Here is week 23 of Sam's reading journey, the metrics and first week can be found here

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
​

1. Intrigue
   1. A boy named Justyce, who is top of his class, and bound for the highest colleges is put in handcuffs and jailed when out having a fairly regular teenage evening. Being black certainly had something to do with it. Justyce looks to Dr. King’s words and life for answers as why and how this came to be. 
   2. I had the privilege to teach this class to my freshmen in high school this year. It’s the only time multiple kids have come up to me in the halls, telling me the finished the book weeks early because it was so good. 
2. Writing Style:
   1. Debut author Nic Stone certainly stamped her way into the literary scene. She’s talented and her writing showed it. It’s simple. It’s perfect for your teen or a teen you may know. It’s clear, concise, and all-in-all a 10/10. 
   2. Juicy quote: 
      1. “You can’t change how other people think and act, but you’re in full control of you. When it comes down to it, the only question that matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be?”
3. Flow of Storytelling
   1. I don’t want to get too spoiler-y but this book is really a tale of two halves. Part 1 includes diving into Dr. King’s words, Part 2 includes Justyce diving into himself and the current day world around him. Both are good, but I found myself fonder of one part over the other. This isn’t to say that one part is better. Both parts are immensely important to the story, and really the overall commentary.  
4. Re-readability 
   1. Yes, very re-readable. Especially for middle school or high school kids. Justyce goes through a lot that all teenagers do, in addition to the struggles of a young black man. 
5. T.E.S.S
   1. This story has the power to get people talking about race in this country in a nuanced way. It helps to show those people unwilling to listen to different perspectives. It has power behind it and uses it to help those in need. 

 
​★★★★★ = You must read this. It’s excellent, and even if you don’t love it, you’ll definitely learn something, and you’ll probably like it.

Here is week 22 of Sam's reading journey, the metrics and first week can be found here

The Blazing World and Other Writings
by Margaret Cavendish, Kate Lilley (Editor)

1. Intrigue 
   1. This is one of the first science fiction novels in the English Language. So if you want a cool perspective on the history of science fiction, this is the book for you. Also it’s written by a woman, which I think is pretty cool as she’s the matriarch of modern sci-fi. 
2. Writing Style:
   1. Okay. I’m just not the right person to review this because I really did not enjoy the 18th century writing style. It takes me so long to process the information and I just don’t have the patience for it. That being said the sentence structure and pacing are lovely. 
   2. Juicy quote:
      1. “I had rather die in the adventure of noble achievements, than live in obscure and sluggish security.”
3. Flow of storytelling 
   1. For me it gets bogged down by 18th century style writing. So… ya know. Not my fave. 
4. Re-readability 
   1. I didn’t really enjoy reading it the first time. This may be good for Ph’D English students studying anything to do with pioneers, Sci-Fi, or female authors. 
5. TESS
   1. Does not qualify.

★★ = Unless you’re really into the subject matter, I do not recommend. 

I don’t have as keen a memory as Patrick O’Neil, but I’m going to do my best to explain the history of our acquaintance.

I was at some event somewhere that was raising money for something (see, I told you I’m no O’Neil). I remember for sure a really good hardcore band from Mexico blew the roof off the place, and a girl I’d had a falling out with was reading her writing. Now, those details I remember all too well, I’m just not going to share, except to say I didn’t know she was on the bill, and I walked out of the venue when she went up to read because I couldn’t handle seeing her.

This spiky blonde haired dude who looked like he’d been listening to punk rock since before I was born (spoiler: this timeline was confirmed accurate) took the spotlight to tell a story that involved BDSM, intravenous drugs, and other details that had me figuratively clutching my pearls. I mean, why, I never… I’ve enjoyed a drink or two, and my share of jokes with double entendre. But this was less than polite language and recounting of quite the salacious (and illicit!) behavior. It was also very hilarious and performed by a charming storyteller (if I recall correctly, one partner leaves the other mid-act in bondage to venture outside their apartment to score dope… and through misadventure and a comedy of errors, takes longer than expected to return).

Months later, when the aforementioned girl and I would briefly reconcile, and we discussed that past night we hadn’t expect to see each other, we both paused to reflect on “that guy,” the one with the wild story. I came to find out he’s not only an old school punk and accomplished author, but specifically one affiliated with the writers who inspired me and encouraged me to attend the same grad school where he got his MFA. I ended up seeing him at all manner of book fairs and school events (I got my MFA too, eventually!), first being greeted with a handshake upon introduction and my retelling of having first seen him perform, and from there on out him always greeting me with a joyous hug.

​And that’s Patrick O’Neil. He makes you feel like you’ve been friends forever, and his writing lets you in with an honesty, vulnerability, and grasp of the big picture that I would characterize not as sentimental but instead as humble and appreciative. He knows he’s done some cool things - he also knows he’s done some bad things. And despite the ups and down, there’s a good and caring person there wanting to be and share his best. You can read about the darkest times in his memoir Gun Needle Spoon, but his latest is about his time as a road manager and is titled Anarchy In The Circle K, published by Punk Hostage Press.


O’Neil sets the stage with his art school beginnings and reputation as a “gentle roadie” on the precipice of 1984 and in the middle of Reagan’s reign. A career in music and on the road, including his presence at the Alternative Tentacles office when the feds raided over H.R. Giger’s “obscene” art for Dead Kennedys’ “Frankenchrist,” hardens him as he deals with heartbreak, heroin addiction, and the era’s infestation of violent neo-Nazi skinheads (including a nasty incident where O’Neil suffers a razor slash to the hand). As I’ve said from my live storytelling experience, O’Neil leaves nothing to the imagination, which I would argue is an essential skill in creative nonfiction - it’s actually the weirdly specific details that readers latch onto and which make eccentric individual stories oddly universal.

​There are short anecdotes and small set pieces, like when a band called FOG - “Fear of God!” - smoke up a venue with their fog machine, or when O’Neil and crew bum out humorless punks by playing the awesome then-new debut record of Run DMC, a brief horror story of a strip club bloodbath (the climax and punchline of which I will not reveal here), and a surprising cameo by Mike Ness of Social Distortion that does not exactly end with him as the hero. The weekend that O’Neil and a friend are stranded in a small town, suffering through a contentious relationship with their mechanic, is a compelling short story unto itself.

There are also bits of counterculture history and appearances for older readers to appreciate (the late, great Skatemaster Tate!!) and all readers to learn from (I’m no expert vinyl collector, so I’m always newly learning about bands, and this book led me to listen to Sacramento proto-grunge band Tales of Terror). O’Neil was present for some monumental shows, like the first Lollapalooza tour, and the last Dead Kennedys concert with the original lineup (did you know the openers were Phranc, 7 Seconds, and Mojo Nixon? And the guy who plays Happy on “Sons of Anarchy” and “Mayans MC” worked the show!)

But while I expected fun retrospectives and laments about sex and love on the road, what took me by surprise were some of the deeper dives into O’Neil’s complicated relationships with other men - I can’t even say “friendships,” because DK singer Jello Biafra and O’Neil were most certainly not friends. O’Neil provides a revealing look at the self-righteous and didactic frontman who cares more some nights about lecturing his audience than singing, and is protective about his DIY punk image while still harboring rock star treatment quirks like wearing a smelly parka he insists protects him from illness.

One of the strongest narrative threads is the incestous and troubled dysfunction of Flipper singer Will Shatter and O’Neil, who at various times share girlfriends, housing accommodations, and addictions. Two men who have every reason to despise each other end up allies, and eventually, support for each other’s attempts at sobriety, although only O’Neil survives to tell the tale. 

Here is week 21 of Sam's reading journey, the metrics and first week can be found here

The Guest List
by Lucy Foley

1. Intrigue 
   1. This was my first time with a Lucy Foley murder mystery, and I really quite enjoyed myself. A death - perhaps even a murder - on an island off the coast of Ireland, while everyone is gathered for a wedding! Sign me up. 
2. Writing Style:
   1. As with most mysteries the success is built on the ability to divert reader expectations without making the reader feel stupid or lost. This book does just that, and what’s more is it comes with a surprising amount of grounded physical description. It is a tad bit predicable, but does have a “oh, cool, that’s a surprise moment.”
   2. Juicy quote:
      1. And I'm not worried about it being haunted. I have my own ghosts. I carry them with me wherever I go.
3. Flow of storytelling 
   1. For a book that switches multiple POVs it’s surprisingly very easy to follow the course of everything. And the author does a great job of making the chapter cut off feel like a commercial break, where tension is built to a high point, making you want to come back to that characters perspective. 
4. Re-readability 
   1. Re-readable for sure, though the details of the story aren’t nearly as compelling once you know the whole thing. Sort of the curse of mystery novels. And since the major plot point was predictable it feels a bit silly to re-read unless you’re there for the glorious descriptions and fun characters. 
5. TESS
   1. Does not qualify 

★★★★ = For Sure Absolutely Read This - but you might not like it. That’s okay too! I did. ​

A few months ago, I reviewed Jim Ruland's book about the rise and fall of SST Records, which included stories about a singer whose biography Ruland worked on, Keith Morris. Morris's band after he left Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, included Greg Hetson, who would also go on to play with Bad Religion. A few short years after I met Bad Religion backstage as a teenage boy getting into punk rock, Hetson and his partner would become parents to a daughter named Violet.

Like all y'all during the pandemic, I downloaded TikTok and found numerous ways to pass the time. One account I stumbled onto was a twentysomething Violet Hetson sharing apocryphal punk history (this is my nice way of saying she was trolling humorless purists by calling everyone the wrong name and mixing up who was in what bands). Even legendary Reagan Youth got in on the joke by sharing the videos. When not mispronouncing Jello Biafra's name, Violet Hetson fronts an amazing rock band called Powerviolets. 

This is one of only many examples of new generations adding new accomplishments to what previous generations did before them - for example, the Meat Puppets, who were also covered in Ruland's book, are still at it and their current lineup includes Elmo Kirkwood, the son of founding member Curt Kirkwood (and, of course, nephew of other founding member Cris Kirkwood).

I would think most people see this as a progression of counterculture. And yet another review of Ruland's book claims the following:

We do?

It's meaningful to me.

But I thought I'd ask some folks who'd have their own say about it.

​-h. (Blog Editor, Meow Meow Pow Pow - check out my stuff at HubUnofficial.com)

It’s easy to dismiss the idea of an enduring counter culture when pop stars now sport face tattoos and Travis Barker is married to a Kardashian, but in my experience, the counter culture is alive and well, bubbling, as it always has, just under the surface.  Every generation seems to think they were the last to stick it to the man, and punks are no exception.  The worst thing you could be in the punk scene in the late 80s and early 90s was a sellout, then many of those so-called sellouts went on to decry the emo scene of the 2000s as inauthentic posturing, and now those emo stars are old enough to be shaking their fists at the underground rappers and anti-pop artists of today.   

In order to keep Epitaph from turning into a legacy label (though he has plenty of those incredible artists as well), my husband Brett has always been involved in the new scenes, and as a result, I have been introduced to a steady stream of young artists who are operating under the radar, working, living and creating collaboratively, exploding sexual and gender norms, just as DIY as the punks of my generation, even if their music sometimes sounds like the score of an 8-bit video game.  Some of the punkest kids I’ve met recently look like 90s ecstasy clubkid burnouts, or like pretty riot grrls who aren’t girls at all, or at least, not all the time.  The counter culture still exists, you just have to be young enough, or motivated enough, to find it.

Gina Gee writes and lives in NELA with her husband, two children and three jumbo dogs.

For those of us who came of age in the late 80s and early 90s, the 60s and 70s were all the rage. The heshers had matured into gentlemen who appreciated the fine auditory cuisine of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Black Sabbath. Jean jackets were accompanied by tie dye shirts, and hair grew from feathered mullets into unwashed angel mops. The alternative scene embraced the 60s-- with Deee-Lite, peace signs, gogo boots, mixed with a rising awareness of direct protest and cultural dissent. We went to meetings, we phone banked, we took to the streets, not quite knowing what to do because many of our boomer parents had given up on social change and were settling back on leather sectionals, trying to figure out how to pay off the new pool.

The 90s hit us head on, as we disrupted the mainstream with our independent labels, our DIY ethic, putting on our own shows, putting out our own media with cassette tapes and zines and for some, news servers and message boards. And then everything went mainstream as our rebellion became a fashion statement, K-Mart ads for grunge, Seventeen magazine step-by-steps how to look like a riot grrrl.

So when I saw my teenage students sporting Nirvana and Joy Division and Misfits shirts, I would smile and quiz them about their knowledge, usually disappointed but appreciating that now I can replace missing t-shirts cheaply from the Target and Forever 21 racks. But then, I saw a Blur shirt, and a GG Allin one, and then the students started having detailed answers about what songs they liked, where they got the shirts from. And then I found out there’s a Zine Club on campus (why I’m not the advisor, you’ll have to ask them!). And now there are debates about the origins of “real” emo-- is DC hardcore real emo or did it all really blow up with the midwestern button up scene? We can thank YouTube and memes and Copypasta that they have an opinion on these things. And yet, the DIY ethic is popping up. With the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion leaked, many female students are sporting pink venus symbol with a fist in the middle stickers like they’re ready to Rock the Vote.

Every generation wants to hop back 20-30 years to copy and paste the best parts of that generation, usually all aesthetics and little substance, but if the kids today are resurrecting a revolution we let whimper and die while we were scrolling through TikToks for alien conspiracy theories, I say we give them the tools we used and see what they can do with it. I’ll stash some zines in the neighborhood Little Library and will make a home for radical activists’ autobiographies on my classroom shelves next door to high-interest Sci Fi and David Goggins and Rickson Gracie. Let’s milk this little revolution and show them how to pour milk in their eyes to get rid of the teargas sting before the revival of the 2000s takes over and we’re all in velour jumpsuits watching bad reality tv again.

Kelli Callis has been writing the perzine That Girl since 1993. She pays the bills as a mean and grumpy English teacher in the suburbs. You can find her on IG @thatgirlzine.

​People have been lamenting the deaths of various subcultures—or the times when said subcultures were a true threat to the mainstream culture—since approximately forever, so I always take any blanket statements like that with a grain of salt. It’s certainly easy to think that all subculture is toothless in this day and age, because of the way things look on social media. A lot of what is out there on social media, or at least a lot of what we see, involves the aesthetics of certain subcultures without a lot of the real meat, or meaning, behind them. But I do think subculture still exists and has relevance; you just don’t see all of that on Instagram or what-have-you. Just in my small corner of SE Wisconsin, there are punks and rappers, graffiti artists, skateboarders, zinesters, LGBTQ+ groups, urban gardeners, spoken word performers, visual artists, etc. I think one just needs to investigate their local and regional subcultures—either away from the internet or using the internet as a tool to connect with nearby groups—to find like-minded people, and to see that there’s still a lot of subcultural action out there. When you join in with local subcultural groups, you’ll find that a lot of those groups overlap or work together towards common goals. And when that happens, subculture becomes counterculture and poses a true threat and alternative to the mainstream.