| New online class... |
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| 09:37am 17/06/2008 |
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I've got a new online / teleclass starting next month... Step right up & join the fun... No experience necessary!
July 15 - September 1 - (7 Weeks)
LIT STAR TRAINING - SUMMERTIME EXPANSIVE
Taught by Ariel Gore
An old student recently wrote to me: "I just find myself more and more not writing and feeling down and letting my day job suck the life out of me." No more! Over the course of this class, you'll make time to write, produce new material with weekly deadlines, and improve your craft with practice and critique. You won't even have time to worry about creative blocks. For students working on--or intending to work on--either fiction, memoir, or creative nonfiction. Class combines online discussion/critique, email, telephone coaching, and even a little U.S. Postal Services correspondence. Telephone meetings will take place scheduled Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific time. Class size is limited.
$250 ($75 deposit saves your spot.)
Sign up at to arielgore.com |
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| Big News from Hip Mama |
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| 02:10pm 18/03/2008 |
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* * * Celebrate 15 Years of Hip Mama and Meet the New Editor * * *
After 15 years, Hip Mama is getting a new editor!
The Spring '08 issue--the one I'm working on right now--is the last issue
of Hip Mama I'll edit. I plan to stay on as Yo Mama & a consulting editor,
but I'm passing the reigns to the amazing Kerlin Richter, a writer/editor, visual
artist mama, and theology student.
Kerlin will of course bring her own vibe & vision to Hip Mama--and maybe even
get back to putting it out 4 times a year--but the "mission" stays the
same. Hip Mama is a feminist, pro-choice, reader-written zine for progressive families.
Yes indeed. The post office box is the same (P.O. Box 12525, Portland, OR, 97212),
but the new email address, as of the next issue, is hipmamazine at gmail dot com
Also...
MOTHER'S DAY PARTY & VARIETY SHOW IN PORTLAND!
We'll be hosting a Mother's Day party & variety show fundraiser for
the relaunch of the Hip Mama.
Meet the new editor.
Connect with other counter-culture parents.
Music from The Repair and others.
Puppet show. Silent auction. Beer & Wine.
Readings by Ariel Gore and others...
Mark your calendar: Sunday, May 11, 5 - 8 p.m., The Watershed Collective at 5040
SE Milwaukee in Portland, $5 suggested donation per adult.
Kids free & welcome.
Watch for more details at www.arielgore.com
ADS FOR THE SPRING ISSUE
I plan to print more copies of this issue than ever before, but in the spirit of
"hey-who-wants-to-make-any-money-anyway?" I'm keeping the ad rates
insanely low. $150 for a quarter-page in this historic issue. $200 for one third
page. $275 for a half-page. $500 for a full page. These are, like, 1960s rates...
but space is seriously limited. Let me know right away if you want a spot. arielgore at earthlink dot net
SUBMISSIONS
I have all the longer pieces I need for my last issue, but I'm accepting very
short (up to 150 words) for the readers-write section. I'm looking for specific
memories related to anything Hip Mama (the more old-school the better, but whatever
comes to mind...) and/or a thought or two about how you'd like to see Hip Mama
grow and transform. arielgore at earthlink dot net
Onward with love,
Ariel Gore |
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| three cheers for truth-telling! |
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| 06:57pm 11/03/2008 |
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I just learned that my friend Matthew Diaz, former JAG corps officer at Guantanamo, fresh out of jail and booted out of the military for telling the truth is being honored with the 2008 Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.
Woo hoo!
Congratulation to Matt. He deserves heroic recognition.
CLICK RIGHT HERE to listen to my sister's song for Matt.
As you may remember, a jury last year sentenced Matt to six months for giving a list of Guantanamo detainees to a New York law firm, making him, as Harper's Magazine put it, "the first political prisoner in recent United States history." He transmitted the names as an act of protest over the mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo. A federal court subsequently ruled that the Navy's decision to withhold the names was unlawful, and issued an order compelling their disclosure--so the Pentagon's withholding of the names, and not Matt's action, was unlawful. |
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| on Love & Consequences |
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| 06:56pm 11/03/2008 |
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(That made-up memoir by Margaret B. Jones)
From Inga Muscio...
I guess it's time to call out all the yellow-bellied blog bitches who demean my work because of that book Love and Consequences by "Margaret B. Jones" or... Peggy Seltzer.
A few years ago, I met a woman named Peggy Seltzer. She presented herself as a gang member from Los Angeles. She told me she was sexually abused by her older brother and, since her family was in denial about this, she was shunted into foster care. Her "birth father" was a member of the Quinalt tribe and her "birth mother" was white. When Peggy moved to Oregon, she went and visited her tribe. Her "bio dad" had shunned his Quinalt roots and she went to the rez to make good with her people. She received monthly checks because she was half native. The first time I met her, I was wearing a blue shirt. This is when she told me about being gang raped by Crips. I saw that the color blue deeply traumatized her, so I never wore blue around her again.
She showed me some of her writing about her life. She is a very good writer. I did an email intro between Peggy and Faye Bender, my agent. I have passed along other writer intros to Faye as well, but this one led to a book deal. As a published writer with an agent, I feel that it is good form to help out other writers when and if I can.
The weekend before last, Faye called me. She said, "Inga, I need you to sit down." This is when I found out that Peggy's entire life for the past decade is a lie. This elaborately constructed life/lie was in place long, long before Peggy ever gave me her writing. As far as I know, her daughter and baby-daddy also believe this life/lie. Everyone who has met her for the past ten years knows her to be the person she describes in the book.
Faye asked me if I would speak to a New York Times reporter. I agreed. Big mistake. Now my name was associated with a highly seasoned pathological liar. Worse, two anecdotes from Peggy's life/lie made it into my book, Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil. (Two free Cunt stickers to the first 10 people who can find them!) And so now whole slew of bloggers and blog commentors have taken it upon themselves to attack me, personally.
You know, it is really easy for people to sit in front of their computers and say whatever they want. There is absolutely no
accountability because these folks are, largely, anonymous. Generally also having no experience writing books, their critiques of the publishing process is completely retarded. (Retard means to negate growth. Don't email me and tell me I am disrespecting mentally-different thinkers who should never be referred to as retarded in the first place.) AFTER Faye Bender told me I need to sit down, I, like every other human being Margaret Seltzer has met in the past ten years, was THEN afforded the luxury that the mean-spirited bloggers came into the situation already knowing. People have no call to judge me, my work or anyone else involved with Love and Concequences.
Some bitches attack Sarah McGrath, the editor. Here's a little insight. Peggy and I spoke frequently throughout the three years she was working on the book. Not long after the James Frey scandal busted out, she calls me all pissed off. Sarah was "grilling" her about the veracity of her book and Peggy was absolutely indignant.
Furious.
Outraged.
I talked her down, telling her that Sarah HAD to do that. It wasn't personal.
Sarah McGrath is not stupid, lazy or irresponsible. She had the exact same experience as everyone else Peggy Seltzer came into contact with. Damn fools piss me off, talking shit. Casting a pall on this woman's career for a few days of gleeful meanness, like bullies on the playground. Dear lord we're an immature folk. People have the gayest time ridiculing James Frey's publisher, Nan Talese, because she said, ""I don't think there is any way you can fact-check every single book. It would be very insulting and divisive in the author-editor relationship."
THIS IS TRUE.
It is not fodder for completely uninformed ridicule. My relationship with my editor is intimate. A good editor is equal parts therapist, police and dominatrix. And the policing a good editor does, is not around "fact checking." They police your potential, and pull your very best out of you. There is just no place in that relationship for the editor to sit back and wonder, "Hmmm, maybe this writer is a sociopathic pathological liar and I should spend a day playing private investigator." If I found out my editor was checking into my background, I would be horrified and very distrustful during all future interactions. This does not make for a good book. Now, of course, checking public records will become a routine matter, and will hopefully be the task of ANYONE other than the editor.
Around the same time all this was happening, the media and internet went wild over how "fat" Lisa Marie Presley was. I have always felt bad for Lisa Marie Presley. People are forever scrutinizing the woman's life and comparing her to her dad. It must really suck. A couple days after everyone had SO MUCH FUN saying mean and unnecessary things about her, she issued an angry statement, announcing her pregnancy. No one apologized or said, "Fuck man, that was really shitty of us to say such mean things about you." I swear to god I am just freaking about how mean people are. What's to gain? Are people so hurt that they need to compensate by saying mean things about others? Oh wait. I should stop. I can see the bloggers can now be mean to me by saying I am comparing myself to Lisa Marie Presley. Oh, goodie, that's right! I am bloated with a sense of self-importance and must corraborate this by putting myself in the same social strata as The King's Daughter. Why are people so mean and cowardly? I mean, really, why? Is this a collective consciousness thing? A social repercussion of the anonymity of the internet? Isn't that why pedophiles and other sexual predators love the internet to much? We all know that pedophiles and sexual predators are the biggest cowards taking space on the planet. I feel very beat up and attacked by all of the mean things people have written, so this is certainly another form of predatory and abusive behavior. What is up with all this shitass behavior in our culture? |
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| took the kid to the mall today |
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| 08:25pm 18/12/2007 |
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| I dropped out of high school 20 years ago... |
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| 08:42pm 06/12/2007 |
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And in the latest issue of my high school newspaper they printed these words of wisdom...
To the students of her hometown, Ariel Gore offers this advice:
"Drop out and get a real life and education. Don't get plastic surgery before you're 30. And — I realize this will nullify all previous and subsequent advice, but don't do what you're told. Don't take my advice or anyone else's unless it lines up with your own truth. You can be successful because you are smart and creative and tenacious, or you can be successful because you are obedient. I would suggest that the latter isn't very satisfying."
Ha! For some reason this makes me very happy. |
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| Brooklyn Community Acupunture Holiday Bazaar |
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| 08:41pm 06/12/2007 |
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You just know there are people on your holiday list who need my new book on writing, How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead, or my crazy lapsed Catholic novel, The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show, or my taveling memoir, Atlas of the Human Heart, or a sexy Hip Mama T-shirt. Shop right here.
Or if you're in Portland, please come see me at Brooklyn Community Acupuncture's holiday bazaar where you can get all things Hip Mama, books by me, and hand-crafted, local gifts from other folks.
Brooklyn Community Acupuncture Holiday Bazaar
Sunday, December 9th, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
It's at 1212 SE Powell Blvd., but faces SE 12th--so it's across the street from the German deli
Portland, Oregon
See you! |
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| maximilian |
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| 06:28pm 17/09/2007 |
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Well, this whole sleep-deprivation thing takes some getting used to, huh? Seems more intense the second time around--I mean, who needs sleep when you're 19? But here's something novel: Sometimes Maria gets up to sooth the baby. Nothing like having a partner to make you feel like total slacker mom.
In other news, I finally got the new issue of Hip Mama to the printer. Not sure when it will be ready and heading your way, but it won't be too long now. If you don't already, you really ought to SUBSCRIBE in time to get #38 THE LABOR ISSUE delivered right to your door.
And look! Maia came home to meet her brother...
How cute are they?
...Anonymous said (and isn't it always anonymous saying...?) "i am curious about one thing...why no pictures of maria? she seems a bit absent from your public presentation of this pregnancy and baby."
Well, you know, some people just don't like being blogged about that much.
But here, by special permission, just so you don't think she's hiding, is Ms. Maria Fabulosa with baby Max (and Jackson the dog)...
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| born yesterday |
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| 06:35pm 27/08/2007 |
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got home w/ max a little bit ago...
maximilian cosmo gore perez |
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| Hip Mama submissions |
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| 07:45am 16/08/2007 |
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Gettig a new issue of Hip Mama together - I need quick/short submissions (up to about 200 words) on the subject of... LABOR (work, jobs, childbirth, labor movement, etc.). Deadline is Sunday night. Send me your submissions! arielgore at earthlink.net.
Thanks... |
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| she did it! |
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| 07:17am 06/06/2007 |
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Girl-child graduated from high school...in three crazy years! |
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| no there there |
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| 06:26pm 29/05/2007 |
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Oh, now I remember what it's like to be pregnant. The everyday violence of the world is beyond too much. I had to kill my television. Can barely bring myself to get online.
And now I do and I learn that the house I grew up in--the one my grandfather designed and built in 1920 when my step-dad was a little kid--the one I brought my daughter home to when she was just a few months old and we needed shelter--well, the new owners "don't like the Spanish style" and plan to tear it down.
My mom relays this news, saying "When we see the house torn down, we will have more appreciation for the suffering of people who have to see their whole village wiped out."
I guess so, but mostly my disgusted irritation with human beings blooms. I mean, if they "don't like the Spanish style," why the fuck did they buy it? I'm just wondering. Not that I'm going to summon my ancestors to haunt whatever house in whatever style they decide they might like or anything...
It's kinda funny, actually, because just yesterday I sat right here watching out my window--the lavender and the roses and all the crazy green and flowers of spring--and even though I own this little house I understood as I took it all in that there is no settled down, that I would always be a traveler, that in a year or a decade I'll move on.
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| Spring tour! |
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| 04:16pm 20/03/2007 |
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How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead comes out on March 27! Booklist says it's "one of the snappiest, most useful books a writer for hire is likely to read."
Please come to an event - they're all free & all ages.
* * *
Ariel solo in...
PORTLAND, OR
Thursday, April 12 – 7:30 p.m.
Powell’s on Hawthorne - 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
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And joined by Annie Downey, author of Hot and Bothered, and China Martens, The Future Generation, on the Ideals and Dreams Book Tour...
NEW YORK, NY
Friday, April 20 - 7 p.m.
Bluestockings Books - 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington
BURLINGTON, VT
Saturday, April 21 - 5:30 p.m.
Vermont Peace & Justice Center - Church Street Market Place (21 Church St.)
ITHACA, NY
Sunday, April 22 - 2 p.m.
Bookery II - Dewitt Mall - 215 N. Cayuga
PITTSBURGH, PA
Monday, April 23 - 7 p.m.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers - 2705 E. Carson St.
ASHEVILLE, NC
Wednesday, April 25 – 7 p.m.
Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe - 55 Haywood St.
KNOXVILLE, TN
Thursday, April 26 - 6:30 p.m.
Carpe Librum - 5113A Kingston Pike
RALEIGH, NC
Friday, April 27 – 7 p.m.
Quail Ridge Books and Music - 3522 Wade Ave.
RICHMOND, VA
Saturday, April 28 – 12 noon
Richmond Zine Fest
The Firehouse Theatre - 1609 W Broad St.
BALTIMORE, MD
Saturday, April 28 – 7 p.m.
Atomic Pop - 3620 Falls Rd.
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And then Ariel solo again...
FRIDAY HARBOR, WA
Saturday, May 12 - 6 p.m.
San Juan Island Library - 1010 Guard St.
LAKE OSWEGO, OR
Tuesday, July 17 - 7 p.m.
Lake Oswego Library - 706 4th St.
* * *
I think it's fantastic, for aspiring and established writers alike! Even Greg, who reads only periodicals, plays, and histories, picked it up, read for half an hour straight and said, "She's a smart woman."
--Ayun Halliday |
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| a dream of a pig |
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| 08:06am 25/02/2007 |
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A dream of a pig means wealth or luck.
The year 2007 is the "Year of the Pig," according to the Chinese zodiac. But it's not an ordinary pig year, which comes every 12 years, it is the "Year of the Golden Pig," which comes every 600 years, according to fortunetellers.
They say babies born in the golden pig year will have comfortable and wealthy lives. People born in these years are honest and straightforward, intelligent, courageous, gallant, and sincere. They can be relied on to see things through. They tend to be popular and make lasting friendship.
In line with the myth, signs point to a baby boom this year. Obstetrics and gynecology clinics are counseling more about pregnancy and related industries are eagerly promoting baby products. Condom sales are down 16 percent and the birth rate is expected to rise by about 10 percent.
Those believing the golden pig year say the special year comes every 600 years when calculating its frequency using a combination of the Chinese zodiac and yin and yang theory.
--Seoul Times
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| no sushi for you |
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| 06:42pm 05/02/2007 |
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Seems like there's no end to what you can't do when you're pregnant. Seventeen years ago in Italy, they just told me "try not to drink and smoke too much." This time it's no drinking, no smoking, no sushi, no soft cheese, no green tea, no black tea, (but Good Morning America says I can drink coffee!), no getting a tattoo, no dying my hair, no bleaching it, no sauna, no hot tub, no worrying... I'm sure I've forgotten the most of it.
(12 weeks... and getting rounder by the day) |
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| just weird |
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| 12:21pm 21/01/2007 |
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When I got pregnant at 18, it was taboo in my family. I was too young,
a traveler, poor. Fair enough, I figured.
Now I’m 36, but I’m queer, still poor.
My mother admonishes me not to tell my grandmother.
What do you mean not tell her?
She won’t have to see you, my mother says. And anyway she has a fairly serious heart condition. She’ll die first. And if she doesn’t we’ll tell her you adopted it.
Adoption is not taboo, I guess. Is altruistic.
But then my mother goes to see my grandmother in the desert, and she tells her,
emails me: Your grandmother just thinks it’s weird.
Just weird.
I say, what’s weird? Even Mary Cheney gets pregnant.
My girlfriend puzzles over my family.
They are supposed to be all hippie ‘70s, she says. My family is homophobic, but when their children have children they think it’s a happy time. A time of joy.
And I guess that’s what it’s about, really. Not about being too young, a traveler, poor, queer, or still poor--it's just about their children having children, about anyone having children. They don’t think it’s a happy time. A time of joy. They associate child-bearing instead with violence. With our fathers coming home late from war, from prison, from the tavern. They are afraid. |
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| insta-huge |
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| 02:11pm 20/01/2007 |
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I know you're supposed to show sooner when it's your second pregnancy, but I thought maybe since I'd given my uterus a 17-year rest, the rule wouldn't apply.
No such luck...
Did I mention that's only 10 weeks? |
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| pregnant again |
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| 09:17am 09/01/2007 |
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Ha ha! I'm pregnant.
Folx say it's too early for me to be telling everyone, but I can't help it.
I went over to the welfare office to see if I could get health insurance--the worker said I qualified, but I’d have to provide proof of my pregnancy.
“I just did a home test,” I explained. “I haven’t been to the doctor yet 'cause I don't have insurance.”
She handed me an address. “They’ll give you a free test,” is all she said.
And so it was that I found myself, about a half hour later, trapped in a pink wall-papered room with a frail blond woman about ten years my senior, my newly positive pregnancy test sitting on the table between us.
She lectured me about “the kind of relationships GOD wants you to have” and handed me a brochure entitled The Only Safe Sex is No Sex Until Faithful Married Sex.
“Are you for or against abortion?” she asked.
“I’m pro-choice.”
FOR ABORTION she wrote in all-caps across my intake sheet.
The world just gets weirder and weirder.
Later, my daughter yelled at me for not yelling at the woman.
Anyway, I got the insurance. |
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arielfiona's journal
