EB 407: Our Top 10 Moments of 2023

Welcome to “Ear Biscuits,” the podcast where two lifelong friends talk about life for a long time. I’m Rhett. And I’m Link. My voice sounded shaky. This week at the round table of dim lighting, it’s maybe my favorite episode of the year. It’s an episode of reflection, where we look back at our experiences over this year. Pretty meta if you think that this is one of your greatest moments of the year, is this podcast. Yeah. Because this is all about the greatest moments in our lives. Yeah. Top 10, did you do 10 again? I did 10 again. My top 10 moments, which we always expand to kind of like, experiences, or happenings, or occurrences of the year. Did you have trouble narrowing it down to 10? Because that’s also an indication of how good of a year you’ve had. I feel like… No, this year I did not- You had trouble making 10? I didn’t have trouble making 10. But I don’t think I have as many honorable mentions. It was a simpler year. I deleted my honorable mentions. Yeah. I don’t know why I did that. Yeah, I’m not gonna mention mine. But it think… They’re honorably unmentions. When I went through my first batch of just sort of thoughtless thinking… Mm hm. Which is what we almost called this podcast, I had 12. And so I was like, “Oh, that’s a pretty good year. You can think of 12 things that you were happy about.” The thing that I do is – That’s one a month. I write down everything that happened, and I don’t put a filter on it. I probably have a list of like 40 or 50 things – Everything that happened? What do you mean? That was of note. Like anything that was a milestone, or anything that happened, or anything I did that- But you sit down and think about everything, are you’re saying you go to some note that you’ve been taking notes on? I usually look through my photos. Yeah, I definitely do that. And I look through my notes and I look through my letters, my physical letter correspondence with my pen pals. It’s funny how- The things that I’ve said. Our photo albums have become our journals. Yeah. If you don’t journal, which I don’t journal enough for it to be a reliable indicator of all the things that I did. Oh, it was funny, I was listening to some psychologist Yeah. On some podcast, you know how you get drawn into some podcasts? And he was saying, “You should only journal your negative experiences,” and then he had some long reason for it. That sounds horrible. No, it actually was… I’m not even gonna go into it. It was kinda fascinating. It was like, well, that would be an… Maybe we’ll do that next year. The top 10 worst things that happened this year. The bottom 10? Yeah. Who wants start? Let’s go. Let’s go. You start, you got on long sleeves. Oh, okay. Gotta have a reason. I’ll start. Why, do you think your number one is gonna be the closer? I guarantee you that your number 10 is not my number 10, if that’s what you’re wondering. Yeah, but if I go first, then that means your number one, unless, well, things get out of order, but your number one is last. And I wanna make sure that the very ending of this thing is the best between the two of us. This is another reason why I wanted you to go first. Because I am reasonably certain, if not completely certain, that my number one is on your list, but I don’t know if it’s your number one, which is interesting. But it is definitely my number one. So, we’re doing something different. We discussed this a second ago. We’ve been doing this wrong, Right. That in the past, when we get to a moment that we both share, we let the guy who had it ranked higher talk about it then. But that steals the thunder of the guy who has it ranked higher, especially if it’s his last thing, ’cause then he’s talking about his best thing before the end. Right. And so this is an effort to make sure that we both get to talk about our number one, last. Yes. I’ll go first. So I think we’ll get there, regardless of who starts. Coming in at number 10, for me, of the year, is a milestone that will never happen again. Turning 45. It’s one of those things that only happens once. Colonoscopy. The 2,500th episode of “Good Mythical Morning.” Quite a milestone. Wasn’t on your list, was it? No, it wasn’t. I realized, I was like, man, this is, you know- It’s not that it doesn’t mean a lot. Right, it wasn’t on my list, and then I’m like, well, that’s a nice, round celebratory number. I’m waiting for 3,000 to be on my list. I think 2,500 is a better number than 3,000. I don’t know, there’s a five in it. Yeah, I want more 0’s. I like a good five. Five is my favorite number. I didn’t know that. You didn’t know that? Five is your favorite number? You’ve got five fingers on each hand. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You got a five-inch pecker… That’s stupid, man. Let’s see what else. Don’t laugh at that. Let’s see what else. Don’t laugh at that. I’m talking about when it’s flaccid, man. I mean, it was a joke. Flaccid, I’m talking about flaccid! Laugh at it. I’m talking about flaccid, man! It was just a joke, so you can laugh at it. Flacid! It’s a compliment! You know what’s a… Jen is just like… [Film Crew Member] “Don’t put a camera on me, nobody…” Okay, all right. It was quite a milestone. Yeah, it was. I regret not putting it on my list. No, I have a GMM related thing. The fact that we’re still doing it. We’re still doing it. You know, we wrote the song, we sang the song, we had a good time celebrating and then we put it out into the world, and you know, it was a sentimental episode, which reminds us of the special place that “Good Mythical Morning” holds in people’s lives and their daily routines. And it’s very relational, and there’s a deep connection that goes beyond just, “Are these goofballs gonna make me laugh today or not?” Or, “How many more times are they gonna eat?” You know? Mm-hmm. Once you really get involved in it, it’s so friendly that it’s almost familial. Uh huh. But sometimes friendship is better than family, because it’s by choice. Wow. I’ll leave it at that. I make that choice every day. I just wanted to acknowledge that after doing it for so many years, for so many episodes, you know, it’s still an important part of our lives. Yeah, and I think that one of the reasons, I mean- But only number 10. Obviously the reason that we say, “Okay, there’s a round number, let’s celebrate it,” is because when something… And this is probably why it’s not on my list, because “GMM” is this fixture. Right. It doesn’t feel like a moment, so it doesn’t cross my mind in the same way. It’s like a lane, a very important lane in my life, that I’m kinda always in. Don’t plan on getting out of it at any particular… You know, not soon, I’m not getting outta the lane soon, but it doesn’t really register as a moment. But that’s why we dressed up in orange suits and sang the song, I just forgot about it. But my number 10 is GMM-related. Oh, it is? Okay. And I actually think this is probably not in your top 10, but this is… I think you enjoyed yourself as much as I’ve seen you enjoy yourself, as when we watched my fricking “Real World” audition tape on “Good Mythical Morning.” That was one of… Oh, that’s your top moment. Well, it doesn’t have to be… I’m going, “This makes it on the list because of the significance of it.” Did I enjoy it? No, it was horrible. It was torture. And I think I said it on the podcast, and maybe I said it on the show. I didn’t know we were doing it as an episode! I knew that we were doing it on the “Mythical Society.” Right. And I remember sitting here watching it… First of all, it was like, not only was I… You know, I was embarrassed by my old self for all the reasons that anyone is embarrassed by their old selves. You don’t like the way you look or the way you sound. It’s just cringey and embarrassing. If that makes you feel better about it, yep. But I was also hesitant about the fact that I was such a different person and I said some things that I was like, “Are people gonna be mad at me for the things I used to think?” You know how people are these days. Yeah. People get mad at you if you did something in the past, even if you changed. And so I was sort of like… There was a part of me that was like… I was on the verge of being like, “I don’t know if we should release that ‘Real World’ thing on the Society.” And then I turn around and I show up one day, and they’re like, “We’re doing it as an episode today.” And somehow it just… I usually know the things that we’re gonna do in general, but somehow… Because I mean, it’s funny, ’cause we were in the meeting the other day, and Kevin was talking about how it was his idea to… He was like, he watched it, and he was like, “I think we’ve got enough here to make this into a ‘GMM’ episode. That’ll be perfect for bringing people over to the Society to see the whole thing.” Yeah, thank God they didn’t ask you. And you know what? I’m glad they didn’t ask me, ’cause if they had asked me, I would’ve said no, and I’m actually glad that it got out there. So is that what makes it number 10, is that it was a visceral experience, that it was unforgettable or something more? No, I think, for me, the reason that it carries significance, not too much, just number 10, is I think when we shared our stories in 2020 and we were able to finally peel back the history of who we used to be… And we had been concealing that very strategically for a really long time, because it was difficult to explain and embarrassing and all that stuff. Yeah. There was this sense of like, when you take the part of you that you have the most shame about, and you bring it out into the open to the public and just talk about it, for me, that was a really transformational thing that changed the way that I see the way that I talk on the internet about myself, right? But to not just hear me talk about it, but to see that guy! Yeah, okay. Is a different… It is a few levels up of exposure and vulnerability that I think. Yeah. At this point, nudes of me could leak and it would be like, “Okay, whatever, I don’t care.” You know what I’m saying? I don’t think I’ve got any that could leak. But at this point, I wouldn’t care if they did, is ultimately what I’m saying. If it’s a nude and you are leaking, that’s really bad. Well, leaking what though? Exactly, anything is gonna be bad. I’m sorry I said that. Should I go to my number nine? Please. Okay, yeah, I’m having… Where did I put it number nine? Okay, this was the year that I got my… Braces off? My tattoo. Oh, yeah. My plant quarter-sleeve. Yep. Jade was at the end of last year, but both sessions of the plant were this year. But the moment is… It’s a kind of a two for one here, because it’s the fact that I got something that now is big and is on my body forever, and… But there was this… What we discussed about the picture going viral and like the whole butch twink thing, and what I said about it at the time. Blink. Yeah. “Link the Blink.” I gotta be honest, I think that after the episode, I continued to… After recording the episode here, where I talked about it and I said the thing about, like… I said something about, I don’t- Stink? “I don’t sweat the stink and-” “I follow instincts.” I follow my instincts and this is who I am. And stink makes you smell. “But I don’t sweat labels, cause sweat makes you stink.” Honestly, I think where there was more reflection for me after that. All right. And I’ll say that I had a difficult time after that, and I realized that what I said on this podcast about it was a little aspirational. You wanna be a twink, what? What do you mean? No, that I want to not care what people think about my tattoo. Got it. And I want to not care about labels that people put on me, and say that- Okay. I look like something that I’m not. And I put my best foot forward and say, “You know what? I’m gonna assert that, just yourself, be weird as you, I’m gonna go into that zone, and say, I don’t sweat labels and I’m gonna say something that is… I don’t know, that you can put on TikTok.’” You were manifesting. I was manifesting that a little, more than I realized, honestly. Emphasis on man. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s pretty good, Rhett. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every once in a while. It’s still a little hard for me to laugh about it, but I’m not gonna say that… I don’t know, what I’m gonna say is, It’s part of the story of my tattoo now, that the thing that I’ve had to learn is it really tested my resolve of, am I standing by the decision I made, And who I am. And not some label, or somebody saying something offhand that might get millions of views, just because it’s funny. There was a point where I thought about… I engaged in my mind a little bit too much after the fact and it shook me up a little bit, and it was a test of resolve and do I really care too much? We don’t experience a whole lot of being misunderstood. It does happen. I do feel like the feedback… The Internet is becoming more of a place where there’s more and more pitfalls of feedback, you know? Mm-hmm. There’s more and more opportunities to make a healthier decision for us to tune things out. Yep. To not take certain feedback into account. I think a lot of the Internet, it’s just… I mean, people may be thinking what I’m saying, it’s like, “Well, this is nothing new,” you know, people have always been this way on the Internet. But I feel like we are experiencing more of this, and I chalk it up to a cultural shift. Oh, yeah. I mean, I don’t think we’re… I think we’re putting more of ourselves out there and maybe that’s part of it? But it’s just a cultural shift. I’ve been talking to you about this for the past year or two, and I felt like every time I said it, you would say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” ‘Cause I would tell you about how, regardless of the source, I’m not gonna name sources, in terms of where the comments are, because they happen to be everywhere. It would stick in your craw, or get in your head. Well, I’ve always been someone who is not… I don’t spend a lot of time in the comments, but it doesn’t take much time at all to find something that strikes a nerve, right? Yeah. You’ve heard every YouTuber in the world say you can see a hundred positive comments and then that one is the one you remember. And I’ve always kind of just been like, I’ve got a thick skin and I know we’re not for everybody. I’m not for everybody. But the thing that you’re talking about, which is like being misunderstood or being misrepresented, being mischaracterized according to the way you feel about yourself, I feel like that’s something that has increased in frequency that I’ve seen. And so I’ve been in a place where I was like, man, I’ve been doing this for 15 years and it feels like the frequency with which I’m thinking about this is increasing. So the frequency in which I’m looking at anything that’s said about us, is going down and down and down. So yeah, I think it has increased And I think that- And I do think it’s cultural. And I think the reason why this is a moment for me, or the second half of this moment is about this experience, is because yeah, it was the first time that I feel like, it got in my head and then it started to spill into like what you’re talking about, like people’s criticism of me, or assessment of me on “Good Mythical Morning.” And you know, I think it started to have an impact on me. It started to have an impact on what I thought of the audience I was talking to. And, you know, I started to get angry. And I’m no longer talking about just the tattoo response. Because then I started to let in- I started to pick up on more of these like, critical comments about all types of stuff. Oh, picky eating, or personality, or what’s the word? Attitude. Mm hm. And then it became this self-serving thing that’s like, oh, people are criticizing my attitude and now it’s given me a bad attitude. Hmm. Like, and it’s impacting my performance, it’s impacting my ability to be the best version of myself. And that made me more angry. And so it was like this negative spiral, that, I don’t know if the tattoo thing started it, but it was a big part of it. And you know, I feel like it was, like you said, you were coming to these realizations, or having these experiences at a different point, an earlier point, when I was like, oh yeah, I’m done. I’m not phased by it, and I wasn’t. But then I had this point where it’s like, damn, I’m getting really phased by this. And I know this is not a good head space for me to be in. And I’m like, okay, at this point I should give some sort of update that should be- And you know what, I got over it, now I’m totally great. I don’t think I can say that. It’s not that I think that I’ve… I’ve processed it in a way that now I’m still trying to figure out how to fully integrate this. What’s the word? I mean, fully integrate the conclusions I’m coming to into the practices. Like the way that I read comments, the way that I… The amount of power that I give. I think it’s just having my guard up a little bit more and being a little bit more sensitive to how I process things and knowing when to step away. And it’s something that I would’ve advised other people to do, but I had never experienced it in this way, and allowed it, kind of allowed the negativity to get inside my head. I think it’s the first time that really happened because you can release something that’s outside of yourself, you know, maybe it’s a serial and people are gonna criticize it. And it’s like there’s, you have to… It is challenging to process, right? But it’s different than putting yourself out there and there’s a line, right? Yeah. In the personal aspect of it. So I think this is the year that I was like, okay, this shook me up, and I think it’s a good thing. I’m grateful for it and I’m adding to my tattoo. What are you gonna do? Go down my arm. With what? A surprise? Erm. A surprise? More plants. Oh, more plants. Specifically. Which is what you were planning on doing. Yeah, right, exactly. Yeah. There we go. We got… There’s a whole podcast in this. There’s a whole podcast here. But I think when we do our… This is a long, long teaser. Well, it’s not that long, ’cause we usually talk about, like give our like deconstruction updates in February. A lot of what you’re talking about has been an element of what I would call roughly my spiritual… Attempt at spiritual growth. And this has been, because of some of the things I’ve been reading have been directly like informing the way that I’ve been processing some of these things and like… Okay. And so, more to say at that point. It’s ultimately a positive milestone of personal growth for me. And I’ll take it as a good teaser for what you’re gonna talk about next. Yeah, and I will say that that is the big thing is that it is good. Like having- I think it’s good. Having received it makes you a better person is ultimately what I’m saying. Yeah, and I’m not, I’m not mad, I’m not mad at anybody. Number nine. My solo camping trip, I thought it might be higher than this. Oh, okay. I know why it’s not ’cause you already… But if I’m ranking it on in terms of, you know, like meaningfulness or enjoyment, like, you know, I had the incident with the van sound, which, when this comes out, when does this come out? What date does this thing launch? It comes out on 12/18. Okay. So by this point, when you’re listening to this, I will have put… It’s the last thing that I recorded when I went up for that trip, is me in the van. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I still had never launched it, ’cause I kind of forgot about it, until I went through this list. Oh, I’ve got one more video I can put out. But anyway, yeah. It was still a really significant thing for me that trip, and reminded me that I have to make time for myself. And need to ideally do it every single year, but if not every single year, no more than like every two years, have time where I’m going out and spending some time alone. So, yeah, it was… And you’ll check that van beeper before you do next time. Oh, well I could’ve checked it before and it just started while I was out there. That’s true, that’s true. Yeah, so I think that I kind of… What the significance of it is, I learned what I want to do differently next time, ultimately, you know what I mean? Yeah. But still reinforcing the importance of doing it. You have a longing to do it again, right? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I definitely wanna do it again. All right. My number eight is- What about your number nine? Oh, you already went. Yeah. My number eight is a solo experience of a different type. I’ve actually put… What, what’s happening? Oh, you… This comes out on my wife’s birthday. And you knew that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You knew that December 18th was… Oh, of course. Right. I don’t forget my wife’s birthday. It’s a week before Christmas. What was I saying? My number eight is a solo experience of another type. Oh, okay. It is The Streamy Awards. Yep. Streamy Awards, you left me in a lurch. Mm hm. ‘Cause you had… I was hoping you’d put this on your list, ’cause I didn’t. You had Covid. Covid. I did. And… I was watching Citizen Kane while you were… “Rhett McLaughlin was my best friend.” Because you weren’t watching The Streamys. No, I did, I finished Citizen Kane right before The Streamys. I put this on the list and I’m gonna refer back to it with something else on the list. So there’s, in my mind there’s, it’s related to something, but I’ll just share the portion of it. Yeah, just the fact that like, okay, something that we have always done together, I had to do by myself. I had to introduce an award and then I had to accept the show of the year. Oh, I’m sorry, we didn’t get to do that. But I had to be ready to do that. Right, right. So going up there and like doing a comedy bit, in front of all of our peers, and, you know, all of the world watching, it was a higher pressure situation than I wanted to admit to myself. Like, it felt like, it’s like, oh man, my approach is generally to like it’s very… I’m more seat in my pants kind of thing. And you’re more like planning. And we make a good team when we go up there on stage and do something like that. And it was so last minute, that I just felt like it was a test and I didn’t know how I would do. And I was relieved that I pulled it off. That I did good. You did great. It was very funny. It was maybe the funniest thing that happened that night. And erm… Which again- Funnier than if we were there together? Not a high bar. Maybe just as funny. It was the funniest thing that happened. Just as funny as if we were both there. So it’s, you know, I just think that it’s… It was a milestone moment for me where I had to deliver, and I couldn’t, you know, you just can’t… We have the luxury at certain points, I mean, I feel this way, I hope you feel this way sometimes, where it’s like, hey, in certain situations, when we are put on the spot as a duo, you can cut your eyes at the other guy and know that he’s got it. Yep. You know? Yeah, for sure. So, and we’re so good in that mode, that we learn to depend on each other in certain ways that like the two parts equal the whole, so it’s not about ever doing that comedic… Especially going out, you know, going out there on a stage and there’s not even a podium in front of you. You know, you’re not hiding anything. Hmm. So yeah, it was a big test and a big win. And it was kind of a first of its kind for me. Well, maybe you have to get sick next year, so I can see what it feels like. See what it feels like. Yeah, I thought it went well. And, I mean, I could tell you were a little nervous, ’cause we talked beforehand. Oh, because- Yeah. We had an idea. Yeah, we had this… If we won show of the year, you were gonna call me on stage. Right. I called you and I pitched what I was doing and like you gave notes on it. Yeah, and then we talked about what we would do. So I was gonna call you if we won. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn’t. We didn’t win. Remember when We didn’t win? And I found out we didn’t win, when, you know, before the announcement, like seven minutes before show of the year was announced, I knew we hadn’t won because of the way that it was announced by getting letters from people. And I saw letters that weren’t in Good Mythical Morning and knew someone else had won. Remember how it was done? Yeah. Hopefully they don’t do that again. Yeah, that’s not a great way to do it. Ear Biscuits is brought to you by BetterHelp. You know, there was a certain point with all the Neals giving gifts to each other that we decided, you know what, let’s just do it for the kids. All this nonsense trying to gift gifts to different adults. It’s just too much. You gave up. We had to figure that out. It was wonderful? I’m sorry. Well, whether or not you’re in a gift giving family, and apparently you aren’t, you can define how- For the kids. You give to yourself. So whether it’s by starting therapy, going easier on yourself during the tough moments, or treating yourself to a day of complete rest, remember to give yourself some love this holiday season. We’re huge advocates for therapy. We both have been doing it for quite some time. So if you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It’s entirely online. It’s designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. In the season of giving, give yourself what you need with BetterHelp. Visit ‘betterhelp.com/ear’ today to get 10% off your first month. That’s ‘betterhelp.com/ear’. Ear Biscuits is supported by Rosetta Stone. You know, occasionally I find myself in a situation where I begin speaking with someone, and I realize that they do not speak my language, and they begin speaking another language. And you don’t speak theirs. And I would really love, if I could continue that conversation. In comes Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program, available on desktop or as an app, that truly immerses you in the language you wanna learn. They’ve used trusted experts for 30 years, with millions of users and 25 languages offered, including, but not limited to, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, Japanese and Polish. Rosetta Stone immerses you in many ways, for long-term retention. There are no English translations. So you really learn to speak, listen and think in that language. The best part is their built-in, true-accent feature, that gives you feedback on your pronunciation, so you sound good when you speak. And it’s an amazing value. A lifetime membership has all 25 languages, for any and all trips or language needs in your life. It’s a $399 program. But with our code, you can get it for just $199. Don’t put off learning that language. There’s no better time than right now to get started. For a very limited time, you can get Rosetta Stone’s lifetime membership for 50% off. That’s 50% off for unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at ‘rosettastone.com/ear’ today. Number eight for me was our college friends Colorado trip. Go. It’s not on your list? No, it might be my number one. Maybe it’s on my list. If it’s higher on your list, I can’t talk about it now, we wait until- Oh yeah, keep going. Oh snap. Our boys are gonna hate us. Us? You’re on your own. This is like The Streamys man. I’m not even a piece of cardboard. It was the best trip, except that Tim was late and he screwed it up. And I think that’s why it went off the list because he had too much flight trouble and… Wow, this is surprising to me. I’m gonna be completely honest… You forgot about it. I feel like that we got feedback that we talk about our trips so much, that I de-emphasized trips on my list this year. Ooh. Because it’s a privilege to be able to go on the trips that we go on and like the excursions that we go on, with friends and family and all types of stuff. And so I kind of got self-conscious about it. Okay. Well… But yes- Tim. I thought you weren’t worrying- Greg. About the comments though. Hey, I said I- If you’re a man who took some trips, let it be, Hey, I’m a man who took some trips, and I got my instincts and my stink don’t smell, ’cause I go to Colorado with my friends. Yeah, that’s not how he said it, but… It was quite a moment, boys. I guess I’ll talk about it since it is on my list. But you just didn’t do it for me this year. Well, you could say that it was great and it would be on your list- That was a joke. If you weren’t self-conscious about- Yeah, of course. Seeming like a rich dude who goes on trips. Yeah, it was great. And it would be on my list if I wasn’t trying to do some like- You know, image management. Image management. I’m beyond image management. No, I’m trying to be, but anyway, I had a good trip. I mean, it’s only number eight. I mean, don’t get too excited guys. Right. This has become an annual tradition. We’re gonna do it again in 2024. Yeah. It’s the only thing that we do like this where it- Still haven’t nailed down the plans. Boys who get… College boys who get together. It is very special. Fully committed to it. And I actually think that if I am to pick a moment- Pick a moment. Because I’m trying to do that within the moment, you know, the general moment being the trip. But the specific moment I actually think, is while we were waiting for Tim, because… Yeah, yeah, the phone call. Yeah. Where we like, conferenced him in. That was the moment for the trip. You know, we talked about it before, but it was a way of including him when he was driving across the entire state of Colorado, it seems like. Yeah. And yeah, and also the fact that we didn’t die in that river, that was pretty cool. Right. But I think that it’s a really special time and it really, you know… It’s what you might call a novel experience, right? By design, we are trying to have a novel experience when we hang out with those guys. It’s not like, Hey, just everybody come over to somebody’s house. It’s like, let’s meet in a place and have an adventure, create a memory, do something that’s somewhat dangerous, in order to create a milestone that kind of makes it seem like your life isn’t going by year after year. And the next thing you know, you’re gonna be dead. With no friends. And I will say that the recent Bigfoot sighting was on the train that we were on. That’s right. Mm hm. I mean, it was just a guy in a suit. That’s right as well. But the recent Bigfoot sighting in Colorado, on the Silverton mine train or Silverton, whatever. That train is the train that we took up to get into the water to come down. We didn’t see the Bigfoot. We saw no big feet. I love you boys. Should have been on the list. That’s my bad. So I am at number seven. Number seven for me is the experience of my father-in-law, Christy’s dad’s- Oh yeah. Brush with death. Yeah. I actually unpacked this story completely, not on the Ear Biscuits, but on my other podcast, with my dad, “Dispatches From Myrtle Beach.” So if you want to hear me talk to my dad, like tell him the whole experience. It was very scary. You know, just in a nutshell here, Christy’s dad was fishing and reached into a bait bucket and pulled out a minnow, and it’s in the river water and like cut his arm and like it was bleeding and he dressed it and two days later it was like infected. And Vinny was in, not only the emergency room, but in the ICU for over a week. He ended up having a special bacteria called Vibrio, that has like a 50% survival rate. Yeah, not good. And he survived. I mean, he’s still dealing with the infection in his arm to a certain extent now. He’s like going to a wound specialist and still trying to figure it out. But I mean, within a few hours of finding out that he was in the ICU, we were like booking a plane ticket. And when you’re… The moment for me is the decision to start booking that plane home. Like at 3:00 AM we were booking a flight that we would be on a few hours from then. And when I told Christy, take your big suitcase and pack what you would wear at a funeral. You know, that’s a moment that I’m just not gonna forget. And then when we show up and we’re like taking turns, spending the night in ICU with him, so everybody else can go home and sleep and stuff like that. He was always conscious. And he was making positive progress. So it was like… The scenario was pretty encouraging, but still very scary and certainly still touch and go. But the feeling of when you live apart, and, you know, you’ve got family members, loved ones who are like going through stuff and you have to make that decision of when do you go home, and how quickly do you get there. You know, something clicked in my brain. I was like, you know what, I’ve got the means and the ability, in terms of how we run the company and stuff like that, to drop everything and be where I need to be. And you know, I know there’s some people who don’t have that luxury. And I was like, this needs to be a no-brainer. And when I got there, and we were there caring for Christy’s dad, there’s just something about the feeling of knowing that you’re doing the right thing. And that you’re putting your love into action. And there’s a… I don’t wanna make this… It kind of feels weird to say this, that it’s kind of like, I feel like I’m kind of making it about me. But there’s a, I won’t say it’s a reward, but there’s a satisfaction in knowing that you’re doing the right thing for the people that you love. And sometimes it’s hard to have clarity when an emergency hits to make a decision, to make the right decision. You know, I felt like we could’ve waited. Well, you know, we will see how he does and then we’ll go home. And for us, it was the right decision to like, “We’re gonna get on this next plane.” Mm hm. And so logistically everything worked out to be there. And it was, you know, when we went home for Thanksgiving, it’s like, I mean, Christy’s dad is a different person because of this near death experience. You can tell by the look on his face mean. You mean personality wise? In terms of his attitude. Like, I mean, he’s got a new- Lease on life. He’s got a new lease on life and he’s got… You can see the gratitude associated with that. And I could tell that it made a difference that we were there. Mm. And he let us know, in a way that he doesn’t normally talk to us about these things. It’s like, so to see that, like he was impacted by the fact that we were all there for him was very powerful. And it’s the type of thing that, like, you know, when I’m on the… One day I hope to be on the receiving end of that. Whenever something happens to me. Whoa, oh, you don’t be on the receiving end of bacteria like that. No. Come on. But you know what I mean. Don’t manifest that. So that was, it was a big moment. And thank God he didn’t die. I mean, the past few years, I would have a moment about somebody dying. You know, that’s what it’s been- Right. For the past couple of years for me. So I’m glad that it didn’t happen with him. That’s my number seven. My number seven is giving the commencement at NC State’s engineering graduation. All right, you’re gonna have to save that one. Okay. So that’s your number seven? Yeah. All right, so am I going to my number six now? You go to your number six? Yep, number six is next for me. Yeah. My number six is Scooter Club. Now I’ve talked about this in a number of different ways, but I’ve never been… I don’t usually always just call it the Scooter Club. But I am a member of a club, a social club, called The Scooter Club. And I also call this… Why? I also… I’ll tell you, I also call this my dad friends. Okay. Or parents of Lando’s friends. We all met when, when Lando was on a flag football team two years ago. And then the parents, we all would show up, and we all kind of hit it off and we started hanging out. But then the next level was the dads, just the guys started hanging out. And so occasionally we’ll do that, maybe it’s like once every two months or so. And then we like planned a trip to Vegas. We went to Vegas earlier this year. So all of a sudden what was like this social group, that I was like folded into this bonafide, well, it’s not a bonafide… Scooter Club. An unofficial but almost official club. During the pandemic there were like, up above us in a different part of the neighborhood. they would all get together and hang out, in their front yard, socially distanced, and they built a friendship, and maintained some sanity through the pandemic. And their kids, the kids would like be scootering around in the neighborhood, while they would be like sitting in the front yard socially distanced- Okay. Having a beer. So the kids were on the scooters. So the dads called themselves- That’s helpful. The scooter club for their kids to be on the scooters. And so there was a point where I was officially invited to be a part of the club, along with a couple other guys. Have you made your hats yet? And then we had like, somebody bought patches, that say scooter club, and I’m putting ’em on hats, and it’s not completed. Now if you go back to Vegas, are you gonna do the thing where you all wear the same hat so you can find each other, and they’re all hot pink? Yeah, no, they’re gonna be black. Like a youth group? It’s more like a biker club, but it says scooter club on it. So, I mean, at this stage of life, it’s nice to find a whole other group of friends. You know, I like to be social. And I don’t wanna wear out my welcome, with you, or with… I’ve got really good friends. You’re one of ’em, Mike’s one of ’em. Our college buddies are long distance, some of ’em. They didn’t make the list. They didn’t make the list, and these guys guys did, sorry. You know, and now I have a group of dad friends, we’re hanging out, we’re doing something Saturday night. So it’s like, it’s just nice to have another social outlet, where we’re just like, we’re all on the same page. Just chill out, hang out. All we need is a good fire pit. It’s nice. And this is the year that that like solidified. Now it might all, as we know with friend groups, it might fall apart at any moment, we know that. And also your scooter club connection ended up… That was the pie eating contest too, was that group. Well yeah, but that ended up getting us into… Trouble. Halloween Horror Nights. That’s right. That’s right, I had a connect, there for the Halloween Night’s. One of your scooter boys is like… See, you’re benefiting from this. He’s like the man over there. Yep, yep. Yeah, I mean, I’ll benefit from your scooter club a lot. Just as long as I don’t have to be in it. As long as I can benefit from it. Yeah, it’s gonna be a totally separate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re never gonna meet these guys. Right. Well, I’ve met that one, I met that one. Yeah, you met him, but it was in a work context. My number six- They’ve actually asked not to meet you. Yeah, well that’s good, ’cause I… Yeah, they also- I made it very clear. They also don’t listen to this podcast, or watch any of our videos. Yeah, I prefer that, for your fans and for my friends. Me too, me too. So we can talk shit about ’em. Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, yeah. My number six was the release of my “James and the Shame” EP. I thought this would be higher. Okay, it’s the second one. Well, I think, yeah, you know, I think it’s where it is. I’m sure, I don’t remember, ’cause I don’t remember much, but I’m sure that last year my first album was higher on the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it is funny because I was just… We do our AMA on the Mythical Society, and I was just talking about this on the AMA. You know, one of the things that I’ve been trying to figure out, is well, about, you know, the “James and the Shame” stuff is like, the whole point of it is for it to be, it’s a hobby. It’s a hobby. It’s a release, right? It’s a “get to,” not a “got to.” So many of the things that we do, I mean, first of all, our whole job is a “get to,” not a “got to,” but as anyone who has a job that they really enjoy will tell you, lots of the “get tos” become “got tos” as soon as you need to make money off of it. Or it needs to- A lot of “get tos” become “got tos” when you gotta go through. Right, and when you’ve got a team and a business and all this stuff. And so, while even something like this podcast, which is like, this is not work, let’s be honest, it’s not work, right? But when you take a step back and you think about- It’s not as easy as it looks. You think about the product that is Ear Biscuits, and you think about all the meetings we have, Jamie, about, you know, what we’re doing here and how to make it better. And there’s a work element to all the things that we do. And the other thing is, every single thing that we do, and as a part of Mythical, we have to talk about, we have to tell people to watch it, right? It’s the marketing side of things. Like, oh, we gotta, in fact, we’ve already skipped over where we were supposed to do the ad in the middle of this episode- Let’s do it right now. As an example. This is a good point to do it. Like literally right- Let’s do it right now. See, just as an example, like, we want you to know that you can get 20% off all gifted plans to the Mythical Society. So when you give a plan to someone, probably including yourself, if you wanna cheat the system, between the 19th and the 26th of December, you get 20% off. More information ‘mythicalsociety.com’. Do you see now- It’s like that AMA he was talking about. I am happy- You can experience that. I’m happy to do that, right? But if we get excited about something, then we also have to find a way to get someone else excited about it, right? We’re constantly, like, every time we get a new piece of merch- Yeah, I get it. We’re taking a picture, right? But I don’t.. So is there a contrast coming? Yes. I desperately do not want what I’m doing with my music to become that. Do you understand? I don’t want it to just be another thing that I’m trying to get someone to care about. Yeah. But there’s an element of it, like, okay, yeah, I’m gonna do the photo shoot and I’m gonna release this merch. And I’m gonna go and record myself playing these songs. Right. But the part that I enjoy about what I do in my music is the music. I enjoy writing songs and I enjoy recording songs. And if you’re gonna record ’em, well you should release ’em. And I do enjoy people who enjoy the music connecting with the music, right? But the moment that I start thinking about it in a way where I’m like, this has to work, or this has to make money, or this has to become this thing that I promote and takes up space in my mind- Yeah. It’s just not fun anymore. Like, I want it to be fun, you know. So are you saying that’s why it was number seven on your list? No, it’s number six. Well- Number six. It’s number six because, yes, you know, obviously like the first time, the first album. Okay, yeah. And the meaningful sort of theme of that album being around deconstruction. And it was, yeah, it was the first. Right. And this was like the follow up. But I do think that it was the year in which… Because there’s more going on at Mythical that I’m creatively excited about, than was going on last year that I was creatively excited about. We’ll talk about that at a later number. I think that it was kind of like, all right, you know, I don’t have a lot of space in my brain for this, other than it being the thing that, like, I go home at night and sometimes I’m like, I don’t wanna watch TV, I wanna get my guitar and I wanna start playing. And then next thing you know, I’m writing a song, and that’s a fun activity for me. I’m never gonna stop doing that. But if I’m like, I’ve got to set aside time to do this thing that’s work, then it’s no longer fun. Do you know the band, “Fun,” which I’m a fan of, do you know, they called it “Fun,” because they were like, we’re gonna do this because we think it’s fun. And we’re gonna do it until it’s no longer fun. And that’s why there’s only like two albums, or maybe one, maybe two albums. They broke up because they were like, it’s not fun anymore. Yeah. Because that one album was so big- It can happen. And they were like, “Oh, this is too big. Everyone’s coming to our shows. And it’s not fun anymore because now it’s become this thing that we have to maintain.” And so I think that- Interesting. It’s been good, it’s on the list because it’s been really significant. And I love it, but it’s lower on the list, because the level of enjoyment in the second round was like, every time I do it, I’m learning a little bit more about the parts that I don’t want to do. And I think the part that I don’t want to do is to promote it at all. Mm. You know what I’m saying? And it’s like, so maybe I’ll do another album at some point, but maybe- You’ll never hear about it. Maybe you won’t even know about it. Or maybe you’ll find another compromise, that won’t send you that far. I’m sure I’ll do more music. I’m not done with music. I’ve already written another seven, eight songs. But- Really? I’m just saying, just ’cause I’m constantly writing, but I’m not gonna be like, “All right, I gotta go set aside a weekend and make a music video,” et cetera, you know. My number five is… This is two moments at different points in the year that when combined make a milestone of this year, as the year that I decided I am not going off of my anxiety medication. Okay. This is the year that I’ve made that decision. And it took me going off my anxiety medication twice. Yeah, I went off. And I think I talked about it on this show, didn’t I? Did I? Yes. Back in like April. Earlier in the year. Mm hmm. And I would cringe so much if I watched it back, because I’m probably gonna say the same thing now that I said then, which was, you know what? I just felt like I was in a good place and I had a number of things in place, ongoing therapy. It’s been a great year for therapy for me. You know, wrapping up my second year with my therapist, like, that’s going great. Yeah, so I talked about making the decision, like being lulled in this position and thinking that like, oh, I don’t… I have enough of a support and I don’t need this. I don’t need the medication. And I went off and then I decided to go back on. And do you- And then I talked about it after I decided to go back on. And now, and then, it was, yeah, it was just this past month that I decided… Yeah, when I got back home from like Christy’s dad being in the hospital, I’d forgotten to take the medication with me when I went. Oh, and then you were like, well, maybe I’ll just- And when I got back… Just go for it. I was like, you know what? I’ve been off of it. Which first of all, don’t go off of medication, cold Turkey. Don’t. And if you find yourself that you skipped, and, oh, this is… That doesn’t make it any convenient time to just not take whatever medication you’re on. Mm hm. That was not smart for me. But I was like, I kind of.. I was like, you know, I want to go off and I have my reasons and I’m not sharing them because they’re not good reasons. But I made it more… It seemed more eloquent to me than like, oh, I don’t need the medication anymore. Because I know that that’s what people say and that that means that the medication’s working. And that’s what I said back in April or May, and here I am. And I was like, I mean, you know, I just feel like, I mean, I’m eating a little bit of crow here, but I think it, I just want to… It’s something that I’ve really decided. It took me forgetting and having to go through it a second time to realize that- How long did you go off it the second time, and what made you change your mind? It was, the second time, it was like, it might’ve been five weeks, might’ve been six weeks. And I just, you know… And did it coincide with some of what I was saying, about like the tattoo stuff, and the comments and things getting in my head. Yes. Like the level of rumination and like downward spiral of like… I just found that there were things that I was… And there were other things too, like challenges, that we were facing here at work that like, I remember at a certain point when I would get up and walk the dogs that I would look up and I would see the trees, and I had space in my life to enjoy the trees. And then I found, I’d observed that when I would walk my dogs, I was looking down. Because I was not… My eyes were just making sure I wasn’t gonna trip, because my brain… I was in my brain, I was just inside of my head, obsessing about the challenges that we were facing, or something that I was concerned or upset about. And that’s rumination. It’s just, it’s a downward spiral. It just keeps going. And I would say to myself, “You know what? You’re not getting anywhere. Stop. Just don’t think about it right now. Compartmentalize, something that I’ve been really good at in the past. And I could not do it. I could not do it. I was like, oh, two beats later, thinking about it again. Intensely. No, no, just put it aside. I got it, it’s like, you know… So I observed that. I observed like just a level of reactivity, irritability. Some of it is coming off, maybe some of it’s coming off the medication, but then I… But for me it was also like just quality of life, quality of life, quality of relationships. And so just kind of saying, “Alright, I’m not gonna fall for my own tricks.” So at this point, ’cause I mean, like, I know, every time you talk to my wife about this, she tells you the same thing, right? Yeah, yeah. She’s like, I did it years ago, right. She was like, you’ve gotta come off of it a couple of times. And then I’m not saying every… People who want to come off with a medication for whatever reason, and are successful in doing it, great. People who wanna stay on it, great. We’re not telling you one’s right and one’s wrong, but at this point, is it the kind of thing that, like you’ve discussed with Christy? Oh yeah. So it’s like, Hey, don’t let me do that again, because it just seems like it happens to everyone I know. Right. Yeah, we’ve heard the story a lot. Like you had to have… And it didn’t impact me, I thought I was the exception. You had to be having somebody in your life who’s like, okay, remember what you said to yourself. So that’s Christy at this point. So it doesn’t have to be me, is what I’m saying. Oh, yeah. Unless you want it to be me, It doesn’t have to be you. It can also be you. Okay. But I… But you didn’t ask me either time, you just did it. And I’m not saying… I didn’t ask Christy either. You’re not obligated to ask me, but I’m saying if you want me to hold you accountable, and you’re inviting me to do that, I will, I volunteer as tribute, I will do it. But if you and Christy got it handled, then I’ll back off. I will say that I didn’t tell Christy about my decision. She was still back in North Carolina tending to her dad. And I was back at home making this decision and then not wanting to have that conversation. You know, ’cause I know, I knew how that would go. You were hoping that you would be cool, like a month later, and be like, you know what? I’ve haven’t been on medication- Exactly. And I’m cool now. But I did talk to my therapist. No. And I was embarrassed to say to my therapist. Oh, you didn’t tell? Yeah, yeah. I didn’t even talk… So all these are- Forgot about that, always consult with your therapist. All these are huge red flags. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you’re not telling the people that love you the most, the decision that you’ve made, red flag. If you’re not telling your therapist, who you talk to every week. Yeah. Red flag. Yeah, that’s a big one. And I see this much more clearly now, and I think I’m getting to… I’m starting to get back to the better place I was, but I’m not completely there yet. But I can tell that I’m making… I’m headed… I’m experiencing the benefits again. I’m getting there. Well, I’m happy for you. So yeah, I do invite you to be a part of this conversation. As a listener, to you, I do not invite you to Conjecture on- Too late, too late, bro. Is he off his meds again? Or starting to map things that I’ve done in the past? Hey, it’s how some people entertain themselves. Yeah. Just let it happen, that’s fine. Yeah, I guess I won’t be reading those comments anyway. My number five is, I mean, so we won’t wanna talk about trips. A trip, another trip. The spring break trip that I took with my family, my immediate family, my boys and my wife, where we, Shep and I, went scuba diving in the shipwrecks and- Right. You know, obviously the diving in the shipwreck, it stands out as the most sensational- That’s what you remember? Novel experience. However, I actually think the most significant moment was, you know, we had been down there for a few days, just me and Jessie and Shep, and then Locke was gonna fly down and join us. It wasn’t his… It was Shep’s spring break, not Locke’s spring break. But Locke was gonna join us on that Thursday, you know, spend a few days with us. And that first night of like having dinner, together as a family and thinking like, it was the first time, you know, we had been to see Locke at college, and he had been back home to see us, you know, over Christmas and Thanksgiving, whatever. But it was that, okay, this is… I’m with my children on a vacation. And one of them is an adult- Yeah. Who’s living his own life, who is now joining us for this vacation. And I’m like, this is kind of the way that it’s going to be. Yeah. And it kind of registered, right, like, yeah, we’re gonna see each other holidays, whatever. So, I mean, it was a good vacation, we had a great time. I mean, Locke and Shepherd did get into that fight that I told you about on the podcast, but yeah, I think it was formative for both of them. Okay, so you shouldn’t have… if you would not have mentioned it, you would’ve increased the chances of not remembering that part of it. Yeah, well, actually, and by accessing it and re remembering, I actually shaped the memory itself. I know you did. But yeah, I think it was significant in that, a milestone moment of, you know, that represents just a new stage in life. Yeah. Of having a kid, one kid that is off doing his own thing, living his own life. The default is that they’re gone. So when they come back, it’s a return. It feels different. Well, and them not coming back to our space. Like for the holidays, it feels different, them coming home. Yeah. But like, no, we’re gonna meet in this place that is equally foreign to both of us. And we’re together, like we’re on vacation together. You know, I haven’t really processed it much, but it stands out as like this moment of like, oh, there he is. He’s, you know, this kid that grew up in my house and we’re having dinner and you know, how many more times and, you know, I’m gonna see him quite a bit, but like, I’m gonna see him a lot less than I was seeing him. Like, you start thinking things like that. Yeah. Let’s see, we’re to my number four. We are at my number four. I have given this the special spot for my solo camping trip. Okay. I just had like the best time. I’m glad, I’m glad for you. You know, so much, I had such a better time than you did. Yeah, you did. On your solo trip. Even though we did meet. Even though we did meet. My relationship with Jasper, the dog, is forever changed in a positive way. And- Is he your favorite now? No. Okay. He’s not gonna get a tattoo? I don’t know, maybe, someday, I don’t know. After he dies. No, I don’t know. But, now, when I look back at it, I do have this longing to like, spend this time alone, and knowing I can do it, you know, it’s the most time I had ever spent alone. So, it was quite a milestone and it was extremely rewarding and rejuvenating. And I start to, I just crave it. I now have a craving for it. Had you not done a solo trip before that? I thought you had. Yeah, when I went to Slab City, I was interacting with people all the time. Oh, you mean just by being completely on your own. Like, to be isolated, like, yeah. My previous trip- Yeah. Wasn’t like that, so, that’s it for me. My number four is a two for one. I have been able to, you want me to scare you, Jamie? Yeah, just real quick, I’ll stop paying attention and repay attention. Jamie doesn’t scare. This is actually kind of phenomenal now that I thought about it. I was able to go to two NC State sporting events with my father this year, the Carolina State Basketball Game, and the Carolina State Football game, and we beat their asses both times. Okay. And like, it doesn’t happen hardly ever in basketball, right? No, uh-uh. So most… You should never go again, by the way. Yeah, I know. I feel like I’ve just ruined it, right? But this past, it was, you know, just this past Thanksgiving, you know, very recent, I had this idea, knowing that we were gonna be back in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. I was like, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna like, I’m gonna buy as many tickets as you can buy at once to this NC State Carolina game. ‘Cause every year, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, for the past, I don’t know how many years, State and Carolina have played, every year they play each other that last game. Okay. And it alternates, whether it’s at Keenan or Carter-Finley, and it’s gonna be at Carter-Finley. I don’t think I would want to go to the Keenan game, but it’s gonna be at the Wolf Pack house. And you know, I bought these tickets before the season started, when I had reason to believe that we might lose, you know. But I was like, it’ll be great to like, take Locke and Shepherd and my dad and Cole, my brother Cole, to the game. And then, you know, I’ll have like three other tickets for like what other family members want to go. Mm hm. And we went to the game and I think I had to be the first football game I’ve been to since we were like right after college, I think. Oh. I think I went maybe to a couple of football. No, I went to a couple of football games, in the years that we lived in North Carolina between like, so a decade, a couple, you know, but it wasn’t a regular thing. But I mean, I’ve made it clear, that I don’t care about a lot of sports in general, but I’ve always just had this affinity for NC State Sports, which makes me a man of great character. How intense was the experience, with them winning like that? NC State fans are crazy, man, I love it, we’re bonkers. Like we just hate, for no rational reason. We just hate, we hate them. We hate Carolina. And I just love, I just love it. I just love it. We all, I think most of us know, that it’s all kind of pointless, but there’s something about it. And if you’re like a huge fan of some, you know, soccer team, right? There’s some people who are, there’s a bunch of Americans who are just big fans of, you know, football overseas football and they’re just crazy about it. Right, and the rivalries. And so that’s the closest that I can understand. You were a part of something and you brought your family. And also it was a night game. It was cold, it was 37 degrees, that’s cold. 37 degrees is cold. Me, I can’t do that. Once you’ve adjusted to California weather, right? Yeah. And also the stadium is so much cooler than it was when we went there. Like when we went there, there was like some grass above the end zone where some people sat, like it’s a full bowl, and they’ve got this giant screen. There’s all these LED lights that immediately change the colors, fireworks go off after every touchdown. There’s jets that fly over before the game starts. Is there nudity? No nudity unfortunately, maybe next year. But, you know, 56,000 people, not a empty seat in the place. It was just so packed. And then we just beat the hell out of ’em. We went up 20 to nothing. And I was like, I was kind of hoping for a game, but it’s also just- No you weren’t. So great to watch them lose like that. Okay. And I was like, next to my dad, which my dad’s so funny because he is a huge sports fan, but he is a huge Georgia football fan. And Georgia was playing, Georgia Tech. And as I was telling my dad, I was like, you know, Georgia’s not gonna have any trouble with Georgia Tech. Georgia’s the best team in the nation. They’re not gonna lose at Georgia Tech. But my dad has a buddy, you remember Dan? Dan Teet? Yeah. Remember Teet? Yeah. Huge Georgia fan, so they text constantly, when they watch Georgia football together. Sometimes I think they may be on like a phone call. I don’t know, they’re in it to win it. Yeah, I remember you told me about it. And so my dad is like texting. Dan Teet, is texting my dad, as my dad is sitting there at the NC State game, my dad is like looking at his phone. Not that he wasn’t present, he was watching the state game, but boy he’s gotta know that Georgia’s got this thing under control. Yeah. And then of course my brother went to Carolina, and he was like, he was actually, you know, he’s not like an obnoxious Carolina fan, which is an oxymoron. I mean, he’s one of the exceptions, but you know, he’s not one of these guys that just thinks that they’re… He doesn’t think that he’s better than everyone because he went to Carolina, you know, like my wife does, for instance. Okay. I’m just kidding, Jessie, I love you. She doesn’t really care about the rivalry. But he was like, I don’t know if I’m gonna wear… He was questioning whether he is gonna wear his stuff. ‘Cause he’s not like crazy about it. I was like, no, wear it. And I wasn’t like, wear it so that we can make fun of you. I was like, wear it because you went to Carolina, you should be proud of it. I’m happy to bring you along. But he told me, he was like, the stuff that was said to me, he was like- Wow. As I like went to the bathroom, he was just like, the stuff people say to you, they just like say anything to me. And it was like, there’s Carolina people all over the stadium. Do you have a quote for us? No, no. And I don’t remember exactly what he… I don’t remember, I can’t remember what he said. Probably more cheap shots. But it’s just cheap shots. Just people just say something to you just in passing. Just like he was sitting on the edge next to the aisle and he just said people, everybody going by would just say something. Don’t buy one of our wieners. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That kind of a thing. So anyway, that was a great experience. You got two NC State on your moments list this year. It’s kind of like, I don’t know, man, it can’t get any better. I just don’t think it can get any better. It doesn’t get any better than beating Carolina and being there in those atmospheres. Maybe if you sang the national anthem. Yeah. Before it. Well Scotty, you know, Scotty McCreery- Oh. Was the one that got up there at the beginning and got in the end zone and fired everybody up and said “Wolf Pack.” And I was like, when do I get to do that? I mean, yeah, okay, Scotty McCreery, American Idol. I get it, great guy, you know. Has he given a commencement address? I don’t know, but I’m like, here I am. I’m ready to go, man. No. Put me on the field. My number three, just to stay on theme, is the NCSU commencement address. Yep. So did we tell you to hold off on yours? Yeah, I mean, it was number seven for me. So you go first. Well, we did ’em separately, Right, yeah. Yours was number seven and mine, it was number three on my list. It means more to me than it means to you. Okay. I don’t know why. I think that it means number three to me because it’s like, you know, when I was talking about The Streamy solo thing, I had the added confidence that I needed when you left me in the lurch at The Streamys, because of the experience I had giving the commencement address. I mean, and I just feel like, do I have notes? And yes, do we fully analyze it on this show? Yes, but before I get into like my thoughts about it, again, just the fact that we had the opportunity to do it, it’s like a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s just- Yeah. It was just such an honor and an awesome opportunity to do it. And so we had to say yes, but then it’s like you approach it with some trepidation and it’s like, well, am I gonna be able to bring my complete self to this thing? And I think that’s where, that was the experience for me, was that like, something that was such a high honor and such a milestone, that few people get to experience. I brought… I was my true self there and that made it a little strange. And I like that. And it gave me confidence. It did the opposite of what I was talking about earlier, of that like, okay, this is me and I’m going for it. I’m going for me, you know, I’m totally going for it. The Link of it all. And I’m glad, I’m glad that I did that. And I’m glad that I had the opportunity to do it. And I think it, yeah, it had a lasting impact. Yeah, it was meaningful for me as well. You know, I think that there is… It can be difficult to kind of understand what it is that we’ve done with our lives, I guess is is how I would say it, right? Like- Right. Because I mean, I would say we’ve been doing it for so long and at this point, we’ve gotten feedback from individual people who say that the things that we’ve done, some things that we’ve done have been very meaningful for them and have been, you know, helped them through difficult times or whatever. And I’ve heard that enough to now, like not have like embarrassment and shame about people actually finding what we do meaningful. Which is not an easy thing for me to do. Right, that’s my… I don’t know what it is, I grew up in a family where it was all about performance, but it was always like, there’s like a act like you’ve been there before kind of vibe in the McLaughlin family, right? Like, you score a basket, you score a touchdown, you don’t act like a idiot. You know, you just walk into the locker room, of course you were gonna do that, right? And I think that there is this like, there is a reluctance to accept the… Like, somebody saying this was meaningful to me, or what you do is meaningful. ‘Cause I always just wanna be like, yeah, but not really wait until the next thing I do, that’ll be meaningful, right? That’s just my disposition. Mm hm. To just not accept the praise or whatever. And so I think that there’s something interesting about when you’re asked to give a commencement speech at an engineering school, it feels very serious. And it almost feels like, I don’t deserve it, like yeah, we went here, we got our engineering degrees, but like, we don’t use ’em. You know what I’m saying? So I think that when people, especially, you know, people came up after and were very, you know, they said a lot of really nice things, about like taking the time to do this, or your speech meant this to me or whatever. And it was meaningful for me. But I think I have a difficult time accepting that sometimes, you know. You see what I’m getting at? Yeah, I do. I also think that there was… I just think that we interact with things a little bit differently. Like I think there was a big question in my own mind, of if I could do it. And not that I could pull it off in a certain way. And I think for me it’s like, should I do it? Yeah, we had different questions on our mind. You know what I’m saying? Like- You know. Yeah, so I understand that. That puts you at what? Number three. Number three for me was getting scuba certified with Shepherd. Mm hm. And probably the moment that is most meaningful from that is, you know, when we went to the second part of the certification when you go to Catalina Island and you actually like get in the water. Yeah. And you know, it’s like Shepherd’s a… He’s a teenager. He’s a teenager and he’s a 15-year-old kid, and like, he’s a cool 15-year-old kid. And you know, he doesn’t get… He likes a lot of things, but you know, he’s not gonna let you know all the things that excite him, that he’s into, right? He’s not gonna be like super enthusiastic about it. Yeah. But he was very enthusiastic about diving, and just loved it. I mean, almost was like, he was using all his air, because he was so excited when he was in the water. And I was like, why is he using all his air? And Hal, our teacher was like, well it’s ’cause he’s moving around a lot, and looking at everything and breathing a lot. He’s using a lot of air ’cause he’s excited. And then that translated into us being able to go scuba diving, you know, on our vacation and then with you and Lincoln and… Or you and Chase, Lincoln couldn’t go that time. Right. I just confused Chase with Lincoln. Me too. Yeah, you didn’t correct me. But also this is a little bit of a two for one, because that turned into Shepherd’s experience of going to dive camp. Right. That was a pretty pivotal experience for him in getting down to a place where it was super humid and hot and mosquitoes and it was a difficult experience. And it was the classic, “I’m at summer camp and this is difficult.” And this was an experience that I’ve really wanted for him for a really long time to like go have a difficult time and get through, and then on the other end be like, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And that’s essentially what happened to him. And so yeah, you know, I’m grateful for it. We need to go again. It’s too cold now though. We need to go again. That was a very dad of you. Yeah. That was a very dad one. That’s good, that’s good. My number two is gonna pull me into dad-dom. This was the year that Lincoln went off to college. So the moment for me is Lincoln’s… We went on a beach trip, right before he left for college. And it’s like, between that and then like a week later, moving him in. Like that’s like such a huge moment. But like everything that we were doing, like what we would do for spring break, or different things over the summer. So, you know, there was this awareness that, hey, this is your last hoo-rah with us, in this way. We know with the experience with Lily, that like… And what you’re talking about with Locke, that things change a little bit. There’s like, you’re about to cross a threshold. And it was special to like have this year with him and to send him off in that way. And I think about the moment of like, we’re all walking on the beach and like we’re talking about his expectations and you know, having already sent Lily off to college, and knowing that… Like having that realization that the relationship changes, but it can still be very robust and it can grow, and it can develop in new ways. So bringing that confidence to the interactions that I was having with Lincoln and sending him off, and it was less sad and it was more celebratory the second time around. And very special. And then I think the fact that, you know, that he’s thriving and when we’ve gone to visit him and when he’s come to come back home, it’s just… It’s my version of what you were saying with like seeing Shepherd, like really connect with something and to get excited and to take on a challenge separate from you, like when he went to camp. And then seeing that Lincoln’s taken on these challenges and thriving, and becoming more of his own person, this is the year for that. And arguably should be my number one in a lot of ways, and in in many ways is, but yeah, that’s it. That’s your number one. So technically my number two. Okay, my number two is a very specific moment and that was my “Forest Queen and Little Twig Boy” moment that I had with Jesse. Okay. That I have that talked about on this podcast, which as I also covered, was a moment that was not far enough removed from the moment where I heard you and your wife having sex. So that’s unfortunate. Not for me, it wasn’t. That my second best moment of the year is very, very like so close to the time when I heard you having sex with your wife. Right. It’s like it’s still echoing in your moment. My moment, or I’ll say our moment, was echoing in your moment, But the reason that this is so high on my list, not only was that a great trip to Big Sur with the T-shirt. You know… With the T-shirt. I am really enjoying my wife these days. Good. And I believe that my wife is really enjoying me. And… Relationally? Yes, I mean sexually as well, but that’s not what I was saying. Is that what you’re trying to say? Yeah, you’re saying relationally. I’m talking about relationally. I’m talking about the time that we spend with each other, right? Like being each other’s, no offense, favorite people. Do you know? Like, and it’s something that we’re kind of like realizing as we get older, not saying that we want Shepherd to leave the house. But I’m just saying that as the years draw short of us being empty nesters, we are very excited about it. We like spending time together. And so I felt like that was, and again that was a weird moment, in which we were role-playing as these characters that we invented on the spot, the “Forest Queen and the Little Twig Boy,” which I still regret that we did not go through with becoming these characters for Halloween. We talked about it, we had a little bit of a plan, something happened around Halloween that was a distraction, that I can’t remember what it was and we didn’t end up doing it. But it’s that moment of connection, of like silly connection was emblematic of something that is happening more often, which is us really enjoying our time together. In a way that’s like getting better. Which I’m just very grateful. And I’m not saying it’s something I’ve done right, or she’s done right. Mostly, I’m just like, oh wow, we’re lucky. We’re lucky that we like to spend time together and we’re liking spending time together more as we get older. So yeah, I don’t know if there’ll be more role playing. And I don’t know if the Twig Boy was a one-time thing, but it was a special moment in a special year, where we found ourselves saying that more and more often. I love that for y’all. You’re each other’s biggest fans. Yes, we are. Isn’t that… Could be dangerous, egging each other on. What do you think is gonna happen? I don’t know. This brings me to my number one. Well, you’re- And you’re number one. My number one. Okay, so I think we have the same number one. I was hoping… I was gonna… I’ll be honest with you, I was gonna be mad at you if this wasn’t your number one. Because I was gonna feel betrayed. Oh good. You’ll notice that I put my wife as number two. Yeah. Just so we’re clear. Yeah. Me connecting with my wife was the second best moment of the year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said that the Lincoln thing should have been my number one. Okay, okay. But it wasn’t. This was the year that we relaunched programming content videos on the “Rhett & Link” channel. Oh, that’s not my number one. I’m just kidding. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is, that’s my number one. I am so excited about next year, because of what we’ve done this year, because of the process that we undertook and the creative processing and development. I believe that we will look back on this year, as the year we restarted something. We started, not restarted something, we started something new on an OG channel, something completely new, that then became a defining part of our careers. Hell yeah. How would you put it? The thing that is so exciting to me about what we’re doing and what we are going to do, is that this is the first time in many, many years in which the thing that I am most excited about creatively is not something that might happen if someone lets us do it. Right. It’s a thing that has happened, is happening, and will happen, if, you know, there’s not an accident. Meaning these ideas that we have and this process that we are currently undertaking, all the pieces of the process that will result in a actual piece of content that someone can enjoy, like we are in control of as much of it, as you can be in control of. And that is, I don’t know, you know, I actually think that that is one, you know, I alluded to this earlier when I was like, in relation to the stuff, my music stuff, is just like, you know, I had more time last year. I mean, we never have much time, but like in terms of just like creative space, you know, we were doing what we’ve always done for the past few years and we were like trying things and having conversations with people, et cetera, et cetera. And then this year shifted to like, no, like when I sit down and I start thinking about things that excite me creatively, I always try to… I’m trying to find a way to put it into a video that will work on the Rhett & Link channel. And so it’s just changed the amount of creative space that I have to do anything else other than that. I would also summarize it as being… Just getting re in touch with our inner artists. Mm hm. You know, in a way that I don’t think we ever have before. Like we’re at a certain point in terms of age, and just like personally as people, that we’re interested in expressing ourselves, and creating things, and experimenting, being curious about moving people in different ways. I mean, still by and large, mostly within the realm of comedy, making people laugh, but moving people in all types of ways, emotionally, mentally. And it’s just very creatively engaging. It’s getting back to our roots of just making stuff together. But we now have the creative freedom that we always wanted and we are for the first time realizing that we have it and taking full advantage of it. I mean, I wrote in my journal many years ago, you know, I would write all these really aspirational things, that I thought we should do. And one of the sort of like long-term goals, that I had like 20 years ago was… And what I thought this would be, is I thought it would be a movie, right? Right. Is I was like, I would like if we could get to a place where we could make movies that are a… Every movie is an amalgamation of all the things that we do. And not… And this is before we even knew what we did. But like a little bit of documentary, some music, some some sketches. Right. But thinking that it would be some like genre of film that we would do at some point, right? Yeah. And that’s what we’re doing on the Rhett & Link channel now, right? It’s like you have an idea, you have something that you want to do, you have a scene for something that you want to do and there’s a way to put it into this bucket, that can take anything that we can do. You wanna sing a song, you wanna do a sketch, you wanna do something for real, you wanna have it transition to something else? And I’ll just say, first of all, I couldn’t be more excited. Second of all, we have just scratched the surface, like 2023 was scratching the surface, like figuring it out a little bit. 2024 is leaning in. Yeah. Even more. And I’ll say there’s aspects of it that have not been easy, that have been difficult. Yeah, I mean we’re learning. We’re still learning, we got a lot to learn still. And I think it’s directly tied to our personhood. That’s what’s so powerful about it, is that it’s not a professional development, you know, it’s an extension of personal development and opportunity. Yeah. And so yeah, I’m so excited. And I don’t think, well we didn’t discuss this, you tell me if you think we shouldn’t, I would like to hint at least, at how we’re gonna approach 2024. Go for it. Because you’re a special group of people who listen to Ear Biscuits. So the way 2023 has worked, has been, you know, we’ve got a very small team. Very small, but very talented team, that helps us make these videos. And you know, we’ve been all working on, this is like the primary thing that this team has been working on this year. And you can see, I don’t know, how many videos did we make, Jenna, six? Like what, seven? I don’t know. Eight. Eight, okay. So, like eight videos in a year. It’s not a whole lot. I mean if we do eight videos in eight days when it comes to “GMM,” right? These are a different, it’s a different thing. It’s a different experience. And we’ve also been working on them constantly. And then when they’re done, we set a launch date and it’s kind of hard to predict. It’s basically like normal YouTubers. It’s like when it’s up, it’s up. But because we have so many things going on all the time and there’s all this content that’s coming out, we’ve decided that for 2024, we want to treat the Rhett & Link content a little bit different. First of all, we’re gonna come up with a name of what we call whatever it is that we’re doing over there. It’s not just gonna be like Rhett & Link content, because that’s what we keep calling it, and we realize that we need to call it something, so that people can be like, oh, they do this thing as well. It’s gonna be what you’ve been seeing but- Now that we know what it is- What it is. As a series, now that we know, then it should be called… It should have a name. We haven’t named it yet. There’s lots of names that we’ve… No one has shared with each other yet. Right. You have a list, I have a list. Right. I know TJ has a list. There’s lots of names, we’ll figure it out. The second part of that is that, you know, we’re so proud of what this team has created and what this team is capable of creating, that we want to give this series its best chance at kind of breaking through the noise and being seen. Like it’s not, you know, our goal isn’t to have this thing get millions and millions of views. Our goal is just to make the best show that we can make and whoever watches it, watches it. But we feel like we wanna make it special. And so we’re actually gonna be working on it throughout the first part of the year. And then at some point, which we’ll obviously announce, we’re gonna release it as a season, it’s a series that’ll come out weekly, over a period of weeks. So there’ll be a moment in which it’s like, “Now the show is on, check it out.” That’s the tentative plan right now. So just to say that. And it will be on YouTube. It will be on YouTube. It will not be- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’ll be on the same channel, it’ll be on the Rhett & Link channel. But what I’m saying is that we’re so excited about it and you might be like, oh, “I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen in January.” Well- It ain’t gonna be in January. You’re gonna be waiting, you’re gonna be waiting, because in January and February and beyond, we’re gonna be working on this show, harder than we’ve worked on anything in a long time. And then releasing it together and then doing it again, and again, and again. You know, so that’s the plan. That’s the plan. So we appreciate your patience. And you know, we want you to… We know that you guys are gonna be supportive, but we want you to understand that we’re seeing it like, for lack of a better word, a TV show, in the way that you would enjoy a TV show, which is like, “Oh, there’s a season of it.” And you enjoy it, and you talk about it, and then you wait for the next season. And that’s how we want to do that show. Yeah. Well that concludes our top 10 moments of the year. Do you wanna make a quick rec? I do, it’s a very selfish rec. It is that you go and watch some of the videos on the Rhett & Link channel, because I’m so excited about it- There you go. And I know that most of you who are listening- I wanna take ’em down and then put ’em back up. Maybe we’ll do that. Have already watched what we’ve made over there. Right? But I know that there’s somebody who hasn’t, you’ve been like, yeah, I’m not interested in that stuff. And I would just say, “Hey, go check it out.” Go check it out. Like, if for no other reason than you see how excited we are about what we’re doing, I guess go and watch the most recent one. We got a chicken across the busiest road in America, ’cause that’s up. Or any other other ones you wanna watch. All right, let us know what you think about anything that you heard today. You can call us, 1-888- EARPOD1. And please, if you like what we’re doing here, leave us a review on the platform that you listen on, ’cause that is very helpful. And we’ll speak at you, when’s the next one? Is it in the next year? [Film Crew Member] Yeah, January 8th. Oh my gosh. January 8th. January 8th. Okay. Bye-Bye. Love you and happy New Year. Hi guys, it’s Bailey from Ohio. And I just have to say, after listening to you both try to come up with a CH car name for your Maserati milk discussion, that you guys said everything but Challenger and Charger, even after Rhett said something about Dodge a few minutes before, and I just can’t get over it. That being said, I was also the Maserati of milk when I was a toddler, because once I drank a full cup of chocolate milk so fast that I threw up. So there you guys go. Love you, bye. To watch more Ear Biscuits, click on the playlist on the right. To watch the previous episode of Ear Biscuits, click on the playlist to the left. And don’t forget to click on the circular icon to subscribe. If you prefer to listen to this podcast, it’s available on all your favorite podcast platforms. Thanks for being your mythical best.