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YRU Doing This? Spell Out The ReasonsI don’t believe that my friend JD has ever done anything that’s conventional or conformist. Smart, skillful, and artistic, he spent an American life avoiding regular employment, instead picking up jobs that interested him until they didn’t: working on a shrimper, manning a tugboat, welding, etc. Some 40 years ago, he followed one such job to the Turks and Caicos Islands, which just about no one had heard of, and when the job was done, he stayed. With an expired work permit and no passport, he has lived on the edge of convention by fixing washing machines, renting scooters, helping an eco-tourism company, and picking up other odd jobs. Now in his late 70s, he thoroughly missed the dawn of the digital age. Yet today, Facebook and the Internet are the center of his world. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Pretending it's the Perfect Christmas
By Archita Mittra
QuailBellMagazine.com
If I had to pinpoint the exact time when it all fell apart, it would probably be the day I turned thirteen. I was a full self-proclaimed non-believer by then, and my Christmas presents included an enviable assortment of punk-rock music, from classics like the Sex Pistols to Green Day’s latest rock opera. I knew only one religion, and that was rebellion. With purple streaks in my hair, and waterproof mascara lining my eyes, and a brand new biker jacket matched with my not-so brand new gumboots, all I needed was a Harley Davidson and I could run away.
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The Sepia-Tinted, Childhood-Shaped Room
By Archita Mittra
QuailBellMagazine.com
I was never a magician’s assistant, but sometimes in my fantasies I like to pretend I’m one.
We did not have a stage or fancy spotlights but we did have a dusty attic and the sunlight streaming through the mullioned windows and causing the dust motes to shimmer goldenly like pixies was magical enough. And besides, we did have most of the props. My imaginary magician was always immaculately attired in his traditional black suit and top hat; and I in a gorgeous Victorian-inspired purple dress that was originally my mother’s and salvaged from a thrift store that she never found again. But we never put up much of a show. For one, we did not have an audience, except ourselves. And two, I preferred the attic as the magician’s backstage room, with all the rosewood cabinets filled with strange and wonderful things. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
What I've Learned About Modern Dating: Facebook, Tinder, And Real Life
I am a heterosexual woman looking for a relationship with someone I am attracted to, has a sense of humor, and isn’t a serial killer or too depressive. Someone that hopefully doesn’t have children, lives within…three hours of me, doesn’t think that monogamy “just isn’t natural,” and wants to date me, maybe even forever. That’s basically all I am looking for.
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The Love Hack That Keeps On Giving Back To You
People often ask me about my secrets to not only polyamory, but a successful love life. When I hear some of the things that people endure in relationships, I always say something along the lines of, “I would never tolerate it.”
One of the tenets of Relationship Anarchy that people do not understand is the notion of no compromise. It’s not that we don’t believe in negotiation or expect our relationship to conform to 1-sided terms. It’s just that we don’t believe that people should have to change for anyone. One of my dating conditions is that you must be very into me. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The 10 Most Loathsome People of 2015
By Zack Budryk
QuailBellMagazine.com
10. Berniebros
Crimes: Strengthening their candidate’s parallels to Ron Paul by being just as insufferable as his fans; lecturing black people on how Sanders already paid his dues in the ‘60s even as he himself makes an effort to listen to them; an ability to bring up topics that have nothing to do with the conversation matched only by people who do juice cleanses. Will leave comments on this article longer than the article. Sentence: President Rubio signs bill banning both abortion and hashtags. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Room at the Inn
By Leah Mueller
QuailBellMagazine.com
My water broke as I climbed out of bed on Christmas morning. I'd stayed up late the previous evening, listening to a reading of Dylan Thomas' “A Child's Christmas in Wales” on the radio. As the waves of Puget Sound lapped outside my living room window, I arranged my enormous, swollen body into a prone position on the couch. The words and the water rolled into my ears and lulled me into a deep sleep. Eventually, my partner Scott shook me gently awake, and we retired to the bedroom.
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Maria and the Christmas of 2005
By Gillan Ritchie
QuailBellMagazine.com *Author's Note: Names and locations have been changed due to the sensitive nature of the piece. .
I am an only child, and growing up was sometimes a little lonely. I had friends that I could hang out with and share secrets with but for me, I always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. All of my friends who had siblings told me they were jealous of me being an only child. Well, I was jealous of them for having siblings.
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Mannish Boy/Boyish Man
Boys perturb, but men ruin because they hold responsibility. I learned that December 25, 2009.
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Like a Rolling Stone: Listicles and the Fallacy of Generational Conflict“Millennials are socially progressive and digitally savvy, but here are 50 cultural artifacts that leave them clueless.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
God Help The Girl
By Zack Budryk
QuailBellMagazine.com The search light in the big yard Swings round with the gun And spotlights the snowflakes Like the dust in the sun It's Christmas in prison There'll be music tonight I'll probably get homesick I love you. Goodnight. -John Prine, "Christmas in Prison" It was Christmas 2010, around 11:30 p.m., and it was snowing. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Beautiful Beirut
By Gabrielle Barbour
QuailBellMagazine.com *Editor's Note: As we go into the holiday season, we should remember all of the loss and tragedy that occurred last month and keep the people of Beirut and all that have suffered in our thoughts.
#Real #Beirut #StreetArt #Campus #Buildings #Beauty #Artwork
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Breaking The Daisy Chain Of Love
Most of us have dealt with liking someone who gave us mixed signals. One moment, they love you. The next moment, they love you not. But you still love them, and it hurts to see them flip-flop every other time you get together. Well, good news: it’s them, not you. Break The Daisy Chain by dealing with people who blow hot and cold directly.
In dating, the term “blowing hot and cold” refers to when someone is all over you on one date, but hardly acknowledges you the next time you see them. I call it “The Daisy Chain” because they “love you” one moment, only to “love you not” the next as easily as you can pluck petals off of a flower. The actual practice is not as cute as the phrase sounds, but it’s an honest interpretation of my experiences as well as those of others I’ve coached on this subject. But wanna know what blows harder? Unless you break the cycle, you won’t know what to expect from your relationships and that's not something you should ever accept from people who should be bringing joy into your life. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Text-Art of Jen Mussari Witty & Winsome in Debut Gallery Exhibition
By Sally Deskins
QuailBellMagazine.com Jen Mussari’s exhibit, “You Win Some, You Lose Some” at West Virginia University’s Paul Mesaros Gallery, which ran through Dec. 9, immediately invites you into her process with an open “Notebook #4" (Figure 1) of her sketches and personal thoughts. The tiny book reveals her grounded, unassuming nature, and her work demonstrates a bold, yet subtle and humorous, irony, echoing her clever commercial design work, but with a feminist edge. The combination exhibits impeccably via her embroidered found jackets and flags, painted and repurposed (and now unusable) motorcycle helmets, and sketchbook drawings (both ripped from sketchbooks, and on transparent and other various paper). The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Cooties: A Film ReviewIt began as another shitty evening in Times Square, the kind of late summer night where your balls get stuck to the world’s hairy leg. Yet I was determined to make it through the humid muck and mire in order to perform my duty as a sometimes film critic. If you had been there, and maybe some of you were (I did not think neon lights could turn out so many), you would have seen me walking with a purpose. Sweating, cursing, itching, adjusting, scratching, and yet walking with a set destination against everyone going in the opposite direction. That purpose took me through the streets and past every distraction until I reached the special theater where only critics get to tread. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Man Called X: On #BoycottStarwars
You forgot about Boycott Star Wars, didn’t you? That’s fine. When it was easily susceptible to hot takes a piece might have resembled this: Boycott Star Wars VII is another tally mark in the long line of nerd problematics, kvetching about whether or not Johnny Storm and Captain America has a right to be black, if Spiderman can be Miles Morales, if Thor can be a woman, with the answer being that they can, the Greek myths we are so fond of comparing superheroes to have existed in a number of iterations, the mutability of those comic characters to be in different settings , races, and genders is a strength; thus, into the locker again, you feckless ninnies. Everyone claps. People get mad. I am a social justice warrior, albeit one capable of salvation if only a few chromosomes bounced a certain way.
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Breaking Up With The Partner Of Your DreamsSometimes, love feels too good to be true. Other times, it is too good to be true. The partners of our dreams are the people who consume our thoughts without benefiting us with an IRL equivalent of a solid relationship. While they might be real in person, your lack of a relationship means makes your connection is not what you'd like it to be or, worse yet, mostly one-sided. If you’re suffering from unrequited love, then it’s time to come back to Earth and fall in love with all that you do have. It's the first step toward living the life you intend to create for yourself. That way, when the right person comes along, you’ll be ready to take them on because you won’t be emotionally preoccupied with someone who isn’t there for you. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
10 Easy Ways To Ease The Stress Of The Holidays
Let’s face it — as much as the holidays are merry and bright, they can be stressful, too. We have so much planning to do (even more if if you have kids), traveling to arrange, cleaning — and on top of all that there is the financial stress. But you don’t need me to sit here and rattle off all the emotions you are already going through. Me? I stress about it all, just like you. But over the years I have learned a few little tidbits that help ease the stress (even if it’s just a teenybit!).
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Franciscan Wonder Women
For centuries, Franciscans have been regarded as some of the most well-known monks of all time. The admiration starts of course with the founder of the Franciscans, Francis of Assisi. Son of a merchant-class man, legend tells of a pious man that ran from his privilege to pursue a life of limited resources and selfless giving. Francis left a legacy of male friars that made their own contributions to the monasteries. Many friars successfully practiced pious and impoverished lifestyles, but for Franciscan women, this right was consistently denied to them. Through vigilant correspondence between nunneries and the Pope, women were able to achieve an astounding feat in women’s rights by winning the right to poverty.
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For a Better Holiday, Add Weirdness
By Jody Rathgeb
QuailBellMagazine,com
With the holidays come many bits of advice on how to manage them with less stress. Most writing in this genre is supported by some sociologist, psychologist or time management expert. I am none of the above. For credentials, I have only the large number of Thanksgivings and Christmases (more than 50 of each) I have survived. Thus, my advice:
Forget perfect. Go for weird. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Oval Casket
As a black person—no—as a person with common sense, I have learned to never make fun of the dead.
But every rule has an exception. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Poetry Review: Becoming the Sound of Bees
By Deniz Ataman
QuailBellMagazine.com
When turning to the first page of Marc Vincenz's Becoming the Sound of Bees, the reader is greeted with a verbal pop-up book, each page filled with percolating diction and scintallating imagery evocative of man's Last Supper before he wises up.
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