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Jan 25

Movie Reviews + What Music I've been listening to. + Being Queer and Straightedge

Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 in queer, Reviews, straightedge

I saw the movie last night, “Imagine Me and You” and it was really cute. It was a lesbian romantic comedy. Some of the lines from the film were hilarious. “How are we ever going to have grandchildren?” “The turkey baster was invented for a reason.” Haha.

I also recently watched “Food, Inc.”. I think it’s a really important movie and everyone should watch it to be informed about where their food is coming from. It was more focused on the meat industry but it isn’t veggie propaganda. It just shows how the meat industry is. It lifts the veil of what they don’t want you to know.

It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned anything about music. I’ve been listening to Mischief Brew – which isn’t usually the type of music I’m into – but it’s pretty awesome folk punk. I also bought Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come, and it’s a pretty solid album. I have also been listening to Fagatron which is awesome queercore.

Apart from that, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be straightedge and queer. The center focus of the queer scene is bars. People go to bars to drink. I don’t drink and people usually take it as a personal offense that I don’t. I don’t go around advertising the fact but when someone asks what I’m drinking, I’m not going to lie. I do get to parties early and leave when people start getting too drunk for my taste. I don’t like being around drunks. I just don’t feel comfortable.

It’s almost like being straightedge is anti-queer. Or maybe, just maybe, the queer scene has it wrong. That it shouldn’t be about supporting evil corporations and poisoning your body. I’ve tried a handful of times to build a queer scene without the booze but it just hasn’t worked. I don’t know if it’s because people lack the confidence to be their true selves without intoxication or if there’s just no interest in being sober. I’ve never need substances to have a “good time.” I don’t understand the appeal, but that’s just me.

I have never met another straightedge vegan queer who wasn’t drug-free without a history of past abuse. I am not really all that interested in people who abuse substances or eat meat for dating. I guess that’s the difference between being drug-free and straightedge: is the dislike of substances. Being drug-free is abstaining, but being straightedge is avoiding all association. I am for the legalization of marijuana because it’s not my choice to make other people’s choices for them. But, I don’t want to be around it. That is my choice.

Jan 19

Queer Zine – Call for Submissions

Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 in Uncategorized

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.

*****

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.

*****

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. 🙂

Jan 4

On Being Straightedge

Posted on Monday, January 4, 2010 in Theories

I never really took on the straightedge identity until recently. I was talking to another one of my straightedge friends and he mentioned there’s a difference between being straightedge and drug-free. It’s like the difference of being “queer” and “gay” both mean the same thing but they are different.

I first ran into the term straightedge when I was 19 and a freshman in college. I was in the community kitchen at the dorms and some kid who was a friend of a friend was talking to me. “Do you smoke?” “No.” “Do you drink?” “No.” “Do you do drugs?” “No.” “You’re straightedge.” “I am what?” I was so confused of having a label placed upon me for a behavior I’ve done. “Straightedge means you don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs.” “Oh.”

Being the nerdy, anime gamer kid I was back then – I went home and googled straightedge to find out what exactly this thing was. I found out about Minor Threat and how they started the movement in the 80’s. I found out about hardliners – who beat people up for not being straightedge. It was sounding like the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of. I mean, I liked the idea of not drinking, not doing drugs, and not smoking but it was starting to sound like a cult. I was intrigued yet put off at the same time. I didn’t like the sound of getting in fights just because of a different point of view.

Straightedge is one of those things that means different things to different people. The best way for me to understand straightedge is like my vegetarianism – a strong dislike for animal goods/products – instead of animal products it’s alcohol and drugs. I rarely go out with people who will eat meat in my presence because it just really upsets me. I go to bars sometimes – not that often – because drunkeness upsets me.

I don’t like drugs at all. Never have done them and never will. I think the mind is one of the most valuable things a person has and I would never want to mess with mine. Not just that, but the trafficking involved is really messed up.

I only been drunk once and I used to rarely smoke cigarettes. They helped me with my stress but I was ignoring the real cost. Tobacco companies are horrible. I just read an article about the child labor that goes into tobacco. It’s really messed up. I don’t want to be supporting that. Plus, alcohol is also made by some big corporation that only cares about profit. Every time we buy something, we are voting with our dollar. At what cost is your pleasure being derived from?

I guess that is something people don’t like to think about. The true cost of things. I felt it was selfish to be self destructive to myself because there are lots of people out there who love and care about me. I mean, everything isn’t kittens and rainbows, I have days where I’d rather not exist or deal with anything but some days are just so awesome that they make the bad times worth trucking through.

Straightedge to me means being responsible for yourself and your actions and also being considerate about those who care for you. It’s about healthy living and not supporting evil corporations. It’s about not needing drugs to be your true self – since you can be yourself without the use of substance. It’s about being yourself and being free from addiction.