Episode 2: The Future Freaks Me Out

The countdown to college has begun, and one last night at the mall feels like the end of an era.

Cody, Jordan, Tyler, and Wes spend their final Friday night together in the place that raised them: the arcade, the food court, and the familiar stores of the Venango Galleria. Between arcade battles, questionable pranks, burned-out mall employees, and debates about whether college is the key to the future or a massive scam, the guys begin confronting the reality that everything is about to change.

As old friends return, relationships are tested, and the last days of high school slip away, Jordan wonders if leaving behind the people and places that shaped him is really the right choice.

Meanwhile, Tyler’s unexpected encounter with his younger brother Shane hints that there may be more happening beneath the surface of this ordinary night at the mall.

Help Support People with Reading Barriers

Today, I want to take a moment and point you toward an organization that is doing some great work.

I first encountered Bookshare a couple of years ago, when I attended the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. as a networking event, and I ended up donating several of my books to their library.

Bookshare is a platform that offers a more accessible reading experience for people with reading barriers. They make it easier for people, including students with learning disabilities, to read through the use of assistive reading tools.

With over 1 million titles in accessible formats (including large text, human-narrated audiobooks, braille, and karaoke-style word highlighting), Bookshare makes reading easier for individuals with visual impairment, dyslexia, language-based learning disability, cerebral palsy, etc. They offer a host of customizable reading settings for their huge online library, and there are no due dates. Plus, best part, it's completely free for those who qualify.

To be clear, I am not a partner of Bookshare, and they are not paying me. I just think it's a program worth spreading the word about. So, if you know someone who could benefit from assistive reading tools that help make books more accessible, check out Bookshare.org.

Stuff for Millennials Who Miss See-Through Tech

I have a very important question for everyone who’s listening right now. Did anyone else have that see-through, landline telephone that Melissa Joan Hart had in her room on Clarissa Explains it All? Because I did. I had that phone! In my bedroom!

There was something about late-90s/early 2000s technology that just demanded that it be transparent. I don’t mean that metaphorically, I mean you could literally see through it, see its insides, all the little wires and circuit boards and… electrodes? I don’t know what they were. But you could see them. They were in there, doing something.

If you could use a bit more transparency in your life, check out the list of see-through tech I’ve put together. If you still have Clarissa’s phone, you’re one of the lucky ones. For the rest of us, maybe we can recapture some of her spirit.

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