Christopher Setterlund, In My Footsteps

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 183: Scratch-and-Sniff Stickers, Bizarre Gameboy Titles & Lost Bubble Gums!(2-19-2025)

The Valentine's chocolates are gone, but the sweet nostalgia is just getting started! Episode 183 takes you on a trip back to the sights, smells, and flavors of the past:

✨ Sniffing Out the '80s – Remember the thrill of scratch-and-sniff stickers? From pizza-scented rewards to bizarre fragrances, no one asked for, we uncover the history behind this smelly sensation that had '80s kids obsessed.

🎮 The Weirdest Gameboy Games Ever – Monkey boxing? A game controlled by a sewing machine? Yeti chefs? We’re digging deep to find the strangest, rarest, and most ridiculous Gameboy titles ever made.

🍬 Bubble Gums We Wish Weren’t Gone – From powdery classics to flavor-packed icons, we count down five bubble gums that deserved a longer chew. Did your favorite make the list?

🕰️ This Week in History & Time Capsule – A look back at the legendary first superhero, The Phantom, and the mark he left on pop culture.

Hit play and let the nostalgia rush in! 🚀

For more great content become a subscriber on Patreon!

Helpful Links from this Episode

Listen to Episode 182 here

Monday, February 17, 2025

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #56: Secret Lives, Exploding Oatmeal, Ruined Coats, etc.

1. You never really know who a person is behind closed doors. You might have met someone a few times. A friend of a friend who had a beautiful wife and daughter and you think to yourself ‘he’s a lucky guy.’ On the surface, he seems cool, fun, and to put it bluntly, normal. Then over time, he ends up being a cheater, so not cool. Last but probably not least so far he ends up being arrested for child pornography. So not normal. This is a real guy I had met on a few occasions and thought seemed like a decent guy. It turns out some are just better at hiding the disgusting truth of who they are. Now he has no wife, no mistress, and no freedom as he’ll be spending probably many years in jail for what he was arrested for. Good, serves you right scumbag.

2. I decided to open up an Etsy shop to sell some of my better New England photography. I have been asked numerous times about selling my photos but it always becomes too time-consuming. This probably will too but if it’s a chance to make a little extra money why not try, right? Time is a flat circle though. I went to Etsy to start crafting my shop. Google wanted to automatically sign me in which was fine. Then the craziness happened. It turns out I already created an Etsy shop for my photography in 2017. I just forgot about it. So now I am just cleaning that up and should be ready to sell photos before this blog goes live.

My Etsy shop logo

3. I’ve seen some stupid drivers but I saw one that is right up there with the worst ever. I mean I can deal with idiots that don’t stop at stop signs. You know the ones who just roll slowly instead of stopping? But this particular idiot then outdid themselves. They either missed their turn, or they were just a complete ass clown. Instead of maybe turning around in a driveway, or at a road, this jerk did a U-turn onto the sidewalk and drove the sidewalk a good hundred feet back to the intersection. Disgraceful and dangerous. Oh and before you go thinking it was some young kid it was a middle-aged mother in a soccer mom van complete with a bumper sticker touting their kid being on the honor roll. Definite Karen.

4. I was sad when I noticed a giant tear in the back of my heavy winter jacket when I hung it up at work. I think I caught it on a door handle that pulled and tore it open. I will end up getting a new one soon since winter is not over. The funny part comes from when I mentioned it to my family this week. My sister said she had noticed the ripped jacket last week but assumed I knew. That means I was going all over the place for days with a shredded jacket that probably made people think I had stolen it out of a dumpster or something. Nice.

5. After updating my iPhone I was surprised by a new app. Image Playground allows you to craft AI images from descriptions, or even better from your own photos. It is for iPhone models 15 & up. I have spent way more time choosing random photos to see how AI sees them. It is so much mindless fun. That is until AI decides that your photo from when you were 3 years old has you looking like a little girl with pigtails. Yay, sorry for my Dutch Boy hairdo, it was the early 1980s after all.

Thanks Image Playground

6. I went for a walk along the beach to get some nice sunset photos and videos. There was a house next to the beach parking lot that was being worked on. As I walked down the beach I repeatedly heard the sound of one of the guys working on the house just yelling and screaming. I kept looking back but there didn’t seem to be a commotion. Plus during my time there no ambulance came for the guy. I’m figuring he should find a different job if doing house repairs causes him to yell out repeatedly. It was made funny since he didn’t seem to be actually hurt.

7. A weird phenomenon that seems to happen to me a lot lately is the following. I spend several hours working on content at my desk. When it comes time for a break, like to go take a drive or something, I immediately get tired and start yawning uncontrollably. I notice it a lot when driving that suddenly I am yawning on repeat. Why is that? I feel like maybe my brain is so focused on work that as soon as I take my foot off the gas my brain is like ‘cool, time to crash.’

8. My goal for almost my entire adult life has been to make my living solely in some sort of creative field. Writing books or travel writing, podcasts, videos, etc. Having been on this path for so many years I feel like I put a lot of pressure on every piece of content I do. At times I believe it’s like a lottery ticket I’ve created. With every piece of content I release it’s like maybe this is the thing that gets the right set of eyes on it to make my goal of being a self-employed content creator a reality. Sure it keeps me motivated to keep going as the next one could be the big winner. It also casts a shadow of disappointment over everything I do when it inevitably doesn’t become my breakout creation.

9. It’s a strange thing. I make the same amount of oatmeal. In the same container. Same microwave. Same amount of water. Same time. Yet despite this every now and then the oatmeal decides to overflow the container. I can never predict it but it seems like it happens right when I let my guard down. Wham! Oats all over the microwave. Yay, good morning.

10. I created a video based on my most embarrassing race ever. It’s up on YouTube now. To sum it up, dehydration and beer combined do not make for a pleasant mix. Anyway, working on that video got me thinking about running and wouldn’t you know it I ended up signing up for a 5K race in May. My body is nowhere near where it needs to be to run but I do have about 10 weeks. You get 15 minutes after you sign up that you can cancel your order and I will admit I was watching the timer tick down debating it. In the end, I’ll end up doing it and just lowering, I mean really lowering my expectations. At least I know I won’t be drunk and crying after this race like I was after the race in the video I made.

My most embarrassing race, but a funny story now.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

2007 - 2020: My Life In Poetry Form - Throwback Thursday

This is a recurring series featuring five poems all written within the same calendar year. They capture a sense of what my life and mind were like at a certain age and show the evolution of my life, mind, and writing style. Things changed beginning in 2007. I was staring down 30 and began working on ebooks. Eventually, this led to 9 published books. It meant that my poetry days were far fewer. That said there are still some great works to share.

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Lennon

I’ve got too much love for one heart to hold.

Got so much love with nowhere for it to go.

I’ve got so much love that it brings me down.

Need to find me someone to help me spread it all around.

Everyone is standing at my door, still waiting for what I am going to say.

Everyone is waiting for karma the instant the moment has passed away.

Everyone wants to knock me down because I colored outside the lines.

Everyone wants to pick me up to help carry on the word,

take and receive in kind.

Pacis quod diligo. Pacis quod diligo.

I got too many dreams for one mind to hold.

Sleep on the floor of the church and let God handle some of the load.

Speaking languages unknown, I’ve got light in my hands.

I’ll eat the fire and drink the wine to help you understand.

Don’t worry about me momma, I’m going out to save the world.

Don’t worry about me baby, you’ll always be my little girl.

Don’t worry about me people, you’ve always had the power.

Don’t worry about me, found solitude in the golden tower.

Everybody wants to hold you now because I couldn’t hide my anger anymore.

Everybody wants to know me because I couldn’t hide my pain anymore.

Everyone wants a little piece of me,

because they believe my mind’s gonna set them free.

Everyone has taken all of me, dust to dust, let it be.

I’ve got too much love for one heart to hold.

Gonna shout for love, gonna shout for peace.

I’ve got too many dreams for one mind to hold.

Gonna whisper in your ear and reign hell like a beast.

Pacis quod diligo est solus via.

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Smile Again

Lady take a walk with me,

I see you’re hurting way down inside.

Baby come and talk to me, we’ll find a place to hide.

Let me believe in you when you’re filled with doubt.

Let me give all I have to you when you’ve gone without.

I’ll hold you when you cry

and wipe the teardrops from your eyes.

Take your hands when they are shaking and mend it when your heart is breaking.

I’ll give you my life and my love, be all that I can be,

to be the one to make you smile again, the one to make you happy.

Lady let me hold you,

keep you warm until the hurting subsides.

Baby let me know you,

open your heart, and let me inside.

Let me lose myself in your eyes when you’re by my side.

Let me travel with you down the road and help you change the world in time.

I’ll miss you while you are away

and treasure you every day.

Take your hands when you’ve been alone and guide your way back home.

I’ll give you my life and my love, be all that I can be,

to be the one to make you smile again, the one to make you happy.

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Give In to Love

Let your heart beat out of control.

Let that shiver get deep down to your soul.

If they’re on your mind every moment of the day.

If their image paints your dreams at night.

There’s no need to worry if you’re okay.

You can let the feelings wash over you like you know they might.

You can keep on believing, send thanks up above.

You can let go of your inhibitions and give in to the love.

Let their touch send you shooting like a star through the sky.

Let their breathtaking beauty bring that tear to your eye.

If you can’t deal when they’re away, if sometimes you can’t find the words to say.

If you’re always looking when they step out of sight,

if you’d give up a thousand tomorrows to have them here tonight.

There’s no need to worry if you’re okay.

You can let the feelings wash over you like you know they might.

You can keep on trusting that they were sent from above.

You can let go of your insecurities and give in to the love.

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Branches

The forest thinned out around me.

My withered branches still reach toward the sun.

Change it blossoms up all around me.

My sturdy roots cannot be moved by anyone.

Nothing prepares you for the way things are gonna be.

My withered branches come together in prayer toward the sun.

The stars overhead, diamonds pile up all around me.

Bright enough to light the way to move for everyone.

The valley stretches out before me.

My weathered branches yearning to be free.

The winds picks up, pulls the thoughts from my mind.

Step by step to the valley floor to the river wild strong enough to leave it all behind.

The ground grows closer, time like rope pulling at me.

My weathered branches turn to ash in a glow to set my soul free.

The forest blossoms up all around me.

At peace, in pieces, last branches still standing.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2025

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 182: The Greatness of Michael Jordan, An Annoying Blockbuster Video Mascot, Worst Love Songs Ever(2-12-2025)

I want to be like Mike. I don't want to be like Buster Sales. I also don't want to include any of these love songs on my playlists.

Episode 182 celebrates Valentine's Day in a roundabout way.

It begins with a birthday celebration of the greatest basketball player ever, and pop culture icon, Michael Jordan. A dominant champion who changed the game of basketball. A hugely influential athlete in terms of his endorsement prowess. MJ was one of the world's most well-known faces in the 1980s and 1990s. We'll do a deep dive into his impact.

We used to make it a Blockbuster night all throughout the 1990s. It was not due to this wacky employee training video. This week we go back in the day to look, laugh, and cringe, at a weird Blockbuster Video training tape from 1990. It is led by perhaps the most obnoxious character ever, Buster Sales.

The Top 5 will share some of the worst love songs ever. These are probably not the ones you want on your Spotify playlist if you want a romantic evening. Muskrats, Meatloaf, and Bubblegum galore.

There is also a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

For more great content become a subscriber on Patreon!

Helpful Links from this Episode

Listen to Episode 181 here

Monday, February 10, 2025

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #55: Being A Trainer, Goose Party, Sad Subs, etc.

1. My true passion in life is writing and creating things with my mind. However, in my daily life, I work as a personal trainer. I have been at it for nearly 10 years and I must know my stuff to still be employed doing it. I didn’t realize how much of an impact I’d had though. I had a person I’d trained for several years in their home reach out to me. They had a pretty bad injury and once cleared from PT they wanted to train with me again. I don’t do in-home training anymore though. They were perfectly happy to drive 20 miles from their home to my work if it meant I trained them. That really made my day to hear.

2. I have gotten to about a week of cutting my caffeine intake by roughly half. I can’t, and won’t, totally give up caffeine. That being said I do know that my intake level was way too high. I love energy drinks. I love pre-workout supplements and have for decades. My goal over the proceeding weeks is to get energy drinks back to a ‘few times a week’ deal rather than daily, or 2x daily. I ordered a nice stainless steel travel coffee mug so hopefully spending money on that will motivate me to drink more coffee.

3. I wasn’t paying attention at the gym. I went to get on a stationary bike for a few minutes of intense cardio. These bikes, especially the upright ones, typically have a pair of compartments to place a drink, towel, or phone. So I set up the seat and put my towel in the left side compartment. As I said I wasn’t paying attention so I went to put my phone in the right side compartment but instead my phone dropped onto the floor. My first thought was since I wasn’t paying attention I had placed my phone on the edge or something and it had fallen off. I put the phone back into the right side compartment and it dropped straight through to the floor. Why? Because there was no compartment, just a hole. I had to laugh at the foolishness of literally dropping my phone through that empty space twice before actually looking to see what was up.

4. An interesting event that keeps on occurring recently is the huge flocks of geese that fly past my window several times a day on most days. At first, I chalked it up to migration but it’s now the dead of winter. Usually, in the hour or so right before or after noon I’ll hear a flock of probably 20-40 geese honking as they fly by. Then it happens again. It’s typically 2-3 times if I’m sitting at my desk working. I wonder if I am in their typical flight pattern, or if they just think I enjoy hearing a chorus of geese honking several times in rapid succession.

Flock of seagulls this is not.

5. It was pretty funny to see an old man bargaining with an automatic door at a grocery store. He was pushing his cart toward the door to exit and obviously, the door should automatically swing open. It did not. If it was me I would have just pushed the cart into the door and forced it open. This old man decided to speak kindly to it as if that might make it reconsider not opening. Again, it did not. I am not sure if he had the strength to force the door open but he didn’t try. He ended up going out through the in door as that one was working without issue.

6. I had a hankering for a meatball sub. So I went to a nearby sub shop that I don’t typically visit. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if they were still in business. I stopped and the ‘open’ sign was lit. I opened the door and it was way too dark and quiet. I thought about turning around but a guy’s head popped up behind the counter. I placed my order and waited. I never heard a sound from the kitchen. No phone ringing, only the sound of the television playing. After 6-7 minutes he came back around with the sub wrapped. I felt a bit bad since he was seemingly all by himself so I left him a tip. He made sure to pick the tip jar up from under the counter before ringing me up. The sub was good though.

7. I’ve had the same pair of old-school over-ear wireless headphones for probably almost 7 years. For someone who used to break their headphones at the gym sometimes after only a few days it has been a luxury I’m not used to. However, it might be about time to put these out to pasture. The outlet to plug it in to charge is now so worn that I have to move the wire in a very specific way to get it to begin charging. I currently have the headphones plugged into my laptop with my mouse pad draped over the charging outlet as it’s the only way to get the dang headphones to keep charging. When you have to go through that much effort just to charge it might be time to 86 them.

8. The first real snowstorm of winter came this week on Cape Cod. We lucked out as we only ended up with 3-4” of heavy wet snow. The highlights were my Fitbit showing me in my heart rate zone for 35 minutes, meaning it was either really heavy snow or my cardio is terrible. The other highlight was me using the heavy wet snow as a makeshift car wash. I grabbed handfuls and rubbed it into dirty spots on my white car. Hey, it worked. Froze my hands a bit but saved the money it would cost at an actual car wash.

Real snow, but not a real lot of snow.

9. I’m addicted to the Playground feature on the new IOS update for my iPhone. It allows you to turn almost any photo into an AI-created animation. I spent way too much time going through my photos and having Playground turn people into animations. What I found particularly funny was that when I ran the program on several photos of me as a child they turned me into a girl. This wasn’t a one-off, no it was several different photos. I didn’t think my hair was that long when I was 4-5 years old, but I guess AI thought differently.

10. Although I didn’t have a favorite in Super Bowl 59 I will admit I was happy to see the Philadelphia Eagles crush the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. I like the Chiefs. I like Mahomes, Kelce, Andy Reid, and yes Taylor Swift. The thing is though the more the Chiefs win the more they can start to lay claim as being as good or better than Tom Brady’s New England Patriots were. We can’t have that. So I am not big fans of either team that played, but in terms of helping the Patriots’ legacy the right team won the Super Bowl.

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