What is Wholesome Fun?

Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Cress Podcast. I'm Crystal and I'm G-Soo. Today's topic is something that has kind of been on my mind lately. Over the years, everything in our life has evolved from our friendships, our relationships with our family, and honestly how we hang out with the people in our social network has changed as well. Today we wanted to sit down and talk a little bit about wholesome fun. I think before we could really dive into this, let's try to define wholesome fun. And I think by defining it, we also need to define what non wholesome fun is. Okay, that's a good point because I feel like when I hear wholesome fun, I understand what it is, but we need to put it into words to confirm more on the same page. I have an example to kind of illustrate what non wholesome fun might look like. Okay. It takes us back to the era of college and shortly after college life, where I felt like a lot of social events were like house parties or getting together with a group of friends to maybe drink a little bit, go out to a bar, and sometimes it was going to concerts together, which would sometimes involve like a little pregame, a little afters, kind of get the gist of what I'm saying, right? Yeah, so basically if there's alcohol involved, it's kind of not wholesome. Yeah. If alcohol is of the top two priorities of the night, then it's not wholesome, you know? Okay, that's fair. Because I was going to say I think there might be some specific moments where alcohol might be involved, but it's still wholesome for the most part. Maybe it's like is alcohol one of the guests or is alcohol the host of the night? I love that. I have a question about this. Let's say there's an event happening tonight and we're just staying in watching a movie, but there is some alcohol haul involved, but maybe half of the group actually doesn't really drink. So overall, the amount of alcohol consumed is maybe like everyone just has a glass of wine. Does that count as wholesome or non wholesome? I think to me that would count as wholesome. Honestly, maybe the distinction for me is are we playing drinking games or are we not? Okay, because if some people choose to partake, some people don't, then to me that's like it's a guest. People can choose to do whatever. But if there are specific things we're doing where you kind of have to drink or like drinking is a big part of it, then maybe it's a little bit harder to say that it's on the back burner that night. Right. So basically if we were watching a movie, for example, and then suddenly someone's like, "Alright, drink every time someone does this in the movie," then it becomes not wholesome anymore. Yeah. Honestly, yeah. Then the wholesome night is over. Okay, question then. We've talked about this night a couple times on the podcast, but that twilight night was out of some or non wholesome. Oh God. It kind of toes the line, huh? Let's say it was in the gray area where it could be both because we didn't drink too heavily that night, but we did drink and I feel like most people kind of drink. But the point of the night was twilight to watch the movie and to enjoy the themed snacks. So already that's not a top two priority, you know? Yeah. And I think we tried to drink, but we didn't really drink. Yeah. I think we made margs or something and then like picked at it a little bit. Okay, okay. I think we're on the same page. Yeah, yeah. Then what are some wholesome fun activities that you've been engaging with recently? I guess we could talk about one that we've been doing together, your boyfriend, yourself, me and my husband, the four of us, plus we also have another four son with our other friend from college. We have some four sons where we go golfing together, which I think golfing can kind of be a funny one. Because depending on who you talk to, you can drink a lot at golf or you can drink nothing at golf. And I feel like for us, we've never had a golf round where we drink that much. Recently, we haven't even been drinking at all when we golf. To me, that's like a very wholesome activity. We just go out, we're on the course for like five hours and we're just like chatting, working out, getting a good sweat in and then going to grab dinner afterwards. And that's like a perfect wholesome afternoon. Wait, oh my god. Have our last round's been five hours. I feel like it's usually around four and a half to five, right? Yeah, that's true. I think especially on Sundays. Yeah. But that is a good point. In the beginning when we were first playing golf, we did drink a little bit more. But even then, it was at most maybe one of the tall beer cans each. Yeah. Now we're kind of like, okay, let's be healthier. Yeah, now we're like, I mean, I guess not so much you, but we're like pounding red bowls. Trying to lock it. Okay, that was crazy. I totally agree that golf is pretty wholesome, especially when we've been playing together in our groups. Just as you describe, it's basically four to five hours of catching up, gossiping in between hits. And I think it's also really wholesome actually because everyone who I've played golf with no matter the skill, discrepancy, everyone's always very positive to each other. If we do a good swing or hit a good ball off the tee, everyone's like, wow, amazing. Like, let's go. That was great. There's never ever anyone who's like, okay, that was such a terrible shot. You just, you know, I think I would have to end golf with someone. That's me. Yeah, it's mostly like maybe to yourself, you're like, oh, shoot, that wasn't my best shot. But then everyone's very positive. They're like, oh, that was great. So I feel like that adds to the wholesome factor. Yeah. And there's always kind of smaller, cute moments that happen in golf, even if you go as a for some, each pair has their own cart. Sometimes you'll ride off with someone else's cart because you guys tee off at the red tees together or something. It's just always fun to see those little interactions that happen over the course of five hours. And on top of that, it's not forced interaction for five hours, right? Like sometimes you and your partner are just in your cart together and you chat a little bit rest in between shots. So it's always nice. And I feel like it's not crazy high energy to which I like. And we're all out in nature. It's like perfectly manicured nature. Just how I like it. And in California, usually the sun is shining. We're getting our vitamin D. Yeah. It is a great way to touch grass. Yeah. And honestly, I think anything that gets me outside of my house, I just appreciate so much. Whether it's like a short session at Pilates or something, hiking, you know, anything where I'm physically forced to leave my house. I just enjoy. And I think the experience of like getting your heart rate up with other people is really special too. It's like very bonding in a sense. And I'm also just thinking about our golf adventures. And there's so many just funny experiences that we've had that is truly very bonding. Well, golfing aside, are there any wholesome fun activities that come to mind for you? Actually, golfing made me think of one. It's not like a regular activity, but towards the end of last year, one of our friends, Michelle, who has been on spot he has before, she hosted this couples Olympics event. She invited a whole bunch of couples to come out to the park up in SF. Her and her husband had planned a bunch of different activities. It was just super wholesome. You know, there was no drinking involved. So that's criteria one. Two, we were outside in nature. And a lot of people were meeting each other for the first time too. Because it was like a whole bunch of friends from different parts of their lives. And we just did physical actually there were, I think it was two or three sections. There were races that we did. So that was physical activity. And then later we did questions. So I guess that was brain activity. We had some creative part at the end too. So it was like really well planned out and a very wholesome day with just good fun. Oh, do you feel like playing all those games made you get closer to the people that you had just met? Oh yeah, definitely. I think there were definitely some couples that we bonded with. I mean, I guess I didn't follow up on it. But you know, in the moment, in the moment, it's like, oh yeah, this couple is arrival. Or like, this is the couple that's like, hello, OP. And then everyone can recognize certain couples within the competition. I think that's so unique too. Because then when you see these people later, like say Michelle hosts another thing, then you'll be able to recognize like, oh yeah, I remember you guys from the couple of them fix. And it's like very distinct memories, right? Not just like, oh, we shared a drink once, which could be applied to a lot of different people that you meet over a lot of different things. Oh, for sure. That is such a good point. Yeah, it's a very unique way of meeting people in a great way of getting a lot of people to meet new people too. Dude, it's so funny because I feel like, I mean, it's been a general concern, but more recently, I'm like, I feel like it's getting harder and harder to remember stuff, you know? Unless it's very distinct and unique. And I'm like, is this why people start to do crazier things as they get older? Because it's like, It's impossible to remember who you met at what party, but it's so much easier to remember these things. And I'm like, maybe now I should also host more distinct and unique activities. Dude, actually, now that you mentioned that, I recently went to a birthday party and I met someone there and they were like, "Wait, you look really familiar." And I was like, "Uh. " And then they were like, "Oh my god, were you at So-and-so's outside Lance Pregame?" And I was like, "Oh my god, I was." And then he was like, "Oh, I think we chatted there." And I was like, "Oh, fuck. I was not necessarily there completely." [laughter] Oh my god, that's so funny. Also, that's crazy that we just bumped into each other again at another event, but I felt really bad. I did not remember completely. [laughter] It happens to the best of us. I had a really funny experience recently where I was at this thing and I had just met someone, she had introduced herself and I was like, "Hi, I'm G-C, nice to meet you." Like two minutes later, the sun started shining so that I put my sunglasses on and I turned back around and then she reintroduced herself. Oh my god. And I was like, "I took my sunglasses off and I shook her hand to get." Because I'm not the type to be like, "Actually, we just. " You know, so I just like reintroduced myself. And then she was like, "I'm so sorry. I just introduced myself to you, didn't I?" And I was like, "Dude, it's okay." Like, there's a lot of people here. It's like, yeah, it was only late I realized, is it because I put my sunglasses on? It's probably not only the sunglasses on, but the sun shining behind your head and just how blind it. Like, and I like swap seats with someone, so it's like confusing. [laughter] Oh my god, that is so funny though. I hope that person didn't feel too bad. Yeah, I was like, "Oh my god, don't worry. There's a lot of people here." Yeah, I feel like I would totally do that too. Right. Okay, I have a follow-up question though, because we've named a couple of wholesome activities that both happened to be outside. But there is this thing that I've been talking about, but I've yet to plan because life. But I've been wanting to plan basically drinking games, Olympics, kind of thing in the park. But is that wholesome or non-wholesome? Oh, that's a good question. It's a mix, you know. It's like as wholesome as you can get for a non-wholesome activity. Like that's how I would view it. Okay. It's still at its core non-wholesome, but it's like played out in a wholesome way. Yeah. And I guess the plan is not that everyone's going to get super drunk. It's just like the liquids that will use. Yeah, yeah. Will be alcoholic. Maybe in a sense it's wholesome, because I feel like you could host the same thing with water and it would still be just as fun. Okay, actually that is true. It's just adult fun now with some beer or light alcohol. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what this is making me think of? Maybe things feel more wholesome even if alcohol is involved. If it's a longer term activity that you're doing, what do you mean? I don't know. Like I guess in the era of TikTok and IG Reels, all of us have extremely short attention spans. And sometimes when you're at a party, I feel like talking to people plus drinking are like the two main activities. And both things happen in kind of like short bursts. You know, like I'm not always sitting down and having like a three hour conversation with people. Like I'm like going around talking to different people, occasionally playing a game or like drinking or something. So like every say like 20 minutes, I'm doing something new, right? But when we're doing something like golfing or something like board games, for example, these are things that you kind of do over a long period of time. And I feel like it feels extra wholesome to me because doing something for a long time with a friend is almost like a new experience now. You know, like I see. We're all committed to this thing together and we're all blocking off this time and our calendar together and that's special. Okay, I see where you're coming from. And sorry, I just had a stupid thought come to my head. Yeah. While you were saying all this, if you played board games, which is already pretty wholesome, but you did it outside, does that increase the wholesome factor by 2x? We're like, how can we create the most wholesome thing that has ever existed? Wait, you have like a board game stand and you're like hiking up a mountain. Does that make it 4x? Dude, that's crazy. Oh, you have to play it once you reach the top, right? I think we did it. We created the most wholesome activity possible. But yes, I totally get what you mean, especially about spending the longer period of time rather than like these short bursts together. Right. But then it made me question like, if we had like a girl's night, you know, and we're just talking and chatting for like two to three hours while drinking some wine. Is that wholesome or non wholesome? If we karaoke after, then it's not wholesome. But if there's no karaoke of kids' wholesome. Okay. You know, I think I can understand that. It's like all these nebulous rules that like weirdly make sense, right? Okay, but actually I was thinking about all of this. And I think there's a specific feeling that I come out with from a wholesome activity. What kind of feeling? I don't really know how to name it. But to describe it, walking away from an activity with a very positive feeling. I think it's like positive and satisfied. Like you know, the feeling is like, "Oh, that was really fun." And I don't know, something within me has been like checked or something. Actually, I totally get what you mean. Because I feel like there's a ton of activities that you do with friends that aren't drinking related. But it's not always specifically wholesome. Wholesome has a energy about it where it's like cozy and maybe like warm. You feel a lot of affection. And yeah, I think satisfaction is a big part of it too. But what is the element, you know, that makes this feeling come out in certain activities? Dude, I don't know. Recently after we played some golf, and it was really funny too, because it was most of our first round of the year. And we low-key played terribly. But it was still just really funny to all of us. And we all came out of it, feeling happy despite our poor scores. And then we had dinner and then walking away from the dinner. I wasn't like, "Oh my god, I played so poorly today." It was just like, "Oh, that was so fun." Right. Can't wait to golf with them again. I know. It was like very. God, I wonder if it's like having a sense of achievement along with having fun. Oh. You know, like we just did that. Despite the fact that we played poorly, we all showed up as been a whole afternoon together. Even if you play poorly, playing a round of golf is still an achievement, right? We finished the whole course. So yeah, do you think it's like the achievement aspect along with having fun? I think you're on to something with that. Because some of the other activities we've also mentioned, but haven't like dived deeper into, for example, board games. Usually there's a goal to win or whatever. And then the couple of Olympics that we mentioned, there was a bit of an achievement aspect to that as well. But ultimately, winning or doing the best isn't so weighted that it's like turning people against each other. Like this isn't the actual Olympics, right? I guess also part of it is it makes you feel closer to the people that you're hanging out with. Like that trumps the achievement part. So then it feels good that everyone was able to achieve stuff but what really mattered was the friends we made along the way. Yeah, it really is true. And it's also seeing the different sides of your friends that come out when you are working on something together or like are trying to achieve some sort of goal together. You can see people's competitive sides, but also the sides of them that come out when they want everyone else to have fun. That in itself carries a specific energy, right? Okay, we got to keep this good vibes and like here the jokes that I'll make, you know, the positivity, words of encouragement. And these are small decisions that people make in the moment. You're not actively thinking, "I'm going to make the vibes good," right now, you know? But I think holistically at the end of it, it all contributes to feeling so like warm and fuzzy inside, walking away from a board game night, walking away from a round of golf. Absolutely. I think this is something similar that I feel when I have my book club calls as well. I've talked about it a couple times on this podcast, but I've been in this book club since the end of college with a small group of friends, me included four people, and we'll pick a book, read it on our own time, and then meet, say like once, every one to two months to talk about it. That in itself is like homework, and then you like meet together to like have a literary discussion. Yeah. But I think the homework is a part of the achievement, right? It's like we did this on our free time, and we're meeting up to chat about it. Oh my god, there's definitely an achievement. Even on your own every time, like I finish a book, I'm like, nice. Especially lately, because I feel like as we get older, it's harder and harder to find time to do these more goal-oriented, but fun things. and our attention spans are not as good as they used to be. - Yeah. It's like, I read a full sentence without checking my phone and I'm like, patting myself on the back. (laughing) Dude, a book club too, I feel like, is just so wholesome. In my mind, I guess, because it's like, education tangent. (laughing) - It's true, and it's actually so funny that you say that because our general tradition, I mean, it's not heavily enforced or anything, but usually for our book club calls, we'll each have a drink. So I'll do a glass of wine, people will have beers, and then we'll cheer us in the beginning or share what we're drinking that day. So I guess in a sense, it defies that criteria we define in the beginning. However, I feel like the wholesomeness of having to read the book in your own free time, show up with literary points or opinions to discuss, cancels out the alcohol criteria. - Yeah, there's too much brain power going on in that room for it to be non-wholesome. - Right. - But honestly, the more we talk about wholesome activities, it's funny. I feel like the alcohol criteria is kind of secondary to the wholesome nature of some of these activities. You know, we keep going like, "Oh, sometimes we might have a drink here, "but it's still wholesome right here." (laughing) - But like you said, as long as the alcohol is a guest and not the host, dude, I love that. I'm gonna start saying that. (laughing) - I feel like at this event is alcohol the guest or the host? (laughing) - Like you would get a wide variety of answers on that one depending on who you're with. (laughing) - But I totally agree with you that alcohol can be added to some of these wholesome activities and remain wholesome. I think sometimes the funny thing about alcohol is if you add it to an activity, suddenly the activity is adult. (laughing) So you're like an example of that? - Before playing board games, some of us might have a glass of wine. Now it's like adult board games. - Oh, okay, true. Or like we used to go to many golf in high school and then now when we go as adults, we might have like a beer or something and it's adult mini golf. - Yeah, exactly. You can still have wholesome adult activities. - True. - So I guess board games is an interesting one because I personally have been diving a little bit more into board games lately. Which I'm like, why didn't I do this earlier? One, it is a lot of fun. And two, it's such a good activity for groups of people, even if you're not that close. - Yeah, it's actually such a perfect icebreaker sometimes and then it allows you to make kind of like internal group inside jokes without having to have the like long history before the deep conversation before you know someone. - Yeah, and I think it's such a good way of getting everyone involved. Because you know, if you're just meeting people, it's so easy to branch off into smaller groups or just like groups of two as you're chatting with people. But with a board game, everyone's in a circle focused on the game. - Right. - Even if we're playing in maybe partners or something, then everyone's still involved and everyone's a part of the silly things that might happen. - And honestly, my favorite part about playing board games is there's such a wide variety of genres and like types of board games. So then I feel like there's kind of like the lighter party games that you could bring to a gathering of people that you don't know very well. But there's also these things called legacy games where it's a board game, but you can play it say up to like 10 times. And it'll have a new set of sticker sheets that you could peel the stickers off of and append your board each time you play it. You know, like a storyline game that you kind of grow and develop as you keep playing it. - Yeah. - And it's like of course the crowd favorites, catawn or whatever that you can always pull out and play with a group of friends. So the world is very broad. And you start by knowing maybe like two or three board games and as you get into it, you see how many different types of board games there really are. - Okay, also I think board games are so funny because you actually do learn a lot about people when you play. - Right. - Recently I was playing with some of my friends over Christmas and you could just tell 'cause the game we were playing was pretty silly and it can be very fast paced. It was the one that you recommended magical and athlete. And we like parrots basically by siblings at the event. And it was just so funny because you can tell like, oh, you know, those two are pretty silly so they're just like fucking around. But then like there were these other siblings that were just so strategic about everything. They're like slowing down the game 'cause they're like pulling out the rule book, reading everything. - Oh my God. - Strategizing like, oh wait, actually we shouldn't do this because you know, what if that happens? There's the game like five steps ahead. They're like running the edge cases. (laughing) I'm closer to the sister out of that pair of siblings. So I already knew she was like this. But then her younger brother was like so active with her about strategizing. And I was like, wait, I thought her younger brother was like just didn't care. But he's like strategizing right there with her. (laughing) - That's so fun. Yeah, I mean like sometimes that part of you wouldn't come out in conversation, right? Like you're not trying to win other people in a conversation. It only comes out when you play like a silly party game or something. - Or sometimes there's like those word based games like Wavelength where you kind of see people's zany opinions come out and you're like, whoa, like you're a little cookie. (laughing) - Absolutely. So I think it's just really funny 'cause once you see this bit of their personality you start seeing it everywhere. You're like, oh, of course, you know, those two are always reading because they're the strategy masters. (laughing) - Yeah, it's just such a funny way to like bond with a group of people. And I also like that it's always different when you play with other groups of people too. You know, like you're not always getting the same jokes and like the same vibe. You bring the same game to a different group of people and it becomes transformational there as well. - Yeah. - I feel like the classic one that even in college we were playing a lot was code names. - Oh yeah. - And that's also sort of like a word based game where there's a set of words and then you have to think of a keyword that batches four words together and you have like the team guess which word it is. And that you can also see personalities come out. Like sometimes people will have the craziest guesses and it's like, dude, that's a reach. And other times people will have the perfect hint and then your teammates still doesn't get it. You just see them get like more and more frustrated. - Oh my God, that is such an iconic one. I remember because every time a different one of us stepped up to be the like keyword creator, we'd be like, all right, so this person, they like to make crazy reaches. So keep that in mind. Or like, you know, this person is very literal. (laughing) But yeah, I think board games is super wholesome. And I'm glad that I've been exploring them more lately. Adding it to my wholesome arsenal. (laughing) You're like, I'm feeling wholesome this Friday. Which activity do I bring out? (laughing) - I feel like it unlocks different types of hangouts too. Kind of like what you were saying earlier about new experiences with the same friends. I remember like a couple weeks ago or something. I was like, okay, now we have to play games together 'cause actually you James, me and my boyfriend, we've never done board games together non-party games. So now I'm like, oh my God, we've like unlocked a new type of hangout. (laughing) - Actually, that makes me think too. Because recently at our golf hangout, we were talking about a different type of wholesome activity, which also involves a game, but is not necessarily a board game. - Oh, right. - Two of our friends have recently created a Minecraft server, which I think is very cool. And you and my husband have been playing in it. So do you think despite the fact that it's online, playing Minecraft with your friends is still considered a wholesome activity? - Oh, dude, it's so wholesome. (laughing) It's so wholesome because I think Minecraft is also a little unique in that you can do your own thing or you can find people who are online and do stuff together. There's an element of like kind of building your home base and Minecraft, there's also a huge community of really aesthetic builds and things like that. And then there's also of course very utilitarian builds. This is like kind of my first time really playing Minecraft. So I've been doing some of the basic stuff, but then if there's anything more complicated or something that I just don't really know, I'll ask our friends and they'll explain it to me and then sometimes they'll be like, "Oh, this thing, let me take you on an adventure." And then we'll go and I'll learn about it through doing the activity. And I'm like, "Oh, this is so wholesome." (laughing) - Dude, it's also so funny because like you said, people have different ranges of experience in Minecraft in that server and I guess different approaches to how they want to play the game. I've never played, but James was showing me around the world of Minecraft in that server. And he was like, "Okay, this is my house. It's like a little four by four cardboard box looking like home." And then he turns the corner and he's like, "I think this is Warren's house." And it's like a beautiful pagoda style traditional Asian home, perched a top of cliff with like 40 cherry blossom trees planted around and I was like, "Oh, okay." (laughing) It was something's different here. (laughing) I'm like, interested. Oh my god, yeah. And then some of the people, they're like gamers, right? So they've done a lot of building to help us with further advancing skills in the game. Our friend Destin and Amber were just showing me around. They're like, "Oh yeah, like, you know, these people built this. So if you need to like, enchant your stuff, come here. They've already built it out for us." And I was like, "Oh, thank you. Like, this is great." That's so wild. Yeah. It's just such a funny concept. I've never played Minecraft before, so every feature in the game is new. And the other day when James was playing, I heard someone walk by him and he was like, "Ah!" So naturally I was like, "Oh, is that Amber?" And then James was like, "No, it's a chicken." I was like, "It's like the animals' big noises." Wait, I'm dying. Oh, okay. I just think it's so interesting that you can like walk around. And he said, "When you're close to someone in proximity, then you can talk to them in the game. But if you walk away, you can't hear each other." And I was like, "Dude, this is literally just a world, you know. It's IRL." Dude, actually though, everyone's got their own houses too. He walked by someone else's house and he was like peering into the window and I was like, "Oh my god, it's just like real life. Like when we take walks and James tries to look into the other house." Dude, also in Minecraft, you just enter people's homes. There's no locks. So sometimes I go in and I survey their home. I'm like, "Oh, wow, this was cool that what they did." Or like, "Oh, I wonder where they got this from." I guess this is also a case where you can see people's personalities come out very strongly too, right, in terms of how they approach the decorating and whatnot or even how they approach resource mining. Oh, definitely. This is part of this game where you can give these NPCs jobs and every time they get a job, they can offer trades basically. You can reroll this. So for example, one type of job is a librarian and you put this like bookshelf next to them, they'll learn the librarian job. But you can reroll their trades by like breaking that bookshelf block and like replacing it. And just doing that like infinitely to keep rerolling. Sometimes their trades are like good or bad. Someone set up an initial situation where there's multiple job people. I was just expanding it the other day and I was like, "Wait, this is kind of fun. I'm just like rerolling their trades." And so our friends were like, "Oh shit, Crystal's. She's min-maxing right now. She's going for it." I remember you said in the past that you always keep like a notebook of like in-game quests that you have to do. I'm just totally imagining. I'm in craft section. Wait, oh my god. Okay, so another part about Minecraft, which we've talked about briefly is building stuff, crafting stuff. So basically a unit of a thing is a block in the world. I was building this like farm structure or whatever and I was watching this video on how to do it. And they listed out like all the things you needed. But sometimes you need other materials to create the final material that you need for the build. My first time was writing it down and hand calculating stuff, but then I was like, "Wait, we have tools now." So I literally pulled up Google Sheets and I started making a spreadsheet to calculate. Okay, if I'm building like a sign, that means I need three planks per sign and I need to build like 300 signs. So how many planks is that? Oh my god. And I was like, "Oh, fuck, dude. I'm a nerd." Hey, that's like operational management right there. The stuff can get pretty deep. It was kind of fun making that spreadsheet. I wonder if this is going to evolve until like a Minecraft land party soon. Like everyone bring your lap costs. Yeah, that would be pretty fun. Isn't it crazy thinking about back in the day when we used to have land parties? Yeah. Okay, I think that's wholesome actually. A land party, yeah. Because it's just like everyone getting together to do something that they like and especially back then we weren't drinking. We were like too young. It's true. I mean back then you would also have to go to someone's parents' house, right? So I remember one of our friends at the time, her older brother was super nice and he was a lot older than us. So he had his own place and then he was nice enough to invite our friends over to land party at their place. Oh, wow. So then we like all about our little lap talks and then we like played there on their dining table. I was like, "Oh my god, can't wait till I'm an adult and I can host stuff." Like my dining table. Dude, back in those days it was like Maple Story. I think we were playing League at the time but Maple Story is a good one to land party. Oh my god. I was thinking about League too. But I was like, "Is League wholesome?" I think it's wholesome when you're like five stacking. I feel like I have a lot of non wholesome memories about League. But I think it's because I wasn't very good. I don't know. People are very competitive in League. Dude, but if you're playing with your friends, I feel like it should still be wholesome. Or else they're bad friends. Yeah. I think I just had some intense people in my life at the time. Damn. Lee is a little questionable on the wholesome side. It's true. It's very true. That's actually so funny because recently I was talking to my dad. My dad used to play Go a lot. He would win competitions at his company and stuff and get branded prizes winning and being really good at Go. Naturally, when online gaming became a thing, online Go became a thing as well. So James was asking my dad, "Did you use to play?" Well, blah. He was like, "Yeah, I would play." It was fun. It was nice. I wouldn't have to go to IRL Go meetups, which he also used to do. So he was like, "It was convenient." But there are some really toxic kids out there who say weird shit and chat and whatnot. And I was like, "Oh my god. My dad knows toxic gamer bros." Dude. This is crazy. Yeah, with these more competitive games, it toes the line sometimes. But if you have the right group of people, it can still be wholesome, I think. For example, I'm thinking back to League example, if you have a five-stack of wholesome friends and you're not playing competitive, then there's a lot higher chance that it's going to be wholesome. I guess that's also why. In college and later, whenever we play League, it's really more A-Ram, which doesn't have that ranked capability. And it's really, truly just for fun, right? Yeah. Now, I'm just imagining people trying to be a toxic on Minecraft. How's that even possible? Everyone's a block. I mean, I guess they could come in and break people's homes and stuff. But I feel like that's such a vibe killer. You could just ban them from the server then. Because it's like, why would you break someone's hard work like this? Yeah. I'm realizing Minecraft is just a society. You don't just walk into people's homes and take their stuff. Otherwise, you get banished to jail. Exactly. There's a level of respect in the server. Maybe it's almost like a level of childlike wonder. You're not here to pillage your friends' homes and stuff like that. You're more here to be like, whoa, this is so cool what you've built. That's very cute, actually. Dude, I'm not going to lie. I'm feeling a little bit inspired after our conversation here. Because I initially felt like, oh, maybe I have one or two wholesome activities that I like. But I'm realizing that over the years, we have amassed quite a bit of potential wholesome activities. Yeah. And like you said about board games, there's always new opportunities to take something you enjoy and expand it to a different group of people. So I feel very excited about more wholesome fun coming our way in the future. Thank you, Crystal, for sitting down and talking about the different ways that we've learned to have fun with our friends over the years. And for any of our listeners out there, please let us know what types of wholesome fun you're having with your friends, whether it's a board game recommendation, athletic activity that you like to do with your friends recently, et cetera. We have Instagram @eatyourcrestpod and we also have email @[email protected]. And don't forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts. We upload new episodes every other Wednesday morning. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to eat your crust. [Music]