# bluntly speaking | blog

“DRAMA QUEENS” GET ALL THE ACTION!

“The whole world is a stage.”...Shakespeare Drama queens have a starring role in too many men’s lives. I can’t quite figure it out. But it seems to me, that the crazier and more demanding a chick seems to be, the more men she has wrapped around her ring finger! Think...
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San Jose del Pacifico | The Heart of Mushroom Country in Oaxaca Mexico

The most important thing to take on this trip, more than warm clothes and ample cash, is the precious Dramamine. It's only two hours, but the road is brutal. My friend Nick and I are planning to spend a day in San Jose del Pacifico, and I make no secret of how much I...
Read More

The Ganja Gap: Where Is The Marijuana Middle Ground?

One is either in the Joe Rogan or Ben Shapiro camp when it comes to the issue of marijuana. And I mean on every aspect of the marijuana debate; it may be a more black or white conversation than American politics. Where are the individuals who are in grey?  Marijuana...
Read More

The Rise Of Girl Gamers

Today, Gaming for many has become an acceptable hobby and even career choice. While just a few years ago the mere thought of becoming a professional streamer or gamer was more fantasy than reality. Now, with eSports competitions and streaming platforms like Twitch,...
Read More

Can We Stop Making Political Judgments About Aesthetic Creations

In this politically supercharged climate, we’ve lost sight of the art of actual conversation. Not that movie critics (with some obvious exceptions) have ever truly had their fingertips on the pulse of the culture, but nowadays it’s really bad. New Yorker film critic...
Read More

All About Vaginal or Yoni Steaming

Steam my what? Yes, you heard me right – Your vagina needs some TLC too girl! Vaginal or Yoni steaming, is a holistic treatment which utilizes steam to cleanse and enhance vaginal health. Your vagina is probably the most unappreciated organ, yet it withstands,...
Read More

“DRAMA QUEENS” GET ALL THE ACTION!

“The whole world is a stage.”...Shakespeare Drama queens have a starring role in too many men’s lives. I can’t quite figure it out. But it seems to me, that the crazier and more demanding a chick seems to be, the more men she has wrapped around her ring finger! Think...
Read More

San Jose del Pacifico | The Heart of Mushroom Country in Oaxaca Mexico

The most important thing to take on this trip, more than warm clothes and ample cash, is the precious Dramamine. It's only two hours, but the road is brutal. My friend Nick and I are planning to spend a day in San Jose del Pacifico, and I make no secret of how much I...
Read More

The Ganja Gap: Where Is The Marijuana Middle Ground?

One is either in the Joe Rogan or Ben Shapiro camp when it comes to the issue of marijuana. And I mean on every aspect of the marijuana debate; it may be a more black or white conversation than American politics. Where are the individuals who are in grey?  Marijuana...
Read More

The Rise Of Girl Gamers

Today, Gaming for many has become an acceptable hobby and even career choice. While just a few years ago the mere thought of becoming a professional streamer or gamer was more fantasy than reality. Now, with eSports competitions and streaming platforms like Twitch,...
Read More

Can We Stop Making Political Judgments About Aesthetic Creations

In this politically supercharged climate, we’ve lost sight of the art of actual conversation. Not that movie critics (with some obvious exceptions) have ever truly had their fingertips on the pulse of the culture, but nowadays it’s really bad. New Yorker film critic...
Read More

All About Vaginal or Yoni Steaming

Steam my what? Yes, you heard me right – Your vagina needs some TLC too girl! Vaginal or Yoni steaming, is a holistic treatment which utilizes steam to cleanse and enhance vaginal health. Your vagina is probably the most unappreciated organ, yet it withstands,...
Read More

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EXPLORING THE Interests AND Curiosities THAT SHAPE US

EXPLORING THE Interests AND Curiosities THAT SHAPE US

PUR

PUR | illustrations by ana carolina maciel “A third body has been discovered floating in the Escondido river this morning at approximately 5:00AM. There were ligature marks around their wrists, ankles, and neck. The bodies were dumped in areas that are surveillance...
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REVISITING LUMBARTON

revisiting lumbarton | illustrations by sidney teles “Compassion is dangerous.” Ben’s electric blue eyes spark and he leans across the red tabletop in the Waffle House booth. “And your religion is compassion. My religion is capitalism.” I cringe and inch toward the...
Read More

Bwoot Heel Bwoose

bwoot heel bwoose | illustrations by sidney teles At Shindig!: The Buckner-Ragsdale Annual Bi-Family Reunion, Mona stood watching her son, Bucky, careen through the relatives who dotted the Missouri Desert Picnic Grounds like a prickly heat rash. Why must these things...
Read More

“OLD POETRY” IN POST-TRUTH AMERICA

dead poets society | illustrations by seth williams In 1998, Robert Creeley published So There: Poems 1976 – 1983 with a preface full of italicized paragraphs to suggest a variation of voice (Collected Poems, vol. 2, pp. ix-xi). These italicized ruminations between...
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NO CHILDREN ALLOWED

no children allowed | illustrations by ana carolina maciel October 5, 2017 was the best day of my life. Better than the day I graduated with my MFA. Better than the day I went skydiving. Better than the day I got my dream job and danced on top of my coffee table. It...
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CONFESSION: WHY I TELL YOU TO SMOKE MARIJUANA WHILE I DON’T

“It's definitely worth doing every now and again or hell it's worth it every day if u can afford it and can function fine while high :)” -- Post from Quora correspondent Here’s my confession: I’ve spent more than a decade writing about the wonders of smoking or vaping...
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HUNGRY, TIRED AND COLD: MY THREE DAY JUICE FAST

I have always felt most alive when I’m active and pushing my body. I was a competitive gymnast for ten years, and am now an avid backcountry skier, mountain biker and backpacker. Careful to give my body enough fuel for these physical pursuits, I have eaten healthy,...
Read More

SEX WORK, SEX TRAFFICKING AND THE COMPLEX GRAY AREA IN BETWEEN

Sex trafficking is considered one of the most prominent modern plagues in our society. It's on television, it’s in newspapers and blogs, it’s on the nightly news. As a sex trafficking survivor myself, I have always felt caught in the middle between two movements that...
Read More

IT’S HARD TO GET ‘PUMPED’ IN OIL COUNTRY

Join me on my ride through the oil sands of media. A snapshot of my life: Picture me as I ride my blue bicycle on the trails along (aptly named) Black Gold Drive. While riding, I daydream about my life. Pedalling beneath a QE2 Highway overpass, I stop and look up to...
Read More

TREASON AS A LIFESTYLE: I’LL DRINK TO THAT

Book Review: Exile: Rejecting America and Finding the World by Belén Fernández "Domestically, there was the Homeland Securitization of everything...the steady erosion of civil liberties, the very liberties we were allegedly fighting to protect. The cumulative...
Read More

PUR

PUR | illustrations by ana carolina maciel “A third body has been discovered floating in the Escondido river this morning at approximately 5:00AM. There were ligature marks around their wrists, ankles, and neck. The bodies were dumped in areas that are surveillance...
Read More

REVISITING LUMBARTON

revisiting lumbarton | illustrations by sidney teles “Compassion is dangerous.” Ben’s electric blue eyes spark and he leans across the red tabletop in the Waffle House booth. “And your religion is compassion. My religion is capitalism.” I cringe and inch toward the...
Read More

Bwoot Heel Bwoose

bwoot heel bwoose | illustrations by sidney teles At Shindig!: The Buckner-Ragsdale Annual Bi-Family Reunion, Mona stood watching her son, Bucky, careen through the relatives who dotted the Missouri Desert Picnic Grounds like a prickly heat rash. Why must these things...
Read More

“OLD POETRY” IN POST-TRUTH AMERICA

dead poets society | illustrations by seth williams In 1998, Robert Creeley published So There: Poems 1976 – 1983 with a preface full of italicized paragraphs to suggest a variation of voice (Collected Poems, vol. 2, pp. ix-xi). These italicized ruminations between...
Read More

NO CHILDREN ALLOWED

no children allowed | illustrations by ana carolina maciel October 5, 2017 was the best day of my life. Better than the day I graduated with my MFA. Better than the day I went skydiving. Better than the day I got my dream job and danced on top of my coffee table. It...
Read More

CONFESSION: WHY I TELL YOU TO SMOKE MARIJUANA WHILE I DON’T

“It's definitely worth doing every now and again or hell it's worth it every day if u can afford it and can function fine while high :)” -- Post from Quora correspondent Here’s my confession: I’ve spent more than a decade writing about the wonders of smoking or vaping...
Read More

HUNGRY, TIRED AND COLD: MY THREE DAY JUICE FAST

I have always felt most alive when I’m active and pushing my body. I was a competitive gymnast for ten years, and am now an avid backcountry skier, mountain biker and backpacker. Careful to give my body enough fuel for these physical pursuits, I have eaten healthy,...
Read More

SEX WORK, SEX TRAFFICKING AND THE COMPLEX GRAY AREA IN BETWEEN

Sex trafficking is considered one of the most prominent modern plagues in our society. It's on television, it’s in newspapers and blogs, it’s on the nightly news. As a sex trafficking survivor myself, I have always felt caught in the middle between two movements that...
Read More

IT’S HARD TO GET ‘PUMPED’ IN OIL COUNTRY

Join me on my ride through the oil sands of media. A snapshot of my life: Picture me as I ride my blue bicycle on the trails along (aptly named) Black Gold Drive. While riding, I daydream about my life. Pedalling beneath a QE2 Highway overpass, I stop and look up to...
Read More

TREASON AS A LIFESTYLE: I’LL DRINK TO THAT

Book Review: Exile: Rejecting America and Finding the World by Belén Fernández "Domestically, there was the Homeland Securitization of everything...the steady erosion of civil liberties, the very liberties we were allegedly fighting to protect. The cumulative...
Read More
Ground Girl

Ground Girl

by |

My uniform is a box cutter and gloves. When I’m on the job, I wonder what else to wear. The men around me wear stained shorts and baggy tee shirts.     I laughed when I told people I was going to be an electrician. They laughed too. Well I’m not actually going to be...

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The Paper Chase

The Paper Chase

by |

I started smoking weed at the age when most people stop. I was in my early 20s and living in Victoria, where I got my English degree. Even back in the mid-1990s, Victoria was very cannabis-friendly. The compassion clubs and head shops had yet to open, but the attitude...

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