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Stages of Being a Gemini
By Elly Call
QuailBellMagazine.com
My mother was always intent on the intricacies of astrology—which is really just a stick-up-the-butt way of saying that she got us astrological readings when we were infants. I mean, as much as I’m sure each parent wants to know what to expect from newborn interlopers, horoscopes are entirely too convenient a cheat. So “Oh, that’s such a Gemini thing,” and “Ah, always wanting to know how things work—there’s our little Sag,” were thrown around at us as early as I can remember. At five, three facts were already impressed upon me:
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Hues of Consonance
By Richa Gupta
QuailBellMagazine.com
Musical tunes are like rainbows—precious, but painfully ephemeral. Regardless of how passionately we strive to embed the sight of the multicolored, harmonious arch beaming across the tapestry of the sky within our memory, or of how hard we endeavor to preserve the sound of a pleasurable melody in our minds for eternity, they inevitably dissipate into the sorry, scattered remnants characteristic of transitory wonders.
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Age of Aquarius, Aquarius
By Leah Mueller
QuailBellMagazine.com
All of my life, I've had mixed feelings about being an Aquarius. As a child in the early 70s, I sought out and devoured every astrological description I could find. I was enthralled by the little Dell paperbacks by the grocery checkout stands that, for the price of a quarter, promised answers to life's greatest conundrums: “What Does Your Handwriting Say About YOU?” “Interpret the Symbols of Your Dreams!” and “Learn to Read Your Own Face.” There were racks of little books devoted to each astrological sign, and I peeked through the descriptions of all of them, as I waited in line to buy cigarettes for my parents. In one hand, I clutched a note: “To Whom It May Concern: Please sell my eleven year old daughter a package of Benson and Hedges 100s. I am her mother, and it is fine with me.”
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Oktoberfest is Fun and Fodder for Art
By Dr. M. Leona Godin
QuailBellMagazine.com
Alabaster Rhumb is a New York City based singer and composer. He also spent four years as a young GI in Stuttgart, which boasts the second largest Oktoberfest after Munich. Quail Bell recently interviewed Rhumb about Oktoberfest, as well as his upcoming performance at the storied Nuyorican Poets Café.
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Could You Live On One Dollar a Day?
By Emily Simon
QuailBellMagazine.com
The other night I was perusing the “Recently Added” genre of the greatest provider of On-Demand media and entertainment, Netflix. This is a luxury most of us Americans tend to take for granted. I didn’t know quite what I was in the mood for, but I did know I wanted to watch something I had never seen before. I stumbled upon a documentary titled Living on One Dollar. I decided to indulge my curiosity, and sat through the 56-minute documentary on my comfy sectional couch in my warm and cozy home. What I never expected was to be so moved and affected by the time the credits started to roll.
The documentary chronicles the journey of four college friends who travel to a rural part of Guatemala and completely emerge themselves in the native’s everyday lifestyle. This means for two months, these four boys live on one dollar each a day. At the very beginning of their documentary, the boys are healthy, well-nourished, and optimistic about their endeavor. It isn’t until week two that reality hits them like a bucket of ice water, and they are struggling to save enough money to feed themselves on a day-to-day basis. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
5 Tips To Improve Your Kisses (From a Good Kisser)
French kissing is a national pastime. One kiss burns around 3 calories by moving 29 facial muscles. If you are like I used to be - repulsed by the thought of putting your tongue into someone else’s mouth - never fear; 95% of the 278 bacteria packed into a kiss are harmless. In fact, the excess saliva cleanses your mouth further, protecting your teeth from decay and your skin from dermatitis.
Needless to say, French kissing is a hobby that I enjoy. Being a good kisser alone probably can’t force someone to stay with you, but it can sure entice them into staying a little while. French kissing is a healthy, enjoyable hobby. Which is why you could probably use some tips from a natural like myself. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
We Are Leo
By Dr. M Leona Godin
QuailBellMagazine.com
I only believe in astrology insofar as I believe myself to be a Leo. I'm told that this is a very Leo trait, but it's true. I don't read my horoscope, and I don't care what sign my boyfriend is, though I admit I have a bone to pick with more than one Scorpio dude in my sorted past. Furthermore, I have no idea how heavenly bodies moving through sky houses might influence my personality, and I will have nothing to do with my Cancer moon. Still, there is no doubt in my mind that whether it be serendipitous or sidereal, I was born a Leo, with the magnanimous heart and magnificent mane of a lion.
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Annihilation of Ruin
By Deborah Johnstone
QuailBellMagazine.com
Ruins always captivate. Derelict remnants confirm that at one time, people and activities thrived in a place. The deterioration becomes mythical – the marker of an era that was somehow better, or more abundant, or that offered more hope.
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Archer Afire
I spent the best part of my childhood falling down rabbit holes and uncovering fantastical alternate realities to escape into. Perhaps the Sagittarian streak in my birth charts was to blame for this, and much more.
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The Fire of Aries
By Alicia Mann
QuailBellMagazine.com
I’ve always felt a love-hate relationship with my zodiac sign. I’m an Aries AND a redhead, so I’m known for my fiery temper, or at least the potential for a fiery temper. Growing up I was constantly bombarded by people wondering if I was as feisty as they assumed I was. And whenever I did get frustrated or angry, the same people chalked up my reactions as being a result of my star sign, completely invalidating my feelings. I think I hated my sign so much because it fit me so well. I would read characteristics and traits of other signs trying to see some semblance of them in myself, but the perfect sign was the one I was born under. And that included both the good and the bad traits.
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Don't Try This At Home
By Gretchen Gales
QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: First version published on Life In 10 Minutes August 11th, 2015.
The summer before my sophomore year of high school, the dentist referred me to an orthodontist. The orthodontist glued brackets to my bent teeth and promised they would be off in about two years. What was two years ended up being three, and during those three years, my mouth was stabbed repeatedly by shifting wire. I would smash wax against my back teeth to stop the protruding wire from jabbing my cheeks, but the saliva would make it fall off.
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Prisoners of War
By Ren Martinez
QuailBellMagazine.com *Disclaimer: This is a fictionalized account of actual events. Names have been changed. Mentions of suicide and self-harm.
I sent her to a hospital on a Saturday night.
In the weeks previous, I had cleaned more than my fair share of shot glasses, handfuls like shotgun shells left in the sink. There were never any bowls or plates, though I once balled up a napkin that had held exactly twelve almonds and threw it in the kitchen trash. When she passed out on the living room couch, I would lean over her just to feel her vodka-soaked breath on my cheek, counting them like sheep so I could get to sleep. The other roommates no longer used the living room. Instead, they hid in their rooms, soldiers forced to remain in their trenches. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Interview with Millie Mason
By Deniz Ataman
QuailBellMagazine.com
Sure, New York City never sleeps, but oftentimes, if you listen close enough you'll hear the right notes that can soothe even the busiest New Yorker. When singer/songwriter Millie Mason (real name: Emily Pickell) gets on stage at her favorite Brooklyn bar or just her backyard, her delicate voice is strong enough to shush the loudest, rowdiest crowd. Her music may break your heart into pieces from her honest and raw lyrics but soon enough, it's pieced back together with her sweet, soprano vocals. I had a chance to interview the creative Millie Mason (also an actress and a model for Elite Models) about her inspirations, musical style and New York City in this exclusive feature for Quail Bell Magazine.
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Pervy Pastor
By Karl Stevenson
QuailBellMagazine.com
Hello, I am a preacher’s kid. Yes, I am terrible. I don’t know if this is because all my parental abuse scars are Bible quotes, or maybe the fact that I'm black…in the south. Or maybe it was I once attended a high school with the "Confederates" as its mascot.
Anyways, about a couple of years ago my parents got a divorce. Yes, I know, insert teenage rebellion that consisted of parties with PlayStation games, carb-loaded chips, and Mountain Dew as far as the eye can see. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
So Many Sweaters
By Bob Raymonda
QuailBellMagazine.com
A group of seven or eight of us from around the block is playing together before dinner. I am ten and my stepbrother Tim, twelve, is here with me. We’re across the street from Dad’s, in the small green field that runs between the Planned Parenthood and the first house on the hill. This is where we sled, play kickball, and light off firecrackers late at night. Today we are wrestlers from the Worldwide Wrestling Federation. We are all spread out across the grass, play-fighting and muddying our clothes, an offense we’ll pay for later. Some people team up and pretend to have tag matches, taking turns wrangling each other to the ground.
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Just Like You Told Us ToDeer hunting I tried but just the once and it was a long time ago. I went with a little buddy of mine named Brett Peacegrove and his old man, Pat. It was a Saturday morning in the fall, October or November maybe. I remember we left very early in the morning and all day long it was cold, gray, and foggy. Pat picked me up outside my house in his old yellow pickup truck. Like me, both Brett and Pat were already dressed head to toe in green camouflage fatigues bought secondhand at an army-navy store. We all wore brimmed camouflage hats with a string on it and little nylon hoops so you could stash shotgun shells inside. Rumbling along we didn’t talk much. I felt nervous, my mind groping through visions of blood-dappled leaves and the black marble eyes of a dead deer lying on its side, a tongue drooping pink out the side of its mouth. I didn’t like it. But I was already along for the trip and couldn’t back out. Silence seemed my best option. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Photo Journey Through the Netherlands
#Real #WorldTravel #Netherlands #Photography #PhotoGallery
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Sewing Blind
My blind sewing adventure began about seven years ago when on a whim I searched for, and found, sewing needles at MaxiAids.com, a website that sells disabled people gadgets. As with so many of the great things that have happened in recent years to enhance my life as my sight fails, the technology inspired the activity and the activity inspired creation.
I bought two kinds of needles. The first I use all the time for general sewing they come in a rainbow pack of sizes, but each needle, from fat to skinny, share the ingenious feature of a slit at the top wherein you push the thread and it gets trapped by a little hook. The other needle is perhaps more clever but less sturdy and more prick-prone. It is called “Big-Eye” and this is not false advertising. The eye of the needle splits the slender flexible steel from one sharp end to the other. This is the needle to use for beading and the like because it is so skinny, but of course it tends to get bent out of shape with little provocation. With these two needles and my dress form, I have made all my best loved dresses. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Let's Talk Alt Love Podcast on IPM Nation: Ashley MadisonAt 10 PM tonight, the podcast“Let’s Talk Alt Love” debuts live on IPM Nation tonight! Until our website goes live, like us on Facebook! Hosted by Leslee Petersen and myself, this podcast is devoted to the teaching and discussion of healthy relationships in alternative lifestyles. For our first podcast, Relationship Coach Leslee Petersen and I will be discussing some issues surrounding Ashley Madison that reflect the dysfunctional presence of mononormativity in our culture. Our official website will be up shortly. Ashley Madison is a dating site that caters specifically to a demographic that actively seeks out affairs. After Impact Team’s leaked the identities and personal information belogonging to Ashley Madison users to the public, 87,596 women signed up for the controversial service. This dating and social networking site makes it easy to find people who are willing and ready to engage infidelity-based relationships. Or so they thought. Since the hack, a lot has happened and as the events continue to unfold to reveal the presence of toxic mononormativity in our culture. The lives compromised are more than bots masquerading in fake profiles. LGBTQ users in countries like Saudi Arabia where the governments inflict the death penalty upon adulterers, homosexuals, and anyone who defies the heteronormative and mononormative culture in place. The Ashley Madison scandal raised the public's awareness about privacy and our culture's perpetuation of monogamy as a "default" state at all costs. Here's some food for thought until we discuss issues surrounding Impact Team’s leaked information that everyone should be aware of when we discuss the issue at 10 PM on IPM nation. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy and BPD
Words and Image by Andi Chrisman
QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor’s Note: DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) is a highly regarded cognitive treatment for patients of Borderline Personality Disorder. It has also been used to treat other mental disorders. This piece was also featured on On the Grid Zine August 26th, 2015.
“I wasn’t abused as a child. My childhood was relatively unexciting,” I told the therapist as she sat in her office chair. I sat on the couch across from her. I picked the couch instead of the individual chair beside it, even though I was alone, because it was more centered in the office.
The office had a few pieces of art on the wall, none of which particularly jumped out at me. The art was all abstract though, which I appreciated as a fellow abstract artist. A large whiteboard hung on the wall in the corner. Underneath the whiteboard hung a white piece of paper with the following in black text: 4 Options for Responding To Any Problem: -Stay Miserable -Tolerate the Problem -Feel Better About the Problem -Solve The Problem The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Advice From a Tomato
By Jody Rathgeb
QuailBellMagazine.com
I am not the gardener in my family. I will help my husband with weeding and watering, but he is the one who maps out the plantings, orders the seeds and does the actual digging and planting. I do, however, participate in harvesting, especially when the tomatoes ripen. That’s when I have tomatoes at every meal and glory in ratatouille, gazpacho, homemade salsa, spaghetti sauce and other recipes.
I will spare you my description of the perfect tomato sandwich. If you aren’t a tomato lover, you won’t care, and if you are one I’m sure you have your own description and adjectives. Let’s just say that when my husband Tom received an invitation from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange to attend a tomato tasting and garden tour, I was quick to put the event on my calendar. Southern Exposure is a center of seed saving and heirloom vegetables, operating a network of farms and gardens to collect vegetable varieties. Its 72-acre facility in Mineral, Va. includes germination testing, seed storage, a drying barn and fields of test plots. Its catalog is a cross between the Old Farmer’s Almanac and the J. Peterman style of beautiful drawings, photography and descriptions … veggie porn! We didn’t know what to expect of the event, but as we drove deeper into the country on a dry buzzy-insect summer day, we knew it was the right setting for a tomato tasting. At the farm, we were charmed by its rural, 1960s counterculture atmosphere: lots of long skirts and tie-dye, a mosaic mural above the door, a goat in the yard and one “rescue cow” in the field (it’s a complicated story). We tasted first (Matt’s Wild Cherry, Green Zebra, Mexico Midget, etc.), then toured the fields, picking up new bits of info along the way: Tomatoes are susceptible to a disease that can be spread by contact with tobacco. Because there might be smokers among the visitors, we were not permitted to walk through the tomato plots. “Greasy” beans, which have to be strung, are generally more flavorful than other snap green beans. If they are harvested while still young, winter squashes can be eaten like summer squash and zucchini. Even luffa gourds are edible if you get them early. If not, harvest them when big and dry them for the shower. Not everything grown on a seed farm will be harvested for seed. Some plants are there for research purposes, with workers taking notes to improve the information in the catalog. Some are being tested. And some are the glamour models, to be used for the photos and drawings that accompany the catalog varieties. The best lesson of the day, though, was the short description of Southern Exposure’s mission, printed on the catalog cover: Saving the past for the future. It of course refers to the many heirloom varieties that the seed exchange carries, but as I reflected on the phrase I could see a deeper meaning. Yes, save the past for the future. Who can’t use that? If they follow the advice of a tomato, urban developers might preserve history instead of paving it over. Homemakers would understand the value of recycling. Artists of all types could recast what is gone to create something new. Those in business might actually learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them. Anyone who wants to live creatively can benefit by saving a bit of the past. Those seeds can then be planted to grow something new in the future. If it’s an idea, use it. If it’s a tomato, eat it.
#Real #Gardening #Tomatoes #VeggiePorn #GardenFestivals #UrbanDevelopment
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