. Spongebob feeds what looks like thousands of anchovies and comes flying in with the very rare special spatuala. It gives introduction the show the exact crazy to expect throughout the series. Can't believe it's still going on. Spongebob will be on forever (maybe, who knows). In said show the main idea is that Spongebob is working in a the Krusty Krab as a cook. 

Speaking of food...

In this episode, I talk about food. Popular food debates and food I want to try from cartoons and yes a krabby patty is on that list. Now do not judge me because deep down you know cartoon food looks and probably tastes delicious!

Here's the list of foods 

 Foods from cartoons you wanted to try:

• Krabby patties

• Nachos and burritos from Kim possible

• Spinach from Popeyes 

• Gumbo & beignets from the princess and the frog

• Grey stuff from beauty & the beast

• Bob's burger ideas

• Ratatouille 

• Yogi’s picnic basket finds

• Scooby snacks

• Garfield’s lasagna

KDTime: Chores Suck!

 Episode Seventeen

I dont like chores, maybe some of you do maybe some of you don't like me. But I really don't like chores. I take chores and make them fun I have to make them fun because if I don't then I'll be bored and then it won't be fun. I know that chores are a part of life but they are just not fun for me. Cooking, washing dishes, taking out the trash, mopping, sweeping, cleaning up your room, washing clothes, anything and everything that is a daily, weekly, constant thing you do is a chore. Even going to work is a chore in my honest opinion.

Here is an excerpt from the episode:

"You don’t realize how much more chores you have when living on your own with zero help. Also, you don’t realize how many things are actually chores until you find yourself doing them every day or every week. Like going grocery shopping is a chore, cooking a meal, changing the lint in the dryer, sorting socks, unpacking said grocery trip, laundry, changing your sheets. It’s all just work. This kind of work you don’t get any money out of unless it’s literally your job, but you always have to put money in this kind of work in order to get it done. I used to think going to the grocery store was such an awesome experience until it was my wallet being whipped out at the counter. This is why I need music to distract me from these chores that don’t ever seem to end. And not a “Whistle while you work” vibe either. I need something with hmph to get me going. Clothes will always need to be washed, dishes will always need to be washed, floors need to be swept and mopped. The time it ends you are probably in a nursing home being a chore to someone else."

In the recommendation I suggest checking out Sunshine Rescue Puppies they are still up and running with a bunch of lovable puppies to have. here's the website again www.sunshinerescue.org  They are also on instagram @sunshine_rescue Check them Out NOW

KDTime: Thanks Disney Pt. 1

Episode Sixteen

I love Disney, I love the parks and I've been to Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I need to go back to Disneyland because I haven't been there in so long. To put it in perspective the last time I went How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days was in theaters. Yes, the very movie I introduce in my very first episode of my podcast is the same that was out in theaters the year I went to Disneyland. You do you're own research on that. I love the movies, the shows, and as I type this today Wednesday June 23, 2021 a new episode of Loki has come out that I will watch later today on Disney+. 

So you might be wondering why I named this episode Thanks Disney, well it's simple as much as I love Disney sometimes the logic behind the movies are hilariously bad. Allow me to explain. I have some grievances that I talk about here. Mostly about the classics Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White etc., they all have something in common, the parents are terrible! It makes you wonder what happened to Walt Disney for him to be so cynical towards parental figures. Trust me there are plenty conspiracy theories out there as well as some facts on the subject but I don't want to get into that. At least I don't in this episode.

Here's an excerpt from the episode:

 "Sleeping beauty. I would look for ways to protect my castle from dark magic. And I would keep the princess in the castle raised by servants. To learn and grow under the same roof. 

Cinderella. Why didn’t the fairy godmother come back? Why did she not get more time at the ball!?

What is up with evil older women and their serious vendetta on young innocent girls?? It just seems like women are evil towards other women. NO, scratch that 5 out of the 15 disney princess films they have to face an evil older woman?!?! Ursula and Ariel, Evil Queen and 14 year snow white, Maleficent and Aurora, Mother Gothel and Rapunzel, and finally Cinderella and her step mom Lady Tremaine. All the rest deal with evil men with the exception of Moana and Merida. Moana didn’t really have a “villain” because Maui is the one who caused the land to be angry in the first place she just needed her heart. So yea. And Merida with the bear again was not really a villain, it was just a strange set of circumstances.

This question was probably already asked. But why didn’t or couldn’t Ariel write to Eric? She knew how too. She could spell her name? It just doesn’t make sense to me?"

Older women in almost every film have issues with the younger women. Whether they are obsessed with beauty or power or even both, there is always something that causes the villian and victim to be at odds. A lot of the times the young women are clueless to the mistreatment until the end of the movie when everything works out.

I'll stick to being a cheetah girl if that's the case. 

"I don't wanna be like Cinderella, sitting in dark cold dusty cellar, waiting for somebody to come and set me free... I'd rather rescue myself" 

Lyrics from The Cheetah Girls Song Cinderella. 

KDTime: Big Up Big Up

Episode Fifteen

Before I published this episode, I noticed that my podcast was being listened to all over. I was super excited for the accomplishment and super encouraged to keep it going. Countries like Germany, Ireland, UK, and Hong Kong were listening to me. I am so grateful that people were listening to me and also very nervous but thankful nonetheless.

In this episode, I talk about myself and a give you all an insight into my life as a Caribbean American living in NYC. I know every experience is different, but also very similar at the same time. I'm fully American both my parents were born in NYC and raised there just like myself. Even though I was raised in NYC it did not stop me from learning about my heritage and ethnicity. 

Here's an excerpt from the episode:

"Now I’ll talk about some of the stereotypes that are said but are NOT true. Some like jamaican people aren’t friendly, I am very friendly so there’s that. Also, just like all people not everyone is friendly, and sometimes people don’t want to be bothered and if you’re bothering someone that doesn’t want to be bothered it's pretty obvious they won’t be very friendly towards you. It also depends on the person and how they are feeling at any given point of the day. Another stereotype is that all Jamaicans smoke weed/marijuana and that’s not true either. Everyone is a Rastafarian. False, where do they get this from? Jamaicans only listen to reggae. Well this is like half true in my personal opinion. It was always funny to watch the Jamaicans at a party. some would get so upset that Soca was playing but again i love all music. And a lot of Jamaicans love american music too. Jamaicans speak only patois NOPE. I’m talking to you right now. Also, if people did a smidge of research they would learn that a lot of jamaicans speak english some more properly than americans. Jamaicans are lazy… I know Jamaicans who have multiple jobs. If anything I’ve heard the exact opposite where the stereotype is a Jamaican is always working. They do too much, they have so many jobs."

If you are a Caribbean person you already know some of the things aforementioned. If not, you can decide for yourself. One thing you shouldn't do is judge before actually getting to know a person. I think if anything this year has taught us is that you can NOT clump people into one group and say they are all the same because that is absolutely not true.

KDTime: Throwback Thursday One

Episode Fourteen

This episode is very clear from the start what it is going to be about. It's a Throwback Thursday where I take a trip down memory lane. My memory lane to be exact. Do you ever see something that comes back to mind and you feel like you have a vague memory of this thing but it was definitely around at some point in your life? If yes, then this episode is for you and if not, then this episode will educate you on some of the things that were introduced years ago.

In this episode I talk about "things we didn't realize we'd do for the last time" and facebook memories. When I talk about things that we didn't realize we'd do for the last time I'm specifically talking about millennials such as myself. For example, when's the last time you used a newspaper to look up movie times? Now we can find pretty much everything and anything on our electronics including watching a movie before it's even released.

Here's the link for the source:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/millennials-did-last-time

I know I know it's buzzfeed, but it relates.

Here's an excerpt from the episode:

"There are some serious photos of me that I would love to remove from my Facebook lol I’ve been on Facebook since the day it was created! I remember talking about this in the episode on Social Media. And can I just say I know that was a mesh of topics. Anyway, Facebook has this feature that allows us to look through the memories, On this day, or the “you have memories with …” and it’s either posts, pictures or things you did on the day years ago. I also seem to catch the one where I'm all lovey dovey with an ex of mine of I think 10 years and I'm like aww man. But for the most part I really do look back. I do the same things I'm sure most of you guys do."

Every year I see the same memories from facebook and every year I'm like "my my my has times changed". It's interesting how much things have changed over years even though as a people we are not too big on change and yet it happens constantly all around us. Sometimes change happens really fast or sometimes it doesn't and it's a slow burn but change does happen.

Luckily, change means we usually adapt to new things and will look at things in new or different ways. 

KDTime: Tv Theme Songs

Episode Thirteen

I think I've made it pretty clear over the several podcast episodes I have submitted that I am completely obsessed with Television and Movies. I did not focus my podcast on these things and in hindsight maybe I should have, but I really enjoy talking about tv and movies. Some of the best things about watching shows and movies is how the music relates exactly to what you are watching on the screen. For example, if something tense is about to happen you already know that the scene will be tense heavy, or the pretty obvious when you hear a sad song the scene will be a tearful one and etc. With all this being said, I decided to make this episode all about tv show theme songs. There is a part two coming because I couldn't fit every theme song in one episode. And possibly more parts because new tv shows are coming out all the time. But for this episode I talk about the biggest ones that most of everyone should know and if you don't know now you know. 

Here is the sitcom list:

Sitcoms:

1. Fresh Prince of Bel Air - Fresh Prince

2. Sister Sister - Sister Sister theme song (both)

3. Scrubs - I’m No Superman

4. Community - At least it was here

5. Family Matters 

6. Saved by the Bell

7. Full House

8. The Office

9. Living Single

10. Friends

11. The Jeffersons - Movin On Up

12. Gilligan's Island

13. The Brady Bunch

14. Good Times

15. Laverne & Shirley - Making Our Dreams come True

16. The Facts Of Life

17. The Andy Griffith Story 

18. The Golden Girls

19. Happy Days

20. One Day at a Time

21. Parks & Rec

22. That’s So Raven

23. Drake & Josh

24. iCarly

25. Victorious

A good sitcom theme song definitely sets the tone for the show. It gets you pumped to get into the episode and the more you watch the more you get in tune with the tune or jingle.

KDTime: Irrational Fears & Fears vs. Phobias

Episode Twelve 

We've all been afraid of something or another. It could be a super common fear or something irrational which might get you looked at in a way such as "but why" or "but how". It was very interesting to do the research for this particular episode. Rational and Irrational fears are completely valid though, something could've scared you as a child and it stuck with you for the rest of your life or you could've picked up a fear later in life it doesn't matter. Fear is Fear.

In this episode, I talk about effective ways to overcome some phobias and irrational fears to be helpful. I understand if the things I talk about do not work. This could bring up the thoughts of your fears and phobias but this episode is not to make you afraid or anything. I just thought about talking openly about my own irrational fears and phobias.

Here's an excerpt from the episode:

"Whenever I had a bad dream or nightmare I thought having a ton of stuffed animals around me while I slept would protect me. You could say I watched Toy Story way too much because the stuffed animals would surround my head as I slept and I just knew they would come to life to fight off anything that dared to bother me. Another irrational fear was if I stuck my foot out of the covers because I was too hot but a monster would come and yank it. The solution I figured monsters didn’t like very clean feet. Because they were gross and only liked gross things. I just knew they wouldn’t touch my feet if they were clean so I’d clean my feet before bed."

Here the two websites sources:

https://www.verywellmind.com/most-common-phobias-4136563

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/phobias-and-irrational-fears.htm

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gqbm8b/whats_a_weird_or_uncommon_fear_that_you_have/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

KDTime: Showers, Camps, Ladders Oh My!

Episode Eleven.

In this episode I talk about three different topics, the first is on baby showers vs bridal showers that are more common to go to by race, the camp I practically lived at for 10 straight summers, and finally social media social ladders.

 As a person of color throughout my life I've gone to more baby showers in comparison to bridal showers. Now I completely understand that I couldn't exactly go to bridal showers in my earlier years, but even now I have probably only been to two bridal showers and I'm in the age range where my girl friends are "supposed" to get married. Why is it that more woman are having babies before marriage? That is definitely a top for another day.

Sunshine Acres is one of the hugest parts of my late teens/early twenties life. It’s a camp located in Ellenville, Napanoch New York. It’s a great outdoor sleepaway camp that’s been around for over a hundred years; established in 1909. It started in Long Island but moved over to Upstate New York due to the expansion.  One of the camp’s main purposes is to give young children a better understanding of who Jesus is and his impact in their lives as well as how to strengthen their relationship with Him. You can find them on Facebook search for Sunshine Acres - Camp and Conference Center as well as on instagram which needs to be updated @sunshine.acres. To find out more information about the camp you can go to their website www.sunshineacres.com.  

Here's an excerpt from the show:

"When you’re trending you can’t control the stories or the narrative. I commend those who have been able to be at the top of the social media ladders and haven’t fallen or had to climb down. It takes a lot to be popular and you have to keep up with everything that’s going on. If you don’t keep up with posting and constantly putting yourself out there. You’ll be forgotten and irrelevant. Yesterday’s news. Why is it hard to get genuine followers?"