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We’re talking about travel! I’ve never considered myself someone who travels a lot, or who enjoys travelling. I certainly would never list it as one of my interests on a dating app. Traveling has always been an accidental side effect of me living my life. Let’s just take a second to say I KNOW this episode will make me sound like a massive douche bag, feel free to send me an email letting me know how much of a douchebag I am. It wasn’t until I was on a group tour of India and I was listening to a group of rich white assholes talking about all the places they’ve visited, countries, cities, natural wonders, and talking about all the adventures they had ziplining or surfing or whatever rich white assholes do on vacation. I was sitting there listening to them and judging them and thinking I was better than them when I realised that I’d been to all the places they went, and done more of the activities they had done. The only difference was that they were full of joy and enthusiasm at recounting it and I’m just a boring, dull fuddy duddy who judges other people’s happiness. I’m a fucking douchebag.But the truth is, travelling is really uncomfortable. Especially when you’re fundamentally weak, like I am. I get so sick when I travel, or I get depressed, or homesick. I’m the worst traveller. I don’t understand how I end up in so many places when I just want to stay home and drink tea in the garden. When I was in Nepal I got a stomach bug so bad that I lost ten pounds in one week. Luckily this was right before I went to Scotland on a reunion tour with some old friends and saw my ex-boyfriend in that time. I mean, I know I was weak and emaciated for shitting my pants in a bus full of people, but everyone in Scotland complimented me on how healthy I looked. As an aside, I’ve noticed that all three times I’ve lost a lot of weight in a short window of time people tell me how healthy and good I look. I mean, I know that thinness is supposed to reflect health but it’s always stuck out at me how wrong people were when they assumed I looked very healthy when I was too weak physically to climb a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath.Anyway, I had kind of come to the realization that I needed to stay home a bit more because travel clearly didn’t make me a happy and healthy Alique. Then I met Marco. A gorgeous Costa Rican who can dance, cook, and lets me be me without judgement, jealousy, or suspicion. If you’ve been listening to the show from the beginning you know that I went to Costa Rica in January 2020 for a couple months to live with him here since his Canadian visa had expired. I flew home March 12th 2020 and we kissed each other goodbye at the airport with reassurances that there was no way countries would ever prioritise human lives over the economy and we would definitely see each other and get married in June. Boy, we were wrong. Fast forward to August 2020 and we’ve been long distance for 6 months. It’s getting harder and harder to be optimistic when there are no flights from Canada to Costa Rica. Well, there is a flight from Frankfurt to Costa Rica. What is usually a five hour flight became a 20 hour flight as I took a massive detour from Ottawa to Germany, and then crossed the Atlantic a second time in the same day to be with my man. It’s not a gift traveling during covid. It’s not a fucking fairytale. To get into Costa Rica right now, you need covid-19 negative test results issued at most 48 hours before departure. What no one prepares you for is that just because every one you know who got their covid test got the results within one day does not mean that it is guarranteed. So I lie my way from Toronto to Frankfurt because the truth is I did not have my results yet. We’re all wearing masks in the airport, all the shops, bars, and restaurants are closed, and finding coffee is nearly impossible. I got my negative test result a mere 30 minutes before getting to the immigracion desk in Costa Rica. Oh my God. On top of the stress worrying that one of the flights could get cancelled and I’d end up stuck living in Germany I also had the stress of arriving in Costa Rica with only proof that I’d been to a testing center but no fucking results. Yesterday Marco and I spent all day with each other, no phones, no movies, no games. Just unloading all the stress that we were afraid to admit to each other that we had felt over the months. Every single day we were monitoring the news about case numbers, border closures, flight plans, flight cancellations, seconds waves, and me trying desperatly not to get covid despite working in retail. Three days before my flight my mom, who very graciously let me live with her the past couple of weeks while I was trying to get a flight, had a sore throat and covid scare. She’s fine, tested negative, but fuck it was so close to home and would have meant not seeing Marco for god knows how long. Only a monster would bounce knowing their mom has covid.And finally I’m here, we’re together again, and for the first time in months we can start thinking forward to our future again. Our brains have been clogged up for months worrying about how we can be together again in a pandemic and now that I’m here, I’m not leaving him again. He wouldn’t let me if I tried.STOP THE PODCAST! This month’s episode is sponsored people! Adventure Boutique UK is an independent handmade jewellery shop based in Scotland that specialises in GEEKY JEWELLERY! But don’t panic! They ship worldwide! If you’ve ever wanted to express your love of pokemon, disney, dc comics, animal crossing, minions, doctor who or star wars through your jewellery, check out AdeventureBoutiqueUK on Esty! I’ve had my TARDIS ring for five years, and this ring helps me identify my fellow whovians. Because getting an orca tattooed to my arm, I wore my Orca earrings from AdventureBoutiqueUK EVERY DAY because I LOVE a killer whale! There are some really cute parrot earrings in the store right now that I’m about to buy, but honestly that hunger games ring is out of control. TAKE MY MONEY NOW. Pikachu earrings??? Yes, I need those too.Go to Etsy.com and search adventureboutiqueUK, one word, that’s Adventure Boutique UK on etsy.com. The best part of Adventure boutique Uk’s jewellery is that is makes being a nerd so affordable! The jewellery ranges in price from 6 pounds to 12 pounds, this will not break the bank although I do think I need to IRON MAN studs too, so I’m adding that to me cart too.Welcome back! And let me say it is such a pleasure to have you here and listening to the show. I knew going to a monthly release would slow the growth of the show, but I’m so glad that you’re telling your friends about this show because more and more people are listening every day and I love geting messages from you guys on Instagram at Aliquepresentspodcastmusical. Honestly, I do the show because I love musicals and songwriting but it does mean a lot to me when I get a message that you liked the show. Thank you so much.Also, I’m going to start removing older episodes of the show, always leaving 5 hours of free content here for you. I’ll try to find a way to have earlier episodes available for free for you if you’ve just started listening and want to catch up on old episodes, but for now I’m ploughing ahead.For those of you wondering what it’s like going to live with your fiance after not seeing each other for six months, it is bliss. BUT something happened to my man these past few months. He’s deteriorated in marriage quality. He used to be the clean one but now I see what happens when a man goes too long without a woman’s je ne sais quoi. The plate on the top of the stack of plates is very clean, but all the other ones are covered in crud, dust, and weird gloopy stuff. The kitchen and laundry room are a disaster. SO my first day here I’m washing all the dishes and reorganising the whole place. I’m not too fussy usually but I draw the line at storing dishes on the floor especially when terrifying spiders hide between the plates. Yikes. He’s going to get home from work and be shocked. God, who am I kidding? This is a man we’re talking about. He probably won’t even notice.The song this month was produced by Caspar Simonson, the lyrics and vocals were by me, Alique. See you in a month! Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

This episode is not for the faint of heart! Alique's feeling hot and it bubbles over into some political territory. Maybe a show that's a musical self-help comedy shouldn't tackle so many heave subjects in one episode!In the past 5 summers, four have had prolonged droughts, and this one is relentless. As if wearing masks wasn’t bad enough, we hot, sweaty, sticky, and should you wish to get tested for Covid you get to enjoy a few hours roasting in your car in the hot summer sun while you wait your turn. Gosh, I’m so happy to be alive during these times.I know we’re not alone in this. Listeners in Australia, India, California, or probably anywhere around the world knows what a hot drought looks like. And they’re becoming more frequent. Here, our growing season is so short this absolutely impacts any agriculture which does not have irrigation systems in place. My own garden I was watering daily back in June but now I’ve thrown in the towel. I hope the trees, shrubs, and perennials will survive the baking hot sun and the dusty soil long enough for some rain to come. I expect many will not make it that long.I’ve always tried to make good, environmentally friendly choices. I buy almost everything second hand- even home renovation materials. I salvage junk to make something new out of it. I’ve occasionally rescued a piece of furniture from the curbside only to clean it up and sell it a few months later.I try to eat a mostly vegetarian diet because cutting out meat is the single biggest thing an individual can do to reduce their impact on the environment. I always bring my own bags and for a good year and a half I really gave zero waste a try. I only use environmentallly friendly cleaning supplies and supported local artisan soap makers even though it turns out their soaps were the reason I still have a face full of acne at 28 years old. Switching to dove made me realise how much all these millions of sacrifices I was making to be a good environmentalist were not making any bloody difference, and only making my own life more complicated.Has the fact that 8 billion people have reduced how much they travel because of covid made any difference? People continue to consume so many products and create so much waste, but how is an individual supposed to turn the tide? We can’t do it on an individual scale!Plastic straws disappeared almost immediately when a turtle got one stuck up its nose. Why haven’t we banned plastic bags yet? Styrofoam containers? Why is Justin Trudeau investing so much money in pipelines instead of green energy?I’m tired of being hot. I’m tired of looking at my lupins wilting in the beating sun. I’m tired of everything I own being old and used and nothing I do makes any difference. Individuals don’t have the kind of money or power to make real changes. We’ve been trying! Look at the black lives matter movement. Individuals, like me and you, have never discriminated against POC, we’ve welcomed POC into our communities, families, Christmas dinners, workplaces and haven’t let other whities talk shit about POC. We see all people as individuals each worthy of value, life, and freedom. Has individual action been enough? Clearly not!I have uncomfortable conversations with people who say bigoted things to get them to realise we are more than where we are born, or who we are born to. I’ve threatened to leave a job because a coworker was being openly homophobic and made a situation that the business owner couldn’t ignore. But without the backing of the business owner, I would have walked out of that job and nothing would have changed, do you see? My power as an individual was zero. It was only with the authority of someone in charge telling the racist homophobe to shut his mouth that any actual change could take place. So what? Do us good people who want to live good, kind, open hearted and quiet lives now have to join the fight for power, riches, and fame in order to execute change? All the tiny cumulative changes I’ve made in my life have made no difference other than give me adult acne and calcium build up deposits in my shower, and in just a few years people like DOnald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Boris Johnson, and Daniel Ortega have managed to destroy natural spaces, create inequality in people from different backgrounds, prioritize “economy” over people’s lives and they are held accountable for absolutely nothing that they do. Power.It’s so hot out, I might be getting all fired up about things that are outside of my control, but my goodness. What can I control? What can you control? My mom’s husband wants to stop buying palm oil because he just found out they destroy rainforests to plant palm plantations. What is one less palm oil sale going to do? Absolutely nothing. If a government can oppress an entire community within their country and get away with it, then surely a government can make the kind of changes we need to make in order to avoid this planet drying up like a raisin. Let’s make it rain. Let’s change politics. Stop taking the tiny stupid morcels they’ll give us to appease us. Don’t demand more. Just overthrow the bastards.Gawd I’m so hot.And just one little note for my lovely listeners who I know are kind hearted well meaning people. I know here in Canada we don’t have a huge population of black people, and we want to defend latinos, asians, muslims, and native people from the hate they get here, and I know that you are thinking of those groups when you say “All Lives Matter”, I know you aren’t trying to be racist, it’s just a mistake. I just want to make sure you understand that “Black Lives Matter” is the correct slogan. Until Black Lives Matter, then All Lives cannot matter. All Lives don’t matter until a black teenager can go for a jog around her neighbourhood wearing a hoodie without being afraid of getting shot in the back. Black lives Matter. Now that my skin is silky smooth and the world is still in chaos, I can’t help by be struck by that overwhelming truth. Individuals can only do so much. We need to get some of that power. We need better leaders and we need accountability for broken promises and crimes committed by those in power.We need change. Let’s rock the boat.

After a few quick announcements about a new YouTube channel, an album release on Spotify and iTunes, and an update about writing songs and episode topics for season two, Alique presents a playlist.This is a playlist of the top songs from season one of the podcast. Now you can listen to these songs as you work, drive, have sex, do your chores, garden, or fall asleep. Some of them have been re-recorded since the first release, and some of the Alique egotistically loved too much to even try to improve upon them.Alique Presents Podcast! The Musical is typically a show that begins with a monologue and ends with an original song based on the day's topic. Alique is the songwriter, and many producers and volunteer singers have contributed to the show during season one.If you want to get in touch, follow on Instagram @aliquepresentspodcastmusicalEmail podcastthemusical@gmail.comHappy listening!I wanted to call this episode Alique's Greatest Tits, but a lot of my family listen to this show. I don't think they read the descriptions, though.

It’s hard to land a good ending. Look at Game of Thrones. They ended a show that millions of people were invested in in such a hurry that a petition was put into motion to rewrite the ending. There was nothing wrong with where the characters ended up, but the show runners didn’t take the time to bring that ending about in a satisfying way. The Twillight series ended the whole thing building up to an epic vampire battle that didn’t happen. This season has been amazing for me, and mostly because of how this episode will end. I’m a massive Harry Potter fan, and those books ended the series so perfectly that the ending enriches the story for re-reading. There was an extraordinary amount of pressure for J.K. Rowling do deliver a satisfactory end, I remember spending hours on the internet reading fan theories of how all the clues from the season would become massively important in the last book. The most incredible part of the whole thing is that she pulled it off. She ended the story for all the characters in ways that made us feel, hope, sadness, justice, loss. Exactly what a good ending ought to do. She is an incredible writer. Since I read the chapter entitled The Forest Again from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I have wanted there to be a song for Harry’s lament as he walks through the woods toward his own death. I waited for someone else to write the song. StarKid put on three hilarious Harry Potter musicals, but when they reached the part where this song should have been they skipped it. Harry walked to Voldemort in silence. How could there not be a song for the emotional crux of this story? When I decided to start this show, I wanted my season finale to be the Harry Potter song. The Forest Again. I tried 5 times to write this song and the words just couldn’t come out right. Thanks to all my practice in doing this show, and developing a method for song writing through writing 19 original songs, I finally was able to unlock this part of my brain and write a song that I think would make J.K. proud. If you know how to get in touch with her, please let her know that I am the best candidate for writing the official Harry Potter musical! I will write those songs so faithfully, and if we get Mallory Rubin in to write the script, even better.Thank you for sticking with me through the last 19 episodes. Please stay subscribed as I will be releasing monthly episodes until I get the budget in place to do a full second season. I trust anyone who has gone back and listened to the whole catalogue knows that this show will just continue improving in quality, I love doing this, I love writing songs, and I’m so happy that you’ve invited me into your routines. So, to end my season one I am doing a super indulgent Harry Heavy episode. I’m going to say goodbye to all you non Potterheads now and play the song that I’ve been dying to hear since Deathly Hallows came out, and anyone who wants to stick around, I’ll be reading the entire chapter The Forest Again after the song whose music was produced by Caspar Simonsen (find his YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2si9WZ6HUqUyS3MwtqSO0A), and sung by Dakota Morgan an actor and singer from Juneau, Alaska. Rate, review, subscribe.

This episode talks about the ups and downs of that most sexy topic; Motivation.Music By Mustafa Mohamed Vocals by Hadiyyah Noelle Smith (follow on Instagram @hadiyyahnoelle)The rest by AliqueIt may not come as a surprise to the discerning podcast listener that I am a fan of self help and motivational work. I even wrote a short Motivational ebook myself. The fact is that even people born with lots of privilege have trouble getting off their ass.Some people can find meaning and satisfaction from their jobs, and I certainly have done, but the messaging we get from childhood is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” from age 4 or earlier. We’re so afraid that chasing something that feels good right now will somehow sabotage our future. The only things worth doing are those that will walk us closer to a fulfilling career. We only have one life but societal pressures like conforming, and paying bills keeps us from living the way that’ll make us happy today. I can hear pessimists saying people are lazy and won’t want to work if they aren’t obligated, and to them I’d say look at the number of podcasts, youtube channels, painters, campers, football teams, gyms, and the million other activities people do with their free time. People work full time AND find time to work in their time off, biking, exercising, creating art, creating entertainment, raising children, and have you met a single millenial lately who doesn’t have a sidehustle under their belt despite having a job? We’re intelligent animals who enjoy having our brains challenged. If we were inherently lazy hobbies wouldn’t exist!I’ve been accused of a lot in my life, and one of the main things has been my tendency to settle. My boyfriend often tells me I settle for too little for myself. I don’t see why I should amass more wealth and possessions than I need when we should all be sharing our resources (I also wrote an ebook on minimalism where I discuss this in greater detail). I once dated a guy who called me mediocre. It was an amazing gift, I felt like I had been released from this pressure that I didn`t even know was on my shoulders. I was used to being called intelligent and accused of “having lots of potential”. I hated that potential because it meant people expected me to do something with my life. What if I just want to garden, have a house, and work when I feel like it doing jobs I like that don’t necessarily have an impressive job title? Is it so wrong that my idea of a good life is sitting with a cup of tea and my faithful cat by my side? Obviously I did not continue to date the guy who called me mediocre, but he released me from something with that insult and I’ve felt much more sure and confident in my choices ever since. I’m mediocre. It’s like he gave me permission to be what I wanted to be with that word. I don’t have to be the best, I don’t have to work my ass off to be rich, I don’t have to bend over backwards to impress people. I’m mediocre. People won’t expect great things from me if I’m mediocre. Mediocre is now my badge, my shield. Yeah, my job doesn’t pay six figures but I’m mediocre and I’m happy living a mediocre life. Being mediocre has given me so much freedom. I’m applying for jobs I will like, rather than jobs with nice titles. And I’m still living a bad-ass life in my own eyes, even if it won’t impress anyone else. I have what I need to be happy and I live my life on my terms and I’m not chained to anything that doesn’t bring me joy. Sure, I could be an astronaut.But I lack the motivationI could be Steve JobsBut I lack the motivationI could be Jennifer Lawrence. But I lack the motivation.

In this Episode we talk about the power of every day choices and that every moment is an opportunity to complete change your life - but only if you want to change it! As usual, this episode ends with an original song.Music By: Luciano AndresThe rest by: Alique Iles @aliqueinthebackground on InstagramFollow the show @Podcastthemusical on InstagramEmail the show at podcastthemusical@gmail.com