Quick Question with Soren and Daniel - QQ ep 13 - Quick Question with Soren and Daniel

Episode Date: August 28, 2019

Hello again and welcome to another episode of Quick Question with Soren and Daniel, a show where two friends ask and attempt to answer life's least challenging challenges and the only show that has the audacity to call itself quick despite having an average runtime of 50 minutes. I am Daniel O'Brien, comedian, historian, author, thoughtful fisherman, and one half of this podcast and joined with me as always is soren buoy what are you well as long as we're just saying shit sure i'll be a historian too uh i i'm soren buoy i'm a television writer and dan is my best friend and we're missing someone today we're missing uh bacon who is our cfo. He's normally with every episode. He's the reason that the show exists. And we're really sad that he's not here to join us. But, you know, it's sort of out of our hands. He's on that Rikers boat when the prison at Rikers gets too loaded and they just stick the men on that boat for a while. And it's supposed to be for only 60 hours, but who knows at this point,

it's been well over a week. Yeah. It's really, you know, God bless. He's, he's definitely not innocent, but we still hope he gets out. Yeah. And all he can do is just stare at the fish in the water with no fishing pole. I know it sucks. It's the worst thing.

Anyway, once again, this is quick question with Soren and Daniel. And we'd like to start off by thanking our listeners who prefer to be called Questicular Answers. How about that one? Oh, that's by far and away the best one. Yeah, I like it. It's good. Okay. Shame we'll never say it again.

We'd like to call out one of our fans uh with a review every week that we read on air uh i have my i had i should say my assistant bacon print out all the reviews on custom-made playing cards and i'm shuffling them now to pick one at random shuffle noise shuffle noise it was great that they gave him the opportunity to use all that stuff on the Rikers boat. It counts as community service because we're doing this podcast for the public good. And I've picked one. Holy smokes, Soren. It's a five star review from user. Get the fuck out.

Mucho 859, who writes my new favorite thing to listen to while I bathe. OK, is that it? Thoughts? Yeah. All right. Yeah, lots. Wow. bathe okay is that thoughts yeah all right yeah lots uh wow wait have you ever listened to a podcast while you're cleaning yourself uh no um this is one that we really should have had bacon on for because do you remember he pitched us an invention of his oh yes yeah it was a place to put your phone and you can still tap and touch your phone while

you're in the shower yeah it was a cup that you could stick to the wall of your shower so you can listen to podcasts while showering yeah it was a cup he invented cups and suction and we went hold on why anyway you guys don't you guys don't want to be on your phone in the shower like no i mean it's never even occurred to me i don't even think i bring my phone in the shower? No, I mean, it's never even occurred to me. I don't even think I bring my phone in the bathroom when I'm bathing and showering because of the moisture in the air makes me worried about my phone. And it's a perfect opportunity to charge your phone. That's right, yeah. Because I'm not going to use it. It's the one time when you're just sort of there and your hands and stuff are busy that whole time.

Yeah. If I'm going to be moving around on my phone, I can do that as soon as I get out of the shower. I've got shit to do in there. Yeah. And I'm in the shower, certainly, trying to be in there for as little time as possible. I don't enjoy showers. They're a necessary thing that I do in the morning.

If I'm feeling luxurious and I want to take a bath and I have time, I certainly don't want to listen to a podcast because podcasts are very, uh, in my mind, an active experience where I'm, I'm listening to whether it's like a true crime thing or an interview thing or, or a news thing, whatever it is, I'm, I'm, uh, passively participating in it. Um, so if you want to listen to anything, it's not going to be a fucking podcast. It's going to be I'm passively participating in it. So if you want to listen to anything, it's not going to be a fucking podcast. It's going to be like music or like the sound of rain or something like that.

So you don't enjoy the act of showering? No. I enjoy the act of showering post like a hike or a workout or something like that. I don't like showering in the morning before work and i always shower every morning before work but i just hate it is it because you're exhausted when you get in there maybe you're ruining the experience for yourself i do it at

night before i get into my bed is that better is it better to do it at night i love it and it also means that your sheets stay pretty clean for a while. You don't shower before work? No, never. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I'll try to, a friend of mine, an ex actually said shower at night before you go to bed and you'll have a better life. But it's just not, I use it to wake up. It's a perfunctory.

It's part of how I start the day. That's how I used to do it in high school. And that was a time in my life where I was like exhausted all the time. And I think I felt the same way as you. I was just like, all right, I got to do this part of the day. I got to get up. I get wet here for a second. And then I'm allowed to go to school.

Like I since I've been sharing at night, it is sort of like a treat at the end of the night where I'm like, oh, now I get now I deserve this. Yeah. OK. oh now I get now I deserve this yeah okay maybe I'll give because I'm kind of the opposite where like at the end of the day I like to I like everything leading up to me being asleep to just be like luxury time to just be relaxing time like I've I've finished work I finished working out I've cleaned my apartment I've cooked dinner I've cleaned the dishes that I used to cook dinner. And now the best time of day is the last like hour and a half where I don't have to do anything. And I feel like if I added a shower into that routine, then it would just be another looming thing that I had to do before I was asleep. That's possible. I'll say that it

became like a luxury to me. Getting in the is really nice it's i agree with you it's not i'm still doing stuff while i'm in there like my hands are busy but that's because it's all that practiced work of having doing the same thing every single day that frees your mind up and that's like a luxury to me where i'm just thinking about stuff in there and i'm feeling that nice warm water occasionally if it was a really hard day one hand hand up on the stall, like one hand up on the wall. Think about some things. Sometimes I spit water. It's a big game in there.

But anyway, someone listens to our show while they're bathing, and that is very interesting and frankly disgusting. We didn't even touch on the fact that he's bathing. His luxury is to hop into that bath light a few 60 candles and just draw a bath throw some throw some bath salts in there let our dulcet voices take him away on an adventure speaking of candles i got uh i got a story for you before we get into our quick questions uh that you and dob's devotees will appreciate. Let's not call them that. Okay. My mom fucking dunked on me.

My favorite thing in the world is when parents don't even realize how much they're fucking up their kids. I want to hear this. Oh, no. She did it on purpose. So I hung out with my mom recently. We live in different states, but we met up in New Jersey and she wanted to celebrate a thing. So I'm taking her to the Emmys. She is my guest, my plus one for the Emmys. That's a perfect choice. That's the perfect, perfect choice. It was never going to be anyone else in the world. And so I'm taking her and we wanted to

meet up beforehand. She wanted to thank me me obviously. And, and just like, hang out and talk about where we're flying into, where we're staying. And I was, you know, like, here's, here's this app that you can get people are going to come and do your hair. We had a bunch of things to talk about is the point. And she wanted to thank me for the invite. So she got me a gift and I was very happy to get this gift and she handed it to me and it was a candle and it was a very nice candle. And it smells like, uh, she smells like uh burning wood it smells like a fireplace and it's got a special wick that crackles like a fireplace would so it does everything that a fireplace would do and it smells really great and i was like thank you this is a very thoughtful gift and it's 16

from yankee candle and you can get it anywhere in the world. It's clear my mom listens to the podcast, so shout out mom. What's up? And she is very worried that I'm spending too much on candles and just wanted to show $16, you fucking idiot. Do you see how easy this was for me? I didn't even break a sweat getting this.

Yeah, didn't go online, just stopped at a Yankee Candle in an outlet mall where I was like, oh, look, a Pier 1 and a Barnes Noble and a Houlihan's and a Yankee Candle. I'll get I'll spend my my day there and get a bunch of presents and a meal for thirty five dollars. So this is very nice of your mom to do this. Yes. I think maybe we just need to take a little break from inventing new candle scents okay the disagree but go on a fire like a fire in your house that's the the best part of that is not the smell by any means i hate the smell of a fire you do yes i think you're in

the minority on that really it's just that smoky. And like a house that clearly has had a lot of fires in it. You walk into the house and you're like, oh, that's a that's a spicy scent. I love it. Oh, gosh. Is this the end of our friendship? Might be. I don't know. I mean, I think it means that we probably we probably can't move in together.

Oh, absolutely. No, wait. I mean, that would be crazy, right? If we just move in together. Oh, absolutely. No, wait. I mean, that would be crazy, right? If we just moved in together? We have a mutual friend, Greg Burke, who Dan, for a very long time, was trying to just gradually convince Greg to go to wine country with him, but in a very strong and abrasive way. Yeah. And Greg would be like, I'm not, is this another thing

where you're trying to get me to go to wine country? And it would be like these long elaborate stories that Dan would come up with just to tell Greg to be like, and so we should go to wine country. Yeah, not for a long time

or anything, not forever, just like a couple of months just to test the waters and see how it feels. I see. You can't get, it's called wine country

it's not wine town or wine province you need to spend some time to get acclimated and to see all the different wineries and see how we click what happens between us yeah

I think it means we probably can't ever live together especially in a place with a fireplace alright do you want to get into the show and ask each other some questions

now that we've been talking for 11 minutes yeah i guess we should uh can i ask you a quick question yet or do you have more yeah sure okay great uh dan quick question uh-huh what's something in your life that you wish people held you accountable for like do you understand what i mean by that question that you're on your own you don't live with anybody you're kind of responsible for yourself and inevitably when you live that way there are certain things that just slip through the cracks always and you're like damn i what i need is like a personal trainer but for this one thing oh yeah, I have a bunch of those, uh, cause I, I keep a pretty tidy apartment

cause I don't like mess and cleaning has been, uh, like part of the beginning of the day, end of the day ritual for me of just like, don't go to sleep with a messy apartment. Don't wake up to a messy apartment. These are helpful things that I live by. Uh said, there are a couple of things that I do that I am only hurting myself and I just need to outsource it to someone else to get me to fix it. One of them is when I get an apple, I'll take an apple from my fridge. I'll wash it. I'll take the sticker off of the apple. And instead of putting it in the garbage, I will stick it to the inner side of the sink knowing that later i will clean that sticker like there's no one else who's gonna do it and i'll let like three stickers build

up before i clean my sink and get rid of the stickers i wish someone would stop me and be like hey who do you think's fucking cleaning that sticker later it's you just do it now the sink is so close to the garbage yeah what's What's the geography of your kitchen? Where's the sink in relationship to the garbage? The sink is maybe four inches above the garbage. It's insane. And why are you doing that? I don't know. I have no explanation. I have no answer for myself. I can't explain it. Uh, similarly, I will, uh, when I'm done with a toilet paper roll and it's clearly empty, I'll just let it sit there until the next time I need the toilet. That's when I will change the toilet paper roll. And it's again, it's a thing where I'm like, I'm not winning here. It's not like if I don't change the toilet paper roll, some other sucker has to do it.

The other sucker is just me in the future. I'm just putting this task off. It's yeah. You're just worried about future Daniel. I mean, you're not worried about future Daniel. I wonder if that's because like there is the only other possibility is that you won't have to deal with it because something,

some travesty will befall you or the world. And like you got away with that one. You're never gonna have to use the toilet again because now you're dead or you're never. No, sure. You pray for a fire. And then as you're burning alive, you can think to yourself, oh, didn't have to go all the way into the sink. Open up a new package, put a new one on the roll, decide if I was going to recycle this one or just throw it away. Think of those precious seconds I saved.

I don't think that's that uncommon, actually. I think a lot of people do that same with like lint traps i think people just on their dryers like they get their clothes out of the dryer and they're like fuck it i'll deal with that lint trap later see weirdly i love cleaning my lint trap i love cleaning my lint trap and my vacuum those are two very therapeutic things for me it's just cathartic is that what you like yeah i get that from cleaning my son's fingernails what are some of yours who you yeah so accountable yeah i mean like speaking of my son he's i i just noticed recently that i was i'm always telling him what to do because he's he's almost four but like he doesn't know because he's a kid and so like i've got to tell him like don't put that in your mouth we're going here no no come here i got to put sunscreen on you where you

can't wear that shirt we're putting on this one and i remember that as a kid being like i mean thank god they're in charge my parents are in charge because uh i wouldn't know what to do and these i need these these rules like these capital r-u-l-e-s rules my life. And then at a certain point, all those just sort of go away and you're responsible for yourself. And it's just like heart of darkness out there. You can do anything that you want. And in some ways, like you kind of define them for yourself along the way based on,

well, okay, am I going to die because of this? But there are a lot of rules in my life that I really wish that I could still have. And then I don't like, we never were allowed to eat fast food when I was young. And maybe that resulted in who I am now, but I, I love fast food. Like I adore fast food.

I can tell you the best thing to get at any single fast food restaurant. Right. And it's not good for me. I know it's terrible for the environment. It's terrible for a lot of things. Just guess. Right. And politically you agree with everything that every major fast food chain says correct

absolutely yeah 100 and so yes politically it's bad but i cannot help it like i it's it's the thought of me never eating fast food again makes me my palms sweat and i get very nervous it's like an addiction almost right there was There was a, um, Culture Kings was a phenomenal podcast that everyone should check out. And they did a crossover with Doughboys, another phenomenal podcast that everyone should check out recently. And they, uh, talked about all of the different fast food chains that have donated to President Trump specifically. And can you cancel these chains? And I'm listening to this and listening to people who are like, yeah, I can, you know,

I don't need Taco Bell for the rest of my life. If I had to cancel them, I could do it. And every single chain they mentioned was like, no, can't. I can't 100% say that I would not eat there for the rest of my life. Right. Yeah. It's like, it's an impossible ask. It's an, if I had somebody who is constantly there in the car with me, who was like, don't do it, don't do it. And like giving me reasons why I shouldn't. Cause I know that I know that there are good reasons, but I can justify it in my own mind at any given moment. And, uh, I just need somebody to hold me accountable for that. And they don't have it. In fact, what I've started doing is when I will be driving at night or, you know, sometime when I'm really hungry and thinking about, oh, I really want to stop for some fast food. I will put on songs that are about addiction and like people overcoming addiction.

It's just a Cold War, Cold War kids song about being an alcoholic. Yeah, we used to vacation. That's the perfect example. There's like that's a song about a guy who's promising his wife and kid that he'll never drink again, but he just doesn't mean it. And and use these other people, all these people who who've been through real things and their pain. And I'll be like, yeah, that's the same thing. Yeah, I'm feeling that right now. pain and i'll be like yeah that's the same thing yeah i'm feeling that right now there's a great song by rah rah riot uh called bad to worse that's all about addiction that's like how this guy who's

just it's it's written like a love song and like we're not good together but it's you can't help it and and you're and you're thinking yeah no i know that struggle. I want Wendy's. Yeah, exactly. I was like, no, I feel you. We're the same, you see. I really love the fries at McDonald's, and I'd like to go get one. Their combination for their Coke, whatever their formula is for their Coke, is different than any other Coke I've ever had. And it's delicious, and I need it. Right. I do feel that like with fast food specifically, uh, because I also struggle with eating too much fast food and with wanting rules and structure generally. a trip or a task of some kind because if you leave me alone i'm bad i'm no good i'll sit in

my apartment alone and and do nothing for an entire day so i need to like oh i'm going fishing because there are strict rules rules with fishing or i'm taking a trip with planned excursions because i need to be told where to go and what to do at most times yeah i would love if they still had not college but like the exact structure of elementary school that i could dip into every once in a while where it's like all right you have to be awake at this time and then for this chunk of 45 minutes you're going to learn about social studies and then for this next chunk of 45 minutes you're going to learn about science and then math and then you get a break where you eat and then a break where you're outside. And then you're back to learning.

Now you're going to talk about books for 45 minutes. I would love that as an adult, just like here's a way to structure your day where it's not relying on my self-control because I don't have any. Yes, exactly. Yeah, that was, I mean, think about what recess was like when you were that age and how, how much freer you were during that period, because you knew that's what it was for. And now that you don't have these, everything's sort of just this gray, I could be doing this. I could be doing that. No matter what free time you have, you never fully enjoy it because you always know in the back of your mind, well, I, you know what, I could be working on my book or like, I should be getting some more sleep. I mean's late at night i should be going to bed

and if you it was all structured out then you know recess is recess man that's what you're supposed to be doing yeah um i feel that way we used to be on set a lot you and i when we worked at crack let's just call it crack which is like the worst joke that we get all the time from every single joke um so yeah when we worked at cracked we would be on set a lot and i loved being on set because everything is structured there are very specific rules about what i'm allowed to touch what i'm not allowed to touch on a set where where I'm allowed to be at any given moment. And everybody just tells me what to do all the time. That's right.

So liberating. You'd sit in a little room and then someone would say, Soren, we need you now. And you would go there and you loved it. I was so happy when we would be on set. I knew that the day was planned out. If there was time where they were like, OK, we're working on another scene right now you're free for like half an hour I was like then that's my time and I can do whatever I want

and I would just go steal a furniture pad and I would sleep on it or read like it's time that I because the day is already given to this production I know that from this time to this time we're filming so I haven't planned anything else during this time we're filming. So I haven't planned anything else during that time. So when they say you're free for half an hour,

that's real freedom all of a sudden. Right. Is there a structure to your current job like day to day? Yeah. Uh, more so than I cracked actually where during the day someone comes in and says, Hey, lunch is ready. You're all going to lunch. This is where we're going in going in the morning um and then when after lunch they come and collect you there's not like you have to be back at a certain time and you're responsible for being in the room no somebody comes and gets you and i really like that they tell me at every given moment they'll tell me two days in advance hey we're doing a record on this day scott grimes is coming in you have to be here at this time and uh what's a normal day though like i asked what your daily schedule is and you've only described lunch

what is what is a typical monday uh i i roll into the office around like 10 30 and then we don't usually get going until about 11 somebody comes and gets me takes me into we go into the room and they hold my hand into the room they're like you'll sit there today um we sit with we'll work on uh a rewrite or we'll be breaking a story and then uh lunch gets called around 11 we're i mean sorry at around one and then we're off for an hour and a half or so. And then we go back to work until about 5.30. And that's the whole day. It's just sitting in the room and doing rewrites or breaking a new one. Okay.

So you do have like a general thing to do every day. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I'm going in. And even on, you know, so I've tried on days where we're writing scripts, where you're like out on script or you're out on outline, you have all that time is to yourself. You're not expected to be in the office during any of that time. And I've been so terrified on my first two that I really did create a system and stuck to it as far as writing. But I already know that the cracks are showing and that i'm going to give

up on that system eventually i've tried so many times to to i know people are listening or being like just fucking structure your own life man you're an adult do it but it's not that easy you don't understand it's not that easy for everybody i i have tried several times to be like this is the this is all right from this time to this time every day you're gonna write from this time this time you have internet time you're going to write. From this time to this time, you have internet time. You can just be on the internet. You can do whatever the fuck you want. This time to this time is when you eat lunch.

And they're generous time periods. And no matter what, I fail. I give up on it after a week or even less than that. And I cannot be held accountable by just my own self because i know that in the end i'm like no who gives a shit it's just you like who are you doing this for right anyways uh so i got a quick question for you no i don't think so okay all right uh okay yeah hit me okay all right uh uh i have in my notes i've written something, something let's talk about walking etiquette. This is just a thing that I think about all the

time. And I think we might've had a conversation about this in the past. Um, I do a lot more walking in New York. Uh, I I've always walked a bunch, but I just do more of it now because I don't have a car and it's a very walkable city. But separate from that, my whole life, on any given day, I feel like I've been the only person who moves out of the way of other people when walking. I spend so much of my time dodging people. And I don't know if I'm crazy. I feel like if there was any kind of karmic justice in the world that I would at some point come across someone who was more of a beta cuck dipshit than I was, that they would move for me. Like they would recognize, oh, this person's important.

I need to move. But so far, no. So far, I've been dodging everyone my entire life. And sometimes I go home and I think if I wasn't here, you would all just be fucking crashing into each other all the time. Yeah. How do you navigate without me? No, listen, I'm on the same page you in terms of walking etiquette and that there are rules to podesting or pedestrian. I don't even know what to call it.

Podesto. Yeah. there are rules to podesting uh or pedestrian i don't even know what to call it uh podesto yeah you you've always said you've you frequently pulled me aside and been like daniel there's pedestals rules to live by i never exactly knew what you were talking about but i assume it's walking it was this uh no i mean i'm with you completely i the first time i ever read an article that was like about, uh, man slamming that was like this thing where women were like, listen, men do not get out of the way for you when you're walking down the street. It's the woman's job to get out of the way. It seems like culturally that we've just sort of decided on that. And so as a woman, I'm just going to continue walking in my path. And if I happen to walk into a man, then so be it. And I was like,

I feel that way too. All I do is get out of the way of other humans. I'm so hyper aware of where my body is at any given moment. They're like, I know that if I'm wandering down the street and I need to look for something, I need, I'm looking for a storefront or an address. I, I pull over to the side of the sidewalk and like, oh, well I have to get out of people's ways. And if I can't, it's so nerve wracking. I get very anxious if I have to stand or not go the speed of traffic. Right. And like, I'll walk out into the street and be like,

it's fine. If I get hit by a car, that's on me, obviously, because I had to slow down everybody. And then just walking down the street, when I see groups of two or three people and they're walking side by side and they're taking up the whole sidewalk, I get so mad inside my heart because I'm like, no, you, you have to know better. You see me coming the other direction. What do you expect me to do? Let's just stop here. Have a

conversation. Right. What did you anticipate? I've like literally had to stop and just wait on the side. And I, and I, uh, I try to do it with some element of drama so they can see that they've changed the world. That a person has stopped in his quest to go where he's going and just like parked himself to wait for this group of four fucking people

occupying a New York City sidewalk in a single horizontal line, but it doesn't move them at all. They don't care. They don't care that a man has suddenly stopped and has slowed his day down. And they've just invited themselves into your day. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I see people walking down the street, especially with phones. Like, phones are such a big fucking problem. But people on their phone, and they start to weave a little bit. And like, I know my strategy. I know I'm walking. I'm thinking literally four steps ahead. And so I know, okay, well, they're moving in that direction. So I'm going to go around on this side. And as soon as I start that move and they head in that direction, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. We had an agreement. We had an agreement. I showed my intention. I'm headed this way so that we don't run into each other and now you're weaving. You're not paying attention. Right. I angle like my head and my eyes

to very clearly project what I'm going to do. This is the path that I'm taking and it's the one that makes the most sense right now. You do facial turn signals? Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it's not as much of a problem here, honestly. I mean, if you walk down Hollywood or Vine or something like that, you run into it. That's good.

I went to the zoo today and it was just a fucking nightmare. Nobody paying attention. And that's another place where everybody's, their heads are up. Their heads are up and they're not paying attention because they want to see the gorillas. And they're all toddlers. They all might just suddenly change their gait at any time. So I feel like I'm watching the whole world and just trying to survive. I do pride myself on how good I am and elusive I am in traffic. I feel like maybe I'd be a really good running back because I see the holes.

I know how to slip in between people. Um, but I do the entire time I'm doing it. I'm thinking I shouldn't have to do this. I shouldn't have to do this. Right. Or I think like, okay guys, I'll do this today. And then tomorrow you'll all move for me, right? Planet earth. This is, this is a give and take situation where one day I will be able to walk down the street confidently. Is it, do you think, a confidence thing? Or am I projecting that? No, I think it's just

a lack of awareness. I mean, I certainly have caught myself fucking it up and realizing there's somebody behind me and how profusely apologetic I can be. Or even in your car, where you realize that you're just there was one blind spot that you weren't really focusing on. You didn't realize that when you came to that four-way stop that only two of the ways had a stop sign. And you're like, you start to go and then you're like, oh shit, no, that is on me.

That's definitely on me. And so I think it's just them not being aware. And then not being aware even once you've tried to make the problem apparent to them. They're still just oblivious to it, which is at that point they're a lost cause. I don't know what to do with them at that point. Dan, I got a quick question for you. Oh, yeah. I'd love to hear it.

Okay. You're still fishing, right? Yep. That's not the question. I just want to make sure that you're still fishing. Okay. Yeah not the question I just want to make sure you're still fishing okay yeah I mean I could talk about it more I'm going to ask you to talk about it more have you caught glimpses yet

with your fishing hobby of where your personal ceiling is within the hobby does that make sense what I mean is yes oh you okay but like explain it for other people I mean you know with any hobby this always happens where you're constantly moving on to the next level. It's almost like a video game where you're like, you're constantly exploring this new world and there's new and exciting stuff within that world that you weren't aware of yet.

And then you reach this one level within a hobby and you realize either like, I don't like this anymore. This isn't for me. Or you realize I'm out of my depth. This, this is too far into the hobby. Everybody who's doing this is better at this than me. I think I'm going to just give up. Oh, okay. Well, I don't think, uh, I think there's, there is a thing that could make me give up on fishing, but it's not that. It's not getting so deep into it that it overtakes my life. I would love that. What I think might happen is that because of the limitations of my schedule and the specificity of my work schedule where my weekends are Monday and Tuesday, I have very limited options in New York as far as fishing goes. There aren't a lot of boats that go out Mondays and Tuesdays and there are a couple in Brooklyn, but that's a long trek for me. And it's an early

morning. So if I want to get to this boat that leaves at seven o'clock in the morning out of Brooklyn, and actually I want to get there a little bit earlier so I can get a good spot on the boat. That means waking up sometime around five something so I can take my dog out and make sure he goes out and does his business because I'm going to be gone for several hours. And then take a lift, which is like seventy five dollars from my apartment to Emmons in Brooklyn, where the boats go out of. Emmons in Brooklyn where the boats go out of. And I'm fine doing all that. But if I do a couple of those in a row, week after week after week where I don't catch anything, then I'm going to give up on fishing real quick. There are plenty of fishermen who just love the experience of it. And I like it a lot.

I really do enjoy it. I like it a lot. I really do enjoy it. But spending that money and spending eight hours and then not catching dinner is upsetting to me. And it happened this week. Monday, I went out. No, Tuesday, I went out and was out for many hours and the captain just wasn't putting us on keepers. I caught plenty of fluke, but none that were big enough and uh i still had a fine day but if that happened again next week on the one day a week that i get to fish and i didn't catch anything then i'll be bummed and if it happens a third week in a row then i'll start questioning is it worth it to you just give up on that burn this whole day to to not catch anything then then yeah i'll i'll say fuck it but you know uh that's not an indictment of fishing that's an indictment more of like the

specifics of my circumstances right now if i lived in brooklyn if i lived somewhere where i could just decide to start fishing one day any day of the week then uh no i would never give up on it and i'd love it forever let me float another idea past you. Live on a boat. Yeah, float like boats. Yeah, that's exactly where I was headed. Live on a boat. No, but I got there first.

What is that? Could you live closer to the water? Could you move out to Red Hook or wherever the fuck you're casting off from? Well, at the moment, I prefer to be closer to work so i don't have a commute that's one of the most important things to me but you know in the future when i get fired from this job sure i could live fucking anywhere i could be on that that fancy uh tent coffin that's been going around the internet lately oh yeah i saw that that thing that floats down the river and you can't see anything yeah Yeah, someone invented a boat you could die in.

That's cool. It's really, I don't understand it. I don't understand when you would ever conceivably want to use that, unless you're a Hawk fan. But to your main point, I don't see a ceiling there for fish. I watch a lot of fish YouTube videos, like Fisherman's Life is a great one. And Outdoor Fisherman is another good one

where he does a series where he just like, he's a sushi chef by trade, but will also take trips and catch and forage things and then make sushi out of them right on the spot. It's incredibly soothing, enjoyable videos and exactly the kind of life that I would like to have if, if money was no object. And I could just be someone who's like, I'm today, I'm going to wake up, catch fish, eat that fish, go to sleep. Uh, that's, that's sort of where I sort of where I'd like to end up is just like

an entirely fish-based lifestyle. Really? Yep. I mean, as of now, who knows? When it gets cold, again, I might just be like, ah, fishing sucks. You gotta wear jackets? Fuck this.

Actually, yeah, I'm very curious to see what's gonna happen with you in the winter. Yeah. Maybe you're gonna become a hunter. Oh, that doesn't sound right. It didn't feel right when I said it uh well yeah that i i asked because i know in every single hobby that i've ever had i know that there's definitely a point where as i'm doing it i get to this this level and i'm like oh this is ever i don't think i'm ever going to be this good this is for clearly out of my i'm out of my depth

i should i don't belong here and i can stick to like this lower stuff but i there's no more to explore within that lower stuff i can continue the practiced work of it and enjoy like the labors of being in this one this one level of my hobby but i'm not there's no new doors to open and then i kind of lose interest after that like i'll i feel that way with with cooking certainly where i like to cook a whole lot uh and then i'll see people who are like really into cooking and they get special tools for it like my my brother tommy has one of those uh like fire guns that burns things oh yeah yeah the creme brulee things yeah yeah he's got that and and uh to make creme brulee you need to

get those guns and you also need to get these specific large ramekins and i see that and and uh to make creme brulee you need to get those guns and you also need to get these specific large ramekins and i see that and just like well i'm never gonna be that into cooking that's i'm not gonna learn a new trick i'm just gonna explore what's this over here the oregano i'll just talk myself how to cook at 15 years old, learned everything there was. And the reason I asked you about this, Dan, is because I'm back in my carpentry. I'm following the footsteps of Jesus. Okay. A woodworker.

Yeah. A man who works with his hands. Yeah, no, that was his main thing. Yeah. As far as I know. I mean, I never read the book, but that's the gist I got. Yeah. The book. So for our listeners, I saw your entertainment unit that you made. Yes.

That was like a rustic industrial. It's wood and plumbing pipes. Yeah. It's gas piping. Yeah. Gas piping. I have a coffee table that's made out of that too and it was really great it's exactly the kind of thing that you could like walk into west elm and spend 700 on yeah so these this by the way this combination has just taken off you'll go to any restaurant now and you can see that combination of like hardwood it's kind of like a cappuccino color wood and then black gas piping how like that's become a very popular thing. But yeah, when we first moved into our house, my wife was looking at coffee tables.

And I was pricing them. And I was like, no, this is so expensive. Why couldn't I just make one? And looked up an idea for one. And I was like, oh, I could make that. I could do some modifications on that. And I made it. And it was so easy because it was just this gas piping, which already comes in specific cut lengths.

And then after that, I started getting more excited about it and I was like, oh, I can make other stuff, I'm sure. And so I made a patio furniture. I made like a picnic table outside. I made a picnic bench and was getting very into it. And then I got into the realm of something with drawers. I tried to build a nightstand. And that's where I was just like, fuck this forever. How does anybody do this?

There's like a track and some wheels. Yeah. Well, and just getting the shape of the drawer exactly right. Creating that perfect right angle. I mean, I'm sure that there are tools out there for that kind of thing but like i was getting so mad and frustrated and to this day i mean i have the the the one that i built and it's a constant source of shame for me because it's so embarrassing it's so bad that the drawer barely comes out you know you would be happy if you did know how to do it. Yes. Because you understand the importance of thorough and practiced work,

that the work itself is the reward. And so if you were the kind of person who knew how to competently make a nightstand with a sliding drawer, you would be happy. Absolutely. And you would find great joy in doing it. But you're not right now, and that sucks. And I don't think that I'm going to ever be good enough. Well, it's going to take so long.

I can now see how far across the river it actually is for like competence. Like I know how far the swim is to get to expert. And I'm like, no, it's not worth it. Right. That's, that's stops me from starting hobbies. A lot of times where, uh, certainly when I was living in Los Angeles and people people were like why don't you pick up surf it you like the ocean you love being in the water uh and people who enjoy it really enjoy it and i was like well i think i'll be bad at it for a long time and i hate being bad at shit so no yeah that's awfully early to get up in the morning

to go be bad at something right be. Be bad for a very long time. And get that level of frustrated where you're just like, it's like learning an ollie on a skateboard. You're like, no, the physics are impossible. There's no way people do this. Anyway, I'm building a, my son is going to a new, he just got into a preschool that he's going to go to in September. Thank you. And he's leaving his old daycare slash preschool, which's going to go to in September. Thank you.

And he's leaving his old daycare slash preschool, which is across the street from our house. And she did, she's wonderful. The woman who runs it. And so I thought, what's something we can give her? I don't want to just like throw money at her.

Like, thank you for, for taking care of my son. Here's a bunch more money. And so I was like, well, it'd be really nice. I know that she's got this busted ass bench in the back. It's a bunch more money um and so i was like well it'd be really nice i know that she's got this busted ass bench in the back uh it's a bench that has a back on it

it's like a park bench uh in the back of her daycare and it's kind of falling apart and i was like i'll build her a bench and i will paint it and then all the kids that go there throughout the years can sign it and i'm like yes and so i started building this thing and i'm remembering how all like the great things about like building the cut list and doing the math for it and getting it exactly right. How like the soothing nature of that. But I'm also remembering all the terrible frustrations when shit just goes wrong. And like, that's all in my, it goes wrong because of me.

Like I will measure something and then measure it again and then cut it and then look at it and be like this is half an inch off how did that happen it's like being in a bad dream where everything that i do is somehow i'm just i try and cover all the angles and be like all right you know you know you have to worry about this you have to worry about this you have to worry about this and somehow it still worry about this. You have to worry about this. And somehow it still slips past me. It's like being a crazy person. Yeah. Uh, anyway, so are you going to give up on that bench? No, man, it's almost done. Um, I'm, I'm pretty excited about it. I did have to, I did have to do some, uh, additional work on it. Like I take some parts apart and put them back together and then go buy another piece of lumber and stuff like that. But

it's looking good. I think it's going to be rad when it's done. Where are you working on this? Is it your backyard? Yeah. In between my garage and my house, my garage is separate from my house. And so all the tools and stuff are in there, but I do all the work on that, you know, the concrete in between the two. And it's just a massive amount of sawdust gets everywhere when you do this. It's like my entire garage is now coated, but I'm about it like i do i i realize that i do like doing it and i like the work of it and i like doing the math but uh i just know i just know at some point i'm gonna be like you know what i think i'm ready for a nightstand again and i'm gonna fuck it up and i'm gonna give up on this again for another six years yeah i mean i'm i'm jealous of that like i built a uh uh a lamp out

out of some wood and uh plumbing piping that i found somewhere because i just like saw a lamp online it was like oh that's nice sixty dollars let me see if i can make it my own damn self and i made that and i would like to get into making furniture, but I haven't in 10 years had the space to make things because I've only been in an apartment. I feel like growing up in Jersey, we had the backyard of our house where I could do stuff. You can freely cut and stain wood in your backyard in a way that you can't really do in an apartment. Yeah, absolutely. The space is so crucial in doing it. Although there are workspaces all over cities.

Like in LA, there's a place- Really? I thought I invented that. Or I thought I- No, it exists. One day invent that. It exists. There's a place in downtown LA where you can go and you can do your woodworking there.

Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. You should try it. Look in New York, see if they've got that for clocks. Yeah, I will. I don't think I care for that tone. It's hard to see on clocks there. That's a tone of a person who doesn't want a clock this Christmas.

Wait. What a gift that would be if you sent me back the clock unopened. I know you're into woodworking, so here's a... I thought you might like this. You should go to Lowe's and buy some bits. Anyway, when you finish it, if you could just send it back to me, that would be great. I think that about wraps her up, right? Yeah, that does it.

I'm going to find all of the social information here. But before I do that, you've been sending me a lot of texts lately. And all they say is Israel should just move. I guess you just mean the country, like the country should move? Yes. Okay. Do you want to elaborate on that? Okay. You want to elaborate on that? No. Thank you very much for giving me this space to talk about this. What I have always thought is that it is not the country that makes the people. And Israel is a country, right? Yeah, it is.

Okay, great. It's not the country that makes the people. It's the people that make the country, you know? So I feel like there's a lot of, uh, heads budding on this whole Israel thing, which is about as far as I'm willing to wade into the depths of this conversation, this whole Israel thing. That's what I'm willing to say. A lot of heads budding on this whole Israel thing. And I feel like if we just wanted to turn the temperature down a few degrees, just like wind this down a few notches, just take Israel, and I'm using Israel in quotes, meaning the people, and put them somewhere else. And then... An exodus, if you will. Yeah, once heads cool a little bit and Israel is like, I don't know, an island or that part just outside of Rio that used to be the Amazon and now it's not anymore because it's on fire. If we just make that Israel, who's mad then? Everyone gets their things.

I would call that the trail of cheers. Yes. Oh, my God. Thank you. That's very good. All right. I found my God. Thank you. That's very good. All right. I found it. You could follow.

It's going to be like. So here's the thing that's that's very true of me. I'm incredibly ignorant about Israel. And I imagine there are several things that I said that are probably legally hate crimes. Yeah. I mean, that's sort of the point of these, though, right? All right. If you want to follow Daniel,

you can follow him at DOB underscore INC on Twitter. That's DOB Inc. Or you can follow me, Soren, at S-O-R-E-N underscore L-T-D,

Soren underscore Limited. But what you're probably going to want to do is follow Michael Soren because anytime you have a problem with the show, it's not showing up on Spotify or like we downloaded the wrong episode or whatever the show it's not showing up on Spotify or like we

downloaded the wrong episode or whatever the fuck it is you're going to want to talk to him because he's the one who can change it and you can follow him at make me bacon please but that's please spelled P L S and you can follow quick question as well QQ underscore Soren and Dan

on Twitter you can also email us again this is just Bacon's territory. He's the only one who will check this. And I'm sure, I'm confident he'll check it at some time before Christmas. QQ with Soren and Daniel at gmail.com. You can follow us on Instagram. QQ with, no, that's not right. QQ underscore with underscore Soren underscore and underscore Daniel.

All right, we're underscore Daniel. All right. We're getting there. All right. Now also we have a sound engineer and a producer and editor and that's Vincent. Vincent, you can follow or you can hire him at SiliconBeachPodcast.com and we have a Patreon. If you just go to Patreon backslash

quick question, you can find it and you can donate money to us and Dan's plan to move Israel. Yeah, just somewhere somewhere chill somewhere or it's not gonna bother somebody somewhere cool man i hear canada's nice yeah and there's so much space up there north dakota we barely got anybody there all right bye