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Literary Finesse in Lobster CountryBy Laura Steadham Smith QuailBellMagazine.com In her debut novel, The From-Aways, CJ Hauser whisks us into a world of homegrown legends and tenacious lobstermen, of rocky shores and political gridlock. Set in the fictional town of Menamon, Maine, the novel tells a tale fraught with love, loss, and the unexpected friendships that sustain us. The backdrop is vivid and richly developed, and Hauser’s prose is clear, witty, and lyrical, a confident blend of action and poetry. The story introduces Leah Lynch, a journalist who follows her new husband to Menamon on the coattails of a whirlwind romance and hasty wedding. At the novel’s opening, Leah finds herself in a world both foreign and fascinating. Menamon is a town where petty squabbles count as news and the average stranger understands her new husband better than Leah herself. Leah is idealistic and naïve, but also stubborn; maybe she can’t kill a lobster, but as the action develops and the town takes sides over its uncertain future, she learns the depths of her own strength and tenacity. Quinn Winters comes to Menamon with a different agenda: to track down her long-lost father. Impetuous and quick-tempered, Quinn has arrived in Menamon without a plan, and even her most basic expectations are overturned as the novel’s twists and surprises unfold. Like Leah, Quinn is capable of loving more deeply and dangerously than she has ever known. Though the two women are widely different, they navigate the hazards of life in Menamon side by side. Readers will appreciate the friction and subsequent sparks between these disparate but complementary characters. As the tide rises, these women and the ones they love are pulled into an escalating string of events that culminate in a heartbreaking and achingly hopeful conclusion. Hauser’s debut efforts are charming, insightful, and poignant. She has earned her reputation as an author worth following, both into Menamon and in future endeavors. Rating: A+ #Nostalgic #Imaginative #CJHauser #TheFrom-Aways #Long-lostFather #MenamonMaine #BookReview #Literature Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Hateful Male EntitlementBy Zack Budryk QuailBellMagazine.com On May 23, 2014, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, a student at University of California Santa Barbara, stabbed three men to death in his apartment, drove to the Alpha Phi sorority house, and, when no one answered his knocks at the door, shot three nearby women, killing two and critically wounding a third.
After Rodger finished his spree and took his own life, the trail he’d left behind materialized, including a video in which he expressed his hatred of women and vowed to exact “retribution” on them for not having sex with him, and a rambling, self-aggrandizing manifesto (it literally begins with his birth) that culminates in a call for women to be put in concentration camps. I was transfixed by this story as both a feminist and an autistic person; some shameful, selfish part of me, knowing the existing stigma, always silently repeats “please don’t be autistic” whenever such an incident occurs, having watched that kind of harmful speculation unfold in the wake of James Holmes’ and Adam Lanza’s killing sprees. I suspected it might be the case for Rodger even before his father’s lawyer announced it as though it explained everything. If you watch Rodger’s final video (and I don’t blame you if you don’t), he clearly thinks he’s in a movie. Rodger’s writing was difficult to read, not least because, at the risk of focusing on the wrong thing, he is a terrible writer (awkward, non-conversational “big words” like “exquisite” are used over and over again, he makes multiple-page digressions on Pokemon and masturbation, and he switches tense completely at random several times). The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Our Social Media Wall of LoveBy The Quail Bell Crew QuailBellMagazine.com Here are just a few screenshots of our favorite Quail Bell Magazine mentions on Facebook and Twitter from the past few days: #Imaginary #Nostalgic #Otherworldly #QuailBellOnFacebook #QuailBellOnTwitter #QuailBellSocialMedia #Retweets #Posts Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Return of the Moon PrincessBy Fay Funk QuailBellMagazine.com In mid-May Hulu announced that it has acquired the rights to broadcast the classic anime Sailor Moon. There’s more good news for Sailor Moon fans: The show is getting a reboot in July 2014 called Sailor Moon Crystal, and some still artwork has already been released. Even though I haven’t seen Sailor Moon in years, this news made my heart flutter, and it goes deeper than just nostalgic excitement. Sailor Moon showed me early on that women can do anything. It introduced me to feminism before I knew what feminism was. Sailor Moon didn’t just show that females can be tough, it showed that femininity can be powerful and world-changing. Femininity and heroism are not mutually exclusive. Unlike in other cartoons, feminine behavior is not a sign of weakness, and any tough woman is basically a man with breasts. With it’s sparkly transformation scenes and twirly dance attacks with names like “Rainbow Moon Heart Ache” and “Moon Gorgeous Meditation,” Sailor Moon is definitely not a traditionally masculine action show. But they defeat their enemies just as well as Superman or Goku. There’s no need to be manly to be a hero. But Sailor Moon isn’t just feminine, it’s feminist. The mostly female cast come from a variety of backgrounds, and there is no one right way to be a girl on Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon/Usagi (or Serena as I knew her) is hyper-feminine, and a selfless leader. Sailor Jupiter/Makoto/Lita is a tall girl with a violent streak who still has a soft spot for boys and cooking. There was a Sailor Scout for everyone. As a kid I most identified with Sailor Mercury/Ami. Shy and smart, her passive nature often got her written off as weak. Sailor Mercury really possessed a different kind of strength: intelligence and strategy. She could also muster alarming aggression at times, but reserved that power only for when it was necessary. Mostly though, she used kindness. All the Sailor Soldiers did. Sailor Moon is a show about love. I think that’s what made it so progressive. Love has been at the heart of all progressive movements, from feminism to civil rights. Relationships between people drive the action more than winning or being the best, frequent superhero cliches. Those themes are remnants of the conquerors. Love, all kinds of love, romantic and platonic, even loving your enemies is the central theme of Sailor Moon. One of the most beautiful relationships on the show is the lesbian love between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who were changed to cousins for the English dub of Sailor Moon in a cowardly move by the English translators, DiC and Cloverway. The change went about as well as you can imagine, and instead of hiding the homosexuality the relationship appeared incestuous. I knew, even at nine years old, that Sailor Uranus and Neptune did not have a platonic relationship. At one point during a major battle it looks as though Sailor Neptune has died, and Sailor Uranus made it clear she wants to die as well. That’s the reaction someone has to losing the love of their life, not their cousin, and it was all very weird. I felt simultaneously relieved and furious about being duped when I learned years later that Uranus and Neptune were actually lesbians. It may not have been the intention of the translators to make Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune incestuous, but the results show just how deep disgust with LGBTQ people runs. This perfectly lovely romance was warped into something legitimately disturbing, and validated everything homophobes believe about gay people. Children like me were misled, and DiC and Cloverway actually furthered the notion that homosexuality is disgusting and wrong in opposition to Sailor Moon’s actual message of love and acceptance. Relating to Sailor Mercury was a big step towards accepting myself as a child, and too many young girls who might have felt a connection to Sailor Uranus or Sailor Neptune were denied that opportunity. Fortunately, the episodes that have aired so far on Hulu have not been censored. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune do not appear until much later in the series, so it remains to be seen if their relationship will be visible, but all reports indicate that they will not be hidden. It looks as though Sailor Moon will finally get to take a true stand for love and justice. #Nostalgic #Nostalgia #SailorMoon #Hulu #FeminismInSailorMoon #LesbianLoveOnSailorMoon #FeministAnime Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Some Chatter about Chatter, a Chicago Lit EventBy Quail Bell Social Butterfly QuailBellMagazine.com Windy City writing and printmaking are the belles of Printers Ball, a premiere literary event started in 2004 by Poetry magazine Associate Editor Fred Sasaki. The Printers Ball takes place June 28th at Hubbard Street Lofts in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. We emailed Angee Lennard, director of Spudnik Press Cooperative, which tasks itself with organizing the Printers Ball, and asked her a few questions about this year's sparkling event: QB: This will be the tenth Printers Ball. That must mean a lot of pressure to be extra banging. What will make this Printers Ball the Printers Ball of all Printers Balls thus far?
AL: There is a lot of pressure to throw the biggest and best Ball yet, but this is a challenge we were thrilled to take on. One highlight of the event that pays homage to the history of the event are the pop-up readings. We decided to include twice as many performers as usual, allowing us to showcase like never before the diversity of talent in our city as well as bring back performers from previous Printers Balls. We have increased the participatory aspects of the ball as well, with the majority of programming being hands-on experiences, like our program with Pixiehammer Press. Skillful poets will write a love letter or a hate letter to anyone, on your behalf. QB: The website describes the event as "quintessentially Chicagoan." How are you honoring that promise? What do you think sets Chicago's literary and printmaking culture apart from other cities'? AL: In truth, "quintessentially Chicagoan" is hard to define because we have a really diverse city. However, I will say that our literary and printmaking culture has as much to do with the artists producing work as the audience that supports their practice. Audiences tend to be more than spectators, acting as contributors and advocates. For example, our presenters include Pup House, a shadow puppet troupe, who will create in interactive shadow play with Printers Ball guests. We are teaming up with Maria's Packaged Goods, a landmark bar in the Bridgeport neighborhood that is known for their involvement in their community as much as their delicious local beers. Our city is also prolific and inventive. For example, Chicago is the home of Brain Frame, a performative comics reading series that is constantly breaking stereotypes with visual artists exploring how to translate comics into live experiences. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Rumblings of HonorBy Papa Quail QuailBellMagazine.com Rev 'em up! We're going to the Wall—the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, that is. Rolling Thunder Run to the Wall is an annual motorcycle rally that takes place the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. This year about 400,000 motorcyclists rode from the Pentagon parking lot in Arlington, Virginia to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. The rally, which has taken place every year since 1988, represents the participants' continued demand to find Prisoners of War and Missing in Action service men and women from past U.S. conflicts. The event is less commonly known as the Ride for Freedom. Quail Bell Magazine's Papa Quail attended this year's Rolling Thunder and took a few pictures with his smartphone: #Nostalgic #RollingThunder #MemorialDay #VietnamVets #WWIIVets #WashingtonDC #WashingtonMemorials #USA Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Doing a Little for Our Little Friends Across the political spectrum, if there is one thing to be agreed upon, it might be that the world is a tough place and does not reflect the type of place in which we wish we lived. If you are anything like I am, that stark reality can be a major contributing factor to feeling down and overwhelmed. I have found that it is the little things that help me fight back against the oncoming depression and darkness. Indeed, it is the small acts and the small creatures that bring a lot of light into my life. We cannot change everything overnight, but we can change how we engage with the world on a daily basis. If we take direct action to change our own environments, we are doing something tangible and something empowering. Direct action is a concept heavily associated with anarchism, but you do not have to be an anarchist to benefit from the practice. Managing to do small things for small creatures allows a sense of satisfaction and interaction that is vital for my mental health. Certainly not everyone is wired the same, but it is worth a shot. If you have companion animals, then taking care of their basic needs is a requirement, but one that you should feel good about. Getting your animal friends the proper shots and medicine, having them spayed or neutered, and making sure they are fed, watered, walked, and bathed will help make you and your animal friend healthier and happier. A dog with fleas is an unhappy creature indeed, and so is a household with fleas.
Taking care of a companion animal, however, is a pretty big responsibility. One that not everyone can or should attempt, depending on where they are in their lives. Have no fear; there are a plethora of ways to do a little something for an animal that won't break the bank or stress you out. If your neighborhood is like mine, you might have lots of stray cats. There are many levels of ways you can help stray cats. Probably the simplest is to leave cat food out for them. They will appreciate it, and over time you can develop a front yard full of the witchy babies. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Pen your way to a Motor City homeBy the Quail Bell Editors QuailBellMagazine.com "It’s like a writer-in-residence program, only in this case we're actually giving the writer the residence, forever." The common refrain is that writers need peace and quiet to concentrate and process their experiences and their research in order to write well-crafted stories. But writers also need a supportive literary community and financial stability—facts that have only more recently become topics for open discussions about M.F.A. programs, for instance. Writing groups, a local reading series, university library access, and other literary and journalistic resources can help any writer. Free rent is also nice. Write A House is a Detroit-based nonprofit that gives homes to qualified writers who already live in the Motor City or are willing to relocate there. The team teaches young folks carpentry skills and renovates old houses that are then awarded to writers. They aim to support three low- and moderate-income writers every year. Those writers are then expected to write and bolster Detroit's literary community. Write A House is also working on producing a literary journal to artistically document their renovation process. The website states: "Our long, long term goal involves building a literary colony in Detroit, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves." Well, they're already on their way! On May 12, 2014, the Write A House blog announced it had cleaned out its first house set to be renovated. Now to turn that house into a home. Are you a writer? Apply for a house. WriterHouse.org #Imaginative #MichiganNonprofit #DetroitNonprofit #DetroitArts #LiteraryDetroit #WriterResidencies #WriteYourNovel Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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On being self-published as fuck For all my adult and even adolescent life, I have self-published in the form of zines, pamphlets, scribbles, and scraps that I’d leave wherever there seemed to be an audience. It has been a key to my continued survival as a somewhat doomed-at-birth human being to process the convoluted mess that is the average human existence. But only in the past couple years have I moved into actual full-print objects that are bookish type books, but definitely still married to the freedom of 'zine-making. This has included formatting and producing electronic versions as well. I do this instead of putting all my meandering thoughts into a dragon blog that is never not hungry for more, never satisfied with what I’ve given it, and never stops scanning for something else, newer, more reactionary, more immediate, more now. Raven in his writing studio with his newest book. This is not about digital vs. print though, because—like most issues—there’s no black-or-white real truth to the debate. Everything is gray matter, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. But I can tell you getting a box of books with my assumed name my weird ass art on the cover gives me a strong sense of satisfaction. And for the most part, the larger world doesn’t care for published works and even less for self-published ones. But there are small pockets of people who at least pretend to be interested in my “work," work that has become more habit than any type of real work. Self-publishing is looked down upon by the established publishing industry as a lesser version of well-vetted projects that go through the process of fine tuning by an agent, editor, and publisher, with re-working, planned promotional tours, on and on and on. The idea is that a creative project can be fully realized after ten sets of eyes have gone over it, but maybe not so much one or two sets. But, obviously, the publishing industry’s end goal is sales. Often times in that vetting process, stories are changed and motivations are altered to engineer a more marketable final creation. Marketable to whom? Well, to people who spend money on books. To people who have enough discretionary income to shell out for books. For new books, which can sometimes be really expensive. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Uncanniest ValleyI recently wrote about how children's "imaginary friends" often turn out to be spirits. Inanimate objects also make great company. More often than not, they’re very agreeable and you hardly ever have to pay for their admission into any venue where they aren’t being showcased. More often than not, they don’t require the same level of care that a living, breathing organism necessitates. When is the last time that you had to water a doll that wasn’t part-Chia Pet? Dolls tend to do whatever their maker programmed them to say and do. Most of the time, but not all of the time. Some dolls have lives of their own that extend far beyond the simple, boring existences that their creators envisioned for them. One of the most notorious dolls in pop culture is “Robert the Doll.” Robert Eugene Otto received this doll in 1906. Rumor has it that Mrs. Otto and Mr. Otto habitually mistreated their servants, so they definitely had some kind of bad karma headed their way. But once they crossed the wrong servant and they wouldn’t get away with it. Their victim happened to be a skilled Voudou practitioner. Instead of lacing their drinks with arsenic or laxatives, she took the high road (read: the most legal option) and left the household with a momento, one that would be immortalized as the inspiration for the Child’s Play franchise.
The woman secretly “blessed” the doll clad in a Naval Officer uniform that she gave to their son. The six-year-old boy immediately fell in love with it. Robert was so smitten with the doll, he bestowed his first name to his new friend. Soon enough, he began to insist upon being called “Gene” because his original first name now belonged to his straw-stuffed playmate. Robert the doll revealed his “lively” personality soon after he moved in. Mr. and Mrs. Otto were routinely awakened by things going bump in the night along with Gene’s screams for help. Whenever they investigated the commotion, they’d find that the ruckus was Gene’s furniture being strewn about his bedroom. Visibly terrified, Gene would claim each time, “Robert did it!” Initially, his parents blamed their son’s overactive imagination and punished him. What else could rationally explain the baritone voice that responded to Gene whenever he addressed Robert? Perhaps their son had a impressive vocal range that they hadn’t been previously aware of? His parents assumed that it was all a game, that Gene was using Robert as a convenient scapegoat to blame for his own shenanigans. Gene’s parents were correct about their son having a brilliant imagination. He would eventually grow up and become a successful artist. Still, Robert’s havoc was more than the product of Robert’s creativity. It wasn’t until the neighbors started complaining about the doll moving around their home by itself that the Ottos finally believed their son. Friends of the family often saw the doll’s expressions change, heard him speak, or unleash a ghastly giggle that frightened people of all ages. The Otto family’s friends remained adamant that the hardships that befell the Ottos definitely had something to do with that dastardly doll. Apparently, everything was absolutely peachy before Robert came into the picture. That’s when they realized that there was much more to Robert than straw and cloth. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Meal with My StrangerBy Courtney Barron QuailBellMagazine.com Ironically as a person who doesn't eat land animals anymore, Southern pulled pork smothered in vinegar and spices is the food that instantly takes me back to the time spent with my dad growing up. After what seemed like forever in a plane, I would arrive to North Carolina. I visited him, my stepmom, and my two half siblings just twice a year. On our car ride from the airport to Wilmington, which were often awkward due to months spent apart, my dad and I would pull up to a Smithfield's restaurant off the highway to indulge in one of the finest meals that the Carolinas have to offer. Years later I can't recall a single time where a plate of pulled pork has not tempted me. This temptation has very little to do with taste. I've come to realize that I'm drawn to it because it reminds me of my dad. Every time this meal is in my presence I see his sun-kissed face and piercing blue eyes staring back at me, trying to find his daughter again. Sometimes we found each other during these meals and sometimes we didn't. Even years later this has been the case. For us, pulled pork is the food of strangers trying to connect because of love and despite distance. My recipe: 1. Kill a pig (in a nice way if that's even possible). 2. Roast it all day. 3. Hack it up. 4. Add some spice and vinegar (Steps 1-4 can be bypassed by visiting an authentic Southern joint who can prep this meal for you.) 5. Find your dad. 6. Connect. #Nostalgia #FoodThatBringsBackMemories #SouthernPulledPork #SouthernFood #PersonalRecipes #DeliciousFood #BBQ Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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On the harmonious fusion of Romani “Gypsy” music I had the good fortune to conduct an interview with the scintillating Tatiana Eva-Marie, a performer of mixed-Romani heritage who The Wall Street Journal has called, “One of the best young singers around.” She holds a degree in medieval poetry from the Sorbonne University in Paris where, at night, she “performed as a Gypsy singer at night in cabarets across the city, barefoot on tables with the Eastern mafia drinking vodka out of her shoes.” She has also graced the stage as a singer and actress “in some of the most renowned theaters in France, including the Comedie Française and the Théâtre du Rond Point. Tatiana Eva-Marie wrote and directed two musical theater plays, Rhapsodia and The Magic Violin, which had a lot of success at the Avignon Theater Festival.” Now you can find her performing in New York City as the lead singer of The Avalon Jazz Band, alongside her husband, violinist Adrien Chevalier, as well as in the world music documentary and competition Music Explorer representing French, Yiddish, and Romani music. The documentary airs in June, which also happens to be Romani and Traveller History Month, and you can vote for Tatiana now via the website. If you’re not sure who the Roma are, allow Dr. Ian Hancock, linguist, Romani scholar, and professor at The University of Texas—Austin, to explain. In short, the Roma, the ethnic group better known as Gypsies, originated in India and began to travel west, most likely because of the invading Muslim army, in the 11th century. In Europe, Roma were met by hostile Christians who were suspicious of their dark skin and ‘strange’ customs, and were violently persecuted throughout the continent and enslaved in the Balkans. The Roma were forced into a nomadic lifestyle, not as a show of free-spirited whimsy as movies and literature suggest, but to escape the rising tide of antigypsyism which still surges today. Romani culture is expansive yet tightly knit—there are Roma on almost every continent and yet both the culture and ethnicity have remained distinct—in fact, most Roma are much closer genetically to Indians than to Europeans. In the twentieth century in Paris, Jazz Manouche became extremely popular, spearheaded by prodigies Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Biréli Lagrène, and many others. Manouche refers to the name of the Romani clan* in and around Paris that Reinhardt and others in the movement belong to. Although Roma are often called “Gypsies” and Jazz Manouche is frequently called “Gypsy Jazz,” the word 'Gypsy' is both a misnomer and a racial slur. (For instance, people say, “I’ve been gypped!” to mean, “I’ve been cheated!” This comes from ‘thieving Gypsy’ stereotype.) Even though Gypsy is the word that most of us are familiar with, it’s best if you join the education front: if you aren’t Romani, don’t say Gypsy. Instead say 'Romani people,' 'Roma,' and 'Jazz Manouche.' However, many Roma and people of Romani heritage, like Tatiana Eva Marie, make a conscious choice to reclaim the word Gypsy, as is their prerogative. Romani (“Gypsy”) culture glitters with music and has influenced musical styles across the world for centuries and Romani musicians have long been appreciated by gadjé, non-Romani people, for their talent and unique sound. Historically and presently, however, gadjé culture has done little more than appreciate the entertainment and fantasy that Roma provide while Roma all over the world continue to struggle for representation, human rights, and equality. A haunting reminder of the world’s fickle affection toward the Roma is the story of how Django Reinhardt, the famous Manouche “Gypsy” Jazz musician, was spared from the concentration camps because the Nazis who invaded France enjoyed attending his concerts. The more that Romani musicians, scholars, artists, writers, and professionals are represented and represent themselves, the more the rest of the world can experience, understand, and fall in love with real Romani culture and the individuals who make up the many clans and communities—and hopefully countries will treat their Roma as equal citizens and residents. I love Tatiana’s music for many reasons—it’s eerily gorgeous yet cheerfully sweet, it makes me feel in touch with a heritage that was nearly stifled through genocide and intolerance and nearly lost in my own family, and it’s a glorious fusion of Roma & European-gadjé aesthetics and sound. Even Tatiana herself is a voice of tolerance and inclusion and expresses her own multi-cultural heritage as the harmonious joy of ‘the melting pot.’ We need more of this coexistent beauty in our world. * There are many, many Romani clans, all with their own culture and dialect of Rromanes (the Romani language), so it is impossible to generalize about Romani culture as a whole. For more about Romani culture, check out RADOC, ROMBASE, The Romedia Foundation, The Gypsy Chronicles, and Patrin. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Beginnings of Palabras a DiosPalabras a Dios is book of Catholic poems written by school children in Piura, Peru, as well as teen girls at the orphanage Hogar del Redentor, which suffered a fire last month. The students wrote these poems in September 2013 during workshops led by missionaries from Commissioned by Christ. Palabras a Dios will feature English and Spanish translations of the poems, plus essays by missionaries and parish staff. It will be published as a fundraiser for Hogar Madre del Redentor's ongoing needs, from food to clothes to bedding and more. The book, which is currently still in the production stage, is being coordinated by Quail Bell Press & Productions. It is on track for being published by early 2015.
Here are some of the poems that will be featured in the book: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Light vs. BrightThis is a movie about two women staying at a beachside cottage for an indefinite period of time. This is a movie about how the two interact with one another. This is a movie where the characters of these women are drawn out and questioned, with conflict arising from the closed environment and the opposite personalities of the two women on screen. This should be an easy movie to understand, but it is probably one of the most striking surrealist films ever made.
Directed by Swedish legend Ingmar Bergman, Persona is a 1966 drama that pushes many different boundaries of what was considered conventional at the time. The American release had to have a few notable edits, such as removing a still image of an erect penis that appears briefly, while also heavily editing the dialogue in one particular scene. Persona is a movie that appears very alien to the viewer, but watching the film causes the viewer to be completely thrown off. Everything the viewer knows about cinema is uprooted by this film. The film opens with a series of strange images and sounds. It opens with a film projector, images of an old cartoon, a silent era film, a sheep getting its throat slit, a hand getting nailed to a cross, and more. It then settles on a bespectacled boy, who reads a book in bed, then caresses a large blurry image that shifts between the two lead actresses. In the first five minutes, the viewer isn't sure what to think. They can try to assume that the images will come into play in the film or are all symbolic of something greater to come, but no clear answer is given. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
After You Walk The StageThis statement has been uttered more times than I can remember: “College is the best four years of your life.” And as a transfer student, it was a difficult concept to grasp, but even through all the bullshit classes, late night studying sessions at the library, accounting classes you may or may not have been required to take (still trying to figure that one out), you still came out with a home away from home. After graduation, for the first time in recent memory, you don't have the guarantee of another semester. You are now facing the part of your life that all this schooling was supposed to prepare you for, “the real world.” But, if anything, you feel underprepared. You realize that money isn’t steady if you’re a designer, a writer, or a historian. You come to realize you just need a job, any job, to get by. Your 22-year old self has to face unfamiliar territory with no comfort of a convenient advisor just a classroom away. You’re faced with a new kind of reality filled with bills, endless job applications, 401k plans, business casual or business professional (!?), and worse—wearing a suit makes you feel like you are a little kid trying on your dad's blazer for the first time. But, as much as you want to pout, drop to your knees, and sing that you don’t want to grow up because you’re a a Toys R Us kid, that may be backtracking.
Inevitably you knew this day would come, although, in the end that wasn’t your only fear come graduation. In the haze of four years you made a place you could call home. Not one spot on campus doesn’t hold a memory: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Most Magical of HorsesBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com Some children grow up and become teachers. Some become lawyers or plumbers or bankers. But you? You will become a unicorn. Here's what clued me in: 1. Grass that glitters in the sunshine and talks to you about your dreams your ultimate food—and really the only thing you'll eat. Other than cotton candy and ice cream, of course. 2. You have a bump on your forehead that never goes away, but you don't mind. You know it will grow into something beautiful one day. 3. You don't just have two left feet when you dance. You have three. And, actually, they're hooves. 4. Everyone keeps saying you're a symbol for Jesus Christ, but you just don't get it. 5. Your most ardent admirers are five-year-old girls. 6. Even though you live in a castle, you wish you lived on a rainbow. 7. You've had a serious crush on a leprechaun at some point. 8. When you sneeze, fairies shoot out of your nose. 9. Your big body hangup? You tell yourself that if you had wings like Pegasus, you'd be perfect. 10. You honestly have no idea what poop is. Wait, that's what those pink marshmallows that pop out of your butt are called? #Unicorn #Pegasus #WhenYouGrowUp #MagicalCreatures #Satire #MysticalBeasts #Horsies #PrettyPonies #Humor #SillyTalk Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Girl Power/Quail PowerQuail Bell Magazine (www.quailbellmagazine.com) regularly seeks great feminist content. Do you write essays? Make videos? Take photos? Draw comics? Send us your work! #FeministArt #FeministWriting #FeministFilms #FeministVideos #FeministComics #FeministContent #FeministCreations Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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A Door for the AgesBy Quail Bell Camera Eye QuailBellMagazine.com “The first door in the hall leads to youth, the second door leads to middle age, and the third door leads to the bathroom. But knock first, because I think grandpa’s in there.” —Jarod Kintz, This Book Has No Title #Door #Portal #Passageway #AnotherDimension #PeelingPaint #InNeedOfRepair #JustALittleTLC #WhereTheHellIsThis? Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Talking, Sharing, SolvingBy Kay Feathers QuailBellMagazine.com "The mission: to uplift humanity one conversation at a time. --Free Advice Girl, Lisa Podell Growing up, you probably heard those fables of desperate people climbing tall mountains to seek the advice of a soothsayer or witch or wizard or somebody who knew what was up (besides the sky.) In Manhattan, the trek to wisdom is much shorter. That's thanks to Lisa Podell, a.k.a. Free Advice Girl, a longtime applied theatre teacher who's traveled the world leading workshops in prisons, schools, and homeless shelters. She has made New York's Washington Square Park her spiritual home. That's where she puts out a simple cardboard sign reading 'Free Advice' and lies in wait for strangers to approach her and ask for help. Well, most don't ask for help as much as they do a caring ear and a caring heart. In an email to Quail Bell Magazine, Podell wrote, "I don't tell anyone what to think or what to do but listen and ask questions to help them discover what THEY want and to take action from there." She's interested in assisting folks with finding solutions. So they talk it out for as long as it takes. And where is all of this conversation going? In an email, Podell wrote: "I have started The Advice Project—various projects that have been created as a direct result of offering Free Advice in the park. They all support the mission of uplifting humanity one conversation at a time. The latest project is a series of workshops that a colleague of mine and I have created and are teaching in a NYC high school classroom. The program is designed to empower young students and help them to develop and express their own voice. We do this through the teaching of communication skills, life skills and storytelling. We aim to have this program offered in public schools throughout the city." And to think it all started with sitting in the park. FreeAdviceGirl.com #FreeAdviceGirl #WashingtonSquarePark #NYU #NYC #Counseling #BigProblems #BigSolutions #HelpingOthers #Kindness Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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The Truth About Imaginary FriendsBy Ghia Vitale QuailBellMagazine.com Every cool kid had at least one imaginary friend when they were growing up. Some children invent imaginary friends to fulfill a purpose and then promptly get rid of them. Others have more consistent identities and remain with the minds that imagined them to life. Mental health experts and adults conclude that children invent imaginary friends as a psychological defense mechanism, a way to satisfy the needs that real people were failing to meet. I’ve heard about children befriending imaginary people in times of abandonment, such as an when older sibling whom they once spent a lot of time with starts attending school full-time. However, my experiences have taught me that there is far more depth to imaginary friends.
Paranormal experts (and people in general) accept that children are generally more capable of perceiving spirits than adults are. The purity of young minds allows them to trust their supersensory abilities without question. After so many cups of coffee and clock-punching, adult brains get tired and we settle into a routine. Plainly put, the humdrum of adulthood closes our minds to preserve whatever remains of our sanity. In many instances, imaginary friends are actually spirits who pursue a child's friendship for a host of different reasons. Some are the spirits of dead people who enjoy children's company, like the friend of my aunt whose daughter started talking about how she played with a woman named "Olivia." They later found out that a woman named Olivia died in their house. I could imagine how the novelty of being dead would get old pretty quickly. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
You don't have to be rich to live rich.By The Quail Bell Crew QuailBellMagazine.com Recently the Quail Bell Crew discussed money matters in our super-secret staff Facebook group forum. Unfortunately, being an accomplished poet or painter means nothing in the world of money management. And money is not very smart or motivated. In fact, it's pretty lazy. Where it goes and what it does is largely up to you. Don't expect it to make any decisions by itself. You must be its frugal sage (which sounds scary, but doesn't have to be.) Here are a few financial tips we exchanged and think you ought to know, too. Admittedly, these tips are a little random, but sometimes the best advice comes out of the blue: "Don't spend money. Make money. Less effort, greater reward." "Spend money on experiences rather than unnecessary things (travel, books, etc. instead of dumb shit like manicures)." "Find a place with cheap produce and don't eat as much meat." "Make sure your career goals align with the necessity of a college education. If not, then go to vocational school if possible. Take on as little debt as possible." "If you have a cat, learn how to trim their claws with fingernail clippers. If it's done right, it won't hurt the cat and you won't lose the security deposit on your rental to cat destruction." "Living at home frees up some money for student loans and life experiences, so if your parents allow it there's no shame in living with them for a bit." "Thrift stores. Especially ones in small towns since city ones tend to be picked through and overpriced. My favorite "business" shirt came from a thrift store meant for little old ladies on Long Island." "Set up investment consultations at a couple of banks. Shop around for the best options. Make sure you get an information packet, make notes, and consider your choices." "For realsies, gotta know the dollar deals—[like where I live in Richmond, Virginia], Monday at Little Mexico is $1 tacos, Tuesday at City Dogs is $1 hot dogs and Wednesday at Little Mexico is $1 enchiladas." "Do your own hair. Cut it. Dye it. Whatever you want, but do it yourself." "Don't be afraid to use local buses and subways. A little (internet) research can go a long way!" "Find a credit union but make sure it's convenient." #MoneyMatters #Finance #Banking #Debt #Credit #LifeDecisions #BigPlans #BuyingStuff #SavingMoney #BeSmart Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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On the 'Most Inclusive' Poetry Fest in the Big AppleThe New York City Poetry Festival is run almost entirely by Nicholas Adamski and me. Nicholas also co-organizes The Poetry Brothel with me. Of course, we also have a slew of friends, volunteers, and interns who help us out. Liz Axelrod has been huge on development for us. Lisa Marie Basile manages our social media presence. Alyssa Morhardt-Goldstein and Jordana Frankel run the Children's Poetry Festival. We couldn't have done made past festivals happen without former interns Conor Messinger, Emma Timbers, and Elizabeth Von Klemperer, volunteers like RA Araya and James Cook, and active supporters like John Deming at Coldfront Magazine and Jen Benka at the Academy of American Poets. Nick and I first conceived the festival while planning The Poetry Brothel's summer residency on Governors Island in 2011. We looked at the beautiful triangle of grass sprawling out in front of our house, and realized we needed to host a poetry festival there. Our mission as collaborators has always been to present poetry in beautiful, innovative, and "not boring" ways in order to re-introduce the art of poetry to the general population. The New York City Poetry Festival draws inspiration from a vast history of summer festivals, from ancient to the present, to celebrate the vibrancy of the poetry community in New York City. I am the Executive Director of the festival with a staff of volunteers, which basically means that I coordinate all of the minute logistics that go into the festival's production, and I also execute a bunch of those logistics. I organize the development, programming, and publicity for the festival. For this year's festival, I wrote grants, sponsorship decks, and budgets and disseminated them; I put out the call for participants and have managed all of that information as it has come in; I had a new website designed, and I write and manage all that content; I co-directed a Kickstarter video and launched a (successful!) Kickstarter campaign; and now I am beginning to coordinate and train all of our staff. I basically read and answer A TON of emails. Governors Island is a magical relic of New York's history, a pastoral island that somehow exists in one of the biggest cities in the world. The Trust for Governors Island is also incredibly supportive of the arts. We chose July because it is a hot and sunny month in the middle of summer. Festival highlights include our headliners: Paul Muldoon and the Wayside Shrines, Mark Doty, Joyelle McSweeney, and Matthea Harvey. Paul Muldoon will be playing music with his band. Other highlights include the Brooklyn Brewery Beer Garden, where we'll be serving $5 beer all day; The Poetry Brothel, in an old, dark, candlelit officer's house where poets will give private, one-on-one poetry readings; The Ring of Daisies Open Mic; The Children's Poetry Festival, where there will be writing games and an all-kids stage, and The Typewriter Project, where attendees are invited to write a few lines on an antique typewriter in a rustic, wooden booth. I usually tell non-poets there is a ferry ride, cheap beer, delicious food, and a solar powered merry-go-round. Non-poets love this festival! This is the most inclusive poetry festival in New York, if not the world. We invite all poetry organizations, large and small, to participate, and we have them curate their own readers. It is also free to attend and free to participate. #NYCPoFest #PoetryFestival #StephanieBerger #GovernorsIsland #NYCArts #LiteraryFestival #NYCPoetryReadings Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Over the River and to Mill MountainOpened in November 1927, Roanoke, Virginia's Walnut Avenue Bridge lets cars and pedestrians get over the railroad tracks and into the residential neighborhood at the foot of Mill Mountain. Who cares about Mill Mountain, you ask as a non-Roanoker. Mill Mountain is the site of the city's famous star. It's really just a huge star that lights up at night but it sure is pretty. It even has its own camera. But going back to Walnut Avenue Bridge: It goes over the Roanoke River and has some rather rundown (but entrancing) old buildings for company. Consider these pics iPhone evidence. #Roanoke #Virginia #WalnutAvenue #MillMountain #RoanokeStar #StarCity #StarCam #SouthwestVA Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Hair TherapyEditor's Note: Read Part I of "Touching a Stranger" here. We loaded ourselves into the van and bumped along the dirt roads to another township. The homes here were less so huts than they were the Peruvian equivalent of desert ramblers: We pulled up before our destination—a home the same color as the sand. The modest building had a rather low wall on its front face with the door reminding me more of an entrance to a garden than a house. Overall, the home was long and narrow with one bed and a small cooking area covered in ash. Though the home was bigger and sturdier than the blind man's, it still lacked first world comforts. While I knew I wouldn't miss not having a TV set, I knew I would miss not having a stove or computer, for example.
The moment we stepped out of the van, children clung to us. This time the driver joined us, too. She, like the nurse, worked at the parish and was only a few years older than me, perhaps not yet 30. We started singing to the kids and I dug out the raisins and peanuts I had in my purse. Back in the States, I knew plenty of kids who wrinkled their little noses at raisins. In Piura, the children devoured them. Now we visited an elderly woman with severe rheumatoid arthritis. She was curled up on her bed, her hands balled into claws, her feet contorted and covered with reddish purple splotches. Because of the woman's limited mobility, her hard bed was her domain. After we greeted the woman, the other missionary and I sat on the bed and helped lift her up. The woman could not sit up by herself. Throngs of children zipped into the house to watch. They all appeared healthy save for one who had a bad case of pink eye. The nurse explained to us how gentle we had to be in combing and braiding the woman's hair, clipping her nails, and cleaning her limbs. I interpreted for the other missionary and we set to work. I had never really brushed straight hair before. I come from a family of curly and wavy hair. My own hair coils into corkscrews, my mother's bounces in soft waves, one sister has big curls, the other slight waves. I never really brushed friends' hair growing up because that's simply not a game we played as little girls. As a child of the '90s, even my Barbie dolls had poofy, teased hair. When there's a knot I can't brush out, I rip it out because, frankly, I have a lot more hair to spare. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
197 Episodes of Solid Nerd HumorNow that I have graduated college, I have a lot of free time before I begin working part-time at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and while I'm looking at possible grad school opportunities. This is time I've tried putting towards creative writing assignments and other hobbies around my house, but the desire to goof off has come up plenty. One of the ways this has emerged is that I've been revisiting one of the most influential shows of my life: Mystery Science Theater 3000. Episodes of the series can be found on Netflix, and even more can be found in full on YouTube. As a result, I can settle down for an evening and watch an entire 90-minute episode of the show, taking in both a movie and a television show.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ran from 1989 to 1999 for 197 episodes. Although the show's cast has rotated during the run, the basic premise remains the same. Mad scientists have launched an average joe to a satellite floating in space dubbed the Satellite of Love. On the satellite, the poor schmuck is forced to sit in a theater and watch bad movies every day so the “mads” can find the perfect bad movie to conquer the world with. The protagonist for the first few years was Joel Robinson, played by Joel Hodgson from 1988-1993. When Hodgson left the show, he was replaced with Mike Nelson, played by Michael J. Nelson. The show shifts between host segments and film segments. In the host segments, Joel or Mike interacts with the robots Joel built (Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cambot) and have humorous bits with the mad scientists. In the film segments, Joel/Mike, Crow, and Tom enter the theater and watch the movie-of-the-week. The shows plays the movie of the week, with silhouettes of the S.O.L crew at the bottom of the screen, showing the three characters watching the movie and riffing on the feature presentation. The riffs can range from comments on the actors, criticism of the production values, pop culture references, to even adding humorous sound effects to random moments. This series is one of the most influential pieces of media I have ever known. I first discovered the show when I was nine years old, when the Sci-Fi channel aired reruns at 9 a.m. On Saturday mornings. MST3K (as the show is often abbreviated as) was a show my dad was a fan of, and since I had discovered it on my own, I found myself hooked. I'd get up early on Saturday mornings just to watch the show, the same way kids in my age group probably woke up early to watch Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. |
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