Quarantine Prom Queen Dream Zine

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Quarantine

LOCKDOWN FOOD LOG 8 QUARANTINE QRAFTING 10

One day of perfect Kombucha, knitttng,
quarantine eating. and knot-tytng, oh
Featuring far _ too my! 13 ways to keep

any eggs. your hands busy.

“WE LIVED HAPPILY DURING THE PANDEMIC,” A SHORT STORY 12

Sandra doesn't get what everyone's so upset about.

Prom Queen

COVER GIRL VIOLET MCLAREN ON BEING PROM QUEEN IN QUARANTINE 17

THE ULTIMATE PROM PLAYLIST 20 CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER! 21
Bangers only, from ABBA to Z. Prom date edition.

Dream Zine

APPING THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF QUARANTINE DREAMS 24.
An illustrated guide to y'all's twisted minds.

ASK AN ADULT: ON ACHIEVING YOUR DREAMS 26

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Natalie Dewhirst offers words of wisdom.

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When did it start for you?

For me, it was March 11. I had fled Pau, where
it was still winter, for Lisbon, where it was
70 degrees and sunny. At my hostel, I met a girl
from Milan, and we drank sangria together elbow
to elbow. "There's so many Italians here!" she
remarked, as a group of four more walked in (just
missing the national lockdown, as it turns out).

On the train back, I coughed into my shoul-
der and dabbed at my runny nose. Surrounded by
people coming home from break, I was acutely
conscious of the possibility that I was carrying
the virus. I went home and have hardly left
Since.

In that time, I have experienced loss and
growth, creativity and hopelessness. You will
find all of these conflicting emotions here.

For our cover girl, there will be no senior
prom, but there is a prom playlist. We're stuck
inside, but hey, there's eggs in here. And as
the Mouths" mom reminds us, plans fall apart,

but we can keep dreaming anyway.

Love and blessings,

Ciara

QUARANTINE

Quarantine Menu #1: Ciara

10 am - TOO MANY EGGS
on baguette tradition with butter and fried shallots
accompanied by a homemade latte

By the time the food is on the table its somehow 10 already.
To make up for it, breakfast is elaborate: four soft-boiled eggs
smashed over generously buttered baguette. The boulange-
rie around the corner, is, of course, considered an essential busi-
ness and still open during the quarantine. To drink, Bialetti-brewed
coffee with foamed milk. Shallots avec make it healthy, right?

3 pm - “The Cookies”
aka Alison Roman’s chocolate chip shortbread

Oops, | blinked and it's 3 pm. As my old landlady told me the other
day, in quarantine, time passes surprisingly quickly. And as she also told
me, with all the cooking everyone's doing, “on risque devenir enorme.”

| finally got around to making “The Cookies,’ Alison Roman's
famous chocolate chip shortbread. I’m going to be honest. The whole
“cookie” thing didn't work out — the shortbread fell apart every time |
tried slicing the log. On the bright side, that sandy mess made a deli-
cious traybake. | ate it over FaceTime Catan. Fun was had by all.

6 pm - Rosé lemonade, plain potato chips, and crudites

One of the most surreal things about the quarantine is that, like
in Camus’ La Peste, it began when the weather was fine. The sun is
shining, we've turned the heaters off, and it feels like the perfect time
to be sipping cold drinks outside.

We may not be allowed outside, but we are still allowed to drink.
Rosé with fresh lemon juice and sugar, garnished with a sprig of mint.
Hell yeah. Plus snacks, because what's an apero without them?

10:15 pm - Maiale al latte
(milk-braised pork)
with sauteed spinach and polenta

| do not normally eat dinner at 10:15. | made a terrible, terrible
mistake. To make a long, sad story short, | was overly optimistic about
how long it would take to cook a large slab of pork to fork tenderness.

When dinner was ready, it was, dare | say, worth it? Lemon peel, hot
peppers, and milk curdle together in the oven to form orange, savory
nuggets. One of the most funny-looking and delicious meals | have
ever eaten.

QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

QUARANTINE

Quarantine Orafts

1. SCOBY diving

Fermentation: everybody's doing it!
Kombucha is a fun, mildly-alcoholic fermen-
ted drink, but to make it, first you need a
SCOBY. Grow one at home from storebought
kombucha. It's free real estate.

2. Collage

Do you remember being forced to make
collages in middle school art class? It's a lot
more fun when it's not for a grade. Cut up
your junk mail and go to town.

3. Turn plastic bags into yarn

Yes, this is possible. Once you've knotted
the plastic bags into yarn, you can crochet
more plastic bags, which, confusingly,
cannot then be turned into yarn.

Fun fact: a craft is whatever you want
it to be.

4. Bury a time capsule

Fill a box with memorobilia from this
year and hide it somewhere safe. Be sure to
prominently feature "2020: Year of Corona-
virus’ on the inside lid so people from the
future freak out when they open it.

5. Make pulp out of cardboard

By shredding old cardboard packaging,
you can actually make paper from scra-
tch. Possibly a good option if you run out of
space in your journal and all the stores are
closed?

6. Fold money into origan1

Money, money, money. Enough worrying.
Start folding. If you fold your entire stimulus
check into paper cranes, you will be granted
good luck for the rest of your life.

7. Learn knot-tying

Knot-tying, along with tire-changing and
lock-picking, is one of those deeply impres-
sive skills that doesn't take that much effort
to learn.

8. Make an RPG

Using websites like RPG playground,
you can easily make flash-based games in
your browser. Bonus points for building your
game from scratch. However that works.

9. Sew PPE

With thick cotton fabric, elastic, and a
few basic stitches, you can make your own
face mask. Make extra and hang them on a
public ‘mask tree’ to share with neighbors.

10. Publish an e-zine

Podcasts are so early 2010s. Micropho-
nes are sold out on Amazon anyway. Get
creative another way by publishing a zine
online.

10 QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

Look

at this
absolute
unit.

| Photo by
@dvanzuijlekom on Flickr

11. Troll an online forum
Go on r/army and say you're from North Korea. Log in to Mumsnet and post about hating chil-
dren. The possibilities are endless.

12. Cook weird food
Sure, you could bake chocolate chip cookies or banana bread. But consider this: cumin-spiced
cheerio traybake. Pepper meringues. Gin and tonic pie. All we're saying is live a little.

13. Wear a toga
Fold that sheet into an elaborate garment fit for Roman nobility. Put on a flower crown. You are
the quarantine queen.

QUARANTINE 14

A piece of short fiction.

For Sandra, life hadn't really changed much
since the outbreak.

When the virus began to spread, she was
among the first to be quarantined because of
her Chinese parents. A police officer refused to
look her in the eyes or come closer than 6 feet
when he came to give her the news. Her father,
who owned a dry goods store, sent her boxes of
masks and gloves.

“Baba. | can't leave the house anyway. What
am | going to do with this?”
“Be safe, Sandra. Be safe.’

Her friends sent apologetic messages. It's
so unfair, they said. You must be going crazy,
cooped up in there, they said.

She couldnt quite tell if they were being
sincere. Since when was_ staying home
something to avoid? She thought of Bethy, who
hadnt shown up to brunch three weeks in a
row, liking interior design posts on Instagram
instead, and Anna, who had seen every Netflix
Original there was, from Beasts of No Nation to
Tall Girl.

Well Sandra didnt feel the need to pretend.
She liked being at home, listening to the air
conditioner hum, feeling the sheets rustle
against her bare legs. She liked going on her
laptop. She liked working from her bedroom,
plugging into her headset and reading from the
customer service script.

Asabilingualsupportspecialist, she‘dheard
the panic of the outbreak ebb and flow. She
worked for the Company that Sold Everything,
and in the early months, when the virus was

We Lived Happily
During the Pandemic

still the Chinese Virus, they were inundated
with calls from Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan.
Angry voices barked in Mandarin, insistent
on securing their supply of toilet paper,
packaged noodles, underwear, rolling
papers. And face masks. Thanks dad, she
thought, after one particularly heated call
with a woman whose order of 500 face
masks had never arrived, seized by the
government in transit.

Weeks passed. Officials welded the
doors of Wuhan shut. The calls from China
slowed, and the calls from everywhere else
started.

Normally, Sandra took almost
exclusively calls in Mandarin, but as the
outbreak spread and the phone lines
flashed, she found herself switching from
Mandarin to English and back again.

“Hello, this is Sandra with the Company
that Sells Everything, what's your name?”

“Sandra. I've been waiting for 2 hours so
please just cut the script and tell me where
my order is. Order 188290.” Sandra paused.
The customer sighed. “I’m Barbara.”

The script did an admirable job getting
the information needed to locate Barbara's
order of 20 jars of peanut butter. The
delivery man had left it by the complex
driveway, trying to make his quota 12
minutes before quitting time.

One day there was some kind of glitch
and she received international callers at
random.

12 QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

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“Maharagwe yangu ni wapi?”
“Pedi esta camiseta hace dos semanas.”
“Qu'est-il arrive a mon streaming service?”

Sandra could hear the panic in their voices, but not understanding what they said made her
feel strangely calm as she told them, in English, that they would be transferred to a support
specialist who spoke their language as soon as possible.

Things calmed down. The outbreak continued, but the healthy stayed home, under penalty
first of heavy fines, then imprisonment in filthy, overcrowded state containment centers. They
soon adopted the same rhythm of life as Sandra: AC hum, laptop clack, food delivery, work
from home.

Of course people rebelled. Lovers snuck out to embrace in unwatched forests, scavengers
risked arrest in abandoned warehouses to pick through VR headsets, stacks of graphics cards.
In the news, Sandra read a headline: “Man hides in supermarket overnight, drinks champagne,
whiskey.”

But most didn't. Staying home was comfortable. Safe. Heroic, even, according to the
message played on loudspeakers by passing police vehicles. Life went back to normal. Maybe
they didn't realize how normal it was, until they were forced into it.

The bell rang. Sandra logged off, opened the door, and retrieved her grocery box. Miso-
glazed salmon with fresh asparagus. It had just turned spring, after all. She stood by the window
and watched the Company delivery man rush to his van in the golden light of early sunset. Yes,
she thought. Not much has changed.

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QUARANTINE 13

QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

Violet would have been attending her senior
prom in April if it hadn't been for the
pandemic. She spoke with Ciara about what
it's like to graduate without a party.

What was the proms theme going to be?
Ooh. | actually dont remember. Either royalty or red
carpet. | think it was red carpet?

Were you going with a date?

| was going with my friend Justin -- not as a date-date
-- more a friend date.

| don't think dates matter unless you're actually dating.
Just match them and take good pictures.

Were you going to match?
| don't know because | didn't pick a prom dress.

Did you get a refund?

| did on two of the dresses, but there's another two or
three | waited too long to return.

| know girls who spent like $300 so | feel way worse for
them.

But a lot of people didn't buy any. When they kicked
us out of school... For some reason prom didn't feel super
real. People weren't excited for whatever reason.

But prom hasn't even been canceled yet! Graduation is
rescheduled for June at this point.

I'm not keeping my hopes up. I'm not sure I'd even want
to go, for the sake of my safety and my family's safety.

Are you sad to be graduating without any of the rituals?
Yeah, I'm a little bummed out, but it's not the end of the
world. Honestly, | don't really want to be in school right now.

Have you been keeping in touch with your support
system?

I've been talking to Rachel, my best friend, and texting
some people. But like, in the summer, | ghost everyone.
And it's kind of like the summer.

PROM QUEEN

Editor's note: Violet bought
several dresses online, including
the one pictured, intending’ to
return all but one before the prom.

17

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Grand Entrance: ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA
Played out? Maybe. An unimpeachable banger that will make every
17-year-old in the room feel special? Absolutely.

The Song with Instructions: "Crank That’ by Soulja Boy

There's something for everyone. The cool kids can unpeel themselves
from the wall for some irony dancing. Actual talented people can dunk on
them. Everyone can hurl themselves to the side on the “youuu. '

The ‘Oh My God That's My Song Song: ‘Juice’ by Lizzo

Any respectable prom playlist needs to bring out the occasional big guns
to send people running from the snack table to the dance floor. Lizzo's
sparkly self-esteem anthem is our pick.

Credits, Fade Out: "This Will Be Our Year" by Dear Nora

The graduation tearjeaker genre has a lot of strong entries, from “In My
Life" by the Beatles to "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day.
Dear Nora's cover of "This Will Be Our Year" by the Zombies is our choice
because of its touching mix of youthful vocals, melancholy melody, and
hopeful lyrics.

SCAN TO LISTEN TO THE FULL PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY.

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Excellent masseur

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Bad at Scrabble

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QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

"I was, for amoment, a
bird. Chasing an insect in a
birdcage? Then I was me, holding
the cage, but the bird was still
there. I dropped the cage and
held the bird as I fell through
the sky. At first I thought, this
ts really cool, I'm flying.
But then I realized I was
falling.”

- Hannah, creative director

"I was peeing in a bathroom
staLl with a half-door.
A Little girl was trying to get
tn, and I was just trying to
change without the whole bathroom

seeing my boobs."
- Violet, editor-in-chief

"One cat riding another
Like a Skateboard. “

- Ciara, editorial director

DREAM ZINE

The Mom of the Mouths On Achieving Your Dreams

Design intern Natalie Dewhirst speaks with the Mouths (who happen to be
her daughters) about living the dream vs. going with the flow.

Natalie, youre a very accomplished woman.
You have a home and a family, a dog. You achie-
ved your dream job as a design intern at Mouths.
How did you get here?

You know, | credit it all to my amazing daugh-
ters. | think the fact that you chose me for this
position says a lot about our relationship. And
that's the thing I'm most proud of.

What were your earliest dreams, ma?

| always thought | would be a teacher. | had
a fourth grade teacher who would — back when
we had chalkboards — roll her chalk between
her hands when she was talking to us, but she
had rings so it made this really cool sound. And
| think that's why | wanted to be a teacher.

| also wanted to be a farm store worker
because | thought it was very magical when
they went back into that refrigerator and got ice
cream.

Grandma was like, you don't want to be a
farm store worker. | was like, yes | do.

Do you know what farm stores are?

No.

It's like a drive-up convenience store. They'd
open a sliding glass door and say “what d’you
need?” And youd say, “bread and milk and ice
cream. And theyd go and bring it to us. You
didn't have to get out of your car.

So youre not a teacher today. Do you wish
youd taken the teaching path?

Sometimes, but | think it's one of those jobs
that seems great, but is actually pretty terri-
ble. | think most people who do it kind of hate
it. Which should tell you something. Plus, it's
low paid and | like to make more money. I'm all
about that money. Chasin' the bag.

At what point did your dream shift?

| was going to college to be a teacher, and |
was volunteering with your first grade teacher,
Mrs.—

Rogers?
Rogers.

I didn't know that.

Yeah. And she sat down with me and said,
“Okay, what do | need to say to you to convince
you to not do this?” And | gotta say, it was like,
whoa, maybe | don't want to do this.

She was my favorite teacher!

She was a great teacher and | think she
actually really loved it, but she hated the
bureaucracy and the red tape.

What about the farm store?
Hm, when did | give up on that? Probably
grandma shamed me. When | was four!

Are you happy with how your career has
changed?

I'm more content with where | am now.

| was never someone who was like, oh,
I'm gonna get into marketing. But I've always
been a ‘start a business’ kind of kid. Like | was
the kid who was selling friendship bracelets,
and then | was selling pants, and then dolls.

That's what led me into web design and
graphic design, because | had to have a
website and | needed a catalog, which | just
came across recently. You guys should look at
it. It's absurd, so bad.

But that's when | learned CorelDRAW which
is kind of like InDesign. Or was it Quarkx-
Press? It was whatever software your uncle
would pirate for me because it used to be that
software came on a disk, and you could copy
the disk. Too easy.

So | got into marketing just because that
was the skill | gained through the business but
| didn't really like it. | did that for a long time.
Until this whole UX thing came up, which |
actually really like. So, yeah, | guess I'm happy.

26 QUARANTINE PROM QUEEN DREAM ZINE

Can you talk about what youre doing with
UX?

UX stands for user experience. And user
experience encompasses a lot, but the focus
of my job is mostly research.

Like I'm really involved in our mobile app
redesign. I'm helping figure things out like ‘do
people want to see their deductible first, or
they want to see their benefits first?’

Sometimes, it's big projects like that.
Sometimes it's little questions people want
answered like, yesterday, | was working on
whether people like vanity phone numbers,
like 1-800-MATTRESS, or do they want to
just see the numbers? So we did a little quick
study on that.

| get to pretend I'm a scientist in this job.
So | get to have a hypothesis. And my hypo-
thesis is that people will prefer the digits.

Your dream is not exactly what you thou-
ght it would be when you were young. Would
you still say youve achieved your dreams?

The mistake | made as a kid was that |
didn't really have dreams.

In a way, it's good, because there's nothing
| haven't achieved. | didn't really think, ‘oh, by
the time I'm 30 I'm gonna have all of this stuff.

I've just been more of a ‘fly by the seat of
my pants’ kind of person my whole life. Just
like ‘take it as it comes. | don't really have a
plan. That's changing as | get older, but that's
definitely how | was when I was younger.

| mean, clearly | didn't have a plan. | had 3
kids by 25. | didn't think of the future.

By the time | had my first then it became
like, okay, I'm doing this. I'm having kids and
being a mom.

And having Ciara was the best decision |
ever made. But it wasn't a decision necessa-
rily. It was just what happened and then | went
along for the ride, which is what | did a lot. But
it's panned out. I'm pretty lucky.

| think it's all about just making the next
best decision. You can have a big plan but
plans fail.

You said you have been planning more for
the future. So what what are your dreams for
the future? What do you want for yourself?

| want to have a farm—

In Vermont?

Maybe, but it's so cold there. You get
snowed out. But | don't know if | care because
| might become a hermit as | get older.

| just want a quiet life. | want to go out
in the morning and do a watercolor and tend
my own little garden. | want to have some
chickens.

|| might want to be a college professor. But
online so | dont have to be anywhere ‘cause |
don't like to be anywhere if | don't have to be.

So yeah, that's my big dream for the future.

So does that mean PhD or...?

| could teach the classes I'm taking right
now with a master's. But I'm very interested in
getting a PhD in behavioral psychology.

| don't know. | just want to be Dr. Natalie.

What have you learned from your dreams,
whether or not you accomplished them throu-
ghout your life?

What I've learned is that when | want to do
something, it happens. It just does. And | think
| don't think that's unique to me. | think that's
anybody.

| also don't think it's magical thinking type
of stuff, like the law of attraction. | think it's
just that when you want to do something,
you set in motion certain things that make it
happen. My problem is that | just changed my
mind too often.

That's what I've learned about dreams: if
youve got one, and you just start doing things
that align with that, you're gonna get your
dream. If you want it, you'll get there.

Maybe not if you want something ridicu-
lous. | don't know, this could backfire. Like
if you want to be the first person to colonize
Mars, that maybe wont happen.

DREAM ZINE

27