Books: “Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated” by Alison Arngrim

For seven years, Alison Arngrim played a wretched, scheming, selfish, lying, manipulative brat on one of TV history’s most beloved series. Though millions of Little House on the Prairie viewers hated Nellie Oleson and her evil antics, Arngrim grew to love her character—and the freedom and confidence Nellie inspired in her.

In Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Arngrim describes growing up in Hollywood with her eccentric parents: Thor Arngrim, a talent manager to Liberace and others, whose appetite for publicity was insatiable, and legendary voice actress Norma MacMillan, who played both Gumby and Casper the Friendly Ghost. She recalls her most cherished and often wickedly funny moments behind the scenes of Little House: Michael Landon’s “unsaintly” habit of not wearing underwear; how she and Melissa Gilbert (who played her TV nemesis, Laura Ingalls) became best friends and accidentally got drunk on rum cakes at 7-Eleven; and the only time she and Katherine MacGregor (who played Nellie’s mom) appeared in public in costume, provoking a posse of elementary schoolgirls to attack them.

Arngrim relays all this and more with biting wit, but she also bravely recounts her life’s challenges: her struggle to survive a history of traumatic abuse, depression, and paralyzing shyness; the “secret” her father kept from her for twenty years; and the devastating loss of her “Little House husband” and best friend, Steve Tracy, to AIDS, which inspired her second career in social and political activism. Arngrim describes how Nellie Oleson taught her to be bold, daring, and determined, and how she is eternally grateful to have had the biggest little bitch on the prairie to show her the way.

Poetry: Ready, Go by Ashley Ro

Here lies an unedited poem written by Ashley Ro entitled, “Ready, Go”.

GrungeCake Magazine Interview with Slice Harvester!

This guy is eating a slice of pizza from every pizzeria in New York City and writing about it on his website and quarterly zine! I am sure many have thought about something similar and frowned upon this idea for health reasons, yet I find him very intriguing, daring, creative, crazy, and fun!

New Releases: Caits Meissner’s “Blackest Blood”

Executive Produced by Just Plain Ant; featuring Maya Azucena, Jesse Boykins III, Dunce Apprentice and Broke MC; with production by Blu, Cazeaux OSLO, Just Plain Ant, Bisco Smith, Cave and The Aftermath.

Caits Meissner, well-known for her writing in respected poetry circles, and work as an educator/community organizer in youth circles, now steps out with a fantastic music project. Embedded in and influenced by the experimental hip hop community, Caits’ songs are word-driven vignettes delving deep into the heart of human experience: loneliness, inspiration, love and loss set over visually lush landscapes from current hip hop/electronic producers.

In regards to her past work, Erykah Badu calls her “fresh, honest and loving… a delicate heart like mine.” Doodlebug of Digable Planets describes her as “melodic words of wisdom… streetjazzoetry.” This round, surprising her fans by singing at times in her honest and edgy tone, Caits reveals the soulful songwriter beneath her poems. Something precious, her words beat like a full heart without false bravado, a seeking for something beyond, a prayer. The Wolf & Me is something that will linger in your soul.

The Wolf & Me is a multi-platform project, inspired by classic elements of the vinyl era, which includes a PDF download of the lyrics designed by Caits (who also holds a BFA in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute), art directed by designer Tishon Woolcock and shot by renown photographer Seth Kushner. London-based poet Warsan Shire contributes her words, reviving the lost of art of liner notes. According to Caits, The Wolf & Me aims to be “a multi-sensory journey, the kind of album you listen to under headphones, in the dark hours of the early morning.” She hopes the words bring you alive.

Caits has a substantial background in performance poetry but recently transitioned into working with music, most notably with German producers Comfort Fit and Portformat on the Tokyo Dawn record label. Originally from Albany, NY, she has been Brooklyn-based for the past eight years. Caits studied in Africa under Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa, and building off such legacies as Gil Scott-Heron, works to create a musical experience rooted in storytelling.

GrungeCake Magazine Interviews with Author Denis Sheehan by Gutty!

In my obsessive MySpace days, I befriended Denis Sheehan’s Bone Print profile and fell in love with the synopsis of his book, “A Nobody’s Nothings.” I knew it was going to be a good read, so I ordered one and later ordered one for George (Gutty). We have been telling everyone we know about the language, character, and emotion of this book. Folks are intrigued, but they aren’t the folk that indulge in reading so they smile, agree, and never act… and that’s fine. In hopes, that you are different from the others, you will order his book and we can share insiders. We love you Sheehan! Content is mature and not suitable for children or sensitive doodyheads.

GrungeCake Magazine Interview with Illustrator PZero!

GrungeCake Magazine interviews a Futanari artist for the first time. Very sexy! Futanari (二成, 二形; ふたなり; a compound word meaning “two form”) in Japanese can mean both the subjects of a special type of pornographic anime or manga (commonly known in the West as hentai), or the genre itself. Futanari depicts hermaphrodites, intersex or other individuals with female body-types and sexual organs resembling penises.

GrungeCake Magazine Interview with Author Richard K. Lofton by Jazzlyn Kirkland!

Imagine being a 5-year-old child trapped inside of your own body with no way to verbally communicate. At such a young age, verbal communication is key to living because you are at the beginning stages of learning. What would you do? Would you teach yourself to read and write so you could at least communicate with adults? Being in pre-school, would you turn to poetry as an outlet for creativity while the other kids are on the mat playing toy trucks? What about reading books way beyond your grade level or skill to prove to your teachers that you have been wrongfully placed into a special education class because you cannot speak? Well, I know a man — a very wonderful, brilliant, intellectual, intelligent man who has done everything to beat the odds that face him and that man is Author Richard K. Lofton.

GrungeCake Magazine Interview with Recording Artist Caits Meissner!

Albany, New York raised, Brooklyn based Caits (Caitlin) Meissner is a poet, performer, educator and graphic designer with a BFA from Pratt Institute. Using her background in visual art, anti-racism work, disability advocacy and youth empowerment, her poems are visually rich testaments to the complexities of the human spirit. As a performer, she has featured for the progressive literary collective louderArts; Opened for the acclaimed Page Meets Stage series (with Thomas Lux); Shared sets with musicians such as Immortal Technique, Grandmaster Caz, Boot Camp Clik and many others; And has performed on countless stages- from street corners to Columbia University, The Nuyorican Poets Café to Rikers Island, including a tour throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in September of 2008.