Cut&Paste Rock&Roll + my article on thenewgay.net!
I went to a party two Friday’s ago. It was in Long Beach called Cut&Paste Rock&Roll. I found out about the event from twitter and it sounded cool so I went to check it out.
When I first got there, it was a rainy night, so I wasn’t sure how much of a crowd there would be. The place was -packed-. Wall-to-wall queers. Queers from all over braved the weather and came out for the party. It was pretty awesome. There were these two guys who were doing airbrush art on people. I got a dragon done on my head. I later got a bleeding heart airbrushed on my freshly shaved head because Nancy recommended it. I saw some people I met at Homo-A-Go-Go. I chatted and had a good time.
I saw some bands played, I don’t remember who they were, but it was fun. I bonded with a queer punk quickly – because we are both queer punks and oh so rare. I sometimes wish I was old enough to have appreciated the queercore movement in the 1990’s. Events like Cut&Paste Rock&Roll give me a taste of what it was like. It must have been great.
I don’t remember when, but some Saturday a few moons ago, I had my first LGBT group lunch meeting. It was okay but I was dealing with gays and lesbians. Not queers. It inspired a piece that I wrote called, “Gay/Lesbian” verses Queer: What’s the Difference? which was published by http://thenewgay.net/.
I met Zack who’s one of the co-founder of the gay newspaper at Cut&Paste Rock&Roll. First, he came over to comment on my sweater: Sheeps being abducted by an UFO = awesome! But then we started talking about queerness and we seemed to agree on things. He asked me to write for him and I said sure. So, go read my article there and leave a comment.
When I finished my article, they asked me to have a picture to go with my writing. So, being an anarcho-queer, I decided to use the pink and black flag. It happened to draw the attention of Bash Back! which is a radical anarcho-queer group that I don’t really agree with. They seem to do things for the sake of being radical and not for the sake of productivity. I try to stay on the fringe of society – associating with the mainstream just enough to try to change it – but not being consumed by it.
I ended up writing two pieces today. One about being a radical queer and another about queercore for The New Gay. I don’t know if they are going to publish them sometime next week or make my column a weekly thing.
I am not having much luck trying to organize and Amnesty International Group out here. I thought a human rights group would be broad enough to draw a little bit of everyone but there’s so much apathy. I think I might start volunteering somewhere local and meet other activist types if they exist out here.
Queer Zine – Call for Submissions
I went looking for the underground – the place were queer punks, anarchists, and free thinkers hide. A place free from hierarchies and oppression. A place where people could be themselves and be accepted. I found the underground but I didn’t find what I was looking for. But, somehow along the way, I became what I was seeking. I am the revolution. I can’t be the only one. I want to find the others.
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In a world treated like a machine; where everything is a commodity to be bought and sold, there lives a human who dreams of something more: community, solidarity, and connection. Can what they seek be found in such a world?
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Basically, my idea for the zine is two-folds: writing of an ideal underground that doesn’t exist quite yet almost like the groundwork for such a place; a manifesto of sorts, and the journey of a person to find if such a place exists. Part fact, part fiction, and queer as queer can be.
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So, what do I want from you? Poems, vegan recipes, drawings, gay shame theme material. Not looking to have it be anything beyond PG-13. I haven’t set the idea in stone yet – so it’s all just brewing. I have some jewelry designs I need to finish up this week before I start working on the zine. I haven’t decided how I am going to publish it yet – I might even make it a small book/pamphlet – maybe color if you have color works. We’ll see what comes of it.
I just read two issues of J.D’s last night from QZAP and I am fairly confident I can do an awesome job of putting together something that’s radical, queer, punk, and interesting.
Contact me for more details. You can leave a comment here or email me – kale.and.glitter (at) gmail (dot) com.
Thanks! Hope to hear from someone. Don’t be shy. This could be an awesome project. 🙂