Christopher Setterlund, In My Footsteps

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 241: 1966 The Year In Pop Culture(4-22-2026)

Watch my acting debut film for free, Cape Cod Cthulhu!

In Episode 241 we get our kicks back in 1966! We are diving into television, music, movies, and all things pop culture in 1966.

Here they come, walkin' down the street. Television in 1966 was the crossroads between black and white and color, the same old same old and new and exciting, and crafting shows to appeal to the younger generation. The Monkees, Batman, and Star Trek were new hits. My Mother the Car? Not so much.

It's all incense and peppermints as we look at all things Music in 1966. The sharp turn from safe and bland pop into psychedelics and counterculture. The Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, and the Beach Boys dominated while Hendrix, Cream, and Simon and Garfunkel staked their claim as next up.

The Top 5 features weird and funny news stories from 1966. The Beatles as butchers? A tight pants strike? A nude sunbather controversy? They're all here and more.

This Week In History and Time Capsule looks at the infamous Portage, Ohio UFO chase. Stay tuned for some classic 1966 commercials as well!

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Helpful Links from this Episode

Listen to Episode 240 here

Monday, April 20, 2026

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #117: Used To Be Young, Price Update, Double Entendre, etc.

1. I try to remember that I was a kid once, and so was everyone else. I don’t want to become the old guy who is always suspicious of younger people. I say all this because this week, when it was time for Monday Runday, I had to put that to the test. I run with a longtime friend at a school track. The school has been closed for a few years and is likely to be torn down in the next few years, but the track is still in one piece. I pulled into the parking lot, and standing near the front door of the school were two teenage boys. They were just hanging out with their bikes. I did my best to remember I was a kid once, but I had my eye on them the entire time I was there. They stayed huddled by the front of the school for a good 45 minutes while I was on the track. They only left a few minutes before I got done. Of course, as far as I know, they didn’t do anything except hang out, but my old man eyes were fixed on them anytime they got in my line of sight.

2. There is an old 1990s song by a band named Everclear called ‘Everything to Everyone.’ The title has always stuck with me because I feel that is my lot in life. I’ve always hated to let people down. For too many years, I’d say yes to things that I wasn’t 100% into because I wanted to be liked. In some ways, it’s noble to want to have the ability to do whatever you can for others to help them. However, when you constantly try to please everyone, the one person who ends up being not pleased is you. In my 40s, I’ve done a lot more of saying no and setting boundaries. Not being a jerk, but when whatever it is doesn’t 100% jive with what’s in my heart and mind, I have to decline. There are obviously levels to people pleasing. Small things, I am still apt to say yes to, but my level of extension out of my safety and stability grows smaller with each passing year. I feel bad when I have to say no to people, especially loved ones, but I also feel like the things I’ve declined haven’t been unreasonable. I’m sure those who’ve asked feel differently, but you can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t try.

3. I love Netflix. Ever since I signed up for it again last year, I have posted about the shows I have been enjoying all over this blog. That being said, they are, at the end of the day, a greedy corporation looking to squeeze every cent they can out of their subscribers. They know that they have loads of great shows and movies and that the more than 320 million worldwide subscribers will pay for their service, even as they continue to raise their rates. I had to laugh this week when I got an email from Netflix. In it, they mentioned their rates being raised. I have the lowest tier with ads, and it’s up to $8.99 per month, up from $7.99. The laughing part came from how they phrased it. They called it a ‘price update.’ Update? It’s not like a new Windows download or iPhone software. It’s a straight money grab. I’d have had more respect if they just said, ‘Here’s info about the latest price increase.’ It’s not like I’m going to cancel, but I had to laugh at how they frame their making more money off of us. Please don’t piss down our backs and tell us it’s raining, Netflix.

4. This week saw the first 70-degree days of the year on Cape Cod. After the terrible winter we had, it was an amazing feeling to step outside in short sleeves and feel the warmth of the sun. It was 70 degrees at 9am, which was perfect. Of course, the first 70-degree day was also a work day, so there was a tinge of sadness. I was driving to work and had to stop off at the beach. This is the time of year when it gets warm, but the humidity is still a way away. This is also the time of year when it gets warm, you can be outside, and the flocks of tourists aren’t here yet. I joked to myself as I walked along the sand that I must really like my job because I was choosing to go to work inside when the wide open beach was staring me in the face. The most ‘New England’ thing about the warm weather goes back to last week, and saying that we have 12 seasons here. Well, next week our highs drop back into the upper 40s for a few days because, of course, they do. I’ll just keep a heavy coat and maybe an ice scraper on hand for another few weeks just in case.

5. A couple of eye-opening things happened at work this week. Our new CA (chiropractic assistant) tech is learning a few therapies that she didn’t know of at her previous job. One that she’s learning is Myovision. It is a quick way to measure muscle tension in the spine. This, in turn, shows where muscles might be compensating. Things that typical X-rays don’t show. It is done at 3 areas along the spine. When my hip area was measured, it showed a major compensation on my left side, which made sense since a right hip injury several years ago ruined my running career. We tested again, and it was a little better. Then I was asked to take my shoes off and do a third test. To my amazement, the left hip compensation was gone. I was then curious about how much my shoes, and more specifically, my extra insoles in them, contributed to hip and knee issues that have been plaguing me. We moved on to the bilateral scales. I’ve mentioned them before, but in short, they are two scales side by side. You step on each with one foot, staring straight ahead. It then shows you which side bears more of your weight. Without shoes, I was nearly 10 pounds heavier on my right. My left knee has been an issue for the last week or so; it made sense. Then I stood with only the extra insoles under my feet, no shoes. It flipped, and I was nearly 10 pounds heavier on my left. With shoes, I was basically even. My mind was blown by how much those insoles negatively affected my legs. They were immediately thrown in the trash. I guess it was kind of lucky that we did the Myovision test, or else I might have kept doing damage to my legs with those insoles. Oh, and I also found out I am down 14 pounds in 2026, so it was even better news.

An example of the Myovision test results

6. This is the 4th year that I have helped my buddy Steve install and remove a dock in a lake at a couple’s summer house. It’s good money for relatively short work. Granted, it’s me on one end of each of the three dock pieces with two people on the other end, but that’s fine. I am the only one who doesn’t need to get into the water to put in or remove the dock. We install it in April and usually remove it in November. This year, the weather was great, low 60s and sunny when we arrived around 5:30pm. We installed the dock in 15-20 minutes, which included carrying each piece down two sets of stairs. I mention this because the next day at work, I trained a 13-year-old. I have found that if I do the workout with him, he stays engaged. This means I end up burning a fair amount of calories while being paid. What am I getting at? Well, at least for this time, I burned more calories training my 13-year-old than I did installing the dock. Not sure what that says about either situation, but I found it funny because you’d think the dock install would be harder work. Nope. Training a 13-year-old is.

7. A Not Safe For Work but hilarious story. When training any of my teenage clients, I never assume that they have absolutely no knowledge of fitness. Before showing them an exercise, I will ask them: ‘Do you know what...is?’ It could be bird dog, Bulgarian split-squat, pallof press, etc. Typically, they don’t know, so then I go on to explain while I demonstrate. This week I had a 19-year-old in the gym. As I said, I asked him if he was familiar with Exercises A, B, C, etc. Then we came to a bit of interval training to help him with his cardio. I asked him ‘Do you know what a snatch is?’ He did not. It is a legit exercise using a dumbbell or a kettlebell. But in my mind, I immediately thought of the 90s slang for, well, you know. Or maybe not? A female body part. Being 19, he wasn’t well-versed in my GenX slang, so it flew right by without a cross look. I thought that it sounded like the way some 1980s Afterschool Specials would start. Some kid coming home and telling his parents, ‘The teacher asked me what a snatch was today.’ The funniest part was that I told the story to a pair of coworkers. The one who is in her 40s, like me, immediately started cracking up. The other, who is in her early 20s, had no idea what was so funny. Then we had to explain it, which was another hilariously awkward conversation. Stupid exercise. I guess it could be worse; instead of it being called a snatch, it could have been named a cooch or some other slang term from my childhood.

8. I’ve had credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, supermarket rewards cards, Sub Club cards, and so many other random cards. Now I can add a laundromat card to the list. I’ve been doing my laundry at a laundromat for the last few months. No big deal. You go in, pay, wash, and leave. Sure, it’s more expensive than I remember, but what isn’t? This week, I went to do my laundry when I noticed two things. First, the cost of a load of laundry went up $1, which immediately sucks. Next, there was no slot to insert money into the washer. Suddenly, the man who owns the place came up and explained to me the card system. There is a touch screen where you enter cash, and it, in turn, puts that amount on your card. Then you place your card on a reader on the washing machine and hit start, and the washer starts up. You got all that? If not don’t worry, it is needlessly complicated, and I have no idea why a laundromat that looks like it still exists in 1985 needs a touch screen card system for their machines. That flippin’ card system is likely why we’re all getting charged more per load. It just makes me laugh because as this guy was explaining the new system, all I could hear in my head was ‘Why?’ The dude will probably be driving a Porsche in a few months thanks to the ‘new system.’

All that sweet laundromat card money...

9. Flattery will get you everywhere. This week at work, a patient was there who hadn’t been in over a year. She was sitting in the therapy room while I was standing at my desk. I said hello to her and asked how she had been. Then she won the day in my book by asking if I had lost a ton of weight. I haven’t lost ‘a ton,’ but as I mentioned earlier, I have dropped 14 pounds in 2026. But since she hasn’t seen me in over a year, it makes me wonder if I was even heavier the last time she saw me, and if I have dropped more weight? Not sure on that, but another day this week, my mother remarked that she could tell I’ve lost weight, so that means it is noticeable. Despite that good news, I feel like I’m about halfway to what I want to lose, so I’d say another 16 to get me to 30. First though, I’ll make the push for 20.

10. I mentioned in a blog months ago that I am so old now that visiting supermarkets, which I don’t go to often, is considered exciting. This was not the excitement I had in mind. I stopped at a supermarket, which I visit maybe once a year at most. I won’t name them because it is not a good story. I was looking to grab something quick for dinner on the way home from a video shoot. While walking the back wall, near the freezer section, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was something small and brown, and it was scurrying its way along the floor. Yes, it was a mouse, out in plain view in this store. Now, I’m not saying this is a reflection on their cleanliness because it could have just been a one-in-a-million moment. But I will say in my life, I have visited probably dozens of different supermarkets in a bunch of states. I have never, not once, seen a mouse ever, anywhere else. This was the first. So maybe it is a coincidence, maybe I have been around mice in other supermarkets and not seen them. Or maybe this place needs to hire an exterminator and be glad I didn’t whip out my phone and film it and then tag it online, because the mouse was visible long enough that I could have.

11. Although the weather has been the typical bipolar spring we get on Cape Cod, things are starting to bloom. I ventured to a church garden I like to go to for flower photos and videos. It’s not as great as it will be in a month or so, but the daffodils were starting to spring up. I had an idea to use my selfie stick to create a unique perspective. I would hold it low to the ground and navigate it through the field of daffodils from underneath. My experiment caught the attention of a woman and her two granddaughters. They were really nice and actually asked if they needed to be quiet. I laughed and said I had started taking photos at the other end of the garden so I wouldn’t bother them. I showed them my raw video and explained what I was doing. The two girls, who were probably 6 and 8, didn’t care much. After they left, I became obsessed with trying to get a video of an elusive chipmunk that kept coming close but then running away when it saw me. My solution? Set the camera on a tripod and stand as far away as I could, where the Bluetooth shutter would still work. I ended up with about 5 seconds of footage of it running to and from my camera, but now I want to try to get nature spy shots like that of more creatures. Knowing my luck though, a hawk will think my phone looks like food and swoop down and grab it.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

2002: My Life In Poetry Form (Part 3) - Throwback Thursday

This is a weekly 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. We return to 2002. I was 24 years old. The Quarter-Life Crisis was hitting hard and left me in a period of depression and reflection.

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Getting There And Passing By

Don’t ask me where I am going. Don’t ask me where I’ve been. I’m always between getting there and passing by, so I’m not sure where I am. Don’t think me unkind if the words don’t come out right. If I don’t have that much to say, I’ll break the wall and flood the beds someday. Don’t ask “Where are you going?” when I have no plans to move at all. Don’t speak over my breathing, it might be all the sound you get.

Don’t ask me what I want. Don’t ask me of all I wanted to be. My wishes are ripening on the branches, just waiting to be harvested. Don’t think me unworthy of all your secrets and promises. If you tell me slowly, I’ll understand. I’ll place the image in the front of my mind. Don’t ask “What do you want?” unless silence and confusion are what you wish. Don’t look through my eyes, or think through my mind, unless you’re ready to never come back.

Don’t ask me where I am going when I’m really nowhere at all. Don’t ask me where I’ve been when all I see is highway scenery whipping by my frightened eyes. If you feel betrayed by your own senses, you can feel what I’ve said. If you feel bought and sold with a body so old, you understand all the pain. If you have a map to everywhere but your roots have you chained, you can hear my words in your mind. Don’t ask me where I am going, unless everyone else stops moving. Don’t ask me where I’ve been, unless you’ve been living side by side in my life. Don’t ask me where I am going, unless you plan on taking me there.

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Of Heroes Lost

Sleep. Rest now, my friend. The hero has run out of miracles. No one was there to save him. Tell me why, then tell me again. Why do simple dreams have complicated ends? If I asked, would you let me feel your pain? If it’s not too much, I’ll wear your shoes for a while. For so long, I wished I could thank you, but the words are here too late.

Fly. Show us how important you are by going away. The hero who runs out of miracles is a hero no more. Nobody cares when you’re face down on the floor. Nobody cares when you can’t help them anymore. It’s the circle of life to be built and torn down again. Show me how, then show me again. How to make the seas part and the river’s bend. If I asked, would you let me be a pawn in your game? For so long, I wished I could see through your eyes, but the light has grown dark all around you.

Now my hero sleeps. All the gold he had was not the wealth he wanted. Sometimes I wish I could have let him see. Sometimes I wish we could’ve taken off for the sky and let himself be. A little piece of my life. My hero’s taken a little piece of my life since he’s gone. It’s a time now where a hero is hard to find. It’s a time when it’s hard to find. It’s so hard to find, well, whatever, nevermind...

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One True Thing

I don’t know what you want,

I don’t know what you’re looking for.

I don’t know if you’ve had enough

or if you want some more.

It’s been a while since I’ve asked you,

guess it’s time I ask again.

Will you allow me to be there for you

and love you until the end?

Questions are questions, always there for you to ask. If there’s an answer, search for it, I’ll try. The past is a shadow soon to fade in the day with a love that brings tears to your eyes. If you’re weak, I will carry you and never let go; if you’re tired, fall asleep in my arms. If you cry, I will hold you, and the things that I’ve told you will remain true every day. And I’ll sing you off into the night.

I don’t know what you need, I don’t know what’s in store.

I don’t know if the road is tough

or if we’re drifting away from shore.

It’s been a while since I’ve asked you,

guess it’s time I ask again.

Will you allow me to love you

and hold you forever, my best friend?

Soon we will grow with so much more that we know, there’s time, if you ask, I will wait.

I won’t stand in the shadows if the sky starts to fall, if it tumbles, we’ll be sheltered from it all. If you’re cold, I will warm you; if you’re frightened, find safety in my arms. If you cry, I will hold you, and the things that I’ve told you will remain true every day. And I’ll stay with you until everything is all right.

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Sleepwalking

Sleepwalking through my day. Closed my eyes until all the thoughts went away. Sleepwalking through my night. So thirsty, but I can’t drink the wine. Sleepwalking through time. Days, minutes, hours, now a state of mind long forgotten. Sleepwalking through my life. It’s amazing how far you can go when you don’t know where you’re going. You just keep on walking.

Sleepwalking while I’m awake. Reaching into the darkness, trying to touch whatever’s there. Sleepwalking a long stretch of highway. Between dusk and sunset, my footsteps fall. Sleepwalking a thousand miles. A year feels like a day, a day feels like a dream I just can’t shake. You just keep on walking.

Sleepwalking through my day. Opened my eyes until the light burned the tears away. Sleepwalking through my night. So thirsty from drinking the wine. Sleepwalking through time. What does time mean anyway? Sleepwalking through my life. It’s amazing where you end up when you don’t know where you’re going.

You just keep on walking.

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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 240: The Genius of Prince, Origins of Comedy Central, Worst 90s Business Decisions, Metallica Sues Napster(4-15-2026)

Watch my acting debut film for free, Cape Cod Cthulhu!

A look at the one and only Prince. The origin story of Comedy Central. Some of the worst business decisions of the 1990s.

Episode 240 has a fresh garden of GenX nostalgia in bloom.

It kicks off with an origin story. Long before becoming one of the most important cable television channels of the 21st century, Comedy Central was little more than a pair of small-time networks. We look back at how this channel started and some of its most important shows.

Very few get to be called legends, icons, and trailblazers in any given field. Prince was all of those things and more. Ten years since his unfortunate death we celebrate the life, music, and legacy of one of music's most talented performers.

This week's new Top 5 features all sorts of terrible 1990s business decisions. Aquisitions, missed opportunities, strange repackagings, and much more are in store.

There is a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule doing a deep dive into the landmark Metallica v. Napster court case.