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A Review of Child Bite's Negative NoiseLately, I have been deep in the bowels of Detroit’s music scene. From Techno to Punk Rock, Detroit has always been a staple of raw heartfelt opinionated emotional statements about what is happening in our modern society and the harmony of the human struggles. This city is a birthplace for progressive and substantially talented musicians. It’s also an incredibly hard city to love just like the complex and experimentally weird Punk Rock band, Child Bite.
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Ceci est non seulement une critique de livreBy Alex Carrigan @carriganak QuailBellMagazine.com *Author's Note: Sylvan prefers to use gender-neutral pronouns (they/them/their), hence why I'm exclusively using them in this piece In recent months, Jade Sylvan has become one of my favorite rising figures in the literary world. A genderqueer* poet, playwright, actor, performing artist, and producer, Sylvan has been called a “risque queer icon” by the Boston Globe and has written for publications like Buzzfeed, The Washington Post, and more. I first discovered Sylvan through the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop, reading one of their essays for a project with the group. Immediately, I was smitten, and I knew I had to expose myself to their work. Unfortunately, since I can’t travel to Boston to see the apocalyptic fringe lesbian sci-fi burlesque horror musical they wrote and produced (Spider Cult: The Musical, with shows on June 24 and 26), I managed to find their 2013 memoir, Kissing Oscar Wilde.
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No Plus One Kicks Singlism In The ButtDo you want to make the absolute best out of being single? No Plus One by Steph Young and Jill Dickman can help you master this art in a matter of simple steps. In my opinion, the official site was accurate in its claim that this book is, in fact, "the ultimate manual for living an amazing single life." just might be one of the best investments you could ever make. The Facebook like page summarizes the book a guide on "how to take risks, keep your standards high, get over an ex, and deal with bad dating advice." Buy it now or forever regret missing out on your singleness.
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Shifting PolesBy Scott Thomas Outlar QuailBellMagazine.com Welcome to the Apocalypse. Armageddon spills across the sky in the form of a hazy mushroom cloud. This is the Day of Death. A thousand brutal cuts to the atmosphere- caused by blind fools serving principalities of power that have gone wickedly askew- bleed the wound until it weeps its disgust downward upon the world. We are the inheritors of the polluted filth. Strewn outward from the recesses of abysmal failure. A despondent organic machine in deepening decline. Earth coughing, hacking, and wheezing for fresh air, gasping as the tar-blackened lungs desperately seek the oxygen of which they’ve been starved. A cancer spreads until it kills the host. Parasitic relationship unto the grave.
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Hope and Try to be Human: How to be an American in London These DaysOver the last week I’ve been writing two pieces about hatred and hope in the wake of the Orlando shooting and the murder of MP Jo Cox. Neither of those seem helpful today, in the light of yet another dark twist in the political fabric of western societies. As an American resident (but not naturalised citizen) of the UK, the first few hours of today (Friday the 24th of June) has been thoroughly surreal. The last two days in London have been heavy and grey with thunderstorms; widespread flooding has taken place. This morning, the skies are blue and sunny. The shouts of children allowed to play outside at the primary school next door are loud and, it would seem, largely oblivious to the state of European (or World) politics. This is comforting. Overnight, the votes of the UK’s referendum on whether or not to remain part of the European Union were counted. The ‘Leave’ vote won at 52% to ‘Remain’s’ 48%. Those voting Leave were overwhelmingly older, white, rural or suburban, middle-to-lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. (UK writers refer to this as ‘working class’, which to my American ears, allergic to class designations, always sounds like something of an epithet.) Younger people, those living in urban areas, those with connections or investments, those feeling less disenfranchised by the current political systems at home and abroad—those are the people who (mostly) voted Remain. Overnight, as predicted, the British Pound fell to its lowest value since 1985. The most common word on the radio this morning has been ‘instability’. Overnight, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, decided to resign. Overnight, far-right cohorts in a number of other European countries began their calls for their own referendums of leaving the EU. Overnight—it is difficult to feel any other way—hatred (this time, the xenophobic kind) had another tiny victory over hope. __ The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Mono is StupidAfter thinking I was just loaded down from stress, I finally just went to the doctor because I felt kinda horrible. The first time I went they assumed I had strep and sent me home with giant antibiotic pills I had to cut into fourths because they were SO DAMN HUGE. Also, if you left them too long in your mouth (swallowing pills was kind of hard with horribly swollen tonsils), they tasted like what my friend describes as an “acidic asshole.”
She was right. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
How I Know Radical Leftist Gun Nuts Are RealIt's taken me over a decade to face the fact that guns might not be in the best interest of the people. One of the biggest misunderstandings people have is that the more left-leaning your opinions tend to be, the more anti-gun you likely are. When people think of radical leftists, they typically think of people whose final agenda is to banish guns off of the face of existence.
That assumption couldn't be more false. The truth is that pro-gun radical leftists are very real and far more numerous than people might assume. I've seen more radical communities filled with pro-gun anarchists, socialists, and communists than I could ever begin to count. When I first started getting into radicalism, the online radical left community's gun fixation sort of gave me the chills. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
AirplaneBy Vanessa Wang QuailBellMagazine.com I’ve been on more airplanes than anyone else in my class. I’m the girl who misses school the first and last week of every semester, who starts her vacations early and returns to school late. I’m the girl who travels to America two times a year.
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Silent and Speaking: What Can Allies Do in the Wake of a Massacre?In the wreckage of the Pulse massacre, there’s a lot being said about LGBTQIA pride, about standing up in the face of violence. About the great value of being oneself, publicly and without shame. And I love that. Nothing nullifies intimidation tactics like the refusal to be intimidated. Many of us have endured years of a quieter violence, being told that we are broken, evil, or crazy, and so our pride is radical act of love. As a bisexual woman married to a man, I could easily pass as straight, opt out of the conversation, and hide the target on my back. But I won’t do it. I’ll make a point to say “I’m with them.”
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Aroma VictorianaOften we associate the Victorian Era with a degree of primness that falls helplessly into parody — nowhere better illustrated than in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) — but as with all eras, the Victorian presents a dark underbelly as well as a laced-up exterior. I shan't elaborate on the entirety of this dichotomy, but content myself with the extremities of Victorian perfumery, from the nosegay to the nether regions of the civet, and from the ancient coaxing of flowers by enfleurage to the explosive manipulations of chemical compounds.
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The #PassTheBag Campaign Lets You Clean Out Your Closet For Girls' EducationBy Gretchen Gales @GGalesQuailBell QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: First appeared on The Odyssey May 31st, 2016. There comes a time (or a couple times a year) when a girl looks at her disheveled closet and wants to thin it out. Typical remedies include donating clothes to Goodwill, desperately trying to get Plato’s Closet or other similar recycled style stores to buy your old clothes, etc. I seem to always have extra clothes lying around and usually go about getting rid of them in the ways mentioned previously. I also know that feeling of being unsure whether I want to part with different articles of clothing or go to donate something and think, But what if--without fail. Sometimes it’s hard to find motivation to just ditch old clothes and embrace a less cluttered life for at least a little while.
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The HustleBy Leah Mueller QuailBellMagazine.com The sun beat down upon my head and shoulders as I pushed relentlessly forward through a row of sweet corn, pulling tassels and dropping them on the earth like vanquished enemies. I had started my tenth row, and the day wasn't even half over. Our all-girl crew didn't carry water bottles or snacks. Neither did the boys, who labored in adjacent fields. All of us moved like furious ants for eight hours. Any pause in the action would result in swift punishment-a stern warning, and finally termination.
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Apartment Kids in SummerBy Claire Margine QuailBellMagazine.com The summer before fifth grade, neighborhood kids started showing up at my door. I jumped rope all day outside of the apartment building; I was easy to spot and track down. Kids would ring the buzzer, sweaty and bored, looking for a playmate.
That’s how I met Vera. We sat on my bed and traded important details — Babysitters Club vs. Sweet Valley High, preferred Nick at Nite block, favorite cereal. Friendship confirmed. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo Park, MD., 2013-2016By Alexander C. Kafka QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: For the complete album, please visit https://flic.kr/s/aHsjXVvv9b. For more information about the festival, please see http://fsgw.org/myorgnet/public.php?Org=fsgw&ProgramID=10&NoTitle=1. Copyright (c) 2013-2016 by Alexander C. Kafka for the Washington Folk Festival; all rights reserved. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
I'm Here. I'm Queer. I'm Punk. Get Used To It.The victims of the Orlando shootings went to a gay bar to feel safe and included, something us LGBTQIA folk don’t get to experience every day. We create these designated queer-friendly spaces because we have our rights and safety violated on a routine basis. If you care about us, you’ll value our freedom to go about our lives without being attacked in any way. You also won’t get angry with us when we tell you we feel uncomfortable attending shows with homophobic/queer-bashing bands. Many of us don't have it in us to afford the luxury of being able to not take their lyrics personally. Instead of shaming us queers for being wary of supporting homophobic/transphobic bands, blame the bands for dividing your community by being hateful in the first place.
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How Rekindling My Relationship with My Mom Saved My LifeBy Benny Emerling QuailBellMagazine.com Do you know who has the hardest job in the world? Is it a lawyer, a brain surgeon or an astronaut? Those jobs do require a lot of hard work, years of education and dedication. However, I don’t believe those jobs are the most difficult. The hardest job on the planet is one that women don’t get paid to do — being a mother. But when a good job is done, the benefits are priceless, so I’ve heard from many mothers out there.
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Smelling Old Books While Reading E-BooksWhen I was about fourteen, my eye disease stole my central vision and left me unable to read normal print. Books handed down from parents and grandparents--Treasure Island and Jane Eyre and (my favorite when I was a kid) a collection of Poe Tales--were suddenly reduced to the physical sensations of touch and smell, traces of what I had been, a voracious sighted reader.
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The Bane of PerfectionismBy Richa Gupta QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: This article was previously published at Voices of Youth, a UNICEF based platform. Perfectionism becomes a badge of honor with you playing the part of the suffering hero.
—David D. Burns Perfectionism is difficult to live with. I say this because I’m a hyper-attentive perfectionist myself. What had started off as a healthy desire to succeed subtly morphed into an obsessive drive to never experience failure. What had started off as an exciting list of goals grew into a daunting, unsettling catalogue of achievements I had to accomplish before my next birthday. I had to keep moving—breaks didn’t exist in my vocabulary. If I achieved something (won a competition, got published in a literary journal, etc.), I would allow myself a few minutes of satisfaction. And before I knew it, my mind had moved onto something else to work on, something else to achieve within a given time frame. In a nutshell, I was perpetually dissatisfied. Honestly, I lived for those few minutes of satisfaction and pride, in full knowledge that they were painfully fleeting. Everything, just everything, had to be perfect—my grades, my homework, my study table. I’d spend ridiculous amounts of time on a task that should’ve only taken a few hours—because I didn’t want there to be any room for criticism. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Firefly SeasonBy Linda Lowen QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: An earlier version of this piece titled "Flashes in the Dark" first appeared in Family Times. My daughters know where the fireflies live. Ask and they'll tell you: under the cedar trees where the myrtle's so thick the forest floor stays cool and damp. If you stand there patient and silent, hopeful and watchful, at dusk you'll see the first firefly drift upwards, its soft glow standing out against the trunks of trees fading into darkness. Often a fine mist rises at ground level, adding to the mystery and magic of the fey, blinking lights.
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How To Accept #HarambesChallengeWhy accept #HarambesChallenge? The world should’ve cared about #JusticeForHarambe long before Harambe died. If you really want justice for Harambe, you'll make the effort to be proactive about animal rights and animal welfare causes. Animal rights and animal welfare should always be trending on social media. Make the world a better place with your posts by accepting #HarambesChallenge. It’s simple: Every time you see a post denigrating Michelle Gregg or anything else ignorant related to the Harambe situation, you post two or more articles/petitions/pamphlets/videos/statistics/memes/whatever animal relevant information you like. If you go all day without seeing a degrading Harambe-related post, then you post two articles anyway.
The saddest thing about the death of this endangered silverback gorilla is that it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Furthermore, anyone who actually gave a damn about Harambe would’ve tried to understand the issue beyond shitposting about how Michelle Gregg’s negligence was the ultimate cause of Harambe’s death. However, the court has found no charges against her in Harambe’s death. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters stated, “By all accounts, this mother did not act in any way where she presented this child to some harm.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Unrequited: An Anthology of Love Poems About Inanimate ObjectsIt is common for a child to place importance towards a toy or a blanket or some other inanimate object. It is one of the first signs that a person is forming attachments and developing relationships with objects and people beyond themselves. A new poetry anthology, Unrequited: An Anthology of Love Poems About Inanimate Objects, collects the best objectophilia love poems from poets all across the country and shows the type of objects these writers feel attached to. With poems ranging from subjects like butter dishes to garden gnomes to the Empire State Building, the anthology examines how these poets are able to show a sense of life and romance towards objects and places that one might not normally associate with such feelings.
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The DistanceBy Caroline Praderio QuailBellMagazine.com It was going to rain but we decided to build a fire anyway. My brother Tom said he could make one strong enough to survive the storm, so I got the camping lantern from the garage and held it up shoulder-high while we walked through the backyard to the woodpile. The backyard at my childhood home is thick with young maples—more like a forest than a lawn in suburban Massachusetts. I had always loved how secretive it felt, to live surrounded by them. In the summer, when their leaves grew bigger than my face, it felt like the whole house floated inside a cloud of bright, yellowy, brand-new green. Like it was shielded from whatever happened out on the street.
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The 4 Things I Learned from my 48 Hours as a Sugar BabyBy Mari Pack QuailBellMagazine.com If you don’t know what a Sugar Baby is, then you’re probably a better person than I am. A Sugar Baby is a young woman who agrees to perform various girlfriend-like duties for a much older man, a Sugar Daddy, in exchange for money. Though sex is often part of the exchange, Sugar Daddies primarily like to ‘spoil’ their younger girlfriends with expensive trips, dates and allowances. Some Sugar Daddies don’t ask for sex at all. Ultimately, the Sugar Daddy gets off on the idea of having so much power over a young, pretty, submissive woman.
So basically, you’re just throwing money at regular misogyny. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Self-CheckoutDear Margot,
Why do I get charged for shoplifting every time I go to the grocery store? All I’m trying to do is take my food out. I don’t know why people wait in those weird lines. It’s so much easier to skip those and just leave. Do you know why I keep getting arrested? -Jen The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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