Episode 101 is coming out as a celebration of my little girl becoming a not so little girl anymore. We have done the parental thing: we've blinked our eyes and this little human that was seriously just taking her first steps and just saying her first word is now turning 13 years old. 

How in the world does this happen? I don't even personally know Doc Brown, so how would I have borrowed his Delorean and accelerated it to 88 to get to where we are now?!

So, the cliche is true. They all may be true: time flies. Your kids get older so quickly. Who are these wives and why are all of their tales so spot on?! 

This is a shorter than normal episode as I tell a little bit about how things were for me as a teenager as I celebrate the milestone birthday of my "baby girl". 

You can listen to this conversation by finding the Daddy Unscripted podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, etc).

As I say in each episode: for anyone who may need help during any difficult times: the National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800) 273-8255. Also, I have a Google Voice Number for ANY of you to use: (872) 444-6784. Leave me a message there and I will get in touch with you… or you can even just use that as a safe place to vent or whatever it may be.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Instagram and Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey’s McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

Special Outro music on this episode, "Love Train" was performed by multiple artists as part of a special performance to benefit Turnaround Arts http://turnaroundarts.kennedy-center.org and Playing For Change at http://playingforchange.com.

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to daddyunscripted@gmail.com and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

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Episode 100 of the podcast is here! Appropriately so, it's me talking about some corners I have turned in my life recently and my hope to inspire YOU to be able to do the same. This may need to be categorized as a TimTalk (is that a thing? Can I ™ that, or WHAT?!). 

Quickly, I didn't acknowledge one time that this is my 100th episode. Shame on me for that. I will properly cheer on the next episode as we work on the second set of 100 episodes, eh?

As a human who happened to have been born as a white male in Southern California, I'm now pretty aware and cognizant of a lot of the 'things' that have been afforded to me. Privileges I've had. Which also entails my becoming more aware of the way I have taken any of these for granted, and/or looked the proverbial gift horse in the mouth at times. 

There are two major life changes that have occurred for me within the past few months. I dissect both of these fully in this episode. The first is my very cyclical and unpredictable return to one of the original passions of my life: writing. I wrote a book (that never went anywhere at all) when I was 12, almost 13. I spent an entire summer away from the beach and friends, holed up in my bedroom with a typewriter and very truly wrote a 200 - 300 page adventure book. I wish I could even remember the name of my main character, ala Indiana Jones. 

Over the next 6 years of my life, my writing would include song lyrics, poetry, short stories, a couple of novellas and two additional novels. I never made any attempts at publishing any of this... so don't get too excited.

Around the age of 20 or so, I would turn my stylings toward the world of screenplays for film. I wrote (and did numerous re-writes) two full-length features that went as far as getting registered with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). There's more to both of those stories, but we shall leave it there. 

Cut to: a few months ago, after having not really done any creative writing for 20 or so years, I got hired as the writer for a show that airs on Twitch twice weekly: CelebriTee Showdown, a golf competition show between 2 celebrities airing on the Twitch Sports channel.

This is major. I mean, in the scheme of the writing world, it may not be. I'm not writing for 'Atlanta' or 'This Is Us'. But this is so wildly unforeseen and such a fantastic new step for something previously extremely dormant, dare I say pretty much dead, in my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity and extremely hopeful for what may be next in this part of my life's journey.

Never Too Late To Live.

If you have something in your past that brought you joy, that brought you fulfillment... what is holding you back from tapping back into that? Especially if it brings good-ness to your heart, your spirit, your life? I encourage you to try and find the time and the ability to re-connect with whatever that may be for you; even if it is only time to read!  

The second thing I talk about is a big life change for my physical health. I have talked many times before about my place on the spectrum of autism. One of the really big challenges for me, from that, has always been food-related. From the time I was just a baby, though nobody knew what the reasoning was behind my needs (and my hatreds). A lot of that has always been heavily rooted in textures. 

Have you seen my Instragam specifically about my attempts to tackle this? Go check out @TimAteThat 

Not ironically, I was always a total string-bean as a kid. Even throughout and a little beyond high school. My very high level of activity paired with a pretty fantastic metabolism partnered to keep me around 115-125 lbs through my teen years. It continued in my 20s. I could (and would very often) eat at fast food joints and get multiple burgers or multiple burritos, what have you. Some of my friends were pretty fascinated by...

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Episode 99 features a glorious human being: Destini Ann. If you've seen her on Instagram or Twitter, you may recognize her more as ManifestDestini. If you're on TikTok, go find her as DestiniAnn. Oh, you're not on TikTok? Well, she's got over 1 million followers there now... so go see why so many other people love hearing from Destini! 

I'm thrilled that Destini is now the second guest of my newest series: "Who Tells Your Story?" She is so "on the verge" of blowing up even more right now that there isn't even a verge anymore. Verge? What verge?! This is why you'll hear me say that we should just lasso the comet ™ and enjoy soaking up Destini's insights. And that doesn't mean just on parenting, but on being better humans. 

Have you ever felt like you were talking with someone and in your mind, you could envision the two of you just constantly high-fiving each other after things you said? Well, I didn't ask Destini if her 'high five counter' had as high of a number as mine did after this. But, for me, talking with her felt just like when I'm devouring her content on social media. Smashing that Like button. Over and over and over again. (insert all of those cool old-school comic book sounds and graphics right here: Smash! Blammo! Wham! (That's just the sound 'Wham'... not Wham UK, like the band that brought us George Michael, mind you. (Wait.... how many parentheses deep am I in this thought right now? Let me close these up for you... )))

Where is the text for this podcast episode going right now? Well, let me tell you. This is kind of the silly energy I felt right after talking with Destini. And, it's easily back as I just finished editing the audio and am typing this right now. That is the level of contagious awesomeness this woman has inside of her and she is just sharing it with all of us in so many ways! 

Believe me: part of me considered just typing these words for this post: "This episode is amazing... listen and follow Destini everywhere." and just having that be it. I also seriously considered just typing her name a couple hundred times and having it just say Destini Ann, over and over. 

So, let me try to harness some of this energy and tell you more about our conversation you may be listening to right now. And if this post is distracting you: well, just stop multi-tasking. Listen, then read. Or vice versa. But, don't miss out on the podcast episode and Destini's words there! 

Destini and I, even in conversation after this was recorded, have quite a bit in common, it seems. And I feel fairly certain, we have not fully scratched the surface on that yet. However, let me just say: I know I'm not alone with that feeling. I think that is one of the reasons she resonates with so many people. She is so incredibly relatable. And wise. 

I just caught myself trying to perfectly break down and describe Destini for you, and I don't think I want to do that. I seriously just typed about 4 different sentences and deleted them all. I'm not sure if it's because I want you to hear her story and decide for yourself, or if it's because I don't feel like I am saying what I'm thinking perfectly... or even if it may be that I don't want to even try to put even the semblance of a label on Destini. 

It may be that last one. Because, even with how edifying and inspirational Destini is, I feel incredibly confident saying that she is still evolving. And, since life and time work how they do, not only will Destini evolve and change, but her two wonderful daughters will, too. So, I am here for the long haul. 

I am here to not only keep learning from her but to keep laughing with her, to keep mentally high-fiving her and smashing the heck out of every frick-fracking-fire-cracking Like button you put in front of me. But, also... I definitely moved out of 'just being a fan' as we talked. So as a supporter and someone who offers her my friendship: I...

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Episode 98 is my annual Father's Day episode. Last year was the first year I didn't post one of these. Fittingly, as we sat today (on Father's Day) and tried to remember what our family actually did to celebrate Father's Day last year: we did nothing. So, it works out that I didn't record or post my normal episode that year, either. 

I recorded this episode the day before Father's Day this time 'round... which means that I recorded it on Juneteenth. I talked in this episode about some of those goals that continue to drive me with doing this podcast. 

At the end of the episode, in my own way of paying attention to Juneteenth, I reminded you all that a great way to honor Black people is to shop Black-Owned Businesses. There are so many ways to find great lists and recommendations from people for how you can do that for what you may be looking for. 

As for me, I pointed y'all at just one place in particular for the time being: to hopefully future guest of the podcast, Mahogany Mommies. This is a small business run by a marvelous and genuine, single Black Mom who never fails to impress me with her sincerity and her drive. So, go check her out on Instagram @MahoganyMommies or go to her website at www.MahoganyMommies.com to show Joi some much-deserved love! Thanks, everyone, for doing that! 

You can listen to this conversation by finding the Daddy Unscripted podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, etc).

As I say in each episode: for anyone who may need help during any difficult times: the National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800) 273-8255. Also, I have a Google Voice Number for ANY of you to use: (872) 444-6784. Leave me a message there and I will get in touch with you... or you can even just use that as a safe place to vent or whatever it may be. 

You can follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveAlmy or even check out his website at www.adcpartners.com to see what his "day job" is.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to daddyunscripted@gmail.com and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

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Episode 97 is a bit of a rollercoaster episode with Dave Almy. A very honest and real conversation, that has a lot of laughs and an almost equal number of moments that cause to take great pause. This episode was recorded almost exactly 2 years ago. I continued to hold this for the right time and that time is now! It's finally ready to be out here for your consumption.

I'm gonna give a quick shout-out to previous guest of the podcast: Bruce Mendelsohn, for connecting Dave and me for this conversation. Thanks Bruce!

Dave, who lives in NorCal now, is from Boston and very early in the episode, he makes sure to check in on the usage of bad language on the podcast. I gave him the green flag (the green flag for the red "E" on this one) and I warned y'all early in the episode... so: if you read this first, be ready.

Dave comes from an interesting family dynamic, himself. His parents divorced when he was very young and his Dad married his stepmom in the years following. It's really good to hear about how great his stepmom was and what a wonderful woman and parent she has been in his life. And, yes, I understand that I say that as someone who didn't have step-parents and may be kind of influenced by the cliché of the evil step mom or dad.

With all of that said, Dave's description of his biological Mom is really something else. He talks about how massively entrepreneurial she is and of her constant reinvention of herself in the likely nevernding plight for constant mental stimulation. He admitted that this is definitely a trait that he got from his Mom.

The story of cancer taking Dave's Dad was extremely similar to the story of my own Father. It really hit home for me and this particular part of maybe his final visit with his Dad in the hospital, where he recalls his Dad saying to him in a moment of clarity:

"What was I doing chasing the almighty dollar when I should have been home with my family?"

Those are the last words that Dave's Father spoke to him before he died. Read them again. As Dave said a bit after quoting that to me: "...going away from that and reflecting on it as my kids were born; that's been the phrase that has... it's just burrowed into me..."

I really hope you all enjoy this episode, that you get a lot out of it, that you are inspired by it. I got all of that and more, myself.

You can listen to this conversation by finding the Daddy Unscripted podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, etc).

As I say in each episode: for anyone who may need help during any difficult times: the National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800) 273-8255. Also, I have a Google Voice Number for ANY of you to use: (872) 444-6784. Leave me a message there and I will get in touch with you... or you can even just use that as a safe place to vent or whatever it may be.

You can follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveAlmy or even check out his website at www.adcpartners.com to see what his "day job" is.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 5 of "We're Here Alone Together" (W.H.A.T.) features Jess Rosado: blogger, photographer, designer, mom and creative extraordinaire. You should find her @OddBirdOut on Instagram really quick. Go go go.

This is Episode 96 of the podcast. Jess and I have known each other since maybe 2005 or so, and we met via the world of Flickr. We talked a little about that early time, the social media platform we were on before the words "social media" were such a mainstay.

Jess talked about how much more difficult Christmas in 2020 was for her, in comparison with previous years. Some of that was based on the pandemic... but she also talked about her kids being teens now completely changes the landscape of gift giving and celebration.

We talked a bit about kids, allowances and chores. Being the youngest of 8 kids and growing up in the '70s and '80s, an "allowance" wasn't the same for me as it was for a lot of my friends. So, I was curious on Jess' take on it as a Mom of 2.

I told a story about trying to trick/bribe (call it what you will) my 8 yr old into allowing us to listen to Prince on the 8-minute drive to his school every day for a month and how he wouldn't give in. Someone please help me with this struggle (sic).

We bantered about expectations within the family relationship. I took a minor shot across the bow (sorry not sorry) toward the idea that a Father posting how he is "watching his kids while the Mom gets some 'me time' of her own" and people go out of their way to comment and tell the Dad what a great Dad he is being and how awesome that is. Don't do this.

This wound up in us spending quite some time talking about homeschooling. Jess was homeschooled, herself, some time ago and obviously this has become a way more significant option with the pandemic. So, we really went through how that has changed a lot over the years and how it set Jess up for life and how she is handling it with her teens.

How many of you with kids feel like they are way ahead of you in their understanding of technology? Yeah, we talked about that too. How timely this current world situation has been for just how tech-savvy younger people are. I have said this multiple times: if Covid had hit when previous generations were kids, I feel fairly comfortable saying that almost none of this schooling would have been possible. I know that a lot of people like to call the last school year a "lost year"... heck, Time magazine just had that as their cover story. I, for one, feel like that is a Bolshevik statement (can you say 'click bait'?) and a pretty harsh slap to the face of educators around the world, as well as to a lot of kids.

I don't say that without an understanding and cushion statement that gets that a lot of kids didn't thrive; a lot of parents didn't do well. I know that everyone doesn't have great abilities to work through it (whether that is due to the infrastructure of wifi capabilities, or hardware issues, etc).

As I say in each episode: for anyone who may need help during any difficult times: the National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800) 273-8255. Also, I have a Google Voice Number for ANY of you to use: (872) 444-6784. Leave me a message there and I will get in touch with you... or you can even just use that as a safe place to vent or whatever it may be. 

You can listen to this conversation by finding the Daddy Unscripted podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, etc).

Find and follow Jess and Odd Bird Out at the website for the blog at www.OddBirdOut.com

Find and follow Jess on her Instagram at @OddBirdOut

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is...

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Episode 95 features Icelandic visual artist Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir. Is there such a thing as "admiration at first sight" that is similar in its nature to the whole "love at first sight" thing? I have to assume there is... and that is what my relationship with Rebekka is rooted in. I'm excited that she becomes the first guest of my newest series: "Who Tells Your Story?"

This is the second half of our long conversation. Did you listen to the 1st half? If you didn't... seriously, you need to go do that now. Even though this is kind of like my The Godfather I and The Godfather II, as good as this 2nd part is, you can't really take it in perfectly without taking in the 1st half. So, if you haven't done that, go do that now. Come back. This will still be here. 

Okay, now that we're all on the same page and ready for part 2, let's move ahead as one. 

"I actually spent one night in the hospital on suicide watch..." So, less than one minute into the 2nd half and we are really starting at a high level here because of where part 1 left off. Now you get why I said all of that just before, right? Right. 

A very good point to not miss out on here is that this 24-hour "lockdown" was brought about because of Rebekka's ability to be very honest and humble with a trusted friend about the place her mind was at right then. And that friend was caring and smart about the information given to them. These are key components and I am so relieved and happy and proud of Rebekka for setting that into motion so that (and I don't say this lightly, as dramatic as it may sound) she is even still alive to have had this conversation with me. 

With that said, Rebekka does say this was such a low point for her and that she felt "so pathetic" about it all. Totally understandable or acceptable as a later thought to what took place. But, you know what: I didn't ask her this, but I'm pretty sure she would say that 100 out of 100 times, she would take those feelings for the benefit of being alive today. I think that's a pretty fair assumption. 

Rebekka retells how she took the painful and necessary steps to finally fully uncover what was really going on with her longtime boyfriend and the relationship he had fully created 'on the side'. She found what she had been expecting to and describes her sons being so glad to see her "reclaim her self-worth and her self-respect."

The day she moved out of that relationship was a crazy adventure including a brokedown car being towed by her parents' car. "I lost my income and I lost my home and I lost my car. But, what I had was my kids and my parents and... obviously friends -- " Sometimes, it's not easy to see how much we have. It's easy to say that, of course. But, really. I mean that for myself, as well. 

"That was obviously the biggest and most shocking and terrible thing that happened during that time..." This seems like a very apt description of Rebekka telling about how her sons' biological father took his own life in December of 2020. 

Rebekka walks us through how she met her kids' Dad and the story of their dating relationship. "I will say that I never planned on having kids... at any point. I'd never even thought about it." The relationship and love that Rebekka and her sons have for each other goes to show how life sometimes has other ideas for us than what we think is right for ourselves. 

When he fell in love with someone else and Rebekka had to move back into her parents' home. "It was just the most dreadfully depressing thing that you can imagine. There was no social media. I had not been in contact with any friends, because I didn't really have any friends before dating this guy. So I was completely isolated, back at home with my parents, with these two little kids..."

She talks about how things got extremely unpleasant between her and her sons' Dad (who married the woman he had...

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Episode 94 features Icelandic visual artist Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir. Is there such a thing as "admiration at first sight" that is similar in its nature to the whole "love at first sight" thing? I have to assume there is... and that is what my relationship with Rebekka is rooted in. I'm excited that she becomes the first guest of my newest series: "Who Tells Your Story?"

The year was 2005. I was dating my now wife. I was working at my old job that had me traveling around the world... quite a lot. I wish I could, but I can't recall what originally brought me to search up some type of photograph and led my internet search into a website called Flickr. To give perspective, this is 4 years before Instagram. Facebook was only available to college students at this time. Nobody was using the words "social media" in a meaningful way yet. 

As I wandered around photos on Flickr, something caught my eye and lassoed my imagination. It was what seemed to be a long exposure shot (one of a few she posted around that time) that made it look like there were two of her laying down. 

"... I don't even remember how I got the idea of tossing up this apple and catching it in midair..." That was how Rebekka described this photograph that ended up being one of the handful of catalysts for her photography getting noticed far and wide. 

When we talked about the older photos from her Flickr page, Rebekka talked about how exciting that time was for her. She said that she was taking photos every day and experimenting and having so much fun with this new art form for her. 

I reminded Rebekka about how I paid homage to her once or twice in my 365 project on Flickr. Here is an example of that from one of her popular multiplicity, or clone, images. 

"Iceland was basically in the 'Dark Ages' until around World War II, basically..." Rebekka really dug deep for her memories of family members in her past beyond her own parents. She briefly talked about how rough life would have been for her grandparents in old-world Iceland. I got a little schooling in some of the history of Iceland that I had totally not been aware of previously. 

"My Mom is just really bad-ass." What Rebekka shared about her Mom absolutely falls in line with that sentence. 

Rebekka touched a little bit on what the effect can be on a child when they are told "you are special," when it comes to scholastics and things of that nature. 

"As soon as I realized what I had when I was in Florida" as opposed to her life when she returned to Iceland as a pre-teen, gave Rebekka a significant shock to her psyche and moved her into depression at a young age. She really retreated during those school days.

Having a sketchbook around her constantly and honing her craft of drawing is what Rebekka will point at having saved her from becoming the outcast that may have been made fun of by others. She says she may still have been considered "the weirdo", her work with art elevated her status a bit and gained some respect from her peers. She thinks it is what kept her going through times of being shy and miserable while in school. "I would sometimes go an entire day without opening my mouth". 

Rebekka talks about seeing a documentary on women with autism. The documentary, which translated into English is "Seeing The Unseen", can be seen in full on Vimeo and you can connect with them on Twitter @unseenautism

As Rebekka watched and listened to the women in the film discuss their lives, things really started to click into place for her. She remembered the many times she'd been asked: "Why can't you just be normal?" and the answer was and is: "Because I'm not. I'm just not."

This all struck a tremendous chord with me. There was an unavoidable resounding bell ringing in my head the first time we started looking at things regarding autism and early...

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