As the skies opened up, unleashing a deluge upon San Diego, our little community found itself grappling with unexpected floodwaters. It's these moments of chaos, intermingled with the warmth of a support group forged in the fires of COVID, that we unpack in our latest conversation. Reading books, critical thinking and influential reads that shaped our lives are the focus of this episode.
Join us as we navigate the labyrinth of health treatments, from the costly medicines that barely make a dent in our ailments to the quest for compassionate care amidst the prickly process of allergy testing. And, as we turn the pages on our educational journeys, with insights into special education, and shine a light on the profound impact of self-directed learning and nurturing innate curiosity in students.
Lastly, pour yourself a drink (hold the Diet Coke), and settle in as we explore the transformative power of reading. From the courageous tale of Charlotte Doyle to the motivational words of Jen Sincero, we highlight books that stir the soul and provoke thought far beyond the fleeting scrolls of TikTok feeds. As we share baking triumphs and the creative release found in the kitchen, we also unpack the controversies and complexities surrounding that ubiquitous fizzy beverage. It's a blend of heartfelt stories, laughter, and a dash of skepticism that invites you to reconsider, reflect, and perhaps even reshape your perspectives.
Thanks for listening!
As the skies opened up, unleashing a deluge upon San Diego, our little community found itself grappling with unexpected floodwaters. It's these moments of chaos, intermingled with the warmth of a support group forged in the fires of COVID, that we unpack in our latest conversation. Reading books, critical thinking and influential reads that shaped our lives are the focus of this episode.
Join us as we navigate the labyrinth of health treatments, from the costly medicines that barely make a dent in our ailments to the quest for compassionate care amidst the prickly process of allergy testing. And, as we turn the pages on our educational journeys, with insights into special education, and shine a light on the profound impact of self-directed learning and nurturing innate curiosity in students.
Lastly, pour yourself a drink (hold the Diet Coke), and settle in as we explore the transformative power of reading. From the courageous tale of Charlotte Doyle to the motivational words of Jen Sincero, we highlight books that stir the soul and provoke thought far beyond the fleeting scrolls of TikTok feeds. As we share baking triumphs and the creative release found in the kitchen, we also unpack the controversies and complexities surrounding that ubiquitous fizzy beverage. It's a blend of heartfelt stories, laughter, and a dash of skepticism that invites you to reconsider, reflect, and perhaps even reshape your perspectives.
Thanks for listening!
Good morning Liz. Good morning Rachel. How's it hanging? It's hanging I thread. I know I'm moving so slow today it's it's been really cold here and that always makes you guys are having flooding.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, yeah, that's a cool thing. Yesterday, I, you, we have had a lot of rain, we're just not used to this much rain, so nobody you know nobody cleans out their gutters, and then you know what I mean. Then the roof falls in because you know there's tons of water on the house. You know the the big reason why, like the streets flooded in parts of San Diego, is because the city didn't clean the drainage.
Speaker 2:So we just don't right.
Speaker 1:We just don't get that much rain, so it's not been a priority. You're right, it's not a priority because you're like, oh, you know, we never get that much water all at once and then boom all of a sudden. Oops, I know One of my girls groups. They did do it, they did do a decent job of warning people, though I feel like I'm like they're at least like get out, you know, or either get out of your area they evacuated some people or they were like don't leave your house, you know, your camera just went off, by the way, I know I noticed I don't know what the fuck. Anyway, anyway, as part of the damage and stuff, like you see, oh my God, it's so like people are just like freaking out, like their whole business has got destroyed, you know, or whatever. And then they went on a go fund me page and they got you know all this money or whatever, and they were like maybe we should make a go fund me for this podcast. And we're like, yeah, we lost all of our recording, but no, there's this.
Speaker 1:What I was going to tell you about that is there's a girls group that I joined, like over COVID. That's in San Diego. I might have to let the dog out, anyway, and it's just a girls meetup group. Like girls will post on there hey, does anyone go on? Want to go on a quick hike? You know here today, or whatever, and then you know they'll join. You know, hey, I just had a breakup. Anyone want to come out and drink with me? You know, it's just kind of things like that where, like people can connect if they're, you know, bored but you know lonely, whatever. Anyway, it's all girls and one of the girls on there posted after the flooding and she goes.
Speaker 1:I have like a five acre farm in San Marcos and I have like a couple of boats and, like you know, all kinds of little animals on the farm and we got flooded out. We need some help like cleaning up and, you know, setting up fences and stuff like that. And she's like you can come over and snuggle with the animals if you want, you know. But I just need some hands on deck to help me out. You know, clean up. And she was like I'm 420, fit, friendly and I like wine. So if you come out and do some hard work with me, then I'll smoke you out and drink some wine. And I was like that's amazing. I was like I probably have some time. I typed it up really quick. I was like just send me details and I'll come help. I grew up halfway on a farm so I can do some work halfway on a farm.
Speaker 1:I consider that, like the I don't want to say their name on air rhymes with Schmaltz, yes, okay, and then the other ones writing horses Remember we never told mom, oh yeah, that I would sneak out. I'm like there was quite a few Rhymes with churches. They lived out there too. Yeah Right, I'm like those were all like basic farms and yeah we spent quite a bit of time out there. Remember the pig farm.
Speaker 2:Yes, that was horrifying.
Speaker 1:We did throw away our clothes after visiting there.
Speaker 2:It was horrifying. And then we well, it smelled so bad, but the chicken farm smelled worse. Do you remember the chicken farm after the pig farm?
Speaker 1:I don't think we were in place while we went and visited this.
Speaker 2:So this, the guy who supplies which I don't know if it's still the case, but 25, 30 years ago it was the case.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they just. They just featured him on one of the podcasts Supplies all of the eggs for every McDonald's and he raises.
Speaker 2:he had a pig farm and a chicken farm and he was a good Christian man. So we went and visited his pig farm.
Speaker 1:He was. He was a good Christian. He was a good Christian tax evader.
Speaker 2:Probably. He was definitely multimillionaire, but his story was very interesting.
Speaker 1:He's also. He's also. He's also a pet file, probably. I just said they featured him on a podcast. Oh, they did, okay, yes. Right, I thought you meant, just like his story. No One of the IFB podcasts talked about Anderson, the money, part of that, and when, the detail on his perversions. Okay, I don't. I don't know how I missed that but, I, did Andy? Andy lied about like a bunch of financial stuff. Yeah, like he over yeah, I oversold himself, you know, like most of the leadership of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Genre. How are you Liz?
Speaker 2:I'm I'm alive and I am walking around.
Speaker 1:Did you get your brain back yet?
Speaker 2:No, brain's still gone. Um, I forget things on the daily. I had a pack of cigarettes yesterday and we were going to food truck and I was looking for them and I looked all over the house and I was like, okay, I guess I'm not meant to smoke tonight. So I just left. I mean, literally I searched the house and about five minutes after I left, randy sent me a picture of them on my on his phone, took a picture. They were just sitting on the stable. So, like, yep, missed that. So, um, just every little thing, short-term memory sucks.
Speaker 1:Um, it's like being on drugs, but like in a bad way. Oh, that's funny. You know, this is your brain. This is your brain on menopause.
Speaker 2:Yes, menopause brain. It's horrible, oh my God. Um, I'm I'm getting into a doctor that is in another city, um, that specializes in hormones, so hopefully I can do that. But currently I am consistently taking my medication the doctor gave me, but I don't know how long it takes to freaking kick in. I've been taking it consistently along with vitamins and magnesium for over a week, so I'm like maybe something will kick in. I hope I don't know. I did do an amazing treatment about. I don't know how long ago. It's been Six months ago, yeah. Yeah, it was the pellet injections which Literally changed my life in about one day. Um, I was on cloud nine. Energy levels were like here. Um, it was insane. I felt the best I've ever felt in my life. Um, the problem with these injections is or their pellets, um is that you are they're not covered by insurance, so you have to pay out of pocket for them. Plus, you have to take the medication that goes on.
Speaker 1:Women's reproduction is not healthcare.
Speaker 2:Right, so approximately $400. Um, to get this done. And then it doesn't include the office visit, because I got an EOB for that too. So basically, I don't know if you have zero insurance, it's probably five or $600 to go do this every three months. That's when you have to do it. But the effects only lasted me five to six weeks. So, and then there was like this tank, like I felt myself just like slow down. And I need tosaw some Houston drugs like, so that's available. Someche Jong الخ People were going to come over.
Speaker 1:I didn't do no business before I guess it was like from up here to down here, like within 24 hours, and so I'm like, well, if it's not even going to last, it's three months, then I don't feel like it's worth it. You know thing where they'll ask you about like you need to do like dial a dock. You know now where you right um, and I could try that. I don't know, but I think they'll try and see if it some of it's covered. But what she's talking about is like a compounded cream.
Speaker 1:I mean, I did try cream, but you tried that before you you hit full and I'm like it might make a.
Speaker 2:Truckload of different now because yeah yeah honestly, like I feel like when you have a forgetful brain, they should not put you on a pill.
Speaker 1:Because it takes too long to figure out?
Speaker 2:no, because if you have a forget you'll forget to take.
Speaker 2:You don't remember to take the fucking pill. I'm like give us a fucking patch or give us like a shot. You know a shot of something or that we don't have to remember, because obviously the reason we're coming to get some help Our brains are gone. So I need some help remembering things, and remembering to take a pill is not one of them. And everyone is like I will put a reminder on your phone. Well, if you're in the middle of something and you put a reminder on your phone, you go oh shoot, there we go, let me click that away and I'll do it when I'm done with what I'm doing, and then you forget. So it doesn't work.
Speaker 2:A reminder on a phone doesn't work for me. I maybe put it on my calendar it might, but I feel like I wouldn't remember even then, so it just doesn't work. I mean, my calendar generally goes from like 9 am to 8 pm, so in those times I'm either not at my house or I'm busy doing something in, yeah. So anyway, I don't think I would remember. It's just annoying, yeah, but it is the female curse, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm so hyperallergenic and ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you had an allergy test.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you know. And then, like you know, you want to take your car into the mechanic and you're like it's making this noise. And then you get to the mechanic and like nothing happens, right, and they're just looking at you like OK, whatever.
Speaker 1:Let me check your alternator and I was like, ok, this is the perfect day to go to my allergenist doctor. Because I'm like, hello, it's not dripping down. My eyes are watery. They're like are you experiencing any symptoms? I'm like, look at me, you, I don't take any allergy meds currently, but they tell you before you get tested to go off everything like a week before, and I'm like staring at them, my eyes are just like red and itchy and I've got snot dripping out and I have post nasal drip and I'm like, oh, I'm fine. So, anyway, it was, it was a good day to go in, but yeah, so they.
Speaker 1:The last time I got allergy tested, they left me in the room for 15 minutes and I was tearing up. I mean, my eyes were just running. It was so painful. It was so painful like my back exploded. It looked like a giant mosquito bite and it was just red all over. And so when I went in yesterday, I was like, do not leave me alone in this room. I was like she was like oh, no, no, no, no, I'll come back. I was like the last time I was in here, you guys left me in here for 15 minutes and I was bawling.
Speaker 1:She goes, oh, ok. And she goes OK, I'll stay. So she puts all, puts them all on. By the time she's done putting them all on the prick test, the, the first one is starting to bubble up and she goes. She goes, oh. And she's like is it burning? I'm like, yeah, think. And so she goes, ok, I'm going to give it like three and a half minutes. And I'm like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I'm already dying.
Speaker 1:She walks out. And then she came back and I'm like, ok, I'm done. And she's like, ok. And she pulls one and she's like, oh my God, yes, you are. And so she pulls them all off immediately and then, like, wipes it down and she's like slathering anti-itch cream all over my back and she's like do you want some prednisone? I can call in a prescription so you don't die on your way home. And I was like, no, nobody ever wants prednisone. No, I was like I'll be fine, just like you know, let it calm down. But I'm so glad I made her stay because I was like uh, you do not get to leave this room because I will not suffer by myself.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that was, if you have an allergic reaction to something.
Speaker 2:It's pretty much immediately as soon as they yes, Well, that's what the doc said.
Speaker 1:We don't need 20 minutes to find out. I really don't need to know how allergic you are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh. Anyway we did that with roommate one. Actually, all my kids, I think, have done it. But roommate one was like the same way, within seconds. She was like because they did it all up her arms, because she was little ish and all on her back and I mean she was just like a ball of freaking. Red is to means yes, yes, she's allergic to a lot, anyway.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, what are we talking about today, Liz?
Speaker 2:I think we're going to talk about books, reading books, I don't know. I in the last, I'm going to say in the last Probably three years, I've well, let's, let's go with two years, because during COVID I read a lot. Um, let's say, in the past two years I have probably only read two books. But that's not my normal. Normally I'm like an avid I've always been an avid reader, like I read and I can finish the book in two days. You know, sometimes a day. But growing up we read a lot but I have slacked off because just too busy or whatever. I haven't had relaxing moments but I love to read when I relax, or to relax and read. That's like relaxing to me. You have more than I do now currently, probably.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I went through a period of time right after grad school. It was probably, my God, it was probably four, four, maybe five years and uh, I just a lot of my grad program was reading and it had it wasn't things that I necessarily wanted to read, but I had to read to get through it so I could get sources and stuff for my, my thesis and my program and my. I swear to God, my eyes got bad Like because I would be just reading, screen reading so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's when I first started wearing glasses and I was like oh my God, why do I need glasses?
Speaker 1:But I blame it on like my grad program For escalating any ocular degeneration. I had brewing, but after that I I didn't read for a while, but that's probably been the only time in my life where I really haven't read on a on a somewhat regular basis. I mean, I go through periods where I'm just so busy I don't have time to kind of do that, and then it's closed. It's closed To kind of do that, and then it's closed. It slows down dramatically.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, no, I have a whole list in my phone of books that I want to read.
Speaker 1:So I've one, two, three, four, five, five books on my current and then I have actually I have one on my phone, so that's six total that I have ongoing. I this is something I do I will start one, and then I'll start another, and then I'll start another.
Speaker 2:I can't do that.
Speaker 1:I mix them up.
Speaker 2:All the time I have to finish a book from start to finish Um before I can start another one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I can't. Well, it depends on the book. I'll say that because a lot of the reading I do now is, I'm going to say, highly curated, meaning I'm going to either follow an author, a subject or a um like geographical location. You know, I'll do like kind of or write a genre. So then I'll be curious halfway through a book about what they're referencing. So I'm going to go find you know what I'm saying Like then I'll read more about that subject. It's kind of like a little like deeper dive into things. So I, I, I know that I have going. I'm like is um law and uh, family psychology is sort of where I'm at right now, but that kind of supports like the book, you know, and like understanding a little bit more about what we're we're currently doing Right and also current things that I'm interested in. So then you know, I have one about two about judges, two about, like current law cases and then a third one about family psychology and physical, uh repercussions of that.
Speaker 2:Anyway, yeah, Um, but you're like a nonfiction reader and I'm a fiction reader, Correct? Yeah, yes, so I will read all of the fiction. Um, I'm not really into like sci-fi stuff or like, uh, one of my friends not too long ago gave me a book because she loved it and I read it and it was okay, but it was just too out there for me. Um, I so, and I also love reading, um, like biographies and um, things like that that are, you know, on based on true stuff or you know, or stories about people and actual people that, um, are alive or dead, you know. So I enjoy that. But I will read some nonfiction If it's something I'm interested in, but it's not my go to or like just enjoying the moment. I like fiction for sure, so, yeah, I have a hard time with fiction.
Speaker 1:Um, not all fiction. Um, one of my favorite books is a historical fiction. It's one of my favorites, not my favorite.
Speaker 2:We're going to like historical fiction for sure.
Speaker 1:Uh, I don't know that we haven't defined this because I'm pretty sure like the general population understands what reading is, but I think it'd be fun to give them a couple of examples of like reading adventures or uh, things that we did in the cult, which is is relevant to um, our reading habits now, because that's sort of the when we begin our love of reading. Yeah, Um, don't give the full story, but you can talk about how we got into it.
Speaker 2:I will not give the full story because, of course you can read that in our book when it comes out. But, um, we are definitely going to be reading the book, we are definitely. I just like glanced at my phone and there's this annoying text. Anyway, sorry train of thought here. So we read a lot in the cult. We weren't giving much of an education as far as like normal stuff. We had not really a window into the outside world. So my mom was a big component of reading and she would let us go to the library and pick out books. So we learned a lot by reading and, you know, live vicariously through characters and certain novels and things like that. But that was like our thing and we would rent 100 books at a time from library.
Speaker 1:That was no 99. What 99 was the limit?
Speaker 2:Yes, 99 was the limit, so we'd rent 99 books and all the math. These are staff.
Speaker 1:I remember the first time we did it and they were like what are you doing? I think every librarian in there was just kind of like one eyeball on us, Like what's going?
Speaker 2:on, but we spent hours at the library, yeah.
Speaker 1:and then they were like, okay, it's just those two freaky girls that are reading so much.
Speaker 2:We were big time reading nerds. I mean we read so much Any kind of series. There was where there was, you know, anywhere from 10 to 100, 200 books. We would read every single one and we would keep a log of which ones we'd read and which ones we hadn't. And I mean we read a lot of books. We would go back back then, back in the day. They had, you know, barnes and Noble and some of those bookstores where you could go sit in and read. We would never buy books. We would. Once a year we would get a gift card from one of our relatives for a bookstore. We'd get to buy a book, but generally we just go in there and sit on the couches and read an entire book. And we did that a lot. That was like something that we really enjoyed it. But I remember reading like staying up in bed, laying in bed, just reading for hours and hours and hours. It was something that was. I think it was very good for us.
Speaker 1:Well, it was a different education and in some sense we're educating ourselves. Yes, 100%, that's a. It's a different, a whole different learning pathway. I think I told you that one of my co-workers I'll say she's actually my superior right now Never she. She homeschooled her kids, but she didn't necessarily use curriculum, if that makes any sense. So she was just like super monosorry, here's some blocks, figure out math, right, and then once they were old enough to start reading, then she let them pick what they wanted to learn about and they would just go down a rabbit hole and learn about, you know, russian imperialistic ballet, I mean whatever you know. It was just kind of this okay, then then you read and you write about that for you know three months or whatever, and then that's how they kind of educated themselves, but it was based on you know stuff that they were interested in, and I think both of them have their graduate degrees. I mean, you know, yeah, but it's, it's a different approach, but that's sort of what we did. I have to let the gerbil outside.
Speaker 2:Okay, let the gerbil outside oh whoops. For two, two and a half pound dog, Maybe three, maybe three pounds.
Speaker 1:She's actually like 3.1 right now. Okay, she's fat. She identifies as a gerbil, the, the, her, what do you call it? Groomer? I was like I think she's put on weight. I was like, oh, she might have, I don't know, she's getting old and happy.
Speaker 2:Oh, she's an older dog, for sure, oh yep, she was blind. I don't think she.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was like, yeah, she can't really see much. I'm like, yeah, I know she's, her hearing's gone, almost gone, I think, because I have to like beat on the floor to get her attention, so like the vibration, and then she just takes off and I'm like, what are you doing? You know because she's, and then she's like, oh, I didn't know you're in that direction. It's kind of fun.
Speaker 1:But they say, if you've got like an older, you know dog that's blind, or you know hearing or whatever, to not like move anything in the house.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because then they'll.
Speaker 2:I mean oh man All right.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and we had. Well, I was going to pitch in on the reading thing, so we did have that. I think it was a self-cited education. I mean, I think a lot of the stuff that we read when we were younger was we weren't as interested in nonfiction, which, and I can't remember. Do you think that were we not allowed? Or do you think, to like, get a book on? You know, human evolution?
Speaker 2:Oh, guarantee you that. I mean, if we would have been reading that, that would have been definitely like we would have. If they would have known, yeah, we were reading about that, it would have been problematic. I, the library, were at our school, which was very interesting, but the library had books in there that were like 50 years old at the time.
Speaker 2:Sometimes some of them very old, very, there was a lot of autobiographies, I mean, I think we read all the books in that library at least A couple of times. Yeah, so we read this as I got older, I think. I think it's a little bit of an escape of reality for me to fiction, and so that's why I like that sort of thing, but I do like reading about things that actually happened. So like, to some degree, I was forced to read this book and I cannot think of the name of it. Oh my god, when I was in school it was about the King James version. It was about a thousand pages. Which one was it? Oh my god.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to think of it. I kept describing it. Let me see if I remember it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it was written with like the largest words and the largest, like it was so hard to read. But it was about how the King James version is the only version of the Bible and this is the reasons and it was a thousand pages of why this was, and we were supposed to read that in school when it first came out, and I think it was in the 90s when it came out.
Speaker 1:Was that in Blarcy's house class?
Speaker 2:I don't know if it was. I mean, it was at that time.
Speaker 2:So it could have been. Yeah, I block a lot of that shit out honestly, because but I do vividly remember certain things and that is one of them. And that book was horrible to read and I think that probably is one of the reasons I tend to go towards more novels, because it's just like a dull read. I mean, honestly, I don't even know if people who actually read it could actually interpret what it actually meant, because it is so like at a level of somebody who's like a high end scholar. It's dense, super, super intelligent and you can just read into everything. And I mean a thousand pages of that was just like whoa. It might have been more than a thousand.
Speaker 2:It was a hardback thick, but it was insane. Anyway, very hard to read. But I remember we had to read that and then we had tests on some of the contents which is insane, but which, if it was in his class, he gave us exactly what was on the test. He would say this is the test, study it. That's how that class went, any classes with him. He's like I'm not here to fail you, I'm here to make you learn, which is how everyone should teach.
Speaker 2:Well, I do agree with that to some extent, for sure. Well, that's.
Speaker 1:We were just having this conversation last night. We were just having this conversation last night, both of me and my partner, educators and he does a special ed, okay and we were talking about the idea of teaching and what that means, when which the terms are overused and nobody understands what they mean. They mean anymore Equitable teaching right, which is like a buzzword for the woke, you know whatever they are zombies and all that.
Speaker 1:But it's not that you're teaching every kid the same material Okay, that's true. It's that you teach each kid by the same methods and concepts so that they had the same experience of learning. That means if you have higher level students, you give them creative and engaging assignments.
Speaker 1:If you have mid level students, you do the same thing. That might be different content for both of them. However, you're still giving them all right, the opportunity to learn creatively and, you know, engagingly, which is a whole different way of teaching than like common core standardized testing. You know that's like so different. Absolutely not the way to do it. So, anyway, yeah, but I think that was a huge part of why you and I I'm not going to say do so well or did so well outside of the cult, but it's also it is why we adapted so quickly and so easily. I think that learning, like by reading and educating yourself, is like something that is a almost like extinct quality of that people have now. That is actually what is really necessary in this, in the current environment, like where we live, and like changing this, changing that, moving forward, learning new things is easy for us In not just like technology, but like in general lies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Roommate one is a huge reader. She reads all kinds of books. If she wants to know something, she reads a book. She mental health stuff. She reads a book like she's very good. She just gave me a book that she read and it's called. I want to say it's called unfuck your boundaries.
Speaker 1:Oh no, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:I have the book in the living room but I can't remember what it's called, but I read like one chapter of it and that's it. But she literally loves reading books. That like self help, I guess self help type books, you know. Well, yeah, if you're interested in novel, she'll read novels for days. She's like my reader. My other two, I don't think, care for reading so much, but my oldest definitely is a reader. Does roommate for read? Does she like to read?
Speaker 1:She will Okay. I don't think it's like something that she goes and seeks out to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I also think that, like right now, she's in school phase, so she has required reading and stuff that you know, sure. So I don't think like our kids, all of them, all of our roommates, unless it was something they learned outside of school, maybe from seeing I mean, mine saw me read all the time, yeah, you know. And maybe when she's finished with you know, her school program, maybe that'll kick back in again, you know, instead of having a required reading, actually seeking out something you want to, sure, but, yeah, I don't know that it's almost not necessary anymore. You know, we didn't have Google at our fingertips, right, but I also think you have to really enjoy it.
Speaker 1:There's a certain quality about people who want to learn on their own, self-starting curiosity, you know, desire to, you know, learn, I don't know. There's something about people that just go pursue stuff on their own and try and figure it out. Or, you know, even in the case of reading, you know, I want to, you know, in general, read more, I don't know, but that is not. Again, I think it was like one reason why it's rare to, you know, find younger avid readers, and not not just in, you know, you know fantasy or you know escapism, but but in terms of like self-education, right, that's pretty rare, so I think it is.
Speaker 2:I think that, well, because I think it's because of the internet. Because if you want to know something. You can freaking Google anything.
Speaker 1:I mean it's kind of amazing it's it's a little bit, it's a little bit democratic, and I like it, you know.
Speaker 2:It's just like why would I waste an hour and a half reading, or four hours reading, when I can Google it and get the answer in? I mean, and they're going to get like in just a generic answer. In a book you get a more in depth, you know, of why this is the answer. So people who are extremely curious maybe and want reasons, they might read a book. But I mean, if you just want the flat out answer, google is the key, I know well, and I think we're we're on the precipice.
Speaker 1:You know, it may be another 10 years or whatever, but I think we're going to look back at the last, our, our age, our lifetime, 40 years and go. That was kind of the explosion. It was just like no, like I hate to use the term bomb, but like when a bomb goes off, it displaces right and so there's this huge erosion of other things that come above it and it creates energy. And I feel like we're going to look back at, like you're in my lifetime, in historical terms of technology, as like this explosion, because what I see now is that they're going to start paywalling a lot more stuff and I've already seen it like it used to be I'm going to say 10, 15 years ago that I could look up any book I wanted or any journal or any publication, and I could most likely find it somewhere like a PDF upload.
Speaker 1:Someone did you know two years prior and it was just sitting there on the internet and nobody right. But I feel like more and more and more, it's harder to access some of the stuff, especially things that are like published by big corporate I'm going to say the Trump corporation's like Harvard press and anything that's Harvard press you're going to have to have a subscription for to get into it. Yeah, um, so I think that we're kind of on this precipice of like no, the internet isn't, it's quote unquote free, but there's no longer a free flow of all the information that's out there. It's been pay walled by a bunch of you know and, and I don't know that that's wrong, right, but I do think that most of it should just be out there, because the computer is going to be able to look all that up anyway and figure it out for us.
Speaker 1:So AI is, you know, coming, but it might be a it might be a paywall thing.
Speaker 2:You sneezed, thank you. I think I did it, you did it, yay, no, I went to make a post yesterday Weird right, and it said this thing popped up and it said would you like AI to make this a better post? I was like hell, yeah, like people need to start using that. Yeah, let's do that, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was like, let's do that. But I was. I was kind of surprised. This was like a Facebook post. I was like, oh didn't even know that was like going down yet, but I'm sure yesterday was the last day. I honestly don't post on Facebook much. I literally share stuff, but I'm not a huge poster. And then on our business, of course we I like post stuff for the burrito truck but, like even my other businesses, I rarely post Like it's got to be something that I'm like ooh, this is really cool you know, and to do a post, so anyway back to topic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sorry. Well, I'm just like where are we going with all this Right? I think that probably why it's really important for us to be talking about this is is the lack of like.
Speaker 1:It's just almost a dying are like sewing and crocheting and stuff. I mean there are pockets, you know, of folks that are still reading and self educating and all that, but I think that in the deluge of information that is accessible on the internet, we've lost both the desire to find something that you want, because the internet experience however you guys out there may think it is not a self curated experience. It's algorithmically fed to you, so you're going to get results that are based on what you already like, which is a self eating snake.
Speaker 2:No kidding.
Speaker 1:But what is you know? You know not happening anymore is one the self guided experience of learning, you know, even if it's on the internet. And then to the reading itself, because you know what's going to be more reliable, particularly moving forward in the information age. Is it going to be books written you know that you pick up and read or is it going to be, you know, there's so much propaganda and that's the only word I can use for it's false information, misinformation, disinformation, and so you're going to get all kinds of propaganda which guides you instead of you guiding your education or figuring out what you want to learn about it does.
Speaker 2:I agree with that 100%. I mean, even if you go to like looking at I mean anything that you look at you start talking about something that's what's popping up on your phone yeah, been too long watching a TikTok video. That's all you're going to see. Or maybe you're watching a YouTube video and you'll be like I'm not going to watch it anymore. I'm going to watch it until the next 28 days at least. You know. So you just it does guide you with what you're. What information you see is what you want to hear. Also, you know what I mean. Yeah, so sometimes if you're looking for, like a, a different opinion or another thought, see somebody else's point of view or their thoughts on something, without getting just the information that agrees with your train of thought, basically, yeah, and that's a self-fulfilling news cycle too right, where it spirals in one direction, and I used to think that I could screw with the algorithm a little bit, you know, by looking up something completely different.
Speaker 1:But anymore it kind of just goes to like it's all pushed into one cone, basically, and tough to get out of. Anyway, but speaking of that, you know, one of the things that you and I gained by reading was critical thinking skills, the ability to think and create our own thoughts, which is really rare in cult upbringing, you know, I don't know that anyone knew how many books we read.
Speaker 2:I'm sure they didn't, I'm sure especially in the secular field, you know for sure there were Christian books pushed towards us all the time, or like Christian authors that they would provide or whatever. But yeah, we didn't, and I think that's probably due to mom, because mom loves to read. She still loves to read, she reads all the time, so she would allow that, which probably a lot of parents didn't. We read way, way many things that she didn't know, though.
Speaker 1:That's what I mean, though I don't know who knew, and. I don't know how much anyone knew in the cult, but I really do think it shaped a lot of our behaviors and our deep self identities, separate from the things that we were fed, which is yeah, I think that we were rare.
Speaker 2:We had a good reading education in our younger years, so we learned how to read and comprehend very well. Yeah, I mean, it could have been just because we picked it up easily you know, not everybody picks things up the same way but I feel like we were both really good at reading and comprehending and so we sucked in all the knowledge we could. Yeah, we were hungry.
Speaker 1:We were hungry hungry Um Anything else you want to add to that story?
Speaker 2:What's your favorite book or the book that's had the most?
Speaker 1:impact on you. You have to answer this too.
Speaker 2:I know, I have it in my brain. I already know what it is.
Speaker 1:My book is Victor Frankel Mansearch for Meaning, which it's one of those pieces. It's not even a tough read, you could read it in a day. It's one of the pieces that no matter where I go in reading. Victor Frankel was a Holocaust survivor and became a clinical psychologist after, but it's one of those books that you continuously come back to and I've probably read it seven times, I would say, over the 23 years or so I've been out. I've been out.
Speaker 1:This is a big house. So it sounds like in my head and each time I come back to it there's something new. It still gives. I still think about it. It still informs decisions I make in my life and how I think about the world. It's still relevant, today even more so. So it's kind of a timeless piece, like a work of art, that you just keep going back to it and every time we go back to it there's just something new and exciting and refreshing about it. And it doesn't mean you lose all the other stuff you got from it. It just keeps giving. And I've probably given that book, I've given that one. Yeah, I've probably given that one out the most to like friends and folks I've met along the way. Anyway, that one, that one's it for me. And I've tried there's a couple I've tried, but no, that's it.
Speaker 2:How about for you? Okay, so mine goes like way back Twilight.
Speaker 1:Is it Twilight?
Speaker 2:I actually have two that I absolutely love. In both of them I've read like a bunch of times Wait, can I guess?
Speaker 2:I actually have one of them on. I purchased it on like an Audible and I listened to her. The actual author read it all the time because she's like it's an inspirational book, but my book that made like a huge. I think it like. I read it during a time when I was very vulnerable and it was like empowering to me and it's a novel but it's called the True Adventures of Charlotte Doyle and I know that sounds like a crazy book but it's about this girl who was determined to get to America and she got on a ship and, of course, back in the day they didn't have her on the ship. What's?
Speaker 2:the time period yeah, so she she.
Speaker 2:What's the time period? Probably early 1900s, I don't know. I haven't read it in probably 10 years, but it was one of the best. I mean, I've probably read that book seven or eight times. I still have the book, but I haven't read it in many years. But back when, like, women weren't allowed on ships to, so she dressed as a boy along the way they discovered I mean, it's just this whole journey, you know, of her getting there. They discovered eventually that she was a girl. It was so amazing to me and just the courage and everything like that. So that was one of my favorite books. And then my other book that I love, that I read and refer to all the time, is just called You're a Badass, and it's amazing. And the girl that writes it is amazing also. I think her name is Jen Jen Cis, cisnero or Cisneros.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know that, I know that. Author.
Speaker 2:You do. Okay, she has some good books. I've read a few of her books, but that one is good and I love listening to the audible. Like I can't stand. I listen to books on audio more than I read. Like I said, I haven't actually picked up a book in a couple of years, except that one my daughter gave me. I've read a chapter, but the. But listening to audiobooks I do that all the time so, but I like to listen when the authors read it because it becomes so much more interesting to me.
Speaker 1:Well, that's because it's something they wrote.
Speaker 2:Yes, and they wrote it and they're passionate about it, and so her reading is also amazing.
Speaker 1:Are you ready to do the audible recording for our book?
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I never thought about that, but yes, that'll be interesting.
Speaker 1:No, that will be horrifying. We're going to be talking for like nine days straight.
Speaker 2:We could be talking for a long time. We will be talking for a long time?
Speaker 1:Who was the author of your first favorite book?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm going to have to go grab it to look.
Speaker 1:Maybe I can Google real quick and hey Siri, who wrote you can do that.
Speaker 2:There it is. Yes, there it is Okay. Oh, true confessions. I'm sorry, not adventures, the true confessions. I'm Charlotte Doyle and it is. This is Abby, what it's considered a um, it's considered a children's book, which I'm sure it is Um. But Hang on Looking, my God. I like have the cover pulled up right here, because this is this is the cover. But, like, let me look at it.
Speaker 1:Zoom in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, won't, won't do that Try.
Speaker 1:Um, and I think books can mean different things for different people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it says a white word winning. Author Abby ABI.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, that's who the author is Okay, there you go. It's like um share Friends, yes.
Speaker 2:Madonna, there you go, there you go.
Speaker 1:Abby.
Speaker 2:We like Abby. Abby yes, good job Abby. Yeah, it's like her diary of the whole experience.
Speaker 1:Uh, huh yeah.
Speaker 1:I think we. What I was saying was, I think, you know, different books can mean different things for different folk, and fiction or nonfiction, it's meaningful because it, you know, gets deep into your you know, smooth gray matter and creates a crinkle, you know, and then you're excited about it and it, you know, either influences you and your in your mind or in your daily life, or in your habits or whatever behaviors. Anyway, I think it's really important. Um, I wish, yeah, I wish, more people read for pleasure, you know, and I do think, man, it's so scary, you know our education system is definitely failing folks, I mean, but I still think there are, there are people who love it and you know, I get to work with a lot of old people and a lot of them love to read and it's exciting to talk with them. You know what they're into, what they like, and that's it it's. It's nice to see people still love that. Guess what I have to make this weekend. It's exciting.
Speaker 1:Make sourdough and I'm like, okay, you started.
Speaker 2:You already have a starter.
Speaker 1:Um, no, so remember my over COVID I used to. I did a bunch of them Um as did we all. As did we all Well, and you and I used to bake a lot when we were younger, Um, so I'm not an idiot about this.
Speaker 2:I wanted making something out of nothing.
Speaker 1:Yes, Absolutely Um. I tell um partner all the time. I'm like I can, I mean there's, if you give me a fridge and a cupboard, I will make something fabulous.
Speaker 2:You know, I don't care what's in there.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, so Old neighbors where I used to live upstairs, remember, like there's still really good friends, um, couple, um ones from Idaho, ones from North Dakota, they're kind of like the Northwestern hillbillies and they're freaking amazing. Um, just like really good people. He gave me like over COVID, like a 300 year old starter, you know, and um, I kept it in the fridge for so long and then when I moved I was just like I don't know what to do with it, you know, and like I just ditched it because I didn't have. I don't have much you ditched it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was in the back of my fridge, for you know. And so, of course, when I find I have to make sourdough this weekend, I'm like, oh crap. Well, who do I call Duh? I know he's got some. So he I texted him. I was like do you still have starter? And he was like yeah. So he's like oh, thanks for the reminder. I need to feed it. So I'm going to go grab it from him tomorrow and then start there you go. Um, that's exciting. What are you up to?
Speaker 2:Um, well, this weekend I don't have anything going on where it's the Super Bowl. Uh, my roommate too's boyfriend is birthday is actually today, so we're celebrating it on Sunday and he wants steaks for dinner. So that's what we're doing. Hello, fellow aquarium. Yeah, um, we're doing, uh, and then I'm making some Super Bowl food, which you know is all health conscious and junk Health, cautious junk food, you know what I mean. Like it's a unprocessed junk food. I'm making stuff that I normally wouldn't cook, but it's all unprocessed, still in.
Speaker 1:So, but, does that mean, you can eat cheese?
Speaker 2:No, we can eat cheese. We don't need a lot of cheese. Um, I eat more cheese than Randy. Um, just because I'm a cheese lover. So, um, I do eat more cheese than Randy, but generally we don't need a lot of cheese. Um, we do meet vegetables, fruit in nuts that's generally already at diet, but, like for the Super Bowl, I'm making apple pie things and I have European flower to make the dough and then we use honey for sweetener, instead of which we do sweet. We do honey for sweetener. Um, honey and stevia. I do stevia. Um, randy does stevia. You're not supposed to do the. Okay, how do you say this? Aspartame, aspartame how do you say it? Had this discussion at work the other day Cause I said it and they were like how did you just say that? And I was like I don't know how are you supposed to say it? The fake sugar.
Speaker 1:Aspartame.
Speaker 2:Aspartame. I think that's what I said. I don't know what I said. Anyway, aspartame.
Speaker 1:This is also one of the things that you you read and you don't understand how to pronounce. I mean yes, Well, that is a chemical name that was made up, because it's a chemical process that's produced.
Speaker 2:This is a sweetener.
Speaker 1:Correct. So it doesn't have necessarily like a Latin root right or something that you can right, identify as okay that, and a lot of names are like that Pronunciation.
Speaker 1:If you don't know the root of the language, then you can't pronounce it correctly. Yeah, anyway, I think I listened to oh, I listened to a podcast yesterday that was I should have sent it to our aunt. It was should you quit diet coke? So it was about like what is the chemicals and what are the right? Is it a question of should you or shouldn't you, or is it a question of what's in that, like if it makes sense for you to put it in you, and what is the you know effects of that? And it was just like nobody knows. Literally that's what the thing was, but they used it a lot, that word, and I'm fairly certain they said aspartame.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I mean that's, they say that diet coke is loaded with chemicals. Randy did an experiment, I don't know, five or six years ago. He used to drink probably six to 12 diet cokes a day and I mean that was a lot. But he was like hooked on him, right. So he said I'm giving up diet cokes for an entire year and see if it makes me feel any better. So he did not drink one diet coke for an entire year and at the end of the year he said I'm drinking diet cokes but now he doesn't drink anything with artificial sweetener, so diet cokes are completely out. But yeah, like he doesn't drink any of that anymore.
Speaker 2:But he was like it didn't make me feel any better, so I'm drinking.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean again the whole podcast. It was kind of like oh, like there was, nobody knows. There was no conclusive because it's not like they've done in depth studies on people who like, for instance, only drink diet coke over a 10 year period of time.
Speaker 2:There's gotta be an in depth study somewhere. I bet you there is.
Speaker 1:Well, and not only that, it's like how much time and money is there to dedicate just this one thing to actually have, you know, a wide enough swath of people? Yes, right To do that. It's just not, it's not even that important, it would be for entertainment purposes only, correct, and it's, and it wouldn't then be, you know, recognized by medical science because, yeah, anyway, well, we hope you all read.
Speaker 2:Read a book.
Speaker 1:Definitely I need a book.
Speaker 2:I know I gotta, I gotta figure out which book I'm reading next, but I do have several on a list that I want to read.
Speaker 1:Okay, if anyone wants to know, I'll tell you what I have right now. Okay, the family inside working with the multiple, the multiple or my grandma much personalities. Okay, internal psychology of the family unit. I'm reading the bad feminist by Roxanne Gay, which is that's on my. So Roxanne Gay is an author I really love and I'm just going through her whole anthology of books and that's the current one I'm on. I'm not gonna say that one because I haven't started yet. The finest judges money can buy, which is an old book, it's not new, and it dovetails on the other one I'm reading right now, which is Lady Justice, and that is very current, current, current. And then I am doing a historical fiction right now, which, okay, I use the the Libby app For library and I just got a copy of killers of the flower moon, and so the book.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just started that and I think I've had it for like two days and I've already like a third of the way through and I didn't even have that much time to read. So it's really easy read, it's not a style.
Speaker 1:No, it's not a style that I appreciate in the writing, but I um, yeah, there's things about it I appreciate, but it's one of those ones where you're just like okay, the. I think the basic premise is skewed and in in a way that I'm not comfortable with. If that makes any sense, I don't think it really centers what should be talked about, and and that is a problem for me- what are you with the movie?
Speaker 2:Okay, what are you reading? Um, no, nothing, I said nothing. Okay, yeah, I just have a list of your reading, read. But I reading tick tock, yes, I mean literally, that takes up my day, my free time. I'm scrolling tick tock, um, but yeah, books, books are. It's good for your brain, it's good for your brain.
Speaker 1:So it makes for me. It makes me think about the world and about my daily life very differently when I'm reading than when I'm not. I agree with that. Oh, by the way, so when I was in the allergist office getting my skin prick test and I'm dying like I know I'm going to be dying Like as soon as we started off, you know, she's like All right, and I'm like, okay, I'm just letting you know, do not leave the room, I'm gonna blow up blah, blah, blah, you know, and I'm like dreading the itching, burning pain that I'm about to experience. So I pull up my book you know what I mean and I'm just like, okay, I'm not going to think about it. I'm not going to think about it, you know, and I'm just going to dive into this book. You know diversionary tactic to try and get my brain, you know, off of itching, burning pain. And it did work. But I was like, also, don't leave the room, you know. And I was like I'm not even gonna listen to you.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to read my book and you know, but it does change the way we think perspective. You know it does change not just in the way we're looking at things mentally or visually, but also like the way we think about things. I think in a really I can't say good or bad, but in a very different way than anything we see on screens. Yeah, c, not read. C, c, all right Well we can wrap it, so where can people find us?
Speaker 2:Instagram, facebook and also we're on. Apple, spotify, youtube, hey, youtube. Don't know how to get there still, but it's on. Look for it. Look it up on YouTube. Hopefully you can find it. We do a YouTube live which airs before our podcast. So if you're anxious to get to the next one, you can always find us on YouTube there, and then you can email us at sisters declassified at gmailcom. So there you go.
Speaker 1:We look forward to you contacting us.
Speaker 2:All right, have a great day. Bye.