We're Obsessed With You
Emily Hymes and Kyle O'Donnell are two best friends and late night television producers. When they aren't working, they're texting, DMing, and voice noting each other about everything they're obsessed with – both online and in NYC.
On We're Obsessed With You, Emily and Kyle invite their favorite personalities to dive into the things they can't stop thinking about. This is an interview show about hyperfixations, served with pop culture expertise and just a little bit of brain rot.
We're Obsessed With You
Obsessing Over Tatte, Tennis & Edward Schmit
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Kyle is holding down the fort while Emily's on maternity leave, so naturally he's bringing extra obsessions this week. From the new to-go coffee cup he can't put down to his fondness for nude beaches, it runs the gamut.
Then, it's a WOWY first and a full-circle moment when one of Kyle's obsessions becomes the guest: Edward Schmit, author of "The Open Era." They talk about his hit book, his passion for coffee shops, and his best hacks for the US Open and Wimbledon. Plus, Edward reveals his ~MEMORIES~ related obsession and plays an all-new round of Obsessed or Over It.
00:00 – Welcome to WOWY
03:17 – Kyle’s First Obsession
05:53 – Kyle’s Second Obsession
08:18 – Edward's Interview
25:50 – Edward's Obsession
34:21 – Obsessed or Over It
New show, new obsessions, every Wednesday.
Hosts: Emily Hymes and Kyle O'Donnell
Guest: Edward Schmit
Executive Producer: Julia Aubuchon
Technical Director: Drew Downing
Graphic Designer: Maddie Jones
Original Music: Reuben Alexander
For RaffHouse Productions: Haleigh Raff and Glenn Raff
Keep in touch:
Instagram » http://bit.ly/4p5Dsxm
TikTok » https://bit.ly/47YvkbR
Email » wereobsessedwithyou@gmail.com
This Week's Obsessions:
Kyle: CHaKOLAB Dual-Layer Tumbler and Nude Beaches
Edward: Canon Sure Shot Seventy Six Zoom
We're Emily and Kyle. We started as coworkers in late night television and now we're best friends exploring NYC and our FYPs.
SPEAKER_02This is an interview show about obsessions. Ours, theirs, and maybe yours too. Welcome to We're Obsessed With You. Hi, Emily. Oh, this is so sad, everyone. I'm Kyle O'Donnell, and this is We're Obsessed With You, the show we talked to the people we're obsessed with. About the things they're obsessed with. And it's just me today, and it will be for the foreseeable future because Emily has had a baby. Congratulations, Emily. Um, we're very, very excited for you. We miss you so much. We're sending you so much love. I know everyone in the Howie universe loves you so much and is excited for this next chapter. Uh, for your life and also my life, because this is a weird thing to be doing this solo. So we're in a transition period, everyone. We're trying to figure out what this is gonna look like without Emily. So if you have any ideas, anything you don't like, anything you like, please let us know. Um, I'll be soliloquying a little bit at the top of the show and then interviews with guests. It's gonna continue to be a fun time, but we're figuring it out. So please bear with us. And if you have any ideas, please contact us. You can DM us or email us at we're obsessedwithyou at gmail.com. I want to talk about what happened yesterday when I was on the subway coming home. I love the subway, I think it is the most New York experience. I know the subway sucks at times, but for what it does, it's kind of amazing. But yesterday I was on the subway going back to Brooklyn, and this old, I was on the Upper West Side, and this old woman who was like the embodiment of the Upper West Side. Like she was here when it was called New Amsterdam. She was this like old crotchety woman, and she had her carriage thing. And instead of asking me to move, she just goes and rams the thing into my heel. And I was like, okay. So I move, and then she just kept tapping people and being like, She was like post-verbal, that's how old she was, but mobile, like with her wagon and would sit down. In the meantime, this single dad and child get on the train, and the child is crying, wailing so much. And my heart breaks for the dad because the dad is like, I'm trying, like, this baby will not shut the fuck up. And I'm trying and I feel so bad and I don't know what to do. And it was just a beautiful New York moment because there were all these nurses that had just gotten off their shifts and they were in their scrubs and they were on the subway, and they're all offering tips like a warm bath when you get home, some food, like maybe it's this, maybe it's that, like that cough doesn't sound good. So this is all happening. There's like a symposium of registered nurses all talking about this crying baby, and the guy is being like is taking it all in. Then this crotchety old woman, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, she walks up to the father and just goes, The baby's hungry, and kept walking. That was it. Just said the baby's hungry and kept walking. And I was like, wow, you never know what you're gonna get in New York City. Was that a good story? We're gonna find out. Um, here are the things I'm obsessed with this week. I am so incredibly obsessed with this new cup. A few weeks ago, Emily talked about her TikTok shop experience with the dress. And now I have made my own TikTok shop purchase. Once I knew that like it was a real thing and that Emily did it, I was like, okay, I can do it. So this is the Chocolab dual insert cup. I was looking for the longest time for a coffee cup that I could like be on the go with, and so many of them were like just boring or just crazy. And this one I thought was kind of perfect for so many reasons, but I'll tell you why. So this is again the Chocolab dual insert cup. Alright, cute, right? It's so cute, it makes me feel like Princess Peach. I don't know what about it, but I'm just like, how adorable. They have all different colors. This thing on the side, I brought this into work. People are like, what the hell is that? Lid for your straw. And it's it won't spill. Come on, guys. There's actual water in this. Oh, it just spilled a little bit, but that's because I shook it. But that is not is that not crazy? And there's a straw. So you take this off, you put it in to the side, now you're okay, cool. Right? It also is a dual insert. So it looks like your normal, like Stanley insulated water cup. It fits in a cup holder. But then look. It's glass on the inside. So you're not getting condensation on the outside, and you're not getting the taste of metallic because if you drink coffee out of a metallic thing, you're fucking crazy. You taste it, it's gross. I don't know, but I love drinking my iced coffee out of um glass, and this is just perfect. It is such a tight seal. Oh listen to that. Oh, Drew, can you hear that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. How much is it?
SPEAKER_02It is about $30 something dollars on the TikTok shop. Um, this is 20 ounces, they have different colors and everything, but I highly recommend it. Also, the TikTok shop, kind of incredible. Like, I thought this was going to get shipped in like six months. No, it's like a it came in like five days. I'm really obsessed with it. Here's another seal. Oh I love this chocolate lab cup so much. It really was the perfect to go coffee cup because I'm not spending seven dollars on a coffee everywhere I go. My second obsession, and I'll be bringing this to it tomorrow. Nude beaches. This is the summer I've been going to nude beaches. They're so fabulous. I think everyone in their life should at least go to one. In New York, there's Gunnison in New Jersey. Um you know, it's a ferry ride, so I consider a part of New York, even though it is New Jersey. Um, it's like a 30-minute uh ferry ride right to Gunnison. It is so, so, so fabulous. Uh straight, gay, whatever. Go to a nude beach. It's incredibly liberating, it's an amazing experience. And also the sun feels so good. And if you're embarrassed, go by yourself. Like if you don't want to go with friends, you'd be surprised how many friends would want to go with you. Uh but I think everyone should just go to a nude beach. Uh, Drew, did you ever go to a nude? Have you ever been to a nude beach?
SPEAKER_01I did when I was like 14 in Cairns, like in in North Australia. Yeah. And I was too young and I didn't participate. But it was interesting.
SPEAKER_02Are nude beaches common in Australia?
SPEAKER_01There's definitely a few, yeah. And there's also such rural beaches that it can just be a nude beach if it's not, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think it's fabulous. I think it's really cool. I think everyone should go at least once. I love it. Everyone, if you're enjoying the show, please rate and review us five stars on your app of choice, Spotify, Apple Music. We're on YouTube, please subscribe, rate and review us on um YouTube as well. That really helps us. And we're available on Gmail, as I said. We're obsessedwithyou at gmail.com. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Tell everyone, I know Facebook's dead. Follow us on Facebook. Repost us. Tell more people to follow us on Facebook. Um, it's a huge, huge, huge way you can support the show. Let's talk about our guest this week. Our guest this week is Edward Schmidt, or Eddie Schmidt, as I will now call him. He has a debut novel, The Open Era, which you may remember was my obsession a few weeks ago. It is a gay romance novel based in the world of tennis. So as we are going into the US Open here in New York, I thought this should be a fabulous interview. And guess what? It will be. Uh, we're going to talk about a lot about tennis, we're going to talk about theater, and I hear he has a really, really fun obsession for you. We'll be right back. Everyone, we are here with Edward Schmidt. Eddie Schmidt, welcome. We're obsessed with you. How's it going?
SPEAKER_03So kind, thank you, and it's going well.
SPEAKER_02You are the first person to have been an obsession and now on the show. No. Yeah. I converted. You converted. You and IRL. Yes. You've traded. Everybody else said nah. Yeah. And then I'm like, when? Yeah. They're fine. Yeah. But I loved the open era, your book, uh, your debut novel that just came out so much. And I was like, I gotta talk to you. It's leading up to the US Open. Um, so tell our listeners a little bit about yourself before we get into everything.
SPEAKER_03Sure. Hi, um, everybody. My name is Edward Schmidt. It says on the book, but you can call me Eddie. Um, yeah, this is my debut novel. It's um it came from like an obsession with tennis. Yes. I was a theater kid growing up, I didn't give a shit about sports. So it's very, very wild that like I have now written this sports romance. Yep. Um, I went to the US Open every year, but it was mostly for the vibes and like the 22, 24 dollar honey deuces. Yep. Um, but I was looking for an outlet to work on my mental health like around 2021. And when I went to the US Open that year, I got caught up in the like the sport of it all and like the competition. And um, yeah, I fell in love with the sport. I and I started playing, and I'd never played a sport since, I don't know, like T-ball or coach pitch or whatever it is. Um, and yeah, I found a coach. I took like clinics and parks, and um it became an entire obsession. And I started looking for openly queer players to watch and support and be a fan of. And there are quite a few women since Billie Jean King, but there were zero men at the time I started writing this. Peculiar. Peculiar, and we've seen it in many other major sports. So I was curious as to what is special about tennis that um is preventing that.
SPEAKER_02Did you settle on something?
SPEAKER_03Uh settled on a lot of things, and um uh I there's a solo nature to tennis.
SPEAKER_02When I was thinking about that, uh that's kind of where I came down on it too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. It's like it's just you out there and the pressure to perform and succeed in the spotlight. I think um you try to zero in and focus and like push away any any distractions. Yeah. Um, and um it happens in the book. Like the the main character, he's 20 years old, his name's Austin. He came out in high school, it was no big deal. Yeah. But when he qualifies for the US Open, he makes history just by being who he is. Right in the spotlight.
SPEAKER_02Um and in a very sorry to cut you off, but in a very like um flippant, not flippant way, but in a very matter-of-fact way, does he come out like publicly in a way? Like, and I think that is just a younger generation thing of like this isn't a moment, this is just who I am. Like, it's like saying I have a buzzed hair, you know what I mean? Sure, and you do. Thank you. I like it.
SPEAKER_03It's new, right?
SPEAKER_02It is new, yes.
SPEAKER_03Um, it's good.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Great. It was a real, real departure from my love.
SPEAKER_03And then, like, if like if it was bad and it grows back, but it's not. So let's keep it up.
SPEAKER_02Well, my barber did turn it down five, turn me down five times. He was like, I'm not doing this. And I was like, I'm paying you money. You kind of have to.
SPEAKER_03He's like, you can do this yourself, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um, and I well, when I was thinking about like the solo aspect of tennis, so much about the uh in the book is also about mental health and it's connected to your mental health journey. Um, but in tennis and I think gymnastics are the sports where mental health is so centered in the conversation about the well-being of the athletes. And I think it's because they're very solitary sports. Yeah. And it's a very performance-based sport, as opposed to like a baseball, football. Like you're not having these conversations about mental health. Mostly because the pressure is just like spread over a team.
SPEAKER_03Sure. Yeah, especially like when you're actually like on court, on field, like yeah, it's not just you have to win, but you're all winning together, versus the pressure on just being you. And there have been like other athletes like basketball, baseball, who have like spoken publicly about their mental health, which is great. Yeah. Um, but especially, yeah, gymnastics. We have Simone Biles, yes, um, and like talking like kind of in detail about like how her um the symptoms of of what she's dealing with, like the twisties and all of these things. Um, and that's that's similar to Austin. And yeah, the the media just kind of zeroes in on what they think is special, which is his sexuality, and he's like, There are first of all, I don't know if that's special. And second of all, like there are so many other things that we could be talking about here, and that gets in his head.
SPEAKER_02This show is obviously about obsessions, and you talked about tennis as an obsession. Yeah, similarly, I am also obsessed with tennis, did not play it as a child. You could not pay me. In fact, my parents tried to pay me to play.
SPEAKER_03Well, no, they didn't try to pay me, but they're like, We want you to go to a camp. Would have worked. I would be like, Okay, how much?
SPEAKER_02No, I was like, I want to watch SpongeBob all day.
SPEAKER_03Please leave me alone. I um wait, so so you could have played when you were a kid and you're like, no, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they like begged me to go to a camp.
SPEAKER_03Any other sports?
SPEAKER_02Like I mean, I was so huge, so they thought I could play football. I was like, I'm not playing football. I was a theater kid as well. Like I that's what I wanted to do. Okay, so we're the same person, yeah. Exactly. We're the exact same person. And I refound tennis during COVID when I was like, oh, I can actually go outside and do something. And it was kind of, I don't want to say life-changing, but it was like I will for me. It's amazing. Can you talk a little bit about your about tennis going hand in hand with your mental health journey and how it became an obsessive thing for you? Like it seemed to have cons tennis consumed you did in a positive way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for me, but my friends are like, shut up. Phantom of the open. Exactly. Yes, yeah. I um yeah, and it really started with me like hunting for ways to like improve my mental health. And like a great way to do that is to work on your physical health. That was never a huge priority for me. Um, I didn't I don't like running, like, I find that so boring, and I just get lost in my thoughts. But when you're playing tennis, you like kind of don't have the opportunity in the middle of a point, you don't have the opportunity to think about much else. Yes. And it kind of silenced my brain in an I think maybe an ironic way, because like Austin is very chatty in his brain during during his matches. But like that really helped me, and it helped me get outside and like breathe fresh air, and like I made new friends. Um we all kind of have like insular worlds in New York, and like you're meeting the same people, and like the I met people like who I wouldn't normally meet.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Sports people. So terrifying.
SPEAKER_02Well, what's more terrifying than sports people are tennis gays. I would like to talk a little bit about this like culture of tennis gay. Okay. Tennis gays are crazy. Can you confirm or deny?
SPEAKER_03I'm I'm on camera, I will deny.
SPEAKER_02Um, what do you mean? Go on. I just think there's this like stereotype of gay men that play tennis that like they go on vacation and they play tennis. They're like up at 6 a.m. every day, like signing up for Fort Green.
SPEAKER_03Like the thing about like tennis in New York is like it can't just be like a flippant thing. You've got to wake up. Yeah, you've gotta like get there early to book a court, you've got to plunk down money to get a court, like you have to get a membership, whatever. Um, so it takes like a level of like enthusiasm that I think you might be speaking to here. Um but the I I saw there are like there are gay tennis leagues um that I know of now where yeah, they they travel all across the US and sometimes the world, and like they all know each other. And um, I met a few of them recently, and I was like, So, like, do you guys have like enemies here? Like, do you have people who just like keep beating you you can't like win against? And like, are you guys sleeping together? What's like where what's happening here? And it does sound kind of complicated. Yeah, there's there's a book there.
SPEAKER_02I went to there definitely is a book there. A friend of mine went on a gay tennis retreat, and I was like, So at what point did the orgy break out? He was like, you know, after 11 p.m. Between the first and second set. Yes, yeah, the changeover was yeah, there's a lot of watching of each other on the courts. Yeah, but I think that's a part of it. Like, there is the um the performance of tennis, like there's the accessories, and there's the whole like there's the gays love complicated things.
SPEAKER_03Well, and I I like the fits too. Like, I like I've spent I've dropped some money on like looking good on the court.
SPEAKER_02Well, Emily, she texted us some questions and she wanted to know your favorite.
SPEAKER_03Also, congrats to thank you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, she also loves tennis. Where are you buying your tennis clothes?
SPEAKER_03Um, I was like, when I first fell in love with tennis, I was I guess kind of like obsessed with some players, and most of them are wearing Nike. So, like that was what I was trying to emulate. And that's like that's it's so sad. It's like I did not need to be buying those things. I don't need to look like Yannick Center playing tennis. I do not deserve to be. Yes. Um, but there's a few other like um I like this brand called Palms. Okay. It's I don't know where it's based out of, it's somewhere international, but they they just do cool like tennis-based streetwear. Oh, cool. Um, it's like I think it's less like athletic clothes and more just like lifestyle brand. Um and um Jacques is another really cool one, which I think they might have a pop-up or something in New York. Okay. Um, but that's like more like chic athletic wear. Got it. Um, those two, but it's mostly it's it's Nike. What do you think of Challengers? Um, I think Challengers is it I saw it twice. Okay. Basically, I I completed the first draft of the open era the day I saw Challengers. And I did that on purpose. Okay. Because like when the trailer came out, I was in the middle of writing my book and I was like, Fuck. This is this my book? This better not be gay. And it turned out to be a little gay. Yep, a little. And I ended up pitching the book to agents as um uh um for fans of Carrie Soto is back, uh, Red, White, and Royal Blue, and for fans of Challengers who wish that it was gayer. Yes. Um, and that I think is a good summation. I think so as well. Um, but yeah, I thought it was a great time, and I saw it twice in theaters, and um, it's like it made it opened doors for the book because us tennis people already knew this, but the general public now understands how cool and sexy tennis can be. And um, I'm grateful that that that movie exists.
SPEAKER_02Why do you think tennis is so ripe for a romance novel or like a sexual book or movie like Challengers?
SPEAKER_03Um, I I think in general, like this the sports romance of it all, and I don't think Challengers quite qualifies for as a romance.
SPEAKER_02Um we don't have enough time to get into my thoughts on challengers.
SPEAKER_03Um, but I I anytime you have like two people especially like competing against each other, falling in love, wanting the same thing, and only one of them can get it, yeah trophy, and then having to reckon with that when someone else wins and the other doesn't, like that's ripe for conflict. Yeah. Um, especially when you're forming a new friendship, like in the book or or something more. Uh so I think that the the conflict there is naturally built in. And um, yeah, the solo nature of the sport, it's like you staring at your opponent for two hours, three hours, sometimes six hours during a grand slam. Um, you're forced to stare at the guy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um sweaty.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the sweaty, sweaty guy serving balls at you.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. It is an incredibly sexy experience. We are this episode comes out in August leading up to the US Open. Your friends have called you the Phantom of the Open because you have are a repeat repeat guest. Yep. For the uninitiated, what makes the US Open so special?
SPEAKER_03It's if you're a New Yorker, it is in your backyard. Yes. It is so easy to get there. It's so fabulous. Um, and there are a lot of complaints I see about ticket prices and like getting access, but it is so much harder to get into Wimbledon. Like you have to enter like a ballot, like a lottery, and like you no one wins that. Um, but the US Open. My friend Gillian won. I um do have a hack for that. That tell us um uh I've gone to Wimbledon twice now. And um, so the hack is enter the ballot, lose the ballot. And then you get an email from them saying, like, hey, you hey loser, yeah, um, you didn't get it. Um, but we can um the reject tickets for people who like get a date that they can't attend or like they buy tickets they can no longer attend, um, you can have access to those tickets and they pop up randomly over like the months leading up to the Wimbledon, and you have to be fast on the mouse, but it's possible that way. That's good, that's a good hack. Meanwhile, US Open, you can buy them. Yes. And and like, yes, we're forced to sometimes like buy from um resellers, but the first week, like basically the the week before the US Open starts is qualifying week, and it is free. It is completely free, and I think it is the best hack in tennis because you can walk right in and experience incredible tennis for the cost of nothing.
SPEAKER_02And like in the open era, they're the players' guards are a little bit down. Like there's uh they're a bit more casual, like there's a sense of not the calm before the storm, but like the fun before the competition. Yeah. Like there's kind of like a cockiness, a display. I don't know. It's uh I love that week.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's it's great. And also, like you um like the top if you really want to see a top 10 player, they're practicing there. So you can see them live in the flesh, sometimes even in Arthur. Stadium where you could like sit third row and watch Alcaraz practice. Um, and that seat maybe three days later is thousands and thousands of dollars, but you can get up close and personal there. I I just love the US Open. And it's it's spread out like it's like the stadiums are cool, or like you there's like the outer courts that um you can sit front row and just experience amazing tennis right in front of you.
SPEAKER_02I I think last year was the first time I really became cognizant of people's obsession over the US Open hat.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02I had no clue about that.
SPEAKER_03My hack for the hat is too they're already available. You can go online and buy one right now, and they do sell out. So um, if you're going towards like the end of the tournament, don't. Or um buy a hat now.
SPEAKER_02It is bedlam in those stores with those hats.
SPEAKER_03And people, you see them like for the rest of the year. It's yeah, it's like the hat to wear. So nuts.
SPEAKER_02All right, I'm gonna go right after this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, we should pause right now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yes, please. Um, Emily has some more questions. Great.
SPEAKER_00Where'd you get it? How many people were in your house did that jack on? Was she a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a what are you obsessed with?
SPEAKER_02Let me pull them up. What is one thing you did or tried to do in every city on your book tour?
SPEAKER_03There's like there was not a whole book tour light. Yeah. Um, in the two cities I went to, I did a lot of New York events, but like I went to Charlotte and Boston, and I am from Charlotte. So I saw what's the what's the question? Did I try to do every single city? Yeah. Um, I love a good light coffee shop. Like I um, and there is there is a um in Boston, I stayed right next to Harvard, and I cosplayed as like social network, like walking around Mark Zuckerberg. Yeah. Um not Mark, but like um um Jesse as Mark. Yeah. Um and there's a great coffee shop there across the street. I don't remember the name. Tate something or other. It's opening up in New York. No. Oh, wait, I did know that. Yes, Tate. We were ups. Oh, Tate, excuse me. I love Tate. Uh I'm obsessed with Tate. It's incredible. But like, are we supposed to be obsessed with I am, but are we supposed to be obsessed? We want like indie like one-off coffee shops, but like Tate, I didn't know it was like forever.
SPEAKER_02Oh yes, yes, we should be supporting a small independent coffee shop. But guess what? Sometimes you're running from a berry's boot camp, but and you have to order on demand.
SPEAKER_03And sometimes Tate has sweet, sweet treats that I I had multiple times while I was cosplaying as Jesse Eisenberg.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Well, I love just being on when I go on a vacation when it comes to a coffee shop, I lose my mind. Like I'm getting the cold foam, I'm getting the $12 specialty latte.
SPEAKER_03I have saved in Google Maps like all of the coffee shops around me, and I try to go to all of them.
SPEAKER_02I like there's nothing love like a coffee shop.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's so good. Um, Bee Treed Rec. Do you have something that people should pick up to complete by the end of the summer?
SPEAKER_03Um, if you want another queer romance, um, uh good friend and author, USA Today, best-selling author, Chip Pons. Okay. Uh he has two great books out. Um, one is Dearly Departed, which is uh um follows Hades, former god of the underworld, falling in love with a florist in a small town. And um Winging It With You is another one from him. Um, following um these kind of strangers who sign up for an amazing race type um show.
SPEAKER_02I'll go to the Ripped Bodice and pick those up immediately. Um we'll be right back with your obsession, but can you tease us with one word?
SPEAKER_03Memories.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I love this. We'll be right back. We're back. You teased us with the word memories. Yes. Tell us what you're obsessed with.
SPEAKER_03Um I I brought it here. Perfect. I love a product. Is a point and shoot uh film camera. You're so Gen Z. Is it is that a Gen Z thing? Yeah, yeah. Oh wait, film. I am not film, yeah. No, they had the digital one. Digital, yeah, yeah. No, this is straight up film. This is from the year 2000. Okay. Um, and yeah, of course, like I use my iPhone to take photos, and I have like some digital cameras too. But um this I also like to take with me on trips or just like kind of like jumps around the city. Um, and my memory is very bad. Um, so I'll take photos and like it's it's like a fun surprise when I get it developed. Like, oh, I forgot that I did that. Yeah. Um and it kind of forces me to like not like visco edit it afterwards. Like it's just like it's an analog thing that what you get is is what you get.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And um, yeah, I love it a lot.
SPEAKER_02Wow. How did you settle on this camera?
SPEAKER_03I did a lot of I'm like a big like rabbit hole YouTube researcher.
SPEAKER_02Well, great. This show is all about obsession, and it seems like tennis was an obsession. Yeah, yeah. But I think that's what you wanted to talk about, so it's like we gotta talk about that.
SPEAKER_03But let them talk about tennis.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So in general, you're an obsessive person.
SPEAKER_03Uh, I guess so.
SPEAKER_02It seems like it.
SPEAKER_03Did I just realize?
SPEAKER_02I I think so.
SPEAKER_03Okay, sure.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'll own it. Welcome. We're so happy to have you on board. Yeah. So you research this camera. What is it about this exact camera? What camera is it?
SPEAKER_03Actually, this is tennis related too. Because I would like to do um for sometimes at the US Open, like I'll do like US Open on film. And one time I I had a different camera in the flash fired during like a match, and it was like the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me. So, like on the back here, I can literally say, like, don't use flash, you mother. Um, and uh so that I chose it because of that, and also like it's got a nice little zoom lens so you can make a more like detailed shot too if you want. And this is the Canon. This is the Canon Sure Shot 76 Zoom date. Okay. You can put the date on there if you forget. Great. Um uh from the year 2000. And I got it for like a hundred and twenty bucks. And where are you buying your film? Um um Arama.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, we'll just like shift the film to you. And um, I'm developing it at this lab um right outside of um Washington Square Park near NYU. It's like on the third floor. It's like a very teeny tiny little like film lab. Yes. It's fun to like walk through the park and drop it off.
SPEAKER_02Oh this is incredible. Wait, can I take your picture? Oh my god, please. Should I smile? What do I do? Um, just be cool. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Just be cool for the love of God. Yeah, great.
SPEAKER_02Great. We'll see. I cannot be cool for the love of God. You did it. It was cool.
SPEAKER_03You did it. That's really less. Well, time will tell. Well, it's developed and we're gonna see it.
SPEAKER_02That's what I do love about a film camera, is that like it really is a practice in patience.
SPEAKER_03It is. We don't what it's delayed gratification.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03I don't know if that turned out.
SPEAKER_02I know. Oh god. I think that it did. I have the world's largest pimple on my chins.
SPEAKER_03I did see your story before. I'm and um I I hit what would never have noticed had you not called it out.
SPEAKER_02I don't suffer in silence at all. That's what we know. Um, you so you bring this on trips as well. How do you decide what you're taking with an iPhone versus this?
SPEAKER_03I'll I'll usually do like a backup with my iPhone. We'll do iPhone first, and then I'll be like, wait, can you take a fucking film photo now? And um they'll be like, how do I use this? And like I will have to set it up a little bit. It's not complicated, but it's called a point and shoot because that is all that you do. You point at you shoot.
SPEAKER_02Are you mostly doing portraits? Scenery?
SPEAKER_03I do like I do like a portrait, like a like a portrait of a friend. And it's also a nice gift to a friend, too, because like how often do you get a shot of yourself like preserved in in film?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um also I like only have selfies taken of me. I tried to find I needed that.
SPEAKER_03Sounds I don't you have selfies taken of you?
SPEAKER_02So like I was the other day, I needed to submit a photo of myself or something, and they were all you're like, quick, someone take a selfie of me. No, I was kind of just like someone needs to take my photo. I don't have any posed photos. It's all just me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No one's ever taken it of me. Oh, yeah, yeah. So I think this is really nice.
SPEAKER_03What was the photo for? Is it part of your business? This is my podcast.
SPEAKER_02Excuse me, excuse me. It was for dumb applications. Oh, that's the question. It was for um a dumb application process or something. And I was like, I they were like needed a full body. And I was like, I have clothed? Well, that my problem was that mostly I only have clothes. Can't use that one, can't use that one. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03Oh no, no, use that one.
SPEAKER_02Nope, that's a little too visible.
SPEAKER_03I needed, I was renewing my my passport, and I had I set up like a whole, like a light in my apartment and like a backdrop and had my friend come over and take a picture. It's like I can't like, yeah, but I could have just like had someone take a selfie of me.
SPEAKER_02I went to AAA once to get my passport photo, and I like took it like a full photo shoot. So they like did it once. I was like, I don't like that. We're gonna do this all over again.
SPEAKER_03There is a I've seen the have you seen this on TikTok? Like, there's this um, I don't know what it is, some store down downtown where like this woman specializes in a great passport photo, like with proper lighting. And I just wanted to go down there for fun.
SPEAKER_02Well, I don't want to renew it because now I'll have a Trump passport and I don't want that.
SPEAKER_03Only only in the District of Columbia. Oh, really? Yes, that is yes. Don't I'm pretty sure that's yeah, that's that because yeah, no.
SPEAKER_02Why did you decide film as opposed to just getting the delayed gratification? That's why. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because like the film is just like or the digital one is just like a worst quality version of my iPhone. Right. And I can also like add a filter to almost completely emulate. I think the flash and like the digital cameras people are using is like creating a nice effect that can't be emulated with filters that well. But um, yeah, I want I want to like take a photo, pray for the best, and then get it a month later and be like, oh that was a nice trip to Fire Island.
SPEAKER_02It's a really nice for the first time. You gotta go. And then you're gonna come back and be like, I'm not obsessed with it. Yeah, it's um I find it so interesting that Gen Z is getting back into these more analogs.
SPEAKER_03Well, and records too, which I also like. I also like records. Um because it just feels like more of like an experience. Like you th you have to put money behind like a record you really like, and like you have to get up off your couch and like put it on and like sit down and listen.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um and there's just something to be said, even with these like filters on Instagram and everything, there is just a texture to it all, which I think is really nice. Like iPhones are a little too processed.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and like literally they like they put a whole bunch of processing in it. There's apps where you can like take all of that out, yeah, like from the get-go, but it's so will you today uh have this out and about while you're I'm going to the um Cooper Hewitt design museum after this, which is like 10 blocks away. Yes, and I'm meeting some friends there, and I'll take some portraits clothed. I I don't know. You could they don't like that in the museums. They're like they have bathrooms. You don't know what exhibition they have right now. They're nicely designed bathrooms at Cooper Hewitt. I've never been actually.
SPEAKER_02I assume the lights are well lights Herman Miller.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Is that on those are chairs?
SPEAKER_02Those are chairs. They do lights too? Um I feel like they may do a sconce or something. Love it. Why not?
SPEAKER_03I'll tell you in more.
SPEAKER_02Well, I do find museums to side tangent to be like imbued with a horniness. Kind of like an airport.
SPEAKER_03Go on.
SPEAKER_02I think there's something of like these are oftentimes you're spending sustained amounts of time with strangers of varying attractiveness. Yeah. And like there's the mystery of who they are. Like, are they looking at me? You know, like you're often passing at the same rate routinely, like at an airport.
SPEAKER_03And you're seeing them like maybe in multiple like gallery rooms. Yeah. It's like, will I see you again? Probably not. Oh, look, there you are.
SPEAKER_02Yes, the lighting is often really good. Sure.
SPEAKER_03And also, like they're at a museum, so they like inherently are just like interested. Yeah. I was gonna, yeah, your words. What were you gonna say? More interested in things that you are. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02More so they're just like interesting people, I think.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's my thought about a museum side tangent. Um, we're running out of time, but I want to get your hot uh your takes on some uh hot topics. Simply tell us if you're obsessed or over it. Okay. Ready? 321 Clay Courts.
SPEAKER_03Obsessed.
SPEAKER_02Optimism. Obsessed, talking to strangers, less obsessed. Good reads. Oof. Over it?
SPEAKER_03Uh I'd stay off of it now. I assume that is the advice that is given to authors. It's like, eh, yeah. You don't need to go there.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes everyone's opinion does not need to be heard.
SPEAKER_03Uh and I like live your life. Yep. Write your opinion. Like, I don't want it in my head.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_02What you think of me is your business. That's what I always say. I don't want to know what you think of me. And you don't want to know what I think of you. Uh, the return of tanning beds.
SPEAKER_03Ooh, no, no. Is that happening? Is this supposed to be fast? Because now I'm curious about that. Okay. Yes. Shush. Buzz cuts. Obsessed. Looks great.
SPEAKER_02Facelifts.
SPEAKER_03If it Rosie looks great. She looks really good. Like, seriously. Very, very good. Welcome back, Rosie. Not because of the facelift. You were always here, but welcome back to the country.
SPEAKER_02And I want to see her play. Allegedly, it's amazing. Oh. It's like a processing of what happened to her.
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_02Right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, let's go. I love Rosie O'Donnell. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Other great facelift? Ricky Lake.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Confessions 2.
SPEAKER_03I didn't see the first one.
SPEAKER_02It's dis um Madonna's album.
SPEAKER_03Oh. Day guy Clark. Is he gay? Fraud, fraud. Please. That's fine. You can keep it and it's authentic. Um obsessed. Clip it. Drew, did you know that one?
SPEAKER_02Well, Drew's straight. Sorry, guys. Disney gays.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_03No. Um, live your life.
SPEAKER_02I have a dear, dear friend who I will shit talk on here. He does not listen to the pod. He is a Disney gay, but he won't admit it. He just went to Paris Disney alone.
SPEAKER_01That's that's that.
SPEAKER_02I know, and then we were playing. You know the game Hughes and Clues?
SPEAKER_03No, is that a Madonna album?
SPEAKER_02Close. It's whatever, it's a it's a board game, and you have to like get people to guess a certain thing, and all of his clues were Disney themed. This is after he was like, I'm not a Disney guy.
SPEAKER_03He should just come out. Yeah, he was like, Rapunzel. We're like, you're fucking Disney guy. I can't relate to it whatsoever, um, but I support anyone obsessed with anything legal and relatively healthy.
SPEAKER_02I don't think Disney should be legal. Um, I have one final question for you. Are you obsessed with me?
SPEAKER_03Yes, thank you. I'm crying now, but it's mostly because of my um embarrassment about Madonna. I know, I'm shocked you didn't know that. I just I like my taste is in music is straighter, I think. Like, I like a indie folk album. Like what?
SPEAKER_02Mumford and Sons?
SPEAKER_03Sure. Noah Khan, Sofion, Love.
SPEAKER_02Um you're just more emotional.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I hate the album. Um well on this note, I want to talk about that you've released playlists connected to the open era because music is such a crucial part. Yeah. What are you listening to right now? Who do you love?
SPEAKER_03There's this new artist that I um recently discovered. His name is Madonna something. Yeah, she's she's big, right? Um his name is like something penya. Um I wish that I could consult myself. Drew? Well, yeah, Google like Chris Pena, is that it? Is he like a good looking chance?
SPEAKER_02Chance penya. Chance penya. What kind of music?
SPEAKER_03Um it's like it's like folky, rocky, poppy uh situation, like a more on the folk side. Um and I literally just discovered him and I um and he's better people know him. But um I I like him. Great. I'll check out. He's playing in New York in a few weeks.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Are you going?
SPEAKER_03I'm going.
SPEAKER_02You'll see him there. Eddie, thank you so much. This was so fun. Thank you for having me. Tell our listeners and watchers where they can follow you.
SPEAKER_03Follow me on Instagram. I have a website, but you don't need to go there. Like, I don't you don't need to go there.
SPEAKER_02What are websites anymore?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. And it's like you can find like my events there, but I also post them on Instagram. No one's clicking that link in bio thing. Um, but please do to buy the open era.
SPEAKER_02Everyone, buy the open era. We have a link on our shop my. Oh, yeah. But you can just also buy it from any link. I really did love the book so much. It is a perfect end of summer read, especially as we're in the world of the US Open. Um, yeah, just continue. Like, I feel like New York has been such a fabulous vibe. The US Open is going to be another one. This is the perfect ad to it. Thank you, everyone. Thanks for tuning in.
SPEAKER_00Are you obsessed with us? Please like, comment, and subscribe.
SPEAKER_02Bye.