Fossil Daddy on Dinosaurs, Palaeontology, Coming Out, Educational Thirst Traps, Mental Health and Jurassic Park!

Join me on a journey into a world where science meets cheeky charm! Today, we're diving into the fascinating realm of paleontology with none other than the "Jurassic Hunk" himself, Fossil Daddy.

With chiseled arms and a love for chiseling ancient rocks, he is a an LGBTQ content creator, and is breaking the mold in a field dominated by narrow-minded tradition. Holding not one, but two master's degrees in environmental science, this Boston-accented paleontologist is on a mission to make science sexy.

Fossil Daddy turns fossil hunting into an art form. From stuffing Poké balls with ancient treasures inspired by his childhood Pokémon dreams, to uncovering Jurassic footprints, his content is both educational and entertaining. But the journey isn't without challenges.

Facing scrutiny from creationism advocates, he fearlessly uses scientific evidence to clap back. In his own words, "Science is fundamentally true whether you believe in it or not." Join us as we uncover the stories behind the fossils, the passion driving this charismatic scientist, and how he is redefining what it means to be a paleontologist in the digital age.

Get ready for a ride filled with knowledge, laughter, and maybe a few surprises!

Follow Fossil Daddy on social media @fossildaddy
or visit his website at www.fossildaddy.com
Make sure to watch his other passion - animation - on Youtube @Fosceldaddy

INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK @castandthecurious

www.curiouscast.co.za
shoutout@curiouscast.co.za

Transcript

Ron: Join me on a journey into a world where science meets cheeky charm. Today, we're diving into the fascinating realm of paleontology with none other than the Jurassic hunk himself, Fossil Daddy! With chiseled arms and a love for chiseling ancient rocks. He is an LGBTQ content creator and is breaking the mold in a field dominated by narrow minded tradition. Holding not one but two master's degrees in environmental science. This Boston accented paleontologist is on a mission to make science sexy. Fossil Daddy turns fossil hunting into an art form. From stuffing pokéballs with ancient treasures inspired by his childhood Pokémon dreams to uncovering Jurassic footprints. His content is both educational and entertaining, but the journey isn't without its challenges. Facing scrutiny from creationism advocates, he fearlessly uses scientific evidence to clap back. In his own words. "Science is fundamentally true. Whether you believe it or not." Join us as we uncover the stories behind the fossils, the passion driving this charismatic scientist and how he is redefining what it means to be a paleontologist in the digital age. Get ready for a ride filled with knowledge, laughter and maybe a few surprises. Thanks for being our tour guide today into prehistory Fossil Daddy

Ron: How are you doing?

Fossil Daddy: Hi. How are you? I'm great.

Ron: So I took a look at the weather, here in South Africa we've got some serious summertime weather And you guys are heading into your first snow for the season.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. We're expecting about six inches where I live and I think further west it's going to be like ten inches to a foot. But

Ron: So

Fossil Daddy: you know

Ron: I think

Fossil Daddy: what? It's

Ron: it's

Fossil Daddy: a

Ron: safe

Fossil Daddy: good.

Ron: to say, nope, no fossil digging anytime soon.

Fossil Daddy: No, especially considering a lot of the fossils that I find are in western Massachusetts. I'm not going to be able to go out that way for a while. And it looks like Pennsylvania and upstate New York also got significant snow. So I won't be able to go there until the winter thaw, too, because, you know, I go there a lot as well.

Ron: But we know what that is. It's an excuse for lots of hot chocolate and time in front of the telly.

Fossil Daddy: I actually hate chocolate.

Ron: No,

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: that's terrible. As long as you like coffee, then we can still be friends.

Fossil Daddy: Yes. I love coffee. I can't live without it. You know, I actually I can't go to bed at night unless I have a cup of coffee. be the death of

Ron: Let's.

Fossil Daddy: a.

Ron: I'll take your word for it. It's all that fossil dust, I'm sure.

Fossil Daddy: Yes.

Ron: I thought with Curious Cast since I've gone through some mental health struggle and surmounted it, I've wanted to chat to people in a fun way so that everyone listening realizes that, you know what? Going through a mental health struggle isn't that strange a thing? And it's relatable to everybody. So we're going to talk about your life, your passions. And here and there, we're going to talk about stuff that pertains to mental health so that people can see how obvious it is to talk about.

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: So with your personal life, let's start right at the beginning. And the obvious question which most people have, is why the name Fossil Daddy? Where does the pseudonym come from?

Fossil Daddy: You know, it's funny. I created an Instagram account pretty much as soon as Instagram was a thing, I think like 2012 or 2013. And I went under a different handle that had my real name in it, followed by the word 'Rocks' you know, because like I rock whatever and I didn't really post photos of myself back then. I posted photos primarily of the fossils that I was finding because I was living in Scotland at the time. but I've quickly garnered an audience of maybe like 1000 to 3000 people relatively shortly of, you know, like Americans who really loved rocks and crystals

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: and fossils. But, you know, it was an older crowd because the rock hounding community consists primarily of, like, old white people. that's something I'm purposely trying to change.

Ron: Great.

Fossil Daddy: And it was I think it was like 2019 or something that I got a really homophobic comment in one of my photos and I didn't even say or do anything remotely gay, and I don't even think it was directed at me. I think it was just a general homophobic comment. Something about pertaining to like what a masculine activity it is. And like, no queer would be caught dead in the community. And I was just like, Do you know who you're talking to? So that was like the day that I decided that I kind of needed to rebrand a little bit. So I changed my handle to Fossil Daddy. Mainly because I was trying to find two words that were relevant. So like,  A) I'm getting on in age. I just, I was like early thirties back then. And you know, Daddy.

Ron: Well, you're the furthest thing from a fossil, but. Okay,

Fossil Daddy: No,

Ron: well.

Fossil Daddy: no, no, no, no, no. But like, but but, you know, like, it's the 'Dom' nature to me. I'm I have a pretty dominant nature, so, like, you know, and 'Daddy' was trending at that time, so I was like,

Ron: Still

Fossil Daddy: okay, so, like, I know I wanted Daddy to be in the name, but was I going to be Paleo Daddy? No, no. Because, like, people would confuse me for, like, the paleo

Ron: The

Fossil Daddy: diet.

Ron: diet.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So then I was like, okay, so 'Prehistoric Daddy'? No.

Ron: Hmm.

Fossil Daddy: And then Fossil Daddy. And I remember as soon as I said it out loud, I had a few friends in the room and they were like dying. They just started laughing hysterically. I was like, okay, okay. We

Ron: You

Fossil Daddy: got

Ron: got

Fossil Daddy: we

Ron: approval.

Fossil Daddy: we got it. This is this is it. And almost

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: immediately,

Ron: awesome.

Fossil Daddy: like after I posted my first photo, I lost like a thousand followers.

Ron: The 1000 you had, you lost immediately. Great.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. Well, I, I think I think that by that point, I racked up like 3500, but I lost a thousand almost overnight because I posted my first 'Educational Thirst Trap' and dared to use the hashtag gay. And, you know, like, I got some backlash. But mind you, the Rock Hound Community is extremely old, white and conservative.

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: So like, I almost expected it. But, you know, I think I was a little rattled that I lost that many followers because I was like, I'm never going to bounce back from that.

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: But almost as soon as I lost them, I gained like 2000 more. So I was like, okay, I'm on to something here.

Ron: There

Fossil Daddy: And

Ron: you go.

Fossil Daddy: I started getting comments like, okay, like this is more than a thirst trap. This is, like, actually interesting. And

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: then.

Ron: actually a question I had as I wanted to ask you, these 'Educational Thirst Traps' the way you call them.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: So what led you to make that decision? Was it really just a fluke?

Fossil Daddy: No. I knew that when people came to my Instagram, I wanted them to walk away having learned something like I didn't want to be just another thirst trap because, like, God knows, Instagram has millions of those I knew that if I was going to compete in that market, I had to do something different. So educational thirst trap seemed like a good direction to go. And, you know, people actually do get a lot out of it. Like, you have no idea. I get so many messages in my DMS of people who are now going into environmental sciences or they're

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: looking

Ron: wow.

Fossil Daddy: into paleontology programs. And now I get paid to talk at various rock and mineral groups or museums, and every time I go they pretty much sell out of memberships for their local rock and mineral groups because people just want to get into the dirt, you know?

Ron: That's so fantastic.

Fossil Daddy: So yeah, so like it was really honestly, it was a blessing in disguise. Mind you, at that point I hated my job. I think the pandemic was the best thing that ever happened because I was bigger back then. Even though I was doing these paleontological thirst traps I was bigger. So, like, obviously I wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea, but I still managed to grow a following.

Ron: That's all that matters.

Fossil Daddy: And then in 2020, when everything was shut down, I realized I didn't have to work as hard anymore because I wasn't getting up at 5 a.m. and coming home at 10 p.m. and eating garbage throughout the day. So I was able to kind of focus on my fitness again and my mental health. And I shed all of that weight then my thirst traps became somewhat thirstier. And I and then made a tik tok account when I was finally feeling confident enough to be on video.

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: And I think within the first two videos I blew up, which that audience in the early days of Tik Tok, you know, which was like the Wild, Wild West back then. It was a lot easier to grow in audience, like an actual audience that cares about you. Whereas on Tik Tok, if you were to try to grow it now there are just so many people posting videos on Tik Tok

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: like nobody is going to remember you now. So I kind of got in while the getting was good and people followed me over to Instagram and then I was like, You know what, I'm going to make a Twitter too. I made a Twitter and then everybody followed me over to Twitter and I was able

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: to really

Ron: great.

Fossil Daddy: grow a community for myself. I can't say that that would be the same on Tik Tok now because I don't really use Tik Tok anymore just because there's so much crap on it

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: and short form videos just frankly don't interest me anymore. So now I've made two YouTube channels and just working on those now too. So but I had to, I had to work through my mental health through that before I could even feel the confidence to even begin all that.

Ron: Absolutely. We're going to get to that. I've got a few questions regarding that. But just before we go off the topic, I wanted to ask, it's sort of where I want to start with with every guest in this podcast, because we were all kids at one point.

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: What did you dream of becoming as a kid

Fossil Daddy: You're

Ron: and how does this compare?

Fossil Daddy: a paleontologist!

Ron: No way.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. Well, I actually had a few dreams. I wanted to be an animator, so I did become an animator.

Ron: That's amazing.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So, like, 20-25 I got my first internship in animation. And that's when I realized that, even for a four year degree, I would be making minimum wage for the rest of my life, especially back then, where animation just didn't pay good money,

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: unlike today, because we're kind of seeing an animation boom as of late 2021. But back in the early 2000, that was not a sustainable career unless you really got into the big studios. So I decided to step away from animation and illustration, and I went into environmental sciences, which eventually led me into paleontology, where I became a paleontologist, which was what I also wanted to do before I wanted to become an animator. I have too many interests and I kind of. also take it to an extreme where, like, if I want it, I go do it.

Ron: That's a great example. And that's why I asked this question of every guest so that people can see life is not linear. You don't

Fossil Daddy: No,

Ron: just choose

Fossil Daddy: it's

Ron: one

Fossil Daddy: not.

Ron: thing and do that for the rest of your life.

Fossil Daddy: No, exactly Even though I do work in the field of paleontology. I also do other things too. I teach, you know, like that's my, my main passion in life is to teach other people. So, like, no, I'm not posting thirst traps in my classroom. It's a lot more, a lot more professional. A lot of my students are very aware of my online notoriety and they get a kick out of it. But.

Ron: I'm sure, and I think I have more respect for you. As a result, they see that you're a real person.

Fossil Daddy: Well, yeah, because, you know, like, they're, they're older, their late teens. So like, they, you know, they, they know what the Internet is all about.

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: And this is like a group of people that grew up with the Internet all around them unlike you and I, but yeah, I've worked in a lot of different fields. I've worked in marine biology, I've worked as an environmental technician, a frickin animator. I even used to build chimneys before all of that.

Ron: What?

Fossil Daddy: So. Yeah. How do

Ron: You

Fossil Daddy: you think.

Ron: gain

Fossil Daddy: I think.

Ron: from building really hard structures to breaking into hard structures to get fossils.

Fossil Daddy: So breaking structures, because even when I had to build a chimney, I usually had to tear the old one down. But yeah, that was masonry. that's what I did as a teenager, just to kind of like pay my way through school until I moved to Scotland. And I didn't have to work so hard because in America we kind of promote the idea of working until you can't anymore or working

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: till you drop. And that's not healthy. You know, like you only have one life. why live your life when you're retired and too tired to live? You know, it'll live your life right now and you've got to find that balance

Ron: Yeah

Fossil Daddy: and

Ron: I

Fossil Daddy: honest.

Ron: like it's Tim Ferriss that that spoke about that approach of of taking miniature retirements in your life and

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: enjoying

Fossil Daddy: I,

Ron: life as much as you can.

Fossil Daddy: I have in 2020. even though the world was locked down, I still had enough money to kind of live off of that for a few years. So I honestly didn't start working again until late 2023. And then I was making pretty decent money just off of social media, people going to my website, buying fossils or buying jewelry that I've made or sponsoring a fossil hunt, which you can do right now. If you go to a www.fossildaddy.com and scroll down a little bit, you can sponsor a fossil hunting. I'll send you a fossil that I find myself.

Ron: And I see that you recently started doing Opal jewelry again. I didn't even know

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: that Opals are another passion of yours.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So actually I think gem cutting and gem work is another passion because I see it a lot like sculpture. the realm of animation that I worked in was stop motion animation or clay animation. I work specifically

Ron: Oh, wow!

Fossil Daddy: with clay, so I love, shaping things and I think Lapidary work, which is gem cutting is very similar to that. Like you can make some really beautiful shapes and sizes and just working with stone, it's just so much fun to me. just going from a rough little stone that looks like a little piece of shit into, like, this beautiful gem that'll never not be fun to me. And Opals specifically are really hard, but fun to work with because if you polished them too much, you could lose all that flashy color

Ron: No

Fossil Daddy: because

Ron: way.

Fossil Daddy: like that flashy color is on a very thin specific layer of the rock. If you hit that layer, you could just wipe it all away.

Ron: Oh no! See, the inherent risk there would just make it not fun for me. I'll send

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: them your way.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, I find it a lot of fun. So, When I started doing lapidary work, I then got interested in doing silver work. So I started casting silver. Like, I have a bunch of little molds that I pour silver and like, you know what? I set the opal earrings in to just make a little silver cast and then put it all together. And I find that really therapeutic for me.

Ron: Talk about being multi-talented. That's ridiculous. The kind of stuff you get up to.

Fossil Daddy: Thank

Ron: All

Fossil Daddy: you.

Ron: I need

Fossil Daddy: I

Ron: to learn

Fossil Daddy: just.

Ron: now is that you're also a great cook.

Fossil Daddy: Yes, well, I can cook, but I don't know how to bake. So, like, if I try to bake cookies or a cake, you better believe that cake is going to spring to life and destroy the city. So I just.

Ron: It's the balance of flour to liquids. My friend will

Fossil Daddy: I

Ron: teach you.

Fossil Daddy: know.

Ron: Yet

Fossil Daddy: I know. I know.

Ron: at

Fossil Daddy: It's

Ron: some

Fossil Daddy: like chemistry.

Ron: point I have to teach you something. You can't just teach us stuff. really want to dig into fossils in our next section, so let's

Fossil Daddy: Yes,

Ron: take a little break.

Fossil Daddy: absolutely.

Ron: All right, so let's make fossils easy to understand.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: Explain the different types of fossils and which are the ones that you specialize in.

Fossil Daddy: Okay. So most people know of body fossils, which, you know, consist of like the bones or the actual specimen which are preserved after an animal or specimen is buried after a long period of time. That

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: and those sediments kind of build up and creates a hollow ca.... or, let me start over. Okay, so let's say, Ron, you die and you are buried underground pretty quickly. Your body rots away, only your bones are left behind. And over the course of millions of years, layers and layers and layers of sedimentary deposits are laid on top of you, which later becomes sedimentary rock.

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: During that process, your bones are going to absorb the surrounding minerals, therefore becoming a mineral replacement of the organic bone matter. So like

Ron: How?

Fossil Daddy: you're literally turning into stone like Medusa style.

Ron: Yeah. I was just going to say probably part of the fantastic something. Who knows?

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: Marvel. Here I come.

Fossil Daddy: So that is how most fossils preserve. But what I specialize in is

Fossil Daddy: the field of

Fossil Daddy: paleontology called Ichnology which is the study of trace fossils like impressions, footprints, trackways, body impressions, coprolite which is known as fossil feces. left behind

Ron: It's

Fossil Daddy: by organisms.

Ron: rocks.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, poo rocks. I actually have my students lick those. So. you can identify fossil bone by licking the fossil. And if it sticks to your tongue, it's a fossil bone. But I'll usually trick my students and have them, like, lick a rock to try and identify what they think it is. And then I'm like, you just licked shit. Like they always get such a rise

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: out of

Ron: brilliant.

Fossil Daddy: that. But yeah, I specialize in fossil footprint specifically. So I study dinosaur footprints from the Mesozoic era, which consist of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. And those are preserved in different kinds of sedimentary rocks. Like people don't really realize this. I get questions a lot, like when I post a photo of a dinosaur footprint that I find and they're like, What

Ron: Mm

Fossil Daddy: dinosaur

Ron: hmm.

Fossil Daddy: made that? It's like, it's impossible to tell because like

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: the fossilized bones will not fossilize where footprints preserve. Like it's a completely different, you know, environmental setting. It's

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: a completely different process of fossilization, for instance, like footprints or trace fossils in general have to dry relatively quickly in order to preserve and then get buried relatively quickly in order to preserve. And there has to be trace amounts of clay in the sediment for trackway specifically to preserve. So that's why you'll never find fossil footprints in the sand, because there's no clay in it. And, you know, sand just blows

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: all over the place. So, you know, that's what I study. I study the locomotion of dinosaurs, how they walked, how they ran So, you can tell a lot by a dinosaur footprint, like how fast they were walking, depending on how close the footprints were together or how far apart they were. you can see that sometimes they traveled in packs when there's a plethora of footprints together going in various directions.

Ron: That's amazing.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, my backyard is just littered with fossil trackways I've tried donating to museums and they're like, Oh no, we have these already. So, like, I just have, like, a miniature museum in my backyard

Ron: This is a

Fossil Daddy: full

Ron: good point

Fossil Daddy: of footprints.

Ron: at which to I'm sorry to interrupt you. It's a good

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: point at which to to mention that I'm sure you get the question often people say, "How can you just go out and take these fossils while

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: not the - why are they not in museums?" But people don't realize that there are not enough museums in the world to house all the fossils that are out there.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, exactly. Okay. So people will often give me shit about it. It's like, okay, well, if you want to buy them from me, you can donate them to a museum and

Ron: You.

Fossil Daddy: and you can see what I'm talking about because even when I do, try to donate fossils. Sometimes those fossils may never see the light of day again

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: unless they're really scientifically significant or new

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: to science. Like museums are very seldom interested because the study of paleontology while relatively new compared to other sciences. You know, like the fossils of the Connecticut River Valley, for instance, have been extensively studied and their fossils have been distributed to museums all around the world, even some

Ron: Mm

Fossil Daddy: of

Ron: hmm.

Fossil Daddy: the more obscure museums. And while some of my collection have made it into museums like that's very rare, you know, like it's very rare for a museum not to have specimens from the Connecticut River Valley.

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: And one reason for me why I'm able to get them is because A) I live really close to the Connecticut River Valley.

Ron: Your bonus.

Fossil Daddy: And B), even though it's illegal to take fossils from the valley, there is a loophole. in the state of Massachusetts anyway, and if you have access to a private property in the Connecticut River Valley where fossils are found, as long as you're on that property, you can take whatever fossils you find. And I've made enough friends in the industry that I have multiple friends who live in the Connecticut River Valley. And for a small fee, they'll let me go out into their property and just

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: take

Ron: amazing.

Fossil Daddy: whatever I collect. Yeah, like under the condition that I don't make a mess.

Ron: Yeah, sure,

Fossil Daddy: But.

Ron: of

Fossil Daddy: But,

Ron: course. It has to be done respectfully.

Fossil Daddy: right. And, you know, like, I'm a professional, so, if a mess is made, I know how to deal with it in an environmentally friendly way. for instance, like, let's say I pull one rock out of a layer and then boom, I cause like a mini avalanche, I have a shovel, and then I just distribute all of the debris throughout the forest floor, which makes the salamanders really happy.

Ron: I'm sure.

Fossil Daddy: Yup So you're just going to be respectful about how you do it. And you got to make sure that where you go, you're allowed to be there. Upstate New York has pretty loose fossil hunting laws. So upstate New York is actually a really good place to start fossil hunting. If you ever want to go fossil hunting. You can find anything from brachiopods to trilobites, which is what I usually chase out there, orthocones which were prehistoric squid-like animals, all kinds of cool stuff. You're up to ribs. Those are my favorite. They're very, very

Ron: Oh, it's

Fossil Daddy: rare.

Ron: amazing. I just watched, even though it's been out for years, I watched David Attenborough's First Life and it was fascinating.

Fossil Daddy: Yes. I don't know if you saw David Attenborough's the Sea Dragon, which takes place.

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. Okay. So I was there for the recording of that.

Ron: Nah.

Fossil Daddy: I

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: was.

Ron: so cool.

Fossil Daddy: I wasn't in it, but I was there for it. And. God.

Ron: Brilliant.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. When I lived in the UK, I used to spend my summers on the Jurassic Coast and he just happened to be shooting a documentary down there. We got to talk to him a little bit about what I was studying. And it was, oh, he's such a nice, wonderful

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: person.

Ron: wow. I'm so happy you got to do that.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So like that specific sea dragon or ichthyosaur you can actually find in Charmouth There's like a little seaside museum above a fossil store, and you could just go up there and view it. I

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: don't know, like.

Ron: amazing.

Fossil Daddy: If I if I could retire anywhere, I think the Jurassic Coast to be where I'd go. I love Scotland, but like I want to be where the fossils are. the

Ron: who's

Fossil Daddy: fossils

Ron: that historical

Fossil Daddy: are.

Ron: figure? Is it Mary Anning that

Fossil Daddy: Mary

Ron: you said

Fossil Daddy: Anning.

Ron: you look up to?

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, yes. I looked up to her a lot, too, and especially as a kid. And I used to spend my summers in her hometown of Lyme Regis, which

Ron: How cool

Fossil Daddy: and

Ron: is that?

Fossil Daddy: just kind of fossil hunting her footsteps almost.

Ron: So speaking of places that you can't just dive into and go fossil hunting, you mentioned in a previous interview somewhere I listened and you spoke about 'Lightning Ridge" in Australia.

Fossil Daddy: Yes.

Ron: Just tell

Fossil Daddy: Yes,

Ron: us a little bit about why that's cool.

Fossil Daddy: Ah, so Lightning Ridge is really cool because that's where all of the Australian Opals are found. But more importantly than that, you can find opalized fossils there. And the

Ron: No

Fossil Daddy: reason for

Ron: way.

Fossil Daddy: that is because that particular kind of opal preserves in sedimentary rock where fossils are found. so you can find like little opalized ammonites gastropods on the very rare occasion, you can find very large opalized dinosaur bones.

Ron: What?

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, but you don't like as much fun as I had there. It was super interesting. Everything I found I could not take with me, because

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: there are

Ron: and.

Fossil Daddy: very yeah, there are very strict laws of exporting fossils out of Australia. So even though I found one of my best fossils ever was like a complete opal ized ammonite, I could not take it with me. That broke my heart.

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: Like,

Ron: that sucks.

Fossil Daddy: yeah, like. But, you know, like I understand why why

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: that

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: that laws

Ron: It's

Fossil Daddy: in place

Ron: yeah,

Fossil Daddy: but

Ron: it's

Fossil Daddy: like

Ron: a respectful thing.

Fossil Daddy: but like it was like taking my baby away from me. It

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: really

Ron: no.

Fossil Daddy: felt it.

Ron: I'm sorry.

Fossil Daddy: It really felt like that. Okay.

Ron: That's awful. Okay. Onto more positive subjects. I wondered about this. I know that a lot of scientists specialize in something and do a thesis or a paper. Is there stuff that you're busy with or that you dream of doing in your field of study?

Fossil Daddy: There are things that I really dream of doing in my field of study. Actually, I would Oh, man. I had this in mind yesterday. I would really love to go to the south of France and just spend, like, an entire year there. Just, fossil hunting and seeing what I can discover for myself, because there are just so many fossils there. It's like.

Ron: Really?

Fossil Daddy: So you're like, the Jurassic Coast is one thing in England. Everybody goes there, but nobody thinks

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: to go to the south of France, which is like France's Jurassic Coast. And the fossils there are equally as mesmerizing. But I think they're often overlooked and overshadowed by England's fossils. So I'd love to go there and, look for some plesiosaurs or Leedtha... Leedsyth Nah, God, I can never say this. Leedsichthys, which was one of the largest fish that ever lived.

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: And then also Germany. Germany is a great spot to go. Fossil hunting. I'd love to

Ron: Yeah,

Fossil Daddy: spend

Ron: I've heard

Fossil Daddy: like

Ron: that.

Fossil Daddy: an entire year and look for some German fossils. I have a couple in my collection that I found, but I feel like I never spent a significant amount of time there.

Ron: And Africa. You got to come visit us.

Fossil Daddy: Ah, yes. Well, I've been to Morocco, if that counts.

Ron: It does don't know that some

Fossil Daddy: And

Ron: great fossil hunting some of the

Fossil Daddy: it

Ron: best

Fossil Daddy: is.

Ron: preserved fossils. I was blown away by the level of detail in those fossils.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. And South Africa. I've been to South Africa and there are some great fossils. But unfortunately a lot of the places are on the coast and from what I was told, I should not be there at night. So, like, that was a little.

Ron: It's it's disconcerting, but I guess that happens all over the world.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah,

Ron: No,

Fossil Daddy: it does.

Ron: you you come out to South Africa, I'll take you all the safe places and we'll go fossil hunting!

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, I'd love that!

Ron: Listen, let's dig into this Mental Health section. And the obvious question, I think is, looking back, there were many hardships, but what

Fossil Daddy: Oh,

Ron: was

Fossil Daddy: yeah.

Ron: the biggest hardship? Probably the biggest hurdle, the longest period that you spent in hardship to overcome and reach where you are now.

Fossil Daddy: You know, I think I think a lot of it had to do with my sexuality

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: because I grew up in a really Catholic, conservative household.

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. And, I remember even at an early age when I was kind of learning that I was, you know, queer. Like my grandmother never, ever had anything nice to say about queer people. My parents always, like, made really rude gay jokes. My twin brother would make really awful gay jokes, and it was just normal. So, like, I struggled very deeply about not being normal because, like, I knew, you know, while they didn't know they were talking about me, but they were talking about me, you know, that's how I interpreted it. So, there was a period of my adolescence where I just didn't speak a word. And they sent me to therapy because I stopped talking to people.

Ron: Oh, my goodness.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. It was bad. It wasn't until I went to college or, my latter two years of high school where I started speaking again. But that's because I started to understand who I was.

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: And that's when I also came out to those who were closest to me, not my family. I was terrified to do that, and I wasn't really allowed to be myself until I left to, explore who I was. I think even when I became comfortable with who I was and I could live openly, I still struggled a little bit because that is a lot of trauma,

Ron: Yeah,

Fossil Daddy: to carry for a long time. And, you know, like I tried to overcompensate for that in ways that weren't really healthy for me, like, I know to this day I still struggle with validation. Like I'll always look for that quick validation, but that's something that I'm trying to tone down now that I am a parent and I want to lead by example, you know, like I'm trying to become less of a validation whore, but you know, it's something I still struggle with because I never had that validation as a kid.

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: And then clinical depression really hit me when I moved back to the United States because I

Ron: Mm

Fossil Daddy: went

Ron: hmm.

Fossil Daddy: living in Scotland, being able to do whatever the hell I want, not having to worry about money, just focusing on my studies, going to the very far reaches of northeast Scotland to find fossils, you know, traveling all over Fife to find them and then going to spend my summers on the Jurassic Coast, to fossil hunt until I dropped. And then I moved back to America. And then I got thrown right back into the American lifestyle of processed foods. And, you know, like enough processed foods will get to your head, too.

Ron: Yes, it would.

Fossil Daddy: And, you know, just like that, really the hustle, like, lifestyle of like, get up, go to work, come home, fall asleep, do it all over again, like rinse and repeat. Just work, work until

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: you're burnt the fuck out and I burned out really quickly and clinical depression set in and I gained like almost 200lbs I was like 330

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: I think at my heaviest I am now 178lb So I

Ron: Well

Fossil Daddy: lost

Ron: done.

Fossil Daddy: quite, quite a bit of weight. But like, you know, like when I lived in Scotland I was probably at peak physique and then it didn't hit me until I had a friend visit me from Scotland

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: and ask me he was like, "I don't want you to take any offense to this, But what happened?"

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: And I think that's when it hit me that I had changed and not for the better, because I was clearly not happy. I didn't really care about taking care of my appearance. You know, it's just like because I was so focused on my work. And honestly, I think the pandemic was the best thing that happened for me personally. I know it's a terrible thing to say because like

Ron: Of course.

Fossil Daddy: some

Ron: It's not that you're talking about that. I totally

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: get what you're saying. You needed that. That reprieve

Fossil Daddy: I

Ron: from

Fossil Daddy: needed

Ron: everyday

Fossil Daddy: that break.

Ron: life.

Fossil Daddy: I needed that break from life. And it was a shame that, like, over a million people in the in the U.S. had to die for that to happen like it should have never happened in the first place. But, you know, like, I don't think that the American way of living like we really need to reevaluate how we live

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: our lives in this country. Like we live to work. And

Ron: Yes. Yes.

Fossil Daddy: we

Ron: Yes. Yes.

Fossil Daddy: should not live to work. We should live to live. And I think in 2020, I when I wasn't commuting 5 hours to and from work every day, I was able to really focus on the things that I loved again. And I started to feel happy again. like when I was living in Scotland, things had finally slowed down. I could pursue my interests, you know, without being around people. And, in a way, I was able to connect with people again because I joined Discord. I started joining my friends discord groups and started doing like nightly to weekly hangouts on different groups and socializing with people that I never really got the chance to get to know. And, you know, like we're able to motivate each other. And it was just something like when you when you're living to work, like you forget to connect with people. And I think that's a huge step in the right direction when it comes to working on your mental health. It's like connecting again.

Ron: Yes, absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: And that's the two things that I had in common when I suffered clinical depression, as an adolescent where I didn't speak or connect with people, and the clinical depression that I felt in like 2017 to 2018, 2019, you know, like I wasn't connecting with people, but as soon as I started connecting again, that's when I started to work on myself and feel better about myself and really set goals for myself and more importantly, reach those goals.

Ron: That's amazing. And look where you are now. I mean,

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: from somebody looking in from the outside, I want to take a hat off to you and say bloody well done on so many fronts, not only clinical depression not only losing weight, not only facing homophobes. You did all of that in one fell swoop and you are flourishing from what I can see. So

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: well done.

Fossil Daddy: I'm not doin'... I'm not doin' too bad!. started a family, you know, I have a career that I really love, and I pretty much made that career. Like, I remember when my job asked me to come back after the lockdown, I was just like, No, why would I do that? I'm really privileged to be able to make a living off of social media.

Ron: Mm hmm.

Fossil Daddy: And it's really sad that I was working 60 plus hours a week at a salary position that made me less than like $2,000 a month. And I've pretty much tripled that working on projects that I just wanted to do for fun.

Ron: It's a crazy fact to look at. But I'm so happy for you that life worked out in this

Fossil Daddy: Thank

Ron: way, and

Fossil Daddy: you.

Ron: it's because you were willing to take a risk.

Fossil Daddy: Right. But, you know, like, I honestly wish that it was something that people were able to do. I wish it was something that everybody could do. But I think we're trapped in this mindset that we have to work until we drop and then we forget to live. And then we're on

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: our deathbed. Like nobody on their deathbed says, I wish I worked a little bit more. No.

Ron: This

Fossil Daddy: Like

Ron: is.

Fossil Daddy: people people say when people on their deathbed, they they think about the things that they missed out on leg time with their family, time with their friends, the countries that they didn't see, people that they didn't meet, people that they blew off. You know, like, I think once you take a step back and realize that you need to live for yourself or for the people who depend on you,

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: you know, like it's not all about just providing financially, but you have to be mentally stable for them to you got to be there. You got to be

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: in the present.

Ron: It's a balancing act. You cannot pour from an empty cup. That is such a true expression.

Fossil Daddy: Yes, exactly.

Ron: So now that you've given me another idea for a podcast, because how cool would it be to speak to people in retirement homes about what it is they wish they did in their life?

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: Let's go. Let's go back to that little kid that was

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: dreaming of becoming a paleontologist.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: What piece of advice? What's the number one nugget of knowledge that you wish to give to your younger self?

Fossil Daddy: Okay. So if people call you a nerd, ignore them because nerds rule the world. So I remember when I figured out the Pokemon Omanite was based off of real world ammonite fossils That blew my fucking mind when I was 11 and I tried to share that interest with, I think, my twin brother and my older sister, and they got annoyed with me and they were just like, You sound like a fucking nerd. And like I took that to heart. I was so embarrassed.

Ron: Oh, no.

Fossil Daddy: I was like almost ashamed that I knew that or that I had, like, learned something.

Ron: Learned

Fossil Daddy: And I was like,

Ron: that? Yes.

Fossil Daddy: that's so it's like, you know what? I'm just do it. Like, when I learn things, maybe I should just keep it to myself. No, no.

Ron: Don't

Fossil Daddy: Don't

Ron: do it.

Fossil Daddy: share your passion with people,

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: even. Even if they don't appreciate it. Like, just, you know, you're going to find that solid group of people who appreciate what you've learned.

Ron: 100%. I mean, it's the same for anyone at any age. There are people who are going to love you and there are people who are going to hate you. And there's

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: nothing you can do about

Fossil Daddy: Oh,

Ron: it.

Fossil Daddy: yeah. Like, I have a lot of people who hate me, but that's a different

Ron: But

Fossil Daddy: story.

Ron: it's not

Fossil Daddy: But,

Ron: even

Fossil Daddy: you

Ron: worth

Fossil Daddy: know, like,

Ron: focusing

Fossil Daddy: it's

Ron: on the.

Fossil Daddy: not it's not like at the end of the day, I am a very happy person. You know, I have a wonderful family that I started myself just like, you know, like it's about finding your people. And sometimes

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: sometimes your people are not the people that you were born and raised with, unfortunately.

Ron: Yeah. It's your chosen family.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: 100%. Those are some of the best people on this planet.

Ron: I have some questions from people who follow you and want to know a bit more about your life. So let's dig into two or three listener questions. How

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: does that sound?

Fossil Daddy: Sounds like a plan to me.

Ron: So the first one touches on something that you mentioned earlier. it says you lost a lot of weight at one point.

Fossil Daddy: Yes.

Ron: What was your secret to losing weight and what are some tips for the rest of us to go from having T-Rex arms to big guns like yours? That's

Fossil Daddy: You

Ron: from

Fossil Daddy: know,

Ron: Todd

Fossil Daddy: honest.

Ron: in Australia.

Fossil Daddy: Okay, well. TODD So the secret is there's really no secret, you know, like a consistency. I started really slow. I started going for walks every day. I could barely make a mile when I started, but that's okay. I worked my way up until I started walking ten miles a day.

Ron: Wow.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So, like, my first goal was 5000 steps in a walk. And that was a lot for me at the time, especially because I was carrying so much weight around my body.

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: Like, but then when I started gaining momentum and stamina, I started to 10,000 and from 10,000 I doubled it to 20,000. From 20000 to 30000. I think my most walked day. I walked about 75,000 steps.

Ron: What?

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: At.

Ron: what most of us do in, like, two weeks.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. Like, but that was like I started at four in the morning and I didn't stop until nine. I never did it again. But like, I just Wanted to know that I could do it. So then, from there I was like, if I could push myself that hard, maybe I could start, you know, going to the gym. Mind you, gyms were not open yet because of the pandemic, so I made like a mini gym in my garage and I just kind of like,

Ron: And that's

Fossil Daddy: start

Ron: all you need.

Fossil Daddy: yeah. Like I started working muscle groups. I would do one muscle group a day. And when I started to build up my strength, I would work multiple muscle groups a day. And then it got to the point where I was strong enough to do full body workouts. And now I do have a personal trainer now, but mostly that personal trainer holds me accountable because as you experienced in this last week as we were trying to get this podcast going, I have a very busy life and things,

Ron: Yes. And

Fossil Daddy: things.

Ron: it can it can totally overtake your focus. That's

Fossil Daddy: Ed.

Ron: the problem with life. We

Fossil Daddy: It

Ron: lose

Fossil Daddy: does.

Ron: that that focus that you said one needs if you want to be consistent in weight loss and in exercise.

Fossil Daddy: I do. And I lose focus a lot. Like this almost didn't happen this morning because I ran out the door to go get a breakfast sandwich for my son and a coffee for myself. And I left at 9:30AM I was like, great, I've 30 minutes. Next thing you know, it's 10:15 because I had to wait in line for so long. And then I was like, Fuck, okay. But that happens to me a lot. Like,

Ron: After

Fossil Daddy: I

Ron: often

Fossil Daddy: just.

Ron: happens to everyone and then people shouldn't be hard on themselves.

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: Just jump right back into what you were doing.

Fossil Daddy: Well, I will. I also promise, like Friday night hangout sessions on discord for my Patreon patrons. And last night I got a little distracted playing Sega Genesis with my son and I was like, Fuck, I need to go downstairs, do the hangout. So like, like I overextend myself a lot and I have a personal trainer who holds me accountable

Ron: That's great.

Fossil Daddy: when I need to exercise. like he'll walk me through some exercises that maybe I haven't done before. But for the most part, I meet up with him five days a week just so that he knows that. I know that I'm getting my workout

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: in and he's on me about it. So, obviously, not everybody can afford that, but you got to hold yourself accountable if you want to make any significant physical changes with

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: your body.

Ron: Even if you just tell your neighbor next door to make sure that you're in the garage in the morning, throwing around some weights, and

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: if you're not, they must keep calling until

Fossil Daddy: Well,

Ron: you are.

Fossil Daddy: you know, like, have fuckin' Siri yell at you about it?

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: You know, like. Like.

Ron: We have no excuse. So many things remind us of stuff these days.

Fossil Daddy: Exactly. so consistency is key. That's

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: really

Ron: a.

Fossil Daddy: the biggest secret. And it's not so much of a secret as it is a lifestyle change.

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: And it's really hard to make changes when you're set in one way, you know, like you've just got to commit yourself to making that

Ron: Yep.

Fossil Daddy: change.

Ron: Well, I mean, making change is just hard. No matter what change it is, making

Fossil Daddy: Right.

Ron: a change is hard. So people must just commit to making the change.

Fossil Daddy: Also as far as the arms go, just get some elastic resistance bands. That's what I do. And then I work my triceps and my biceps and my forearms every single night. That's why my arms are so big.

Ron: That's amazing.

Fossil Daddy: Because, like,

Ron: I'm

Fossil Daddy: I never.

Ron: sure that most people assumed you just do tons of bench press, etc. using massive weights. I did

Fossil Daddy: No.

Ron: not for a second think that you would write this up to elastic bands.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. No, pretty much all of my exercises are resistance bands. So the thing I love about elastic bands is that they're basically like an entire gym in string form. You can work every muscle group with them,

Ron: Yes.

Fossil Daddy: like you can do bench presses with them, you can do curls, you can do squats with them, you can do like there are so many creative ways that you can target a muscle group with them. So I

Ron: And it's

Fossil Daddy: recommend.

Ron: a safe way as well.

Fossil Daddy: And it's cheaper than a gym membership, too. So like my my biggest recommendation for people who don't want to spend money going to the gym, buy a set of elastic bands that vary in resistance and weight and, you know, like watch YouTube videos about the different exercises that you can do because that's what I started doing before gyms opened up again. And the only reason why I go to a gym now is because A) they have a pool. And I'm an avid lap swimmer and B), the free personal training sessions I get just by teaching at the Y. Teaching science

Ron: Oh, well.

Fossil Daddy: at the Y? Yeah. most of my training sessions are free because I teach the STEM classes there, so they help me stay consistent.

Ron: I hope you realize there's a merchandizing opportunity here for some Fossil Daddy elastic bands,

Fossil Daddy: Yeah,

Ron: some resistance training. Thanks

Fossil Daddy: well.

Ron: to Fossil Daddy, you can do a few tutorial videos on YouTube, how's that!?

Fossil Daddy: That. That sounds like I could probably do that. But I'm also working on a kid's book right now, too, so.

Ron: What? That's

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: so cool.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. So my Patreon patrons got to read the first few pages, so.

Ron: Oh, wow. I'm totally going to do a follow up interview with that. That's

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: so,

Fossil Daddy: Absolutely.

Ron: so interesting. Listen, last question is

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: one from London. Mark asks, We know you love

Fossil Daddy: She

Ron: the films, but you're really irritated

Fossil Daddy: is.

Ron: by the inaccuracies in the Jurassic Park franchise, which is the worst aside from Dilophosaurus And which film in the franchise was your favorite?

Fossil Daddy: Oh, my God. The fact that they know that Dilophosaurus really infuriated

Ron: But I

Fossil Daddy: me.

Ron: mean that that was bad even for people who are not into dinosaurs. If they learn how inaccurate that animal was portrayed, it's it's

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: quite sacrilegious.

Fossil Daddy: Okay. So the thing that bothers me about Dilophosaurus specifically. Okay, so that Eubrontes footprints of the Connecticut River Valley are believed to have been made by Dilophosaurus, and it was a

Ron: Mm

Fossil Daddy: very

Ron: hmm.

Fossil Daddy: large dinosaur that made these Eubrontes footprints. And the reason why a lot of people think that it was Dilophosaurus is because we know in the early Jurassic Dilophosaurus was the apex predator of the time. So no, it wasn't a tiny little dinosaur that had frills and spat acid or poison

Ron: Exactly.

Fossil Daddy: like it was the

Ron: There's

Fossil Daddy: apex.

Ron: not an Australian frilled lizard, dammit.

Fossil Daddy: No, no. It was a large apex predator with the most beautiful head crest you could imagine. it was like the drag queen of dinosaurs in the early Jurassic, you know, like it's like. That's what really infuriated me. I think another sin in the Jurassic Park franchise is Velociraptor And I bring that one up specifically because that's the one that dinosaur that everybody knows. And whenever I show off my dinosaurs footprints, they're like, Oh, is that from Velociraptor? It's like,

Ron: Oh.

Fossil Daddy: go like, no, no. Okay. The velociraptor is just one of many different Therapod dinosaurs. It's the most well known, but just because you see a three-toed raptor-like footprint doesn't mean that it's specifically velociraptor.

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: So, like, that's like the one Therapod that people know or think that they know because T-Rex is also a Therapod I think my favorite question. What kind of velociraptor made that footprint? No, velociraptor

Ron: No

Fossil Daddy: made

Ron: Velociraptor.

Fossil Daddy: this footprint. That's what this was made by a... Coelophysis This was a dinosaur that lived in the late Triassic early Jurassic. And we call the Grallator footprints of the Connecticut River Valley. Coelophysoid which means like in the Coelophysis family. So like Podokesaurus holyokensis which was a dinosaur that was discovered in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is believed to be responsible for the Grallator footprints of the Connecticut River Valley. But, you know, like there needs to be more research done on that topic to say for absolute certainty, and we can't do that until more specimens are found.

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: however, body fossils are very seldom found in the Connecticut River Valley.

Ron: That's

Fossil Daddy: So like,

Ron: insane.

Fossil Daddy: we're kind of like stuck there. But anyway, like a velociraptor, not that big and not that smart, you know, think of Jennifer Coolidge. Like, you're not very pretty and you're not

Ron: Uh

Fossil Daddy: very bright. You know,

Ron: huh.

Fossil Daddy: that's

Ron: Uh

Fossil Daddy: that's that was velociraptor, you know, like they were pretty much the size of modern day turkeys or the largest

Ron: Really?

Fossil Daddy: American turkey. Yeah. Yeah. So they were. They were tiny little critters and they yeah, they moved fast, but they probably couldn't unlock doors on the,

Ron: I'm

Fossil Daddy: on

Ron: sure.

Fossil Daddy: their own. And their eyeballs also really infuriate me because They have very snake like eyeballs. And even though dinosaurs are reptiles, they're in the Archosaur family, which means that they're related to alligators but alligators are not dinosaurs. you know, what are, though? The alligators, cousin, birds! Birds, are dinosaurs.

Ron: That is

Fossil Daddy: They.

Ron: so cool the way you just put it. It's taken me years to try and wrap my head around that concept, but the way

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: you just put it makes perfect sense.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, well, birds are dinosaurs in the Archosaur family, they're Archosaur reptiles, technically of the avian variety. So if you look at a bird's eyeball, that's probably what a dinosaur's eyeball looked like, too. They probably had more bird like eyes than they did snake like

Ron: Oh,

Fossil Daddy: eyes.

Ron: wow. That's insane. Okay,

Fossil Daddy: And

Ron: so the question we haven't touched on yet.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: that Mark asked is which one, out of the way too many films in the franchise at this point was your favorite Jurassic Park film.

Fossil Daddy: Okay. So I'm going to be honest that I actually never watched one all the way through. It was 1994 when I saw the first one in theaters, and we had

Ron: Yeah.

Fossil Daddy: to leave the theater because I threw a temper tantrum at how Dilophosaurus was portrayed because I was like a crazy dinosaur kid.

Ron: I can just see it!

Fossil Daddy: Yeah, yeah. I threw a temper tantrum, and then my mom, stormed out with all of us, and I ruined the day for everybody, so. But I still haven't seen a Jurassic Park film since. And, I mean, I've seen them in passing, but I've never gone

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: out of my way to watch them all the way through. But I think that also has a lot to do with the fact that I have A.D.D. as well. So, I really struggle to watch movies that are not animated because animation can capture my attention, because I'm so interested in how

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: models move and like especially hand-drawn or hand animation with the stop motion, like, my mind is fixated on how human hands were able to create that. When it comes to film, that doesn't interest me as much. So like

Ron: Sure.

Fossil Daddy: I have, I have a harder time tuning in to a movie than I do an animated

Ron: Well,

Fossil Daddy: feature

Ron: I'll

Fossil Daddy: or.

Ron: give you an insider tip. Do yourself

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: a favor and get the book Jurassic Park

Fossil Daddy: I do have the book. I have not cracked it open yet. It was given to me

Ron: I

Fossil Daddy: as a gift.

Ron: it. You'll love it because

Fossil Daddy: I will.

Ron: the animals are more accurate and the suspense is better and there's a lot more detail. So do yourself

Fossil Daddy: That's.

Ron: a favor.

Fossil Daddy: That's what I've heard. I got invited

Ron: I.

Fossil Daddy: to the Jurassic Park live in Providence last year. That was

Ron: Very cool.

Ron: All right. Before we wrap up,

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: was there anything that we haven't covered that you hoped we would talk about?

Fossil Daddy: You know, like, you kind of, like, hit all the topics.

Ron: We did

Fossil Daddy: Yeah.

Ron: all the

Fossil Daddy: Like.

Ron: nails, did

Fossil Daddy: Yeah,

Ron: we?

Fossil Daddy: you did.

Ron: Fantastic. So, listen, where can people find you? What's your big focus at this point?

Fossil Daddy: Okay. So you can find me on Twitter and Instagram @ Fossil Daddy. Technically, you can find me on YouTube @ Fossil Daddy too, but I am deleting all of those videos and starting fresh. I do have a second channel called FosCel Daddy. That's FOSCEL  'cause "Cel" as in like Cel Animation. So I started talking about animated films and animation projects that I find really interesting. I released a video yesterday about a cheap conservative "Bluey" clone that is low key, kind of gay.

Ron: Uh.

Fossil Daddy: So you can see me talk about that.

Ron: I'm

Fossil Daddy: It's

Ron: certainly

Fossil Daddy: really,

Ron: going to check it out.

Fossil Daddy: really unhinged.

Ron: That's fantastic. Okay. Listen, final question what could everyone listening do right now in this very second to make the world a better place?

Fossil Daddy: Take chances, make mistakes and get messy, and understand that that your fellow human being is also taking chances, making mistakes and getting messy. It's okay to

Ron: Absolutely.

Fossil Daddy: get messy. But, you know, sometimes we just can't take it to heart and we get to be a little more understanding of where people are in their life.

Ron: Absolutely. Couldn't have said it better. Listen Fossil Daddy thank you so much for the time you took, for the way in which you allowed us to explore personal parts of your life and look into your

Ron: passions.

Ron: and learn from you. I cannot thank you enough.

Fossil Daddy: Yeah. No problem. It was a pleasure.

Ron: And I cannot wait to catch up with you about your children's book as soon as that launches.

Fossil Daddy: Thank you so much.