Storytime with GamerDude

This week's "Best of" episode includes stories from early in Season 1 that GamerDude has re-edited and re-mastered to clean up some of the "noise interference" some of the Season 1 episodes had.  GamerDude talks about visiting his aunt when he was 11 years old, and driving a car for the first time.  He also talks about his grandfathers and shares the very few memories he has about them. He talks a...

This week, GamerDude's stories only go back to 2020, and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He wants to preserve the stories of how life was like just as COVID was becoming a reality in our world, and how it changed life so drastically.  He remembers first reading about COVID and the impact it was having throughout the world. He talks about how and why he decided to shop for face masks in ear...

Long-time listeners know that GamerDude is not a fan of winter. But when he was a kid, it was a different story. He used to love to play in the snow, mostly because his mom left him no choice; he HAD to go out and play in the snow. But getting ready to go outside was always a process. There was no going outside without the full complement of winter clothes. It started with long underwear, with tha...

Long-time listeners know about the variety of jobs GamerDude had over the years, and how he "tried on" different things to see how they'd fit.  This week, GamerDude talks about how those early jobs eventually led to his decision to apply to law school.  He talks about how a letter he wrote to his store manager when he was 19, when his store manager told him he should be a "Philadelphia lawyer," to...

This week, GamerDude passes on some more tips that he's found helpful over the course of his life.  He talks about the importance of being open to new ideas, and being open to trying new things. He talks about time, and how our views of things, and events, change over time.  He talks about the value of making good memories, the kinds that won't fade over time, and that will stay with you for years...

With the winter months upon us, and people hunkering down against the cold (and the pandemic), GamerDude started thinking about his favorite disaster movies, and why he enjoys them.  He talks about the different disaster movie tropes that are generally common to all disaster movies, from the huge, all-star casts, to the amazing special effects, to the destruction of landmarks, to the uncertainty o...

To start Season 5 of the podcast (and thanks for your years of support!), GamerDude talks about his decision to take early retirement.  No spoilers in this description, but after many years in the "professional world," GamerDude had the opportunity to take early retirement at the end of 2021.  He talks about his thought process in deciding to do so, and his discussions with Mrs. GamerDude about wh...

As 2021 and Season 4 of the podcast draw to a close, GamerDude talks about that week between Christmas and New Years, when no one really wants to be working, and where nothing ever really seems to get done. He also talks about the post-Christmas shopping he did with his dad after Christmas, and remembers game night on New Year's Eve with his mom. GamerDude also talks about some of the superstition...

When GamerDude was a kid, having "Christams spirit" was easy. You watched the Christmas specials on TV (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown), you went shopping at the mall, and you finished up all your school projects before winter break.  GamerDude talks about how it's more difficult these days to have the "Christmas spirit" we knew as kids, or even the spirit we knew before COVID. But, this week, he...

Christmas time has always been the time when kids anxiously awaited Santa's arrival and the delivery of their cool holiday goodies, and it was no different when GamerDude was a kid.  This week, he talks about the toys and games he received that were not the traditional board games.  He talks about how, when he was growing up, there were defininte "boy toys" and "girl toys," and how those toys main...

When GamerDude was a kid, the first couple of weeks after Thanksgiving were a lead-up to Christmas. It was the time when the Christmas shopping started, when the decorating began, and when the Christmas cards were written. This week, GamerDude talks about what that time was like, and how his dad had a hard-and-fast December 1 line-in-the-sand for Christmas decorations - no decorations before Decem...

This week's episode is chock full of leftovers and deleted scenes from previous episodes.  These week, GamerDude has pulled out a variety of stories, some short and some long, on many different topics. He talks about VCRs and how he was always the manual reader for programming them. He takes about cooking on a griddle, and barbecuing on a grill. He has stories about "flour sack clothes," and how h...

In his fourth Thanksgiving episode, GamerDude expresses his gratitude that he's had the opportunity to share four years of stories with you. He mentions some of the Thanksgiving recipes he's shared for sweet potatoes and stuffing, and talks about some of the family traditions from his childhood, like his grandmother's "kids table."  He talks about the family discussions about who's traveling where...

GamerDude has talked about lots of things from his childhood, from grade school to shopping malls. This week, he focuses on trying to paint a picture of what growing up in the 1970s was like, and how it was so different from the world today.  He talks about McDonalds, and how it was everywhere when he was a kid, but very different from the fast food place we know today.  He talks about how, until...

Food is one of many of GamerDude's favorite topics, and this week's food talk is about the pre-packaged and processed foods that we're not supposed to eat because they're not "good for you," like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  GamerDude talks about some of the pre-packaged foods that people love that are not on his list of "Favorite Things To Eat."  He talks about how Hidden Valley Ranch, and Pillsbu...

In another "very special episode of StoryTime," GamerDude talks about his dad's death 15 years ago. He talks about the last few months of his dad's life, and how "the fixer" in GamerDude drove him to try and "fix" the situation. He talks about how his parents had been relying on Christian Science for treatment, and how - even though he was brought up in the religion, and acknowledged and respected...

GamerDude talks about how pleased and grateful he is about completing 200 episodes of Storytime. He talks about why he started doing Storytime - to preserve the stories of what life was like when he was growing up so that his friends and his family could one day go back and hear them.  He talks about how he feels that he squandered the opportunity to get stories from his parents, and his grandpare...

GamerDude has noticed that "dating" these days is not like it used to be. After seeing, reading and hearing about the horror stories of dating in today's world, GamerDude wanted to talk about what dating used to be like, what the purpose of dating used to be, and why getting back to old-fashioned dating would be a good thing. GamerDude has noticed that, for a lot of people these days, the primary...

Because he's been around for a while, GamerDude has seen a lot of changes in the world, and a lot of inventions, products, and things that have come and gone. This week, he talks about some of the supposedly wonderful products and inventions in his life that turned out to be anything but. He talks about how the plastic bag industry created the supposed need and demand for their product that result...

This week, GamerDude is passing on more of the little observations, knowledge, and life advice he's accumulated after all of his trips around the sun.  He talks about how life is unpredictable and no matter how many plans you make, and how good those plans may be, life will throw changes at you that disrupt your carefully charted course.  He talks about how it is important to live your life for yo...

Long time listeners know that GamerDude is a long-suffering Jets fan, but that's not why his love for the NFL has faded over the years. This week, he talks about the problems he sees with the NFL, from the greed of the owners to the poor treatment of the retired players. He talks about the over-saturation of the market, with football on TV at least three, and sometime four, days a week. He talks a...

Long time listeners know that GamerDude has loved music all of his life. This week, he talks about how that love for music led him to his first live concert when he was kid, when he and his dad went to see Maynard Ferguson perform.  GamerDude talks about the live jazz band concerts he went to in high school, including Stan Getz and Bill Watross. GamerDude also talks about some of the other perform...

In another "Best of Storytime" episode, GamerDude has compiled some of his favorite stories about words, language, and stories.  He talks about how he rarely curses, and some of the "curse" words he was never allowed to say as a kid. He explains his distate for the mangling of the language by mispronouncing or misusing words like "niche" and "regardless." He talks about two of his favorite words:...

GamerDude's list of TV tropes continues this week, with more over-used plot devices that can make good shows bad, and bad shows horrid.  He talks about the trope of putting the main character in a life threatening situation for the sake of "fake drama," when we all know that Richard Castle is not going to die; it's his show!  He also talks about how all of the brake lines in television cars back i...

"Back to school" time always takes GamerDude back to his school days, and specifically, to when he left home for the first time to attend college. He talks about how his leaving for school was very different from the way it's depicted on TV or in the movies, and very different from the way it is these days.  He talks about how the cost of college has changed, and how he did what he could in school...