Composer Jessica Mays brings us into her internal and external worlds of observation and creative flow. Side quests include observing children as sages, seeking home in the body, trying not to try, and lots of plants and bird sounds. Super gratitude to Mays for a great convo, for opening up about her adult development of synesthesia, and of course for writing such sweet and quirky TPQ theme music.

Go here for video: https://youtu.be/yWynDyqHkE0

Go here to soak up more Jessica Mays: https://jessmaysmusic.com/

Go here to learn more about synesthesia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi_0wqFmT4A

🎤🎧The Pants Quandary lives here: https://www.catherinebeeson.com/tpq and everywhere else you go to get podcasts.

👣🤓📬 Follow Beeson for more Nerd Content!
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Special thanks to Matthew Ward for creating the show art, to Jessica Mays https://jessmaysmusic.com for composing and mixing the theme music, to Susanna Klein https://www.practizma.com/, Sonya Stith Williams, and Jordan Gunn https://www.jordangunn.org/ for recording it, and to Tiffany Valvo https://www.tiffanyvalvo.com/ for being a creative tech wizard hype machine.

Town Justice and Mediator Russ DeFonce guides us through making judgements and finding agreement in rural smaller population communities where communication skills and positive relationships are vital. Side quests include reverence for the arts, teaching as a learning tool, and obviously the most important topic - cats.

Go here for video: https://youtu.be/Qe1diO_OMlk

🎤🎧The Pants Quandary lives here: https://www.catherinebeeson.com/tpq and everywhere else you go to get podcasts.

👣🤓📬 Follow Beeson for more Nerd Content!
Newsletter https://www.catherinebeeson.com/newsletter
Facebook https://facebook.com/catherine.beeson.58
Instagram https://instagram.com/iamcatherinebeeson
LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/catherinebeeson

Special thanks to Matthew Ward for creating the show art, to Jessica Mays https://jessmaysmusic.com for composing and mixing the theme music, to Susanna Klein https://www.practizma.com/, Sonya Stith Williams, and Jordan Gunn https://www.jordangunn.org/ for recording it, and to Tiffany Valvo https://www.tiffanyvalvo.com/ for being a creative tech wizard hype machine.

Author Dave Maass and Illustrator Patrick Lay walk us through collaboration, compromise, and commitment to staying the course through the lens of their work adapting Peter Kien and Viktor Ullmann’s suppressed 1943 opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis into their acclaimed 2024 graphic novel Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis. Side quests include some pretty solid and totally worthy idol worship of Dark Horse Comics’ Karen Berger, how finished is better than perfect even though there will always be what-ifs and could'ves, and how every interview should come with someone whipping out a viola.

Go here for video: https://youtu.be/nu9CMjwflEs

Go here to learn about Death Strikes: https://bit.ly/46MM41I

Go here to learn about Der Kaiser von Atlantis: https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/4123/the-emperor-of-atlantis

Go here to watch a clip from the Louisville Orchestra production featuring Dave and Patrick’s work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f81kGzl58Q

🎤🎧The Pants Quandary lives here: https://www.catherinebeeson.com/tpq and everywhere else you go to get podcasts.

👣🤓📬 Follow Beeson for more Nerd Content!
Newsletter https://www.catherinebeeson.com/newsletter
Facebook https://facebook.com/catherine.beeson.58
Instagram https://instagram.com/iamcatherinebeeson
LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/catherinebeeson

Special thanks to Matthew Ward for creating the show art, to Jessica Mays https://jessmaysmusic.com for composing and mixing the theme music, to Susanna Klein https://www.practizma.com/, Sonya Stith Williams, and Jordan Gunn https://www.jordangunn.org/ for recording it, and to Tiffany Valvo https://www.tiffanyvalvo.com/ for being a creative tech wizard hype machine.