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Chimen Georgette Kouri
888 Plays7 months ago
Chimen Kouri is a writer based in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. Her work has been featured in Goat’s Milk Magazine, Blood Moon Poetry, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and more. She fell in love with storytelling one Christmas morning during a power outage when she and her parents laid in bed while her father told stories about his life in Lebanon. She is currently writing two full-length poetry and prose collections, What Haunts Me the Most and The Old Dutchburn House, and her first novel, Miss America Is Burning. When she isn’t writing, you can find her cuddling her dogs and cats and rewatching The Last Kingdom on Netflix. For more of her work, check her out on Instagram
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host Ken Volante. Editor and producer Peter Bauer.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hey everybody, I have Shimon George-Ed Corey, writer, poet, just read her books, Peach Milk, and what haunts me the most. And I gotta tell you, I'm so excited to have you on the show, Shimon.
The Importance of Feedback in Writing and Reviews
00:00:34
Speaker
Welcome to something rather than nothing.
00:00:37
Speaker
thank you so much for having me i'm so excited to be here yeah yeah um we were just chatting and heading into the show here and lots you know lots to talk about art and writing but um you know uh talking about you know like uh reviews and you know i do a podcast and um you know i think there's something weird about podcasting it's like um
00:01:01
Speaker
You know, I got a lot of positives about it and you know, I think those observe and I love that but there's this like Fierce philosopher in me that wants that wants wants somebody to drop down and call bullshit so I can have a fight You know and we're chatting a little bit about you know the importance of you know of getting reviews so, you know you're
Shimon's Journey as a Writer
00:01:27
Speaker
writing and you
00:01:27
Speaker
You can feel lonely, isolating work, and in writing, too, such a tough trade, and you're looking for feedback. So I wanted to ask you, just starting from the beginning, and I want to get a little bit into the reaction to your work and its content, but I wanted to start off, because I was really interested in this,
00:01:56
Speaker
When did you see yourself as an artist or a writer? When do you kind of see yourself inhabiting that as an identity? Wow, that's a really powerful question. I've never been asked that before. Um, I feel like I didn't see myself as a writer. Like it became my identity until I want to say after Peach Milk was published for a long time. Like I.
00:02:24
Speaker
I had all these goals and I was really scared. I have this issue where I have to have a title to feel like I am something. Unfortunately, that was with writing. As soon as Peach Milk got picked up, I was like, oh, I'm a writer. I'm an author. I'm a published author now. But I really wish that I would have believed that when I first started taking writing seriously, which was
00:02:54
Speaker
probably college, you know, I majored in English, I minored in creative writing, so I was taking all these writing classes, I was writing all these stories, all these poems, and then I still, I just didn't, I didn't believe it. I was like, I'm not a writer until I get something published. And that was just, at that point, did you feel that when that happened? Like, just like you said, you said, like, I'm a writer, this is what I do now, right? I don't know, because sometimes I still, like, I feel it, like I still don't feel like that.
00:03:23
Speaker
Like, I still feel like, okay, I got published twice by indie presses, which is amazing, it's awesome, but I haven't been published by Penguin, so I'm still not a writer.
Identity and Storytelling
00:03:35
Speaker
I'm not published by the big five, so I'm still not a writer. And I'm trying to really break out of that because it's such a horrible mindset to have. Like, I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for writing.
00:03:49
Speaker
So I feel like I've always been, like, I should always, I should believe that I have always been a writer. You know, storytelling has been with me since I can remember. You know, my mom, she is a big reader and I always grew up watching her read. She was really big on Anne Rice and those, what are they called? Like the ones with the Fabio covers. She was like big on those romances and then.
00:04:19
Speaker
Yeah, and then like my dad was, my dad's like the biggest storyteller I know. So I grew up listening to all of his stories. So, writing has always been with me. So I really wish that, and maybe, you know, that'll happen soon. I really wish I would believe that, you know. Yeah. I have a week and a writer.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, I know it's a weird thing. And I think a lot of times when people apply those names to themselves, particularly in the social context, they could be viewed as boastful. So I wrestled around this. I studied a whole lot and had a life at the university and taught.
00:04:58
Speaker
at the university. And I would refer to myself as an intellectual, but it took a long time with that. It's like, Oh, you can't call yourself an intellectual or a philosopher, right? You know, to, to be a philosophy, everybody's a philosopher, you know, like that type of thinking, or, you know, are you teaching philosophy and then your philosopher or it, it, the identity piece around that is, is, is, I find it'd be quite complicated.
Exploring Horror and Art as Therapy
00:05:22
Speaker
You mentioned your dad and I saw some, you know, writing about your background and bio mentioned him as a storyteller and is that kind of the that you picked up the comfort and kind of like telling story and using words that must have been such a huge influence kind of like hearing that throughout, you know, growing up it sounded like
00:05:46
Speaker
I think so. This is actually in my writing bio, but we had a power outage one Christmas and I was little. It was definitely before 2003, so I want to say maybe like 2001, 2002. And I remember I was laying in bed with my mom and my dad.
00:06:08
Speaker
To keep me occupied my dad was telling stories about growing up in Lebanon and I don't know like I feel like that moment cemented everything like these are stories that have stuck with me these are stories that inspired my own stories.
00:06:25
Speaker
Like some of them are creepy stories, so I feel like that's where a lot of my influence has come from, is definitely my dad. Yeah, yeah. You're writing, going through your writing, a lot of references to horror and maybe body horror. Yeah. Do you feel your work, do you feel comfortable with that, with your work?
00:06:53
Speaker
like being considered horror. So going back to that review that I received, the person was talking about how my, so what haunts me the most is being, you know, revealed as this horror book. And it's definitely, I feel like it definitely has horror traits. Like to me, I would consider my word girl horror.
00:07:18
Speaker
all about being a girl. And I think people just have this one mindset of the horror genre. And I think some people that picked up the books, they thought that they were going to get like a Freddy Krueger type like monster. And I don't, I don't write that. I don't think I'll ever write that type of horror, but I do like to pick on some things. Like I like, I love the final girl. The whole final girl trope is what really wants me the most.
00:07:47
Speaker
So it's like, I think people need to just break away from the traditional horror, which I have no problem with. I love slasher movies, but if you're, if you want to pick up my work, you're not going to get a monster. I think the monster in these books is just my narrator, her life and trying to break free from everything that's harming her.
00:08:12
Speaker
I love the expansion of horror and its idea, and I also think of monsters. I have a good, influential friend of mine I've known for a while named Devon, and she does a lot. She teaches literature and talk about monsters and what monsters are and why monsters are monsters, where they are. There was parts, and I'll say this very specifically,
00:08:40
Speaker
Like for me it was ringing in my head the famous album by Hole lived through this and parts and pieces which are psychological and their horror in the sense of like
00:08:56
Speaker
exposure and things like that. They're just far more subtle themes. And I had that like going through my head of like of parts and like almost like psychological dismemberment. So like in Using the Heart, I think we have that where it's like in Final Girl. Hell yeah, on Final Girl, right? Like this podcast has an official screen queen, Suzy Block. So I love dropping into like
00:09:22
Speaker
I love that. You know, in just that, I don't know, the final girl's path and when like, I don't know, even an alien where the final girl is like the biggest feminist I could think of, you know, with Ripley, super exciting and nuanced. I would just want. Yeah, I was just kind of interested because when the term is thrown out there, it can be really messed with.
00:09:47
Speaker
people's expectation. And within art, thinking about monsters and horror, I wanted to ask you
00:09:56
Speaker
The big question was probably intimidating in the sense of, you know, when did you see yourself as an artist? But what, what do you see as art? What is, what is art itself for you? Oh, this is a big question. I know. I do this all the time on this show. I do this all the time. Yeah. For me, I see art as therapy.
00:10:23
Speaker
I tried regular therapy at one point and it really didn't work with me. I probably just didn't have a great therapist. Maybe we just didn't vibe. But when I wrote Peach Milk and when I wrote What Haunts Me the Most, obviously I am still going through some things that I wrote Peach Milk and What Haunts Me the Most about, but I feel stronger and I feel more positive.
00:10:50
Speaker
I can't imagine not writing because if I didn't write, I think I would get sick. If I don't write, I feel so congested. I don't feel good. I have to get the stuff out. And I have a hard time, we talked about this before we started recording, just the lump in my throat when I need to talk about something, when something bothers me.
00:11:11
Speaker
Like, if something, you know, I still have stuff to do with my parents. I still have a lot of work to do with them, but I think we are getting somewhere. But still, like, if I want to talk to them about something, I can still feel that lump in my throat. And I want to throw up. So without writing, I just, I don't know where I would be. I would probably be absolutely insane.
00:11:38
Speaker
Um, but yeah, to me, that's what art is. It's just, it's my therapy.
Connection and Healing Through Art
00:11:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I've, um, I was astounded as I, I've been recording the show for five years. And I think anytime you do something, whether it's writing or creating something, I think one of the most fascinating parts of it is you really don't totally know why you're doing it. At least, at least for me at inception, like, and, um, you know, the role of art.
00:12:08
Speaker
And philosophy is, you know, for therapy and not cutesy, not cutesy at all, of like a way to process, a way to overcome or make sense of. And I find, for me, those have been the big things in a strict mental sense or understanding and philosophy of being enjoying impossible questions, but also within art of being like
00:12:38
Speaker
a lot of times delving into something or just to. Have a physical reaction to an art piece that you can't explain that you know is good for you, like you don't. Why explains? You know, it is. That's why you're staring at it. You're like, I. I'm just looking and that type of power, I just can't find, you know, and so attraction to to art and writing.
00:13:07
Speaker
Do you think that's the basic role of art? It's a question I ask is like the role of art. Do you think it is geared towards making better or healing? Maybe making better, but also I really, and maybe this is like a cliche, but also the connection.
00:13:31
Speaker
I've had people message me about specifically Peach Milk and just how much the book has helped them and how they thought they were alone. And I was like, oh my God, I thought I was alone. That's why I wrote this book. And like what you were saying when you look at something and it just speaks to you, it's that connection. I absolutely love it. I feel like everything that we're drawn to, there's always a reason why we're drawn to it. And I'm still trying to figure out
00:14:00
Speaker
you know, that specific reason. I just, I love it so much. I think it's really beautiful. That's it. It's a mystery.
Influences and Creative Space
00:14:06
Speaker
Um, I've been really excited, uh, to have, uh, a whole bunch of writers recently, um, more still coming on the show, um, later in 2023 and here in 2024. And, uh, I have a connection, uh, at least for Sella, for example, had a, yeah. Yeah. And, uh,
00:14:30
Speaker
I've got TJ McGowan coming on. I've had a fantastic episode, mind-blowing episode, Elle Nash.
00:14:38
Speaker
Um, yeah, I saw that and I thought that was awesome. Oh my god, that's pretty cool. I'm still yeah, but but The thing is with with dropping it to writers, um, and you know my study going back years ago I've always been a book guy there's something about The vibrancy of new writing I had somebody contact me on a show. I didn't know uh, she was into a Cormac McCarthy who i'm
00:15:04
Speaker
I'm kind of a madman for Cormac McCarthy. Me too. I am too.
00:15:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, we got into Cormac on the piece like the the last the last book he wrote. And of course, you recently passed away Stella Harris, which I explained to her. I said, I haven't read and I do this with books because like an example is a weird example of a series of unfortunate events. I fucking love those books. Like I just I adored those books, but I left
00:15:38
Speaker
that last book, like unread for a silly amount of time. And for me, it's extreme reaction. One is like, I'm burying through everything and then maybe I'll reread again. I'm like, nope.
00:15:49
Speaker
I don't want to complete it. I need one more surprise. And I'm going to still wait. And Stella Maris ended up being there. I mean, I still haven't read it, but I couldn't be more intrigued because I had read an article and I understood of its setting in Black River Falls and McCarthy's deep interest in a cult book. I'm not sure if it would be with the Wisconsin Death Trip.
00:16:19
Speaker
I'm not familiar with that. This is a book in the 1970s is odd as a thing you can find because it was written by an academic might even been part of a thesis, but it was this exploration both in old photography and in writing of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, where it was just
00:16:43
Speaker
massive series of strange events in a kind of combination of people, a lot of immigrants coming in, some rural farmers who had been there. And just, it's kind of mayhem, a death, a young death, derangement, different type of characters in town who would just break windows and they couldn't do anything to stop it.
00:17:05
Speaker
bizarre assemblage. And then reading that McCarthy was deeply into this book. And then with Stella Maris, I'm like, this is about as big of a setup. I couldn't be more fascinated. But I've left that there. But I found even when you're talking about books,
00:17:26
Speaker
with folks, you just end up in some wild and wonderful places. I wanted to ask you, me talking about Cormac McCarthy, feel free to jump in on that. But I also wanted to hear from you, what writers excite you in being like, shit, man, this is writing. What's for you?
00:17:48
Speaker
Should I do writers that are still alive or writers that have passed? This is your mind. I'm going to do some recent stuff because we talked about this before we started recording. People don't really read a lot of newer writers. I loved
00:18:09
Speaker
Loved, loved My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. I loved that book. The subject matter is super dark, but the way she wrote was very beautiful. I ended that book sobbing. Sobbing. And that hadn't happened to me for a very long time.
00:18:32
Speaker
And I read that back in, I want to say like spring 2022. And I haven't been able to find a book since then. That has just made me ball my eyes out. And I'm talking like fiction. I have a hard time lately with fiction. I can't find like a good book. But that book just
00:18:54
Speaker
And a lot of people have so many issues with it, but I understand that the subject matter needs to be taken seriously. It's about a young girl who develops a relationship with her teacher. So Lolita vibes. But I also love Lolita.
00:19:13
Speaker
obviously not because of the subject matter, just wanna disclaimer, but the writing is beautiful. And then another book that I read, fiction, because I mostly read a lot of fiction, was The God of Animals by Erin Kyle, I wanna say, that's the name of the author. She has a short story collection, which I had picked up and I liked it. And then I saw another book of hers at a book sale.
00:19:42
Speaker
And I was like, oh, I really liked her short story collection. I'm gonna pick up her novel. Blown away. I was blown away. It was so gorgeous. So those are two writers I think that people really need to check out. I don't think they get enough credit. I feel like with Kate Elizabeth Russell, I feel like she gets a lot of hate for writing about such a dark subject, but I don't know. You don't know what people are going through when they're writing about something.
00:20:12
Speaker
if this is something that they also experienced. But yeah, definitely those two. And then when it comes to poets, oh my God, I don't even know where to go. Elise, number one. Elise for Shella. We love you here. Something rather than nothing along. And we do take a moment or two. I have copies of most of Elise's work and have read a whole bunch. It was such a great pleasure.
00:20:39
Speaker
To have to have her and we got to like overall East Coast Jersey connection going on shout shout out to Shimon With out in Jersey. I've had some Jersey folks. I mean folks for everybody. I'm recording on the on the other side I'm literally for this episode Seaside in Waldport Oregon and one cool thing about right up the road is
00:21:06
Speaker
In Newport, Oregon, there's a sign for Route 20 that says 3,300 and something miles to Boston. You could take it across the country. Wow. That's the same. That's the same. It's quite a thing. But yeah, Elise talking about poets. Yeah, talk about poets. Yeah, definitely Elise. Jess Ballen, they're another one. They just came out with kosher.
00:21:36
Speaker
Loved it. I can't think of anyone else, really. Like, on the top of my tongue. Mostly all the East Coast poets. Because I perform with them. And they're great people. So if you want to check out the Jersey scene, I guess look into the New Jersey Renaissance.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah. Jersey. Jersey scene. Shout out to Jersey. Hey, everybody. It's a little bit difficult. I'm up from Rhode Island. I'm giving a good shout out to Jersey. Let it be noted. Hey, listeners can't see what's behind you, but I feel like neglectful. I see shiny, wonderful, artistic objects. I don't know what the album covers.
00:22:22
Speaker
What space, like what's in the space? Just like tell me because I can't quite see it all, but it's gorgeous and bright. Thank you. I still live at home with my parents. So this is my spot. This is my space. This is my bedroom. This is my workspace. So over here is my bed. Oh, you can't even see it. You still can't see it.
00:22:46
Speaker
I still can't see it, but that's my vibe. I got the Beatles up there because I was really big into the Beatles as a teenager. I still like the Beatles, but I feel like I like other bands more than I like the Beatles now. And then I have my bookshelf right here. And then I have books on the floor over there too, but this is mainly the shelf.
00:23:07
Speaker
I know it's like cramped in there. But I've got a lot of thrifted paintings. I've got Danny from Midsummer right there. I don't even like the movie that much. I just really like the aesthetic of it. I got Marilyn right there. And just yeah, just a bunch of books, Christmas lights that are going out. I just always like to have lights in my room because it's dark and I live in the basement.
00:23:33
Speaker
I love the lights. I've had a whole bunch of conversation with folks lately. I know I've been around folks over time and, you know, keeping lights on or light sensitivity like it's it's funny because I think well, I don't know if it's funny because sometimes it's a bit of a overbearing thing for people like around light but um, like sometimes when I step into a spot and the lights so like
00:23:59
Speaker
Oh my God, like somebody is has me in there like in the crosshairs. And then so I love there's a there's a nice piece about, you know, I was holiday lights and lighter lights and different type of colors, you know, sensitivity to color and stuff like that. It's just such a nice, you know, gets me through the day, I think. Yeah. Hey,
00:24:27
Speaker
And that's that the the that environment is so super important. I am on mid somare one of the greatest gifts I I've received on this show and it's an artist of Vanessa Stockard in Australia who I just adore and
Artistic Process and Power of Art
00:24:48
Speaker
she has a
00:24:48
Speaker
dark comic wrinkle in all her paintings. Highly prolific does two, three, four paintings a day and shocking like how amazing they are. But she drew Danny with the made the made the flower dress like an original for me. And I love that. Like.
00:25:16
Speaker
When you into paintings or like particular paintings, there's something about it. Like when you just like looking at it and like that thing was created from these hand, you know, from these hands. Yeah. That right in front of me and um oil and the texture of it. Like I found myself being super sensitive. Like when you see like the painting, when there's it's raised a bit and you're like, I don't want to touch it ever. I don't want.
00:25:47
Speaker
research human hands to mess with it. But I kind of want to take a bite out of it at the same time. And I have paintings like that. Like, I don't know what to do with you. I want to leave it be and just continue to admire it forever. It's insane when you think about what a human being can do. Yeah. Whether it's writing, painting, whatever. Like, it's, it's insane. And I don't think that we give artists enough credit
00:26:16
Speaker
I agree and it's always a great pleasure to talk to artists like yourself.
Publishing Experience and Engagement with Readers
00:26:27
Speaker
Peach Milk was really big for you and just so listeners know, Peach Milk is what haunts me the most. What I was telling Shim before we went on here is that
00:26:41
Speaker
And with all, just as with the disclaimer, I find, even though I've studied literature for so long, I've studied formally at the university, I've read, oh, just hundreds of thousands of pages. Sometimes writing is tough to describe, like what it is. It's, for me, it tends to be an interactive experience, but I, I,
00:27:06
Speaker
loved your writing and for me whenever I try to write or what I'm particularly sensitive to is basically I think idiosyncratic combinations of words that just They have a beauty to them even if they're disruptive or the ideas are disruptive and
00:27:25
Speaker
And the lyricism in the presentations, poetic, but having this narrative flow. I just really love your writing and I really thoroughly enjoyed both of those works.
00:27:40
Speaker
And what I committed to you is putting this down in writing, which we were talking about at the beginning. If you love your writers who are, who are, you know, everybody thinks, I think sometimes for folks who don't know about writing or people who do art, it's like, if you made something, put it out there and got it published, like you're fucking set somehow. Like, uh, or if you have an album, um, that like you're making bank and.
00:28:05
Speaker
Artists know everything that goes behind that is it's a lot of times. It's a very different type of thing so harder with the show and just always encouraging folks to Spend a little bit of time to say that you love something and why personally? That you love it because it really helps When I read like for example Even before reading your book and seeing what at least for sell I had to say about it like I'm like
00:28:35
Speaker
Oh shit, like I talked to her. I love her writing and it just it really has an impact and So I think a lot of times podcast folks say hey, make sure you rate a review and all that type of thing But seriously for folks who are who do an art if you if you really love it Take the time and
00:28:55
Speaker
And, uh, you know, Shimon, you know, uh, the tough review can, can suck, but like, fuck that noise. Somebody's going to hate, somebody's going to hate, somebody's going to hate on anybody putting two words together or longer than that. And, um, uh, so if you love it, folks, you know, engage, engage and let, uh, let the folks know what was, what was it like getting those books published?
00:29:24
Speaker
surreal, I think. I feel like it hasn't even... Peach Milk, it took a while for it to even set in. As soon as I got the physical copy, I was like, I'm still not a writer yet. And then a couple weeks later when people started getting their copies and reading it, they were like, oh my god, I love it. And I was like, oh my god, there's people out there that are actually buying my work and want to support me. That's insane.
00:29:52
Speaker
But it was a really nice process. With both books, Bottlecap and Carancillo were great publishers. I wouldn't change them at all. I felt like Bottlecap was the perfect book to publish a chatbook through. And I really worked with Craig, who's the editor-in-chief. We looked over the book a lot of times, and we worked with getting the cover, which I think is absolutely beautiful.
00:30:20
Speaker
And then with Emily, who's the editor-in-chief at Carencia. I mean, she was amazing. I have the cover here right now. I know that they can't see me, but I absolutely love this cover. I think it's great. I love that. And it's different. I feel like it's very different from Peach Milk, which I like because I feel like
00:30:40
Speaker
I don't know, this is just my opinion. I think peach milk is softer than what haunts me the most. I feel like what haunts me the most really grips you by the throat. But yeah, they were both great publishing processes.
00:30:57
Speaker
I couldn't be more grateful, honestly. But yeah, it took a while for it to sit in that, oh, these are out in the world. They're published. I feel like what haunts me the most came quicker than Peach Milk, I think, because we did a pre-order with what haunts me the most. We were getting readers already reviewing it before it was officially published.
00:31:20
Speaker
So yeah, that was really nice. And it was a couple of days after my birthday. And I was like, oh, like, you know, 28 is gonna be awesome. This is gonna be so cool. So I both great experiences. Wonderful. I, I've been excited on the show. Um, uh, maybe been around a little bit and folks seeing my interest and then where I get books sent to me. And, uh, my gosh, I had to keep loading.
00:31:47
Speaker
published her first novel called Rabbit Hole, which is an incredible, tough to describe, but like a mystery, psychological thriller. But just even her episode coming out the same day as that was published. And I have a guest just in the near future, Catherine Yesky Taylor did
00:32:15
Speaker
badass women in rock feminist different approaches to feminism just kick-ass women in rock and roll and that just came out and it's on its second printing and so it's I like it's been kind of fun to be around like publishing and see how this happens and see like what's going on and I like the vibrancy of it I feel like each year I kind of feel like excited about
00:32:41
Speaker
what books might encounter and love talking to writers like you. I have a very difficult question or maybe it's the easiest one in the world that you can imagine. Why is there something rather than nothing?
Existential Reflections and Faith
00:32:59
Speaker
When you told me you were going to ask me this question last week, I was thinking about it. I don't bullshit. Everybody thinks I'm not. People hold on last hope. I know they do. And they're like, that dude's not going to ask me that. And then he does. No, I've been thinking about it all week, honestly. I don't know. I feel like I don't want to get hate for this. I don't want people to judge me for my answer. But I grew up Catholic.
00:33:26
Speaker
So I do believe, I do believe that there is a God, I believe that there's something out there. So I don't know, I can't imagine us being brought here and there's like no reason for it. You know what I mean? And it keeps me hopeful that, you know, when we do die that we go somewhere. I don't like the idea of, it really freaks me out that when we die, it's just black.
00:33:52
Speaker
I can't sleep at night when I start thinking about that. I'm the same. I'm absolutely the same on that. It's a real, real phenomena for people to think about. Yeah, can't do that. But it's like, would it matter because I'm dead? But I have to believe that there's something else. Because if I don't believe it, I feel like what's the point? Yeah.
00:34:15
Speaker
But it's probably my Catholic upbringing, and I've been around religion, again, all my life. I went to CCD, so I'm not heavily concerned with the Bible, but I do believe that there is a God, there is something, someone out there.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yeah. Hey, I went to CCD myself. And for those out there, that's, uh, I don't know the easiest way to describe it. Uh, uh, Catholic learning. Uh, I think I, I think I went during the week. I think some folks might normally, I went on Wednesday nights. Yeah. Yeah. During the week. And, um, I enjoyed it. That was, uh, I was, um.
00:35:03
Speaker
I'm agnostic in my general thinking, but I adore Jesus Christ. And a lot of people, it drives them mad because for me, it's idiosyncratic thinking, right? And I'm very influenced by Buddhist philosophy, but I think a lot of people can have their own particular reading, particularly of a prophet or an important religious person.
00:35:30
Speaker
Yeah, and I have my reading, deep reading of Christ in Christ, and it fascinates me. And I was just joking with some friends just a few days ago, and I was confirmed. And so folks who aren't familiar with the Catholic faith, your first communion would be where you take the first communion body of Christ and is a step to your growing
00:35:59
Speaker
learning and becoming Catholic. And with the confirmation is easiest way to describe as like, adult, you would take that to be an adult Catholic. Yeah, I, I they gave me a written type and I want to call an exam. It seems improper, but it might as well been.
00:36:22
Speaker
I did horribly on it. I had to do an exam too. Did you? I don't remember. Did you do well on it or did you answer? I honestly don't remember. But I did have to do an exam and I had to write a paper on the saint that I chose. Who did you choose? I think I picked St. Audrey. Okay. And I don't remember anything about St. Audrey. That's fine. You're not on the spot for that.
00:36:49
Speaker
I took the test and my answers were honest as could be. They were as honest as could be, but they weren't correct. And they didn't, they took me aside. I think it was a side conversation crossing their fingers and said, well, let them throw. He seems to have a decent heart.
00:37:18
Speaker
But I don't know about quality control there. It was my thinking on it. I was never quite sure how, yeah. I feel like going to CCD like for a while, like during my early teen years, probably till like maybe 17, 18, like I didn't know what to believe.
00:37:38
Speaker
I was very angry with the world, you know, teen angst. I was really unhappy and just, it went away for a while. But as I've gotten older, like I've returned back to, you know, my faith and how you feel about Jesus Christ is how I feel about the Virgin Mary. I love her. You know, I love everything about her. I'm very fascinated by her story. I feel like she doesn't get enough credit. I feel like a lot of women in Catholicism don't get
00:38:07
Speaker
enough credit but um yeah it's like i don't i don't agree with everything about Catholicism but you know if someone asked me what's my religion i would say yeah i'm Catholic i um i went to i got a scholarship to study philosophy at Marquette University i've never been to a private institution in uh my life and they're a Jesuit um and it was a real
00:38:34
Speaker
at least initially a very deep and difficult adjustment. Um, I had moved from Washington DC to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was studying masters in philosophy, again, at a Jesuit institution. There were things, my goodness, I just did not know where some of the kind of background of some of the folks more maybe traditional minded. Uh, I just felt everybody's smarter than me.
00:38:58
Speaker
Everybody, you know, this is very, very intimidating, but I made my way through it. And I learned some deep things about some Christians are around that I would never have had. They respected the heck out of me, not everybody.
00:39:15
Speaker
I mean, for some folks, I was just hopeless, but there was a limited amount of people. There were a lot of people who came very close to me. Couldn't it be more different than some of my mental approach and approach to organized religion that I developed deep relationships with.
00:39:36
Speaker
saw for the first time in my life, at least with some of the traditions of folks that I was around, that they lived it. That if there was, I had a friend of mine, no money, we're philosophers, right? And he's from Nebraska, he was a member of a free church out there. And we talk about religion all the time. Everything I got kind of from that church, I learned from him. But if somebody was hungry, and we didn't have a ton of stuff,
00:40:06
Speaker
He'd bring them in, doesn't matter who they were. Bring them in, make a meal, make some coffee. I'd never seen that in my life. And when I saw it, I'm like, okay, like I'm this kind of socially minded, like labor activist type of thing. I'm like, this is the work. This is the work. And I had such a deep respect and I hadn't been around it, at least where I lived or the people who are around. And so when I experienced that,
00:40:36
Speaker
It was very meaningful to me. I'll tell you one other thing. These same friends, when I was in a significant relationship and that had broken off and I've been in this relationship for seven years, I was devastated. They referred to what I was going through as a divorce.
00:40:54
Speaker
And we weren't married and from a traditional religious perspective, for them to use that word to give some context to what my experience was, I still can't believe it. Because I just understood is that there's legitimacy and there's illegitimacy in that type of view. But they treated me with care in my needs at that time.
00:41:19
Speaker
by affirming me and what I was going through, which I believe could have been not affirmed by a lot of people. You shacked up for a while, didn't work out, and you go on. That changed things. That changed my experience.
00:41:34
Speaker
For me, the deep of experience with all the difficulties I have within my social outlook with the church, per se, that I think a lot of people deal with. For me, it was the experiential piece of what folks who claim to be Christian, that I saw them as the most noble parts of Christianity
00:42:01
Speaker
that changed the way that I thought about things and I lived. So it was like, how do people live? What did they do? And there's a whole bunch of stuff to ignore or see as hypocritical that I don't need to engage with. So it's always a complicated relationship, but there was great comfort in a place I really, I guess I'd never expected it, so.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that's beautiful. But I also feel like religion does get a bad rep because I feel like everything that you see online, it's always like the bad parts of it. But there's always going to be people like that that want to take care of you. So you know what I mean? I feel like we need to stop always focusing so much on the bad parts of it because it's not all like that. Not everyone that believes
00:42:55
Speaker
and God or whoever is a Christian, they're not all what you see online.
Showcase of Shimon's Work and Social Media
00:43:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:03
Speaker
The speaking of Virgin Mary, I grew up in Rhode Island, a large Portuguese population, some family background, Portuguese. And the miracle at Fatima always super fascinating to me was the appearance of the Virgin Mary seen by peasant girls out in Fatima. So I think sometimes where you live and what you hear in those type of traditions, and of course,
00:43:31
Speaker
Mary's role in some countries, there's the given
00:43:40
Speaker
that she's a woman. I think that's a huge challenge to the patriarchal structures of it. And it's kind of like, yeah, love, love the Virgin Mary up to a point. Don't push it too far. Right. But I always share that fascination. It's great to hear. Great to hear that from you. Um.
00:44:06
Speaker
Wow, that's some heavy stuff, huh? Yeah, really, I won't usually talk about stuff like that either. I don't drop it. Yeah, yeah, it's cool. Hey, Shimon, I wanted to see if you wanted to do a reading. I can do it right now if you want me to. Would love it. Would love it. OK, cool. Yeah. So I'm going to read from Peach Milk. I'm going to read The Deadly Poppy Field because I really love this piece.
00:44:32
Speaker
I don't know, I think it's the strongest piece in the collection, but that's just me. The Deadly Poppy Field. A meadow is no place to hide, its mass of poisonous poppies soothing us to sleep. Snakes consume the velvet ribbons tied to my thighs, my sheer stockings crumpled in a pile beneath your feet. I know it scares you the most, the deer in the lake, when it turned to look at you with only half a face.
00:44:58
Speaker
You approached me, a dead-end sign reflected in your eyes. I kissed your open mouth anyway, my body breaking beneath the weight of your grief. It's time to obliterate your euphoric daydreams, a XXX fantasy of me walking through flames, kissing my parents goodbye. I shoved midnight clouds into my mouth like cotton candy, my stomach permanently swollen like your bloody knuckles after you mistakenly trusted the train tracks and found two men burning a woman alive, the skin around her neck shrinking.
00:45:29
Speaker
That's what life is, to come full circle. You squeeze through your mother's birth canal, make her burn, and wind up burning herself in the end. I smell death in the grass. A neighbor's cat strikes a field mouse in the back of its neck, abandons it. If I can't find you in the pitch black room, at least I can say I tried. Thank you. Thank you. In doing the show,
00:46:00
Speaker
and like poetry and spoken word and music, I found it's always this great injection to like hear the art, like hear the art. And I've mentioned this before to folks, when I haven't had enough in that, I kind of get stagnant myself in the interaction. So like, there's just something beautiful about that, about the words. And thank you so much for doing that too.
00:46:28
Speaker
Thank you so much for letting me do it. I loved it. Yeah, this is a playground.
00:46:35
Speaker
I sent a couple links to folks and like, I'd like to do something sometime and say, I send them a room. I'm like, this is your playground plopped in wherever. Let's talk about now and where folks can, like, where can they find your writing? What are you up to? Anything we should be looking for? Where to look for you? All that type of stuff.
00:47:02
Speaker
I feel like I have so much going on. So you can follow me on Instagram at grandma goth. Yes. Love the handle. My boyfriend calls me grandma goth. So I was like, you know what? This is the perfect for me. You can follow me at grandma goth on Instagram. The O and goth is a zero. Um, you know, I was trying to make it all cool.
00:47:31
Speaker
Um, it's cool. Don't worry. It is cool. Heroes. O's. Grandma got what we love. Um, and then I also have a sub stack and that's grandma goth as well. And I post on sub-stack, I post a lot of personal stuff on there. So, um, if you like ghost stories.
00:47:53
Speaker
It's the perfect place for it. And then you can also find my, I'm stuttering, I don't know why, sorry. You can also find, I have a link tree that is on my Instagram, that's in my bio. You can find the books there, some interviews there, and my sub stack is there. So you should just follow me on Instagram, because everything is there. I got rid of my personal website because I felt like I just wasn't using it.
00:48:22
Speaker
I felt like it wasn't doing much for me. So I just got the link tree and put everything on there. So follow me on Instagram and throw my book. I know where to find you. And yeah, that's that's it's really great to and, you know, really appreciate in the, you know, the community on the show here and talking about writing and have a great, great, great respect for the writers and poets I've talked to doing things of
00:48:51
Speaker
talking in front of folks, delivering a performance, writing things that honestly scared me to write about. Anytime I do it, I have a huge hurdle for myself of, there's no way I can show somebody that I thought about that. There's no way. And I think there's that bravery in that that's not to be missed.
00:49:20
Speaker
Yeah, really enjoy your writing. And hey, even on this interview, where else can we talk about painting, Virgin Mary, Catholicism, Final Girls, Cormac McCarthy, Madness in the Midwest. This is everything I love.
00:49:40
Speaker
You know, everything I love, too. So why do you do the show? I don't know. So I could talk to some great artists and talk about some wild shit and we could feel comfortable about it. So I hope that's what the show is. And I want to thank you so much, Shaman, Georgette, Corey, for coming on the show.
00:50:04
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me. I had so much fun. Like I said, I don't get to normally talk about the Virgin Mary. And I guess sometimes I do get to talk about the final girl, but not as much as I want to. So yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is something rather than nothing.
00:50:39
Speaker
and listeners to stay connected with us in our guests, visit something rather than nothing.com. Join our mailing list for exclusive updates and access to guest created art. If you enjoyed this episode or any episode, please like subscribe, leave a review on your podcast platform. People really read that shit.
00:51:00
Speaker
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00:51:28
Speaker
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