Ben: Hey, what's up? Holo, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Simply Podlogical, a Simply Nailogical podcast.
Cristine: Holo. Ben: Today's episode is not sponsored and we had recorded an episode last week on Cristine's favorite things but, for obvious reasons, it didn't really feel appropriate to upload that last week.
Cristine: Uh-hmm. Ben: We want to play that for you now, but first we want to give you our thoughts on what's currently going on in America and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Cristine: Um-hmm. Ben: First, I think it's important that we just be really clear and upfront that we support this movement against anti-black racism and police misconduct.
Cristine: Uh-hmm. Ben: And we aren't worried about losing racist subscribers or anything like that; we don't have a PR team telling us what to do or what to say. Cristine: We just want to do the right thing.
Ben: Yeah, we just want to, you know, be responsible with how we use this platform. Cristine: And, yeah, I could just expand on that a little bit more, because I know not everyone listening or watching this podcast follows me everywhere on all my socials, but in the last week or so where I'm most active, which is on Twitter and Instagram stories and Snapchat, I've been sharing links, resources where you can find more information about anti-racism groups, initiatives, and--including in Canada as well, because I think that, obviously, there's a lot of American voices speaking about this right now, but I think in Canada we're just kind of absorbing the American conversation and we're not seeing as much about of, you know, the state of racism in Canada, which does exist, and I've shared that and expressed that. So I just hope that you guys have had the chance to see my tweets, maybe watch some of my Instagram stories where I've given some links and in terms of our own efforts, what I've done-- if you didn't catch it--my last Simply Nailogical video that I posted where I bathed in tea, we are going to donate all of the ad revenue to an organization that assists black people with legal services. So that's something that we feel passionate about: It makes a lot of sense, I think, to go with like the legal services and justice angle, because we think that's a huge issue, especially for marginalized people, and black Canadians specifically. So we will be making that donation probably by the end of this week. we've made other donations to race relations foundations in Canada, and I also recently shared a list that I found on the internet--I'll put the link down below--to twenty-five different black-owned, indie nail polish brands, where I purchase from every single one of those companies just to show some support to black-owned businesses in an industry that I care a lot about: nail polish. So I purchased from every single one that would ship to Canada. So i'll leave a link to that list down below if it interests you. And that's just a little bit about what I've been personally doing to show my support. Ben: Yeah, and I think it's important to note that there's different ways of showing your support at this time. Maybe if there is another message we want to leave people with, it's that Twitter activism isn't a substitute for real action. Like social media is an incredible tool for sharing information. And I think it's been a very useful tool in the social movement: It's opened a lot of people's eyes to police misconduct mostly, but it's not a substitute for making a real impact in real life in your community, if you know what I mean. Like a lot of people are talking about who's retweeting what and liking what and posting black boxes, but that isn't a substitute for actually going out into your community and making a positive difference and there's different ways of doing that. For some people it's going out and actively protesting; for other people it is supporting black-owned businesses; and it could be if you're in the position to donating to different charities and non-profits that are committed to anti-racism efforts. It's also about voting and not just in federal elections, but in municipal and state elections that actually have a lot more relevance to policing. And it can be all these things at the same time, but most of these things aren't achieved just on social media alone. Cristine: Yeah, and denouncing racism when you come across it in your daily life, too, also I think is important. Ben: And in terms of our commitment to the audience and what we feel like is our responsibility with our platform, I think our commitment is that we will continue to support the causes that are important to us offline and not just for likes and retweets.
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: And online, I think we just want to continue trying to be decent people and hopefully good influences, even if we don't want to be called influencers. Cristine: Yeah, and also just contribute positively to your lives and entertain you, because that's ultimately what I'm here for. So without further ado, here's our episode on Simply's favorite things. Cristine: You guys always ask me for what my favorites are on things and I realized thinking back that doing like a "my favorite things video" or a "monthly favorites," "January favorites" is a huge theme on YouTube, but I've never done a video like that. I'm not really sure why. I guess I just thought it wasn't really my style or brand to do like a monthly favorites,
Ben: Sure. Cristine: but it's a question I get all the time. Like "what's your favorite workout pan?" Or "what's your favorite tea?" And I answer those questions directly on Twitter or wherever I see them,
Ben: Sure. but the answers aren't in one place. So I thought it would be fun to kind of collect your guys's questions and put together my answers in one podcast. And I also just love talking about my favorite things. Are those videos on YouTube usually sponsored?
Cristine: Sometimes.
Ben: I always thought like when people did my favorite things it was usually just an excuse to like ... Cristine: I mean, yeah, if it's sponsored by one of the brands ... yeah, but like at the same time, it's okay to have an affiliateship with something that you like and share that you like it. It's just the honesty and the transparency, I think, that is most important. So obviously some of my favorite things I have a discount code for that I get a kickback on. Or I have an Amazon affiliate link that I might put down below, along with links that I don't get any kickbacks from. But for me what's really important is that I like the item, I use the item, and I'm comfortable telling you guys about it whether or not I'm getting any money in return for it.
Ben: Yeah, and it's ... you are definitely someone I think people trust in that you only work with brands you actually like.
Cristine: Exactly.
Ben: And, yeah.
Cristine: Oats and tea. And others and others, but as of late.
Ben: All right, so let's look at what people ...
Cristine: What do you guys want to know? Ben, how excited are you to hear about ... to hear me talk about the stuff I like for an hour? Ben: Yeah, this is all you, right? It's Simply's favorite things.
Cristine: It's Simply's favorite things.
Ben: Okay.
Cristine: We could do a Ben's favorite things. Maybe next time. Okay. All right, so the first one, from paper clip on Twitter: "What has been your favorite video to film and which videos do you think turn out the best?"
Cristine: So this is going to sound so cheesy, I really like filming videos with Ben, because it's just more fun to have someone else to hang out with, to laugh at, and then those laughs get translated so genuinely on camera, because like you were actually laughing at something. Whereas when you say a joke to yourself in a room with no one else there, It kind of feels like "Heh heh heh." Like you're just laughing for the effect on camera. Ben: Even though I would say some of your best videos, at least based on the way they turn out, are you just alone in that room. And maybe that has a lot to do with how you're editing things, but ... Cristine: I know what your favorite video of mine is. Do you know what I think you think you think? Ben: Do you know what I think you think I think?
Cristine: You've said it before. Ben: I used to say like the Ouija video.
Cristine: Okay. Ben: That one really sticks out to me.
Cristine: Okay, an older one. Ben: An older one?
Cristine: Older than that. Ben: I don't know. You tell me: what's my favorite, Cristine? Cristine: The one with the glasses. Ben: Oh, yeah, the ... Cristine: The Logan Paul parody. Ben: Yeah, I saw ...
Cristine: I saw holo for the first time.
(Ben: for the first time.) Cristine: It was a parody of his "I saw color for the first time."
(Ben: It's pretty amazing. That was good.) Cristine: Yeah, for some reason that's Ben's favorite video.
Ben: I really like that one, yeah. That one and the Ouija one, I thought are really funny. Cristine: You know what those videos have in common--and I really like those two videos, too--is they were both parodies of some sort. And thinking back, I like the videos when I do a little a little parody bit.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: I don't know what it is Same with the the spray-on nail polish remover. We did like a 30-second parody at the beginning of that. Ben: Like an infomercial.
Cristine: It was like an infomercial. And I always die laughing when I'm editing those, because they're just so ridiculous.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: So anything with a parody in it. Ben: All right, next question: What's your favorite sleeping position?"
Cristine: What? On the side. I sleep on my side. I sleep on my side with one leg like way up. Ben: Yeah, you ... you're a weird sleeper. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle ... like we talked about like your nightmares before already, but I'll look over sometimes and your arm is just in the air ... Cristine: In the air?
Ben: and you're just like scratching it. I think it's your eczema.
Cristine: Oh, that's my eczema.
Ben: Yeah. So, but it's freaky to look over and Cristine's like her leg's up or like her arm's in the air and she's scratching herself in her sleep. Cristine: You're making me sound like an insane person. It's true though, I do scratch my eczema in my sleep.
Ben: With Zyler on top of you.
Cristine: Yeah. Yeah, that's my favorite sleeping position: my cat's on me. Ben: All right, next one: "Favorite musical artists. I feel like I don't really know who you and Ben listen to on a regular basis and I think that would be interesting."
Cristine: I find I have a very diverse interest in music and it really depends on what I'm doing, like what mood I'm in. So if I'm working out, I listen to dance, like trap music, that's just like really motivational high-tempo beats. But then if I'm alone in my room studying--not that I study anymore, but like, you know what I mean--I would listen to like Tame Impala, Radiohead, indie kind of rock music.
Ben: Sure. Cristine: So I think it depends, yeah.
Ben: Next question: "Favorite activities to do on dates." Cristine: Stay home. Pre- and post-quarantine.
Ben: When was the last time we even went on a date, even before we were, you know? Cristine: I mean, I guess we've gone to dinner. We've gone ... no, to the cat cafe That's our favorite activity.
Ben: Are those dates? It's just things we do together at this point. Things don't really feel like structured.
Cristine: Isn't that a date, though? Ben: I've heard people like, once you have kids the idea of dates becomes more important, because it's like, "Oh, we need to hire a babysitter
Cristine: Because you need to get away.
Ben: and here's our chance to get out of the house," rigtht? Cristine: But we don't need a chance. Whereas we just, you know, do stuff together all the time and it doesn't really feel like that was a date. So maybe the question is "what is your favorite activity to do together?" So we like to go to the cat cafe, before it closed because of covid. We like to work out together.
Ben: We do?
Cristine: We used to go to the gym together. Cristine: Uh, what? We used to go to the gym every Saturday together before quarantine. So far everything's sounding depressing since quarantine has happened. Ben: I like--and something we still do--I like cooking with you. Cristine: Yeah, we do do that.
Ben: And you know what? Because early on when we first started dating you could not cook at all. I remember one of the first times we ever hung out, we ... it was like in the afternoon and you're like "Hey, do you want to stay for dinner?" And you had like this bag of like white pasta ... pasta and like a can of like tomato sauce. Cristine: It was in a glass bottle.
Ben: And I was like, "Uh, no, I think I've got to go, actually. I'm busy."
Cristine: You're so rude. But you stayed.
Ben: That was basically the extent of your cooking.
Cristine: And Parmesan cheese.
Ben: It was just like all carbs and tomato sauce. Well, that's what I ... that's all I knew from university. You're lucky it wasn't Kraft Dinner.
Ben: Yeah. But, yeah, I feel like the difference now with you in the kitchen knowing how to make meals and we have like a food delivery service ... Cristine: I don't really know how to make ... Let's clarify. Don't try and compliment me. Ben: You are so much better than you used to be.
Cristine: But I don't make meals from scratch. I'm not putting together recipes or finding amazing recipes online and like cooking them. No, no, no. I need a step-by-step: six steps only how to cook this meal. Give me all the portioned ingredients. So we have a food delivery service where we get the ingredients and then we cook it. Ben: Yeah, but it's fun to cook with you now.
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: I like doing that. Cristine: With clear directions and instructions. That's all I can handle. Ben: All right. Next question: "What is something you love that you haven't talked about, because you feel it doesn't fit your brand?" Cristine: Oooo, boy.
Ben: Do you look at anything that way? Kind of. Like I really like protein powder, Ben: What? Cristine: but I don't talk about it. It's true. Ben: I mean, do you feel like you would talk about protein powder?
Cristine: Well, no. Ben: If you didn't think that would annoy people?
Cristine: Because it doesn't fit my brand, really. Like people would be annoyed if I just started saying "I love this cake pop protein powder" like. Ben: But you've been showing yourself working out and stuff.
Cristine: Yes, but I also don't... Like, yes, I've been doing that, because I do think a lot of people, especially young women, have been responding really well to that. Saying like, "Oh, it's so nice to see someone who looks kind of normal working out and trying to be healthy." That's why I do it, but I don't want to get in the business of this ... and not that I'm saying other people shouldn't, but personally for my brand it doesn't feel right to start sharing what supplements that I'm eating.
Ben: Okay. Cristine: So not that protein powder is bad, but it's just not necessarily going to fit everyone's diet or workout lifestyle. Like sometimes it just doesn't make sense for you. So and it doesn't make sense for Simply Nailogical to start sharing all these stuff about like protein powders, so I don't really talk about it. Occasionally, I have like shown a shake, but I think I've done that twice ever.
Ben: I think people just want to know what you're into and, I don't know, I don't think you should sit around thinking about what makes sense for your brand. I think people just like ... Cristine: Maybe I think about it too much or I'm just like too sensitive about it. I just ... I don't know. There's a weird line about talking about things that you put in your body and sharing that with your followers, so i'm very overly cautious with that kind of stuff, I guess. Which is why I've never, you know, done a sponsorship with hair vitamins. Ben: Well, there's a few reasons for that, right?
Cristine: Yeah. Ben: All right. Next question: "What's your favorite thing to do if you're having a bad day to cheer yourself up?" Cristine: Tea. Ben: Drink tea.
Cristine: That's why I have six cups a day, Ben. No, honestly though, there's something about it. Like I'm just stressed or I have to finish a video, but i'm like too ... I just can't do it and I just need a moment to myself. I just go press "boil water" on the kettle, and then like all the stress starts to slowly fade away and then I have my sip of tea. Ben: I don't want to answer for you, but I have observed that when you're in not a good mood or you're stressed out or you're tired, sometimes I'll come upstairs and you're just like in the guest bedroom cuddling with Menchie. Cristine: Awww, yeah.
Ben: So I feel like that is often your response to not feeling great.
Cristine: Yeah, you're right. Sometimes you'll come up and I'm just having a nap with one of the cats.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: Tea or cats, that's my life. Ben: It's true. It's not just a joke.
Cristine: Yep. Ben: "What's your favorite childhood memory?" Cristine: So one that has always stuck out to me, and I don't know why because it's kind of silly, but also there was like some weird lesson in it, is I think I was six or seven years old and I was driving with my late grandfather, just him, and we pulled over at Tim Horton's because he was going to get a coffee.
Ben: Okay. Cristine: So he gets his coffee. He gets back in the car. He puts it in the ... in the cup holder and then we're driving again on the road. It's just me and him. And he starts drinking it as he's as he's driving. And I look at him and I just like froze and I was so upset and he goes, "What's wrong?" and I said, "You're not supposed to drink and drive." Because I had seen that ...
Ben: Someone had told you that.
Cristine: I had seen that message everywhere. Like growing up it was always "Don't drink and drive," "Don't drink and drive." That messaging was just everywhere in Ontario from my memory. And I looked at him with sadness and said that and he started laughing. He was like a really good guy, a really funny sense of humor. He started laughing and then he was like ...
Ben: Is this your mom's dad?
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: Or your dad's ... Okay. And then he like calmed down, because he didn't want to make me feel like an idiot, and explained to me that it meant alcohol that impairs your ability to operate a motor vehicle, but as a child when you hear "Don't drink and drive"
Ben: Just like you can't drink anything.
Cristine: and you just see an image of like what I now know is a martini glass, but I didn't know that. Right? So like I wonder if any other kid has had that thought in their head and then like been disappointed at an adult who was drinking a coffee.
Ben: That's funny.
Cristine: So that's my favorite childhood memory. Ben: That's a good one.
Cristine: What about you, Ben? Ben: Oh ... I don't know if I actually remember it or just enough people told me it happened that I sort of invented the memory in my brain, but when I was like two years old, I fell down a flight of stairs. And I'm pretty sure I have like the the loosest ..
Cristine: Brain? or vaguest, cloudiest of memories about this, like tumbling down these stairs. Cristine: Really?
Ben: Yeah, I don't know why I said that for my favorite, but it was really ...
Cristine: That's your favorite? You fell down the stairs?
Ben: It's a ... I broke my leg. Yeah, it's a reminder that, you know, at all times we're just like one misstep away from just tumbling down a flight of stairs.
Cristine: What a great outlook on life, Ben. Ben: All right, next question: "What's your fave overnight oats recipes? We need more oats."
Cristine: I know; the world just needs more oats.
Ben: That's what we need right now. Cristine: So, Ben ... my favorite recipe to make for Ben is Ben's banana bread oats. I do have a video on Simply Nailogical on how I make those.
Ben: yeah. Why do you call them banana bread, though? Because like they're banana/peanut butter oats, right?
Cristine: Yeah, but I use ... it's a secret, okay? No, I use flaxseed and maca powder, which makes it taste like bread. Ben: Okay. Sure.
Cristine: That's why.
Ben: Maybe. Cristine: There's not actual bread in it.
Ben: I don't think it actually tastes like bread. Cristine: Okay, well, that's what they're called, because I called them.
Ben: Sure, chef. Cristine: My favorite overnight oats to make for myself is the mint-chocolate cookie oats that I've shared on Snapchat. Everyone keeps asking me for the recipe, but honestly, it's disgusting. Like ... it's disgusting.
Ben: No, no, no, don't say that. People will have to sign up for your OnlyFans ...
Cristine: To get my ...
Ben: to get to get your oats recipe.
Cristine: Right, Ben; yes, Ben. There's so many ingredients in it, though, that I feel like it's overwhelming to people, because that's the same feedback I got when I posted the recipe for yours. Everyone was like, "That's twelve different ingredients. I'm not going to go buy all that shit." So.
Ben: Yeah, you're a little crazy with it. Cristine: Yeah. But another overnight oats you could try if you don't want twelve different ingredients is Oats Overnight. Which is a one step, just like one pack of ingredients that has oats and the protein powder and like a good little mix and you put it in their little cup, you add almond milk or a milk of your choice, you shake it up, put it in the fridge: Breakfast is served in the morning.
Ben: There you go.
Cristine: Yes, and you can use my code SIMPLY for 10% off Oats Overnight at Oats.Com. And that is an affiliate code.
Ben: Yes.
Cristine: Yes. Ben: Yeah. I know we we joke around, but like we partner with that company because we genuinely ... You like that product and we make that quite a bit, too, so. Cristine: They first sent me their oats earlier last year and I remember like being like "Thanks for all the free oats," and I tried every single flavor before I was willing to consider doing any work with them. Like he kept ... they kept asking if we wanted to do something and I said I've got to try all of your flavors, though, to make sure that like I'm on board. So I think it's a really great product for people who are looking for something quick and easy, honestly, for on the go.
Ben: And I think you're right: like most people are not actually going to follow your complicated recipes. Cristine: Right. They just want something easy.
Ben: To just have to empty a pouch and shake it up with a milk or milk substitute it's just super easy.
Cristine: Yeah and super good for you, honestly. Yum and tastes good.
Ben: High protein, low sugar, gluten free.
Cristine: Yeah, yum, and they have some vegan options.
Ben: Yes, okay. From maddz.bubbles: "What's your fave meal time?" Cristine: Breakfast. I love breakfast. Ben: Yeah, like what is this? Like favorite meal of the day or when what time of day do you like to eat? Cristine: The answer is breakfast.
Ben: Okay, either way.
Cristine: I love breakfast at 7 or 8 a.m., because I'm usually up before 7. Ben: Yeah, you get up really early these days. Cristine: Yeah, I'm a freak.
Ben: Which is funny, because like in quarantine, I think a lot of people are finding their schedules just getting later and they're sleeping in and stuff.
Cristine: But that's kind of ... I need a routine in order to operate properly so ...
Ben: Okay Cristine: so I've kept my same schedule of waking up by 6:45 every day no matter what day it is. I don't care if it's a day that I have to post a video or I don't have anything to do in the morning right away. I'm always up.
Ben: So you wake up and you have your oats and tea. Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: And feel better.
Cristine: Exactly. And then I snuggle with Mench and Zyler. Ben: Okay. Next question:"What's your favorite day of the week?"
Cristine: Favorite day of the week? Umm. So ... yeah, all ...
(Ben: They're kind of all the same right now?)
Cristine: despite the fact that they're all the same, however because of our YouTube schedule, maybe it's Tuesday. Ben: Why?
Cristine: Because the podcast goes up on Tuesday, 'cause it's Taco Tuesday. Ben: I thought your ...
Cristine: You know what I've noticed in the comments? Is every time we post this podcast, everyone says "Thank you for reminding me that it's Tuesday. "
Ben: Yeah, yeah, it grounds them and like "Oh, it's a Tuesday, because the new podcast it up."
Cristine: So maybe it's Tuesday. Ben: Maybe. I thought you're going to say Saturday, because like I know leading up to you having a Simply video, if you have one that week, is usually like a lot of work and then it's a huge relief once you get it up and then Saturday is a day where like we kind of ...
Cristine: Mentally take a day off.
Ben: really chill, take a day off. We're usually not filming anything on Saturdays. We both like work out usually or something like that. Cristine: Yeah, you're right. I also like Saturdays. It's a lot of fun posting a video and then seeing you guys in the comments and seeing everyone respond to, you know, what you just worked on for the past week. I find that very rewarding. So I guess Saturday is a good day for that. Ben: They're both good days.
Cristine: But our days are just based on what days we post videos. Like other than that, it doesn't really matter what day of the week it is. You know?
Ben: Yeah, not really. Like people complain about mon-- ... like, it's funny when you see a YouTuber ... Cristine: Complain about Mondays?
Ben: complain about Mondays and it's like "Isn't every day kind of the same for you?" Cristine: Yeah. I got really annoyed by that.
Ben: I mean maybe like ... Who does that? Like LaurDIY is always like "glitter for your Monday." But I guess maybe she's just being nice and being like recognizing that a lot of people ...
(Cristine: Yeah. Who follow her. )
Ben: have hate for Mondays.
(Cristine: Hate Mondays. Yeah yeah.) Cristine: Not her, but I've seen other YouTubers say things like "Oh, my god, eww, it's Monday: gross!" Like posting memes and I'm just like "Dude, what difference does that make for you?" Like what? Ben: Okay. Next question: "Which gym activity is your favorite and what body type do you like the most?" Cristine: I think she meant body part and she had followed up in a subsequent, she did mean body part. Ben: Oh, what muscle group do you like working out?
Cristine: I like hip thrusts. Ben: Okay.
Yeah, you do! Cristine: With the heavy weights and the barbell across your hips with that little pad/cushion thing. Ben: So that's great for your hamstrings and glutes, right? Cristine: Yeah, I really like it. Because I feel very strong doing them and I think I can lift the most weight with that particular move because it doesn't put as much pressure on my knees. So ...
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: That's my favorite. What's your favorite? Ben: Well, I don't know, but I've always been really impressed, especially back when we were going to the gym and we had more weight to work with, with your deadlift, because there was a point at which you were easily doing at least one and a half times your own body weight deadlifting. Cristine: 185 is where I left off. I haven't been doing so well lately because i'm scared of the floors. Ben: Really? I thought for sure at least at one point you had done like 205. Maybe it was just as like a one rep or three rep max or something like that?
Cristine: I did 210 twice, but that's it. Ben: Yeah. But like that's crazy: the fact that you were able to deadlift over 200 pounds. Ben: So wait, that's your favorite move that *I* do?
Ben: Yeah. I was very proud of you when you hit that PR.
Cristine: Thanks, Ben. Ben: All right, from fiona: "What's your favorite activewear brand that you wear when lifting?" So stretchy pants? The answer is stretchy pants.
Cristine: I never used--and I'll admit this--I've never worn tight pants, well, not never, but generally speaking I'm not a fan of tight pants. I think you guys know that, right? Like I'm always in sweatpants or like my fox pajamas right now.
Ben: Yes.
Cristine: That aren't very foxy. But since I've gotten into working out, I've realized that it is more practical to wear certain activewear than sweatpants, so I've kind of leaned into it and learned to just ... like how they fit and go for comfort. So I really like the lululemon Aligns. I find that they are really flexible and they absolutely like give me good coverage. They're very high-waisted and they go all the way down past the ankle, which I like. I hate the ones that come up and show my leg hair when I haven't shaved, to be honest. So, yeah, lululemon Aligns. I also ... people always ask what pants I'm wearing when i'm wearing the Alo ones. So the ones people have seen where it's kind of heathered and it's ... it kind of covers like your cellulite because of the slight pattern, and there's like a dip in the butt like a big ... like a heart shape just right above the butt with a high waist. Those are the Alosoft lounge pants or something. Ben: Okay.
Cristine: But not the color black, because the color black the material's not as good.
Ben: Oh.
Cristine: And it has to be Alosoft. I don't know why, but I don't like the other Alo ones. I just like the Alosoft. Very specific.
Yep. Oh.
Ben: I approve of you wearing stretchy pants. Cristine: I also really like, like hoodies. Ben's really interested in this conversation, but I know you guys want to know,
(Ben: No, go on.)
Cristine: because I get this question all the time, like "what hoodies am I wearing?" Like this? This one that I have in eight different colors is by Orto?
Ben: Ortovox.
Cristine: Is that what it says? Ortovox? I have no connection to this company or lululemon or Alo. I just, especially with these hoodies, I really love them. They were designed, I think, for like mountain climbers, because they're very like ...
Ben: They're light. Cristine: they're light, but they're really warm. So they're made with merino wool or something. Ben: Yeah, those aren't cheap, eh?
Cristine: Yeah, they're not cheap. They're really expensive, because they're made for like mountain climbing, but I just really like the way they look.
Ben: When was the last time you climbed a mountain? Cristine: Never. I really like the way they look and the way ...
(Ben: Just Polish Mountain.)
Cristine: Yeah, just Polish Mountain So, I wear a lot of Ortovox hoodies and lululemon scuba hoodies is probably the other hoodie that you always see me wear.
Ben: Okay.
Cristine: Yeah. I have so much activewear, but like all I do is work out in my basement at home and just wear my hoodies for this podcast. Ben: You wear like activewear all the time, eh, not just for working out. Cristine: Hoodies, yes. I'm wearing a hoodie all the time.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: Like who am I if I'm not in a hoodie? Ben: I don't know. I don't even know you if you're not wearing a hoodie.
Cristine: I'm always a sock, so I'm always ... I always need a hoodie nearby.
Ben: All right, here's a transition: "What is your favorite ice cream flavor?" Should we respond at the same time very quickly? Let's see. Ready? Three.
Two.
One. Cristine: Chocolate chip cookie ... cookie with ....
Ben: Mint chocolate chip. What? What are you saying?
Cristine: You screwed me up because i'm trying to listen to you.
Chocolate chip cookie dough. Ben: Oh, yeah, that's a pretty strong answer.
Cristine: You said "mint chocolate chip"? Ben: Yeah, I'd say my ... yeah, historically mint chocolate chip was my favorite ice cream. Cristine: I love mint chocolate chip, but like don't you want a little more excitement in your ice cream? Ben: Cookie dough? I mean like I'd rather make cookies and eat a cookie than eat cookie dough ice cream.
Cristine: No, no. Eat it raw. Ben: It's not actually raw, right?
Cristine: Yeah, but ...
Ben: You know what I kind of ... I went to Dairy Queen not long ago.
Cristine: You did?
Ben: I know; I'm sorry.
Cristine: What? Ben: I've only been leaving the house basically to get food, and usually it's like to get a whole bunch of groceries or to pick up and support like some local restaurants, Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: but one time I went through like a Dairy Queen drive-thru and the girl serving me like recognized me and was like "Say hi to Cristine." I'm like just "Don't tell her I went to get ice cream without her!" Cristine: Is she listening?
Ben: I don't know. Maybe.
Cristine: Well, I found ... I found out, so.
Ben: You *just* found out. All right: "Children's toys, please."
Cristine: Oh, my god.
Ben:"Which was genuinely the best one you've tried so far?" It's like she's responding to the fact that you've reviewed children's toys on the channel.
Cristine: Yeah. I'd say my favorite toy just as a child was Mouse Trap. I always loved Mouse Trap.
Ben: That was a good one.
Cristine: I loved setting up Mouse Trap. It was just so fun to watch. Ben: I never knew how to actually play that game, though. Cristine: Trap the mouse; get the cheese! Ben: Did you ever actually play the board game or was it literally just setting it up and then like triggering the mouse being caught? Cristine: Good point. I think it was the latter.
Ben: Yeah, right?
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: I don't know anyone who actually played the game. Cristine: Nope just trapped the cheese or the mouse.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: But more recently in my endeavors to Simply Toyological land maybe like ... aside from the fib finder, maybe Num Noms Nail Polish Shop,
Ben: Oh, no. because it was such a mess ...
(Ben: You just like the commercial.)
Cristine: with those stupid bottles. Ben: I liked early on you had that video of like the nail painting robot, Cristine: Oh, how could I miss that one?
Ben: which had like that articulating arm and it was so bad.
Cristine: Okay. I change my answer.
Ben: It was so broken. Cristine: Yeah. That one. That's the best: the nail painting robot. Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: I love those.
Cristine: That's a good one Ben: All right, from breenuts: "I'm curious what kind of industrial strength vacuum you and Beyyn might have?"
Cristine: What's your favorite vacuum? Ben: So we have Dyson vacuum.
Cristine: Yes, which is the expensive vacuums. But you know what? They're really great. They ... and you know what? Every time I look inside the vacuum, it's full of Menchie hair, Zyler hair, and glitter. Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: Holo glitter, specifically. There's just so many flakes of glitter. I don't even know where they come from, because I haven't filmed a video, recently anyways, where I've like painted my face with glitter or something, but ...
Ben: Glitter sticks around.
Cristine: It's just everywhere. Yeah. Ben: Yeah, I would say as of ... So those Dyson cordless stick vacuums for a long time weren't great, because the battery life was pretty bad, but with like the newest generation of them--like the V10 or whatever it's called-- Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: they actually last a really long time and the suction is really strong. I think, yes, they're expensive, but if you can afford it, they're really good. And then I'll just also add that we have a ... on the main level, we have a robot vacuum, a Roomba, and that's nice for the cat hair.
Cristne: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: There's so much cat hair. Ben: There's a lot of cat hair.
Cristine: And Ben's allergic to cats, so we have lots of vacuums. Also, we had to suck up all of our hair that we cut off the other week. Ben: This is true.
Cristine: And we used a Dyson vacuum that we should probably empty, because it's just full of our hair, cat hair, and glitter.
Ben: That's right. All right, next question: "What's your favorite makeup brand or makeup product?" Cristine: Whoo. Well, unfortunately, I haven't been able to play with too much makeup right now,
Ben: Yeah. because my eyes, like even today, you probably wouldn't be able to tell on this camera, but I've been having like weird reactions and my eyes are just puffy and red and kind of itchy these days. Ben: Which is weird, because you haven't really been doing your makeup.
Cristine: Yeah, I've deliberately stayed away from putting eyeshadow on or like, absolutely no mascara, no eyeshadow.
Ben: Yeah. Cristine: I don't really have a favorite makeup brand, because I use products from everywhere, but if you're wondering what I use, not daily because I don't put makeup on daily, but like let's say just for this podcast what I'll use. I'll use Nars soft matte concealer, which is a specific type of concealer: it comes in a little pot just to cover like the odd pimple. And I bought that because of nikkie tutorials,
Ben: 'Cause she told you? Cristine: when I did a video where I spent $1000 on makeup to look like nikkie tutorials. Do you remember when I did that?
Ben: I remember that video, yeah. Cristine: So I bought that concealer because of her and I still use it to this day, because
Ben: The same one, or you've had to? Cristine: No, I bought it in a different shade, because I had bought her shade, which is too light for me. So I had to buy the shade that matches my my skin tone. But I use it. I actually really like it. So, thank you, Nikkie. So I use that when i'm just trying to conceal a pimple or two, I don't use ... I don't wear foundation on my whole face. And I use the Benefit Precisely My Brow eyebrow pencil. And that's my look today. That's today's look.
Ben: Okay.
Cristine: Yeah. And then from Christine on twitter: "What's your favorite lipstick color and/or brand?"
Cristine: So I don't really wear lipstick.
Ben: Do you ever wear lipstick? Sometimes. I used to, and I would wear like dark purple, just because it's fun, occasionally. Nars has a good one. I have a Mac one, too. But lately when it looks like I've been wearing a little bit of lipstick or lip gloss, It's been those Jouer like tinted moisturizing lipsticks. I get Jouer for free from PR; that's probably one of the only main reasons that I'm like even wearing lipsticks is because they got sent to me, because I rarely buy this stuff myself, but, yeah, I really like the the Jouer ones, the like tinted moisturizers, because my lips are always so dry, so I don't really like wearing like matte liquid lipsticks. I find it very drying and I think a lot of people out there like relate to this, especially if you live in a cold climate. Ben: All right, next one: "Favorite lip balm?" Cristine: More important than lipstick is lip balm. I love Avène is the brand name, with like an accent circonflexe [she meant accent grave]. It's like a French ... a French e accent.
Ben: I think people know it. Isn't that the one that Jennifer Aniston's ...
Cristine: No.
Ben: brand ambassador for? Cristine: No, no, no. That's Aveeno.
Ben: Oh. Okay.
Cristine: Avène.
Ben: They're different things? Cristine: Yeah, Avène is a French brand, I think they're from France, but they are in Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada. I don't know if they're in the States, but it's so good. It's kind of expensive for a lip balm. It's like $15 Canadaian, but I have ten of them and I leave them everywhere in the house, because it's Avène cold cream, specifically. Actually, I have one in my pocket. I literally carry them everywhere. It's just like a stick, look: yeah, Avène Cold Cream. It's so good. All right? You use this, too, because it doesn't taste like anything or smell like anything, but it's really nice and rich.
Ben: In the same brand you have like the the moisture cream, Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: like the actual cream ...
Cristine: for dry skin and like eczema. Ben: And if like .. if you have a cold and you're like blowing your nose a lot and you know how your like nose will get like cracked from just blowing it too much, if you use that cold cream it actually helps a lot, eh?
Cristine: Exactly, yeah. I love this brand because it's really good for sensitive skin, which I absolutely have, so I try and only use like face creams that are good for that and this is my favorite lip moisturizer. I discovered it like three years ago and I buy ... I buy them on a quarterly basis.
Ben: Okay. All right, from arieslogical: "What's your favorite highlighter color? Yes, the kind for paper."
(Cristine: Yes, the kind for paper.)
Cristine: I love this question. Ah, hmmm.
Ben: Not makeup highlighter? No, no, like specifically school highlighter that you would highlight your notes with. I used all the colors. Ben: Oh, you're one of those.
Cristine: But I'd say my favorite was pink. The hot pink is so satisfying. Oh, my god, just imagine it going across the lined paper. I never understood [unintelligible] you'd see people with notes and like the page just looks like a rainbow of colors.
Cristine: Yeah! Ben: Is that actually helpful in learning?
Cristine: Yes. Ben: Right. Was it?
Cristine: Yes; if you have things in categories, absolutely. You have like subject headers and the art ... the bullet arguments and, you know, all the sub things. It's important!
Ben: Sure.
Cristine: You've got to color code, Ben.
Ben: Okay. From vero piedra: "Favorite way of eating potatoes?"
Cristine: Roasted in the oven.
Ben: Very important question.
Cristine: Definitely roasted. I wouldn't eat them any other way. Roasted with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil.
Ben: You had a very quick answer for that, like you've thought about this before. Oh, I ... yeah, I do.
Ben: You think about potatoes a lot? I like mine fried with gravy and
(Cristine: No, Ben. No, Ben.)
Ben: cheese curds.
Cristine: Come on, Ben; healty options. From deedy bird: "What's your favorite flavor of tea from David's Tea? (Use code SIMPLY for 20% off.)" Cristine: Yo, y'all doing my promos for me.
Ben: Yeah, they're doing it for you.
Cristine: Yes. Right now we still have my code SIMPLY. Active for a limited time only, though; I think it's only available for a couple weeks. So if you did want to make a purchase at David's Tea, which is one of my favorite tea brands as you guys know, I'm always drinking their tea, you can do so. I'll put a link down below. My favorite flavor. It depends on my mood. It's kind of like music. So right now I'm drinking Maple Syrup Oolong, which I like in the afternoon. Ben: Okay. It's your afternoon tea.
Cristine: It's my afternoon tea, but in the mornings, I really like a green tea, and my favorite green tea from them is Countess of Seville. However, they're often not in stock with that one. Ben: Yeah, I thought they discontinued that one.
Cristine: I don't know why; they might have discontinued it. But when they've discontinued in the past, I've made my own version of it by mixing just one of their plain green teas-- like they have a selection of just a plain one--mixing that with Sunny C, which is one of their citrus teas,
Ben: Oh, okay. Cristine: and if you blend them together then you get the same effect of green tea with a little bit of like orange/lemon citrus, which is just how I personally like my green tea, so. That's my tip. Hot tip. Tea tip. Ben: What about iced tea? Do you ... favorite iced tea? Cristine: Yeah, definitely Just Peachy. That is ...
Ben: There's a bunch in the fridge right now.
Cristine: the best. There is a bunch in the fridge.
Ben: Which is why I thought of that. Cristine: Yeah, Just Peachy is the best. That one's been around for a while, but like honestly it's still the best. Ben: Okay.
Cristine: You don't even need to add sweetener.
Ben: Have you tried all the others? Cristine: Well, not like every single one of them, but I have tried some of them. I like Raspberry Freeze, too. That one's really good. Ben: Okay. All right, next question. "What is your favorite tea warmer and kettle? I'm starting to collect and drink teas more often and need a better way to keep my tea hot."
Cristine: These are the important questions.
Ben: Is this important? Cristine: This is honestly what people need to know. As an avid tea drinker, you're going to need good equipment. Right? Ben: Sure.
Cristine: So I know you guys who watch my Snapchat and Instagram stories have noticed that when I've been at work I've Snapchatted that I always put my mug on these little hot plates.
Ben: Yeah. Cristine: It's basically like a tea mug warmer that heats up not that hot but just hot enough that it will heat the bottom of your mug, as long as it's a ceramic mug that transfers heat. Ben: You just like get that off Amazon?
Cristine: I just get it off Amazon. They're not that expensive and I have one in my office, in this podcast room, and at work.
Ben: At work, right. Cristine: Yeah, so I'll put a link down to that from Amazon down below. Ben: There are mugs now--I don't think you've tried this, maybe you should try it-- there are like these mugs that you can pair with your phone and the mug *itself* keeps the liquid warm. Have you seen that?
Cristine: I've seen that, but like they're really expensive. Ben: They are.
Cristine: And also it it forces you to have to use that mug, which may not be as big or shaped in the exact size you want and I'm very picky about my tea mug,
Ben: Are you? Okay. Cristine: so I much prefer just having this kind of inexpensive hot plate. And anyone who who sips their tea over a long period of time knows how frustrating it is when your tea gets cold after like twenty minutes and you're only half done. Ben: So what a terrible situation.
Cristine: It's like in this podcast: we talk too much and I still have half my tea left, but guess what? It's still hot.
Ben: Okay. And then like you need to boil the water in the first place.
Cristine: Yes.
Ben: Any ... ? Cristine: So we use a Breville kettle, which is just like a stainless steel kettle. Ben got me the latest one for my birthday *a couple* years ago.
Ben: Yeah, I think so. Cristine: And it makes ... it's unique and a little bit pricier, because it makes an entire pot of tea instead of just hot water, but I don't really use that feature. Ben: Yeah, you can put the tea right in it, but I don't ...
Cristine: I don't really do that. So ... but what I do really like about it is you can set the temperature at which it heats up to, which is really important if you're a tea lover, because you don't want to burn the tea. Ben: Yes.
Cristine: So there's some teas that you don't want to get hotter than 185 degrees fahrenheit, for example.
Ben: Sure. Cristine: So I'll just put that on. And there's a button that literally says like "green tea" or "white tea." Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: So I find that really helpful and easy and when you're a tea snob like me these little details matter. Ben: Okay. Okay, tea snob. That's a good YouTube channel name: TeaSnob.
Cristine: TeaSnob. It is. "Weird question. What are your favorite scents?" Umm. So like as in candles or as in like ... people? Ben: Kind of just in life.
Cristine: In life. I really love things that smell like savory food. So like French vanilla.
Ben: What? Cristine: French vanilla or cinnamon would be like my favorite kind of candles. Ben: When I think savory foods I don't think vanilla.
Cristine: Sweet. Sorry, sweet! Like kind of like sweet.
Ben: I like when the room just smells like roast chicken! Cristine: Well, Menchie does. Menchie! Ben: Yeah, I like when things just smell like KFC. Cristine: No. Ben: Know what's funny? There was a KFC in Ottawa on Bank Street in The Glebe and there's a weird-- maybe it's just your mind playing tricks on you, but they ... It shut down and they like demolish the building and I swear that for years after that that area still smelled like fried chicken.
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: Isn't that crazy? Maybe it's just ...
Cristine: Do you like it?
Ben: like your ... your ... in your head you have so many memories of walking by there and it always smelling like that o maybe there's just like the smell of fried chicken just like hanging in the air. No, I don't. I don't like that smell.
Cristine: So what's your favorite scent? Ben: I don't know. It's a weird question. Who thinks about that?
Cristine: I do. You're supposed to say "me. "
Ben: I like the ... "Yeah, I like the way you smell, baby." Cristine: Okay.
Ben: That's a weird thing to say.
Cristine: Never mind. Take that back. Ben: I like the absence of smell. I want to walk into a room and not notice an odor. Cristine: So you won't go to Bath and Body Works.
Ben: Oh, I hate walking into Bath and Body Works.
Cristine: Yeah. Ben: And I hate like you ... like when someone has like an air freshener in their car; usually that's just obnoxious, right? Cristine: It depends. There's some low quality ones, like the scratch-and-sniff trees? Yeah, those are never good.
Ben: I want to walk into a room and not be thinking about how that room smells, whether it's good or bad. Cristine: Good point. Ben: Here's one: "What's your fave nail polish brand other than Holo Taco?" Cristine: You guys!
Ben: So you can't just shamelessly promote your own nail polish. Cristine: You guys! What! I love a lot of indie brands. I really do. I guess my favorite aside from Holo Taco would have to be F.U.N Lacquer.
Ben: Yeah, and you had a relationship with her. You had a collab. Cristine: Yeah, yeah, we had a collab together. And yeah, she's been around for, I don't know, six years, like a pretty long time now and has established so many fun, creative really good nail polishes and the quality is really good and it's always been really good. So, yeah, I would say F.U.N Laquer.
Ben: Yeah. All right. Next one: "Favorite products for your cats: food, brushes, toys, etc." Cristine: Menchie! What's your favorite?
Ben: She showed up for this question. Cristine: So we ... people asked this question a lot after I made the "Making Crafts with my Cats' Hair" video. So everyone wondered how we were able to get so much hair off of the cats and that was using ...
Ben: It's partly because we don't brush them enough. Cristine: Yeah, no. But when we do brush them we use a brush called The Furminator, funny name, but it does a really good job, I find, at taking out their hair. Ben: Really grooming.
Cristine: Yeah, it really grooms them. I think it works really well on like long-haired cats, too, but I was especially surprised to see it work so well on a short-haired cat. So, yeah: The Furminator. Ben: Cat toys. Any cat toys? Cristine: Umm ... Menchie loves mousies.; Ben: She does.
Cristine: But like not an actual mouse, just a heart-shaped stuffed little heart with like a little mouse nose on it. That's her personal preference. Ben: It's because we got a bunch for her as a kitten, so she was surrounded by them; but like we'll find like sometimes they'll just turn up now years later and when she finds them it's like ...
Cristine: She goes crazy.
Ben: It's a celebration. We'll just hear her like start doing this like howling noise that like is very unusual for her and we'll find her and it's like in her mouth and she's just like "I found it. I'm like ... I'm so happy. Raow raow." Cristine: And then she'll put it in our shoes.
Ben: Yeah, she'll drown it in her water dish or put it in our shoes.
Cristine: Oh, Menchie. All right. Next question: "What was your and Ben's favorite school subject?" Cristine: I really liked chemistry or biology. Ben: Okay, science. I think that will surprise people.
Cristine: [sings] "Cristine, the science queen." Really?
Ben: Maybe not. Yeah. Cristine: What was yours? Ben: I don't know. I just liked hanging out with people. Like we're talking high school, I guess?
Cristine: Sure. It wasn't like history or something?
Ben: I guess the reason I went into criminology was because I had a teacher I really liked in some elective class in grade-- I don't know if it was 11 or 12, but there was like a law class. Cristine: Okay. So law. Ben: It was, I guess, a woman who I think she *had* gone to law school but decided she didn't want to be a lawyer so she became a teacher or something.
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: Which is kind of, you know, turning down a very potentially prestigious or high-paying job to go teach young people, I think, is a pretty admirable thing.
Cristine: Um-hmm. Ben: And I remember she was a really good teacher, I thought. So I wonder like to what extent did my choices in life come down to just sort of like random things like that? But ... Yeah, I guess that's true, but I didn't really love school for like the learning. I mostly just liked hanging out with my friends. Next question: "Favorite book, despite the fact that you don't really read, I don't think?" Do you read? Cristine, do you read books?
Cristine: I feel like there's this expectation that when you perceive someone to be intelligent that you expect that they are avid readers of fiction and non-fiction. Ben: I would say there's a correlation between intelligence and ... Like they used to say that one of the biggest predictors of a kid being successful ...
(Cristine: Was books in the household.)
Ben: in life and academic success is books in the household. Cristine: I don't know if it's like I'm embarrassed that I don't read that ... I don't read books currently. Like I used to, obviously, and I feel like after grad school, when I had to read *so* many journal articles and like excerpts from certain books from theory from, you know, a hundred years ago, my mind ... Ben: For your job now, too, you have to read a lot as well.
Cristine: Yeah, for my job I read more research articles and journal articles. So because I was doing so much of that kind of reading and consumption of words in that sense, my brain was too tired to pick up a different kind of book. Does that make me less intelligent? I mean,
Ben: No.
Cristine: like I don't think so, but I kind of see the bias against people who don't read books. Like "You don't read books?" Ben: No, I don't know if that's fair. I mean, if you weren't learning in other ways ... How do I put this? A lot of people just think if someone doesn't read they're just not curious about learning more about the world, maybe. Cristine: True.
Ben: Whereas I don't think it's fair to say of you because
(Cristine: Yeah, that's not always fair.) Ben: a lot of people are doing their learning now not from reading but from ... you know a ton of people listen to audiobooks now or listen to podcasts and that's a way of like being productive in like maybe your commute and you're learning things that way like ...
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: I feel like you can ... I don't read a lot these days, but I still read a little bit and when I am reading I tend to read ... If I read a book it's probably fiction, because I feel like I get a lot of my non-fiction-type information from listening to things online and that sort of replaced reading non-fiction, to me anyway. Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah. Fom krisjin_colla: "What's your favorite paper you have written?" Cristine: I guess I *have* to say my thesis,
Ben: You do?
Cristine: because it's the longest paper I've ever written. Ben: It doesn't *have* to be your answer.
Cristine: No, umm.
Ben: It was a lot of work.
Cristine: It was a lot of work and if you go to grad school or you're thinking about it one advantage of writing a thesis, I think, was that you could use a lot of your own ideas that you'd already put into other essays that you've worked on in your earlier years of grad school or even undergrad and kind of fuse them together, so you can improve on ideas you've already had. So that's what I felt like my thesis was. I'd taken some concepts, maybe it was a lit review or like one particular argument or theory that I talked about in a previous paper, but I was able to merge a lot of them and improve on them eventually in my thesis. So I guess it's like a collection of all my work and thought and you know my life as a student after seven years. Ben: Yeah, you should be proud of it, because it's ... I remember how much work it was.
Cristine: Yeah. Ben: And I remember proofreading it. Actually, do you want to tell people what it was about at all or ...
Cristine: I think ... Ben: you don't want to revisit it?
Cristine: I don't ... I'll just say the title, if I remember it. I think it was "Cutting Knowledge: The Pathologization of Self-Injury in Correctional Discourse." Ben: Okay, but you don't want to tell people ...
Cristine: Was that the title [unintelligeible]
Ben: You did an analysis of how the correctional service of Canada pathologizes or the logic behind how they describe or treat people who self-injure in prisons. Cristine: Yeah, and they basically said it was a product of poor mental health while failing (was my argument) to recognize that it's also a product of being in the institution and the environment.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: Yeah, so that-- It was a sociology paper. Ben: Yeah, do people injure themselves in prison because they have poor mental health or because putting in people in cages leads to them having poor mental health? Cristine: Yeah, it's an interesting argument. There's so many layers to that. My thesis is online if you want to read it.
Ben: Sure. Cristine: It's been many years since I wrote that and I think my own writing style has changed Ben: Sure.
Cristine: because I haven't been in grad school for years now. Ben: Well, yeah, and academic writing is so different from writing government reports.
(Cristine: Is different than what we do at Statistics Canda.) Cristine: Yeah, you'll ... Like if you read one of my papers from Statistics Canada in the last year, it will not sound at all like my thesis, but that's just kind of how it goes. Ben: That's kind of one of the things I kind of hated about grad school, too, is the writing style was basically trying to like fluff up your argument with over-complicated--- I'm not talking about you specifically, I just mean in general in the humanities or sociology, people would write in a way where it's just like trying to use overly complicated theories and words ...
Cristine: Yeah, like "infantilizing this and the responsibilization of the pathological yadayada." I know, I know. I did it. I am guilty of that. From sarah: "What's your favorite quote?" Cristine: "Have fun before you die." Ben: Are you quoting yourself? Cristine: No.
Ben: Your favorite quote can't be something you say. Cristine: Let me ... Okay. I had that on my Simply Nailogical header at the beginning, but I got that ...
Ben: I've always felt weird about that. Cristine: I got that from my dad, who growing up used to say "Have fun before you die." "Have some fun before you die." Ben: That's pretty morbid.
Cristine: Yes, but I also found it very refreshing and it just reminded me to laugh. So you might be going through some shit and, you know, something that can seem so big as a problem is actually quite small when you compare it to other things, and so sometimes it's just good to remember to have a little fun before you die. And today ... to date, me and my sister will argue over who came up with that quote, because my sister thinks she came up with it, but I think my dad came up with it. At some point we all started repeating it and I can't say when. Ben: Okay. So basically, it's like a not very eloquent way of saying, you know, have fun while you're here ... Cristine: Sure.
Ben: because this ride doesn't last too long.
Cristine: Yeah. What's your favorite quote? Ben: Ummm. I think I mentioned on the podcast before that Vonnegut quote? Again, it's not like the most beautifully written thing. But it's "You are who you pretend to be, so be careful who you pretend to be."
Cristine: That's a good one. Ben: And then, I don't know why, I find myself thinking about that line a lot, maybe it's because we're putting ourselves on the internet or I feel like I can relate to ... at one point in my life I really cared about what other people thought of me, for example. And I think it's important to remember that you may have this conception of who you are but really at the end of the day we are products of ... "You are what you do" is maybe a way of looking at it, right? So you might think that your authentic inner self that other people don't see is a certain way, but are you not just a sum of your actions in the world? And is that not truly who you are? So I think it's worth thinking about that. From Gina: "Besides sweatpants, what's your go-to outfit?" Cristine: So in quarantine, if I'm ...
Ben: Pajamas? Cristine: Yeah. I'm wearing my pajamas right now. They have foxes on them, I don't know why. I just really like them.
Ben: Well, your dad bought you those pajamas. And he thought ... Cristine: Yeah, which sounds weird.
Ben: It's a little strange. But he thought they were cats.
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: And then you look at them and like "Ohh, these are foxes." Cristine: And I was like, "Thanks, Dad. There's little foxes on them." He goes, "No, they're cats." I'm like, "No, they're clearly foxes." But they're really comfortable especially in the summer so my ... yeah, my go-to outfit is pajamas and cool hoodies.
Ben: Yes. Sporty. Like I have a really great sense of style, guys.
Ben: Need to get you a stylist. What's ... "Who's your favorite family member?" Cristine: Whoever is listening. I think it's ... I'm safe enough in saying that it's my sister
Ben: Well, yeah, you only have one sibling.
Christine: because I only have one sister. or one sibling Yeah, so my sister, Jen, and I we get along really well now. We didn't always get along well, obviously, as most sisters. There's three years difference between us. Ben: Growing up with siblings, I think a lot of people can relate to that, you know.
Cristine: But we're really close, she also lives in Ottawa, so yeah. Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: What about you? Ben: Oh, I can't answer that ...
Cristine: You can't answer that because you have more than one sibling.
Ben: That's right. "What are your favorite hair products? I, too, have super long hair! "
Cristine: Well, thank you, Ben, first of all, for giving me a hair trim.
(Ben: Did an amazing ...)
Cristine: Do you guys see the end of my braid? It looks nice and clean and fresh. Ben: It's a little shorter now.
Cristine: So does you hair, nice little fresh fade. The "Simply Fade."
Ben: Stop saying that. My favorite product is heaps and heaps of conditioner, like but like the thick masks; I never buy just regular conditioner out of a ... like a tall bottle. I only buy the masks, which are like the really goopy, giant ones that you have to scoop out with your hand. Ben: Like in the shower or you just put that in your hair and it's like leave-in? Cristine: No, no. In the shower I'll use the deep-nutritioning masks as my conditioner. Ben: Okay.
Cristine: Because I have such long, dried hair. Ben: Look, why ... why are you so reluctant to cut your hair? Cristine: Why must I cut my hair?
Ben: I just feel like there's there must be some sort of deeper reason that we need to know. Cristine: I don't know. I just like long hair, Ben. I understand the ends were getting a little dead, so that's fine.
Ben: Yeah.
Cristine: So we cut off six inches! Ben: Okay.
Cristine: Aren't you happy?
Ben: I'm very proud of you, dear. All right: "What are your favorite slippers?"
Cristine: Holo ones. I'm wearing them right now I have them in six colors of different holo. I get them off Amazon. They're nothing really that special.
Ben: Okay. Cristine: But sometimes when you order them, you're not sure if they're holo and then they show up and it's just like a regular color sequin. Yeah, that's really just ...
Ben: Wow, that's terrible.
Cristine: That's awful; it's disappointing. It's really hard these days out there for finding a holo slipper. But I always wear slippers in the house, because I have cold feet.
Ben: We need some Holo Taco holo slippers. Cristine: Yeah, maybe if I can design some that would be so cool. Ben: We'll get into the slipper industry. And then next question: "What's your favorite lyric?" Cristine: So I remember this from grad school. I don't know why this came up, but it was a Metric song that has stuck with me since. Because we were talking about like cycles of discourse and ideology and for some reason I connected that sociology class in theory to a Metric Lyric which was "Drive this car to get to work
Go to work to pay for this car." And that idea of just this cyclical doing things in life without another purpose other than to fulfill the original purpose, so it becomes in this repetitive cycle. That made me question like why do we do what we do? And, yeah, it was just really profound and I've remembered that lyric ever since.
Ben: So does it make you think you should, you know, derive less of your self-worth from working and consider taking a vacation, maybe? Cristine: Is that what you're trying to pull out of this? Ben: I think maybe that's the ...
Cristine: Yeah.
Ben: the conclusion you should draw, maybe.
Cristine: Yeah. Ben: I like ... Metrics are good. They're Canadian too, right? Cristine: Yeah. Umm-hmm.
Ben: They still around? Cristine: I think so.
Ben: Portrait.
Cristine: I still listen to the metrics. Ben: I think their best song was "portrait of a girl."
Cristine: "Portrait of a girl."
Ben: Is that what it's called? Ciristine: Yeah. [It's "Poster of a girl."]
Ben: Yeah, really good song.
Cristine: I think the lyric that I referred to was from a song called "Handshakes," I can't remember exactly. They have a lot of great songs, but that particularly.
Ben: Yeah, let's give a shout out to Metric.
Cristine: Yeah. Ben: And then last question: "Kind of an odd one, but what's your favorite place where the cats sleep?"
Cristine: On me. Zyler's favorite place to sleep is like on my butt. Ben: It's my favorite place, too.
Cristine: Shut up. On like the side of my butt, because I sleep on my side. He'll like, you know, perch himself up there. Menchie's favorite place. Ben: She gets around.
Cristine: She does. She has like seventeen beds all around the house. She gets around. Ben: Spoil her with cat beds.
Cristine: But recently her favorite place has been right behind me in my office in a cat bed that we've perched up on a chair right beside the window. So she has like an office window where she sleeps.
Ben: Menchie has the window office.
Cristine: She works really hard. Ben: Oh, yeah.
Cristine: So she deserves that office window. Ben: Yeah. Yeah, wherever we are is where we want to sleep with the kitties, right?
Cristine: Menchie! Ben: Is she still here?
Cristine: She's sleeping right beside my feet. Yeah. Ben: What a sweetie. Well, did we ... is there anything else that is your favorite that we didn't go over here? Cristine: It could go on forever, but, you know,
Ben: But let's not.
Cristine: I don't want to bore you guys. But maybe if you guys want to hear about Ben's favorite things, we could do that at some point. Ben, would you like to talk about your favorite things?
Ben: We don't have to. Cristine: Ben didn't think this episode would be interesting, because he's like, "No one gives a shit about things you like, Cristine." But I'm ... Ben: I was just confused. I haven't ...
Cristine: I'm serious. Ben: I know there are YouTube videos about my favorite things. I've never really watched them. But it just seems kind of strange to me; it's just like someone listing things they like for a while. Cristine: Because people want to know. I get these questions all the time. So hopefully I've answered most of the questions I get all the time and now I can just refer people to this video. Although obviously sometimes your favorite things change over time, pretty much most of everything I said, though, has been consistently the case for a few years. Ben: I like that nothing you said was like obnoxious extravagant. Like, yeah, we have nice vacuums or you use a face cream that's a little expensive, but like, you know, you're not saying like Cartier bracelets. "I love my Tiffany tea bracelets," or, no, Tiffany or Cartier? Maybe you're right. Maybe it's Cartier.
Ben: Tea bracelets? What are tea bracelets?
Cristine: There's like these ... There's like these teas that Tiffany's .... I don't know. Yeah, I guess ...
Ben: Not that nice things aren't nice, but I'd say we're not people with like really expensive taste in anything, right? Cristine: Yeah, my most expensive taste is like in our vacuums, and I guess these hoodies are expensive, because they're like $150-$200, which is really expensive.
Ben: That is a lot for us. Cristine: But you know what? I'd rather splurge on that than Channel Boy Bags, so. Ben: Boy Bags?
Cristine: That's what they're called. They're called ... It's a type of bag. It's called a"Boy Bag." Ben: It's for boys?
Cristine: No.
Ben: Are they marketing purses to men yet? Cristine: I don't ... I don't know, but that's not what it is. This is a type of bag. It costs like $5000. Ben: All right. Apologies to Eva Gutowski. We were supposed to have her on this week, but ...
Cristine: Is she your favorite thing? Ben: Phhhh.... Um, you know.
Cristine: Ben! All right, everybody. Apologies: Ben won't be here next week. Ben: Oh,, yeah, but thank you for tuning in. Hope everyone out there is doing okay, staying safe.
Cristine: Stay safe. Stay sane. And, umm, we love you guys. Ben: Love is a strong word, you know.
Cristine: We like you guys a lot. Ben, does that make you more comfortable? We care about you guys. We do.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah. Be careful out there.
Cristine: Yeah. All right, everybody, Ben: See you next Taco Tuesday.
Cristine: Thanks so much for watching. We'll see y'all later. Bye! Bye
