Sleepy Stories

I don't know how I expected to end this episode, but "y'all have pleasant dreams, y'hear?" wasn't it. If y'all hear the grits flying out my mouth when I'm talkin', please know I come by it honest.

A very sleepy story this week brought to you by a very sleepy girl. Curdie and Lina are joined by more of the strange and disturbing Goblin Creatures as they journey through some woods.

We start to get some hints of the sadness underlying this children's story. Fortunately, my gigglebox child is there to rescue us from it. She calls me on the "creepy Mickey Mouse" voice I gave the prince, which is delightful and a much-needed correction.

The goblin-creature Lina joins Curdie on his quest. There are some evil birds and then, I don't know, a montage? He seriously does the George Lucas thing where the two bond over adventures we'll never hear about, just like Obi-Wan and Anakin.

This is a fine example of Lydia in a state of rambunctious sleepiness, where she can't stay awake but can't leave me alone either. It's delightful.

Welcome to Season 2.1 of Sleepy Stories! While we're reading The Princess and Curdie in the other half of the podcast, we're going to start putting up episodes of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, also once a week. This is mostly because Lydia's getting more ambitious, and I always want to help.

The Little Prince is an odd, beautiful story. It's a philosophical treatise as much as it's a fairy tale. A solitary aviator crashed in the desert meets an unusual figure-- a small boy, whom he realizes is probably from another world. It's satirical, ridiculous, hilarious, and sad in turns. One of the greatest pieces of children's writing ever.

I'll try to warn you before the sad parts kick in.

10 chapters in, Curdie's beginning his journey. The past is a different country, and its narrative rules are slow and unsteady.

That said, this is a nice piece of atmospheric writing. Lydia was incredibly sleepy when we were recording this one. There's also a contrast between her current maturity and when we recorded this, but when she gets tired she always tries to return to baby mode.

A nice, short episode after last week's relatively large one. Lydia is stupendously tired throughout this one, but it doesn't stop her from offering commentary. The story is mostly Curdie telling his parents that he has magic hands, and them not asking for much evidence for this extraordinary claim. I understand that MacDonald's writing about 'faith,' but I'm also a fan of questions.

This 35-minute behemoth had 2 full minutes of horrible mouth sounds and mushmouthed mispronunciations deleted from it. You're welcome.

Lydia helped me edit this one. She was struck by the sheer amount of time and energy she spent on talking silly in this episode.

In this chapter, The Old Princess has one of the longest monologs about being godlike in any of MacDonald's work. Fortunately, Lydia is there to ask questions and request a refill on her water. Like, a lot.

Curdie and his father, Peter, meet the Great Great Grandmother in the mines, in a kind of angelic glory.

Also, Lydia brings in Angel Bear, who is a marvelous and well-behaved guest. I'd like to hear more questions from that one.

We got an incredibly energetic Lydia for this descent into MacDonald's mines. She was so energetic that I had to cut some audio where one of the many stuffies that visited us while we were recording ended up dancing on my microphone and I had to cut a little audio. I hope it wasn't too awkward.

Also, sorry that I didn't put anything out for a couple weeks. I'm adjusting to my job, and just now finding time and energy again.

While MacDonald's discussions about faith, theology, and magic sometimes bug me I kinda like this one. I like how he balances the miners' faith in dowsing rods and witches against their adamant disbelief in anything angelic.

This is another one of MacDonald's discourses on faith. It doesn't move the plot forward much, except it does make sense for someone who's had a run-in with the magical or the miraculous to talk it over with loved ones. Make sure you stay through to the end of the episode if you want to know what it sounds like when a 5-year-old is done recording.

She gets me. I done got got.

This is a long one, as Curdie the miner boy meets Irene's grandmother finally, and confronts what he did to her pigeon. While this book as a whole has a bit too much fire and brimstone for my taste, I rather like these opening chapters.

There's a Lydia-composed song fragment at the end that I rather enjoyed.

We begin what's going to be a long path of Biblical imagery for this book. I'll admit upfront that Curdie's response to being touched by a divine messenger is unexpected, though.

In that vein, there's a pretty frank discussion between an adult and a five-year-old about the merits of hunting in this episode. I think it's a good idea for kids to know where meat comes from, but if you don't think your children are ready then you might want to steer clear. Other than that, pleasant dreams.

George MacDonald waxes poetic about magma and recaps the plot of his previous novel, "The Princess and the Goblin," in this chapter.

For our part, Lydia takes me up on my offer to answer any questions she has, and I can't even get our podcast's name right, or the book's title either. Welcome to Season 2, and don't blame me. I voted for The Wizard of Oz.

As you can see, George MacDonald loved a good tautology. Here we are at the end of our first season. We'll stumble into "The Princess and Curdie" after the New Year. Also, looks like I was still calling this thing "Sleepytime Stories" right up until then. I'm genuinely curious to find out how deep that error stretches into Season 2!

This is more of a denouement than a chapter, simply tying up a few loose ends and sending the characters on their way. However, it is framed by some super solid Lydia nonsense on either end, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I left the sound of my dad closing a somewhat difficult bedroom door because I thought it was funny. Sorry about that. :-)

Thanks for giving us a good first year! We'll talk to you again in 2020.

   -Matt

Originally recorded in North Carolina, this episode has a bit of a different energy to it. Lyd's having a good time during this one, and so am I.

This is the moment where the goblins "Plan B" comes to fruition, with unintended consequences for all. I think it's safe to say that MacDonald's goblins are clever without being at all wise.

Lydia does some slight impromptu voice acting in this one-- I like it! She's also at her chirpiest, giving us constant commentary, so this may be one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy!

If you've ever wanted a chance to get to know a stuffed ray named Moon Eyes, she and Lydia are both chatting up a storm early on in this short episode. This is an aftermath chapter. While we know the Princess and Curdie are momentarily safe, we also know the goblins had a destructive contingency plan in place, so the story shifts to the miners' survival!

Curdie finally gets to have an apologetic chat with Princess Irene-- listen to children, y'all. Reunited, the heroes get to plan their next steps against the goblins, and realize that the goblins are about to do Something Terrible.

Fans of a rambunctious girl-child won't be disappointed by this episode! Ain't gonna lie, her antics made this the hardest episode to edit thus far.

My apologies for not updating last week. I started a new job AND got the most persistent case of food poisoning at the same time! I'm adjusting my schedule accordingly. I'm also on a new computer, which I think overall improves the quality of this episode, but I have some things to learn about the new rig as well. All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.

There's strong evidence that this episode is Peak Silly for this Daddy-Daughter team. Blame it on fatigue, blame it on my voice acting struggles-- The Cook gets 3 female voices before I realize the character's male-- blame it on a rambunctiously grumpy daughter who picks fights with pillows. All of the above honestly makes this episode one of my favorites.

Lydia felt very sick while we were recording this one. She was almost inaudible for a lot of it, finally prompting me to play with the "Amplify" effect in Audacity. There's a learning curve, but I think the podcast as a whole's going to be improved as a result.

This was months ago. The Lyd's feeling just fine now. :-)

Hey! Back to our regularly scheduled postings this week! We recorded this back on Saint Patrick's Day, giving you a pretty good idea of how long it was before I actually started posting vs when we started recording.

Another chapter where MacDonald has some long discussions about faith and moves the plot forward at the end as an afterthought. While I really enjoyed the previous chapter's writing, even as a Christian I think MacDonald's pro-faith argument here is disingenuous. It seems very character based, and if 2019's taught me anything, it's that people are terrible judges of character. Of course, on the pro-side Irene's appearance in the mines was basically a miracle. Curdie should be prepared to believe some extraordinary stuff from that weird little girl.

Not only do we get another Lydia stuffie-- Hershey-- joining us this episode, we also get some of MacDonald's best writing. Here are a few quotes:

"Seeing is not believing. It is only seeing."

"It would be at least as bad to not believe him as it was for him not to believe her."

"We are all anxious to be understood... but there is one other thing necessary. To understand other people."

"It faded like poetry in a dream..."

As a somewhat skeptical dude-of-faith, I kinda love all of the above. It's very relevant to America, 2019.

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There's a lot to unpack in this extra long episode, what with Lydia surprising me with Mister Crocodile and some fairly deep discussions. This is McDonald's hardest stance on faith yet, with Irene being the person who believes, and Curdie playing the rationalist. I'm happy that he seems sympathetic to both positions, at the very least.

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We switch back to the Princess Irene's perspective, and her magic ring gets her into subterranean trouble in this episode. Irene's very young, so it's not surprising she's frightened past the point of tears. Even so, she's also a hero, as we'll soon see.

Lydia couldn't stop stirring her Sleepytime tea in this episode. Sorry about the clinks, y'all. I like that she had so many questions-- it's good to have a young listener right in the room with me.

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Curdie remains in the Goblin royal family's trap and we get a good idea of how nasty they can be in this chapter. Parental advisory: intimations of cannibalism and use of the pejorative "Harelip" continue in this chapter. Also, my singing is hilariously bad this time. McDonald intentionally makes some of Curdie's improvised rhymes forced, and more power to him, but it makes it hard to keep up sometimes.

Dang, I love how Lydia doesn't want me to do any introductions. She's got this, y'all!

I think 'clue' is a mining term mentioned earlier in the book. Or maybe I'm thinking of 'gang?' Anyway, Curdie digs deep and strikes a rich vein of goblin in this chapter! Also, caveat emptor! Lots more terrible singing and perhaps the worst goblin accents ever are featured in this chapter!

This chapter contains my first and hopefully only disclaimer. MacDonald introduces the goblin prince in this chapter, and names him Harelip. It's an insulting name for people with cleft palates. I think it's supposed to be funny, but it's a nasty move. For the benefit of younger listeners I'm emphasizing that it's wrong to make fun of people for the way they look or sound. This isn't a Christian podcast per se, but MacDonald was a Christian writer. The hypocrisy stings more as a result.

Another short chapter, re-introducing Irene's King-Poppa and finally discussing the whereabouts of the Princess' mother.

Also, if you've ever wondered which one is the daddy and which is the daughter, Miss Sassy Pants Lydia turns up and can answer a lot of questions in the this vein! Bon appetit!

An extremely spunky Lydia shows for this episode and tries her hand at voice acting! Maximum Lydia is reached in this episode. Plus, everyone assumes Irene has always had a magic ring, Irene included.

Irene's Great-Great Grandmother shows that magical godparents are good for more than comfort and metaphysical discussion in this latest chapter of George MacDonald's most famous work. Magic rings seem to run in the Inklings' psychic DNA.

This week George MacDonald explores the concept of fear, as Princess Irene has her first encounter with a genuine monster!

The Princess' men-at-arms begin to encounter strange creatures at night. Goblin creatures. Also, Lydia discovers and gives up on a catch phrase.

Bye bye to the episode description!

As a writer, I'm not particularly fond of chapters that don't do a lot to move the plot forward. Still, this chapter gives us a look at Curdie's methods investigating the goblins in the mine, and gives us some insight into his home life. I like the genuine affection MacDonald shows both Curdie and Curdie's mom, whom he usually calls "Mrs. Peterson." Why so formal, Georgie? These folks live inside your head!

A sleepy Lydia, a sleepy daddy, and sleepy characters-- this may be our Sleepiest Story yet!

Princess Irene rediscovers her beautiful, dreamlike Great-Great Grandmother who helps her through an ordeal, but also presents the child with a test of faith.

You can tell how tired our girl is for this episode. I'm dragging a bit by the end, too. Still, we've got the first appearance of Irene's father, a proper fairy tale king. His beard sounds epic.

You would not believe the number of coughing sounds I edited out of this one. More throat-destroying goblin voices, and a very punchy-sleepy Lydia child in this episode, as Curdie follows the goblins into their tunnels and begins to understand their plans for the kingdom and the miners.

First off, I think Lydia was unwrapping something at the beginning. Sorry about that.

This chapter forces me to do goblin voices for the first time. It hurt my throat a lot; they come out a little bit like the Foglios' Jaeger Monsters.

I've always liked that the goblins aren't exactly nice to each other sometimes, but they're clearly a family, and care about each other. It's an important detail. I also like that they assume the sun is a weapon installed in the sky just to vex them.

Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Chapter 7-- "The Mines."The story follows Curdie the miner boy for the first time, following him first home to his parents and then to his work in the mines, where Curdie decides to work overnight, trying to find out what the goblins want with the Princess Irene.

You are safe from my singing. For now.

Chapter 6, "The Little Miner." Princess Irene meets her co-hero, Curdie, son of Peter the Miner and an overall delight. They're great together-- first he rescues her, then she rescues him, and maybe they're in love but they're too young to really grasp the concept or the problems. Irene also has her first near-encounter with the goblins, so this is where the plot really starts to kick in. Lots of good Lydia questions in this episode, so be prepared to go down a couple rabbit holes with us.

Sorry the music's so loud in the opening here. Not so bad if you're not wearing headphones, but still needs an adjustment. #learning

A short chapter this week, "The Princess Lets Well Alone." It's an interesting idea, zooming in on a main character trying to find something magical, but failing. It doesn't move the plot forward much, but it does make a larger point about faith, which I think is the allegorical Mister MacDonald's goal here.

Lydia's extra spunky during this recording. ;-)