Driven To Drink

Hi. I got to talk with Kivan Bay (@kivabay on Twitter), and Kivan is awesome.  He really, truly is.  Perhaps you know him, and you're like, "Oh, shit!  I love him!"  Yep.  Me too.  Or maybe you don't, but if you listen, you will.  And then you'll be like, "Oh, shit!  I love him!"  I promise. We talk about quite a bit, ranging from homelessness to gaming, transness to religiosity, theory and praxis...such a soulful talk. We also talk about several artists to whom I want to give credit and encourage you to support: Mikaela (@guysmiley22), Caelyn (@inurashii), and Maddy (@MIDImyers). Thank yinz for hanging and being all around lovely humans. Love, G

Listening back to myself from a year ago, and it struck me that, "Wow.  That is NOT...where I am right now." In the upcoming weeks, you'll meet Kivan Bay (...or, if you know Kivan Bay, you'll get to hear him on this here podcast.  Really freaking cool, huh?!...) and also reacquaint with Mark, and these conversations will truly illuminate and encapsulate what a difference THIS year makes. Thank you for being here for and with me.  I love yinz.  

New from D2D, "Jazz Is a Four Letter Word." Wherein we meet an amazing glass artist, http://www.guerreroglass.com/about/ listen to the Nicholas Payton trio, consume and react to incredible (INCREDIBLE) Black art, https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/662901862/nicholas-payton-trio-tiny-desk-concert and give thanks for all of the things for which we should give thanks. For me, today, among other things including intoxicants and my wife (not in that order), that's you. So thanks. Have a listen. -G  

Really? The title says just about "it all." If you happen to not be either of those things, but generally dig my vibe, this is also for you.  I promise. I can't imagine you're here unless you want to be here at this point.  So, let's hang. Love yinz. -G

I'd like to talk just a little more about my experiences moving through the days, and now weeks, emanating out like resonant ripples in a pond since the Tree of Life tragedy. Will you hang with me? I'd appreciate that. Know, if you happen to not know me but find some interest in listening, that my values are inclusive, humane, intersectional, service-oriented, anti-racist, and power-dynamic dependent; and my politics tack strongly leftward. Cool? Cool. -G

I would love if you would hang with me for an hour.   We're over here just trying to fill buckets with support and love and healing art.   Keep in mind, my perspective is distinctly left of actual center.   Love yinz.   -G        

I'm extra af.   It's just a fact.   And my wife is my everything.   She's funny af and checks me every dag-nabbit time I need checked.   I appreciate the opportunity to plant some love and laughs in your ear.  Thanks for being with me.  And us.   I love yinz.   -G  

It is, in fact, next week.   (This will make sense after you've listened to the podcast.  A tease?  Why yes, it is.)   Snippets:   Pennsylvania PACs and dogwhistles.   Taxes and unfunded liabilities.   GOP...the party of fk you.   I'm done dragging conscientious non voters and third party voters.  But if you're inclined to vote...vote.   Call me commie...I suppose.   If I only think the U.S. as a two party system requiring balance for optimization, it behooves me to flip the congress, senate, and quite a few state governorships and legislatures...if ONLY for the sake of balance.   Sound intriguing?   Please listen. Love yinz.   G  

Kavanaugh. Midterms. Values. Snippets from today's, and next week's, podcasts. I support things that benefit 100% of humans.  This means that some of us, including me, need to sacrifice some for the benefit of all.  The historically powerful must sacrifice more than the historically disenfranchised.  Balance.  Reparation. Reconciliation.  Truth. All admirable prophets and major spiritual texts lean social justice. There is no such thing as an "unnatural" human. Just because things exist less frequently than other things, does not make the less frequent thing unnatural.  Or bad.  Or wrong.  But that's what we do.  Demand and legislate assimilation to the mean, or majority, or power class. Love yinz.   -G  

You're about to hear me, Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers, conversations with my cats, and the whitest cover of "Brick House" ever recorded in the wild. That's right, read it again if you desire.   And of course, listen.   I'm not entirely sure if there will be a D2D next week.   Everything has been triggering this past week.  Like, everything.  And I'm not sure I want to put my voice out in the world with the state of my emotions rn.  We'll see.  If I don't, I'll repost an old old episode that I love.  Cool?  Cool. Love yinz.

I traveled most of my early life with horrible dental hygiene, multiple cavities, and somehow...zero dental anxiety. That all changed in 2000, very near my 26th birthday. This...is that story. And also, fun with cats and a two man band named "America." Yippie Kai Yay em effers. Yippie Kai Yay. Also, love yinz. -G  

Today we have the first pour of Southern Tier Pumking, vintage 2018. TL;DL (too long didn't listen) - It's incredible. We also have a tiny desk listening party with Dawn. TL;DL - It's also incredible. And just in case this introduction paragraph, which I've really kept quite succinct, is TL;DR, well...just listen! Love yinz. -G  

For real, if you love soulful, skillful, passionate, honest, rhythmic, unapologetically Black music, you should check out Maimouna Youssef.   And you should check her out, as "Mumu Fresh," along with Blackthought from the LRC, on this Tiny Desk Concert.   Why not check her out along with me, here...with bonuses from the brain of Driven 2 Drink.  Then find the video and watch it.   I cry every time.  Tears of universal, human, goddamit-I'm-alive joy.   -G  

What does TDLP mean? Tiny Desk Listening Party. Every now and again we need to disconnect from the world around us and reconnect with incredible art. That's what TDLP is. We listen to wonderful Tiny Desk concerts...yes, the NPR ones.  And we talk about them.  Well, I do.  And you listen.  I encourage you to argue with me as you listen.  And send tweets and whatnot.  But just please don't troll.  That's shitty.  We don't need to be shitty to one another. Thanks. G  

This podcast is for anyone endeavoring to travel a path of human service, anyone attempting to shift away from a helping dynamic in which the power dynamic necessitates a savior and a person or community needing to be saved, anyone who wishes to travel with an inebriated truth-seeker with back spasms, anyone who finds the sound of snoring dogs soothing and amusing. This podcast is for you. Hang, will you? I love having you here. -G  

The conversation I want to have now and forging into the future relates to the endeavors of intentional (social, cultural, economic, community) balance, intersectional representative inclusion, and a paradigm shift from "helping" toward "service" that challenges the savior complex that so often occurs in imbalanced, nefariously valued relationships. WTF are you talking about, Greg? I know, it's where my brain is tonight.  But just listen, I promise this is illuminated with greater accessibility, wit, and Gregness. Gregness is a good thing, I promise. Unless for you, it isn't, and then...well, you can always turn me off! But hang out, will ya? Love yinz.   -G  

I appreciate you being with me, and I hope you will remain here.  In the upcoming weeks we will discuss the idea of intentional balance and its three other quandrants (i.e. unintentional balance, intentional imbalance, and unintentional imbalance).  Also, how "service" and "help" relate and differ. What drives you to drink? And by "drink," I mean...engage in endeavors or substances that alleviate suffering beyond the baseline endeavors of your brain. Please hang.  And engage. I'm truly interested. Love yinz. -G  

This is your brain on Gregory, the A'ight. That is my Twitter name. The handle is @driven2drink. But it's also all me. That's Gregory Del Duca. It's not entirely safe to be anything but entirely anonymous anymore, but that's not me. So...hang with me.  And us.  Cool? Love yinz. G  

I got new speakers. I fucked up several times. A few grenades in the perpetual eight grenade cascade of existential crisis blew up in my face. I take refuge in music.  And relationship.  And enhancement of the neurochemicals, transmitters, and receptors my brain does not do  so well on its own. I appreciate you being here. Love yinz. -G  

Do you know what the 10 most expensive liquids are, if you were to purchase them per gallon? Have you contemplated your tendencies to interact in bad faith, particularly if you're projecting, deflecting, or otherwise unwilling to explore the being in the mirror? Will you take a little journey with me as we discuss these things, with some levity thrown in for good measure? I appreciate you. -G