{"id":17916,"date":"2025-12-29T16:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=17916"},"modified":"2025-12-29T16:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:24:09","slug":"episode-669-indefinite-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-669-indefinite-hiatus","title":{"rendered":"Episode 669 &#8211; Indefinite Hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Virtual Memories Show 669:<br \/>\nIndefinite Hiatus<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8559\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-17916-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?powerpress_pinw=17916-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4itPQhel9GzH3WK2iXr4Zw\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/podcasts\/Interviews\/The-Virtual-Memories-Show-p1091071\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_tunein\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on TuneIn\" rel=\"nofollow\">TuneIn<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/feed\/podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/subscribe-to-podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For his 2025 year-end wrap-up, Gil&#8217;s putting <em><strong>The Virtual Memories Show<\/strong><\/em> podcast &amp; newsletter on hiatus (!): talk about your crazy New Year&#8217;s resolutions! He talks about how he recognized It Was Time For A Break, whether or not this podcast is what gives his life meaning, what he might get up to (HINT: it&#8217;s WAY past time he finishes writing his Instax book), and how months of depression after his dad&#8217;s death left him feeling like he was out of options. He gets into his 2025 highlights and why he needed to visit his photo library to overcome his amnesia, the hairiness of his professional life, the thrill of receiving holiday cards from his arts-heroes, the blessings of this world, and a lot more. It&#8217;s the last episode for a while, so <a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GIVE IT A LISTEN!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kxz8N6KhvNU?si=jmdOuyQ38Wr6DWxi\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/episode-669-indefinite-hiatus\/id531173075?i=1000743108250\" height=\"175\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SPOTIFY PLAYER TK<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_669_-_Indefinite_Hiatus.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enjoy the conversation!<\/a>\u00a0Then check out\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-archive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the archives<\/a>\u00a0for more great episodes!<\/p>\n<p>Lots of ways to follow <em>The Virtual Memories Show<\/em>! <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-virtual-memories-show\/id531173075\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4itPQhel9GzH3WK2iXr4Zw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/vmspod.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BlueSky<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vmspod\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCXoLbP-9GbhHJZpCQP5TR5A\/videos?view_as=subscriber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/virtualmemoriespodcast.tumblr.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tumblr<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/virtualmemories.libsyn.com\/rss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">good ol&#8217; RSS<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>About our Guest<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gil Roth has been making <em><strong>The Virtual Memories Show<\/strong><\/em> since 2012, and is taking a break in 2026. You can find out more about him at his <a href=\"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">About page<\/a>. You can <a href=\"mailto:groth18@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">drop him an email<\/a> or leave a comment on this post if you want to reach him.<\/p>\n<p><em>Credits: This episode\u2019s music is <\/em>Fella<em>\u00a0by <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/may4th\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hal Mayforth<\/a>, used with permission from the artist. The episode was recorded at Virtual Memories Headquarters on a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3cGZ1Em\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone<\/a> feeding into a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Q9Br0z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zoom PodTrak P4<\/a>. All processing and editing done in <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3RwlQsW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adobe Audition CC<\/a>. Photos generally by me. It&#8217;s on my <a href=\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/vmspod\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virtual Memories Show 669: Indefinite Hiatus For his 2025 year-end wrap-up, Gil&#8217;s putting The Virtual Memories Show podcast &amp; newsletter on hiatus (!): talk about your crazy New Year&#8217;s resolutions! He talks about how he recognized It Was Time For A Break, whether or not this podcast is what gives his life meaning, what he &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-669-indefinite-hiatus\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Episode 669 &#8211; Indefinite Hiatus&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22,27,26,4,1183,18,20],"tags":[922,6237,713,426,547,4788,823,3171,5103,8045,5312,8055,1475,5318,3395,306,2920,174],"class_list":["post-17916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-big-business","category-comics","category-literature","category-podcasts","category-politics-implicit","category-religion","tag-brian-eno","tag-celia-paul","tag-chris-ware","tag-clive-james","tag-dan-nadel","tag-dean-haspiel","tag-eddie-campbell","tag-gil-roth","tag-joe-coleman","tag-jonathan-sandler","tag-lance-richardson","tag-morten-hoi-jensen-2","tag-paul-karasik","tag-peter-matthiessen","tag-prue-shaw","tag-robert-crumb","tag-thomas-mann","tag-tom-spurgeon","post_format-post-format-audio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/yearend2025compWEB.jpg?fit=2000%2C797&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-4EY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13519,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/covid-check-in-with-kipp-friedman","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":0},"title":"COVID Check-In with Kipp Friedman","author":"Gil","date":"June 5, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show COVID Check-In: Kipp Friedman Author & photographer Kipp Friedman checks in from Milwaukee, hours after the death of his father, the great writer Bruce Jay Friedman. We trade stories about BJF, but first we talk about how Kipp has been coping with pandemic life, and how, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidkippcomp.jpg?fit=1098%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidkippcomp.jpg?fit=1098%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidkippcomp.jpg?fit=1098%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidkippcomp.jpg?fit=1098%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidkippcomp.jpg?fit=1098%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6430,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-manga-loids-and-steampunks","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":1},"title":"Podcast: Manga-loids and Steampunks","author":"Gil","date":"July 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories \u2013 season 2 episode 8 Diana Renn and Paul Di Filippo - Manga-loids and Steampunks The July episode of The Virtual Memories Show is ready to go! This time around, you get two interviews for the price of one! During my June trip to Boston for the BIO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0670013323","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8414,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-the-guest-list-2014","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":2},"title":"Podcast &#8211; The Guest List 2014","author":"Gil","date":"December 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: The Guest List 2014 Two years in a row? That makes The Guest List a Virtual Memories Show tradition! I reached out to 2014's podcast guests and asked them about the favorite book(s) they read in the past year. More than 30 of them responded with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"liberry","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/liberry-620x353.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/liberry-620x353.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/liberry-620x353.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13976,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-404-michael-shaw","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":3},"title":"Episode 404 &#8211; Michael Shaw","author":"Gil","date":"October 26, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 404: Michael Shaw \"The Elements of Stress is the perfect gift for the person who HAD everything.\" Got the election \/ pandemic \/ climate change \/ midlife \/ inexplicable rash blues? Then listen to me and cartoonist & humorist Michael Shaw talk about his new book, The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mshawcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mshawcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mshawcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mshawcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mshawcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6688,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-classical-pop","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":4},"title":"Podcast: Classical Pop","author":"Gil","date":"November 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories \u2013 season 2 episode 14 \u2013 Classical Pop It's time for a (somewhat) long-delayed new episode of The Virtual Memories Show! \"Picasso said that the way you draw your circle is your style.\" This time, postmodern cartoonist\u00a0Bob Sikoryak\u00a0talks\u00a0about the high\/low mashups of his amazing book,\u00a0Masterpiece Comics, the 1980's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1897299842","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7120,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-highest-learning","url_meta":{"origin":17916,"position":5},"title":"Podcast: Highest Learning","author":"Gil","date":"June 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories - season 3 episode 12 - Highest Learning Your humble(ish) host just made his annual Piraeus pilgrimage to St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, this time to participate in a four-day seminar about Moby Dick . . . and score a great interview! I managed to get legendary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=0967967570","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17916"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17921,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17916\/revisions\/17921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}