Trinidad: We 3 In Love & Strength
I hardly post on here anymore, I mostly post on tumblr now, I guess, but I haven’t totally forgotten about this blog…
I suppose I should first announce that Matt, Marco, and I have launched our weekly bio comic, The Feeling Is Multiplied, and you should check it out!
Next, I wanted to share this Love Day mix I made for Matt and Marco… It’s all one file, I take pride on mixing tracks and getting a theme just right, tell me what you think!
A mix I made for the campers…
This second session has been wonderful, but a little more draining… It inspired me to finish up the mix I was making for campers this summer with some themes on friendship, loving yourself, and being solid with each other.
This is one long mp3 file, because I love actually mixing songs. The campers in the band I was helping as band manager were all 8 or 9. I tried to have a variety of songs and appeal to their tastes on the themes I was wanting to share.. <3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1pk29fw85t16i1v/staysolid_2014rockcampmix_byblue.mp3
Beth Ditto Fan Art!
This is a drawing I finished up today as part of the roadmap zine I’m making for the campers of Rock’N’Roll Camp For Girls.
In the zine, it will be black instead of yellow, but I drew it in yellow because it just felt right. Now I am debating which quote from her to use to pair with the drawing.
I am wrapping up laying out the roadmap, debating banging out one more coloring page of a rad musician. I can’t wait to try to put together a coloring book of more drawing one day (in the NEAR future) for rock camp.
We’re going to be binding the zine for the campers of the first session at my house on Saturday (the first session begind next week). We’re going to just be hole-punching and tying with colored twine (kind of like thishttp://www.pebblesandbuttons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Tie-a-knot-or-a-bow.jpg), so it’s very easy work. There will just be about 70 of them to do, so many hands will make the work quick!
If you’ve been looking for someway to help rock camp, this would be a great start! In addition to having a chance to help out rock camp, you can have a chance to meet other rad volunteers. Plus, you can check out the road map I made for campers, which will be including some rad art of musicians.
If you have something you’d like to donate to rock camp, gift cards, services, art, whatever, this would be a great time to drop a donation off. Remember, RNRC4G is a nonprofit and you will get a receipt for your tax-deductible donation. So, for example, if you’re an artist, you get to set the value of what you’ve donated. Also, what’s more awesome than giving your comics or your band’s cd to young people?
We’re also going to watch The Punk Singer (probably starting it at 3:00), because I have been wanting to see it and showing it during working on this seemed appropriate. ♥
Blue will provide some tasty snacks and beverages for this work part, but you’re welcome to bring some too! If you want to come and you don’t know where I live, you can message me for the address. Feel free to invite your rad friends!
Santigold Fan Art!
This is a drawing I finished up today as part of the roadmap zine I’m making for the campers of Rock’N’Roll Camp For Girls.
In the zine, it will be black instead of red, but I drew it in red because it just felt right. Now I am debating which quote from her to use to pair with the drawing.
Anyone have any suggestions for who should be on my short list to draw to finish out this zine with fun coloring pages?
Yes, it’s AWFUL! But, no, it’s not Jim Crow.
Dear queer loves,
I get it. The shit that’s happening in this country is super scary regarding laws coming forward that would allow businesses, employers, housing, etc. to discriminate against queer folks openly based on their religion. I partially grew up in Arizona, I was assaulted many times for many reasons. Because I was a girl, because I was hanging out with my latin@ friends, because I was queer. I understand the pain and frustration that comes with the threat of violence and discrimination. Guess what though?
It’s not the same as Jim Crow.
As a friend-of-a-friend said, “I don’t think it’s a good comparison and I think it’s actually harmful to the work we do and the alliances we say we care about. Jim Crow laws were a broad set of measures created specifically to make it impossible for black people to participate on any equal basis with white people. Jim Crow has a unique legacy and Jim Crow is about race. Framing these religious exemption policies as ‘gay Jim Crow’ suggests that the LGBT community is engaged in some kind of parallel experience to black people who lived under Jim Crow. I hope that’s not what we are intending to do.”
These laws are horrible, they’re painful, they’re troubling, but it’s also horrible, painful, and troubling for white folks who are queer to appropriate the term “Jim Crow” for queer causes. The origin of the phrase “Jim Crow” has often been attributed to “Jump Jim Crow”, a song-and-dance caricature of blacks performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface. That right there begins to differentiate the situations. There is no “gay face” and we’re not fighting a legacy of slavery of gays and an incredibly segregated society. We are fighting attempts to legally discriminate and there are many queer-protective laws in this country. The situation is bad in its own right, which is incredibly worth talking about, but to call these anti-gay laws “The New Jim Crow” is appropriating, alienating, and ignorant.
Please don’t.
It deepens problems marginalized communities already have in fighting with each other, it shows a lack of mutual respect and understanding.
DO PLEASE TALK about those bits of legislation in their own horribleness. Talk about how it might hurt YOU, talk about YOUR history in those states, if you have one. Talk about YOUR fears and pain in seeing such laws coming into our society. You can do this without appropriating the traumatic experiences of other communities.
Love,
Blue
Tres Corazones Después Año
A lot of people feel grouchy about Valentine’s Day and I get it, I really do. I have not always been happy about love, nor have I always had good relationships. Plus, in a capitalist, oppressive, heteronormative culture, holidays like Valentine’s Day can feel like just another obnoxious reason people are trying to get you to buy things…
However, I am seriously into love, celebration, and giving.
For a winter holiday present (or, I suppose you could say. a Christmas gift) in 2013, I made both Matt and Marco a zine, The 3 of Us. For Valentine’s Day, or The Infamous Love Day, I also handmade them a little surprise…
Last year, just before The Infamous Love Day, two of my partners, Matt and Marco had just moved into an apartment together, becoming more than metamours, now they were housemates. I was so thrilled that these two dudes loved me and were confidant and close enough not to be bothered by the expectations that society puts on them. To not view each other as competition, to not be worried that people will think they’re gay, but to think highly of each other and value each other as friends on a deep level, so much so that they decided to become housemates. To celebrate The Infamous Love Day, I wanted to delight in the the space they were sharing and make them both feel special and appreciated. So, I made a lot of little paper hearts. On sparkly construction paper, writing on each one some quality that I loved about one of them and I hid them all over their new space!
A year later, I find myself sharing that same space with them. To me, this was a really big deal. I have only had two experiences living with partners and neither were very good. One was when I was 19, the other when I was 26, and it was an incredibly abusive and unhealthy situation with Andy Johnson. I found myself staying with the family I nannied for as a safety caution while waiting until Andy moved out of the house I lived in. So, a commitment I have had to myself since then was that I would NOT live with another partner again unless I was moving in with more than one partner. I felt this way partially because a big component of that ex’s abuse was his jealousy. The first time he assaulted me, he was blackout drunk and he had come to where I was on a date to confront me. Because he agreed to have an ethically non monogamous relationship with me and I am super into openness/honesty, he knew exactly where I was. After making a scene in the bar, he followed me outside, pushing me against a wall to yell at me about the mistakes I was making. From there, during the relationship, his jealousy only got worse and more hateful and more destructive. Being in a relationship like that can really eat away at your trust with yourself, so I felt like making the commitment that I wouldn’t move in with another partner unless it was multiple partners was important for two reasons. The first reason being that, ultimately, I want to live in a poly-family type of household, so why make a big commitment like moving in with anyone unless they share that value? Secondly, I don’t want to be with anyone violently jealous again, and making the commitment to move in with me and another partner of mine (hopefully) would mean that the potential partners I would be moving in with would not be violent (much less violently jealous). If one of them turned out to be, at least I would have a closer witness this time (though a few people got to witness Andy’s violent abuse despite not living with us). The thing about having been with an abusive partner is that there remains with you a doubt in your own judgement. Even when a relationship seems great, I still feel worried in the back of my mind that everything will fall apart at any moment.
While we’ve had our own hurdles to clear the last year, I really feel like my home is with Matt and Marco. We find ourselves gardening together, building a couch together, planning our futures, working on an autobio poly comic, working on an empowerment app, and more. I feel this space and that my relationship with the two of them is really constructive. This mix I’ve made for them is an attempt at capturing our feelings and journey over the last year as a story that is told as a mix… <3
Tres Corazones Después Año: A Love Day Mix for Matt and Marco – https://db.tt/3GtjD8iX (it’s one mp3 file, because I seriously mixed it y’all)
1. I Feel It In My Heart – Talking Heads
2. Rebel Girl – Bikini Kill
3. Joan Of Arc – Arcade Fire
4. Love Is Dangerous – French Horn Rebellion
5. Sweaty (Shazam Remix) – Muscles
6. Mommy Complex – Peaches
7. I Can Change – LCD Soundsystem
8. Myth – Beach House
9. Good Intent – Kimbra
10. Forever – HAIM
11. The Reason The Night Is Long – Rainer Maria
12. Step Up – Hercules
13. Little Shadow – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush
15. This Too Shall Pass – OK Go
16. You’ll Find A Way – Santigold
17. Vaporize – Broken Bells
18. I Don’t Know What The Weather Will Be – Laura Mvula
19. The Good Thing – Talking Heads
What Do You Feel?
Dear friends! Most of you know that Marco, Matt, and I have been working on making a poly bio comic that we’ll update weekly. It’s a pretty big, multifaceted project, we will all contribute to the scripts and story ideas (well, our lives are the story ideas), Marco and I will also sometimes draw it, but Matt will be the main artist. We even plan on taking submissions for comics having to do with non monogamy to feature guest artists. The website for it is also going to be a place where we talk about our lives and our other projects.
ANYWAYS, we are torn between two names, so we’d like to ask all of you lovelies to give us your two cents….
If it helps, these are the two songs of inspiration for us…
Days of Love Sale!
Hey friends! Now that Matt has this new-fangled site, where all his work is collected in one place (designed by Matt and coded by Marco), he has opened up his Etsy store listing prints and offering commissions!!
To celebrate the new site and the love-based-holiday that is Valentine’s Day, he’s having a sale on commissions that’s perfect for fulfilling your need for a card-sized piece of original art, either for a lover, a friend, or yourself! From now until February 14th, you can enter in the coupon code INFINITYLOVEPIZZA while checking out to get 33% off of your commission order in Matt’s Etsy store!
He’s offering ink drawings or ink drawing that are finished with water colors or digital coloring, so check out his Etsy commissions listings!
And, let me tell you, Matt’s really been cooking up some rad, love-based illustrations recently…
A few months ago, some friends of ours who are in a triad relationship, were celebrating their love and commitment to each other with a formal commitment ceremony (somewhat like a wedding). They are also rather nerdy and passionate about their interests (two of them had been Disney villainesses for Halloween), so many geeky elements were part of their wedding’s decor, including making their vows while wrapping a Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf around all their hands and having 20-sided die scattered on the tables. Matt made them an appropriately nerdy commitment ceremony gift…. An illustration of Disney villainesses playing D&D together!
For Christmas, he made our wonderful neighbors smaller, original-illustration cards featuring their furry, household loved ones…
Ambrose, the chihuahua…
Porter, the ball-obsessed yellow lab…
Danielle and Thor, cougar pug princess and her mighty pup companion…
Just a couple weeks ago, for a lovely friend’s birthday (Cat Farris), he made an awesome illustration featuring the character of her webcomic, Flaccid Badger, with one of her beloved game characters from Mass Effect, Garrus…
So, as you can see, the dude is a talented artist for all your love-capturing needs. He’s having this sale because he really enjoys having new stuff to draw and mash-up. So, whatever ignites the love within you this Valentine’s Day, ask Matt to do a commission to bring your lovely imaginings into reality! Treat yourself or someone else you love. <3
Just visit his commissions listing in his Etsy store, then, during checkout, you can enter in the coupon code INFINITYLOVEPIZZA to get 33$% off of your commission order.
A Modern Woman on the Move 