[Intro audio: “There is a Dark Place,” by Tom Rosenthal]
Jordan (00:29):
Hi, I’m Jordan.
Lex:
And I’m Lex.
Jordan:
And this is Or, Learn Parkour.
Lex:
It’s a podcast about ADHD done by two people who super have ADHD.
Jordan:
Still. We still do.
Lex:
Yeah. It’s been two motherfucking years. Two years of making this podcast.
Jordan:
Two years later.
Lex:
Oh, the SpongeBob reference. Okay.
Jordan:
The SpongeBob voice.
Lex:
I thought you said I’m a SpongeBob boy. I’m the SpongeBob boy.
Jordan:
I’m a SpongeBob boy.
Lex:
I’m a Sponge boy.
Jordan:
I’m not, I wish I was. I wasn’t allowed to watch that show when I was a kid.
Lex:
I know. I’m so sorry.
Jordan:
It’s okay. It’s honestly, probably for the best. No disrespect, SpongeBob. I respect the sponge. I respect the Bob.
Lex:
No, I mean, he deeply fucked up our generation. Lovingly. I say that with all the love in my heart, but what a fucked up sense of humor to impart upon a generation.
Jordan (01:23):
The musical was really good.
Lex:
Hell yeah. Well, hey, we’re back. We’ve been on a little bit of a hiatus. If you have been living under a rock, you might be confused as to why we took a hiatus.
Jordan:
You might be experiencing a bliss that nobody else is experiencing.
Lex:
Yeah. But we all sure do live in a place, in a time. And we needed a break. So thank you for your patience, everybody, but we are back and we’re, I wouldn’t say better than ever, but we’re back.
Jordan:
We’re here. We’re glad that you’re here and we’re in your ears and/or on your screen, still doing the podcast. We have still not learned parkour. So it’s the same podcast, you know and know.
Lex:
Don’t wanna assume that you love it.
Jordan (02:12):
If you do, that’s great. Thank you.
Lex:
Yeah. But please let us know. Yeah. So we won’t keep on the downer thing for too long, but just as per usual, we really want everyone in our little parkour family to take care of themselves.
Jordan:
And take care of each other.
Lex:
So we decided to take our own advice.
Jordan:
For once.
Lex:
Yeah. And take a little bit of a break to process and deal with what we’ve been dealing with on our end, in this little pocket of the world. Big pocket. Like JNCO jeans. JNCO jeans pocket size of the world.
Jordan:
It’s an important specification. Is it JNCO jeans pockets? Is it women’s dress pants pockets? Is it anywhere in between?
Lex:
Is it utility, moisture wicking, cargo pants from L.L.Bean, those kind of pockets?
Jordan (03:03):
Is it overalls pockets where it’s just the one big pocket on the big part?
Lex:
I was wearing overalls last night and it just reminded me that every time I went to the bathroom, my phone and my vape fell out of the front patch cuz I was just undressing completely, like a toddler, because I was wearing overalls. In my defense we were doing a movie night in our backyard.
Jordan:
We were, it was delightful.
Lex:
Yeah. We watched Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. And so of course I’m gonna wear overalls. It’s a theme.
Jordan:
Duh. Gotta.
Lex:
What would Donna say if I didn’t, but God, every time, go to the bathroom, like, okay, here we go. It would crash on the floor.
Jordan:
They really gotta put some buttons on those.
Lex:
They really do. Or a zipper. Can I have some cargo overalls please?
Jordan:
Some JNCO overalls?
Lex:
Sure. Yeah. I feel like that’s just all the wide leg overalls that you can get at Urban Outfitters and shit now.
Jordan:
They have overalls that are that wide legged?
Lex:
Probably. It’s Urban Outfitters, they have all that stuff.
Jordan:
Fair enough. That’s kind of a terrifying thought.
Lex:
Yeah. Don’t worry. I’m not actually gonna do that. I already have, how many did we count? Seven. I have seven pairs of overalls.
Jordan:
Quickly and solidly eclipsed me in the overalls department.
Lex:
I just fucking love overalls.
Jordan:
They’re great pants.
Lex:
Always have, always fucking will. One of my favorite outfits when I was a kid was a set of overalls that had Tweety Bird on the front pocket.
Jordan:
I might have had the same overalls.
Lex:
I think we’ve talked about this. I’m having a distinct memory. I think we’ve talked about this.
Jordan:
I have no memory of it, but I have no memory of many things that absolutely did happen.
Lex:
Hey, why is that?
Jordan:
You know, I think it might be the ADHD.
Lex:
It’s the ADHD. So, yeah, today we’re sweaty, we’re tired, but we’re here.
Jordan:
We sure are.
Lex:
And we’re here to talk to y’all, give you a little bit of an update because it’s been a long time.
Jordan:
It’s been two years.
Lex:
It’s two fucking years since we said much about how we are doing with our own ADHD journeys.
Jordan:
I mean, yeah. July 20th is our birthday. Our podcast birthday. Not our personal birthdays. That would be wild. It’d be a wild choice, not our choice if we had the same birthdays, but if we had the same birthdays and then chose to launch a podcast on that day. It’s like people who choose to get married on their birthdays but worse.
Lex (05:30):
Yeah. Or, respectfully, cuz I know people who’ve celebrated their nuptials on a major holiday. And I will never get it. I’m sorry. I will never understand. I’m like, you want me to do what on New Year’s Eve? You want me to come to your wedding?
Jordan:
I don’t wanna share.
Lex:
Fucking embarrassing. Do you know how embarrassing weddings are? I just went to one recently and it was lovely. It was a lovely wedding. And that’s the thing though, that everything about a wedding is just fucking embarrassing.
Jordan:
I think weddings are great. I just don’t understand the impulse to have one less holiday in your life. One less day to celebrate something special if you’re combining it with other days, you know?
Lex:
Well, and the presumption that your wedding should take precedent over a holiday for your guests. Do you know what I mean? Like, no, I don’t wanna celebrate New Year’s Eve with you and your newlywed. Like, no, I would not like to eat cold buffet food and listen to a very annoying MC constantly interrupt the dancing to play crowd games. You know what I mean?
Jordan:
That is embarrassing.
Lex:
Exactly. And it’s like, I get it. That’s what weddings are for. And there are people who eat that shit up and I love that for them. It is just not for me. Oh boy.
Jordan:
I was gonna be drinking champagne and eating cake anyways. Why would I want to do that one less time in a year?
Lex:
And why would I wanna do that with a bunch of people who I don’t know so that I can talk to the two people that I do know for less than five minutes. Tell me. Tell me how that’s justified to you. If you wanna have a conversation, I’m not ready to die on this hill. So take all of that with several grains of salt. I’m just a crotchety old man yelling at a cloud. Weddings are fucking embarrassing.
Jordan:
I’m so excited for getting to do an episode in five or ten years if you’re getting married and just intersperse clips of this episode in it.
Lex:
That would be on-brand. If I ever partake in such a ceremony, you can be damn sure guaranteed it’s not gonna be on a major fucking holiday. So first jot that down.
Jordan:
No, that’s fair. But you have just said weddings are embarrassing a number of times. I will play clips of that during my speech at your wedding.
Lex (07:45):
Amazing. Wouldn’t you say that I’m always embarrassing?
Jordan:
I feel like that’s setting me up to be really mean. I don’t think you’re always embarrassing.
Lex:
I love you, bro. It’s for the fucking bit. This is a podcast, not our friendship.
Jordan:
No friendship allowed on the podcast. We do this cuz we hate each other. That’s what you guys are here to listen to, right, is us just being mean and not getting along. Fuck you.
Lex:
We sit in puddles of our own sweat.
Jordan:
Fuck you.
Lex:
Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up, Sanguinet.
Jordan (08:25):
Are you quoting Shoresy again? Fucking embarrassing.
Lex:
Yeah, I know. That’s what I’m saying. So weddings are fucking embarrassing and I will own saying that and if I get married, that’s fucking embarrassing.
Jordan:
Oh, I can’t wait. Oh, I can’t wait. The payoff is already delicious.
Lex:
Well, this is the person me, Jordan can attest to this, I have said yeah, if I ever do get married, I think it’d be really funny to enter the reception with some of those vinyl animal masks, like horse heads or alligator heads or something ‘cause I think it’d be funny. So I think for me it’s like, yeah, this is fucking embarrassing so at least let’s have fun with it. Let’s do it. Yeah. Let’s at least, what did you say earlier? We were talking about pronouns ‘cause, you know, we all use them. And, Jordan, would you feel comfortable sharing what you said about my pronouns?
Jordan:
Oh sure. Yeah. I said I know your pronouns are pretty much yes and, whatever gender’s funniest for the bit.
Lex:
Yeah. So it’s she/they still, don’t worry, but yeah. Committing to the bit and the holy matrimony.
Jordan:
The bit is holy matrimony. You can put that on your invitations. You can use that one.
Lex:
We have ADHD. It’s not clear, probably.
Jordan:
I just wanna say before we move on, I, for one, respect an event that puts such a large focus on cake. That’s all I got.
Lex:
That’s fair. One of our first friendship arguments was the day that you found out that I don’t really like cake. And if I get married, I don’t want a cake at my wedding.
Jordan:
Don’t know if it was an argument. I was just taken aback. Our first real friendship argument was what makes a good wreath.
Lex:
God, you’re right. Oh, fucking embarrassing. Oh, God. Well, while we’re reminiscing, how about we reminisce on-topic?
Jordan:
Oh, it’s probably a good idea.
Lex:
Cuz that’s what y’all are here for, right? To listen to us, after two years of shit-for-brains episodes, talk about things in an eloquent and intelligent manner.
Jordan:
Very educational. Very well thought out. Very scripted. This whole podcast is scripted.
Lex:
Yeah, absolutely. This is not improvised at all. We are not like this in real life. And you tried so hard. Oh, God. Okay. So we both have ADHD. That’s pretty clear. Jordan, hit me with the basics of where you were then and where you are now and whatever in-between you’re feeling up to sharing.
Jordan:
Yeah, let’s do a little then and now. Two years ago was July, 2020. So there’s a lot going on there at that point anyways. Personally, it was a very interesting time in my life because we moved to Chicago in late 2018. Went through 2019. It was not what I expected from life in Chicago at all. I had one kind of cool job and one really shitty job, was trying to do theater, was having a very hard time doing really anything but just be tired and then was even more tired and frustrated at how tired and frustrated I was all the time. And I was like, I can’t do this anymore. So I went out and got a therapist and I finally got on some meds and started all of that in early 2020.
Lex:
This started before the pandemic hit.
Jordan:
January 2020. Yeah.
Lex:
Sorry, take that again ‘cause I was like, JUST before. I’m dripping sweat right now, I’m so sorry.
Jordan:
We’ll go fast. We’ll go fast.
Lex:
No, it’s all good. I’m willing to sit in it, but I’m just very sorry. I’m really glad that you got COVID and can’t smell.
Jordan:
There we go. There’s a sound clip for the social media.
Lex:
Yeah. It was a long time ago and I do really feel bad and I feel bad that you can’t eat eggs anymore either.
Jordan:
It’s okay. It’s still coming back. It’s making its way.
Lex:
Yeah, it’s definitely just one of those things where it’s like, if you ever want me to stop, I get it. I’m always just trying to make you feel better like, hey, at least you don’t have to smell me.
Jordan:
I appreciate that.
Lex:
And the multiple different smells that I produce on a daily basis. That sounds so gross. I’m so sorry, dear audience.
Jordan:
We can cut this.
Lex:
I am just a stinky little man. The fuck was that? You good?
Jordan (13:26):
Well, the way I tried to not laugh last time didn’t work. So I was trying something new and it also didn’t work. So yeah. I had a job interview that went really well, I thought, in February of 2020, and I was literally like, this is gonna be my year. I’m finally on meds. I feel better. I’m getting a new job. I had a really fun trip to San Diego booked in April 2020 and then it was 2020. We don’t have to rehash it.
Lex:
I have to laugh. We have to.
Jordan:
All that to say by the time we started this podcast, and we had kind of been talking about it before then, but it was an interesting point of, I kind of just got a bunch of information and lost every opportunity to put it into motion and try it and live it pretty much
Lex:
Completely new information, new brain, or not new brain, but new way to understand brain, which essentially basically feels like new brain.
Jordan (14:31):
It does. It absolutely does.
Lex:
And then no structure to help with that at all.
Jordan:
Nope, not at all. Yeah. I was at a place where I had just kind of learned where to look for information, but had no information. And I feel like since then, through living the rest of my life, through getting back to some more opportunities to structure my life, to having more artistic outlets now, I’ve had a lot more time to look for information and understand why my brain works the way it does and practice it enough. Now, I’m not perfect, I’m still learning so much, but I feel like it’s so much easier to go, oh, I know what kind of structure works for me. I have a list stuck right next to my desk here at home with just a list of different things to do if I find myself having a hard time staying on task, I know the things that work for me. And I know also that having a reminder of them that’s visual is helpful. I know what kind of structure works or some kinds of structures that work, not all of them, for having my best artistic and creative life and just now starting to get to a place where I can practice those. So hopefully in another two years I’ll be able to sit down and be like, yeah, here’s this great artistic process I have. And I do. And I’m so creative and doing great, but I’m not there yet, but I have more tools than I did two years ago.
Lex:
The silence. I was like, are you just about to be like, yeah, I’m doing amazing.
Jordan:
Yeah. I’m great, actually. I did it. I learned parkour. Here we are.
Lex (16:23):
It’s a lot less impactful on the foam, but you get it. Sorry. Continue.
Jordan:
Yeah, no, I think that’s been the main thing, is getting into a better habit of looking at why I’m feeling and reacting the way I do. And being able to say like, oh, this is because I’m having a rejection sensitive dysphoria moment or, oh this is because I have too much structure and I need to listen to my body and relax or I don’t have enough structure. And I need to just move before I can think about what else to do. Just kind of building up those mental pathways of pattern recognizing, essentially. I feel like I’ve just gotten better at pattern recognizing.
Lex:
Yeah. Self-awareness is a hell of a drug and I mean that in the best pharmaceutical sense. It’s really helpful. Can you sometimes get stuck in a prison of self-awareness? Absolutely. But generally, five stars. Ten out of ten. Zero doctors wouldn’t recommend.
Jordan:
Yeah. I mean, I think I just mentioned it briefly, but the rejection sensitive dysphoria, huge game changer, like so many things about ADHD where I’m like, that makes so much sense. But that especially I think cuz when I originally started trying to figure out my mental health, the doctors are like, you have, you have depression and you have anxiety. You feel like shit all the time. And I’m like, I do feel like all the time. And not that there aren’t tools in those toolboxes that aren’t helpful, but so so much of reframing the problems that looked like depression and anxiety as rejection sensitive dysphoria and a conflict between the part of my ADHD self that wants to do so many things and doesn’t have the tools to do it and has a lot of expectations from myself and others and doesn’t have the tools to do it. Knowing to look in that box of tools instead, incredible. Impeccable. Ten out of ten.
Lex:
Amazing. Unbelievable.
Jordan (18:48):
Incroyable. What do you got?
Lex:
Oh shit. Okay. Yeah. So I got diagnosed a little while after you, but at the beginning of 2020 in March. February/March. It was March. I had previously been diagnosed with depression and anxiety for a couple years at that point. So I was on meds for that stuff. But then just hit a point of, similarly, I will say in all of my experiences, talking to people who are younger, who’ve moved to Chicago, the first year to year and a half sucks in Chicago because you don’t know nearly as many people as you need to know to feel comfortable, you know what I mean? And also the different industries here to work in are all bonkers in their own way. And so many of us end up in service industry jobs right off the bat. And I don’t know if y’all have watched The Bear on Hulu. It’s pretty fucking accurate to what working in food service in Chicago is like. Please be nice. Please be nice to service workers, please.
Jordan:
Please. God, if you take anything away from this podcast.
Lex:
Tip your servers. Be nice to people who are just doing their jobs.
Jordan:
They’re people. They’re human beings.
Lex:
Yeah. Please. Please.
Jordan:
Especially you, motherfucking “why is he drinking out of Tupperware” guy.
Lex:
That really got you worked up. And you’re so justified. You let it go. I’m supporting you a hundred percent, you know that if someone’s like, I’m mad about something and I’m like, yeah, what are we mad about? Granted, all that to say I was working at a bar when I started thinking, I don’t think that depression and anxiety is the root of this. I think these are symptoms and severe and definitely very glad to have been treating those for at least a few years, right. That was still a very good thing for me at the time. But I just was lacking structure, lacking time to rest adequately because every waking moment was just stress of not enough money, shitty customers to get money to exist, to just live and be able to be mildly happy with Jordo and our two cats. Right? Just reaching for the bare minimum. Barely getting there and then the pandemic happened. So, you know, we were there, we were all there. You all know. Definitely started out the journey with a full toolkit for the wrong things. And so for me it’s been a lot of unlearning and learning new things as to what should be in my mental toolkit. Do you know what I mean? In terms of self-awareness. When I say self-awareness can be a prison, for me that literally means sometimes I’m so self-aware, it’s painful. You cannot tell me something about myself that I don’t already think about day in and day out. And I will often get trapped in my head, right. Like, I know that I’m doing this because I have ADHD. I know that if I do X, Y, Z thing to solve that, then I could do the thing. But because I’m thinking about it in that way, and there’s no external pressure and no external structure reinforcing that awareness. I’m just aware of how shitty it is, you know what I mean? I’m just super aware that I have sat on my bed for 45 minutes staring at a wall instead of cleaning my room, which would take maybe ten minutes, you know, you’ve all been there.
Jordan:
All been there.
Lex (22:24):
And if you haven’t been there and you’re listening to this podcast I assume you know of someone who has been there. So, you know, that’s where I was at. Finally got diagnosed, started taking Adderall. Journeys shifted a little bit, changed some dosage things between instant release and extended release. And now I’ve found a bit more of a balance. I ended up getting a job later in the year, in 2020, thank goodness, that wasn’t service industry. And so I’ve been able to sort of catch my breath and ride this shit out because that’s the other thing, right. It’s still happening. It didn’t stop. It didn’t go away. When people talk about it in the past tense, I get so confused. I’m like what? Okay, sure. Whatever.
Jordan:
It’s different than it was at that point, but it’s still happening.
Lex (23:11):
Still happening. Just a different response to it as a whole, but been a lot better. I feel like it’s been easier for me to start making those steps, right, to be able to enforce my own structure, right. But definitely still a work in progress. And honestly, if someone were to be like, hey, so how’s your ADHD doing? In this day and age, I would look at them and be like, I don’t know, how’s your government doing? The answer, bad. People are like, hey, how’s it going? And I just constantly have been like, oh, you know, and then people just look at me like, do they know? And I’m like, how could you not know? We’re all suffering. We’re all doing really bad right now. People are writing articles and shit about it. People are doing research on it cuz we’re all doing really bad right now. So I will say being super aware of my ADHD and being able to start implementing those tools has been awesome. And I don’t wanna be a negative Nancy, but it’s kind of hard to say, right. It’s kind of hard to acknowledge how much progress or lack of progress have I made in the past two years? Because I don’t know, everything’s on fucking fire and half of us don’t have certain rights now. I don’t know. And granted, a lot of people have been living without certain rights for a long time, so it’s not anything new or special. But it’s still happening. It’s all happening. Shit’s just going. So again, sorry, bringing that negative Nancy energy, but my ADHD is just always gonna probably be pretty severely affected by society because I live in it.
Jordan (24:43):
I mean, I think that’s a fair response. That’s true. I think a lot of mental health, you know, there’s only so much that you can do on a personal level, which is, I don’t know if I wanna say a blessing and a curse, but it’s frustrating when so much of that is out of your control. I one hundred percent feel that. But it also, at least for me, alleviates a bit of the stress to know that I’m at least doing as much as I can. It helps to be able to sort it into a “here’s what I can do, here’s what I can’t.”
Lex:
Yes. And yeah, that is an excellent point and a much lighter note to the end of my little update too. But the other thing that’s kind of big, I guess, and granted, don’t worry, I’m not gonna sort through this on the podcast with you cuz I’m a fucking adult so I can find professionals to do this with, but worth noting that Jordan and I have talked about it quite a bit at this point that at some point I would really like to be screened and tested for autism because, you know, I wouldn’t claim a self-diagnosis at this point or anything. It’s just like what we say about a lot of people who tune into this podcast, right, is like, even if you don’t have ADHD, if anything we say is helpful or makes you feel seen and heard, and you can use that in your own life and apply it to what you’re doing or not doing. Hell yeah. And so that’s kind of where I’m at, right, is I think that I might be autistic and have ADHD cuz a lot of us do. It’s a big overlap, you know? Yeah. So my journey’s clearly still going and, and that’s why we’re still making this podcast. We’re both just trying to lead empathetic and fulfilling lives. Right? A lot of people are just trying to be here and just exist. So this sounds bleak, but I’m good. Don’t worry. I’m good. I say this all with like, of course I’m bad. We’re all bad right now. And it sucks that we’re all feeling shitty, but it’s okay. It’s okay. Super fucking valid and so fucking allowed. God. I’m not saying this to be negative. I’m really just trying to be transparent, you know. I don’t know. It’s a wild world right now. I don’t like structure, the world, she needs structure. Jeez.
Jordan (27:10):
Yep. I mean, I think that’s why so many people have got ADHD diagnoses since the pandemic started. The world needs structure. I say that and then I feel like it might sound a little bit dictator-y.
Lex:
Yeah. I was thinking about how, if anyone in our audience is an anarchist or a libertarian or anything, sorry.
Jordan:
The world needs standards.
Lex:
Yeah. Something, we need something.
Jordan:
Consistency, something.
Lex:
Yeah. Even that though, huh? Yeah. The problem with getting two degrees that are focused on cultural and historical change.
Jordan:
I’m gonna drink some more soda now.
Lex:
Yeah. Me: I’m not gonna be too negative. Also me: I’m gonna say some of the most negative shit I’ve said in months.
Jordan:
You know, speak your truth.
Lex (28:07):
Yeah. So, yeah, it’s been a wild two years. I will say, doing this podcast has, I think, very much positively impacted how I’ve learned about and dealt with my own ADHD between the topics that we’ve talked about, getting to share our experiences with people and hearing that y’all are feeling seen and heard and that’s huge. That’s really fucking cool. And so I will say that’s definitely, you know, maybe not impacted the way that my brain worms actually work, but it’s helped with my toolkit and it’s helped with awareness and it’s also helped me feel good about it. Do you know what I mean? Again, that’s why I say there’s so much shit going on, but I’m okay because I have good people.
Jordan (28:59):
It’s always easier to do it with community.
Lex:
And not in a weird parasocial way, not to be weird about it, but thank you, dear audience, for hanging out with us for this really weird journey.
Jordan:
Yeah. We’re happy to get to be a part of however yours is going.
Lex:
Been a long time since we discussed shrooms and hot air balloons and corvids and shit like that. We do still do our Dopamine Trampoline. That’s been consistent this whole time.
Jordan:
It absolutely has been and will continue to be.
Lex:
Because on that note.
Jordan:
We’re gonna hop on over, team.
Lex:
Ba-boing.
Jordan:
Time to bounce, motherfuckers.
Lex:
Time to bounce, motherfuckers.
Jordan:
Yeah. You do the voice better than I do.
Lex:
Thank you. I’m not good at much.
Jordan:
Oh shush.
Lex:
Okay, listen. I have things that I’m decent at. There are a few things that I’m really good at. And one of the few things I’m really good at is imitating Griffin McElroy. Sorry, bud. Maybe stop doing such funky little weird voices. They’re easy to mimic. I don’t know.
Jordan:
It’s a very accessible timbre. I get it. Is that your Dopamine Trampoline for this?
Lex:
No, no. Excuse me, is my Dopamine Trampoline Griffin McElroy’s timbre?
Jordan:
Then what is it?
Lex:
Fucking embarrassing. My DT is Shoresy. I’ve talked about Letterkenny a couple times.
Jordan:
It’s a good show.
Lex:
It’s a good fucking show. And the lovely writers and team members from Letterkenny decided to make a spin-off television show based on the character Shoresy. The chirping rude, just little shitty man, Shoresy with a 69 on his jersey. Who’s incredibly good at hockey but also incredibly rude and mean.
Jordan (30:46):
Total piece of shit.
Lex:
An absolute piece of shit. And it’s a spin-off where we actually get to meet Shoresy face to face. ‘Cause we never see his face in Letterkenny because he is in fact played by Jared Keeso who plays the main character, Wayne. So they never show his face in Letterkenny.
Jordan:
It’s like the neighbor in Home Improvement.
Lex:
It’s a good comedic bit. And the fact that they made enough episodes in Letterkenny with Shoresy and pulled enough little nuggets of information that this asshole has dropped into conversation and turned it into an entire spin-off that alone deserves an award.
Jordan:
It’s really impressive, actually.
Lex:
It’s really impressive. And listen, I’m gonna tell you. So it’s like they took everything that they’ve learned in their progress, they’re on season 11 right now of Letterkenny. So they’ve been doing that for a long time now. And it was on YouTube before it was on Hulu or whatever, the Canadian platforms. I don’t know.
Jordan:
There’s too many of them.
Lex:
Yeah. But they took all of the stuff that they learned, distilled it and put it into six episodes of one season. And I am not exaggerating when I say it is one of the best comedic TV shows I have ever seen. And I watch so much TV. There are few things that I claim to know a lot about. Pop culture, specifically television shows, specifically Canadian TV shows, I’m pretty well fucking versed. Started with Degrassi and didn’t stop.
Jordan:
Degrassi’s Canadian? I didn’t know that. Huh.
Lex:
Yeah. That’s why they push so many interesting boundaries. It’s the difference between UK shows and US shows. Canadian shows are similar to American shows in a lot of ways, but there are still some slight differences and certain boundaries that, culturally, they are more okay pushing in pop culture than we are. And I think it’s really interesting and fun to watch. So it’s not for everybody and you’re gonna be offended. Something is gonna be said in Shoresy that you’re gonna be upset by. I can almost guarantee that. It is so fucking funny. And I don’t say that in a like, oh no one takes a joke these days, I’m saying this dude is a complete asshole, but you learn that he also will do anything for his friends and the people he’s loyal to, that he is willing to fight for his fucking love of the game. This bitch just loves hockey so fucking much.
Jordan (33:06):
He loves hockey so fucking much.
Lex:
And he would do anything for his team. The Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs.
Jordan:
I want a blueberry bulldog. That would be so cute.
Lex:
They’re so cute. It follows Shoresy basically rehabilitating the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs into a team that will never lose again.
Jordan:
Bold claim.
Lex:
And I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what becomes of them when they make that claim and how they get there. And it’s just funny. It’s funny. I’ve lost count of how many times, I think I lost count at my seventh re-watch. There’s only six episodes. They’re only 25, 30 minutes long. For those of us stateside it’s on Hulu. And I’ve been suggesting it to everybody because I suggest Letterkenny to everybody I meet pretty much. And I’ve stopped doing that and begun actually recommending Shoresy first because Letterkenny, there’s 11 seasons, they’re on the 11th season now. That’s a lot of TV, even with short episodes and short seasons. That’s a lot. That’s an endeavor. Just seeing that little scroll down and if you have to scroll on the little seasons page, you know what I mean? It hurts.
Jordan:
There’s a barrier to entry there.
Lex:
Yes. And so I’ve been suggesting Shoresy because it really is the cinnamon, I can’t.
Jordan:
The cinnamon topography.
Lex:
I was about to say the cinnamon topography un-ironically. I meant to be like, the cinematography is incredible, but the cinnamon topography is incredible.
Jordan:
It’s shockingly good. There’s so many gorgeous hockey playing scenes.
Lex (34:42):
They got some art hoe film bro behind those cameras.
Jordan:
For a hockey comedy.
Lex:
For a hockey comedy. The combat scenes, the fighting.
Jordan:
The brawls.
Lex:
The brawls
Jordan:
And the soundtrack, oh my God.
Lex:
Oh my God.
Jordan:
Oh my God. Sorry, not to steal your thunder. I also love Shoresy.
Lex:
No, please, please. If I had to say that I’m an evangelist, it’s about Shoresy. It’s really embarrassing. It’s fucking embarrassing. It’s really truly so funny. And also one of the most relatable characters to me. Yes, I do know I just described this person as an absolute piece of who will upset you and offend you. I’m not trying to sound like Joe fucking Rogan cuz I have standards and empathy. Yeah. I’m not a monster.
Jordan:
Well, I think the thing that Shoresy does well is things happen that are upsetting and maybe offensive, but they’re not in there to be upsetting or offensive humor, by and large, they’re there because the characters are multifaceted and that’s the way that they behave. So it’s not there for comedy. It’s not there to like glamorize that type of oh is somebody offended? Humor. Yeah.
Lex:
No it’s just, this is the character. This is the environment they grew up in. And I mean, if any of y’all have grown up in the rural Midwest and or Ontario, cuz they’re very similar, you probably get it. Some of us just say things. Not anything wild, don’t worry. But anyways, I deeply relate to a character that should feel as though he is putting his foot in his mouth, but never does.
Jordan:
It’s a shockingly good show.
Lex:
It’s amazing. If for any reason, any of the writers or producers ever hear this podcast because of how many fucking times I’ve talked about their work, thanks. It’s fucking funny. God. Just gets me. It’s been oft quoted since it dropped in May, in our apartment. And I love it. That’s my Dopamine Trampoline. Go watch Shoresy, please.
Jordan:
And while you’re on Hulu, if you finish all six episodes of that and you want something else.
Lex:
Is this your DT?
Jordan:
It is. I’m rolling in this transition.
Lex:
Okay. Normally I’m the one who makes the weird little fun segues. This is new and fresh and sexy.
Jordan:
Well, thank you. Yeah, so if you finish Shoresy, you fall in love with it and you’re just not quite ready to not be watching TV about really lovable fuckups, my Dopamine Trampoline is The Bear.
Lex:
Fucking A, I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have talked about it earlier. I’m so sorry. Not to steal your thunder.
Jordan:
To be incredibly clear, I had a different Dopamine Trampoline prepared and then you mentioned The Bear and I was like, oh shit, The Bear.
Lex:
It’s good. I haven’t finished it.
Jordan:
Okay. What episode are you on?
Lex:
I dunno.
Jordan:
Okay. So I’ll try to not spoil it for you and also anyone else who hasn’t seen it yet because I’m guessing not everyone will. Embarrassingly, and I think on-brand for the fact that I’m gonna talk about how much I loved The Bear, my other DT that we’ll probably get to next time was just gonna burrata, the cheese. But not this time.
Lex:
Hey, bestie. You’re so fucking valid.
Jordan:
Thanks, bestie. But anyways. Another great, great series on Hulu. Eight episodes. I think they’re a little bit longer than Shoresy. They’re at least 30 minutes. But I know it’s been a little bit divisive, in Chicago especially. Some people are like, this is amazing, I felt so seen. Some people are like, this is not accurate to Chicago, their accents were all stupid, nobody calls the street, they had a mafia uncle named Cicero, that’s too on the nose. And I was like, that’s fair. I’m not gonna be the person who says what is and isn’t accurate Chicago. We’ve lived here for three years now? Four years?
Lex:
Yeah. It’s not like we grew up here.
Jordan:
Yeah. I mean, you have more background than I do. I grew up in Southeastern Washington state. The part they don’t talk about.
Lex:
Yeah. The part that’s not evergreen.
Jordan:
Miniature Dopamine Trampoline is driving.
Lex:
It’s so funny.
Jordan:
It’s so good. If you are ever driving between Southeastern Washington and out to Portland, there are two roads that go right along the Columbia river, so right on the Washington/Oregon border. Most people usually drive along the Oregon border, the road is much nicer. But at some point you do have to cross back into Washington in an area called Biggs Junction. And you’ve been driving through Oregon on your way back from the coast. It’s beautiful. It’s green. The Columbia Gorge.
Lex:
Literally Mt. Hood is in your rear view for a while.
Jordan:
It’s stunning.
Lex:
You’re probably playing Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens for a little bit.
Jordan:
Oh no, no you are fully in Hey Marseille. You just picked up a band you never heard of from Tender Loving Empire and you’re like, oh, their stuff is actually really good.
Lex:
It’s so specific. You just spoiled so much. Okay. Sorry.
Jordan:
It’s time to cross back into Washington. Our motto is the evergreen state. And as you cross back over the majestic Columbia river, you are greeted with this motto on a massive, bright green sign that says welcome to Washington, the evergreen state and behind it is a big brown hill. There are no trees on it whatsoever.
Lex:
Yeah. It’s a desert. Eastern Washington is deserts and just open fields. Gorgeous in its own way.
Jordan:
Oh yeah. Absolutely.
Lex:
This is not to take away from that, right. And same thing with Eastern Oregon. It’s just a different environment.
Jordan:
Yeah. But God, whoever put up that sign, comedy.
Lex:
Yeah. The inherent hilarity of being surrounded by tumbleweed. This is the land of the sage-grouse. This is the land of the dust storm, right? To see a giant fucking sign that is bright green with pine trees all over it and it’s just like, the evergreen state. And it’s clearly, so, so fucking clearly, it’s just people think of Washington and they’re like, Seattle, and just sort of assume that that’s what the rest of the state is like. It’s a big state. It’s a big fucking state.
Jordan:
Next time I drive past it, I just wanna just pop outta my car, do a tiny little bit of graffiti and make sure it says welcome to the nevergreen state.
Lex:
Yes. That’s a good idea.
Jordan:
Thanks. But anyways.
Lex:
For legal reasons.
Jordan:
It’s a joke.
Lex:
Yeah. I’m kidding.
Jordan:
Would never do that.
Lex:
Nope. Defacing public property.
Jordan:
I’m in Chicago right now. You can’t pin anything on me. Anyways. Sorry. The mini DT detour.
Lex:
It was worth it.
Jordan:
But my main DT has been The Bear on Hulu. If you have not heard of it, it is about a guy whose name is Carmy. That’s short for Carmen. His family is Italian. He is an incredibly talented, fine dining chef who has gone to school. Who’s been nominated for James Beard awards, worked at French Laundry and a bunch of other super famous, super bougie restaurants. Grant Achatz is shaking in his fucking boots at this dude. And he has a loss in the family and has to come back to Chicago from working, I think, on the West coast, in California, to run his family’s Italian beef joint. And if you are not familiar with Italian beef, I was not before I moved to Chicago, take a hoagie roll, leave it out for two days and then slap some beef in it. Some stewed beef and peppers, either hot or sweet, your choice, and then dip the entire thing in beef juice. That’s an Italian beef. That’s the kind of sandwich it is.
Lex:
And to be clear, however that sounds to you, it is beloved here.
Jordan:
It sounds really good and I’m hungry so let’s wrap this up.
Lex:
Yeah, no, it’s really good. No matter what your opinion is of it, it is a Chicago staple.
Jordan (43:12):
It is. And, West Coast team, if you’re not familiar with Chicago beef or the Chicago beef joint energy, imagine Zip’s-esque, but they’re not gonna fucking make you a milkshake. So that’s the general energy of the Italian beef joint. It’s quick food, but it’s not fast food. They’re usually older. So as you can tell, a big change from the fine dining experience, there’s a lot of family turmoil happening with taking over this restaurant. He’s coming in trying to essentially get this restaurant under control because it’s financially been incredibly mismanaged. There’s a lot of bookkeeping that just kind of doesn’t exist. Everybody who’s been working there has done it for years and years and years. And they have their own rapport and they have their own kind of relationship with each other. But everyone does things their own way. And they’re entrenched in that, and it’s not very efficient. And so it’s about this guy trying to not only whip this restaurant into shape, but also deal with this loss in the family. And how the restaurant represents that and creating these relationships with these other people. And that’s the thing that I love about it, aside from the thing that I’m gonna talk about after this, is the found family of it all, really truly.
Lex:
Keep in mind this is billed as a comedy.
Jordan:
Oh yeah. It’s a Chicago comedy. That’s all I can say about it.
Lex:
It’s gonna make you laugh so hard. It’s also gonna hurt you. Deeply. Spiritually.
Jordan:
At the same time often.
Lex:
Yeah. It’s really unique to Chicago, I feel, just the energy of the city.
Jordan (44:57):
Yeah. It’s a little grimy, but it’s so earnest. And it’s about working in a kitchen. It’s about this back of house kind of mentality. And to be clear, I never worked line. That is not my area of expertise, except when I did catering in high school. That is different, but I’ve worked in the service industry. I did a year of culinary school. I worked in a bakery that was attached to a line for a very long time. By a very long time I mean like two years.
Lex:
That’s a long time for people our age though.
Jordan:
That’s fair. And so the kitchen culture and the mentality and personalities that just are in that line of work were all so familiar. I love my job right now, to be clear. I adore it. The people that I work with are wonderful, the company’s great. But I had a second watching this show like, oh God, I miss it. Oh God, I miss working in a kitchen, which is wild ‘cause it doesn’t go well a lot of the time for these people. But it’s the comradery. It’s the trauma bonding.
Lex:
Fair. That’s so fair. Part of the reason I haven’t finished it yet is because it stresses me out because it reminds me of working back of house.
Jordan:
That’s fair. Also, to be clear, I also had a relatively nice experience. I worked with really nice people and I was also watching it going, oh my God, I’m so glad that nobody that I worked with was like that. Mai, if you still listen to this show, I love you and I miss you and I hope you’re doing all right. But just a familiar cast of personalities, incredibly stressful, I will say, as much as I love the rest of the show, episode seven, no spoilers, but dear God, dear God, dear God. It is all trauma, no bonding. I’ll say that.
Lex:
Yeah. Maybe actually watch this one first and then watch Shoresy.
Jordan:
To kind of cleanse your palette.
Lex:
Yeah. Which is a wild thing. Hey, use the show Shoresy to cleanse your palette. Take that one to the bank, Jared Keeso.
Jordan:
But yeah, all the characters are wonderful. There’s a character named Sydney, who I would die for, I would kill for. The actress who plays her is incredible. The character, I feel very seen by and I’m rooting for, even though all of these people are disasters in their own special way.
Lex (47:24):
Aren’t we all?
Jordan:
Aren’t we all. And Marcus, Marcus, my baker heart. Ugh.
Lex:
Yeah. How’s that cake coming?
Jordan:
I’m working on it. That’s my plan for the rest of the day. It’s a surprise. It’s a surprise. It’s a surprise. It’s an offer. It’s a great idea, FX. Yeah.
Lex:
Anyways, I’ll be sure to retweet it from the Or, Learn Parkour Twitter account, which I am taking over soon.
Jordan:
Oh yeah. That’s my DT. So let’s go ahead and get into the housekeeping stuff before we wrap it up.
Lex:
Hell fucking yeah.
Jordan:
Guess that the most exciting piece of news is Lex is gonna be taking over the Twitter and it’s gonna be rad.
Lex:
And this isn’t like a haha, I’m gonna let Lex have access to the Twitter for the day. No, Jordan’s given me control.
Jordan (48:09):
You’re taking the reins.
Lex:
I’ve already started a few things. I’m sorry.
Jordan:
Don’t be.
Lex:
But you know, I gotta contribute somehow.
Jordan:
You only host half the podcast.
Lex:
You know, you know. So that’s happening and then also-
Jordan:
We have some other fun things coming up that are kind of a surprise.
Lex:
Yeah. Cuz this is technically our two year anniversary episode. Oopsie. But you know, we’re still working on merch things, but we’re excited to tell y’all that that’s a thing that we are planning. We’re working on it. We’re working on designs and brainstorming ideas and all of that. So I guess on that note, we’ve gotten some really good ideas from our audience. And friends of the show. So if you have something that you want to have as the thing that you would buy.
Jordan:
If you wanna own it, tell us. Cuz we wanna make things that you want to own that benefits both parties here.
Lex:
Yeah. We gotta keep the lights on.
Jordan:
We’re almost out of batteries.
Lex:
Oh yeah, I used the last of the batteries for the touch lights in our back stairwell.
Jordan:
Great. Well, let’s get the merch rolling then. I think that’s all the news I had.
Lex:
Yeah. Same. I’m so sleepy and you’re hungry. Let’s wrap this up and get some beef. Yeah. Thank you all again. All the love.
Jordan:
You guys are great. And we’re glad to be back. Thanks for hanging in there with us. And we’re excited to get back into it and bring you some real cool stuff the rest of this year.
Lex:
Yeah, we got some cool shit lined up. The other exciting thing is we took a break and we decided to sit down and kind of plan some things out so that maybe next time we won’t need to take quite so long of a break. You know what I mean? We’re working on it and we appreciate your patience and kindness and flexibility. And for those people who are just diehard loyal fans to us, just hell yeah. Thanks.
Jordan:
You guys are the best.
Lex:
Keeping us afloat.
Jordan:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Every time people tweet at us or reach out or any of that stuff it really truly means a lot. It really, really, truly keeps our lights on emotionally. So thank you guys a whole lot.
Lex:
Thank you.
Jordan:
This has been Or, Learn Parkour from Wholehearted Production Company.
Lex:
You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Pretty much anywhere that cool people find their podcasts.
Jordan:
Special thanks to Krizia Perito for our wonderful cover art. You can find her at Petalhop, that’s P-E-T-A-L-H-O-P on Instagram, Twitter, and Etsy.
Lex:
Thank you as well to Tom Rosenthal for our theme song, There is a Dark Place off of the album Keep a Private Room Behind the Shop.
Jordan:
If you’re not already, you can make like some cool people and follow us on the soshe meeds. We are @orlearnparkour on Twitter @weareWPC on Instagram and you can check out our website at wearewpc.com.
Lex:
You can find links to all that good shit, as well as sources and transcripts in our episode description.
Jordan:
If you enjoy this podcast and would like to hear more now is a great time to follow, subscribe, hit that button. And if you really like the podcast and would like to start your own, click on the Buzzsprout affiliate link in our Linktree on our Instagram and Twitter, on our website and in the episode description here. You get a great show website, access to tons of podcasting resources. They will do a lot of the legwork of listing your show on every major podcast platform. Those aforementioned cool places cool people listen to podcasts, and a ton of other great benefits and the benefit of knowing you supported our show. We get a little bit back to help us keep on keeping on.
Lex:
Yeah, you can also support the show by word of mouth. Share it with a friend, family member, maybe, enemy, definitely. And if you’re feeling real feisty, you can consider supporting us on Ko-fi, which you could find a link to that on our Twitter or our Instagram or our website.
Jordan:
You sure can. It’s just the cost of, it’s much cheaper than buying us an actual coffee, actually. It’s like three bucks, coffee nowadays is like seven.
Lex:
Yeah. Inflation is bananas, right? Haha. That’s what comedy is now, huh? Sorry. So outro question for you, actually. What’s your favorite Shoresy quote to quote together?
Jordan:
To quote together? I think you know the one.
Lex:
Okay. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Okay. So it’s a series of quotes you’ve brought me. Yeah. Amazing. Do you want me to read them with you?
Jordan:
Yes, please.
Lex:
Would you like to be Shoresy or Sanguinet?
Jordan (53:04):
I’m Saguinet, right?
Lex:
Yeah. Okay.
Jordan:
Where are we starting?
Lex:
Okay. So context Sanguinet asks Shoresy for some help in coaching the team and he’s upset because he doesn’t wanna yell at people. He doesn’t wanna be mean.
Jordan:
So I’m Sanguinet.
Lex:
Yes. And so Shoresy says, all right, we’re teammates. We’re brothers.
Jordan:
Yeah.
Lex:
And I’d go to the wall for you. Are you my brother?
Jordan:
Yeah. I’m your brother.
Lex:
Would you go to the wall for me?
Jordan:
I’d go to the wall.
Lex:
Then you’re allowed to call me a fucking useless cunt on the way there.
Jordan:
Yeah?
Lex:
Hell yeah, fuck yeah.
Jordan:
Hell yeah, fuck yeah.
Lex:
So we quote that back and forth a lot.
Jordan:
We do.
Lex:
In terms of, fucking love you.
Jordan:
Fucking love you, dude.
Lex:
That means that we can call each other a fucking useless cunt on the way there.
Jordan:
It’s true. That sums it up. I’m Jordan.
Lex:
I’m Lex.
Jordan:
And this has been Or, Learn Parkour. Thanks for listening. And we’ll see you in two weeks.
Lex:
Jordan. You ready?
Jordan:
Yeah.