It’s been ages upon ages since we’ve done one of these bad boys! Ok, by ages and ages, I mean 9 exact months, but still, it feels like a lifetime. You all seem to like the banter between me and the lovely Lady Gregson, so why not give you folks what you want?!
We’re back with another Matchbook VIDEO! For all you who are new here, it’s our series where Sarah and I sit together, and surprise each other (and you) with 4 or 5 things we have been loving, reading, watching, listening to, eating, wearing, whateverelseing over the last few weeks. We talk about them, explain why we think YOU should too, and basically suck at being on video together. It’s, well it’s something haha.
Bottom line, in our disconnected society right now, we just wanna connect with you on a more personal level, so we’re doing it again, and we’re gonna try to do one a month from here on out. Why not?
Yeah, we need stuff like this more than ever, so if you wanna watch the episode, and wanna help keep this place alive so I can keep delivering you independent, alternative journalism and thought provoking content, please consider upgrading your subscription. It would mean the world. It costs less than a Starbucks coffee each month, seriously, and it gives you way more in exchange. I need all the help I can get keeping it alive.
On with the show!
Lord G’s Finds
The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield - I’ve read other books by Kornfield and I absolutely loved his “A Path With The Heart” so when I grabbed this one, I was pretty sure I’d enjoy it, too. I’m only a few chapters in, but so far it’s exactly as I expected: Both a brilliant meditation and guide through Buddhist philosophy, AND, a wonderful blend of Western psychology that is made even more functional and compassionate by infusing Buddhist ideals into its practice. It’s gentle, it’s kind, it’s a stunning reminder to myself about all I need to constantly work on. That’s the thing about compassion, about kindness, it’s not a stagnant thing, it’s an ever-evolving, shifting, and eroding thing. We have to keep working at it, we have to keep trying, updating our toolkit, we have to choose. Reading this one is a choice, to re-invest more of my energy into compassion, always.
Candlelight - I know it’s cheating, but for lung health and from a sustainability standpoint, we opted to go with LED candles that can technically burn forever and not charcoal up our lung meat. We bought this 9 pack of remote-controlled LED fake flickering candles and now we exclusively use them as our light every evening once darkness falls. In Montana, that’s DAMN early, so we’ve got these beauties flickering away, positioned all over the house, on the built-in timer every single night. Having this be our source of illumination instead of bright and harsh overhead lights has changed everything, and I find I feel so much better, so much more peaceful, so much more in-tune with the season. Autumn and early Winter is for the dimming of light, our bodies know this, and by fighting it so feverishly with artificial light we’re going against our own bio-rhythms. This tries to fix it, and for only $32, you can’t really go wrong, now can you?
Johnny Harris on YouTube - It’s important to give credit where it’s due, and I honestly don’t believe many people do it better on YouTube (or anywhere else, hell the dude won an EMMY for a YouTube video) than Johnny Harris. You never know what his next video will be about, what his next unbelievably well-made documentaries will cover, but you just know that whatever it is, it’s going to be amazing. Plain and simple. His recent videos on why the USA is deporting so many people (and has been for years), on gold and its importance, on the Panama Canal or Area 51 or even how the Mormon Church came to be worth almost $300 billion dollars, are all these insanely educational whilst being wildly entertaining bits of knowledge your brain didn’t know it needed. I think there’s ways to spend time with media that is meaningful, and I think this is one. Well done sir.
Oversized and/or Drawstring Pants - Over the last year or so, I have found myself rebelling against just about every possible fashion rule or trend or whatever, that exists. Ok, truth is, I’ve never even KNOWN the rules, nor cared, but I think for so long I subconsciously was threading the needle sized hole that existed between wearing what my Autism needed for comfort (nothing too constricting or tight, but then weirdly, NOTHING sweatpants or athletic pants material, I HATE soft pants) and what would just pass as unremarkable to the outside world. I just bought slim fit pants because I had slim legs, I bought slim fit shirts because I thought that my body was more slim than oversized. I really never took into consideration much beyond that, and found myself wearing things that were too tight on my arms and chest (in a non-ego way, I work out a lot and so I have muscles in places like that haha) and I found myself always fidgeting with my stupid pants on my thighs and calves. UGH. THEN, I found these pants on sale on Huckberry called the Carhartt Work In Progress Floyd Pants. THEN everything changed. They are hugely oversized, I mean like cartoonishly large, I have to roll them up 3 times because the inseam is so long, and they have a damn drawstring. I LOVE them. That opened the door and I started buying (always on sale or clearance) more pants like them from Carhartt, and then even donated or sold all my old jeans and replaced them with “Classic Fit” that literally fit even bigger than the baggy Silvertab jeans back in the 90s. I’m in heaven. I’m comfortable, always, and it’s opened the door to just only wearing whatever the F I want to wear as long as it’s comfortable. Yesterday, I looked like a tennis ball. Yep. I don’t care. Here’s to only wearing what feels best on your body. F the rest.
Wild Buff BBQ & Hot Sauce - As you know, I’ve been very vocal about being allergic to garlic and onions and all alliums, and how much I hate it. NO ONE takes it seriously as an allergy because we’re so very rare. Did you know that most science says less than 1% of humans have an allium allergy?! And only 2.97% of people with food sensitivities have it for garlic and onion? Yeah, I’m just THAT lucky. For years I’ve not been able to find any sauces to put on the food we cook, as they all used both garlic and onion. Until now. Sarah spent literally an hour a few months back at the grocery and found this gem, the WILD BUFF line of sauces, that use NO garlic and onion on a variety of their products. My two favorites, the SMOKE, and the FIRE. The most shocking development of 2025 for my entire group of friends and family, is that I actually LOVE hot hot hot sauce. The FIRE sauce uses ghost peppers and it’s so hot that if you even dab a bit on your tongue, you get that weird numbness and tingling instantly. I POUR it on. I love it. So yeah, this one is on my list and it’s changed Everything for me when it comes to my actual enjoyment of the food I’m eating. Thank you Wild Buff. Just Thank you.
Lady G’s Finds
Bog Queen by Anna North - This beautiful book has me hooked. Even though I’m the slowest reader on the planet and I really only read about 2 pages a night before falling asleep, I cannot wait to get in bed each night to read. It follows two entirely different timelines, one during Druid times in England, and another in modern times, and the two stories will become connected, I just don’t know how yet. I cannot stop reading it, and I LOVE the story and the characters so far. I’ll give a breakdown of it once I finish I’m sure, but for now, I am just so excited to read each night. Give it a try.
Creamy Tortellini Soup - I’m literally the ONLY person in our household who likes soup, which should hurt my feelings, but when it comes to this soup it doesn’t because it means I get to eat it all by myself. No sharing! This soup feels like this season, it’s warm, comforting, hearty, and delicious. I am an old lady and use the silicone soup molds so I can freeze perfectly individual portions, meaning it’s always ready to drop into a pan and heat up for a perfect lunch. Basically, it’s delicious and perfect.
Doctor Sleep - Despite previously hating horror movies, somehow over the years, Tyler converted me. Now, I am obsessed and LOVE watching them all. After re-watching The Shining over Halloween, Tyler reminded me that I was all drugged up from surgery the first time we watched the sequel, Doctor Sleep. We watched it again, and I actually loved it MORE than the original, and since I am categorically obsessed with Rebecca Ferguson, I absolutely loved it. Plus, Ewan McGregor never goes wrong. If you like scary movies even a little, this is for sure worth a watch!
North Pole Ninjas by US - I will NEVER stop being proud of this little book of ours, and I will NEVER stop talking about it. I want so desperately for it to go crazy viral and replace that silly Elf on the Shelf, and while it’s done great, it hasn’t yet. The holidays should be about bringing kindness back to the season, not about getting and receiving, and this is our attempt to show how fun that can be. You and your family become ninjas, and your only mission (there are 50 included in the book!) is to bring kindness back to the holidays. We help guide you along the way, and it’s just magical. Please please please read it, buy it, and send one to every single person you know with young kids. It’s life-changing. I promise.
Volunteering @ Food Share - Let’s address the elephant in the room first and foremost: We truly cannot afford for me to volunteer. We don’t make enough money, we’re not retired, we struggle to pay our own bills, but, but, I’ve carved out 3 hours a week (on top of all the hours I spend baking the Helena loaves I donate to the Food Share each week) to physically volunteer in person at the Helena Food Share. It’s amazing. Plain and simple, it’s my favorite thing I get to do each week. I love it. I urge, so strongly, EVERYONE out there, find a way to volunteer some of your time, ANY of your time. It changes you, it really does, and in doing so, it changes the lives of every person you interact with while doing it. Find a place, find a time, volunteer. It’s why we’re here.
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