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The Cooper Point Journal (February 06, 2019)
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RESENTMENT AFTER
DOWNTOWN ASSAULT
3
ARTIST INTERVIEW
BY BRITTANYANA PIERRO
13
The Evergreen State College Newspaper Since 1971| February 6,2019
OSCAR ABBOTT
the cooper point journal
COMMUNITY OUTRAGE
HOMELESS CAMPS
“IT’S REALLY THE BARE
MINIMUM”
4
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FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
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FROM THE ARCHIVES A screenshot from a 2014 Valentine’s Day Video made by Shauna Bittle and
shared on social media, courtesy of The Evergreen State College Archives.
HOW WE WORK
The Cooper Point Journal is produced by students at Evergreen State College, with funding from student
fees and advertising from local businesses. The Journal is published for free every other Wednesday during the
school year and distributed throughout the Olympia area.
Our content is also available online at www.cooperpointjournal.com.
Our mission is to provide an outlet for student voices, and to inform and entertain the Evergreen community
and the Olympia-area more broadly, as well as to provide a platform for students to learn about operating a
news publication.
Our office is located on the third floor of the Campus Activities Building (CAB) at Evergreen State College
in room 332 and we have open student meetings from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday. Come early if you’d
like to chat with the editor!
WORK FOR US
We accept submissions from any student at Evergreen State College, and also from former students, faculty,
and staff. We also hire some students onto our staff, who write articles for each issue and receive a learning
stipend.
Have an exciting news topic? Know about some weird community happening? Enjoy that new hardcore
band? Come talk to us and write about it.
We will also consider submissions from non-Evergreen people, particularly if they have special knowledge on
the topic. We prioritize current student content first, followed by former students, faculty and staff, and then
general community submissions. Within that, we prioritize content related to Evergreen first, followed by
Olympia, the state of Washington, the Pacific Northwest, etc.
To submit an article, reach us at cooperpointjournal@gmail.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We want to hear from you! If you have an opinion on anything we’ve reported in the paper, or goings-on in
Olympia or at Evergreen, drop us a line with a paragraph or two (100 - 300 words) for us to publish in the
paper. Make sure to include your full name, and your relationship to the college—are you a student, staff,
graduate, community member, etc. We reserve the right to edit anything submitted to us before publishing,
but we’ll do our best to consult with you about any major changes.
The entrance of Jake’s On 4th. DANIEL VOGEL.
GAY BAR SCENE DEMANDS
ACCOUNTABILITY
Resentment after assault outside Jake’s On 4th
By MASON SOTO
On the evening of Jan. 30,
four Olympia residents were
assaulted outside of the downtown bar Jake’s On 4th, leading to a possible hate crime
charge. The bar (known locally
as Jake’s) is the only gay bar in
downtown Olympia.
According to reporting
by The Olympian, Dwayne
Houston was arrested after
the incident by Olympia Police Department on suspicion of malicious harassment
and other crimes (including
against Washington’s hate
crime laws). Police records list
Jake’s address and show Houston was arrested for assault in
the fourth degree.
Jace Hoag, one of the victims, told the Journal that he
and three of his friends were
walking along the sidewalk on
4th Avenue as Houston and
others stood in the enclave
outside Jake’s, where the assault happened. Houston and
others shouted anti-gay and
racist slurs leading up to and
during the assault, according
to witness reports.
At least two victims sought
medical care for injuries from
the attack, including a broken
nose, concussion, and eye contusions.
Thurston County Superior
Courts charged Houston with
second-degree assault, unlawful possession of cocaine, and
malicious harassment, with
bail at $25,000.
As word spread of the attack, community members
began sharing testimonies on
social media about the most
recent incident and other similar violence around the area.
Bar patrons called for Jake’s
and its owner Rob Cameron
to be held accountable for the
violence that took place, many
suggesting the gay-centric
branding that Jake’s utilizes
contradicts the experiences of
gay customers there.
Some posts were shared
with hashtags like #takedownyourprideflags and #notasafespace, along with links to the
bar’s Yelp page. The posts encouraged people to share their
experiences on the business
review website. Some posts
included Cameron’s personal
contact information as well.
The bar is a staple for nightlife and food in downtown
Olympia, with a concession
stand attached serving fried
confections day and night.
Large rainbow flags hang over
the area directly outside the
bar’s front door, close to where
the assault took place. There is
also a large sign displayed near
the entrance that declares the
News
establishment is a “Hate-Free
Queer Bar,” welcoming only
those who are not homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist,
or “heterophobic,” among other traits.
Many who shared opinions
on social media about the incident accused owner Cameron
of not doing enough to protect
patrons, while vouching for
most of the other staff. A public post on Facebook by Dan
Evans read, “The staff at Jake’s
are doing their best to maintain safety, but they are often
managing hundreds of rowdy
people at one time (most of
which are not sober) and it
is unfair of the owner Rob to
burden them with the responsibility of upholding the safety
that he promotes on his walls.”
In an interview with the
Journal, Rob Cameron said
he runs a “super safe business.”
When asked whether there
would be a public statement
from him or Jake’s about the
incident or the community’s
reaction, he said, “Have you
read that stuff online? How do
I defend myself? I mean, most
of it’s all lies.”
“I have first-hand experienced assault myself,” said
Evans, who helped establish a
local drag troupe named Free
Range Drag last year. Beyond
his own experience, he said in
the ten years he’s lived here and
worked within the community at places such as Stonewall
Youth and Capitol City Pride,
he’s heard about many instances of discrimination “both outside and inside Jake’s.”
Evans feels that attacks like
this are fueled by a culture at
Jake’s, which he alleges includes over-serving alcohol,
prioritizing money over safety,
and lack of accountability for
regular instances outside the
bar when first responders are
called.
In 2016, news organization Seattle PI published a list
based on records from the state
Liquor and Cannabis Board
showing where DUI offenders in Washington last drank
before arrest, showing which
venues are mentioned most.
Jake’s ranks fifth, with 181
mentions from 2012-2016.
Another member of Free
Range Drag, Kenzie Reynolds
said the frequency of incidents
outside Jake’s has made the
responses ineffective. Comparing it to the habits of any job,
they said, “You don’t really pay
attention, you’re just on autopilot, and I think that’s sort
of the feeling that OPD has
about responding to fights or
altercations outside of Jake’s,
because it’s so rote and it’s so
consistent.”
Many Jake’s patrons have
suggested in the online posts
and in interviews with the
Journal that there should be
more of a security presence at
the bar’s entrance, like security
outside The Society, another
bar whose patrons often overflow onto the sidewalk surrounding the entrance.
Cameron has no plans to do
so. “I don’t have fights [at my
bar],” he said. There have only
been regular staff since the bar
opened, and Cameron said,
“Thirteen years of that, no violence, you know, it works.”
Instead he said the onus of
responsibility does not fall on
him: “The only thing I’m guilty
of is having a popular bar.” He
said it is a larger problem of
downtown, then suggested,
“There should be more police
downtown, there should be
more patrol.”
Upset patrons feel the deflection of responsibility for
the area surrounding Jake’s is
central to how these instances occur. Evans said, “This has
historically kind of saved them,
that it happens directly outside
of Jake’s.”
Evans said the community needs a change one way or
another: “We either want responsibility, or transparency
that you’re either not a gay bar,
or you are a gay bar and you
do what you’re supposed to do
to keep the people that you’re
harboring safe.”
Reynolds concurred, “Represent us well, or don’t represent us at all.”
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
3
News
Downtown Street Sign. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. JOE MABEL.
City-Sanctioned Homeless Camp
“It’s really the bare minimum”
By MARTA TAHJA-SYRETT
At the beginning of last
month, Union Gospel Mission
opened a city-sanctioned homeless camp on Olympia Avenue
NE and Franklin Street NE.
According to K5 News, the
owners of four nearby businesses
responded by anonymously suing
the city for supporting the camp.
As reported by Q13 Fox, the
business owners believe that the
city failed to notify them regarding the site and also didn’t seek
out public opinion before moving forward with the project.
They also believe that the camp
drives away business and attracts
illicit behavior.
Just after the official opening
of the camp on December 10,
Thurston County Judge James
Dixon ordered a temporary restraining order, which prohibited
new people from entering the
site. Later that month the restraining order expired and the
camp was allowed to reopen itself to the public, as Dixon saw
no reason to further halt the site’s
operation.
One local business that is not
opposed to the camp’s presence
is Metro, located on 4th Avenue
East, close to the site. Manager
Dawn Prieto said that the camp
4
is helping to get people out of
the woods and is not affecting her
business at all. She said her customers tend to be thicker-skinned,
which she is thankful for. Prieto
also believes that the new tiny
home village, called the Plum
Street Village project, will be
beneficial for the homeless population.
The Plum Street Village project will accommodate 40-50
homeless people with its thirty
homes. It will be operated by
The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and receive funding
from the city of Olympia. People
who are currently staying at the
city-sanctioned homeless camp
will be prioritized when it comes
to the selection of housing at the
tiny home village.
Jack Connors-Kellgren is a
volunteer at EGYHOP — an
organization, run by volunteers,
“that provides emergency supplies, services, and resources to
homeless people.” He said that
several contributing factors may
help to explain the recent surge
of visible homelessness in downtown Olympia.
Connors-Kellgren believes
that rising house prices are a
large contributing factor when
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
it comes to homelessness. According to Zillow, the value of
houses within the Olympia area
rose by 10% in 2018. Homes in
Olympia currently have a median value of $317,000, which is
significantly higher than nearby
towns, such as Shelton, where
the median home value is nearly
$70,000 less. The Olympia City
Council also notes this trend in
Ordinance No. 7147, stating that
rising home prices in Olympia,
and across the nation, are leaving
individuals and families without
a place to live.
According to the City of
Olympia’s website, the rising
cost of housing, in addition to
the inadequate supply of housing, is having a drastic effect on
Thurston County. The Point in
Time Census for 2018 found
that, within the county, homelessness has increased by 56%
since the year prior. These contributing factors are not limited
to this area, as they are becoming
prevalent throughout the state of
Washington.
Connors-Kellgren noted that
visibility also plays a role in the
recent increase of homeless people in downtown Olympia, as
people are coming from other
locations within the city. “People are coming out of the woods
because they have a place to be,”
said Connors-Kellgren. He also
said that homeless camps in the
area get evicted “with some frequency.”
“All the camps by the Woodland bike trail got evicted, and
then, periodically, there’s a pretty
big camp on the East side that
gets evicted,” Connors-Kellgren
said. He noted that evictions
happen after sweeps and that
“there’s an influx of people
that come downtown” after the
sweeps occur.
Sweeps refer to the destruction and confiscation of property
belonging to homeless people,
which happens after the property is declared abandoned. According to the ACLU of Washington, property is sometimes
declared abandoned “even when
temporarily unattended.”
Connors-Kellgran disputed
the idea that increases in visible
homelessness are caused largely
by people moving from places
outside of the area. “The population that’s coming in from other
places is pretty minor compared
with people who have been here
for a long period of time.”
Connors-Kellgren’s personal opinion on the camp is bleak. “It’s an improvement in the way that people are
allowed to be there, but it’s embarrassing because people are still living
outside and don’t want to be,” said
Connors-Kellgren. “It’s really the
bare minimum and it’s a shame that
there’s so much pushback.”
Before the camp was sanctioned
by the City, people were already
living in the space on Olympia Avenue NE and Franklin Street NE,
according to The News Tribune.
Perhaps this is related to the fact
that multiple resources, accessible to
homeless people, are available within
close proximity to the site. The Thurston County Food Bank, located on
neighboring Thurston Avenue NE,
seeks “to eliminate hunger within our community.” The Thurston
County Food Bank offers several
programs to the public that provide
free food, with no address needed to
participate in their services.
“It’s an improvement
in the way that people
are allowed to be there,
but it’s embarrassing
because people are still
living outside and don’t
want to be”
Also located close by, on State
Avenue NE, is the Providence Community Care Center. As reported by
Thurston Talk, the center offers services related “to housing, primary
care, mental health and substance
use care.” Just after its opening in
2017, the Providence Community
Care Center was offering its services
to more than 200 people per day, on
average.
With homelessness on the rise
locally, the city of Olympia has also
begun to implement new legislative
measures in an attempt to lessen the
burden on those who are currently
living without homes. According to
the City of Olympia’s website, The
Home Fund Measure (Proposition
1) was recently passed. This proposition allows for an additional 0.1%
tax on sales, with the money going
towards “affordable and supportive
housing.” Additionally, “The City
reduced impact fees for qualified
low-income housing development
projects.”
Community
Mount Rainier. Courtesy of Wikicommons. KELVIN KAY.
HOT SPOT TOO HOT,
STOP LAYING ON IT
For real, it could
“severely burn” you!
EARTH ECONOMICS
Internships and the environment
By DJ PFEIFLE
Evergreen’s famous “Hot Spot” sible level without losing student
outside of dorm building A, has housing heat. (For once RAD isn’t
recently come under fire for being giving residents the cold shoulnot just a little bit too hot.
der).
In an email sent out to ResHowever, this solution is mereidential And Dining Services ly temporary. A more permanent
(RAD) tenants by RAD in late solution will be employed when
November, students were warned the weather heats up and heating
that: “The paved walkway outside
student housing
no longer an
By Principe
Guityis Jr
residence hall A is reaching tem- issue. According to Ward, “The
peratures in excess of 160 Degrees current Hot Spot near student
Fahrenheit,” as “human skin can housing was repaired in 2014. The
be severely burned at these tem- reason for this Hot Spot area will
peratures”.
be known once the area is opened
This message has been more to investigate the root cause of
or less ignored by students who the excessive heat.” So it turns out
continue to lounge about on the this has happened before, and it
Hot Spot, without a care for the appears that fixing it may require
warnings clearly posted around excavation of the affected area to
it — but hey, life is too short to investigate further; Don’t worlisten to dumb signs anyway.
ry however about deadly, deadly
After a simple experiment by steam, as pressure will be shut off
this reporter, of placing a bare before this happens.
hand directly on the Hot Spot for
The most famous Hot Spot is
20 uninterrupted seconds, and not not the only one on campus. There
having any burns to human skin, is another similar locale behind
severe or otherwise, one can con- the Costantino Recreation Cenclude that the Hot Spot is safe at ter. That one is heavily cordoned
least for the time being. Neverthe- off, but it seems the same underlyless, that begs the question, what ing issue is causing both of them.
caused this immense increase in On the bright side, these issues
heat to happen in the first place?
with compromised steam pipes
According to the Associate are currently contained in the two
Vice President of RAD Facili- previously mentioned areas for
ties, William Ward, the Hot Spot the time being. There should be
exists because of compromised no problems as long as you stay
steam pipes running underneath clear of those places — think of
the campus. This causes hot steam it as a chance to try a new route
and condensation to collect un- across campus, after all, you don’t
derneath the block of concrete want to be caught in the crossfire
nearby residence hall A. The phe- if the Hot Spot suddenly explodes
nomenon heats up the surface, (though this likely won’t happen).
making for a good place to cuddle The conditions are constantly bewith your boo or watch the clouds ing monitored for any changes or
roll by (if you’re lonely).
abnormalities, but for the time
There are still warnings and being this is what we know. It apbarriers set up around the affected pears that administration is doing
area, to hopefully prevent students all they can to fix this issue as soon
from getting near it when the heat as possible, but hopefully it won’t
rises, and the steam pressure has mean losing our beloved Hot
been lowered to the lowest pos- Spot forever.
By PRINCIPE GUITY JR
You experience all the wonders of the environment in the
northwest; the rainy days and
nights, cold winters, and the
absolutely gorgeous parks. It’s
not surprising to find many of
us Pacific Northwesterners are
filed with great joy for the environment. Some people show
their love in their words and
others in their actions.
Earth Economics does both,
and is offering the opportunity
for interns to join their team.
Since 1998, this non-profit organization has had businesses
consult them about making the
best decisions, that will do the
least harm to the environment
as possible.
On a bright Friday morning,
I got the opportunity to ask
Jean Jenson, an Operation and
Research analyst at Earth Economics, a few questions pertaining to internships.
Jenson told me there are
three traits they are looking for
in an intern. A successful candidate would be “independent,
dependable, and intuitive.” Independent in terms of working confidently on your own.
Next, I wanted to know how
important the role of an intern’s
passion for the environment is
to the internship. Jenson’s response was that it was very important and that “they should
value nature and have a deeper
understanding of the environment.”
According to Jenson, skills
that an intern could gain include, “broad interdisciplinary
skills such as writing, client
relation, and technical skills.
Building an understanding of a
professional environment, and
the dependability involved in
showing up to a job. As well as,
finding your own passion and
being subjected to different career paths.” He added that these
were key skills for every student
to know.
After speaking to her about
what interns get out of this exploratory journey, I wanted to
know what ways an intern could
be hands-on and what the benefit to that is. This internship
offers the opportunity for interns to experience hands-on
learning in ”[producing] reports
and [sending] analysis to clients. One hands-on way interns
would be interacting is through
geographic information systems
(or GIS), this involves mapping
and adding layers of data about
the environment and informing
the public about it.”
There are three internship
positions types available: business development, research analyst, and research assistant. A
business development intern
researches a foundation and
finds funding. A research an-
alyst intern’s job is to provide
whatever research is needed, as
well as help with general needs.
This depends on individual
project need, but could include
a study such as the one Emily, a
former intern, did on biodiversity in tropical tourist settings.
The right person to fill the research assistant intern position
would be someone that has
good client relations.
When asked whether jobs
are offered to interns after the
internship has ended, Jenson
explained that ”Anyone is welcome to apply for jobs with
Earth Economics after the internship, but jobs being offered
depend on Earth Economics’
financial situation. Bestowing a
permanent position is difficult
for an nonprofit.” Jenson herself
started as an intern at a different
non-profit and through those
past connections, she ended up
working at Earth Economics.
An internship with Earth Economics can open doors for future work with the environment
and nonprofits.
If you are interested in applying for an internship at
Earth Economics, you can send
an email to jjenson@economics.com with your resume, cover
letter, a writing sample and letter of recommendation.
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
5
Community
Conversations
For Community
Intersex Voices At
Evergreen, Par t 2
By Mason Soto
In planning this article and asking for interviews, I wanted to
showcase academic and activist work that I saw happening in the
communities around me. After the presidential memo in October that
attempted to redefine sex as immutable, biological, and binary, the
need to uplift and engage with intersex, trans, Two Spirit, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people seemed all the more urgent.
Thus, the following conversations with two intersex students are not
about a singular experience, but about who these students are and
what they are up to, as well as their thoughts on language, theory,
beauty, survival, and more. Hopefully, these transcripts can open up
chances for further recognition and collaboration across our
community. Look for the rest of these long convos in our next issues!
(This is the continuation of interviews published in our previous issues.)
Augustine
Any plans for
Awareness Day?
Showing up.
Intersex
A resolution in California
recently aff irmed intersex rights
against genital mutilation, the
f irst state to do so. What do you
hope to see happen for intersex
people in the future with regard
to medical processes and understanding?
Respect. Awareness. Love,
compassion, tenderness.
I mean, what more can you ask?
Right.
So I want to talk about the
recent presidential memo that
would def ine sex as either male
or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals a person
was born with. It’s been an effort
to limit trans people’s protections,
but this memo seems to ignore
and contradict what already goes
on as far as medical intervention
with regards to intersex people.
Indeed it seems to ignore intersex
existence altogether. What are
your thoughts on the memo and
the state of intersex rights?
He doesn’t get to decide.
Going back to the idea of
showing up. I mean, I will fight
everyone, including him. And
I will become an X-Men, I will
become stronger than anything that has come before. He
doesn’t get to decide what belongs and what doesn’t belong,
6
where, and what. He doesn’t
get to do that. Because I wake
up every day, I am standing in
opposition to it.
You have incredible style. I
always see people complimenting
it, and I’m one of those people. So
what do style and beauty mean
to you?
Everything! Everything, it’s
all there is. I think about it in
terms of metaphor, how we alchemize our existence, and we
adorn ourselves. Fashion, style,
is a communication, and it’s
also a context. It’s something
that we’re aware of, and that
we wish to not only inhabit,
but exhibit. I think about that
realm of exhibition, of being
like a perpetual exhibition. We
get to be art. And that means
— you know, everything bows
down to beauty. Everything.
Even the rain. When you bow
down to something there’s a
devotion, there’s also a comfort. You find a home within
the context of comfort. Beauty
and style is one of those subliminal significances. It means
that there’s hope, because
there’s effort.
Amazing. Like wow. So as
someone who doesn’t see people
like themself represented in media, what does it mean to navigate the world and social media
representing your authentic self ?
Going back to X-Men
strength. We’re mutant and
proud. That’s the whole point
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
of art, isn’t it though? Doing
something that’s never been
done before. So yes, it’s going
to be erroneous, and yes it’s
going to look like perhaps existence in and of itself is fault.
However, that in and of itself
can be stylized, and become
charming and cute. And when
I go through this world, there’s
a power in my fight to belong.
I don’t have any point of reference. No one has ever been
Augustine before. I’m gonna
get it wrong, but maybe I’ll get
it right — in terms of not going the way of Virginia Woolf.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean you better!
Even as representation increases,
people have talked about the limits of representation, tokenization and commodifying aspects of
it. How do you think the community and its goals can overcome
or see past that?
Stop being afraid of ourselves. Post-structuralize it.
Get the fuck over the limits.
There’s no limits.
Alright, tell me about your
writing, your work as an artist.
What’s important to you about
your voice?
That I have one. Period.
You and I often talk about how
language can be simultaneously
a limit and a catalyst for understanding, and for me this notion is
really relevant to identity politics.
Yeah, in terms of like, we just
want context, language itself is a
trajectorial metaphor for something that we want access to in
terms of identification. Like,
what I say to you, you could
perceive as powerful. The metaphor therein is that I want to be
that powerful, I want to feel that
powerful. But if existence is failure, I don’t know. Maybe I fail in
my pursuit of power.
Anything else you want to
talk about?
I think what’s important
about being intersexed is identity being a suspended thing.
And going back to survival, I’ve always had to go into
the realm of epigenetics, and
chemistry, biology, molecularism, to say that my anatomy,
my atomic number — I can’t
seek societal validation. I have
to seek cosmic validation. To
go back to my atomic number.
The fact that our genes and
molecules made us; we have
purpose regardless of what society says. They don’t matter.
I mean, they matter, but we
matter. Literally, we are matter.
Jonathan
So you got to help professors
that you met through conferences
shape curricular. How so?
Shaping curriculum to be
more intersex inclusive by telling my story. Talking about
how in biology it was hard
for me in high school. I would
refuse to do the DNA swabs
and stuff like that because I
thought, they’re going to think
that I’m weird, like, it’ll come
out. So talking about that and
in sex-ed in high school, for
the people that are fortunate
enough to get it, the need to
not talk about just the two sex
dichotomy. And not being like,
this is a male, this a female,
this is what their bodies look
like, but knowing that that
there are bodies in between
that, far over, wherever they’re
at. There is not a body that is
going to look identical, and
growing up I still think that I
never thought about that, that
people aren’t identical. Kind of
just invalidated my own existence to assimilate and feel
okay, feel with everybody.
I got to talk to a professor and a social worker, and
they were like, thank you so
much. Once they thanked me
it set in. I was like, okay this
is something amazing. From
then on, I was like, I gotta do
more. I started a whole circuit
of conference after conference.
I’ve been to Rutgers University, I’ve been to Yale, I’ve been
to Harvard. It’s been really
cool just to do it.
Are you still working with
interACT Youth?
Yes, I am still a youth member with interACT. I do a lot
of work with them when it
comes to traveling or hosting workshops. Most of them
are about interACT, how I’ve
been involved with them and
how that organization has not
only helped me grow but given
me opportunity to help shape
the organization. I got to help
coordinate our youth program development, and that
was amazing to get input and
shape a program that’s going
to last and have more capacity
to take on more intersex youth,
and to develop resources that
we don’t have.
And you’re a GLAAD Campus Ambassador as well, what
does that involve?
Helping
to
accelerate
equality, acceptance of the
LGBTQ community — they
still haven’t added the ‘I’ in
their mission statement, which
is a mess, but we’re working
towards it. Specifically on college campuses across the U.S.,
there’s, I think, about 140
campus ambassadors altogether. Last year, I was by myself
Evergreen’s campus ambassador, and I did a lot of work
the Trans and Queer Center to
actually put on events and host
a couple Intersex Awareness
Day things, as well as some
film screenings and stuff like
that to do education that I see
is lacking, extremely lacking.
And now there’s two campus ambassadors, me and So’le
Celestial. We get to train and
learn about media, and how
telling our stories in writing
can actually reach masses. We
learn from GLAAD on media institutes and learn how
to write to grab people. And
especially activist writing. Activist writing is, you’re standing strong in your point, you’re
not wavering but you’re giving
details and information, and
you’re also being relatable in
anyway you can.
In a video for GLAAD for
Black History Month, you said
of your blackness, “I have to
claim it because I was given it.
It’s a gift.” Can you speak more
to that?
Yeah. I think being black,
my black identity, my black
ancestry, in general just is a
gift. It’s that culture, that connection to the world. Knowing
that my people have been so
resilient across the world. It’s
a gift to be able to be affiliated and be a part of that history, and to help add to it, has
been amazing. I’m so joyed,
I’m happy, I’m living and just
knowing that my black identity is so important to me and
it’s something that I’ve learned
to love.
Because growing up it was
like, ‘Oh you’re black, cool,
that’s all, we’re done.’ But never talking about the nuances
of black identity and the resilience of black folks. Not only
in America, but the Caribbean
where my family is originally
from. Beyond the Carribean.
From the continent of Africa,
and just knowing that black
people exist in every part of
the world.
And also just how all-encompassing black identity is
because it is a very international thing. Where we talk about
the break down of black and
African American and what
that is. Black identity is held
by so many people and there’s
no monolith of blackness. It’s
a gift, I think. It’s amazing. It’s
reinvigorating to think about
whose come before me to take
the steps for me to be able to
continue. Just knowing that
gives me motivation to continue and to reach out, especially
to those black intersex youth
that haven’t had the resources
or don’t talk about it.
Because in the black community a lot of times we don’t
want to talk about anything
that could be seen as wrong
with you because everyone
already sees you as violent so
it’s pushed away. Like mental
health is pushed away, intersex variations are pushed away.
Anything that to them is out
of the normal or out of the
conversation.
So it’s just amazing to be a
part of the resistance and be a
part of a legacy of not only my
black identity but my grandmother’s, my grandfather’s. It’s
really cool to know that I’m the
next step. That however my life
ends, kids, whatever that may
be, that I get to pass that on.
And I get to gift them something that can never be taken
away. And hopefully they’ll
have a place where they learn
to love it from the beginning
and not halfway into life, or
twenty years into their life.
You talked about activist
writing, and I think that reading some of your stuff, there’s
this certain quality to it where
its positive. Not unwaveringly
positive, but I think you have
an optimism to your writing.
Do you think that’s true, and for
you, what is important for your
voice?
I know that I am a very
unique individual. Been told
that a long time, very outspoken, I say wild things and perceive things in an interesting
way and I include that in my
writing as much as possible,
like I want it to be my voice. I
don’t edit my work. I don’t go
back and revise because I don’t
believe in that. Obviously
some grammatical stuff, but I
don’t believe in second-guessing my heart in my own writing because I think that’s a
very colonial structure and its a
way that white supremacy was
able to erase a lot of history. By
making people take that out,
add something different. Like
who came up with the writing
process? Guarantee its a white
man. 100% guaranteed.
And so, me fighting back
and making my writing as accessible and relatable as pos-
sible is so important. So I try
not to use big words. I try to
talk from my heart, and I try
to talk from a non-academic
standpoint because it’s a privilege that I get to be here in
the academy, having a job here,
understanding how it works.
It’s a big privilege and I want
to be able to reach more people.
I loved your letter to Big
Freedia, and how you weaved
together these ideas about representation, dance, joy, self-expression. Can we talk about, as
you put it, the ‘real world implications that pop culture can
have?’
Yeah, I think pop culture is
what shapes our conversations.
Pop culture is what is remembered. Pop culture is what I
think can have the opportunity not only to shape conversations but to shape an education, to shape curriculum, to
shape politics, as we’ve seen.
To shape movements, and that
includes Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna, people that we don’t
think in a sense have power.
Rihanna’s empire is growing,
Fenty, all this other stuff and
how those have become such
a big part of pop culture that
they’ve began to actually help
people that don’t have voices,
help people that don’t have access to things. Fenty lingerie
being plus size, and having the
right color of nude, multiple
nudes for different skin tone.
It starts to change things.
It has implications if we
talk about racism. And now
its been with Trump and all
this extra stuff, that’s starting
to become an integral part of
conversation now, for everybody. Even if some people are
like, I’m tired of it, or whatever, it’s starting to become a
part of the conversation every
time. Now it’s a part of the
mainstream culture for us to
bring up racism. And that’s a
conversation that needed to
be brought up and pop culture
has done that.
That includes musicians
talking about it, making analogies in their music about it, or
artists making beautiful murals and stuff about racism, and
what happens, the hurt and
the trauma that its caused. To
educate people, and reach, and
reach until people are actually
learning and able to have discourse and nuance, and start
to shape a perspective on it. I
think that pop culture in general has a lot of real-world implications that we a lot of time
forget.
There are one hit songs that
people will forever remember,
that people say bring people
together. Like the Cupid Shuffle. That’s a song that everyone
learns the dance, when they
see people dancing they go and
try. It’s one of those songs that
was very popular in pop culture and now has moved into
a community building song,
but no one says it has, it just
happens.
That’s a really cool perspective. So, you’re always serving
in photos. What does style and
beauty mean to you? How does
it intersect with your notions of
self ?
I used to, and I still do
sometimes latch on to things
like, ‘I want to look like this
person.’ But knowing that
nothing has ever been for me,
nothing’s ever been created for
me, nothing in the fashion industry. I’ve never had clothes
made specifically for me, for
my person, for my identities
or anything. Being a big person, being intersex, having
breasts and still trying to dress
masc — and I’m not going to
wear a binder, I embrace having breasts and it’s a part of
me that I love and continue to
love.
How do I change the narrative by how I dress is something that I think about all the
time actually, because when
I want to shop there’s maybe
five places I can shop. I can’t go
anywhere in stores, I have to
pray things come in the right
size. I think style and beauty
— we always say beauty’s in
the eye of the beholder, but I
think that’s a super simplified
version of how it really works.
It all comes down to social
conditioning.
Like us knowing that we’re
beautiful inside and out,
knowing that we’re gorgeous
human beings, knowing that
we can show however we want
to show. But it’s scary to know
that it’s still in someone else’s
hand to help you move forward and live your life, whether that’s getting a job or whatever.
Even if we talk about queer
media. Why does every popular person in queer media,
in magazines, Teen Vogue,
whatever. Why are they skinny? Why are they conventionally attractive? Even if they’re
people of color, they’re people
you would put on a magazine.
They’re people you would put
as a headline. So why is it that
Community
way? That’s people’s perception
of beauty and the continuation of upholding these beauty
standards that are eurocentric,
but now have hopped onto
terms like ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion.’
‘We need a brown person,
lemme check that box,’ but no
one is going to say they’re doing that. Especially with queer
magazines and big LGBTQIA
media. ‘We’re here for this.’
Are you really? Your whole
staff is skinny. Like, what?
I work with HRC [Human
Rights Campaign] and they
just did a shoot with J Crew.
Why is everyone in that shoot
thin and conventionally attractive? There’s like no blemishes,
no acne. The type of people
you see on magazines anway.
Even though it was a fight to
even have brown and black
people on magazines, now that
they’re there, that’s all we have
is skinny folks. When we look
at trans representation, skinny
folks. Any queer representation, its skinny people. Even
intersex representation is usually a skinny white femme.
Beauty is a complexity of its
own. It is what you make it and
how you think and how you
feel. But we also for some reason all want to have the same
style, but with little tweaks because of our personalities. We
all want to assimilate to that
one idea of style. ‘I wanna be
a model’, so you’re going to
try and dress like every model you’ve ever seen. But we all
buy the same clothes also. The
complexity is that stores sell
everything the same, we don’t
make our own clothes. Like
there is no uniqueness a lot
of the times to our clothing.
That’s just a complex whole
thought of, what is beauty,
what is style?
And then relating it to
LGBTQIA stuff, you have to
be stylish to get somewhere
in the queer world. You have
to look — the queer look.
Whether that’s putting nail
polish on and being masc presenting, or being thin, or wearing heels, it is what it is.
You and other GLAAD ambassadors signed a letter to Congress
about gun violence. I thought it
was interesting to see how that
intersects with queer issues. What
about that, and other larger cultural issues — how do you see
queer intersections as important or
invigorating for those causes?
I think it boils down to me
listening and learning from elders, and the amazing words
that elders say, especially black
and indigenous elders, about
how we’re not liberated until
we’re all free. In mass shootings, school shootings, gun
violence, police brutality, I
guarantee it happens to queer
people. There is a guarantee
that people of all intersections
of life, walks of life, cultures,
deal with gun violence especially in America.
And then the increasing
numbers of gun violence specifically with certain populations, as in black trans femmes,
trans women in general. Just
how one community that I’m
apart of is constantly targeted,
that makes it a very intersectional issue. Whether its gun
violence, or fatphobia, or the
efforts of decolonization — its
a queer subject.
So California recently banned
intersex genital mutilation, the
f irst state to do so. How was
f inding out about that, and how
has the medical industrial complex effected your life?
Wow, that’s a big one. So,
with the resolution that they
had, it’s one of the biggest misconceptions: it’s not banned.
They didn’t ban the surgery.
It’s the first state to recognize
that intersex surgeries are human rights violations. It’s like
the first stepping stone to create an actual policy, like a law.
For me, specifically being
a survivor of intersex surgery,
its near and dear to my heart.
Being able to write my own
testimony, that was not only
used in the Washington Blade,
but used as testimony for why
it needs to be banned in California. It’s mind blowing to
think about how the medical
industrial complex not only
did surgery on me but does it
on babies every day, every minute around the world. It’s not
just an American issue, it’s an
issue for everyone. Everyone
can have an intersex kid, and
so what are we gonna do?
And it’s like, how much
power the medical industrial
complex has over society as a
whole, it’s insane to me. Especially in America, if you wear
a white coat you have the end
all, say all.
(These interviews are posted in
full on our website.)
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
7
Art
Oscar Abbott
artist interview by
Brittanyana Pierro
on page 13
“It runs all over the place and the colors just run with the water. It’s really hard to make corrections, so If you make mistakes you just have to roll with it.”
8
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
Art
“I first started drawing dinosaurs. When
I was like 4. I think I saw Jurassic Park or
something and it got me obsessed.”
“It’s unruly. You kind of have to work with it. It's really
chaotic and difficult to control, and so you have to kind
of like work with its chaos, instead of trying to
control it too much.”
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
9
Stuff 2 Do
FEBRUARY
STUFF 2 DO
Evergreen Alumni
Owned & Operated
Illustrated portrait. Courtesy of Danny PiG.
By Zainab Ummie Sillah
SATURDAY 2/9
CHIBI CHIBI CON
CRC, Purce Hall, & Recital Hall12 p.m. - 11p.m.
All Ages. Free!
What’s funner than a day in cosplay? Sponsored by the
Greener Anime Society (GRAS), Chibi Chibi Con is a
student-produced anime convention. Events include
a cosplay contest, lip-sync contest, an EDM & disco
dance, plus much more! Between events check out cool
costumes and great vendors.
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Capital High Scool. 4 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. All Ages.
Students $ 10; GA $15
2019 is the Year of the Pig! Join the Olympia Area Chinese Association as they ring in the lunar new year with
fun activities and delicious food. Performances by the
Chinese School!
FINISH HER! A DRAG COMPETITION
Speakeasy Bar & Bistro. 8 p.m.
18+, $
10
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
Join Episcene and friends as they lip sync for their life.
Performances by Delyla Dalyte, Autumn Rainz Hart,
Carrie Morningwood, Candace Lexia, Alpha Q Awlknight, DanaLou, Dutchess Beck, Selena Synthetic, and
hosted by Episcene. Watch as these ladies battle for the
title of Queen of Olympia!
Stuff 2 Do
HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
Happy
Black
History
Month!
WEDNESDAY 2/6 - THURSDAY 2/7
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Capitol Theatre. 4 p.m.
All Ages.
It’s Black History Month! Kick it off by viewing one of the most
talked about films of this year. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk follows Tish as she fights to prove
her fiance’s innocence, as she carries their first-born child to term.
Can the power of love bring about justice? And is there such a
thing as the Black American Dream? There are two viewings on
WED 2/6 at 7 p.m. & THURS 2/7 at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at
the box office ½ an hour before showtimes.
THURSDAY 2/7
BLACK HISTORY PRESENTS:
THE MUSIC OF J DILLA
Rhythm & Rye. 9 p.m., 21+
SATURDAY 2/23
CHILDREN’S STORYTIME:
I AM MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Barnes and Noble
1530 Black Lake Blvd SW, Olympia 11 a.m.
THURSDAY 2/21
BLACK HISTORY PRESENTS:
SOUL, FUNK & DISCO
Rhythm & Rye. 9 p.m., 21+
TUESDAY 2/26
BLACK HISTORY PRESENTS:
WOMXN’S NIGHT
Rhythm & Rye. 9 p.m., 21+
WEDNESDAY 2/27 - 2/28
WCLM, PRESENTS:
ROSA CLEMENTE, ORGANIZER,
POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
Media Island International
816 Adams St SE, Olympia. 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
11
Column & Arts
Heart made of plantlife collected in Evergreen forest. Courtesy of Evergreen archives. SHAUNA BITTLE.
A column where we ask
folks at this school an uncomfortable question
and publish the answers. We hope that sharing
those less-talked-about things here, with each
other, can be cathartic.
Be warned, some content may be triggering.
Email us potential questions!
Junior prom. My partner
didn’t eat any of the food that
I bought. She didn’t dance
with me at all. We didn’t take
any pictures. And she kept
trying to sleep with me the
entire night.
This woman who wouldn’t stop
looking at her phone. She even called
her mom while we were eating at a
Anthony, Student
restaurant. I drove all the way to
Activities secretary
Tacoma for this shit.
Jeni, Senior
Someone from my improv team.
Evergreen’s Top10
V-Day Destinations
They were SnapChatting their ex-girlfriend the whole time.
Tiger, sophomore
Someone I’d gone to high school
with. He just talked trash on all of my
friends the whole time.
Jess, sophmore
This person I
thought was on
a date with, but
then they asked
out someone
else right in
My first, quote
unquote, “date”. This
guy had just enough
quarters to buy himself
a slice of pizza and I
watched him eat it.
That was it. That was
worst
My My
worst
date
date was…
Maya, sophomore
was…
This guy who took me to the beach,
but he just wanted to go Pokémon Go
hunting.
Daisy, Freshman
Someone I met on Tinder. We
met at a restaurant off the highway
in Tacoma and then he said he’d show
me somewhere we could take photographs. I followed him around in my
car for like an hour and a half. And
when we got there, the place wasn’t
that spectacular.
Keely, Senior
Kind of an accidental date.
This guy asked me to get Thai
food and I didn’t realize it was
supposed to be a date. As we
were walking down the street
after, he kissed me. He had
never kissed anyone before and
it was really slobbery.
Going to see Eragon
with this girl I’d been dating. She tried to tell me she
just wanted to be friends,
but I was an idiot and didn’t
pick up on the signs. She
emailed me a few days later
to say we were done. Didn’t
help that the movie sucked.
Drew, Alumni
This boy I met at my work.
He took me to the waterfront and
he wanted to go skinny dipping,
then afterwards he brought up
marriage. I was too scared to have
him at my house, so I asked him
to drop me off at work
Brooklyn, freshman
Someone invited me to watch
Netflix and they asked me to have sex
three minutes into watching that Bird
Box movie. I immediately left. It was
really awkward and we haven’t talked
since.
Zoe, junior
12
Lexi, Sophmore
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
Martha, junior
The Other Hot Spots
By Brittanyana Pierro
Love can’t wait, and sometimes neither
can we. Here are few places on
campus to make your luv private in
time for Valentine’s Day.
Hypothetically, of course.
Whatever you’re up to come the
14th, the Cooper Point Journal is
not accountable for any debauchery.
• CAB Basement
The basement of the CAB has a
lot of long dark hallways and random
empty rooms. Also if you happen to
find a way into the storage closets, you
just found the perfect place for a secret
rendezvous, and like, lots of free shit.
Again, hypothetically.
Roofs
• Library Roof
The best part of going up to the roof
of the Library building is getting lost
trying to find your way there. Make
a whole day of sneaking past janitors
and admins, and reward yourself with
a colorfully backlit night.
• SEM II Roof
The roofs of SEM II are surprisingly easy to get to, and they have a
great nighttime view. Bring a couple
of chairs, maybe a blanket and a bottle
of wine (non-alcoholic, of course, Officer) — you’re ready to interrupt some
classes.
Soccer Field
A late night stroll around the field
turned into something more? The
bleachers on the far east side of the
field are the way to go. Or, if you’re
lucky, the small soccer gym will be
open.
Basements
• Library Basement
The most versatile of spots, in my
opinion. The basement can make
your Danny Phantom fantasies
come to life, and the photo studio
has some untapped video making
potential.
Forest
Get down and dirty with Daddy
Nature.
Communications Building
The Com. Building is definitely
your best bet when it comes to finding
privacy. There are a plethora of rooms
available for two-hour ‘check outs’, and
even a few dance studios if ya feeling
freaky. An anonymous student source
recommends trying out room D410.
Honorable mentions
• Single Stall Bathrooms
• Third Floor of the Library
• Any Empty Classroom
Column & Arts
Oscar Abbott
artist interview by
Brittanyana Pierro
When did you start painting?
I actually didn’t really paint until, like,
a couple years ago.
But I’ve drawn my whole life kind
of. At first, I got interested in oil painting, because you can get all sorts of rich
colors and value changes and stuff. And
then I got watercolors to travel with,
because I was going on a trip to Minnesota and wanted to bring painting stuff
because I was like, trying to learn how
to paint and you can travel with watercolors. And it was really difficult. I didn’t
like it at first, but now it’s kind of my
favorite medium.
Really? Why?
It’s unruly. And you kind of have to
work with it. It’s really chaotic and difficult to control. And so you have to
kind of like work with it’s chaos, instead
of trying to control it too much. If that
makes sense.
What appeals to that like idea, I guess, of
working with the chaos?
I guess it’s more fun. Like, if I look
at projects that I’m working on right
now (and different parts of my life), if
I’m working on something creatively, a
lot of times my work area, or whatever
I’m working on will just be really messy.
Which, I know a lot of people like that.
But I think that that’s perfect for watercolor because it just runs all over the
place. And the colors just run with the
water throughout the entire paper. And
then it’s really hard to make corrections.
So if you make mistakes, you just have to
roll with it.
When did you start drawing and what
was some of your inspiration?
I first started drawing dinosaurs when
I was like, four-ish, I’d imagine, and I
would draw like, their skeletons and stuff
inside of them. I think I saw Jurassic Park
or something, and it got me like, obsessed
with dinosaurs. And my sister was an artist. I think I [started drawing] as a way
to, like, have an activity to do with her. I
kind of was inspired by her.
What kind of artist is she?
At the time, she was really into, like,
anime and stuff. And now she actually like works drawing for, like, a manga
company, which is cool. So I mean, she
ended up working in a field that she
liked. She was drawing anime stuff for a
long, long time. Yeah.
I would kind of draw in school. I won a
competition when I was really young for
this really awful, crappy cowboy drawing
that I’m actually using in my project in
Media Works, as a joke.
What’s the project you’re doing in Media
Works?
It’s a self representation video project.
And what are you doing yours on?
Well, I’m kind of doing it on me I
guess. How I’ve learned to approach
things creatively is that it has to be fun
for me, at least in class. And so part of it is
representing like, my approach to differ-
ent aspects of film in a fun way that kind
of is meant to leave a fingerprint of like,
who I am through the process. Which is
kind of the opposite of like, how I am
with watercolors, because I feel like my
watercolors never meet my expectations.
It can be like a negative process painting
because I’m so inspired by very particular
painters. And I know all the ways that I
kind of messed up on the way to completing a picture.
And so no matter what, I can always
be like, “It’s a failure.” But I can recognize its merits to I think I’ve learned to
do that. Or else I would just stop painting all together.
What is your creative process? When
you’re starting to paint a piece, how do you
get to that point? And what do you do at
that point?
Well, it depends on where I’m at. Kind
of right now, whenever I’m approaching
the painting, I look for something to
draw from life. And I look for something
that’s kind of at my level of understanding in painting, as far as, how light is affecting the form and value patterns, and
things like that. Things that are really
good for me right now are chairs. Starting out with a simple composition, and
then thinking about how light is kind of
like turning the form. And then once I
have a full conception of what I’m trying
to do when I’m painting, then I start to
paint. That way I can just — every brushtroke can be on purpose, everything’s
there for a reason.
I enjoy really holding the bar high
for myself or at least trying to do that.
When I paint, I’m to the point where it’s,
like, not as fun as it would be. But every
painting becomesan opportunity to, learn
more about what I’m doing. I approach
it as a way to study how to paint things.
And that’s fun. For me, I think.
What does that mean to you, the idea of
being intentional?
The thing that you recognize as skill
with a certain medium is when you
know how to do what you want to
do deliberately, then in the most effective, efficient way as possible. Like
when you’re painting something, and
you think about it, how you’re going
to approach it. Thinking about what
approach you’re going to take, and
how you’re going to get certain effects visually, and planning it out like
that, before you even start painting.
I like the idea anything in your
field of vision or anything you come
across is worthy of painting. It’s worthy of being a subject, you just have
to take time to study it, or have care
enough to look at it in a certain way
and learn about it.
*Mary Kiss, JJ Hilder, and John
Singer Sargent are three of the painters
Abbott is influenced by in their work.
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
13
Letters & Opinion
RUBY THOMPSON
Dear Body Party,
My partner and I have been going steady for a
while and we’ve been getting along great. Long walks
on the dock downtown, looking at Mt. Rainier together at sunset, all that cheesy shit. Recently, they finally
popped the big question… They want to have Anal
Sex. I’m excited, I really am! I mean, so far we’ve only
done non-ass activities but I trust them enough to show
them my butthole and honestly, I think it’d be sort of
sexy! But I must confess… I’ve never done butt stuff
before! What should I expect? And more importantly,
how do I, like, not shit on my lover?
Help!,
Ready For Fifth Base
Dear Ready 4 5th,
Wowee! How romantic! Anal sex can be one
of the more vulnerable sex things you do with a
partner and it can be really special to share that experience with someone! But (haha, butt) I agree, it
can also be super stressful to do it for the first time.
There is a lot of weird, shitty misinformation floating around out there about butt stuff and sorting
through what is real and what is not can leave one
feeling a little pooped. Worry not, you’re talking to
me, the mASSter, Booty Party.
First, my biggest piece of advice is to prepare
beforehand. Make sure you’re comfortable with
anal stimulation by taking some time by yourself
to explore the great outback. Allowing yourself to do
some gentle touching and rubbing of your sweet rose
bud while you’re loving on yourself (by this, I mean
masterbating) can help you Pavlov yourself into associating your ass with, like, sex and not just pooping.
Also, if you’re going to be exploring this new
land, keep in mind that not all toys are made for
your butt. Some can even be super dangerous to
stick in there! Only toys with a flared base, meaning the base is much thicker than the actual toy
itself, should be used for butt stuff. This is because
your butt has no end. It goes on forever and ever
and things can (and frequently do) get stuck up
there. You don’t want to have to go to the ER with
a vibrator up your ass, do you? Imagine trying to
get your insurance to cover that.
Now that you’re acquainted with your hidden
hole, you might be feeling ready for some good,
old fashioned penetration. But not so fast! Aren’t
14
you and your dry ass forgetting something? Lube!
Lube is going to be your best friend when it comes
to anal sex. Unfortunately, unlike the other cool
and fun holes in your body, your booty does not
lubricate itself. Wouldn’t that be kind of hellish if it
did? Yikes. But for better or for worse, the only way
that (gender neutral) bad boy is getting slippery is
by your own accord. So why be conservative? Put a
big ol’ glob on your partner’s finger(s)/flared based
toy/penis/other and go ahead and cover your butthole with it too. There is really no such thing as too
much lube here and trust me, it’ll make things go a
whole lot more smoothly. Just a tip.
Speaking of just the tip, always remember that
you can go as slow as you want or need. Although
you may want to go straight into lustful and enlightened dagger-time now that you’re an Anal Sex
Haver (™), consider not doing that! I know, I get it.
Anal sex can feel so cool and grown up but you’re
not quite there yet, pardner! Go super slow at first,
and use shallow thrusting until you feel SUPER
comfortable with this new addition to your life.
Starting in a spooning-like position can be really
sweet and romantic, and it can really help you relax and just let things slide. Again, only once you’re
super comfy with everything should you move to
something more advanced like doggy style.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. What about
the poop? What if I poop on my partner? What if
I poop on my bed? What if I poop in class like that
one nightmare I had? Poop is this big, scary villain
of society, a weird and stinky taboo. But let me tell
you a little secret, here first: Poop isn’t a big deal.
Before I get ahead of myself, you totally will not
outright shit on your sweetie. Eating light foods the
day prior, making sure to empty your bowels before
sex, and showering will all help your lower rectum
be empty for the big moment. But I think it’s a bigger issue. If you let yourself spend the whole time
you’re having sex worrying about tiny things in life
like a little bit of doodoo, you’re never going to go
anywhere in your life. A little bit of shit never hurt
anyone (as long as you’re, like, not actively sick) and
you can’t let tiny things rule your life. Be free. Ascend. You’re an Anal Sex Haver now! Repeat after
me: It is okay if there is poop! I am lovable even if
there is poop! I am sexy even if there is poop! Say it
out loud! I poop and I am proud!
Cool :-) Anyways, good luck! Bye!
Body Party
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
by Annie
Comix & Horoscopes
RUBY THOMPSON
By MARIAH G UILFOIL-DOVE L
ARIES 3/21 - 4/19
Love is in the air, but we didn’t have to tell you that. Aries are such a dynamic sign that it’s hard for
you to stay single for long. Well, that is if you stop hibernating and actually leave your room for once.
Aries have a great time with most people so your zodiac love interest can’t be narrowed down to one.
Aries are guaranteed to have a blast with… Aquarius, Sagittarius, Leo, and Gemini.
TAURUS 4/20 - 5/20
Comic by Marcrossart and the Graphic Novel Union
Taurus’ are definitely an acquired taste. Taurus tend to be very needy in relationships so they are not
down to be with too fiery or independent signs, but if that partner can also be cool and collected like a
Virgo or a Pisces, then it will be a match made in Evergreen heaven. Signs like Virgos and Pisces will
be the perfect pairing to balance out the Taurus. This is a powerful couple.
GEMINI 5/21 - 6/20
Geminis are very compatible with Aquarius’ and right now we are smack dab in Aquarius season!
Take your crush out on their birthday and make it a night to remember! Geminis have a calming
presence about them that the Aquarius love of your life will be instantly connected with.
CANCER 6/21 - 7/22
Scorpio and Cancer know how to bring joy to one another. Like the perfect first fall of snow and school
is actually cancelled! Or the perfect cup of chamomile tea while you snuggle and read silently together
about the injustices that plague our world and plan to start a nonprofit together that will finally bring
water to the parts of the world that don’t have any. You and your Scorpio bae are certified 100% fresh.
LEO 7/23 - 8/22
Who can’t a Leo have a good time with?! That’s the real question. Leo you are the fun. You bring excitement and energy everywhere you go so why should your love life be any different. While you may have
fun with a lot of signs you’re gonna need a babe who’ll hold you down to reality and appreciate your brain
just as much as your other attributes. Virgo’s gonna be a solid win for ya. But if you like a challenge hit
up a Sagittarius because they can get bored easily and a Leo is sure to keep them on their toes.
by Kelly VIRGO 8/23 - 9/22
Leo is your fun and fiery soulmate. If you are looking to connect physically, spiritually, and emotionally
Leo is your pal. If you’re looking for an easy going time, you won’t find it in the Leo partner but you
will find someone so loyal it’ll be worth all the high maintenance moments. Leo’s and Aries are some
of the few signs that will be able to match a Virgo’s intensity. While Virgo is known to be more of a
thinker the Leo or Aries match will balance them out by being a whole lotta feelings.
LIBRA 9/23 - 10/22
Arguably the most charming of all signs, perhaps it is time to withdraw from the dating world. Taking
time to reflect and recenter is a very noble art. Sometimes it takes more strength to be alone than to
rush into a relationship. Libras thrive in a relationship built on honesty and trust, for this a Capricorn
or Aquarius will be a great match.
SCORPIO 10/23 - 11/21
Scorpio and Cancer have twin water signs that will be as soothing as a walk by a lake and as passionate
as a pounding waterfall. While Scorpio is the most likely to be single this Valentine’s Day it’s not because they’re boring or unattractive. The opposite in fact is true! Scorpios are powerfully charming and
seductive and have a hard time staying in one place with one person but when they do it’s magnetic.
SAGITTARIUS 11/22- 12/21
Sag’s are beautiful and bold and live to explore un-adventured destinations. They get bored quickly
with people and find it hard to commit to just one person. Being with an Aries or Leo will help Sagittarius live the wild and free life they crave while still connecting on a very deep level.
CAPRICORN 12/22- 1/19
The symbol of the Capricorn is the Sea Goat, the animal is always on an upward climb from the sea to
the mountain summit. Just like you, always on a noble quest. Also, did you know you were the GOAT?
So look no further Capricorn to find another Greatest Of All Time, you need another Capricorn in
your life. Pisces are also a great fit, and it is perfect timing for you (as always) because it’s about to be
Pisces birthday. Use this time to find the perfect birthday gift for the Pisces crush in your life and you
might just have found your soulmate.
AQUARIUS 1/20 - 2/18
This is your season lover! Be bold in your quest for true love. If you’re in a relationship make a grand
gesture this Valentine’s Day! You already know they like you so there’s no reason to be scared! If you’re
not yet in a relationship it might not be time for you to stand up on a table and serenade your crush
while the college’s choir and swing band play, BUT that doesn’t mean you still can’t go up to them and
strike up a conversation. Give them a Valentine’s Day card and they’ll be sure to accept your gesture.
Aquarius will vibe the most this V-Day with Gemini and Libra.
PISCES 2/19 - 3/20
by Ella
Your ability to be in long term relationships is almost unmatched. You know how to hook ‘em and
reel ‘em in. Take things up a notch in your love life though. Don’t settle for the same routine. Try
doing something that will stimulate your partner like taking an art class together or mountain biking.
Anything that will get the creative juices flowing will be a win win this Valentine’s Day. Taurus and
Capricorn are great matches for a Pisces.
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
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