Reads and Weeds

Oh wow! There was drama on the school snow hill and this kid got to the bottom of it. I want to read more stories written by kids. Please send me more! This gem really got me. So fun! Happy last day of February! I don't know who needs to hear this, but stop taking yourself so seriously.

Before there were reality shows where gay friends were dramatically overwrought, there was Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray. We think he might have invented the genre. Thanks to Moon Abbott for the recommendation and to Paul and Moon Abbott for being the first parent/child combo team on Reads and Weeds. If you enjoy a witty 19th century upper class comedy tinged with a super dark lesson in the perils of...

It was high time for me to catch up with my former improv class buddy Kate Britt. She enthusiastically recommended Fifth Business, the first in the Deptford Trilogy. And she knows stuff because she is a LIBRARIAN. I didn't realize how bad I had been missing smart witty IN PERSON conversation during these cold ass wintery lingering pandemic days and it was just so much fun. The 't nana' I refer to...

It was a 'show must go on' day, and thanks to the lovely recommendation from and company of Cynthia Shelby Lane, it was fun and engaging. If you are looking for a very easy to read and reference guide on how cannabis is being used to treat many well known conditions from insomnia to epilepsy to ptsd, this is the book. If you are looking to start exploring the plant medicine of cannabis for the fir...

We are smack in between Thanksgiving and Christmas and nothing captures that feeling for me quite like Mad Magazine. I had missed it so! Since I was teeny, I felt like they got me. They 'got' the 'funny'. I knew it before I even understood the word 'satire'. I was so excited to find this special edition in a grocery store and realize the humor holds up so well to this day. Still so smart and darin...

I have loved this book for so long. Every few years when I re read it, it is usually because I am hoping it will inspire me. It always does. I feel like Stephen King is hanging out with me telling life stories and talking shop. It is, of course, TELEPATHY! (If you know you know.) I hadn't read lots of his work but that doesn't matter. He is the teacher that wants you to use your tools, write what...

I bet some of you saw that title and had a gut reaction to the idea of reading affirmations. Maybe you have rewired your brain and changed your life for the better. Maybe you think they are absolute bullshit. Maybe you feel like using affirmations is just lying to yourself. I'm ALL FOR IT. One day while taping some dance videos for World Dance Workout with Sandy and Nikki, we were having major tec...

Shelly hangs with Myc again to dive into the mind of William Leonard Pickard. Myc calls him an ENIGMA-defined as 'a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand'. I would have to agree. In the middle of reading this epic memoir that is at times magical realism and often an historical reference, I heard him speak at the inaugural Enthoefest. He was the most present soft...

Shelly hangs with Roberta King to talk about Budding Prospects-A Pastoral-by T.C. Boyle. HOLY COW if you have been in the cannabis industry for awhile or ever worked at a grow you have to read this. It is too funny and real. Of course it starts with a charismatic money guy showing up at his friends place talking about big money to be made-And ends with......a very crowded and hot apartment. HA! HA...

While listening to the audio version of this magical book which is set on a farm in Mexico during the pandemic 100 years ago, I was working on a farm in Michigan and living through a pandemic in 2021. (AND, AND it originally came out in 2015 but it SEEMS like she MUST HAVE KNOWN that another pandemic was coming, you know.) Anyway I highly recommend experiencing it that way if you can. Medicate and...

We love the podcast 'My Favorite Murder' with Karen and Georgia. Somehow two friends talking about true crime and being their daring authentic selves has inspired a giant 'Murderino' community that is supportive, honest, humble, bold, and knows when it needs therapy and we are HERE FOR IT. We love this book and want you to read it. Shelly and Angie(Bone Jackies) are joined by Paul Gordon(who recom...

Wow y'all. We just got to hang out with music biographer Jake Brown and Freddy Powers' widow Catherine Powers to talk about 'Spree of '83-The Life and Times of Freddy Powers.' I had never known about Freddy before and felt like I was riding on a tour bus with a country music legend and he was cracking me up. His story is sometimes in his own words, sometimes in Merle's, or Willie's, or Catherine's...

Shelly and Myc O Phile are so so excited to talk about his Top 5 Favorite Psychedelic and Spirituality books. It was a real tough choice but if you have been wondering where to start learning on this subject, these should keep you busy for AWHILE. What is manna from heaven? Do you know the Stoned Ape theory? What are those little mushroom things in cave paintings? What is ergotism? What really hap...

Shelly sits down with JRR Tokkin to talk about his debut novel, The Adventures of the Great Neblinski, a New and Improved Hope. Based on characters he cultivated with friends playing D&D decades ago, this fantasy follows the journey of a G'nome that is over 1000 years old who smokes weed and has monster friends and casts spells and it is all kinds of fun. There is a bird on Tokkin's shoulder the w...

Shelly hangs with Tawna Dabney-long time friend, kid's dance and preschool teacher, and goshdarn ray of light. In the before times, she led a regular kid's story time at Black Rail Coffee in Hoboken and misses the kiddos terribly. She reads 'Hey Lil One' and 'Superheros are Everywhere!' We are super silly and it has nothing to do with weed. We have been squealy theater geeks for EVAH. Now I wanna...

Happy Hash Bash 2021. Shelly is with Jamie Lowell(and puppies Sherman and Zeta) to discuss Graham Hancock's America Before. What happens to our brains when we imagine that the history of our species might be way different than we have been believing for so long. I know it's a lot. Smoke some weed and open your mind. Any maybe get some notebooks and a book of maps. We had a great food spread! Paul...

This is the worldwide live debut reading of an original play by our regular guest Nathan Corliss! Yes something great coming out of quarantine. He assembled an amazing cast and one of them couldn't make it so I got to read along too. CAST: Sarah-Vicki Morgan Carol-Shelly Smith James-Will Jones III April-Abby Rudnicki Bobby-Robby Griswold It's so good. It's funny. It's current. It's sad. It's real....

Shelly is back with Angie Mae! We missed each other. This was recorded on Biden's inauguration day and we needed to talk about ANYTHING else. Happy to report no one has stormed the castle since then. Let's call it a win. If you've ever wanted the basics of Buddhism and have been intimidated by giant texts, this is your start. If you are looking for simple habits to calm your ass down during these...

Welp! we just couldn't stop talking about the Mama's Baby, Daddy's Murder. I SO WANT IT to be a TV Series shot in Detroit. It would be so damn fun. Get on this bandwagon with me so Heather Jay can sell a 5 season show. SHORTY! SHORTY! SHORTY! www.shortybooks.com

Woo hoo! Shelly and Claire are back with author Heather Jay Harris(see Episode 47)to discuss Mama's Baby, Daddy's Murder, the second book in her series. I AM LOVING THESE. Well thought out human characters, comedy, a crime to solve, a huge twist, a baby on the way, and it is all based in Detroit. Do yourself a favor right now and go to www.shortybooks.com and buy the first two ebooks and tear thro...

On Jan 2, 2020 Shelly and Paul Gordon(mushroom farmer)took a field trip to the magical Lynx Run Wilderness Retreat in Big Rapids Michigan. We got stuck in the driveway immediately but it was worth it because the nerding out on all things mushrooms was non stop. Our lovely host, artist/forager Rob Vanderzee shoved the car out with his jeep so we could get right to a lovely walk in the forest and a...

Shelly sits down with arguably the biggest 'lamb'(lamb=Mariah fan) of all time, Ghia Parow, to discuss The Meaning of Mariah Carey. It is HER story told HER way. There is drama and overcoming and lots of straight HUSTLE. It is Holiday/Election season 2020, so maybe the weirdest December of all time, but 'All I Want for Christmas is You' is #1 for the 26th December in a row. RESPECT! Shelly learns...

Shelly sits down with former radio pro Paul Gordon to discuss his favorite book 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams. They ponder the most likely eternal constant of the universe, the importance of silliness, prototype robots, and the high probability of the improbable. Stage 5 Clinger was smoked. Highly recommend! Great snacks! #junksmack!(You've all felt it.) Check out the dop...

In 1983, Francine Pascal unleashed one of the most ruthless villains in modern literature, Jessica Wakefield-high school student, hot twin sister to Elizabeth and total narcissistic sociopath. In this episode, Shelly is joined by Kaeli and Shay to discuss 'Double Love' the first(of 181 total!) book in the Sweet Valley High Series where Jessica makes her debut. We try to smoke a whole 'dipstick' wh...

In the middle of a global pandemic(maybe) and full on croptober weed farm harvest(absolutely), Shelly is joined by 3 super sweet comedians, John F. O Donnell-long time friend and former reporter for satirical news show Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp and current host of the 'Take Your Pills Psychopath' podcast, Mike Bobbitt and Alex Bozinovic(AKA Lil' Dickie Ricketts and Thomas Luge, hosts of T.R.U...