April 14th: Breaking Knitting Rules with Lori Guest and Erin Crickett.

Dear Lori and Erin,

Thanks so much for clammoring into the on air studio at CFRU last Thursday. I love that you stop doing knitting projects that you don't want to keep doing. I love that you knit in bars, and spin on your front step saying hey to your neighbors . I love that you spin garbage. I love that you knit projects that are hard, that you break the rules, or sometimes don't even know what the rules are. I love that you are so enthusiastic about what you do. Its contagious. I love that you are committed to talking about important issues, even when they're not at all popular conversations.

I love the idea that we knit and look at our hands, and don't have to look at each other, and that sometimes makes it easier to talk the hard topics.

Keep up the good work.

Fierce, tough, loud, dirty love,
sar
PS: to listen to this interview, get yourself to this website: http://www.radio4all.net/files/sarah.mangle@gmail.com/4332-1-toughknitters.mp3

April 7, 2011: Emotions, Feminism and Hair with Teresa Cheng!

Teresa and I really met when we were crammed inside somebody's parent's SUV, driving on icy roads to a Queering Social Work Conference at Wilfred Laurier University. As a side note: Social Work school is often terribly homophobic and filled with gross outdated, fucked up mythologies about queer people. Its gross!

Teresa and I met before that car ride. At parties a few times, but this car ride at 6:45am was when we really talked, and sat very close to each other, because we were squished in a car. I chattered on in my early morning hyper way, and everyone else in the car tolerated me, while they woke up in the navy blue early morning sunrise on the highway.

We wandered around Kitchener before the conference started, or while it was going on, to find coffee and food and figure out what to say on the panels we were invited to speak on. And then we all drove back home. Somewhere in there, Teresa offhandedly said she made zines. She had a new one coming out. Honestly, I hadn't met anyone -like, a new person - a friendly stranger who made zines in a while. I was surprised and excited and I said I wanted to see them. Teresa said she'd be selling them at an event that I was actually performing at. It was an anti valentines day event that Elisha Lim had organized at the Transac.

So, I waited for that event so excited to see Teresa's zines. And then she had a photocopying or layout mishap, which is sooooo normal for zine makers, and often so fruterating.... and THEN, one day, in the morning, in my bedroom, on facebook I saw that Teresa had posted this cute photo of herself holding three copies of her newest zine. and we met up at a cafe on College Street, and I bought two copies of Feeling Words (the newest zine that Teresa has made).

I get the sense that Teresa makes zines because there are these conversations we need to have. About how we police ourselves with feminist rhetoric, and become less accepting of ourselves, and honest with eachother as a result. Conversations about racism in the Queer community that shows up in Acceptable Queer Hair Stylings, and conversations about how we FEEL. And lots more conversations inside those conversations. Is urgency the right word? Teresa's zines have a timely resonance and relevance that is really cool, and useful.

Check out our interview! Teresa will read to you and tell the stories of her three zines: Dykes and their Hair, Upskirt: Dirty (Un)Feminist Secrets, and Feeling Words: A Pocket Zine of Emotions.

I hope Teresa makes zines for a million more years. And I hope I get to see All of them.

To listen to the interview, paste this address in your browser:
http://www.radio4all.net/files/sarah.mangle@gmail.com/4332-1-These_Things_That_People_Make_-_April_07_2011_at_10_00_-_CFRU_93.3.mp3

Download Upskirt from the Queer Zine Archive Project:
http://www.qzap.org/v6/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&Itemid=41&g2_itemId=1179


Download Dykes and Their Hair from the Queer Zine Archive Project:
http://www.qzap.org/v6/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&Itemid=41&g2_itemId=795

Get a copy of Feeling Words: A Pocket Zine of Emotions by emailing Teresa: poopytoothpaste@gmail.com

March 31, 2011: What Makes an Object Queer? An interview with Jamie Q

Jamie Q and I lived in Montreal at the same time. Jamie is one of those people who - when we bumped into each other we always had awesome conversations, although we never succeeded in making plans and following through on scheduled hang outs. I remember once we made a plan to climb the mountain, but that never happened, which is also okay.

And then, a year and a half ago, we were both out in Halifax at the same time. I was there attending Camp Out, a rural Queer intergenerational activist history camp at the Mermaid and the Cow Campground in Pictou County, and she was working on an impressive hyper active mutiple colour screen printing book with James Kirkpatrick at the Ink Storm Screenprinting collective at the Roberts Street Social Centre in Halifax.

I walked up the narrow stairs that hide in the kitchen and there she was sitting on the hard green couch. I was delivering my friend Jake a rock I had gotten from the Lawrencetown beach.

Its great to bump into old art friends in familiar places always, but it was especially awesome to bump into Jamie, because she is especially awesome.

And then, you know, thank god for facebook. I don't know that I would know about Jamie Q's latest projects it it wasn't for facebook. But please oh please, please please please please check out Jamie's amazing website and look at all the Gorgeous things she has made!

Her website address is: http://jamieq.net

and THEN, while you're looking at all that amazing shit,

copy this address into your web browser:

http://www.radio4all.net/files/sarah.mangle@gmail.com/4332-1-These_Things_That_Pe.mp3

and LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW.

and THEN: MAKE YOUR OWN ZINES!!!






Metaphors for how we talk about the body. Making abstract objects. The language we use.
The beauty of the book.