This episode, I'll be reading the 14th chapter, Jewels, from my non-fiction manuscript, F*ck Bubble to my friend Connor in Portland, OR.


Jewels is about a challenging but illuminating visit I took to San Francisco in February 2017. Having already "broken off" whatever it was I had (or didn't have) with Gunner a few weeks prior, things still felt tense and contentious with Mack. In SF that week, he was at his most egotistical, his most craven, making overt but fruitless attempts at sexual contact.  Relief came in the form of a night out with Missy at Honey Soundsystem. The following morning, I found myself standing face-to-face in the rain on Market Street with Mack, who was taking glee in dissecting Gunner's life. Not yet knowing what was to come with Gunner that spring in LA, I could only be glad I'd opted out of what increasingly felt like a desirous-yet-warped, circular firing squad.


I met Connor not long after moving to Portland in March of 2019. By then I had already written F*ck Bubble, put it away. I don't think I ever mentioned any of the story to Connor. He's my "newest" friend on the podcast, somebody I knew I liked the first time we met, a kind of Anti-Mack: warm, consistent, empathetic, self-aware ... and hysterically funny. A breath of fresh air. 


You can find out more about F*ck Bubble and my other creative projects on my website,  http://brianpearson.net/writings. 


If you'd like to support the podcast and the writing, please check out my Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/user?u=80977299.