Nick Simson - omg.lol Interview Series 8

Nick Simson

OMG.LOL Interview Series

Find Nick on omglol: @nsmsn

Table of Contents

The Interview

Can you share a bit about yourself with us?

Sure thing! I’m an American millennial in his late 30s, who currently calls New Mexico home. My parents both came from working class backgrounds, but I also have this liberal arts education, thanks to public schools and a scholarship I was awarded to attend a regional state university. I’ve been working as a graphic/interaction designer for fifteen years now, and have been married to a visual artist for nearly as much time. We’re now raising a brilliant little three year old together.

OH! I have to jump in and ask: if someone were to visit New Mexico, what are 3 things they shouldn’t miss?

I would start with the food. The local culinary traditions are amazing: Indian fry bread, green chile cheeseburgers, posole soup, biscochito cookies flavored with anise and cinnamon… I would recommend the visitor try a sopapilla…they are heavenly.

I would try to visit at least one National Park or monument while here. We have White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Pecos, Bandelier, Petroglyphs, Chaco Canyon. Each of these places is very distinct. The natural and human history in these places is endlessly fascinating.

The final thing I recommend checking out is the art. Taos, Santa Fe, and Roswell all have stellar art museums worth visiting. New Mexico has a unique blend of cultures and artists from all walks of life have been drawn to this place. There are so many talented indigenous artists here too. One of my favorite places to take visitors to is the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe. My favorite contemporary gallery is Smoke the Moon on Canyon Road.

What motivates you day to day?

Curiosity. I enjoy learning how things work, and lately have been learning by observing how things break, too. I’m really interested in perspectives other than mine. While I think of myself as an introvert, I am really interested in talking to others to get their perspectives.

We are all different. Keeping in mind your context and mine (I’m a white cis-het American dude in his 40s) what is one thing you want me to know?

I am not really vocal about my depression, but it is something I try to de-stigmatize when I can, however I can. I don’t think of it as a singular thing that defines me, but it is more invisible than other characteristics like my race, age, gender, nationality, etc. A lot of people (millions of us in fact) are quietly battling mental health stuff. Medication and talk therapy have both helped me manage my mental illness, but I’m a work in progress.

Thanks for sharing this about your mental health, particularly in this day and age when mental health is increasingly under scrutiny by power. What can someone like me do to support a friend best going through something like that?

I think asking that question is a great way to start: “As a [friend, loved one, etc.] how can I best support you?” Then take the time to listen—don’t interrupt, don’t judge, don’t minimize or catastrophize what they are telling you—just listen.  Let this person share as much or as little as they are comfortable sharing with you. 

“I am here for you” are the five best words to say when you are unsure what else to say.

Its helpful to be familiar yourself with helplines and support available to you or your friend. In the U.S. where I live, this includes NAMI.org (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the 988 crisis line. Your friend is likely familiar with these resources.

Keeping in mind that everyone is different, bear in mind we are not just our diagnoses: We’re fully dimensional people experiencing a range of emotions. Personally, I want my friends to show up for me and let me be my full self.

What are three favorites? (It can be anything like food, books, media, etc; share a few sentences about each though and each one can be a different category, ie, a favorite food, a favorite book and a favorite album)

• One of my favorite books is the autobiography of George Grosz. He was an artist active during Weimar Germany who left Germany before Hitler came to power. He did these satirical paintings of a world gone mad. He was an artist who shared his testimony: drawing and painting, and writing about the things he was seeing in his time and place. I think it’s very relevant for the time we’re living through now.
• I plan to eat lunch at Shopsin’s each time I visit New York City. This little diner used to be on the corner of Bedford Street in the Village and was run by a guy named Kenny and his wife Eve. There are a couple great features about them in the New Yorker archives, and a 2004 independent film about Kenny and his diner called I Like Killing Flies. Watching that film may either endear you to the place or repel you. Now his adult children are keeping the menu, tradition, and attitude alive in the Essex Market. Huge Mets fans, too.
• Western “cowboy” shirts, with the pearl snap buttons. I currently have three of these in my wardrobe. I don’t ride horses (or any animals), but I feel like I can grab a metaphorical bull by the horns when I put one of these on my torso.

What is one quote that you can’t get out of your head?

“We work to become, not to acquire.” Elbert Hubbard, the founder of the Roycroft artisan community.

I’m a bit obsessed with the Arts and Crafts Movement currently, and what those makers and thinkers can teach us about art and labor in the 21st century.

How did you find OMGLOL and what are your favorite parts of it?

I remember following Adam and reading something he wrote in 2024 called “The InclusiveWeb”. Sadly it’s not online anymore, but I did capture an excerpted quote on my microblog. I ended up joining for a social.lol Mastodon account, but the community around omg.lol (I mainly interact with Mastodon and Discord) is quite wonderful. It is kind of hard to organize a successful community on the web that isn’t just for a niche interest and the commitment to inclusion seems to make it work. I appreciate the code of conduct and things like the People Pledge. All these things are important to me and I want to financially support stuff like this. My favorite little OMGLOL feature is the status log at status.lol.

Promotion time: What do you want us to know about and check out?

I recently updated my website, at nicksimson.com. My blog and microblog are both here. If I did have anything else to promote currently, I would publish it on the site.

What is one thing you’ve discovered that someone else created that you’d like to promote?

Can I promote my friend’s band? The Ordinary Things have recorded and released four full-length albums on their own so far and are a mainstay of the music scene here in Albuquerque.

Find Nick Online!

• https://nsmsn.omg.lol (redirects to nsmsn.co)
• I like getting email: nick@nicksimson.com