K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about how bad this party sucks. 

C: The party that we’re at.

K: So, I have this thing whenever things in my life aren’t going well – I have this phrase that I say. And it’s from, I think, either a Beastie Boys song or – I think it’s a Beastie Boys song, “this party sucks.” No, it’s not the Beastie Boys. It’s not. I forget who the artist is. I’m so sorry, and I hope I don’t get copyright claimed, but I think – but that’s a YouTube thing.

C: That is a YouTube thing.

K: They don’t copyright claim. (laughs) Music on podcasts. But the lyrics are “this party sucks, it really sucks. Leave me alone. I’m going home. This party sucks. The band’s too loud, and I hate this fucking crowd. This party sucks, it really sucks. Leave me alone, I’m going home. This party sucks.”

C: Okay, I know the song now that you say it, but I have no idea who sings it. 

K: Yes. And I played it for you once. I found, like

C: You have, yes. 

K: Because you were like, “that’s not a real song.”

C: You’ve been saying it for like twenty-something years.

K: Yeah. So, the song’s over 20 years old. From, like – the first time I heard the song, I heard it at a garage – it was a garage band performance, and I was like, “this is… awesome.”

C: Okay, I think the first time I heard you say it was the first time that we had bottled water, Dasani brand. 

K: Okay.

C: Do you remember that? 

K: Yes.

C: Because the first time that we had Dasani bottled water – and this was before it was everywhere.

K: Yeah, and it was so – I love Dasani water. 

C: Yeah. We were coming out of the premiere of the Sixth Sense

K: Yes.

C: And they had people from Coke, who makes Dasani, standing there handing out bottles.

K: Yes. And I told everybody who was in line that the movie fucking sucked because I was wasted.

C: Yeah.

K: And, so, I told everybody, “the movie sucks.” And I ruined the ending.

C: You did not ruin the ending.

K: No, I didn’t do a spoiler. I just said, “the movie sucks. It’s so obvious and stupid. It sucks. It was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.” Because I’m one of the few people on earth that hated the Sixth Sense.

C: Well, and when you say, “the movie’s obvious” I’m like, “ugh, why’d you tell me the ending?” But nobody else is that way.

K: Yeah, so, to me, I feel like I spoiled the ending.

C: Yeah.

K: And, so, for over twenty years, you’ve been telling me, “no, babe, you didn’t spoil the ending.”

C: You didn’t.

K: I’m like, “when I said it’s obvious – the movie’s obvious – I think it spoils the ending.”

C: Only for me because I know – I know the particular things you mean by obvious. The particular twists that you’re like, “that’s obvious.”

K: Yes.

C: And you were wasted on

K: So, spoiler alert, spoiler alert. Turn off the podcast if you’ve never seen the Sixth Sense. Spoiler alert, spoiler alert. Bruce Willis is dead. And I knew that Bruce Willis

C: The character. 

K: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry. (laughs) Like as if Bruce Willis even knows we exist. So, the Sixth Sense, at the end of the movie we find out he was dead. But, to me, it was obvious the way that everybody was interacting with him that he was dead and didn’t know it. And it was obvious that, when we looked at him, and he said, “I see dead people”, he’s trying to tip him to the fact, “dude, you’re dead.”

C: Yeah.

K: And then I don’t like the trope of – so, one, I think the Sixth Sense can be a cautionary tale to every therapist who practices therapy from their own home. But I really don’t like the – I always hated movies that cast mentally ill people as a danger to their therapist.

C: Yeah.

K: I don’t like it, there – it’s a small, small, small fraction of people who are a danger to their therapist. And I don’t like that – like, the biggest danger to therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and all of that – the biggest danger in the industry is compassion fatigue.

C: Well, I think that if you look at it the other way around, I think that a bad therapist – and you’re a good therapist, so you’re not including in this

K: Thank you. There are people who disagree with you, and that’s okay. I’m not one of them. (laughs)

C: A bad therapist can hurt hundreds of people. 

K: Yeah. And – so, I feel like, if you’re a therapist, and you’re practicing from your home – I understand that there may be financial reasons for that, but you’re more likely to have somebody come to your home when they don’t have an appointment than you are to be murdered in your home by a client.

C: Yeah, you’ve told me when you come back from the office – I mean, we’re doing the social distancing, the quarantining, so now you do everybody from our home

K: Yeah, but I’m doing it via Skype. Nobody has our address.

C: Correct, but I’m saying, when you were going to your physical office, you would tell me, “yeah, I had somebody show up, it wasn’t their appointment time, they didn’t even have an appointment. They

K: On a regular basis. And it’s not even done maliciously. Some people just really forget.

C: Mhm.

K: and they just guesstimate when their appointment is. And I tell everyone – because I send out a reminder the day before – I tell everybody, “if you didn’t get a reminder, you don’ have an appointment.”

C: Right.

K: “And if you think you have an appointment, but you didn’t get a reminder, just send me an email.”

C: Yeah.

K: “And I’ll let you know.” Because I check my email in-between appointments. And questions about appointments get bumped to the front of the line.

C: And, so, I want to throw back to a whole five minutes ago when you said that you were wasted when we got out of the Sixth Sense.

K: That I was what?

C: Wasted when we got out of the Sixth Sense and clarify that that was from margaritas.

K: Yeah.

C: Because we had a habit: we’d go to the movies with our friends – this was before we were a couple. We were just friends.

K: Yeah, we were all just friends. There was a group of six of us. We all hung out together.

C: And we’d go to the Mexican restaurant at the theater complex before and have margaritas.

K: We’d either go to the Mexican restaurant, the falafel place, or – the wraps place rather – or

C: Or the pizza place.

K: The Italian place.

C: Yeah.

K: Because if I was just doing coffee, then our friends would – because, for some reason, I was in charge of whether or not we ate and where we ate.

C: Yes, you were. 

K: And I didn’t like wraps, so I’d be like, “I’m just doing Starbucks. You all go get wraps.” And then everybody would go get wraps. I don’t know why people were listening to me about food.

C: I don’t know either because it was called World Wraps

K: I think because I had so much authority.

C: Yeah, you did say things in a very authoritative way. Like, “this is how it’s happening.”

K: Yeah. So, for me, I’m like, I’m doing coffee and Red Vines.

C: You had the voice of command. “I’m doing coffee and Red Vines.”

K: “I’m doing coffee and Red Vines.”

C: “You are doing wraps.”

K: Yeah. “I’m doing coffee and Red Vines. If you all want to eat, you better get wraps, or you’re doing hot dogs from the movie place.” And you’re like, “ooh, hot dogs, yes please.” 

C: Right? They’re good.

K: Because sometimes I’d be doing hot dogs. 

C: Mhm.

K: I’d be doing, like, movie theater dinner.

C: Hot dogs, nachos and popcorn?

K: Because if I was doing Starbucks, it meant that we were going in early to the movie.

C: Yes, it did. 

K: I don’t know why everybody let me dictate things. I was the oldest of the group. Maybe that’s it?

C: Yeah. We were trying to respect our elder.

K: Yeah. So, the reason that this party sucks is because… COVID-19 is just ruining everything.

C: Yes. COVID has overstayed its welcome.

K: It has. So, we didn’t have any plans for Golden Week, and I’m doing exactly – so, we did have plans for Golden Week. I’m doing exactly what I had planned to do. And that is I’m taking from today, Sunday the 3rd, until Monday the 11th off of work and focusing on my PhD. 

C: Yeah. We ordinarily don’t travel during this time because Golden Week

K: Super expensive.

C: Yeah. Golden Week is the most popular travel time in Japan.

K: There are some things that are literally three times as much expensive as – three times more expensive than non-Golden Week. And twice as expensive for other holidays.

C: I think a couple of years ago, we went to Takaoka at the end of Golden Week. 

K: Yeah, we did.

C: So, we had looked at what would it be to stay at this particular hotel during Golden Week and then after Golden Week. 

K: Yeah.

C: And it was 400 dollars more a night during Golden Week than after.

K: Yeah. So, I feel like, hey, if you all are big baller shot callers like that, roll on roller. I don’t have players. I don’t even hate the game. I’m like, “play on, player.”

C: Okay, so, I could take one vacation a year during Golden Week, or I could take five vacations for the same cost?

K: And a lot of people make that choice.

C: Yeah, I think a lot of people only have that time off. 

K: Yeah. So… we… Rasta was supposed to go to Vietnam, and… we knew back in March that he was canceling that trip, and we were just waiting for the flight to get canceled, so we didn’t (laughs) notify them. So, I feel, like, really, super happy we got a refund for that.

C: Yeah.

K: And we were able to find tickets to Vietnam and the Vietnam hotel and all of that really inexpensively. Because I was treating him and his current partner, because it was their one-year anniversary, and I was like, “hey, why don’t you guys take a trip?” And then, to my surprise, his partner was like “yeah. Let’s do it during Golden Week.” So, that was a little challenging for me emotionally, but I worked through it and got over it and found tickets and stuff.

C: And, again, it was a days off thing. People in Japan… that’s what

K: And Rasta doesn’t always get Golden Week off. This is one of the years he did. Actually, I think I’ve been changing it because last year, I took Golden Week off. And I think I – my new way of doing things, I have decided I am taking Golden Week off going forward. Because I was working – I’ve been working monster hours from year to year.

C: Yeah.

K: Because I was working – I’ve been working monster hours for years and years. 

C: Right.

K: And now that I’m working – doing my PhD – I really have to be better with my work-life balance.

C: Mhm.

K: And I need to take time off to write and to read because, man, I have – I’m reading 3 books this Golden Week.

C: That’s a lot. 

K: Yeah. I’m reading three books, and

C: Academic research books.

K: Yeah. I’m reading three books… and… annotating, I think, fifteen articles.

C: Yeah, that’s a lot. Because we’re not talking like animals here. No disrespect, but 

K: No. I’m pulling like twelve, twelve- and eighteen-hour days.

C: Yeah.

K: So, COVID has not changed our Golden Week at all. It’s drastically changed our son’s golden. We’ve been tweeting, and, if you don’t follow us on Twitter, you should. (laughs)

C: IOF you don’t follow us on Twitter, how’d you get here? We really want to know.

K: I think, so, we’re popping in Ireland, and we’re popping in Russia. And that’s interesting to me That really interests me a lot. And… we have one very devoted listener, but I don’t want to call them out because I don’t want to put them on blast. But thank you one devoted listener in your country. (laughs)

C: Wow.

K: I couldn’t be more vague. 

C: Really going with the boldness there.

K: Yeah, I couldn’t think of them as shy, so I don’t know.

C: Yeah.

K: But when you talk with them, you can ask them if

C: If they realized we were talking about them?

K: Yeah. (laugh) That would be interesting to me, if they’d be like, “yes, I totally thought it was me.” And it will be interesting for the people who think it’s them based on the country that they’re in – if that’s a country we have a lot of listeners or not. Because we’re in every – except for the polar regions – we’re in every region of the world.

C: Well, and we’re big in Japan. 

K: No.

C: But it’s a song.

K: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying no to.

C: You started off with song lyrics, we can’t…

K: Can you sing “Big in Japan:”

C: I cannot.

K: Yeah. I can, and that’s what I’m saying no to. I’m not singing Big in Japan for you. No.

(laughter) 

K: So, you heard it here first, folks. Chad makes statements about songs and expects me to sing them because I know them. Sometimes, I just say, “no.”

C: Sometimes, I know the songs but not always. It’s not like with movies.

K: When was the last time you knew a song that you were quoting a lyric from?

C: Christmas Carols, hello.

K: When did you do that?

C: Probably around Christmas. I don’t know which

K: You’re making something up right now.

C: I don’t know which Christmas

K: Are you trying to create a false memory?

C: Yes, I am. But now it’s not going to work because you’re going to have the memory of it being a false memory.

K: I see you. And so does my third eye. I have a zit that’s sort of ruling my world right now. It’s right in the bridge of my nose on the inside of my eye, and it hurts. It mostly hurts because I keep pushing it.

C: Yeah.

K: And I feel like the song Tenderness by General Public. “You look like a bump. You can’t stop pushing it.” And I was like, “they see me.”

C: (laughs)

K: And, plus, that song has a lot of clapping. I love songs with clapping in it. 

C: Yeah?

K: With clapping in them.

C: Yeah?

K: Yeah. Sometimes, I listen to a song just so I can clap. 

C: Mmm.

K: Yeah. 

C: See, and now I’m trying to think: does Sheryl Crow’s My Name Is Luka have clapping in it? Because I think clapping – when you say clapping, I think that song. 

K: No, I don’t think so, but I think you can clap. 

C: Okay.

K: So, there are certain songs that, like, depending on where you were – like, Teddy Riley – “Friday night. Nn. Nn. Just got paid.” So, on the “nn nn” part you’re supposed to jump up.

C: Mhm.

K: “Friday night” jump up in the air. “Just got paid” jump up in the air. So, there’s like several – there are certain songs that I don’t know why

C: Okay. So, it’s like doing the

K: “Party’s lo” – “check the mirror. I’m looking fly.” I love that song. And… to all my peoples out there, please check out the Baby Face versus Teddy Riley IG battle – Instagram battle. It was epic man. 

C: Well, it hasn’t happened yet as of this recording, as we’re recording on Sunday. This won’t air 

K: Yeah, everybody knows we’re recording on Sunday, May 3rd, I famously said that like 14 minutes ago. (laughs)

C: So, it won’t air for our Patreon subscribers

K: I said famously. (laughs)

C: Until Thursday. And for our regular people, who we still love, until Thursday after that. But there’s another one of those battles coming up, and it’s going to be between Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. 

K: And, sadly, I’m not there for it.

C: You’re not there for it?

K: No.

C: I’m team Jill Scott. 

K: So… for me… I love Erykah Badu, but she’s a visual artist to me. 

C: Yeah.

K: So, something you should definitely check out is Erykah Badu’s Tiny Desk concert.

C: Oh yeah, I’ve seen that with you.

K: She is so fly in that. She rocks three different looks.

C: Mhm.

K: And changes her look throughout the set, and I’m like, “yes, I am here for it. Give it to me, mama, that is fierce.” So, she starts off in one outfit, and by the end of it – she’s just changing her accessories – by the end of it, she’s rocking a completely different look. 

C: Mhm.

K: And, for each song, she changes her look. So, I’m hooked on Tiny Desk. I think, so far, the Tiny Desk concerts that I’ve sen that I love the most: Erykah Badu and Lizzo.

C: Yeah. I thought “she’s going to say Lizzo.”

K: Yeah. Those are my two favorites. And then my most favorite Lizzo moment is when Harry Styles joined her. 

C: Oh, yeah.

K: And did juice. So, Harry Styles is so interesting to me because he wears stuff that makes no sense but completely works for him. Like a tiny vest and then a button-down shirt that’s his size.

C: Mhm.

K: I’m like… “Harry, how can you do that?” And I don’t – so, he’s not, like, super fine to me.

C: Yeah. Well, and, when you guys talk on the phone, you never tell him he’s super fine.

K: (laughs) Well, because, I like either deep, dark chocolate or round and fluffy. So, I like deep, dark chocolate that has been chiseled. So, I love a chiseled, chocolate man. Cut – deep in the cut, musclebound. Love it. But, if you’re white, you need to be fluffy. 

C: Okay.

K: Like, I find white, round belly – like Jack Black.

C: Okay, so like Jack Black

K: Oh my god, Jack Black is so fine as hell. 

C: So, like Jack Black or Taye Diggs. 

K: Jack Black or – yeah. But then Taye Diggs is fine until you listen to his talk. His politics are so whack. And he goes off on such random rants. 

C: Oh, I’m not talking

K: And he wears – I don’t like the hats he wears.

C: I’m not talking about the person. Because – I think I’ve talked about this on Twitter – I don’t get fandom. Like being somebody’s fan. I’m often a fan of people’s work.

K: Okay, I am a huge fan of The Roger Cross. 

C: Okay, yes. I know you’re a huge fan of The Roger Cross.

K: So, now, if you want to talk to me about some chocolate, The Roger Cross – fine as hell, beautiful Jamaican man. Jamaican Canadian. Hard working. Fabulous actor. Cross-genre. I love everything that man does. Huge fan, and he is such, like, a sweet person. He is so nice. If you tweet at him – if you tweet something nice at him, he writes back “ty.”

C: Mhm.

K: And I’m like, “he tweeted at me.” And I get so excited. And he and I have had a couple of conversational – conversations where he’s like, “wow, you’re a superfan.” And I’m like, “yes, I am. Thank you for noticing.”

C: But

K: Because I’ll report stuff that he’s in. I’ll give shoutouts to things that he’s in before it hits IMDB.

C: Yeah.

K: And he’s like, “that’s not even on my IMDB page yet.” And I’m like, “because I’m a fan. I stan you, Roger. I stan you.”

C: But you’re a fan of his work.

K: And I’m also a fan of his politics and who he is as a person.

C: Well yeah.

K: I think he’s a really, really nice person. He has an awesome work ethic, and he supports all of the cast members of everything he does, and he supports their future work.

C: Okay, so we’ve been on Twitter for a couple years now.

K: Yeah.

C: And it took me like six months to know that “t-y” meant “thank you.”

K: (laughs)

C: I was like, “why are they just commenting ty (tie).”

K: (laughs)

C: “Who the heck is Ty?”

K: There was something else that I was like, “what the hell is that?” Oh, somebody wrote “bc” without a slash in it. 

C: Oh, yeah, because?

K: I was like “British Columbia?”

(laughter)

K: I don’t kn- I don’t know why I thought British Columbia. I was like, “that makes no sense.” Then I was like, “dah. But there’s no slash. You need the slash” but I understand you’re trying to save those characters because, you know. Everybody can tell the difference in between our tweets because I don’t punctuate, and I’m always trying to save characters because, surprise, surprise, I’m pedantic.

C: You’re a bit wordy. I don’t think you’re pedantic.

K: You don’t think I’m pedantic?

C: I think I am far more pedantic than you are. 

K: Yeah, I’d agree with that. But I don’t think people experience that side of you who listen to our podcast. 

C: Yeah. So, that reminds me of a conversation I had in Japanese class, like eight years ago. Because I can remember things.

K: You were not in Japanese class eight years ago.

C: During my PhD, I took Japanese. We talked about this before.

K: I have no memory of you taking Japanese – I remember you doing things in Japanese, but you were not enrolled

C: I was enrolled in Japanese classes. I dropped out because it was, at the time

K: (laughs) See, I wasn’t going to put you on blast like that. (laughs) I wasn’t going to call you a Japanese class dropout. (laughs)

C: I dropped out because it was at the same time as the math workshops.

K: That was in Japanese.

C: That were in Japanese. And I talked to my chair. He was like, “you really need to go to the workshops.”

K: Are your arms tired from all that spinning?

C: Yes, they are. 

K: (laughs)

C: But anyway

K: You just put yourself on blast, babe. I wasn’t going to do you like that.

C: I know, but I did myself like that. But, anyway… somebody said the word “pedantic” in class.

K: In Japanese?

C: No, in English. 

K: Oh, okay.

C: And this French guy goes “I don’t know what that word means.”

K: (laughs)

C: So, I said there’s a French word for it. He said, “oh, you speak French?” I’m like, “just a little bit, but I know the French word for this?” He said, “what is it?” And I said, “pedant.” Which – and he was like – he gave me the look. I can’t convey it over the podcast, but he gave me the look of “okay, yes, it is a French-derived word. It does mean exactly the same thing in English and French.” 

K: Yeah. So, we’re talking – we’re doing another COVID episode. This is our second COVID episode, and I feel like because it’s impacting the world around us so much, and that is causing this weird external pressure even though my life hasn’t changed except for our son moving back into the family home.

C: Yeah.

K: And I feel really lucky that our son was able to move back into the family home, as you all know, in March. He did two weeks of – we did two weeks of separating our quarantine because – and, for us, it is sort of a quarantine more than – we’re doing more than social distancing. He did two weeks at his house; we did two weeks at our house to make sure no one was sick. 

C: Right.

K: Because that was the first two weeks of us not seeing the outside world. So, he had a weekend wit his girlfriend, and I had just seen clients, and, so, we were doing two weeks to make sure we didn’t infect each other. And the, when everybody came out healthy, thankfully, we all moved into the same family home, and we’ve restricted our movements to where we only go out twice a week.

C: Yeah.

K: And, so, it’s really working out to be about three times a week once a month because of doctor visits and such, but other than that, we’re only going to the grocery store twice a week. And then we’re not going anywhere else. 

C: Right.

K: And we’re staying completely inside. And we’re not eating fast food. If we get deliveries, we’re doing the no-contact delivery.

C: Right.

K: So, I think it’s really cool – I don’t know if they’re doing it in the U.S.

C: They’re doing it in the U.S. too, yeah.

K: Okay. Ohh, that’s going to be awful for everyone. I just scraped my nails over the microphone.

C: If it’s too bad, I’ll cut it out. 

K: Because there was a rubber band around my microphone. I don’t know how it got there, but it’s from a tiny rubber band I get around my medication, and it was just bugging me. I didn’t like it. 

C: Yeah, you

K: But I suspect I was the person who put it there.

C: You were because I regularly take them off of the mics. 

K: Okay. So, if I find rubber bands, I have a bad habit of just putting them around whatever I can put them around to save them.

C: (laughs)

K: Because I save rubber bands because of my medication – in Japan, medication, they just put it in a bag with a rubber band.

C: Yeah, it doesn’t come in bottles.

K: So, they put them in their foil – they’re individually foil-wrapped pills that come in sheets.

C: Except for the ones that are bags of powder. 

K: Ugh. Japan with the powders drives me nuts. Drives me nuts, Japan. Just press it. Press it into a pill.

C: (laughs)

K: Because the powders are so nasty tasting. Like, the antacid powder that I drink – just ugh. I have to be in so much pain before I’ll drink it. 

C: Yeah.

K: Because it tastes so nasty. So, I save the rubber bands because… it bands my pills together, and they’re put in plastic bags, and I have to keep them in their plastic bags. I know what, basically, all my pills look like. And then I rubber band all of the bags together because the bags get tattered and torn because I get my medication 30 days at a time. I was getting 60 days at a time, but now they’re asking everybody to restrict to 30 days of medication at a time because of pandemic. So, that’s one area where the pandemic is changing my life.

C: Yeah. And

K: I don’t like that. I liked doing the two months.

C: And I do feel like we’re extremely fortunate that we’re able to stay in because a lot of people aren’t. A lot of people have the choice of go out or lose your job. 

K: Yeah. And… so, for me, it’s weird how much it’s affecting me emotionally. 

C: Mhm.

K: When I’m able to work, my life really hasn’t changed, you’re able to work, Rasta’s able to work, and… we’re able to focus on our side projects and focus on our work and focus on schoolwork and nothing in my routine has changed. And I don’t watch news. 

C: Yeah.

K: Never been a fan of watching news. So… just to let people know in Japan because we do – I tweet about it more than Chad – but when I’m tweeting about it, the information that I’m getting is based off of the Japanese Ministry of Health – they’ve set up a website, which I think is awesome. A COVID website for each city. And the city that I’ve been tracking the most is Tokyo. And the prefecture I’ve been tracking the most is Tokyo because that’s the area that’s hardest hit right now. And… the websites for all of the cities – really cool, I love that they have all of this information – they inform how many people are under – how many tests are under investigation at any particular time. 

It’s taking about seven days right now to get the results from a COVID test in Japan. Which, that’s not a rant I’m going on.

C: No, there’s – Fujifilm has developed a three hour test, I think it might be down to two hours now – but it’s not a PCR test, so it’s not necessarily as accurate, and it’s not widely deployed yet, and it’s a whole thing. 

K: Yeah. So… you can see how many people are being – under investigation, and what they give is the gender, the age, and the city.

C: Right.

K: And… they put them on the page of that city. So, they – sometimes, they do neighborhood, or maybe it’s on the prefectural page. I’m not sure. 

C: I think it probably depends on how big it is. Like our neighborhood is, like, a 100,000 people in our neighborhood, but there are cities that are smaller than that. 

K: Yeah.

C: So, if you put the neighborhood, there’d be like five people.

K: (laughs) And then, they have what I really find fascinating is public transportation data. Like, what percentage based on normal transportation is it. Is it up or down based off of the normal amount of people that you see? And, in Tokyo, very famously, they use people pushers to pack people into the cars. 

C: Mmm.

K: And they’re not having to do that right now, so that’s 

C: That’s good. I only had that happen to me once when I had to go to Tokyo, and I did not like that.

K: I wouldn’t ride the train. I wouldn’t care how long it was. I would bike or walk; I couldn’t do it.

C: I skipped like three or four of them, and if I was in Nagoya, I would have found some other method, but I did not know where I was going because I was in Tokyo, so

K: Mmm. Yeah.

C: It was like, I was headed up to some university – I forget which one.

K: We’re fortunate that we live in a transportation hub.

C: Yes.

K: So, we have lots of ways to decide to get somewhere.

C: We do have many options.

K: And not everybody does. I understand that. So, it gives you the rate, also, of foot traffic for the most frequented destinations – like it’ll give you the rate, in our city, the busiest place in all of Nagoya is Nagoya station.

C: Yeah.

K: And that’s because it has inter-city transport hub, and, so, it has the shinkansen – which is the bullet train, the rapid train that goes in between cities – and that’s what makes – plus, it’s also a shopping district and a business hub. So, it’s like a super-duper hub. So, it goes down into those places and says is it 60% – prime minister Abe has asked that we reduce person-to-person contact by 80%. And I think… that… when I last checked it, like Friday, it was 60% down or something.

C: That’s getting there.

K: Yeah. And then it gives rate of how many tests were done that day, and how many positives were confirmed that day. And it gives the total, and the total usually is updated in between 9 and 10 o’clock at night. 

C: So, my brain wants to know if the – if the change in distribution is even. Because, when you’re talking about Nagoya station, I thought Nagoya Station is the second-busiest station in Nagoya city. 

K: Yeah, it is. 

C: Fushimi is actually busier, and I thought “I wonder if that’s still the case with this” because I think that the inter-city travel has been more affected than the travel within the city. Which, Fushimi doesn’t do inter-city travel. It’s just a major hub for traveling within the city, so are they even more dominant now?

K: I don’t know. I could look it up and find out, but I’m not going to do that. 

C: Yeah.

K: Because we don’t search, but

C: We don’t search.

K: You could look it up. 

C: And we – we were doing something, I think we were at the lawyer’s a month ago, or a doctor’s. Somewhere we went together.

K: Mhm.

C: And we saw the police out there counting foot traffic, counting cars.

K: Yeah.

C: Just kind of counting.

K: It was a doctor.

C: Okay. 

K: Oh, no, that was when you and Rasta went to the lawyer’s. 

C: Okay.

K: Yeah. Because – so, we’re very, very happy, and excited to know, our son is a long-term resident. Yay. The crowd goes crazy.

C: (soft crowd imitating noises)

K: (laughs) We’re hoping for permanent residency, but we’re hoping to get it next time.

C: But we hadn’t applied for it this time. It’s a separate application process.

K: (laughs) We had just finished – we had just been

C: Denied.

K: So, we got turned down, and then we went to long-term resident, and he got that. And we’re super excited and super happy about that.

C: Yes.

K: So, that makes us happy. Like, everything in our life is going well except for what’s going on with the world. And, so, I – one thing that I have to – I’m – I have the next ten days off from work, and that makes me really hap – nine days off, I think? I don’t know. Between eight and ten days. I have to do math, and I don’t feel like doing math. Um, off from work. And… when I’m working, the thing I have to do is I have to have good news for clients. So, I look at like the fact that there – overfishing has stopped, and, so, fish populations and species are coming back. Animals that they thought were extinct are now coming back from hiding, and I’m like, “go back. Go back. They’re going to hunt you. It’s not safe.”

C: (laughs)

K: And then, looking at the ozone layer is healing. And I like the pictures of… new – I’m really fascinated with India and the pictures coming out and the reports coming out from the Ganges river – the Ganges river. Because of the amount of sewage, industrial sewage, that is put into the river.

C: Mhm.

K: And they’re seeing, now, oxygen levels are returning, fecal matter levels are reducing, and overall pollution. And we’re seeing – that’s where we’re seeing a lot of fish population come back and cities like Beijing and New Delhi can actually see a blue sky. And if you saw them before, like, they were just permanently grey. 

C: Okay, so, I know that all of the things you mentioned are absolutely real.

K: Yeah.

C: But I’ve been seeing one going around that I want to debunk. 

K: Okay.

C: And… it is a picture of deer sitting on the road in Nara. And people saying, “social distancing means the deer are comfortable coming out in Nara.” 

K: No, that’s deer park.

C: Yeah, that’s deer park. It’s always like that.

K: (laughs) 

C: So, the funny thing is that – that

K: There’s a deer park, and the deer have always roamed the streets.

C: Yeah, and the funny thing is – and if you don’t read Japanese, you won’t know what it says – but the picture that’s been going around, the deer are literally sitting below a sign that says, “deer will leap into the road. Watch out.”

K: Yeah.

C: So, if you see a picture of Nara going around – deer – this has not been good for the deer.

K: No, it hasn’t been. Because they’re fed by tourists.

C: Right. So, there’s issues with the deer going hungry and that kind of thing.

K: Yeah. And, so, the monks that run it are having to do extra work. There’s a lot of stuff that – and, so that’s where the great Buddha is

C: One of the two, yeah.

K: Yeah. So, it’s not – yeah. And the monkeys and stuff have always been – so, yeah. Animal species and populations aren’t really being affected in Japan.

C: Right.

K: It’s other – like, in Africa, in Northern and – all across the continent of Africa.

C: I think I’ve seen a lot of Canadian ones, too. 

K: Really?

C: Yeah. Yeah. When I was in Fairbanks, we had wildlife that would come into town, but I wonder how much wildlife are coming into town now with more people staying home. Because we had moose and bear and stuff coming

K: I don’t find Alaska interesting unless you’re talking about bushpeople. 

C: Yeah, and that’s just a t.v. show, so I’m not talking about them.

K: (laughs) It’s not just a t.v. show. It’s how they live. They’re really living that way. They’re really squatting. 

C: Yeah… yeah…

K: They don’t own the land, and they’re squatting, and there is someone – there’s like this one dude who, every winter, tries to hoodwink people into trading fish for pigeon. And, like, the producers of the show – there’s this one family that they’re following that are cattle ranchers, and this other – they’re friends with this one dude who lives way out in the boonies, and every winter of every episode, you can tell the producers orchestrate them going up to trade for pigeon. And the family’s pissed every time. 

C: Mhm.

K: So – because they work all summer to prepare for the winter.

C: Right.

K: So, yeah.

C: That’s how one does.

K: (laughs) So, shoutout to all the Alaskan bushpeople. (laughs) That are just separatist. And, so, I’m not talking about any indigenous people. The indigenous people are doing their rhythm and rhyme that they’ve always done. And they’re sensical about it. But the bushpeople – like, if you are – I don’t understand how you can run out of meat in the winter if you’re a cattle rancher. It’s so confusing to me. But they do.

C: Mmm.

K: Because where they take their herd, the snow cuts them off. And that makes no sense because, if it doesn’t freeze enough, they can’t get to their cattle. If it freezes enough, they can. So, why are you taking your cows there? 

C: I don’t know. I didn’t know any dairy farmers because I lived in Fairbanks, and… we knew that there were dairy farms mostly in Delta Junction.

K: Mhm.

C: Which is the end of one train line. So, that was

K: There are trains in Fairbanks?

C: Yes. 

K: Hmm.

C: There are.

K: Interesting. Are they like snow-piercer trains?

C: They are not like snow-piercer trains. They do have – because snow-piercer was that t.v. show. 

K: Oh, that terrible movie. 

C: Yeah.

K: I forgive everyone who made that movie. I forgive you. (laughs) 

C: Well, and the director of it went on to win an academy award. Not for Snowpiercer. 

K: Not for Snowpiercer.

C: No.

K: (laughs) Please. 

C: So, we don’t know what happened with Snowpiercer. Apparently, it could’ve ben a good movie, but it wasn’t.

K: No, it wasn’t. It was a terrible movie.

C: But they do have snow-pusher trains that are designed to clear the tracks.

K: I blame Tilda Swinton for me watching it because I’m a huge fan of hers.

C: Mmm. Yeah.

K: I love her androgyny. I think she’s one of the most beautiful humans on earth. I think she’s like David Bowie beautiful. And I love their androgyny. 

C: Mhm.

K: I didn’t enjoy David Bowie so much when he was just doing strictly man. I love, like, androgynous looking people. I think they’re gorgeous.

C: See, I thought some of David Bowie’s “man” things… were

K: So, David Bowie looked amazing in a suit. I didn’t like his barefoot years.

C: Okay, yeah, not the barefoot years. But I’m thinking

K: I have a thing about that. Like, ugh. 

C: I’m thinking David Bowie as the Goblin King in Labyrinth.

K: That just emphasized how thin he was.

C: But he had that red suit.

K: I’m thinking David Bowie in the Let’s Dance video. Let’s Dance video.

C: Okay, yeah, that was a good one.

K: Yeah. Just leaning against the wall singing. And I’m also thinking of 1970s David Bowie making fun of people who couldn’t understand bisexuality. 

C: Mhm.

K: And not having any… not – just not caring. Like, I loved how David Bowie in every interview didn’t care.

C: Yeah. We did watch some old interviews with him. 

K: I love old David Bowie interviews. I love

C: I think we watched some where he was just smoking during the interviews or…

K: Yeah. I loved interviews where they used – where the hosts and the guests smoked. I just loved that era.

C: (laughs) 

K: I miss smoking so much. Oh my god. I’d love a cigarette. 

C: You could

K: I wish I had gotten a pandemic clause in my not smoking.

C: You should have, but you didn’t. But you could head out onto our balcony because we have neighbors who smoke, and that carries.

K: You hate when someone’s been smoking on the balcony. You get fired up. 

C: I do. I do.

K: You’re like, “eugh.”

C: It’s not against the rules, but rude. 

K: Yeah. You really don’t like when people go out on their balconies and smoke. So, the thing that keeps me as a non-smoker really isn’t the promise so much as I would have to quit again.

C: Yes. 

K: And quitting was so hard. So, I don’t understand why a heroin addict would go through all of that and then use again. Because, for me, that’s the thing. I want to say it’s love of my family, but it’s not. It’s that it was so hard and painful that I don’t ever want to go through the pain of quitting again.

C: Quitting heroin again?

K: (laughs) Quitting smoking.

C: Okay, you just were like, “that’s what I don’t understand about heroin. Why would you restart?”

(laughter)

C: I was like, “I don’t remember this time.”

K: So, I have done – I did heroin back in the day, but I didn’t become a heroin addict.

C: But the day was like last millennium. 

K: So, back in the day – ah, my back hurts. Ow. Chad requested that I find a position I could stay in for 40 minutes. And now my body is in screaming agony. Screaming agony. I hope you’re proud of yourself.

C: I am not proud of myself, but I will help you work it out afterwards. 

K: No, you won’t. You’re lying. You have not been giving me massages in years. You’ve been cracking my feet and then moving on.

C: That’s why I didn’t say massa

K: Unless I request that you squeeze me. And then you like squeeze me for two to three minutes. You’re like – okay, that was the mic slipping out of its stand and hitting me in my chest.

C: It was. It was trying to silence what you were saying. How dare you censor her?

K: (laughs) It’s like, “don’t you complain about what you get from Chad.” (laughs) 

C: Okay. “His joints hurt. Give him a break.”

K: Yeah, but your joints have always hurt.

C: Yes, they have.

K: And you use to give me amazing massages.

C: I used to.

K: Yeah. 

C: That’s why I didn’t say massage. I just said I would take care of you. 

K: So, this is just a rambly digression brought to you by COVID.

C: Well, I think this is a good representation of thought processes during COVID. You think you’re going to talk about one thing, and then you make a sandwich.

K: So, I think that this is a good representation of how little COVID is impacting our lives. 

C: Maybe, yeah.

K: And our hearts go out to everybody who is more impacted than we are. We do understand that we’re in a privileged place, and we hope that everyone is staying safe, staying at home, washing their hands, and

C: I think that’s how it’s impacting me most. It’s emotionally tough to see the struggle everybody else is going through. 

K: Yeah.

C: But I know that is not tougher than actually going through the struggle, so.

K: Yeah. So, our hearts and minds go out to everyone, and we hope that you’re taking care of yourself, that you’re washing your hands, and we hope that you are a patron, and that you’re following us over to Patreon to check out our take two. 

C: See you soon, we hope.

K: Bye.

C: Bye-bye