Are you interested in angels, demons, spirits, ghosts, and monsters? Are you curious about the origin, talk, and influence upon history and on the present day? If so, sit back, relax, and welcome to Southern Demonology, the podcast that explores all of this and more.
How are y'all doing today? I'm JJ and welcome back to another infrequent episode of Southern Demonology. Uh I apologize that I have been absent and it's not because of any ill health, uh, thank the good lord, but it's been more of uh circumstances combined with, I guess, my own coping mechanisms. Um so my I'm one of the fortunate few that get to work from home. And I have been for over a month, and one of my retreats has always been in work. Um I I love what I do, I love my co-workers. Um I am very fortunate to have a job that A allows me to isolate from everyone else in the world.
Uh, but B, you know, allows me to solve really complex, interesting problems on a daily basis and leaves me, you know, intellectually um satiated each and every day, or most days I would say. So i yeah, uh in that regard, I I have essentially just thrown myself into my work and have done little else. I mean god of even though it's not required by any stretch of the imagination, I've probably have worked sixty to eighty hours a week. Uh I just can't turn it off.
Um, and that's a danger normally in my typical everyday life, but now that you're, you know, everyone should be staying home unless you're an essential worker, that has only worsened a good bit. And to make it even stranger, most of the other people on my team are the exact same way. Um so I am sad to say that I have actually conducted code reviews at 3 a.m. just because I happened to have been up and someone else happened to have been up as well, and we just decided to go ahead and get it out of the way rather than waiting till the morning to get this done.
So, yeah, that's the kind of loser that you're listening to right now. So it is what it is. But how are y'all coping? Are you an essential worker? Are you getting to stay at home? Uh have you know, has things come to a standstill, or are you busier than ever? I I would love to be able to to hear about your tells. Um, and actually, on that note, I have created a Discord server. I have yet to get around to creating, you know, code of conduct and all that kind of lovely stuff, but I don't want to sit on it anymore.
I've actually had this created for about a week and a half now, and uh just have not had the chance to actually create an episode or even post much online, and for that I apologize. I've just been wholly absorbed in trying to take my mind off from things. You know, I I am a gamer, I love playing video games, and I really haven't even done much of that, which is really sad to say. You know, um the game that I almost perpetually play is um Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation 2, which is a a team-based game that is all about, you know, Gundams and Xeon suits, and it's so much fun.
I'm uh pathetically horrible at the game, and it is a really tough game to play just in general, but uh I you know I barely have kept up with it. One of my favorite franchises in the world, uh, which is uh Persona, uh the Persona 5 Royal game dropped uh at the very end of March, and I've been playing some of that and really enjoyed it. In fact, what whatever they did, um i it has amped the game up considerably. But again, haven't even had time to play with that yet. Well at least not entirely too much.
But the reason why something I finally got a fire lit under my ass to produce an episode tonight Well, let me back up. Because yes, I have been throwing myself into my work. I have been attempting to, you know, divert my mind from all of the weirdness that's been going on. But the other thing was I really have been trying to focus and come up with a a great topic for this particular episode. And one of the things that occurred to me was, well, we're in the middle of a pandemic. Why not explore the idea of plague in the world of ancient and second temple Judaism?
And on one hand, that idea appealed to me because A, it kind of fits in very nicely with some of the topics that's been covered in just the past few episodes, but also it's highly relevant. But but at the same time you turn on the news and you're just constantly bombarded with news about this pandemic. And I have been so torn about the idea of do I add more into into that? Do do I, you know, contribute to this pure, you know, focus upon what's facing the world? Or do I do something just completely and utterly different? Um, there's actually a story that I have been wanting to tell.
And do I just create a random show about that? So I would actually love to hear your comments. Would you at all be interested to hearing about the idea of plague? Or would you like to hear a funny story that has zero to do with anything that I have ever talked about before? I'm going to leave that to y'all just to uh to decide. Because honestly, at this point, I became so paralyzed by this dilemma and I I'm not really one to ever get paralyzed like that. Um You know, I I'm a I'm I'm not gonna say that I'm decisive, but I always know what I want to do.
I I can't remember a time where I have been just bored. Now there have been times in which I didn't want to do something, I actively avoided it, but you know, a as as Heidegger would say, you know, your historicity, the you know, the experiences and everything that makes up your being is at once you know, it follows behind you, but at the same time also is flipped forward. It's that everything that, you know, makes you you is constantly evaluating whatever comes into your experiences. And so you automatically know is this for me, is this not for me?
It also describes why someone likes one thing and someone else absolutely abhors it. So and I I don't know if my sense of historicity is extremely strong or not, but you know, if when I encounter something, I instantly know, do I like this, do I not like this, or you know, I know that this is what I am going to do and what I'm not going to do. So to be in a situation where I was really in kind of a quandary. Should I talk about this or should I not? It it just kept me sitting on my hands. And I apologize.
Um, you know, I've gone through, I've looked at notifications, you know, I've been reading everyone's emails, I've been responding when I get them, and for that I thoroughly appreciate you. If you have reached out even to say hi, thank you, because it it means the world to me. And I try to respond to any personal emails um or messages as fast as I possibly can, just because I love hearing from people, and especially in this day and age, it's just great to be able to reach out and make new acquaintances and be able to chat and all that kind of good stuff.
And circling back to what I was talking about before, before I, you know, completely diverted my path as always. Um I have created this Discord server and I'm going to put the link on Southern Demonology.com and on um the SD Facebook page so everyone can who is interested can actually uh get to it and see what it's like. Uh and the purpose of this, you know, Discord is you know, usually gamer centric.
Um, you know, if you're playing multiplayer games and you want to be able to have voice chat without having to go through either the console or just you know some other mechanism, then it's great for being able to spin up servers, but it doesn't have to be for games, it can be for anything. Um, and I'm really hoping that we can build a sense of community because I know that some people are not on Facebook. I myself never use Facebook except for the Southern Demonology homepage and for the um uh the discussion group that's on there. But otherwise, yeah, I I don't touch it personally.
I haven't broadcasted anything about my life because A, I don't have enough hubris hubris to think that anyone really cares about what I'm doing. Um, but B, you know, I I do kind of prefer my privacy, which is always a good thing. Um But yeah, so you know, you can go to either one of those locations to get that information.
And, you know, feel free to come by, chat, you know, there's voice chat if you really want to do that, but otherwise, just feel free to lurk and read other people's messages if anyone ever decides to message or you know, reach out to me directly or whatever you may want to do. But uh, it's going to be there, and uh I'm hoping that we can get a you know some community interaction and you know have some good times. Uh doesn't have to be about this particular you know, whatever topics that this show deals with.
Uh, if you want to talk about something completely different, if you want an outlet just to, you know, express your dismay or whatever it may be about what's going on in this world now, feel free to. Uh just come by for you know, if you have burning questions, that's great. If you just want simple human interaction, that's great too. But no, the thing that finally freed me freed me from my um my in internal dilemma was I woke up this morning and was wondering how my professor was doing that taught me Ethioptic.
And also another professor as well, um, that you know taught me a lot of a lot of world religions. Uh both of them are extremely dear to me. And so yeah, I I texted uh one of them and emailed another.
Uh Dr. Hall. He responded tonight, and come to find out he's actually teaching a class on Zoom about uh Psalms. And he invited me to attend, and that that just tickled my heart to death. I mean, this man I I've talked about him before in a previous episode. But Dr. Hall is just one of the nicest, most humble yet fiercely intelligent people that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He taught me so so much about not only about get us, but also about the rigors of true academic pursuits and how to focus and how to train your mind to be able to get to the heart of an issue.
And the way that this man can write I have seen him give presentations at conferences, and every single time I walk away saying that's exactly how a presentation should be given. That is how an academic paper should be written. Because it's one that is so carefully crafted but yet eminently engaging. So if you've ever liked anything about what I've said on the show, and for that A, I I really appreciate that. But B God Like the intellectual rigor that goes into these episodes is nothing but pure muddied water compared to what I have seen Dr. Hall bring to the table.
And to be invited uh to participate in that class online it it filled my heart with such joy. Because n I mean, A I just like the man to begin with. And, you know, to be able to know that he's doing well and then to be able to actually, you know, engage with him after so many years and to listen to him teach again is only going to be an amazing thing. But uh but B, I mean I don't even know if there is a B to that point. I apologize, y'all. Uh uh my mind is just all over the map tonight.
Um but then he was also kind enough to send me a link to an online virtual conference that is going to be happening this summer uh um c about the origins of evil and Second Temple Judaism. Which is of course my bag. I mean that is what I am all about.
So yeah, after like digesting every single piece of information about that, um I you know, I've emailed the conference organizer asking if I can participate and hopefully, you know, they will say yes, but oh you know, there there are these mo and actually I was talking to my wife tonight and you know, after you know, telling her about my conversation uh with my professor and about this seminar, I said, you know, I really should have been an academic.
But then I think back and like, no, I'd probably just have recently gotten a PhD if I ever got one and would be, you know, out to my wazoo in student debt, which wouldn't help me or my family. In fact, I wouldn't even have the family I have if I did. So I quickly backtracked on that idea, but you know, this is actually why I started this podcast. It's you know, not to get whatever small amount of money that may be out there. I get nothing, so you don't have to worry about me being monetized or anything. Um nor was it to try to, you know, get a following or anything else.
It was you know, I have a true passion for this subject matter. And I occasionally get to do something with it. You know, I am in my off time, whenever I have that, I'm building a uh a transliterator and a translator for get as um I'm looking into opportunities to help out with various different projects that are going on at like the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library and other places that deal with translation that need help from people that you know may not be in academics full-time but still know enough to be dangerous and can maybe help in certain areas or not.
Um you know I don't get many opportunities to use what I've studied. And so to be able to have an excuse to go out and you know read up on things to be able to do some research and then come back and talk about that has been a fantastic outlet. And that was when I first started this that was really all I was thinking about but you know I I have to say I have made some wonderful friends through this. I have met really amazing people and on the flip side I have heard some horrible stories about things that people have gone through.
And all of these things combined have really made this a worthwhile journey for me. Um you know it's nice to be able to talk about these things and to ruminate about them and all that kind of stuff but what means more to me now is the fact that I've gotten to meet people and that has brought us together. And that's actually why I've created this Discord server.
Now it could be just like you know the Southern Demonology uh discussion group you know I posted a few things people have asked to join which is fantastic um but there hasn't really been any conversation there uh and I'm hoping that's just an avoidance of Facebook uh and also a lack of me actually starting any conversations for that I apologize uh but I'm really hoping this Discord thing is going to take off and that we can all kind of conglomerate and occasionally post or or lurk or do whatever you know that you were um you know dispositioned to do but I I thought it would be fun regardless.
So again there's not really much of a point uh to this video I just really wanted to share you know what was going on I wanted to see how y'all were doing and if you want to write messages about that uh please feel free to um and I also wanted to extend an uh an offer you know some people have families and that's great but some people are absolutely isolated. And if you find yourself isolated or if you want a new voice to talk to and you ever want to reach out please feel free to. Um I I love getting to meet people.
Um you know during the day my time is usually completely booked but I am free at night more times than not. So if you ever want to talk you want to say hi send me a message and then you know if you want more then we can do Discord or we can do whatever. But um no I I'm really serious about that. If if you find yourself in a place where you just want to interact then please do. Um I I I would love to hear from you. And it would do me a world of good too. It's it's not just the other way around but um and the isolation is completely serious.
Even if you're with the family you know the the isolation can build in strange pockets. God just just driving around is eerie. You know so I I'm in this new town that I had only been to a few times before we moved out here. And you know in the in the months before leading up to this, you know, this town is pretty hopping, even though it's smaller than the rest of Northern Virginia area. Uh there's still you know huge traffic jams when there's rush hour either going in or out of town. And now you drive down these roads and there's nobody. I mean you're lucky to see two or three other cars.
And that combined with all the negative news and everything else that's going on Erie does not even begin to describe it. And so if you're in a spot where you know you're social distancing or even if you're an essential worker but you know you're you know clo you know everyone is uh clothed in ma in face masks and you know there's still such extreme distance you and you learn to be leery of other people.
You know Humanity is a social you know we we have an extreme social component and now to be told to reverse track and to separate and to disperse and to stay away that can be a pretty big shock to the system. Now for me I'm the closest thing to a hikikamori that there could be a shut in uh I'm an extreme homebody. I don't care if I ever leave the house or not. So this really hasn't been much of you know an adjustment for me. I I can always find stuff to do at home but however even in that situation just driving around and seeing no one is shocking.
And if you're a much more social person than what I am I can only imagine that shock is that much greater. So that's why I say that um if you know and I know I'm saying um entirely too much and I apologize. This is all completely off the cuff. I normally have rehearsed these speeches you know three or four times in my head and this time I just I was so excited by all of the events of the night that I had to immediately jump in front of a microphone and try to get it out there in front of the world.
So I I apologize if I am stammering a great deal more than normal but the invitation is real though. If you do find yourself needing to reach out for some human interaction then you know please do so. I'll have the links up on Southerndemonology.
com for the server and I do have the contact message messages that are up and running Facebook has that as well you can directly send me an email through Facebook in addition so I have numerous ways for you to reach out so don't hesitate to do so anyway I'm gonna leave it there for the night I have rambled on for nigh on 26 minutes now which is kind of amazing to me I never thought I'd even get like eight minutes of something out and then I just start rambling and I I I'll finish up with this I'm not a big talker.
I really am not like if I'm God when I was earlier if I was at a party if you wanted to find the ultimate way to shut me up it was to put me in front of strangers. I'm one of those individuals who is very gregarious and happy go lucky when I'm surrounded by people I know. You put me in front of people I don't know I'm instantly you know reserved and standoffish because I am just naturally shy. Um but something it's weird something about this microphone and knowing that there are people out there who actually listen and it's kind of amazing to me. And it's it's a very liberating experience.
And I just wanted to wrap up by saying I really appreciate you listening. I really appreciate you sticking with me and interacting and actually saying hi and you know sharing some of your life stories. Those have been the best parts of this and I really hope that you continue. So hope everyone's doing well in these turbulent times if I can do anything please hit me up but otherwise stay safe stay inside and we will talk to you next time ProFootball is back and so are the predictions.
Trade yours on CalC America's number one prediction market platform. Indy takes on Kansas City with Indy currently trading at 28% to win a $100 trade pays about $336 if they win. Download CalC. Use code Audio25 to get $55 when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I CalC trade what's next $18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors.
Calcium products are not available in all jurisdictions prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see Calci.com slash regulatory.com at QC shopping is more than just checking out it's discovering something new every day. Start with today's special value then explore exciting finds across the brands and categories you love from beauty and fashion to home, culinary and outdoor living shop now at qvc.com