A Guide Through Life's Mysteries

Do you feel the urge to record your thoughts? A desire to keep a record of your daily life? See the therapeutic benefits of writing down your feelings? If so, join us as we discuss journaling. 00:10] Rory: My name is Rory O’Toole. [00:12] Matt: And my name is Matt Schultz. [00:14] Rory: And this is how to be the. [00:17] Matt: Podcast where we discuss ancient wisdom, modern hacks, paperback self help books, and pithy. [00:23] Rory: Platitudes in the hopes of figuring out the best way to live this one precious and wild life. Do you feel the urge to record your thoughts? A desire to keep a record of your daily life? See the therapeutic benefits of writing down your feelings? If so, join us as we discuss journaling. [00:49] Matt: You. [01:05] Rory: Matt, welcome to 2024. [01:07] Matt: 2024. [01:11] Rory: Anything you’re looking forward to this year? [01:14] Matt: Wait, you know what’s weird? No, this is crazy. Okay, so I feel like all throughout the teens I was like, oh, you know what’s cool? We’re going to live through the 20s because the roaring 20s, it’s going to romantic. But somehow I failed to clock when that started and I’m only clocking it now. [01:37] Rory: Okay, well, you better. Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. You better go out and bob your hair. [01:45] Matt: Yeah, we’re deep in the 20s. These are the that they’ll learn about in the 90s. [01:52] Rory: We’re in the mid twenty s. In our mid thirty s. Yeah. [01:57] Matt: My stepsister, born in 2000, she gets to just be the year. [02:02] Rory: What a great year to be one. Yeah. [02:06] Matt: Easily calculatable. [02:08] Rory: Yeah, easily calculatable. 87. A seven. Bad for me. [02:13] Matt: Yeah, 88, same deal. [02:15] Rory: At least 88 is nice though. It’s like sultry. The double eight. [02:21] Matt: Yeah, suspicious. [02:23] Rory: It’s like a curvaceous woman walking down the hall. Boom chicka boom chick. [02:34] Matt: There’s someone who I used to call boomba boomba. [02:39] Rory: Yes, there was someone who. Someone that we went to college with. [02:42] Matt: Yeah, she really had that look of know the saxophones just start playing when she gets those sleazy saxophones. Funny that our sleaziest president played the sleaziest instrument. [03:02] Rory: Yeah, you’re right. That’s a good point. Saxophone. [03:06] Matt: Like, you know that song? Yes, that song. [03:11] Rory: Yeah. Gross. Like 80s slow. 80s soft jazz. Gross. [03:18] Matt: Gross. Get you with your hair down. [03:21] Rory: I let my hair down. Needs a brushing through. Looking to wake up next to this. [03:26] Matt: Like Bryce Dallas Howard right now. [03:28] Rory: Oh, did you see that movie I’m starring in? [03:30] Matt: Yeah, that’s an interesting genre of like. [03:35] Rory: I would see it with my mom. [03:38] Matt: What’s it called? Cheshire? No, Argyle. [03:41] Rory: Argyle. [03:42] Matt: Yeah. She writes mystery novels and stumbles into a real kind of. [03:48] Rory: It’s not based on anything, is it? [03:50] Matt: No. [03:51] Rory: I like that idea that it’s not based on anything. Like a toy. [03:54] Matt: Yeah, it’s not based on that popular line of Bryce Dallas Howard action figures that all the playing with. They’re the new. [04:07] Rory: Okay, should we just get into the topic then? [04:09] Matt: Yeah, but wait, hold on 1 second, because I want to have my notebooks here for reference. [04:21] Rory: Oh, did you take notes? [04:23] Matt: No, but we’re talking about notebooks. [04:25] Rory: Yes, we are talking about journaling today, which often requires a notebook. Could you even imagine journaling on a computer? [04:32] Matt: Yeah, and like a Google Doc. [04:35] Rory: I think I tried to do that in my childhood. All the failed attempts at journaling. Oh, Lordy. Yes. I think this is a perfect topic for the beginning of the year because there have to be a large swath of people whose New Year’s resolution is to journal. [04:49] Matt: Yeah. So let’s start there. Because my childhood and adolescence also was filled with failed attempts to be a consistent journaler. [05:03] Rory: Yes. [05:04] Matt: So why is this something that our society considers virtuous? Why is it like exercise or eating? Right. [05:13] Rory: Well, it’s interesting because journaling has obviously been around for so long, right. And now I would say in today’s world we consider there to be like therapeutic benefits to it. But certainly hundreds of years ago they wouldn’t have put it in those words. But maybe they thought that there were therapeutic. Maybe the reason has changed. Maybe it used to be to really record the events of the day. A captain’s journal. [05:41] Matt: Yeah, captain’s log. But there’s also a christian history, a protestant history to journaling. [05:48] Rory: Tell us more. [05:49] Matt: So I don’t know so much about it, but I do know that when we had our Christianity seminar, which is part of rabbinical school, you do little seminars where you learn about other religions. The Methodist guy that we talked to talked to us about journaling as a spiritual practice in protestant tradition, as a means of discernment, the practice of discernment, understanding, basically. Kind of like what people mean when they say, I’m going to pray on that. I’m going to sort of seek to understand what the right path is, what I’m feeling, what God wants from me, yada, yada, yada. A method of contemplation. [06:37] Rory: Yes, absolutely. I think the first diaries were Eastern and Middle Eastern, which I think we certainly idealize. And maybe there’s truth to the fact that it’s really this. I mean, the Middle east, the fertile crescent, where all the great religions. Not great, where many religions came from in the east. So meditative over there. [07:01] Matt: Did you read about the pillow book? [07:03] Rory: No. What’s that? [07:04] Matt: The pillow book is the diary of an ancient chinese courtesan. [07:12] Rory: Oh, sexy. [07:15] Matt: No, I guess she wasn’t a cortisan. She wasn’t like a sex worker. [07:19] Rory: No, cortison is just. Isn’t a cortisan. Just someone who lives at court? [07:24] Matt: She just lives at court. But I think it’s acquired horish connotations. Okay, so she was a chaste courtesan. She lived at court. She contemporaneous with tale of the Genji. Wait, is tale of the Genji japanese or Chinese? [07:43] Rory: It sounds chinese to me. [07:45] Matt: Are you researching it? [07:46] Rory: I’ll look it up right now. Japanese. [07:48] Matt: Okay,

Mini Episode! Join us today for our first mini episode as we discuss the sirens call of the North Sea. [00:00] Rory: Hi, Matt. Hi, Roar. I’m excited for today. We’re recording our first sort of bonus mini episode. [00:07] Matt: Bonus mini episode. Only for superfans. [00:10] Rory: Yeah, only for those how to be addicts who just need more episodes in between our main episodes. [00:17] Matt: But really for us, because we had something that we so desperately wanted to discuss that didn’t really fit into our normal format. [00:28] Rory: Format definitely wouldn’t carry us through a full hour episode or so we think. [00:33] Matt: Yeah. But I sense we may be running up against that outer limit of the bonus episode, too. We’ve been talking about it all week. [00:43] Rory: Yeah, we’ve been talking about it for a few weeks now. And that is the North Sea videos that are constantly popping up on our Instagram feeds. And I think a lot of people’s Instagram feeds. [00:58] Matt: It’s the most dangerous. This is what they tell us. It’s the most dangerous ocean in the world. Yes. [01:07] Rory: Could you describe the videos to the people who maybe haven’t seen them yet? [01:12] Matt: Okay, so the videos show a rollicking, wild, angry sea with these giant waves. And there are different themes. One of them that I sent you was all about chains. Showed big chains on the boats. One of them was about, like, winter on the North Sea, hacking big ice chunks off the deck. Some of them are big waves. And those are kind of the best ones. The best one have the same music. [01:49] Rory: I think the music adds so much to the addiction of why I’m so addicted to these videos. [01:54] Matt: Yeah, we love the song. It goes like this. Yo, yo, I’m a little. [02:05] Rory: No, no, you’re doing good. [02:07] Matt: Thieves and beggars. [02:13] Rory: Yeah. And the implication, or at least the assumption Matt and I both made, was that this is an old sea shanty, an old demon song. And actually, Sam informed me that it was written by Hans Zimmer for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Caribbean. [02:35] Matt: Pirates of the Caribbean. [02:37] Rory: Interesting caribbean family. I grew up in a caribbean household. Not a. [02:45] Matt: Grew up. I think it was a caribbean household in my house also. Caribbean. [02:52] Rory: Caribbean. Yeah. Pirates of the Caribbean. Now I can’t get that song out of my head. [02:58] Matt: Everything is just walk around my house, sing it there. I hit it that time. [03:07] Rory: But these videos are so enchant. They just really bring you into the danger of the North Sea. And there’s these giant boats, know, men. [03:18] Matt: Are. [03:20] Rory: Swaying back and forth, almost falling off the ship, being saved by another seamen. And you wonder, why are they there? What are they doing in the North Sea? [03:31] Matt: Well, yeah, that’s not what I wondered. That’s what you wondered? You were like, are the fish so good there? But it’s like, no, I think it’s oil drilling, mostly, and perhaps some shipping routes. But I wonder why they’re there. In a different reason. I look at these men, especially the video, the winter video where they’re hacking the ice off the deck. [03:54] Rory: Yeah. [03:55] Matt: I’m like, I would almost rather do any job. There’s nothing you can do to get me to be on the North Sea. So, like, how to be. No, it’s not how to be for me. But you might have a different answer to that roar. Because Rory, a psychic told you once. [04:12] Rory: Yes. That I would one day be on a dock. I would one day be on a dock. Commanding people in charge of the dock, basically, yeah. Part of my job. And I would think it’s so funny that this is my job, because it’s so different from where I started. [04:32] Matt: And this psychic also told you you would meet Sam, right? [04:37] Rory: That’s true. [04:38] Matt: And predicted his birthday and when you. [04:41] Rory: Would meet, his astrological sign. [04:44] Matt: And the month you would meet. Right. [04:46] Rory: And the month I would meet. And the color of his eyes. But there’s only so many eye colors still. [04:52] Matt: She got a lot, right. So you may very well end up. [04:55] Rory: On that dock, she said. It just came to me, a vision. You on a dock, there’s fish all around you, and you’re in charge. [05:09] Matt: Yeah. We’ve always known this is a potential for your future. Because of that, you and some waiters with a clipboard. All right, boys, enough fooling around. Back to work. [05:27] Rory: All right, back to work, boys. Come on. We got a big laugh. [05:30] Matt: As much as the next girl, but we got a lot of salmon to haul today. [05:37] Rory: Yeah, I mean, maybe that’s why I feel called to these videos, but I think these people, they go on these oil. Okay. Yes. I thought they were fishing at first, but then you told me they’re oil drilling, which I actually. Yes, that’s true. They are oil drilling, I think, because you see them underwater sometimes, drilling and doing work underwater on these things that are underwater welding. [06:05] Matt: How do you weld underwater? [06:06] Rory: I don’t know. [06:07] Matt: They have that fire, that blowtorch. Underwater. Underwater. [06:13] Rory: That’s such a great question. But I think it’s like they work two or three months a year and get paid, like, a lot of money. Six figures. Yeah. [06:26] Matt: For two or three months a year? [06:28] Rory: Yeah. Would you do it now? [06:30] Matt: No. [06:31] Rory: Well, you couldn’t. They wouldn’t let you. [06:36] Matt: Do they need a rabbinical chaplain, administer last rites? [06:42] Rory: Oh, yeah. I think it’s like a one in 20 or something. Chance you’re going to die. It’s something really high. [06:48] Matt: Oh, wow. [06:51] Rory: Way higher than either of our jobs as a writer for the Jewish Journal and a nonprofit administrator. [07:01] Matt: Yeah, definitely lower fatality rate. How about that gender death gap? That’s the gender death gap. Have you ever heard about that? [07:09] Rory: No. [07:10] Matt: Like, when women talk about

When it comes to life, is it quality or quantity that matters? Is mortality a natural part of the human experience or an enemy to be defeated? Join us as we discuss longevity. [00:10] Rory: My name is Rory O’Toole, and my name is Matt Schultz. [00:14] Matt: And this is how to be the. [00:17] Rory: Podcast where we discuss ancient wisdom, modern hacks, paperback self help books, and pithy. [00:23] Matt: Platitudes in the hopes of figuring out the best way to live this one precious and wild life. [00:30] Rory: When it comes to life, is it quality or quantity that matters? Is mortality a natural part of the human experience or an enemy to be defeated? Join us as we discuss longevity. [01:05] Matt: Hi, Matt. [01:07] Rory: Hey, Rory. [01:08] Matt: So we haven’t recorded in a minute because, well, of the geopolitical situation and also travel. We’ve both been traveling. No, have I been traveling? No. [01:26] Rory: You’Re traveling. [01:27] Matt: Soon I will be traveling. That’s true. [01:30] Rory: Yeah. You’re always getting your tenses confused. [01:33] Matt: Yeah. [01:35] Rory: Past happened. Roar. Future will happen. [01:38] Matt: Got it. Okay. See, I live in the present, so sometimes it confuses me. Both of our brothers had babies. [01:46] Rory: Yeah. [01:47] Matt: And we’ve just been together. [01:50] Rory: They’re a couple. [01:52] Matt: They had the same baby, actually. [01:54] Rory: Yeah, they had the same baby. [02:00] Matt: So, yeah, we’ve been off our normal schedule, but I think this episode will come out in January. Right now it’s December, and I think we hope to be really back on normal scheduled programming, but it depends on the reality of our lives. Yeah, we’ve been doing a really good job with every other Wednesday, and by years and years, I mean like a year and a half or two. [02:25] Rory: But why should we do more and better than what we expect from network tv shows? Me and Rory were just talking about this. How gone are the days of the reliable tv season? Off for the summer, back in the fall, back with the school year for another 23 season run? No. Handmaid’s tale. Next season, eight years later, 15 years later, they’ll let us know, I guess severance mysteriously severed from our lives. [03:04] Matt: That’s the thing. Well, there are pros and cons to it. Okay, blame the writer strike. [03:09] Rory: No, that cannot account for all of this. [03:11] Matt: No, it really can’t. I mean, the writer strike, I think, highlighted it because with these sitcoms and with these weekly shows, they would write the episode and film it all in the same week, right? But now they do these capsule shows like severance, where they write them all, then they film them all, and then they release them. And that is delaying. Now that the writer strikes. Open or done not open. Now that the writer strikes done, they have to write all the shows and film them. Whereas if this was, er, in 1999, jump back to the writers room, get Clooney’s makeup artist, put them on camera. We have a new episode next, baby. [03:50] Rory: So. But what about the Sopranos? 6ft under. Those had regular seasons. Granted, they weren’t quite a fall to summer show, but those had regular seasons and those weren’t written that week. [04:10] Matt: How many episodes were in those seasons? [04:13] Rory: My guess is eleven. [04:16] Matt: See, because Sex and the City had the full package. Like 24 episodes, 22 episodes. Even though it was on HBO. [04:24] Rory: Okay, so season six of the Sopranos had 21 episodes, baby. [04:32] Matt: Yeah. These lazy bones over here. [04:35] Rory: Season 213. Season 313. [04:40] Matt: Wow, that’s interesting. [04:41] Rory: Season four. Okay. They had a lot to do in season six. I see. They had a lot of story to tell. Everything else is 13. In season six. They were like. They had trouble fitting it all in. [04:53] Matt: But see, if you get 13 episodes of a prestige tv show these days, that’s a really long season. I feel like a lot of them are eight. [05:00] Rory: Eight. And you know what I sometimes. [05:03] Matt: You know what I hate the most is a show like insecure where you go eight episodes and nothing happens. Wasn’t there a whole season of insecure where she was planning a block party? [05:13] Rory: That was like the climax season. [05:15] Matt: Like, why are we watching you plan a block party? That’s like too close to real life. [05:21] Rory: Well, that had always been her dream throughout the show. She never had a different dream that they set up as what the show was going to be about. [05:31] Matt: I think we talked about this in another episode, how she’s supposed to be a rapper and then now she just wants to plan a block party. That’s not interesting for the audience to watch someone do some event planning. Like event planning? I do it in real life. No one wants to watch me do it. [05:48] Rory: Yeah, we got to get the vendors. Oh, the local restaurants want to participate. Great. [06:02] Matt: That is too quotadian. That’s realism right there. That’s an old italian lady peeling potatoes for 40 minutes. [06:09] Rory: That show did not know what it wanted to be season one. It was a best friend show and a show about an aspiring rapper. One of the seasons tried to transform it into a sex in the city style four gal ensemble. [06:28] Matt: Yeah. [06:29] Rory: And I thought, okay, this is where we’re. No. Then we refocused on just Issa Rae planning a block party. [06:40] Matt: I didn’t even watch the final season

Take a deep breath in through your nose and then let it out through your mouth. Could it really be so simple? Join us as we discuss breath.  [00:10] Rory: My name is Rory O’Toole, and my name is Matt Schultz. [00:14] Matt: And this is how to be the. [00:17] Rory: Podcast where we discuss ancient wisdom, modern hacks, paperback self help books, and pithy. [00:23] Matt: Platitudes, the hopes of figuring out the best way to live this one precious and wild life. [00:31] Rory: Take a deep breath in through your nose and then let it out through your mouth. Could it really be so simple? Join us as we discuss. Breathe. [01:06] Matt: Hi, Matt. [01:08] Rory: Hey, roar. How are you? Fine. With an asterisk? [01:15] Matt: Sure. I wanted to ask you, how’s the rice experiment? [01:22] Rory: They’re both. Neither one has rotted at all. [01:26] Matt: Really? And are you sending hate and love? [01:29] Rory: Yeah. Well, I have some questions about it. It’s like, do I need to hate the rice specifically, or can I direct hate and love about other things at the rice? [01:49] Matt: Actually, maybe the experiment was just, you write hate or love on the jars. Maybe you’re not even supposed to be sending it. [01:57] Rory: From what I’ve read, they also send. [02:00] Matt: They also send. Verbally or just psychically? [02:04] Rory: Verbally. So every day, I go up to the rice, I pick up the loved one, I say, I love you. You’re so good. I try to make it about the rice. You’re delicious. You go with everything. You’re such a wonderful food. You’re a staple to so many different cultures. It’s incredible what you do. It’s just incredible what you do. And you should feel really proud of yourself. But then I pick up the hate rice, and I’m like, I hate you. I hate you. You’re bland. You’re boring. You’re a carbohydrate. You’re making me fat. You’re nothing. You’re nothing except what we put on top of you. [02:47] Matt: Okay. And so far, neither has flourished or collapsed under the weight of your words. [02:55] Rory: No, so far, they’re both doing great. They’re both looking gorgeous. [02:59] Matt: Oh, really? Now, would you eat this rice? [03:04] Rory: No, I would not. [03:08] Matt: Not even the love rice. Okay. [03:10] Rory: And I’m definitely curious about what it smells like in that jar. [03:14] Matt: Sure. But you don’t want to disrupt. [03:18] Rory: I don’t want to disrupt the experiment, but we’ll do a smell test at the end of the experiment if that day ever comes. [03:25] Matt: Yeah. When does the experiment end? [03:30] Rory: That’s a good question. I think when one or both of them starts to rot. [03:36] Matt: Okay. [03:37] Rory: If the loved one, it’s proven failed. If the hate one, it’s a proven success, obviously. Do you have rice going? [03:50] Matt: No, I never started my rice. I kept forgetting. [03:53] Rory: Do it. [03:55] Matt: No. Now that I see how long it takes. I don’t really want two jars. [03:59] Rory: Maybe your love and hate. Maybe your beams are more powerful than mine. [04:04] Matt: I just don’t really want two wet jars of rice hanging around my apartment. [04:09] Rory: Why? I can’t understand why. [04:12] Matt: Yeah. [04:13] Rory: I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want that. [04:15] Matt: We have such ample space here in this palatial one bedroom. [04:20] Rory: Yeah. Put in one of the guest rooms. [04:22] Matt: Yeah. Maybe the guest bathroom. [04:25] Rory: Yeah. Put in the guest bath. It’ll be a nice conversation piece when you have guests. [04:30] Matt: Yeah. [04:33] Rory: No, but that big sigh I just made was an invitation to a segue. [04:40] Matt: What’s going on? Why’d you sigh so big? [04:43] Rory: No, we’re talking about breath today. [04:46] Matt: Oh, we really are. Are we ready to get into it already? [04:52] Rory: I think I am. [04:55] Matt: Yes. We are talking about breath today. Insert. And I can feel you breathe. You’re watching over me. [05:05] Rory: What’s that? [05:06] Matt: Suddenly I’m melting into you. So many thoughts about breath. [05:13] Rory: Yeah, just breathe. Wait, is that what it is? Yeah, just breathe. Who is that? [05:22] Matt: Faith Hill. [05:23] Rory: When my card’s on the table and life’s like an hourglass glued to the table. What is that? It’s like either Michelle Branch or Natalie Merchant. [05:35] Matt: And those are different songs. [05:38] Rory: What is it? [05:39] Matt: No, you’re right. That’s just breeze. Just breeze. Right. [05:46] Rory: No one can find the rewind button girl. So cradle your head in your hands and breathe. [05:56] Matt: Just breathe. [05:58] Rory: Who sings that? [05:59] Matt: Listeners, if you know who sings Anna Nalak. [06:02] Rory: Oh, yeah. Anna Nalak. Course. [06:05] Matt: Really? I’ve never heard that name before in my life. [06:08] Rory: I mean, she wrote that song, so. [06:10] Matt: That’S what that name before, though? [06:12] Rory: Yes. When I’ve downloaded that song, but I’ve played that. [06:19] Matt: Those are some lyrics. Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table. [06:24] Rory: Yeah. [06:25] Matt: Wow. [06:26] Rory: Mind button girl. [06:28] Matt: Wow. Okay. I can’t believe she didn’t go farther than that one. [06:34] Rory: Well, now we’re just stuck with Taylor Swift. [06:38] Matt: Yeah, right. I mean, Taylor Swift, though, she can really turn it. [06:46] Rory: Taylor Swift right now. [06:48] Matt: Well, it’s about time for everyone to become capitalism. Yeah. It’s about time for everyone to turn on. [06:56] Rory: Know, sometimes we don’t turn on people as a society, though. Like Beyonce, there hasn’t been a turn. [07:02] Matt: Because she respectfully went away and she didn’t go anywhere. She is not overexposed. [07:14] Rory: That’s for **** sure. She’s not overexposed. [07:18] Matt: And she took a long break, and she’ll be on the talk show again, I feel. [07:23] Rory: No, she’ll never be sitting in that armchair talking about an upcoming project? [07:27] Matt: No, I think some people didn’t like Beyonce, though. When was she the most exposed? I don’t know. People had things to say about lemonade. [07:40] Rory: Yeah. Was that, like, the highest level of exposure and. Yeah, like the airing of the marital grievances wandered dangerously close to Jada Pinkett territory. [07:53] Matt: Yeah, but she only did it in song form, keeping us to guess who is Becky with the good hair. [08:01] Rory: Yeah. Whereas Jada Pinkett leaves us guessing about nothing. [08:06] Matt: She read someone else’s scorned poetry in lemonade. Yeah. Jada Pinkett. [08:14] Rory: So many celebrity memoirs. Right now, I’m thinking

Do you trust your gut? Rely on the little voice in your head? If so, join us as we discuss intuition.  [00:20] Rory: My name is Rory O’Toole, and my. [00:22] Matt: Name is Matt Schultz. [00:24] Rory: And this is how to be the. [00:26] Matt: Podcast where we discuss ancient wisdom, modern hacks, paperback self help books, and pithy. [00:33] Rory: Platitudes in the hopes of figuring out the best way to live this one precious and wild life. As you go through life, do you trust your gut? Rely on the little voice in the back of your head? Prefer to follow your heart? If so, join us as we discover intuition. Hey, Matt. Roar. Oh, my gosh. Sam did something last night that annoyed me so badly. Like, I can still feel the annoyance running through my body. [01:26] Matt: And what might that have been? [01:28] Rory: He just made such a meal out of a sneeze. [01:33] Matt: Wait, what do you mean making that sounds? [01:36] Rory: Oh, he just put his whole body into it. The noise, the sneeze. He was laying on the couch. He sneezed. His leg flew up in the air twice because it was just the sneeze just overcame him. [01:58] Matt: Are you saying that after 14 years together, he can’t sneeze till you want him to suppress his sneeze in your presence? [02:06] Rory: Sneeze what? A sneeze is a tickle in your nose. Why are you being attacked by a spirit? Because you have to release the tickle in your nose. [02:19] Matt: A man’s sneeze. [02:22] Rory: Oh, I am still, like, reeling from it. [02:25] Matt: A man’s sneeze is bigger than a woman’s sneeze. [02:29] Rory: It’s unbelievable. [02:29] Matt: It’s like, look at that little nose you have. What do you know about a sneeze? [02:34] Rory: Okay, all I have to say is that you go. [02:40] Matt: Haven’t you ever heard that a sneeze is the speed of a hurricane? [02:47] Rory: You know what? That’s funny, because I was thinking about your sneeze attacks on the phone, which are also incredibly dramatic. And you know what you kind of sound like? You sound like a hysterical woman in an old fashioned film. Being attacked by the wind. [03:03] Matt: That’s what a sneeze is. You’re being attacked from the wind, by the wind from within the wind within. [03:10] Rory: It’s unbelievable. I’m still like, really? Your leg needed to fly up in the air. [03:20] Matt: He wanted to cut loose. [03:26] Rory: No, thank you. [03:31] Matt: And you’re suppressing so much else in that household. [03:38] Rory: No, we are not. And also, he’s the number one. [03:41] Matt: So you’re not burping in front of each other. But Sam is the real doing the other thing. I can’t even say it to you. [03:53] Rory: No, we’re very modest people, and that’s really Sam’s lead on that and I appreciate it. [04:00] Matt: Yeah. [04:00] Rory: So why not throw the sneeze in there, too? A nice victorian sneeze. [04:06] Matt: I would love to know the evolving social mores around the sneeze. [04:13] Rory: Me, too. [04:15] Matt: I mean, obviously, there’s the bless you. [04:19] Rory: Yeah, of course. [04:20] Matt: Contingency. It’s the only thing that a body does that we have a little word for that we say when it happens. [04:30] Rory: I know, and I really wish there was something for a cough, because sometimes a cough can really silence a room. [04:38] Matt: Well, a cough is uncomfortable. It’s impolite to draw attention to someone’s cough, whereas it’s impolite to not acknowledge someone’s sneeze, which is very strange because they can both be signs of illness. But a cough, I would imagine this, in the old world, a cough was a little bit more of a sign of, you’re going to die. [05:05] Rory: Well, didn’t the bless you start from, is this a fact we all know? [05:11] Matt: Yeah. Like, you’re sick, so you need to be blessed. [05:16] Rory: Oh, no. It might be apocryphal, but I think it started because they found out really early on that when you sneeze, your heart stops. And so it was a final blessing in case it never came back. [05:27] Matt: They found that out. Is that true? [05:30] Rory: Yeah. Everything stops, right? [05:33] Matt: I’m giving that some side eye. [05:35] Rory: Well, that’s why I said I’m not really sure if it’s true, but that’s an origin story of the bless you. [05:43] Matt: I’ve heard that, and I don’t believe this, that it’s because your soul is escaping out of your nose and you have to bless it, and blessing it sends it back in. [05:54] Rory: Did you just make that up or did you really hear that? [05:56] Matt: I’ve really heard that. Air conditioner? A little bit. It’s cold. Can I show you something? [06:05] Rory: I know that it does come from the plague, too, as well, because everyone was like, when the plague happened, suddenly not just priests were allowed to give last rights. Everyone could give anyone last rights. [06:18] Matt: Oh, everyone was deputized to do that. [06:21] Rory: Yeah. [06:22] Matt: You know, they’re always giving each other last rights casually in outlander. Can I show you something? [06:29] Rory: Yeah. [06:30] Matt: This is very exciting. Okay, hold on. Let me grab it. [06:33] Rory: Are you about to do a backflip? Let me show you my backflip. [06:39] Matt: I’m about to wow you. I’m about to wow you with my. [06:43] Rory: Follow through, your paint by numbers. Oh, I forgot to do that. [06:48] Matt: I am holding up to the camera. Two jars of rice, one that says love ahava. I did English and Hebrew and one that says hate sina, and it’s plain white rice. And two clean new jars with water in them. It’s cooked rice. And then I poured water in on top, which was what I was told to do. [07:15] Rory: Okay. [07:15] Matt: By the Internet. And I’m going to spend the next few months telling this jar how much I love it, because I do. I love you. I love you so much. And I’m going to tell this jar. Now, that’s easy for me to say, because I do love rice. [07:32] Rory: You love rice? [07:34] Matt: I love rice. [07:35] Rory: But I’m a little in love with your rice. I’m a little in love with this jar