So, what are we doing here, anyways?

Nothing, if it be thus immediate and equal to itself, is also conversely the same as Being is. The truth of both Being and Nothingness is therefore the “unity” of both; this unity is “Becoming”.

You may be tempted to calculate the exact coordinates that lie between Art, Gender, and Raleigh Nightlife, in an attempt to understand who is writing this blog and for whom - and whether or not its for you or worth your time. Although I cannot reveal the idenities of our various contributors, I hope that I can paint a little picture to help you make up your mind.

This blog is written by outcasts. Thrown out of our homes and heads, we walk the Raleigh streets afterdark and mingle across a variety of dimensions. Some are artists of the spoken, written, painted, sketched, or musical varieties. Some are thinkers or movers-and-shakers. Although all of us are queer, what we all actually have in common is that we don’t fit in anywhere.

We come together because we’ve found an echo of ourselves in each other. We have been trekking down Glenwood and St. Mary’s in search of the social-emotional fix that is only uttered with courage and trust. Stumbling through nightclubs and bars, we eventually moved through each others’ hearts. We’ve discussed philosophy and live music, sculpture and semiotics, the painful wounds of living in a cis-dominated society and what it means to be family. In that time we’ve infected the local scene with a bad case of our presence and exorcised our brainworms at the various minor altars that litter Raleigh (RIP the NR). Now, because we’ve met and shared weal and woe in the downtown row, we are ready to expose our thoughts and tell stories about those things we cherish most.

If you want to hear about all the little holes in the wall around Raleigh and the Triangle, with all their associated debauchery - arts, culture, and gender ramblings included - then you may find something fun or insightful. You might benefit from hearing about what kinds of scenes these places have, or what kind of characters inhabit there, or if they have cool bathrooms or not. You may even want to share your own thoughts or respond to things we publish. We welcome you to our digital reservoir and we hope you enjoy your stay. Since you’re reading this blog its safe to assume you’re part of the social ecology with which we rub elbows, maybe literally. We’d love to hear from you!

But the real target audience isn’t just anyone.

If you follow the advice that everyone tells you to follow and find that it is not enough to make you happy, then you might not be like other people. If you immerse yourself in the tidal wave of discussion groups, anarchist collectives, mutual aid cooperatives, poetry slams, wannabee revolutionaries, jam bands, or other affinity groups without much to show for it… you might be not like other people. If you deal with tough gender troubles and constant consternations and confusions - things that seem bizarre or incomprehensible to cis-society and especially perplexing to “fellow” queer folks - you might just be not like other people. If you have a persistent feeling of not fitting in no matter where you go, you might be not like other people.

If you are not like other girls (or boys, or NBs, or…) then you are the one we wrote this blog for. We hope you will find our discussion on arts, culture, and gender not just interesting but personally fruitful and fulfilling. Maybe the events we list on the calendar will pique your interest and inspire a new journey. If you have a contribution of your own then please reach out - our DMs are always open for questions, comments, or submissions. We want to hear from all the other queer Raleigh-ites who prowl after dark! Even if you choose not to participate in this blog-discussion I still have hope that someday soon by way of fate under the dark Raleigh sky, maybe on a patio outside a strange dive bar, we will finally find each other.

Regards,

trigger-sister