
Loading summary
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
This is exactly right. You see the world differently. Where others see empty lots, you see blueprints where others sit in lecture halls. Future leaders choose Ferris State University to build something real. Ready to dig in and learn through action. Ferris State gives you the tools, the team and training to unleash your potential with paths to high demand careers and in state tuition for non residents. At Ferris State, students don't just study, they build. They lead. They succeed. Visit ferris. Edu Ferris State University we build Champions.
Bridger Winegar
Ryan Seacrest here When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to chumbacasino.com Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino games like spin slots, bingo and solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to chumbacasino.com now and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW group Void where prohibited by law. 21 + terms and conditions apply.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Add dry eye relief to your routine with Refresh Optive Mega 3, a lubricating eye drop with a moisture rich, preservative free formula enhanced with inactive ingredients like flaxseed oil and antioxidants. This formula supports all three tear film layers and provides advanced hydration to instantly moisturize and soothe dry eyes. Refresh Optiv Mega 3 is safe to use as often as needed, so you can make it part of your wellness routine. Find Refresh online or in the eye drop section at all major retailers. FSA and HSA Eligible.
Bridger Winegar
When I invited you here, thought I made myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest in my home.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You gotta come to me empty handed.
Bridger Winegar
I said no. Guess your presence is present enough. And I already had too much stuff.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So how do you dare disobey me?
Bridger Winegar
Welcome to I said no gifts. I'm Bridger Weiniger. Here we are. We're in the studio. What's going on? I got back from Japan just, I don't know, 14 hours ago. I have no idea where I am in space or time. I slept for at least 12 hours last night and still don't know where I exist. Had a lovely time, learned a lot. I've acknowledged something about myself and it's that I do not like to eat a cold, thick clam. It's. That's one item for me that is a challenge. So what else? An observation I made while they're observing other couples on vacation. I find I've. I've noticed this before, but I think essentially in every couple on vacation, there's one person who's normal and one person who thinks they can take good photographs. And unfortunately, that person is me. I'm the person. And I apologize for everyone else in a couple who's not the person trying to take good photographs because it seems infuriating to watch your partner try to take a good picture. The pictures all look terrible or all look the same. Who cares? And again, just from this rambling, you can tell I need probably more sleep or less sleep or something. That's fine. I'm back. We're back. Is there anything else we need to talk about when this airs? The Chicago show will be happening tomorrow at May 23rd. So if there are still tickets available, you can have like a last minute panic buying one. If there aren't tickets available, you can regret that for the rest of your life. That's some business we can take care of. Patreon continues to exist. Thank you to everybody who's on the Patreon. You can come join us there. What a lovely way to support the show. And we're just having an absolute riot over there. Everyone is having the time of their life with the bonus episodes, etc. Is there anything? Let me look. I made a document today to just make sure I covered all of our business because I'm out of my mind. Let's see. Oh, the other thing I had to say is I have 59 emails I need to go through. No one needs to know that. I don't know why I type that down. Okay, let's get into the episode. I love today's guest. Everybody loves her. It's Mary Elizabeth Ellis. Mary Elizabeth, how are you?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'm great. I'm excited to get into your emails.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. If we could just start from the first email here. It's about a coffee order I've got coming. We could just get into that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I have a lot of thoughts. I think they should pop some cold, wet clams in there for you.
Bridger Winegar
Have you ever had a cold, thick clam?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Well, we also went to Japan and it was incredible. And the food was so amazing. And also some of the things felt like it was cartilage.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. There are certain. There's just degrees of difficulty with acquired tastes that I thought I was like. I went into this trip, I've been to Japan before and I've had plenty of different types of sushi, et cetera. And I went in feeling fairly cocky because my boyfriend is basically someone who can eat hamburgers and chicken Fingers. And I thought, I can handle this. And we. One of our meals was a very high level difficulty as far as seafood goes. And one of those things was the clam.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just chewy, hard to get your teeth through.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. You know, just truly me gagging and having to make my way through it. Eyes watering.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Because you can't disrespect people there. You've gotta be polite.
Bridger Winegar
The person, the food I was gagging on had. He was looking at me while I. He had just made the food.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And I'm so happy for you to be eating it. You know, though, it's like, do you make a clam? So, like, you opened the clam, you didn't make it. You know what I mean? So, like, it's not on you. This one's on, like, God or whatever.
Bridger Winegar
It's God and the ocean's fault.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. It's not your fault, sir. I'm sorry.
Bridger Winegar
It's embarrassing for me, though. I'm just like, be an adult. Enjoy the food. Every. There are millions and millions of people who like to eat this sort of food. What's wrong with me?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, Truly, though, be a grown up. Get that fucking clam down your throat like a goddamn grownup.
Bridger Winegar
It's so embarrassing. I feel like, you know, you feel like you really are such a sophisticated eater, and then you get to something like that and you're like, oh, you're a child. You're a baby about everything. Grow up.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But that's okay. You can just. Now you're a person who knows. I prefer my clams cooked.
Bridger Winegar
I've decided I just don't like a clam.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right.
Bridger Winegar
Even a fried clam. I'm like, this is too chewy.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Meh.
Bridger Winegar
Why does anyone care about this food?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
What about a quahog?
Bridger Winegar
What's that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, it's like in Rhode Island, a specialty. I think it's a clam. It's definitely in a shell, but they bread it and. Oh, yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Is it big or small?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's big, but it's not like a chewy. It's cooked and it's like with bread and maple and.
Bridger Winegar
How do you. Do you know how to spell that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's like Q, U, A, H, O, U, G, qua, quahog.
Bridger Winegar
Or the accent is kind of just built into that. It is quahog.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Quahog.
Bridger Winegar
Wow.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, it's something like that.
Bridger Winegar
And it is a seafood, though.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
You like them?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Interesting.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I mean, I like them fine. I'm not like, ugh, can't wait to go To Rhode island and have a quag.
Bridger Winegar
How have I never heard of a quag?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know.
Bridger Winegar
I love saying that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's fun, right?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. It feels like I've got some sort of. I have a difficult time saying something. Quahog.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Quahog.
Bridger Winegar
Quahog.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Now I have to try that. Maybe that's the final clam.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll try glass clam.
Bridger Winegar
Glass clam. Oysters. Similarly, I mean, the nice thing about an oyster is it's more of a. Just a swallowing situation where you just kind of throw it back.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. And it has like all the. You can put all the sauce on it so you barely taste it.
Bridger Winegar
It's just salt and sauce and slightly slimy. Whereas a clam requires chewing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, you gotta use teeth for that.
Bridger Winegar
Did you have any other difficult things to eat in Japan?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No. Really? I mean, mostly everything was so great and you think you're going to eat sushi the whole time, but it's mostly like ramen and udon.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. Very, like comfort foods. Very salty.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So great.
Bridger Winegar
Almost deeply unhealthy things.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. That we find.
Bridger Winegar
Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
While we're there.
Bridger Winegar
And then also, like Italian food. They have very good Italian food.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, I didn't have Italian food.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, apparently. Actually, I probably should. This is probably not an actual fact. This is just someone who's jet lagged. But I think, like the second most popular food in Japan is Italian food.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Maybe that is true.
Bridger Winegar
That is a fact.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. Email. Send it to. Email in 16. Send it to him.
Bridger Winegar
You ask any Japanese person, they say, number two, favorite food. Italian.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Italian.
Bridger Winegar
No. I had some very good pizza there, actually. I think that's the end of all the.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And that's it. And nothing says Italian like pizza. Where were you? Were you in Tokyo?
Bridger Winegar
We went to Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's what I did.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, great. We just did the ultimate tourist trip. It's so lovely.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's so lovely.
Bridger Winegar
It's interesting to be in a country where at least on the surface everyone seems to care.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. I think everybody's so nice. And we went with our Japanese friend, Junko.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Shout out. Junko Nakamura. She's amazing. But it was. She spoke Japanese, obviously, which is great. Except then she also would get into conversations with people where we selfish jerk Americans would be like, could you please involve us? Or like, let's go. You know, next thing. And she'd be like, paying respect and like, it's very respectful.
Bridger Winegar
And just being a nice person in general.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It is kind of exhausting. The niceness Oh.
Bridger Winegar
I mean, sometimes you just want someone to be, to have no time for you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Right?
Bridger Winegar
Just be like, this is my job. Get out of my face.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, keep going.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, yeah. Now everyone there, like, it seemed to everyone like cared about their job and wanting our experience to be good. And this wasn't just like being a tourist. This was like, you know, at a coffee shop or whatever, it's like, oh, someone is. They care.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. There's no trash on the street. You're like, what is this?
Bridger Winegar
Getting back to la, It's a lot fascinating experience.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's like coming back from the woods too. Like, if you're in the woods and you land in LA and the drive from lax, you're like, why? Why do I live here? It's so awful.
Bridger Winegar
It is so bizarre. My boyfriend, while there is like, what if we get back and we just don't want to be. I mean, what if this has ruined our life? And that's a real possibility when you're in Japan to just be like, you can experience it. The world doesn't have to just be garbage everywhere and people being rude to each other.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Japan will take you, I bet.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. Size wise, I felt very, very at home.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, yeah. Towering even.
Bridger Winegar
My boyfriend is 6:2 and hit his head at least once a day.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's amazing.
Bridger Winegar
Constantly running into door frames or this sort of thing. And I was just buzzing through town, feeling incredible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Built for you hitting the counter at just the right height everywhere you went.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, it feels so good. I don't feel so small.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Although sometimes it feels nice to feel small here where I can kind of just dart about like a hobbit or something. Nobody can notice me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Like a little elf.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, a little elf.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I know that feeling. Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
There's nothing wrong with that. Except for when you're trying to reach a shelf here in the United States or you're shopping and you have to, like, you need a hook to get something down.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Or a footstool.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I often will be like, excuse me, tall, tall sir. Or you there with the long arms. Could you reach that yogurt for.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, exactly. You don't have to climb the shelves of the grocery store. That kind of thing. Yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Or climbing a shelf.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, climbing a shelf.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll climb a shelf.
Bridger Winegar
I bought a footstool for my house a few years ago. What a feeling. It feels amazing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Incredible.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. Like to not have to get up on the kitchen counter to reach something. Now I'm like, oh, this is how everyone else feels, where they can just.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Reach, just reach it. But I kind of like to climb up on stuff. Cause I'm like at my age, I can still jump down from a counter with a can of beans in both hands.
Bridger Winegar
I just have these horrifying memories of elementary school, school teachers getting up on counters and me sitting below and being like, they're gonna fall off. And I remember one of them did fall off and I thought that could be me. So now I've got my footstool and I'm up there, I'm reaching the baking ingredients, I'm reaching my cereal with no help.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And this is your Kickstarter? Yeah. You're gonna.
Bridger Winegar
It's a new type of footstool.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Your own footstools.
Bridger Winegar
There's nothing different about them from regular.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Footstools, but they're yours.
Bridger Winegar
They're my footstools. There'll be years in development. The backers will never get their perfect.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You see the world differently. Where others see empty lots, you see blueprints. Where others sit in lecture halls. Future leaders choose Ferris State University to build something real. Ready to dig in and learn through action. Ferris State gives you the tools, the team and training to unleash your potential with paths to high demand careers and in state tuition for non residents. At Ferris State, students don't just study, they build. They lead, they succeed. Visit ferris. Edu Ferris State University we build champions. Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications, kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money. With guardrails in place, try Greenlight risk free today@greenlight.com iheart millions of people have turned to Claude, the AI assistant from Anthropic, because it just feels different. Where other AIs often sound a little robotic, Claude has been designed with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence. That's why Claude has become the if you know, you know, choice for dating advice, career coaching, gathering your thoughts for those important life decisions, and more. Give Claude a try for free at Claude.com that's C-L-A-U--E.com and let us know how you feel the difference.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, Japan was lovely and that's all I can think about all the time. And the Trip back. I slept for maybe 10 minutes. The man next to me had a face mask, earplugs, a cushion. He slept. He didn't even lean his chair back. He slept the entire room sitting straight up. I was like, is this guy a spy? How did he learn to do this? Because I'm leaned all the way back. I'm doing everything in my power. Could not fall asleep. Horrible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Melatonin.
Bridger Winegar
I can't take melatonin. This is actually a long running topic on this podcast, which.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She'S full of melatonin.
Bridger Winegar
I can't take melatonin. I can't take Benadryl to fall asleep. They all have the opposite effect on me, and they keep me awake.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I feel that way about morphine.
Bridger Winegar
Really?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Have you ever had morphine?
Bridger Winegar
I don't think that I've had morphine.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I had to go into the hospital because I had eaten a bad chicken Caesar salad.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, where can you name the place in Mississippi? Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
At a restaurant in Mississippi. And it wasn't the everything goes out kind. It was the everything stays in. And then I got, like, I think sepsis.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But my. It hurts so much. Like, driving to the hospital, when we go over a bump, it was like. So when we got to the hospital, I got morphine, and it made my body feel morphine. Y. My brain was like, I gotta solve every problem that's ever happened in this world, and I'm gonna do it right now. And also, everyone's making noise. Shut up. It was awful.
Bridger Winegar
That almost sounds like sleep paralysis or something, where you're, like, not really in control of your body anymore, but your brain keeps going. Oh, how long did that last?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A few hours. And I was like, morphine's not for me.
Bridger Winegar
But it took care of the chicken Caesar.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, the morphine didn't. But the four days in the hospital. Four to five days in the hospital did.
Bridger Winegar
Have you had a chicken seizure since?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No, I've had no chicken.
Bridger Winegar
How long has it been?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Almost 20 years.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God. Did it turn you vegetarian?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Well, pescatarian. I still gotta be able to chew those clams.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, right, of course. You gotta get those clams.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Well, you should write a Yelp review of the restaurant. Twenty years later, I should.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Still reeling from my experience.
Bridger Winegar
Wow, that's awful. Yeah, that's really terrible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And it was likely the Caesar salad dressing with raw egg in it. I feel like that's.
Bridger Winegar
Or the lettuce. Lettuce is a secret culprit of a lot of food poisoning.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. But more E Coli normally. Right.
Bridger Winegar
Who do you think you're talking to? I don't know.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, I was like, I don't know. Do you know everything about E. Coli?
Bridger Winegar
I came with such a. With such a strong opinion there. Like, I really knew.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
But I've just heard that lettuce is often the thing that you don't think about, and it's like, oh, that's what poisoned you. Because someone didn't wash the lettuce.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, the spinach.
Bridger Winegar
The spinach. Your leafy green essentially will poison you. I had a club sandwich a couple of years ago, and I'm pretty sure it was the lettuce that did it. Or the mayo. Or the mayo again. There are so many things that could poison you. The meat.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We had a. And my. I was in a sorority in college, and we had a deli tray that just took us all out.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, excuse me. To be poisoned by a deli tray.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. The entire sorority.
Bridger Winegar
That deli meat must have been left out for a while.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think so.
Bridger Winegar
And it's slimy and gross.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Slimy. Yeah. Gets the, like, little pretty marbling. Like an oil on your turkey.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, now, see, this is a deli meat, I think is one thing that could turn me vegetarian. It's just like deli meat. What are any of us?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just an animal being sliced into paper thin.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my apologies to anyone eating anything this entire episode.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, we speak for the animals. Put your sandwich on. And for you, put your sandwich and your leafy greens down.
Bridger Winegar
Stop eating.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Stop eating. You just need air.
Bridger Winegar
Your food could be poisoning you. Oh, we've got to get off this topic. I'm happy to get off this topic.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Great. What else should we talk about?
Bridger Winegar
There's something else I don't want to talk about, but I feel like we should. Look, I was happy to have you here today. I was excited to have Mary Elizabeth here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But.
Bridger Winegar
There's a but here. There's an absolute but here. The podcast is called I said no Gifts. No gifts. And look, I assume you got one email or someone got a phone call. An email with the title of the podcast.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sure.
Bridger Winegar
Hopefully this came across your desk at some point. I don't know that you paid any attention to it because you come in today. I was so excited to have you here. I thought we'd have a nice conversation, that nothing would go wrong and that we'd move on with our lives. But you came in holding. What? I'm looking at it now. I'm holding it now. Clearly a gift. Is this a gift for Me?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, I don't take no for an answer.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, interesting.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Very defiant.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, yeah. And if I want you to have a gift, you're gonna have it. Also, I'm not good enough. So if I bring you a present.
Bridger Winegar
This is something you're working through with yourself.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We're really getting into it. Maybe you'll like me. It depends on what's inside.
Bridger Winegar
This is all just trying to earn my respect, then.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
And unfortunately, you failed in a huge way here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Damn it.
Bridger Winegar
So, I mean. But maybe you'll come back after I open it. Maybe there's something in here that will finally win my favor.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We'll see.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Should I open it here on the podcast?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Are you gonna smoke that cigarette while you open it, or.
Bridger Winegar
I probably should. I probably should light up. There's just this. For the listener that's not watching the video, there is just kind of a loose cigarette.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It looks like a menthol.
Bridger Winegar
It's a. I'm trying to think if that's an act, a real cigarette, or a stage cigarette.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
May I?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, of course. We used it for our fifth anniversary episode, and I can't remember if I bought actual cigarettes or like, smells herby. It's probably an herb cigarette. I've never smoked a real cigarette.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, that's cute.
Bridger Winegar
Isn't that sweet? So I have to imagine. Are you a current smoker?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No, I will have an occasional. Occasional cigarette.
Bridger Winegar
Were you a smoker for a while?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I was when I was, like, in college.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Cool. College kid.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So cool.
Bridger Winegar
Ultimately a badass, I would say.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I would say, please tell everyone.
Bridger Winegar
That's kind of the word around town about you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Thank you.
Bridger Winegar
The ultimate badass.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Great. That's all I want.
Bridger Winegar
I'm trying to get that out about me. I think it's pretty obvious.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Let's get tattoos.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. Let's go for it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Do you have any tattoos?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So many. I'm not trying to prove anything. It's fine.
Bridger Winegar
You did drive up on a very loud motorcycle.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I did. I do have my motorcycle license.
Bridger Winegar
Is that true?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
That's exciting.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was exciting.
Bridger Winegar
Do you drive a motorcycle now?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No.
Bridger Winegar
No. Do you have to re up it every year?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I. I got. I passed my driving test. My motorcycle riding course.
Bridger Winegar
Right, right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I passed it. The person was like, let's see. You passed. And I was like, I did. Like, I should not be riding a motorcycle in the streets. And then I was gonna go take my DMV test, and Covid happened.
Bridger Winegar
Oh.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And then I got an E bike, and then I broke. Well, you can't see it. Cause my tattoo is covered by stage makeup from my television show. But I broke my arm. I shattered my radius. Oh, so now I'm scared.
Bridger Winegar
Oh my God.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It didn't feel good.
Bridger Winegar
You fell off completely or you crash into something.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I like the back wheel of my E bike hit like dirt and I just.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's terrifying. Yeah, I'm glad that's all it was.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Thank you.
Bridger Winegar
Oof.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
See that? For me, I'd never get on one again.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, it's just over. I got back on the E bike, but I'm scared. But anyway, let's get tattoos.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Let's go.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You see the world differently. Where others see empty lots, you see blueprints. Where others sit in lecture halls. Future leaders choose Ferris State University to build something real. Ready to dig in and learn through action. Action. Ferris State gives you the tools, the team and training to unleash your potential with paths to high demand careers and in state tuition for non residents. At Ferris State, students don't just study, they build. They lead. They succeed. Visit ferris. Edu Ferris State University we build champions. Millions of people have turned to Claude, the AI assistant from Anthropic because it just feels different. Where other AIs often sound a little robotic, Claude has been designed with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence. That's why Claude has become the if you know, you know, choice for dating advice, career coaching, gathering your thoughts for those important life decisions and more. Give Claude a try for free at Claude.com. that's C-L-A-U-E.com and let us know how you feel. The difference? With comprehensive reports on local schools you won't find anywhere else. Homes.com is the only place to find the in depth info. Home shoppers want very in depth info.
Bridger Winegar
Curious about where a school ranks in the state?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Look no further. Percentage of teachers in their first or second year.
Bridger Winegar
We've got it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Lowest student teacher ratio.
Bridger Winegar
No problem.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The best cafeteria lunch in the district for your nine year old food blogger. Would it surprise you if we said yes?
Bridger Winegar
Homes.com we've done your homework. Okay, let me open up this gift here. Okay, I'm reaching in. It's a little blue bag which I think is so cute. Now it feels like there's two things in here at least. Does it matter what order they come out in?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, the first thing I'm feeling is some sort of card or thin. Okay, two different cards okay. Whoa. Oh.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It'S true.
Bridger Winegar
This first. Yeah, the first card says words to guide and inspire your day. You are loved. And on the.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's for me. The you are loved is for me.
Bridger Winegar
That's very sweet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That inside of it? No, the same one.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You can pop open the little front of the card.
Bridger Winegar
See where I gotta be very careful. Cause it feels like I'm gonna break this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't think you can break it.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, it's almost like an Advent calendar.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. And that's a message from the universe for you.
Bridger Winegar
Should I read it?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And they're all different. What does yours say?
Bridger Winegar
You are already as courageous as you need to be. Disagree. What if it's time? What if you're ready to get a tattoo? That might be true.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Or maybe you don't have to get a tattoo. Cause you're already as courageous as you need to be.
Bridger Winegar
This is a very. This to me. If this given to the wrong person, what if it ends up with them assassinating somebody?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, maybe that's what the universe wants. Maybe that was a bad person. That would be such an incredible beginning of like a, like, John Wick movie. Like, he's like, do I kill someone? And then he opens this, like, sweet card and he's like, I guess everyone dies.
Bridger Winegar
I mean, you see this killing spree.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
International Killing Spree. That's a good movie. Yeah, it's like, you know, Tarot gone wrong.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Spirituality leads to death, Deith. Well, I really like that. And I think we should all take that into account. What if it's time? What if you're ready to go on your international killing spree?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I hope this doesn't now. I hope the podcast. Now that's another movie where a podcast inspires somebody to God.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And you're about to take it on the road. You have so much power. You have to really. You gotta check yourself. It's a good thing you have a nice team around you, because you're out of control.
Bridger Winegar
I'm absolutely out of control.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Out of control.
Bridger Winegar
I'm pushing too many boundaries.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Agreed.
Bridger Winegar
It's unbelievable. Okay, so I've got this beautiful little card. Do you buy these, like, by the package? How do you get this thing? It's almost like a valentine. I really like it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I would say that it's from a large shipping conglomerate that may or may not be ruining our. The Earth, our planet. But maybe you can get them from a small local store. I don't know.
Bridger Winegar
It seems like something that you could buy locally.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Buy Your tarot gift cards from the universe at your local crystal store rather than your giant company. Yes, Amazon. We all know what we're saying.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We're saying it. I'm sorry.
Bridger Winegar
We're all guilty.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, we're all guilty.
Bridger Winegar
We're all guilty. And that's fine. I don't know what it is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It just is what it is.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, it is what it is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But you know what? We're feeling bad about it.
Bridger Winegar
We're feeling. As long as you feel bad about yourself and everything you do all the.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Time, do whatever you want, you're courageous enough.
Bridger Winegar
That would be a good thing in one of these cards. Yeah. Okay. And now I've also got an Aroma Coffee and tea company gift card.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I did hear you say how much you like gift cards.
Bridger Winegar
I love gift cards. And they're also paralyzing for me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes, great. I've had that one for two to three years.
Bridger Winegar
This lines up with the way I treat gift cards.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I heard on your podcast. And so I've passed it on to you. Which is also sort of like a horror film.
Bridger Winegar
Like, yeah, this is. What is that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It follows. So now I've put the disease in you, and it's yours until you pass it along to someone else.
Bridger Winegar
Gift follows. Yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's also a great coffee shop.
Bridger Winegar
I've heard good things about this place. I have a friend who goes here to write, and so now maybe you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Can pass it on to them, but.
Bridger Winegar
Then she'll use it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, boring.
Bridger Winegar
And then the company is probably. Maybe these are like, they're counting on this $25 or whatever to keep them afloat. They're like, if someone spends this card.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We go out of business. Amazon takes over.
Bridger Winegar
Amazon finally buys his house.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So see, that cancels the other one out.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, very interesting. Yeah. This balances the universe.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So it's almost like I haven't given you anything at all.
Bridger Winegar
Net neutral.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Just absolutely zero here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Which I like. But the thing is, if I spend this, this could send the world into a spiral that we may never recover from again.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You have ultimate power.
Bridger Winegar
Mm. This is. What's the movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? The bookstore movie. Emailing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, you Got Mail. You Got Mail.
Bridger Winegar
This is kind of a you Got mail, where the big company's trying to buy. Is that what happens? He's trying to buy out the small. I brought you here today on your expert opinion about you've Got Mail.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, you asked the wrong person.
Bridger Winegar
Neither of us has seen this movie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Not in a long time.
Bridger Winegar
I've Never seen it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh.
Bridger Winegar
But I get the general idea, I think.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Mm. There's an email.
Bridger Winegar
There's email. And books and buying.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And romance.
Bridger Winegar
And romance.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And comedy.
Bridger Winegar
And comedy. And a little bit of heart.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And so much heart.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, well, I've got this gift card. And you've kept it for three years, I think. So when someone gives you a gift card, is that generally how it goes, where you're like, well, I just can't forget about it and spend it?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, I think that it got given to me by the PTA of my son's school for volunteering.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's nice.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Which is very nice. But then he graduated from that campus.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And so I never go there to that area.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, right. And so you'd have to be in the neighborhood, and then it would also have to be in your wallet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes, it would have to be in my wallet.
Bridger Winegar
And how many gift cards can one person have in their wallet? You can't have it for every area of the city.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No. Or I get, like, the Gelson's. Our local grocery store sends us, like, a $5 off coupon.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, right. $5 off at Gelson's, you're still.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I mean, the strawberries then are only 15.
Bridger Winegar
$400.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
$15.99 and rotten.
Bridger Winegar
Mostly Gelson's. Don't get me started.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I know. I'm also. I hope you hear this Gelson's. You need to get something happening with your produce. It is not fresh.
Bridger Winegar
This is my take on Gelson's. It is Ralph's, but the only thing that's different is the pricing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
It's not like, you know, you'll go to, I don't know, Whole Foods or whatever, and you're like, oh, I can notice a difference here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Whereas you go to a Gelson's, you're like, this is literally the same stuff, right?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. There's no different brands. It's not like going to Trader Joe's, where you go like, oh, this Trader Joe's brand thing of things that I can't get anywhere else.
Bridger Winegar
No. It's just literally the grocery store pricing times 10.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But it's so close to my house.
Bridger Winegar
I think that's where they really get you. They've got the proximity, and they've got, for whatever reason, a wine bar.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And they have a wine bar for whatever reason, for your grocery store wine bar, time needs.
Bridger Winegar
When you spend $9 on a gallon of milk, you need a drink.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's true. That's why you gotta get drunk to shop there.
Bridger Winegar
Everyone's just stumbling through the store behind their grocery cart.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
How did we get to Gelson's pricing? Let's see.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. You're jet lags.
Bridger Winegar
I'm jet lagged.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know what's wrong with me.
Bridger Winegar
I need a little bit more coffee here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll take a coffee break, too. I'm excited for you to open. What else is in your bag?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. I'm gonna get back into here because there's almost feels like there's a. If I had to guess right now, I'd be like, this is an action figure, but we'll see what it is. Oh, my God. It kind of is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It kind of is. And it matches your shirt.
Bridger Winegar
Look at that. A unicorn. Look how beautiful that looks.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's just like you.
Bridger Winegar
It's almost exactly the color of my shirt.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Aw.
Bridger Winegar
Where did this come from? Well, look how sweet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Unicorns are just my favorite. I just love them. And so I have them. I have, like, I have a box of gift things where if it's a birthday or someone's special occasion or something, and then I wrap them a gift, I'll wrap a little unicorn or a little rainbow catcher. Light catcher on the outside.
Bridger Winegar
Where are you getting your unicorns?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A small local store.
Bridger Winegar
Your local unicorn store.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. That's not Amazon.
Bridger Winegar
Do you have a box of unicorns?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I do. I have unicorn bulk.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, wow. That's whimsical.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Thank you.
Bridger Winegar
Very whimsical. Have you been a unicorn person your whole life?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, I like the confidence there.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. I love a unicorn.
Bridger Winegar
Where did it begin?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Probably she ra.
Bridger Winegar
That makes sense.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She had a pegasus.
Bridger Winegar
Did she write it?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She wrote a pegasus. That may have also been a unicorn.
Bridger Winegar
Pegasus is a unicorn with wings. Is that correct?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, it doesn't necessarily have a horn. I don't know if hers did.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, interesting.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But a pegasus has wings.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Also, do you remember, did you ever watch, oh, Fantasia by Disney?
Bridger Winegar
Oh, yeah, of course.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The original.
Bridger Winegar
Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
There were, like, a bunch of pegasuses and that. Pegasi.
Bridger Winegar
Pegasi. Of course. Thank you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And unicorns. And I just love magic. Magical fairies.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. Unicorns within the world of fantasy. I think you're just kind of. Of course. I love a horse with a horn that can fly and do these magical things. I feel like you don't see as many unicorns in popular media anymore.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Feels like even in fantasy movies, they're not putting them in. I think that's the one thing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Except for there's that new movie, a new unicorn Movie.
Bridger Winegar
Wait, isn't there like a movie about unicorns or something?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, an A24 movie.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, weirdly, an A24 movie. What is that called? It's not the Last Unicorn. That's another thing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Is it like, oh, no, I hit a unicorn with my car. I feel like the killing of a sacred unicorn, you just couldn't handle our.
Bridger Winegar
You are so ready to grasping for that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's why we blocked out the death part.
Bridger Winegar
They hit it with a car.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know.
Bridger Winegar
I know what you did last summer basically.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
To this unicorn.
Bridger Winegar
To this unicorn. It's a movie. Being Merlin is trying to track you down or something.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I would watch it.
Bridger Winegar
Let's see. My Little Pony is not unicorns. That's just ponies.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
They had some unicorns and some pegasuses and also Rainbow Brite. I think there was a unicorn in that.
Bridger Winegar
There better be one in.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was a very 80s.
Bridger Winegar
Totally. But it doesn't feel like there's that unicorn, you know, there's not like one famous, is there? Who's our most famous unicorn? Is the big question.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Who is our most famous unicorn? Right. Like a Mickey Mouse kind of a unicorn.
Bridger Winegar
Right. I don't.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
There's space. We found a gap in the market.
Bridger Winegar
We need a unicorn with a name.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Is there a single name? Unicorn is the big question.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
God.
Bridger Winegar
God is a unicorn.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
God is a unicorn. I believe it.
Bridger Winegar
There's that book, that children's book, the Last Unicorn. But I don't even know if that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Unicorn has a name.
Bridger Winegar
That became a movie. Correct.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That movie was intense.
Bridger Winegar
But look at us. We can't remember that unicorn's name.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'm disappointed in myself.
Bridger Winegar
I know. You came here, you came in pretty hot. Unicorn wise. You can't name a single unicorn.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, I can name all of them. That's the thing. They all get mixed together.
Bridger Winegar
There are plenty of famous horses.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. National Velvet.
Bridger Winegar
Who's National Velvet?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Is that its name?
Bridger Winegar
It better be National Velvet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's a famous horse movie, isn't it? With Liz of White Diamonds fame.
Bridger Winegar
Keep going, keep going.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She was famous. She was friends with Michael Jackson. She had a perfume called White Diamonds. Liz Taylor, Sure.
Bridger Winegar
She's in a movie about a horse named National Velvet?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I believe so.
Bridger Winegar
Does she ride National Velvet?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know.
Bridger Winegar
Horse names are psycho. When we get like real horse names like that, it's like, who? When you name a horse and you do that sort of naming, you are revealing something very weird about yourself.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I like it. I like. I want a shirt that says horse names. Are psycho. It's worse than you even thought. Cause the National Velvet was the name of the film, but the horse is the Pie. The original horse was called the Pie.
Bridger Winegar
The Pie. Now that's kind of a stupid name.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The P I, E. P I, E. The Pie.
Bridger Winegar
I wish it was the private investigator.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Private investigator. What are you going to do? I'm gonna ride that pie. I'm going to ride that pie.
Bridger Winegar
The Pie. The horse is called the Pie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The Pie.
Bridger Winegar
So when you're talking to it, you have to say, hello. The Pie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Drop it. The Pie. Drop it. Do you say that to a horse?
Bridger Winegar
I think horses constantly have things in their mouth. Chewing up. Like a dog.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Drop it. Leave it.
Bridger Winegar
Leave it. It's chewing up a big piece of bone or whatever. Just like drop the bone. The Pie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The Pie.
Bridger Winegar
The Pie. But National Velvet. God knows what that even means. Then what does National Velvet refer to? Does Liz Taylor play National Velvet?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. Is velvet the. The fabric of the ribbon that you win?
Bridger Winegar
You get the National Velvet. The Pie gets the National Velvet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Everyone wants these 12 yards of fabric.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. National Velvet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I really don't know.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. The fact that you were able to pull that film is impressive.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But not Taylor. But not listening to the name Taylor. Who knows? A brain is weird.
Bridger Winegar
As far as celebrity names goes, mine is the most broken. I cannot name a celebrity. The fact that I was able to pull up Elizabeth Taylor was. I think I deserve a lot of credit because I can't name any.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I've named your emails.
Bridger Winegar
Everyone, credit. Yes, Your ribbons. Your National Velvet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. Your velvets.
Bridger Winegar
I deserve it. I can't name my favorite celebrities. I have a very hard time with that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Really.
Bridger Winegar
And I brought this up to my boyfriend. I was like, maybe there's something wrong with me mentally. Or maybe my brain is breaking down and he just brushed it off. So if something goes wrong, it's his fault.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Because I've warned him. Yes. And I've also warned you and I've warned all of our listeners.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Damn it. Now it's all of our faults.
Bridger Winegar
Everyone's responsible but me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Ultimately, unicorns. Unicorns. And we named what? We didn't name a single horse after me saying there were famous horses. You said National Velvet learned the pie. There's Ed. Mr. Ed. Mr. Ed Seabiscuit.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, that's a pretty famous horse.
Bridger Winegar
And that's the end of my list, I guess. But again, two more than a unicorn, I would say.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Then there's the movie about the unicorn getting hit by a car.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. There's a movie called A Unicorn Store.
Bridger Winegar
What's that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think that Brie Larson directed it.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, so it's new?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No.
Bridger Winegar
Well, ish compared to Liz Taylor. Velvet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Newer than that Unicorn Store. Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Do you know what that's about? I don't know why I'm asking you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You shouldn't be responsible. I know what it's about or the plot of that movie, but I have a lot of movies to watch.
Bridger Winegar
I know.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And I gotta get back to you.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, we'll check in with you periodically.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Great. Please.
Bridger Winegar
Were you able to see National Velvet? Did you see unicorns?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It can be a new section of your podcast where you just call me and ask me if I've seen the movies that you want to know about.
Bridger Winegar
It'll be years. You'll never watch any of them. But we'll keep calling and calling and calling.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I probably won't. I don't think I'll watch those.
Bridger Winegar
I have a hard time. You know, I'll put movies on a list and I never get to the list.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
This is something I do. I'm going to reveal a secret about myself when someone recommends something to me. If I say I'll put that on.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
My list, you mean fuck off.
Bridger Winegar
Yes, absolutely. It's not happening. It's just not.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
It will have to be purely by mistake that I watch your recommendation. You know, and I don't know why that is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
What do you gravitate toward? Like if you were to sit down.
Bridger Winegar
Just whatever is immediately in front of me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, okay. Or that's valid.
Bridger Winegar
I think this might be. Tell me if this is true. I think most people have a hard time actually taking a recommendation. I feel like when I recommend something, I don't trust that anyone's ever gonna actually. Even with. I think the closest you'll come is if it's a song. Someone might listen to a three minute thing that you recommend. But I think there are categories. It's like maybe a song. Potentially a YouTube video.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Next Level TV episode of a TV show.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
What would be the next movie? And then book. Book is probably the last thing someone's gonna actually.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A restaurant. Are we only talking media?
Bridger Winegar
Restaurant is number one.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Maybe even before a song, wouldn't you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Say that you'll try a restaurant?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But does it depend on where it is?
Bridger Winegar
Location is important.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's key.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. If it's a restaurant within 10 minutes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
People probably.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Or like in a. In Japan. Like if I was like, oh, you're going to Japan, you gotta Try this.
Bridger Winegar
I mean, although I had probably nine people send me lists of things to do in Japan, I probably took one recommendation.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right.
Bridger Winegar
Which was something.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
One out of nine ain't bad.
Bridger Winegar
But you, like, if I were to say, oh, you have to hear this song, would you actually listen to it?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Probably.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. And I think you would have to have it be sent to you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Maybe. I like a reason to judge someone.
Bridger Winegar
So that's a great way to think about this. If I could reframe it in my mind as I get to judge the.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Person, then I'll get to judge you and decide if your taste is good, if you're worth being a person or not. But I think, like, as you know, if people recommend things and you try them, and then if you're like, okay, my taste kind of aligns with this person's taste, you know?
Bridger Winegar
Right. I think that's the way to go, where it's like, the song is a nice little teaser, and if that works for you, you can start asking this person for more things.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. Do you send, like, videos to friends on Instagram?
Bridger Winegar
I'm so careful. I'm maybe more careful than I need to be. Maybe it's because I'm so annoyed by people sending me things, and I'm like, this has to be perfect for me to send it to somebody. And then maybe it's the pressure I'm putting on myself. But it's very rare that I'll send somebody a video. Maybe, like, you know, like, on Instagram, there'll be, like, a reductress meme or a clickhole thing that you have to read seven words. I might send that video. I have to be really sure of myself. What about you? Do you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think, yeah, like, different groups of people have become, like, different things. Like, I have two friends in a group chat called Pup Parade, where we just send, like, puppy.
Bridger Winegar
That's a great. Yes. Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And that's nice. And if I have another group of friends, like my closest friends, and if someone sends me a video that I'm not into, I will be like, I'm not into this video.
Bridger Winegar
You're that honest?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Because, like, let's curate this, Right. Don't be sending me more of this. I'm not. I don't care for it. And I hope that the same thing will be said to me, like, no, thank you to this one. Like, okay, okay. Your taste is not going in that direction.
Bridger Winegar
That is so healthy. That is such a healthy behavior. Because that is the opposite of me, where I will, no matter what anybody sends me, I will. I will not express my. Unless I really. I'll tell someone if I really love it. But I'll never say I don't love something.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You'll just never speak to them again. I block slowly let that friendship crumble into the sea.
Bridger Winegar
No. I'm on a text thread with two other friends, and we send each other music all the time. And two of us, I think, were brought up in houses that never wanted to keep things as everything's fine as possible. And the other person was at a house where everyone was honest with each other. And he'll constantly be like, I don't like this. I don't like this. And I think my other friend and I will be like, oh, that hurts a little bit.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That means you don't like me.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, that's a reflection of my being my good as a person. But he's just being honest, which is totally fine. I'm slowly learning that that's an okay thing to do.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think it comes with age, right?
Bridger Winegar
I hope so.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think so. Where it's like, oh, they're actually like, d a ton of different ways to do things. And if someone does it differently than me, maybe that doesn't mean I'm a piece of shit.
Bridger Winegar
Right. And I didn't create this. Yeah, I sent a link.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, I just opened this clam.
Bridger Winegar
I didn't make this clam exactly, but I'm just. People are sending me everything all the time, willy nilly, because they don't know what I care about, I guess.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
But then I complain about everything else, so I don't know what's wrong with me ultimately. Well, more stuff to say.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We're here to find out. Right.
Bridger Winegar
Today we get the answers about my personality.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
No, I could do a little more curating as far as just telling people, oh, no, stop sending me this. Maybe I don't have to be that harsh.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's a no for me, dog. Maybe just make it funny.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, but see, I feel like I'll overcorrect and then just be rude.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, if they're your real friends, they listen to your podcast and now they know.
Bridger Winegar
So I have zero friends. I often wonder if any of my real friends listen to my podcast. If you're a real friend, reach out.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Reach out. Send them an email. I have one of my very dear friends, one of my closest friends, Elizabeth Lame, has a podcast called Nobody's Listening. Right. And it's just her and her husband Andy talking. And I have a hard time listening to it because you know, the person, I'm friends with her.
Bridger Winegar
Right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Like, just tell me if you want me to know. Otherwise, like, I don't know.
Bridger Winegar
Right. I feel like, yeah, I wouldn't blame anyone in my immediate life if they. Well, except for my. Well, whatever.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Who are we blaming?
Bridger Winegar
There are a couple people you could be listening to this. But my friends, I would never expect them to listen. We are in constant communication with each other, and why wouldn't I just tell? And also, it feels almost nosy.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Get out of my business.
Bridger Winegar
I could be talking about you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I could be complaining about you to the rest of the public.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I am. Stop sending me your shitty music.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. So I can't imagine too many of my actual friends listen to the podcast.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
When my mom. My mom will be like, I listen to your podcast. I'm like, don't. That's not for you.
Bridger Winegar
That feels invasive, right? Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Or like, she'll comment on my Instagram.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's very sweet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It is. It's sweet. But it's also like, get out of my business. But also, I'm.
Bridger Winegar
You're making it everyone else's business.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Hundreds of thousands of people. I'm making it everyone's business.
Bridger Winegar
Is that something you had to get comfortable with, like, as a public person, like your family knowing, like, sure, that's something I had to as well. Where it's like, oh, I guess they just have access to this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
You just have to be okay with that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And isn't that funny? Why do we feel like so protect. Like, we're like, yeah, any like, Tom, Dick, or Harry.
Bridger Winegar
Right?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Fine. But like, I don't my mom to know.
Bridger Winegar
God, mom.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
She can't know this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No. Like, when you were like, have you ever smoked? I'm like, lost in the camera.
Bridger Winegar
Keep out three minutes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Also, my child. What if he ever hears.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Next level.
Bridger Winegar
Totally. Next level. How old's your kid, can I ask?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
13.
Bridger Winegar
Is this something you have to talk to your kids about now? Like, don't smoke?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, not totally yet for him, but, like, vaping's a big conversation. Interesting, because there's also, like, billboards everywhere.
Bridger Winegar
Right? Of course.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
And what is that conversation with a teenager at this point? I feel like my parents never really like elementary school. They kind of just like, hammered at home. Like, don't smoke.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
My parents didn't smoke, so I don't know. Never felt like a conversation. But do you feel like there's a lot of pressure for your kid not to smoke?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't Feel like kids smoke as much as they do. But I guess four kids from his school just got suspended for vaping at school.
Bridger Winegar
So teenage smoking is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's, like, very funny to me. It's vaping, though, now, so I think you can just kind of like. It's not like having a cigarette, you know?
Bridger Winegar
Right. You just go into the.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And you just go like. Like, people do it inside, like, completely.
Bridger Winegar
Completely. But probably do it on airplanes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Probably.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, interesting. Yeah. So the kids got in trouble. I wonder how they got caught.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. Kids are stupid. Sorry, kids, if you're listening, when was.
Bridger Winegar
The first time you smoked?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Fifteen.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Was it a peer pressure situation, or were you the person?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think I was probably trying to just be cool. As we've established, I have a deep, deep, desperate, clawing, deep hole inside me that needs to be filled with people thinking I'm cool.
Bridger Winegar
I mean. Well, let me. Speaking of cool, you're trying to fit in constantly, obviously bringing something to the podcast with the skiff. There's still other things.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think there's two more things in there. I just did a teeny, tiny, tiny grab bag.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. The next thing feels almost like a piece of taffy. Let's see if I'm good at. Ooh. What? Actually, it is a candy, but it's not taffy. What is this?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's the best caramel you've ever had.
Bridger Winegar
Should I eat it now? Is that gonna be gross on Mike?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. Are you brave enough? I can feel too much.
Bridger Winegar
You might have to bath.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
This is me just trying to fill too much.
Bridger Winegar
Can you sing?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. Okay, this is my podcast now.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, I'm gonna try this now. Let's see. This might take a while for me to eat. Caramel is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You know what? It's not so bad. It's not the sticky kind. I got it when I was in Yucca Valley this weekend at Mojave at a small local store.
Bridger Winegar
I'm gonna eat half of it just in case.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But can you. Do you like a caramel? Isn't it so salty in the best way?
Bridger Winegar
That's incredible. It's so buttery.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I got it at Mojave Mercantile, I think is what it's called in Yucca Valley. But it's a Le Bon Garcon.
Bridger Winegar
Ooh.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think it said on the box.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's fantastic.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Right?
Bridger Winegar
Where do they make this? Is it French?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It sounds like. I don't know. I did no research. I pulled it out of a box of many of them. Oh, I'm sorry I didn't bring enough for everyone. I thought about it. I feel bad that I didn't bring enough for the class. I'm sorry.
Bridger Winegar
I hate that I'm rushing through it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. You're gonna have to drive to Yucca Valley to get some more of those. Sweet, Sweet. Salty. So salty. Right?
Bridger Winegar
It's amazing. Yeah. That's what almost every candy I need now is. Almost not to be sweet at all.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I just want it to be salt.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And barely sweet, like licking a clam.
Bridger Winegar
If only this was thicker, colder, and slimier, I would have loved it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But I did give you that same staring at you in expectation while you were eating it.
Bridger Winegar
Suddenly, I'm gagging.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. I'm like, ah, swallow it, swallow it.
Bridger Winegar
That's so good. Why were you in Yucca Valley?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Because my friend is in a band called Hard Quartet.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, fantastic.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And they're touring right now.
Bridger Winegar
They're a recent kind of super group.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, they're incredible. Oh, and my friend Emmett Kelly is in it.
Bridger Winegar
No way. That's great.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She's amazing. And. Yeah. So I just got to go see, like, my 90s.
Bridger Winegar
That's so cool. It's Stephen Malkamis.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Who are the. Is it Matt Sweeney Wright.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Jim Weitz. The drummer?
Bridger Winegar
Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
From Dirty three. And then Emmett Kelly.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. That's so cool.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, my God, they're so good.
Bridger Winegar
I imagine this is their first tour or something.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
First tour.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So I saw their very first show.
Bridger Winegar
I'm sure everyone was thrilled about it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was amazing.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's really cool.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You mean me being there?
Bridger Winegar
Yes, of course. Who gives a shit about the band?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, everyone was thrilled.
Bridger Winegar
They're like, did you see who was in the audience?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Yes. Because she wouldn't stop crying.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. Are you a big music person into that scene?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I am. I like to see live music.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Do you?
Bridger Winegar
Oh, I love it. I love it and I hate it. Concerts are a complicated experience for me, and I complain about them often. Even shows I really love, I have a hard time. And I've said this before, and it's often because I'll go to a concert and I'll be like. I'll be looking around at everyone in the audience and be like, oh, I'm like, these people. Do you know what I mean?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sure.
Bridger Winegar
It's just like, to me, a concert feels like a mirror that can push you around. You're getting knocked back and forth by people who are like you, and you're realizing, oh, I hate me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sure, I hear you. I Do feel like I was watching myself, being proud of myself, thinking that I wasn't worried about what people were thinking about me during the COVID Oh, great.
Bridger Winegar
And you weren't drunk.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't drink.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, amazing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Well, that's a big moment for you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just as a person to be like, I'm so proud of me for not thinking about myself constantly right now. I could just enjoy this experience. It's just about watching your thoughts, right?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, I suppose.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
They come in and they're fucking bananas.
Bridger Winegar
They're almost all imagined.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And to be like, I'm not gonna attach to you.
Bridger Winegar
Just keep going, keep moving, keep moving.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just keep moving.
Bridger Winegar
How often are you going to a live show?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I mean, I guess it depends on, like if it's concert season kind of, but I would say at least once a month.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's great.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I saw Shannon and the Clams.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, fantastic band.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Clams and clams.
Bridger Winegar
There's the theme of the episode.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The best kind of clams.
Bridger Winegar
She's an amazing singer. What a voice.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I love her very much. She's a wonderful.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, good. That's nice to know.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
She's amazing. And they were playing at Tipitina's when I was in New Orleans.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, cool.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
So just by chance you got to see them.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, I just happened to be there at the same time.
Bridger Winegar
Do you have like an all time favorite concert?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes, I think Neutral Milk Hotel.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Also in New Orleans.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. When was that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Maybe like 10 years ago.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's really cool. That's a rare thing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I feel like I could send you music and you could send me music. I feel like we're. We seem to be vibing.
Bridger Winegar
Yes, absolutely. Wow, that's a really cool show. Was it long? Did he play for a while?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, they played forever. They sounded perfectly like. I also. I love an LCD sound system concert just because they sound so much like the album that you listen to.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, it's a dance party.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And it's a dance party.
Bridger Winegar
Are you going to see them later this year with Pulp?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, I can't wait. Pulp is one of my all time favorite bands.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, amazing.
Bridger Winegar
And so I haven't bought tickets yet. Someone told me to wait at the Hollywood Bowl. Yeah. Does it make sense to wait for tickets?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. Maybe you can get like last minute tickets maybe because like the bots buy them all up and then they're at the height of their price and then they go down.
Bridger Winegar
Somebody just told me they've got Beyonce tickets for $20, so maybe I did.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Hear that Beyonce's tickets were not as.
Bridger Winegar
Much interesting what's happening there.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
We're all horrified and afraid of all of our money being taken from us by the government.
Bridger Winegar
There's a chance.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I did go to book a plane ticket, and my card didn't work, like, twice. And I was like, oh, my God, it's happened, it's over. They've taken my money, and I'm only allowed to buy things if my husband says it's okay. And then I was like, oh, maybe my credit card's expired. That's the other option.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, I guess there is always that worry. But I guess I'll just be waiting a couple of months, and then if it does, if I can't buy tickets, I'll just call me.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll call you and be like, please, please, can I go with you?
Bridger Winegar
Give me your other tickets.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
There's no other way I can get a ticket.
Bridger Winegar
You're the only person I know that I've talked to about this. No, I'll just blame my friend and just ruin his life or something. He goes to more concerts than I do. Certainly he knows better than I do.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Great.
Bridger Winegar
Neutral Milk Hotel. That was your favorite show?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Do you have a favorite show?
Bridger Winegar
Yes. Eleanor Friedberger. I saw.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know Eleanor.
Bridger Winegar
Do you know the band Fiery Furnaces?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
She's half of that band. But she's got four amazing solo albums, and her Fiery Furnaces as a band, whenever you would see them live, they would play their music completely differently than as recorded, which is an incredible experience. It's so fun to see just, like totally new versions of songs you like. And then she does kind of. Of slightly similar thing where you go and it was like the. Like, her music's not the, like, most. The most rocking music you've ever heard on album, but live, it was like seeing a punk show. It was unbelievable. It was so cool, and I love her so much, but it was an unexpected thing, too. So I think that's what made it such a wonderful concert. I think that. Oh, and then Pulp. Seeing them last year was. Jarvis Cocker is 60 or so and still performs like he's 28 or something. It's so fun to see.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's amazing.
Bridger Winegar
Such a cool, naturally cool person. Those are my two favorites, I'd say.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, that's great.
Bridger Winegar
I don't know that I've. I'm trying to think if I've ever had a really horrible concert experience. Yeah, I know I have.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. But it's just like yeah, I've been to some where. Like, it's too crowded and everyone's a little too drunk, and there are people, like, screaming loudly, like, what's she playing? Play what I want you to play. Like, that kind of situation.
Bridger Winegar
There's always one really drunk person that can ruin it for everybody. There's a band that I love, but when a band gets too jammied live, that can be a difficult experience. I saw Built A Spill a long time ago, and there was a little too much jamming.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Was it at the Wiltern?
Bridger Winegar
No, this was when I was still living in Salt Lake.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And I don't know when that was, because this was our first concert.
Bridger Winegar
This was, like, I don't know, 20 years ago.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, okay.
Bridger Winegar
20 years ago, maybe.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I feel that way about. I love Built A Spill, too, and I feel that way about Built A Spill.
Bridger Winegar
Sometimes live, there's just. There's some noodling on the guitar where I just feel like. I know people love jamming, but I can use some editing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. And I don't really speak guitar, so like, sometimes I'm like. Like, my husband's very musical, and so sometimes I'll be like, I bet he's enjoying this in a way that I'm not able to enjoy it because I don't understand the mechanics of it that much.
Bridger Winegar
That's how I am. I'm just like, well, now this just isn't the song that I.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And then we become the drunk girl. It's like, play away that accent.
Bridger Winegar
But I do. Again, I love Built to Spill. I don't want to say anything too terrible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Same. Don't come at us. Built to Spill. Geez.
Bridger Winegar
I will say a nice experience is to leave a concert early with friends, when everyone recognizes we're done here. And you get to leave because you all feel so connected to each other, where you're like, we don't have to stay for longer than we need to be here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, yeah. I did also get to see. This will be my last one. Then there's one last thing in there. Liz Fair, Exile, of course, in Guy Vill last year, she played the whole.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that's amazing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And it was so fun.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, that sounds great. I love this. I don't know if bands love this new trend of having to play their old albums all the way through, but it's like, when else are you gonna get an opportunity to hear that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, it was, I think, 30 years.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, at least.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Right? And she was so, like. She just kind of kept being like, I can't believe you guys enjoy this this much. So it also was like she was like, this is amazing. And we were like, this is amazing. It was, it was great. Yeah, Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
A lot of bands, their first few are their best anyway. And so you. But it's like I feel guilty that I don't want to listen to your.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Newer or it hits you. It's about hitting you at a certain time in your life.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, yeah. There's nostalgia tied into it and all sorts of things. Yeah. But I think that's a great trend.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, me too. Keep it coming.
Bridger Winegar
I'm happy with that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Keep it coming.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, let's get into this final thing here. Oh, it feels like another.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, it's also orange.
Bridger Winegar
Look how beautifully. I mean, if you're watching the video of this on YouTube, you're now seeing an almost art directed episode where I've got a unicorn that's the color of my T shirt.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It goes with back here.
Bridger Winegar
I'm just gonna put these on our shelf.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
These just go permanently on here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I was hoping my guys might get back there. I didn't know. I don't know you, so I didn't know if you were more of a dinosaur person or more of a unicorn person.
Bridger Winegar
I would say I'm kind of in the middle, you know, unicorn, dinosaur thing. It's a spectrum. Ultimately. It's a spectrum. It's just like anything else in the world. It's a spectrum. And I would say I'm right here in the middle of this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You're the Eiffel Tower.
Bridger Winegar
I'm the Eiffel Tower of unicorns and dinosaurs.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I love that.
Bridger Winegar
No, I like growing up, I probably would have read more about unicorns, fantasy level. But I like dinosaurs and science type stuff. I love Jurassic park, the original at least.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So good.
Bridger Winegar
Still a great movie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just rewatched it. Highly, highly recommend.
Bridger Winegar
It holds up really well.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I've only seen a couple of the other ones and I've never been as thrilled.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, they're fine. Yeah. Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Are there any other? Well, Godzilla's not quite a dinosaur, but I saw that Godzilla minus C, whatever it was the Japanese one last year. Unbelievable movie.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Very cool.
Bridger Winegar
It's like genuinely scary.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, really loved that one.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. Really feels like as close as I felt like. Oh, this is what it would feel like if Godzilla existed. It would be kind of scary.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Very scary.
Bridger Winegar
This thing is a giant creature destroying Japan.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. I just went on a swamp tour.
Bridger Winegar
Also.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Highly recommend.
Bridger Winegar
First tour.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
First swamp tour. Even though I'm from Mississippi and Louisiana, I Grew up going there. Highly recommend Ragin Cajun Swamp Tour.
Bridger Winegar
I love the name. I'm behind it already, but yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Got to meet a 13 foot long 26 year old.
Bridger Winegar
Like, it kind of if you stop right there, you just met a 13 foot long 26 year old.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's it. Worth it. Alligator. But like, even just seeing that, the massive size of that thing, that is terrifying. Like, even if just that was running around.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God. Of course.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It doesn't even have to be.
Bridger Winegar
I don't think I could be in a boat near that. I would be so scared.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I was afraid right before I went. And they have them crawl up onto the boat. Not that big.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, no, no, no, no.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But the smaller ones there were sisters named Shania and Twain. It was cute. They did a good job.
Bridger Winegar
Did you get to touch them?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
They're like. I mean, they're straight up wild animals, but they live in this, like. I think this company probably owns this amount of swamp land. So they're used to the boats.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And they feed them chicken legs, but not so much that they won't eat their natural humans. Yeah. Yeah. Their natural prey. Humans. Humans and unicorns. That's what happened to the unicorns.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. The thing that scares me most about alligators is the whipping and thrashing. The jaws are not like. But I feel like if you got closer and starts freaking out, that scares me. Getting whipped by that tail, grab you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And take you underwater and roll you around until you're drown and like soft. And then shove you in a log and come back and eat you later.
Bridger Winegar
Is that true?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
It puts you away.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It puts you away for later to soften you up. That's what you should have done to the clam.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my. That's what the sushi chef should have done to the clam.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's true.
Bridger Winegar
I'm not responsible for this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Would you mind holding this for me?
Bridger Winegar
Actually put this in a log for a few days.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Or just in your palm. In your warm palm.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. I didn't know. That's a new fact about alligators. I didn't know.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, I'm pretty sure it's true. Wow.
Bridger Winegar
They have kind of a food storage system that they've got going. Humans all over.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Save you for later. Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
But that is kind of like. That's not. The teeth aren't as much the danger. Right. It's like strangling you to death.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't know. I think the jaw big.
Bridger Winegar
Clampers. Clompers. Speaking of animals that are used to humans. We went to a monkey park in Japan.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Did you do this? I do that in Kyoto.
Bridger Winegar
Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Where you go in inside the house and then feed them.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
It's incredible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Incredible. Did you love it?
Bridger Winegar
I adored it. And it didn't feel like. It wasn't like a. I may be wrong, and I'll just continue to be ignorant about this because it didn't feel like a tiger king situation where every animal was in danger. It felt like they were taking advantage of us rather than us taking advantage of them.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. You go in the little house and buy food for them.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. I was feeding them apples or I could have bought peanuts or whatever, and they come and just take it from you, and it's wonderful. And you're seeing them running around. I saw a mother holding her little baby.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. The babies are so cute.
Bridger Winegar
Unbelievable experience.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Did you see? Well, let's see. I think we went around the same time. So you missed the cherry blossoms?
Bridger Winegar
Missed the cherry blossoms. I'm sure that was incredible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Did you go to Don Quixote?
Bridger Winegar
Is that the grocery store?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's like. Like a Target kind of a place.
Bridger Winegar
No, but I kept reading about it and never saw you gotta go back for that. I honestly would love that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, it was pretty amazing.
Bridger Winegar
What? Did you buy anything at the Target of Japan?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I didn't, but there was, like, a little boy whose butthole was like, stick out, like a little.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, I see this at Target all the time.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, just the air vapor coming out. It was like a room humidifier, but it's just like a little. It's blasting out of a little boy's butt hole.
Bridger Winegar
This feels like some sort of entrapment. This was like To Catch a Predator. If you buy that thing. Japanese authorities just.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, they come right in, storm in, and they're like, no, my skin is just dry.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, we got her, fellas.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. I'm sorry to have missed that store, though. I feel like a big, like, buy all sorts of crazy things. I didn't really get to experience that. We went to a place called Hands, which was kind of a big department store, but it didn't feel like that kind of thing. Don Quixote. Why do they call it that?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
No idea.
Bridger Winegar
Do they sell any windmills? That's the big question.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Not that I saw missed opportunities. Pachinko. Pachinko on the ground floor.
Bridger Winegar
Did you play pachinko?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I didn't. Did you?
Bridger Winegar
No. What is pachinko? I think about the wheel or the Price is Right game. Palinko.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Is that a Good.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Maybe Plinko.
Bridger Winegar
Plinko, Plinko, Plinko. Different things.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I think that's different.
Bridger Winegar
Pachinko has nothing to do with a ball rolling down a thing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't think so.
Bridger Winegar
I'll just get my eyes on this.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, get your eyes on it.
Bridger Winegar
Because I saw plenty of these casinos. Oh, yeah. There's of course, the wonderful book called.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Pachinko, which is an incredible book. And now a TV show.
Bridger Winegar
Now a TV show. But the game itself, maybe it is.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A ball that goes down. I kind of think it is.
Bridger Winegar
It's almost like a pinball machine or something. That's gambling. Yeah. So I wasn't that far off. It's kind of a beautiful game. Look at that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, that's lovely. Oh, I actually used to have one of those that I got at the Rose Bowl.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, you're kidding.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A vintage.
Bridger Winegar
You could have opened a casino.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I should have.
Bridger Winegar
Missed opportunity.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Damn it. I love a casino too.
Bridger Winegar
Do you really? No.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I hate casino.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. I was going to say leave the podcast.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
They're the worst.
Bridger Winegar
I despise a casino.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
When's your birthday?
Bridger Winegar
October 9th. When's yours?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
On Sunday.
Bridger Winegar
On Sunday. Happy birthday.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
On May 11th. Also Mother's Day.
Bridger Winegar
Oh.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, so your listeners missed it. Sorry, you guys.
Bridger Winegar
Wow. Rude, rude, rude of them. Really inconsiderate.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Not too late to send something, though. I'll always take a gift. The ones that you don't want, I'll take them.
Bridger Winegar
Are you doing anything for your birthday?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'm gonna go out to Malibu for a couple days.
Bridger Winegar
Very nice. Yeah, that sounds relaxing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I mean, I. You can't drive up the one.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, yeah, actually, that. Now that I'm thinking about recent events.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. So I don't know, but it feels maybe, like, good to put money back into the economy. And I love shout out, Broad Street Oyster.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, interesting.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's a good restaurant recommendation.
Bridger Winegar
Are they serving claims?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
They probably. Yeah, they definitely have fried clams. For sure.
Bridger Winegar
Well, count me out.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right.
Bridger Winegar
I think we should play a game.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Great. Is it pachinko?
Bridger Winegar
We're playing pachinko. Bring it out.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
No. We're gonna play a game called gift or a curse. But first, I need a number between 1 and 10 from you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
8.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. I have to do some light calculating to get our game pieces, so right now you can recommend promote. Do whatever you want.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll be right back. Okay. I am currently shooting season two of my Netflix series with Ted Danson created by Michael Schur called A Man on the Inside. Please tune into that if you've not tuned into it. It's very different from the other show that a lot of people know me for called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is also about to premiere season 17. Been doing that show for 20 years. And what else am I doing right now? Just trying to stop and smell the flowers. Here's a shout out for stopping and smelling the flowers.
Bridger Winegar
You know, Beautiful. Everybody go watch those shows. Both great shows.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And don't forget to smell the flowers.
Bridger Winegar
And smell the flowers, for God's sake.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Come on. What are you doing?
Bridger Winegar
What else are you doing?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You're too good for flowers.
Bridger Winegar
I'm not. I'm smelling them constantly.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I love that.
Bridger Winegar
Do I have anything to recommend outside of anything? I probably do, but I can't think of it right now.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's hard. Quartet. Go see Hardcore Tet.
Bridger Winegar
That's a great idea.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, Alabama Shakes. Are you gonna see Alabama Shakes?
Bridger Winegar
No. Where are they playing?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Shannon and the Clams are gonna open for them.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, amazing bowl. Hollywood Bull's got it all.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's got it all.
Bridger Winegar
Got it all. Nothing comes to mind for me. No one can blame me. I'm tired. But this is how we're gonna play. Gift or a curse. I'm gonna name three things. You're going to tell me if they're a gift or a curse and why.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay.
Bridger Winegar
Then I'll tell you if you're right or wrong. Because there are correct answers. You can fail. Hopefully you won't, but you might. Well, so be careful.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
If you fail me, you might be failing. So just saying.
Bridger Winegar
Okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Don't take criticism well.
Bridger Winegar
All right. These are all suggestions from our Patreon listeners today because the list has gotten out of control over on Patreon and I've got to make my way through it. So let's just get into it. This first one is from a listener named Lindsay. Gift or a curse. When your overnight out of town guest sees your bathtub and says, hmm, maybe I'll have a bath while I'm here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, well, there's so many caveats, like, who's the person? You know what I mean?
Bridger Winegar
Right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sees my bathtub. No, it's in my bathroom. You shouldn't have even come up here to look. You're not welcome. So curse.
Bridger Winegar
Wrong. That's a gift. That's a. I love this person. They're storming around the house, making declarations about what they're going to do with your home, and they're making themselves just comfortable.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You love it.
Bridger Winegar
They're saying, bridger, I love your Bath. I'm gonna take it. They're taking control of my. They're essentially hijacking my life.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And you like to have your life hijacked.
Bridger Winegar
I like a visitor who says what they're gonna do. Oh, I love if I find a visitor in my bathtub. Good for them. You know, I invited them into my home and they're doing it up, okay? There's no wishy washy. There's no maybe I'll take a bath. Well, actually, this does say, maybe I'll have a bath. But, you know, they're living their dream, okay? And I'm happy for them.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You're a better person than I am. They say, maybe I'll have a bath. And I say, I don't think so, motherfucker.
Bridger Winegar
Maybe I'll wear your clothes while I'm here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Why don't you just sleep with my husband? Jeez. Get out of my bathroom.
Bridger Winegar
Good for them. Good for them. I'm on their side.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right, we have different takes on that one.
Bridger Winegar
I have the correct one. You have the. I got an F. You got an F on that one. Okay. The second one is from a listener named Chris. Gift or a curse? Outdoor cats.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Outdoor cats. I mean, there's some drama happening with this on my Instagram page because we found our cat, okay. He was a one year old stray, found him in our backyard, took him in. And he's an indoor outdoor cat, Right. Gift. Because he poops outside.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, dream come true.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Barely ever have to see this cat's poop. Oh, but pulls in lizards. Day before Easter, pulled in a bunny. Bunny's okay. Bunny's okay. People will argue that the bunny's not okay because my cat's mouth touched it. To which I say, I'm sorry. Should I shoot my cat now? Is that what you would like me to do?
Bridger Winegar
That's where I go, why was the bunny outdoors?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Right.
Bridger Winegar
That's the bigger question here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was a wild rabbit.
Bridger Winegar
I didn't know LA had wild rabbits.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It does. I had a full on conversation with a coyote this morning. Just walking down the street.
Bridger Winegar
It was pushing its kid in a stroller.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was looking for that bunny, probably.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God. Yeah, I feel like I've been robbed of an LA experience not seeing a rabbit.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I also was like, I have never seen. I don't think I've seen a wild rabbit.
Bridger Winegar
What did it look like? Did it look like a desert hare?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Wow.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I know. I'll show you a photo when we're.
Bridger Winegar
I've got to see this. That's fascinating.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I need to get my eyes on an outdoor rabbit now in la, Hang.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Out in my bathtub. Maybe my cat will bring one to you. So I say gift, correct?
Bridger Winegar
Absolutely. A gift. I mean, I think there are outdoor cats. There's a lot of. It's. It's a complicated issue for a lot of people, but ultimately what it comes down to is I love cats.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
I love cats taking care of local pests. You know, this podcast is not really on the side of rats or mice. And so the idea of cats being around to protect me, I'm all for it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Some Godzilla rat comes crashing into your house.
Bridger Winegar
I visit a restaurant recently where there are rats running in the tree. These. That wasn't a good experience. So that restaurant, if they had outdoor cats.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Wouldn't be a problem. I never have a problem when I see a cat outside.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
You know, I think, oh, that's wonderful. I mean, hopefully it's being well fed and taken care of.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. Spade, Spades. Neuter your cats. Do all that. But, like, look, especially in a place like la, there's gonna be outside cats.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. And hopefully they're being taken care of. But I don't have at least a spiritual problem with them. I love to see them.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Agreed.
Bridger Winegar
They're our protectors.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Like, what is the name of the movie with the cat? And there's no words in it. And I think it won an Oscar.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, what was that called? It's like reflection or.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Feel free to step in Ripple Water. Water Cat.
Bridger Winegar
What is that? I saw half of it. It was really beautiful. Beautiful.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I watched the whole thing.
Bridger Winegar
Flow, flow, flow, flow, flow.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It was great.
Bridger Winegar
It's so pretty.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
And it has no words in it whatsoever, really. But that cat's an outdoor cat.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. So if you have a problem with that cat, you've got a problem with Oscar winning films.
Bridger Winegar
You have no taste.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
All right, so you've gotten one right so far. And this final one is from a listener named Hannah on Gift or a Curse. Eating bacon with a fork so your fingers don't get greasy.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right, well, we've established that I have not eaten meat in a really long time.
Bridger Winegar
Tricky one for you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So I would say eating bacon is a no, because I like cats and I like pigs. Live pigs, I think. Get your fingers dirty. What are you scared of the hep A outbreak that's happening in Los Angeles right now?
Bridger Winegar
Is that true?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Oh, no. I know. Are we all getting vaccinated at the end of this podcast? Is someone waiting outside?
Bridger Winegar
I Think that's my hepatitis vaccines.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
There's so many hepatitises, you don't know.
Bridger Winegar
There are at least three.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I can name at least three. A, B and C. A, B and.
Bridger Winegar
C. And I wouldn't be surprised if they've got a D on the way.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'm sure it's coming. So I say no to the fork to just, you know, jump in, go for it. Go for it.
Bridger Winegar
Correct. That's a curse. I think that bacon, whether it's any, you know, regular turkey, veggie, I guess there's beef, bacon, whatever. I think part of the experience is a lot of. There are certain foods. You have to eat it with your hand or it doesn't taste right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
It's like eating a muffin with a fork. I just feel like you need. Or a donut. Like, if you don't. If your hand doesn't bring it to your mouth for whatever reason.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. What's the point? A beignet.
Bridger Winegar
Beignet.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Powdered sugar to blast off.
Bridger Winegar
Yes. And you don't. If you cut it with your knife and fork, the texture goes wrong with, like, a donut. Like, flattens it, pops the hair out of it. Right. So get a life, you know, just pick it up.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Get over yourself.
Bridger Winegar
Your fingers are. Why do you care if they're greasy during breakfast?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
What else are they for?
Bridger Winegar
What's your napkin for? For. What are your pants for?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
What's your mouth for?
Bridger Winegar
What is everything around you for? Just wipe it elsewhere.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just wipe it. What are your friends for?
Bridger Winegar
What's your hair for?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
What's your hair?
Bridger Winegar
Run your hands, your fingers through your hair.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Looks great. Oh, thank you. It's baking grease.
Bridger Winegar
Well, you got two out of three. Not bad.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay, I'll take it.
Bridger Winegar
Very nice. And, Annelise, do you have your gift or a curse?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, but I gotta roll back a few minutes to something that's been bothering me.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, my God, I love it. Yes. Long simmering problem.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Is it the cat? No, it's. No. A little farther back than that, I'm sorry to say. A few weeks ago, Bridger.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, no.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You were spanking and eating an uncooked block of Velveeta cheese on this podcast. And yet eating a caramel on Mike is now too much. Really? That's where you draw the line?
Bridger Winegar
This is what I'll say. Caramel cheese. I knew I was going to only have a small bit and swallow it as quickly as possible because I thought, this isn't going to taste good. Whereas with this caramel, I knew it would taste Good. And caramel is a chewy thing that can. The mouth noise can get disgusting. And I'm always trying to just think on every level as far as mouth noise goes for this podcast. And so, Anneliese, you're wrong. And the fact that you brought this up this late is humiliating for you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
He also hadn't punished this food in any way before putting it in his mouth.
Bridger Winegar
Spanking required here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Which is a critical step.
Bridger Winegar
Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. I'll accept that.
Bridger Winegar
Fired. Okay, well, now that you've fallen on your face, would you like to bring up your gift? Of course.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sure.
Bridger Winegar
Annaliese is gonna do one, and we're both going to speak to it, and then they're gonna tell us who's correct.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
All right, all right. Gift or a curse? Refrigerated water.
Bridger Winegar
Do you want to go?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I have a strong opinion.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, okay. I'm very curious.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Curse.
Bridger Winegar
Why?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh. Who wants a mouthful of cold, cold coldness. Not in a clam, not in a water, not in ice. Don't you ice? It doesn't absorb. It needs to be room temperature to absorb properly and more quickly into your body. That's how I feel.
Bridger Winegar
I think it's a gift, an absolute gift, for a lot of reasons. First of all, I feel like this started very young for me in piano lessons when I knew that my teacher, Mrs. Ziegler, had a thing of refrigerated water in her fridge. And I knew that if I didn't want to play the piano, I could simply ask for a drink of water, and it would take a long time to get, and it would take up at least five minutes of my piano lesson. So that's where I. My love of this began. And it's just been a lifelong love affair for me with refrigerated water. I think it tastes great. It's so refreshing. And I don't need to use the ice cubes. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I don't care if it absorbs or not. It can just run out of my mouth for all I care.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Wow.
Bridger Winegar
It's hitting me. Cold.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Like a cold waterfall straight from the lips.
Bridger Winegar
And I'll tell you what else I love is brushing my teeth and then having a glass of cold water. It feels so cold, so cold.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I don't care for the cold.
Bridger Winegar
You're not a cold. You're a room temperature gal.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
My son loves a. Like, he'll chew ice. Oh, yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Which is a sign sometimes of, like, an iron deficiency, I think.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Interesting.
Bridger Winegar
Look into it.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I mean, he loves, like, A popsicle, though. He loves frozen bananas that are covered in chocolate.
Bridger Winegar
Biting into it. Yeah, that I can't do.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You can't?
Bridger Winegar
I can chew an ice. A small ice, pebble ice. That's the only one I can really speak to.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Only pebble ice.
Bridger Winegar
So I guess I'm a fraud. But I love a refrigerated water. It's a gift curse.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So I was worried about our relationship for a second there, Bridger. I mean, I'm always a little worried.
Bridger Winegar
About our relationship, so. As am I.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But I think we turned it around. Cause I agree with you. It's a gift.
Bridger Winegar
Thank you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's a gift. This is something more crisp and refreshing. And also, as I have to say, as a single person, I can't go through that Brita on my counter that fast. If it's room temp.
Bridger Winegar
Oh, I don't drink that much water.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So then I'm gonna be drinking like, you know, bacteria filled water. If it just sits there on the counter for too long, it needs to be fresh out of the fridge. It lasts longer. I go on a walk, come home, nice big glass of cold water. Ah, nothing better.
Bridger Winegar
There we go. Yeah. Room temperature water. Might as well be pond water.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I love a pond water. Delicious pond water.
Bridger Winegar
Well, you got a lot of things wrong.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I sure did. This is why you guys do this podcast together. And I'm just a guest. And if you need me, I'll be in your bathtub.
Bridger Winegar
Okay, we need to answer a couple one or two listener questions from the Patreon, which you help me answer.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Okay. This first one is more of a listener named Sarah sent me a screenshot of breaking news, and I guess we just need to speak to this. And it says it's from the Wall Street Journal. It says Kohl's fired its CEO for funneling business to a romantic partner. What do we think of this?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, wow. There is a lot to unpack there. It feels like really we're gonna take someone to ta. We're gonna take the Kohl's CEO to task. Look at our president. Look what our president's doing.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, he's doing all sorts of shit.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And getting cause he gets to do it. How come Kohl's is getting in trouble?
Bridger Winegar
This guy was running Kohl's. Let him do whatever he wants.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Just let him give his romantic partner whatever he wants.
Bridger Winegar
He was trying to make Kohl's a little sexier. Yeah, and it's already a very sexy department store.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
It's so sexy. Not as sexy as a Don Quixote. But you know, for America, when people.
Bridger Winegar
Think romance, they think Kohl's. And how is this guy able to resist bringing his romantic partner in and giving them and taking him on all sorts of trips?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Is that what they were funneling? We don't know.
Bridger Winegar
I mean, that could be anything.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Could be anything.
Bridger Winegar
Chocolates, caramels, cruisers, shoes. Shoes, Purses.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Is that what you go to a Kohl's for?
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, probably. Discount. He was giving them discount shoes and purses.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, that's kind of.
Bridger Winegar
He should not. Well, actually, first of all, we're assuming he. Which for. I mean, I'm assuming which was sex or something like that.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Well, yes, it's the person in charge. Obviously it's a man.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah, of course. So if this was a guy, he was the boss. Bosses are men.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes, agreed. Blessing.
Bridger Winegar
But whoever it was, I'm happy for them. They found love and found a way to embezzle money in a new way.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah, just discount purses full of cash. I'm happy straight from the till.
Bridger Winegar
The CEO at the cash register, I'm happy for him. He should.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Should.
Bridger Winegar
Or her or whoever are all.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Whoever's involved.
Bridger Winegar
Whoever's involved should not be in trouble.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
This is what I'm having to say. Whoever fired them should be fired.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
And the romantic partner and the CEO should be reinstated as soon as possible.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes. And sent on a romantic vacation to Japan.
Bridger Winegar
So we've spoken to that. Fantastic. And here's one short question. It says, if you were dating a man with an ex wife and they co parent a six year old son, would you be okay with the ex wife calling him to help with stuff, like handyman things around the house and to help her when she is locked out of the house. Much love. And that's from Megan. What do we think about this?
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Oh, Megan, Megan, Megan.
Bridger Winegar
Yeah. Do we think that Megan is the person? Yeah.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
This question here, Meghan, this is what you know. You know, we've been talking a lot about cold wet clams. Megan, you're coming in with some actual therapy work here.
Bridger Winegar
And I think one thing that would be nice to know is the man, the CEO of Kohl's. Yeah, I think that that could help.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
That's always the most important first question.
Bridger Winegar
If he's the CEO of Kohl's, we've kind of.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
He's exonerated.
Bridger Winegar
He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants and so can his ex wife. Because, you know, they have romance, they have coles. They have so many things tying in.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Their head and they do things that we like.
Bridger Winegar
Right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Let's see. I mean, I think, yes. If the conversation has been had about it and you feel okay about it, and if you don't feel okay about it, bring up how you feel. We've established that you have to cultivate your own experience here.
Bridger Winegar
Right.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Do you like this song? Do you not like this song?
Bridger Winegar
Right. And you know, there's a chance that there are boundaries being stepped over here or not. We've got to clarify that. They have a son together.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
If she's calling him to sleep with her, it's a different. Maybe that's a. And maybe even that's okay.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
And maybe that's okay. We don't know. That's up to you.
Bridger Winegar
Megan has to decide what's going on.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Only Megan knows what's.
Bridger Winegar
And we don't even know if it's Megan. Maybe it's Megan's. Maybe it's the next door neighbor. Maybe it is Megan's friend.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Maybe. Maybe it's the ex husband who wrote in Asmegan to try to shove Megan's nose in it.
Bridger Winegar
He says, see, Meghan's husband signed up for the Patreon in order to email.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
ASM to get your opinion on whether it's okay for him to be a handyman for his ex wife, which I.
Bridger Winegar
Would say is the most appropriate route to take care of this problem.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Agreed.
Bridger Winegar
Do not seem to clear. Yes.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Concise.
Bridger Winegar
You will get the best possible answer and everything will be resolved via Patreon, via podcast, via fake name. Acting as though you are someone's wife.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yes.
Bridger Winegar
Or your own wife. I think that that's healthy, fair and honest. And maybe he should be the. Maybe he is the CEO of Kohl's.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
The CEO.
Bridger Winegar
That's how you become CEO of We.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Know it's a man. That's all we know.
Bridger Winegar
Ultimately, the only thing that ever matters is that it's a man.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Be a man.
Bridger Winegar
Be a man, Megan.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Be a man, Megan. And then you can do whatever you want.
Bridger Winegar
Well, we answered both of those questions. More than perfect.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Really.
Bridger Winegar
Well, we answered. We solved problems.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I would say yes.
Bridger Winegar
And this is all with me being.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Sleep deprived and me being a failure.
Bridger Winegar
And you being a total failure.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
A total failure on every level. Yeah.
Bridger Winegar
Which is you've overcome a lot of things today.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Or just realized how much I haven't. Over how much more I have to overcome.
Bridger Winegar
But we're really rooting for you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Thank you.
Bridger Winegar
And that's all that matters in the end.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I'll become a man soon enough.
Bridger Winegar
Please.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
One can only Dream, please.
Bridger Winegar
If you ever want that CEO position.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Yeah. Which I do.
Bridger Winegar
You do. You want to be running Coals.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Can tell from all the choices I've made in my life.
Bridger Winegar
Dream job running Kohl's. That's kind of my dream job, to be honest. Well, I have all. Well, I have most of my gifts. I've eaten one. I have a gift card that I may never use. I'll have to be in the neighborhood. I'll have to be in the right state of mind to say I deserve to use a gift card today. And then I have this little card to tell me I have the courage.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
To use that gift card.
Bridger Winegar
And then we have the unicorn and the dinosaur, which have already become part of the show's set.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Aww.
Bridger Winegar
Which is amazing.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I appreciate that.
Bridger Winegar
I don't think we've ever had a listener go this quickly from gift set.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Wow.
Bridger Winegar
So that's impressive.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
I feel honored.
Bridger Winegar
You should be honored. I've had such a wonderful time with you.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Me too.
Bridger Winegar
Thank you for being here.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
This has been lovely. Thanks. Thanks for the coffee.
Bridger Winegar
No, of course. Listener. The podcast is over. I've got to either go to sleep or be awake for a day. I don't know what my body's going to do. Maybe I'll die. I don't know. No one ever knows what's going to happen with me. But what's going to happen with you? You have the courage. You have the whatever said in this card. Do with your day what you will. I don't care. I love you. Good By I said no Gifts is an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Annelise Nelson, and our episodes are beautifully mixed by Ben Tolliday. The theme song is by Miracle Worker Amy. Man. And we couldn't do it without our booker, Patrick Cotner. You must follow the show on Instagram at isaidnogifts. That's where you're going to see pictures of all these wonderful gifts I'm getting. And don't you want to see the gifts? Well, I invited you here. I thought I made myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest in my home.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
You got to come to me empty handed. I said no guest.
Bridger Winegar
Your presence is presence enough. And I already had too much stuff.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
So how do you dare to survey me? You see the world differently. Where others see empty lots, you see blueprints. Where others sit in lecture halls. Future leaders choose Ferris State University to build something real, ready to dig in and learn through action. Ferris State gives you the tools, the team, and training to unleash your potential with paths to high demand careers and in state tuition for non residents at Ferris State. Students don't just study, they build. They lead. Need they succeed. Visit ferris. Edu Ferris State University we build champions. You have a long list of things to deal with. Check dry eye symptoms off with Refresh Relieva PF Extra Lubricant eye drops offering an advanced formula to soothe and hydrate your dry eyes, Refresh Relieva PF Extra includes moisture locking technology that prevents further irritation and gives you lasting relief. You deserve relief from your dry eye symptoms and your eyes deserve extra. Find Refresh online or in the Eye Drop section at all major retailers. FSA and HSA eligible. Spring is here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana?
Bridger Winegar
That's a no.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
But a banana? That's a yes. A nice hand? Sorry, nope. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by Regency app for detail.
Podcast Summary: Mary Elizabeth Ellis Disobeys Bridger
Podcast Information:
Overview: In this engaging episode of I Said No Gifts!, Bridger Winegar welcomes the talented actress Mary Elizabeth Ellis as his guest. True to the podcast's comedic and conversational style, the duo delves into a variety of topics ranging from Bridger's recent trip to Japan and his aversion to certain foods, to the dynamics of gift-giving and maintaining personal relationships. The episode is peppered with humor, personal anecdotes, and interactive segments that provide listeners with both laughs and insights.
Bridger opens the episode by expressing his excitement to have Mary Elizabeth Ellis on the show. He humorously recounts his disoriented state after returning from a grueling 14-hour flight from Japan, highlighting his ongoing battle with jet lag and newfound food preferences.
Bridger Winegar ([02:14]): "I slept for at least 12 hours last night and still don't know where I exist."
Mary joins in, setting the stage for a relaxed yet hilarious conversation.
Bridger shares detailed anecdotes about his recent trip to Japan, discussing cultural observations, culinary adventures, and the nuances of navigating a society where politeness and meticulousness are paramount. A significant portion of their conversation centers around Bridger's struggle with certain Japanese dishes, specifically his disdain for cold, thick clams.
Bridger Winegar ([05:57]): "One of our meals was a very high level difficulty as far as seafood goes... and one of those things was the clam."
Mary empathizes, adding her own experiences and insights into Japanese cuisine and cultural norms. They discuss the hospitality in Japan, Bridger's interactions with a Japanese friend named Junko, and compare the societal behaviors with those back home.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([10:28]): "Everyone's just stumbling through the store behind their grocery cart."
Their conversation paints a vivid picture of Japan's organized chaos versus the often hectic pace of life elsewhere.
True to the podcast's theme, Bridger introduces the central conflict of the episode: Mary Elizabeth Ellis has brought a gift, thereby violating Bridger's one request of "No Gifts." This leads to a comedic exchange where Bridger humorously laments the breach of protocol, while Mary defends her actions as a means to earn Bridger's respect.
Bridger Winegar ([20:19]): "But maybe you'll come back after I open it. Maybe there's something in here that will finally win my favor."
Mary's playful defiance keeps the conversation light-hearted, with both hosts engaging in witty banter about gift cards and the symbolic gesture of gifts within their friendship.
Transitioning into an interactive segment, Bridger and Mary play "Gift or a Curse," where they evaluate various scenarios and items proposed by listeners. The game serves as both entertainment and a way to explore personal preferences and boundaries humorously.
First Round:
Scenario: A guest contemplates having a bath in Bridger's bathtub.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([72:29]): "I say, I don't think so, motherfucker."
Verdict: Curse – Despite differing opinions, Bridger declares it a gift, embracing the guest's enthusiasm.
Second Round:
Scenario: Outdoor cats.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([74:07]): "I have a strong opinion... I like cats and I like pigs."
Verdict: Gift – Bridger supports the presence of outdoor cats for pest control, aligning with his affectionate view of cats.
Third Round:
Scenario: Eating bacon with a fork to avoid greasy fingers.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([77:40]): "I say no to the fork to just, you know, jump in, go for it."
Verdict: Curse – Bridger agrees, highlighting the importance of the tactile experience when enjoying certain foods.
This segment showcases their chemistry and ability to turn everyday situations into humorous debates.
Bridger and Mary address listener-submitted questions, providing candid and often hilarious opinions on various topics.
Question 1: Kohl's CEO Fired for Favoritism
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([84:20]): "Why come into my bathroom looking for a bath?"
They critique corporate misconduct with tongue firmly in cheek, extending their skepticism to broader societal issues.
Question 2: Dating Someone with an Ex-Spouse and Co-Parenting
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([86:43]): "Do what you want, you're courageous enough."
Their advice is both humorous and blunt, emphasizing the importance of personal boundaries and communication in relationships.
As the episode progresses, the conversation shifts towards personal growth, relationship dynamics, and the challenges of maintaining authenticity amidst expectations.
Bridger reflects on his empathy issues and the difficulty of managing friendships influenced by his podcast, while Mary shares her experiences balancing fame with personal life.
Bridger Winegar ([46:45]): "And now, we have an action figure, but we'll see what it is."
The dialogue highlights their vulnerabilities and the comedic struggles that come with being public figures.
In the closing moments, Bridger and Mary wrap up their discussions with playful exchanges about unicorns, dinosaurs, and their mutual love for fantasy elements. They reaffirm the theme of the episode—navigating gift-giving mishaps—and express gratitude for each other's company.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis ([93:33]): "I love a pond water. Delicious pond water."
The episode concludes on a high note, leaving listeners entertained and looking forward to future installments.
Notable Quotes:
Final Thoughts: This episode of I Said No Gifts! masterfully blends humor with heartfelt conversation. Bridger and Mary Elizabeth Ellis navigate the complexities of gift-giving rules, personal dislikes, and maintaining genuine connections with a perfect balance of wit and sincerity. Listeners are treated to a memorable dialogue that not only entertains but also offers relatable insights into friendship and personal growth.
Stay Connected:
Additional Resources:
Note: This summary excludes all advertisement segments and focuses solely on the main content of the episode to provide a clear and concise overview for those who haven't listened.