Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Raymi the Minx: Toronto Mike'd #88

Episode Date: August 21, 2014

Mike chats with Raymi the Minx about her longtime blog, quest for fame, and how she deals with her haters.

Welcome to the 88th episode of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is blogger Rami the Minx. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome, Rami. Hi, thanks for having me, Mike. I think I invited you on this podcast a solid year ago. Oh, yeah, we go way back. But you shot me down. What was my excuse back then?

I don't know. You were in Burlington and this seemed too far away. I'm still in Burlington. But you got a you have a driver now. Yeah, many dummies who drive me around. He's my friend. Oh, don't hate, don't hate. Cool. Now, I have a... Originally, I was going to ask you about... Maybe I'll stick to this. Okay.

Okay, so we call you Raimi the Minx. Yep. My real name is Loren White. Loren, right. Okay. Loren. Loren? Like Ralph Lauren.

Yep. Like my parents came up with that and that's my name. And what inspired you to assume the handle Raimi the Minx? I wrote a little book called the last minx when i was 14 and that girl needed a name loren was taken and too boring and simple and back then you needed like an alias and so ramey just i was looking at my christmas tree and i just came up i was like a weird writer kid, right? So that was a neat name. And then I adopted Ramy the Minx as my handle.

And so we're going back 14 years old. So that's a while ago. Yeah, I started blogging when I was 17 in 2000. And this November 28th will be the 15 year anniversary of my website, ramytheminx.com. 15 years. Yeah, that's 31 now. That. 15 years. I'm 31 now. That's pretty cool because

I'm trying to think. OG. You beat me on the blogging front for sure because I started blogging in 2002. Because Erin Davis was sitting there and she started blogging in 2003 I think she said. I was like, I got you by six months.

By 2003, I was already like Miley Cyrus-ing my life, you know, like on my blog. So. Well, I'm going to get into the origin. But first, just I guess while you were in transit, I got some tweets from Jeff Merrick. Oh, yeah. I love him. So tell me how you know Jeff. Okay. So back in the beginning, I say I was 19 and blogging. My blog was like a water cooler for people to meet. And Jeff Merrick met some other homies through my blog. And they all became friends over the years. And then we became friends.

And I'm like, how do you guys know each other? This rich, illustrious friendship. I'm so jealous. They're like, we met through your blog. I'm like, you met through my blog and you cut me out of this whole friendship equation. I used to go to Leaf Games with him and Blue Jay Games with some other. If you've been following my blog, like the cast of characters, like it's all in my archives. You can figure out how I know Jeff Merrick.

How many entries are in those archives right now, if you had to guess? Or do you know? Posts? Shit. I don't know. Like a guesstimate. Sometimes, like when I'm on my blogging game, I could post like three Like a guesstimate. Sometimes, like, when I'm on my blogging game, I could post like three times a

day in a month. So multiply that by 30. So you've cleared 10,000. Lots of words. You've cleared 10,000 for sure. Oh, totally. You've cleared a million. If you put my 10,000 hours in, Malcolm Gladwell says you're an expert on anything. You've done it for like

10 years. That's equivalent of, uh, anyway, that's crazy. The reason, cause Jeff Merrick is a friend of mine. He was a guest episode 74. If anyone wants to hear Jeff and I chat for like two hours. Uh, but just last weekend, no, last Friday I was in park lawn cemetery cause that's where I hang and I'm in there. Like I'm biking there on my bike. And I remember a story Jeff tells where he buried Harold Ballard you know who Harold Ballard is so he used to own the Leafs this guy okay uh yes the old guy knows Harold Ballard because he curses about every day yeah oh he uh used to own the Leafs I'm trying to picture where Park Lawn is it's like uh Royal York and Bloor okay yeah and i remember i'm texting merrick and i'm like

where is ballard like because he he actually put the dirt on ballard like he worked there as a grave digger plot yeah and i found it uh he worked there as a great yeah like i feel like he told me this story years ago like he told first of all he did because he tells the story to everyone like when he's in a checkout at favorite stories. Yeah. No frills when he's like buying cantaloupe or whatever. He tells the story because he tells it to everyone. Awesome. Yeah.

Anyway, I don't know. You just, uh, I saw the tweets from Merrick. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Merrick's a great guy. Okay. Let's stop blowing him though.

Well, he's a good guy, but not a great guy. Uh, but he did tell me where Harold Ballard's grave was. That's so cool. Okay. So please to be telling me the, but not a great guy. But he did tell me where Harold Ballard's grave was. That's so cool. Okay, so please to be telling me the... I see you got notes. I got tons of notes. Okay, so I like just talking points. Well, just...

Okay, well, you can throw in talking points, but I kind of want to know about... You can ask me anything you want. ...the origin of the blog. So what made you start blogging? And was this... What platform was this on? Were you hosting your own CMS?

Or was this on Blogger? The orgy of my blog the orgy of your blog started on this thing called blogger.com and i was ramey the minxing on vice message boards when i was 17 and interning at a woman magazine in toronto and i had all this free time and then then I blew up. I taught myself how to do HTML and scanned in film photos. And you couldn't even format a blog title. It was just like a lump of text. But I would intersperse it with my photos. And that would be my title. And it was all weird shit from Mississauga and kooky stuff.

and it was all like weird shit from Mississauga and kooky stuff. And then, so then I took all the audience from Vice message boards and put it on blogger.com. And then that was ramytheminks.blogspot.com. And my first blog title or about me was Life Happens to Ramy. And then Everybody Loves Ramy, like Everybody Loves Raymond. Of course, that's a natural. Because that was a really popular show at the time of course yeah it makes sense and then um I graduated from high school and I was to like vice people I'm like yo I'm gonna come work for you when I graduated from

high school and they're like yo fine come so I graduated from high school and went to New York at 18 and then uh I was interning there and it was like, I could see it was going to be as annoying and shitty as interning in a real magazine like photocopying and I was managing a subscriptions department in like my co-op program in high school. And I was,

I had affected this kind of, I'm fucking Ramy the Minx. I'm not going to do that. So they came up with the cool jobs for me like returning fashion clothing to somewhere in Chelsea, Zoo York. That's cool. And then those guys would show me some crazy porn.

I'm like an 18-year-old kid. And then they were like, okay, Rami, you're going to be our bartender. And then I was bartending every Friday and living the dream. But then 9-11 happened that September. So you had nothing to do with 9-11? No, fuck no. Just checking. Not that magical. But you were in New York for 9-11 happened that September. So you had nothing to do with 9-11? No, fuck no.

Just checking. Not that magical. But you were in New York for 9-11. I heard the first plane hit. I heard that explosion. And I've had some post-traumatic stress from it over the years. Is that right? I'm cool now.

Because I can't imagine like hearing the first explosion. It sounded like massive thunder, volcanic eruption. And I put the blinds aside and it was a beautiful blue sky day. And I'm like, this sound does not match up with what I just, you know, what I'm seeing. And then sure enough, my roommate came screaming out and she was home that day. And I was like, what the fuck? What the fuck is the World Trade Center? So when you hear, like when I heard, I heard on the radio, they said a plane hit the World Trade Center.

And I actually, in my head, I envisioned a Cessna. Like that's what I pictured in my head. You actually have no scope of how large those buildings are. And they can fit an entire plane. But did you know immediately? Like what was your initial thoughts? Like just pilot error, I guess? I thought like they could build a shanty rickshaw bridge between the two of them and people would somehow climb out and all these helicopters would come.

And I'm like, why aren't they saving them? Why didn't and then they collapsed. And that was I lived there for a month and a half afterwards. There were like fighter hog jets flying out. It was real. Like you've seen all in Discovery Channel since. And anyhow, so that was one blip in my life. And then New York City kind of hit the bricks after that.

And so I lived in Maine for a few months and I had a radio show called There's Something About Raimi. But this is real radio? Like terrestrial radio? I had a weekly program and they linked my blog on by mistake on their website. And then I got all the influx of local townie fans and they realized i was a little too hot for them and they unlinked me but i had a show the whole time there and i lasted three months it was kind of like the shining like a small like

lobster fisherman ex-convicts and crazy townies martha stewart lived in the town next door and she came to this coffee shop one day and the whole town was upside down. It was so cool. That would be, that would be nuts. So basically I have this interesting, charmed life and I blog about it. And now here I am.

But when you're done this radio show in Maine, you're still a teenager. Where are you now? You're 20. Where are you? I, uh, the day I turned 19 was the day I flew away from Maine

because it wasn't working out there. I became a massive alcoholic. This is in Maine? In Maine. You're a hipster artist party girl, right? You have drinks. Three of the last four guests have told me

they had a massive alcohol issue. Oh, really? Because Aaron Davis and Jeremy Taggart and you, you're in good company. I didn't really admit to it yet. I said in the past. had a massive alcohol issue. Oh, really? Because Aaron Davis and Jeremy Taggart. Oh, really? And you. You're in good company. I didn't really admit to it yet. I said, like, in the past.

Okay, but, okay, I'm very naturally curious. I have, you know, I have, like, two Heinekens a week. That's my drinking problem. You're a dad, man. You have, I don't know. I drank less, I think, before dadhood. But tell me, like, you mentioned it. So, what, like, you needed a drink to be comfortable?

Or, like, you had a, you know, I... Oh, no, in Maine? Well, it was just very, after living in New York for six months, living in isolation in the wintertime, like, this guy's dad died in this house and was dead for two weeks before they found him and a priest broke in and got his body oh like when walter white was in hiding it's nuts like he went there to die this guy knows what i'm talking about new hampshire i

guess that way it was in rockland maine but yeah i spent a lot of time in new hampshire all over new england and those people are pretty cool they're similar like they're new yorkers or they're east coasters who go to new york to party be rock stars, you know, CBGBs and shit. And whether it works out or not, they always kind of gravitate towards home, which is why I'm kind of like in the suburbs now, too. Like my soul is suburban. I can make fun anywhere I go. But you originally were Parkdale Ramey because I remember Parkdale Ramey because I was Toronto Mike. And that's why I took a note.

Oh, look, there's Parkdale Ramey. Like we're in a club. We can make a map of all the places I've lived in Toronto. There was the Crawford Ghetto, Crawford Street. There was St. George, which is around the time

we started talking. Oh, university. I couldn't have met you. Because I was at, right across from the new ROM. Yeah, I lived on St. George right by the subway station. Yeah, but you weren't allowed

to meet me or something? Because I had a, the building I lived in was one of the top 10 condos to live in in Toronto. It looks like a pentagram. And I had like the best balcony, which I could never photograph, unfortunately. I was like an art big time blogging then and a lot of time indoors. And it was a great space.

So then I also lived in Parkdale. Yeah, but hold on. So this is like in Parkdale. Oh, six or seven or something. I remember now corresponding with you. And I said, I was,

I was working at like Avenue road in Bloor. And I said, uh, like let's meet. And I remember you saying you weren't allowed, your boyfriend wouldn't let you meet me. Is this true? I got,

like, did you think I was going to like, uh, no, well, we, we were like, what's this guy doing?

Okay. Nevermind. No, nothing. No, no, no. It was, and is that why this's this guy doing okay never mind no nothing no no it was um and is that why this this guy is not your boyfriend though this guy's here because you needed a ride oh my god he's my friend and yeah i was like uh give me a ride why not we collaborate he's he has like his own okay so do you want to so you just didn't feel like meeting me i wasn't going to hurt you or anything.

No, I know. I was just... I'm like an island. You know, like I can be a big loner and just like get around to it type. Yeah, it's stupid. You're an introverted extrovert. Yeah, I'm like everywhere but nowhere.

People think they see me all the time riding my bike.'m like yo i'm across town over here wearing no pants so there's no way i could operate a bicycle you have like uh you have unique tattoos which would i guess give up your identity pretty quick yeah yeah sometimes i have to hide them in photos is what i'm being when i'm rami the mingsing okay so uh please continue so you're uh so yeah we never did hook up hook up is a bad term i mean we never did meet for coffee and like oh six or oh seven well i'm here now like can you imagine what would the disaster back then could have been and now i'm here so this is better that's true

okay choose your own adventure we took when did you uh leave toronto i I would say last summer. Actually, I feel like I lost a summer because I was living abroad in Holland for a few months, four months, actually. Aruba and just like, you know, kind of still isolated in Berlin. You know, you're not supposed to call it Holland because there's two provinces in the Netherlands called South Holland and North Holland. Oh, really? But there's 10 provinces outside of Holland. And this is such pedantic. You're bored by this, but only because I've spent time in Holland too. Thank you for clearing that up. I know, and everyone calls it Holland.

So like people call it Holland. They call it Holland, but you're not supposed to call it Holland. Okay, well, the Netherlands is a special place. They have like this Black Pete guy that they finally realized is politically incorrect. He's like a slave who goes down the water canals. I noticed you're a bit behind on this stuff. There's a lot of blackface stuff going on. I'm trying to explain to those guys that it's not okay,

but they're like, no, fuck you. This is how it is here. It's just a tradition. I'm like, yeah, well, it's a racist one. You're right. They got called out this year on BuzzFeed. I no there's a lot of i noticed that there's a lot of blackface theater like in berlin i saw this and i remember it's just you would never see it here because i think we're closer to the states so we have like a more an appreciation for the history

of blackface which is a u.s thing and they don't seem to have the same you have an appreciation for black canadians we do yeah don't lump me into that no appreciation for the origin of the same you have an appreciation for black canadians we do yeah don't lump me into that no appreciation for the origin of the racist aspect okay i appreciate yeah i know i'm not wearing blackface today yeah like the little rascals in buckwheat yeah i appreciate that that happened i'm going yeah appreciate me just respect uh i know we're jumping around a bit but i don't want to miss a few things I have on my notes, and then we'll get to your notes. But you did something on your blog that most bloggers don't do,

and that is you would share photos of yourself naked. Now, my question is twofold. One is, why? And then two is, was there any backlash tied to this decision a ton because i want to hear about this because you know what i've been blogging almost as long as you i've never posted a nude photo i would love to i just well all right so this is how i went down i started working as an online model on the side as my money as my gig and And I became more proud of my body and just being provocative. And I guess maybe Ramy the Minx became a self-fulfilling prophecy,

but it's in my natural inclination to be a sexual person and just whatever. Just do it. And it's not contrived. It's just like I can hang around naked and not even be sexy and just be like this disgusting like naked person sitting like and eating cheetos writing yeah just you know being like gross and naked and so it's just if you push the envelope to be prettier or like make it work for you you know anyhow it's a very conservative culture in toronto and when i my blog got its first wave of popularity,

there was maybe 100 bloggers, a pool of bloggers in Toronto. And I was the only one who was partying and, like, Vice Magazine-ish and train wrecky and giving her. And why not? You know, why not? Like, we try and be, like, this subversive community of artists. But, you know, still people are wagging their fingers at me that it's too much so i just did it i uh i didn't think it would ever come back

to haunt me and at first i was trying to i guess like appease men and i thought that would be a great audience for me but then women started reading me and then trashing on me and like i still to this day women will do that to this day and it's something that's i'm i have like horse blinders too because i'm just being me and i see people celebrities who show their ass and tits and whatnot and be provocative and they get paid and they just keep going and block out the haters. But I'm also a sensitive person. So I let myself be, I let it kind of overtake me, the weight of the nudity, the sexy that I am. But not anymore. Like, I feel like I am back and that's one.

Okay, so let's talk about that. So at some point you made a conscious decision to stop posting nude shots is that what happened I gained weight I became depressed I had like my hiatus and then I met a guy and then I was traveling Europe and he liked me for how I was and I just you know always kind of had this side long bloggy shit I've been doing. Right. It became like a shift. Like, is it me or am I the blog?

And you're like, I've got over it. And I was able to be silenced and, you know, like just get over it, I guess, and move on. And then I got this job working for an agency. Like I had a corporate job for the last year. And I didn't have time. So you still have this job? No, it's over now. It was like a contract?

Yeah. And so I was the voice of some brands, very known brands. And I never blogged about that because people have, who will fuck with your livelihood if they're jealous? But I have a great portfolio that one day I will drop. drop also have accrued a lot of knowledge about marketing and i'm a self-made raymond that makes it a self-made entity and now i have this free time again to you know sculpt myself and work on my book that i've been teasing we'll get we'll get to this book i want to get to this book and but essentially i was a smart kid and I wanted to be as aesthetically pleasing as I was intelligent.

And that's the, I guess, the dilemma or battle between Rami the Minx and Loren White. So basically, when you feel proud of your body and you like your body, you want to show it off, essentially. If you take control of your body, you want to show it off essentially. If you take control of your body, you take control of your life. I think, you know, like crazy motivational fitness guru-y shit right now. I remember I wrote, I used to write a few entries. I think if you search my blog for the word Ramy, there's a few entries I've written. So this is, hasn't been for a while, but I would get comments from people and then the term they used was tits for hits oh god so this is a term out there so that i predate that mentality like well yeah i've it there's so many fucking things i've said that people it's not even seo it's

because uh this is not even like finding you by searching google this is people who would bookmark you and read you every day to see if Rami is going to post another shot. Yeah, they're dedicated followers. Like, I don't know if they're like even they like me or what. It's like, anyhow, I think there's an opportunity for anyone out there to do what I am doing and I am doing it. And that's the only difference. And, you know, what is stopping me? If not now, when? And, uh, you know, I feel like

there's a lot of women out there who are frustrated with their own lives. And even if you've made it essentially, and you have a family, are you happy? Like we want to be better versions of ourselves always. And I, uh, I don't know. I have like have like I can I'm obsessed with writing and talking and being a storyteller and like no I know it I know the feeling actually like you're a natural born archivist almost like where you need to document and share like even your notes here like I got my notes mine are digital yours are on dead trees which is cool yeah no my dad works in the paper world so uh like at my job, I would always be typing, but I just, my brain is directly connected to my fingers.

And if they're writing, then... Well, it's good that you have free paper only because I see now that you pretty much... It's valuable to me. You get like 12 words a page in there. Oh my God. Do you see what I mean? Like she's triple spacing. I have a stack of journals.

It's a coffee table book one day, man. Beautiful. Okay. You are very open about your life on your blog, remytheminks.com, and this includes your love life. So quick question, because I remember this was like an internet story.

I don't remember the name, except I remember the handle. Am I allowed to say it? Go ahead. Philogenist? Yeah. Am I saying it right? Sure.

So you had a relationship with this guy who was also a blogger yeah i remember once uh i was at like uh where was i it was edward scissorhands the musical or something okay and they told me they came out i had free tickets because i'm trying to mic and then they said you are not allowed to take a photo and they came up to me and talked to me and they and i wanted to go take a picture go to the stage stage. And they said, you can't take a photo. And then you and Philogenous were literally like in the front taking pictures. Three whole songs. Like, I don't even, I'm just, I'm just jealous.

Oh, yeah. The media, we had a media pass. Well, I had a media pass. So I... Why couldn't I take pictures? Because... But I had a media pass. We had the camera though.

I had a shitty camera. Okay. So back to your relationship. It ends. And this is like, I remember it being internet news. Like this was like in a moment. It was more than internet news. It was on the Globe and Mail.

There was a massive media trickle down effect. It was on Metro, Torontoist. So tell me what this is like. You were like a Kardashian. Yeah. Well, because I left him, but I didn't say why. It was very mysterious. The day that MTV interviewed me, I was like moving out of our condo

and I was very like kind of sketchy because I was, it was very real and I couldn't believe what I was doing. And then I finally made a blog post about it called. And so, and it was like this beautiful kind of like. What happened? We were drinking our lives away and we were living for you guys and we were going to concerts every night and we were like, what band is this?

Who are they? Like at the Horseshoe. And it was just like, you know, we could easily still be together and have kids and all that dreamy shit, but we would not, I wouldn't be what I am right now. And I feel, yeah, it was nuts.

It was super fucking nice. So you, you still friendly with this chap or like, is he, I never, I knew he was a blogger, but I know family ties too. And,

uh, we don't talk, but I guess we don't hate each other. We just don't. Is he still in Toronto? We have friends. Um, yeah,

he is, you know, like I don't, I don't want to, he's not, is he married with kids or anything like that? Uh, no,

I think he's dating. Okay. Anyway, that's enough gossip okay well it's because you it's out there in the globe and mail right

he was like a huge you know we were great we were a great duo and people were upset and it divided friendships

and people are like you were the blogging royalty and that feels like so long ago but like it it correlated with

what a fucking word correlated correlated is like a character and that feels like so long ago but it correlated with correlated Coraline is like a character Coraline is like a movie like with social media it's like why the hell is this girl telling us we demand to know and in Toronto if I was like their little mini celebrity they would have to read my

blog and I would be the news teller you know like there's no paparazzi following me around and getting a picture of me like posing in a door being a douchebag. So, I didn't say anything.

And one hater was like, how it happened. You know, like, because you're so open. I'm not good enough for him. So, they're like,

fuck you. I'm like, actually, you know, I'm not going to say how it ended. Yeah, well,

there's so many other personalities you deal with in the blogosphere and people who you know so it's okay it's even worse now like i won't even write for certain outlets who want me to write for them because i just can't handle the comments you call these uh vomits this is a rainy term is Yeah, on my blog. Is that your... Yeah, Vomits. It's funny. Yeah, it's pretty good. Thanks. And you... I'm getting... So you have an open commenting system and I'm... I moderate them. So you moderate...

So do they publish automatically and then you'll kill the ones that are like nasty? I am like... I'm so inundated with spam that I have to like go into my folders and look for... What's your blogging CMS? It's WordPress. Okay. We'll talk about it after. Okay, we can talk about it after. Okay. We can talk about it after.

We can probably, we can fix that. Thank you. Get rid of those. I just want to nuke the whole thing and just like, have like a really,

Picasso like. But you don't. No. He's shaking his head. He doesn't want you to nuke the whole thing. No, I don't mean nuke it. I mean like.

Like take away comments? Like a pretentious blank space and like a photo and a flower and I'm just talking shit right now that's okay we're coming up with new ideas okay so only because I can relate a bit because I get lots of

comments but like I'd say one percent of my comments are like assholes like because I think and I think your percentage is much higher of assholes yeah like just dick comments like people out there to like bring you down uh yeah well I've like when you're down, it's always people you know in real life who are frenemy friends. They assume a fake name. They see you at your worst and then they attack you

when you're at your best. Can I just get baked and write a blog post, man? Just shut the fuck up. It's not about you. You can start your own blog. Do you delete a comment like that? I will never get published i have so many nasty ones i've never published but i have they're so vitriolic that you know like anyone who's anyone online gets this shit maybe or maybe it's me you probably get more because you're a you're so open

and b maybe i'm open so i'm open to hearing this nasty negativity. Really? Do I ask for it? But Rami the Minx, I don't know about Lauren. I'm actually nice. I'm fucking nice people. But Rami the Minx is very... That's your perception.

Cocky. How am I cocky? Just by just talking? By just... No. And this is not... What do I say that's cocky? Okay, very confident.

I make opinions about what's going on in the world and my culture around me. And I'm not reinventing the wheel. You have the same thoughts. You're on your couch, but you don't say them. I say them. How is that cocky? Okay, I guess I sound cocky and defensive right now because I'm talking to a microphone. Fair, yeah. now because I'm talking to a microphone uh fair yeah and but I would not read someone's blog

and be like oh my god like fuck you skank and like Instagram comments that Rihanna gets shit that Taylor Swift would get you know people who are like way more famous than me they get it so much worse but when like the the little guy, the blogger, or maybe it's a community and a thing. I don't think I'm better than anybody else. I put my pants on one leg at a time. I wake up sad. I have anxiety attacks. I got a bevy of problems.

So you don't really need to troll me. I don't troll others. That's just, it's like my hippie mentality. Has this trolling ever crossed the line where you consider like talking to the cops? I've had to call the police. I've been impersonated by women. I've, you know, like, oh, like a lot of girls

get weird, weird, weird shit. So whereas a Rihanna or a Taylor Swift who deals with this is very well compensated. So it almost is like a trade-off. Like you're going to make lots of money, but you're going to deal with all this bullshit. So what? I don't think they deserve it because they make money. Well, there's a thought process.

Your thought process. Mike's thought process that you've chosen to be a public figure. Okay. When I used to rip on movies and I got paid to do movie reviews because I just watched lots of movies, you know, at one point I realized like, whoa, like that was a really toxic blog post I just posted. But it was good. Like people were commenting on my blog a lot. Sometimes I see people who are negative, just negative period online. You are not a movie producer.

You are not Wes Anderson. Have you made a movie? Do you know all the work that goes into that? And the joke, you know, like snickering, like, like, oh, oh, that wasn't even an authentic couch in that room. Like period. Like just navel gazers and sorry wrong like the peanut gallery of the world be the star don't be the fucking person who talks about the star that's my point

that person's trying to be something i'm trying to be something you're trying to be something let the people be something just shut the fuck up be your own person who shines in your own light that's my message to the haters so that's uh for the vomiters i guess yeah i can say i can answer the same question a million different ways any day no that's fine i just think i i just i guess what i meant by the compensation point is and this is what i'm very curious about which is can you make money blogging like actual money yeah yes i have i do i don't mean like uh gas money i mean like gas money what were you getting paid well i don't see i i on my blog uh you know there's no sponsors or anything so i'll make i make money from adsense it's just hustling you know like it's deal for deal brand for brand. I also write for Playboy, you know,

and you don't really talk about the advertisement that you're selling to people. Sometimes it'll be just a tiny leak insertion or a restaurant I'm reviewing, an app I'm promoting, sometimes a sponsored tweet. Is it clear? I guess I noticed...

Sorry, you finish your thought. I don't like to talk about money too much. Obviously, you don't have to give me figures or names of companies or anything. I guess just generally speaking, you will sell mentions. Is that fair to say? I will take free shit and I will rep it. I will take free shit and I will rep it. And sometimes I buy the thing myself and then it becomes an organic.

People love that buzz term. Like part of my life. And then they're like, oh, yeah, well, we should give you more of that. Or I don't know. I try and be a little more mysterious about my craft. That's cool. Because free stuff I, is everywhere now. I feel like blogging has imploded the industry itself. Tell me.

Social media has outright destroyed it. But bloggers are the celebrity endorser of today. And for your specific niche market, it's very lucrative. It can be, especially if you have a network of people that you are connected to and it's a scene or an industry that's still growing it's still changing and evolving I know for myself to toot my own horn that I'm a self-made brand and I didn't know I was a brand until I was told I'm like really, really, I just thought I was just myself trying to hide Loren White behind Ramy the Minx.

And, you know, I've been on the front page of YouTube. I've done certain, you know, promotional things here and there along the way. And it's a mixed bag. And sometimes you're hot and sometimes you're not. And you can have anything you want if you're online and you're accessible. And so right now, my thing is my book will be my next vehicle. Okay, tell me about this book. Okay.

It's called How to Be Famous on the Internet. Loosely called that. I have the URL for it. But everybody's famous on the Internet now. Not really, but, you, like people get it. It's a novel under the guise of a guide. It's Ramy the Minx, how I came to be all on my own. Like I never went to university. I don't have college loans and debt. I've always, I'm related to Jack Kerouac. So I have that kind of artist um traveling on the roads yeah yeah like

lifestyle and it's great for a blogger if you're a storyteller to have content like that and so really I started my blog because I wanted to be a magazine I wanted Ramy the Minx to be that but then time passes by and now it's a digital era i'm like to my eight literary agent this week i'm like you have a literary agent i was signed when i left my fiance and all that shit's a philogenist one yeah um i'm like you know because there was a big like media frenzy around me i'm like yeah i'm doing this and didn't yeah just like people throw in opportunities your way i signed my life rights away to someone else for 18 months kramer did that you know that kramer sold his life stories he regretted it though he yeah he sold his stories to uh peterman

right i couldn't work in television for 18 months because this guy know, like offered me the world and then stupid ass signed it away. So anyway, I'm free now. I also, okay, so. Okay, so the guide to social media success. Oh no, I'm on the wrong thing here. There is enough. Yeah, basically it is that. It's a motivational book for women out there,

for men too, whoever the fuck can read and gets a shit. There's also my, um, uh, my audience already that I have who are fans and waiting for this. So they buy the ebook. Is this like a ebook or I'm like, I want it in chapters.

We're talking about publishers. So when is this coming out? Uh, I don't know. But, uh, 20, like for Christmas soon? No, it'll probably be 2015 new year

the new year all right and how does this okay uh because i just got a flashback to your acid flashback an acid flashback and okay so the the toronto blog stars yep you're one of the toronto blog stars yep and i don't know how far back this is, but I'm going to guess this is like five years ago or something or maybe longer. Okay. I don't know. Okay.

I thought you might know. Okay. No, no. I'm just listening. No, like those people, This was the, this was a seminar with you and Casey.

Did you see it? Did I go to the seminar? No. Oh, yeah. But I saw the YouTube video. Okay. Because what's his name? Who's the guy?

Sean Ward. Yes. Yeah. Is that his real voice? Is he putting on an affection? That's how he talks. So is born in canada or is he british he's born in canada don't you get like a thirst and howl the third off him uh no i don't know no i think he's more street i think he's more hip-hop he's awesome okay so you casey stewart and sean ward yep did a seminar and people paid to uh learn how to be a blog star.

And how did that go? I just, I never went to it, but I saw the YouTube clip. I'm, I hit or miss with public speaking. I get really nervous. I also was not prepared, but they're just like, Ramey was Ramey. You know, you do something in the city and then everyone talks shit about it. That's just the way it is. That's true.

No matter how good it is. I'm pretty sure I cracked a joke about it. And we're all real. We're all like speaking the truth. And fuck, like Casey is amazingly successful. Sean is doing very well too. I'm doing well. All the people who are working at it.

You too, you know. I wasn't invited to be a Toronto blog star, though. Oh, well, the thing is we're hunting for blog stars. Like, you got to come to us, too, and get in our face. It's not like we hold the gavel and we're the judge, you know. It's like, come out of the shadows and join us, motherfucker. No, but I'd be more like the old guy on the Partridge family. He was like the manager or whatever.

Just show your tits. Honestly, I've been working out a lot. Well, biking. Is that working out? Yes, it is. Because you run, right? Yeah, I run. Like a lot?

Every day. How many kilometers would you run in a day? I would say five. Okay. Did you run today? No, not today. Not today. You're running back to Burlington?

I could. This guy, you need a ride? Yeah, I just started running, like, I would say in May. I ran last year, you know, just wait for winter to be over, and then I'm like, okay, and then I don't stop. Cool. And I turn it into kind of like a running dance thing. And I respect that. I bike every day

because I can't run, but I used to run, but this is going way back to it. Why? Your knees? No, it's something else, like a ligament behind the knee. Like, we can't, it's too much boring chatter, but I i've tried to figure it out i ran into a hole in the ocean in aruba and i stretched my ligament bad and it blew up to be a baseball okay and so now i run like no tomorrow like it never even happened but i'm terrified like knock on wood of any injuries because then you can always bike it's fun to bike but i love dancing too like i'm turning into a piece of spaghetti i think that's one reason why

i'm running so much is because i want to like show like make a nice video so i did burlesque you know it's been a while and you're doing you're uh revisiting your burlesque career i think so i saw a tweet or something i'm going to do a dance at my friend's party called Poltergeist, which I came up for the name for. It's a Halloween pun. Poltergeist,

have you heard that movie? Wait, Poltergeist, yes. You know how old I am? I don't know. I'm almost as old as this guy. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like my puns are like so like...

No, I get it. I actually saw Poltergeist 3, which was horrible, at the Runnymede Theater. What? I love Poltergeist 3. I thought it was... At the time, I think I liked it. It's creepy because she died. Yeah, which was horrible, at the Runnymede Theater. What? I love Poltergeist 3. I thought it was scary. At the time, I think I liked it.

It's creepy because she died. Yeah, in real life, she dies. It has that allure. There's a lot of like, I don't know if there's a curse or something. Yeah, that too. One bullet? Come on. An accident, real bullet?

That's a sad story. Who would do that? That's terrible because he was going to be a great one. Brandon Lee. Totally. What happened to the Dutch boyfriend? So very suddenly there's this like mad love, you and a Dutch guy. And then you're in like,

like we, we'd mentioned before you're in Netherlands. Cause I'm not going to call it Holland, but you're in, I know. Holland. It's so pretentious. So,

uh, Holland. Oh, the Netherlands is pretentious. It's beautiful. It's pretentious. It's pretentious when I call out people for calling it Holland. Like what a dick thing to do. Like so pedantic. Anyway, forget that. What happened? Um, we just let it die. We

didn't actually, have you ever spoken about the fact it's over? We didn't even break. Nope. We didn't break up. I'm telling you now we didn't break up. We'd speak on WhatsApp, but, um, you know, I would have blown more money going to visit there. It was my turn to go next. So it just ran its course. Um, I went to new Orleans a couple of times, April. And it was like, he went on like a little, we were like addicted to traveling. So he went away and I'm like, you're going away. Fine. I'm going away too. And then like went on a little bit YOLO. And then he visited me afterwards for my birthday. Like I could go there and like be his girlfriend right now if I wanted. But, you know, it would be, why?

You know, wasting more money. But you're Burlington Ramey. But I'm having such a great time in Burlington right now. I do have cousins who live in Burlington. I love the big fish, small pond thing, okay? Like, it's fun. But so, yeah, we're friends. But Mark, is it possible that he's going to listen to this episode and find out it's over?

Oh, he knows. He knows it's over? We're not breaking it to him right now? We send each other links. Like, he's busy working. You know, it doesn't matter. But yeah, so basically, I'm like singlish and dating. Okay, because you have like, you recently had like a volleyball guy.

That's not him, right? No. Okay. There was like a volleyball guy, a beach volleyball guy. And I, you know, I subscribed to RSS feed. So I know some of this stuff. Is, okay, it's okay. I was looking at his reaction so uh this

seemed very you fell in love again is that love is that a word we can use for this are you still with this guy or is this this random court it's cool we're friends i'm gonna leave it at that but it's open no i'm not like gonna ask you out or anything i'm just no i'm not available either oh we're just we're we're close and And there's, you know, he's local. Like dating someone who lives nearby is local. No, yeah. But I'm, that's one chapter in my book. But you met his dad.

Yeah. You love the gossip. It's not gossip. By the way, can I just clarify something? When you put it on your blog, it's not gossip. Well, like the thing is. when you put it on your blog yeah well like the thing you're putting it on your blog you ramey is an interesting flavor you it's very alluring and then you have a fine time and then you meet she meets all your friends or all your friends meet you and then everybody has something to say about it my blog like is a beast of burden and, um, it's, I'm not gonna, I don't know,

I'm speechless. I, I, I'm not going to say on air, you know, my dirty laundry, but, um, no one's listening. No one's listening. Yeah. They're totally listening. I haven't even pressed record yet. Good. This is just my, my own curiosity here. I haven't even pressed record yet. This is just my own curiosity here. I'm not even recording this. Anyway, Don't Fall in Love is one theme for my book because I believe in fairy tales. It's fun. I am a writer and an artist,

and I need a muse to be inspired to make all the bullshit that propels out of me constantly daily men is a big part of my life men is are and um sometimes you write about it some and then people are like oh this is something and they listen and then it ends but do you ever have relationships that don't make it to the blog like I don't mean trysts, but like actual... Of course. Because you're not allowed to nod on a podcast. I'm not.

I've got like 800 boyfriends and girlfriends right now. Because I only think of three. So obviously I'm behind. There's this Phil guy and there's the Dutch guy. Phil has years ago. I know. Oh my God. This is the only three I remember.

I'm sorry. Phil, this Dutch guy, and then the beach volleyball guy. Phil has years ago. I know. Oh my God. These are the only three I remember. I'm sorry. Phil, this Dutch guy, and then the beach volleyball guy. Hey man, I am single right now. That's all you need to know. What do you do for Playboy? I am their viral news writer.

Ramey Bunny is my name. I have a photo shoot coming up soon. Oh, I was going to ask, like are you photoed? Yeah. Or are you just a writer? Just a writer. Like a persona. I don going to ask, like, are you photoed? Yeah. Or are you just a writer? Just a writer. Like a persona.

I don't mean just a writer. I wanted to be in Playboy by 30 because that justifies all the Ramy the Minks, all the stuff. This was a legit goal you had. This was a few years ago.

And then Playboy Energy Drink followed me on Twitter and I had gone to San Diego sponsored by Fordd for blogger which is oh i remember this amazing weekend i remember this these are the stories i can tell now because i always had a boyfriend now i can say okay the bad things i did anyhow um i learned

at that conference to social media you know rub elbows never pitch remember never make a proposal through a dm message which I did, and it worked. And I had a Skype. I downloaded this thing called Skype. It's amazing. And I had my Skype interview with Playboy, and they're like, we hire pretty people. And I'm like, thank you very much.

And then at first I was writing, like, stuff about, like, people I know who are in, like, the Toronto scene, like Iborg, my friend who was on Dragon's Den who made this kilt like towel thing, utility kilt. And now it's viral new pop culture shit, which makes more sense because I read that shit every day anyway. And it consumed the entire internet every single day.

And they pay you cash. Like this is a money paying gig. Um, yeah. Well, no, I, you know,

I have to ask sometimes there's a lot of like not you i get paid there are lesser bloggers writer a lot of lesser bloggers work for stuff fuck that i don't work okay i get invited to events constantly i believe it and uh sometimes you turn it down because like that ends up being an advertisement on my vlog which gets this many hits. Yeah, they get a sweet in the pot a bit. So it's like, pay me.

I'll come. Like, pay for my cab at least. So you're like Paris Hilton. I've had some Paris, I've had some amazing experiences because of my vlog. What's the most

you've ever been paid to show up at something? I'm not telling you that. Just, I'll shut it off this recording and you can say the number. I can tell you a budget I had for one thing I did, which was like 80 grand.

So 80 grand to stage something, like host something? I got a check. It was for like a travel experience weekend. And, you know, I got an entourage and a great hotel, shopping spree, hair, the party. And yeah, it was fucking insane. And do you have, you don't have an agent or anything. shopping spree, hair, the party, and yeah. That's fucking insane. And you don't have an agent or anything. Do you represent yourself?

I have a literary agent and I have – no, I don't. I just manage myself. Do you want to manage me? Do you want to manage me? Well, basically just do everything I do and keep doing it, you know. Have a story and constantly tell it keep going on podcasts and wear cute clothes and flirt with that's my problem I think it's I'm not wearing cute enough clothes I think that's my problem you're all right well this is my I got this shirt

at roots how do I look how do I look yeah I know I hope that people can see this but you look great there's photos and whatnot no you're No, you're in good shape. So you're doing a photo shoot with a Playboy. And this is like, is it for a website or? It's for Playboy Energy Drink Canada. It's for their website, Follow the Bunnies. And then whatever promotional material. I gotta ask, is this like provocative photos or is this just like?

Just me. I'm going to pose on a Trans Am in my white bunny suit. Kit was a Trans Am, right? Yeah. I run, I pass by it every day on my route and it's so so, I don't know, raunchy, 80s, awesome.

It works for my brand. Remy the Minx is a lifestyle, you know? It's like these things come to you and just do it. Why not? Eventually, does Remy the Minx is a lifestyle, you know? It's like these things come to you and just do it. Why not? Eventually, does Ramy the Minx morph into like a mommy blogger? Like, is this some kind of long-term goal? Or is this even in the...

I feel like being a mom and getting married is the end-all be-all for some people's scopes. But I have more time, you know, to deal with that and to think about that. If I have kids, of of course i'll be a mom is this something in your mind or heart like is this like i know some people who don't want to have children like i do want to have children i'm very i love animals i love kids but kids are different than animals thanks are they sure yeah but i mean like i'm a nurturing loving you know like kids are always around my legs when I'm walking around and doing shit and it's just I grew up I grew up inspired by guys like Mr. Dress Up and Pee Wee

Herman and I have that childish maybe I'm just this clown who is meant to entertain and not have my own brood you know whatever I'm not worrying about that right now. Right now I'm worrying about right now. And what the hell is my next move? What is your next move? Oh, my book. Besides the book. So this is the big, the big focus. Sometimes you do one thing, go to one event and it makes you for a month, you know, your phone rings and you get emails and I'm just, uh, I don't know. I've had that gone away factor and now I'm just deciding to be back. I want to, um, sculpt my ass.

So you're, you're trying to sphere, but is that real? That Nicki Minaj ass is, is this, I think it's, I think it's, um,

silicone or whatever. I don't know, man. I'm obsessed with that song right now. Oh, the skinny bitches at the club. We're going to play that song. What?

Dead hair. No, I didn't know. I wasn't sure how to react to that. That was pretty good. My apologies. So what's next for Raimi? The Minx is simply, the book is the next big thing, but you're going to keep blogging.

You have no plans to stop blogging. Will you be blogging like when I'm 64? You know, like when you hear like Paul McCartney singing about when he's 64. Will you be blogging when you're 64? Oh my God, probably. Hopefully. So blogs aren't going anywhere.

It's different for Canadians, man. I just want to know if I can plan mine. Oh, well, social media kind of destroyed blogs, but... Oh yeah, because you're on Instagram and Tumblr. I am in between that year where i'm people see the me from more than the blogger and that's why the book it's like okay motherfuckers here you go you know no and a lot of work goes into writing a book and then people write it and then nothing happens yeah it's tough game right i mean it's tough to make

money at book writing in i don't know maybe i'll have a sex tape or maybe i'll um but i have exclusive on this actually i don't even want to be a stand-up comedian i have i've been invited to be a guest on serious xm will be my third ever comedy thing maybe i'll just stand up before then just to get some cobwebs out and actually see if i can make people laugh. Is this Canada Laughs? Which station is this? Comedy Laughs? I don't know. I've got to check in with my friend and see if it's still happening

before I promote it. 168 or something. I have done stand-up before and I turned into this whole motivation thing. I don't know. I've been talking to you for how long now? It works. I love talking. I have this, like I've been talking to you for how long now and it works. I love

talking. Talk, talk, talk. Yeah, we're at 51 minutes. Did I miss anything in your talking points? Oh. Was I thorough enough? I didn't like, so we got the playboy. Were you asked any questions? Oh yeah, I do want to ask a question from Steven James May. Oh, love it.

It's a very formal name. We used to do videos together. Stephen James and my son's name James. His nickname is Sideshow Bob actually. Sideshow Bob. He's got a big curly ass fro. It's not because he's got the big feet because you know he had the big shoes but he filled them with big feet. Oh yeah. I accidentally

emailed. I can't remember now whether yeah it was Sideshow Bob. Go on. I accidentally emailed Stephen J. May a private conversation between me and Phil about him. And then I called him Sideshow Bob. And then he read it and was like, signed it Sideshow Bob. I was like, no. That's funny. He was a good sport.

But his question is, how does Ramy account for her blogging stamina? Oh, my God. How do you stop being you every day? How do you stop being, you know? How do you switch? That's how. If I don't do this, what else am I going to do? I account for it.

Lots of coffee and dreaming hopefulness. Do you have any, do you have television aspirations? Of course, yeah. Okay. And I do remember an MTV reality show, which was called? Creeps. Creeps. Yeah.

So. They treated me like shit. Did they? And I dyed my hair red to distance myself after it all went down in flames if you don't have anything nice to say in pr world you do not say it i do not have nice things to say and they edited out a lot of my defending myself i got mean girl and bullied and they bring you up like they love you and then they just just eviscerate you and go through your Facebook and I was cotton off

cotton. Cotton off guard? A piece of cotton off guard by that and I was like this is a frosty toxic environment. How am I supposed to be having fun here? Well how many episodes did you appear on? Five. Five. Your mom was

on this show. They gave me like a showdown where I talked to the guy who was a dick to me And then they fucking edited out all the good shit I said And I was like You can't fucking take it MTV You know and they repeat me all the time And my mom And whatever like fake reality show was supposed to come of it Never occurred

I don't see someone with their own show So I'll take my party to another network you know i i have regular interviews with certain people in the industry who check in with me it's like i'm like this is my story this is the crazy this is what's marketable blah bitty blah they're like okay so i feel like the next year for ramey the minx i know is going to be more doing the thing going to the events saying yes and just not caring about how bad it could possibly be or what because I have a tenacity and a drive and a spirit that this is my last time or the last time for this you know this this is your most recent before I get burnt out and change my mind and

work in a retail store or something i know i've been hinting at this but i'm trying to understand so i you you had you had a office gig i guess you call it an agency gig but it's not it's gone because the contract expired whatever and you still do some work of playboy and then you do your own branding stuff your own ramey the Minx empire. Is this... I don't care for specifics but you're able to sustain a lifestyle that you're happy with this... I'm just curious.

Severance package. Savings and I have money coming in. And living in Burlington. Does that help? Do you live alone in Burlington? You still gotta pay rent in Burlington, yo. Is it cheaper rent? I still gotta hydro It feels far away. Some fucking people I know in Toronto have cheaper rent than me. I live on the water

and it's temporary because I was traveling I don't know how long this will be but at least it has to be beautiful I live right in town. I run right onto the pier I run through rainbows and sunshine and shit and tourists are happy to be there I don't know's it's a good place to kind of have like a um midlife crisis well when

you get invited to events and stuff throughout the next year they're going to be downtown toronto like this is a super you're so worried for me i am so worried about this guy because he's gonna be driving you it's called the go train or taxis or friends um or you know i'll run there it doesn't matter and then like when i do go to this city though i have lots of friends and then like i went to my cousin's wedding a couple weekends ago and i didn't leave the city until like monday and i wore this jumpsuit like all weekend and i had to buy another outfit like i have friends who host me like a hobo turns into like no host me. Like a hobo. And it turns into like, no, not like that. I'm just kidding.

Like a hobo staying in a really nice condo. I'm just kidding. Really nice weed. Fuck off. I'm just kidding. Actually, that sounds like a hobo. That does sound a bit like a hobo. You're a glamorous, stylish hobo.

Whatever, you know, like. Whatever, you're young. You don't have kids. Like this is the time. Like it's now or never. I don't know why I have to feel so defensive i don't i'm not trying to put you on the defense you're a hobo you're i wish i was a nice house in etobicoke they got those sticks and those uh pulp fiction sign on the wall like oh sorry gangster you're so balling right now

but i never where is my chablis of like booze and where are my bitches you know what i honestly screwed up because i always offer a drink. Who drove you here? Yeah, but I was late. I'm sorry. I don't see. I could have got you a drink. It's okay.

I can give you one for the roads and see. It's good to be sober. I'm sorry. I honestly do. I don't know why. Even water or something. I'm such an asshole.

It's okay. This Canadian Weblogs Award thing. Yeah. So is this, you tweeted you're up for a lifetime achievement. Third time. Is this real life how come i'm never nominated i'm getting angry you're not on their radar i know is it because i'm old

no it's not because you're old too much fan 590 uh guests everybody in their own lane everyone on their side of the street and um some people uh why you some people don't. My bestie friend of me, Casey, is also up for lifetime achievement. We're also both up for travel. I'm not fucking traveling right now. I was gonna, but I ain't. Okay, and speaking of genres or whatever, blogging, you were a

heavy foodie blogger and then I don't see this anymore. Did you take a break? I still have those ties. I'm sorry, I get it in my RSS feed. Business connections never die until you burn that bridge with gasoline and fire. And I was getting fat, you know. I don't want to eat food all the time. I do.

But I always have some things in my back pocket. Like, you know, yo, I'm coming to your place. I'm going to review it now. I got famous chef boyfriends, too. That, you know, yo, I'm coming to your place. I'm going to review it now. I got famous chef boyfriends too. That, you know, I got lots of behind the scenes. Do you want to drop any names? Celebrity.

Chef boyfriends. Friends. And they comp your meal, but do they... My meal. What? Well, I get comped and then I get paid.

And the food... That's my question though. Do you get paid for positive reviews? No, I get paid for negative reviews uh no i get paid for negative reviews okay well some people think i got a stupid question is it it's an advertisement on my blog and i don't say it's a fucking five-star restaurant and everything's for free and all the booze in the world oh am i gonna say it's horrible and it's not horrible it's okay so i guess my devil's advocate would say why would I care what maybe lights if you always glowingly reviews?

Foodie reviewers hate me because it's like this unbiased, um, you know, review, but why? Like we've all gone to the same establishment. We all know that the Drake is awesome. We all know that that fucking place is awesome.

The only difference is I got paid and i got my ass kissed and i worked for years ahead of the game i know but that doesn't make these connections doesn't make you a reviewer it makes you like an awareness person yeah and it's an advertising for the new establishments like this bar isabel this is the new fucking place workshop by latitude on rossville that's the new place and that's it you know it's it's not like i'm getting this you know handshake and some back alleyway and like a bag of money i know and i'm only devil's advocate here but i there's i think a true reviewer called business it's called numbers don't lie would not take would not take money for a positive review or for a review who wouldn't

who the hell wouldn't uh Reviewers of Integrity. I don't know. What reviewer? It's called... I don't know. I'm not a foodie guy. It's called business. Okay.

But I'm not always paid. Cisco and Ebert didn't get paid by Sony Pictures to positively review their movies. They've been getting paid for something by someone. Yeah. This is...

I got a breaking news. Of course they get paid. Of course they get paid. Why wouldn't... Name me a name in the world and I'll tell you course they got paid. So I wouldn't name me a name in the world. And I'll tell you, we got, cause I mean like if you represent, for example,

I'm going to make a publication, Toronto star. Okay. Or New York times, whatever. Any, any legitimate outlet cannot accept. They can't even accept free stuff.

They do it in a roundabout way. They invite you over to dinner. They write about you in their article. You are their content, whether it's actual money. It's another thing I over to dinner. They write about you in their article. You are their content. Whether it's actual money. It's another thing I like to call. But I try to separate cash from stuff because I get stuff. And I think the cash is what is different here.

There are times I don't get paid and I advertise. And there are times I get sent things. And that's a payment for me to that person that I'm trying to kiss the ass of and impress. And then on my social feed, it's like, oh, payment for me to that person that I'm trying to kiss the ass of and impress. And then on my social feed, it's like, oh, she got this awesome thing for free. We should send her some free shit. Yeah, we should because she's awesome. It's just, it makes sense.

Why am I explaining it? I'm not saying like to you negatively. That's the arrogance that gets the vomits because you'll say stuff about how awesome you are. And I think it's cool because it's a persona. This is something I would, not a persona, this is something I would say on a panel at a talk when people ask you to your face who are looking at you

under a microscope and being like, how dare you do this for Amy the Minx thing? And then I'm like, I'm diplomatic as shit and I will tell you, yeah, I got paid

or that's how you make it. You know, do you want to get with a hero or do you want to get with a zero? Do you want someone to endorse you who, you know, makes waves, who's polarizing? Maybe not. Like there's been people I've worked with who do not fucking like me at all, but they're like one person in the grand scope of that brand that, you know, doesn't agree with me. But then it's like, well, look at the traction she got us. Look at how many followers she got us and sometimes that happens without i'm not trying to like you know endorse them it's just

like i like this thing you should like it too that's fair i i but i gotta because when cash gets involved and suddenly it's a it's a like a banner ad as opposed to a no it's not it's my opinion everything i do but your opinion is everything that pays you money is awesome. I never lie on my blog. I never lie. I will omit the truth. If it's something I did not like, I won't say that it's bad. I won't fuck that person over.

Even if they really deserve a negative review, I won't. Because that will reflect on me, too. On my brand. In the past, as a, blogger, I would be like, Oh, you know, that movie sucked and this sucked and that sucked. Now it's like, Nope. People just want to know good things. Tell me what is good. You know, give me value. Give me interest. Give me that obscure, funny joke about that dumb show. We both liked in the eighties. Like that is, that's the shit I care about, which is fluff. You know, it's... Out of this world,

that's the show you're thinking of. The dumb show we all liked in the 80s. I don't even know that show. Out of this world. Do you remember Out of this World?

Thanks. This guy, this guy must be in my generation here. We like the same shit. That helps. You want to take the third mic?

Yeah. All right. Just before we wrap up, anything else? Yes, the book. I can't wait when this book comes out in christmas 2015

and i hope you're getting a good deal from your uh book agent it's exciting to have one it is well years ago it blew my mind with like the number of what you get when you sign this and you do that part and this phase of the book writing process there's three chunks and i was like wow like it was a good figure would you ever write fiction yes yes this book now is just the gateway one there's other ones i'm doing that uh it's important for literary agents to know that you always have more story like look at all the crap on my blog like that's like eight novels whether they're good or not. Is that how it works? Cause no,

I just save me time. I like this idea. What do you mean? Yeah, no, you should, you should. I need to talk to your literary agent.

Always rip off yourself. Always inject new life into content marketing, your own content. Any future ink plans? Like you have some, uh, sleeve tattoos. I was you'd call it. I was thinking of getting an axe right here.

Like a nice intricate, like Lord of the Rings-y. But I don't know. Might be too masculine. He seems like he's okay with it. I'm getting hungry, actually. Foodie time. Okay. Thank you for having me so much

look I'm oh yeah don't worry I'll do a Twitter thing I promise I'll do a little thing here and then you can come in and tell us a thing I missed is this going to be all one chunk no it's one chunk you're half the length of Jeff Merrick's

half the length his was like two hours you're one hour and that brings us to the end of our 88th show Jeff Merrick's. Half the length? Yeah, his was like two hours. Your one hour. And that brings us to the end of our 88th show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and Ramy at Ramy the Minx. R-A-Y-M-I-T-H-E-M-I-N-X. And your blog is RamyTheMinx.com. Anything else?

I was holding my breath. 1-800-Ramy Thanks for listening, guys. See you on the internet. See you on the internet. Thanks.