K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about (clears throat) sorry to start with clearing my throat, but lately I’ve been thinking about the need for light escapism. So, today’s episode is intended to be whimsical. And… my personality – whimsy is things I don’t approve of in Japan versus things I don’t approve of in the United States. And they’re all going to be light, silly things. And I’ll start with one universal thing I am not approving of in either country. Is the fact that… a mocha Frappuccino is not a standard beverage. At every coffee shop in the world. And, so, for those of you who don’t know what a mocha Frappuccino is: it is coffee, chocolate, ice, and whipped cream. And it’s blended so that it should be a chocolate flavored coffee ice cream beverage with whipped cream on top.

And it’s just upsetting to me that it’s not offered at every coffee shop around the world. And what makes this disapproval even more ridiculous is I drink them maybe… once every couple of years. But that is not the point.

C: Well, I think Frappuccino is specific to Starbucks. So, they don’t have to call it Frappuccino as long as they offer something of similar… composition. Right?

K: Yeah. So, it doesn’t have to be called a Frappuccino. And… so… the first time I ever had one of these beverages that I just described was in a tiny little donut shop in… Campbell City, California. And it was over… 24 years ago. And they didn’t know what it was. And I don’t particularly enjoy the taste of coffee – I think it’s too bitter – and I don’t like how much sugar I have to put in it. And they had chocolate sauce. And I was like, “hey, can you throw some chocolate sauce in the coffee and put it in a blender and make me a coffee milkshake?” And, so, that’s – that was the first time I had ever tasted it.

And then I would go around and badger every coffee maker (laughs) at every coffee shop that was in any radius of me and tell them, “hey, can you put some chocolate sauce in there?” Can you put coffee, chocolate sauce, and ice together and blend it – and, including Starbucks at the time, they were made very angry by this. And you were like, “why are you tormenting these poor coffee makers?”

C: Yes. Don’t batter the baristas.

K: And I was like, “I’m a customer, and I’m paying for this, and it’s not that hard. They have a blender. They have chocolate. They have ice, and they have coffee.”

C: But it continues to be hard. I think this is on your mind because I got you one today.

K: Yeah.

C: And when I went, I said, “I want a coffee Frappuccino” and they said, “oh, a matcha Frappuccino. Great.”

K: (laughs)

C: “No. Not Matcha.” “Oh, you want our dark mocha chip Frappuccino.”

K: No.

C: “No, I don’t want that. I want a mocha Frappuccino.” “Can you show me on the menu?” And I said, “no, it’s not on your menu, but here. Take a coffee Frappuccino, and you add chocolate because coffee plus chocolate is mocha. And that makes it a mocha Frappuccino.”

K: Yes.

C: And then they were like, “I guess so.” And did it. And it came out right. So, what was the – I – a matcha Frappuccino. Really? Nobody needs that.

K: And, so, what makes it even more confusing is that you’ve been doing this – I’ve been on them for about a week.

C: Yeah.

K: And so… yeah because I think we talked about it last week – no, two weeks ago. So, I think I’ve been on and off them for about two weeks because last week we did a throwback because we were feeling – I was feeling melancholy about not being able to take our annual trip.

C: Yes. This is the point at which we’d be saying, “oh no, we haven’t booked a trip. Where is still open?” If

K: No, it is not.

C: Well, we never plan that badly. So, we’ve always

K: Yes. So, please don’t tell that lie.

C: We’ve always booked

K: I am a planner.

C: Yes. We’ve always booked our trip by the end of October.

K: Yes. Because we start looking in September.

C: Yes.

K: And then we reserve as soon as – as soon as it comes open to get the best deal.

C: Yes.

K: So, yeah, don’t be perpetrating frauds on who I am.

C: (laughs)

K: Acting like I’m not a planner. Please.

C: Okay, this is the point at which everybody who hasn’t made plans goes, “oh no. Where am I going to go?”

K: And then finds out the stuff is booked up.

C: Yes. And complains, “it’s not fair.” It is fair.

K: Yeah. It is fair.

C: We’ve had our reservation since October. It’s fair.

K: It is a first come, first served world. And I go through it with clients that want to book last minute with me, and I’m like, “one, you are not promising me that you are booking.”

C: Right.

K: So, it’s first come, first served. Because I have to make a living. There is a business side to it.

C: Yes.

K: It’s not personal. It’s just business.

C: Okay.

K: So, this ties in – the Frappuccino story ties into something else I highly disapprove of. In Japan. I disapprove of the Japanese relationship with dark chocolate. I don’t approve.

C: Dark chocolate or dog chocolate?

K: Dark. Chocolate.

C: Dark chocolate. Okay.

K: I don’t approve of dog chocolate, either, which they do offer in Japan. I think it’s bad for dogs, but I don’t approve with dark chocolate being – and semi-sweet chocolate – being preferred over super sweet chocolate. Like, I – it doesn’t need to be milk chocolate because I’m not a fan of milk chocolate

C: Mhm.

K: But they have all these great chocolate flavors, but… if you buy a box of chocolate, half of the chocolates are going to be dark chocolate.

C: Yes. See, I have mixed feelings about this. I feel like sweet chocolate should always be available to eat right then

K: Yeah.

C: But that the dark chocolate is better for cooking, and you just add however much sugar you need.

K: No, and c – you need to come out.

C: As somebody who doesn’t cook?

K: No. As somebody who loves dark chocolate.

C: I do. Yes.

K: And black licorice.

C: Yes.

K: Which I don’t approve of.

C: Although I don’t typically eat them together.

K: But you would.

C: I would. I was thinking about it – that’s why I said typically. I’m thinking about it like, “would that be tasty?”

K: You would be – I think if I came home with a bag of black licorice and dark chocolate intermixed, that you would eat it. I think you would even go so far as to eat dark chocolate covered black licorice or dark chocolate – or black licorice covered in dark chocolate.

C: No, see what I would like – I would do that – but I would like is you know how the standard licorice whips have the hole down the middle?

K: Yeah.

C: Fill that with dark chocolate.

K: Oh my god, that is so nasty.

C: (laughs)

K: I do not approve.

C: (laughs)

K: I do not approve. Oh my god. So… yeah. And something I also do not approve of is how expensive fruit is, and here’s the thing: I don’t approve of the fact that Japanese-grown fruit is almost, sometimes, two and three times as expensive as imported fruit.

C: Yeah.

K: What are you doing, Japan? What are you doing?

C: Yeah. I don’t know because it’s not a difference between organic and not.

K: No, it is not.

C: If it were that difference, I would understand.

K: And it could be like – even – and the exact same fruit.

C: Yeah.

K: Like bing cherries, in specific – specifically.

C: Mhm.

K: So, they do have a different Japanese cherry variety that I understand why it’s more expensive, but bean? Like, you’re going to be like, these bing cherries that were grown right down the street form your house should cost three times as much as the bing cherries imported from across an ocean? Like, are you kidding me? And forget about the price of real wasabi. Like, come on now.

C: See, now, the wasabi I understand the price on.

K: Okay, why do you understand the pricing of wasabi? Why are you on board with that?

C: I am

K: Are you approving of the – so, okay, just so y’all know that if you are buying wasabi in a tube, you’re buying horseradish that’s been dyed green. And, so, a lot of the wasabi that you eat is actually horseradish. It’s not actually the wasabi plant. And, so, if it’s reasonably priced at all, it is not wasabi.

C: Probably not.

K: Yeah, or it may have like a pinch of wasabi, but it’s primarily horseradish.

C: If it says “Chinese wasabi” that means horseradish.

K: Yeah.

C: So, I approve because the reason that horseradish

K: But in the United States, it won’t say “Chinese wasabi” it’ll just say “wasabi.”

C: No, that’s what – that’s what they say in the United States is “Chinese wasabi”

K: See, this is where your snobbery and classism is shining through.

C: Uh-huh.

K: Because you would go to Mitsuwa and buy, but like if you go into Albertson’s and buy wasabi in a tube

C: Uh-huh.

K: It does not say “Chinese wasabi.” It says just “wasabi.”

C: Okay.

K: So, Chad likes specialty grocers. And so do I. But not everybody has a specialty grocer in their area.

C: Okay. I’m just thinking when I first moved to San Francisco, I was a block and a half away from Andronico’s, which was a specialty grocer.

K: Yeah. Further just giving your food snobbery, and it’s not

C: And I was broke. Okay?

K: It’s not you being a foodie. You’re just – you’re a food snob.

C: (laughs) But the Japanese

K: Classism. Food classism. Go on, but you were saying – the Japanese wasabi, what? Validate it.

C: The Japanese wasabi is very difficult to grow. It doesn’t grow very well outside of Japan. It’s not like champagne where it has to come

K: Hello. We live in Japan.

C: It’s not like champagne where it has to come from the Champagne region of France. But there’s worldwide demand for Japanese wasabi, and so some of it gets exported.

K: So, locals should get it first is why I’m not approving.

C: We get it cheaper than it would be outside of Japan.

K: But I don’t feel like Japan treats us special because we’re in Japan.

C: Japan does

K: I feel like they treat – I feel like Japan treats Japanese nationals and Japanese restaurants – Japanese restaurants – Japanese residents as though we’re importing Japanese goods.

C: It’s

K: Even locally grown Japanese goods

C: In some cases, they do, and it tends to be a difference in whether or not the farm is government subsidized because there are farms with government subsidies.

K: But even those farms are charging grip.

C: I think because people are being a living wage for working on those farms.

K: Ah. Okay. So, if that’s the case, which I’m doubtful that it is

C: (laughs)

K: I approve. But if that is not the case. I disapprove.

C: Okay.

K: So, I’m down with everybody making a living wage.

C: Yeah.

K: I’m down with that. But I am not down with them just jacking up the prices because of how special the Japanese soil is.

C: Mhm.

K: I’m not down with that.

C: Okay.

K: So, now I’m gonna have to wonder because, as y’all know, we don’t google on this show. And we don’t google afterwards. It’s rare that we’ll google something afterwards.

C: Right. Right.

K: So, something I don’t approve of in the United States, to be fair, is I don’t approve with just… the massive amounts of food waste from overstock.

C: Mhm.

K: I feel like, in the United States, everything is overstocked. Everything comes in just like… numbers that you don’t need. And, so, something I’ve enjoyed in Japan is when I buy pasta – I’m not making a lifetime commitment to the pasta because the bag holds two servings.

C: Yeah.

K: I feel like cool, I’m making pasta for two people, there’s two servings in this bag. This is so awesome. But in the United States, I remember our cupboards just being full of – I would twist it and then time them off with the rubber bands – just being full of half bags of pasta because it’s always like four – I don’t know if it’s the case anymore because my news is like 15 years later. But just Albertson’s is the grocery store we used to shop at because it was the one closest to our house. Or – what was the other one that we shopped at?

C: Cosentino’s.

K: Yeah. I preferred Cosentino’s. But sometimes I would do Albertson’s. Cosentino’s didn’t have as much food shortage, and they had more… because they had a delicatessen and

C: Yeah.

K: I liked the butcher there. And it’s family-owned, so that was really nice. But it was a little bit further away, so sometimes we’d go to Albertson’s, and just the… quantities that we would buy

C: Yeah.

K: Were just like… mind-boggling. And it just seemed so normal to me.

C: I see it creeping in here – so, I like gouda cheese.

K: Yeah.

C: Shredded gouda cheese is one of the few cheeses that is cheap here in Japan. Because cheese is normally very expensive.

K: Yeah.

C: And it used to be that it came in 400-gram bags.

K: Mhm.

C: Which is about 2 po – which is about 1 pound.

K: Yeah.

C: And then it was 450-gram bags.

K: Really?

C: Yeah. And then it was 500-gram bags.

K: Wow.

C: And now they’re 1 kilo bags.

K: What?

C: They’re a full kilo, which is 2.2 pounds.

K: Who needs 2.2 pounds – 2 kilos of cheese?

C: I don’t think anybody does.

K: Like, who’s consuming that much cheese before it goes bad?

C: Right. That’s my issue is by the time that it gets to the end of the bag, it’s started to mold.

K: Yeah. And you had a nasty – I think you should let people in on your pain of what happened.

C: I made macaroni and cheese the way I usually do. With Kraft boxed plus several kinds of external cheeses and garlic powder and all kinds of other good things – cream cheese – deliciousness.

K: Yes.

C: And I did not notice

K: Did it include tuna?

C: Yeah. It included tuna.

K: Okay. So, you made like your – your version of high-end macaroni and cheese starting from Kraft box macaroni and cheese.

C: Exactly.

K: Okay.

C: It’s like homeopathic levels of the Kraft mac and cheese left.

K: Homeopathic levels? Wow, you’re bringing out like all the fanciness.

C: Right?

K: Because your – what you do with mac and cheese is amazing. It sort of reminds me of like college students and ramen.

C: Mhm.

K: Like, when they make egg drop soup with it or add all kinds of things to the ramen

C: Yeah.

K: Because they can afford condiments but not food.

C: I did that.

K: Yeah.

C: But I ate it, and then I felt sick the next day because, when I checked the gouda cheese, it had molded. It was very sad.

K: It was very sad.

C: I did not approve.

K: Yeah, I don’t approve either. Because – can I – I’m gonna – I’m sorry, I have to talk about the mints.

C: Okay.

K: So, I do not approve of the way Chad consumes soft mints. Chad is obsessive about loving soft mints or soft… I don’t know, is there anything other that’s soft? Because I don’t think you like those weird orange soft peanuts – styrofoamed peanuts that are edible.

C: No, I don’t like those.

K: Yeah. So, I think you only like the soft mints.

C: Well, also dinner mints. If dinner mints are soft.

K: Okay, but dinner mints are also, hello, soft mints.

C: But they look different.

K: Okay. So, there’s the soft dinner mints that come in like pink, blue, and white

C: Yeah. And then soft peppermints that come in the red and white striped.

K: Yeah. Which I think the red stripe is the only peppermint in it because it’s basically like little sugar balls.

C: I think it might be. So, last week I was eating some because I ordered myself a box of them, and I’ve only had one box so let’s not exaggerate here.

K: Okay. How many came in this one box?

C: 350.

K: Okay, yeah, so let’s put perspective on it. (laughs)

C: That’s not even one for every day of the year.

(laughter)

K: And, so, like when the box came and I saw them, my first thought was, “oh no, my babe is going to burn his mouth and cause himself to have really bad stomach pains.” Because, in the past, when you eat a lot of mints, you get stomach pain. And, so, when the stomach pain hit, we though tit was the mints, but actually it was the spoiled gouda cheese.

C: Yeah, it was. But here’s the thing about it: I brush my teeth somewhere between 4 and 10 times a day.

K: Yeah.

C: Because whenever I don’t like the way my mouth tastes, I just brush my teeth. If I eat, I brush my teeth after. So, I was eating

K: So, is this you feeling defensive about eating sugar balls?

C: No, it’s not.

K: Okay.

C: But I was eating mints, and then I would go brush my teeth. And I was asking myself, like, what am I doing wrong? I’m brushing my teeth many times a day, but my mouth is just perpetually bleeding.

K: (laughs) The orange from the mint.

C: It took me like three days to figure out, yes, that was just the coloring from the mints.

K: I have hot tamales, and I freaked out after brushing my teeth from the hot tamales. Because it was completely red.

C: Yes.

K: Like, bright red. And even, like, all of my bodily fluids had turned red from the dye.

C: Oh. (laughs)

K: So, I’m like, I’m dying.

C: (laughs)

K: I didn’t say anything. And I’m glad I didn’t say anything because I was freaked out. So, I was like, “I’m going to give this a day, and if it doesn’t calm down, then… I’m going to go to the hospital.” Because I don’t want to go to the hospital right now. So, I was like, “ugh. It’s the dye.” Because the way I eat the hot tamales – this is hugely wasteful and bad human wah wah wah – but I suck the cinnamon covering off it and the red dye covering, and then I suck it down to the gelatin, and then I spit the gelatin out and throw them away.

C: Yeah.

K: So… I’m just consuming the red dye and cinnamon.

C: And it affected things. How weird.

K: Right? But it made my mouth like super red, and then the other day I was freaked out, again, because I’ve been eating marshmallows.

C: Mhm.

K: And I’ve been eating specifically roasted marshmallows.

C: Your marshmallows are not roasted.

K: Okay, burnt marshmallows

C: Thank you.

K: That are just basically charcoal. And then when I went to the bathroom, everything as black, and I’m like, “oh my gosh. This is horrible.” So, something else I don’t approve of is I do not approve of the way the food I eat changes the colors of my bodily fluid.

C: Yeah, it’s

K: I don’t like it.

C: It’s unpleasant.

K: Yeah, I don’t approve.

C: Because I spent – I spent September, and October, and part of November… having dental work done. I literally went twelve times to get two root canals and everything. So… I thought, when the – I started having red, red, red toothpaste residue, “oh my goodness, something has gone wrong.”

K: Yeah.

C: But I didn’t say anything because, like you, I’m like, “I’m going to wait a minute and see”

K: (laughs)

C: And then I realized what it was.

K: We are not good role models. As soon as you see something funky, you should absolutely, you know, go to the doctor. So… I did not approve of the way your doctor was doing your root canal. I don’t approve of your dentist.

C: Yeah, it was interesting because it took him 12 visits to do 2 root canals.

K: Yes.

C: It was every week, and the visits would be like 5 minutes long or 10 minutes long. And he

K: It was annoying.

C: He finally explained to me what it was. Which is that the crowns that I have are not a single thing. They’re made up of multiple layers. So that, when they’re under pressure, they compress and spring back rather than just crushing my teeth because I’ve lost, I think, 5 or 6 teeth, from having the crown just crush it when I bite things.

K: Yeah. So, that I approve of.

C: Yeah.

K: But I don’t approve of any root canal taking 7 visits. But I do approve overall of Japanese dentistry.

C: Mhm.

K: But back on the topic of food – y’all know that I do not approve of the seasonality.

C: Yeah.

K: Of what’s available at the grocery store.

C: Everything should be available all of the time, but nothing should ever go to waste.

K: Yes. Exactly. Thank you. And I feel that strongly about it. Something else I don’t approve of is that I used to be able to eat pineapple, and now I cannot.

C: I disapprove of that too because I like pineapple.

K: Yeah, and you’ve been very supportive in no longer eating pineapple. So, as I age – because I have hereditary coproporphyria – what I can eat becomes slimmer and slimmer in terms of what my body can process. And, so, I used to be able to eat bell peppers and pineapple, and now I can’t eat them anymore. And I absolutely love them.

C: I do not approve of aging.

K: I approve of aging. I do not approve of the fact that you have more grey hair than I do.

C: (laughs)

K: I think that’s really rude. Because, as our Musick Notes know, I am a whole generation older than you. Decades older than you. Decades. He’s making the face, guyz. He’s making the face.

C: It’s 6 and a half years.

K: Yeah. The whole reality thing, and linear time. Comporal time. Maybe my temporal time is different than yours.

C: No, I just disapprove on grammatical grounds. Because let’s say it was 4 and a half years. Then you round it, it goes to 0, and you use the plural of 0. So, zero decades. Right?

K: Yeah.

C: But 6 and a half, you round it, it’s 1 decade. If it was 0, you’d be decades older. If it was 2, you’d be decades older. But even rounding, you are decade older.

K: Mhm.

K: So, I disapprove of your flagrant violation of the plurality rules.

K: Something that’s just a random note: when I say “guyz,” it’s spelled with a z and gender neutral.

C: Okay. I can approve of that.

K: Yeah. Because when I do folx, I do it with an x.

C: Yeah.

K: And I usually say, y’all, but sometimes I say guyz with a z. That is gender neutral.

C: Mm.

K: Which I do approve of. I approve of gender neutrality and inclusivity.

C: Yes.

K: Yeah. And I feel like the Japanese language – this is something Ire ally love about the Japanese language, we’ve talked about this before – there’s less use of he and him and her and her and her’s. There’s more use of individual name

C: Yeah.

K: And then context. So, I do approve of that. I don’t approve of how gendered everything is in the United States, but that’s not light and playful, so we’re going to turn back to something ridickalickalickalous. And something I don’t approve of in the Untied States is that everything closes down after the Thanksgiving weekend.

C: Mm. Yeah.

K: So, as an indigenous person, I’m not talking about the… the political implications. Because that’s heavy. What I’m talking about is why is it – and now it’s gotten so bad that it is the last Wednesday, the last Wednesday of November, until the fifth of January – nothing can get done. Nothing new can be started. No new projects. Nada. Zip.

C: Yeah.

K: Zilch. I don’t approve.

C: It’s the holiday season.

K: Yeah, I don’t approve.

C: If one tenth of the day is the holiday season… this is – no. This is a no. Because there’s still weekends.

K: Yeah. Something I do approve of, that’s more Twitter than Japan or the United States, is now I know a bunch of different Jewish people. Which, in the United States, I didn’t really have a strong connection to… other Jewish people. I didn’t have my tribe around me when it came to Jewishness. I did have indigenous people from various tribes, so I was in touch with other indigenous people. And I was in touch with – my community included other black people. But I only knew of like one or two other Jewish people because I don’t go to synagogue. That’s not the type of Jew that I am.

And, so, now that I’m on Twitter – one of the rabbis on Twitter that we’re friends with wrote this really beautiful thread about the different types of Jewishness that she would like to see representation of. And one of the things that included were Jews that are non-religious, Jews that are disabled, Jews that are black, and Jews that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

C: Mhm.

K: And Jews that are nonbinary. And it was really cool because – I responded to that tweet, and I said I actually don’t know any Jewish people who are nonbinary, and I’m agendered. So, I know we exist. I know we’re out there. I just don’t know any, and that thread connected me to like three or four, and so now we have some Jewish tweeps that are also not on the binary spectrum for gender. And it’s really exciting to me. And… it’s nice reading their tweets, and it’s just – having that part of my community fulfilled because of my HCP. I can’t celebrate my Jewishness through food traditions.

C: Yeah.

K: And because I’m not religious, I don’t celebrate any religious holidays. So, how I connect with the Jewish community is usually through Twitter and through conversations.

C: Mhm.

K: And that’s been really awesome and really surprising because, if you had told me 15 years ago that I would have an amazing Jewish community of Jews like me in Japan

C: Yeah.

K: That would have blew my mind because the way I’m on Twitter – well, Twitter didn’t exist when we lived in the United States. It came to be after we moved to Japan, and I think it’s so cool that I get to be with – I get to know other Jews that are hispanic and black and indigenous and have other nationalities. I also get to know Jewish people who have converted.

C: Mhm.

K: I also get to know Jewish people who are queer or part of the LGBTQIA+ community and aren’t necessarily religious. And… also nonbinary Jewish people. So, the number of Jewish people that we’re following has expanded quite a bit, and that’s really exciting. And I had always thought that having the fact that I’m Jewish in our bio, we would have Jewish followers. We have some because of that, but then we recently changed our bio for something else I approve of, and that’s the fact that Not My Ruckus is – has, your novel, has advanced reader copies available till the end of the year through Book Sirens.

C: Right.

K: And then at the first of the year through…

C: Book Sprout.

K: I always want to call them Book Bubble, and I know that’s wrong, and I’m sorry Book Sprout. So… I completely approve of Twitter. Universally. I completely approve of you being an author. Which I something I tried to get you to do in the United States, but you were very resistant.

C: I was very resistant.

K: You still owe me a book.

C: Yeah. Yeah. I know the one you mean.

K: Yeah.

C: Probably, eventually, it’ll get there.

K: No, you’re never going to write that book.

C: It might be like ten pages long. It might be like the story that you remember, and then everything ended. The end.

K: No.

C: You don’t approve.

K: No, I don’t approve.

C: (laughs)

K: I don’t approve of you cheating and not finishing the book by just writing the end at the end of it.

C: Okay.

K: That’s not how you end a book.

C: That is how you end a book.

K: No, that’s not how you end the book. Not My Ruckus does not end with “the end.”

C: No, it doesn’t.

K: So, what are – how you gonna look?

C: But it will on the audio version.

K: What?

C: It will on the audio version.

K: It’ll say, “the end”?

C: It’ll say, “the end” and it’s weird because, when we were looking at how the audio thing happens… for… to be sold on Audible, which is the biggest audio market at the moment, the story has to end with the words “the end.”

K: Huh. Interesting. Did not know that.

C: Yeah.

K: So, what are some things that you disapprove of in the United States? That are just quirky.

C: I disapprove of the weather. It doesn’t matter where it’s at. I just disapprove of weather in general.

K: Like, globally?

C: Globally, yes.

K: On a global level, you disapprove of weather?

C: On a global level. More

K: Do you disapprove of weather or of weather changing or both?

C: Actually, neither one. I was going to be more specific. I disapprove of weather affecting me. Like, I understand that a lot of this weather thing is necessary for the proper functioning of plants and all of that, and people would starve and blah blah blah if there wasn’t wind to pollinate

K: But this is us whimsically disapproving of stuff because we can.

C: Exactly. So, I disapprove of there being any weather except for about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

K: Oh, maybe in the future, you can create your own weather bubble.

C: I was thinking weather bubble. I saw the look in your eyes, and I thought, “yes. Weather bubble.”

K: Yes. I felt that moment of sympatico. Like, ultimate sympatico-ness.

C: Yes.

K: Yeah because that would be awesome. My weather bubble would be over cloudy with misty rain.

C: Mm. Yeah. Yeah.

K: Yeah. I think that would be cool.

C: Would the rain just be like touching the tips of your fingers, or would your hair be getting all wet?

K: No, the rain would evaporate before it touched me.

C: Okay.

K: Or it would – like, my bubble would be bigger than me, and there would be just like a cut-out of dryness while rain fell all around me.

C: That would – yes.

K: Because if we’re going to do rain bubbles, let’s – I mean weather bubbles – let’s do weather bubbles.

C: Yeah. I approve.

K: Yeah. That would be so cool. And it would be good for the earth and have a 0-carbon footprint.

C: Negative carbon, even.

K: Yes. Because it’s my fantasy, and I approve of that fantasy.

C: Yes.

K: Oh, something I super approve of that’s coming out of Korea – so not Japan or the United States

C: Singapore?

K: No. That’s your thing to approve of.

C: Okay.

K: Not mine. So, you have to wait for the Singapore thing. I approve of Imagine Your Korea. I have the songs stuck in my head. They’re bops. All of them.

C: Okay, I don’t watch YouTube or wherever you got this from.

K: Yeah, it’s a YouTube channel called Imagine Your Korea, I think, or Find Your Korea. They also air as commercials. But they have millions of views because it’s people doing – going around different areas of Korea wearing different Korea – traditional Korean attire or attire that’s been modernized but has tradition in Korea. And they’re doing this simple dance, and I taught myself the dance by watching the video, and I feel so cool that I can do this really simple, silly dance. But it’s a bop. And one of them’s like, dun un dun da nun. And I’m like – I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve watched all of the videos on the channel, and I’ve shared them on YouTube because I love them so much. They’re just fun and whimsical and silly, and they’re like imagine your Korea, and I’m like, “sorry Korea. Still not traveling. Sorry not sorry.”

C: Yeah.

K: But – and I’ve already been to Korea, so I don’t think we’ll go back.

C: We’ve been there three times, which is quite a lot for one place.

K: Yeah, for us. If it’s not, like, local travel. So… I’m just – I really enjoy the dance moves of it, and the… bright colors of it and just the perky, upbeat – upbeatness of it. It’s just so happy. That and, like, the ten-year-old drummer chick. Who was – who wrote the song Rockin Girl who challenged Dave Beal to a drum battle.

C: Yeah. Nandi. I can’t remember her last name.

K: Yeah, I can’t remember Nandi’s last name, either. But those are two things I approve of. And Nandi’s in the U.K.

C: Yeah.

K: So, I guess there are things I approve of outside of… Japan. And I know we were doing things we disapprove of, but now it’s things we approve of because, what? It’s whatever Kisstopher’s thinking about. What, what?

C: Okay.

K: And so now I’m going to make room

C: Because one of the things you disapprove of is thought crimes.

K: I do. I do. If I think a thought, and nobody knows it, it’s not a crime.

C: Yeah.

K: Because it hurts no one. It puts nothing negative into the world if it doesn’t make me act in a negative way. We don’t believe in thought crimes.

C: No.

K: So, what’s the thing that you approve of that is not from the United States or Japan?

C: I approve of the lab grown chicken from Singapore. Like, right on.

K: Break it down for the people because that sounds creepy and gross. (laughs)

C: It does not. It sounds tasty.

K: It sounds like franken meat. It sounds so creepy and gross. Until you explained it to me, I’m like, I’m not doing that. And now I’m all for it. So… this is honest to goodness – you can google it because you know we don’t google, but we invite our Musick Notes to google. Break down the lab grown chicken, and why it’s cruelty free.

C: Well, it’s cruelty free because they use a feather that is naturally dropped from a chicken to harvest the donor cells.

K: But what’s the condition of the chicken who drops the feather?

C: Happy. The chicken is like, “thank god I can get rid of that feather. That feather was so heavy.”

K: It’s a bird. It molts. But like, no, how do they keep them?

C: They keep them happy.

K: But how do they keep them happy? Are they free range

C: It depends on the company. Yeah, the ones that keep their own chickens are free range. Some of them just collect chicken feathers, I think. Just random wild chicken feathers. I don’t know.

K: And then what do they do.

C: And then they harvest some of the cells from that, and then they use a protein whole thing that I am not a food bioengineer, so I don’t understand. But my under – my vague understanding of it is that it’s somewhat like the process to use tofu to make the textured vegetable protein.

K: Yeah.

C: Which I’ve liked even when you disapproved of that. Because you disapproved of gas station burritos.

K: Yes. I do.

C: Yeah.

K: So, I don’t disapprove of gas station burritos. I disapprove of your relationship, specifically

C: (laughs)

K: With gas station burritos in the United States, to be specific. Because you would eat them and halfway through eating them, you would start o feel sick. Like, halfway through the burrito. I ate them. I did not feel sick.

C: Correlation is not causation.

K: In this instance it is. Because if every time you eat a gas station burrito, a microwaveable gas station burrito – if halfway through it you predictably begin to feel sick and in pain and sick for several days after eating it… just saying, babe.

C: You are you giving too much power to temporal relations.

K: Yes. And I told you, I’m temporally – I’m in my temporal space right now.

C: Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

K: But go on about the Singapore chicken because I’m super excited about this because I’ve wanted to be a vegetarian

C: Right.

K: For most of my life because climate change is super important to me, and the number one threat – oh, you have to talk about the leaf blower thing because we don’t approve of those, and that’s interesting.

C: Okay.

K: Is animal husbandry. Animal husbandry is bad for the earth, is bad for the animals, and all of that. So, I don’t approve of animal husbandry.

C: See, I think animal husbandry is not. I think you have to be careful about your terms because

K: Because you’re autistic.

C: Yeah. And there’s a difference between

K: (laughs)

C: Animal husbandry, where you actually

K: If you’re a Musick Note, you know that does not offend him, and he feels like “yes, it is because I’m autistic, and therefore I have a superior understanding of words.” So, that’s what Chad heard me say.

C: I didn’t hear you say, “superior understanding of words” – I heard you say, “you do your best to remind us that words have meaning.”

K: Yes. There you go. You’re superior, babe.

C: So, animal husbandry is different than factory farming.

K: So, I am against animal husbandry. I think animal husbandry is bad for the earth. I believe the ownership of animals is bad for the earth.

C: But that – animal husbandry doesn’t have to involve the ownership of animals.

K: Okay. So, animal husbandry can involve animals in their natural habitat? Where humans don’t mess with them at all.

C: Yes.

K: I’m going – so, this is some shit that’s going to be googled after because I don’t believe you.

C: Okay, so I grew up in Alaska.

K: Uh-huh.

C: And a lot of tribes there follow the caribou across Alaska as they roam.

K: And that’s not animal husbandry.

C: I would argue that it is.

K: And I would argue that it is not.

C: Okay. So, we’ll have to bring in the grammar judge at a later time.

K: No. Not the grammar judge. Google. We already said google’s going to arbitrate this. And, so, now I don’t hate google. And I’m… I should be anti-capitalism, but I’m not. Chad does not approve of capitalism anywhere. But back to the chicken and why I’m excited about it. And I’m right about husbandry. And I think google’s going to bear it out. And y’all can just tweet “we agree with Kisstopher” to remind Chad that Kisstopher’s right about everything. Because I think he forgets.

C: Yeah. Just as a general principle.

K: Yeah. I think – I think you forget. So, I’m excited about the chicken because I want to be a vegetarian but because of my hereditary coproporphyria and my lupus, there is an amino chain and other chemicals that are only contained in animal meat.

C: Right.

K: And, so, I have to consume animal meat even though I think it’s bad for the earth, and I don’t approve of it. I wouldn’t go vegan because I like sugar, and I like honey. And I think, for me to go vegan – like proper vegan – I would have to not do sugar and not do honey. But then I go back and forth on, like, maybe I would do honey, but not sugar. I don’t know, like, how far I would take it. Because I’m not pro-insect.

C: Right.

K: So… yeah. It’s a whole confusing thing. I was the same thing when I was looking into Buddhism and not killing insects. Like, killing nothing.

C: Yeah.

K: That’s hard for me to get my head around. Because maybe I’m just a plant murderer, and I just want to murder plants and insects. I don’t know.

C: Well, and we had friends – when we were in the U.S.  we had friends who were part of the Jain faith.

K: Yeah.

C: And they only eat fruits and things that grow above ground because of that.

K: Yeah. So, that was like I don’t know. Because – well I – everybody knows that I’ve come clean that I kill the jumping spiders of Japan.

C: Mhm.

K: But other spiders – so, I don’t approve of the fact that I kill the jumping spiders of Japan. I wish that I would put them in a cup

C: I don’t remember the last time I saw a spider.

K: Yeah, since I haven’t been in my office – I know I have not seen a spider in 10 months.

C: Ah because they’re at your office. That makes sense.

K: Yeah. But I do kill like – we get like these weird beetles.

C: Yeah.

K: I do kill those.

C: Yeah.

K: Because they’re annoying.

C: Yeah.

K: And that’s the only reason I kill them. So, I feel like I’m a bad human that I’m just like murdering these insects for annoying me. So, I think that’s why I could never be vegan.

C: Mm.

K: So, I don’t approve of the fact that I would have to not kill insects to be vegan.

C: Okay.

K: I don’t know – what level of veganism is that? Is that like level 7? And I’m not taunting or chiding vegans by bringing up the levels. I’m actually curious.

C: Yeah, I just don’t know.

K: I don’t think we have vegan listeners because I think vegans don’t like me. I – at least, all of the vegans who meet me shortly after declare that they don’t like me.

C: Uh-huh.

K: So – because

C: I think that you challenge the worldview because most people know that, for example, cats can’t synthesize taurine, so they have to have animal products to be able to make taurine.

K: Yes.

C: But they don’t know that some people have genetic differences from most people that mean that they can’t synthesize certain amino acids.

K: Yeah, no, I get them on the drinking.

C: Mm.

K: Every vegan who drinks

C: Yeah, the alcohol.

K: Yes. Alcohol is not vegan.

C: Yeah.

K: Because most alcohol includes crushed bird eggs of some type. Usually chicken.

C: Yeah.

K: Which leads to the sexing of chicken and the hyper breeding

C: For the calcium carbonite to make a filter

K: And most alcohol is filtered with fish bladders.

C: Mm.

K: So, I feel that any vegan that drinks – I immediately challenge them on that, and they get super defensive.

C: Mhm.

K: And then I challenge them on glass. Because they don’t know about the sand shortage. And, so, when they come at me… I – I always go at them for sugar, glass use if they use glass, and alcohol. And I find it interesting that

C: So, they need to be like microbrewing their own stuff

K: They need to not be drinking.

C: Yeah.

K: Because, also, the way that the hops are grown and the way the alcohol stuff is grown is not vegan either. So, even if they don’t include animal products, vegan

C: Mm.

K: If you’re drinking, insects are dying for your alcoholic beverage.

C: And people are animals, too, and somebody had to work at it. Therefore, it includes animal labor.

K: Boom. Shakalaka.

C: (laughs)

K: So, that’s just a short take on why vegans don’t like me.

(laughter)

K: I like vegans. I don’t have anything against them. But if you’re going to proselytize, be down. Like, I had one – I know of one vegan that eats and tries not to kill – and eats in such a way that they do not kill the plant. They kill parts of the plants.

C: Mhm.

K: And they can come at me any way they want because they’re down for their lifestyle.

C: Yeah.

K: And they work really, really hard to make sure that not only are they being a good steward of the earth, but that they’re also being a good steward of the plant life, and the animal life of the earth. And I’m like, dang. You are down. You – preach to me.

C: Okay.

K: Tell me I’m a bad human in comparison because you are doing way more than I am.

C: And I’m sorry that your range rover doesn’t fit in our parking spot.

K: (laughs) They do not drive. You know they do not drive.

C: Yes.

K: So, like – and they don’t bicycle. And so – because they’re like even making a bamboo bike with ba- even if you could make a bamboo bike with no rubber for the tires, they care about the whole thing.

C: Rubber just comes from trees. You can harvest rubber without killing the tree.

K: Yeah, but it’s a whole thing.

C: Okay.

K: They explained it to me why they don’t bike and why they walk everywhere. And then I explained to them how privileged they are that they can live a life where they can – every destination that they have in their life is within walking distance.

C: Yes.

K: And they were like, “yes, I do recognize my privilege.” And I feel like boom shakalaka, we’re friends.

C: Okay.

K: Because – like, they get it. They get that they’re privileged. And they get that I don’t have the same privileges they have, and so there’s just certain behaviors I don’t do in their presence.

C: Mhm.

K: But I listen to any rant they want to have.

C: You are very kind.

K: No, just – to me, it’s just like, you know, just because we don’t agree about everything doesn’t mean we have to hate each other. That’s something I disapprove of. I disapprove of, like, hating me because I’m not vegan – or me hating someone because they are vegan.

C: Yeah.

K: That’s ridiculous. Ridiculous. I don’t approve of it.

C: I agree.

K: So… we’re still talking about the process of Chad’s book, and we have super – like for reals. This is not, like, clickbaity or go over to Patreon and trying to force you, but some really super, super exciting stuff has happened.

C: Yes.

K: And we’re going to talk about it in the take two. We hope you follow us on over to that. And we hope that you’re getting into the process and enjoying the process of publishing Chad’s book. We’re grateful for everyone who’s coming along this ride with us. And thanks for listening this week. Thank you for listening to the throwback Thursday episode last week. We really appreciate you hanging and sticking with us. We’ll talk to you next week.

C: Bye.

K: Or shortly in the take two.

C: Yes.

K: Bye.

C: Bye-bye.