Case By Case, Web-Style

By Venus Zine Staff
Published: March 3rd, 2004 | 12:07pm

In the spring issue of Venus we brought you three bitchin’ readers from across the country for Case by Case. Here is our Web version of Case by Case, presenting three more ladies from the West Coast, the East Coast and in between, all with big plans for ’04.

Amanda McCarty
26 years old
Portland, Oregon

I live with my boyfriend and my two year-old daughter, the infamous (at least in her own neighborhood) Dylan McCarty-Skidmore. In addition to working at Urban Outfitters, I am very slowly working toward a BFA in painting at Portland State.

My entire life has been turned upside down in the past few years. My daughter’s father died when I was five months pregnant. While I have learned that grieving is a seemingly never-ending process, I have also discovered that the combination of my partner’s death and my daughter’s birth has changed my entire approach to life. Being a single mother is not as bad as Lifetime movies and the Moral Majority portray it. I feel as though my daughter and I are partners in crime. I have become more proactive about achieving my own goals and living a healthy, happy lifestyle. Moving to the West Coast, learning to sew, and going back to school…these are just a few of the huge actions have taken in the past two years.

My list of goals for 2004 grows with each day. I want to rehabilitate my credit. It sounds dull and adult (and it was certainly never a priority for me in the past), but I want to own a house some day. Or maybe just buy a scooter or a car. And I want to encourage all of my friends, co-workers, and neighbors to vote. Now, more than ever, the entire nation needs a change. I have never been paranoid about government conspiracies, but now I worry about the loss of Head Start, medical assistance programs, and other social services. Everyone has something to lose right now, from civil liberties to economic stability.

What else do I want to do this year? Read a bunch of Tennessee Williams’ plays. And I have lots of knitting and sewing projects lined up. I want to do some traveling this year. And visit my mom in Pennsylvania more often. Experiment with ink and silk tissue paper. Buy more hip-hop records. Learn to speak a little bit of French. And on and on…

Sarah Herrington
26 years old
New York City

I’m a writer, of poetry and fiction, a graduate of NYU who’s hoping to begin working towards my MFA in the fall. I’ve published a handful of my work and am active in the NYC poetry community, reading around the city. I also produce a grrl-zine, BrainsandBeauty, and work odd jobs to pay my NYC-rent. One of the odd jobs I’ve stumbled into is, of all things, modeling and commercial acting! I was spotted on the streets of New York and began doing work here and there, all of which surprises me since I always felt modeling was in conflict with my feminist beliefs. I’ve actually found the work I’ve done to be another form of self-expression!

Looking ahead, I want to continue writing and networking with other wordsmiths. I want to publish a book of my poetry along with fiction for children and young adults, girls in particular. I’ve also begun studying Japanese this year, and am hoping to travel there, either just for fun, to teach English, or to do some kind of modeling/acting thing (think: Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.) You can check out my website and get in touch at: www.sarahherrington.com. Inquire about my zine at the skimpy-yet-effective www.geocities.com/brainsandbeautynyc. And if you haven’t already, read The Diary of a Teenage Girl, a great “graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner; Appetites, a wonderful non-fiction book by Caroline Knapp about women and hunger; and A Series of Unfortunate Events, a super-creative children’s book series that you’ll love too by Lemony Snickett!

Why I live in New York:

its poet food,
this steady
unbroken chain
of distractions

subway-car-food-chain
with us at the bottom,
open-mouthed

catching scraps
of conversations
glances
innuendoes
that fall
like pennies
between sidewalk grates
or candy-wrappers
on dirty tracks

we are the lowly
to whom pennies
loom large and bright
like suns for our next meal
like light bulb-thoughts
hidden
between dark rails
of oncoming conversations

Elizabeth Alayne Pickens (Beth)
25 years old
Columbia, Missouri
I wo-manage the University of Missouri Women's Center by day and work part-time as a personal care attendant for a really cool lady who has phenomenal accessorizing skills. She even has a purple wheelchair. In my "spare" time, I am co-creator of a feminist clothing and accessories line called "No She Didn't.” Our clothing line is clothing made for you by feminists. We use recycled materials and we're fat-positive. Nothing has a size. You have to try the shit on, you know? Our labels say "Fuck Sizes." My co-creator, Kathie Grace, makes things that reclaim Femme and pink. My stuff is angry, like me. I'm not sure Columbia, Missouri, gets it, but we gotta try, right?

I'm applying to graduate school for next fall for counseling/psychology to be a feminist therapist. In the year 2004, I resolve to: decide to remain in Columbia, Missouri, or relocate for school to Eugene, Oregon, give my girlfriend lots of kisses and listen to her pleas that I not gossip so much, try not to adopt anymore cats, stage feminist mini-revolutions at least once a week, organize to take Mid-Missouri hellions to the April 2004 March For Choice on Washington, pick a decade in which to quit smoking, (20s are out, as are 30s), start a nasty burlesque troupe with my friends' drag king collective, try harder to bring my favorite musicians to my town, help dismantle white privilege and finish that damn koala bear latch hook project — finally!

Feminism pretty much rules my life, as does working for social justice. I love a good fight. I love Arundhati Roy, Kathleen Hanna, China, my cat "Chicken," the Aislers Set, and raising hell. I have tattoos and piercings that will prove to be cumbersome as I try to be a counselor in the next few years. I'm always on a quest for even better hair in the perfect shade of red or black. I allegedly have a bad attitude. My words du jour are eternally "feminist" and "queer."