Speaker 1: It's Maria as MutS and Stuff.
Speaker 2: What a great idea.
Speaker 1: On iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Maria's MutS and Stuff. And with me today
Speaker 2: is author Brian Bellafont with his latest book, The Sultan
Speaker 2: of Garbage. So hi, Brian, h MA, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Absolutely so okay, I have to give it full disclosure
Speaker 2: as soon as we start, because I'm kind of old
Speaker 2: school and I love books and the feel of books.
Speaker 2: And I know I was sent like a digital copy
Speaker 2: of your book, and I asked you to send me a.
Speaker 3: Book, which you did.
Speaker 2: And then it's just really funny because on the back
Speaker 2: of your book the last line is, you know, I
Speaker 2: know the irony isn't lost. How many trees were destroyed
Speaker 2: in order to print this book? Maybe you should buy
Speaker 2: the digital version.
Speaker 3: So I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I don't apologize to me. You know what, here's my thing.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not an evangelist as much as I
Speaker 1: am a guy who just goes.
Speaker 2: Let's think about this, right, you know, yes, I like stuff.
Speaker 1: Everybody likes stuff, but we live in a world where
Speaker 1: we consume a lot and we waste a lot.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, No, you're right, yeah, you know, it's almost like
Speaker 2: it goes all the way back to like the George
Speaker 2: Carland bit about you have a house for your stuff, right, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's true because.
Speaker 3: I mean, and I think, and this is terrible to
Speaker 3: think about.
Speaker 2: But it also goes with what your book at this
Speaker 2: topic is is if I died tomorrow, they're just going
Speaker 2: to throw out all my stuff.
Speaker 3: Not about you know what I mean. So like, why
Speaker 3: am I saving things?
Speaker 1: You know, that's a that's a personal thing for me
Speaker 1: because my mom passed away last year and I'm doing
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Yes, yes, you know it meant a lot
Speaker 1: to her, some of these things, and it's really kind
Speaker 1: of amazing the stuff that means something to me that
Speaker 1: you know, she had that didn't have that special meaning
Speaker 1: for her. Right, But it's a connection you make.
Speaker 2: Yes, So yeah, yeah, no, I get it.
Speaker 1: I tell my kids just like set fire to the
Speaker 1: garage because that's it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I get it, that's what That's what I
Speaker 2: tell them, just you know, throw stuff out. Just what
Speaker 2: if it happens, Just throw everything out because I have stuff.
Speaker 2: But okay, so we're both on the same page with that.
Speaker 3: But let's talk about this book.
Speaker 2: So this is why you wrote The Sultan of garbage, right,
Speaker 2: to get people's eyes open to the fact that we
Speaker 2: don't need all the stuff we have. Garbage is there's
Speaker 2: too much garbage on the earth.
Speaker 3: Right, this is the reason why you wrote it.
Speaker 1: Well, i'd like to I mean sort of, that's that's
Speaker 1: that's the way it comes across. But the reason I
Speaker 1: wrote the book is because I used to work in
Speaker 1: advertising and marketing. I was the guy who was helping
Speaker 1: to create the world where we consume too much crap, right,
Speaker 1: And this is sort of book sort of came out
Speaker 1: as a form of penance.
Speaker 4: Really.
Speaker 1: I mean it's about a guy much like myself, but
Speaker 1: this guy's a product photographer and he's helping to contribute
Speaker 1: to this world, and he's living in his own world
Speaker 1: of too much consumption and waste and not being valued
Speaker 1: and stuff. And it's just a way to work that
Speaker 1: out what we really value, what do we really need?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 2: So did I mean your are you Alex a little
Speaker 2: bit the main character? Or because does he live oh okay, okay, okay,
Speaker 2: Because I was saying, do you live vicariously through him?
Speaker 2: Or I think he lives through you?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 4: I think me.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of the experiences that I put
Speaker 1: in the book are taken from my own life experiences.
Speaker 1: I am a photographer. I did study with a photographer
Speaker 1: and photography teacher in Italy. A lot of the lessons
Speaker 1: that the photography teacher imparts to Alex are lessons that
Speaker 1: my teachers imparted to me, and that I came up
Speaker 1: with my on my own. The experiences you've had or
Speaker 1: very are drawn from my experiences, they're not directly. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it is a way to sort of exercise a lot
Speaker 1: of those demons.
Speaker 3: I guess, Okay, that's fair.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's fair because yeah, I get that.
Speaker 2: And also I feel like with Alex there's always there's
Speaker 2: like a lesson which is like a to me, it
Speaker 2: was like a subtle hint about the fact that we
Speaker 2: have too much stuff, you know, when like when he
Speaker 2: find he finds the espresso maker and he brings it
Speaker 2: home and Grace right, and she's like, oh, I wanted
Speaker 2: a new one, but he was like, well, this one's fine,
Speaker 2: and you know, the whole thing like we need to recycle.
Speaker 2: So I just liked all the little subtleties of getting
Speaker 2: the message across.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't want to be strivent. I mean this
Speaker 1: guy is trying to work it out. I mean he
Speaker 1: likes stuff, but he also goes, hey, this old espresso
Speaker 1: machine has value?
Speaker 4: What's wrong with it?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is also, in an interesting way, kind of
Speaker 2: how society looks at people sometimes. You know, I feel
Speaker 2: like in our country, no, but seriously, I feel like
Speaker 2: we don't value senior citizens like we should with all
Speaker 2: their knowledge. And you know, and it's not even senior citizens.
Speaker 2: It's like almost if you're over thirty, you know, you
Speaker 2: don't know anything, like wait what you know?
Speaker 1: Well? Yeah, And not to get too political, but when
Speaker 1: Rfu was going on about autistic people and how it's like,
Speaker 1: these are people who will never go on a date,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know what, my son's autistic and
Speaker 1: he may never go on a date. But that is
Speaker 1: not the reason to exclude somebody from a society.
Speaker 4: Cor kid is my kid is amazing because he's my kid, Right,
Speaker 4: But do you contribute value? Yeah, that's not.
Speaker 2: Right, right, Right, everybody's here for a reason. Their value
Speaker 2: is everybody has value, And yes, I agree, I agree, And.
Speaker 3: You know what, that's not political at all.
Speaker 2: I think it's just having a soul and a heart
Speaker 2: and empathy and compassion. It's not political, and I think
Speaker 2: many times things that come out that people make it
Speaker 2: political when it's really just common sense and having a
Speaker 2: little bit of compassion. You know, absolutely, you know, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure we both grew up with the same type
Speaker 2: of parents that told us and many of my listeners
Speaker 2: the same kind of like put yourself in someone else's shoes.
Speaker 3: I heard that my whole life from my parents.
Speaker 1: You had better parents than I did.
Speaker 2: Oh that's not true.
Speaker 1: I've heard you were you know, I was a lat
Speaker 1: kid kid, and then there was a whole lot of
Speaker 1: well figure it out right kind of what I.
Speaker 2: Got, right, Okay, Well, that's okay, it's all right, it's
Speaker 2: nothing to be ashamed of. It's fine.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it worked for.
Speaker 2: Me, It works exactly exactly. So I feel like I'm
Speaker 2: going to talk to you for like hours now, and
Speaker 2: we're not going to talk about your book, So let's
Speaker 2: talk about more of I don't think that people realize.
Speaker 2: I just know from over the years of interviewing people
Speaker 2: about plastics in the ocean, and I just remember this
Speaker 2: from maybe five years ago, that the percentage was very small,
Speaker 2: and you know, saying like and then I read like
Speaker 2: in the press release that back in twenty nineteen, only
Speaker 2: nine percent of plastic has been recycled. And you think, okay, well,
Speaker 2: now to me twenty nineteen because I kind of forget
Speaker 2: about COVID, but it is a pre COVID post COVID,
Speaker 2: and twenty nineteen is now six years ago, which I
Speaker 2: lost track of time. But how it says by the
Speaker 2: time it's twenty forty, it's still going to be under
Speaker 2: ten percent, Like, how can that be possible?
Speaker 1: That could be possible because we're still creating more than
Speaker 1: we can get rid of. Yeah, and we're also when
Speaker 1: you look at the plopping countries, people want to move
Speaker 1: into middle class, and middle class means owning things and
Speaker 1: having the house to hold the things that they own,
Speaker 1: and those things, a lot of them come in packages.
Speaker 1: And those packages, once you open them up their.
Speaker 2: Waist, correct go to the supermarket and they and the
Speaker 2: thing to do that they always say is to take
Speaker 2: your own bags, like cloth bags to put vegetables and
Speaker 2: fruits in. I never see people do it, and I
Speaker 2: always and I have those bags, and I always forget
Speaker 2: to do it. I'm mean, I have to be honest,
Speaker 2: So right there, all of those plastic bags, you know,
Speaker 2: even though they're thin plastic, and I'm sure they break
Speaker 2: down at some point, but you know, we all.
Speaker 3: Do it also.
Speaker 2: So it's and then you buy something and it's wrapped
Speaker 2: in such plastic that it's impossible to even open. That
Speaker 2: stuff doesn't break down, and yeah, ultimately end up in
Speaker 2: the ocean.
Speaker 1: So well yeah, yeah, when it ends up in the ocean,
Speaker 1: it ends up in the animals in the ocean, and
Speaker 1: the animals in the ocean up in your you know,
Speaker 1: that's right, one way or the other, and then you
Speaker 1: end up with plastic in your brain.
Speaker 2: Exactly now for me, exactly, And I always feel like
Speaker 2: that's a reason why I always think a lot of
Speaker 2: the illnesses we have, like cancer, why is it so
Speaker 2: prevalent now than it was in our grandparents in great
Speaker 2: grandparents' time.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think plastics have a lot to
Speaker 3: do with it, But that's just me.
Speaker 4: I agree with you.
Speaker 1: But I also think, you know, stress has a lot
Speaker 1: to do with it, and stress comes from living in
Speaker 1: a society where you know, yes, the emphasis is on consumption. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we got to do it, We got to keep up.
Speaker 3: We have to keep up Yeah, No, you're right.
Speaker 2: You're right. So what would be your first advice to
Speaker 2: someone who wants to be proactive and try to make
Speaker 2: the world a better place for themselves and the future generations.
Speaker 3: I know it's a hard one.
Speaker 1: Sorry, raise really thoughtful kids. That's huge, huge undertaking. And
Speaker 1: I do think it comes down to general rational shift.
Speaker 1: We gotta we got to move the ocean miner, and
Speaker 1: those things move, the changes come slowly. I do think
Speaker 1: that change. A lot of change that we see is positive.
Speaker 1: It's just on the one hand, we want to move
Speaker 1: the ocean miner and change our society for the better.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, it's oftentimes the little thing's going
Speaker 1: to make a huge difference. Right, And like we were
Speaker 1: talking about, like you were talking about the plastic bags. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I go to the grocery store and I forget that
Speaker 1: they're in the trunk of my car, right, And you
Speaker 1: know by the time I get to the cash here,
Speaker 1: it's like, ah, right. I live in a place where
Speaker 1: a lot of times cash will be like, well, run
Speaker 1: to the car, get the backs. But if there's a
Speaker 1: line behind me, I don't want to do.
Speaker 3: That, correct, That's right.
Speaker 1: I just have to like the little thing is as
Speaker 1: I'm getting out of the car at the grocery store,
Speaker 1: remember that the bag is in the trunk.
Speaker 2: Right, not a big big right.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 2: Right, And that's true, And that's an easy thing and
Speaker 2: that's actually an easy assignment for anybody to do.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Did that answer your question?
Speaker 1: I don't know if it did.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think it did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I yes, it did, it did,
Speaker 2: because I just feel like there were so many different
Speaker 2: things that we can tell people that they need to do,
Speaker 2: even and you defined it on a really on a
Speaker 2: smaller scale, and that is a very small scale and
Speaker 2: something very easy to remember to do. But that makes
Speaker 2: a big difference if everybody does it. I mean we're
Speaker 2: talking about millions and billions of people, so strength in numbers,
Speaker 2: you know, if we all remember to take it out
Speaker 2: of the trunk, or if you live in an urban area,
Speaker 2: to bring it out of your apartment before you go shopping,
Speaker 2: you know, or as you know, carry.
Speaker 1: It with you. Yeah, And can I just make it
Speaker 1: like two points here. One is people notice, or maybe
Speaker 1: the people who listen to your show notice, And I
Speaker 1: didn't say out of the saddle bags of my bike.
Speaker 1: You know that Yeah, Okay, I ride my bike to
Speaker 1: the grocery store when I'm picking up a couple of things, right,
Speaker 1: But I also take my car when I know I'm
Speaker 1: going to get two grocery bags full of stuff, and
Speaker 1: there's no way I'm going to be a pedal home
Speaker 1: with all that crap, right. And I think the important
Speaker 1: part of that goes to the second thing I was
Speaker 1: going to say. It's sort of like the diet thing.
Speaker 1: You know, people take these millets and approaches to diet
Speaker 1: where it's like I am not going to eat an
Speaker 1: ounce of fat and you are destined to fail.
Speaker 3: Correct.
Speaker 1: Forgive yourself if you forgot the bags or you left
Speaker 1: them in the trunk.
Speaker 4: Let it go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, try and remember next time it's about a lifestyle change,
Speaker 1: not about all or nothing.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you know what, And I think that pertains to everything,
Speaker 2: like you just said, your diet, your lifestyle, recycling, you know,
Speaker 2: helping out the environment, everything. You're absolutely right, You're right.
Speaker 2: And I think I don't know if it's our society,
Speaker 2: I'm not sure, but it's that.
Speaker 3: You know, succeed succeed, succeed.
Speaker 2: You can't fail, and then you kind of we kind
Speaker 2: of beat ourselves up if we forget the bag and
Speaker 2: the you know at home, or you forgot to put
Speaker 2: it in your in your saddle, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's like kind of like, lighten up, give
Speaker 2: yourself a break. It's okay, you'll do it the next.
Speaker 4: Time, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a very good point. I like that, and
Speaker 2: I think it's really no, it is. It's very valuable
Speaker 2: to anyone who's listening who because everybody can relate to that.
Speaker 2: You know, I feel like everybody's under so much pressure
Speaker 2: to always succeed, succeed.
Speaker 3: But don't beat yourself up.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think a good point too is and I see
Speaker 2: plenty of people walking around with water bottles, but not
Speaker 2: the plastic bottles like that they can refill.
Speaker 3: That's you know, like something like that. It is great
Speaker 3: to do.
Speaker 1: And you know, I got to say, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to say this because it worked for me, is when
Speaker 1: you think about these microplastics that basically plastic does disintegrate
Speaker 1: that comes into these you know, these little particles past
Speaker 1: plastic end up going into the environment or whatever. But
Speaker 1: if the plastic is disintegrating, you know what's disintegrating into.
Speaker 4: The bottle as well.
Speaker 1: I suddenly realized one day that I was drinking microplastics,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, I want to limit my intake of microplastics. Yes,
Speaker 1: so that's when I started going, Oh, I'm going to
Speaker 1: carry a water bottle of any kind. It's not going
Speaker 1: to be the one I buy it, you know at
Speaker 1: the grocery store or the seven eleven or whatever. Right,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a little metal bottle that And the
Speaker 1: cool thing is, oh, I was just remember the brand.
Speaker 1: There's a brand of water. I was in the airport
Speaker 1: the traveling the other day and they had this brand
Speaker 1: of water that came in a metal bottle. But it
Speaker 1: was sturdy enough that I can reuse it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, great, I got my bottle at the airport because
Speaker 1: I forgot what I'm supposed to travel with.
Speaker 4: And then now I.
Speaker 1: Have a water bottle that I put in my satchel
Speaker 1: that I'm going to go out and do stuff.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know what. I know that bottle because I
Speaker 2: have that, and I saved it. And I can't remember
Speaker 2: the name, but you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: And I got away Yeah, for the company the water
Speaker 1: stor Yeah, watermelon flavor.
Speaker 4: Oh wow?
Speaker 2: Oh really see mine was and I remember and it
Speaker 2: was a it was a metal bottle, and it had
Speaker 2: had some it had blue on.
Speaker 4: It, okay, yeah, and it was orange pinky.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, because mine was just like regular, it was
Speaker 2: just plain water. But the whole point was that, like
Speaker 2: you said, you could just keep reusing it because it
Speaker 2: was a metal bottle and the best thing.
Speaker 3: It can have water cold. This poor company, you know,
Speaker 3: they're doing a great thing. And both of us can't
Speaker 3: remember the name. I love it.
Speaker 1: I'm you right away.
Speaker 2: It's really funny. But for everyone who's listening, be on
Speaker 2: the lookout for that. It's because it's great. I still
Speaker 2: have mine and I save them, I mean from last year,
Speaker 2: because I also know I'm not going to be you know,
Speaker 2: drinking plastics, because that's the thing too. I remember when
Speaker 2: that came out a couple of years ago about how
Speaker 2: plastic does break down. So you know, I was in
Speaker 2: the habit of keeping a water bottle, not the kind
Speaker 2: that you refill, but like a regular water bottle, you know,
Speaker 2: like I'm pulling spring or something in my car, and
Speaker 2: then would always refill it. And it's like, oh great,
Speaker 2: that's great. What have I been drinking? So throw that out?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, this is all very good.
Speaker 2: I mean I think you know, well, yeah, thank you
Speaker 2: for sharing your knowledge and in your book and just
Speaker 2: with me now, because I think most people are good
Speaker 2: and most people have good intentions, they just don't know
Speaker 2: where to start. And I think, also tell me if
Speaker 2: you agree with this. Sometime times people think, well, I'm
Speaker 2: just one person, so it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: And I agree with you one hundred percent. I think
Speaker 1: my wife and I you know, I'm not as diligent
Speaker 1: as she is with the recycling. I sometimes like some
Speaker 1: stuff just me and I'm just like, can.
Speaker 3: I ask you? What? What skis you?
Speaker 1: Oh? Okay, we just got back from a trip and
Speaker 1: we have a little bread box with stuff in there.
Speaker 1: And there's moldy left over English muffins from before we
Speaker 1: left and.
Speaker 2: Green was it like green and stuff? Oh that's kind
Speaker 2: of cool though. It's like a science project.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great to look at. I don't want to
Speaker 1: go near it.
Speaker 3: Okay, I get it.
Speaker 2: I understand.
Speaker 1: So that's okay, yeah, you know, and so superants out
Speaker 1: the bag and I'm just like.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you don't want to have any part of it.
Speaker 2: I understand that. Yeah, yeah, because it had the moldy
Speaker 2: English muffin. I got it. Yeah, but I think it's funny.
Speaker 2: But I understand, I understand. But I think if everybody
Speaker 2: he does one thing, you know, it's the old thing
Speaker 2: that takes a village. Right, we can all chip in
Speaker 2: somehow or other. And and I love the fact that
Speaker 2: your book kind of tells the story but kind of
Speaker 2: gives all these little oh and by the way, right.
Speaker 1: And can I just say, because I don't think it's
Speaker 1: really been clear, is that this is not a manifesto.
Speaker 1: This is not a things you can do to save
Speaker 1: the planet book.
Speaker 4: This is a story.
Speaker 3: It's a story. Oh yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's like it touches on those things. But I
Speaker 1: hope it's not preachy. No, you know, it's like trying
Speaker 1: to work it out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it wasn't preachy at all.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, not at all.
Speaker 2: And I'm sorry if I didn't explain that better from
Speaker 2: the beginning. But no, it's not preachy. It's not like
Speaker 2: a how to guide.
Speaker 3: It's a story.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a story, right.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of times when i'm writing, so
Speaker 1: it's just the other day I'm working on Southern novel,
Speaker 1: and it's like, oh, my agenda is showing, and I
Speaker 1: got to just throw away the whole like everything I
Speaker 1: worked on for the last three days. Oh, because I
Speaker 1: don't want to do.
Speaker 2: That, right, Oh, but why you shouldn't throw it out?
Speaker 2: In fact, I was going to ask you, what's next?
Speaker 2: Can you tell any little bit about it?
Speaker 3: Or you don't have to.
Speaker 1: Tell you a lot of it?
Speaker 4: Okay?
Speaker 1: So they're actually I'm working on a couple of things simultaneously,
Speaker 1: but one I'm most excited about, and I'm going to
Speaker 1: get in a lot of trouble for this. Uh.
Speaker 3: Oh, are you sure you want to tell me?
Speaker 2: I don't know, all right.
Speaker 4: Okay, so let me just preface it.
Speaker 1: I think pretty much everything I do is societal commentary,
Speaker 1: and I hope it's funny. I think it's intended to
Speaker 1: be funny. I'll tell you about the manuscript I just finished,
Speaker 1: rather than what I'm working on now, which is kind
Speaker 1: of a It's a societal commentary and it goes into
Speaker 1: some of the same stuff that consumption of waste, but
Speaker 1: also our culture's obsession with different forms of morality. It's
Speaker 1: about a retired assassin. Oh, we still holds a candle
Speaker 1: for his wife who recently departed and is suddenly captured
Speaker 1: and sent to a secret prison. Wow, and has to
Speaker 1: break out and protect his fourteen year old son. And
Speaker 1: it is fun as crap.
Speaker 2: Wow. It also sounds like it would be a really
Speaker 2: good movie.
Speaker 4: I sure hope. So yeah, to make it a movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would like to see that as a movie.
Speaker 2: And I don't know anything about it except what you
Speaker 2: just told me.
Speaker 4: You sold me yay, I did it. You did it.
Speaker 2: Yay.
Speaker 3: That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: So that one is done, correct, it's done.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It hasn't found a home yet, okay. I haven't actually
Speaker 1: started sending it out.
Speaker 2: Yet, Okay, but I think that will probably find a
Speaker 2: home very quickly.
Speaker 3: No, I think so.
Speaker 2: I like it a lot, Okay, so I'm going to
Speaker 2: be looking for that. And then the other thing you're
Speaker 2: working on, which I don't want you to get into trouble,
Speaker 2: so you don't have to tell me, but you know,
Speaker 2: we'll talk again because I like talking to you, and
Speaker 2: then you can you can tell me about it. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: that would be great. Okay, So before you go, I
Speaker 2: do have one question, because what I was reading about
Speaker 2: you on the press release, you have to tell me
Speaker 2: why your dog does it like Santa Claus.
Speaker 1: I don't know. It's the weirdest thing. Okay, So my
Speaker 1: daughter was seven, she said she wanted a dog. We
Speaker 1: got this dog, Milo, and we wanted to take him
Speaker 1: to get his picture taken with Santa Claus.
Speaker 2: He's freaked out, freaked out in my way, like barking, panicking.
Speaker 1: He didn't want to get in Santa's lap, growled and stuff.
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to say whether I believe that
Speaker 1: there's a Santa Claus or not, because some of your
Speaker 1: listeners might.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they might believe in Santa Claus. That's true, you know.
Speaker 1: Different from yes, I will say if this was the
Speaker 1: real Santa Claus, then there's a problem. If it was
Speaker 1: a guy pretending to be Santa Claus.
Speaker 2: Okay, maybe right, right, right, But if there's a yeah,
Speaker 2: but if there's a real Santa Claus, like no one's
Speaker 2: getting gifts this year now visiting he's like holding up
Speaker 2: in the North Pole. Yeah I get it, Yeah, I
Speaker 2: get it. That's really funny. And you never tried it again.
Speaker 4: No, okay, cause you were afraid traumatized. Yeah, for sure,
Speaker 4: I'm Santa Claus was trumpatized too. I'm sure, I'm.
Speaker 2: Sure, but you know, because i'm I'm probably Santa Claus
Speaker 2: was less traumatized by the dog because Santa Claus sometimes
Speaker 2: gets screaming children on his lap.
Speaker 1: Well, and you got to figure the guy's breaking into
Speaker 1: people's houses.
Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly right, exactly right, And you know that
Speaker 2: could be why the dog freaked out because dogs have
Speaker 2: that spidey sense that we don't have. So maybe, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe Milo sense like, hey, this dude's gonna break into
Speaker 2: my house, so I'm going to bark at him now,
Speaker 2: so my parents know that I'll bark at him when
Speaker 2: he breaks in. I'm just thinking, I'm just I think
Speaker 2: you're right.
Speaker 1: I choose between Milo and Santa.
Speaker 4: I picked Milo any day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, because Milo's a dog and we love dogs. Yes,
Speaker 2: I get that. Well, Brian, you are so much fun.
Speaker 1: Yes? Can I just say yes, I love that you're
Speaker 1: doing podcasts. My wife works in animal welfare and it's
Speaker 1: something really really close to us.
Speaker 2: Oh, so I should really plan on talking to her.
Speaker 1: You should.
Speaker 2: Okay, not only that?
Speaker 4: Okay, can I just say one year?
Speaker 1: Yes? Weird coincidental? So you did back in December an
Speaker 1: episode with Michelle Hollow mm hmmm, yes about Mary Annie.
Speaker 3: Yes, I know Michelle for many, many, many many years.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, my wife is obsessed with Mary Anna.
Speaker 2: Oh really, Oh my goodness, oh wow, So I should
Speaker 2: really connect your wife with Michelle.
Speaker 1: Well, I think you should have my wife on the
Speaker 1: show because she does work for the Humane Society.
Speaker 4: Is the vice president of communication.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well that's a given. Okay, well that's a given. Okay,
Speaker 2: So all right, we're going to do this. I'm going
Speaker 2: to tell my listeners who would like to get a
Speaker 2: copy of the Sultan of Garbage and digital, so not
Speaker 2: to be wasteful like me because I wanted a book,
Speaker 2: and they can go to bellefont dot com b E
Speaker 2: L E F A n T dot com.
Speaker 3: Is that the best place for them to get the book?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can.
Speaker 1: Actually, we have a website for the book Sultan of
Speaker 1: Garbage dot com.
Speaker 2: One word, oh, okay, of garbage even better.
Speaker 1: And that'll that'll guide you and there if you want
Speaker 1: hard copies of the book, there's a list of independent
Speaker 1: books towards that carry the book there too as well. Okay,
Speaker 1: you don't have to feel like, oh, Barnes and whatever.
Speaker 2: Right exactly. Yes, that's perfect. Well, Ryan Bellefont, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for your time. I know we're going to
Speaker 2: talk again because I really like talking to you.
Speaker 1: Thanks, I can't wait.
Speaker 3: I can't wait.
Speaker 2: And uh, we're gonna continue talking because I want to
Speaker 2: get your wife's info.
Speaker 3: So thank you.
Speaker 4: All right, Thanks Marie
Speaker 1: Rader operator, and see your Rader momigator