Agent Palmer

Episode 159 features the return of one of my best friends Christopher J. Hughes. He’s back to tackle some of Proust’s Questionnaire.

And aside from explaining what to do when things are 25 pixels to the left we discuss art, color, the creative process and much much more.

Mentioned and Helpful Links from This Episode

What is the Proust Questionnaire?

TriforceDad.com

AgentPalmer.com

So You Made A Movie

Friendship Episode II: Christopher J. Hughes

Other Links

A Robert by any other name might not make this list

results of search| provide a perfect snapshot via google

Special Guest Executive Producer: Bill Sweeney

Music created and provided by Henno Heitur of Monkey Tongue Productions.

–End Show Notes Transmission–

–Begin Transcription–

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:22:48
Agent Palmer
Previously on Agent Palmer Dot. A Robert by any other name might not make this list. Results of search provide a perfect snapshot via Google. And remember, Laura is more than just weddings. This is The Palmer Files episode 159. With the return of one of my best friends, Christopher J. Hughes. He’s back to tackle some of Proust Questionnaire and aside from explaining what to do when things are 25 pixels to the left.

00:00:22:53 – 00:00:58:57
Agent Palmer
We discuss art, color, the creative process, and much, much more. Are you ready? Let’s do the show.

00:00:59:02 – 00:01:17:15
Agent Palmer
Hello, and welcome to the Palmer Files. I’m your host, Jason Stershic. Also known as Agent Palmer. And on this 159th episode is my friend Christopher J. Hughes. Chris like Chris Maier and Bill Sweeney before him is back after a very long time, having not appeared on the show since episode 88. But what is this? What has he returned for?

00:01:17:24 – 00:01:35:43
Agent Palmer
This is a series of episodes that is being released over the course of a few months where my friends, specifically those from the friendship episodes, get to come back on the show and ask me a select few questions from the questionnaire. The first one with Chris Maier was episode 152. The second one with Bill Sweeney was episode 155.

00:01:35:48 – 00:01:55:44
Agent Palmer
And now here we are. There are 17 questions. Chris Hughes is going third, so he gets to choose from what remains. Chris and Bill only used three each respectively, so there’s still plenty to choose from. Coming soon will be Jason Zapata, and who knows what happens with the remainder of the questions at this time. A link to the questionnaire Wikipedia entry is in the show notes.

00:01:55:44 – 00:02:17:15
Agent Palmer
If you want a history lesson, I won’t spoil which questions Chris asks, but know that we do talk about art, pixel placement, cross stitch, unfinished projects, pre vacation, and all of that. And much, much more is coming your way shortly. But first remember that if you want to discuss this episode as you listen or afterwards, you can find all related ways to contact Chris and myself in the show notes.

00:02:17:26 – 00:02:37:51
Agent Palmer
I highly suggest you follow Chris on Twitch at Twitch.tv. Slash Triforce D&D 1984. Don’t forget, you can see all of my writings and rantings on Agent palmer.com. And of course email can be sent to the Palmer files at gmail.com. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

00:02:37:56 – 00:02:41:41
Agent Palmer
All right. Chris, it’s, it’s been a while since we’ve done this.

00:02:41:46 – 00:02:46:05
Christopher J. Hughes
I don’t I, I want to say the last time was. So we made a movie.

00:02:46:10 – 00:02:47:37
Agent Palmer
That is correct. That is correct.

00:02:47:37 – 00:02:49:21
Christopher J. Hughes
But when was that?

00:02:49:29 – 00:02:57:10
Agent Palmer
Over two years. It’s been. Well, that’s it’s been over two years since we released that. I don’t remember when we recorded that. So.

00:02:57:23 – 00:03:01:33
Christopher J. Hughes
So the last time I was on your podcast, you were unmarried and not a dad.

00:03:01:38 – 00:03:10:58
Agent Palmer
That is correct. Those are two things that you have, been up, you witnessed because you were at the wedding and you’ve met my son?

00:03:11:03 – 00:03:16:40
Christopher J. Hughes
Yep. I’ve met your son. I didn’t witness you becoming a dad. That would have been awkward for both of us.

00:03:16:45 – 00:03:23:26
Agent Palmer
Yeah, it was awkward enough that I was, part of the story for your first.

00:03:23:31 – 00:03:26:01
Christopher J. Hughes
And for that. Thank God for that guy.

00:03:26:06 – 00:03:31:25
Agent Palmer
And if you want to know more about that, you have to go back to Chris’s first.

00:03:31:29 – 00:03:32:05
Christopher J. Hughes
Episode and.

00:03:32:05 – 00:03:44:43
Agent Palmer
The friendship episode. Correct? Yeah, a lot’s happened. And you’ve got you’re on your, second job, a new or a new job since then as well.

00:03:44:48 – 00:03:53:46
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. So if, if I’m recalling the time that we recorded the, we talked about the movie, I was on a contract position. I’m now in a full time position. Yep.

00:03:53:51 – 00:03:57:25
Agent Palmer
Always, always, always a good, always a good in it.

00:03:57:25 – 00:03:59:24
Christopher J. Hughes
Has its frequencies and minuses.

00:03:59:24 – 00:04:03:57
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And everything has pluses and minuses.

00:04:03:57 – 00:04:09:18
Christopher J. Hughes
The pluses is benefits. Yep. The minuses is.

00:04:09:22 – 00:04:10:18
Agent Palmer
I manage all.

00:04:10:18 – 00:04:12:32
Christopher J. Hughes
Around him.

00:04:12:37 – 00:04:34:03
Agent Palmer
Okay. Yeah, yeah. And, I believe when we recorded. So we made a movie, you were in this office that. But your office has, changed at least twice. The chair I mixed that movie in is now behind you instead of beside you.

00:04:34:08 – 00:04:43:49
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, and the bookshelf that was where the chair is is now out of frame. See, I don’t need to prove to anybody that I read anymore, you know?

00:04:43:54 – 00:04:46:00
Agent Palmer
Is that is that why it was in frame?

00:04:46:12 – 00:04:48:13
Christopher J. Hughes
No, I’m being a total turd.

00:04:48:13 – 00:05:03:04
Agent Palmer
Right. Well, yeah, but you know what? See, you say that, but you are a guy who redid your entire office based on the premise that at some point, everything behind you will be seen on stream.

00:05:03:08 – 00:05:09:13
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. And even, like, to the point, like, so there’s a little area to, to my right, that I.

00:05:09:13 – 00:05:10:41
Agent Palmer
Can’t even see, so. Right.

00:05:10:50 – 00:05:32:18
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. But and so like I started, you know, it went with streaming and everything. I did start using a secondary camera for not only, Pokemon card pack openings, which have been really fun to do on stream, but I’ve rekindled that the love of that hobby. But also like I want to get back into some some physical crafting and some actual drawing again.

00:05:32:18 – 00:05:36:01
Christopher J. Hughes
And so the secondary camera that is off screen.

00:05:36:03 – 00:05:50:35
Agent Palmer
Can I, can I interject that you want to do some actual drawing for you? Because you, you may still be one of the few people I know who on almost any given design project, the first thing you do is physical.

00:05:50:40 – 00:06:13:02
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s a it’s a hand sketch. Do my you know and I think we’ve talked about this you know, we you and I have definitely talked about this off pod, but for me, like the creative process starts best by hand and then is refined digitally. Digitally. Yeah. You know, I’m not I’m not learning how to write prompts.

00:06:13:02 – 00:06:28:57
Christopher J. Hughes
I’m. I’m actually, like, drawing my stuff and, you know, and then it’s it’s a cell phone photo and I drop it into Photoshop or Illustrator, and then I sketch it out there, and I make sure the proportions look right, depending on how close I want to get to actual source material. If I’m doing like a pop culture mash up.

00:06:28:57 – 00:06:46:16
Christopher J. Hughes
But, yeah, no, it’s it starts on paper for me. And and interestingly enough, like one of the things I’m working on, that I picked up since certainly since the last time we did a podcast together is cross stitch. Just because I was like, I literally found a $3 kit at Walmart. And I was like, I think I could do this.

00:06:46:16 – 00:06:59:47
Christopher J. Hughes
And Lindsay showed me the basics. And, I mean, the back of my cross, my $3 Walmart cross stitch, experiment is not as pretty as other people’s cross stitch work. But you don’t look at the back.

00:06:59:52 – 00:07:02:22
Agent Palmer
No, no, you look at the whatever.

00:07:02:22 – 00:07:08:23
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. And now, like I want to do cross stitch is just fabric pixel art in my.

00:07:08:34 – 00:07:45:44
Agent Palmer
Yes. And so that I was going to say for me, it’s funny because like I for those who don’t know, Chris is a proud, and has been since before the office existed, a proud resident, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and, about a million years ago. Chris is going to be upset. I’m bringing this up. A million years ago, this guy, that I’m podcasting with right now started and undertook, to pixel art the entire skyline, city skyline of Scranton, of his home.

00:07:45:56 – 00:07:46:52
Christopher J. Hughes
I’ve never finished.

00:07:47:01 – 00:07:48:19
Agent Palmer
And I always go.

00:07:48:24 – 00:07:49:34
Christopher J. Hughes
I, I, I.

00:07:49:39 – 00:07:51:01
Agent Palmer
I don’t even know if he finished the.

00:07:51:05 – 00:07:57:20
Christopher J. Hughes
Town, and I didn’t even get that far because I was like, what have I done? You know, what is, like the the was.

00:07:57:21 – 00:08:02:02
Agent Palmer
The is that a like, stomach too big for the bite. Kind of a thing like you.

00:08:02:02 – 00:08:26:04
Christopher J. Hughes
200% like, I like usually my my mantra is how do eating an outfit one bite at a time. And in that instance, I said, bring me the whole bucket. Oh, well, yeah. And I, like I tried to be, like, too accurate in my depictions and I’m like, oh, I wonder how tall this building is if every pixel is an inch, that’s way too intricate.

00:08:26:04 – 00:08:27:16
Christopher J. Hughes
And so it.

00:08:27:16 – 00:08:40:05
Agent Palmer
But coming back that it just, it just means that he’s been in moving to cross-stitch and physical pixel art. This guy’s been in pixel pixel art for a long, long time.

00:08:40:13 – 00:08:43:10
Christopher J. Hughes
I like the little details. What can I say?

00:08:43:14 – 00:08:48:58
Agent Palmer
And and less details. There’s only so much you can do. Yes, with pixel.

00:08:48:58 – 00:09:13:09
Christopher J. Hughes
And and with my with my other art. Like when I was doing a lot of pop culture mash ups, like the the craziest thing for me was to try and decide color. And so I did an experiment with a couple pieces where I just limited my, again, work on pixel art. Were going nerd. I limited myself to the the color choices that were available only within the color palette on the Nintendo.

00:09:13:14 – 00:09:42:42
Christopher J. Hughes
Sure. And the the limitation of color like forced my hand into like, okay, how do I want these two things? The butt up against each other to work with each other like I was doing vector art, but I was coloring it with a very limited color palette, and it yielded good results because I had to push the design in certain ways to make the colors work well, like I did one in particular, and the theme of it was, you know, Super Mario.

00:09:42:42 – 00:10:05:14
Christopher J. Hughes
Hey, Mario, thank you. But the princess is in another castle and so the the theme of the one piece that I put together is Mario was looking for any castle that he could find, and he’s standing on a cliff and he’s looking at Doctor Wiley’s castle for Mega man. And that was all done with the NES palette. And it was great because it pushed those those color limitations, and I was able to pay tribute to a couple different things all at once.

00:10:05:14 – 00:10:05:56
Christopher J. Hughes
So.

00:10:06:01 – 00:10:23:06
Agent Palmer
And do I can ask this because we’re friends and we’re far away. Do you want to revisit the Scranton, skyline in a in a more palatable way, like maybe one bite at a time instead of the whole.

00:10:23:08 – 00:10:38:21
Christopher J. Hughes
Maybe. Like, maybe what I’ll do is maybe I’ll do the Scranton Electric City song as a cross stitch instead of trying to do an entire isometric view of the downtown like an idiot. You know, it’s.

00:10:38:30 – 00:10:46:29
Agent Palmer
I mean, this is if if nothing else, this just proves that before we made a movie, without knowing anything, we’ve been.

00:10:46:34 – 00:10:49:33
Christopher J. Hughes
I’ve done a lot of things without knowing anything.

00:10:49:37 – 00:10:52:52
Agent Palmer
Or without thinking about the the amount.

00:10:53:01 – 00:10:54:47
Christopher J. Hughes
Of how to get for the end. Yep, yep.

00:10:54:47 – 00:10:56:46
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah, that’s an endless.

00:10:56:49 – 00:11:02:10
Christopher J. Hughes
And if I know one thing for now, I is not coming for cross stitch.

00:11:02:14 – 00:11:11:29
Agent Palmer
So if I know if I know one thing for now, it’s that the bubble will there is a bubble and it will burst, I hope.

00:11:11:34 – 00:11:15:26
Christopher J. Hughes
I want I to do my laundry, not write my press releases.

00:11:15:26 – 00:11:27:45
Agent Palmer
Well, that’s that’s true, that’s true. But that’s that’s a use case. That’s how do you hold it? Well, it’s a tool. And would you like your tool. Would you like your hammer to make a piece of art. That’s that. That’s my.

00:11:27:45 – 00:11:30:54
Christopher J. Hughes
No, no, not unless I’m doing reductive sculpture. Thank you.

00:11:30:59 – 00:11:39:39
Agent Palmer
I don’t stop. And he was a block and he he went to art school. He can say stuff like that.

00:11:39:44 – 00:11:41:28
Christopher J. Hughes
Reductive versus additive.

00:11:41:30 – 00:11:45:23
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah, I know sculpting, you know, removed the thing. I got it.

00:11:45:27 – 00:11:48:26
Christopher J. Hughes
Chisel versus clay. Yeah, yeah.

00:11:48:31 – 00:11:50:24
Agent Palmer
Yeah, sure. Okay. All right. Yeah.

00:11:50:33 – 00:11:53:57
Christopher J. Hughes
Let’s look. It made sense to somebody listening.

00:11:54:02 – 00:11:55:48
Agent Palmer
Somebody out there smiled.

00:11:55:48 – 00:11:57:29
Christopher J. Hughes
Well oh my God.

00:11:57:34 – 00:12:00:50
Agent Palmer
I remember that from that time way back when.

00:12:00:55 – 00:12:06:02
Christopher J. Hughes
That one elective class I had to take and I thought I was going to be a potter.

00:12:06:06 – 00:12:36:10
Agent Palmer
Actually, that reminds me, you you have moved into. I know, on stream, but also in your personal life, you’ve done some crafting, crafting, like making props and that kind of stuff, and and it’s not just cross-stitch is real pixel art. You’ve done some 3D stuff, like in In the Flesh with whether it’s cardboard or, you know, I mean, yeah, whatever.

00:12:36:10 – 00:12:47:49
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s been a while and like, so my son and I are also experimenting with like, what are the limits right now of 3D printing? Yeah. For me that’s a, that’s an interesting design space to get into. So so do you.

00:12:47:49 – 00:13:11:57
Agent Palmer
Want to get back to like where are you when you, when you entered Keystone. Right. Yeah. When you entered school before I met you, were you a 2D artist or 3D like. Because obviously I only bring up the hobby part of it because that’s a lot of 3D stuff versus what you and I have mainly worked with, which is all 2D graphics.

00:13:11:57 – 00:13:17:31
Agent Palmer
So like at the very beginning was 3D. An option was pottery, which you know.

00:13:17:33 – 00:13:38:42
Christopher J. Hughes
Well, yeah. I mean, like, you know, I don’t want to get I don’t want to turn this into an art history class, but like, I mean, pottery has always been a part of the fine arts, sculpting clay like that, making stuff from from actual raw materials and things like that. I think was was always sort of, you know, it has always existed.

00:13:38:46 – 00:14:01:08
Christopher J. Hughes
It has not always been my forte. There’s a couple of things that I’ve done that I’ve really liked, like, I like, I like paper as a constructive medium. I did some stuff that in college that I still think back to what I was like. That was really fun. I’d like to do that again. And it’s it pushes the limits of what paper, or at least like a Bristol board could be.

00:14:01:13 – 00:14:27:45
Christopher J. Hughes
So that was always fun. But I, I’ve predominantly been a 2D artist and whether that’s like whether that’s photography or actually physically laying stuff out or turning the physical drawing into a digital drawing in some way, I’ve been more of a 2D artist. I have, I think. Where is it? Where do you go? Because I’m searching my office furiously.

00:14:27:50 – 00:14:47:03
Christopher J. Hughes
There is a cool thing that I had done a couple of years ago. So there was a barber shop that had opened, and they did, they invited artists to paint on the back of, barbers mirrors. The big round where they go, okay, look at the mirror. And then I’m going to hold this mirror and show you the back of your head to make sure everything looks one of those.

00:14:47:03 – 00:15:04:38
Christopher J. Hughes
Right? Yeah. And so, like, that was a cool project because my wife and I had done that and we both had very different approaches. So hers was more of like a pin up on the, the back of the barber’s mirror, so people could use it as a display piece when it wasn’t being functional. I took a completely different tilt.

00:15:04:38 – 00:15:28:12
Christopher J. Hughes
And I’m not normally a painter. I don’t paint well. Lindsay’s the far better painter. Always has been, but I actually painted, the the glass of the mirror, and I did it upside down. And it’s as if, Spider-Man’s got his mask pulled up and he’s giving himself a straight razor shave. And then I did polymer clay that I painted white, and I made the spider spiderweb around the edge of it.

00:15:28:12 – 00:15:53:01
Christopher J. Hughes
So it’s like it’s kind of like this miniature, like it’s this combination piece. So I, I don’t know, I like playing around with things that are very atypical manner. Probably surprising. No one, especially you. But, yeah, it’s it’s art for the fun of it. I mean, I don’t ever expect to sell a piece site, but whatever my Redbubble tells me folds up.

00:15:53:01 – 00:15:57:31
Christopher J. Hughes
I’m like, what? How? Why? Who did that?

00:15:57:36 – 00:16:03:45
Agent Palmer
Well, and but but keeping your expectations down is important. Also like.

00:16:03:50 – 00:16:05:36
Christopher J. Hughes
Here’s the key for expectations.

00:16:05:41 – 00:16:25:03
Agent Palmer
But also more maybe more importantly, doing it for keeping a hobby a hobby, you know. Yeah, you made a couple bucks. There’s beauty in keeping the hobby as a hobby, like even a storefront, doesn’t mean you’ve turned the hobby into a business. But keeping the hobby as a hobby as a whole, that’s a whole separate podcast. Oh, I.

00:16:25:08 – 00:16:30:56
Christopher J. Hughes
Mean, I, I would like to do more. Yeah, but do you I mean.

00:16:31:01 – 00:16:34:02
Agent Palmer
To a point where you want to do this, make it a business like two point.

00:16:34:06 – 00:16:55:25
Christopher J. Hughes
I don’t know, but like, so there’s like, we’re in this little weird snapshot in time and I don’t, I don’t want to like, like, date this too much, but, as you and I are talking right now, and we can cut this later. As you and I are driving right now, it’s primary election day in Pennsylvania. And without giving too much away, that could have implications on my full time position.

00:16:55:30 – 00:17:10:08
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. So is this the point where I say screw it and I throw caution to the wind and I go full tilt into making stuff all the time, or, or the contract work that that you and I do on the side or whatever, or I don’t know.

00:17:10:13 – 00:17:12:47
Agent Palmer
You know. Well, we’re turning.

00:17:12:47 – 00:17:14:46
Christopher J. Hughes
To other routes. Let’s I don’t know, let’s.

00:17:14:46 – 00:17:38:00
Agent Palmer
Keep it in this pocket. A streamer, Stefan, I watch on a fairly regular basis. Now, had planned a month trip in Europe to coincide with one of the Twitch cons, and he’s going to meet. Oh, it’s an American streamer, but he’s going over there, and he’s going to meet all these people who he’s been on servers with, but he’s never met before.

00:17:38:00 – 00:17:41:08
Agent Palmer
Right. And that’s a cool thing. But the day before.

00:17:41:12 – 00:17:43:34
Christopher J. Hughes
They’ll be going to another state to meet monkey.

00:17:43:34 – 00:18:06:55
Agent Palmer
Yes. And so the last day at work before he went on this trip, he learned he was no longer going to be employed. Oh, but it’s also but and and he, you know, streamed it in an hour at an odd time. He told everybody what was going on. But at the same time, he’s using that as a, launching point for this is my moment.

00:18:06:55 – 00:18:28:33
Agent Palmer
I’m going to go full tilt. And if I become a full time content creator, then I do. And if I don’t, well, I gave it a full shot. It’s not, I’m always giving it. And this is the thing a lot of people and this podcast is included in this are willing to give things such and such a a shake.

00:18:28:33 – 00:18:40:11
Agent Palmer
Right? Like I’m willing to do this nights and weekends. I’m. And so I’m not making this a full time endeavor. Right. It could be.

00:18:40:23 – 00:18:43:47
Christopher J. Hughes
Yet. Okay.

00:18:43:52 – 00:18:59:48
Agent Palmer
Mr.. I don’t know what episode this will be, but, you know, I’ve had I gave one ad away to Bill and his podcast folded two weeks later. So I feel like my track record with, jinxing you not not not.

00:18:59:49 – 00:19:00:10
Christopher J. Hughes
Jinxing.

00:19:00:10 – 00:19:10:58
Agent Palmer
You. Okay. Anyway, the point is, there’s nothing wrong with keeping it as a side thing, but if you want to go full tilt, you have to some, you know, some people.

00:19:10:58 – 00:19:12:37
Christopher J. Hughes
Sometimes an opportunity presents itself.

00:19:12:37 – 00:19:40:16
Agent Palmer
And maybe him losing his job is that opportunity for him. Because it means. All right, well, now you got to go. Right. It’s it’s very different now. When to go back a smidge in the conversation. Everything potentially could be a job. And when everything could be a job. Yeah. You try, especially you and me. We try very hard not to make everything, job well.

00:19:40:16 – 00:19:50:00
Christopher J. Hughes
Right. And it’s like, again recalling earlier bits just of this conversation like, that was the one thing that they didn’t teach you as an art major is how to monetize your shit.

00:19:50:04 – 00:19:52:35
Agent Palmer
They just tell you how to do a here’s how to do art.

00:19:52:35 – 00:20:13:33
Christopher J. Hughes
Well, they they basically told you what you did was wrong. Let’s start there. Let’s, let’s let’s get into the objective. Right? Okay. Do this for three seconds. I needed to get it out of my system. I’m sorry. But even now, like Lindsay, who again, I love my wife’s painting. Or like her, her.

00:20:13:38 – 00:20:16:03
Agent Palmer
And his wife, he’d still. He also loves his wife.

00:20:16:03 – 00:20:38:06
Christopher J. Hughes
Well, right. I mean, that’s the part of the whole, So, but even still, like, when, like, she spends hours upon hours upon hours on these things, and then she, she has trouble attributing value, monetary value to a because she was like, what was my time? And so we’ve developed this formula where it’s like, okay, what’s the square?

00:20:38:10 – 00:20:45:31
Christopher J. Hughes
What’s the square inch? Yeah. Okay. It’s an eight by ten. It’s an $80 piece for the original. You know, like you’re trying.

00:20:45:31 – 00:21:10:58
Agent Palmer
Well, you’re trying things. And that’s the other thing you. I need to work. I, I know, a business, somewhat close to me. That is not really making money. And, when I talk to one of the owners, every time I talk to him, I’m like. I feel like every time you get a new contract, you need to raise the price until you are making a like, I don’t know what it is.

00:21:11:03 – 00:21:19:58
Agent Palmer
It’s just in general, the service industry, the arts, maybe anything that combines them is we we’re horrible people.

00:21:19:59 – 00:21:22:50
Christopher J. Hughes
We we we were taught to undervalue arts.

00:21:23:01 – 00:21:28:49
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah, I think I think there’s never a value, appropriate value attributed to that.

00:21:28:50 – 00:21:38:16
Christopher J. Hughes
But like, and like we also know, especially in the area that we’re in, like, there’s not going to be a Wilson Fisk who shows up and buys a white canvas called rabbit in a snowstorm for a bajillion.

00:21:38:22 – 00:21:41:44
Agent Palmer
No, that’s that’s fiction. That is fiction.

00:21:41:44 – 00:21:42:38
Christopher J. Hughes
Double fiction.

00:21:42:40 – 00:21:43:25
Agent Palmer
It’s double fiction.

00:21:43:25 – 00:21:46:00
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, yeah, in its inception. Fiction.

00:21:46:00 – 00:22:08:07
Agent Palmer
Yes. But let’s go to fact. And you are here because with the friendship episode that we referenced, I am running it backwards with the Proust Questionnaire. So my friend Chris, what is your first question for me? From what remains.

00:22:08:12 – 00:22:13:45
Christopher J. Hughes
Right from what remains, this, this one hit me in the philosophical gullet.

00:22:13:50 – 00:22:14:38
Agent Palmer
Okay?

00:22:14:42 – 00:22:17:55
Christopher J. Hughes
And I feel like it needs to be asked in a very dramatic fashion.

00:22:17:59 – 00:22:18:51
Agent Palmer
Okay.

00:22:18:56 – 00:22:25:14
Christopher J. Hughes
All right. So if not yourself, who would you be?

00:22:25:19 – 00:22:37:37
Agent Palmer
I don’t I don’t, I don’t I don’t like this question. I actually of all of the ones on this, I think this is the one I don’t like the most because.

00:22:37:51 – 00:22:39:40
Christopher J. Hughes
Now I’ve found the secret sauce.

00:22:39:40 – 00:22:42:44
Agent Palmer
So so I think what I could say, it’s.

00:22:42:44 – 00:22:43:43
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay to like, you.

00:22:43:45 – 00:23:11:04
Agent Palmer
Know. No, no, I think what I would say it. Yeah. Honest. Honest answer. Brutal answer, if not myself right now, who would I be? I’d be pre anxiety me. I just go back to before that stuff happened I would still be me but like pre anxiety me that would like come up to see you on a moment like I didn’t have to worry about when I ate or where I am or like, am I going to have a panic attack?

00:23:11:08 – 00:23:32:54
Agent Palmer
Travel times, nothing. You know, I, I know to even to me now, 90 minutes isn’t much of a travel, but it’s, it’s enough that I have to make a plan. Whereas before pre anxiety me, I’d come up and have lunch with you and come back like it. There were no. So I would probably just go back to being me.

00:23:32:54 – 00:24:08:22
Agent Palmer
And part of it is I have a before and after, so it’s like I like to before the before. It’s pretty good. That’s really nice. You know, but I just I can’t imagine any other thing. And I say, I’ve said this a lot during these specific episodes. Okay. This might be a specific instance or another specific instance where last year it’s a different answer.

00:24:08:27 – 00:24:16:48
Agent Palmer
You know, the, the we started this off by saying I’ve, I’ve gotten married and become a dad since our last recording. Right.

00:24:16:48 – 00:24:17:52
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah.

00:24:17:57 – 00:24:39:35
Agent Palmer
There. This might this might be one of the few questions that would have been different before I was married. Not just it’s changed since I’ve become a dad because I would not give up being me. Because then I wouldn’t be married to Steph or have Greg that kid. Right.

00:24:39:44 – 00:24:53:16
Christopher J. Hughes
And there’s, there’s, there’s a there’s a chunk of you that like, if you could like surgically remove like I’m picturing like your anxiety is like the the dogs lead in the yard and you can only get so far because.

00:24:53:20 – 00:25:27:45
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And so the dog I’m I’m just. Yeah. Yeah. And I’m due and a lot of times you make the best of what you have and that’s and that’s fine. But I’m just saying like, I think, I probably just a former version of myself, I don’t know, the other stuff because I also don’t know that. I mean, there’s a more there’s a more scary thing to me than continuing with anxiety, and that is being myself with anxiety.

00:25:27:59 – 00:25:46:57
Agent Palmer
And then stepping into anyone else’s shoes and, and and here’s, here’s make it. Let’s make it more specific. Most people pick someone famous. I wouldn’t do well with that much attention. And like my anxiety is what it is is anxious.

00:25:46:57 – 00:25:50:58
Christopher J. Hughes
Jay dogging her is that is that just Jay.

00:25:50:58 – 00:25:59:45
Agent Palmer
I’m anxious now. And no, I don’t have the paparazzi. No one’s like like, can you imagine what it would be like?

00:25:59:47 – 00:26:05:02
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s very much like it’s like, look at me, look at me, look at me now look at me. Yes.

00:26:05:07 – 00:26:17:12
Agent Palmer
Yeah. So, so I guess a previous version of myself. But, now I get to say, Chris, if not yourself, who would you be?

00:26:17:17 – 00:26:43:11
Christopher J. Hughes
Oh, I didn’t think I had to answer them to. I’m not prepared for this. I would have chosen differently. A jet. I almost said I should have listened the other episodes. I don’t think you’ve positively these yet. I haven’t, I haven’t, Nicole, God damn it. All right. I’m. I’m also going to be a little introspective because I don’t I don’t know who I would want to be.

00:26:43:11 – 00:26:55:09
Christopher J. Hughes
I would want to, I, I like who I am. I’ve cultivated a person that I think is kind of okay in most situations.

00:26:55:14 – 00:26:57:09
Agent Palmer
He’s great for all seasons.

00:26:57:10 – 00:26:58:46
Christopher J. Hughes
I was.

00:26:58:51 – 00:27:02:17
Agent Palmer
You can wear him after Labor Day.

00:27:02:22 – 00:27:32:22
Christopher J. Hughes
Like a warm winter jacket. I just, I, I think, All right, again, I’m going to be equally introspective, and I think I would like to be a me that finishes more of what I start. Okay? I think I have a lot of good ideas. Again, and I mean, we talked about this like, I start at the end sometimes, and that’s a bad place to start.

00:27:32:27 – 00:27:34:54
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I need to. I need to.

00:27:35:00 – 00:27:44:46
Agent Palmer
Strategize. He’s saying that he starts from the end to the guy who he always accuses of being too far ahead. So like.

00:27:44:48 – 00:27:56:31
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s no no no no, no. That here’s the difference. Here’s the difference. You have a plan for four weeks from now, I just see the thing, okay?

00:27:56:31 – 00:27:56:58
Agent Palmer
Okay.

00:27:56:58 – 00:27:58:15
Christopher J. Hughes
No fucking plan.

00:27:58:17 – 00:27:59:21
Agent Palmer
Okay. All right.

00:27:59:25 – 00:28:05:34
Christopher J. Hughes
All right. And, sometimes that fluidity is helpful.

00:28:05:36 – 00:28:15:24
Agent Palmer
Well, I think that the documentary is in, in in it could be example A, B and C for that you, you saw the end and I.

00:28:15:24 – 00:28:22:35
Christopher J. Hughes
Knew I had enough stuff to make a documentary. Making it was completely foreign to me until you and I said, let’s make DVD chapters.

00:28:22:35 – 00:28:23:29
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And so and I.

00:28:23:29 – 00:28:25:26
Christopher J. Hughes
Was and.

00:28:25:26 – 00:28:39:15
Agent Palmer
So that’s kind of it goes back to the pixel art of the skyline new, you know, it’s a lot of things. So I feel like what we’ve discovered from this particular question and I’m like.

00:28:39:15 – 00:28:40:34
Christopher J. Hughes
Me, but I want me to be.

00:28:40:34 – 00:28:44:12
Agent Palmer
Better. Well, I want me to be better to friend. Oh.

00:28:44:12 – 00:28:46:19
Christopher J. Hughes
That that’s the I think the obviously it’s in them.

00:28:46:20 – 00:28:53:08
Agent Palmer
But no, I think more universal than that is we like who we are and I don’t I don’t look this is my mind.

00:28:53:08 – 00:28:53:56
Christopher J. Hughes
To be this, okay?

00:28:53:56 – 00:29:07:03
Agent Palmer
It’s shit. It’s mind blowing to me that there will be people out there, that this will be, foreign to. But like. Right, we’re we’re I’m. I wake up being me and that’s good.

00:29:07:07 – 00:29:16:43
Christopher J. Hughes
I’m okay with that. I’d like to creak a little bit less, but if I was going to go celebrity, probably Robert Downey Jr. I mean, look at look at this fucking face for crying out arms.

00:29:16:43 – 00:29:25:02
Agent Palmer
Oh yeah. Okay. But all right, well let’s, let’s let’s move on. Let’s go. What’s the next question?

00:29:25:06 – 00:29:49:32
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay. I like this question because I feel like I know so much about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever asked you just this straight up. Like third grade best friends sort of question. Yeah. The first half of which? The second half of which I can’t see myself asking anybody, but probably my wife. So the second question, I picked out a little out of what remains.

00:29:49:32 – 00:30:03:07
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. Is, your favorite color and flower. The flower went through me, but I realize that I’ve never asked you what your favorite color is. And so that’s why I chose this question.

00:30:03:12 – 00:30:10:08
Agent Palmer
Okay, so there are some caveats to this.

00:30:10:13 – 00:30:12:08
Christopher J. Hughes
Oh, my. He’s got he’s got rules.

00:30:12:08 – 00:30:20:23
Agent Palmer
Yeah. No, I think I don’t I think flower is just a part of favorite color. I think there’s some I don’t, I don’t really have.

00:30:20:26 – 00:30:26:15
Christopher J. Hughes
Like how old are these questions. Like are we talking about like, grinding up flour to make the pigment? I’m.

00:30:26:15 – 00:30:57:27
Agent Palmer
I’m thinking that, you know, if you said red your favorite, or you could say red, or you could say, I like a rose. You know, I think that’s kind of what we’re working for. Me, honestly, I don’t really have a favorite color I have had. It is it is changed. I, I know for a fact because my mother, when my mother became a bubbe and immediately started going through all of my old childhood stuff.

00:30:57:39 – 00:31:20:38
Agent Palmer
So when we were over at their house recently, I went through a book I wrote about my favorite things. So I think it was, oh, a seven year old me. Let’s go with seven year old me. I don’t exactly know, but plus or minus a couple years either way. Seven year old me. Favorite color? Orange. Why? Because I like the Orioles.

00:31:20:47 – 00:31:41:43
Agent Palmer
It’s that simple. It’s not because I like the color. It’s because my favorite team wears that color. It has nothing to do. Like, it’s not, like, you know, like whatever. It’s just that relation. That’s fine. Right. And then you go to high school. Me I would have said black, which arguably is all color. So it’s not an answer.

00:31:41:43 – 00:31:42:29
Agent Palmer
It’s a horrible.

00:31:42:39 – 00:31:46:29
Christopher J. Hughes
The absence of color depending on if we’re talking about lighter pigment.

00:31:46:29 – 00:32:24:23
Agent Palmer
Yes. So, I, I think it was just I, I, I it doesn’t matter. Like, I think one of those things and now since then. Right. Like I got married in Orioles jerseys, one of the first outfits junior got was a an Orioles thing, so, like, I could go back to orange. But I just, I it doesn’t I don’t know that I care about color, excepting that you have ruined me and that I only care about color for how they bounce off each other.

00:32:24:34 – 00:32:28:58
Agent Palmer
So I don’t really care what color it is. But if you pair two colors together, works.

00:32:28:58 – 00:32:29:42
Christopher J. Hughes
With another one.

00:32:29:42 – 00:32:30:29
Agent Palmer
Yes.

00:32:30:34 – 00:32:31:07
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah.

00:32:31:11 – 00:32:49:36
Agent Palmer
And so, I mean, I guess I guess the easy one would be probably orange, but I could easily say blue just because, my wife would love that color in an, in any capacity. And so I, she would be happy. I don’t love.

00:32:49:36 – 00:33:02:58
Christopher J. Hughes
It. Let me ask a miniature fab question. Yeah. Is there a color that either you’ve been told you look the best in, or that you feel you look the best in.

00:33:03:03 – 00:33:13:56
Agent Palmer
No. Okay. But but but then again, I wear a lot of blue for my wife. She doesn’t seem to complain, as you are right now.

00:33:13:56 – 00:33:15:20
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. She’s at home.

00:33:15:20 – 00:33:42:20
Agent Palmer
Yeah. It’s not, I don’t, I don’t know, I, I, I think I’d go with orange probably, but I mean, when look, all of the branding for the business that you and I did a long time ago, that still kind of exists to the Palmer files logo to the Agent Palmer logo there, black and white. You know, if I had a favorite color, I would have found a way to squeeze them into those logos.

00:33:42:20 – 00:34:08:06
Agent Palmer
They wouldn’t be black and white, I think. I think there’s something I don’t know I like about black and white and the simplicity of it. So, you know, let’s, let’s, let’s go with that. I guess, I like, I like, I like black and white equally. Just because there’s a lot and I think they represent, you know, text on the page and, you know, it’s a lot of things.

00:34:08:10 – 00:34:15:26
Agent Palmer
So that’s what I’ll go with. And then I’ll, I’ll just say, I feel like you do have a favorite color.

00:34:15:31 – 00:34:43:51
Christopher J. Hughes
I do. And, interestingly enough, I thought you were going to say orange because of the Orioles, but I was like, that’s too easy of an answer for him. But I kind of love that. I was accidentally. Right? Yes. So. So my mind goes a little, a little deeper. Just because, like, you know, color theory, color psychology, like, all that kind of shit and and, yes, how colors bounce off of each other.

00:34:43:56 – 00:35:17:39
Christopher J. Hughes
I, you know, there was a time where, like. And it was probably high school, so it was probably a very rudimentary experiment, but like, you did have to look up like color meanings. And so like I remember like purple was royal. So like a lot of people like I like purple. And you know, red was like, like passion or courage or whatever, but orange, I feel like was like creative and it was optimistic and it there was a little bit of a spirit of.

00:35:17:44 – 00:35:21:19
Agent Palmer
Orange, my favorite color. Optimistic.

00:35:21:23 – 00:35:27:39
Christopher J. Hughes
I that independent. I’m looking at a a color psychology. Okay. Sure.

00:35:27:43 – 00:35:33:51
Agent Palmer
Right now nobody’s describing me as optimistic. Yeah. But you would describe me as independent.

00:35:33:51 – 00:35:35:34
Christopher J. Hughes
So yes.

00:35:35:36 – 00:35:36:27
Agent Palmer
All right.

00:35:36:32 – 00:35:59:25
Christopher J. Hughes
So but I feel like like orange was like it was, it was like sunny, but it wasn’t like it wasn’t yellow. Sunny optimism. So I feel like I kind of I was like, yeah, orange. I think I get think I get a good vibe with an orange. But yeah. So yeah, orange has been one for me.

00:35:59:25 – 00:36:09:00
Christopher J. Hughes
And it’s funny though, because, like, I, depending on its use, like, I think orange is a terrible brand color.

00:36:09:05 – 00:36:19:29
Agent Palmer
Oh, no, it’s just on a whole, because it doesn’t go with much at all. And even I love the Orioles, but they have to be very careful not to be Halloween all the time.

00:36:19:34 – 00:36:21:40
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, yeah, I mean.

00:36:21:45 – 00:36:27:27
Agent Palmer
And that’s, that’s that’s not just the aura that’s orange is problem all of the time.

00:36:27:32 – 00:36:34:36
Christopher J. Hughes
Right? Yeah. So yeah. But but I would go with with orange for sure.

00:36:34:38 – 00:36:41:16
Agent Palmer
So and we both and that and by the way orange was the primary color at the college where we met. So it’s not.

00:36:41:30 – 00:36:44:33
Christopher J. Hughes
For us that it was not part of my selection process.

00:36:44:33 – 00:36:45:29
Agent Palmer
Though. I know.

00:36:45:35 – 00:36:48:02
Christopher J. Hughes
But I just need to vibe with the with the college brand.

00:36:48:06 – 00:37:02:06
Agent Palmer
No, I’m just saying that it ties the three of us together. So, All right, so far, I think I think I’ve, I’ve, I’ve, we’re doing all right.

00:37:02:11 – 00:37:05:45
Christopher J. Hughes
So let’s, I’ve not, like, chiseled into some, like.

00:37:05:47 – 00:37:06:48
Agent Palmer
I don’t know who.

00:37:06:58 – 00:37:08:41
Christopher J. Hughes
Have forgotten psyche.

00:37:08:41 – 00:37:20:42
Agent Palmer
Or. I’ve spent, I’ve spent no, once I got the questions and, like, looked through them once. I didn’t want anything more because I wanted to be put on the spot. So I guess you look.

00:37:20:42 – 00:37:23:04
Christopher J. Hughes
You look relaxed, if it’s any consolation.

00:37:23:17 – 00:37:32:22
Agent Palmer
Okay. That’s good. I don’t feel relaxed, but that’s fine. I, I’m really good at thinking it, man. So it’s.

00:37:32:22 – 00:37:34:46
Christopher J. Hughes
The. It’s the orange optimism. All right, all right.

00:37:34:51 – 00:37:37:56
Agent Palmer
So what do you got for me for question three?

00:37:38:10 – 00:37:56:03
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay, so I, I like setting these up. Two I don’t know if I’m supposed to, but I’m enjoying excited you I pick these questions. Okay. So a lot of people may know the I don’t know if we’ve talked about this on a pod, but I edit the predominant portion of agents.

00:37:56:09 – 00:38:02:38
Agent Palmer
I’ve given you credit. I’ve talked about you in the past. Yeah, but I don’t know if we’ve talked about it at length.

00:38:02:43 – 00:38:27:27
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay. So. And you know, Agent Palmer being the blog, Agent palmer.com new posts every Thursday, correct? Yeah. So I just know when I have to have met at it. But, and I, a couple of years ago, I gave you a challenge. You were writing a lot about the books that you were reading, which, I admire, but it was the blog was very quickly turning into, like, a book review.

00:38:27:32 – 00:38:41:17
Christopher J. Hughes
Yes. And so to to stretch you a little bit, I said, okay, I’m going to as your editor, I’m going to limit you to every other week. And you’ve done really good almost universally since that point. So points for that. So I read a lot of.

00:38:41:30 – 00:38:42:10
Agent Palmer
Sorry.

00:38:42:15 – 00:39:08:33
Christopher J. Hughes
My client loves points. But I hate to give up the point. Spread it. So I know a lot of what you read. So I feel like some of the questions in this, I kind of already have the answers to, you know, but also, I, I love visiting your home, and I, Well, the few times I’ve been to your folks home, you guys surround yourselves with a lot of art.

00:39:08:37 – 00:39:23:12
Christopher J. Hughes
So I wanted to ask, you the question. The Proust question is, your favorite painters and composers. I feel like I know composers, but I’m willing to be very wrong.

00:39:23:17 – 00:39:53:55
Agent Palmer
Okay, so composers is, a very. I think it’s just makers of art. I’m just going to guess. I don’t think it’s just like painters and musicians, you know what I mean? So, But I have no problem saying that, like, you know, there are, you know, for our generation, you know, classical music isn’t really a thing, but John Williams, of course, is right.

00:39:54:00 – 00:40:26:58
Agent Palmer
So that’s a kind of an obvious one as far as composers. I would also, I would also probably include, Frank Zappa in that, who’s done actual composing as well. It’s not just, you know, Valley Girl, and guitar stuff. There are but for artists, and it’s interesting because, there’s, I’m trying to think of his name, Irving Eyman.

00:40:27:03 – 00:40:55:21
Agent Palmer
There are some pieces in my living room, or not, in my living room. There are some pieces in my dining room that, are almonds. They’re on opposite walls. One is in my house. There are many religions, and in my house there are many children. Those are the two separate pieces on separate walls. And it’s basically just like the one is a bunch of buildings of different religious, affiliations.

00:40:55:21 – 00:41:16:34
Agent Palmer
And the other one is the children all dressed in the same kind of style where there’s like, you know, all these different religious children. And Eamon has done a lot of other different things, but that but but that style that is in my dining room, that’s his style. Right. So, and are.

00:41:16:34 – 00:41:24:16
Christopher J. Hughes
Those so are those. And I know the question is painters, but I feel like we’re, we’re allowed to to stretch a little bit and say, like, artists.

00:41:24:16 – 00:41:24:36
Agent Palmer
Artists.

00:41:24:36 – 00:41:37:19
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. The the first and I’m cheating. I’m admittedly cheating because I would not be able to pick out his work. But, the first results that come up in a Google search to me are they’re black prints that look like they’re like.

00:41:37:24 – 00:41:40:16
Agent Palmer
I think they’re I think they’re legitimately called woodblock.

00:41:40:29 – 00:42:05:27
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, they might be woodblock because I doubt like, like linoleum. The rubber linoleum prints were probably in vogue, you know, I mean, this guy was born in 1918. I’m. I’m absolutely. Yeah. That’s fine. But, they I imagine they were woodcuts and they’re they are, they’re they’re blocky, but they, they do tell, they’re very visually striking.

00:42:05:27 – 00:42:25:47
Christopher J. Hughes
And I think they do tell a good story. There’s one that’s up right now that appears to be of minors. And, you know, it didn’t take me very long to figure that out. Like, they’re they’re easy to read, they’re easy to understand. They’re, you know, and when you when you understand the process of a woodcut or even a linocut, I think it’s easy to appreciate them and the skill that goes into.

00:42:25:57 – 00:42:58:51
Agent Palmer
And so that’s one and I get that, I get that from my parents. In fact, all those pieces came from their collection. Or in the case of one of them, my dad found it somewhere else and went, I think you’d like to have this in your house. So that’s cool. That’s really cool. And so that’s that’s one, there’s a couple others that we obviously share, especially my father and I, and that would be, Ralph Bakshi and the style from the movies, the, you know, wizards.

00:42:58:53 – 00:43:35:53
Agent Palmer
Lord of the rings. But but also especially Bakshi related is Ian Miller and Mike Plutarch. And these are all fairly wizards related. But, you know, because of my, my, hobbies, for collectible card games, I was able to reintroduce my father to art from those guys that he hadn’t seen before because both Mike Plug and Ian Miller, aside from doing stuff for Wizards, most famously, Ian Miller did a lot of the backgrounds and Mike plugged did a lot of the still histories from Wizards.

00:43:35:57 – 00:44:06:45
Agent Palmer
Those guys have both illustrated Magic The Gathering cards, which is one of the few minor collection collection things I’ve done in, of magic, where I have a binder of every Mike plug and Ian Miller card. Or at least I did. I think there was one that got really expensive. That was a new card that Ian Miller did that I’m like, I don’t know if I have the justification for an $80 card just to complete this one collection, but maybe, maybe one day.

00:44:06:49 – 00:44:51:15
Agent Palmer
So there’s those kind of things too. But then there’s also, to your point, there are other artists whose names and I, I don’t know if I should be upset at myself for this or not that I don’t know. Okay. Like so, for example, in my parent’s living room, there is, a glass piece that is, a square that from, the I mean, it comes to a point, so I guess it would be more of a triangle, but the rounded part is tree bark basically etched in the glass.

00:44:51:20 – 00:45:12:28
Agent Palmer
And that is a piece that has been, oh, my God. A part of, you know, their living room probably for, like, for forever. Okay. Yeah. And that has been kind of amazing to see and just be a part of. Right. And then right I go.

00:45:12:28 – 00:45:27:43
Christopher J. Hughes
Is definitely there’s a neat question. I don’t mean to cut you off like there’s a neat question like I wonder, like if you, like, do you appreciate that more because it’s familiar? Do you appreciate it just because it’s it’s beautiful. I think I there’s a lot wrapped in that.

00:45:27:43 – 00:45:48:46
Agent Palmer
I think it’s less that it’s familiar and more that it’s beautiful. Because it’s, it’s, it’s not a I mean, I see it all the time now, but I, I, I don’t, I mean, my dad’s going to correct me when he hears this, but I don’t remember where it was in when in our previous home. Sure. But I don’t remember seeing it very often.

00:45:48:51 – 00:46:17:14
Agent Palmer
I see it more now, but I liked it before. And then I think one, you know, in that same vein as, as far as moving to physical things, my dad, and my mother have kind of gotten into pottery as far as, like, my dad drinks out of his. He’s retired now, but his coffee mug, when he’s not using like, a tumbler and going out and running errands is pottery.

00:46:17:19 – 00:46:41:13
Agent Palmer
Usually hand fired that he got somewhere. And so I can say. And lift up the mug I have now that Brian Jones, who does the Marc Maron mugs, is one of my favorite artists because I have two of his mugs that he hand fired. You know that, you know, the relationship is that Maron literally gifts these to his guests.

00:46:41:17 – 00:47:03:57
Agent Palmer
But, occasionally they become for sale. And I got two of them, two very different styles, but as pieces, these are in my kitchen, displayed when I’m not drinking them. You know, these are art pieces to be seen, not just used. And, and all of this is to say, forget.

00:47:03:57 – 00:47:05:09
Christopher J. Hughes
That beautiful things can be.

00:47:05:09 – 00:47:51:06
Agent Palmer
Both, but, yeah, I don’t. Yeah. We have, a set of, I guess they were handmade bowls that Steph and I use for soup that are also on display because they’re beautiful pieces. And so I guess all this is to say that a lot of my art and and tastes come from my parents, but, I mean, there are other, there are other things, but those are the ones that kind of come to mind first, because those are the ones that like, you know, I, I am, you know, very, I don’t know, inspired by I want them around me.

00:47:51:11 – 00:47:56:40
Agent Palmer
And so I’ve, I’ve, I’ve put them where I could.

00:47:56:45 – 00:48:09:50
Agent Palmer
So, for you favorite artists, favorite composers, favorite creators of. I mean, actually, I will say I forgot one. I forgot one.

00:48:09:55 – 00:48:13:42
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay, you. You bastard. Because,

00:48:13:47 – 00:48:29:37
Agent Palmer
I, I do like your art. I like your style. I love the way your mind works when we talk about the mash, the pop problem, the know, the pop culture mash ups, which maybe problem solving because you’re trying to figure out how to get 50% of.

00:48:29:42 – 00:48:30:19
Christopher J. Hughes
Each thing.

00:48:30:21 – 00:48:34:33
Agent Palmer
Each thing into this thing, to make it work. So you recognize bone’s recognizable.

00:48:34:33 – 00:48:34:54
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah.

00:48:34:56 – 00:48:47:33
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And so I, I, I, I, I’ve enjoyed kind of being around because I get to see a lot more as a friend. Not. You know what I mean? Like, I get to see more than most. Like, I get to see the stuff that you don’t finish well.

00:48:47:42 – 00:49:03:45
Christopher J. Hughes
And like we’ve done, we’ve done like, silly things like you’ve challenged me to do, like, like logo critiques and things like that. And I pick out things that other people don’t see, like, I’ll, I’ll never forget when the when the Seattle Kraken logo came out and you’re like, you should do a logo critique of this new NHL team that came out.

00:49:03:50 – 00:49:14:11
Christopher J. Hughes
And I saw the fact that the T’s, the two T’s in Seattle were different. And you’re like, I will never not see this again.

00:49:14:15 – 00:49:33:29
Agent Palmer
Well, it’s like everything, every I called you I literally called you yesterday and said I did a design critique on something because I couldn’t unsee it. I’m like, I literally told, a coworker, you need to move that over 25 pixels. Yeah. Like and that’s because you.

00:49:33:33 – 00:49:34:15
Christopher J. Hughes
Tell people.

00:49:34:15 – 00:49:39:24
Agent Palmer
That. But all right, everybody move everything 25 pixels to the right.

00:49:39:31 – 00:49:43:44
Christopher J. Hughes
Everything. Just the things that are 25 pixels to the left.

00:49:43:48 – 00:49:49:18
Agent Palmer
All right, all right. So anyway. Hey, sorry. Anyway, your favorite artists.

00:49:49:27 – 00:50:11:12
Christopher J. Hughes
So, I’ll, I’ll start with composers because I found this meta interesting question. And I don’t know that a lot of people would answer with, with these two guys specifically, and there are probably dozens of others. But for me, the like the guys who wrote the soundtrack to my childhood are Koji Kondo and Chip Tanaka, and they’re in the in the traditional sense.

00:50:11:12 – 00:50:27:06
Christopher J. Hughes
A lot of people might not consider them composers, but these are the guys that that wrote like Koji Kondo wrote, like The Legend of Zelda theme music. I think he may have also been responsible for Mario, but I don’t want to attribute that to him because I’m not 100% certain. Yep. I could cheat, but I don’t want to type over myself.

00:50:27:10 – 00:50:56:35
Christopher J. Hughes
And then Chip Tanaka is the guy that was behind, earthbound. And so for me, like, yes, like John Williams movie soundtrack, movie composition. Yes, absolutely. Also part of my childhood, and probably a more universal choice for a lot of people. But like, I played video games when I was a kid. Yeah. And, like, even though, like, my first real Zelda was, you know, for me was Ocarina of Time.

00:50:56:35 – 00:51:17:03
Christopher J. Hughes
That was the first one that I really like. Sunk my teeth into and went, you know, like to to use the meme like, this is going to be part of my personality from now on. Like, that I, I don’t know that Koji was fully responsible for that entire soundtrack, but like the the themes and the notes and the the the cues.

00:51:17:03 – 00:51:49:00
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, they all originate back from what he did with the original Legend of Zelda, which I remember playing at a neighbor’s house very poorly because I did not know what I was doing or what I was supposed to be doing, because, I mean, that game literally just like, sucked you on a map and said, figure it out. And, Earthbound has such a, stranglehold on, my heart and my sensibilities that, if I didn’t say Chip Tanaka, it would be an insult both to me and to him.

00:51:49:05 – 00:52:01:29
Christopher J. Hughes
So. And, like, I don’t like everything that those guys do. I think that that’s an important thing to talk about with artists like you may not appreciate every single piece that they’ve put out, but like, if there was.

00:52:01:29 – 00:52:19:02
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I stopped an artist, by the way. I skipped an artist because, like, so. Right. There’s a I should say it because I want to get a rise out of you. But so one of the things and I only bring it up because what you just said, you don’t have to like everything. I have three monitors. That’s my current office setup.

00:52:19:07 – 00:52:45:00
Agent Palmer
And I have, 150 background images that rotate every minute. So each screen changes every three minutes. And I have, aside from the admins that are in my house, I have other admins that are part of the background. Yeah, like some stuff is like, you know, minimalist art, like, minimalist, kind of like, pop culture stuff.

00:52:45:06 – 00:53:05:16
Agent Palmer
But there’s still a lot of art. I have a lot of Ian Miller and Mike plug stuff that go through this rotation as well. But not everything. Yeah. And that’s just that’s an important piece. Also, I didn’t want to say the, the, the other artist because I didn’t want to get you all riled up, but I don’t think it matters anymore.

00:53:05:18 – 00:53:16:38
Agent Palmer
One of the other artists whose art I only have digitally because I couldn’t afford to buy it otherwise, which is part of this rotation of my wallpapers, is Douglas Copeland.

00:53:16:43 – 00:53:22:28
Christopher J. Hughes
Okay, okay, I did not know that he he, dabbled in other areas.

00:53:22:28 – 00:53:29:48
Agent Palmer
Yeah, he he he’s more than just an author that I read a lot of that. You’re like another Copeland. Another Copeland.

00:53:29:52 – 00:53:33:47
Christopher J. Hughes
I’m sure he’s a very nice man. I’m just tired of reading your reviews of his work.

00:53:33:51 – 00:53:39:21
Agent Palmer
Well, you, which is funny because it’s less than the dating reviews, but it’s just a whole.

00:53:39:26 – 00:53:41:39
Christopher J. Hughes
I don’t know, maybe I was okay with the spy novels.

00:53:41:41 – 00:53:44:54
Agent Palmer
Okay, well, and World War Two nonfiction.

00:53:44:59 – 00:53:50:28
Christopher J. Hughes
There’s a saccharine sweetness about writing, about all things Canadian that maybe just doesn’t speak to me.

00:53:50:28 – 00:53:54:04
Agent Palmer
Anyway, back to you. Yeah. Okay, so,

00:53:54:09 – 00:54:19:33
Christopher J. Hughes
Artists, artists is hard be because, like, especially with the pop culture mash ups, like, I’m drawing from so many sources. And a lot of my stuff, it just ends up being an homage, like, it’s it’s it’s, it’s the my brain is the epitome of steel, like an artist by, I think it’s Austin Kleon.

00:54:19:37 – 00:54:48:19
Christopher J. Hughes
And it’s just like all of the things that we experience become a part of, of who we are and how we decide to express ourselves. And I love that. And it’s also a total cheat code, because the more you expose yourself to the, the, the broader your impact and your influence and your inspiration can become. So, like, I’m, it’s gonna sound corny, but there’s a reason for it.

00:54:48:24 – 00:55:11:55
Christopher J. Hughes
But Rodin. So the sculpture. Rodin. Okay. And the reason I, I’m going to pick him in this instance because, again, I did not prepare my own artist for this. It’s like I want to ask Jay three questions and go about my day. And I’m not going to have to answer anything today. So the reason I like Rodin is, it’s there’s a I have a really lovely memory tied to Rodin.

00:55:12:10 – 00:55:36:42
Christopher J. Hughes
So when, when Lindsay and I will go, we will do what we call pre vacations. And so we will go to an area to explore ourselves without our kids and our kids are older. So like, the method behind this is changed. But we will go and we will see if there are things that we can experience together as a family.

00:55:36:51 – 00:55:59:33
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. And so when the kids were younger would be like, is there an amusement park close by? Is there a museum? Whatever. And so we, threw a, a comedy of Errors. We, we ended up in the wrong Salem on a trip that she had won through a previous job. She was working for a hotel chain, and part of their Christmas party was like, oh, it’s a random drawing.

00:55:59:33 – 00:56:25:57
Christopher J. Hughes
And if you get this, you can go here. So we got a two night stay in Salem, New Hampshire, which is not the Salem that everybody wants to go to. No offense to the fine folks of Salem, New Hampshire. And it was probably like half the distance between you and I now. Yeah. To Salem, Massachusetts. Yeah. Which is the significantly bigger draw if you had to choose the Salem.

00:56:25:57 – 00:56:46:54
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. And so we we took a day out and we was like, all right, we’re going to, we’re going to leave this Salem and go to the other Salem, and we wander. And one of one of my favorite things about when we vacation, when it’s just us, is we will wander. Like we will let things occur to us.

00:56:46:59 – 00:57:10:56
Christopher J. Hughes
And so we’re, we’re wandering Salem, and we found at the time, I don’t know if it’s still there, a lovely, authentic, like, French pastry shop. And then we stumbled, but I could not. If you put a baseball bat to the back of my head, I could not tell you what museum we found, but we found a museum with a rodent exhibit in it.

00:57:11:01 – 00:57:43:14
Christopher J. Hughes
And it was just this really? It’s this really beautiful memory of just like. Oh, like, let’s let’s go. And, like, so, like, here’s the thinker. Yeah. Just in all of its gigantic magnificence and like, I think, I think the pieces, the gates of hell, the rhodium did this like this giant, relief sculpture. And so that’s just a really cool memory that’s tied to art for me.

00:57:43:14 – 00:57:44:45
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah.

00:57:44:50 – 00:58:02:05
Agent Palmer
I it’s like, I just for some reason, I assume a lot of your art is tied to memories, but then again, so are mine. When I think about it, like, all of my stories are like that, those are the. Those are the paintings I looked at in the house I grew up in. And those are the movies I watched when I grew.

00:58:02:07 – 00:58:14:03
Agent Palmer
Like they’re all like, I. Art is, of course, it’s experiential in how you take it in, but it’s also so related to what’s going on at the top.

00:58:14:03 – 00:58:33:14
Christopher J. Hughes
Four pieces of who we are. And I will say one of the thing I think if I, if I had to go like favorite artist and I think it’s just because like when I need it, he really kicks me in the ass. And he’s he’s modern. Yeah. It’s, it’s Aaron Kaplan, from the travel design company. He’s,

00:58:33:19 – 00:59:08:52
Christopher J. Hughes
Portland, Oregon, I think. I think it’s 55. I’m recalling his Adobe Max, presentation. I think he’s 50 now, and he’s just this this big, burly, grizzly bear of a human being who understands the tenants of of, functional design probably better than anybody else in the market. He he finds inspiration through thrifting, like all of the things that I find myself doing, like the last major logo job I did was probably two years ago at this point, and it was for a friend who I’m still working for.

00:59:08:57 – 00:59:30:53
Christopher J. Hughes
And, like I was initially drawing inspiration from, like comic book titling and all this kind of stuff I have on the bookshelf that’s no longer in frame. I, call back, I have like, logo books and things like that. And they’re not the most up to date logo books. So, like, it gives me an opportunity to pull from inspirations that other people aren’t pulling from.

00:59:31:01 – 00:59:58:08
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. And literally, like, I’ll give the secret behind the socks. I don’t mind, the logo that I had designed for a friend, it was for a gym. It is a combination of inspiration between the New York Knicks and the boldness of the New York Knicks, and then just some of the the extra, like, like filigree or whatever the hell you want to call it of, I think it was brave, United, and I believe it was a soccer club.

00:59:58:21 – 01:00:37:24
Christopher J. Hughes
And so, like, pulling all of those little things together and making something new out of them is, you know, part of that comes from grappling. Part of it just comes from that learned experience. But, I think if I had to pick a guy that dollars to donuts, I would go back to every time, because I find that his willingness to experiment, even though he could very easily like himself into a style, his willingness to experiment is probably the thing that inspires me to keep going, especially if I’m trying something new or working for like, a new client.

01:00:37:29 – 01:00:57:46
Christopher J. Hughes
And so, like, I follow him on everything. If he ever heard this and like found me, I would probably cry. But like, there’s one guy who like. And he’s a graphic designer. He’s, he’s a logo designer. He does he does albums. He does. You know, he’s he’s made stamps, like, the craziest, pedigree that you could think of.

01:00:57:46 – 01:01:28:55
Christopher J. Hughes
This guy’s done it. He’s done patches for NASA. And it’s all based off of functional, legible, enjoyable design. And for him, it’s it’s the love of making shit. And I know you’ve had a couple folks that, like, young con, comes to mind, like, go make the fucking thing. Yeah. And so those guys with that get up and go attitude, if that’s if I can feel that in your artwork, if you’re grappling or not, I’m in like, let’s, let’s go.

01:01:28:55 – 01:01:43:40
Christopher J. Hughes
But I also like the simplicity of guys like Keith Haring, who did a lot with blocky colors and simple shapes and, yeah, I just it’s not always going to move me, but if I get it on the right day, it’s it’s going to work.

01:01:43:45 – 01:01:48:13
Agent Palmer
And so if not you, who would you be. You’re still going to go. Maybe.

01:01:48:18 – 01:02:17:25
Christopher J. Hughes
Maybe you’re in drag a little bit. Well, listen, my but also like, I would be Iron Man. Like there’s, listen, it’s probably the least appreciated of the Avengers movies, but an Age of Ultron. Iron man has a line where he says, oh, I’m not the boss. Wait. Hold on. It’s. I have to I, I loved it so much I actually made and I could not find it anywhere.

01:02:17:30 – 01:02:45:46
Christopher J. Hughes
I made my own, animated gif out of it. It’s, Oh, it’s it’s actually he’s the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cool. And that speaks to my core so fucking hard that, like, that is who I am. And, like, it’s funny because when I posted that, I mean, the date on that post was January of 2021.

01:02:45:51 – 01:02:52:43
Christopher J. Hughes
We were, you know, let’s let’s play capsule in time again. We were still arguably in the thick of a pandemic.

01:02:52:43 – 01:02:54:18
Agent Palmer
Yep.

01:02:54:23 – 01:03:24:27
Christopher J. Hughes
I was in the the thick of a job that I was growing increasingly frustrated with, and that was a that was a post out of spite. I can I could say that four years removed for it. That was a post I made out of spite. But it has continued to haunt my professional career. Because I do design everything I do make everyone look cooler, and it has been made very clear to me that I am not the boss.

01:03:24:32 – 01:03:47:00
Christopher J. Hughes
Despite my best efforts to to do so, either depart mentally or organizationally. So yeah, there’s still a little bit of, if not me, Iron Man. But maybe also air traffic.

01:03:47:04 – 01:04:09:37
Agent Palmer
What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite food? First and second graders ask each other these questions as they get to know each other. They are central to early friendships. Does this mean that they aren’t central to older friendships? Absolutely not. It just means that we should ask favorite food? Favorite color? Favorite artist? Favorite author? We should keep going.

01:04:09:42 – 01:04:31:19
Agent Palmer
Your friends, especially any you were lucky enough to make after the age of 30 or even just after 25. Do you know any of their favorites? And more importantly, how do you know? Did you just come out and ask with the confidence of a newly minted first grade friendship? Or did it come up in conversation? Or do you just think, you know, ask, ask, ask?

01:04:31:28 – 01:04:51:22
Agent Palmer
No one has ever been offended that you asked what their favorite thing was. Also, remember, beautiful things can be art and useful. Thanks for listening to The Palmer Files episode 159. And now for the official business. The Palmer Files releases every two weeks on Tuesdays. If you’re still listening, I encourage you to join the discussion. You can find all related ways to contact us in the show.

01:04:51:22 – 01:05:11:35
Agent Palmer
Notes. Chris website can be found at Triforce D&D 1980 4.com, and I still suggest you follow him on Twitch.tv slash Triforce D&D 1984, in case you ever get a chance to catch him on stream. He’s cultivated a fun community. You’ll be welcome. Bill Sweeney was an executive producer for this episode. The music for this episode was provided by Henno Heitur.

01:05:11:46 – 01:05:29:55
Agent Palmer
Email and comments can be sent to this show at The Palmer Files at gmail.com. And remember, you’re home for all things. Agent Palmer is Agent palmer.com.

01:05:30:00 – 01:06:03:16
Agent Palmer
You.

01:06:03:21 – 01:06:18:11
Agent Palmer
All right. Chris. So this was a game at one point in the 70s. Can you imagine getting together? I mean, we only went through three questions. One, can you imagine just sitting around talking these things with, like, any luck as a game?

01:06:18:11 – 01:06:26:02
Christopher J. Hughes
Just like, just like you and I and a couple other people and like a sunken gem with like, ugly olive green carpeting, like I was picturing.

01:06:26:02 – 01:06:28:07
Agent Palmer
And then like the a fluffy office.

01:06:28:08 – 01:06:28:47
Christopher J. Hughes
With a bed, a.

01:06:28:51 – 01:06:30:55
Agent Palmer
Fluffy orange couch. Right.

01:06:30:55 – 01:06:32:36
Christopher J. Hughes
Fluffiest of orange couches.

01:06:32:36 – 01:06:33:14
Agent Palmer
Yes.

01:06:33:19 – 01:06:36:41
Christopher J. Hughes
Because we both picked orange.

01:06:36:46 – 01:06:41:05
Agent Palmer
But like, it’s a game like, can you imagine?

01:06:41:10 – 01:06:43:54
Christopher J. Hughes
This was hard. How was this a game?

01:06:43:59 – 01:06:44:26
Agent Palmer
It wasn’t.

01:06:44:26 – 01:07:16:36
Christopher J. Hughes
Fun on? No, this was fun. But like, also like this. It’s like into some core principles of who you are. Like it is. It is admittedly a little uncomfortable to kind of shed the outer shell and show your belly a little bit, and I like I don’t think that’s what this was designed to do, but like, maybe it’s because we’re just not having regular conversations with people about like, hey, what’s your favorite color?

01:07:16:36 – 01:07:17:21
Christopher J. Hughes
Like, oh.

01:07:17:21 – 01:07:22:59
Agent Palmer
No, we I some of the things that are core to this questionnaire.

01:07:23:04 – 01:07:24:15
Christopher J. Hughes

01:07:24:20 – 01:07:53:03
Agent Palmer
Are things that you don’t talk to people about after a certain point in life, which happens to coincide with the point in life where you ask someone, Will you be my best friend? Like, you know what I mean? Like, so yeah, when you stop asking people, will you be my friend? And like, right. And I bring it up because not only were these, you know, you and the other people who’ve done this were the friendship episodes.

01:07:53:08 – 01:08:00:12
Agent Palmer
Yeah, but we became friends. None of us were. I. None of us asked, do you know what I mean? Like, that’s the third great thing.

01:08:00:12 – 01:08:04:15
Christopher J. Hughes
No, we was experience that that formed a friendship.

01:08:04:17 – 01:08:04:38
Agent Palmer
Yep.

01:08:04:38 – 01:08:09:12
Christopher J. Hughes
So but it wasn’t proximity only like grade school.

01:08:09:12 – 01:08:14:06
Agent Palmer
But but you go back to grade school and that’s the last time you asked. You just came out to ask.

01:08:14:06 – 01:08:15:06
Christopher J. Hughes
Somebody to be your friend.

01:08:15:20 – 01:08:20:41
Agent Palmer
And what’s your favorite color or who’s your favorite band like?

01:08:20:46 – 01:08:36:53
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s just yeah, I guess, like in that respect, like I would, I would not normally ask who your favorite composer was would be like, oh, he listened to these days, you know, like, and I do that all the time. Like, my buddy Matt down in Philly, like, you know, a ton of stuff roles. And for that, I’m like, we listen to these days when I’m missing out on.

01:08:37:00 – 01:08:50:03
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah, you know, I’m like, he’ll send me stuff and I’ll send him stuff on Instagram. I’ll be like, oh, check this shit out. Like, and oh yeah, but listen, for three months. No, of course you are. Because you’re younger and cooler than me. But like, okay, let’s let’s continue.

01:08:50:08 – 01:09:12:42
Agent Palmer
Yeah, it’s it’s one of those things where, even artists I mean, I think a lot of it will change. I think a lot of these quote like I talk about how these questions change after getting married and after having a child, but I also think mood to mood, week to week, month to month. Some of these are, as you said, core to who you are.

01:09:12:42 – 01:09:20:21
Agent Palmer
But some of these, you know, if you’re having a good day, it’s a very different answer than you’re having a bad day for some of these questions.

01:09:20:26 – 01:09:47:06
Christopher J. Hughes
Oh yeah. It’s like, what song on the radio is going to make me sing? In which song on the radio is going to make me cry today? You know, like the the daily experience of life can affect you a lot 100%. Yeah, yeah, I think I, I think I have one final question for you for this episode. If you had the opportunity to sit down and ask anybody outside of the four people that I’ve asked to share this questionnaire with.

01:09:47:12 – 01:09:54:06
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah. Who do you think you would want to get some of these answers from? Who?

01:09:54:11 – 01:10:00:40
Agent Palmer
And I’m just going to immediately say families out to because like, I think it would be kind of fun.

01:10:00:41 – 01:10:01:56
Christopher J. Hughes
Thing family has to be out.

01:10:02:07 – 01:10:30:01
Agent Palmer
I mean, there, I think there, but they’re accessible. Like, I could just ask my dad, you know, like I can ask, okay. All right. So I feel like they’re accessible. I think that, maybe this would be a thing where I go to the artists and the. I go to my influencers. I think that’s where I go.

01:10:30:01 – 01:10:52:25
Agent Palmer
I go to my influencers. So right now, you know, easily we’re talking about, Bob Dylan, we’re talking about Douglas Copeland, we’re talking about Marc Maron. And those are three vastly there’s three vastly different reasons, but those guys are all influencing me in a way. Right.

01:10:52:25 – 01:10:59:49
Christopher J. Hughes
And so as you were, as you were going, I was like half expecting I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but like, I was expecting to have like, Chuck Klosterman.

01:10:59:54 – 01:11:23:13
Agent Palmer
Like, I mean, Klosterman could easily be in the mix. I just I haven’t read and I mean, I’m overdue for reading something of his, but and, you know, we talk about all the, the Copeland books in the Dayton books. But one of the things I want to do is I want to reread all the Klosterman so I can have an actual library on the blog that matches my physical library.

01:11:23:13 – 01:11:55:08
Agent Palmer
I want to be able to say I can recommend any Klosterman. And here’s a reason, right? And so, you know, he goes on the list. But there are I’m probably forgetting a bunch of people that tomorrow I’ll remember. And so, yeah, I think I would go that far and, and I yeah, if you know what, if I’m being honest, any number of those guys, any one of those guys that I had an opportunity to do, this questionnaire is a great place to start because I’m going to be starstruck.

01:11:55:23 – 01:12:05:20
Agent Palmer
Like, you know, I and for me, the for me, well, this is the thing, right? For me. Dylan Marin, Copeland, Klosterman. You could put Dayton on the list.

01:12:05:27 – 01:12:05:45
Christopher J. Hughes
Yeah.

01:12:05:47 – 01:12:27:39
Agent Palmer
You know, they’re all I know. Some people think like, oh, but for me, in my sphere, those guys are all just as equally terrifying to be on the other side of the microphone for me, because it’s like, well, these are my influences and I’m while I’m aware you can meet your influences and you can, I’m influenced by you a lot too, right?

01:12:27:39 – 01:12:30:37
Agent Palmer
Like and I and I’m, I’m not just saying that, but like we.

01:12:30:37 – 01:12:33:12
Christopher J. Hughes
Know I know you’re not blowing smoke, but I you know me.

01:12:33:12 – 01:13:03:55
Agent Palmer
But but I think that the influences we have from afar, you know, again, I talked about my, my parents being an influence. Right. But the influences we have from afar, like for me, the Dylan’s and the Mariners that are, well, they’re out there. I’m sure there are ways that I could find a way to have that conversation, but it it’s it’s immensely like terrifying to me to think about because I don’t they are.

01:13:04:04 – 01:13:06:28
Christopher J. Hughes
It’s the weight of starting that conversation.

01:13:06:28 – 01:13:33:46
Agent Palmer
And it’s also the weight of that’s a different influence. Right. Like that’s an influence. That’s both conscious and subconscious because you’ve ingested their art, their material, their stories. You think you know them and you’ve only ever done it one way, which is different than like you and my parents, where the influence is back and forth and it’s over time and it’s both it’s two way over much time.

01:13:33:53 – 01:13:52:01
Agent Palmer
These are one way conversation. I’m listening to Dylan. I’ve read some of his stuff to. I’ve listened to Marin, I’ve read some of his stuff. I’ve consumed Copeland’s art and many of his books, and I’ve read a lot of Klosterman. But that’s all been one way, right? They they have no idea who I am, right?

01:13:52:01 – 01:13:54:02
Christopher J. Hughes
They are talking at you, not with you.

01:13:54:02 – 01:14:22:34
Agent Palmer
Yes. And so when it becomes from when it goes up, when you change it from an act to a with especially for people that influence us. Now I think that’s kind of look I, I’m talking to a guy who might be the one person who knows how to hide it more than anyone, because as a journalist, you’ve gotten to meet and talk to some of those musicians within certain circles that you were influenced by.

01:14:22:41 – 01:14:34:24
Agent Palmer
Sure. But when you I know look, I know when you put on your journalism hat, you don’t necessarily sound different, but you’re a different person.

01:14:34:29 – 01:14:47:13
Christopher J. Hughes
Well, yeah. I mean, and again, you know, we talk about how influence changes day to day and, and all that kind of stuff, like who you need to be in that moment for some definitely impacts how you behave.

01:14:47:13 – 01:15:09:23
Agent Palmer
Well that’s. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that’s the other thing. If I’m any anyone I said or anybody else say tomorrow or anybody, I would have said yesterday if I’m just going to have coffee with them off mike. Yeah, it’s a vastly different conversation, sure, than, hey, I get to sit down and record with one of them.

01:15:09:28 – 01:15:24:16
Christopher J. Hughes
Right? Yeah, and I like I also found when I was in those situations, like, I like, I would go through my normal rigmarole and like at the end I would say, hey, I just want to like that’s all the questions that I have. But like, I just want to say I’ve been a fan for a long time. This was a real pleasure and honor.

01:15:24:16 – 01:15:38:40
Christopher J. Hughes
Thank you for taking the time out. You know. So yeah. And that’s those that way you you’ve not gushed and ruined the context. There’s a professional and then you get to take your little press cap. Off you go. Hey this is real fucking cool.

01:15:38:45 – 01:15:42:08
Agent Palmer
So when are you going to make yourself a little press hat?

01:15:42:13 – 01:15:47:13
Christopher J. Hughes
I know, maybe that’s the next craft I learned. Maybe it’s haberdashery.

01:15:47:13 – 01:15:56:06
Agent Palmer
I can’t wait because I know that you’re the little tag that says press is going to be immaculate, and you’re probably gonna have one for each season.

01:15:56:20 – 01:16:13:24
Christopher J. Hughes
Excellent kerning. Yeah, maybe I’ll cross stitch that. Well, we’ll do a fabric. I know my grandmother used to make plastic canvas, and that was really rigid. Maybe that’s the way to go. Sustainable. Washable. Yeah, yeah.

01:16:13:29 – 01:16:14:56
Agent Palmer
Environmentally friendly.

01:16:15:01 – 01:16:18:22
Christopher J. Hughes
100%. Except for the plastic part, which I’m trying to figure out.

01:16:18:22 – 01:16:22:32
Agent Palmer
So there’s always tomorrow.

01:16:22:37 – 01:16:23:04
Christopher J. Hughes
Amen.

–End Transcription–

This transcription was processed by PalmerTech 3.1 and may contain errors for HUMINT (human intelligence).