Letter From Your Editors

Hello World Books!

Last week I wrote you from a mattress, this week I write you from my mother’s kitchen table, which is also doubling as “my office.” This is probably how Anna Wintour runs Vogue. Here are the team’s Summer Looks!

So, I was out of town for a huge portion of July and now I’m in Michigan, which has really got me thinking about how pretty much all news media comes to you from a very limited number of cities — major national publications tend to be headquartered in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC or, occasionally, Chicago or Portland. Most cities and many towns are home to incredible local publications with national or international readerships, but publications with national scope tend to stick to those cities I mentioned up there. Although we frequently lament how bad it sucks that we don’t have an office and can’t afford the kinds of stories those other websites can, I’m looking on the bright side: we’re coming to you from all over the map! Alex is holding it down in Los Angeles and Heather in New York, and now we’ve got me in Detroit, Rachel in Milwaukee, Laneia in Phoenix and Yvonne in Dallas. We want to come to you from all over the map more consciously, going forward.

Speaking of places and moving, our merchandise operations have officially outgrown the time and space they take up in the life and apartment of Bren The Patron Saint of Autostraddle, which means we’re switching to a fulfillment center in Michigan that’ll be able to do things like “calculate the cost of shipping based on your very specific geographical location and how fast you’d like it to arrive.” That also means we’re running a killer sale this month to clear out the old and make room for the new! (There’s gonna be SO MUCH NEW!) So, be sure to check out the Autostraddle Store this week. Also, ’cause we love y’all so dearly, feel free to take another 10% off whatever you may purchase with the code “aplus10.”

Some new columns debuted this month! Did you like them? I did.

Witch Hunt, edited by Mey Rude (monthly):  A magical mix of witch information, history, pop culture, community and instructional material, compiled by a rag-tag group of inspirational deviants,writers and illustrators.

Hard Lacquer, by Aja (biweekly): “Hard Lacquer turns the tide, providing a lush cosmetic isle for beauty-seeking queers who want a bay to call their own. Each post in the series will kick off with a short roundup of the latest in beauty, followed by a deeper dive into a few special products.”

Taco Tuesday, by Yvonne Marquez (biweekly): “I’ll explore the history of tacos, the gentrification and bastardization of the taco and how it’s a “hipster food” now with white people making a profit off of them, the multitude kinds of tacos and how they came to be and bring you interesting facts about them and even include some recipes! I’m excited to walk along this path with you to taco kingdom.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed the plethora of A+ content we’ve thrust upon you this past month, including 22 Excerpts from Laura Mandanas’s Misanthropic Teen Diary, Lizz and Rachel’s heartwarming story of queer best friendship Rachel and Lizz Have Been Obsessed With Each Other Since Roughly 2008, The A+ Bee Issue 24: Y’all Ready For This? and Stef’s raw and painfully honest interview with her ex-girlfriend Mila. Plus, we’ve moved the Questions You’ve Been Asking Us from The Insider into its very own post, and you can read the first one right here. Plus I bet you’ve been wondering about the next A+ podcast, eh? Well good news: here it is.

Love,

Riese

cosigned by Laneia / Rachel / Yvonne / Heather

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Top 10 Most Popular Posts From July 2015

These posts were hella popular this month.

1. “The Same Difference” Breaks Down All The “Rules” of Being Butch, by Carolyn Wysinger
2. We See You: An Open Thread for Bisexual Women Dating Men, by Rachel Kincaid & Friends
3. The ESPN Body Issue: Top 10 Things That Are Nice To Look At, by Heather Hogan
4. Dead End Justice: What Went Wrong With The Runaways, by Stef Schwartz
5. 37 Extremely Important Questions You Must Answer Before Getting Married Or You’re Doomed, by Crystal Silvester
6. A Handy Form Letter For That Relative Who Won’t Attend Your Gay Wedding, by Riese Bernard and Heather Hogan
7. Cara Delevingne’s Bisexuality “Isn’t A Phase” No Matter What That Dude at Vogue Wrote About It, by Stef Schwartz
8. Pop Culture Fix: The “But I’m a Cheerleader” Cast Is Making Two New Movies, Leisha Hailey Is Back On The Teeveee, by Heather Hogan
9. Miley Cyrus Makes Out With Nice Young Lady While Wearing Gold Sequins, Also Her #Instapride Campaign Is Legit, by Stef Schwartz
10. Pop Culture Fix: Kristen Stewart Grows Up, Bravo Fucks Up, Carrie Brownstein Speaks Up and Other Uplifting Stories, by Riese Bernard

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Nine Important Excerpts From Editorial Conversations

Stef: Hey Lydia or whoever, I know I don’t understand normal fashion but anybody wanna explain this $1600 anthropologie alpaca head to me? I guess it’s on sale.
Laneia: Oh I was waiting for that to go on sale
Aja: CRYING: “a trained carpenter who sources timber from tree surgeons in their hometown of Sussex, England.”
It’s so True Detective creepshow chic from S1.
Lydia: WHAT
What EVEN
Ughhhhh
I hate Anthro WITH A PASSION
Which is now fueled by alpaca hairs
Rachel: Does this mean we won’t be getting a listicle of 10 Ways To Style An Alpaca Head for the site
Stef: Do you wear it or does it have to stay on its tree skeleton?
Laneia: I think you create your own destiny re: the alpaca head tbh
Lydia: You will not
You style it by lighting $1200 on fire
And watching it without a care
Because that is what you are doing by buying this
I think it’s decorative BUT WHO THE FUCK KNOWS
Stef: Well also $300 for shipping
Aja: Well in that case the buyer had better take their 50% off savings, book the fucking flight to Essex, and have the full “experience” of picking it up in person from this crafty craftsmanship couple. Obviously.

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Riese: Wait I have more advice for the Advice For College-Bound Queers post!
Maddie: NO STOP NO MORE THERE IS TOO MUCH
Riese: I could save a life, Maddie
I’m just trying to make a differnece
Maddie: UGH ALL YOU THOUGHTFUL PEOPLE
Riese: It’s exhausting to care so much, but I bear the burden
Maddie: No it’s good i think because this is going to tip it over 7000 words
Riese: GOOD
First piece of advice for them, Maddie: learn to read 7,000 words in a row
Maddie: Oh man this just got so meta
You all thought you were reading our college advice but really we just wanted to prepare you to be great students that do all the reading

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Raquel: Do we still care about Queer Girl City Guides? A friend asked me about lez spots in atx today and I looked it up and found out we bafflingly enough don’t have one! That or I can’t search. I’d be happy to research + write this…
Kaelyn: Funny because I’m supposed to do this for Rochester and just haven’t yet
But we have…very little lesbian stuff, too
Lots of gay bars
Rachel: It’s ok if there isn’t a lot of gay stuff though! Highlighting gay stuff was never really the point of the city guides, it was more so that if you were traveling and were an AS reader, you could get takes and recommendations on the city that you could trust from your own community
and not stuff like “you absolutely have to check out [white bro sports bar!]”
Kaelyn: My list is just going to be the most douchey sports bars
and catholic churches
Is that ok
Rachel: Are there any sports bars inside churches
Kaelyn: No but there are churches inside sports bars
Rachel: Or ideally religious services that occur inside sports bars
Kaelyn: Yes, that is the ideal
Highest concentration of white ppl possible really
Audrey: I look for a high concentration of ball caps on cis male heads. That’s how I know I’m home.
Kaelyn: This is great inspiration. thanks, y’all
Raquel: Oh cool maybe I can just submit a list of the most ballin’ frat parties, brah
Audrey: A newbies guide to getting into Fiji
Raquel: Where to buy your best neon tank + fanny pack combos
Horrifically enough, I actually know the answer to this
It’s the American Apparel on the drag during round up
Okay I’ll see myself out

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Stef: I got a submission that begins with this: “I was a baby dyke still wearing my first pair of Birkenstocks and my first tie-dyed t-shirt. I had kissed girls and put my fingers on their clitorises, but not yet lain my whole fist inside another woman’s vagina”
Laneia: Stef, I believe that’s The Lord’s Prayer.
Stef: Don’t mind me
Laneia: That’s what you say before you eat or go to sleep
Stef: Oh Jews do it differently I guess
looks like The Mourner’s Kaddish to me
Laneia: “But not yet lain my whole fist inside another woman’s vagina. Lord please bless this meal and watch over us in our travels amen”

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Rachel: Also where is the next [post that is part of a series]? I see nothing in the queue or in miniseries.
Laneia: It might not exist!
that was in there from when we created the boards at Big Bear so possibly it doesn’t even exist on earth with us
Rachel: I’m going to take a bold stance and say that if it doesn’t exist, I’m not going to publish it
really draw a line in the sand on that issue
Laneia: I stand behind you
Riese: This can be where we all carried you
from behind

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Heather: Y’all Beth March Bobbi is doing SO GOOD. I think she’s gonna make it. I got ASPCA certified this weekend for kitten rescuing and rehabilitation and i think they’re all going to make it.
My certification was taught by a lesbian couple that’s been together 50 years
Laneia: Omg Heather I am so excited for you! and the lesbian couple! That is a very long time
Rachel: I honestly wish this was a reality show
lesbians rescuing and rehabilitating kittens, teaching other lesbians same
Laneia: I would add on whatever cable package I needed in order to watch this show
Heather: 30 percent me staring out the window at the kitten courtyard eating sandwiches, 60 percent crying to Stacy about what if I catch them all and can’t afford to help them, 5 percent Stacy promising to pay for anything they need, 5 percent kittens.
Rachel: I can already picture exactly what the opening credits would be like: Heather turns to face the camera with a giant smile, she’s holding March Bobbi in her hands, and Stacy pops into the frame beside her as their names slide up from the bottom of the screen

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Carmen: Is today a good day or the best day to reshare my Anaconda piece on our twitter
Stef: Every day is the best day but today especially
I hope Taylor Swift jumps in like “IS THIS ABOUT ME?!?!?!”
“If I win, feel free to get on stage with me to celebrate me”
Carmen: I’m tweeting directly at her and saying it’s video of the year because THAT’S RIGHT, WORLD, COME AT ME BRO
Taylor Swift’s entire existence in that moment in time is an embarrassment
Stef: I am all for it
she’s like my cat
Carmen: Also I now feel validated for recognizing that inviting people on stage is her slacktivism

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Stef: In other news Ireland Baldwin went vegan because she met someone who is walking her through a 31-day challenge
Rachel: Is that someone Beyonce
Stef: BLIND ITEM
What if we started posting blind items without knowing the answer
The actual laziest journalism of all time, or the most GENIUS journalism of all time? who can say
Rachel: What if we did it in the style of Jez asking for unretouched photos
Stef: If you guys have been sitting on ten thousand dollars this WHOLE TIME
Rachel: “Four dollars and a Chipotle gift card to the person who can tell us the name of the vegan Ireland Baldwin met!”
Stef: Liz Castle? was it Liz Castle?
Rachel: “Sources close to Baldwin implied that LA local and reputed perfect human, Liz Castle, was responsible for the change.”

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Meet A New Contributor!

Get to know one of our newest faces.

Lexi Adsit, Contributor

Twitter: @sistahmamaqueen
Tumblr: sistahmamaqueen.tumblr.com

Who was your first woman celebrity crush?
My first woman celebrity crush was probably Jennifer Lopez. I remember growing up watching late 90s and early 2000s music videos on MTV and seeing her break out. I’ve always aspired to be like her in her aesthetic as well as her drive to succeed and be an entrepreneur. It’s been amazing to watch her transform and adapt over the years.

What makes you nervous?
Things that make me nervous: when my cat cries, being vulnerable, and telling people I have feelings for them.

Describe the best date you’ve ever been on.
The best date I’ve ever been on was with my last partner. Our schedules had just changed and we didn’t get to see each other as often as we were used to and he surprised me by picking me up from work and taking me out to dinner in San Francisco and getting Cream — an amazing ice cream cookie sandwich shop in the Bay area — after. It was a super nice night and we got to just hang out, talk about our weeks, eat some good food, and be cutesy.

What’s something you’ve been really proud of lately?
I’ve been really proud of my community. Trans Women of Color have had a really bloody year but so many of us have been resilient and resisted this violent oppression in the most beautiful and creative ways.

What’s your favorite thing on the internet today?
I’m currently watching the most recent season of Bob’s Burgers on Hulu Plus. One of the best shows ever, maybe tied with Steven Universe.

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FREE PEOPLE?

Laneia: The new Free People catalog is actually a magazine, with recipes and interviews and a travel section
I feel even weirder about it than usual
Riese: Hm
Maybe we should just be a catalog
Laneia: Just pictures of us in clothes and hats
Falling off of the backs of sofas, eating rocks
Rachel: Boiling our divacups, using cheeto dust as eyeshadow
Riese: Five-page spread of Mossimo tank tops from Target
Recipes for carbonated water using a soda stream
Laneia: Does your mom have a soda stream??
Riese: Yes! Just for carbonated water
She threw out “all of those flavor things”
Laneia: You HAVE to do a post about this
Somehow
Idk the angle but you have to
I can’t believe people have soda streams and yet at the same time I can’t believe I don’t have a soda stream
Rachel: That’s truly the paradox of the soda stream
it is inherently unbelievable in every state of being or lack thereof
Riese: It’s really great actually
b/c Abby loves sparkling water, so
Laneia: I am consumed with jealousy!!
Instagram a picture of it please
and then a picture of Abby using it
and then a picture of Abby drinking the water she made
Riese: Okay I will do this
Laneia: I can’t believe this is happening to one of us!!

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What We’ve Been Reading

Audrey: I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú

Carmen: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Carolyn: Sex Criminals, Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky

Hannah H.: Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Mey: Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash and Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection by Kate Beaton, both of which I’ll be reviewing for DtC soon!

Riese: Detroit City Is The Place To Be: The Afterlife of An American Metropolis by Mark Binelli and Pioneer Women: The Lives Of Women on the Frontier by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith.

Raquel: Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail by Kelly Luce and The Empathy Exams: Essays by Leslie Jamison

Stef: Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker and I Await the Devil’s Coming by Mary MacLane

Laura M.: Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion edited by Ryan Conrad

Rachel: A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

Ali: Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick

KaeLyn: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Beth: Riot Lung by Leah Horlick

Maddie: The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction by Linda Gordon and On Immunity by Eula Biss

Laneia: Lucky Us by Amy Bloom and The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

Heather: In The Unlikely Event by Judy Bloom

Robin: The Many-Headed Hydra by Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Redike

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MINI-INTERVIEW WITH A SENIOR STAFF MEMBER: CEE

What do you do in your job?
I’m the tech director at Autostraddle. Job duties include writing and maintaining the custom code which runs the site, maintaining WordPress and all the plugins we have installed, building and maintaining the custom server setup we have, making sure A+ is working fine, fixing bugs and anything broken, answering tech support questions from staff, and sometimes helping Chloe answer any questions from users.

What is your favorite part of this position?
My favorite part of this position is being able to work on a site so large and complex, and be challenged in different ways than I’m used to. It’s actually pretty difficult to keep a site this popular and complicated up and running smoothly, and I’m not bored at all working on these problems. I also really enjoy working with everyone at Autostraddle and being part of this community.

What is something you dream to bring to Autostraddle?
I’ve been starting to write a little in my free time for Autostraddle, and have a few ideas for some articles. I’d like to write more but I’m so busy. Hopefully soon.

What’s the hardest part of your position?
Hardest part is the responsibility and stress of keeping the servers online. I’ve been using Linux and hosting my own web server since the 90’s but I never set up large scale web servers before and it’s been a huge learning experience for me. I just upgraded and moved over the web server two weeks ago because we were maxing out the cpu on the old one, and it was really stressful to set that up and flip the switch. Thankfully my friend Kyle came over and helped me solve some problems and stress test it and suggest moving from php-fpm to hhvm which almost halved page load time! Thanks Kyle!

Favorite online writer/editor / or like your hero?
No idea! Can I skip this one? Elon Musk?

What do you wish people understood about your job?
I wish readers knew it was just me adding features and functionality and fixing and maintaining the website. We don’t have a team of programmers. I get asked often to add features which are all great ideas but we don’t have the money and resources large sites have.

Favorite snack to eat while working?
Coffee

What would be the song that a montage of you doing your job would be set to?
8) the new sleater kinney album (since it’s been on repeat for months)

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SLACKERS

Slack added a new feature this month where you can react to people’s messages with emojis without typing a new message. You can even react to an emoji with an emoji. Obviously that caused Yvonne Inception for us right away.

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August Retro-Reading

Some posts from previous Augusts Riese thinks you might enjoy.

12 Rules Of Lesbian Fight Club: How To Properly Argue With Your Girlfriend (2009), by Riese & Laneia – I still hold these rules close to my heart and bring them up whenever I feel a rule has been broken. These rules are very, very, VERY important.

Hangover & Out: Queer Girl’s Advice On The Day After Drinking (2011), by Laneia, Rachel, Carly, Sarah Croce, Sarah Palmer, MJ, Phoenix, Crystal, Carmen and Gabby – Yes, it’s true, we do the Lord’s work. Especially Gabby. Gabby really did the Lord’s work for this one.

60 Days In China: Where Everywhere Else Seems Upside Down (2011), by Emily Choo – I just miss Emily Choo a lot and this essay is just so beautiful and honest.

Femmes: Beyond Lipstick (and Heels and Dresses) (2012), by Kristen Ford – A classic essay about femme identity and “Beyond Lipstick” from Kristen who we all miss dearly for her ODES and other important thoughts and feelings.

20 Best Young Adult Novels For Queer Girls (2012), by Riese with Malaika, Laneia, Laura, Cara, Whitney and Rachel – It was in making this list that I found out Cameron Post existed, which then became this glorious situation.

What I Learned From Buffy About All The Versions Of My Queer Girl Self (2013), by Vanessa – It seems possible this is an issue on which you may have some feelings like “I relate.”

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PRESS CORNER

+ QTPOC Speakeasy Captain Gabby Rivera Perfect Human was profiled as PBS First Person’s HERO OF THE WEEK. She’s our hero every week!

+ Al Rosenberg, who was at A-Camp in May 2015 and has written for Autostraddle and is an overall stand-up gal, reviewed our INCREDIBLE GAY ‘ZINES on Women Write About Comics. It’s a rave review, obviously.

+ Heather’s recap of Pretty Little Liars was quoted extensively in Vox’s article How Pretty Little Liars Managed To Outrage Its Most Devoted Progressive Fans.

+ The BBC spoke to Riese about the decline of online commenting and the reason Autostraddle isn’t giving up on it, and also did a 15-minute interview with BBC Radio and Nicholas White of The Daily Dot. You can hear snippets from that interview and read some excerpts from it on BBC Trending: Is It The Beginning Of The End For Online Comments?

+ In the essay My Life Without Gender, agender friend-of-Miley-Cyrus Tyler Ford talks about their formative years reading Autostraddle, recalling “I read autostraddle.com – an entertainment/news website and community resource for “girl-on-girl culture” – and was part of an LGBTQ messageboard, but I knew something was wrong. Instead of feeling relief upon discovering that I was what other people would call a lesbian, I felt guilt, as though I were an impostor. I knew I was not like the girl I admired from the back of the classroom. I was not like any girl I had ever known. I did not know any more than this.”

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ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Laura Wooley, Assistant Editor, 4.5 Years at Autostraddle

Currently: MamootDIY

What are you doing without us?
You guys, I’m never really without you! Like, Autostraddle is on my Feedly and I read it every day! I am doing things, though. This summer, I’ve been falling in love with D.C. and falling in deeper love with one Ms. Gabrielle Rivera. I took classes on medicinal herbs and made a bunch of really solid, lovely friends and biked everywhere! Work-wise, I’ve been in law school for two years and recently decided to add on a degree in social work because a) I’ve decided that I really like working with young people and need to learn how to do that since law school only teaches you how to work with fancy rich dudes in suits, b) I get to escape from law school a year early, and c) due to the mysteries of higher education, adding an extra year of school actually saves me $10k.

What do you miss the most about me?
So many things. I miss writing for an audience that I relate to and that I can have a conversation with. I miss knowing everything happening in the queer world the moment it happened. I miss insane life updates from Lizz. I miss being around people where queer feminism is the norm. I miss reading pitches that are the best ideas I’ve never thought of. I miss being able to talk about hating men at my place of work (jk I still do this all the time, I just get more raised eyebrows).

Would you invite us to your wedding, yes or no?
Duh.

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Five Posts Rachel Can’t Believe You Motherf*ckers Didn’t Read Last Month

Queer Sultry Summer, a Better Together zine with a variety of contributors
Summer is slowly coming to an end, leaving us dazed and sticky and hopefully full of good memories. But you don’t have to let it go so fast! Dangle your feet into the soothing waters of summer for a little while longer with this super rad book. All of our zines have been great but to be honest this one hits it so out of the park I keep being surprised and impressed we published it? If you buy it and don’t find at least one thing in it that you think is totally incredible (for me I’m especially obsessed with Mey’s piece about Dependence Day. Or maybe it’s Kristen and Jenny’s piece about meeting a bear! I can’t decide!) I will personally record a voicemail recording for you with my best impression of Carl Kasell, which is terrible.

After the Supreme Court Ruling, the Fight for Marriage Equality Continues in the South, by Audrey

In some ways our nation looks a lot different after the ruling on marriage equality came down from the Supreme Court; in some ways it doesn’t. I am not sure, though, that enough of us realize that in some parts of the US, it literally doesn’t look any different at all because county clerks and judges are just refusing to obey the ruling. It’s incredible but also sort of not at all. Anyways the point is this is affecting real people’s lives, and Audrey got to talk to some of them and see what the deal is, and you should know what the deal is also.

Autostraddle Book Club: Let’s Talk About the Argonauts, Also Here’s An Interview with Maggie Nelson, by Ali

I don’t care if you didn’t read The Argonauts, I don’t care if you have no intention of reading it; I still think you should read this piece and interview. I just find it really hard to believe that anyone, even if they are trapped under a boulder at the bottom of a canyon waiting for search dogs to find them, would read this whole thing and not get something out of it, even if it’s a single line that makes them think or even something they vehemently disagree with but benefit from a springboard from which to articulate their disagreement. I just think you should click through and read this. If you’re trapped under a rock, you should take whatever action you can to access the necessary rescue and medical services and then once things have calmed down you should read this.

Aqui Estamos: Organizing the First QPOC Conference in the Rio Grande Valley, by Yvonne

I don’t know what’s in the water lately but I feel like a bunch of writers and staff have been sneaking super amazing writing and essay-like situations into what may appear to an outside observer to be You Should Go-type posts, which have traditionally been pretty bare bones and to-the-point. This is one of those situations. Yvonne is such a talented writer and has already done big things and thought good thoughts about them in her relatively short time on earth, and I feel like I learned a lot about her and about the world from reading this piece. I feel confident that you would also like to have that experience, so get over there and get reading.

The Speakeasy Presents the Magic of These Revolutionary QTPOC Friendships, by members of the Speakeasy

I just absolutely cannot believe that you can read this without it bringing you some measure of joy and hope, and a renewed appreciation for the fact that good people in the world love and support one another. And I think that’s something we all need, probably, right about now and also always.

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Your Monthly Infographic About You

Have you been sitting up all night wondering what colors A+ members like the best? Well, we’ve got good news for you! There’s an infographic for that, from our A+ member survey:

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Robin’s Pick of the Month

Adding Stuff to Iced Coffee

Iced coffee is the greatest beverage on earth, this is true, but what if you put spices and other herbs in it and also maybe some rose milk or a bubbly thing, what then? Probably every day you had it would be the greatest day of your life. I’ve been on the cold brew grind for a while and every morning that I wake up to iced coffee readily available in my fridge is a morning I cherish. I want to share this lifestyle choice with you so that you can live your best life, y’know? Here’s my personal fave iced coffee recipe.

Per quart of water:
1 cup of coarsely-ground coffee
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom

Put all that in a jar and shake to dissolve. Stash it somewhere for 12-24 hours. Filter it (I use a paper filter and a pour over cone, and a phin works for small batches too). Ice it. Drink it. Have a beautiful goddamn day.

I’ve also done this with mint. If you want a mint coffee experience, throw 2-3 bruised mint leaves into the grounds per quart. A half-teaspoon of freshly chopped ginger can be good, too.

I like my coffee creamy so usually I top off with half-and-half or almond milk, but sometimes I get fancy and add rose milk if I have it. My absolute favorite, though, is adding a generous amount of tonic water (when I remember to buy tonic water), and it makes my coffee all fizzy and light and just a little sweet and everyone should try it at least one or three times.

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Social Media Spotlight: Stay the Worst

This is a Stef Schwartz Twitter retrospective. xoxo, Lil C.

just saw the winehouse doc w my mom sobbing hysterically next to me the whole time. i'm on a level of jewish guilt few will ever experience.

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 8, 2015

who sleeps with this many Sagittariuses on purpose?

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 9, 2015

lita ford this week pic.twitter.com/QFvwI6Bfvy

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 14, 2015

this diet is stupid, all i do is drink tea and glare at pizzas

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 17, 2015

ok, that's it, into the fucking sea with you. pic.twitter.com/v0rfTAOLTL

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 23, 2015

GOING AT IT LIKE CRAZED SEX WEASELS / GOING AT IT LIKE CRAZED SEX WEASELS / GOING AT IT LIKE CRAZED SEX WEASELS / GOING AT IT LIKE CRAZED SE

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 24, 2015

STOP APPROPRIATING GOTH CULTURE, WE ALL KNOW YOU WORE AMERICAN EAGLE IN HIGH SCHOOL

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 26, 2015

american dentist's killer revealed as vengeful lion

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 28, 2015

why did i wait until today to find out about the @mileycyrus cover of "every rose has its thorn"

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) July 30, 2015

"it's national girlfriend day. well, we tried." – texts from my ex

— Stef Schwartz (@stefschwartz) August 1, 2015

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Safe(r) Space

Riese: What word are we printing on the galaxy space snapbacks? I forget.
Alex: GAL PAL
Riese: Oh yes.
Alex: I love space.
Riese: Very cool.
Yvonne: I believe all the lesbians will dig it
Alex: Yaaaaaaasssssss
Riese: Abby is hung up on why we’re not using space words
for a space hat
Alex: Like… SAFE SPACE?
HAHAHAHAHA
Riese: OMG
WAIT
Alex: Literally loling
Riese: HOLD THE PHONE
Alex: I’m like :joy:
Riese: Wait I think that might be brilliant
Alex: I think, like, WE think the “safe space” stuff is funny but I worry that other people don’t? Okay okay maybe the literal “SPACE” hat is different than the “space” we were trying to reference in Safe Space Pencil Cases
Riese: I mean it’s funny because it’s a space hat
Alex: Yeah I think it’s amazing.
Yvonne: I think that’s hilarious but also I don’t think it matters
on fashion
Laneia: I feel good either way.
Alex: We should put a disclaimer on the hat: “We cannot guarantee that outer space is actually indeed safe.”
Riese: “But we have a pretty good feeling that it is”
Laneia: It also implies that the wearer is a safe space, which I think tender butches will feel very tender about
Riese: That’s true that feels tender
We can give one to Kate to help her make friends
That can be Part Five of her series
“Trying To Make Friends By Wearing A Space Hat”
Laneia: How This Safe Space Snapback Made Making Friends Easier
Riese: It’s gonna be out of this world!

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XOXO

Team Autostraddle