Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Our Anniversary Trips | Ear Biscuits Ep.293

Episode Date: June 21, 2021

From unexpectedly twinning with Harry Styles to an awkward massage moment, listen to R&L unpack everything that happened on their 20th and 21st anniversary trips with their wives on this episode of Ear Biscuits! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is mythical. Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to Ear Biscuits, the podcast where two lifelong friends talk about life for a long time. I'm Rhett. One of those friends.

And I'm Link, the other one of those friends. You just added something new, come on, man. This week at the Round Table of Dim Lighting, we got a lot to catch up on, my friend, because we're both fresh out of the oven of wedding anniversary celebrations and also like my extended birthday celebration. Oh, that's what you call it?

Yeah, I just, bless you. Sorry, I just. Scatch you. I think somebody put some metal shavings in my coffee. Don't question it. They taste great, Rhett. You'll love them once they take effect. The funny thing is you gave me this mug

and you've never, here's the thing, you've never done that. I was like, just indulge. I said I gotta make myself a coffee and then out of nowhere, I turn around and you're like, hey use this mug. And you've never in the history of our 35, eight, I don't know how long it's been,

two year friendship, you offered me a mug and now two sips in I'm choking on metal shavings. 35, eight, I don't know how long it's been. Too long. Year of friendship. You offered me a mug and now two sips in, I'm choking on metal shavings. Well, they're not metal shavings. What is it? What'd you do to my coffee? They will dissolve eventually in your GI tract. Is it bark? Just go with it.

I'm trying to, I just couldn't even speak. Yeah, I'm back from- Just go with it. My anniversary may not be as many years as yours, but it's more significant because it was 20 years and yours was 21 years. You've already done 20 years. Right. And so I spent a week, a week.

And the reason we went for a week is because Jessie and I have been talking for 10 years about our 20 year anniversary and how it was gonna be in Italy. Italy. We're like so excited about Italy. Good luck with that. And of course, something called COVID happened

and travel is hampered. And so we just went to Big Sur, which let me just say. Just went to Big Sur. Big Sur made me better than Italy. I don't know, I haven't been to Italy. It's not called Little Sur, it's called Big for a reason. Right. It's living large.

So I had a lot of things happen that we'll get into. I would not call it Northern, Central Coast. Central Coast, the Central Coast. Central Coast of California. You got redwood trees and forest going right to the cliff's edge. I'll tell you all about it. I've only driven through that. I'm freaking jealous, a little angry.

Good. Oh yeah, is that why you're trying to kill me? Am I going to die before the end of this podcast? No. Good. As long as I make it through this. One last release. It's just gonna be for me. Your death is just gonna be for me.

It's not gonna be monetized. What if I did die before the next podcast? Would you post this one and ironically it'd be like, we joked about him dying at the beginning of this. Yes, I would have to. I would have to. And then, you know, I got plenty to say. So I can probably just keep this going.

Where one lifelong friend talks to himself for a long time. For a long time. Wow, that's a good idea. Maybe we just start two podcasts. Maybe we just split and go with two podcasts. Two lifelong friends talk to themselves for a long time. I'm sure there's a codependency to our relationship. I just kind of avoid knowing what that term means

because I don't want to- You haven't been in therapy long enough. Right. But yeah, I don't introduce myself to strangers as a lifelong friend to someone who you're not currently meeting. Yeah, right. I've never done that.

Who I'm currently murdering on a podcast. For Christy and I, 20th anniversary last year, do you know what I made plans for us to do? Go to Big Sur. Go to freaking Big Sur. Yeah, but you were in the thick of the pandemic. And it was, yeah, it was one of those times when I thought I might still be able to go

because it was in the woods and we'd be isolated, but it was so early that we had to cancel the thing entirely and then so much has been up in the air, I did not rebook it until I heard that you were going to Big Sur. Then I'm like, well, shit, I'm not going to Big Sur the same week. And actually, we didn't go anywhere for a whole week

because of like schooling logistics and some factors at our home, we ended up saying, okay, you know what? We're just gonna plan a weekend away. We're gonna, Christy was eyeing this like really nice hotel that had all this really fancy decor all over the place. It's like a new design for a new hotel, okay? It's the Kelly Wurtschler Hotel. That name does seem like the one that she was telling. a new design for a new hotel, okay?

It's the Kelly Wurtschler Hotel. That name does seem like the one that she was telling. I just know that because my wife is a designer. It was super cool. So we just stayed there like basically two days, two nights, almost three days, two nights. And we had just like just dedicated time together at this hotel and I'm gonna tell you about it. We have a couple of little,

there's a couple of things that we wanna cover before we get any further. Oh, some logistics. Logistics. One thing is we're about to take a break. Now you're supposed to remember the details of this break. So why don't you explain that? Today we're talking about our trips.

Next episode, we are going to be unveiling the results of the survey that we gave to our wives. We have not read those ahead of time. We're gonna process that next week on the show. Almost a year ago, we gave a survey to our kids and got their like just unfettered feedback. So now, you know, after our anniversary celebrations, maybe we buttered them up enough.

Well, I mean, put a pin in that. Well, my wife- Remember to ask me about buttering my wife up. My wife told me while we were on vacation that she had already completed the survey. I know, that's what Christy told me. And so I don't think that that helped us. So next week, we're gonna be going through all of that data

and seeing what we're gonna learn from our wives unfettered feedback. And then we're gonna take a three week break. No ear biscuits for three weeks. Unless we decided to like re-release some old ones just to keep the feed alive. I don't know, I'm soft pitching that. We'll figure that out. I think it's not a bad idea. A lot't know, I'm soft pitching that. We'll figure that out.

I think it's not a bad idea. A lot of podcasts I listen to will do that. It's a little late to be figuring it out, but at least you'll have something in your feed that maybe you haven't heard before. That's my idea. If we can get- If we can get approval?

If we can get- I approve it. Well, I don't know what Kiko's plate looks like. I don't wanna just- Yeah, because we have to record some bookends. This is an episode from 2008 and we didn't have a podcast in 2008. We're in the weeds.

So we're doing that. So we're gonna take a three week break or maybe it won't feel like one to you if we follow through on this thing. But next week, the surveys. Also, new episode of Ronstadt is coming out tomorrow. People loving Ronstadt. I mean, as I speak, and I don't know what's gonna happen

by the time this comes out, there's a number 11 podcast in all of the United States. The number 11 podcast in all genres. I'd love to be able to say top 10. Well, maybe it's gonna be there. Maybe it'll pop up. Maybe it'll pop up. I don't know. Hey, keep listening. Maybe that Ronstadt scripted, fully immersive,

character-driven adventures continue. In this latest episode, Ronstadt learns a spell, doesn't go too well. That rhymes. Okay, let's get back into it. I've got a story that I'm trying to figure out if I wanna tell it, honestly. Like I've been going- That's a good place to be.

I've been going back and forth on something that happened to me. I guess that's the best way to put it, something that happened to me. From a different person's perspective, it might've been something that I did. And I just don't know how it's gonna make me look. Since when does that matter? So I don't know how it's gonna make me look. So.

Since when does that matter? So I don't know. Let's see how this conversation goes. There's, I wanna tell you about my trip leading up to that too. Okay. But like, I'm sitting here building it up like a teaser, but I have not decided.

Oh, you're gonna tell it. But if I do tell the story, I will say it's not for, you know, if any children are listening, they should, you know, maybe- Prepare to get educated. Prepare to get educated. Okay, don't leave, just prepare to get educated.

Yeah, yeah, I feel comfortable with that level of warning. Okay. You want me to start? You want me to give you a little bit of update? Yeah. Okay, so I mean, you know, we're just driving across town to Santa Monica. It doesn't feel like that much of a trek,

but before we can check into the hotel, we're like, oh, let's go to Abbot Kinney. Let's go full on hipster shopping down here. Good spot. Pretty cool street. And I realized that there was a store. I was going into this store and it was the same store that I already had the pants on. Do you ever go in a store and you realize

that what you're wearing is probably gonna be on a rack? I don't like that feeling. I feel like the people there are just kinda like, I don't know, something about it just doesn't feel right. That's happened a few times in Walmart for me. I'm pretty sure these underwear from this place. You know, this was the former sponsor of Ear Biscuits, Faraday.

Faraday, yeah. Faraday. Everywhere, I saw them all over the place. I've gotten into their pants. And so not currently a sponsor, but I was wearing the pants and I was in the store and I was like, oh, Christy, see, these are the pants that I'm wearing.

And I was kind of self-conscious, I think. That's why I went ahead and just pointed it out because I didn't want anyone else to point it out. Are you pointing it out because you think they might think that you're walking out with merchandise? No, it's just like, it's just like, it feels like something an employee should do. He's back, he's desperate.

He's already wearing the pants. But I'm not happy with the pants because I ordered them- Are these like those pants that are a little bit short and a little bit wide? They're, no, they look like jeans, but they're stretchy and softer. Oh, yeah, I'm into the stretchy and soft. They kind of sell it as like, it feels like sweatpants.

I wouldn't quite go that far, but they are super comfortable. And I didn't take into account the stretch. So they were, I was wearing them that day for the first time. Okay, I'm not gonna lie to you, but I did lie to them. It was my second time, okay? You were trying to return them? And then Christy was like,

you're already complaining about the pants being a little too big because they're stretchy. Why don't you just ask them to return them? And I was walking out of the store at this point. I was like, you know what? You're right, screw it. And I go up there and I'm like, this is kind of an awkward kind of a thing

that I'm doing here, but I'm wearing, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm wearing the pants. Oh, we noticed this, we've all been talking about it. We thought, I was like, could I exchange these for a smaller size? In the dressing room, please. They were like, yeah. Set me up in the dressing room.

They had two sizes smaller. When I tried those on, I could see the bottom line of my underwear. And I'm like, that's too tight. Two sizes smaller? Two sizes smaller. What's getting smaller, the waist? The waist.

But then the thighs too. And everything gets smaller when their waist gets smaller, I guess. They didn't have the one size smaller and I was determined, you know what? I need those, but I also tried on some shorts. And then I was determined, you know what? I need those, but I also tried on some shorts. And then I was like, you know what? You can exchange pants for shorts.

I'm still gonna exchange the pants for other pants that they can order from me and send to my house. And I'm just gonna walk out of here in these shorts that I'm buying. You gotta walk out with some pants. So now I'm wearing, my outfit has changed configurations. I went in the store with pants that were a little too big.

I'm walking out with shorts and they're short shorts. And proportions are off. These shorts are like mid thigh short, okay? You might think I'm wearing swim trunks. Okay. And I'm wearing these, my Lionel shoes, these like super bright white tennis shoes, like no socks. And then I'm wearing a button up shirt and my jean jacket.

And I just started feeling like this is, I mean, I wouldn't be wearing these shorts out like this. This is not quite my configuration of confidence. So I started getting in my own head about it and Christy and I are talking about it. And then we make our way back to the hotel and somebody says something about my hair and it was a compliment, nice hair.

Then somebody else like within 20 minutes was like, nice hair, but I'm getting in my own head because I'm like, Christy, people are talking about my hair. You know, I just don't think about myself as being like some guy who looks at, sometimes you and I will talk about it, but I tend to forget that like, oh, look at that guy's hair. And now look at this guy's outfit.

So I'm thinking about this and Christy and I are talking about it and Christy's like trying to characterize what my style is and like, we're getting into it and we're going up the elevator to the rooftop pool and there's a bar and we were just gonna check it out because we knew that's where we were gonna be the next day. And we're like looking around and I'm like,

I'm looking to see if, I don't know, if just like, do I fit in here? What do people think of me? It's LA, man. I don't know. You could have on a banana hammock and it wouldn't matter. I usually don't get in my own head about this stuff,

but I'm like, we had this in-depth conversation. And then I'm like, I'm looking around to see if anybody's dressed like me. And I see this guy across the pool, lounging in a thing. And he's got on short shorts, tennis shoes, like a shirt and a jean jacket. And the one thing he had I didn't have, I noticed was like he had a yellow bandana wrapped around his neck.

And I'm like, I got a bandana in my pocket. I can put that on too. Oh no, you didn't, did you? I was thinking about it and I turned to Christy, I'm like, well, you know what? That guy over there is dressed just like me. And then when I looked at him again, I realized it was Harry Styles.

And I was like, I was like, man, I actually, you know. You stumbled into Harry Style. I will be, yeah, I guess I got Harry Styles. That dude is a stylish dude. I mean, I mean. Well he had the bandana. I'll gladly be the 43 year old version of Harry Styles. And I started to feel a lot better about myself. And I kind of strutted around the pool and did my Mick Jagger.

I don't wanna take any of the air out of your balloon at this point, but I will say that I think that showing up to the pool wearing exactly the same thing as Harry Styles is more embarrassing than wearing the pants into the store where you bought them. Well, I mean, I didn't go up to him and be like, nice style. If you were lounging and he showed up,

it's whoever's sitting and lounging first wins. Yeah, he was there first. In fact, you should have turned around and left at that point, or at least taken the jacket off. Well, we did. Good. We did leave at that point. You did the right thing. Because we were just up there looking around.

When Harry Styles has planted himself at a place and you are dressed the same, you cannot sit down. You have to leave. I'm, you know what, I'm actually surprised. I was wondering if you was gonna be there the next day. I thought where the story was gonna go is I went up to Harry Styles, I was like, hey look at me and look at you.

Look at us, look at we. It could have happened. I'll tell you, it was as much fun as I was having the next day, if he was there it would have happened. Well here's the thing. Spoiler alert, he wasn't there. But you know what, mission accomplished, I just humble bragged about hanging out

at the same place as Harry Styles and kinda looking like it. Well here's the thing, man. I didn't, you know, we haven't, we specifically have kept these stories from each other. Good looking guy, that Harry. From each other so that we could, you know, experience them in person and surprise one another.

Yeah. But I failed to interject. There's two parallels already happening. The first thing that happened was, Jesse and I stayed at two different hotels, one kind of in the Carmel area, then the second half of the week was down in Big Sur. Clint Eastwood was the mayor of that town.

He was, and I didn't see him at the pool. But when we checked into the hotel, the bellboy- Bellboy. Was like, cool hair. Cool hair? Yeah, and Jesse was like. Bell boy. Was like, cool hair. Cool hair? Yeah, and Jessie was like, now Jessie was like, that was interesting. I think that's, you know, she was like,

you get complimented quite a bit by gay men on your hair, but that guy seemed like he was straight and complimented you. That's like a, you've just leveled up. You just had another straight dude just say he liked your hair. The guy who complimented my hair was a waiter. Could have been a busboy.

Straight or gay? One of them. I didn't ask. Good. And then the second thing that- Do you have a couple of minutes for a few questions? Because I need to understand where you're compliment. And then the next thing that happened was we were eating at a restaurant in Big Sur

and a couple walked in and sat down at the table next to us and they had everyone, you know, this is where we're at right now in California. You walk into the restaurant with your mask on and then of course you take it off when you sit down. It's a farce. It's a little bit, it's kind of theater at this point, but, and soon to end, I think, but the,

I could tell with the- It's a farce for the fully vaccinated. Let me put it to you that way. Yeah, yeah, I could tell with, even with his mask on, I was like, I turned to Jesse and I was like, that's Jon Hamm. Jon Hamm. That's Don Draper himself.

And in Big Sur, with the woman that he meets in the final episode of Mad Men, in Big Sur, who they now have been dating for a few years. Ho, ho, ho, ho, okay. Redheaded lady. The final episode. The ultimate episode, the series finale, he is at Big Sur with a redheaded woman.

Like the Esalon Institute, which is a real place. And you're telling me that that scene you saw in real life because in real life, the same redhead actress, they're dating after all this time. They must've fallen in love at the time, but that was a long time ago. Well, no, it was like 2015. When was the last episode of Mad Men, 2015?

No clue. And then I think they started dating in 2017. So they made a connection. Oh, you Google all this. Well, of course. And then, well, no, Jesse Googled it. Okay. But yeah, so it's like they come back to the place

where their love was born. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. I was celebrating my 20th anniversary and seeing Jon Hamm's love for his current girlfriend. Sorry, I can't remember her name. But she's an actress and, huh. So anyway, but he was not dressed anywhere close

to what I was dressed as. In fact, Jesse was like, interesting, Jon Hamm is dressed like a dad from Carrie. Oh really? Carrie, North Carolina. Pleated shorts, button up shirt? We were in Big Sur, so we had on a fleece. I think that was ultimately what,

but every dude was dressed like that. Like, it's like you're in Big Sur, you don't dress up. You just got on like some- Lodge wear. Some comfortable pants, probably with some stretch and a fleece, which I guess is how Carrie dads are dressing these days. I haven't been keeping up with Carrie dad fashion.

So anyway, I got hair compliments and I saw famous people too. So I mean, we're even right now. Okay, okay. I mean, we could probably rank everything and come out with a winner, but who let me just say, Harry Styles is cooler than Jon Hamm. Currently.

And you were dressed like him. So I think you win that. Okay, yes. And you said you got two compliments on your hair. I got one. So you're ahead right now. Yeah, yeah. But this isn't a competition.

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Where do I want to start here? Well, okay, Jesse had an idea. As I think I've established before on this podcast, neither of us were very happy with our wedding photos for multiple reasons. The key reason was the fact that- I mean, you were ugly compared to what you look like now. Right, for some reason,

I made a last minute decision to completely shave my face and also to give myself a buzz cut. It was like I was going on a mission to Mars. You know what I mean? But I was just getting married and I kinda forgot their pictures would be involved. Needless to say, I didn't look too hot and this is universally acknowledged

by everyone who's ever seen the pictures. And- Yeah, I'll acknowledge it again. You were ugly then. And Jessie was not happy at all with the choice that she had made with her hair. Oh. She's always talked about that.

She didn't like a lot of the photos. We just didn't know exactly what we wanted and I didn't look right. she didn't like her hair. So for years, again, we kind of built up this 20 year anniversary thing and one of the things that Jessie has talked about, she's like, you know, 20 year anniversary, we'll be in Italy and we'll hire a photographer

and take some pictures on the Tuscan countryside. An Italian photographer. Yeah, we won't even be able to communicate. We'd be using just Google Translate the whole time. Or we'd actually just be using the language of love and just following his direction. Anyway, we were in Big Sur, so we had to contact a local photographer there.

Oh. And first of all, I mean, this is the most- That dream didn't die. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Let me just say that I love the state of California. Can I just take a moment to do a little PSA? Actually, I don't want you to move here because there's too many people here already,

but I feel like I'm always finding a new part of this state, which is giant, and I'm always finding a new part of the state and just being like, this is remarkable. I'm like, I am totally fine that I'm basically having to give my first born up to the government in taxes because it is worth it. It is worth it. It's whatever I have to pay to live here, it's worth it.

It's like a country in and of itself. And there's so many different landscapes and Big Sur might be the pinnacle. No offense to Texas, but I visited there and everybody's talking about how they, that's where they wanna be. It's like they have different interests than me. I'm with you, man.

Hey, listen, move to Austin. I want as many people to move to Austin as possible. I like Austin. For multiple reasons. I like to visit. But mostly because I want the traffic to be less here. Move the traffic to Austin. But anyway. But you got a photographer.

Big Sur, incredible. Don't forget about that. So we are both, and I'm thankful for this, 20 years later, we're both happier with the choices that we have made in the way that we now present ourselves, right? It goes without speaking that what I got going on now in the facial hair and hair region is significantly better than clean shaven and buzzed.

But Jessie was like, I know what I wanna wear. And she's like, I'm gonna be in Big Sur and I wanna have a flower crown. A flower crown. I don't know if that's the official name for it, but you know, one of those things that they wore in that. I think that's just a midsummer movie. Snapchat filter. Well, you know if that's the official name for it, but you know, one of those things that they wore in that- I think that's just a mid-summer movie. Snapchat filter.

Well, you know what? Those are real. The funny thing is, is when, in the last minute, when she realized that none of the florists were speaking her language and were in a position to make a flower crown, I was like, let's just put a filter on it and give you a flower crown in all the pictures. It was kind of joking, but not.

But what she ended up doing is she did a very Jessie thing, which is she just like, we were sitting in a restaurant and she walked out, she said, "'I'm gonna figure this flower crown thing out." And when she came back, she had a giant basket of flowers that somebody had given her for free. She was gonna fashion one. I was like, you're gonna build this thing?

She was like, yes. And I'm gonna show you some pictures. Well, she built the flower crown. And you hired a photographer? Yeah, there's like photographers that are in the area. I mean, it's very common to like get married, have anniversaries, and it's one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.

Okay. So people do photo shoots there. It's kinda like photographers are hanging around kinda like movers places in the entire world. Okay. So people do photo shoots there. It's kind of like photographers are hanging around, kind of like movers are hanging around Home Depot. Yeah. I get it. Like, hey, can I ride in your car to your house and I can help move some stuff for you?

And this guy was, at the place we were staying, he had done this several times before. Like they were like, oh yes, we know Brandon. He's, yeah, he's a regular here for taking photos. So anyway, I'm gonna flip through some of these photos for you. You're gonna make fun of me, but we are both very happy.

What's the saying, I know my assignment? I knew my assignment, that's what you'll say at the end. Okay, okay. So we'll start with, you get a good idea of- Well, the flower crown. Jessie made that flower crown. Well, that is good. You can scroll through. You need to relax.

Just scroll through. I'm not a fan of this one, and we may not even use this one, but this is a good one of the flower crown. You're looking down. You're making sure the flower crown does not like. I'm sniffing the flower crown, making sure it's fresh and not fake.

But flip to the next one. You're not happy with that. You wanna see some of these. I also just wanna show you some of the scenery. You're gonna be blown away. Jesse was ready. Hopefully you warmed up. Okay.

There was a lot of me. What was he saying to you? He was like, now look at each other. Now hold hands. He was, first of all, let me just tell you. That was like, now look at each other, now hold hands. First of all, let me just tell you. That's cute. If you're a photographer, direct the people you're taking pictures of. And that's why I so appreciate about Brandon

is that he was directing us. Oh he was? Yeah, he was telling us very, I want very specifically. It's like you guys are small, because those trees are huge. Yeah, so this property is incredible. There's redwoods all over the place.

There's not been a direct shot of you the whole time, which I love. It's like you just get a little bit of you. Just a little bit of your face. Okay, there you are. There's your full face. Not into this one. That's not bad though.

And these are just the previews. I don't know what that face though. And these are just the previews. I don't know what that face is saying. These are just the previews that he sent. He took probably like two, 300 pictures that way. So I haven't even been through. So I can't guarantee that the ones that Link is currently looking at are the ones that you're gonna be seeing.

Well, I can. Just send them from your phone. Oh, look at that, you're walking in a meadow. Look at those trees, man. Those are redwoods. Those are like- Those are tall, yeah. Thousand-year-old redwoods right there behind us. I mean, it really puts you in perspective.

You're not tall compared to a redwood. That's a good one right there. It kind of accentuates the height difference. You know, you got Jessie's dimple, very happy. I think she's great. I can still tell that you know that your picture's being taken. You are totally projecting, totally projecting at this point.

I know, you need to, you just get, oh. Okay, now we've got it. See, now you're actually, you're in the moment. You're looking out at the ocean. Hold on, you have a complete incorrect assessment of that photo. That is a good photo. A couple, a 20-year-old, 20-year-old couple. A 43-year-. Two, a couple, a 20 year old, 20 year old couple.

A 43 year old man and a 40 year old woman totally in love after 20 years of marriage. That's how I interpret it. Oh and look, there's a picture of barbecue sauce. Now we're talking. Sweet baby Ray's. Oh that is nice. It's chicken sauce actually.

Chicken sauce. I got some people coming over tonight. I'm making my hot chicken sandwiches for them. Oh that is good. I needed Jesse to get some more of that. I love that. I love the lighting on this one. That is amazing.

So. Look at that. I can tell you meant that. Like, look at your hand. So, let me get back to. The blood flow has just increased on that thing. So, photo shoot. Mission accomplished.

To commemorate, and so, you know, I think what we're gonna do with those is poster size, at least 30 to 40 of them and just put them all over our house. Okay, all right. God, you scared me for a second. Have you ever been to someone's home and they have a bunch of pictures of like themselves

and like their wedding pictures and things like that? Like we've never been into that. Yeah, I told Christy, I was like, you know, our house is kind of like an Airbnb. It's like, we don't really have pictures of like loved ones up. We have the classic pictures of the kids going up the stairs, like two black and white photos

of the kids from like five or six years ago. I think that might be it. I don't think there's any, for a long time, because Jessie's parents, and this is funny, ironically given what I just talked about, Jessie's parents got us a giant picture of just Jessie. I think that they were very, they understood what I looked like at the wedding.

Oh yeah, the, her. Just a bridal picture of Jessie. We have one of those too. On a giant, really expensive frame. just a bridal picture of Jessie. We have one of those too. On a giant, really expensive frame. Yes, we have one of those. It's one of those things that like, we were like, and we, you know, we- When we were first married, we hung it-

We had it up above our bed. Above our bed too, yes. They must have talked about this. I mean, and now it's under our bed. Like we still have it, but it's in a box. Ours is in the attic. It's under our bed. Ours is in the attic, but.

I think. So we're not gonna put these pictures up around the house, I don't think. But yeah, I was grateful. I was grateful that, first, because Jessie was like, you don't wanna do this, do you? I was like, not really. I mean, like, I don't really like

getting pictures taken of myself. I feel, I also feel like I'm constantly doing it with the job that we have and I never really enjoy it. But I was like, I know that this means a lot to you and you know, and I do, my hair is better than it used to be. So yeah, let's do it. You know, it's good to memorialize something. And also you just get to remember the-

How tall the trees were. This space was so beautiful. Like the- I gotta go. Like you said, the mountains coming directly to the ocean. The only time I drove through there, it was so foggy that I couldn't see anything. Well, here's the thing. June, which is when we went, the foggiest month of the entire year,

you know, the whole June gloom thing that we get down here as well. And they were like, you guys are getting blessed with this incredible weather because you can see the ocean. And one of the guys at the hotel was like, I've been here during June's before where for multiple weeks in a row, I never could see more than about 20 or 30 feet.

Yeah. The entire day would be completely covered in fog. And so there was a couple of mornings where it was like that where all of a sudden it was like, whoa, I can't see anything and it feels like it's raining because of the fog condensing on the redwoods and falling down all over you. Yeah.

But yeah, we got great weather. I'm definitely gonna go, man. We may end up going back, fog condensing on the redwoods and falling down all over you. Yeah. But yeah, we got great weather. I'm definitely gonna go, man. We may end up going back, it could become our anniversary place, I don't know. But I doubt it, you know, there's other places to go. Yeah, there is, man. It's California.

Think about all that stuff you just bragged about. Right, yeah, there's always a new place to find. Can't settle in. But Big Sur might be the pinnacle. What was the last thing that filled you with wonder that took you away from your desk or your car in traffic? Well, for us, and I'm going to guess for some of you, that thing is... Anime!

Hi, I'm Nick Friedman. I'm Lee Alec Murray. And I'm Leah President. And welcome to Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. It's a weekly news show. With the best celebrity guests. And hot takes galore. So join us every Friday wherever you get your podcasts

and watch full video episodes on Crunchyroll or on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. You know, I would have loved to have had a week for Christian and I to have, you know, to get away. And we'll do that in due time. But I will say, you know, we packed so much fun into just like a couple of nights away that I just, we were talking, we were sitting,

the next day we were sitting by the pool and like you got these like lounge chairs and that's where Harry was on the opposite side. But then behind that- Was he in a special section or just a normal? No, no. It was, then there was a, there was like a bar over here and then there's like these big circular couches,

like semi-circular couches and they called them cabanas. And I mean, they would have like an umbrella over top of it and then like a little table in the middle. So it wasn't, to me a cabana is like a covered tent like thing that you could, and you can lay down and be out of the sun. Right. But this was more of like a couch situation.

But since there were only two of us, we probably could have had two, four, six, eight people, four couples in this thing. But we had reserved the thing for like four hours. Cause you know, we don't like to be obligated to be in the sun the whole time and we wanna be over there and we could have table service, like it was really nice. Like we had somebody come take our order

and like we were eating and drinking, man, we were having a good time over there. And so you're sitting there and again, I'm kind of thinking like, I'm getting good at going to like these highfalutin places and having a good time. This is what I'm telling Christy. I'm like, you know what?

I know I was in my head yesterday about what I was wearing and do I fit in? But like, you know what? Screw it. Today is my day. This cabana is my cabana and the world is my oyster. And I'm wearing my like, my trucker hat and my sunglasses, my hair's coming out, and I'm like,

I got my shirt off and my shoes off, and I'm laying down on this couch. And the other people I noticed when I would go to the bathroom or something, I'm just gonna call them rich bitches, okay? Yeah, right, okay. I'm just gonna, you know,, okay? Yeah, right, okay. I'm just gonna, you know, I don't mean to offend anybody.

I don't think you can offend a rich bitch. You got these like, every other table. I think they're okay, they're on the table. Every other table was just, you know, just a covey of rich bitches. Just sitting there with their posture and their like outfits and their acts up and they're just talking.

They're just talking about, you know, at first I just, I was like, I don't know how I got myself into this, but like I knew I was gonna feel nauseous, but I didn't wanna throw up because I think it's part of the process. And like, you know, we made our way all the way out here and like- Talking about ayahuasca.

And she's like, but then after a while, I just had to vomit. I just had to vomit. Yeah. And I mean, I just can't even get into what was happening around me. And so it's like all these rich bitches talking about, I don't know, they're like, they're peyote excursions and like, it was a trip.

And meanwhile, and you know, and they're all like prim and proper and put together and with their drinks. And then if anybody who walks by the next booth is like, like basically picture my dad sprawled out at Myrtle Beach. Like that was me and Christy. And I was like, you know what? We are having a good time. basically picture my dad sprawled out at Myrtle Beach. Like that was me and Christy. You are turning into your dad. And I was like, you know what? We are having a good time.

And Christy's like, yeah, you are. Yeah, yeah, you are. You just said this was your cabana. She was like. I'm also present. She was like, I don't think you're supposed to bring your own La Croix to the table. And I was like, well, I wasn't finished with it.

And then she's like- Where'd you get the La Croix from? From the room. Cause we had brought our own drinks to the room. Interesting. Definitely cold brews, definitely some Topo Chico's and some La Croix's. I gotta have all that stuff.

And like late at night, I gotta be hydrated. True. Like I drink, I have a Topo Chico by my bed and a La Croix. And a cold brew, man. So yeah, I was bringing one to the poolside because I wasn't finished with it. And she's like, you also didn't have to bring your own music, they are playing music here.

You were playing open air music? I had one of those like Beats Pill things because their music was, it was quiet and it wasn't good enough. And I did walk around and I- That was probably- They couldn't hear my music at the other booth. The rich bitches were not hearing my yacht rock.

Well, the more you talk, the more I think you might be the rich bitch. We might need to flip the script on this. We had so much fun. Like we were just having the best time. The waitress would come up to our table and like Christy would just start talking to her. I guess she was, you know, she had talked to me enough

or maybe I talked at her enough. I don't know, I was like, I was like, you know how when I have a good time, I get kind of talkative. Yeah. I was gonna read a book, I was gonna listen to some music, I was gonna listen to some podcasts. Like we just talked about like four hours straight,

except when the waitress comes up and then Christy's like talking about Harry and Meghan. And I'm like, oh Lord, don't take the bait. The waitress starts it or Christy starts it? She's like, are you into this Harry and Meghan and you know, their new baby? Are you into it? I'm like, listen, don't get sucked into this.

And then she starts talking about Princess Diana and I mean all of this stuff and like we're having this like detailed conversation with this woman. Is the waitress giving back? The waitress is into it because she's serving all these rich bitches who don't even look at you. Like I'll take another so-and-so what-none-else spritzer.

Right, yeah. Oh, I'll have one of those too. Yeah. And let's go to the bathroom together. You know, I don't know. I don't know what they're doing. Were there any men? No.

Huh. Not many men around. Okay, all right. They were probably all somewhere else. I didn't care. I didn't care about seeing other men. After seeing Harry, I was good. Yeah. Okay, all right. They were probably all somewhere else. I didn't care. I didn't care about seeing other men. After seeing Harry, I was good. Yeah.

But yeah, I mean, I'm just like, I'm gonna have a good time. And you know what, we're coming back here and we're bringing friends and we're gonna show everybody how this is done. You'll be invited. Well, okay, again, the parallels are pretty striking. You had a pool?

There was a pool at this hotel. There were actually multiple pools. I mean, Christy and I took pictures of each other. Well, okay, so, you know, we having not decided to go to Italy or being not able to go to Italy, and this is our 20 year anniversary, we were like, we're gonna splurge.

Okay, okay. So this is probably the nicest place we've ever stayed. I would say easily the nicest place we've ever stayed. And so every single room is like its own house, essentially, not house, but I mean, we were in like a cabin. We were in like a tree, it was literally a tree house. Like built in a tree?

It was up in the trees and it had stairs that went to it. So it wasn't like the tree was coming through the middle and like they had put it on posts or whatever, but it was called the tree houses part of the thing. It was elevated amongst trees. Yeah, and it was incredible. But there were also like some like hobbit house type things that are like built into the side of the slope

and have grass growing on top of them. It's just an incredible place. Super creative approach to the architecture and everything and the way it all blends in. The whole idea is that it looks like you're just kind of just ascending into the redwoods, right? They thought of everything. And at each end of the sort of this line of cabins

is what they call a meditation pool, which what us from Harnett County call a big hot tub. A big hot, above ground hot tub? And it's beautiful though. It's like an infinity edge hot tub. It's like 102 degrees. Oh wow. And on each side of the resort, and this is a small resort,

so there's literally only eight chairs at each pool. Oh. This is a small thing. Oh wow. Right? So there's like four sets of two chairs at each end. And then there's another pool that's a bigger pool that's in a different space, but these are the ones that are like right on the edge,

so that's where most of the people would go. And again, that was never full. I mean, it was like, there was one time where all eight chairs were full. That was the fullest it got. It wasn't like people were coming up and getting turned away. But there was a moment where, okay, when the pool is that small, when it's just a big hot tub

and there's only eight chairs there, there's a choice that is made, which is, are we going to converse with the other people sitting here? It's not like a big pool that you were at where it's like, you're kind of just, everybody's sort of hanging with themselves. It's like, I'm kind of right next to this other couple. And if we're the, there's two couples here,

do we start talking? And if we start talking, when do we stop talking? Yeah. Does this conversation go on forever? Well, we had had a good conversation with like two other couples and kind of like found out what people did for a living and just kind of connected at one pool.

But then the next day we're at this other side and there was another couple there that was kind of given off that we're keeping to ourselves vibes. And so we were like, well, we're keeping to ourselves as well. I mean, that's what we were gonna do. So I'm like reading a book, a book that I will recommend at the end of this.

And then, speaking of rich bitches, and I believe that that term can apply to both men and women. Oh, hell yeah. A couple comes in and the dude, like, I mean, this is a, everyone's being kind of quiet,

it's a quiet, peaceful place. You feel like you're in the woods and it's just like, this dude walks in, he's like, hi guys. Oh, God. The way that Jesse described it later is like, he came in like, I'm here now. He's like, I am present, you know? And I was like, hey, you know,

kind of just gave a little bit of a hey. And so like he sits down with his female companion and a wife, girlfriend, partner, whatever, and- He had a wife, a girlfriend, and a partner? I mean, it's just one woman. Okay. And they sit down, and then he's like, oh no, I forgot my sunscreen.

And I'm looking at his wife, who is currently applying sunscreen to herself. Oh. And she says, well, just use this. And he's like, I don't use that, it's chemicals. He didn't say, I don't use that, it has chemicals. He said, I don't use that, it's chemicals. He didn't say, I don't use that, it has chemicals. He said, I don't use that, it's chemicals. Which I thought was an interesting choice of words.

Yeah, he's a bitch. And I was like, okay, all right. When you splurge on a place like this, the clientele. No, I like this, it's chemical, man. This is great. You're gonna get some interesting characters. He might be a friend, I'm not going. Well, stay tuned because the next thing he does

is I guess he had just determined that he didn't need his sunscreen. He walks to the edge of the hot tub at the top of the steps. Again, this is a beautiful, I've said it already, it's a beautiful spot, it's the most beautiful hot tub I've ever seen. Infinity edge hot tub, I mean, come on, right? Looks like it goes on forever.

1,200 feet above sea level. You get it at the right angle, where it stops, the ocean begins. And then he gets to the edge and before he steps in, he places both hands over his heart and just goes. And this is, everyone can see and hear, it's loud. This dude is doing like a cleansing breath. And this is, everyone can see and hear, it's loud. This dude is doing like a cleansing breath.

Like right before he gets into the hot tub. This is me, dude. I think this is gonna be me. Well, I hope not because I'm not going to the hotel with you if this is you. Is it deep breathing? He then steps into the water and I'll admit, the water feels good.

And they had obviously just arrived at the hotel. Like this is the first thing they're doing. They're getting in, they got in the room, they come to the hot tub. So they're experiencing this all for the first time. I remember my first time. That's not the first thing I do when I get to a new place. And then he steps into the water

and all of a sudden he's just like going, ah, this guy was having an orgasmic experience in the hot tub. The hot water was doing things for him. The hot water is never done for me. Oh yeah? Oh, oh, oh, and then he begins to speak French. It was like something about exposure to the hot water

flipped him into French mode and he began speaking French to his wife who began speaking French back to him. There's a French conversation that happens about, I don't know, it took three years of French, but I didn't pick up on any of it, but I assume it has to do with how awesome the hot tub was. I know the words for green beans and shit.

He gets out of the hot tub, walks back to his wife and begins speaking English again. So there's something of the hot tub, walks back to his wife and begins speaking English again. Oh. So there's something about the hot tub that brings the French out in this man. And I gotta say, as much as I was judging him in the moment, the more I've reflected on it, I'm like, I think this guy's living his best life. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

That's what I'm trying to do, man. Well. And you know what, I had a little lesson. You what I'm trying to do, man. Well. And you know what, I had a little lesson. You need to learn how to do it in not such a pretentious way. Well, so we're sitting here. It was a little imposing. I got a story that goes just with this

and I think that I judged it one way and now because of your story and what you just said, I'm seeing it in another way. We were sitting at our booth, we're just hanging out, we're looking out on the pool, but like there's some things that give us, we have more privacy, except there's these two chairs that are kind of in front of us and a little table

where some people might wait until one of the big cabanas opens up. And this man sits down there, faces away from us, and he's just sitting there. Right. But then all of a sudden, his wife comes over. Now she could have been French. I never heard them speak.

And she sits in the chair across from him, and so she's looking over his shoulders at us. You know, definitely jealous of the good time that we're having. Right. I mean, that's gotta be clear. And then she gets up and comes over and I don't know how else to say it.

She, the seat that the guy was in was kind of like it reclined back a little bit, like, you know, at maybe a 30 degree angle. It was almost an Adirondack chair. She comes over and mounts him. Like one knee- Straddle. One knee on one side under his armpit, kinda, other knee on the other side and her feet on the chair.

And so she's like, like as if he was a squatty potty. Like her feet and heels are on the sides of his hips and then she just like, rests on him. Lowers down. And then she like, Clothes. They're fully clothed, yeah.

But I mean she mounted him. Right, you never know what'll happen. And he's kinda on his phone and she's kinda like kissing his ear and stuff. And Christy's like, well, well, well. And I'm like, well, I mean, she knows we're here. So I'm just gonna watch. And I was like, and so I just kind of propped up

on my left shoulder. And I mean, she's as far from, I am from that camera. Like where that, I mean, what was that, six feet? Maybe we're mounting at seven feet from each other. Okay. And I'm just like seeing what's gonna happen. Right. But she sees me and then I feel like,

okay, now this is part of it. She's mounted him but she's looking at me and I'm looking at her. Uh-oh. And I'm seeing who's gonna look away first or basically I felt like, I felt like she shouldn't been mounting him right in front of me because it's distracting me from my good time.

What was the expression on her face when she looked at you? It was kind of like- Was it like, yes, I'm mounting him. It was blank. Would you like to be him? It was blank. It was blank, okay.

So I was like, I think this is a battle. I'm not gonna look away until she dismounts. Don't believe it was a battle. That's weird, but okay. Did it work? No. And in retrospect, you know what? I should have done it totally differently.

You should have mounted Christy. I should have just- And just kept looking right at her. I should have just mounted, no, I should have mounted Christy or vice versa. Or I should have just been like, that's awesome. That has nothing to do with me. Why am I acting like this is like cramping my style?

Like, cause I felt like I'm like- You're doing a lot of thinking. All the fun that I'm having, all of a sudden goes out the window. There's a lot of thinking going on. I need to be doing the PDA and not judging other people's PDA. Or the PDOA as my dad would say.

I just gotta freaking go with it. Yeah. And I gotta get in the pool and deep breathe and just speak French. No, you gotta deep breathe before you get in the pool. Speak French. I had another. That's my one regret is that I had animosity

towards this woman. I know you got your story and then I got something after. This is gonna be a longer one, guys. Oh, we got it. But quickly, I wanna tell another funny interaction we had, shout out to the mythical beasts that we ran into while hiking. Ah. On a beautiful, beautiful path.

But after Jessie and I did a hike through the redwoods to like a perch where you could kinda see for miles, through the redwoods to like a perch where you could kind of see for miles. We go back down to looking for a bathroom and there was like a restaurant and gift shop. You know, everything's kind of in that, is it open, is it not open? But most things are open now in California.

So we're approaching this gift shop restaurant situation and a woman, we're approaching this gift shop restaurant situation and a woman, middle-aged woman who's alone comes up to us and she's like, excuse me, are there restrooms in there? And I was like, well, we haven't been in yet, but I'm assuming that there's restrooms in there because there's a restaurant and a gift shop. So yeah I'm assuming that there's restrooms in there because it's a restaurant and a gift shop.

So yeah, I think there's probably restrooms in there. Without saying anything to me, she turns away from me and suddenly into the woods, she's like, Caw-caw! What? And then she turns back to me and says, thank you. She spoke crow?

Either this woman is traveling with a crow, I don't know if it's a single crow or a pack of crows, and I don't know if that's the correct way to- Murder. A murder of crows. Or this woman is using crow calls to communicate with her companions, her family, I guess. That beats French, I'll tell you. The funny thing is, it's one thing to use a crow call

like when you are in the middle of the city or you're in a place where a crow call is going, oh, that's mom doing her crow call. But you're in the woods where there are crows doing crow calls. And this is a really good crow call. It sounded real. Was she dressed like hippie?

She was dressed like a mom ready to take on a mountain. Okay. You know what I'm saying? There was a wide brimmed hat. Oh. Very, Okay. Very expensive sunglasses, tank top, cargo shorts maybe, hiking boots. What happened next? I just went in and used the bathroom. I think she waited on the crows to show up.

I don't know. You didn't even see what she summoned? I was gonna hang around and see all the children run out of the woods. You felt sure it was gonna be children. Well, I just thought that she's communicating with her family using bird language. I mean, the things you experience

when people spending way too much money. It's just, I think that's what, you know. No, but this was at the state park. Oh, oh. This wasn't at the hotel. You think kids are allowed at the hotel? I say that it's my 20 year anniversary. Oh yeah. I don't wanna see a child. And if I do, I'm gonna throw them in the ocean.

It's a long call. Last thing I want to do is see anyone under 18. Ah! I mean, there's nothing like a kid that'll ruin a good time. Just keep that in mind if you haven't had any yet. Yeah, I had a woman mounting a man, and that somehow ruined my moment.

Yeah, just because she was thinking about making children. Just the thought of that couple making children turned you off. I gotta really work on the PDA. Don't start with a mouth. I think you work your way up to a mouth. You know what?

We don't have time, I'm not gonna tell the story. Cole, come on, you're telling the story, man. Listen, man, I'm just gonna be, I'm gonna tell it like it happened, okay? And I don't know how it's gonna make me look, but I mean, I'm just, I'm human. And I'm gonna tell it like it happened, okay? And I don't know how it's gonna make me look, but I mean, I'm just, I'm human. And I'm just, I'm being honest. Don't give any disclaimers, just tell your story.

And this is what happened. Speak your French, man. I've told a lot of massage stories on Ear Biscuits. I consider myself a professional massage receiver. Like I can be the best critic of massages. I'm on record saying that could be my next career. Like a massage and spa consultant, somebody who comes in and says-

You might need to start a Patreon for that because I don't know if you're gonna get paid directly by anyone except your patrons. I know when it's good. I know when except your patrons. I know when it's good. I know when it's great. I know when it's bad. I've had them all, I thought. Uh-oh.

But we were going to this place and they had a spa and yeah, this place is pricey. I'm like, you know what? We're gonna splurge. Let's get massages here. And then Christy was looking into it and she's like, these are pricey massages. This is gonna be the most expensive massages

we've ever gotten. Right. And then she texted me at work one day and she was like, I got you an appointment, but they didn't have one for me. I'm on a waiting list. And I'm like, well, no, you take it. She's like, you're much more into massages than I am. So I want you to do this.

This is part of your birthday. And I'm not nearly as into massage as you are. And I knew this was true. So I didn't argue anymore. I was like, you know what? I will accept this gift. And so we spent all day by the pool. I kept forgetting that I was having the massage

and Christy would remind me that like, oh, you can't forget we got this massage. You gotta be down there for the massage at five. I'm like, oh yeah, massage. And so I get down there and I didn't know that this was gonna be unlike any other massage, not just because it's the most expensive, but because this was the first time

I was ever going to get a four-handed massage. Oh, wow. Four hands, two people. Could have been four hands, four people with one hand tied behind their back. I didn't know. And you didn't care. But I assumed it was two.

And okay, so it was two women. I show up there, you know, I'm not weird at a spa. I'm good at this. Like, I mean, you can't do all the other spa stuff because of COVID restrictions. Like you can't go in early and like do the hot tub or like chill out somewhere.

You're going in there, you're going in the room, you're gonna get massaged like at a normal place. But like, I know how to like make eye contact and say that, you know, listen to what they're saying about the massage and not be weird. Okay. Definitely not creepy. Like I'm a pro and this is a thing. You sound like you're giving yourself

a little bit of a pep talk. I'd say it's just, it's just like, you're suddenly somebody going to the proctologist, like he sees buttholes all day. I mean, yeah, this guy's not gonna think anything's weird about my butthole, he sees buttholes all day, right? No, she was like, okay, so they start orienting me. They said the name of the massage

and they only had like six massages and they all had like weird names as if I had been transported to India. Uh-huh, yeah. And she's like, so we're gonna start with the treatment called the so-and-so, and are you fine with having oil in your hair? And I'm like, oh yeah, I'm totally good.

I've got cool hair. I was like, I'm totally good with it. Two guys have told me that already. I'm totally, I'm like, that sounds great. And then she's like, and we're gonna be putting oil on your body and then for the second treatment, which is called something else that I can't remember

or couldn't pronounce, is when we're gonna go into what I knew would be the drip experience, where they drip hot oil on your forehead. And that's all I knew. I said, okay, so we'll leave the room. There's a restroom in the room, there's through those doors. It's just your restroom.

And then you've got this room here, which is a massage room. We'll step out for you to get undressed. You get completely undressed and then lay down face down on the table and take this towel and drape it over your backside. Right. Okay, yeah, I've done all this before. I'm absolutely, like, this is nothing new.

And you gotta get naked. You gotta get naked for it. Yeah, absolutely. Just for those of you who are, you know, you're still self-conscious about, you gotta get completely naked when you, and that's what they're expecting you to do when you go get a massage.

It's not sexual. You just, you get naked and then you're covered in all the right places and that's part of it, right? Don't leave your underwear on. No, and you know what? They even said that, so it was like, yeah. Take it all off. Yeah, and now there wasn't a sheet.

Like a lot of places you get under a sheet and then they'll like manipulate the sheet. They just had a towel and I would call it a hand towel. Okay, it's not real big. It wasn't, it was just a hand towel. Mm-hmm. How big, for hands, how big? A normal hand towel.

I'm holding up the dimensions for you. You can tell the people what that length is, I don't know. Okay, we're at 16 by 10. Okay, thank you. So yeah, they leave, I get dressed. I take a leak because I always get anxious that I'm gonna need to pee during a massage and nothing ruins a massage like having to pee bad.

Especially if you have to get up in the middle and go pee. And like, then that's- Have you done that before? X number of minutes, I've done it once where like, I couldn't hold it and then I had to get up in the middle of the damn thing. So I pee, I get naked, I lay down face down, I put the, I mean the towel, it felt small. I mean, I got a little ass, but the towel felt small.

And so I draped it sideways and then I wait and I start doing my deep breathing just to totally get like in a zone- Speaking French to yourself. Of relaxation. Just a wee little. They knock on the door, I say, come in, they come in. And yeah, I was like, wow, four hands,

how is this gonna work? And then they start by pouring oil, like copious amounts of oil all over my back, my legs, everything. But before they did that- Two people. Two people. Before they did that, they took the towel that I had put- Two women?

Two women. And they had put the, you know, I had the hand towel horizontal across my butt cheeks. So the first thing they did when they walked in was they took the towel and rotated it 90 degrees. Perpendicular, yeah. So then it was draped between my legs and then up to the small of my back.

Because you need the sides of your glutes exposed. They need access to that. Yeah, so then my cheeks were exposed. Yeah. Including the one that says Christy and a nice crisp cursive tattoo. Right. It made me feel better.

It's like, I've definitely got the label. I'm taken. Again, I'm not thinking about any of this. It might be an old relationship. I'm just thinking. But they're not thinking about that. Of course not. They're not thinking about that. No, I actually not thinking about any of this. It might be an old relationship. I'm just thinking. But they're not thinking about that. Of course not. They're not thinking about that.

I actually wasn't either. All I was thinking was, are four hands better than two? Well, I would think so. And then they're on. Six are better than four. They're on each side and I did notice they didn't ask any of the typical questions like, do you have, there was no forms to fill out.

Do you have any injuries? What type of pressure do you want? They're gonna find that out with their hands. They didn't ask me to give them any direction because this was a process. And then they start like, they're rubbing my feet and it's like, you know, two hands on one foot, two hands on the other foot.

I'm like, okay, I get twice as much foot massage in the same amount of time. This is cool. And then they start pouring the oil everywhere. They're like pouring, it seems like they're pouring oil out of buckets with holes in the bottom. And it's like trickling all over my whole body.

And it feels absolutely amazing. I doubt it was a bucket, but. And then they start massaging my back and they held my hand with one hand and then with the other hand, they would massage my back. So one hand they weren't using at this point. And I'm thinking. Just holding your hand?

Yeah. Just comforting you. Just to not like pushing down on my hand. Just so you remember, there's two of us. There's two of us here. And each of us is only using one hand going up your back and around your spine, and they did what I would describe as a synchronized hand dance on my back.

Well, I would hope so. And I was thinking, you know what? I love really deep pressure. This is nowhere near that. This is a totally different thing. This is like a- Relaxation massage. This is like a performance. Yeah, a totally different thing. This is like a- Relaxation massage. This is like a performance.

Yeah. This is Cirque du Soleil. This is almost like, it's about the two of them coordinating and doing something and proving to me how in sync they can be. It's almost like I don't even need to be here. Right. But I began to say, okay, I'm disappointed.

Maybe I could be disappointed that I'm not getting any pressure. But you'd never say that. I like the pain of a massage. I'm disappointed, maybe I could be disappointed that I'm not getting any pressure. And because- But you'd never say that. I like the pain of a massage. There was no pain. It was only, it just felt good. But it was also the fascination that like,

they were putting their fingers in between each other's fingers and going up my back and like, and then they would move apart and go up and down my back and it was all completely coordinated. So like, and I could tell that one of them was the leader and one of them was the follower, but they were like almost in sync.

And so I was kind of into this as like a show kind of a thing. It was like, and then they're like dumping more oil on me. And I mean, I'm like, I'm gonna slide off this table. Like I've never- I could be part of it. Inundated with so much oil. And now you are on the floor. And then it's, I'm like, I'm gonna slide off this table. Like I've never- I could be part of it. Inundated with so much oil. And now you are on the floor.

And then, and you know, I'm just laying there with my face in the donut. And then they start doing this massage that goes from my shoulder in sync all the way down over my butt cheeks and my hips and down to my legs and just back and forth. Oh yeah. This was the first point that a thought crossed my mind that-

This might be too good. This might be, there might be, there might be an issue here. I was like, this might be, yes. Link might not be ready for this one. This might be too. The massage reviewer himself, the professional massage receiver may have reached his limit.

But it's just a thought. It's just a thought going through my head. It's a tiny thought. And I'm like, breathe deep. So I breathe deep and I'm like, I'm used to the pain at this point. Like if those types of thoughts cross my mind in a massage, they immediately go away because I'm in so much pain,

which is a form of pleasure to me, but it's like, it's a therapeutic sport treatment type situation. Being devoid of any pain, I'm like, this is uncharted territory. Right. But it is nice. And then the massage up and down my entire body

turned into like fingernails. Wow, back of the hand. Scratching all the way down my body in a light fashion. And I'm like, I feel like we're approaching the flip. Yeah. Why am I telling this? That could be a tricky situation. Why am I telling this?

I don't know. Just because it happened. You're telling it now. Just because it happened. You've committed and we are publishing this. Again, I'm a pro with the flip. I know what's up. It's like, they're like, okay, we're going to, we need you to slide down, further down the table.

And then when your head is on the actual table and not in the donut part, then we want you to roll over face up and- Do they both get on one side during the flip? No, they're on either side and they- That's tricky. They picked up the towel. Whoa. And they like held the towel and then, they're on either side and they- That's tricky. They picked up the towel. Whoa.

And they like held the towel and then, I didn't really look at them. I don't look at them. Well, but the flip was the only time to look. I saw them out of the corner of my eye and they were looking away. You know, it was- They were looking into the corner.

They were looking into the corner and they were holding the thing. It was- They're professionals. They've done this before. I mean, yeah. They didn't like sneak in right before this started and say,

hey, let's do this two handed thing. So then, so I roll over and they put the thing back down and then they take the towel and they rotate it again, vertical, so it's draped in between my legs and then it's going that this way. Okay. Up to the belly button. Right.

And I'm cool. They're starting with the feet and I'm doing some deep breathing and it's like, this is a reset, you know? This is a reset. Whole new side. Nothing. Other side of the burger. Nothing, yeah, there was,

I was not saying, doing or presenting anything that would cause alarm. You know? Okay. I was playing it cool. Yeah. And then they started, you know, then they're pouring the oil everywhere and like, I'm going through all the synchronicities

and all this stuff is happening again. It's like, this is cool. But then they start doing on the top side, what they were doing earlier on the bottom side. They did a few up and downs all the way. And then the girl, I shouldn't say, the professional masseuse woman. Right.

She wasn't a girl. Right. She was a female. Anyway, she starts massaging my scalp. Yeah. Both hands, just like full on massaging my scalp. Yeah. Both hands, just like full on massaging my scalp. It feels good. Amazing.

And I'm like, where's the other woman gonna go? The other professional masseuse. And she goes to my stomach. Okay, this is new. And I'm like, first of all, maybe once ever have I had anybody massage my stomach and I think I was like- I'd be laughing at this point.

It was like- I was too ticklish for that. It was not ticklish because there was so much oil. Okay, barely even feel it. Copious. And she's like rubbing my belly and then rubbing up my chest. And I mean, I really felt like I was in some Game of Thrones scene. Yeah.

Some like- That's what I was thinking. Something, it's like, there's like a medieval, like people rubbing on you type situation. I mean, this is, I was blindsided. I mean, I got in a preview face down, but now here I am and I'm just breathing deep

and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna be cool with this. I'm gonna be cool. That might be the wrong thing to think at this point. I'm just gonna breathe deep and I'm just gonna, you know, I'm just experiencing this, the most expensive point. I'm just gonna breathe deep and I'm just gonna, I'm just experiencing this, the most expensive professional massage I've ever had in my life.

Yeah, think about the price. Think about how much you're spending. And I'm like, well, and I'm like, I am thinking things like, okay, there's a central component to this, but I know that this is a totally legit spot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is absolutely professional. I know that this is a totally legit spot, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is absolutely professional.

There's no chance of any hanky-panky situation happening here. Right, right, right. Like, I knew that that was not going to happen. Correct. And I took comfort in that. We are all professionals here. Right, I'm the professional receiver. Yeah, is what I'm thinking. You're the professional givers.

And, but then they both got on either side of me and they started at the top and they did the rub down across the hips, all the way down to the bottom. And then they started with the fingernails. I mean like, and okay. At this point, I went, and by the way, the entire time that I flipped over, I have a blindfold on. I have a napkin or a towel or whatever you wanna call it

draped over my face, I was blindfolded. Okay. The whole, for this whole thing. Right. And at that point, I definitely, I could tell that like something had moved the towel. Oh my God. Oh no.

I mean, I just. And it wasn't one of them. It wasn't one of them. It was of the six hands that were involved in this professional exchange, no hands moved the towel. Right, yeah, it was almost like magic, you might say. And it wasn't like the towel was tossed

off the table or anything. Yeah, right. Or that the towel, like- It table or anything. Yeah, right. Or that the towel, like- It wasn't a tenting situation. No, it wasn't a tenting situation. It was like a shifting situation. Yeah, just a slight shift. Yeah.

Totally normal. And at this point, I'm just like, I was petrified. Well, yeah, literally. At this point, I'm just like, I was petrified. Well, yeah, literally. Oh man, I'm sweating. Yeah, I don't know why you're telling this, but I'm glad you are.

But listen, this, well, yeah, I was, I guess petrified is the best word, but I mean, I would say I was half petrified. Yeah, I was, I guess petrified is the best word, but I mean, I would say I was half petrified. Yeah, I get it. Okay. Yeah, I get it. I get it, yeah. This is a natural cycle.

And I did, you know. It just happens. I panicked and I was like. I need to flip back over. Is there another flip? But I just, what I did in that moment, what I decided to do was just play it cool and just breathe through it.

I was breathing that loudly at this point. Like I was like, I hadn't been doing that and like all of a sudden I'm like, just like, I like that guy entering the spa, the French dude. And like, I could, I like that guy entering the spa, the French dude. Right. And like, I could tell that like their hands stopped and then they both went to the feet.

Oh, they know about this. They had some training. Yeah, moved to the feet. And I was like, okay, brilliant. We're still all on the same page here. This is just, we're gonna all play this cool. So you think they were responding to you? Definitely?

It was in a, I wouldn't call it abrupt, but for like the professional methodical movements of a masseuse, it was an abrupt change in location from being at the sides of the hip to being both down at the feet. Cause this has to be a very common occurrence. And so let me just tell you what happened in that. being both down at the feet. Because this has to be a very common occurrence. So let me just tell you what happened in that.

So then there was like 10 minutes more of massage. It wasn't over. It wasn't like, excuse me. It wasn't like a siren. Right, yeah. And they opened the door and they kicked my ass out. Give them a refund. It was professional and gracious redirection of attention.

And then when that was winding to a close, she came up to my ear, again, I'm still blindfolded, and she was like, Link, before we go to the next part of the treatment, would you like to use the restroom? And yeah, your eyes are getting huge right now. Under the blindfold, my eyes got huge and I was like, is this just procedure or is this a special accommodation?

Are there some expectations that now I'm supposed to meet? My mind is going like 100 miles an hour and I could hear myself like trying to form words. I was like, no, I'm fine. And by that point I was fine. But I don't understand the question. Well, it was an hour and a half, the whole thing. And yeah, potentially anyone at a certain,

it was a break in the process. I think this question is asked to everyone. I don't think, I mean, because I don't understand. But I definitely interpret it as, do you need to take care of anything yourself? What's going to the restroom gonna do? Well, you know, just have some privacy to, I don't, you know, just to, I don't know, blue balls, man.

But I had fully recovered at that point. Yeah, I think this is just a question they ask everybody. Just procedure, but I was reading way into it. I don't even think they even noticed anything. Had a second, well, that's an insult. Then we moved to the, so then, turns out they had a good number of stuff to set up while I was like just laying there and like meditating.

And then they just bring out this, again, I was, I had the thing over my eyes, but they brought this thing and they started dripping oil on the center of my forehead. The drip part. And sometimes they would move it to one side or the other. And it was at least 30 minutes of my forehead. The drip part. And sometimes they would move it to one side or the other. And it was at least 30 minutes of just oil. Yes, just oil dripping on my forehead.

That's why they asked you to use the bathroom. And once you start dripping on somebody, and it was very, makes you wanna pee. It was very meditative. And it was really cool because like, whenever your mind would wander, you could recenter by focusing on the fact that like, oil was being drilled into your head, like I guess like water torture, but in a good way. your mind would wander, you could recenter by focusing on the fact that like oil

was being drilled into your head, like I guess like water torture, but in a good way. So that was cool and then when that was over, we were on speaking terms and- On speaking terms. It was fine, but like I get back to the room and we had like 20 minutes before our dinner reservation, so I'm like getting ready very fast,

I'm like, but I could not wait to tell Christy what had happened. Okay, well, yeah. So she already knows this. She's not finding out now. There's no way in hell I'd be telling this story if I hadn't told her first. But like, I was just like,

I don't know what happened to me. I have to tell you about this. We have to process this. And like, we're sitting in the lobby waiting for our table. And like, I tell her the whole story and she's like Googling like erection while getting a massage is totally common. And sometimes you just can't control it and it happens.

And I will say that, you know, I didn't have a- I understand. Okay. You've been clear. There was not a tenting situation. Okay, yes. This was a, this was just a slight change in things.

She thought it was hilarious, but she was also super sweet in like reassuring me that like I'm not a freak or a creep. Well, I could have told you that. You didn't have to look that up on Google, man. Listen. I didn't look it up on Google. I didn't want that to be in my history. Just think about it for a second.

It doesn't mean anything. Yeah, I know. You're being touched. It doesn't mean anything. And you're naked. Yeah, I'm totally fine with it. I have no shame associated with it. It's a common thing. At this point. They see this.

This was like the fourth one of the day. The one thing, especially with that particular massage. Right, of course. The one thing that we did read was that like, you know, you can say something that's like, that acknowledges what you're going through and not apologize, but like acknowledge, like, and it might sound kind of like an apology,

but you definitely don't want to say anything that's like, it can be self deprecating, but it can't be something that could be misconstrued as flirtatious. Like, oh, I guess you made him happy. You know, it's like, obviously that's what the websites say. You never say, I didn't say anything. And I would never say anything like that. But that is what Kristy and I were,

that's what she was reading to me was like, you know what, you could have just, what their advice is just to acknowledge it and then move on. And you might say, or you might suggest, I'm sorry. I could go, you know, I might need some more, I might need to flip back over or something, you know,

it's like, I don't think you got a lot to think about. It isn't an embodiment exercise to say, you know what, these things happen and it doesn't have, I mean, and there's a right way to deal with it and a professional and appropriate way to deal with it that there shouldn't be shame involved in it. And that's actually why I'm like, you know what?

I'm gonna tell this story because it's hilarious to go through, but it's also, it's just a thing that, it's a thing that is. Happens to the best of us. Well, I've got one more story that's a pretty wild shift in tone. Okay. Okay.

But why not since we've already- Let's do it. Let's do it. We've already tented or semi-tented. So one of the things that we decided to do, there was a lot of different activities, a lot of things you could sign up for, and one of the things that Jessie and I decided to do

on our final day was a forest meditation, right? Oh yeah. And there's a part of me that was like, we're in Big Sur, let's do the weird stuff right now. Obviously I meditate regularly and like a forest meditation is not something that's like, you know, 10 years ago it would have been like,

oh, this is real dumb and I'm just gonna do it for fun. And now it's like, I'm going into it with an expectation of like, this could be really cool and you know. Yeah, four handed forest massage. Right. I mean, meditation. But I wanna, you know, I wanna talk a little bit about a sort of a realization and sort of something I'm grateful for

that kind of came out of this process. So forest meditation is kind of probably what you might be imagining it is. There was, it was just two couples. It was us and another couple. And then this woman who was leading the meditation and she kind of takes you through the path, through the forest and you like pick a leaf

and she's like, I would take this leaf or this bay leaf off of this thing and kind of crush it in your hands and smell it. And then she's like, let's meditate on that. And then you kind of walk into this place where there's the redwood grove. And she begins to talk about the nature of the way redwoods grow,

where there's like a grandmother tree, they call it, in the middle, and then there's concentric circles of younger trees, just the way they grow, and they're all connected through their roots and they're connected to other trees through their roots that are all supporting one another, that's how they kind of stand up

because the roots grow very horizontally because of the way the bedrock is in places where redwoods grow. And so they're literally holding each other up and they're also sending nutrients to one another. Yeah. You know, cool tree stuff. And there was some, I mean,

so she was kind of giving some nature information, but then there would also be like, all right, we're gonna close our eyes and we're gonna like, we're sort of leading a meditation. And I'm sure you can relate to this, but one of the things that is sort of a constant for me at this point in my life is that, you know, having grown up as, you know, in the South,

in a conservative Christian place, as a conservative Christian, as an evangelical Christian, and not being that now, there's always that sort of the old Rhett that's kind of present in my mind that when I'm experiencing something that's very typical sort of California new age forest meditation, the old Rhett is kind of like there sort of judging and kind of almost making fun of the new Rhett that is experiencing this thing

that the old Rhett would have just laughed at and thought was ridiculous, right? Yeah. Like this is so funny that you're doing this forest meditation, this is kind of dumb. I mean, it's just a tree, man. Right? Yeah. That voice gets quieter and quieter all the time,

but it's good. And there's a part of me that's thankful for that voice because I don't know, it kind of represents an evolution and kind of where I come from. But as Jessie and I kind of finished the first meditation, we were kind of walking around and we started talking and I was like, you know, it's interesting that, because we've just spent a lot of time reflecting

on 20 years of marriage and the fact that we have been through these transitions through our life of both getting married under a certain understanding of the way the world works and understanding about what marriage is about and what a man is and what a woman is and how that has evolved over time to where we're at now. And I was thinking about the way that I,

the old me would process time in nature And I was thinking about the way that I, the old me would process time and nature or nature in general, right? And of course, the background that I come from, sort of a biblical literalism, and that's probably an oversimplification, but essentially the idea that evolution wasn't true, right? That humans were a special creation and a separate creation from all of the rest of creation.

We were not related to any of the animals or any of the plants, other than the fact that we were both creations of God. And in fact, humans were created to have dominion over nature and to subdue nature. We're fundamentally different and nature was kind of created for the glory of God, but also for the glory of man, for man to subdue, to exercise dominion over

and kind of control, right? And it's funny because this woman was talking about how there are so few redwoods left compared to their original footprint. And that's due to man subduing the earth, literally cutting down billions of these trees. Like there was a map that showed like the original footprint of the redwoods

and now what's left, and it's just a very, very small fraction. Logging, you know, is one of the big things. You see this thousand year old giant tree and you're like, you see 50 houses that you could build with that or whatever. And that's what man has been doing for a long time. And then of course, more recently with continuing

to pull all the fossil fuels out of the earth and burn them and climate change is happening. And that's only further bringing about conditions that are gonna make the redwoods difficult to live through. So there will probably at some point be the last redwood because of the way humans are subduing the earth, right? Sounds like your meditation was an existential crisis. Well, it wasn't a crisis,

and I'm gonna get to why I'm thankful and grateful. And I was like, man, I'm, you know, I'm grateful, I'm very grateful man, I'm grateful. I'm very grateful that I believe in evolution. I'll just be, to be frank, right? Because of the, not only am I grateful because I think now that I understand what it is, for many years I was arguing against something that I didn't fully understand.

It was a misrepresentation of what the facts were about this. And it's not just cool that I'm like, okay, I believe something that is a more correct understanding of the way the world works, that's cool. But it's actually, there's a deeper and more significant truth to it all and my literal relationship to these trees, right?

We're from the same stuff and not, like we're literally related, not just related because we're all from God, but we're literally related. We come from the same place. And of course, even more so with the animals, right? But there was just something about that connection that I was like, it's just cool that there's this evolution

that has happened over the course of millennia, but then there's also this personal evolution that has happened inside of me. And then I'm thinking, and I'm experiencing all this in my 20 year anniversary with Jessie, who has also gone through this evolution. There's the different versions of Jesse and the different versions of me

that have kind of gone through all these stages. Yeah. And also it's, I mean, this is kind of wild, but Jesse and I were talking about, because I think that the evolution has been really significant for me, but it's been even more significant for Jesse because of what,

because of the way she sees herself differently as a woman. Right? Because you think about the beginning of our marriage, where the understanding was, you know, we read that passage from Ephesians at our wedding like many Christians do. That's basically about wives submitting to your husbands. And there's this idea in a certain brand of Christianity

that women exist for the glory of men. And that God is the head of the family, but the man is the head of the household and the woman's primary role is to support and help her husband. She's to be quiet in church. She's not to teach, she's to listen. And when you're a woman who-

There's things that women can't do that men can do. And there's things that men don't wanna do. It's kind of what it seems like. Well, but the interesting thing is like, Jessie is really, there's, this sort of turning upside down of her worldview, for me as a straight white dude who was already pretty well positioned within the church,

it's like, I don't feel, there's not like a sudden empowerment that has happened by leaving the church. I was already pretty empowered, right? Yeah, I experienced freedom, but I haven't experienced more empowerment because of that was a pretty sweet gig. But the idea that, and not to get too like professorial

or talk about history or whatever, but this idea that, you know, what I once thought was an idea that was from God and was from God's word, and that's why it was important. And it was like, well, women fulfilling this role and men fulfilling this role is a good thing because this is God's plan. This is how he designed it.

And now seeing it as, no, actually the reason that this is the way that this is presented in the Bible is because of the history of humanity and the way our culture has evolved. You know, pre-agriculture, when, you know, basically before the concept of ownership, right? There was a point in human history where ownership and owning land didn't exist,

but when agriculture came around, the concept of ownership came along with it in order for it to function, and women unfortunately got wrapped up in this concept of ownership, and they were literally owned. And they've been trying to break out of that patriarchal view of things for a really long time. And there's still a lot of residual effects

and it's still more prevalent in certain parts of the world. But to see Jesse kind of come to these realizations that, in the context of this conversation of like seeing what that sort of masculine subduing of the earth, of ripping the trees up and drilling for the oil and burning the gas and all that stuff, to see what it's done to the earth. Yeah.

And what it's done to women, right? And then to see, I mean, Jessie did a good job talking about this on her Twitter account, of course, because she does a good job of putting this into words. So she did a better job than me. So you can go to her Twitter account and see how she has kind of been processing this.

But ultimately what I'm trying to say is that I was very grateful for her sake of her having honestly gotten out of that way of thinking about herself. Yeah. And to just, I mean, it's been a long process. But it's great to love somebody and then see them become more of themselves

to have that freedom and to have that empowerment. And it's like, I'm sure she loves you for being so supportive and welcoming that because you certainly don't have to, that doesn't have to be your response. I mean, it's just the story of both of our marriages and relationships is that like, we've changed so much and we've asked so much of our wives at every turn.

And even not within the worldview stuff, but within the career stuff and all that. So it's nice, better late than never. It's kind of how I feel about it a lot of times whenever like Chris and I engage in this is like- Sometimes you can start thinking about, well, what did we miss? Right, right.

And I wanna be clear- But you have this beautiful moment where she's able to, to be empowered. Yeah, and I wanna be clear that like, I don't, I know that if, when I talk about this stuff, if you're, you know, you still consider yourself a Christian or that you subscribe to like a biblical worldview, you're like, oh, he just thinks he's better than us now.

And it's like, no, that's not what I think, you know? It's like, that's where I come from. That's what I believed with all my heart at one point. I didn't believe it because I was a bad person. I didn't believe it because I was a bigot. I didn't believe it because I was stupid.ot. I didn't believe it because I was stupid. I believed it because it was what I was taught. But in the same way that I think that there is a,

there is this valuing of sort of stasis and consistency, you know, you've got, and from a Christian worldview, one of the attributes of God is this immutability of God. God does not change at all. And that's something that we really value in God. And so the translation or the implication is that, that should be true of people. You know, change is not great.

You wanna establish your principles and you wanna stick to them and you wanna stay the same. But we live in the context of this evolution that has happened over the entire universe. The universe doesn't make sense without the process of evolution. I'm not just talking about evolution that's taking place on this earth.

I'm talking about the principle of evolution of the universe unfolding and changing over the course of time. It is a fundamental principle of the way the world works. And when you can kind of get in tune with that, when you can kind of appreciate it, step in line with it and be like, that process of things unfolding and things changing

is something that's happening in individuals as well. And it's something that's awesome. It's awesome to witness in somebody that you love, and it's awesome that's awesome. It's awesome to witness in somebody that you love and it's awesome to experience personally. And so it's not that I'm trying to judge people who are in a different place. I'm just saying I'm grateful that there's been an evolution in our lives and that Jessie and I have been able

to be walking side by side through it. Of course, next week may erase all of this. She filled out her survey before your meditation. So you might wanna give her a call before we- Yeah, that's next week. We go through the answers that they gave to the survey that they were given. Yeah, it's great to be married for 20, 21 years

and to have such meaningful experiences that are just focused on our, you know, me and Christy or you and Jesse. And then you have those things that you take away and like how you spend that time together and you have this, you're deeply impacted by it. It's just, that says so much about your relationship. And for Christy and I, it's like,

we were just talking about like, we had as much fun, like that day by the pool as we've ever had in our marriage. Like we were, you know, and our whole time there, you know, it was just like, I'm so grateful that we enjoy each other as much as we ever have. And just kind of had that feeling of like flashbacks to newly being newlyweds in terms of the excitement of being together and then like,

but then the payoff of knowing each other so deeply. That's what Jesse and I said that our 20 year trip, the week of our 20 year trip was significantly better than our honeymoon. Oh God. So much better. Yeah, it was such a reward.

I mean, you know, it's the payoff for all the work that they put in sticking with us. Okay, before we wrap up, I do have a relevant recommendation. It's a book that I read while I was on vacation. How to not get a boner. Oh, I'm sorry, that's. It's called The Overstory by Richard Powers.

And I will say that I was gonna recommend this before I heard Barack Obama recommend it on Ezra Klein's podcast. Okay, so I'm not trying to just be like Obama here. You talking about Dick Powers? Dick Powers. Dick Power. Richard Powers wrote this. It won the Pulitzer Prize.

It's the New York Times bestseller, but it's essentially, speaking of trees, it was just, I just happened to pick this up at a bookstore in Big Sur, but it is essentially a collection of stories that center around trees and people's individual or family sort of interactions with trees.

Like there's a tree that is a, and usually a different species of tree that is a central element of this like short story in a collection that's kind of, and it sounds weird and it's so innovative and it is a little bit weird and innovative. Is it new? It's relatively new.

I don't know when this thing was written, not too long ago, but 2018. I highly recommend it, The Overstory by Richard Powers. All right, we'll speak at you next week, you rich bitches.