May 26, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode, Elle interviews her 12-year-old niece, Ari. Ari shares a little about her art-making and how she shares her work with friends and family. She gushes about being an Anime Geek Girl and her love for "My Hero Academia.” The ultimate hype-friend, Ari spends a lot of time talking about how much each of her friends means to her. With a mix of middle school wit and sharp insight, Ari dials in on the importance of chosen family and a robust support network.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Elle Billing (00:00):
Hi. My name is Elle Billing. I am a chronically
(00:03):
ill queer femme, and I'm tired.
I'm here this episode and everyepisode to dig at the roots of
our collective fatigue, exploreways to direct our care in
compassionate and sustainableways, and to harness creative
expression to heal ourselves andto heal our world. Welcome to
Hoorf, radical care in a latecapitalist heckscape.
(01:03):
Each season of Hoorf contains afew themed episodes. Right
before the holidays, Ricki and Ido an end of the year December
episode of some kind, and at theend of the recording season, we
wrap up by interviewing somebodyin our family. Our first season,
I interviewed my sister abouther experience growing up with
undiagnosed autism. Last season,I interviewed Ricki's kid nat
(01:27):
about their hobbies and theirinternship working at the
Chicago Public Library. Thisseason, I have a very special
guest joining me. My 12 year oldniece, Ari. She is an artist and
loves to spend time painting anddoing all kinds of other
creative activities. When Iasked her if she wanted to be a
guest on my podcast, she flippedout excited and has been
(01:49):
preparing for her chance todebut on Hoorf. She texted all
her friends about it, and theykeep asking her when the episode
is going to debut. I'm veryexcited to have Ari on the
podcast today. She is absolutelythrilled to be part of the Hoorf
family now. Welcome to Hoorf.
Ari, hi. Ari,
Ari (02:10):
Hi.
Elle Billing (02:11):
Welcome to Hoorf podcast.
Ari (02:13):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (02:14):
You're welcome.
You're a little nervous today.
Ari (02:17):
Yes.
Elle Billing (02:17):
yes, that's okay.
I'm nervous too. We're recordingin the same room I usually
record in, but we're usingdifferent equipment, so I'm
feeling a little lost too.
Ari (02:28):
And we're talking over pillows,
Elle Billing (02:30):
Talking over our very technical sound
equipment...
Ari (02:34):
Yes, we're very professional.
Elle Billing (02:37):
....pillows,
Ari (02:37):
we're being very professional,
Elle Billing (02:39):
very professional.
Yes, we haven't made any buttjokes yet, so we're still
professional.
Ari (02:45):
Not yet.
Elle Billing (02:45):
Except I just said that
Ari (02:47):
Butts are very professional.
Elle Billing (02:48):
Butts are very professional. You're right.
Ari (02:50):
Also, my friends will probably be listening in.
Elle Billing (02:54):
Well, that'll be fun.
Ari (02:55):
So if so then, hi,
Elle Billing (02:56):
Hi friends.
Ari (02:57):
Yes.
Elle Billing (02:58):
this is Ari's aunt and Ari, and this is Hoorf
podcast.
Ari (03:03):
Yus.
Elle Billing (03:04):
I'm so excited that you agreed to do this.
Ari (03:06):
Me too,
Elle Billing (03:07):
yay.
Ari (03:08):
I've been telling my friends all about this.
Elle Billing (03:10):
Oh, cool. I'm really glad. So you knew that I
had a podcast,
Ari (03:14):
yep.
Elle Billing (03:15):
but you don't listen to it,
Ari (03:16):
not really.
Elle Billing (03:17):
That's fine. It's not really for kids,
Ari (03:19):
I know.
Elle Billing (03:21):
And this is our the end of our third season. And
every season so far, we haveinterviewed somebody from our
family. So the first season Iinterviewed Auntie Katie, and
last season I interviewed Nat,Ricki, Ricki's kid, and this
season I said to Ricki, hey,what if we interviewed Ari?
(03:41):
Because she likes to paint.
She's really creative. I thinkshe fits what we want to talk
about. Ricki said, that's areally good idea. And you said,
Yes, like, immediately. And so
Ari (03:52):
of course, I did,
Elle Billing (03:53):
yeah, but then we had to get your dad's
permission,
Ari (03:55):
yes.
Elle Billing (03:56):
And I told you about the release form, and
like, you were like, Well, didyou send it to him yet? Have you
sent him the paper? Did you sendhim the form? I was like, I'm
still talking to him. Hold on.
Ari (04:05):
Well, I mean, he's a chill guy.
Elle Billing (04:07):
He's a chill guy, yeah, but we're also a kind of a
forgetting family. And so youwere, like, on it about getting
everything taken care of,because you didn't want anybody
to forget anything,
Ari (04:16):
yep.
Elle Billing (04:17):
So here we are,
Ari (04:18):
I was excited.
Elle Billing (04:19):
Yeah. Are you feeling a little better now,
little more comfortable with themicrophone? Good? You ready for
some questions?
Ari (04:26):
Yep.
Elle Billing (04:26):
Okay, so I'm gonna start with the easy ones that
aren't on here yet. So what'syour name?
Ari (04:32):
Ariana.
Elle Billing (04:33):
Ariana, and you go by Ari.
Ari (04:35):
Yep.
Elle Billing (04:35):
And how old are you?
Ari (04:36):
I am 12, soon to be 13.
Elle Billing (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
Ari (04:40):
I'm so slay.
Elle Billing (04:41):
You're so slay
Ari (04:42):
Yas.
Elle Billing (04:42):
Are you ready to be a teenager?
Ari (04:43):
Yas.
Elle Billing (04:44):
Yas. Okay.
Ari (04:45):
Yas Queen
Elle Billing (04:46):
Wait, Yas Queen?
Very nice. You did write that onthe whiteboard this morning.
Ari (04:50):
Yep,
Elle Billing (04:51):
yep. You were stoked. All right. So the first
question that I ask everybody,and so I'm going to ask you too,
is, how have you received carethis week?
Ari (05:00):
By one of my best friends named Annie. I've been feeling a
bit down in the dumps lately, soI've received care by her
talking to me and also making mea bracelet.
Elle Billing (05:12):
Oh, that was really nice. What kind of
bracelet did Annie make you?
Ari (05:15):
It's of my, our favorite show called My Hero Academia. It
is an anime that we both love.
Elle Billing (05:22):
Oh, so she made you a bracelet, like, based on
the based on the anime.
Ari (05:27):
Well, actually, she made me three of them.
Elle Billing (05:30):
That was really nice.
Ari (05:32):
Mmhmm.
Elle Billing (05:32):
And so when she gave you those, it made you feel
a little less in the dumps.
Ari (05:35):
Mmhmm!
Elle Billing (05:36):
That's nice. Oh, are those the bracelets you had
to take off so they wouldn'tmake noise during the recording?
Ari (05:41):
That's one of them that I'm fidgeting with, right now.
Elle Billing (05:43):
Okay, yeah, you showed me those last night.
They're really nice. That wasreally nice of her.
Ari (05:48):
Thank you. I'll tell her you said that. She is probably
Elle Billing (05:51):
All right? Well, you know what? Sometimes it's
listening in.
nice to hear it more than once.
That something we did forsomebody made a difference.
That's cool. I'm glad that shedid that for you. Do we want to
talk about your art?
Ari (06:03):
Yes.
Elle Billing (06:03):
Yes. Okay, so what kind of art do you make?
Ari (06:07):
The art I kind of make is like, I like to make, kind of
like soothing, calming art,like, of oceans, beautiful
sunsets, skies, stuff like that.
I love doing that.
Elle Billing (06:22):
So you paint, yeah,
Ari (06:24):
mostly painting,
Elle Billing (06:25):
mostly painting,
Ari (06:26):
mostly drawing, but also mostly painting,
Elle Billing (06:29):
okay, drawing and painting, and you like to make
soothing. I think I have some ofyour soothing paintings that
you've made. You've given me acouple of them,
Ari (06:37):
like grandma has the tree that I painted her, yep, of her
favorite flowers,
Elle Billing (06:42):
yep, the lilacs, yep. So what are some of your
favorite paintings that you'vemade?
Ari (06:47):
I actually have two favorite paintings. My first one
is, um, one that I made of abeautiful sunset, um, with some
nice green grass, um, the sun,of course, and then the
beautiful sky. The sky is myfavorite part of it.
Elle Billing (07:08):
That sounds nice.
Ari (07:09):
My second isn't really my art, but it's still one of the
one of my favorite paintingsthat I own, which is a painting
that my girlfriend actually madefor me on my birthday.
Elle Billing (07:21):
Oh!
Ari (07:22):
it's of a beautiful sea. It has some fish on it, a nice
waterfall. She just did so good.
Elle Billing (07:31):
Is that the one you got at your birthday party
last year?
Ari (07:34):
Mmhmm
Elle Billing (07:34):
I remember seeing that one that was really nice
Ari (07:36):
the same year that she made me the pillow and gave it to me,
Elle Billing (07:39):
Yep, yeah, because she came to your birthday party
at the park. Right?
Ari (07:42):
Yep,
Elle Billing (07:43):
yep. That's really nice.
Ari (07:45):
I have it hanging up right on above my bed, along with my
license plate that I have frommy mom's boyfriend.
Elle Billing (07:53):
Oh, cool. The special things on your wall,
that's really cool. What issomething you still want to
learn how to do?
Ari (08:01):
I really want to learn how to knit so I can make stuff for
people as like a token offriendship appreciation, or just
like for fun, like trading withmy friends.
Elle Billing (08:13):
Oh, that's cool.
What kind of things do you wantto knit?
Ari (08:18):
Maybe like little bracelets.
Elle Billing (08:20):
Okay. Do you want to crochet too, or just knit?
Ari (08:23):
Yeah, knit and crochet.
Elle Billing (08:25):
Because, you know, have you seen like those little
stuffed animals that peoplemake? It's called amigurumi.
Isn't that a cool word? Yeah,the crochet, little crocheted
stuffies that you can make. Lastyear at the Christmas market,
there was a high school boy whohad, he had taught himself to
crochet, and he had a booth atthe Christmas market with all of
(08:47):
his crochet,
Ari (08:48):
yes, wasn't that from like, isn't that when you got me that
Elle Billing (08:52):
That was the year before, that was a different
hippo?
person. This year, this lastyear, there was a kid who had
all his crocheted amigurumicreatures that he had made. And
they were incredible, yeah, theywere really neat.
Ari (09:07):
I wish I was there.
Elle Billing (09:08):
That would have been cool, yeah, but it gets to
be kind of a long day. Yeah, youmight get a little bored. Well,
you were going to be there thisyear, last year. Remember, you
were going to help me sell mypaintings. And then you guys got
sick, yeah? But you got one ofmy paintings anyway,
Ari (09:23):
Mmhmm, the Moo Deng
Elle Billing (09:24):
the mood dang one, yep,
Ari (09:26):
that's also one of my favorite photo-- paintings.
Elle Billing (09:29):
Oh, thanks. I had fun making those.
Ari (09:31):
I bet
Elle Billing (09:32):
I guess that is a good transition to this
question. Your love of hipposinspired me to paint Moo Deng
last year for Christmas. So whatinspires you?
Ari (09:44):
mostly people like my mom, you and my friends, because you
guys are always there for mewhen I need it, when I'm down in
the dumps. You're always so niceand kind to me. And you guys are
just awesome.
Elle Billing (10:01):
Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you.
Ari (10:03):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (10:04):
What kinds of things inspire your creativity?
Like, where do you get theinspiration for the things you
paint?
Ari (10:11):
Mostly my girlfriend, because she's pretty creative.
And, um, she will be making lotsof beautiful stuff for me and
giving it to me, and actuallyinspires me to make stuff like
that too. So I try and make ittoo and give her stuff
Elle Billing (10:30):
that's really nice. You said you like to paint
really calm, like kind of serenepictures, like sunsets and
oceans and stuff. Why do youthink you like to paint those
kinds of things?
Ari (10:42):
I'm I'm not sure. They just really soothe me.
Elle Billing (10:46):
They soothe you. I was gonna ask how you feel when
you paint them, but they theyhelp you feel soothed.
Ari (10:52):
Yeah, they're really beautiful, and I just love
painting them and giving them topeople.
Elle Billing (10:59):
So what things in your life give you joy?
Ari (11:02):
being with my friends, my family, getting to make my art.
And actually, this hasn'thappened yet, but it's going to
happen soon. My dad, I've beentelling him about the bracelets
that my friends have been makingme, and he said that actually
he's going to get me the samestuff so I can make them
bracelets, and then we can starttrading.
Elle Billing (11:24):
Oh, you really like doing things for other
people. That is a thing thatthat gives you joy, isn't it,
when you're here with your dadand your sister, you like to
help other, you seem to like tohelp other people. When you were
little, you like, you just likedbeing around people. Yeah. So
I've known you your whole life,
Ari (11:44):
obviously,
Elle Billing (11:45):
yeah, so other things that give you joy. You
want to talk about hippos alittle bit?
Ari (11:50):
Yes.
Elle Billing (11:50):
Okay, what is it about hippos?
Ari (11:54):
Well, my love for hippos started when I the day I was
born, because my mom has thisold friend who came to the
hospital the day I was born witha stuffed animal, hippo, which
is the one I bring with me allthe time, and gave it to me that
(12:16):
exact day that I was born. SoI've had it since the day I was
born, and I've grown attached toit, and now I love hippos
because of her.
Elle Billing (12:25):
So what was the name of that first hippo?
Ari (12:28):
Crystal,
Elle Billing (12:29):
crystal. How many identical hippos Do you have
that look like crystal?
Ari (12:34):
Probably like five or six
Elle Billing (12:37):
you have of the same hippo now, and they all
have a name,
Ari (12:41):
most of them,
Elle Billing (12:42):
most of them.
Ari (12:43):
I can't even keep them all straight.
Elle Billing (12:45):
Not anymore. You have so many.
Ari (12:46):
I have a whole shelf at my dad's house.
Elle Billing (12:49):
Yeah, they're like, You call them your
children. So you have thestuffed hippos, the little pink
ones, right? Crystal andBubblegum. And those are the two
I remember.
Ari (12:59):
I remember one was named Lily.
Elle Billing (13:01):
Yes, Lily. Okay, so the funniest thing when you
were probably two, I was datingsomebody who was, who didn't
have a good immune system, likehe could get sick really easy.
And so when we would come visit,we would, your dad would have to
wash the hippos because theywere so gross because you they
(13:22):
went with you everywhere, andthey were dirty and really
gross, and you liked, you reallyliked putting them in people's
faces, like for hippo kisses, orwe're, like, my boyfriend could
get really sick if you did that.
And so the hippos would alwaysget washed, and then you would
put them in people's faces. Butyou would make this little demon
voice. You'd go "om nom nom"with the hippos, like, right in
(13:43):
people's faces, like, "MWAAA".
And you were like, this, thiscute little thing with like,
these eyes and these cheeks, andthis little adorable hippo. And
then the voice was like,"MRWAAAAA"
Ari (13:58):
You saying cheeks act- actually reminds me of a funny
story.
Elle Billing (14:04):
I would love to hear your funny story.
Ari (14:06):
It's pretty short, but so you know how on your side of the
family, my nickname is Cheeks.
So one time when my mom wasdropping me off back at my dad's
after a weekend at her house,they started talking, and Dad
suddenly called me Cheeks. Andthen my mom started laughing,
because on her side of thefamily, my nickname is Butt and
(14:28):
so they put my nicknamestogether, so now to both of the
families, I can be calledButtCheeks.
Elle Billing (14:40):
Oh, there it is.
When we started, we said we werebeing professional, and we
hadn't made any butt jokes. Andthere it is. There's the butt.
Ari (14:48):
Hey, we're still pretty professional
Elle Billing (14:49):
we are pretty professional.
Ari (14:50):
We're doing pillows against against each other.
Elle Billing (14:53):
Yep. We're doing pretty good, yep. So you have
all of those hippos. I don'tusually paint animals, but. You
have inspired me to paint hippostwo Christmases in a row.
Ari (15:03):
Yes,
Elle Billing (15:04):
because it's like, what do you give Ari for
Christmas?
Ari (15:07):
Hippos?
Elle Billing (15:07):
Hippos. Yep, and I told you last night that I
helped a kid when I wasvolunteering with an art
program. I helped another kidmake a hippo out of clay,
because I know what hippos looklike,
Ari (15:20):
Yep,
Elle Billing (15:21):
I've studied them very closely. So that was kind
of fun.
Ari (15:25):
I do want to meet that kid now.
Elle Billing (15:27):
Yeah, do you have any other favorite things
besides hippos that that giveyou joy?
Ari (15:32):
Anime,
Elle Billing (15:33):
anime. Tell me about your favorite anime.
Ari (15:35):
My Hero Academia.
Elle Billing (15:37):
Yeah, that story you told when we were doing the
sound check was pretty funny.
Ari (15:41):
I love My Hero Academia.
It's my new favorite show. Myfriend Everly actually got me
into anime. She's been likereading anime for a long time
now, reading manga and watchinganime, and one day she was
really involved in one of her MyHero Academia books, and I asked
her about it. So she told meabout, like, the main details,
(16:04):
the story and everything, and Iseemed interested. So the next
day in library, I got the firstbook, and that's how I how my
love for anime was born.
Elle Billing (16:17):
That's awesome.
How many of the My Hero Academiamanga books. Have you read so
far?
Ari (16:23):
12 of them.
Elle Billing (16:24):
12. How many are there? Total?
Ari (16:26):
There's 41 books currently.
Elle Billing (16:29):
Wow,
Ari (16:29):
and they're still writing them.
Elle Billing (16:31):
So you have a few.
It'll keep you busy for a littlewhile.
Ari (16:34):
Yep, yeah. And they're just about to make season eight of
the show.
Elle Billing (16:38):
All right? And you said that you have like, six
favorite characters,
Ari (16:42):
Yep,
Elle Billing (16:43):
yeah, that's cool.
Ari (16:44):
Six about seven.
Elle Billing (16:46):
Six about seven.
Ari (16:47):
Yeah.
Elle Billing (16:49):
Is there anything else that you want to talk about
before I ask you the lastquestion?
Ari (16:55):
My friends? Um, that I told about the podcast mostly wanted
me to, like, talk about them fora little bit on the podcast.
Elle Billing (17:03):
Oh yeah, tell me about your friends.
Ari (17:05):
So I'll tell you about, like, my main friends, which are
Leia is one of them. She's a newanime reader, but she still
loves anime and manga. She'sbeen most excited for me about
the podcast. She also got to goto Spencer's the other day
(17:25):
because it was her birthday theother day. So she went to the
mall with her family and got MyHero Academia blind box. And she
actually got her favoritecharacter
Elle Billing (17:38):
nice
Ari (17:38):
but she rubbed in my face because she knows I like that
character too, but I'm happy forher.
Elle Billing (17:44):
That's good.
Ari (17:44):
Then there's Everly, my friend who first got me into
anime and manga. She I've knownher since preschool.
Elle Billing (17:54):
Oh, wow,
Ari (17:55):
she's been my longest bestest friend for as long as I
can remember. We've been inpreschool together, elementary
and middle school. Yeah, thisnext year is going to be the
first year that I'm not going tosee her because dad has to move.
Yeah, they're gonna be at adifferent school. But I have her
(18:16):
phone number.
Elle Billing (18:17):
That good, and you're pretty good at texting,
Ari (18:21):
yeah, um, then I have Annie, my friend who made me the
bracelets. Um, she is also a biganime geek. And, um, she's part
of the reason that I have, like,a whole anime friend group,
because, like, she she loves itso much. And I'm trying to think
(18:45):
of what to say next
Elle Billing (18:46):
that's really important to have, like, a group
of friends that enjoyed the samethings. That's that's really
great. I'm glad you have that.
Ari (18:53):
Annie and Leia are both in my gym class. So when we're in
gym, we'll be like, that groupthat's like, huddled up in the
corner talking about anime,those Anime Geek Girls, yeah,
just in the corner talking aboutanime.
Elle Billing (19:10):
It's like, Forget Gym. I want to do anime.
Ari (19:12):
Yeah. Sometimes in gym, we'll be having to walk around
the gym or outside, around thetrack, and that will just be all
huddled up together, walkingaround, talking about it, and
I'll have my book with me. I'llbe showing them the pages or
reading or talking about it.
Elle Billing (19:31):
I'm glad you have friends like that.
Ari (19:34):
I also have one of my other friends named Kylie. She's kind
of like the mom of the group.
She's very sassy.
Elle Billing (19:42):
Everyone has a mom friend.
Ari (19:43):
Yep, Kylie's definitely the mom.
Elle Billing (19:46):
I would have guessed it was you
Ari (19:48):
No,
Elle Billing (19:49):
but like that, you kind of do that with your
sister. So I guess when you'rewith your friends, you get to be
somebody different.
Ari (19:54):
Yeah, I have kind of a lot of personalities.
Elle Billing (19:58):
That's good.
That's fine.
Ari (19:59):
Like when I. Meet new people I'm all sweet, nice and
caring, and the moment they seeme acting the way I do with my
friends, they're like, Who isthat?
Elle Billing (20:13):
Are you a little little sassy when you're with
your friends?
Ari (20:15):
Maybe,
Elle Billing (20:16):
You kind of have like a, like a character crush
maybe
Ari (20:16):
I've also been told I'm pretty freaky for liking a
certain, certain couple ofcharacters in My Hero Academia,
well, because they may be twogrown men in the character crush
on them.
Yes.
Elle Billing (20:32):
Oh,
Ari (20:33):
I breathe those characters.
Elle Billing (20:35):
You breathe them.
Ari (20:36):
They're my life.
Elle Billing (20:38):
Well, as long as you know that they're just
characters then I think you'refine.
Ari (20:43):
My friend Annie, she thinks my obsession with those
characters are a little toodeep, but I've started to find
people who agree with me, andwe've made a separate friend
group who all like that thosecharacters. Oh, so that way I
have like a little team so I canremind her that I'm not the only
one who likes those characters.
Elle Billing (21:05):
Do you have any other friends that you wanted to
talk about?
Ari (21:08):
Yes, one of my other best friends, Sophia. I met her in
third grade, and she's one of mybest friends. She's very sassy.
She loves pugs. She does dogymnastics, and she loves doing
it. Just a while ago, sheactually got to go in a
competition that was, I don'tremember where, but it was
(21:30):
pretty far away, and she gotfirst place.
Elle Billing (21:33):
Nice,
Ari (21:34):
so I'm pretty proud of her.
Elle Billing (21:36):
That's cool. Well, she's lucky to have a friend
like you who's like, proud ofher accomplishments.
Ari (21:41):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (21:42):
Yeah, sounds like you have a really solid friend
group. that's so important,especially like in middle
school, when, like you said,sometimes you get down in the
dumps
Ari (21:52):
four of my friends, specifically, I love them so
much, like sisters that I havenow adopted them, and like, I
originally had eight siblings,but now I have twelve.
Elle Billing (22:04):
You already had a bunch of siblings to start with.
Ari (22:05):
I'm starting a whole army.
I'm going to have to write downall my siblings names,
Elle Billing (22:06):
Ari's army,
Ari (22:12):
uh huh. Sometimes I even have to, like, count them out
loud. So
Elle Billing (22:18):
to make sure you get all of them.
Ari (22:19):
Uh huh.
Elle Billing (22:20):
I understand
Ari (22:21):
there's also one of my big sister's friends who babysit,
used to babysit us quitefrequently, so I adopted her
actually. So I actually have 13siblings.
Elle Billing (22:34):
Yeah, you're totally you're totally my niece.
Because,
Ari (22:38):
yes,
Elle Billing (22:38):
when I was a kid,, like my my best friends would
start calling Grandma and Papa,they'd start calling them mom
and dad. And I don't know howmany like extra, like bonus kids
my my parents have that werejust like my really close
friends growing up. I have afriend from college whose mom
(23:00):
still calls, who I still callCollege Mom and I, that was over
20 years ago. Yeah, and weemail, and she's bought a couple
of my paintings. And Hi, Mary,if you're listening to this,
yeah, she's college mom. Youknow, our chosen family?
Ari (23:18):
Yeah,
Elle Billing (23:19):
bonus family for the people who got our back?
Ari (23:21):
Yup, they've all got our back.
Elle Billing (23:23):
Nice.
Ari (23:24):
They love us and we love them.
Elle Billing (23:26):
It's true, your friend group sounds pretty rad.
I've met a couple of yourfriends at your birthday party,
but
Ari (23:32):
like my girlfriend, my friend Lauralai. Trying to
remember who else? I think I hadone more friend there, but I
can't remember. Maybe Sophia,
Elle Billing (23:42):
well, you had your siblings there too.
Ari (23:44):
Yeah, there's a lot of people
Elle Billing (23:46):
there were. It was a pretty good party.
Ari (23:49):
That was the biggest party and Best party I've ever had.
Elle Billing (23:52):
Yeah, I imagine what 13 is going to be. Oh, a
whole bunch of us old folksgoing, oh my gosh, a teenager.
Unknown (24:01):
I'm going to change it from a sweet, sweet 16 to Sweet
13.
Ari (24:06):
goin to make Dad give me a sweet 13,
Elle Billing (24:06):
Okay, sounds good a sweet 13?
Ari (24:10):
Yep,
Elle Billing (24:10):
that sounds fun.
Ari (24:11):
Because I get to be a teen, I'm gonna need a big
celebration.
Elle Billing (24:15):
Sounds fun. Am I invited?
Ari (24:18):
Yes, of course.
Elle Billing (24:19):
Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
Ari (24:20):
You are my godmother. After all,
Elle Billing (24:21):
it's true. It's true. I have to make sure that
you are sufficiently nerdy, yes,into all the cool things like
art and butts.
Ari (24:31):
Yes,
Elle Billing (24:32):
all right, what is something that you have learned
about yourself from making art?
Ari (24:39):
How geeky I am,
Elle Billing (24:41):
yeah?
Ari (24:42):
Yeah, like on my drawings right now, I haven't really been
drawing anything like flowers oranything like that. No, I've
just been drawing animecharacters, especially some of
the grown men characters that Ilike, yeah.
Elle Billing (25:00):
There was something you said yesterday,
too, when we were going over thequestions, do you remember?
Ari (25:04):
No,
Elle Billing (25:04):
oh, okay,
Ari (25:05):
I'm definitely the freakiest, weirdest in my friend
group. I've been told that manytimes
Elle Billing (25:13):
I was a weird kid too.
Ari (25:14):
We all are, yeah, in this family,
Elle Billing (25:16):
we are kind of a weird family,
Ari (25:18):
yep,
Elle Billing (25:19):
but now I'm a weird adult, and I kind of like
who I am so
Ari (25:23):
You're a child at heart
Elle Billing (25:24):
a little bit, yeah,
Ari (25:26):
especially when we had waffles for dinner with eggs.
Elle Billing (25:30):
Yep, we had breakfast for dinner last night,
chocolate chip waffles
Ari (25:35):
with yummy scrambled eggs.
Elle Billing (25:37):
Yep,
Ari (25:37):
it was so yummy when
Elle Billing (25:38):
I was a kid and I would go stay with my
grandparents, we would havebreakfast for dinner. So for me,
breakfast for dinner is like acool, special thing you get to
do when you stay with, when youaren't staying at home, and you
get to stay with the adults thatlove you. So breakfast for
dinner,
Ari (25:57):
yum. I brought out your inner child last night
Elle Billing (26:00):
you did, yeah.
Well, thank you for being here.
Ari (26:05):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (26:05):
Yeah. Is there anything else you want to say
before we finish
Ari (26:11):
this episode better blow up.
Elle Billing (26:14):
All right? I hope so.
Ari (26:16):
Also, I was famous once in a a news article,
Elle Billing (26:23):
yeah?
Ari (26:24):
one time my grand-, my dad's dad brought me and one of
my best friends, who's inseventh grade, Nora, to Dairy
Queen. It was just opening. Ithink it was because it was hump
day. It opened a day early, andthere were interviewers there
(26:46):
coming to interview the people,asking why they were there. And
I can't remember exactly what Isaid, but I got interviewed, and
so they put it in a newsarticle, and they put quotes on
what I said, and then they putsaid, The Girl in shorts in
(27:08):
like, the 30 degree weather.
Elle Billing (27:11):
Oh, you were wearing shorts in 30 degree
weather. Was always it was theopening day at the Moorhead
Dairy Queen?
Ari (27:16):
Yeah,
Elle Billing (27:16):
yeah. They always open, like, March 1 or
something, and it's cold, yep,you also you might not know
this. When you were little, Iwas working at a radio station
in Idaho, and there was thisadorable picture of you trying
to put your dad's boots on, andwe used that picture in a
caption contest on the radiostation's Facebook page.
Ari (27:37):
Ooh, really.
Elle Billing (27:38):
So you were, like, a little bit famous when you
were like two or three.
Ari (27:42):
I'm famous everywhere. I even have a bunch of songs that
I made on SoundCloud.
Elle Billing (27:47):
Oh, that's right, yeah,
Ari (27:49):
my soundcloud account.
Elle Billing (27:51):
Yep, you have your, yeah, your multi talented:
music, painting, drawing, buttjokes.
Ari (27:58):
Yes, I'm awesome.
Elle Billing (27:59):
You're the whole package.
Ari (28:01):
I'm even an anime geek,
Elle Billing (28:02):
yep, well, I am certainly proud to be your
auntie.
Ari (28:06):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (28:07):
Yeah, thanks for being here.
Ari (28:09):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (28:14):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of
Hoorf, to get the complete shownotes and all the links
mentioned on today's episode, orto get a full transcript of the
episode, visit hoorf podcast dotcom. Join the Blessed Herd of St
Winkus. By signing up for ournewsletter, you can get Hoorf
episodes delivered directly toyour inbox. What's more, you get
(28:35):
invitations to our monthlyCoffee and Biscuits Chat, where
you get to hang out with Rickiand Elle, talk about the show,
and connect on the topics thatmean the most to you. You can
sign up for that at Hoorfpodcast.com
If you become a patron, for only$3 a month you can support the
creation of this podcast, helppay my editor, and join a
community of caregivers outhere, just doing our best. Thank
(28:58):
you again for joining me, ElleBilling the chronically ill
queer femme who is very tired,on this episode of Hoorf! Until
next time, be excellent to eachother. Hoorf is hosted by Elle
Billing @elleandwink, audioediting by Ricki Cummings
@rickiep00h, music composed byRicki Cummings. Hoorf is a
(29:18):
production of Elle & Wink ArtStudio LLC, all rights reserved.
Hoorf can be found on all socialmedia platforms, @hoorfpodcast,
at H, O, O, R, F podcast,
Ari (29:37):
I'm all sweet, nice and caring.
Hi. My name is Elle Billing. I am a chronically
(00:03):
ill queer femme, and I'm tired.
I'm here this episode and everyepisode to dig at the roots of
our collective fatigue, exploreways to direct our care in
compassionate and sustainableways, and to harness creative
expression to heal ourselves andto heal our world. Welcome to
Hoorf, radical care in a latecapitalist heckscape.
(01:03):
Each season of Hoorf contains afew themed episodes. Right
before the holidays, Ricki and Ido an end of the year December
episode of some kind, and at theend of the recording season, we
wrap up by interviewing somebodyin our family. Our first season,
I interviewed my sister abouther experience growing up with
undiagnosed autism. Last season,I interviewed Ricki's kid nat
(01:27):
about their hobbies and theirinternship working at the
Chicago Public Library. Thisseason, I have a very special
guest joining me. My 12 year oldniece, Ari. She is an artist and
loves to spend time painting anddoing all kinds of other
creative activities. When Iasked her if she wanted to be a
guest on my podcast, she flippedout excited and has been
(01:49):
preparing for her chance todebut on Hoorf. She texted all
her friends about it, and theykeep asking her when the episode
is going to debut. I'm veryexcited to have Ari on the
podcast today. She is absolutelythrilled to be part of the Hoorf
family now. Welcome to Hoorf.
Ari, hi. Ari,
Ari (02:10):
Hi.
Elle Billing (02:11):
Welcome to Hoorf podcast.
Ari (02:13):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (02:14):
You're welcome.
You're a little nervous today.
Ari (02:17):
Yes.
Elle Billing (02:17):
yes, that's okay.
I'm nervous too. We're recordingin the same room I usually
record in, but we're usingdifferent equipment, so I'm
feeling a little lost too.
Ari (02:28):
And we're talking over pillows,
Elle Billing (02:30):
Talking over our very technical sound
equipment...
Ari (02:34):
Yes, we're very professional.
Elle Billing (02:37):
....pillows,
Ari (02:37):
we're being very professional,
Elle Billing (02:39):
very professional.
Yes, we haven't made any buttjokes yet, so we're still
professional.
Ari (02:45):
Not yet.
Elle Billing (02:45):
Except I just said that
Ari (02:47):
Butts are very professional.
Elle Billing (02:48):
Butts are very professional. You're right.
Ari (02:50):
Also, my friends will probably be listening in.
Elle Billing (02:54):
Well, that'll be fun.
Ari (02:55):
So if so then, hi,
Elle Billing (02:56):
Hi friends.
Ari (02:57):
Yes.
Elle Billing (02:58):
this is Ari's aunt and Ari, and this is Hoorf
podcast.
Ari (03:03):
Yus.
Elle Billing (03:04):
I'm so excited that you agreed to do this.
Ari (03:06):
Me too,
Elle Billing (03:07):
yay.
Ari (03:08):
I've been telling my friends all about this.
Elle Billing (03:10):
Oh, cool. I'm really glad. So you knew that I
had a podcast,
Ari (03:14):
yep.
Elle Billing (03:15):
but you don't listen to it,
Ari (03:16):
not really.
Elle Billing (03:17):
That's fine. It's not really for kids,
Ari (03:19):
I know.
Elle Billing (03:21):
And this is our the end of our third season. And
every season so far, we haveinterviewed somebody from our
family. So the first season Iinterviewed Auntie Katie, and
last season I interviewed Nat,Ricki, Ricki's kid, and this
season I said to Ricki, hey,what if we interviewed Ari?
(03:41):
Because she likes to paint.
She's really creative. I thinkshe fits what we want to talk
about. Ricki said, that's areally good idea. And you said,
Yes, like, immediately. And so
Ari (03:52):
of course, I did,
Elle Billing (03:53):
yeah, but then we had to get your dad's
permission,
Ari (03:55):
yes.
Elle Billing (03:56):
And I told you about the release form, and
like, you were like, Well, didyou send it to him yet? Have you
sent him the paper? Did you sendhim the form? I was like, I'm
still talking to him. Hold on.
Ari (04:05):
Well, I mean, he's a chill guy.
Elle Billing (04:07):
He's a chill guy, yeah, but we're also a kind of a
forgetting family. And so youwere, like, on it about getting
everything taken care of,because you didn't want anybody
to forget anything,
Ari (04:16):
yep.
Elle Billing (04:17):
So here we are,
Ari (04:18):
I was excited.
Elle Billing (04:19):
Yeah. Are you feeling a little better now,
little more comfortable with themicrophone? Good? You ready for
some questions?
Ari (04:26):
Yep.
Elle Billing (04:26):
Okay, so I'm gonna start with the easy ones that
aren't on here yet. So what'syour name?
Ari (04:32):
Ariana.
Elle Billing (04:33):
Ariana, and you go by Ari.
Ari (04:35):
Yep.
Elle Billing (04:35):
And how old are you?
Ari (04:36):
I am 12, soon to be 13.
Elle Billing (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
Ari (04:40):
I'm so slay.
Elle Billing (04:41):
You're so slay
Ari (04:42):
Yas.
Elle Billing (04:42):
Are you ready to be a teenager?
Ari (04:43):
Yas.
Elle Billing (04:44):
Yas. Okay.
Ari (04:45):
Yas Queen
Elle Billing (04:46):
Wait, Yas Queen?
Very nice. You did write that onthe whiteboard this morning.
Ari (04:50):
Yep,
Elle Billing (04:51):
yep. You were stoked. All right. So the first
question that I ask everybody,and so I'm going to ask you too,
is, how have you received carethis week?
Ari (05:00):
By one of my best friends named Annie. I've been feeling a
bit down in the dumps lately, soI've received care by her
talking to me and also making mea bracelet.
Elle Billing (05:12):
Oh, that was really nice. What kind of
bracelet did Annie make you?
Ari (05:15):
It's of my, our favorite show called My Hero Academia. It
is an anime that we both love.
Elle Billing (05:22):
Oh, so she made you a bracelet, like, based on
the based on the anime.
Ari (05:27):
Well, actually, she made me three of them.
Elle Billing (05:30):
That was really nice.
Ari (05:32):
Mmhmm.
Elle Billing (05:32):
And so when she gave you those, it made you feel
a little less in the dumps.
Ari (05:35):
Mmhmm!
Elle Billing (05:36):
That's nice. Oh, are those the bracelets you had
to take off so they wouldn'tmake noise during the recording?
Ari (05:41):
That's one of them that I'm fidgeting with, right now.
Elle Billing (05:43):
Okay, yeah, you showed me those last night.
They're really nice. That wasreally nice of her.
Ari (05:48):
Thank you. I'll tell her you said that. She is probably
Elle Billing (05:51):
All right? Well, you know what? Sometimes it's
listening in.
nice to hear it more than once.
That something we did forsomebody made a difference.
That's cool. I'm glad that shedid that for you. Do we want to
talk about your art?
Ari (06:03):
Yes.
Elle Billing (06:03):
Yes. Okay, so what kind of art do you make?
Ari (06:07):
The art I kind of make is like, I like to make, kind of
like soothing, calming art,like, of oceans, beautiful
sunsets, skies, stuff like that.
I love doing that.
Elle Billing (06:22):
So you paint, yeah,
Ari (06:24):
mostly painting,
Elle Billing (06:25):
mostly painting,
Ari (06:26):
mostly drawing, but also mostly painting,
Elle Billing (06:29):
okay, drawing and painting, and you like to make
soothing. I think I have some ofyour soothing paintings that
you've made. You've given me acouple of them,
Ari (06:37):
like grandma has the tree that I painted her, yep, of her
favorite flowers,
Elle Billing (06:42):
yep, the lilacs, yep. So what are some of your
favorite paintings that you'vemade?
Ari (06:47):
I actually have two favorite paintings. My first one
is, um, one that I made of abeautiful sunset, um, with some
nice green grass, um, the sun,of course, and then the
beautiful sky. The sky is myfavorite part of it.
Elle Billing (07:08):
That sounds nice.
Ari (07:09):
My second isn't really my art, but it's still one of the
one of my favorite paintingsthat I own, which is a painting
that my girlfriend actually madefor me on my birthday.
Elle Billing (07:21):
Oh!
Ari (07:22):
it's of a beautiful sea. It has some fish on it, a nice
waterfall. She just did so good.
Elle Billing (07:31):
Is that the one you got at your birthday party
last year?
Ari (07:34):
Mmhmm
Elle Billing (07:34):
I remember seeing that one that was really nice
Ari (07:36):
the same year that she made me the pillow and gave it to me,
Elle Billing (07:39):
Yep, yeah, because she came to your birthday party
at the park. Right?
Ari (07:42):
Yep,
Elle Billing (07:43):
yep. That's really nice.
Ari (07:45):
I have it hanging up right on above my bed, along with my
license plate that I have frommy mom's boyfriend.
Elle Billing (07:53):
Oh, cool. The special things on your wall,
that's really cool. What issomething you still want to
learn how to do?
Ari (08:01):
I really want to learn how to knit so I can make stuff for
people as like a token offriendship appreciation, or just
like for fun, like trading withmy friends.
Elle Billing (08:13):
Oh, that's cool.
What kind of things do you wantto knit?
Ari (08:18):
Maybe like little bracelets.
Elle Billing (08:20):
Okay. Do you want to crochet too, or just knit?
Ari (08:23):
Yeah, knit and crochet.
Elle Billing (08:25):
Because, you know, have you seen like those little
stuffed animals that peoplemake? It's called amigurumi.
Isn't that a cool word? Yeah,the crochet, little crocheted
stuffies that you can make. Lastyear at the Christmas market,
there was a high school boy whohad, he had taught himself to
crochet, and he had a booth atthe Christmas market with all of
(08:47):
his crochet,
Ari (08:48):
yes, wasn't that from like, isn't that when you got me that
Elle Billing (08:52):
That was the year before, that was a different
hippo?
person. This year, this lastyear, there was a kid who had
all his crocheted amigurumicreatures that he had made. And
they were incredible, yeah, theywere really neat.
Ari (09:07):
I wish I was there.
Elle Billing (09:08):
That would have been cool, yeah, but it gets to
be kind of a long day. Yeah, youmight get a little bored. Well,
you were going to be there thisyear, last year. Remember, you
were going to help me sell mypaintings. And then you guys got
sick, yeah? But you got one ofmy paintings anyway,
Ari (09:23):
Mmhmm, the Moo Deng
Elle Billing (09:24):
the mood dang one, yep,
Ari (09:26):
that's also one of my favorite photo-- paintings.
Elle Billing (09:29):
Oh, thanks. I had fun making those.
Ari (09:31):
I bet
Elle Billing (09:32):
I guess that is a good transition to this
question. Your love of hipposinspired me to paint Moo Deng
last year for Christmas. So whatinspires you?
Ari (09:44):
mostly people like my mom, you and my friends, because you
guys are always there for mewhen I need it, when I'm down in
the dumps. You're always so niceand kind to me. And you guys are
just awesome.
Elle Billing (10:01):
Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you.
Ari (10:03):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (10:04):
What kinds of things inspire your creativity?
Like, where do you get theinspiration for the things you
paint?
Ari (10:11):
Mostly my girlfriend, because she's pretty creative.
And, um, she will be making lotsof beautiful stuff for me and
giving it to me, and actuallyinspires me to make stuff like
that too. So I try and make ittoo and give her stuff
Elle Billing (10:30):
that's really nice. You said you like to paint
really calm, like kind of serenepictures, like sunsets and
oceans and stuff. Why do youthink you like to paint those
kinds of things?
Ari (10:42):
I'm I'm not sure. They just really soothe me.
Elle Billing (10:46):
They soothe you. I was gonna ask how you feel when
you paint them, but they theyhelp you feel soothed.
Ari (10:52):
Yeah, they're really beautiful, and I just love
painting them and giving them topeople.
Elle Billing (10:59):
So what things in your life give you joy?
Ari (11:02):
being with my friends, my family, getting to make my art.
And actually, this hasn'thappened yet, but it's going to
happen soon. My dad, I've beentelling him about the bracelets
that my friends have been makingme, and he said that actually
he's going to get me the samestuff so I can make them
bracelets, and then we can starttrading.
Elle Billing (11:24):
Oh, you really like doing things for other
people. That is a thing thatthat gives you joy, isn't it,
when you're here with your dadand your sister, you like to
help other, you seem to like tohelp other people. When you were
little, you like, you just likedbeing around people. Yeah. So
I've known you your whole life,
Ari (11:44):
obviously,
Elle Billing (11:45):
yeah, so other things that give you joy. You
want to talk about hippos alittle bit?
Ari (11:50):
Yes.
Elle Billing (11:50):
Okay, what is it about hippos?
Ari (11:54):
Well, my love for hippos started when I the day I was
born, because my mom has thisold friend who came to the
hospital the day I was born witha stuffed animal, hippo, which
is the one I bring with me allthe time, and gave it to me that
(12:16):
exact day that I was born. SoI've had it since the day I was
born, and I've grown attached toit, and now I love hippos
because of her.
Elle Billing (12:25):
So what was the name of that first hippo?
Ari (12:28):
Crystal,
Elle Billing (12:29):
crystal. How many identical hippos Do you have
that look like crystal?
Ari (12:34):
Probably like five or six
Elle Billing (12:37):
you have of the same hippo now, and they all
have a name,
Ari (12:41):
most of them,
Elle Billing (12:42):
most of them.
Ari (12:43):
I can't even keep them all straight.
Elle Billing (12:45):
Not anymore. You have so many.
Ari (12:46):
I have a whole shelf at my dad's house.
Elle Billing (12:49):
Yeah, they're like, You call them your
children. So you have thestuffed hippos, the little pink
ones, right? Crystal andBubblegum. And those are the two
I remember.
Ari (12:59):
I remember one was named Lily.
Elle Billing (13:01):
Yes, Lily. Okay, so the funniest thing when you
were probably two, I was datingsomebody who was, who didn't
have a good immune system, likehe could get sick really easy.
And so when we would come visit,we would, your dad would have to
wash the hippos because theywere so gross because you they
(13:22):
went with you everywhere, andthey were dirty and really
gross, and you liked, you reallyliked putting them in people's
faces, like for hippo kisses, orwe're, like, my boyfriend could
get really sick if you did that.
And so the hippos would alwaysget washed, and then you would
put them in people's faces. Butyou would make this little demon
voice. You'd go "om nom nom"with the hippos, like, right in
(13:43):
people's faces, like, "MWAAA".
And you were like, this, thiscute little thing with like,
these eyes and these cheeks, andthis little adorable hippo. And
then the voice was like,"MRWAAAAA"
Ari (13:58):
You saying cheeks act- actually reminds me of a funny
story.
Elle Billing (14:04):
I would love to hear your funny story.
Ari (14:06):
It's pretty short, but so you know how on your side of the
family, my nickname is Cheeks.
So one time when my mom wasdropping me off back at my dad's
after a weekend at her house,they started talking, and Dad
suddenly called me Cheeks. Andthen my mom started laughing,
because on her side of thefamily, my nickname is Butt and
(14:28):
so they put my nicknamestogether, so now to both of the
families, I can be calledButtCheeks.
Elle Billing (14:40):
Oh, there it is.
When we started, we said we werebeing professional, and we
hadn't made any butt jokes. Andthere it is. There's the butt.
Ari (14:48):
Hey, we're still pretty professional
Elle Billing (14:49):
we are pretty professional.
Ari (14:50):
We're doing pillows against against each other.
Elle Billing (14:53):
Yep. We're doing pretty good, yep. So you have
all of those hippos. I don'tusually paint animals, but. You
have inspired me to paint hippostwo Christmases in a row.
Ari (15:03):
Yes,
Elle Billing (15:04):
because it's like, what do you give Ari for
Christmas?
Ari (15:07):
Hippos?
Elle Billing (15:07):
Hippos. Yep, and I told you last night that I
helped a kid when I wasvolunteering with an art
program. I helped another kidmake a hippo out of clay,
because I know what hippos looklike,
Ari (15:20):
Yep,
Elle Billing (15:21):
I've studied them very closely. So that was kind
of fun.
Ari (15:25):
I do want to meet that kid now.
Elle Billing (15:27):
Yeah, do you have any other favorite things
besides hippos that that giveyou joy?
Ari (15:32):
Anime,
Elle Billing (15:33):
anime. Tell me about your favorite anime.
Ari (15:35):
My Hero Academia.
Elle Billing (15:37):
Yeah, that story you told when we were doing the
sound check was pretty funny.
Ari (15:41):
I love My Hero Academia.
It's my new favorite show. Myfriend Everly actually got me
into anime. She's been likereading anime for a long time
now, reading manga and watchinganime, and one day she was
really involved in one of her MyHero Academia books, and I asked
her about it. So she told meabout, like, the main details,
(16:04):
the story and everything, and Iseemed interested. So the next
day in library, I got the firstbook, and that's how I how my
love for anime was born.
Elle Billing (16:17):
That's awesome.
How many of the My Hero Academiamanga books. Have you read so
far?
Ari (16:23):
12 of them.
Elle Billing (16:24):
12. How many are there? Total?
Ari (16:26):
There's 41 books currently.
Elle Billing (16:29):
Wow,
Ari (16:29):
and they're still writing them.
Elle Billing (16:31):
So you have a few.
It'll keep you busy for a littlewhile.
Ari (16:34):
Yep, yeah. And they're just about to make season eight of
the show.
Elle Billing (16:38):
All right? And you said that you have like, six
favorite characters,
Ari (16:42):
Yep,
Elle Billing (16:43):
yeah, that's cool.
Ari (16:44):
Six about seven.
Elle Billing (16:46):
Six about seven.
Ari (16:47):
Yeah.
Elle Billing (16:49):
Is there anything else that you want to talk about
before I ask you the lastquestion?
Ari (16:55):
My friends? Um, that I told about the podcast mostly wanted
me to, like, talk about them fora little bit on the podcast.
Elle Billing (17:03):
Oh yeah, tell me about your friends.
Ari (17:05):
So I'll tell you about, like, my main friends, which are
Leia is one of them. She's a newanime reader, but she still
loves anime and manga. She'sbeen most excited for me about
the podcast. She also got to goto Spencer's the other day
(17:25):
because it was her birthday theother day. So she went to the
mall with her family and got MyHero Academia blind box. And she
actually got her favoritecharacter
Elle Billing (17:38):
nice
Ari (17:38):
but she rubbed in my face because she knows I like that
character too, but I'm happy forher.
Elle Billing (17:44):
That's good.
Ari (17:44):
Then there's Everly, my friend who first got me into
anime and manga. She I've knownher since preschool.
Elle Billing (17:54):
Oh, wow,
Ari (17:55):
she's been my longest bestest friend for as long as I
can remember. We've been inpreschool together, elementary
and middle school. Yeah, thisnext year is going to be the
first year that I'm not going tosee her because dad has to move.
Yeah, they're gonna be at adifferent school. But I have her
(18:16):
phone number.
Elle Billing (18:17):
That good, and you're pretty good at texting,
Ari (18:21):
yeah, um, then I have Annie, my friend who made me the
bracelets. Um, she is also a biganime geek. And, um, she's part
of the reason that I have, like,a whole anime friend group,
because, like, she she loves itso much. And I'm trying to think
(18:45):
of what to say next
Elle Billing (18:46):
that's really important to have, like, a group
of friends that enjoyed the samethings. That's that's really
great. I'm glad you have that.
Ari (18:53):
Annie and Leia are both in my gym class. So when we're in
gym, we'll be like, that groupthat's like, huddled up in the
corner talking about anime,those Anime Geek Girls, yeah,
just in the corner talking aboutanime.
Elle Billing (19:10):
It's like, Forget Gym. I want to do anime.
Ari (19:12):
Yeah. Sometimes in gym, we'll be having to walk around
the gym or outside, around thetrack, and that will just be all
huddled up together, walkingaround, talking about it, and
I'll have my book with me. I'llbe showing them the pages or
reading or talking about it.
Elle Billing (19:31):
I'm glad you have friends like that.
Ari (19:34):
I also have one of my other friends named Kylie. She's kind
of like the mom of the group.
She's very sassy.
Elle Billing (19:42):
Everyone has a mom friend.
Ari (19:43):
Yep, Kylie's definitely the mom.
Elle Billing (19:46):
I would have guessed it was you
Ari (19:48):
No,
Elle Billing (19:49):
but like that, you kind of do that with your
sister. So I guess when you'rewith your friends, you get to be
somebody different.
Ari (19:54):
Yeah, I have kind of a lot of personalities.
Elle Billing (19:58):
That's good.
That's fine.
Ari (19:59):
Like when I. Meet new people I'm all sweet, nice and
caring, and the moment they seeme acting the way I do with my
friends, they're like, Who isthat?
Elle Billing (20:13):
Are you a little little sassy when you're with
your friends?
Ari (20:15):
Maybe,
Elle Billing (20:16):
You kind of have like a, like a character crush
maybe
Ari (20:16):
I've also been told I'm pretty freaky for liking a
certain, certain couple ofcharacters in My Hero Academia,
well, because they may be twogrown men in the character crush
on them.
Yes.
Elle Billing (20:32):
Oh,
Ari (20:33):
I breathe those characters.
Elle Billing (20:35):
You breathe them.
Ari (20:36):
They're my life.
Elle Billing (20:38):
Well, as long as you know that they're just
characters then I think you'refine.
Ari (20:43):
My friend Annie, she thinks my obsession with those
characters are a little toodeep, but I've started to find
people who agree with me, andwe've made a separate friend
group who all like that thosecharacters. Oh, so that way I
have like a little team so I canremind her that I'm not the only
one who likes those characters.
Elle Billing (21:05):
Do you have any other friends that you wanted to
talk about?
Ari (21:08):
Yes, one of my other best friends, Sophia. I met her in
third grade, and she's one of mybest friends. She's very sassy.
She loves pugs. She does dogymnastics, and she loves doing
it. Just a while ago, sheactually got to go in a
competition that was, I don'tremember where, but it was
(21:30):
pretty far away, and she gotfirst place.
Elle Billing (21:33):
Nice,
Ari (21:34):
so I'm pretty proud of her.
Elle Billing (21:36):
That's cool. Well, she's lucky to have a friend
like you who's like, proud ofher accomplishments.
Ari (21:41):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (21:42):
Yeah, sounds like you have a really solid friend
group. that's so important,especially like in middle
school, when, like you said,sometimes you get down in the
dumps
Ari (21:52):
four of my friends, specifically, I love them so
much, like sisters that I havenow adopted them, and like, I
originally had eight siblings,but now I have twelve.
Elle Billing (22:04):
You already had a bunch of siblings to start with.
Ari (22:05):
I'm starting a whole army.
I'm going to have to write downall my siblings names,
Elle Billing (22:06):
Ari's army,
Ari (22:12):
uh huh. Sometimes I even have to, like, count them out
loud. So
Elle Billing (22:18):
to make sure you get all of them.
Ari (22:19):
Uh huh.
Elle Billing (22:20):
I understand
Ari (22:21):
there's also one of my big sister's friends who babysit,
used to babysit us quitefrequently, so I adopted her
actually. So I actually have 13siblings.
Elle Billing (22:34):
Yeah, you're totally you're totally my niece.
Because,
Ari (22:38):
yes,
Elle Billing (22:38):
when I was a kid,, like my my best friends would
start calling Grandma and Papa,they'd start calling them mom
and dad. And I don't know howmany like extra, like bonus kids
my my parents have that werejust like my really close
friends growing up. I have afriend from college whose mom
(23:00):
still calls, who I still callCollege Mom and I, that was over
20 years ago. Yeah, and weemail, and she's bought a couple
of my paintings. And Hi, Mary,if you're listening to this,
yeah, she's college mom. Youknow, our chosen family?
Ari (23:18):
Yeah,
Elle Billing (23:19):
bonus family for the people who got our back?
Ari (23:21):
Yup, they've all got our back.
Elle Billing (23:23):
Nice.
Ari (23:24):
They love us and we love them.
Elle Billing (23:26):
It's true, your friend group sounds pretty rad.
I've met a couple of yourfriends at your birthday party,
but
Ari (23:32):
like my girlfriend, my friend Lauralai. Trying to
remember who else? I think I hadone more friend there, but I
can't remember. Maybe Sophia,
Elle Billing (23:42):
well, you had your siblings there too.
Ari (23:44):
Yeah, there's a lot of people
Elle Billing (23:46):
there were. It was a pretty good party.
Ari (23:49):
That was the biggest party and Best party I've ever had.
Elle Billing (23:52):
Yeah, I imagine what 13 is going to be. Oh, a
whole bunch of us old folksgoing, oh my gosh, a teenager.
Unknown (24:01):
I'm going to change it from a sweet, sweet 16 to Sweet
13.
Ari (24:06):
goin to make Dad give me a sweet 13,
Elle Billing (24:06):
Okay, sounds good a sweet 13?
Ari (24:10):
Yep,
Elle Billing (24:10):
that sounds fun.
Ari (24:11):
Because I get to be a teen, I'm gonna need a big
celebration.
Elle Billing (24:15):
Sounds fun. Am I invited?
Ari (24:18):
Yes, of course.
Elle Billing (24:19):
Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
Ari (24:20):
You are my godmother. After all,
Elle Billing (24:21):
it's true. It's true. I have to make sure that
you are sufficiently nerdy, yes,into all the cool things like
art and butts.
Ari (24:31):
Yes,
Elle Billing (24:32):
all right, what is something that you have learned
about yourself from making art?
Ari (24:39):
How geeky I am,
Elle Billing (24:41):
yeah?
Ari (24:42):
Yeah, like on my drawings right now, I haven't really been
drawing anything like flowers oranything like that. No, I've
just been drawing animecharacters, especially some of
the grown men characters that Ilike, yeah.
Elle Billing (25:00):
There was something you said yesterday,
too, when we were going over thequestions, do you remember?
Ari (25:04):
No,
Elle Billing (25:04):
oh, okay,
Ari (25:05):
I'm definitely the freakiest, weirdest in my friend
group. I've been told that manytimes
Elle Billing (25:13):
I was a weird kid too.
Ari (25:14):
We all are, yeah, in this family,
Elle Billing (25:16):
we are kind of a weird family,
Ari (25:18):
yep,
Elle Billing (25:19):
but now I'm a weird adult, and I kind of like
who I am so
Ari (25:23):
You're a child at heart
Elle Billing (25:24):
a little bit, yeah,
Ari (25:26):
especially when we had waffles for dinner with eggs.
Elle Billing (25:30):
Yep, we had breakfast for dinner last night,
chocolate chip waffles
Ari (25:35):
with yummy scrambled eggs.
Elle Billing (25:37):
Yep,
Ari (25:37):
it was so yummy when
Elle Billing (25:38):
I was a kid and I would go stay with my
grandparents, we would havebreakfast for dinner. So for me,
breakfast for dinner is like acool, special thing you get to
do when you stay with, when youaren't staying at home, and you
get to stay with the adults thatlove you. So breakfast for
dinner,
Ari (25:57):
yum. I brought out your inner child last night
Elle Billing (26:00):
you did, yeah.
Well, thank you for being here.
Ari (26:05):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (26:05):
Yeah. Is there anything else you want to say
before we finish
Ari (26:11):
this episode better blow up.
Elle Billing (26:14):
All right? I hope so.
Ari (26:16):
Also, I was famous once in a a news article,
Elle Billing (26:23):
yeah?
Ari (26:24):
one time my grand-, my dad's dad brought me and one of
my best friends, who's inseventh grade, Nora, to Dairy
Queen. It was just opening. Ithink it was because it was hump
day. It opened a day early, andthere were interviewers there
(26:46):
coming to interview the people,asking why they were there. And
I can't remember exactly what Isaid, but I got interviewed, and
so they put it in a newsarticle, and they put quotes on
what I said, and then they putsaid, The Girl in shorts in
(27:08):
like, the 30 degree weather.
Elle Billing (27:11):
Oh, you were wearing shorts in 30 degree
weather. Was always it was theopening day at the Moorhead
Dairy Queen?
Ari (27:16):
Yeah,
Elle Billing (27:16):
yeah. They always open, like, March 1 or
something, and it's cold, yep,you also you might not know
this. When you were little, Iwas working at a radio station
in Idaho, and there was thisadorable picture of you trying
to put your dad's boots on, andwe used that picture in a
caption contest on the radiostation's Facebook page.
Ari (27:37):
Ooh, really.
Elle Billing (27:38):
So you were, like, a little bit famous when you
were like two or three.
Ari (27:42):
I'm famous everywhere. I even have a bunch of songs that
I made on SoundCloud.
Elle Billing (27:47):
Oh, that's right, yeah,
Ari (27:49):
my soundcloud account.
Elle Billing (27:51):
Yep, you have your, yeah, your multi talented:
music, painting, drawing, buttjokes.
Ari (27:58):
Yes, I'm awesome.
Elle Billing (27:59):
You're the whole package.
Ari (28:01):
I'm even an anime geek,
Elle Billing (28:02):
yep, well, I am certainly proud to be your
auntie.
Ari (28:06):
Thank you.
Elle Billing (28:07):
Yeah, thanks for being here.
Ari (28:09):
You're welcome.
Elle Billing (28:14):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of
Hoorf, to get the complete shownotes and all the links
mentioned on today's episode, orto get a full transcript of the
episode, visit hoorf podcast dotcom. Join the Blessed Herd of St
Winkus. By signing up for ournewsletter, you can get Hoorf
episodes delivered directly toyour inbox. What's more, you get
(28:35):
invitations to our monthlyCoffee and Biscuits Chat, where
you get to hang out with Rickiand Elle, talk about the show,
and connect on the topics thatmean the most to you. You can
sign up for that at Hoorfpodcast.com
If you become a patron, for only$3 a month you can support the
creation of this podcast, helppay my editor, and join a
community of caregivers outhere, just doing our best. Thank
(28:58):
you again for joining me, ElleBilling the chronically ill
queer femme who is very tired,on this episode of Hoorf! Until
next time, be excellent to eachother. Hoorf is hosted by Elle
Billing @elleandwink, audioediting by Ricki Cummings
@rickiep00h, music composed byRicki Cummings. Hoorf is a
(29:18):
production of Elle & Wink ArtStudio LLC, all rights reserved.
Hoorf can be found on all socialmedia platforms, @hoorfpodcast,
at H, O, O, R, F podcast,
Ari (29:37):
I'm all sweet, nice and caring.
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