Kylen has had cold sores since he was born. The only salve that ever really worked got discontinued, so Kenda went looking for it, talked her way through about twenty people until somebody finally said yes, and is now pressing him a batch herself. Along the way: gigartina and why nothing else will do, the suspicion that the things which actually work are the first ones to quietly disappear, and The Creative Act, which Kenda has been reading and Kylen needs explained to him. Then the real argument. Kenda thinks perseverance is a muscle, and that most people quit about a hundred feet from the top without ever knowing how close they were. Kylen reckons he has two good goes in him, and is honest enough to call his own version of it weak. Neither of them talks the other round. Plus the firefighter who took four years to get hired while his brother gave up after one, coaching an eleven-year-old through a hard moment without flattening him, and the night in New Orleans when the son who never complains said something hurt. 0:00 Cold open 1:04 We are exposing me 1:40 I have had cold sores since I was born 3:40 If it ain't gigartina, it ain't what you need 4:14 The one company that made it, and then it was gone 5:32 Kenda goes looking for the discontinued salve 6:03 Talking her middle son through something insurmountable 7:26 The Creative Act, and the idea that everyone is creative 8:13 Wait, the legendary producer Rick Rubin? 9:14 Cooking dinner counts as creative too 11:14 Twenty conversations before somebody finally said yes 11:50 Most people have the perseverance and do not know it 12:04 Rigidity, and what you are willing to accept 13:56 Kylen: I would call that weak 15:32 Looking in the mirror and naming what you could do better 16:05 The firefighter who took four years, and the brother who quit 17:08 A hundred feet from the top 18:41 That was a bad quit on my part 21:13 Coaching an eleven-year-old through a hard moment 23:39 Junior guards, and being careful with your language 25:10 New Orleans, and the son who never complains