0:04

gays reading, where the greats drop by. Trendy authors tell us all the who, what, and why. Anyone can listen, cause we're spoiler free. gays reading. From poets and stars, to book club picks. Where the curious minds can get their fix. So you say you're not gay, well that's okay. There's something for everyone. gays reading. Hello and welcome to gays. His reading. I'm your host, Jason Blitman. Welcome back to those of you who have. Been here before. And if you've never listened to gays reading before I. I am very happy to have you. On today's show. The term. Terrific. Internet poet sensation, Lindsay. Easy rash. AKA Mary Oliver's drunk cousin on Instagram. Y'all I got to tell you I was never a poetry person. And picked up Lindsey's new book a bit much, and I. Couldn't put it down. It is so fantastic. And I'm settled. I'm a poetry convert. What can I say? That's it. That's all. I have to say. So I'm so excited for you to listen to this conversation. I want to be her best friend and that's. That's it. And today's guest gay reader. Is your favorite Peloton instructor, your favorite dancing with the stars? As contestant the one and only Cody Rigsby. Today is like an embarrassment. Of riches. These humans are both so terrific. And I cannot wait for. You to hear these conversations. Please. Like, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a five star. Review, if you are so inclined, those things are incredibly helpful. For other people to be able to find gays reading. Uh, and. You can watch some of these episodes over on YouTube. The. A link to the YouTube channel is both in the show notes and also in our link tree. On our Instagram. You can find us on Instagram at gays reading and give. Give us a follow. We do giveaways all the time. and that's the place to check those out. Also, you might be new to poetry. You might be here for Cody. You might be here for Lindsey and maybe you're not a. Big reader. And I got to say. Uh, fantastic way to start is by checking out aardvark book club. ARD rep book club is a. Great book subscription program, where they drop. Five. Five to six bucks at the beginning of every month, you get to choose your bucket. Get. Shipped right to your door. And with the code gays reading at checkout. Check out. You can get your very first book for$4 and free shipping. That is an exclusive introductory discount for new members here in the. United States and you can join today. Again. Aardvark book, club.com. Enter. The code gays reading to get your first book for$4. It is, you cannot complain. The books are too expensive. That's why you don't buy them. No, it's. It's so cheap. It's so exciting. The titles they have are so fantastic, highly, highly recommend, and they're a terrific follow on Instagram as well. So make. Make sure to check them out. And now without further ado, the wonderful. Wonderful. The delightful, the hilarious Lindsay Rasha. Welcome to gays of. Reading.

Jason Blitman: 3:21

Because if this is maybe our screen test for the action movie,

Lyndsay Rush: 3:26

I mean, what if we say something so brilliant right now that we get cast immediately?

Jason Blitman: 3:30

this is why you never know. Um,

Lyndsay Rush: 3:36

Oh, see, you have a bad, you have a bad guy in there, don't you? As a bad guy tied up and he's like,

Jason Blitman: 3:44

My window downstairs is open to an alley, which like typically is never a problem. It's like, I just want a breeze. And all I hear is the garbage truck in the alley. And I'm like, do I need to go save the day?

Lyndsay Rush: 3:58

right. Like what's going on?

Jason Blitman: 3:59

You're in Nashville now?

Lyndsay Rush: 4:00

I'm in Nashville now because of my husband. It's his fault. Um, but I like it. It's cute. It's a, it's like a, it's a deeply blue city.

Jason Blitman: 4:12

In a

Lyndsay Rush: 4:13

In a deeply red state.

Jason Blitman: 4:15

sea of red. It's like you drop a tiny blue dot.

Lyndsay Rush: 4:19

if you zoom. Are we making a difference? We don't know.

Jason Blitman: 4:23

Listen, yes, we are. Yes, we are. My husband and I went to the library sale yesterday where you know, sell their books, whatever. And, uh, And he bought books and it was a dollar and fifty cents. And he was like, Oh, I have two dollars. And the woman goes, Well, I can make change. And I said, We're all trying to do that every day.

Lyndsay Rush: 4:46

I can make change. Yes, you can. Queen.

Jason Blitman: 4:48

Yes, you can. Every little bit. She did not laugh. No. I

Lyndsay Rush: 4:56

there is like no tragedy, like a really quick, good joke that the interaction that they don't get. You're just like, am I going to have to try this again? And then our partners just have to hear us attempt it again

Jason Blitman: 5:10

Wait, it's so funny that you say that. So I just directed, directed a show and my choreographer, she's going through all this crazy stuff at work. There's asbestos in her classroom. And I was telling my husband all about her drama, and at the end of the story, I said, I told him what I told her, and I was like, and I just turned to Katie, and I said, Katie, don't worry, you're just trying asbestos you can. That's it. And my husband said, you just told me that entire story. So you could tell me the joke you made.

Lyndsay Rush: 5:40

Of course. You're like, yeah. And

Jason Blitman: 5:42

It's like, I don't understand the problem.

Lyndsay Rush: 5:45

I see no problem with this. That's good though. And I, so I do like wordplay for a living with my branding agency and then obviously with my book and that's one I have not

Jason Blitman: 5:55

Asbestos. Well, you could have it if

Lyndsay Rush: 6:00

out. And you know what? I fucking would.

Jason Blitman: 6:04

you ever need, right. There's probably a good, like abatement pun in there too.

Lyndsay Rush: 6:09

Yeah. Thank you. What if I just like take all this stuff. You see

Jason Blitman: 6:13

why we're recording. Listen, whatever. I have proof. And I just want to be able to steal my stuff. That just means I was clever, so I don't care.

Lyndsay Rush: 6:23

true.

Jason Blitman: 6:25

I don't,

Lyndsay Rush: 6:26

file saying that.

Jason Blitman: 6:26

I'm not funny for a living, so just have at it.

Lyndsay Rush: 6:30

You're just funny for, for fun, for a hobby,

Jason Blitman: 6:33

one person audience.

Lyndsay Rush: 6:35

who most of the time is like, my husband, if I'm like working something, if I like, I'm like, is this, and he'll go, please don't take me into the writer's room. Please don't bring me to the writer's room, especially if I'm like, I've taken a gummy or anything. I'll be like, do you think anyone? He's like, stop, please, please, please. He's like that. I can't unhear. And I'm like, well.

Jason Blitman: 6:54

is so funny. There is a home video of me at three or four years old. No, I must've been a little bit older because my sister is three years younger than me. I think I was like four or five and I'm telling the camera that I like Amanda because she laughs. I'm like, I'm, this is, I've just always needed an audience. It's fine.

Lyndsay Rush: 7:17

Yeah, I have a, uh, one year old son who now, like, thinks I'm the funniest person ever. And I was like, I went through all of this just for this. Like, and as long as it will last, because very soon he will think I am the least funny person. So I'm gonna do it while I can.

Jason Blitman: 7:32

Right. And now's the time to film it all. And you don't need to film the rest of it.

Lyndsay Rush: 7:36

Yeah. Like, that's so weird. We stopped having phones. There was an apocalypse. It's

Jason Blitman: 7:40

There was totally an apocalypse and you thought I was so funny. You must still think I was funny at this

Lyndsay Rush: 7:45

certainly,

Jason Blitman: 7:46

Oh my god. Amazing. Um, I am, I, I don't read poetry.

Lyndsay Rush: 7:53

who does?

Jason Blitman: 7:54

I,

Lyndsay Rush: 7:55

probably do.

Jason Blitman: 7:57

sure, but I also think lots of people don't. And And your publicist reached out and I was like, I don't know. Like, I don't know that this is my thing. It's fine. But like, send me the book. I'll check it out. You know, whatever. Like when I'm falling asleep, I'll look at a poem. It's fine.

Lyndsay Rush: 8:13

me the poem in case I run out of toilet paper. Send me the book.

Jason Blitman: 8:15

Right. Who knows? Who knows? They're short. So like

Lyndsay Rush: 8:18

Right. How much harm can it

Jason Blitman: 8:20

on the toilet, um, and I. I like, literally did start it while I was in bed, just because I was like, Oh, I know it's easy enough to digest before bed. And it turned into a thing where I was like, looking forward to my time with the poems before bed. And I didn't want to read them too quickly because I was like, I just love my little moment where I read, you know, two or three poems before I go to sleep.

Lyndsay Rush: 8:50

bedtime

Jason Blitman: 8:50

Yes!

Lyndsay Rush: 8:51

so

Jason Blitman: 8:53

I, I don't dog ear books, I don't, and I have so many poems dog eared, you turned me into a poem person, a poetry person.

Lyndsay Rush: 9:01

I said that on an interview last week. Week, and I wish I would have thought of it before for the back cover, but I was like it's for people who are Poetry curious like it's truly because I myself Was not a big poetry reader and then started dabbling during the end of the tail end of the pandemic and I would just take jokes of mine, old jokes, old tweets, and use them as like the title or the first line or the last line and start expounding on them. And I was like, wait, this is really fun because I've always loved short form things. And I was like, wait, now, and I think I say this maybe on the back cover that for me or maybe in the intro that, uh, for me, a poem is just a joke with, uh, an epilogue because I was like, to me, the best jokes are deeply true because you're like, Oh shit. But you usually can't say a ton, at least in like, I'm not a standup comic at all, but so being able to write more, but also keep it tight and like a little mysterious. Then turned into one of my favorite things and then I started the Instagram and yadda yadda yadda. I mean not yadda yadda, all very exciting, but

Jason Blitman: 10:10

Well, no, and it's funny, because it's like, okay, people laughed at this little nugget of something one time, or there was a giggle here, like, let me, I don't have anything else going on, let's, you know, a little bit into um, something beyond a punchline.

Lyndsay Rush: 10:24

Yeah

Jason Blitman: 10:25

And that's really what all of these are. And I, I strive to be as clever and creative as you are. I mean, there are just so many things that are so relatable and I don't really want to give any away. I was thinking, I was like, Oh, we could, you know, read some, but I was like, we want

Lyndsay Rush: 10:40

can come on

Jason Blitman: 10:42

Okay, I will. This is one of my favorites. Um, this is called Antihero. A N T E, hero, for our listeners. We fell in love the way I eat Doritos, slowly and then all at once. At the risk of sounding like someone who gets misty eyed and insists when you know you know, I'll say this. I've never been lucky when it comes to love, but with him, it didn't feel like a gamble at all to put all of my chips on the table. So much wordplay, double entendres, it's like layers upon layers. It is a, it is a dip.

Lyndsay Rush: 11:18

It is

Jason Blitman: 11:18

a multi layer dip.

Lyndsay Rush: 11:22

Oh, that makes me so happy. It's so interesting to to see Which poems resonate with people and you're like, oh, that's so I was just thinking about that poem this morning So I was like, I haven't heard anybody talking about antihero. The book's been out for like four days. I'm like No

Jason Blitman: 11:37

is no one talking about Antihero? But what's funny is the, it had me at the title. A N T E. Right, like already you're like, oh I want to know more. is your husband someone that you can eat chips with?

Lyndsay Rush: 11:50

Yes, and I did learn And so I am a middle child, unsurprisingly by my attitude, um, but I am, my husband says I'm a very bad sharer, but I think I'm only a bad sharer with snacks. And so he sort of has to ask permission on which chips are safe because there is nothing more heartbreaking for me personally than think, like mapping out a snack in my brain And getting home and going to find that part of it is gone. And so I will eat chips with him if they're sanctioned.

Jason Blitman: 12:25

Is there like a, this, this chip is always off limits, or this chip is always. Fair game.

Lyndsay Rush: 12:32

I mean, I'm very interested in, like, seasonal or unique flavors. Like Lay's has a summer trio that comes out every summer. The Holy Trinity. Um, and if I've procured them. He knows not to open a bag that he's never seen before. And if it is a like, he's on so insane. Cause it's like important to me

Jason Blitman: 12:55

I relate deeply, it's fine.

Lyndsay Rush: 12:58

and he also knows not to finish. So it's sort of like, if it's middle ground, let's do it. But like. I might have had plans for that. So he'll say, do you have plans for this chip? It's like, what is happening? Because usually the answer is yes. Um, and another, yes, I have elaborate plans. Another thing he does that really hurts my feelings, uh, Caleb if you're listening, I tell him this all the time, he when he puts chips away he rolls them down so tightly that it looks like there's not a lot left. Even though that is Accurate. I want to roll them a little higher. So I, I guess I'm an opt. The chip bag is half

Jason Blitman: 13:37

It is half full. Right.

Lyndsay Rush: 13:39

I can look in there. I'm like, what is this little thing? And he's like, I'm just air vacuum sealing them. I'm like, well, now that's depressing. That looks like five chips.

Jason Blitman: 13:46

Right.

Lyndsay Rush: 13:47

I need to see a chip therapist. Also, just to segue myself, one of my, like, only controversial poems in the book to me that I was scared to publish is about my dad, and it is also about chips. And it's like the poem that I'm like, ugh. I, and it's called A Chip Off The Old Narcissist. And so the hope is that he won't read the book because of said time, like because he perhaps may be a narcissist. But so anyway, Chip, it goes way back because he used to, he used to call me a chip vac as in vacuum because we would like battle over chips. And so I was like, this is a, of course I married someone I'm going to battle over chips. This is me working out my childhood issues.

Jason Blitman: 14:30

Chip drama.

Lyndsay Rush: 14:31

I'm glad we've gotten right to the heart of

Jason Blitman: 14:33

I know that's essentially what the book is about. I mean, you bring up chips a lot, which is literally why I asked you if you and your husband, if you found someone who you share chips with. here's a PSA. Trader Joe's, who is not our sponsor, um, came out last year with, with stuffing flavored popcorn. Didn't think I was going to like it. Obsessed.

Lyndsay Rush: 14:57

I just saw stuffing flavored, um, veggie chips at Whole Foods. Like what's that brand? It's a black bag. They make like, Their chips are all different, like, colors. Anyway.

Jason Blitman: 15:06

uh huh. Like Tara

Lyndsay Rush: 15:08

are the Yeah, yeah. Uh huh. They have a fall collection out, and one of them is stuffing. And another one I think is sweet, which I'm not. I think it's like apple cinnamon or something.

Jason Blitman: 15:20

Oh, okay. Well,

Lyndsay Rush: 15:21

flavored popcorn. Are they gonna come out with it again?

Jason Blitman: 15:23

I hope so. Should we write to someone?

Lyndsay Rush: 15:25

I know. Like, Joe? Joe himself?

Jason Blitman: 15:27

I think he's died. I,

Lyndsay Rush: 15:29

has.

Jason Blitman: 15:30

think so.

Lyndsay Rush: 15:31

Oh my gosh. This is the first I'm hearing of it?

Jason Blitman: 15:34

okay. So now that once we get off this, you're going to fall down a Wikipedia rabbit hole about Joe from Trader Joe's.

Lyndsay Rush: 15:41

Is there a lot to learn?

Jason Blitman: 15:42

Probably, but you, I have to tell you about the Wikipedia rabbit hole you sent me down,

Lyndsay Rush: 15:46

Oh, yes.

Jason Blitman: 15:47

with the inventor of the waterbed.

Lyndsay Rush: 15:51

Let's talk about him. I, I looked it up, but what is, what is his name again? Do you have it in front of

Jason Blitman: 15:56

Uh, it was like Percy something, maybe, I don't remember, but the, the first known waterbed was in 1833.

Lyndsay Rush: 16:06

Yeah. It was a long time ago, but why did they make it back then

Jason Blitman: 16:10

Why did they make it

Lyndsay Rush: 16:11

for people, for injured people?

Jason Blitman: 16:13

yes. It was to like relieve pressure off of people.

Lyndsay Rush: 16:17

Did your, did your parents have a waterbed? It feels like very Florida to

Jason Blitman: 16:21

It was, I know, very Florida. It was not, my parents didn't, but there were people that I knew that had one.

Lyndsay Rush: 16:26

And that was like, I was like, what's up with this family? Like if they're, if your parents had a waterbed, I was like. This is wild.

Jason Blitman: 16:32

I know. Well, I like literally, I couldn't believe all of the facts I was learning about waterbeds and nor did I, I couldn't believe that like, I got to that Wikipedia page in the first place. I was like, what is Lindsay doing to

Lyndsay Rush: 16:43

I'm like, this, this is the a bit much effect is that you're going to find yourself on the waterbed origin story.

Jason Blitman: 16:49

Yes. Hold on. I'm getting a call. Hello?

Lyndsay Rush: 16:55

Oh my God, I was going to say, is it Joe from the grave? He's like, the popcorn is coming. Listen, I just got a, jibbit for my high heeled Crocs. They spot, they sent me a pair of high heeled hot pink Crocs for the book tour. Thank you. You need some jibbits. I'm going to send you some jibbits. Now my new favorite thing. I'm new to the, I got totally like, um, converted. Crocverted, and I traded gibbets with someone at the Chicago book tour stop. I gave her a moon because her daughter's named Luna. She gave me a banana. And I said, Oh, look, I'm going to tell you this whole story to tell you the joke. I said, which is that a banana in your Crockett? Are you just happy to see me? And we like both stopped and she goes, did you just make that up? And I was like, yes, I've not, I've not been in a circumstance to make a banana Crockett joke until now,

Jason Blitman: 17:52

Which is hilarious if no one, because we are mostly an audio media and people barely watch this on YouTube, but I literally picked up a banana like a phone for our listeners.

Lyndsay Rush: 18:02

A classic gag.

Jason Blitman: 18:05

Classic gag. I literally made a note to myself this morning not to forget a banana from downstairs to bring it up to the desk because I was like, I need the bit. So stupid. It is.

Lyndsay Rush: 18:14

it so bad. A bit much. it's perfect.

Jason Blitman: 18:20

segueing to the title of the book a bit much, you know, Your publicist was like, this is a great book of poetry for like millennial women. And I, I know I was like, bring it on, send it my way.

Lyndsay Rush: 18:34

All she had to do was mention waterbeds and then you would have been like,

Jason Blitman: 18:37

Right, had I known.

Lyndsay Rush: 18:38

yeah,

Jason Blitman: 18:40

If it was, if she said it was a book about chips, I would have pre ordered it already. Like that, come on. but Seriously, I think, you know, gay men are told they're a bit much on the reg. You know, I feel like that's what coming out and coming of age as a young gay person is.

Lyndsay Rush: 18:58

Yeah, right. I know I was, I like, am always very curious if people can remember the first time they were like told something in that vein or felt like that. Uh, cause I think for young girls it tends to be like, Like pre teeny age when you start to start, which is like, obviously puberty is when everyone like starts to like Accidentally come into their own only to realize that their own might be not conforming

Jason Blitman: 19:25

Wait, this is mine? I don't,

Lyndsay Rush: 19:26

I I came into this accident. This came to

Jason Blitman: 19:29

Did I get a gift receipt?

Lyndsay Rush: 19:32

What is the policy? And then you're sort of like, and I feel like certain personality types either turn and like embrace it or, I was sort of a mix of a, I was shy a little, I was shy about my a bit muchness for some of those formative years. And it's because I think I went to a Christian private middle school. So my class was like 25 kids and like very religious and then I went to a large public high school. And so I sort of had to figure, I was like, I really just need to blend in to survive my freshman year. And then I started dabbling with, um, being extra and it started being better and better as I've gotten older. But do you have like a memory of being told you were extra a bit

Jason Blitman: 20:17

You, you said, I wonder if people have the memory of something like that. And, and a very specific, very traumatic thing came to me. I was in, I think, fourth or fifth grade, and I was in after school care, whatever, after school, whatever, um, and the one of the women who ran that program, uh, told me I was an instigator.

Lyndsay Rush: 20:42

Like what were you doing? Do you remember what you were doing at the

Jason Blitman: 20:45

I don't know, probably instigating something, but like,

Lyndsay Rush: 20:47

Probably instigating fun.

Jason Blitman: 20:48

right?

Lyndsay Rush: 20:50

Oh my gosh. And like, you remember,

Jason Blitman: 20:52

I do. That very specific thing, it has stayed with me for a very long time. And I've talked about it. I've talked about it in therapy. I've talked about it before. But

Lyndsay Rush: 21:03

right?

Jason Blitman: 21:05

I've not, I didn't like, I didn't think about that as I was reading the book. But now that you say, what's the moment for you? I was like, oh, that's absolutely that moment.

Lyndsay Rush: 21:15

Yeah. And it's like, I had someone else tell me that they remember being called a spitfire. And like, there's all these things. And I even feel like that is. I have a poem that I wrote after the book that, um, is called What in the Live Laugh Love is Going on Here, and it's about being cringe,

Jason Blitman: 21:33

Does it take place in TJ Maxx?

Lyndsay Rush: 21:37

I'm more of a Marshall's head myself. A Marshall's artist is what I call, instead of the, that's, that's my version of the Max and Easta. Um, but I feel like cringe is another sort of way of telling people to be a little more, a little less of themselves, and that. But I feel like that one is tied to aging, which I also talk about a lot in the book, is this weird thing of going, it's one thing to be like a bit much and like hot and 26, like, but then to be like, I, cause I'm 40 to be like, I'm 40 and a bit much. And, you know, to sort of be like, I'm now a part of this generation that is not like the, it, like we're, are you like roughly, are you in your thirties?

Jason Blitman: 22:20

I'm 36. Yeah.

Lyndsay Rush: 22:21

Yeah. So like roughly in that,

Jason Blitman: 22:23

Yeah. We're like,

Lyndsay Rush: 22:24

we're aging out of this like relevancy I get, cultural relevancy, the zeitgeist. And that is a, has been a very fascinating experience for me.

Jason Blitman: 22:33

yeah, no, I feel this deeply, especially coming off of the show that I'm doing right now. There are a lot of people in their 30s and 40s in the show, but then there are a handful of young 20 somethings and some of the things they're doing or saying or talking about, I'm just like, no idea. And I don't think I'm that old, but all of a sudden I'm like, oh no, I, I am. Okay. I have an important question.

Lyndsay Rush: 22:57

Mm hmm.

Jason Blitman: 22:57

you have any bruise news? That

Lyndsay Rush: 23:03

You know, okay, my most recent incredible bruise news, thank you for asking, is I was on a boat with my nephews and they taught me how to backflip off a boat. And I had, I eventually got it, but I slapped the water with my legs so many times that boat from the knee down, both of my calves, black and blue. And so I would send bruise news updates to Caleb even though I, I still send him updates during the day. I took so many pictures of those bruises. So many.

Jason Blitman: 23:35

sounds intense,

Lyndsay Rush: 23:36

It was intense, but then I got it and it was really cool and then I wrote a poem about it. Because it was on my baby's first birthday and so I was like, Ooh, I'm learning new things and so is he. And now I feel like, backflip off of a boat.

Jason Blitman: 23:50

but you'll never do it ever again, but you can

Lyndsay Rush: 23:53

I can't, yeah, at least I can, and there's video footage. And it's good. I had everyone take so much footage from every angle because I'm like, we need this. I need a good one.

Jason Blitman: 24:00

all that matter. Just like the kid laughing at you. That's it.

Lyndsay Rush: 24:04

but like, I'm like, listeners context for Bruise News? Did I put, I put that, we're like,

Jason Blitman: 24:10

Does it matter?

Lyndsay Rush: 24:12

what

Jason Blitman: 24:12

Well, they're readers, so they have, they use their context clues. But no, please, please, let's, let's see. Where is Bruise News?

Lyndsay Rush: 24:20

You know, I've got to get better.

Jason Blitman: 24:24

You don't have to

Lyndsay Rush: 24:24

I don't know how we're ever going to find bruise news.

Jason Blitman: 24:28

It's called Bruise News, isn't it? Or is it in a poem?

Lyndsay Rush: 24:31

I think it's in a poem

Jason Blitman: 24:32

Oh, look at me.

Lyndsay Rush: 24:33

Look at you. You're like,

Jason Blitman: 24:35

That's how close of a reader I am.

Lyndsay Rush: 24:37

I, oh, you know what though? I think it's in, it's got to be in the love poem sections, bruise news. What this, I'm just making this for a riveting show where I just leaf through my own book. Well, we'll

Jason Blitman: 24:49

ready? Here, it's ASMR.

Lyndsay Rush: 24:52

Wait! No. That actually sounds good. That's how you're going to get your views up on YouTube. Just be leafing through different books and have people guess the

Jason Blitman: 25:02

What's the book? How many pages is it?

Lyndsay Rush: 25:05

we need to make an OnlyFans for Book only spines only I'll work on it I'll work on what the name should be

Jason Blitman: 25:15

I need the

Lyndsay Rush: 25:15

and it's like instead of instead of feet pics. We'll just leaf through books All right, I'm gonna give up but it's a line in one of my poems and you have to find it Oh, I found it. I found it. I'll read it. It is on page 261 and the poem is called Siri play peaches by Justin Bieber I bruise like a peach. Low iron, clumsiness, genetics? IDK, probably all three. When my husband and I were dating long distance, I would send him photo updates of my random bruises and call it bruise news. I hope you're as proud of your sensitivity as I am of mine. That's a cute one. Bruise news! I

Jason Blitman: 25:57

I like don't want to, you know, I, I maybe I'll make a list of all of the poems that I dog eared so that everyone maybe reads those first and then we can talk about them because so much of it is relatable.

Lyndsay Rush: 26:10

want to know all your favorites

Jason Blitman: 26:11

There's one, I'm just going to read one line from a poem completely out of context, but I feel like this is something everyone can understand. I'm here to grate fresh parm all over my life and never say when.

Lyndsay Rush: 26:27

I am.

Jason Blitman: 26:28

Me too! I was like, I didn't even know that that was how I felt and here I am. Now, thank god for poetry because now I can articulate how I feel.

Lyndsay Rush: 26:37

you know, it's, I had a friend ask me about why I gravitated to poetry instead of prose and her guess, which I like loved, she was

Jason Blitman: 26:46

you make a list of pros and cons?

Lyndsay Rush: 26:48

I made that joke! I said, oh my god, I have that joke somewhere. It has something. Oh my god. It was like writing novels has more pros than cons. I don't remember but that's,

Jason Blitman: 26:58

I literally found it important enough to interrupt you to make that joke.

Lyndsay Rush: 27:02

Let me say this as a rule in my heart. Always, always interrupt with a joke. There's no, okay. Also this is, I'm curious to hear what you have to think about this because, so I'm from Chicago. Husband is from Alabama. In my life, definitely in my agency work, me and my business partner are best friends. So when we're brainstorming, We are like, no, shut up. Listen to this. And like, it's very like, I have, it's embarrassing. I have an improv background. Anyway. So we're like building on each other's shit all the time. But when I first started dating Caleb, He, took it, um, in the wrong way. I've since, I, like, looked up smarter people than me talking about what that's called and if it's, depends on where you're from or your culture. And someone called it, um, something interrupting, but the C word was positive, Collaborative interrupting. Anyway, it was something where it was people's way of showing enthusiasm for what you're talking about. And so for me, I was like, no, that just means I'm so engaged with what you're saying that I want to chime in and show my support. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And. Oh, cooperative interrupting. That's what it's called. Cooperative interrupting. And for him, and I think like where he grew up, it felt like I'm so uninterested in what you have to say that I need to talk. And my husband has talks at a much slower cadence. And so I'll, I call him Mr. Ellipses cause he'll be like, So I was thinking, and I'll be like, what? Like, it's like shaking to jump in to try to like, I used to guess what he would be saying. He'd be like, maybe we could, and I'd be like, go to the grocery store. And he's like, no, we are wasting time. I would like guess a bunch of things. He was like, you got to just let me

Jason Blitman: 28:41

Spit it out faster. Caleb,

Lyndsay Rush: 28:43

Yeah. Like, well then speed up. We don't have, we don't have all the time in the world. We do.

Jason Blitman: 28:47

Okay, so poetry over prose.

Lyndsay Rush: 28:49

bros. Um, oh, hoes before prose. Is there anything there? Um, oh, and she said, she's like, I think you like it because you can be less definitive in your, like, it's sort of like you get to put it out there and go maybe, and, or. What do you think about this or open to interpretation, especially when it came to heavier topics for me like religion or politics or family that I was like, maybe this way I don't have to like be conclusive necessarily. I can throw a couple things out there. I can use humor to soften the blow. And then, It's up to interpretation. And that, I do think it's true. I like that different people will DM me and be like, oh, that one line, you know, it meant this to me. And I'm like, cool. I wrote it this way. But I, I love that. Like it, it's exciting for me. And then I don't have to commit.

Jason Blitman: 29:51

There's also something about the brevity of it.

Lyndsay Rush: 29:53

Yeah. Which is like, I love, I can't imagine people who sit down and write. A whole, have you ever written a whole ass book?

Jason Blitman: 30:03

no, I have like six different ideas.

Lyndsay Rush: 30:05

I was, I was like, you seem like someone who would or should.

Jason Blitman: 30:09

recently had my tarot cards read

Lyndsay Rush: 30:12

You're Tara Chipkart. Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 30:18

named Michelle T, who's like a tarot, like a real tarot guru, she has like a book called Modern Tarot, um, read my tarot. And one of the things she said was like, you are an idea generator. And that's

Lyndsay Rush: 30:30

instigator.

Jason Blitman: 30:31

I'm an instigator. Ms. Lass was her name. I know. Uh,

Lyndsay Rush: 30:39

I hope she's, I hope her underwear is scratching her right now in a place she doesn't

Jason Blitman: 30:43

would put a, I would bet, I'd put a lot of chips on the table that she is no longer alive. Right?

Lyndsay Rush: 30:50

a time capsule cause she is gone.

Jason Blitman: 30:52

Jason!

Lyndsay Rush: 30:54

I hope you're instigating.

Jason Blitman: 30:55

You're instigating! Um,

Lyndsay Rush: 30:58

She said you're an idea generator is what you were saying.

Jason Blitman: 31:00

And so I think I have so many ideas, I don't have the patience to like, sit down and actually do them, and reading this book I was like, oh, I could be a poet!

Lyndsay Rush: 31:08

Yeah, right. It's like, oh, I just can, I mean, truly when everyone's like, you wrote a whole ass book and I'm like, right. And it, I, not to take away from, the work that went into it, but it, it was one of the most intuitive writing forms for me ever. And when I started the Instagram, I was posting a new poem every weekday, Monday through Friday, just cause I just had so much dumb stuff to say. And I was like, eh, I like started the dedicated account so that I could start fresh and it wasn't. Like family members and old high school friends, people like looking. And I was like, I'm going to have the dumbest Instagram handle ever, which if you're listening at Mary Oliver's drunk cousin, and then I just would like experiment and then the beauty of Instagram too, is you can archive baby. When I would go back and be like, Ooh, that was a stinker. But most of the time it was just fun to see stuff come to life and see what resonated with people. anyway,

Jason Blitman: 32:00

that you had me thinking, whose drunk cousin would I be? Hmm? Yeah, and I haven't thought of an answer,

Lyndsay Rush: 32:13

I hadn't even read a ton of Mary Oliver's poetry when I came up with that. I just knew that she was well known for her observations about small things that she would bring beauty to. But hers were like flowers and geese and like these gorgeous like things of nature that she would then add Add context and depth to. And so I was like, oh, I'm like that, but with Doritos and nail art. And so I thought it would be easy for people to sort of like know what they were in for. But I feel like I also was going to do, um, dollar store, Mary Oliver, cause it's like, what is, cause like, I don't love alcohol humor. It's sort of like low hanging fruit, low hanging grapes, if you will. but I, the idea of someone's drunk cousin was just too funny to pass up. And then.

Jason Blitman: 32:58

I would

Lyndsay Rush: 32:59

We need to find your drunk

Jason Blitman: 33:00

I would call myself dollar store Rosie O'Donnell.

Lyndsay Rush: 33:05

Amazing. Because of theater?

Jason Blitman: 33:07

Because of theater, I, she's, I, anyone who's ever listened to this podcast knows I want her on the show so badly. Um, Yeah. Yeah. Rosie, she was very formative for me as a young person, but also like her passion for theater, her, just like joy of appreciating what she was doing. Like I, whenever someone, whenever I talk to someone, I don't want them to feel like they're on NPR, right? Like that's not what we're doing here. And, and Rosie was not Letterman. You know what I mean? Like she was her own thing. And so I don't. I'm not her drunk cousin. I am like the dollar store

Lyndsay Rush: 33:43

Don't swear.

Jason Blitman: 33:44

her. I'm like, come have fun.

Lyndsay Rush: 33:47

oh, that's such a good one. I remember watching the talk show.

Jason Blitman: 33:51

Who doesn't?

Lyndsay Rush: 33:52

It was like, I mean, she, she like reinvented the form in a way, right?

Jason Blitman: 33:57

It was like a, it was a pseudo variety show,

Lyndsay Rush: 34:00

Mm hmm.

Jason Blitman: 34:01

you know, through a lens of, of daytime TV. And I think, yeah, just like super cool and special. And so her, that's what I, that's what I think.

Lyndsay Rush: 34:09

we'll, we're putting that out into the universe, Rosie. We need, okay, we need Rosie O'Donnell to come on your, on your show and we need Michelle Pfeiffer to get a copy of my book. We've been trying to get in touch with her people. She, her DMs are closed. So I,

Jason Blitman: 34:22

I'm making a note. I wonder if I know anyone who knows her.

Lyndsay Rush: 34:25

let's, I'm, I'm finding every way I can. I did just Instagram post. Because it does look like she runs it herself. It's definitely not like, um, heavily branded or like any sort of cohesive feed. And she,

Jason Blitman: 34:39

must've reached out to her publicist or something, right?

Lyndsay Rush: 34:42

we did, we reached out, we found her publicist and her agent, but I don't think we've heard back. We're just like, hello. But she Repost, she put on her main, not on stories, on her like main feed, on the grid, she reposted my poem, She's a Bit Much, which is like the title inspiration for the book, and then she posted another one, but her doing that made that post go viral, that poem, rather, and that was sort of what resonated with me. So, so, so many millennial women like yourself, um, and, and so I, I was like trying to think of who I dedicate this book to and I didn't want to be, I kept not being able to be earnest. And so I was like, I'll just do a joke. It was my little sister's idea. And so, and people who like were following at that time remember, and then most people are like, You must tell me why. Speaking of NPR, I was on NPR last week and Mary Louise Kelly, like, serious journalist was like, she titled the piece Why Lindsay Rush Dedicated Her Debut Book of Poems to Michelle Pfeiffer. And then it's like all this like, news pieces on war and stuff and I'm just like, Why I put my book? But she was lovely and hopefully, maybe Michelle listens to NPR.

Jason Blitman: 35:54

Maybe. I'm sure she doesn't listen to Gay's Reading, but maybe one day she will.

Lyndsay Rush: 35:59

Come on. We don't know.

Jason Blitman: 36:00

you didn't start writing poetry until 2021, but you like, had written, you dabbled as a teenager, yes?

Lyndsay Rush: 36:07

Yes. Yes. But like my teenage poems were all like rhyming and I'd usually write them as like either like a gift to a friend to make everyone laugh or like in college I would write long rhyming poems after like a big weekend to like commemorate what we did. Just all like more like little toasts I guess. But so then nothing in this like form

Jason Blitman: 36:28

Right. No, this is like when people think of poetry that doesn't rhyme. This is very that and it is so accessible and makes you be like, Oh, I can understand poetry in a new way. Um, but I also, it's exciting because it's like, you've been doing this for five minutes. I basically started reading books in 2021 and suddenly I host a book podcast. So. If you dream it, you could do it.

Lyndsay Rush: 36:54

Dream, dream big.

Jason Blitman: 36:55

But, when I heard you talking about writing poetry as a teenager, hashtag things I haven't talked about in a long time, or thought about in a long time, I wrote a lot of poetry in high school. I was in like creative writing classes, and always entered into the, you know, what were they? They were like, English, not English, uh, Literature festivals at school. They would

Lyndsay Rush: 37:17

sure, sure, sure.

Jason Blitman: 37:18

things. And it had me talking about trauma. I have to share this story publicly. I think it's like deep inside of me that I've never shared it really before because I'm very ashamed.

Lyndsay Rush: 37:30

You know the best way to counter shame, right? Put it out in the light. Let's

Jason Blitman: 37:33

come out.

Lyndsay Rush: 37:34

I'm like making you, I'm like, when was the first time someone told you you were a bitch? I'm like,

Jason Blitman: 37:39

No, listen,

Lyndsay Rush: 37:40

your shirt off.

Jason Blitman: 37:40

it's important and my therapist is out of town this week. So here we go. I was in high school and. I needed to, I was, it was like a part of my English honors, English requirement that I submitted like three things to this literature festival. And I had two and I needed a third and I like forgot about it at lunch. And so I was like, Oh shit, I need to write something. I babysat years earlier for a director of like a local theater company that produced shows for kids. And there was an original musical that. was all about like, flying button in the closet, and you go in and it's like a different world. I didn't remember the details exactly, but because music is so powerful, I remembered some lyrics. And I took a couple lines of the, of the lyrics that I remembered, and it inspired me to write more of a poem. What I didn't realize, or let me say this. That poem. won first place in the like rhymed verse category and when you win, you had to go up on stage and read your poem. I'm in the middle of reading the poem and I was like, Oh my God, this is a coming out story.

Lyndsay Rush: 39:01

How much, like, is this at school or at the festival?

Jason Blitman: 39:04

at the school in our auditorium where there are, you know, 300 people sitting there and I've, and it was something along the lines of, the lyric that I remembered was, where the door is always open, where the monsters like to hide, step into your closet, there's a universe inside. That was the lyric from the song that I remembered. And so I like, told this story of a planet that was discovered in a buttonhole and all this stuff and, and, and I was like, Oh my God, I'm literally talking about your closet and coming out of your closet and it's a magical place.

Lyndsay Rush: 39:42

but you read it.

Jason Blitman: 39:42

I read it at like, mid, actually, I remember very distinctly, I, I said, step into my closet or that would step into my closet was what I wrote. But I said out loud, step into your closet to like make it more universal. I was like, this is not about me. It's about everybody.

Lyndsay Rush: 40:01

This could be about anybody, not the kid who wrote it

Jason Blitman: 40:03

closet is magical. Who cares? So that came up in my brain yesterday and I, maybe that's why I had a hard time sleeping last night.

Lyndsay Rush: 40:16

But did, did like, did the, like, how old were you?

Jason Blitman: 40:20

16.

Lyndsay Rush: 40:21

Did like, were kids smart enough to like infer?

Jason Blitman: 40:25

Oh sure. I had also been like out of the closet to so many people at that point, but I was like, Oh, I was like, Oh my God. They chose me as the winner because they were like, he's so brave.

Lyndsay Rush: 40:38

your father. Oh my gosh. The accidental, like, that is like the nightmare of accidentally being on stage naked is like. my gosh.

Jason Blitman: 40:47

I was emotionally naked.

Lyndsay Rush: 40:51

Cause all your clothes were in the closet.

Jason Blitman: 40:53

Am I closer in the closet? Oh

Lyndsay Rush: 40:57

my God. It's

Jason Blitman: 40:59

Speaking of traumatic words, another one that comes to mind, husky.

Lyndsay Rush: 41:04

Okay. Um, hold on. Husky is tough. There's one. Um, I have one because I have a muscular build and that was like not, it might be muscular. Athletic. I always look super, as though the idea of being muscular means, bulky. But for a girl, it was just, the last thing in the world I wanted. And I was like, why am I so embarrassed to be strong? Why is this such a, thing in my brain? Like you just remember the first time. This is so vile. I remember a boy in my 7th grade class made a list where he said, it was called the perfect girl. And he took body parts from all the girls in class. And it was like, Katie's legs, and Lacey's eyes, and like, No, because I got eyes and I was so sad.

Jason Blitman: 41:56

You do have very nice eyes.

Lyndsay Rush: 41:57

Thank you, but I was like, you know, in seventh grade, who gives a hoot about eyes?

Jason Blitman: 42:01

You're like, these boobs are brand new, talk about them. Right.

Lyndsay Rush: 42:04

these just came in. Like, let's get, let's hear a round of applause for the Beastings. God. But what a vile thing to do. I think it was that one of those boys in that group That was like, oh, Lindsay's calves are bigger than mine. You know, a little seventh grade boys can be so tiny. And so then for the rest of my life, I was like, pants it is. I mean, not that, but like in like formative years, it's just so crazy the power that words have over us in that formative time. And we're dabbling, this is insider info, with making a Kids book that is sort of like a company about like just a picture book about how being a bit much is a good thing Because I I'm like, I wish I would have had that message when I was younger Who knows what it you know? I probably had a lot of messages that were meant to help me that Didn't soak in but just if it could be when you start to feel like you're too much You're exactly enough just like all of these things So, you know young us when I talk to You Adults that are so funny, so joyful now. It's like every single one of them has a story of someone trying to contain them. And that is just,

Jason Blitman: 43:16

And you're like, you, I was like, you can't contain me. I'm a husky instigator. I'm going to bust out.

Lyndsay Rush: 43:24

The most muscular bruised legs you've ever seen.

Jason Blitman: 43:28

Yes. Look at your bruised legs. You're

Lyndsay Rush: 43:30

at these.

Jason Blitman: 43:31

on backflip

Lyndsay Rush: 43:32

a backflip.

Jason Blitman: 43:32

boat.

Lyndsay Rush: 43:35

Look what I can do with these. Oh. I

Jason Blitman: 43:41

you stronger. Here we are.

Lyndsay Rush: 43:44

think she's the first. But she sang it best.

Jason Blitman: 43:47

saying it the

Lyndsay Rush: 43:48

Dude, speaking of daytime talk show, it makes me laugh so hard how everyone's like, Please, please don't let Kelly Clarkson cover one of my songs. Because she's so good. Like, she covers a song at every, show, and you'd be like, Well, I can never sing that again. But you can, anyone can sing it. Anyone can sing anything. Uh, you know, speaking of an extra moment as we, uh, closed down, I, so I initially was a vocal performance major in college, but then

Jason Blitman: 44:15

to bury the lead.

Lyndsay Rush: 44:17

but listen to this. I was also in a sorority and my senior year of high school. So I competed in, uh, choir and all that stuff. I got, vocal nodules. And so like did all this, like singing therapy and vocal therapy. But I realized that if I went out to parties. I would lose my voice the next day and not be able to do, classes and sing and participate. And I chose having fun. I chose partying. I was like, I can't keep this major because I can't keep my voice.

Jason Blitman: 44:47

just want to have fun.

Lyndsay Rush: 44:48

just want to scream, baby! Girls do just want to have fun. And so what am I saying that vocal performance singing? Oh, freshman year, I was in speech class, freshman year of college. And you were supposed to write a speech on your hero. And my hero was my choir teacher, unfortunate name. Now, Mrs. Trump, um, I wonder how she's doing. Um, but I sort of opened the speech and that you got points if you had a creative opening. I opened Mariah Carey with Mariah Carey's Hero. There's a hero. Just started singing. The class was at 8 a. m. I had not warmed up. To a silent class that, I remember it was like, that the hero lies in you. And then I'd be like, My hero, Mrs. Lennon is going, going, that, we're all like 18 and I sang that earnestly in a dead silent class and then segwayed into like, every now and then a teacher comes along, like whatever it was. Oh, Mariah. This was so fun.

Jason Blitman: 45:55

thank you so much for being here.

Lyndsay Rush: 45:57

For having me. See you later.

Jason Blitman: 45:59

Thank you for being my guest gay reader today.

Cody Rigsby: 46:02

Thank you for, um, having me and believing that I have a high level of literacy, you know, like,

Jason Blitman: 46:10

For all I know, you're telling me that you, what you recently read is your CVS receipt. So I have no idea. It might be that. That's why they're so long. It's so you could sit on the toilet and read something.

Cody Rigsby: 46:21

thank you.

Jason Blitman: 46:22

Right. For our listeners. Today's guest, gay reader, you might know him from a Peloton ride, you might know him from my mom's favorite Dancing with the Stars, the one and only Cody Rigsby. I've never seen an episode, no offense.

Cody Rigsby: 46:40

Of dancing with the stars. Okay, that's

Jason Blitman: 46:43

but my mom would

Cody Rigsby: 46:45

Most of the people are watching the clips on, uh, online as well. So, you know, You know, you don't have to tune in. I'm not on the show anymore, so it's okay. I don't care.

Jason Blitman: 46:56

I'll do some YouTubing. Welcome to my podcast. Let me tell you how I didn't really know much about you before having you on my show.

Cody Rigsby: 47:04

It's okay. It's okay. I like it. It's like a blind date. We're going to get to know each other through the books that we're

Jason Blitman: 47:10

Well, this is like a blind date. And yet I, I was like, you know, let me do a tiny bit of research. And I started listening to your audio book

Cody Rigsby: 47:20

Oh, wonderful.

Jason Blitman: 47:22

Cody. Um, And I, and I couldn't stop. I read the whole thing.

Cody Rigsby: 47:27

Thank you so much.

Jason Blitman: 47:29

now I feel like I know everything about you and you know,

Cody Rigsby: 47:31

You know, honestly, too much about

Jason Blitman: 47:33

Right, exactly.

Cody Rigsby: 47:35

you know, all of my, um, processed and unprocessed traumas.

Jason Blitman: 47:39

yes. I also had three jobs when I first moved to New York city.

Cody Rigsby: 47:43

It takes a, it takes that kind of hustle mentality to survive in this, in this city.

Jason Blitman: 47:48

I know. Um, I also learned that your breakup movie is closer.

Cody Rigsby: 47:52

Oh, wow. Is that in the book?

Jason Blitman: 47:54

Honestly, I consumed a lot of your content in the last 24 hours. So I don't know where, I don't remember where it is.

Cody Rigsby: 48:01

I fucking love that movie so

Jason Blitman: 48:02

It's one of my husband's favorites.

Cody Rigsby: 48:04

It is incredibly written, the acting is phenomenal, and honestly, I'm three months post breakup and I have yet to watch that film yet.

Jason Blitman: 48:12

the night.

Cody Rigsby: 48:14

actually thought about it, Just the other day, and I said, I need to watch that film because there's the writing is so good in it. specifically when Jude Law's character is meeting Natalie Portman's character, and they're talking about because he's like, He writes obituaries. And so he makes up these euphemisms for people. And I think it's so romantic. She asks what hers is and he says disarming. And she goes, that's not a euphemism. And she goes, he goes, yes, it is. And I just think it's, it's like, Oh, I love it. It's so like romantic, but also just like real, I don't

Jason Blitman: 48:46

would yours be?

Cody Rigsby: 48:48

Oh, I don't know. I don't know.

Jason Blitman: 48:52

That's okay.

Cody Rigsby: 48:53

Well, it,

Jason Blitman: 48:54

You'll come up with something charming.

Cody Rigsby: 48:55

scene, before that scene, uh, it says like a euphemism, it's like, he enjoys his privacy, which means gay, so I guess I enjoy my privacy, but you know, it's whatever. Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 49:07

So I feel like I know so much about you. Um, but what I don't know is what you're reading. Cody reads me. What are you reading?

Cody Rigsby: 49:14

The children. No, um,

Jason Blitman: 49:16

Well, obviously

Cody Rigsby: 49:18

Everyone on the internet. No, um, so,

Jason Blitman: 49:21

sat down, you sat down with like multiple books in your hand. I couldn't believe it.

Cody Rigsby: 49:27

I couldn't either because here's the thing with reading. I go through phases of being like so into books and then so not into books. What's your favorite book ever?

Jason Blitman: 49:38

That's not really fair. It's

Cody Rigsby: 49:40

Oh, I know. I know mine like I love dancer from the dance is my favorite book ever. It is such a great queer story, especially of of new yorkers, uh, can really relate to it. It's a phenomenal book.

Jason Blitman: 49:52

Oh, you know what? I was thinking dancer in the dark, the New York movie

Cody Rigsby: 49:57

no, no, no, no, no.

Jason Blitman: 49:58

dancer from the dance.

Cody Rigsby: 50:00

yeah.

Jason Blitman: 50:00

Oh, why don't I know

Cody Rigsby: 50:01

It's like a queer story, pre HIV New York City, and so it's, well, yeah, pre slash during, it's, it's really great.

Jason Blitman: 50:11

Um, oh, I'll have to look it up. I feel like I need to turn in my gaze reading card because I don't know this book. Um, so, so that's your favorite book of all time.

Cody Rigsby: 50:22

Yeah, I go through phases because I'm very introspective right now picking up the pieces post breakup. I'm like very much into the self help and that. And so I just finished attached, which I honestly, anybody who wants to be in a relationship or a long term relationship. I think you really need to read this book.

Jason Blitman: 50:42

Why?

Cody Rigsby: 50:43

Um, well, it kind of just

Jason Blitman: 50:46

As a person who's been with my husband for 10 years, I'm like, tell me why.

Cody Rigsby: 50:50

yeah, well, it, It just really frames out like your attachment style when it comes to relationships. There's secure, there's anxious, there's avoidance. And I think it's good to know what your style is and also what to look out, uh, in potential partners so that you are picking the right people. Um,

Jason Blitman: 51:16

you learn that about

Cody Rigsby: 51:19

Yeah, I'm an anxiously attached person. I've known that through years of therapy, so I've known that. what helped me with this book, especially, I've talked about, this is the most I've talked about a breakup in a long time, but, what I learned so much about through this book, and what really helped me heal from like, My breakup was that my ex partner is definitely very avoided and those two do not mix well like it's just like water and oil and the my traumas bring up his traumas. His traumas bring up mine. I want to get closer. He moves further. It's just this is this unbalanced balancing act. And so that helped me really just except if that makes sense,

Jason Blitman: 52:01

that, do we think, why you like watching the movie closer? Because you like getting closer. You need to get closer.

Cody Rigsby: 52:06

well, of course, of course, I'm

Jason Blitman: 52:09

go. Yes.

Cody Rigsby: 52:11

validation. I need the attention. I need, I need to feel seen and heard in in

Jason Blitman: 52:16

So what attachment style person do you need?

Cody Rigsby: 52:19

Well, in the book, it says that, like, if half of the population is secure attachment and then, like, 25 percent is avoided and 25 percent is anxious. So you really want to go towards the secure people

Jason Blitman: 52:34

Okay. So if there's anyone who's secure and wants to go on a date with Cody, email hello at gaysreading.

Cody Rigsby: 52:41

we go,

Jason Blitman: 52:42

along.

Cody Rigsby: 52:43

but I think it also gives good, it's like, okay, if you're in a part, if you're in a partnership and you are anxious and avoidant, here's here's how to kind of like, you know, work through it or navigate it. I just think if you're looking for someone, you might want to, you might want to put these, you might want to read the book. So

Jason Blitman: 52:59

I will

Cody Rigsby: 53:00

you're aware. I also am, I'm not very far into this book, but it is, uh, no bad parts by Richard Schwartz.

Jason Blitman: 53:08

Oh,

Cody Rigsby: 53:09

Oh, forward by Alanis Morissette. I didn't even see that. So Alanis Morissette has a forward in this book. Um, and this is. This is Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family System Model.

Jason Blitman: 53:24

And what I just learned about you is that you're one of those people that skips the forward.

Cody Rigsby: 53:30

I might have read some of it, I might

Jason Blitman: 53:32

But didn't realize who wrote it. Right.

Cody Rigsby: 53:34

but I definitely didn't make it to the part that says, like, love Alanis, like, I definitely forgot about that part. Um, you know, it's a coin toss, because sometimes I feel like the forward, I'm like, I'm wasting my time, can we get into it? I've already wasted, like, 20 minutes doing this fucking forward. The last forward that I did read slash listen to was Britney Spears memoir because I wanted everything. I wanted

Jason Blitman: 53:56

did you listen to that audio book?

Cody Rigsby: 53:58

I listened to it. I did.

Jason Blitman: 54:00

needs to win. She can win an Oscar for that audio book.

Cody Rigsby: 54:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Not her. Michelle Williams.

Jason Blitman: 54:07

Michelle Williams, yes. Gave an unbelievable performance.

Cody Rigsby: 54:10

though. Britney did the forward in the book. That was the only thing that she did the for the audio. What I really like about sometimes a lot of books, especially when they're, um, like either self help or they're trying to teach you something, they can really feel like textbooks and I'm too stupid and get lost. And I just like get really bored. This is really digestible in a way that like a dumb person like me can understand it. If that makes sense.

Jason Blitman: 54:37

I mean, I, sometimes those sorts of books for me should be pamphlets,

Cody Rigsby: 54:43

Yes.

Jason Blitman: 54:44

but it's good to know that that can sustain more.

Cody Rigsby: 54:49

yeah, and even, um, no bad parts, which I'm in the midst of reading right now. I've found myself getting a little bit lost at times or like my attention span, it gets a little bit, goes away pretty quick. So what I've actually started doing with this is I will stretch, I will listen to the audio book, which is on Spotify. And then I will also be kind of like reading the pages as I'm in the stretch. Does that make sense?

Jason Blitman: 55:13

Mm hmm.

Cody Rigsby: 55:13

Like I have to be like fully engaged with it because it's a little bit a little bit more dense But I don't think it's that dense.

Jason Blitman: 55:20

So, Dancer from the Dance is a fiction book that you love.

Cody Rigsby: 55:25

Fiction book. Yeah, I love that

Jason Blitman: 55:27

And you clearly like a good self help when you're in a time of need. Are there other, you like, you go through phases. Are there other fiction books that you love? Now I'm just curious.

Cody Rigsby: 55:36

Oh, wow. I mean,

Jason Blitman: 55:39

that out.

Cody Rigsby: 55:40

I just, I feel like I haven't like, I think during the pandemic, I went through a really big queer like fiction phase. And but mostly I feel like I gravitate towards these kind of like mental health meditation books. that's kind of where I gravitate

Jason Blitman: 55:58

know people that don't read fiction at all and only stick to the non

Cody Rigsby: 56:02

This is my thing, when fiction is good, it's so good that I can't put it down. When it's, like, a little bit cumbersome, I'm like, okay, I can't, I can't power through this as much. You know, I have started, A Little Life probably twice, and I just, I haven't been able to, like, I want to so bad, I want to read this book so bad.

Jason Blitman: 56:22

book is 600 pages, I put it down at 300. I was like, this is, I, I committed fully, and I couldn't do it. I, it was so much trauma porn, I had

Cody Rigsby: 56:34

Yeah. You know what book I really hated

Jason Blitman: 56:40

I don't, but I wanna know!

Cody Rigsby: 56:42

I got a good chunk away, A Good Chunk through it. Red, white, and Royal Blue. I hated that book. I hated that book so much. I just,

Jason Blitman: 56:53

how come?

Cody Rigsby: 56:56

I,

Jason Blitman: 56:58

I could probably tell you

Cody Rigsby: 56:58

I believe the author is queer, so I'm not trying to throw them under. I think they're, I think they under the bus, but it felt to me like. A straight woman's gay porn fantasy?

Jason Blitman: 57:14

hundred percent.

Cody Rigsby: 57:15

I was, I was like, can y'all go ahead and fuck? Because, in, in no way would two gay men be taking this long to have penetrative anal sex. Come on now, let's go!

Jason Blitman: 57:26

they also had very limited opportunity. So it's like, when you have the chance, you do

Cody Rigsby: 57:31

You gotta, yeah, like, like, let's go, babe. Like, one of y'all needs, one of you needs to prep and be ready and do this.

Jason Blitman: 57:39

I refer to it as like, straight woman fan fiction,

Cody Rigsby: 57:45

Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 57:46

but I couldn't put it down. So like, I hear what you're saying. I also loved it.

Cody Rigsby: 57:50

we can, there's duality in everything. You can have a critique and an opinion about something and you can recognize what it is, but you can also enjoy it.

Jason Blitman: 58:00

Totally. And you have your book XOXO Cody. Can you share where that came from

Cody Rigsby: 58:06

Well, um,

Jason Blitman: 58:08

or what it's about for our listeners who

Cody Rigsby: 58:09

no. So lemme give you the full title, XO XO Cody, an opinionated homosexuals guide to Self-love Relationships and tactful pettiness, which tactful pettiness is the name of my podcast with my friend Andrew Chappelle, which I would love your listeners to go and give a listen. Started actually as a Peloton ride. I did an XOXO Cody series where, I put together like theme playlists. Maybe they're about, ass. Maybe they're about sex. Maybe they're about, um, I don't know, technology. I don't know. Whatever. And, I would take, riders questions about love, self love relationships and give them, you know, hard truth the hard way. And so I wanted to take that format and put it into a book where I kind of got to share my store more of like a memoir where I'm sharing my story, but interjected with some fun elements from that ride, like hot takes or relationship questions or, you know, dating advice as well.

Jason Blitman: 59:04

What would your XOXO Cody question be?

Cody Rigsby: 59:07

Oh wow. What would I ask myself? Ooh. I feel like it would be,

Jason Blitman: 59:13

I don't need to ask anyone

Cody Rigsby: 59:14

no, I, you know, I wonder if it would be like maybe about attachment style. Like, you know, I've done an anxious avoidant and that didn't work out. Could anxious and anxious workout. Tell me more. I don't know.

Jason Blitman: 59:27

What do you think you would say to yourself?

Cody Rigsby: 59:29

That's a great question. Well, if you're really emotional, I am very emotional and very needy and need a lot of reassurance. You've got to be ready to give that to another partner because they're also going to need a lot of that, which I feel like I would be well equipped with because I'm good at giving that out when I know that someone needs it. But I'm also I also can withhold it when I feel like someone needs it too much. You know what I'm saying? You know, when someone needs something too much, you're like, I don't want to fucking give it to you. It's like people with like, um, cringy Instagrams and like, you can just tell they want

Jason Blitman: 1:00:02

You just want to, like,

Cody Rigsby: 1:00:03

I don't want to, I'm not going to like this. I'm going to, I'm not even going to hate like it. I'm going to withhold my currency.

Jason Blitman: 1:00:10

That's so funny. Give them the opposite of what they need. Of

Cody Rigsby: 1:00:13

I'm petty. I'm petty like that. I'm bitchy like that.

Jason Blitman: 1:00:17

Is there anything else that you're reading these days? Any hot takes? And by reading, I mean reading.

Cody Rigsby: 1:00:22

Well, you know, I had the, I had the privilege of going to the sweat tour with Charlie XCX and Troye Sivan, which I. I didn't have low expectation, but I didn't have that high of an expectation. And it was one of the best concerts that I've ever been into in my life. But I need you host to get off your phone. I need you to get off your phone in many ways. I need you to stop recording the entire concert, babe. You can go on Tik TOK, YouTube, Instagram, and you can watch whatever you want of that concert. Be present. Enjoy the moment. Okay. Second of all, second of all, second of all. Why the fuck are you face timing your friends at this concert so that they can have a pixelated experience at the concert? Once again, they're not going to be able to hear it that well. They're not going to be able to see it that well. They couldn't afford the ticket. That's on them. All right, that's on them, baby. They can also go watch the concert on video on social media for free and not bother your experience. Be present.

Jason Blitman: 1:01:22

is a great complaint.

Cody Rigsby: 1:01:24

Thank you. And I love complaining. for listening.

Jason Blitman: 1:01:26

yes, me too. Is that your, that's my attachment style too, probably.

Cody Rigsby: 1:01:30

Probably. There you go. You know what? Someone told me about books the other day, which is like, it's one, it's one of the only forms of media that you are truly in someone else's head. You're saying like, they're putting all these words and you have to kind of like go through that imaginary process to like, see it all, especially within fiction. And I just thought that was really cool. I also think it's like, what I feel like, I do in the fitness spaces, you know, make it silly and make it not feel like it is that task and I think that the same can be applied to reading or it's like, Hey, like this doesn't have to be that daunting. Like this can be fun. Like find something that you're interested in. Like maybe you need so maybe you need some sex in that book so that it will like really intrigue you and make you horny and maybe that's what you're truly looking for. Maybe perhaps I don't know.

Jason Blitman: 1:02:15

I love that you are getting the help you need via books.

Cody Rigsby: 1:02:19

Yes.

Jason Blitman: 1:02:21

have to go watch closer. Have you read the play?

Cody Rigsby: 1:02:24

Um, I have not read the play. Ah, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Actually. I think I did read part of it in my freshman year acting class in college. I

Jason Blitman: 1:02:33

sounds a hundred percent accurate.

Cody Rigsby: 1:02:35

Yeah, it sounds right. And it is a phenomenal, I should read the, the, the, the, the writing. Oh my God.

Jason Blitman: 1:02:42

Yeah. Um, the introduction is written by Alanis Morissette.

Cody Rigsby: 1:02:48

we're closer. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it.

Jason Blitman: 1:02:54

Um, but no, it's probably great. A great read. Well, Cody, thank you for joining me today. Thank you for being my guest gay reader.

Cody Rigsby: 1:03:01

of course. Thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure.

Jason Blitman: 1:03:03

people should check out of yours? You have your podcast, you have your Peloton rides. You're like building a Cody Rigsby empire. Go buy the book. Everybody.

Cody Rigsby: 1:03:10

you know, head on over to Instagram, follow me at Cody Rigsby, head on over to TikTok, follow me at Cody underscore Rigsby because some bitch took my name before I could get on the platform, but that's okay.

Jason Blitman: 1:03:19

Did you find them? Did you write them a letter?

Cody Rigsby: 1:03:22

Uh, I did not. I just, you know, I kept it pumping. That was like probably three years ago. I'm like four years ago. So I'm like, I'm out. Thank you so much for having me and get out there and read some books. Dumb dumbs. All right.

Jason Blitman: 1:03:33

You heard it here. Go out and read some books. Dumb Dumbs

1:03:36

Cody Lindsey. Thank you so much for being here. Everyone makes sure to follow us over on Instagram at gaze reading, like in subscriber. Wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a five star review if you're so inclined. Thank. You to those of you who Who have done so, so far. Uh, And that's all for me. I'll see you next week. Bye.