The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
These Graves Are Worth a VisitWarning! Warning! Political opinion here: Appearances matter, so it’s only proper that cemeteries are frequently maintained, and appropriately constructed. So when a person comes to pay respect to a loss one, they can at least find peace in the area their deceased is at rest. Other reasons people visit cemeteries include visiting burials of famous people, or even just to check out the scenery.
Cemeteries have different layouts. Some are neater, more adorned, and even more interesting than others. If you're willing to look past the initial spook that cemeteries bring, you should visit one of these five worthy of your attention: 1. Arlington National Cemetery- Arlington, VA This cemetery is located on land that originally belonged to General Robert E. Lee, which was seized by the government in 1864. In 1888, the property could have been returned to his family after the Supreme Court ruled it was unlawfully confiscated. Instead his son sold the property for $150,000. Had this not happened, 17,000 gravesites would have been exhumed. The resting place of currently over 400,000 people is well known for its neatly aligned white headstones. Spread across 624 acres, this cemetery holds casualties from every U.S. world war, as well as U.S. presidents, astronauts and other historical figures. The Tomb of the Unknown is also a popular attraction, memorializing unknown soldiers killed in any war. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Les jardins de féeWhen I was a little girl, my best friend and I spent our summers playing make-believe in our backyards. My house had a number of Virginia hardwoods above a span of moss where we would pretend to be maidens in distress or fairy creatures in the branches, and her backyard with its stream and tiny bit of forest was just across the street should our whims desire a true fairy tale setting. We would always leave presents for the fairies we were sure existed not just in our games, but also in the wilderness around us; our entire childhood was devoted to searching for those elusive little creatures. Now, whenever I am lacking in inspiration, I take my computer outside to the porch and sit near the trees that she and I were once so certain held fairy queens in gossamer gowns and write my stories amongst the fay. The idea of those miniature people with wings is hard to let go of. And, if you’re like me and you still harbor a love for those creatures, you don’t have to. If you create a fairy garden, the fay will come to you. Fairy gardens are wonderfully easy and perfect for the bit of a child still in you.
If you already have a garden established in your yard, then making it more fairy friendly requires only simple changes: add stones or shells among the flowers, hide miniature chairs and houses among the flowers where the fairies can hide, and hang wind chimes nearby so the music draws them in. You can also buy a hummingbird feeder since fairies often fly on the backs of those quick and agile birds, or hang lights to guide the fairies in the dark. But, if you would like to be a bit more adventurous, you can create an actual fairy garden – one that is not only fairy friendly, but also fairy sized. Start with any kind of container you choose; you can make it quirky and use a whicker basket, old drawer, or glass dome, or you can simply use an old shoebox you have lying around. Fill it with dirt (deep enough for roots to take hold) and then add any plants of your choosing. You can use brightly colored flowers, moss, and plants that attract butterflies like hollyhocks, snapdragons, and columbine; or, if you want to keep the hummingbirds near, try honeysuckle or trumpet flowers. Try to arrange your flowers so that there are spots for the fairies to hide and play. Now that you have the forest of petals built, you can use pebbles and other things you find lying around to create the world of the garden. You could burry a flower pot part way to create a secret cave, use an old saucer to make a tiny pond, make a tiny stone walkway, use a marble for a fairy gazing ball, and even make a miniature wishing well with blue glass beads for water. Be creative! The more miniatures you use, the more the fairies will feel at home. Hide beads for sparks of color. Use old dollhouse furniture. Whatever strikes your fancy. Once you’re done, leave it somewhere outside where both the sun and the moon can reach it. And, if you’re very patient and you’re looking for wonder, you can sit outside on your porch and wait for the fay to come to you. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Quail Bell Guide to 2013 'Zine FestivalsFrom Albuquerque to Scranton and in Quail Bell's hometown of Richmond, Virginia, 'zines are still celebrated full force in the USA. First short for "fanzine," the 'zine is now a symbol and staple of D.I.Y. and independent publishing. Anybody can make one, and because of that they are one of my favorite mediums of communication. Here's a list of 'zine festivals happening soon across the country where you can buy and trade zines as well as hear speakers, participate in workshops and pick up lots of other cool stuff: San Francisco Zine Fest: August 31 –September 1, 2013 1199 9th Ave and Lincoln Way, in Golden Gate Park With tables from well-known small presses to ones from “first time self-publishers," the Bay Area’s premiere 'zine festival serves to prove that zinester and D.I.Y. cultures are thriving. It will feature over 140 illustrators, designers, printmakers, cartoonists, and crafters sharing their work, as well as a few special guests - cartoonist Justin Hall, creator of Glamazonia the Uncanny Super Tranny and editor of No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics; and Roman Muradov and Sophia-Foster Dimino, husband and wife illustrators who each have a long-form comic coming out this fall. SFZineFest.org RACE RIOT! Tour, Presented by POC Zine Project: October 2013 This October: 20 cities. Awesome 'zines. Radical people. It's this year's RACE RIOT! TOUR! PoC 'Zine Project is a group of kickass people that do incredible work in the representation of People of Color in 'zine culture. Described in their mission statement as “an experiment in activism and community through materiality,” POC 'Zine Project undertakes the search for and sharing of zines created by underrepresented races in the zine culture, and information pertinent to their commitment. They also do really sweet events, like the Race Riot Tour, which will feature a bunch of speakers, workshops and also awesome 'zines by PoC. 2013 #RACERIOTTOUR DATES & CITIES 10/3 - New Orleans, Louisiana Pt 1 + ACADEMIC PARTNER: Amistad Research Center/Tulane University 10/6 - Houston, Texas 10/7 - College Station, Texas 10/8 - Austin, Texas 10/10 - Albuquerque, New Mexico 10/12 - Mexico (TBD city) 10/14 - Tucson, Arizona 10/16 - Los Angeles, California Pt 1 +ACADEMIC PARTNER: USC Queer People of Color Club 10/17 - Los Angeles, California Pt 2 +ACADEMIC PARTNER: UCLA/Powell Library/Julia Glassman 10/19 - Bay Area, California (city TBA) Looking for the right academic partner. Can you help? 10/21 - Sacramento, CA 10/23 - Portland, Oregon 10/25 - Seattle, Washington 10/27 - Montana (City TBA) Looking for the right academic partner. Can you help? 10/29 - Bismark, North Dakota Looking for the right academic partner. Can you help? 10/30 - Fargo-Moorhead (area), Minnesota 10/31 - Minneapolis, Minnesota Looking for the right academic partner. Can you help? 11/2 - St. Louis, Missouri 11/4 - Louisville, Kentucky +ACADEMIC PARTNER: KDC Fighting for Immigrant Rights & Equality - FIRE 11/5 - Nashville, TN - TENTATIVE 11/7 - Atlanta, Georgia Pt 1 11/8 - Atlanta, Georgia Pt 2 11/9 - Montgomery, Alabama Also, you should just check them out. Not only is their blog incredibly informative, their Twitter game is on point. ;) POCZineProject.Tumblr.com Richmond 'Zine Fest: October 5, 2013 The RVA 'Zine Fest has been our go-to 'zine fest since its kickoff in ’07! (Okay, so we didn't start tabling 'til '10, but that's because we didn't exist before then!) This year, it will again be held at the Gay Community Center of Richmond (GCCR), and will be a Safer Spaces Event - this means that any form of discrimination or otherwise distressing behavior will not be tolerated. Expect lots of zines, workshops, and fun. RichmondZineFest.org 7th Annual Baltimore D.I.Y. Fest: November 16, 2013 First of all, this is not strictly a 'zine fest. However, it should be on this list because it sounds badass. This November, look out for the 7th annual D.I.Y. Fest in Baltimore, Maryland. This event is all about teaching everyday people useful skills to live a more wholesome life – pretty much. Past workshops include Food Canning 101, How To Write a Resume, Amateur Radio, Urban Foraging, and Small Animal Skinning. DIYFest.org Philly Feminist 'Zine Fest: November 23, 2013 The 2013 Feminist 'Zine Fest in Philadelphia has been postponed until late November! This year’s event will be a fundraiser for Project SAFE, an organization committed to the welfare of sex workers in Philly. In addition to radical feminist 'zine action there will be workshops, raffles, and vegan goodies. On the night before the fest (Nov. 22nd), a 'zine reading will take place at Wooden Shoe Books on South Street. PhillyFeministZineFest.org Here are a few fests to be on the lookout for in 2014:
Chicago 'Zine Fest (looking for 2014 participants!) New Orleans Anarchist Bookfair Scranton 'Zine Fest (check out their interview with our very own Christine Stoddard!) Midwest 'Zine Fest The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Trying to Ease the PainThe relationship between women and painkillers is a long and often deadly one. And with new concerns over a spike in deaths in the U.S. contributed to painkillers, many are starting to ask tough questions about what can be done. It’s a sensitive topic but, there needs to be a deeper conversation about the reality of the dangers of prescription drugs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013), there is a growing epidemic among young women of deaths from overdoses that has increased more than 400% since 1999. Many of the deaths rise from the side effects of mixing different drugs (sometimes with illegal drugs or alcohol) or committing suicide through intentional poisoning. But, there is a large fraction of women who take more pills than what is specified and end up overdosing. In the article “More Women Are Dying from Painkiller Overdoses. Epidemic, or Something More Complicated?” , author S.E. Smith (2013) states “In a nutshell, it doesn’t matter how many pills you take: your medication is still going to take effect at exactly the same time as it would if you just took one. For patients with severe pain, it may be tempting to take more in the belief that the medication will act faster, but that’s not how it works.” It seems there should now be more of an effort on behalf of physicians to educate patients about proper use of prescription drugs. Perhaps some women just aren’t aware of what it is that they’re ingesting. This stuff ain't candy! The article “A Brief History of Pain Relief: From Coal Tar to Tylenol” gives a short timeline of medicines and how they came to be what they are today. From ancient times many societies, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, found ways to alleviate pain through plants like willow tree bark and opium poppies to coal tar. Perhaps if ladies knew the ingredients, they'd be a little more careful when taking medications. Here is a brief history of painkillers (from a woman’s perspective): Alcohol As early as 1780, women were self-medicating with alcohol to help alleviate menstrual cramps. Men, women, and even children would use alcohol for all types of pain relief and relaxation. The Temperance movement of the late 1800s, along with prohibition, led to the search for better alternatives with less obvious side effects. “For the relief of pain, the treatment is all summed up in one word, and that is opium. This divine drug overshadows all other anodynes...You can easily educate her to become an opium eater, and nothing short of this should be aimed at by the medical attendant.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
5 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know about RussiaRussia is an amazing country, as foreign as it is far away for most of us here in the States. Despite its distance, it is certainly worth getting to know. It is the largest country in the world in terms of area and spans both Europe and Asia. Because it covers so much land, it also holds a great diversity in geography and ethnicities. Its cultural elements are a hodge-podge of traditions built from one end of the country to the other, spanning its 140 million citizens who speak almost 100 different languages and make up 160 various ethnic groups. I’ve chosen five of the most unique things about Russian culture and shared them with you below! 1. Gift giving etiquette has some very particular traditions. For example, if you are invited to a Russian home for a meal, you should bring a small gift. Male guests should bring flowers, but certainly not yellow flowers. Baby gifts should never be given before the baby is born – it’s bad luck. (So much for baby showers!)
2. The Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which uses 33 letters instead of 24. They are letter derived from the traditional Slavic alphabet, which was once used to help spread Christianity throughout some parts of the area in the 9th century. 3. Russians take their literature very seriously – it is one of the more important parts of Russian life. Most people in America are familiar with the great authors like Tolstoy and Chekov, but unlike many Russians, most Americans can’t easily recite passages from their favorite literary works at the drop of a hat. 4. June 1st is celebrated as “Children’s Day.” Russians honor small children and the youth with family oriented activities, speeches, programs and events. There are charities and events for abused children, and more child-friendly shows on TV that during any other day of the year. 5. Well-mannered Russians will not sit on the ground. In fact, it is against the law to sit on the grass in some parks. They also frown upon scratching any part of the body, littering, or standing with their hands in their pocket in public. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
To Build a NestBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Old World glamour and history have held a spell over me for as long as I can remember. As a little girl, I read—or at least flipped through—scores of European books and magazines. Thanks to additional exposure to foreign films and cartoons, my wee self had constructed fantasy after fantasy of my young adult self inhabiting the sorts of places my favorite heroines did. Maybe I would wake up and roll out of bed and into the life of Sara Crewe’s English attic. Maybe I would find myself in the cramped apartment of Une femme est une Femme. Even Madeline’s French orphanage held a certain charm. I never imagined myself living in a sleek, modern condominium. If a house or apartment has anything to do with the future, I want nothing to do with it. I don’t care about the newest of the new. Only places that sag a little and whisper of hidden histories have any appeal. I want to step into a building and wonder about the people who came before me. Ideally, I’d live in a Spanish castle overlooking a river. Now I find myself in a house that dates back to the late 1930s. It is a pretty standard Mid-Atlantic Colonial structure with solid, unpainted brick and pale green-gray shutters. Every room boasts hardwood floors and the windows are relatively big, allowing for plenty of natural light. Inside, some of the paint is a little faded, even chipped, but I like it that way.
The neighborhood is filled with distinctive bungalows, Tudors, and other Colonials. No two are alike and most were built at least a decade before WWII. In other words, they were built when my grandmother was just a tyke, even less sure of the world than I am now. Sometimes I play this scene in my head where my grandmother walks around my neighborhood, all of age six or seven, marveling at all of the construction. Her rosebud mouth hangs open and her big blue eyes grow even bigger. I am young enough that I can bounce at any time—just grab a suitcase, frantically stuff it with any necessities, hop into a car or on a train or on a plane, and sign a lease wherever I want. I do not have to worry about a spouse’s job or the best school districts for my child. Perhaps that is why, as of late, I have been researching real estate. I have been dreaming of snatching up a dilapidated house and turning it around while still preserving its old magic. I think of finding a steal in a post-industrial city (maybe my current one, maybe another) and renovating a house that once belonged to a mill worker or a coal miner. I think of the days spent sawing and chipping and sweeping. Somehow, this is a comforting dream, knowing that I might one day pay homage to something that was once beautiful by making it beautiful again. Until that day comes, I will continue scouring Zillow.com and reading “I Bought a Total Dungheap of House” on XOJane.com. My childhood heroines not only lived in old houses; they famously kept on dreaming. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Take a Road Trip in the Name of THRIFTING |
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