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10 Things You Didn't Know About Us Capricorns
I am a textbook capricorn, but if you were to consult many of the “textbooks” out there, you wouldn’t believe it. Then again, textbooks are full of lies, so I’m not surprised. As someone who has spent years studying astrology, I can say with utmost certainty that most accessible astrology learning material depicts capricorns as boring, stuffy traditionalists. That our stunning organization skills and leadership-seeking personalities are only exceeded by our penchant for workaholism, conformity, and worshiping the status quo.
Except not really. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Quiet Learner“Does anyone else have anything more to add?” asked Professor Kaufmann to his English 305 class: a class that was designed to be reading and writing intensive, and prompted a lot of classroom discussions. Hands shot up all around the room like wildfire, most of them eager to grab and snatch at any kind of participation points they could get, and some excited to showcase their more superior opinions than the rest. Mine, however, stayed right where it was, which was safe by my side. Rarely did my hand ever make that lonesome journey from my side to the airspace above my head. It wasn’t because I was afraid of talking in front of a group of people, but rather because I learned more from observing than talking. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Glow
By Casey O'Malley
QuailBellMagazine.com Before this point, I had three vivid experiences with radiation: Tthe first, an 8-year-old at the dentist, asking why I had to wear this heavy lead vest that forced my breathing to come in gasped half-breaths. “Well, it’s an x-ray, sweetie,” a dental hygienist with immaculate eye shadow said, snapping her bubblegum behind her face mask. “It’s something you can’t see or feel. Don’t worry about it.” Another, as a zoned out pre-teen, listening to an NPR story about Chernobyl as my mom drove me around in her cranberry-colored minivan. I remember listening with mild disgust and intrigue as Robert Siegal or Melissa Block described children with birth defects and the gradual wilderness that took over the exclusion zone. The last, a sneak peek at an older brother’s chemistry textbook, looking at a chart that showed the relative radioactivity of everyday objects: a brick wall, a computer, a banana. I didn’t get it. But here I was, holding a column of rock, laced with elegant swirls of, as the eager geologist told me, delicate veins of uranium. “It’s super high grade, but low density, you’ll be just fine, I promise!” I nodded, unsure. How did this compare to the banana? Should I be wearing that lead vest? The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Why I Dumped Tampons For The Diva Cup And Never Looked Back
I felt pretty adult when I was on the rag, as we called it, and slipped off to the bathroom to drop my pants and insert the magical period wand into my vagina.
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Mono/Poly Relationships: 5 Things Monogamous People Should Know Before Dating Poly People11/22/2015
Monogamous? 5 Tips For Dating Polyamorous People
Our hearts might be equal opportunity employers, but that doesn’t mean it always chooses the right people to fall in love with. Sometimes, we fall in love with someone who’s behaviors and attitudes differ vastly from our own. Such is the case when a polyamorous person and a monogamous person fall in love with each other. Sometimes, 2 people fall in love, only for 1 of them to realize that they are poly years after they’ve started a relationship.
Romance is not lost, but it’s not going where you think it is. With these 4 things in mind, you’ll be able to navigate dating a poly partner with more insight and wisdom than you would from the get-go. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Spelunking in the Cave of Wonders
By Leah Mueller
QuailBellMagazine.com
Let's face it, biology is fucked. The vast majority of men are capable of achieving orgasm through intercourse, often much more rapidly than they intended. By contrast, only about twenty percent of women reach the heights of sensual pleasure after a few minutes of earnest penile thrusting. Much of the reason for this is because the clitoris is inexplicably placed on the vulva, far from the recesses of the vaginal canal. It's as if Nature was playing a particularly dizzy game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and the clitoris landed as far as possible from its intended target.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Day 15 (We're Halfway There!)
By Dr. M Leona Godin with Alex Carrigan and Jody Rathgeb
QuailBellMagazine.com
"You have reached the 25,000-word mark, the halfway point, the word-domination, creation application, epic celebration station!"
That was the message I received in my mailbox immediately after posting my word count update at the NaNoWriMo website. Those guys are quick with the kudos! For those writers out there who have never heard of the 50,000 word writing challenge that is NaNoWriMo, let me first direct you to the website NaNoWriMo.org, where they offer plenty of encouragement as well as a place to register your novel and update your word count. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Paris I Remember
The Paris I remember is not one gripped by fear.
It's one with beautiful city views... The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Vile Volunteering
In just one day, I found myself arm deep in festering feces, a punctured patella, and an evaporated ego.
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Fabulously Fiendish: Disney Villains and Queer-Coding
Most of what I know I learned from Disney films. A dream is a wish your heart makes, we are part of the circle of life, everybody wants to be a cat. In the first formative years of life, Disney plays an integral part in shaping children, the way they think and feel about the world around them. It defines the way children tell stories and how they view themselves within the fabric of their lives. Are they more like Ariel, wishing for adventure and learning about the unknown? Or are they more like Tiana, striving for their dream with hard work and determination?
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
3 Reasons Why You Need To Stop Raking Leaves
It’s been 1 year since the National Wildlife Federation published an article that would free up schedules nationwide: the NWF told us to stop raking leaves. Now that it’s Fall, the article is trending and liberating the masses from another chore, saving time and money for those who pay for leaf-raking services. Honestly, jumping in piles of leaves is more beneficial to the environment than raking them up and bagging them.
Leaf-raking is a harmful practice that humans mostly participate in for vanity reasons. Wet leaves can be slippery, so it’s very plausible to remove them from entrances. Manicuring your lawn is not as environmentally sound as people might assume. It’s not like mowing your lawn is akin to cutting your hair - our hair gets healthier when we get rid of split ends. Letting the leaves be benefits the environment. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
5 Ways to Keep the "Christ" in Christmas
Don't you hate it when people go BUH-LISTIC when you wish them a merry Christmas instead of a happy holiday? Ugh, me too. It’s time to get real, people. Screw all this “Happy Holidays” crap. Every time I wish someone a #merrychristmas, they get so offended. I’m not submitting to the politcal correctness fascists. People like that killed Jesus, right? Here are some helpful tips to put “Christ” back in your Christmas as well as everyone else’s.
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Hasashiburi (It's Been a Long Time)
By Trivarna Hariharan
QuailBellMagazine.com
Dear friend,
I still remember the first time we met. I think it was in January. We were at a Poetry Meet, and you were one of the most anxious people there. There’s no chance in hell people would be able to guess who they’re letting themselves in for when they meet you for the first time. You don’t look like someone who could dissect the philosophies of Zarathustra, at all. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
PC is About Respect
There’s an excellent article that’s spreading across the internet like wildfire. While the article primarily criticizes a recent South Park episode, it is also a call to “retire the PC police — not by legal edict but by ignoring people who whine about it.” It has perfectly articulated what so many of us have been trying to say for a while: the only thing that anti-PC people are concerned about is their ability to be insensitive without facing scrutiny. Despite contrary claims, anti-PC has little to do with free speech and more to do with being sheltered from it. They want to be inconsiderate without getting called out for it and asked to, y'know, be respectful.
It's not that the world is full of "social justice warriors." Anti-PC people are just thinking and behaving in a disrespectful and ignorant manner. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Closer Look at Female Ejaculation
We're pretty sure everyone can agree that female orgasms are the best. Three in a row? No problem. Body part designed solely for pleasure? Thanks, clitoris. Hell, we even have different types of orgasms.
And then there's the legend of the elusive female ejaculation—a.k.a. chick jizz, squirting, sploosh and so on. Some swear it doesn't exist, while others fear it's urine in disguise. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Myanmar
By Stewart Manley
QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: The photograph with the gold soles first appeared on Off The Coast. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Lonesome Death of Laika The Astronaut Dog
Today’s date (November 7, 2015) marks the 58th anniversary of an important historical figure’s death. Laika, the space dog, literally went where humans could never go… against her will. Laika was a victim of institutionalized animal cruelty at the hands of Soviet Russia. Found on the streets of Moscow, she was “the only creature knowingly sent into space to die” and the first animal to die in orbit. Equipped with only a water dispenser and some food, scientists dressed her up in straitjacket-like spacesuit and blasted her into space on Sputnik 2. The Soviet government claimed that the plan was to poison her before her 6-day oxygen supply ran out. The USSR led the world to believe that they were concerned with animal welfare as they launched unsuspecting dogs into space, often depicting them as heroes in propaganda.
However, the truth behind Laika’s death are disturbing and far from humane. Soviet scientists exploited Laika’s obedience when they launched her into space on November 3, 1957. Ultimately, people devalued Laika’s life because she wasn’t born a human. Humans decided that her small stature and markedly calm temperament qualified her to be an astronaut. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Mental Health Stigma and the O'Donnell Debacle
By Gretchen Gales
QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: Originally published on On The Grid Zine November 3rd, 2015.
If you didn’t believe that mental health issues still had a negative stigma, proof of it was in last night’s Inside Edition that featured Rosie O’Donnell’s estranged daughter Chelsea in a TV interview. For background, Rosie’s adopted daughter had gone missing August 11th, 2015 and O’Donnell pleaded with the public to find her. Chelsea was found a week later staying with a 25 year-old man she found on Tindr. She has since lived with her birth mother, but then went to live with friends.
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Reviewing a Viewing Experience: Queen of Earth
On the Internet, anyone can seem like a big deal. Especially when all you have to go on is whether or not someone has a working email that sits on your listserv. From the perspective of a PR firm or a studio sending out invites to a film screening, it all looks the same. It’s the great truth of our age, which means one person who complains loudly enough can get their way with a company paranoid about avoiding bad press. All that can make a person stand out are time and followers. But if no one investigates how long you’ve been doing something and how many people have been reading it, everything looks impressive, or at least passable.
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Hainthouse: Abandoned But Remembered
There exist two kinds of empty buildings: abandoned ones and haunted ones. Textbook definitions aside, when I say abandoned, I mean in essence forgotten. Nobody forgets haunted. Haunted is abandoned but remembered. This ignores the idea of any parapsychological phenomena, but I’m not convinced of those yet, so when I say ‘haunt’, I mean what is abandoned but remembered. Songs, movies, all that ends, but when the notes remain and the celluloid imprints itself on your memory, you are haunted."
A haunted house isn’t one full of phosphorescent orbs and bloody maidens carrying their own heads. It’s a place that wears the weight of its history. The walls can’t forget history, and you can’t forget the walls. By nature of having a memory, you’re a haunted house with a soul attached. Some more than others. |
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