a-camp october 2013 recamp Archives

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #4: You Look Wonderful Tonight

Once upon a time (October 9th-13th, to be specific) in a land far far atop a mountain two hours outside of sunny Los Angeles, approximately 275 queer humans gathered for four days and four nights of revelry, carnivalia, intellectual stimulation, dance parties and deep sea bonding. They called it A-Camp 4.0, and it was beautiful! This is the fourth of four fantastic recaps which serve to ease our collective separation anxiety, give you a behind-the-scenes look at how your A-Camp soysage is made, enable us to wax nostalgic over times gone by and provide prospective campers with a brilliant glimpse into the A-Camp Experience.

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A-Camp was the genesis of an idea Riese had at 3AM in July 2010: the concept was to take the spirit of the website into three glorious dimensions by renting a summer camp in the off-season and jam-packing a long weekend with panels, workshops, discussions, crafts, sports, entertainment, parties and so much more! We gave the idea a spin with an abbreviated, smaller edition of A-Camp in April 2012, followed by full-size full-length camps in September 2012 and May 2013, all hosted by everybody’s favorite dynamic duo, Julie Goldman and Brandy Howard. Which brings us to October 2013, the Little Camp That Could!

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This fall’s camp was unforgettable and fucking awesome. Our amazing team was complemented by talented Special Guests including comedienne DeAnne Smith, new media superstar Hannah Hart, Me & My Bois collaborators Lex Kennedy and Emotions the P.O.E.T., rock star Somer Bingham and songstress and actress Haviland Stillwell. Our camp staff included Autostraddle.com team members, A-Camp Tumblr Inventress Emily Gigler and Autostraddle Calendar Girls Miss October 2014 Kai, Miss February 2014 Chloe and Miss June 2013 Dani.

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Lez do this thing.

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #4: Day Four

all photography by robin roemer unless otherwise indicated

Saturday, October 12th: Day Four of A-Camp

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Robin, A-Camp Co-Director & Photographer: Obviously the PJ Breakfast is my favorite breakfast. I was always that girl in college in my pjs at breakfast, and sometimes dinner too. Carly and I brought our onesies which feel like wearing a huge fleece blanket. Nothing is better than putting on a fleece onesie with a hood on a chilly morning. For those of you who asked, you can buy them here, or if you happen to live in NY, check out the Bryant Park holiday market where we scored these bad boys for about $30 less than the listed prices.

Sophia, Holograms Counselor: Saturday I got a cold. Like, Friday I knew it was there, saying to me in my head that I needed sleep and hot things to drink, but Saturday it was starting to kick me in the throat with all the tenderness of a young calf. I don’t remember what I did at all during the day.

Saturday Morning Activities

Yoga (Dani O) // CAMP Talks (Carly, Grace, Hannah, Lex, Megan & Campers!) // Out in the Cuntry (Bren, Kaylah & Mey) // Vanessa’s S’Mores & Straddlers (Vanessa) // Ask a Therapist (Donna & Sarah Evan) // Tinderhearts (Marni)

New Media & The Future of Entertainment: Q& A With Hannah Hart (Hannah Hart) // UCB: Upright Campers Brigade (Brittani & Lane) // Well That’s F*cking Pretty: Mooncatchers! (Laneia) // Lez Talk About Sex(ual Health) (Lizz) // Words With Friends: Limerick/Wordplay Workshop (Carolyn & Cara)

Carly, Special Programming Director & Contributor: The idea for CAMP Talks (CAMP doesn’t officially stand for anything, I just like making it all caps) sort of happened simultaneously in several different people’s brains and then it all came together. Specifically: Grace, Cee, Meredydd, Alex and me. I think we all felt like there were so many cool, talented people with interesting jobs or hobbies or passions and we wanted to know more. So we put our heads together and came up with CAMP Talks (but probably it would stand for Creating Awesome and Meaningful Presentations). Campers got to submit ideas ahead of time and then we chose our favorite proposals to come and present.

Robin: Camp Talks was such a great idea!!! It was so great seeing all the random and interesting things our campers had to share. What a bunch of cool geniuses.

(photo by robin)

Stef, The Gossip Counselor & Music Editor: Camp Talks were brilliant! My little Gossip baby Anna got up and taught everyone how to make terrariums, Monique from the Blackhearts explained renegade US history (painting sex workers from the Wild West as early feminist icons), and Hannah Hart gave a really great talk about the five languages of love. I’m terrified of public speaking, personally, so I applaud everybody who got up there and shared their wisdom; I hope we do a lot more camp talks in the future.

Crystal, Hearthrobs Counselor & HR Director/Writer: Camp Talks was a real highlight. All the campers who spoke were so articulate and informed and interesting, I could have sat there listening to them for the rest of the day.

Laneia, Runaways Counselor & Executive Editor: Hey, ask me what I really wish I hadn’t missed. FCKING CAMP TALKS. I don’t even remember what I was doing during this — probably processing my feelings about glass beads or something? Can’t believe I let myself miss Camp Talks.

Carly: I have to say, it was awesome. The only complaint I had was that it should take up two blocks, not one.

(photo by robin roemer)

Vanessa, Blackhearts Counselor & Community Editor: Okay, the Powers That Be let me host an activity that was literally centered around eating s’mores and hanging out, called S’Mores and Straddlers. Do I have the best life or do I have the best life?! Last camp I set aside a few blocks where I just hung out outside Wolf Lodge and encouraged campers to stop by and fill out applications to appear in my Straddler On The Street column, but I ended up having a lot of downtime and then some made rushes of people, and some campers forgot about it and some people said they’d stop by but then never did. It was okay, and I did get a lot of submissions, but I was convinced there was a better way. I feel confident in saying I Have Found The Better Way. This time around, Adam built me a fire right after breakfast on Saturday morning, Stef dropped off her vegan s’more materials, Megan brought me the regular s’more materials, and I set out a pile of Straddler Submission Forms on a picnic table.

(photo by robin)

Vanessa: Then I waited and hoped a few people would show up. WELL GUESS WHAT, SO MANY MORE THAN A FEW PEOPLE SHOWED UP! About 40 campers came by to hang out, fill out my submission forms, meet new friends, and eat s’mores. It was amazing. I got to speak with so many campers I’d never met before, which is truly always my favorite part of camp, and I think everyone had a really lovely time. I got 40 new submission forms, which means when I combine those with the submissions I got at last camp I owe about 100 of you emails so we can set up a time to do an interview and get your face onto Autostraddle dot com. The only thing I’d do differently next camp is request even more s’more supplies, because we eventually ran out because so many people showed up. I wasn’t even mad that I smelled like fire at the end.

Marni, A-Camp Co-Director & Contributor: The Tinderhearts workshop had been postponed because of the snowfall, so I was super excited when people still turned up for it on the last morning even though there were other things scheduled. We learned how to make firestarters, talked about the different elements of a fire and different approaches to firebuilding, and even talked about starting fires in the rain. I think I’m going to keep doing it at future camps and expand it into a whole “A-Camp Survival Skills” series.

Carly: Hannah Hart & Sarah Weichel talking about New Media was awesome and fun and informative.

(photo by taylor)

Lizz, Flashdance Counselor & Fashion Editor: My Safer-Sex Talk is always one of my favorite parts of A-Camp. It’s such a great combination of education and fun.

Stef: I showed up late for Lizz’s sexual health talk and it seemed really informative, but everybody was already participating in an activity so instead I went outside and started writing weird notes for all my campers – i.e., “Hey girl, I’m watching you learn about dildo blowjobs right now.”

Lizz: This time I had a really big showing! You guys all really wanted to talk about safe sex! We talked about the stigma around STIs, talked about the mechanism of infection transmission and went over practical (and sexy) ways to have safer sex! We also went though a big pile of sex toys and talk about which are safe and which are not. That big pile of sex toys is always a hit.

Laneia: Ok so, a couple of months prior to camp, we’re asked to submit workshop/activity/panel ideas. I really like to have a passion project — last camp it was Period Panel aka Bloody Hell, and this time it was Well That’s F*cking Pretty: Moon Catchers. This craft meant a lot to me because it was born 10 years ago when I was coping with my grandmother’s death, which I know is a total downer for this post so I’m just gonna say that having a lodge full of these fascinating, beautiful queers doing this craft that was actually the closest thing to sitting inside my ribcage as a person could get, craft-wise, was so much. And I didn’t tell them then but I’m telling them now: I can remember the first time I made these things — alone and crying and scared and pissed off and nothing good — and now I can sorta feel you there with me? And shit is f*cking pretty y’all. It’s real pretty. Thank you.

mooncatcher making (photo by bree)

Bren, Bangles Counselor & Editorial Assistant: I walked into Falcon Lodge randomly and Carolyn asked me if I was there for The Limerick Workshop. I wasn’t, but hey, everyone loves a good limerick.

Carolyn, Amazons Counselor & NSFW Editor: In the Dirty Limerick Writing Workshop, Cara and I aimed to subvert gross dirty poetry written by straight dudes by writing awesome dirty poetry written by queers, and we absolutely succeeded.

Bren: I think Vanessa got roped in to leading the workshop as well because Cara. One camper was there and I made five. Five intrepid limerick writers. Five intrepid DIRTY limerick writers, because Carolyn does have to put her personal brand on all the things. And this may seem like a small group but it was perfect. PERFECT! Because there are 5 lines in a limerick and we could be sillier and less self-conscious than we might otherwise be in a larger group (or at least that’s how I felt). We did kind of a round robin thing where we each pulled suggestive words out of a very dapper top hat, wrote the first line of a limerick and passed it clockwise to the next person, who wrote the next line, etc. By the time we each had a turn…viola…completed limericks. And they were super funny too! They didn’t ALL turn out dirty mostly because I didn’t know “gorilla in a washing machine” was a euphemism for oral sex. I thought it was a reference to just, ya know, a gorilla in a washing machine.

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Cara, Nighthawks Counselor & Contributing Editor: Dani RDS and I kind of threw the Genderqueer Lunch together on the fly, but I was really psyched to hang out outside, eat animal crackers, and discuss genderqueer/genderfluid/alternative-gender identity and representation with a bunch of cool new friends. Oh, this is a good time to say — if you were at the meetup and wanted to talk more about anything, hit me up at cara [at] autostraddle.com. We didn’t have much time and I want to hear more from you!

Carly: I love getting to have One-on-One-Mentoring Sessions. I don’t know if anything I say is at all useful or insightful but hopefully the campers are getting as much out of this as I am!

Robin: One-on-one mentoring is always one of my favorite parts of A-Camp. The time I get to sit down and connect with just one new person makes me feel the most fulfilled. I love being able to share my knowledge of photography and talk about working as a photographer! It not only allows me to possibly help someone else, but I feel newly inspired by the experience.

(photo by evan)

Riese, Runaways Counselor & Editor-in-Chief/CEO: After lunch we took the whole camp photo, which I really enjoy because I like sitting in dirt and getting rocks up my butt. Just kidding. Usually it’s a full-circle moment: remembering when we were at the fire pit on the first night, and now here we are together again, except this time we’re not strangers, we’re in love. But even though we couldn’t do an opening campfire this time, it was amazing and so special to witness representatives from three generations of Runaways taking family photos after the group shot.

Robin: If you want to purchase a print of the group photo, you can do so here!

(photo by bree)

Liz C., Firestarters Counselor & Contributor: Walking back from the all-camp photo, I was talking with someone who had gone to my DIYke hardware jewelry workshop earlier in the week. She had made a particularly gorgeous hex-nut bracelet and was telling me about her plans to propose to her girlfriend. LIKE REALLY SOON GUYS!! AND GUESS WHAT?! Since her girlfriend isn’t super into rings, she thought she would give her this bracelet instead. I died. No really, I’m a sucker for adorable couples, and DIY creativity so this was really too much for my little brain to handle. So happy for them!!

(via Liz C)

Kaylah, Rockford Peaches Counselor & Modtern: On the last day of camp I mastered the art of pigeonholing. It’s not what you write, it’s how inappropriately you write it. Well, that and being able to pull off the doe eyed look when you come clean and/or get busted. Works with camp crushes! 100% success rate!

Next: Saturday afternoon, what a lovely afternoon!

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #3: If You Wanna Be My Lover, You Gotta Get With My Carnival

Once upon a time (October 9th-13th, to be specific) in a land far far atop a mountain two hours outside of sunny Los Angeles, approximately 275 queer humans gathered for four days and four nights of revelry, carnivalia, intellectual stimulation, dance parties and deep sea bonding. They called it A-Camp 4.0, and it was beautiful! This is the third of four fantastic recaps which serve to ease our collective separation anxiety, give you a behind-the-scenes look at how your A-Camp soysage is made, enable us to wax nostalgic over times gone by and provide prospective campers with a brilliant glimpse into the A-Camp Experience.

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A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #3: Day Three

Friday, October 11th: Day Three of A-Camp

(photo by evan)

Haviland, The Talent: I arrived Friday morning, and was surprised at how mellow and quiet it was…until I realized there was a good bit of recovering happening from the night before! I went into breakfast, and received a standing ovation from a few of the staff members. And then Riese and I hugged it out, in our usual “I love you so much I’ve missed you so much omg” way.

Riese, Runaways Counselor and Editor-in-Chief/CEO: Friday morning brought sunshine and also new humans! YouTube superstar Hannah Hart and her manager Sarah, media-makers Lex Kennedy and Megan Benton of Me & My Bois, Actress/singer Haviland Stillwell, Autostraddle Design Director Alex Vega and Animal Trainer to the Stars Mary Tully all joined us in time for Friday’s carnival. Also even though she wasn’t on staff, one of my favorite humans in the lesbian universe, Kathy Wolfe (founder of Wolfe Video) and her wife Barbara also came on Friday. This added to the already high-level excitement already simmering in our hearts.

(photo by robin roemer)

Friday Morning Activities

Both Sides Now: A Non-Monosexuality Panel (Dani RDS, Stef & Rachel) // How To Be Alone (Grace & Vanessa) // Basic Bitches Ballet (Chloe) // Blog Anything/Read Something (Laneia, Carolyn & Riese) // Body Positivity and Self-Care (Dani, Kaylah, Mey & Kai) // Encaustic Painting (Bren)

Hoop Dreams (Brittani) // Tardy For The Party: Coming Out Later In Life (Dani, Laneia, Sarah Evan & Donna) // Writing Dirty (Ali & Riese) // Queering Academia (Rachel & Alice) // Custom Personalized Glassware (Liz C) // Slam Poetry (Emotions the P.O.E.T)

Stef, The Gossip Counselor & Music Editor: The Bisexuality/Non-Monosexuality/Sexual Fluidity Panel is a strange beast, and I can’t say enough how glad I am that it’s something we’ve started doing at every camp. Daniela, Rachel and I were all coming at this panel from different places in our lives and relationships, and this discussion focused mostly on how to queer heterosexual relationships or our identities in straight spaces.

Rachel, Girltrash! Counselor & Senior Editor: The last time we ran a panel about sexual fluidity, we got a sense of what conversations about sexual fluidity and bisexuality might be useful to have, and so it was exciting to get to see that happen with campers. We talked about some really useful stuff like how we define sexual orientation, the challenges facing the bisexual community, and how bisexuality impacts our relationships. A lot of people had really interesting and articulate things to say about identity, relationships, and resources, and I feel like I learned a lot!

Stef: Everybody brought up a lot of really wonderful points, but the best part was knowing that everyone in the room could look around at all the other attendees and know that there are lots of us bouncing around the Kinsey scale, and that they weren’t alone – at camp or otherwise.

Dani RDS, Stormtroopers Counselor & Contributing Editor: Have you been to any A-Camp panels? Then you know what it feels to realize you just surrounded yourself with about a hundred of the most thoughtful, open-minded English-speaking queers on earth. I walked out of every panel amazed at the stories both panel and audience members were willing to share, stories that sometimes challenge me and my experiences, but never cease to affirm my love for A-Camp. Where else can we have this kind of town meetings?

Hoop Dreams (photo by evan)

Chloe, Blue Crush Counselor & Calendar Girl: I was so nervous that nobody would attend my Basic Bitches Ballet class, but I had nine lovely humans prove me wrong. Ballet can be hard and intimidating, but they were all such good sports and tried everything I threw at them. It was so refreshing to teach what I love to do to a room full of wonderful queer women compared to the equally wonderful but much crazier group of 4-9 year olds I teach on a weekly basis back home. Dancing with all of you and seeing the smiles on your faces was such an amazing experience, thank you so much to all of you that came to class!

emily & kai doing carnival prep (photo by evan)

Riese: When I was putting together cabins for camp, I noticed that we had a lot of women over 28 who’d just come out, or who had just gotten divorced and come out, and most of them also mentioned feeling like they were the only ones in this situation, which was obviously not true! So I asked Laneia, Dani and Donna if they’d be interested in leading a discussion about Coming Out Later in Life, which Robin entitled “Tardy for the Party.”

Donna, The Gossip Counselor: The Tardy to the Party Panel was maybe, probably, one of the greatest moments I ever had, ever. It was definitely one of the most moving.

Laneia, Runaways Counselor & Executive Editor: I was super nervous about Tardy to the Party! I always worry that conversations geared toward older / “unconventional” (whatever that means) queers won’t be well-received or interesting, which is a dumb thing to think, I know. I was afraid we wouldn’t have anything to really talk about, but that ended up being the exact opposite of how things went down.

Donna: The amount of raw emotions and honesty in that room was crushingly beautiful. The other panelists and I shared our stories about coming out later in life, and there was, at first, a kind of stillness in the room. I think that was from everyone relating what they heard to their own experiences. Then there was just an outpouring of tears, feelings, experiences, concerns, hopes, fears, joys, and camaraderie.

Laneia: When the audience started talking, it was everything. One camper shared a story about the time they realized they could be their authentic selves and still have a family, because they’d finally found people in similar situations who’d also had kids, and I swear it was all I could do not to fly out of my seat and hug them and cry until my eyes were bleeding.

Donna: There was total acceptance and understanding in that room. People who often felt alone felt connected at that instant, and I was so happy to be a part of that moment.

Laneia: I know we talk about it to the point of ubiquity, but this panel solidified for me the importance of community, and the importance of having a space to just raise your hand and say everything you couldn’t say before and know that you’re safe, that those people will take care of your words and keep them — because they needed to hear them as much as you needed to say them. Ugh I just loved everyone in that room so much y’all.

writing at blog anything (photo by stephanie)

Rachel: Alice and I had never done a panel about academia before, and especially given as we were planning it in the midst of our own classes and grading, we weren’t sure how Queering Academia would go. (I’m actually still working on the grading I was supposed to get done at camp. SORRY, KIDS.) It turned out that we got to meet and talk with a bunch of other really cool people with a variety of angles on teaching and learning, from other grad students, people who work with small children, dance instructors, and more. It’s really nice to know that I’m not the only one out there! I feel like our workshop helped facilitate the later meetup of grad students at lunch one day — I had to miss it this time, but I’ll be there next time!

Lizz, Flashdance Counselor & Style Editor: I’m not usually able to get to a lot of other people’s activities, but I snuck into Encaustic Painting with Bren. It was so cool! You can paint with a blow torch and wax! For real!

three runaway sailors (photo by bree)

Next: Lots of fun at the carnival, so much fun at the carnival!

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #2: How Do You Spell “Regalement”?

Once upon a time (October 9th-13th, to be specific) in a land far far atop a mountain two hours outside of sunny Los Angeles, approximately 275 queer humans gathered for four days and four nights of revelry, carnivalia, intellectual stimulation, dance parties and deep sea bonding. They called it A-Camp 4.0, and it was beautiful! This is the second of four fantastic recaps which serve to ease our collective separation anxiety, give you a behind-the-scenes look at how your A-Camp soysage is made, enable us to wax nostalgic over times gone by and provide prospective campers with a brilliant glimpse into the A-Camp Experience.

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This fall’s camp was unforgettable and fucking awesome. Our amazing team was complemented by talented Special Guests including comedienne DeAnne Smith, new media superstar Hannah Hart, Me & My Bois collaborators Lex Kennedy and Emotions the P.O.E.T., rock star Somer Bingham and songstress and actress Haviland Stillwell. Our camp staff included Autostraddle.com team members, A-Camp Tumblr Inventress Emily Gigler and Autostraddle Calendar Girls Miss October 2014 Kai, Miss February 2014 Chloe and Miss June 2013 Dani.

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WELCOME TO DAY TWO OF OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER!

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #2: Day Two

Thursday, October 10th: Day Two of A-Camp

Robin, A-Camp Co-Director & Photographer: The morning was so incredibly beautiful. The sun beat down on tree branches weighed down by heaps of wet snow dripping steadily to the ground. By afternoon, camp was almost dry! It felt like a magical and cozy winter wonderland!

Megan, Program Support Coordinator: The first breakfast with campers is my favorite. There’s an energy and anticipation, and everyone is so excited for what’s about to happen, even if they don’t really know to expect.

(photo by robin)

Thursday Morning

Activities: Party of Ones: Introvert Feelings Atrium (Riese & Crystal) // Make a Thing: Merit Badges (Hansen) // Pure Poetry Challenge (Carmen & Kai) // Rage Against the Machine (Taylor, Bren & Cee)

But I’m a Cheerleader for Real (Kai) // Crazy/Beautiful Panel & Discussion (Riese, Taylor, Dani & Donna) // First Person Feelings: A Writing Workshop (Rachel) // Nailed It!: DIY Nail Polish & Makeup (Hansen, Mey & Kaylah) // Music Trivia (Stef, Crystal, Cara & Lane)

Crystal, Heartthrobs Counselor & HR Director/Writer: Being introverted at A-Camp is sorta my thing, so I was really excited about Party of One: Introvert Feelings Atrium.

Riese, Runaways Counselor & Editor-in-Chief/CEO: We’ve done introvert meet-ups before, but I felt like we needed to shake it up this time with an activity that talked about something I have in common with seriously like 50% of the campers – BEING A WEIRDO INTROVERT.

Crystal: So many campers showed up! More than we had anticipated. We played a game based on what kind of introverts we are, which involved stepping back and forward to indicate the accuracy of statements such as “I keep my cell on silent because the noise sends me into a hot panic.” Riese and I (mostly Riese) dealt out some advice about fears and so did a lot of new and returning campers, I learned a lot.

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Hansen, Hearthrobs Counselor & DIY/Food Editor: I am always really humbled by the incredible things campers make at camp and Make A Thing: Merit Badges was no different. People are so creative! Lanie made me a Snow Camp badge that I wore the whole camp with pride. There were so many people making badges that we ran out of supplies and everyone pitched in (Anna even went and grabbed her own sewing needles for us!) and it was just delightful.

(via Hansen)

Carmen, Holograms Counselor & Contributing Editor: My Pure Poetry Challenge introduced me to an entirely new poetry crew, but the ending was just the same: sex, sex, sex, bears.

Emily, Rockford Peaches Counselor: I stopped by Kai’s Cheerleading Workshop because Kai’s so much fun and I dig KPop and I told her I’d swing by. If there was a superlative for least likely to be a cheerleader I’d be it. But then before I knew it my head was up in the rafters while I white-knuckled some pompoms and trusted the shit out of the campers holding me up. It was awesome. Kai’s an amazing coach, and when she tells you to put your ass up, you do it.

Emily reaches for the stars (photo by Robin)

Robin: I don’t get to attend many activities at camp, but I was able to catch part of Kai’s workshop and was amazed at what these campers learned how to do! I took photos and video of their performance! I was so impressed by our new staff member Kai who taught these campers lifts and an A-Camp themed cheer!

Yvonne, Stormtroopers Counselor & Associate Editor: The greatest moment at A-Camp for me was definitely that workshop. Kai, Autostraddle’s October calendar girl, told me that I should come to her workshop. I’ve never had a dance or cheer lesson in my life, not even as a kid, and I’m not a peppy person so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. But I decided to go try something different. I do not regret going because it was so much fun! We learned a cheer routine, some stunting and the official A-Camp cheer. Kai was a great teacher and her pep was definitely contagious. By the end of it I was cheering and moving those pompoms so hard!

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DeAnne Smith, A-Camp Talent & Writer: The Crazy/Beautiful Panel was Crazy Beautiful. It was really wonderful to hear everyone talking about their experiences, and how they’ve learned to cope with their beautifully complicated minds and body chemistries.

Riese: We’ve had lots of requests to do mental health related stuff at camp, but it’s a tall order because it’s so easy to fuck up. Taylor and I talk about mental health stuff a lot because we’re both crazy, and she had a proposal for a panel/discussion this time that sounded do-able. We recruited fellow crazies Dani RDS, Somer and Donna — it was extra-awesome to have Donna there because she has a master’s degree in therapeutic interventions. A-Camp’s Director of Feelings Sarah Evan was still on the road when we got started, but she popped in at the end!

Donna, The Gossip Counselor: Meeting Sarah Evan was a total delight. Something about her made me want to spill all my darkest secrets immediately. She rolled up to camp and jumped right in the Crazy/Beautiful panel. As soon as she opened her mouth she spewed therapeutic gems, and I thought, “I have to hang out with this human. “

DeAnne Smith, The Talent:In lesser hands, this type of panel could have gone sobbingly, uncomfortably, horribly awry, but this panel was a perfect balance of vulnerability, education, practical advice, de-stigmatization (is that a word?) and humor.

Riese: Although it wasn’t our intent, I think having Crazy/Beautiful on the first day set a tone of like, “FYI, you are totally not alone, you are amongst friends who get you, you can trust us, so take a deep breath and HAVE SOME KICKASS FUN!” Personally I feel like the sense of outsiderness I felt being crazy in a sane world overshadowed any possibility of discovering my queerness until I was fully medicated and therapized at the age of 23. So I think it’s a really important and unique discussion to have with a group of assorted crazy-ass homos.

(photo by Robin Roemer)

Rachel, Girltrash! Counselor & Senior Editor: My first workshop of camp was the Mini Writing Workshop on Personal Writing that I’ve done every camp. Traditionally, this workshop has been attended by 5-8 people; this time, it was attended by TWENTY-THREE, which was insane and made me nervous that people had only attended because they thought it was something else, possibly a workshop wherein we would learn how to spin texts from our exes into gold, and that I would inevitably disappoint them.

Laneia, Runaways Counselor & Executive Editor: I was working on my piece for that night’s Staff Reading on the other side of Eagle Annex, where Rachel was holding her writing workshop. I overheard a couple of the exercises and prompts and it made me want Rachel to be my personal writing workshop teacher. It was so good and perfect.

Rachel: I think it seemed generally well received, however, and I am super grateful to everyone who attended! Thanks for restoring my faith that sometimes people might be interested in talking with me about writing even when they aren’t required to by a university.

Stef, The Gossip Counselor & Music Editor: This Music Trivia was a little different – we swapped out Somer for Cara, and had the additional help of Lane and Sophia. Crystal acted as the scorekeeper, and I took over tossing candy out to teams who got the answers right.

Crystal: Everyone answered questions about Riot Grrrl and Hip-Hop and Former Disney Child Stars.

probably correct answer

Stef: Crystal never told me, but candy-tossing turns out to be the worst job in all of music trivia, mainly because of guilt. I beamed several members of the purple and orange teams in the head with Tim Tams multiple times, and felt terrible every time. Near the end, I was just walking over to each team and solemnly handing them Toblerones.

Crystal: I didn’t tell her that it was the worst because I didn’t want to do it myself. Sorry Stef.

Stef: Despite my poor aim, the competition was pretty heated, and in the end the Orange team won – and their MVP received a pack of feminist musician playing cards, our first ever actual prize.

Feminist Playing Cards (via Robin Roemer)

Sophia, Holograms Counselor: I felt a bit aimless in the morning but I knew there would be candy at Music Trivia and although Cara, Lane, Crystal and Stef seemed like they had it down I thought perhaps my help was needed and perhaps I might be rewarded for being so generous with my time.

(photo by robin)

Next: Thursday Afternoon brings love and light into our lives!

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #1: Let It Snow!

Once upon a time (October 9th-13th, to be specific) in a land far far atop a mountain two hours outside of sunny Los Angeles, approximately 275 queer humans gathered for four days and four nights of revelry, carnivalia, intellectual stimulation, dance parties and deep sea bonding. They called it A-Camp 4.0, and it was beautiful! This is the first of four fantastic recaps which serve to ease our collective separation anxiety, give you a behind-the-scenes look at how your A-Camp soysage is made, enable us to wax nostalgic over times gone by and provide prospective campers with a brilliant glimpse into the A-Camp Experience.

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This fall’s camp was unforgettable and fucking awesome. Our amazing team was complemented by talented Special Guests including comedienne DeAnne Smith, new media superstar Hannah Hart, Me & My Bois collaborators Lex Kennedy and Emotions the P.O.E.T., rock star Somer Bingham and songstress and actress Haviland Stillwell. Our camp staff included Autostraddle.com team members, A-Camp Tumblr Inventress Emily Gigler and Autostraddle Calendar Girls Miss October 2014 Kai, Miss February 2014 Chloe and Miss June 2013 Dani.

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ARE YOU READY FOR SOME RECAMPPPP???

A-Camp October 2013 Recamp #1: Pre-Camp & Day One

Every year, camp starts a day early for the A-Camp team, as we muggle our way up the mountain two nights early to get prepared for your shiny faces.

Sunday, October 6th: Pre-Pre-Pre Camp

Riese, Runaways Counselor & CEO/Editor-in-Chief: Marni and I spent the whole drive down to camp on Sunday writing the first night song to the tune of Be Our Guest. You guys, it was so hard! Seriously, Part of Your Camp (our opening number for A-Camp 3.0) took me twenty minutes by myself followed by an hour of team song-building at pre-camp. Marni and I usually feel like a pretty fucking funny pair of people (although we are usually alone so there’s really nobody to confirm this, we could be lying, potentially we spend all our time together crying (impossible: Marni only cries out of one eye), but seriously this song wasn’t happening for us. Here’s probably the best part of the unpublished, unperformed, unfinished Be Our Camp:

You’re far from home
and you’re scared
but Carly’s come prepared
no one’s emo or complaining
when the puppet’s entertaining
Cut your hair! Watch for bears!
if they eat you, be aware
that you’ll miss the greatest carnival of all!
Come on and make a pass
Learn how to flog an ass
if you’re bent, give consent
Ali’s in her element
Be our camp! Be our camp! Be our camp!

By nightfall, we’d decided the problem was that we’d picked an already-comic song, thus meaning it lacked the earnest song/preposterous lyrics of Part of Your Camp, and decided to go with A Whole New World instead. Then there was a giant cockroach on the wall above Rachel’s bed and shit got real for a minute.

Monday, October 7th: Pre-Pre-Camp

Got my bag searched in Boston Logan Airport on my way to @A_Camp2013. I think the guy learned a lot about sexual health.

— Lizz (@OhHeyItsLizz) October 7, 2013

Actual question I got at U.S. customs when explaining @A_Camp2013: “And do you see yourself as a lesbian feminist?”

— Carolyn Yates (@c_yates) October 7, 2013

I’m on my way to a mountain in California to convene with hundreds of lesbians. This is my real life. I’ll keep you updated. #ACamp

— DEA(nne smi)TH (@DeAnne_Smith) October 7, 2013

Riese: The next morning we had to leave Rachel to shuttle with her feline friends because the monster truck we rented (they were out of full-size cars, what’s a girl to do) was jam-packed with camp supplies, including a puppet theater Marni had spent two weeks building. Plus we still had to stop at Alex’s to jam-pack it with bottles of JOIA ALL-NATURAL SODAS, THE BEST SODAS IN THE WORLD!

THE BEST

Riese: By the time we reached the top of the mountain on Monday afternoon, we were in a total rut with that A Whole New World, too! Still I was furiously re-writing lyrics while we unloaded the van upon arrival. I was really excited about wearing a hoodie. Here’s a sample of the unpublished, unperformed, unfinished A Whole New Camp:

We can show you the world
stumbling, shivering, splendid,
tell me campers, now when did you last let your heart decide?
Dani got you a ride
sent you shuttle by shuttle
over, sideways and under
on a hellish mountain ride!
A whole new camp!
A new craft Hansen’s made for you
no one to tell us no, or no homo
or “that’s too many feelings!”

Hansen, Heartthrobs Counselor and DIY/Food Editor: I was one of the first staff members to arrive and I met Grace, Lizz and Stef in Terminal 6. We had about five hours to kill until our last staff member showed up, so I stole Stef’s captain’s hat and we all sat around while Lizz talked about how amazing her girlfriend Chrissy is (she lived up to the hype, for the record).

Ali, Wildcats Counselor and Geekery Editor: I speak to the Autostraddle staff more than I speak to most members of my family. Seriously. I get upwards of 100 emails from these weirdos per day. And that’s not counting the times I text them to ask them questions, or the weekly Skype meeting between the content editors. I LOVE these humans with my entire heart, soul, body and being. When I see their faces in person, it is everything I can do not to melt into a puddle of feelings. Walking into Terminal 6 at LAX and seeing all these familiar alternative lifestyle hair cuts that have morphed and changed since the last time (and we’ve been kept abreast by the Tumblr http://straddlecuts.tumblr.com/ but it’s not the same). AND! I finally got to meet Kai, my co-counselor and Ms. October. She’s a wonderful, wonderful person with SO MANY TALENTS.

Ali always looks fly when she flies (photo by stef)

Carolyn, Amazons Counselor and NSFW Editor: Going up the mountain always feels really surreal, even without the gorgeous landscape and stomach-churning hairpin turns — but even getting off the airplane and getting to see other staff in real life for the first time in months (or for the first time ever) feels surreal. There’s always a moment of, “All these people exist in real life?!” which is maybe weird but also a result of talking to people on the Internet all day every day. Seeing Stef in her captain’s hat in the airport feels more like being home than being in my actual home does, and that’s only the beginning.

Stef, The Gossip Counselor and Music Editor: Because I am a neurotic weirdo control freak, I really enjoy gathering and rallying the staff at the airport. I kept a detailed account of everyone’s arrival times and delays, and did headcounts constantly like a nervous kindergarten teacher chaperoning a field trip. When everyone had been assembled, I called the shuttle and we took off on our epic adventure, managing to only accidentally leave one staffer stranded at the airport (I love you Sophia)!

Meticulously planned (via Stef)

Hansen: We stopped at Trader Joe’s and I bought ALL the beer while wearing nautical stripes and a captain’s hat and I’ve never felt more validated in my life’s decisions.

All the beer! (via Hansen)

all the whiskey and meat!

Stef: The bus had a raised seating area for passengers, so we couldn’t see out the front window or readily observe where the driver was going. It wasn’t until we had already overshot Angelus Oaks by a wide margin that Cee and I noticed that we had gone the wrong way and were nowhere near Alpine Meadows. The driver told us the bus couldn’t make it up the mountain via the normal route, which we absolutely knew to be false, but at that point we were so far out that we had no choice but to take a scenic tour of Big Bear and its surrounding fauna. We’d all been traveling for a full day by this point, and we were a bit out of it.

Ali: I always sit in the back because I have panic attacks going up and down the mountain (and I don’t ever get panic attacks ever), but Hansen and Crystal gave me a mantra to repeat this time: “Everything is lovely and fine.” And I didn’t have a panic attack this time! Instead, Lizz and I discovered that we had made *ahem* very similar choices for the staff reading and began to plan any/all jokes we could make therein. Even though our bus got lost for an hour, I didn’t care because I was talking with my Autostraddle staff family.

Rachel, Girltrash Counselor and Senior Editor: I had never gotten to take a shuttle up the mountain with a large group of other people before — due to a variety of circumstances, I’ve ended up in cars, going up in the dead of night, driving a shuttle myself; really, everything but a sled pulled by dogs. It was so good to get to see everyone, and to get a head start on getting all of my feelings out. It made me feel like I had a leg up on the mountain and its witchy effect on my emotions. I’VE ALREADY STARTED PROCESSING, MOUNTAIN. WAY AHEAD OF YOU.

(via Stef)

Crystal, Heartthrobs Counselor and Human Resources Director & Writer: Hansen and I sat in the back of the shuttle and used flashcards to quiz each other ‘Who Am I?’ Jeopardy-style on the campers in our cabin. We fell asleep, and I woke up super confused as to how we’d been on the road for so long and still so far away from camp.

Sophia, Holograms Counselor: Monday I managed the beautiful task of arriving at LAX perfectly on time to miss the shuttle up to Alpine Oaks for the second camp in a row. If Brittani and Liz hadn’t been driving up a couple hours later with DeAnne I would’ve been out of luck chilling in LAX until I was totally soulless. I also would’ve missed our jolly classic to camp mired in discomfort car ride where Brittani had contact problems, my friend Naomi was stung by a bee and suitcases took precedence over humans.

Laneia, Runaways Counselor and Executive Editor: We weren’t the last ones up the mountain this time! We made it, before midnight, and without crying. Nothing stresses me out/scares the everloving shit out of me like driving up a mountain, but for real, I didn’t even cry this time.

Liz Castle, Firestars Counselor and Autostraddle Contributor: Being late is not usually desirable, but by the time Brittani and I had packed the car (only 3 hours later than planned) I had received several frantic calls from Steph and Marni letting us know that a mere 3 people had accidently been left at the airport. This was great news because we had 1.5 seats left so everyone (else) turned out to be pretty stoked we were running late. 1mondayNight Liz: In figuring out how to fit everyone in the car, DeAnne suggested that Sophia open her legs and then mimed me backing up into her lap. Turns out she meant we should spoon instead of sit hip-to-hip but was feeling too awkward about the word ‘spooning’ to frame it that way. While it was definitely not less awkward, it was effective and we were all so excited about our first camp adventure we were mostly able to ignore the fact that it felt like Miss Trunchbull’s Chokey back there.

Stef: By the time we arrived at camp, we were all exhausted but in excellent spirits. When Brittani and Liz C. finally arrived with their car stuffed to the brim with tiny travelers, I felt a lot better.

Sophia: Bren and I also became bunkmates this night and I so appreciate how wonderful she is and patient considering every night I dropped stuff on her bed and also on Saturday night I fell asleep on her bed in all of my clothes and got lipstick all over her pillow.

Tuesday, October 8th: Pre-Camp

At Pre-Camp, we stuff your bags and decorate your walls and plan what we’re gonna do to you when you get here.

(via Robin Roemer)

Robin, A-Camp Co-Director and Photographer: I love pre-camp. This is the first time it has felt like fall in Angelus Oaks. Some of the trees had turned a beautiful yellow and the air was chilly and crisp. I always get butterflies during Pre-Camp walking around the empty camp, anticipating another amazing session. Everything felt easy and relaxed mostly because our incredible staff members were mega-prepared for their workshops, panels and for their campers!

Emily Gigler, Rockford Peaches Counselor: Precamp was predictably cold but sunny, and the leaves were all those incredible autumn colors, and everything was magical.

Somer, Nighthawks Counselor/The Talent: My wife Donna & I have been together for seven glorious years. Just having her at A-Camp this time around was a highlight for me. I mean, look how cute she is!

Donna (via Somer)

Rachel: My favorite part about pre-camp was that Marni had already made the pigeonholes, because I swear to God I’ve ended up spending like six hours putting them together with a staple gun every other time. Just kidding! My favorite part about pre-camp was getting super excited to see all the campers and planning out the details of all my panels and realizing how amazing they could be. Also the pigeonhole thing though.

Pigeonholes! (via Robin Roemer)

Hansen: Crystal and I specifically requested our cabin be named Heartthrobs because we didn’t write a very nice review of the Tegan and Sara album when it came out, so this was our penance for our folly of that mean review of an album we genuinely love now. We decorated the cabin with a million pictures of Tegan and Sara, a Taylor Swift shrine (which was amazing) and a lot of rainbow streamers. Also, a One Direction poster that ended up in someone’s bed, I think?

Crystal: The Taylor Swift shrine was definitely our greatest accomplishment as cabin leaders. I’m not in this for the glory, but I secretly hoped that our campers would appreciate the physical and emotional challenges that we had to overcome to tape a giant crepe paper heart on the roof.

Taylor Swift Shrine (via Hansen)

Carly, Camp Special Programming Director & Contributor: Everyone should always call Marni “hot cups;” that is her nickname. Also never forget the #bin! I also want to take a moment to thank Grace for being the awesome other half of the A-Camp A/V Club. Hanging out with Grace all the time is one of my favorite things about A-Camp.

Robin: We decorated cabins, put together the best gift bags we’ve had yet (thanks to our awesome sponsors) and chatted about the importance of making this experience special, creating a supportive and inclusive atmosphere for everyone and setting the tone for camp.

amazing gift bag items from sponsors! 3-pack of field notes, curve magazine (robin shot the tig notaro cover!), mini-flashlights from wolfe video and temp tattoos from tattly

Liz C.: Tuesday morning Brittani and I spent approximately 17 million hours making flaming duck tape bowties for the Firestarters so we could take a group picture. BUT THEN WE FORGOT TO TAKE A BOWTIE PICTURE. I’m definitely not bitter about this at all.

Riese: As per ushe, we decorated The Runaways cabin to look like a ‘zine come to life, which will be one of many attractions in our first amusement park.

(photo by crystal)

Cara, Nighthawks Counselor & Contributing Editor: I’m not at all a crafty person in regular life (stuff gets in my hair), but many of my favorite memories from camp involved crouching on the ground and trying to make paper look pretty. This was the first camp for which I was in charge of my cabin decorations and I kind of blacked out at Party City. On Tuesday, Somer and I realized I had purchased a sign that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in cutout letters (it was also construction-themed). I managed to convince her that we could make it say “NIGHTHAWKS” instead and, with great imaginative prowess and some deft scissorwork, we totally did (though we were laughing really hard and I’m surprised we didn’t glue ourselves together). Take that, Gothip.

A work of creative genius (via Vanessa)

Chloe, Calendar Girl & Blue Crush Counselor: Decorating the Blue Crush cabin with Grace on day two of pre-camp was definitely a highlight of camp for me. Grace made really adorable posters from a surfing magazine that I spent way too long meticulously placing around the cabin. I also spent time counting every ring on our paper chains to make sure each bunk got the same amount. Cabin decorating was basically three hours of Grace validating my neuroticism and telling me that I was doing a good job and I will cherish it forever. Also, we set up all of the campers gift bags between the cubbies and they looked just like presents on Christmas morning, it made me really happy and was perfect for when A-Camp turned into Snow-Camp the next day.

It’s like Christmas! (via Chloe)

Lizz, Flashdance Counselor and Fashion/Style Editor: In the morning before campers arrived Donna, Somer, Cee and I went for a hike. In all my A-Camps I’d never actually gotten a chance to go on a hike. It was amazing! It was beautiful and breathtaking. Literally breathtaking, I think, for Somer and I. I don’t usually “do the outdoors.” It was so relaxing though, I think it really set the stage for me to have the most relaxing and fun camp yet! If you ever go to A-Camp and you’ve never actually walked through the mountains you absolutely must! For the record though, if Cee tells you she’s going to take you on a 30 minute hike and she totally knows the way, she’s lying. It’s a two-hour hike and she has no clue where she’s going.

Riese: I have been to all the A-Camps and I have never actually walked through the mountains. But maybe one day I will, who knows, anything could happen, Lizz looks like Heidi!

Lizz doing wilderness

Yvonne, Stormtroopers Counselor & Associate Editor: After decorating our cabins for our campers, Lane and I decided to venture off into the wilderness for the first time since getting to Alpine Meadows. We started walking past the swing sets and before we knew it, bam! There was nature in all its glory —trees, acorns, twigs, leaves, dirt and rocks. We walked a little further and found a beautiful view of the mountains. I stood there admiring the view for the longest time because shit, I definitely don’t get to see this everyday. After a while, Lane and I sat on a log and talked about relationships and what it means to be single and queer in your twenties. The real adventure was getting back to camp because we had apparently gone downhill without realizing it. By the time we basically climbed up the side of a hill and defied death, we were out of breath and happy we made it back.

Sophia: As Carmen was still in DC, I was shoving things in bags, carrying linens and trying to work double speed. Geneva and I roamed the camp afterhours and marveled at how everyone was in by eleven. We watched Adventure Time in the Smoker’s Circle and talked about how we both wanted it to snow but didn’t want it to snow (and should we do a happy snow dance just in case? for the adventure of it?)

Laneia: It always takes Riese and me like 40 hours to finish decorating our cabin. This time I made a really amazing garland out of artificial flowers and old toys — like Power Rangers and Simba and Bambi — and it was by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever made. But I didn’t get a picture of it, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Riese: We kept trying to assemble a group of funny people to help finish the song but eventually decided that we’d make the opening night work without a song. So the night before camp began, my heart was fluttering with terror that 50% of the things I’d started working on for camp were still only 75% finished and therefore for all practical purposes; unfinished. BUT The Runaways cabin looked fucking awesome, SO.

Cee, Bangles Counselor and Tech Director: I feel that my time in both Bin and later Bunk were both really fulfilling and formative experiences for me. I think I grew as a person and that Bin/Bunk will always be in my heart. #binfam #bunkisthenewbin

the bin (via Carly)

Brittani, Firestars Counselor & Contributing Editor: I think something a lot of people don’t quite understand about camp is that this is the only time we, the staff, see most of the people that we work with every day. Everyone is on the go from pre-camp to the moment we get into a vehicle to leave the mountain. There’s no time to really sit down and get to know the details of people’s lives the way you think there would be when you’re technically spending five days with them. I might not know Ali’s birthday but I know what she looks like when she happy cries. Taylor might be my arch nemesis but she’s also one of the most enjoyable people to be around (don’t ever tell her I said that). Sure, Carmen will lose her voice by the second day of camp but before then she’ll have made me feel like I’m doing something right in my life enough to keep me going for months on end. You only get the essence of people and in some ways, that’s better. Everyone is so in the moment and present that the truest form of their actual personality comes through–thank goodness the Autostraddle team is pretty much the best collection of people in the world.

important pre-camp prep (photo by cee)

Next: Campers arrive, and A-Camp Day One turned to Snow Camp!