Josh Lin: Tag, I want you to meet my cousin Natalie. And Natalie, I want you to meet my old friend Tag.
Tag: You two are cousins?
Natalie Bauer: Yeah. Uh. We... Well...
Josh Lin: From my stepmom's side, so that would technically make us step-cousins.
Tag: Oh.
Natalie Bauer: A distinction that only really matters if you're from Alabama.
Josh Lin: [laughs] She's such a joker.
[Natalie laughs]
Tag: Yeah. Walden?
Natalie Bauer: Oh.
Tag: That's my favorite book. I reread it every year.
Natalie Bauer: Really?
Tag: Yeah.
Natalie Bauer: Wow.
Tag: No way!
Tag: [chuckles] Yeah. Isn't Thoreau the best?
Natalie Bauer: Well, some people find him a self-obsessed narcissist, fanatical about self-control, not to mention a total hypocrite, but personally, I find him so inspiring.
Tag: "Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth."
[sighs]
Tag: I'm sorry. It gets me every time.
[chuckles]
Natalie Bauer: If anyone gets it, it's me.
Tag: God. Have we met before? Because you look so familiar. I... I just can't put my finger on it.
Josh Lin: Unlikely. Natalie just flew in from California this morning.
Natalie Bauer: This morning.
Tag: I actually teach a survival course in Yosemite every summer.
Natalie Bauer: Savage!
[clears throat]
Tag: I guess you could say that, yeah.
Natalie Bauer: I love Yosemite. It's, uh, I mean, there's some gnar-like, gnarly climbing there.
Tag: You climb?
Natalie Bauer: Me?
[scoffs]
Natalie Bauer: Do I climb? I'll climb anything that moves. I'm an aggro.
Tag: Aggro?
Josh Lin: Yeah, like aggressive. Aggro.
[growls]
Natalie Bauer: An aggressive climber. I climb all kinds of things like ladders, um, houses, um, trees, ladders... Mostly ladders.
[chuckles]
Tag: That's cool. Um, a few of us are climbing at Rock Ventures tomorrow. Wanna join?
Josh Lin: Hell yeah! Let's do it.
Tag: Great.
Natalie Bauer: Mm-hmm.
Tag: 10:00 a.m.?
Natalie Bauer: Perfect.
Tag: Um. Well, hey, it was nice to meet you, Natalie. I'll see you guys at 10:00 a.m.
Josh Lin: See you, bro.
Natalie Bauer: Climb you later!
[chuckles]
