Now in Print: Four Play

Vicky Squid here and I'm excited to spread the news that the Women's League of Ale Drinkers has dipped our collective toe into ebook publishing. Our first tome is a modest affair -- in size only! As you may know, there's not much for the faint hearted in the scorching hot stories of Leaguer C. Margery Kempe. And just get a load of that sexy cover by our own S. L. Johnson!

Four Play: An Erotic Romance Sampler sells for just 99¢ on Amazon. As the astute Marko Punk Rock pointed out, that's less than 25¢ per story. Such a bargain! Here's the description:

An erotic romance sampler from C. Margery Kempe, author of CHASTITY FLAME, LOVE ME LIKE A REPTILE, TEXT PLAY and many more saucy tales of love. The four tales follow a variety of lovers including a pair who take an unexpected detour from the golf course, another couple who see each other for the first time in many months after their initial tryst, two old friends revealing secrets with a childhood game of truth or date, and a first meeting in the library with unexpected sizzle. Sexual content: scorching hot!

Pick yours up today and support the League. Coming soon will be our next offering, a collection of essays from the pen of Leaguer K. A. Laity entitled The Triumph of the Carpet Beetle. You will love it!

Magpie Manifesto

Vicky Squid here! The League is on the verge of announcing an exciting new venture, so this is just a chance to tantalise you a little. At a recent meeting of the League, our intrepid traveler Kate spoke enthusiastically about the Vorticists exhibit she visited at the Tate Museum and their manifesto BLAST! in which they lay out the things they love and those they hate.

Naturally, after some careful consideration (and not a few Bolli-Stolis) we all decided that the League needed to have a manifesto, too -- et voilà!

THE MAGPIE MANIFESTO

Open your head.

Be natural.

Be fearless.

Be curious.

Be generous.

Fly with your own wings.

Speak with your true voice.

Laugh freely.

Take what you need.

Look at everything.

Relish joy.

Don't denigrate what comes easily to you.

Let the wildness of your visions intoxicate you.

Trust the secrets of your muse.

Never apologize for your truth.

My Art, Your Body

Got a picture of yourself with some of Stephanie's fabulous art like the official WLOAD pin? Send it along to her or leave a comment here.

Is it the Ides of Women's History Month already?

A big glass of ale out there to all my sisters who happily decide what's best for them and live their lives according to their own choices.  This month just serves to remind us all that we do have choices and to perhaps think about all the people before us who have striven to give all women an equal voice. We're not be there yet in terms of total equality, but we get closer every day and we need to support each other.
 

(And remember, we still need submission for the next e-zine!  March 21st is the deadline....)


SLJ

Sex

Now that I've got your attention, I want to remind you that the next issue of the Journal of the Women's League of Ale Drinkers has a deadline in the not too distant future:

March 21st

Send us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses -- or rather, send us your artistic visions yearning to be free!

We need artists, musicians, writers, crafters and people of unusual abilities to send us their stuff. Send us your high quality JPEGs, your links to MP3s or videos, your Word documents or websites. We want to highlight some fabulous women artists, but we also want your thoughts on ALE and its DRINKING. We want your musings on SEX and all that provokes because this issue will be out at Beltane (let's hope the snow's gone by then). BE WILD! Be interesting -- because the only sin is being BORING.

We hope to have some print copies of the journal available, too; we still can't pay for contributions, but consider your piece to be advertisement for your work and include all the necessary linkage to your sites.

As always, you can send you offerings, files and questions to me, Vicky. Join the League; raise your glass.

Rip Off Artists?

My editor, Cate Sevilla, over at BitchBuzz has a bone to pick with so-called artists filling up places like Etsy now. One of my favorite quotes from her:

Obviously, artists and designers have been “borrowing” inspiration from each other for centuries, but I find it hilarious that everyone gets very angry when people like Paperchase rip off independent artists’ work and make a giant profit from it, and yet, artist and crafters on Etsy do this all of the time... Sure, artists can always claim they’ve “never seen” the bigger artist’s work before -  but how many lazer cut acrylic moustaches does this world really need?!

Read the whole article: http://home.bitchbuzz.com/the-problem-with-etsy-and-craft-fairs.html#ixzz16DTFfXY0

Here at WLoAD we believe in unique, personal visions. They won't all appeal to everyone, but each comes from an individual's imagination and represents a spark of true imagination. So when you're thinking about gifts in this holiday season, consider supporting the artists of this blog and other artists you know who won't settle for copying someone else's tired idea.

FUNK SOUL TIKI by the fabulous S. L. Johnson (of course!)

Love the WLoADed logo?

You love it.  But a pin and the Journal are just not enough. 

Well, it's your lucky, lucky day: we have Women's League of Ale Drinkers merch available at Cafepress and Zazzle - along with holiday pricing specials. 

Cafepress: Save $10 on orders of $50+ in our shop during the CafePress Friends & Family Sale November 20-23......http://www.cafepress.com/Raven_Wombat...and use code: Friend10

Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/Raven_wombat You can get a fab iPhone case at Zazzle!

If you don't see what you want, drop us a line and we will make it available!

A Whole New Mind

In between lots of other duties, I've been sneaking a look at Daniel H. Pink's A Whole New Mind after a hearty recommendation for it last week by another blogger. It's a book I'd like to require all my colleagues to read, especially the ones who fight interdisciplinarity.

The thesis of the book is that the right-brain oriented thinking, which has been traditionally valued less than the cold logic of left-brain oriented thinking, will be key to success in the new internet-fueled information culture. While this book is most often pitched to business audiences, it's got some terrific recognitions of trends we can see all around us.

He talks about the changes brought by Abundance, Asia, and Automation (i.e. high relative wealth, outsourcing of jobs and computers) and the resulting "Conceptual Age" we're living in now. If you want to thrive in this age, you need to be doing work that has significance as well as value, that cannot be outsourced to someone who can be paid much less, and cannot be done by a machine. To achieve this, you should focus on the six senses that this age desperately needs:

DESIGN

We have all kinds of goods that are more or less the same thing and the prices are close enough together that our choices come down to taste. You buy the phone that looks cool to you. It isn't enough anymore that something is functional -- you want it to look good, too. People have become so much more savvy about design: Pink has a font test in the book and the amazing thing is that probably most people could get it right because we think about things like font now.

STORY

This is an easy one for me, because I already know the strength of it, but think: facts have to be memorised, but if you give them in a story, people can remember. How much of history do people get wrong because they know Shakespeare's plays and can remember speeches that never happened, facts that he got wrong? Our brains are wired for storytelling.

SYMPHONY

Or more accurately (but less metaphorically) synthesis: tying together disparate threads, seeing the big picture, making connections that no one has noticed before and weaving them into a coherent whole. it goes against the educational thrust of this country, which is ever-increasing specialty.

EMPATHY

You can tell that businesses have a long way to go with this one, but even they're learning via social media because if you get on Twitter and just shoot off press releases, no one is going to follow you. Ditto Facebook: you have to build a community. You have to listen, forge relationships, actually care about other people. Narcissism seems to have taken over the planet at present, so empathy seems to be in short supply.

PLAY

People do not create their best work if they fear punishment for any mistake. They will always go for the safe and least imaginative response. In play we experiment, let random chance have a role, and laugh. We need that, even in the midst of work. It often happens spontaneously, but we need to assure it has a place in our day.

MEANING

We are bombarded with information from the time we rise until we crawl under the covers at night. How are we to sort through the assault? People want to find meaning, things that speak to their minds and hearts. Some people work all their lives and then try to find meaning once they've retired. People who hate their jobs long for holidays of idleness. More and more people refuse to accept work that is not meaningful to them in some fundamental way. They don't have the same "reverence for riches" that the weird Puritan capitalism in this country created.

These are all innate human traits, but ones that quite often our left-brain leaning culture has suppressed as less valuable than reason and logic. We need reason and logic, but we need purpose, play and fulfillment as well.

Ten Q: Justine Graykin

1. What name(s) do you go by?

For the most part, Justine Graykin will do nicely. However, I do pen some non-fiction

newspaper columns and articles under the name of Mel Graykin.

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?

JustineGraykin.com is probably the best place to start. That has links to all my published work plus samples of other stuff. And of course the fabulous Journal of WLoAD.

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?

Depends on who I’m trying to impress. And how.

4. How did you learn your skill/craft/discipline?

Practice, man, practice. And studying the work of writers I admire, such as Ray Bradbury, Terry Prachett, and Shirley Jackson.

5. What inspires you?

I read every science article I can get my hands on. I have “The Scientist” website bookmarked. There’s copies of Smithsonian, Discovery, and National Geographic all over the house. I read Sagan, Dyson, Feynman, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, James Burke and Michio Kaku, listen to Symphony of Science and watch Star Trek episodes. I have more ideas than I know what to do with. If all else fails, I go hiking and just think about how mind-blowingly amazing the cosmos is on every level.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

Hide in bed with my laptop and write. Or read. Or hike. A supply of Guinness Stout doesn’t hurt, either.

7. What are your goals for your work?

Get as many of the ideas in my head crafted into excellent stories as I can. Getting published is fine. I would enjoy success and praise for what I do. I’d be thrilled to be able to earn enough to live on, so I could indulge my obsession with writing all the time. Who wouldn’t? But I go by the principle of Sibi Scribere. If I don’t enjoy reading it, do I really give a damn if anyone else does? There’s enough popular crap in the world.

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD

members?

Success is never worth making yourself miserable for. The odds against your achieving it are still staggeringly great no matter how much you want it, visualize it, and sacrifice for it. And even if you achieve it, you’re always running scared that you’ll lose it. Instead, strive for contentment in a Zen balance between what truly satisfies you and the possible (which, contrary to popular belief, has its limits). I also recommend employing the phrase “To hell with it,” whenever anxiety looms.

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

Put aside a sum sufficient to generate a comfortable annual dividend, and then see what

good I could do in the world with the rest. Probably something to do with education.

Like buying good science texts for schools blighted by poverty or Intelligent Design. Oh,

and acquire a really nice matched set of the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?

Depends. Vodka gimlet straight up with lime wedge is a standard. But I’ve been known to do shots of Cuervo with salt and lemon when I’m serious about the business. I’d never turn down a good merlot, or chardonnay. And then there’s champagne, of course. One’s wrist must be flexible.

Ten Q: Adrean Darce Brent

What name(s) do you go by?

Adrean

Where can we find your fabulous work?

Online only for now: Cosmic Life Sketches

What piece would you want to use for a “first impression”?

“A Hammer Of An Afternoon”

How did you learn your skill/craft/discipline?

Writing – academia and corporate research
Photography – doing and formal coursework

Who inspires you?

People who stand up for justice, even if they stand alone.

How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

Relax, reflect, do something different.

What are your goals for your work?

Writing – Branch out into fiction. Revision my previous limited circulation publication titled “The Brent Bulletin” into a platform of creative and conscientious work.

Photography – Create a website of images that are available for purchase.

What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD members?

When an opportunity presents itself, take it – it may never come around again.

If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

Live again (and forever) in Paris, France. Establish a salon for conversation and creativity.
Continue learning and exploring.

WLoAD stars need not actually drink ale: what’s your fave bevvie?

Here are my favorites in various drink categories:
Beer – Leffe Blonde, Leffe Brune
Wine – Red Bordeaux, Champagne
Mixed – White Russian, Kahlua Sombrero
Hot – Hot Chocolate, Cappuccino
Cold – Whole Milk, Diet Coke

Ten Q: Sue Menhart

1. What name(s) do you go by?

Sue Menhart, Rock Star

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?

www.suemenhart.com
Independent record stores in Connecticut
iTunes, CDBaby
This cute little women’s boutique in Montville, CT called Mesh.

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?

The Choice

4. How did you learn your craft?

Listening to the radio, even leaving it on all night while I slept, which subsequently imbedded catchy lyrics, instrumental hooks, and awesome chord progressions into my subconscious for when the time was right to start creating my own.

5. Who inspires you?

People who have figured out how to make a living from their Art, without having to succumb to corporate conformity.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

Def Leppard

7. What are your goals for your work?

To move people - not all the people… just some of the people, some of the time.

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD
members?

Never give up

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

Would create a foundation that would absolutely ensure that no school, nowhere, at any time, could ever cut the Arts from public school.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?

Anything that’s in the cupboard.

Ten Q: Natalie Rauch

1. What name(s) do you go by?

Nat, Knit2death, Patience (for death), Hey You! Weirdy Girl!

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?

Facebook

Etsy

Crafty Ewe in Ticonderoga NY and Nangellini’s South Street Philadelphia (soon)

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?

Meow DelMuerte hats. I think people love the cuteness of the kitty ears and earflaps but also the novelty of the handmade buttons that decorate them.

4. How did you learn your craft?

I learned to crochet from my grandmother because I was hyperactive and had ADD. I crocheted everywhere with my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth. Doing multiple things at the same time is the only way I feel comfortable. I learned to knit later on and really put some effort into when I was in college and an insomniac. Now I can’t stop and it’s still about keeping myself busy but now also about learning to develop it into an art form.

5. Who/what inspires you?

My friends who are very creative and don’t let any hang up keep them back inspire me. My friend Regina from Crafty Ewe and Nature Buttons is what I call a real Renaissance woman and I definitely look up to her.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

I scream, I kick rocks in the parking lot, I cry like a baby, and then I get over it and force myself back out again.

7. What are your goals for your work?

To keep trying new things, to teach others and most of all to teach people that anything is possible. Once you get past the mental block you can do anything you want.

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD members?

Just what I wrote in the previous answer… The biggest battle is getting over the things we do to ourselves mentally to hold ourselves back. You can work and be a mom, not have a lot of money but still be creative and out there doing what you love. You are amazing. I know it, now you should too.

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

Community programs for people of all ages to learn skills, education and arts. Places for people to go to practice music and get lessons from others and lots of programs for kids to learn and do these things after school.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?

I live in Philly, beer is a passion here but I’m a nasty bastard without a connoisseur's limitations. I can go from an Orkney skullsplitter to Old English 40’s in a split second and Yuengling (Lager as you would order it here) goes well with Jaegermeister, Oatmeal stout is a favorite as well. When it’s not beer it's vodka and when it’s not liquor or beer (which it definitely doesn’t have to be) it’s organic ginger beer or just good, clean water.

Thank you, Natalie! You've supplied a fascinating perspective and your knitting is fabulous!

TenQ: Victoria Squid

1. What name(s) do you go by?

Victoria, Vicky, Ms. Squid.

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?

In the pages of the Journal of the Women's League of Ale Drinkers, available for just 99¢!

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?

I mostly do performance pieces that are gone once they're over, so there's little tangible to show. I suppose there's always this.

4. How did you learn your skill/craft/discipline?

By slow degrees and via many mistakes and wrong turns...

5. Who/what inspires you?

Artists who refuse to fit a label or a pigeon-hole; people who refuse to live in accordance with consumer society, who make their own art, play their own songs, write their own stories and never worry if anyone else is going to give them permission to do so.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

Martinis, martinis, martinis.

7. What are your goals for your work?

To be brilliant, to rule the world (not necessarily in that order).

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD members?

Dare much, follow no one, trust your instincts.

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

By traveling the world.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?

A very dry martini -- think Sahara, Mojave -- olives on the side. Nice view of the Thames. Or a glass of Zubrowka, seemingly the official drink of the League (oh irony).

Ten Q: K. A. Laity

TEN Q FOR MYSELF (which seems odd) to celebrate the release of our first issue of the Journal of the Women's League of Ale Drinkers, a bargain at only 99¢! [link to your left!]

1. What name(s) do you go by?

Kate, Kathryn, formerly Kathe, sometimes Kit Marlowe :-)

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?

In your local bookstore (if they don't have my books, ask them to order them!), at my website, and Kit Marlowe's website and on Facebook and Twitter. I live in upstate New York.

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?

Ooh, that's tough. Um, whatever I write next? Just go to my bibliography and pick something at random. I do of course recommend "Fear and Loathing in Deptford" which you can find in the inaugural issue of The WLoAD Journal.

4. How did you learn your skill/craft/discipline?

Mostly by reading lots and lots of books, but I suppose the PhD in Medieval Studies helped some :-)

5. Who/what inspires you?

People who dare, who try to create something from their vision even if no one else is interested. People who are self-directed, wise, and full of joy and laughter.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?

I talk to my friends, go for a walk in the quiet of the woods, watch something with Peter Cook in it or a Marx Bros movie.

7. What are your goals for your work?

World Domination.

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD members?

Follow your vision and surround yourself with positive, uplifting people who urge you to do your best always.

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?

I think we should bump that up to ten million at least. I'd move to London and walk along the Thames every day and go to lots of plays.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?

Zubrowka! Bison power!

Ten Q: S. L. Johnson

TEN Q FOR JOINING THE LEAGUE! (or in this case, FOUNDING it!)

1. What name(s) do you go by?
 Stephanie, S.L. Johnson and, of course, Queen of Everything.

2. Where can we find your fabulous work (both online and IRL)?
http://ravenseyrie.wordpress.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/Raven_wombat
http://www.smokingantrecords.com/
http://wloaded.blogspot.com/

3. What piece would you want to use for a "first impression"?
The WLoADed logo or ‘Deadly Dirigibles’

4. How did you learn your skill/craft/discipline?
School and self-taught

5. Who/what inspires you?
Other creative people, nature, music.

6. How do you cope with the inevitable discouraging days?
It varies- speaking to friends, switching projects, sometimes just doing nothing.

7. What are your goals for your work?
That my work is enjoyed by others. It’s also nice to sell a piece here and there, too.

8. What wisdom from your own experience would you pass on to other WLoAD members?
Have creative friends that are not in the same discipline. Take chances and put yourself out there even if it kills you!

9. If you received a million dollar grant, how would you make use of it?
Open up a center for the arts. Or create a venue to encourage all artists to participate and be shown.

10. WLoADed stars need not actually drink ale: what's your fave bevvie?
Bisongrass vodka. 

Thanks, Stephanie! We'll be profiling other contributors throughout the month. Stop back and enjoy and of course don't forget to pick up your copy of the Journal of the Women's League of Ale Drinkers! A bargain at only 99¢ and chock full of fun. Click the link to your left.

WLoAD #1 is here!

Step right up and get your copy of the fantastic, spanking new JOURNAL OF THE WOMEN'S LEAGUE OF ALE DRINKERS! A bargain at only 99¢ and you get all this plus a lovely cover by our own resident artiste, Stephanie Johnson:

Contents

Vicky Squid - Editorial Pronouncement

Justine Graykin - The Necessity of Creation

Alessandra Bava - To Emily Dickinson

Wendy Goldberg - Quantum Poetry & Summer Tomatoes

Sue Menhart - Sue Menhart Band

Stephanie Wexler - Arching & The Summer's Dusting

Judy Holder - Land of Textures

H. Byron Ballard - My City Mother Has Risen From the Dead

C. Margery Kempe – A Literary Concoction

Wendy Goldberg – The Wrong Word

S. L. Johnson – Night Lady

Adrean Darce Brent - No Forwarding Address

Natalie Rauch - KNIT2dEATH

Nancy Parent - Red Hot Stove Tops / Rivergods

Elena Steier - Lydia Sick

Wendy Goldberg - Dreaming

Alessandra Bava - Almost Sidereal

Stephanie Wexler - Knotted

Judy Holder - Blue Door

Adrean Darce Brent – Freakonomics

K. A. Laity - Fear and Loathing in Deptford

We'll be spending November getting to know the contributors to this issue with our TEN Q questionnaires. It's not to early to start thinking about the next issue which will be out in time for Beltaine (that's May Day for the mundane). The deadline will be March 21st so mark it on your calendars!

The Journal

Lovelies --

We have some wonderful submissions and your delightful trimulierate of talented women are hard at work assembling the disparate threads of this endeavour into a coherent whole. How to wrangle such individualistic works into a comprehensive unity? That remains to be seen. But you will doubtless be delighted by the outcome because there's no way all this fantastic inspiration could disappoint. And no, it's not a bit like this ;-)

Disgust

Coburn, DeMint Block National Women’s History Museum Because ‘Quilters’ And ‘Cowgirl’ Museums Already Exist

This week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) made the “unilateral decision to end legislative activity in the Senate.” In co-opting complete control of Senate business, DeMint has picked up the mantle of veteran obstructionist Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) in blocking any bill that does not meet his personal “parameters.” Now, both Coburn and DeMint have joined forces to target a bill celebrating women’s history. Read the rest at Think Progress.

People have asked me whether we really need something like WLoAD. Yes. Yes, we do. While idiots like this rule this country (and many others), yes, we do.

Inspiration: K.A.Laity

Co-founder K.A. Laity is truly one of my muses: so many conversations with this witty, funny and intelligent writer have popped wonderful images into my head.  Here a few examples of Kate's wonderful influence:

all images (c)2010 sljohnson

Ale Popularity Grows!

There's a story in the Guardian about the increasing popularity of ale among both women and younger drinkers:

Real ale revival continues as women and young buy more

Report says sophisticated drinkers are keeping cask ale sales buoyant, despite pub closures and a declining total beer market

• Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent
• The Guardian, Monday 27 September 2010

 

Judge Melissa Cole assesses a beer in contention for the champion beer award at the Great British Beer Festival 2010. Real ale is enjoying a revival in the UK, according to a new report. [[ Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Image]]

 

Real ale is enjoying a revival, a report reveals today, as younger drinkers and women embrace a drink which may be shedding its traditional "flat cap" image.

Despite declining total beer sales and pub closures, research shows that cask ale has outperformed the rest of the beer market for the third year running, increasing its share of beer sold in pubs and clubs and recruiting 100,000 new drinkers.

According to the Cask Report, Britain's National Drink, 2010-2011, published today, the real ale market grew by 5% in 2009 to £1.4bn, against a 2% decline in the total UK beer market, which remains dominated by carbonated beers such as lager. [read the rest]

More good news: The editorial board of WLoAD -- Stephanie, Vicky and me -- met in Northampton MA this past weekend to review our submissions. The site was chosen because it's about the same distance from each of us. What a great bunch of submissions! There are some fabulous creative women who are eager to be part of our project. We're starting small (this site and a journal) but we have big ambitions. Baby steps for now, but look out when we gather some steam!