Transcript
Lyle (0:00)
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Dr. Josie (0:30)
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Lyle (1:30)
Hello, how is everyone doing today? Thank you for tuning in to this podcast. Thank you for being alive and not dead. You chose to wake up again for another morning of life and I hope you're happy with that decision. I know I am. I know it's a good day to be alive. I hope that you all had a good holiday season and blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. Listen, okay, I'm gonna cut to the chase here. I am here today to read viewer emails. This is a new thing that I've been doing recently where normally I have a two way conversation with someone where I talk to them and then they talk to me. But I decided, you know what? This is my goddamn podcast and I'm gonna put out an episode sometimes where only I talk. It is a lonesome, brutal endeavor. But I can think of about 25,000 more brutal and more lonesome endeavors than reading emails, which I guess is most people's jobs in 2024 is reading emails. Um, sorry, that was inappropriate. Um, okay, I. In the past. For those of you who've listened to these episodes before, I think I get a little self conscious. You probably know I get a little self conscious when it comes to talking to. When it comes to talking about these emails. I think I get a little self conscious about giving my opinion, which is I think a bad thing for a podcaster to do. I think part of having a podcast is you say opinions, but maybe not necessarily that's. I kind of think that's why I like the podcast that I do is that I get to just kind of learn from other people's lived experiences and let them talk and I don't have to give my opinion. But you know what? I've decided. I'm making a firm decision. I am going to give my opinion on all of these emails. I'm going. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna hold back. I'm gonna give my real opinion on these emails. Cuz I just, I don't know what the fucking point is of doing this show or of doing any of this if I'm not gonna really say how I feel about things. So I'm gonna try my best to, to not hold back and, but also be fair to. About. About these emails. You know, I want to be fair. That's why the main reason I don't let you know, the diarrhea of my own opinions flow out of my mouth or whatever is that I don't know, I'm trying to be fair and you know, I might say a bunch of stuff and then someone's like, well, what about this? And I'm like, ah, you're probably right. But anyway, let's just, let's just read some Geck mail, shall we? Let's read some Geck mail. All right. This is from Grim subject line situation happening in real time. Hey Geck, you said you were gonna read some of these emails tomorrow. If that's the case at this time that you are reading them, I'll probably be going through some shit emotionally while trying my best to hide it. Basically, I've come to realize within the last month that I've grown feelings for a close friend who earlier this week told me they started seeing someone. I'm supposed to go hang out with them all day tomorrow and we were both looking forward to this. I want to show up and just be business as usual, but I've been dealing with this lump in my chest for the last couple of days and it's not getting easier past me. Would have done my best to swallow these feelings Immediately. Part of me now is wanting to say something just because we've grown to be more open to talking about certain stuff lately. And we talk on the phone all the time. They don't know. I feel this way, and I feel I'm gonna need to step back for a bit. But I'm also worried about what I might say in the spur of the moment and how I will make them feel. I don't want this friendship to end. And despite everything, I still care for them. So, yeah, that's where I'm at. Would love to hear your thoughts on what I should be doing right now. Whether you read this or not, this is my attempt at therapy and thinking it through. Wish me luck. Garm. Parentheses. Yeah, let's go with that name. Well, here's the thing. I think if your friends started seeing it sounds like you want to stay friends with this person, but it's hard to just be friends with them because you have, you know, you got romantic feelings for them. And I think. I think in a situation like that, if you have to take a step away from a person because it's too painful to be around them with these unrequited romantic feelings, I think that's okay. I'm a little bit confused at what you mean by. You're worried about what you might say in the spur of the moment and how that might make them feel. I mean, you sound like you like this part. I don't think that. You don't sound like you're about to be like, you know, you're a fucking piece of shit for not liking me back and fuck your, you know, boyfriend or whatever. You don't sound like you're about to go, don't do that. Don't go off on them. But you don't. There's not a word in this email that makes me think you're gonna do that. So I'm not particularly worried about what you might say in the spur of the moment. Maybe what you mean by that is you're gonna, like, express your feelings and they won't be requited and you'll be sad, but that's okay. There's. There's. That's a. That's a normal human experience to have. So I don't know. I think. I think you're actually handling this pretty maturely, to be honest with you, Garm. So I don't know how old you are or where you are in your life, but I think you're handling this pretty maturely. And, look, I don't know Everyone, to each their own. I think that if you need to take some time away from the friendship to kind of let yourself be detached romantically so that you can actually genuinely be friends. And don't. Here's another thing is like, don't try, don't like. I think people will sometimes like force themselves to be friends with someone even though they like. It's just hurting them deeply because they are like attracted to them or like romantically feel a certain way about them. And I think that's like worse for both people. Right. Because no one wants to like. Because that's what. Because that's bad for this person. Because then they feel bad that you like them and they don't. You know, it's just not a good dynamic for friendship. I think if you want to have a friendship, like, I think similarly in the way that like, if you feel romantically about someone, you should like, be honest about those feelings and come at it from an honest place. I think if you want to be friends with this person, you have to come at that from a very honest place. And right now, if you're like, oh, I want to be friends just because, you know, I don't want this person to leave, that feels, I think, a little dishonest. But I don't know, you seem like you're going about this in a good way. Yeah. Good luck. I don't know. Navigating relationships and dealing with other people is. It's kind of, kind of, kind of crazy. What's the chat say? Thalia88 says you should express your feelings regardless, cuz no matter what. Sadly, even though you might not like it, you have to be okay with their decisions and able I this. There's a lot of spelling errors in this comment from the chat. But you know what? There's actually an appropriate amount of spelling errors in this message in the Twitch chat. I feel like. I feel like. To express. I feel like thinking about perfect. I feel like perfect grammar is not to be expected in the Twitch chat. So that's okay. All right, let's take another email. Okay. This is from William. Subject line talk to the hand. Hey Lyle, big fan. I wanted to get your opinion and assistance on a live stream podcast I'm trying to make. The show is called Talk to the Hand where I dress in a full body hand costume and talk to people like you do that. I just want you to know that I like this idea is about 20 times better than therapy Gecko. I really, I really like this. I love psychology and allowing people to be Listened to this gives me great joy and it's something I do in my everyday life. What platform do you recommend I stream on to get started? Do you have any tips, advice? P.S. i came and saw you in Perth, Australia. My girlfriend and I had an excellent time and we have one of your plush toys. Kick ass. What platform do I recommend you get started on? I mean, look, here's the thing and, and I could. I enjoy getting in depth on like the business of like trying to turn a live stream or a podcast into a job. I think it's fun to talk about especially when people are still getting started. But for right now, if you've never even streamed before, if you've never taken a phone call and put on the costume at all and you're just starting out, that what platform you stream on doesn't really matter that much because are you asking for tips or advice on how to like grow your stream or just about like the general journey of doing something like this? I mean, okay, to actually to give a non bullshit answer to question. I mean like for discoverability, YouTube is best. But I. Dude, like here's the thing. If you can like make a living doing some shit like this, then that's awesome. But if you can't and you're just like talking to who and you and you're just like talking to whoever. Not if you can't. But let me rephrase this. The most important thing is that you're actually doing it and you're enjoying doing it. That's what I've learned. That's not what I would have told you. I think like three years ago when I was like in the middle of really, really, really trying to grow this thing, I would have gone on a rant to you about short form content where versus long form content. And I, we could have, we could go deep on platforms and whatever, whatever. But now that I've been doing this for a little while, I. All of that stuff is like the, the number one thing that really honest to God will fucking matter is that you really, truly, honestly enjoy doing this and are having fun with it. And from the way you're talking in this email, it says that this gives you great joy. Uh, so you know, you could stream on fucking up RN to zero people and you're gonna have a good life because you actually like what you're doing. So this is from Crisp Rat. I really hate texting and it affects my relationships. Hello, Green man. I have been getting frustrated at my own inability to text and I have come to you to rant. I am a really bad texter. I often overthink my responses, say things that come off in the wrong tone, or honestly just forget to reply to people mid conversation. Since my mind wanders easily, most of my issue lies in how it has made online dating a lot harder. I feel like once I'm in person having a conversation or even just on the phone with someone, I can keep a conversation flowing pretty easily. But I can't, for the love of God, hold a conversation over text. It's gotten to the point where I'm intentionally delaying even opening someone's message because I dread having to respond to it. I'm almost 21 years old, Gekko. This shit is embarrassing. I just started talking to this one girl who seems pretty cool, and I'm afraid my brain's self sabotage is gonna blow it for me. I know this is a dumb problem, uh, but I still can't get over it. Idk if you have any advice I haven't heard already, but you seem to have a nice way with words. Um, P.S. here's a picture of a cool frog I found. Oh, that is a cool frog. Okay. Um, I. You know what? This is? I think this is good. Let me tell you something, Chris Brat. Uh, I am so happy to hear that you have this problem and not the opposite problem, because I feel like not. I'm gonna cut. I'm gonna sound like I grew up in the 60s or something, but, like, I think most people have the opposite problem, right? Most people are like, oh, text is great because I can. I mean, we're getting into it. We're getting into a dangerous universe where, like, you know, you're gonna be talking to somebody on a. On a dating app or something, and you're gonna be able to tell that they're just asking an AI to fucking respond to every one of their messages and stuff. But yeah, this is not a. This is way, way better than the opposite problem of like, oh, I. I'm good at texting because I, you know, am able to send the fucking text to my group chat and get 50 different messages and, you know, take the time to overthink it and stuff. But I can't talk to people in real life or on the phone. I mean, this is easy, man. Why don't you just, like, if you're talking to a lady on a dating app or something, why don't you just like, after. After a couple of messages, you know, be. Be honest about it and be like, hey, listen, I'm more of a phone Call kind of a guy. Because I think a lot of people. I think, you know, women on the dating apps are probably not going to want to, like, meet up with you immediately after, like, a couple of messages. But if after a couple messages, you're like, hey, let's do a FaceTime, like, do a phone call. And, you know, I think. I actually think people will be refreshed by that because I think most. Again, you have what I think is the opposite problem of most people. So, I mean, that's what I would do, man. Just, like, be, you know, be fresh with it. Just be like, hey, I'm not much of a texter. I'm a phone call guy. I think. I think people will be into that. So I just started talking to this one girl who seems super cool, is what you wrote in this email. Have you. I. Why don't you call her? Just be like, hey, you seem cool. Let's talk on the phone and get coffee and. And fall in love. Crisp rat. Okay, let's take another sick. Another thing. Hey. Okay. Okay. The subject line is worried if I can't wipe my ass after surgery. Hey, you can call me Beck. I'm planning on getting top surgery in the summer so I can get rid of some boobs that I don't want. I'm not nervous about the end result of the surgery, but I'm nervous about recovering and how bad I will smell. When you are recovering, you cannot shower for, like, 10 days, at least six days. And your arms are basically stuck to your sides. So I'm gonna be smelly. Other trans folks have said that they smelled bad, too, during that time. My biggest fear is that if my arms are stuck by my sides, how am I going to wipe my ass? I don't want my parents to wipe my ass. I'm 22. That's supposed to happen when you're 80. They're writing this in all caps, by the way. Can you give me hacks on how to wipe my ass or comfort me because I'm scared? Look, let me talk. Look, Beck, here's the thing. Let me tell you something. I really. I. Can I. Can I say. Can I. Can I. This is. This actually is my real opinion. This is my real opinion on this. And not to be like, if I were you, genuinely. If your parents. Like, there's so many people whose, like, parents would be, like, like, pissed off at them for getting top surgery or, like, just in general, like, don't support them or not. Like, not even, like, with. With trans issues or just, like, life in general, like, here's the thing. If your parents are willing to wipe your ass to help you with your top surgery, that should be an excite. That should be. That's a good thing. That's a good development in your life. I think so. Like, the fact that you have parents who are so supportive of you that they're willing to wipe your ass is a good thing. So this, this is a reframing of perspective. Okay? Now if your parents, if your parents seem, like, excited to wipe your ass, then that's, there's something maybe that's not good. But if they're willing to wipe your ass for you instead of, instead of thinking like, oh, I'm 22, I don't want my parents to wipe my ass, think, oh, I have such wonderful parents that they are willing to get within centimeters of my diarrhea because they love me so much. So that's, that's, that's how I would think about this. All right. Someone in the chat said, lyle, do you paint your face green or is this a filter? I paint my face green. I've got it, by the way. I've got it down. I haven't timed myself yet, but I've got it pretty down to where I think I can do it in under a minute. I think I, I haven't timed myself, but I think I can get it in under a minute. All right, let's keep going. This is from Van. Subject line that one time my mom went to prison. Hey, Geck, this is Van, longtime listener, first time contributor. I saw you recently in Houston. Shout out to the secret group in Houston. What a kick ass venue. Thank you so much for everything. You do really love the Geck mail segment. All right, let's take it back to my senior year of high school. My mother was a long time addict. To spare details and make this haste, I get called to the principal's office to be told my mother had been arrested. To my shock, I do get home. You guessed it, my house is empty. Mother nowhere to be found. Turns out she had stabbed her boyfriend's sister, parentheses, her drug dealer, in the neck, chest and arms. Jesus. It was a drug deal gone wrong. Uh, I think my mom was just super broke and thought she could rob this woman. My mom was also wearing my clothes and I never got them back. Well, you know, I'm sorry that you were victimized in all of this. The lady did survive. They both got arrested and they both went to the same jail. Present day ME is very okay and doing well and has moved Far from where this happened, my mother served seven years in prison, and she's actually doing surprisingly well with sobriety. I am proud of her changing your ways. I'm proud of her changing her ways. Thanks, Gex. Stay cool. My mom served eight years in prison. She's doing well. Okay, well, that's good. That's good. She's doing well. Is this a happy story? I mean, I went not happy in the moments, but is. I think it's happy. Like, it ended well. No one died. I mean, you guys, she got stabbed. You know, your mom stabbed this lady in the neck, and she didn't die. That's a happy ending. That's pretty good. And then your mom is out of prison. Sounds like you guys are hanging out. She's sober. This is. I actually kind of like the story because life is just so insane. And so I like that. Think sometimes, like, in a situation like, your mom, like, stabs a fucking guy and goes to prison, and you're like, all right, well, that's. That's it for mom. And then she comes back, and it's like, no, that's not it for mom. We get a second act. She also attached a picture of a dog. So this. This lady's hanging out with a dog and her mom. So that's good. This is. That's a nice story. Thank you for sharing. Okay, let's see here. I was struggling for the past year and a half, two years with trying to lose weight.
