If you were a mermaid, would you want a pet shark? Ep 3

On this week's episode of The BLT Pod, your co-hosts Beatrice & Lexi sandwich their conversation about their latest aquatic obsessions, Sharks and Mermaids with some out of the pantry ingredients.

For the Top Slice of Bread these friends dissect just what exactly Aura Farming is and if we should even call it that.

For our Bacon Lexi monologues at Beatrice about the fundamental injustices levied against sharks, and Beatrice explores the lore of mermaids and what everyday life looks like for them. We also get some details about Beatrice's Summer Mermaid Series!

Mixed in are some juicy Tomatoes about what sharks each host would be, and Let(tuce) them talk about what their mermaid tails would look like!

Our Bottom Slice of Bread involves Beatrice flirting with her future in modeling, and Lexi being terrified to flirt at a dating comedy show... As always the tangent condiments fill every corner of this sandwich with goodness!

Did they forget an ingredient? Do you have a question you were dying for the hosts to discuss on this or past episodes? Send them an email at therealbltpod@gmail.com

Or on...

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We hope you enjoy our sandwich with us! 

Don't forget we won't be back next week! See you on 8/21!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

I can do it. I do not I won't do it again.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

That's a lie.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

I love sharks.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

I love mermaids. I'm glad we both love our comments. Okay. Welcome to the BLT podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hi, Beatrice. And I'm Lexi. And we're spilling the tea on our latest curiosities.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Which is, as you will tell by her very cute aquatic theme. Sharks and mermaids. Sharks! This is a special topic for us because we both love them both, which is different than how our tops have been. Um so this is gonna be a lot of yapping. So, because this is the BLT pod, we do like to sandwich our topics um with some just regular chit-chat. So, what are we, what is our top layer of bread today?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I my pet peeve is the term aura farming. If you have really good aura and you're like presenting yourself, you should be like inviting, you should be like a great light, inviting everyone to like shine their own way. Yeah. And the term aura farming, I'm like no.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

So what I don't know what the alternative What if it's just like good vibes only? What if we just go back to the beginning where we need to be? It's just like good vibes. Like you don't have to be farming everything, like everything doesn't have to be like a I never even thought about that because like, yeah, aura is like.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

It's the it's the like the terminal, like the actual words. Like if you're gonna allude to someone having really great presence and like stepping into who they truly are meant to be, and like I I've seen it referenced a lot with the Odyssey. Like associating it with farming is like oh, there's a harvest and there's like a pulling it from other people, there's a certain amount of like crops to like pick from versus it just being like an expansive metaphor. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yeah, see, when you say aura farming to me, like I actually don't actually know, I don't have any concept of it, but like when you think aura farming, um if yeah, I have no concept of it, I'm like, oh, they're pulling all the aura in the room and they're like making themselves like the largest presence in the room, and that makes me feel gross because when I think of aura, like I've never met someone that's like, oh my god, good aura that you're like, then it also feels terrible. I always only feel like more fulfilled by those people because I'm like, oh my gosh, they're great. So like I don't feel like that's farming. So like that's the aura. I just like let's see my brain goes aura fairy. Like aura around the place, like literally or a mermaid, or a mermaid or a merma mermaid aura. Maybe we should say mermaid aura. They have mermaid aura.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Aura mermaid. Well, mermaid mindset is one of my things, but I I won't get ahead of myself.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Okay, but yeah, no, it's such an interesting concept because yeah, maybe we'll have to like ruminate on that. I'll probably be thinking about the rest of this.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Aura fairy, yeah, because fairy, yeah, Aura Fairy, like the whimsical.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Yeah, but it's just like, yeah, I've never met a person with a good aura that like I feel like they're pulling anything from the rest of the room. It's just like they fill the room with so much, like even when it's like more powerful, like I've never felt in front of a person. But I think that's also then when you consider like how some people judge other people's energy. The people that have like coined it aura farming in a room of a more powerful person feels inferior as opposed to heightened by them.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

So I think jealousy, yeah, which doesn't look good on anyone, no, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yeah, I think that's why aura maxing or aura farming makes you feel gross.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

So Agamemnon is standing there, they're baiting Troy, and it's amazing, and it's like the all eyes are on him, he looks like phenomenal, and I feel like people have been coining that as oh, that's aura farming, but it's not, it is definitely related to his aura of like I run this place well, but I wouldn't say aura farming.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Yeah, so that's like yeah, he's like just an aura, like max art. Like, I hate to say it, but like literally he's just like full best o around the room. Yeah, then that's you aura far calling an aura farming is just you showing how little selfish. It's it's kind of like greedy and like because people assume that anybody with a good aura in a room that can walk into any room like with the power like that are as selfish as they are internally.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

And that's I don't think the case.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Nope. I agree with you. I just don't know how to fix it. You know who has the biggest aura in the ocean?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Sharks sharks.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Sharks.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

I love sharks.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

I love sharks.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

I do, I have a respect for them. As a kid, I had a like huge phobia of them. I had a nightmare that my parents were eaten by them and was like hysterical for a while.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Yeah, my first memory of sharks was I don't I thought one whatever shark movie it was where like they were in a building and the shark just like rooms just kept filling with water and like the shark just kept chasing them through the building. I'll never forget. I drove home, my mom drove home that night from her friend's house, and I like literally as a child envisioned the whole water the whole street filling with water and a shark chasing us home. Like that's my memory. Like that's my first memory.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

But to be a child of grown.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Um, so we do need to structure our conversation this time because we both love our topic. Um, so the first one I want to answer to you. You asked, is shark week still a thing? And when is shark week? Great news. It's today. Shark Week started this week, still on Discovery. Amazing, amazing. Um, started July 29th. Okay. Um, this year it's on HBO Max. So if you haven't watched at the time, you can still watch it. I will also put a plug in. A lot of my research was done. My a lot of my watch two shark shows this week. Um, pull my arm, um, twist it.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Your arm. No, I didn't say for anyone. Do you remember the what okay?

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Different different different different brownhoods. Um, but from Avatar?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

No, Soul Surfer, the woman where she she get her arm is bitten off by a shark, and it's a whole yeah, we did different households.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Okay, okay, perfect. That's okay. Um, but what was I saying? Oh, Disney Plus also is partnered with National Geographic. So if you want to watch their version of shark stuff, it's also on Disney Plus.

unknown 6:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

That was kind of free, but that's okay. So, shark week. Okay. Um, a couple things I want to just address off the top, just so that you don't have your hopes up. You did ask me about hammerhead sharks. I don't fuck with hammer, I don't mess with hammer's head sharks. Hammerhead sharks.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

They're so funny.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

They're like, how do how do you if they're not part of what I'm interested, so I didn't get into the answer for you.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

If you know, if you know why the question was the way they are, like, tell me. There's they're so like how in evolution did an animal become the way they are now because Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yeah, and so yeah, definitely a worthwhile question if something like a hammerhead doesn't mess with you.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

How is that an advantage to have your eyes like further? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

They literally well their literally biggest pride is um stingrays because they have to have something flat to the ground. Like I personally think hammerheads are stupid. I didn't want to say it. I don't mean to be crazy because I do love sharks.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

But they're so funny. Okay, anyways.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Yeah, they freak me out. Um, you also asked me about amphibians and if there is a closely related amphibian to a shark. I don't care about amphibians, therefore I didn't learn about them either. Um, but I will tell you, sharks is my very, very special interest. Okay. As you're seeing, it's a very small window.

unknown 7:33

It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Um, but what I will say is that where the question was coming from is fair because this is where I like to kind of separate, this is where my entire conversation about sharks and excitement gets from sharks. So I'd like to say when we talk about classification of animals, it's like kingdom, phylum, class species, something. I'm getting it wrong. Don't use me for research paper. The only thing that we have in common with sharks, as well as amphibians, is that we are vertebrates, which means we have a backbone.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Some of us do. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

This is where my frustration, so sorry, that's also where amphibians, amphibians and sharks also have gills and they're cold-blooded and they lay squishy eggs, but like they're not the same. And something about I don't dislike of an amphibian. They're just not my special interest one.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

No, that's what I'm excited to hear what you have to say about it.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

I think that sharks are the most underestimated creature and overly villainized creature due to humans looking at sharks incorrectly in their studies. I have points of reference. But so I would just like to say, from overall, all of what I'm about to tell you is about 25 years or however long Shark Week has been invented. I take five years off. That's how long I've watched Shark Week. I am referencing a bunch of scientists who actually dedicate their lives to sharks, and I'm not saying they are wrong. I just think their approach to observing and witnessing sharks is flawed. Because the only thing that we have in common with sharks is that we have a backbone. Otherwise, we think that they are we villainize them. Even when people talk about the ocean, they're like, I love an orca whale better and I love dolphins better. Well, you're talking about mammals. Why are we comparing mammals to sh fish? Sharks, everything about aquatic life is usually, it has a system that we should we don't understand. Everything we know about most aquatic life. So let me this is where anyway. Do you have any thoughts on what I just said?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

No, I would I would agree. Like a lot of it is like media. My point of reference would be like Jaws has been such a huge phenomenon, and that's shaped how we see sharks.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Exactly. And then we have movies like Freewilly, like dolphins don't do terrible things to human beings in water. Anyway, I know Free Willy's about a whale. So I was watching two of the documentaries I was watching. One was about, and this is how most shark, any kind of like research that I've ever seen done into sharks, is trying to understand who is the alpha shark in the water. The biggest and the baddest. Yeah, the biggest and the baddest, no matter what the environment is, no matter what species of sharks we're talking about. It just doesn't make very much sense to me. There is a show that I was watching on National Geographic called The Shark Reef, no, the Shark Island Showdown. And so there's an island off the coast of Australia where every single year, hundreds of different, not hundreds of different species, but hundreds of sharks, mostly three species, travel to Norfolk Island. And they are trying to determine, oh, are there wars going off off of the sides of the islands with these sharks? However, what they witnessed on the island was that at one portion of the island, the there's nowhere to dispose of animal carcasses. So they throw cows off of the coast of the island. What they witnessed was shark, um, was a bunch of tiger sharks who traditionally aren't as social come in and they get the cow. And these scientists kept being like, oh, well, there's a a dusking shark off of the side. He obviously is probably waiting for the scraps. And then, and that was happening in like the morning. And then they witnessed a turtle get not a turtle getting taken down, they witnessed then another and another source of fish at a different part of the island at night being taken down by these dusking sharks. And they're framing the whole show around who is fighting to be the alpha shark. But when you think about it, like I hate using human logic because when you think about any aquatic animal or any fish, they have social structures that we don't understand. Sharks all the time swim around with helping fish. So my assumption is what's actually happening at this island is the tiger sharks know that they're going to have easy bait, so they can get the larger, and then when they're all hunting and as group animals, like eating a shr a cow carcass. Sharks are group animals? Not all, not most of them are not, but they're all gathering and eating basically in groups. Because of the like what I think is, yeah, because the carcasses organic, but they're only migrating there at certain times of year. So what I think is the dusking sharks, and I think it's Makos or some other shark, also is coming in because their job, their role is to protect as the tiger sharks hunt with free will. So if there's any other big animal coming in, they're going to alert them because there was oh they were always on the fringe, but they never like came in to the carcass. And then when the dusking sharks are hunting at night at those different times, the sh tiger sharks are around. So any other bigger sharks that could possibly come around, the tiger sharks are kind of protecting. So I think it's more like an ecosystem and not like who's the top dog. And that further, I'm saying, because I also watched the National Geographic, The Shark Reef Rivals, where they had the same conversation, but then you enter the bull shark into the mix, which is a very aggressive shark. And so what they witnessed with the bull shark when they were feeding, they were feeding on turtles, I believe. Don't quote me on that, but they were feed they were feeding on bigger animals. And when that was happening, all of the other smaller sharks were like darting in, and they were like, it was very aggressive. But then at the same island on the same reefs, when the tiger shark would take away, take down turtles, the tiger sharks all got their bite, and then the smaller sharks came in afterwards and like basically waited in a line and waited their turn because they know we're not the big dog on campus, but they're like calm and organized, so that's like the ecosystem. So I think part of the problem for with like you're saying with the movies and the media, but I also think it's an inherent misunderstanding of like this is how they do things. Yeah, because so much of so that's where you ask jokingly, which I loved, fish are friends. When do we say fish are friends? Not food. Then they are fish are our friends when they are protecting because even tiger sharks have a blind spot, which is a great shark, great white sharks. And it's not to say those great white sharks aren't migrating to that island.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Are great white sharks um only deep water?

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Um, so no. So great white sharks they tend to be in deeper, colder waters, but they also at the same time of this migration can be in because the water is based off of like the water flow, colder water is prep pushing down, so that's why they think those fish were on there why all the sharks congregate there, because it's kind of remote. But that's also part of the migration pattern of Great Whites. So the tiger sharks at least need somebody to be alerting them that the bigger shark is there. I think there is an understood hierarchy of sharks, and like they still need protection from something. And anyway, so fish are friends, not food, when they're guarding them and being helpful. I think there is times where that is said. So, but we do shark bait bouha ha.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Shark bait.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

We do love finding Nebo.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Um that's so fun. I would be uh interested to like find a research center in Australia or like in those regions to where actually seeing if there's like collaboration between the different shark species. That'd be really cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Because I think where we I think as researcher, because they kept saying like we've this is once in a lifetime, we've never experienced this type of behavior from sharks before. I think if you take away that like constant need for there to be conflict that humans come with.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Because it's like a show, I mean they're like this trying to sell a show.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Yeah, but sharks don't know what war is. So it's like they're not at battle for their land, they all migrate two hundreds of them migrate to the same waters because they know it's safe enough to go. In my head, me doing this whole argument and then saying this next line is insane. In my head, it's like, okay, well, they're on shark vacation. Go to the island.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

I was thinking, like, if they're all migrating, is it gonna be like related to a mating season of like, you know, everyone's they're like solo animals, but you know, a certain amount of months they're yeah, trying to find a partner.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

And I think they're probably like that island is a safe place because there's easy food for everybody, they can all protect each other, that every all of that can happen. So I do hope to see more research because again, this is me coming, and you said it's entertainment, it's capitalism. They have to get people to want to watch, and now here I am talking about the show, but cannot recommend them enough. I really like the researchers, I think they're the same researchers on both, and they you can just tell they just like love sharks, love sharks, love what they do, so fun. Is it true dolphins could beat sharks in a fight? Here's my exact answer. You're gonna see how passionate I am at all times about sharks. This overall actually upsets me because dolphins and whales are mammals, and when you compare how sharks versus mammals think and operate, it's so frustrating. Dolph dolphins are aggressive animals and have different thinking capabilities and gang up on sharks, even great whites. So the answer is yes, and they're bullies because again, mammals have live birth, so instincts of an aquatic animal having a live birth, just general, mammal mammalian thoughts are different because they have to survive differently, and then also like they are usually pack animals because they have like thoughts like mammals, and so then they can any out anyone can get outnumbered by anything. Yeah, it really upsets me. I honestly everyone's like really on an orca kick, and I'm gonna put myself in a really dark space, but I'm like anti-orca because I keep eating great whites, and it's really upsetting me. I think they know something we don't know, but then also they like will sink a yacht and I'm like, yay, orca. So I have a really complicated, I have really complicated feelings about them, but luckily don't have to beat them.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Yeah. I yeah, I have this like fascination with the ocean, and then every time I see footage of the size of a great way, I'm like, oh my god, okay, no, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Yeah, they're huge. Every time I'm like 15 feet, and I'm like, that's three of me long. That's too much. That's too long. Have you ever like doing it?

SPEAKER_00 17:51

I I haven't seen actual pictures of like the giant squids around I'm pretty sure it's in the Pacific or coast of Japan, where I don't know how big they are. Again, it's like the deep ocean where we don't know anything.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

My favorite fun fact is that NASA was originally supposed to research the oceans and they decided space was safer. Don't quote me on that. Um what species of shark would you be if you were oh and I wanna okay, so actually first I'm gonna say, would you swim with sharks in the Maldives? I've um I think there's many species of sharks there. I could be wrong. I have a complicated relationship with that, with like shark diving, because unless it's being done for research purposes, I think all we're asking for is to probably distress an animal and put humans at danger, and then if the human does have an issue, the only way to save the human is by murdering an animal that's literally in their home.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

So no, I probably never would unless I was literally with researchers and there was like safety. I will say that there was a Shark Island documentary that I once watched once, and these men um free dove to the bot. They had it, they had a cage, but then they free-dove to the bottom and they cage out of the cage. They got out of the cage in great with great whites and not three dove, they put the sorry, they had the mask on, but they got out of the cage and then they were scuba diving.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Yeah, they're scuba-diving. I was like, that's insane. No, it's sorry. Like you can't you can't hang around.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Sorry, freediving, we'll get into it. Um, but they scuba dived to the bottom of the water and they had the cage. They got out of the cage. They had witnessed three brother great white sharks around this island. They got out of the cage and they were able to film them. They were not aggressive, and they pet the great white. Those men I would love to swim with, and yes, I would love to lay on the bottom of the ocean and witness a great white. Granted, there was a couple scary moments, but that was that is the one time I would risk it because I guarantee you they would never save me and put that great white at risk if I made the mistake, and that I'm okay with. So that I would do.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Very specific. Very specifically. I think I could make a great white my friend. I think me and Great Whites could be like best friends.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

It's just like a water kitchen. Why not? So, like, when you're a mermaid, your pet would be a great wipe.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yes, I love a great wipe.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Um, and then to circle back, what shark would I be if I were one? As much as I want to befriend a great white, I would definitely be a target tiger shark. Okay. Because they do tend to not be pack animals, but they do live usually within close proximity of other tiger sharks. So they're not social. And they are one of like at the top of the food chain, a little bit below Great Whites, but they're not assholes like bull sharks. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

So is it great white, bull shark, tiger shark?

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Depending on the waters, you'll probably do like a bull shark, tiger shark.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

And then and then a hammerhead, like reef shark, like black tips, norser down here with like the whales.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

Yeah, because the nurse sharks are like idiots.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Yeah, and like whales are not, whale sharks are not. So cute.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

I love a whale shark.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

What shark would you be?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I think you would be like a little nurse shark. Um okay. Do you want to be a better do you want to be the meaner shark? I just don't think you're mean.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

I guess that's better than a if you said hammerhead, I would have been like, No.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

I don't like a hammerhead.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

I feel like some people look like a hammerhead shark though. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Oh, there's a couple, yeah. Oh, there's a couple.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Okay. I would I I just don't like the idea of like being on the bottom of the food chain and like although it would be fun to hang out at the reef and be like, hey guys.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Right, and nurse sharks can make themselves useful to the bigger sharks and hang out. If can I be so serious? I want you to be my little nurse shark with me. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Um yeah, I just can't imagine you like because also the whole misunderstanding with sharks is like you have to in order to in order to investigate the food that you want, which goes into your last question, which I do want to end on as far as shark safety. Sharks, because they are again fish and not mammal, so they can't use their brain to understand what they're looking at. They have to use their senses, especially at night or at dusk. Anyway, they have to investigate with their mouth. I can't imagine you having a predator that you could harm that's like it's big enough for you to eat. You know what I mean? Like I think I don't want you, I don't want you taking down like a like a turtle. I think that'd hurt your soul.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yeah, it would.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

So I think as a nurse shark, you can take down like a smaller fish, and that's okay. And but I don't want you to a vegan. Like hey Bob's actually you see why I think you need nurse shark. To be fair enough, she would have just become one if she was just. That's incredible. You're so funny. Okay, wait, I'm obsessed with you. Okay. To answer your last question, I did actually do research for this a little bit. I did do most of it off the dome. If I if you see a shark while surfing, yeah, or swimming, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

If I'm out out in the waves, either just bobbing around, surfing, whatever, and I see a shark, or I think I see a shark, what do I do?

SPEAKER_02 23:39

So, first part of shark safety is a couple things. We want to start before you even get in the water. Okay. What time of the day are you strip swimming? Um, you want to avoid swimming at like dusk or dawn because that's when the water is the most murky. And so, as we just talked about, with their senses, they are less likely to be able to see what you are in that water. So, specifically on a surfboard, you are the shape, especially depending on where you are, you're the sharp of a seal or a turtle. Like from underneath, they can only investigate with their senses that they have. So when it's dusk, it's harder to identify you. So that is first.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

But what if the see then the dilemma is like if the tide is great right at dawn, then as far as like coming in, then it like my rule is you're in their water, so you're taking your risks.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

But however, if you do see one and you're like, holy shit, I would like to survive, or oh my goodness, I would like to survive, that'd be ideal. Um, you want to if you see a shark, avoid looking like you're in distress. So your first instinct would be to be like, there's a shark, I'm gonna start swimming too. And then you want to kind of act like you just saw a man that you're really like in that you saw a man in the wild that you're like, okay, he is not gonna get me. Be assertive and be serious about where you're going. Keep your head up and be aware. As soon as a shark sees a strong stroke, they know that they're not, they're not like bears, they're not gonna chase you. They want easy, that's why they're attacking from below. So you want to do strong, sure strokes. Make sure that you're moving assertively and like they cannot mess with you. I'd still pick a shark. Anyway.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Over assert, like you still oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

So, like, but you have to like literally like think about it like as if you're walking in the street, you see like a suspicious guy, you take your headphones out, you look straight ahead, and you get yourself out of there and you look sure and confident. Yeah, that's how they decide. So if you start seeing one and you need to get out of the water, obviously the safest way out of the water is the most direct path, unless you have to pass it. But yes, um, because the splashing is what's going to get them.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

The flailing.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Yep. And then if you do unfortunately find yourself because you didn't follow my b above instructions, in the mouth of a shark, you do want to aim for their eyes if you can, because their eyes usually roll. This is mostly great whites, not all sharks have eyelids, but their eyes will roll into the back of their head, which makes them less defenseless, and you want to punch with all your might at their nose because usually that will release down. You want to try whatever the best angle is. So, like if you're in front of it, you want to try like you're in water though, so you have to like think about where the water's hard. Yeah, so being as hard as you can.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Shark's coming at me.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Well, not if the shark's coming at you.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

If you're already in the shark's mouth, if the c shark is coming at you, and I'm like, get my leg.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Yeah, then it then it then it's okay. Push it punching the nose. Realistically I never have to do this, but I usually tend to avoid the ocean now, um, because it's their house, and I don't want to put them in a situation where I get them in any trouble. So um so yeah.

unknown 26:38

I'd respect that.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

So those are all of my those are all well, I did avoid some other questions that I just didn't have any interest in, but um, but yeah, so those are those are our shark packs.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Yay! Thanks so much for sharing.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah, what's your favorite shark?

SPEAKER_00 26:50

What's my favorite shark? I feel like a blue whale shark, they're so pretty. I really wanted I would love to swim with a blue whale shark. Yeah, those are beautiful. I feel like I'm closer to that than a nurse shark, but I don't know what their temperament is besides them looking fun.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

Their temperament is very good and they have good relationship. That's that's fair. I think that I can agree with that. Okay. I just didn't want to call you a whale shark because that just seems But like the blue spots and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

I actually I made a a stick a sticker. I made a sticker of a blue whale shark.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

I colored the isn't that what they have in the Atlantic at the Atlanta aquarium? Yes. Yeah, I think it's a whale shark, and she like has her spots and stuff. I just colored a picture of her. So cute. So cute. We love a shark. So cute. We love a shark, we love a cracker.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

A cracker?

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Uh a different day. A different day. If I ever can convince you to let me talk to you about the Real Housewives franchise, we're gonna talk about Alicia in a way that we love a shark, we love a cracker, we love Alicia. But now But now, what and as you said, my pet would be a great white shark. Yes. If I were a mermaid.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

If I had a pet as a mermaid, I feel like a turtle would be really fun. Or an octopus.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Like imagine having him wrapped around my uh Ooh, I do like the I do like the idea of an octopus not in a cage.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Mm-hmm.

unknown 28:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

And then it's like you're if you're like trying to figure something out, you have like an octopus to help you out. They're really smart.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Love an octopus.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Have you watched Um My Teacher the Octopus? Or it's a it's beautiful. You would love it. It's a beautiful documentary. I'm pretty sure it's on Netflix. I cried watching it. It's beautiful. Now I'm gonna talk about mermaids um because I'm doing a mermaid summer mini series on YouTube and all the places. Um, and I will be answering your questions, but first I'm gonna use this definition from fandom because I thought, you know what? It's a lovely um descriptor of like the vibes of the mermaid that I really like because they're wild, seductive, freedom craving. Mermaids represent the feminine power of water, strong, nurturing, loving, pleasure-seeking, and beautiful, yet at the same time untamable, fierce, and shockingly independent. And I want all of those things.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

Yes, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

Um, I think like growing up, I was the kid that was always in the water. Like I in the ocean, like swimming in a creek, like I was the one that like wanted to just like keep I was I think one of my nicknames was like Water Newt.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

My friend, my family literally call me a fish. They call me the fish family fish.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Yeah, because it's I mean it's like so much fun, and like you're flying. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

I love yeah, I love you. It feels like you're flying through the water when you're doing a certain yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

And I wanted to have a way this summer to uh kind of like chase what I would love to see come to life in my life and keep it still like fun and whimsical because I do like we all need a little bit more whimsy. So I thought calling it Mermaid Summer would make it more that instead of like you know 75 hard or like maxing something. Like I it just I needed that like soft, fun thing, even though I'm it's still like a lot. So the five things that I am trying to do every day are flirting with my future, self-expression with my fashion or with how I dress, moving my body every day, um, sharing something beautiful with someone, and nourishing my mind with reading. So so far it's been a fun way to see if I'm like living each day fully and adding a little bit more whimsy. You asked me are mermaids an urban legend or are they too deep for us to know about? I think it's all up for interpretation. Like, we don't know enough about the ocean, and like I don't think that there's anything that like I don't know, we don't know what we don't know. Um I'm not gonna be like advocating for like research around if there's mermaids alive or not. But if I go to the mermaid fair next year, Coney Island, like maybe that could be fun. Um that's a big I think that's a big mermaid celebration, happens every year. Um I think it's an interesting like subculture of like dressing up, like having like a mermaid tale and like swimming around, which in some ways really scares me because like it's very limiting. But I like the myths around mermaids.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Well yeah, mermaids, anyone who has to you your core strength has to be insane.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

To be doing butterfly, like the but yeah, it's not so impressive.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Every time I've ever seen a woman in Mermaidtown, like yeah, absolutely you could dig down anything. Like strongest, like also the dedication to do that, uh love.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah, love women. I would love to make like a whole well, I guess I got sidetracked with doing some of this research on like if I were to make like a mermaid world, like what would it be like? Like if would it be similar to like the different like fairy worlds of like everyone has like a little job, work at the sea like exchange with the currencies? Like what do you like seduce the pirates and then pawn all their stuff? Do you s sell shiny little things? Do you work with the f maybe there's like really grumpy um seaweed farmers who like only eat seaweed and you can tell? Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

There's there's so many I think what you're seeing on my face is my discomfort of adding capitalism to Mermaid World.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

I could have started there. It was just currencies is like flooding. No, it is funny, and I do get what you're saying, but as soon as you told me I'd have to do a job, maybe a skill, a little like, oh, let's like swim to this like neighborhood coral home and and like have a seashell bed and like Okay, yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Like you don't have to trade currency for a job, but like I'm being useful, like I'm helping the fish like organize their stuff with my hands because they can't.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

And like there's like the um the animal like sanctuary where like if a fish like swims in and like needs some help, we help them. Okay, yeah, I take the box. Sorry, you have an exact if there's someone, I don't know how you would like eat or like cook underwater, but there's like someone helping making sure we're all getting the right nutrients from the maybe there's like coral different coral, I don't know. No, we I'm not gonna I mean that could be a whole drama of like there's some random myrrh mermaid who's like oh there's currents and like we gotta like take advantage of the currents and big big currents coming in. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Yeah. Anyways, that's a table. But no, you're so right. I'm so sorry, I dismissed that. I just heard work and it made me upset. Zoned me out.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I was like, like, pick your like mermaid hair color and your mermaid tail color and like maybe your one little accessory, and then you have like a little like um sea creature pet that's more of like a friendship, not a like, you know, that pet is confined to your space kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

They choose to hang out with you because they're your friend.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

So wait, can you give me your mermaid color tail? But no, I'm just saying I've stopped listening to you because that's all I was thinking about saying.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

I would have um like a iridescent purple um blue tail with like maybe accents of pink, because I'm what? So many hair.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

No, tell me what your hair color would be because I want to tell you what my answer was if you say what I think.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Like platinum blonde.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Or pink. Oh, maybe it's like glow in the dark. Wouldn't that be fun? No, I'm obsessed with that. And then my my like animal friend t uh sea turtle or octopus. Or um what are those? Oh, a grouper. They're like the big fish that are like Oh, you want to befriend.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

That's cute. I want one to meet my neighbor so I can like befriend them through life.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

I love an old, like I love like a like a big grouper. Yeah. Yeah. I love like a cute old neighbor. Yeah. She's like, hi, how are you? I'm like, I do anything for you. She's the sweetest. Anyway. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Mermaid hair.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

Mermaid hair would be a lavender, like a light purple. Okay. Um, my tail would be like a coral orange. And the bra would be like a like a turquoise-y, and then the tail would have like the purple coral in the tail. Yeah, that would be my.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Oh, I didn't think of my bra.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Yeah, well, you said purple, you said purple tail, didn't you? I was expecting you to say orange hair, because then we would have been like hooked up each other.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

Maybe orange uh glow in the dark. And you would have a great white shark. Great white sharp. Yeah. So fun.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

That would be my best friend, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

So fun. Can I tell you about different mythologies? Please, how about it? That is what I'm so excited about. So this is again, like, not I would love to have spent more time on this, but this is a uh loose suggestion. There is an Assyrian god. So this is like east of the Mediterranean.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

Um, west of Asia, that area.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Um in Assyria, there was a water god who she um she was like worshipped, and I wish I had this myth down to a T, but essentially what I remember from my research is she fell in love with a man and I think they had kids together, and that like broke the her like royal status, and she tried what she tried to do was like uh essentially like unalive herself and throw herself into a lake. But because of her goddess um nature, she was still alive and turned into a mermaid, and so she's this like sad, sad mermaid longing for her lover, which is really sad. And it reminds me of the other La Llorona, which is a Latin American myth of this woman who I forget how she came to me, but she the myth is like don't go to the water at night because you hear this woman wailing for her kids that she drowned because she's like wow creepy.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

Can I do a small tangent? That makes me think of why so many people merge sirens and mermaids.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

Because of the wailing is sirens and okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

Yes, and I think with like the mythologic mythologically correct sirens are like bird-like and not at all related to like a fish, but they're they are like at the ocean. I think maybe it's tied to like this mysterious, like, you know, men at sea not being able to tell what hand is their left and right, and um wanting to hope that maybe manatees are mermaids, which is another thing. The um name of the goddess from Assyria is called Atargatus. Oh wait, Atargatis? Atargatus? I'm so sorry about that pronunciation. And she was worshipped for like 4,000 years, 4,000 years ago, um, and was like, you know, the celebrated one of like I don't know. She I'd love to know her. She sounds great. She sounds amazing. Another um another uh like woman goddess myth is Mamiwata, which is in West Africa, like Nigeria and Ghana, um again, tied to prosperity and like abundance. Um I it also is not just tied to ocean, it's like tied to rivers too. I would love to understand more of that. And I because of um because of how history unfolded, there is still ties to Mami Wata in the Caribbean. So your question is with the Little Mermaid, switching gears a little bit, do you think the Little Mermaid would be accurate to the underwater life hierarchy? Do you mean like circle of life stuff or just like if a mermaid?

SPEAKER_02 40:18

Poseidon is in charge of the whole ocean and then his daughters are like here, and then everyone else kind of like serves them. That but I'm thinking very Disney. So there's definitely Disney the actual little I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

My my personal take is that yes, I I think Poseidon would be like he's the god of the ocean, but Ursula in a lot of ways had uh like rightfully so a reason to be mad at her brother, right? And I think you know she was a little a little mean to the poorer Ariel, but like she had a reason to be.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

When you put it that she's mad at her brother, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

I'm like she she gotta do her thing. So um I think if we wanna like play mermaids together, because I would love to do that, it'd be so fun. And then I feel like having more whimsy and like being motivated out of a place of like vibes, I don't know, like curiosity, yeah, and not just like I because I I think there's this like there's a lot of stuff around bettering yourself that I think is just like a another form of like productivity that it just isn't healthy for anyone, and I think you can strive to be a better and even using the word strive, like you can become a better person by like listening to your curiosities, and I like that their like mermaids are the overlap of like the human world and this like mystical oceanic world that we don't I mean even this is like in mythological terms, like we don't fully understand, and like being able to be in both worlds is exciting or like I like that yeah being on the edge of of I love that I think so. What other questions do you have about mermaids?

SPEAKER_02 42:20

So, what got you into like looking into the mythology of mermaids and like looking at them like this?

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Because I just wanted I wanted to test my understanding of mermaids with how they came to be. I'm always down for learning the mythol mythology of something. Yeah. Um and I realize that like my only reference was Disney, and I know that like oh another thing that I don't want to forget is um the silky, the Scottish silky are like another form of like um mermaids and they have their own I don't know. It's I I think because I love understanding how people tell stories and and teach life lessons that way.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:09

Because it's like a human. I think maybe that's why everyone's obsessed with the Odyssey is it's like one of the original, not the original, but like telling stories has been it is it makes us human. And understanding the like first or like first interpretations of those stories, I think it brings some like grounded perspective as like how how we're doing things. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

How society it looks like at the time that the story was told in that perspective. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. So the mermaids and the whimsy. I'm I love that. I've been wanting to ask you for so long, like what made you pick mermaids? So I like when you explained it at the top. No, but like I like like how you've added it in. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

And I also think if like I because I love I naturally love mermaids, and I knew that I wanted to have some sort of like I didn't even want to call it a summer challenge. But like a summer thing to focus on. Making it fun is gonna make it so much more better. And instead of saying like I'm gonna be better by September, October, or like struggling to make it work.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Um added whimsy to it.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

Ugh, I love that. Alright. Mermaids. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

Any other questions about mermaids?

SPEAKER_02 44:26

Um, what is your stance on H2O the show?

SPEAKER_00 44:31

I would love to watch it. I haven't watched it yet. But I found out in my I got so distracted. I started watching it because you can watch it for free, and I will be binging it because she will binge it.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

It's so good. I can't wait to hear your take. Actually, can you live talk to me as you watch the show? Sure. You know how we already talked. Our text message is literally like podcast, personal, podcast, personal. If we could add in you watching H2O. You're watching the new one, right? With like Cleo.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

I do I You have no idea. I picked the first season first episode. Okay, good. Clay R. Clayar. Clayer. So it makes me want to go to Australia.

SPEAKER_02 45:09

It makes me want to be a mermaid. Oh my god, I would love to be a makeup mermaid.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Lexi, you are a mermaid.

SPEAKER_02 45:16

So are you. Oh my gosh, I love. Yes. Incredible. So wait, I want to just add a little bit of a little bit more. Yes, please. I was gonna make sure.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Um I'll hold it for you so you can talk about it. I think it'll be fine. It is it has been fun.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

I've been busy with a lot of things, so it's been hard to like openly share about it, but have you felt like your life has been more whimsical with doing these things?

SPEAKER_00 45:40

Even just looking at it, I'm like, my body.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:44

But those are also like love that these are it's mind, body, um, soul, community, and skill.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

I want to make sure people can see like how cool this is. Like the summer is this little little mermaid tail under your hand, your signature. I'm like obsessed with how good that sounds. I'm glad you're proud of it. That's awesome. Love that. Our aquatic episode. I love, I love, I love. Alright, so as it is the BLT pod. Time to sandwich with real life. How's your weekend? Did you know where you were?

SPEAKER_00 46:23

Where where was I at 10 p.m.? I uh did some modeling this weekend. I'm flirting with my future by seeing if that's something I'm interested in. I reached out to Brand, got connected with a photographer. It was a good time. It's a lot of work, I mean, to be expected, but I liked a lot of it. I think I would be interested in exploring it more.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

And when do we know when it's gonna be live your modeling?

SPEAKER_00 46:49

No, but I don't know yet, but I feel like in the next few weeks and you will know.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

We'll make sure it's everywhere. I did get a pre-do preview. She looks fucked up. She looks so good. You look so good. Love.

SPEAKER_00 47:03

And it's it was all shot in just film. So I don't I have I mean I we did some like videos, so like I know what the looks look like, but I don't they could I don't know what they look like, so I love that.

SPEAKER_02 47:14

Yeah, so fun.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

How what did you do this weekend?

SPEAKER_02 47:17

Saturday night, I met a friend out in Philly, which I love go birds. Um, and we were just like trying to just have a fun, cool day. Um, and we went to something, it was a com we went to a really cute place for dinner, great food. I got a salad. Um, I don't I don't listen to the cycle. We then went to a comedy show. It was toted on the website as a dating game comedy show. I will tell you there's not much dating, there's a lot of comedy, and I'm just gonna tell you the premise of the show.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Um, so you start, so I was like, everybody kind of like no one on the website could tell you what it was. Everybody in the audience didn't know what we were signing up for, so like everybody kind of thought, like, oh, we're gonna go do like a dating show, and like maybe we'll do like fun things on the stage with like comedians, right? That was what I thought. Um, it's very comedy forward. There were some good there were four comedians and then three people that like MC'd the show, they did their comedy stuff. I I could have left without some, but that's fine. Um, and then the four comedians did their stand-up sets that again could have done without some, but that's fine. You know, people have their own form of comedy, and then they did challenges. So two dating challenges? I can't classify them in any way. I'm just gonna describe them to you. So what happened was two people decided they were gonna be the dates for the night. They listened to the comedians and they got to pick their two people they wanted to be partnered up with for the night, and then two people from the audience raised their hands if they wanted to be the other two comedians. So then they're all challenging each other for the rest of the night.

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Um what?

SPEAKER_02 48:58

So the first one was pyramid, um, like celebrity pyramid, where like you have something on the on the on the wall, and then like, or like the person you can't you can see the clue, but the person you can't see, and so then they would like say that, but like no one really understood the rules. So everybody, including the audience, was just kind of like yelling out the hints to make sure everyone got it. So that was its own version of like one of them was um pickup lines, and when I say when the man did the pick, not the pickup, like the um cat calling lines, it was like, How you doing, good looking? Not kidding, four women in the audience were like that's what's kidding. Me and the person next to me grabbed each other's hands. We were like, I'd take a shark. I'd take a shark!

unknown 49:39

I'd take a shark, I'd take a shark.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

And then the next one was dare or dare. They said it used to be truth or dare, but they changed it to dare or dare.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Oh bro, if it's dare or dare, just name it something else.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

And one was a hard one and one was an easy one. And so the first one was like, okay, either the easy one is kiss your partner anywhere in their body with their consent, or do a lap dance. So they picked kiss the person with any any part of your body, kiss the arm. Okay, that's fine. The next couple get something that's like, do the lap dance, or like the easy one is like, or like I don't remember, but it was like something super easy, like hug your partner. Then we get to like the next couple, and these three couples all kind of seem like game to like do crazy stuff. The sweetest, like gentlest couple, they're two things. It was like hard one, do a 10-second lap dance, or call a friend and tell them that you got engaged on the show. And then the second one was either like strip and give your partner a article of clothing or peck your partner on the lips. Now, what in the world? Whatever. They disappear for a couple seconds, and we play a music guessing game, fine. They come back to various. I can't show the podcast what I'm about to show Beatrice for the privacy of the people I'm talking about. But they come out with various rice cake tied to parts of their body. What the f and the next challenge is they all have to eat these rice cakes as fast as they can. Oh my god. And then when they're done, that's what you think you're seeing, one of the rice cakes was screwed. She was the hottest woman I've ever seen, but like she was so hot, and I don't know why she picked the guy she did. But they basically have to eat these rice cakes off of their partner's body, and then the person who had the rice cake tied to them has to take a fruit by the foot and eat it, like strung out without the hands. And then the balloons came out. They had to pop the balloons with their body parts, couldn't use hands, and you couldn't use just your crotch every time. When I tell you, I saw so much. One couple laid on the ground. I don't even want to do the position that they got in, but crotch to crotch jumped multiple times together to pop this balloon, like at full force. Um another one, it was like behind the girl's back, and her partner just kept readjusting his hands on her boobs and just like trying to pop it between one time. A girl like went to step on a guy the balloon behind between a guy's crotch and everyone gasped. It was and then at the end, the points meant nothing. I don't think they kept score. I was keeping trying to keep score because I care about the rules. They weren't, and then they won based off applause instead of points. What was the point of the points then? That was actually what made me the most mad the whole night. And you even know what made me more mad too. And that made me more mad than I think. I was like, well, how many points did they get? Because the whole point of the balloon game was based off of creativity, you're either gonna get one point or you're gonna get three points. And the balloon didn't pop, you didn't get any points. These people are crotch jumping and not even getting me, telling me how many points they're getting. I should get to know keep scoring points. But I couldn't, so great night. A memory I can never get rid of. Yeah, terrifying. But it was still good fun. It was fun. Nice to like I get to, you know, I love going to meet friends' places.

SPEAKER_00 53:06

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

Yeah, that's good. It's all good stuff. Yeah. So, tiny, tiny update before we close our sandwich. We will not be here before we put our sandwich all together. Um, we cut it in half. I'm just trying to make her a laugh. Um, we will not be here next week. Um, we're just taking a week off because we can. And this is for fun for us. Um we will miss you. Also, big ask, please. I'm going to start asking for this. If you would like to random topics, we may or may not have mentioned them that you want to hear about. If you have questions, we do know we are talking right off the dome. So there may be things that we didn't address that you want us to address. We do have a couple places you can go. Yeah. We are you can email us at the realbltpod at gmail.com. Everywhere else, everywhere else. All else places. We are the place of online. Please email online document that you can address with the underscore blt underscore pod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Um, we are nowhere else yet, um, but we will be eventually. Yeah. Um, but yeah, follow us there, ask us questions in the comments.

SPEAKER_01 54:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:27

And our personal pages. We are the only things that are followed. So if you want to get to know us personally, you want to follow Beatrice's mermaid series. Where are you doing your mermaid series at?

SPEAKER_00 54:36

Um, right now it's gonna be on YouTube. I would love to do like teasers on TikTok and Instagram. Um I'm hoping that this first episode about um fashion or modeling specifically, flirting with the idea of being a model, um, will be out this week.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

So perfect. And that is your YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 54:55

Or actually, yeah, just my name. You can find me there.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Perfect. And I will put her link below so you can go find that and us everywhere.

unknown 55:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 55:04

But thank you so much for sticking around and enjoying her sandwich with me. I think I do love it now. So we're stuck to it.

unknown 55:13

Foreva.

SPEAKER_01 55:15

Forever.