everyday art culture & Magic
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By Aaron Gold and Christine Stoddard  Well, looky there, we have a couple’s review of Area 53, a laser tag arena and arcade in DUMBO! Read on to see what each of us thought of this venue as a date night spot. Important to note: We went on Adult Night, so no kiddos allowed.
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By Christine Stoddard and Aaron Gold  As a couple, we recently had the chance to try dinner at Le Fanfare in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Here's what each of us thought of it:
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By Aaron Gold  The atmosphere changes when you walk down the stairs to MyssTic Rooms, an escape room in Park Slope. The style is almost Sherlock Holmesian with a big leather couch and a chest you lock your valuables into. I’ve done quite a few escape rooms in my time, as well as worked for a couple of them. Aesthetics are crucial. You want to set the right mood for your customers, intriguing them to a mystery while looking professional and assuaging any idea that they’re about to be underwhelmed. Mystic Rooms on 794 Union St. accomplishes that with flying colors.
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By Aaron Gold  When people make fun of Brooklyn hipsters, one of the go-to things to cite (after craft beers, underground music, and ironic tattoos) would be axe-throwing bars. But there’s a very good, very deep reason why axe-throwing has become such a staple of the scene: It’s really, really fun.
Even the less violent of us can feel a rush of pride and adrenaline as a steel hatchet leaves your hands, rotates end over end, and finds purchase in a wooden target. It’s marksmanship to the level of lumberjack. It’s darts with bladed weapons. It’s a unique experience for anyone who doesn’t have a penchant for chopping firewood or acres of wooded land, but does have a bit of free time. When approaching Kick Axe Throwing in Gowanus, you’re immediately greeted by a large statue of a bull. Because, why not? Once you get through the people who are taking their pictures beside it (don’t judge, you know you’ll be doing the same when you leave), you’re treated to a vibe that is clubhouse meets escape room. There is a nice lounge area with couches that are actually comfortable, alongside plenty of games like Jenga and beer pong. If you have to wait for your appointment, you will not be left bored, as there is plenty to fuel either your Instagram feeds or your desire for social connection. The bar is not quite as well stocked as one might hope, but that’s understandable, considering the majority of the establishment’s patrons will be spending their evening chucking hatchets. Still, the beer selection has enough to appeal to both those looking for the classic cheap drinks, as well as those with a thirst for microbrews. A few canned cocktails and wines are also available for those with more discerning palettes, but the options there are limited. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 Badass Lady-Folk host Christine Stoddard interviews New York City professor of sexuality Dr. Spring Cooper. This episode was filmed at Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 My main criterion for a date night craft activity is this: Is it fun? Close second and third: Will it bring us together? Is it achievable? After all, a date night is more about getting to know a person or, for long-term couples, keeping that flame aglow. It's not about perfection or making a museum-quality work of art. While, my partner, Aaron Gold (whose name you may recognize from other Quail Bell endeavors), and I enjoyed our first-ever ceramics foray together at Pottery 1 Studio in Brooklyn, NY, we have a couple of caveats. Pluses: We had a somewhat intimate atmosphere, with one instructor for us and another instructor/couple trio on the other side of the studio. We had more than enough instruction without feeling overwhelmed, and we were allowed to bring whatever snacks we wanted. The activity was definitely intro level, meaning we had enough time to accomplish what we wanted. We certainly learned a thing or two and got to clown around with each other, too. Minuses: The activity was not the most conducive to eating and drinking. Clay is messy, so we really had to get to a point in our respective pots—we each made one—where it was safe to start reaching into bags and crunching and chewing. There were no snacks available for purchase. Due to the physical properties of clay and the studio's process, we had to wait a month before we could come back and pick up our finished pieces. On one hand, we loved getting to create and personalize our own pieces. We have different interests, styles, and abilities, so it's nice to fly solo in that sense. On the other hand, it would've been more romantic to make one piece, perhaps a more ambitious one, together. Overall, we rated this experience 4 out of 5 stars. Find out more about date nights at Pottery 1 Studio on their website.  The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 The couple that welds together stays together. Certainly, I felt bonded with my partner (and frequent collaborator/Quail Bell Magazine photographer) Aaron Gold the night we hit up Craftsman Ave. in Brooklyn, NY for the "weld a steel rose" date night. We entered this gritty workshop fully expecting to try something new and get our hands dirty. And by "we," I mean me. I hadn't given Aaron too many hints about our destination because I wanted it to be a surprise. Surprises make date nights all the more thrilling! He knew we would be doing a couples activity and I had warned him to wear sturdy shoes and old clothes. Nada más.
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 It's tough stuff picking a dinner spot in the Hamptons when there are so many fabulous options. But if you're a fan of trying something new, relishing savory food, enjoying electric cocktails, and taking in gorgeous décor in a relaxed environment, I have a suggestion: El Turco, a new Turkish restaurant in East Hampton. Known for its Miami location, El Turco is Michelin and Quail Bell approved!
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By Amy Lee “All good things are wild and free” - Henry David Thoreau
My subscription box obsession helps me to survive the four months of harsh winter. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
On April 1st, 2021, Netflix released a seven episode series known as Worn Stories, based off of the book by Emily Spivack. The show focuses on the stories people associate with sentimental items of clothing, or the lack of clothing at all. The mini series opens in a nudist community. This may seem like a strange choice for a series about clothing, but the choice to be nude is in many ways connected to an individual’s connection with clothing.
Each episode focuses on a specific theme such as growing up or lost and found and involves a series of interviews with people about their clothing. The initial episode begins in a nudist community seemingly largely for the shock value, but also tells the stories of the individuals within the Florida community and their reasonings for their choices to go nude. This centers around an older couple who choose to go entirely nude except for shoes even when doing woodworking! The couple maintains that being nude has helped them find community and become their full selves without the confinement and restriction of clothing. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 The true crime genre became popular in the late 2010’s and has since become a very unique cultural phenomenon. This genre consists of documentaries, podcasts, YouTube channels, and so much more to tell the stories of victims of murder or abduction or those who commit these atrocities. True crime documentaries feed into the natural human fascination of learning about what we are most afraid of. Generally, the genre focuses most heavily on the cases of violence against women and children. This genre also focuses heavily on the murder or abduction of young and conventionally attractive white women. There has been research about the heavy racial bias of the stories that get told within this genre.
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By Lina Romero  My windowsill in my apartment with basil, morning glories, marigolds, a ruby ball cactus, spider plants, an orchid, and pothos propagates. I’ve loved plants for as long as I can remember, but growing up moving around, I wasn’t able to have a garden so I learned about houseplants from a young age. However most people aren’t experts, and with the current pandemic situation improving so slowly (who else is still waiting to get their vaccine?) plants are in high demand. They’re less work than a pet, they brighten up any living space, and they bring a touch of the outdoors indoors. So, for all my friends without green thumbs, below is my condensed list of the easiest plants to keep alive indoors. I’ve tried to include a variety of different looks and degrees of needs like sunlight for homes that get less or more of it.
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 For most of the world, 2020 was an incredibly difficult year. Social distancing regulations to combat the coronavirus pandemic mandated that the vast majority of people would be working from home. For college students, this meant that they would suddenly be attending college online, via Zoom. This took away many of the most vital social aspects of the college experience.
I transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University during the spring semester of 2020, meaning that I had approximately eight weeks of a ‘normal’ college experience before the whole world seemed to stop and everything moved online. For me, this made it incredibly difficult to feel connected to VCU and make friends. I was simply attending classes, but I didn’t really feel as though I was going to college. I finished out the spring semester feeling incredibly burnt out and defeated, wondering if college was even the right place for me. I dreaded the start of the fall semester because I had no idea what to expect for a semester that took place entirely online. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 I originally discovered Olivia Gatwood’s slam poetry performances on the Youtube channel of Button Poetry. I was immediately transfixed by the rawness of her poetry and the way she could captivate an audience when she performed. Gatwood doesn’t hold back, tackling subjects such as sexual assault, her own sex and sexuality, and the people in her life whom she has loved, with grace and an effortless demeanor.
Life of the Party was released in 2019 as Gatwood’s second collection of poetry, following her first release New American Best Friend. I’ll admit, poetry has never been my favorite genre to read; however, as soon as I picked up Life of the Party, I couldn’t put it down. Largely, this collection is devoted to the female experience, focusing specifically upon the violence against women and the True Crime genre, which largely centers around women — specifically white women as their stories often get the most coverage, far more than women of color — who are the victims of violence. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
 From the album’s first track “the 1” opening with the line “I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit” Taylor Swift let us know that this surprise album of Summer 2020, would be nothing like she had ever released before and there would be no holding back. Since the initial release of her first album Taylor Swift in 2006, Swift has become a household name and showed her wide range of musical prowess from country, to pop, to her newest endeavor into the folk genre with her most emotionally ambitious album yet: Folklore.
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 “This is stupid,” I said to my mother after reading her a deleted excerpt of this essay over FaceTime. For more than an hour the night before this deadline, I worked to convince my mom that I could not write an essay on being creative, especially not during the pandemic.
“But what about those postcards you made?” she insisted. “No one wants to hear about that, Mom,” I said back. “Not even I want to hear about that.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By Sara Swallow
VCU, my university, extended Spring Break a week when COVID cases first started rising. I remember my class group-chats going off about how COVID would be gone soon and we’d be back in Hibbs Hall listening to lectures in no time. My professors made jokes like Don’t get COVID while you’re gone! Looking back, everything seems like a joke. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
By The Editors  Here's a free sign to print, laminate, and stick on the floors of your public or semi-public space. Want to tip Quail Bell for this graphic? Send us some cash via Venmo @quailbellmag. We'd appreciate it and hope you can make good use of this sign! Download Here:
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 This time of quarantine has been marked by such limited face-to-face human interaction. I recently realized that when I finally see most of my friends, family, and colleagues in person again, we probably won't match our memories of each other. Digital representations are never quite true-to-life. My days are filled with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and FaceTime calls—sometimes for work, sometimes for pleasure. I take screenshots as I go along. I don't want to forget how I looked at the beginning of the pandemic and how my appearance changed. Three and a half months into it and I am already a different New Yorker than I was before COVID-19 hit. Death, illness, and isolation have changed me. Something that hasn’t changed? My love of makeup.
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