🎙️ Episode 66: Bucket Lists, Crazy Government Spending (DOGE Finds), New Cult Murders, & Super Bowl Parade Chaos, Book Review “A Friend Indeed” By Elka Ray 🏈🔪🐹

Episode Overview
Stefanie & Meredith are back with another hilarious and unhinged episode, diving into the most bizarre government-funded spending, a terrifying new cult, and the absolute madness of the Super Bowl parade.

💡 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
✅ WTF Government Spending – Why is the U.S. spending $3 million on hamster steroids & fighting?! 🐹💪
✅ A Real-Life Murder Cult – The Zizian cult has links to six deaths across multiple states 😱
✅ Insane Super Bowl Parade Moments – Over a million fans turned out, but one couple took it to another level... with a wedding & an ankle monitor! 🤦‍♀️
✅ Valentine’s Day Pettiness – A single man in China booked every other seat in a theater to keep couples apart on V-Day 😂
✅ WTF Laws in Mississippi – A new bill wants to regulate when men can… finish 💀

🔥 Episode Highlights (SEO Keywords Included!)

💥 Bizarre Government Research: Did you know the U.S. spent millions on cocaine-fueled quails, alcoholic mice, and hamster fight clubs?! 🐦🍸

💥 New Death Cult on the Loose: The Zizian cult is under investigation for six linked murders across the U.S. (including Chapel Hill, NC!)

💥 Super Bowl Parade Madness: Fans got married at the Eagles parade, and one bride was rocking an ankle monitor! 🏈💍

💥 Petty Valentine’s Day Revenge: A legendary single guy in China found the ultimate way to ruin date night.

💥 Wildest Book Review Yet: Stephanie & Meredith break down A Friend Indeed—a thriller about a toxic friendship, a murder cover-up, and revenge.

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• Ever heard of a weird government experiment?
• Have a cult conspiracy theory?
• What's the pettiest Valentine’s Day move you've ever seen?

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Transcript

0:00

I'm Stephanie. I'm Meredith. And welcome to this is my circus. What up, homie? What, what's crackin Crack a lackin Crack a lackin I couldn't remember what I was supposed to say. I'm just crack a lackin You doing good? I am. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I am excited for our new day drop. Yes, so we are now dropping on Thursdays. Yep. So yeah, be prepared. So you'll get this on Thursday. So you're welcome. Yes. Now, you know what day it is Days of the week. Yeah, you've been doing anything fun? no, not anything. Dylan been doing anything fun? he told me he was getting some stuff done to his truck. Yeah, he's getting it lifted and then Squatted and whatever. he went to the movies last night. Oh, what'd they see? Is there a new Marvel movie out? I don't really know. It was like Late and he came in, he's like, I'm gonna go to the movies with Jaden and Kaden. And I was like, okay. Yeah. Jaden and Kaden. Oh, gosh. So Jaden, he's known since kindergarten. Kaden moved here I think in fourth or fifth grade. Okay. Um, he's actually on the DT team. I know, I remember Kaden. Yeah. Yeah. So, they all still hang out. Yeah. How about Braven? Jaden, Kaden, Braeden. I was gonna try to round names and I couldn't think of anything else. Like who am I forgetting? Braeden. Jaden, Kaden, Braeden. So when Dylan was born, like, the name Aiden was like so popular. I don't know why I didn't go to Aiden! Okay, yeah. And then I was like, because we didn't want to do Braeden like a junior. Yeah. And I was like, well, how about Braeden? Brayden. Yeah. Like to kind of, because I like the name Aiden, but it was so overdone. Yeah. And I like Brayden. He was like, we vetoed each other's like topics. We had a million girls names we agreed on, but yes, it was not it. Yeah. What was the girl's name? Do you remember? Aubrey. Oh, that's pretty. We both liked Aubrey. And then there was another one. I can't think of it right now. We were going to go with Georgia. Okay, we're gonna go Georgia. We liked that but we yeah, we had a tough time picking out a name for a boy Yeah, it was finally just like something we I liked like Cameron. Mm hmm. Yeah, they did he which like totally Shocked me throughout Julian and I was like, no somebody's gonna call him Jules or like it's good like it like I'm short and somehow and then He was trying to think of like a funny initials. Yeah. Yeah. We are not doing this. No, no, we're not. We're not. We're not. Dylan was the only name we agreed on. Yeah. Jackson was pretty much the only one we agreed on. And I know I just told you this, but I'm going to say it again for our people. He did really good lifting last week. so he does the quote weightlifting class at school where they do workouts and cardio and all the things to stay in shape. And he squatted 500 pounds. Oh, wow. And that was the most out of everybody. Yeah. And, he's a member of the thousand pound club, which does not mean that he likes thousand pound girls. As I asked him, it means that his, his squat, his bench and something else totaled over a thousand pounds. so he's actually got records at school now as a sophomore, which I'm like, holy crap. He is So athletic. It's crazy. It's crazy. I mean, I know he gets it all from me. It's obvious. So they finished their basketball season last week. Their JV team ended their season like 23 and two or something very close. Like only lost like two, maybe three games. He and two other kids were asked to play with the varsity. So they dressed out on Friday night with the varsity team. They had a game against Catawba Ridge, and it's Juicy and this other kid named Naje, and at the end of the game, it was like 40 seconds left, and we were up by like 11 or something, and they were going to put him in. It didn't work out, but we were all like, this is their time. You know, we don't expect them to play, right? It's just the privilege of being able to dress out and to go. Right. He had a three hour practice today with them, so we'll see how that goes. No, not, but I, uh, no. And it just, so they're outta school this week for the winter intercession or whatever they call it. And he's like, I thought I wasn't gonna have practice this week, and here we are. And I was like, that'll be okay. It's like two hours a day, you'll be all right. Yeah. Well, Dylan only goes to school. We Mondays and Wednesdays right now. Yeah. and then are they out tomorrow for President's Day? They are. Mm-hmm But last Wednesday. I'm the teacher canceled class. So he's had like an eight day weekend. Oh my God. Which is really good with him wanting to work a lot. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm like, well, make sure you're doing your assignments that she's signing. Cause it's college class. And that's the thing, I guess the professors. They're already learning that, that they'll just cancel or do whatever. but he is working a lot, like he was working today, right? Yeah. You're going to take him to some supper? He's, I think, sick of food there, so. I get it. I get it. Anywhere you go, you don't want to do it all the time. Yeah. I never worked in like a food setting. Yeah. I always worked at a regular retail store when I was that age. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I never worked like where I prepared food, but I my sister and I were servers at, a retirement community and we basically just like cleared the tables and poured coffee and did kind of like errands for the, for the residents that live there. but it wasn't like, I'm making food or anything. I was not. A cook. Yeah. No, I mean, I worked at, let's see, I worked at a clothing store and then I went to, that's when DVDs were still a thing. Yes. I've worked at a DVD store at the mall and then I, I went to Claire's and I worked there for a while. Did you pierce people's ears? I did. We talked about this. We did. Don't ever get your ears pierced. They don't really train you. Did you used to have your belly button pierced? I still do. You still do? Did you take it out when you had Dylan? I had to. Yeah. Yeah. And then you put it back. I think I've been pierced. You went for it? Believe it or not, I was cute enough to have mine pierced. Yeah, I still do. It's still there. Dang it. It is. but I'm allergic to anything metals, that isn't gold, like real gold. Yeah. And so when I initially, well, they use surgical steel, but when I went to go switch it. When I first got it done, it got so infected. Cause I just use like whatever. Right. not realizing. Right. And it got really infected. And then I had to go get like a gold, like real gold belly ring. I always thought when people said that they were just really wanting like gold jewelry, not stainless steel. It's a real thing. Yeah. Even wearing rings and stuff like that, like I would get a, really bad, like almost like exit. Okay. Yeah. It was bad. Oh, earrings. Yeah. I wear anything but gold earrings. Yeah. Even for just like a minute after like an hour, they start itching and then if I leave them in any longer than that, it'll get crusty and stuff. It's just like, Oh, it's red. And well, now I know. Mm hmm. Not to buy stuff, anything but gold. Don't be cheap. Don't be cheap. Mm mm. I will know. Yes, you will. You hear that, sugar daddies? Oh my goodness, that's funny. so yeah, that's, I don't know, nothing really new for me. Yeah, nothing new. Well, I did also figure out that Jackson is my child. I would hope I've been wondering for a while, thinking he might've gotten switched because he, he and I act alike as far as temperament and humor and things like that. But I'm a reader. He does not want to open a book. I love the beach until recently. He was not a beach kid. And I think it's because he was bored. Like, yeah. there was really never anything that we had to do in, you know, nothing much together. And then he was like, mama, I watched this documentary. And I was like, wait a minute, let me just absorb this. He watched one of those documentaries about, the mattress stores, being like where money is laundered. Yeah, yeah. And he was like, it was very interesting. I was like, I'm so proud of you right now. I know. Well, speaking of, I watched that series that we talked about last week, which one on Netflix, based off of the Australian girl. Oh yeah. Apple cider vinegar. Yeah. So it was okay. Okay. It was like, not great. I think they could have done it and like, Made it just into like a movie. Yeah, not like a six part series or whatever. Okay. but it was, I mean, it was okay. It was okay. I started watching Gilmore Girls. Did you? It's cute. You never watched it? No. It's, it's cute. So I'm just like four episodes in maybe. Does it get, more drama ish? Yeah. Because I, okay. Cause I feel like it's, it's just a lot right now at the beginning with the girl and The grandparent. Yes. So the first season is kind of getting to know all the characters Okay, and then it gets into like like I'll need girlfights or any boyfriends and none of that is going on, right? Right. Yeah, so I think the second season is okay We'll pop into that. but if you wanted drama, I told you to watch Gossip Girl I thought you said Gilmore Girls. Gossip Girl. Oh, gosh. Oh, I suck. But I watched Gilmore Girls when it was on. That's like a cult following. Yeah, I think maybe that's what it was. Gossip Girl. Cause I kept like, where's my cloth? No, Gossip Girl. Okay. so I didn't even catch that when I went back and listened to the podcast. Talk about it. Yeah. Yeah. and then I also watched a movie'cause I just needed background. Yeah. Which, while I was working on the episodes, uploading'em mm-hmm and it was called Honeymoon Crashers. Okay. And I think you would enjoy it. Okay. It's just a goofy, like Okay. Comedy type of movie. But, the guy's wife leaves him right before the wedding mm-hmm And so he takes his mom on the honeymoon. Okay. And because they wanted all the free stuff. Yeah. they told them that they were, Oh my gosh. Yeah. You got a lot. It was, that sounds real cute. It was cute. Yeah. That sounds funny. I started watching though. because Gilmore girls, it's not a rough show. No, like it's not, there's, you know, and I need some grit. so I started watching, you know, it comes up with the, you might like this, Goliath and it's Billy Bob Thornton and he is, you know, he's really rough around that. Well, yeah, and he, but he's, he's nothing he has ever in as he like a laid back, wholesome dude. Yeah. but it's where he is an attorney. He started this big mega practice, but he's not with the practice anymore. And we're figuring out why. And he's, it's almost like an Aaron Brockovich thing where he's like fighting for the little guy kind of thing. but then it's also got a lot of Grit, like I said in it. Did you like Dexter? Yes, but I never finished Dexter. I don't know why, but I got like several seasons in. Paramount Plus, just released like a prequel. The New Blood or something? Yeah, it's, um, Original Sin. Yes, yes. So I started, I just started watching it. Okay. It's, I'm like three episodes in. Interesting. Yeah, you kind of see how he came. Yeah, which you get some of that. Right, but it's like his first kill. Okay, okay. Yeah, and like. Probably good. you know, his dad kind of supporting it, but not really. And it's, yeah, it's right. It's kind of scaled back from the real Dexter. I I'm only three episodes in. Right. I don't know, but Brian and I have been watching as our bonding time, you know, trying to find something we both agree on is a night. Mayor. Yeah. But we've been watching Sons of Anarchy. Oh, that's awesome. I love that show. I love that show. Yeah. Yeah. but I've watched it all the way through. He's in a, new, serial killer documentary, not documentary, but like they made a show based off of, is the Happy Face Killer maybe? I don't know. Okay. He's, he's gonna be, a serial killer in a show. Okay. Okay. well, we have, don't, don't sully him like that. Don't sully him. Well, you know, it's, there's a lot in Sons of Anarchy that's like political and not just like real legit politics, but like between the motorcycle clubs and all that. So we have to, we have to Stay on task while you're watching it. I could not get into any of the spinoff shows I couldn't either I've watched a little bit of the Mayans one I just can't and I heard that it is so good. But yeah, it's not for me. Mm hmm I was so excited with cuz you know, I'm on after some of the anarchy. Oh, yeah I was so excited. Yeah, I would like to have a prequel And have the, the dad and grandma, they're younger. Right. Man, he is such a, I can't stand them. But then again, you kind of like, like, she does things and you're like, oh, and then she does other things. You're like, what the heck? Yeah. It's all the, all the feelings. Yes. So, yeah, we've been doing a lot of that and I'm house sitting. Well, I'm dogs hitting for some people that I've watched dogs for before. So they're out of town and I'm just going over a few times a day loving on them and cuddling them up. So, you know, just doing all that. Jay's got a varsity game tomorrow night's Monday. By the time this drops, he'll have had some PT. No, I'm just kidding. He's not going to see the court. And we're okay with that. Um, so I have a new bucket this item. I saw on Tik TOK, of course. and I know I've seen it before, but I just never thought about it, but to they have the sleep at the aquarium experience where you sleep in the shark tunnel. Like we're like the sharks swim around. Okay. And, but you get the after hours tour and you get okay. And meet and greet the animals and stuff. Okay. And I can do this. And they've got like different ones. Like they got like family ones, and then they have the adult ones where you get alcohol. So what, what aquariums offer this? There's a bunch of them. The one in Charlotte doesn't have like an adult one. They just have like the family one, which I think our boys are, Are they're in between, like they're too old for like the kitty one. Right. But they're not old enough for the Right. But the, the one in Tennessee, is the one that I saw, the Gatlinburg Uhhuh is the one that I saw the TikTok on, and I was like, that is so freaking cool. That is pretty cool. That is pretty cool. Now I will say, I would go, I don't know if I could sleep under the shark thing. Really? Yeah. I can do like when you, when you go in there, I can go in it. But the thought of being under all that water mm-hmm. Almost freaks me out. Oh, I feel like I don't, I wouldn't sleep. I would just like sit there and watch and I might really enjoy, enjoy it once I got in there. But yeah, like watching movies when they're diving and like they go in the caves, I have a hard time with that. Did you watch, um, was it something feet down? Um, like, it's like, 20, 27 27 feet. I don't know. It's like the shark when they're in the shark cage And the shark cage breaks like the chain. Oh, no, and they go all the way down to the bottom of the ocean No, see no that freaked me out. Yeah. Yeah the thought of of being so deep like that And like I said being in a cave underwater. Yeah Or have you seen the ones where, they're rescuing people that are trapped, something like that, or, uh, um, I, all that stuff. And I can swim and I love the water. And I've never gone scuba diving. No, snorkeling yes and I don't think I could because of just the thought, unless I was not going too far. Yeah. Well that was our, our gym class or P. E. in college. That's so cool. And so we did it. We got our open water dive done. We got our like, uh. past or whatever, like we were certified to do it and I don't think we ever did it again. Does that expire? I don't know. I would not trust myself to do it. Right, right, right. Well, think about other equipment changes. Yeah, no, I wouldn't I would not trust my, yeah, my knowledge of anything at this point, uh, let alone life saving equipment. Right, right, right. but yeah, that, I mean, it was cool at the time, but again, I was like in my, I was like 20. Yeah. Just, I don't know. Just, I don't, I don't know what it is. That's just the thing that I find myself when we watch a movie and like, if the car goes off, like, I find myself holding my breath. Yeah. and that's the thing, even snorkeling, I forget that I could breathe. Yeah, it's just natural, like, hold your breath underwater. Yeah. And then it takes me a minute. I'm like, oh, I can't breathe. Like, you know, I can. Yeah. And so. Yeah. so I don't, uh, and like I said, a stupid thing. No, it doesn't. It makes, I get it because I'm scared of going in a cave underwater. Yeah. I don't know if I feel like it's going to trap me in or something. A regular cave is fun. Underwater is fun. Cave in water is a no go for me. Yeah. It's a hard pass. Yeah. But I do think that'd be neat to like have a meet and greet and I want to hold the penguins. Can we do that? We, so we went, when my nephew was little, When we lived in Tennessee, he came to visit and we went to the aquarium there. Mm-hmm And did the penguin experience. Yes. but you didn't get to hold the penguins or anything, you just gotta pet them and you had to use two fingers and so you couldn't like play with them. Do they have fur or feathers? I don't know. I think feathery, like, it's like a feathers. It's a feather fur. but you got the pet on mm-hmm You've seen the ones where the otters stick their little hands through. I know. I know. I just want to, I, I, this is like, that was my calling. I should have been like an animal person. I know. Well, we should, but not to fix them when they're sick, like just to play with them. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I love being an animal cuddler. Right. Well, you know, they do have those, I think we've talked about them before, like the, the panda bear rockers. I'll have to look up if penguins have fur feathers. I'm sorry. Well, we just discussed this. They do have projectile poop. The things you learn that you didn't even know. Penguins have feathers, not fur. You're welcome. well, yeah, because you know, oh, okay. I'm like going to cartoons. I'm like, except they have like the big feathers. And happy feet. But you know, they're they're kind of like little Oh my God. No, I'm sound weird. Not. I was going to say they're kind of like little birds. Well, no crap. They are birds, but you know how baby birds have like the really soft, like a downy feather. Yeah. Oh my God. Let's talk about something. Yeah. Anything. Change directions. I don't care where we go from here. well, I've got some doge updates. Okay. Give me the doge update. Okay. Cause I love like listening to what we have wasted money on for God knows how long. And this, he's actually made me mad because why are we messing with animals? Right. Cause we don't like that on this show. Um, 3 million on steroid study and hamster fighting. Why are we fighting hamsters? And why are we shooting him up with steroids? Steroids and hamsters that are fighting. Okay. And where do hamsters come from? Because there's no, like, hamsters in the wild. I know, but I'm stuck on, in my mind, now there is a hamster wearing Heart raging? But wearing the, what is it called? Like the little, um, like a gi? With the headband and like the little, like the karate suit? That's what's in my head. I'm thinking like Rambo, like, like the kangaroos. Oh yeah, I know. Stand on their hind legs. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so. But yeah, why? 3 million dollars on that. 2. 3 million. This is like. But wait, where do they come from? Like there's no hamsters in the wild, are there? Like where did hamsters come from? I don't know. Google. Okay, yeah. Okay, so moving on. 2. 3 million used to study the cocaine effects in beagles. Oh my god. Why are we giving beagles cocaine? Oh my gosh. 600, 000 in parrot romance, like parrots. How much? 600 or 600, 000. It's a lot of parrot porn. You got an OnlyFans? 500, 000 in racial aggression in mice. Okay. Okay. Are we fighting the white mice against the black mice? Or are we seeing how the mice react to white or black people? Racial aggression in mice. That's all we got. 1. 1 million in training mice to binge drink. Why? That's why they're racist. Why? But why? Like, who even likes This is making me sad. I have all the visuals. Now, the hamsters and the geese, and then we have a cookout where the mice are sitting at the picnic tables with beer. They're redneck. They're redneck mice. That's why they're racist. And their wife, like they're standing there. Yes, but no pants. And then we get the parrots getting it. Yes, yes, absolutely. We got Marvin Gaye in the background. Wow. All right. 2. 1 million to encourage Ethiopians to wear shoes. Like, let them make their own decisions. Right, they can do whatever the freak they want. If they've never worn shoes and they're fine with it, just don't try to force your shoe wearing habits on somebody. 2. 7 million to study Russian cats on treadmills. 875, 000 to study the effects of cocaine on quails when they mate. Like they've got something going on with these birds getting it all they obsessed with with the bird porn 187, 000 to verify if children love their pets. Oh my gosh I can pretty much guarantee you that 99. 9 percent of kids love their pets, right? Why is that a study? So my question is I mean obviously I think all these studies are fronts for something else, obviously. Yeah. Okay. So what, so really going to, right. I know. We don't know. That's what they're trying to figure out. That's just, and that's why all these people are trying to shut it down because Yeah. Right. Wonder if those people, um. With the, how to work my headlights job, how they're making it through. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So, those are our updates for the week because I just keep hearing the ridiculousness of where the money has gone. And it just blows my mind, but it blows my mind that it's gone on this long. Yeah. Like that nobody has been like, huh. I mean, like, why was this never a thing to check, because people were making money? Well, yeah, and people that are making the money are greasing the wheels and all the things. But, sidebar,hamstestors are native to various regions of Europe and parts of Asia and Russia. Like, in the wild? Yeah. Like, do they look different? Oh, they're adorable. They live in a variety of habitats, including grassland meadows and deserts. Look at'em. Oh my gosh. Oh, they are cute. Oh, he's standing on his leg. Mm-hmm Can you picture him like swinging Yeah. With his wife beater on. Aw, they're really cute. Okay. I just look at that guy. Oh, he look like a chipmunk. Mm-hmm He might be in bread He might be a, a cross street. Yes. Kinda like a mocking j. Oh, they are cute. Oh, no, I had one as a kid though. We did not. Well, I don't think we did, but we did. His name was chocolate chip, but it died. But I was like super young, like it wasn't my pet, it was my sibling's pet. Did you love your pet? Did you need a study? I don't remember. I was like in, I was like three or four. I was in pre k, like the early pre k. I know you well enough to know that you loved your pet. I'm sure I did. And there was no study needed for that. I did have hermit crabs though that freaked me the heck out when they came out of the shell. Yeah, oh yeah. And I had nothing to do with them after that. Have you ever seen a turtle not in its shell? No, I Don't, don't, don't look it up. No. Cause my curiosity got, obviously, I've got to know the answers to the things. Don't look it up. No. Again, can we talk about anything else? Well, there is a new cult like group. Oh, yay. Called Zizians. I think that's how you pronounce it. Okay. and the only reason it caught my eye was because they were in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Nice. and it's like a multi state thing. Okay. What are they? They're killing people. Oh, not nice. What are they? What's the deal? So I asked Chat GPT to summarize like four articles that I put in because I didn't want to really actually read all of them Yeah, so I put in like four articles and asked to summarize all of them. So, there is a manhunt right now for The Zizians and it's a radical death cult linked to six deaths that they know of so far But they are investigating to see if they're linked to other deaths. Okay A nationwide manhunt is underway for members of the Zizianza pseudo intellect radical group described as a death cult with ties to six fatalities across the United States. The group, which includes tech savvy individuals from Berkeley, has been linked to a series of violent crimes, including the murder of a U. S. Border Patrol agent, the stabbing of a California landlord, and the shooting of a wealthy couple in Pennsylvania. So do we know like what their cause is or what are they? So like, why are they like, is this a religious thing or? Um, well, one of the articles, it doesn't happen in here. It said that they are radical vegan, vegans. I'd be angry too, but they did say most of their members are, and this has nothing to do with political stuff and like whatever. This is just what the articles had said. Um, most of them are trans or like non binary and, I think the Big outcry right now with everything going on in the, news and stuff, but the 1 person that was in this cult, the, the couple in Pennsylvania that died that, it was her parents, like, she killed her parents. Okay, like, I mean, it was so, but then, you look up these people and they all look like they're bananas. some of them worked for Google in the past, some of them worked for NASA. Oh, they don't know how big the group is. they have three, one person died in the shootout with the, border patrol agent. They, they were, I guess, known to have. Done the murders and they were on the lookout and, got pulled over and the person got out of the car, just started shooting. so there was a shootout. The border patrol agent died as well as the shooter died., 2 other people got taken into custody and then I don't know if they gave the names of the other people. so there's 3 other people that they are searching for, but they believe it's a bigger cult widespread. Yeah, that's scary. It is scary. They were, they were in Chapel Hill, they were renting a house in Chapel Hill at 1 point. Not too long ago. Okay. is that their most recent place that we know? Well, no, they were in, I think, Virginia or okay. No, Vermont. Okay. The shooting happened. but. The people in Chapel Hill that I had seen them said that they were out at night a lot we're in all dark black French coat type of things never speaking to anybody just like super weird Mm hmm. oh, I hadn't heard about that oh my goodness Yeah, it's crazy. Well, mm hmm on a little bit of a lighter note You what the Eagles went in the Superbowl. Yes. They had their parade. A mil, over a million people went. It's crazy. Yes. But did you see the, the fans getting married at the parade? And the woman wearing an ankle monitor? Gotta love Eagle fans. Gotta love it. Keep it classy. You know what? They'll never forget that, right? No. Never. Um, somebody got married at one of the playoff games. In the parking lot. Really? Uh huh. How romantic. Yeah. So we also just celebrated Valentine's Day and, uh, yeah, we don't do anything around those days. We, we've not really, I think our first Valentine's Day when we were dating, we did something. I, I, I don't, I don't know the last time. Yeah, uh, we don't, we don't. but did you hear that there was a single man in China that has booked every other seat in a theater to split up couples on Valentine's Day? That is a great level of petty. Yeah. I thought that was pretty awesome. Thought it was pretty good. Yeah. We didn't do anything from out Tuesday. No, no, Dylan, Ruthie has COVID or she had COVID. So, they are doing Valentine's Day tomorrow. Maybe you'll get some 50 percent off candy. well, she likes to do like adult coloring book stuff. Oh yeah. So he got her markers and a coloring book. That's thoughtful. Candy. So that's nice. Yeah. He's a sweet kid. He's all right. Yeah. I'll keep him. I love him. Me too. It was so funny talking to him when we got here. Like Why don't you just become, like, the steep voiced dude who Again, talk about anything else, moving on. do you want to hear a really funny law that somebody brought to wherever the laws go to? I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill. So Mississippi State Senator Bradford Blackmun introduced a bill that states any time a man ejaculates it needs to be for the specific purpose of reproducing not just for fun. There's a three strike system and they believe this was brought to light because of all of the stuff going on with like women's reproductive whatever and the role the man has in the process. But could you imagine if I mean, we'll never see the light of day because it's like just full of men in the lawmaking places. So who presented this again? It was, Mississippi State Senator Bradford Blackmon. I'm surprised that Brad, Brad, what a name. Bradford Blackman. I'm surprised that Bradford and it wanted this, this kind of a thing. I'm pretty sure it's just because of all the reproductive rights stuff going on and he knew it would never get past ever. But yeah, so like, no, like solo. Playtime. No, just enjoying your partner when you're not trying to make a baby. Yeah, make a baby. No, no non mating. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Yeah. Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds apparently, so Ryan Reynolds is like all over, yeah, and now it's come out that he's like, Kind of a jerk. Yeah. Which is so sad for me. I hate it. Me too hate. But I guess they were friends at one point, like besties. I see that. and I don't know what happened. I was trying to find out what happened, but like there's nothing really out there about the beef. Yeah. So there was a red carpet interview with Jake and they asked him. What would it take to be BFFs with him again? And he was like, yeah, that ship has sailed. Nope. And they asked him if he had any words for Ryan. And like, when I tell you his whole tone and face, like, like was like, he said, I have nothing to say to him. And his whole demeanor change. I wonder what happened. And I was like, ooh, yeah. So I saw that right before you got here and I was kind of searching. But yeah, but like what you were like, I have nothing. To say to him, and I was like, Ooh, snap. And now all this stuff is out about him being a complete bonehead. Yeah. I don't know much about Jake though. I don't either, but,, he was in a lot of movies like Yeah. Previously like Yeah. When we were a little bit younger. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I always thought he was a great actor, but Yeah. Ooh. Yeah. So I wanna know the beef. 100 percent that sounds like very, very personal. Yeah. alright, you ready for am I the a hole? I am ready. Alright, so we got, um, from Pink Basket. Am I the a hole for hiding from my friend? when I was in town. Okay, my friend Tilly and I, both 35, 34 female, are very close. We live far away so we can't meet much, but visit each other's towns a few times a year and meet then. There's things to do in both our towns and both have. Mutual and non mutual friends family in each other's towns. We talk every day and have really close bonds sharing happy difficult moments. I'm closer to her than anyone. All these years of Tilly's coming into my town, she makes a huge fuss out of telling me, talks to me on her journey down. Make sure I have Time for her and we can even meet. She'll update on what she's doing like visiting a restaurant I recommend or a mutual friend. She'll tell me when she's leaving and that she's home safe. In the last two years Tilly started coming to my town without telling me only when she's already here for some reason she'll mention it and if I try to engage with her she'll act distant. She'll tell me why she's come and it's the truth as mutual friends are with her. Sometimes she's with her mom, whom I'm close to as well, so she's not doing anything. She's hiding. The first few times I gave an open ended invitation, as usual, and she didn't engage, she also left without telling me, or that she made it home. I didn't want to seem like I'm badgering her, so I left it. It made me feel really strange, and we didn't resume normal messaging for a few days. Some days she's only mentioned it as she had to ask me for someone's address, etc. And I wondered how many times she's done all of this without me knowing at all. I know people be thinking she wants to cool the friendship, and I did too. So in the last year, I've tried to gently talk to her after a few months and asked outright if there's anything wrong. But But she's insistent and said everything's fine between us and she's avoided talking to me more. In between all this, she's talking to me normally, not calling to friendship in any other way. And most importantly, if I go to her town, she comes running to surprise me or insist I come to hers. Often I'm with other people she doesn't know well, but I always make her feel like I appreciate the effort and include her. So she's kept the same energy in every other way but seemingly holding me at arm's length when she comes to my town then we act like it never happened. After two years I feel confused and unsure on where we stand. Then last week a group of friends and I were going to Tillie's town. Tillie doesn't know them well and thinking about everything I felt weird about telling her and decided not to say anything. Well, Tilly's friend saw me from afar and mentioned it assuming she'd already know because of how close we are. I got a message from Tilly saying she knows I'm here trying to laugh it off and that I didn't tell her, and then saying it was embarrassing with her friend that she didn't know. I was taken aback and said I thought she preferred it like this as that's what she's been doing. She got annoyed but barely said anything other than, it's not the same thing and now hasn't been communicating with me which feels horrible, am I the a hole? That was a bunch of a mess. Yeah. it sounds like to me that the friend, when she comes to the writer's town. wants to go and like do all the fun things and see other people and not have like a tag along. Yeah. But it should definitely work both ways. Absolutely. I don't think he's an a hole at all. No, I don't think so either. He's tried to, to approach it already. Yeah. and it was like, no, no, nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong. And I don't see anything wrong with you going to somebody's town and not want to spend every moment with that person, especially when there's other family and friends there or sometimes you just want to hang out with somebody else or be by yourself or Do things that they're not interested in and that's fine But you're a 35 year old female person you first of all, you don't answer anybody in this situation, right? You don't owe anybody really anything other than the courtesy of saying hey i'm coming in You want to hang out or i'm coming in i'll see them i'll catch you next time I don't think anybody's the a-hole here. I think, well, I do because if you're trying to address the situation, it should be address like, Hey, no, I just wanted to chill with my mom, or I wanted to, whatever. Right. Which I'm sure her friend would've been fine with, but don't get mad when it happens the other way when that happens to you. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't think that the writer is the a-hole. I think that the friend kind of is. Yeah. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. I guess that's what I was trying to wrap my head around. I don't think the writer is either, they're trying to keep it smooth. They're trying to do things. Yeah, but yeah, the way that the, the Tilly person is that and now she's not really talking to her. Right you should have a secret boyfriend or something. Maybe, maybe, maybe that was, yeah, I don't. That was weird. Yeah. Do you want to talk about our book? Yeah. Okay. So we read A Friend Indeed. Yes. By Erica Ray. Yes. So, chapter GPT. Yep. In A Friend Indeed by Elka Ray, two childhood friends, Dana and Joe, reunite after years apart, only for Dana to ask Joe to help cover up a crime. Yeah. As Dana. And Jo becomes entangled in dangerous secrets. She begins to question Dana's motives and the truth about what really happened. Tensions rise as Jo uncovers lies and betrayal, putting her own life at risk. The story explores themes of trust, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to protect themselves. It's a gripping tale of suspense and the dark side of friendship. What'd you think? I didn't guess the ending. No, at all. No. It moved a little bit slow in the middle. Yep. it started off great, got kind of slow. And then like, it was like, bam. And it was a crazy emotional ride at the end. Yeah. Yeah. so I think it was good. And I definitely loved that there was like three or four twists in it. Yes. at the end. Yes. I definitely did not guess any of them. No. Yeah. But I kind of hated high school Dana. I hated her. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of her either. I don't like her as an adult either, but like I really hated her as like a high school. Yeah. Dana. Did you like Jo? I felt bad for Joe in high school. Yeah. like when they were like doing the flashbacks. Yeah. But when they had said that, um, obviously spoiled, Oh, if you're not a bookie, it's your time to leave. Sorry. Don't let the door hit you. Peace out. And obviously spoilers if you're still sticking around. when they talked about, at the party where she was getting assaulted and then Dana made it out like it was her fault. Yeah that wasn't okay. Right. And then when they got stuck on the side of the road, when they were both drinking and she made Joe drive and Joe didn't even know how to drive. Yeah. And they went off the road and the older college guy stops and Dana makes Joe perform things. For help. Yeah, it wasn't okay. It wasn't, very lopsided friendship, very much so. And I'm surprised that they were still friends up until this point with everything that she kept doing to Joe. But then, you know, Joe made some bad choices and Dana was, and her husband helped Joe out of the situation, with the job. I did like, well, okay, let me go back. I thought that their daughters were going to be siblings. So did I. I kept waiting for something to, when they were talking about DNA and all that, I kept thinking for something to pop out there. I was curious about the brothers. Just because they did talk so much about them. They were in the story so much. I was like, something's going on there going to happen there. Did not expect the ending, which is what they But it was, I'm so glad that, that Joe Got the right revenge scam. Yeah. Yes. Scammed her. Yes, she did she But wait, there was a cliffhanger at the end, wasn't there? Yeah, the daughter. But the daughter knew. The daughter saw them getting on the boat to dump. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. What do you hope happens like after that? What do you hope? Do you hope the daughter just forgets and inches goes and, well, she's so young. She's five. Yeah. So it's easy to kind of like sway her to, yeah. Convince her she saw something else or whatever. Yeah. After time goes by, right. so I don't think anything would really happen with that. I was waiting for Dana to sound like a private, private detective or something to find Joe. But since the neighbor got arrested and play guilty, like, Yeah, the neighbor's daughter, the teenager with the dude, with the adult, yeah. With the husband, yeah. And also the son. And then it all like clicked because Yeah. How smug she was. Yeah. When Dana found her in her son's room. Yes. Yeah. And the way she, like the mm-hmm The attitude and the, yeah. I, I was not a fan of that girl, Gina. Gemma. Gemma, which I like her name though. Me too. But, um, but yeah, I was not a fan of her. But I wondered, so, I mean, obviously her mom, Angela, knew what had happened, that's why she pled guilty, I'm assuming. Well, they basically said that they were going to bring Gemma in as an accomplice if she cannot plead guilty. Yeah. So she took the set to save her daughter. The daughter knew, or the mom knew, that the daughter was sleeping with, yeah, the adult. There was just a whole bunch of, a whole, everything was intertwined. There was so many pieces to the situation. The crime. The crime. The crime. But it was, It was easy to follow for me. It was me, too. It wasn't slow, but it was very easily, laid out. Yeah, yeah, without giving too much away. Right. So, I agree with you. They gave you a lot of detail, not too much, but you get so much information. And then all of a sudden it just comes together. Did you think that, Joe was the one though that was blackmailing her? No, I didn't. I started, I honestly started to get a little curious. Like what the only people that would have been in her room are in the daughter's room were like No, I, I thought,, it was the high school for Angela or whatever her name was, Jim as mom. I thought it was her that was blackmailing. Yeah. What about the red herring of the, Housekeeper. Like I kept thinking she was gonna have some type. I thought she was the murderer at one point. Like I thought she did it.'cause she was also there for so long. Right. Like, I'm assuming the children, she had everything. Right. Yeah. I felt something was gonna come out with her. Mm-hmm But I, I mean. She was just she was just there. It was a good book. Yeah, I thought it was good I wouldn't give it eight. I'm gonna go seven. Yeah, just cause of that lag. Mm hmm. Yeah, it was it was good It was a good length. It wasn't too long or too short either Sometimes they're so long and you're like, come on get to the point. Yeah, But I liked it. I'd read that author again. Same. So I think next week is The Good Girl. The Good Girl by Mary Kabuka? Mm hmm. Something? Mm hmm. And I've got the blurb. Okay. I've been, I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they will look like when she's scared, but I will. One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on again, off again boyfriend, but when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with a stranger. Yeah, sorry. I thought I could help. But okay, but when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with a stranger. At first, Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one night stand, but following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life. When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's Mother Eve and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually caused the family's world to shatter. So I downloaded it. I just started listening to it. I feel like I might've read this before. but I like this author. I'm not going to say her name. I do too. but the first I don't know, half hour. I was like, oh gosh, I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this. Does it pick up? I don't know I just started it. Well, apparently I have reached my limit in Hoopla already. That's dangerous. It's only the 16th. What am I going to do with the rest of my, I went in like maybe on the 5th or 6th and downloaded all the books for the so that I knew that I didn't cause they're good for 21 days. Yeah. Smart, smart, smart. I might have to read this one with my eyeballs. Is it on Libby? No. I'll figure it out. Do you have Kindle Unlimited? Yes. See if it's on there and you can have Alexa read it. Read it to me like this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll figure it out. I'm not worried about it. But this was fun today. It was. Double up. Yep. Surprise for everybody. We've got another surprise guest you'll hear soon. Yes. It'll be a whole, it's own separate episode, but we are excited about it. Yep. And, I think we are planning on doing some on location recording too. Yes, I cannot wait. So we're going to go out in the community and check out some different like bookstores and different businesses and, and get some interviews that way too. Love it. And so that'll be exciting. Yes. Bookstore. Yes. I listen, I listen to so many audio books, but I love buying books. Oh, I do too. And when we were talking to our special guests and she was talking about the Bath and Body Works having the smells, I was like, I wonder if Bell smells like a bookstore. Yeah. Probably not. It smells like roses. Yeah. That'd be very musty. Yeah. Don't know why I'm obsessed with buying books, but I listened to all my books. Yeah. I just, I like, I just, I like books. I like books. I don't know. It's weird. It's a weird, I get, I feel you a hundred percent. Yeah. But this was fun. So if you guys want us to continue, we need you to leave us some reviews. Please. Thank you. and tell your friends, tell your friends, spread the word, spread the word, like and subscribe and share or whatever else needs to happen. But if you don't leave your views, we're going to stop. I really wouldn't. Do all Yes. Thanks. But we love you. Love you. Bye.