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SELF ESTEEM BINGO IN HEAVENBy Christoper Sloce QuailBellMagazine.com
Thursday I would have taken a picture but they took my phone so I wouldn’t hang myself with Tetris. First group activity: a 5 x 5 bingo board with platitudes in each square. It was called Self-Esteem Bingo. The group counselor called them and we had to search for the aspects of self-esteem so we could get a piece of candy or something. I thought we were supposed to mark down things we thought we saw in ourselves. I ended up sitting and staring at a square reading “an attitude of gratitude”. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Racial disparities in marijuana arrests seen across Virginia
By SaraRose Martin
Capital News Service QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: Though this report covers an area-specific problem, we would like to assert that this is a wide-scale problem affecting many African-Americans throughout the nation. We encourage our readers to speak out against this injustice in their own towns. Refer to our submission guidelines to submit your own piece about racial injustice. RICHMOND – Hanover County, just north of Richmond, has about 88,000 white residents, and in an average year, 246 whites are arrested there for marijuana possession. That represents a rate of 280 white arrests for every 100,000 white residents. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
How to Use All Caps Tastefully: A Review of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha IrbySamantha Irby knows how to introduce herself, she’s able to step into the spotlight and scream “THIS IS ME!” and have everyone look at her. Her collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, opens with “My Bachelorette Application.” The essay showcases her love of television and her comedy. The essay in an application format, explore who Irby is and her many quirks. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Queer Latinx Artist Reclaims Queen’s “Somebody to Love”
Of all their songs, “Somebody to Love” is one of Queen’s most famous. While it does not hold the operatic and theatrical qualities of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the song is powerful, emotional, and shows the remarkable range of Freddie Mercury’s voice. The song was released in 1976 on their album A Day at the Races; it sits alongside another powerful song, “White Man,” which discusses the inhumane treatment of Native Americans by European immigrants. “Somebody to Love” is a monologue by a nameless person who is desperate to find love. The lyrics are poignant and pleading, with the singer declaring, “Each morning I get up I die a little. Can barely stand on my feet. Take a look in the mirror and cry, ‘Lord what you're doing to me?’” While the lyrics don’t offer specifics on the narrator or his story, that did not stop them from speaking to José Rivera, Jr.
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Beth Van Hoesen’s Boots: A Feminist Inquiry Recently at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, viewers witnessed Beth Van Hoesen’s (American, 1926-2010) talent for technique and passion for her models through some of her animal prints alongside the work of John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851), and John Woodhouse Audubon (American, 1812-1862) in Audubon & Van Hoesen: Illustrating Animals. Still, Van Hoesen’s work goes beyond the animal, though many might be familiar with her domestic side, via commercialized calendars and notecards of cats. Though these surely exhibit her abilities and popularity, I write this article in response to high art culture, an experience of which gave light to those in the field who might overlook her breadth for these very reasons, and I hope to, even in a small way, reignite her authenticity as an artist.
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Coming Out of the Room: A Journey Through Major Depressive DisorderWords by Emily Linstrom Image by Julia Margaret Cameron I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder at 23, though it’s been enjoying a rent-free existence in my right anterior insula since puberty. There are many types of depression—manic, atypical, situational, etc.—and they all sort of fall under an all-roads-lead-to-Rome type umbrella. And because depressives really are like snowflakes—no two the same, and yet exactly the same—I am the product of equal parts genetic predisposition and childhood conditioning. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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7 Things I’ve Learned in 7 Years of Sobriety Lucky number seven, Seven Seas, Seven Heavens, Seven Continents, Seven Colors in the Rainbow, Seven Notes on a musical scale, Seven days in a week, Seven Wonders of the World and for me seven years of sobriety. I say lucky for me because I shouldn’t be alive today. A lot can happen in seven years and the greatest part about being sober throughout, is the fact that I cherished every moment. So much can happen in seven years and so much more can happen if you are constantly changing. Through my years of sobriety these are the seven most important things I have learned.
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Laurel Wreaths: A Brief Hydrosol EncounterThis brief and admittedly drunken hydrosol encounter with laurel (Laurus nobilis) was inspired by Cathy Skipper's Hydrosols class at the School for Aromatic Studies.
Last week I ordered my little arsenal of sensory indulgences from Aromatics International because they were the only (recommended) online aromatherapy shop I could find that was not sold out of this delicious hydrosol. It was my first time ordering from them, but I'll definitely order from them again. I must confess that I'm a slut when it comes to buying essential oils and hydrosols. It is my firm belief that not all companies can provide all your needs, they must have specialties, and expertise, and so as with clothes, groceries, booze, and pretty much everything else, I have no interest in shopping one place exclusively. My impression is that in the world of aromatics, it is best to steer clear of those companies that tell you they can fulfill all your needs, i.e. beware the multi-level marketing when it comes to aromatics, and probably everything else too. Ok, enough PSA for today. Here's my hydrosol encounter with one of my all-time favorite trees, the laurel. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Advice on FetishesDear Margot,
Why do furries get off by watching Zootopia? –Asking for a friend The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Falling Back to ButterfliesBy Raymond Greiner QuailBellMagazine.com Three summers past we experienced a horrid drought. Crops failed, ponds dried up and grass was brown, an apocalyptic scene. The poplar trees took the biggest hit; we lost ten yet some survived, a depressing summer. The forces of nature can be gentle or harsh; they can display extreme beauty or hideous ugliness. Regardless of crisis magnitude nature perpetuates, adjusting and regenerating, harmonizing with Earth, flowing with tides of change.
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My Mom Loves ButtsMy mom sure loves butts a lot.
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Learning to Share Two MothersMost people get to celebrate their Mother’s Day with a Mother. I am lucky. I get to celebrate with two. I have my biological mother, the one who gave birth to me, and I also have my Nana. Though many people find it unusual and many don’t understand it, my Nana has been taking care of me and my siblings since before I was born. She moved in with my family as a Nanny when she turned 17, the same age my mother was when she got engaged. At the age of 21, my Mother had her first child; my older sister. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Surviving Bigfoot and the Dixie MafiaIt was in the hot dusty summer of 1964 that my young life would make a dramatic change forever. I would leave my sheltered childhood behind at six years old, and meet strange new people and creatures. They would dramatically shape my young life. That particular August I was six years old, being born March 5, 1958 in Fairview, Oklahoma.
I was born at home on Walnut Street, just a stone's throw from the First Baptist Church. That was where my family and I worshiped every week. I was my parents third child and first son. Doctor Harry Baughan delivered me one cold rainy day in March. The good doctor and mom was expecting twins, however it was only me a twelve pound baby boy. At birth I was able to roll over and crawl. The doctor told mother I was truly an amazing baby. Lots of people from church came to see mother's incredible baby. Dad named me Dennis after his friend Dennis Huff in California. Mr Huff owned a global shipping empire and dad was his collections agency. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Old ClothesNancy and Mary, my nieces, pirouetted for the floor length mirror. A quick turn and the young women disappeared into the little girls of years ago. My mind does that to me these days. I don’t retain good chronology.
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That Time, AgainTwo years have passed since my last menstrual period, and I'm done with bleeding forever.
This ought to fill me with joy. Though my period occurred at regular intervals for forty-two years, its arrival always seemed to catch me by surprise. Often, a stream of blood would suddenly tumble into my underpants while I was strolling through a department store, entertaining a new lover, or working at a desk on an important project. I'd feel that telltale rush, and the accompanying fear that I would leave a trail of blood marking my passage, like Gretel with her bread crumbs. Want to know where to find me? Follow the droplets. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
“Nostalgia is an Affliction”: A Review of Salt Houses Salt Houses by Hala Alyan cannot have been published at better time. When the world is split up into black and white, good verses bad, right and wrong, Alyan opens up colorful shades of in between. Alyan’s characters are Muslim and she shows beautiful people who are individuals. She discusses their faith and shows how each character expresses that or chooses not to. Salam was religious, Alia and Mustafa fluctuate with it. Riham becomes deeply devout to the annoyance of her siblings. Souad rebels from it in every way she can, and Budur never talks about it.
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Speaking in Bootongue
By Amy Bassin and Mark Blickley
QuailBellMagazine.com Speaking in Bootongue from Amy Bassin on Vimeo. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Self-Seduction: An Autosexual RomanceBy Chris Villka QuailBellMagazine.com The lights low, his glistening contours barely visible in the mirror. I step closer. So does he.
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7 Reasons Why Sunflower Oil Is Your Beauty BFFSunflower oil is a cheap beauty potion you can find at most grocery stores.
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Unicorns Are the New (Sugary) OwlsThere’s always some particular animal that is socio-culturally crowned in vogue. For a reign of roughly a year, paws or hooves, stripes or spots, it becomes the “cool” critter to like. And with the exception of say, D.C.’s panda-monium — I am neither the first nor the last to make that too-easy pun--due to the National Zoo, it is 99% arbitrary. But omnipresent. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Til I Am A Thousand SalmonMystery Meat is a sound collage podcast based in Charlotte, Asheville, and New Orleans. Each episode is made up of audio submitted by listeners. Anything within your rights to submit is welcome. From that they create monthly collages meant to challenge, delight, and encourage the audience to listen to their environment in new ways. Mystery Meat is, by its nature and relationship to its audience, a chance operated podcast and a conversation between the listener and the editor. They also manage a mail art campaign, create sound design for theatre and film, and create installations and events which explore the act of listening. Find out more or contact them through mysterymeatpodcast.com. Click here to listen.The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Widow's Peak: The Kiss of Death
By Amy Bassin and Mark Blickley
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