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Is It Monday Already?

I’m hitting a blank here.

I think I’ve hit the Monday evening slump. It’s a little after 5pm as I’m typing this, and my get up and go has definitely got up and gone. Whoops.

More and more, I’m coming to see that 2016 is going to be, well and truly, a strange and occasionally emotional year for me. I got on Facebook this morning to find many people had posted pictures and memes in celebration of Siblings Day. I did smile, even while I was trying to remember if so many people had posted about it last year. But then my smile died a little when I thought about family, and how that word means something different to me these days.

I posted this:

Apparently it’s Siblings Day. So here’s to all my sisters from other misters and brothers from other mothers. Blood is biology; family is time, effort and giving a damn – a big, important damn. Here’s to each and every one of you who invited me to be part of your lives and showed me what family truly is.

What I didn’t post was how it took my breath away when I remembered that it’s been nearly ten years since either of the men I used to call family have spoken to me. I gave up writing letters a long time ago, but in that moment of clarity, it hit me exactly how long ago that time was.

I don’t know how many biological nieces and nephews I have, though I could guess. I don’t know all their names or how their doing. I don’t know if they realise they have an aunt who loves them even if their parents don’t let me get to know them. I don’t know what those men look like or who they are in their thirties. They are forever frozen in my mind in their early twenties.

Maybe it’s better that way.

But there are people out there who love me. People who would adopt me even at my age. People who are proud to call me sister even though biology says it isn’t so. And the thing is, I AM an aunt to two boys and a girl who have never met me but know their aunty in Australia never misses a birthday postcard (even if they get there a little late sometimes).

So here’s to siblings, by blood or by love alone.

And here’s to a strange, Monday evening soapbox speech because sometimes even a zine blog needs a bit of variety. šŸ˜‰

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Call for Submissions: Hairy Femme Mother #2 Zine

Hairy Femme Mother

Call for Submissions for Hairy Femme Mother #2: Send your stories of being a hairy queer femme ā€“ Iā€™m taking stories, poems, essays, artwork, photos, collages, whatever you come up with. The only thing Iā€™m asking is that you identify as a hairy queer femme and your submission reflects that. Priority will be given to hairy femmes of color and hairy trans, genderfluid, or gender non-conforming femmes of color ā€“ this includes black femmes.

More info: http://skinnedknees.net/hairyfemmemother

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A Breather

derp-cat-meme

Rather than get myself worked up in regards to zine reviews, I’m declaring this week a little bit of a break (rather than rushing and not giving the zines the proper care and time) for this week. Things will be back to normal review-wise next week, and calls for submissions will still be going up this weekend.

And I will rest, as my body seems to be telling me that I need to do, as well as clean the disaster area that is my workspace.

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Wednesday Reviews

I meant to post this yesterday, on Wednesday, but things got away from me. As per usual of late. Haha. All of my scheduled posting has run out, and I’m scrambling a bit with everything.

Then again, I’m usually scrambling in one way or another. That’s how I usually do things. šŸ˜‰

For Mini-Zine March, I decided that I’d do reviews on Wednesday as well as Thursday and Friday so I could feature as many as I could foresee myself keeping up with in a month. Now as March has ended, I’m not sure… Should I keep up with Wednesday reviews as well, or will no one really notice if I take it back to the Thursday/Friday reviews I had going before.

Maybe I’m overthinking the whole thing.

That’s a strong possibility.

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Happy Mail!

I have been a very lucky little vegemite with the arrival of a care package from my soul-sister-from-another-mister, Dark Wolf, as well as some zine mail from a new zine friend! Check out the mail art action happening on the envelope from the new zine friend:

Conspiratorial Zine Mail

And a pic of the back of the envelope. Love it!

Conspiratorial Mail Art

Because I took a few more pictures than usual of the zine goodness a la care package, I’m going to stick it behind a more tag…

Continue reading “Happy Mail!”

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Admin Stuff

4b5

Slowly but surely, I’ve sorted out a few admin-type things for my site that were bugging me.

For instance, why I couldn’t reply to a reply in the comments section. Most annoying. Or why I couldn’t like comments.

Well, well, well. We’re all sorted out now. I have some buttons below posts if you want to share anything to various platforms. I’ve enabled reply to replies (I didn’t even know I could control that – the power!), and I’ve also put the like option in for liking comments as well as posts.

I feel so accomplished today. ^_^

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Call for Submissions: Fresa

Fresa

Fresa: “a slang social term used in Mexico and some parts of Latin America to describe a cultural stereotype of superficial youngsters who, by the traditional definition of the word, came from a high class and educated family.” My experience with the word fresa differed from the typical slang use.

I was called fresa because I didn’t like the things I was expected to like.

I was called fresa because everyone thought I was stuck up because I kept to myself.

I was called fresa because I was soft and emotional.

I was called fresa because I was was queer. A brown queer.

Soy Fresa. UN PINCHE FRESA.

Fresa, a zine that is for and by QTPOC.

This zine aims to highlight intersectionality from a brown/queer perspective through reader submissions.

The first issue will allow participants to express themselves. To celebrate and detail their experience as a brown queer persxn.

Each following issue will focus on 1 theme/issue/topic/intersection as seen/experienced by brown/queer folx.

Fresa will act as a diary for members of the QTPOC community.

It will give us a safe space to express how we feel and to connect to one another.

It is a chance to not feel alone. To know that you belong.

This zine is also intended for POC readers who want to connect to their Queer and Trans Familia.

Respectfully, this zine is NOT for the non POC audience.

Fresa is intended to give QTPOC a safe space; a platform that is free from the pressures of racial marginalization and White Gaze.