I Love This Sleep Podcast (and Patreon)

After Carlos died, getting in bed became painful to me in a new way, since he was an enthusiastic snuggle-in-bed cat, and being there without him was an awful, impossible-to-avoid reminder that he was gone. In the following few months, I would also find that my anxious thoughts about getting ready for the condo sale and move would be hard to turn off when I was trying to get to sleep. It was quite a problem, really.

Fortunately for me, in January I read a brief mention on a blog about a podcast to help you get to sleep, and I gave it a try. (Thank you, Zoot!) It isn't a magic pill, but it has helped me so much.

It is called Sleep With Me: The Podcast That Puts You To Sleep, and I would recommend it to anyone to try, though I am quite sure it won't be to everyone's tastes. Just about from the first time I listened, I found myself laughing at the guy's sense of humor, but realizing at the same time that it might drive some people kind of nuts. Still, if you like it, it's awfully good. (Which sounds like tepid praise, but I do mean it as a compliment.)

The structure of the show is a short section of credits and sponsors (as he says, he can't leave it for the end, since hopefully most listeners are asleep by then), followed by a rambling introduction, and then a story. Those vary: sometimes he recaps an episode of Doctor Who, or he might tell a story of his own, or he'll read through the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer and discusses the different items. His voice is soothing, and the repetitive language he uses can lull me on its own. Does it put me to sleep? Not exactly. But it's there when I need something to focus on other than the circling thoughts in my head, and sometimes that's just what I need.

After a few months of using it, I decided to pay it back a little, and contribute to his Patreon, just $1 a month, but a little support to something I was finding so helpful. With the contribution, I get a personalized RSS feed, and I prefer getting the episodes that way versus the podcast thing on the iPad, so it's really win-win.

Speaking of Patreon, it doesn't seem that I've mentioned that on the blog before, so let me describe that briefly for the sake of those who don't know about it. Patreon is a website that authors and artists and "creators" can use to get regular contributions* to help support what they're doing. Much like the way I give $5 a month to the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood; I am a believer in the power of giving small amounts on a regular basis, so the person can count on it.
*As opposed to Kickstarter, which is an event-driven "donation" thing.

There are also different rewards that the creators set up, so depending on how much you give, you might get little freebies and perks for it.

If the listing on my page at Patreon is giving me the ones I follow in the order I signed up for them, which I think it is, then the first one I started giving to was Dave Kellett, who creates my much-loved Sheldon cartoon online (I've mentioned him before).

Next came Jeph Jacques, who created the (very different) online comic Questionable Content.

After that, I found out that Katherine Addison, author of a fantasy novel I love, The Goblin Emperor*, has one (under both her real name and the pseudonym, Sarah Monette and Katherine Addison), and I decided to support her, too.
*I mentioned it in the PS here.

Then, after I discovered Martha Wells and her Raksura fantasy series last summer, I added her to my list. And she writes little story snippets set in that world! So very cool! Plus, I am starting to explore other (very different) things she has written, which is fun too. The Murderbot Diaries couldn't be more different from the Raksura, but I like both.

Sleep With Me was the most recent thing I added to my Patreon, which makes $5 a month for things I really enjoy. Pretty cool, I think