Hi Slurpy community,
Guess what?! Sam (I am officially introducing him as a character, like how fashion bloggers in the 00s would smugly reference their hot and devoted photographer boyfriends) and I made a digital zine called Altered Zones and it’s available here. We came up with the idea in the now quaint early days of quarantine, when we were holed up learning TikTok dances and micro-dosing our way through the end of the world. Some of you were even baking bread (I never baked bread).
We sent out an invitation to explore altered physical and psychic states from this brave new sickly and sequestered state of being, and our community clapped back with Maine lobster roll flavored vapes, a claustrophobic quar confessional, a story about learning to really listen to the inanimate objects in your house, guided crying and falling exercises, a day at a Queensland thoroughbred auction, a use at your own risk DIY social distancing frisbee, an initiation into the capitalist death cult, and much, much more. I’m really proud of the end result and think it’s a bargain at $5 for 50+ pages of content, including writing, graphics, visuals, and even a short film. If the cost is prohibitive, email me at wordsbytara@gmail.com and I'll send you the pdf.
All proceeds will be split between the Drug Policy Alliance and Drug Policy Australia, two organizations working to dismantle the war on drugs and advocating for drug policy grounded in science, compassion, harm reduction principles and, dare I say, common sense. If you believe that addiction is a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue, or if you have been able to enjoy and experiment with drugs without fear of legal repercussions, or if you’re just curious, I definitely recommend looking into these organizations. Donations will be made in memory of Harry Hains.
While I’ve used this newsletter to plug the zine, next Slurp we will be back to regular programming and some very exciting programming at that. We will be taking a deep dive into the glamorous and chaotic world of Rose Porteous (formerly Rose Hancock), the divisive Filipino-Australian socialite who famously went from maid to billionaire when she married mining magnate Lang Hancock and then allegedly “nagged him to death”. If you are not Australian or too young to even vaguely remember this and have no idea what the fuck is going on, don’t worry, all will be revealed in due time with the aid of some incredible 60 Minutes footage. I’ve been listening to Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett’s The C-Word podcast, which examines women who society has deemed “crazy” over the years, and it prompted some investigative journalism around how Rose is doing these days.
Also, Paris Hilton’s new documentary #ThisisParis comes out next month and it honestly looks so good I’m shaking. Unfortunately she appears to be wearing an NYPD cap at one point in the trailer but I’m willing to overlook this for now and perhaps further address Paris’ views on defunding the police when I cover this important moment in cinema history in full.
Apart from that, I recently got approached to write a story about 80085 (yes BOOBS) by a cute and prominent Australian magazine that I will not name in case the editor decides to cut my piece. It reminded me of a job I had back in the day writing lifestyle content where we would be given article prompts that were basically just inanimate objects e.g. “beetroot” or “table”. Except, it turns out, I have little to say about beetroots or tables and maybe something to say about boobs? Who knows.
Until next time. Slurp slurp! Also, buy the zine or I’ll see you in hell!
Tara xoxo