In honor of this episode, when Shawn went to Christopher’s place to record, the gate at the apartment complex where Christopher lives was closed.
Shawn could not get in… (The horror!!!)
He faced…a boundary…that lasted all of a moment when another vehicle came in, opened the gate, and Shawn followed them in…where he then parked in Christopher’s spot under a carport.
That spot belongs to Christopher and his wife. Anyone not supposed to be parking there can be towed at their command…although Christopher and his wife have never exerted that power.
Boundaries are strange things. Some people require a 10-foot invisible bubble of personal space, while others are fine packed together tightly with strangers. Some people hide who they are deep down inside, while others are open to the point of some finding those people uncomfortable. (If you listen to this podcast, we’re guessing you’re fine with open people because we will talk about anything…even devoting an hour, once, to talking about poo.) Some people think it’s money well spent to build a wall between America and Mexico, while others (i.e. not racist douchenozzles) can think of a bazillion better uses for that much money.
This week, we’re all about boundaries…
We begin by talking about the first boundary in life we each remember, and then…we drop a [philosophy] bomb on y’all by talking about what seems more limiting to us: physical or mental boundaries. (While Christopher often writes these show notes in third person, he has never used “y’all” in an entry. That he knows of. After almost 125 episodes — and some aging — it all gets hazy…)
Personal space. Barring those with dragon breath, we discuss whether or not we have problems with people getting all up in our personal space. Next, we leap to how important boundaries are in our lives…and also: how important national boundaries are to us. (i.e. how utterly fucking stupid is the proposed wall with Mexico? Which probably gives away our answer…and might stir up the bile of some neo-cons, which — let’s be honest — is not difficult at all. Shit, they are really more sensitive and easily offended as extreme liberals…which is really saying something. But we [Christopher] digress…)
Then we get all techie…and talk about digital rights management, software keycodes, and boundaries like that. Then…we talk not only about boundaries we are comfortable breaking, but we also share our favorite trespassing stories (where you learn that Shawn was a good boy in that regard, and Christopher really was a little shit-monkey! Like a bonafide bolt-cutter trespasser…)
Find out what we feel is the worst breach of a boundary, and then find out what boundary we would eradicate from the world if we had the power. (Another bit leaning more toward the philosophical, rather than some stupid, physical thing in the world.)
But let’s pretend we’re in Colorado and totally toasty and talking about space and time…which is funny, ’cause even if a life like this were legal, neither Christopher or Shawn would partake in the herb…even though we are all for legalization.
Anyway…assuming we colonize other planets, how will boundaries factor in to human development in space?
And then we close it out with this question: as we move forward as a species, do you think boundaries will become more or less important…or the same as it ever was? (Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…)
ANYWAY…feel free to break down that boundary of the Internet and have your say in the comments. And, as always, thanks for taking time out of all you could have done with this hour of your life and listening to us instead of myriad other things. We really do appreciate it.
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Trespassing… On another post I may have mentioned my mistaken memories of walking into houses in my neighborhood. For years I thought I had trespassed in all my neighbors’ houses, and done it many times. When I “trespassed,” I was always filled with dread and fear, but it was a compulsion. I just HAD to open the back doors and walk through, and quickly exit. These incidences were so vivid and palpable in their realism that they were indistinguishable from actual awake events. I was so embarrassed that I kept it a secret. I was in my 20s before I realized the coincidences of nobody being home ever, and the doors always being unlocked meant I dreamed all of it.
Like Shawn, I’m not at all touchy-feely. The bathroom is always single occupancy only, with a buffer in between occupancies. 🙂 But I’ll talk about anything. Which reminds me… UPDATE: Next month I go for my second colonoscopy. The first one was literally so interesting they decided to go deeper and for longer. 🙂
It is strange, the things the mind can make real. I sometimes wonder how much of my childhood really happened the way I remember it. There are things I KNOW happened, but then there are all those conglomerations of time when I wonder, “Is that wholly accurate, or was that action imprinted over that other action?” Nothing to the extent of truly believing I wandered through empty houses, but…some strange things like that.