Monthly Archives: May 2025
Tea’s Weird Week: If You Don’t Support QWERTY, You Might End Up Butt-hurty (Revisited)
I wrote a similar column title last year in a plea to get people to support something I’m proud of– QWERTYFEST MKE. QF was officially started by me and my co-organizer Molly Snyder in 2023. This year will be our 3rd annual event (though I should note we do smaller events throughout the year, too). It’s been a wild ride, but I absolutely love some of the things we’ve accomplished with the resources we’ve had available.
So what is QWERTYFEST? The inspiration comes from a Milwaukeean named Christopher Latham Sholes. Sholes was an inventor, newspaper editor, and politician. He worked with collaborators at the Kleinsteuber Machine Shop, which was kind of like a Makerspace of it’s day, located on State St., right next to Turner Hall (where our QWERTYFEST opening night party will take place), it was located where State Street Pizza Pub is today. Although there had been attempts at a typing machine before, Sholes developed the first commercial typewriter. Part of that design was the QWERTY keyboard configuration (named after the first 6 letters of the first row), which we still use on our computers and phones today.
Oh, by the way, I’m giddy to say we teamed up with the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame to create a Sholes bobblehead, which you can pre-order HERE.
I won’t go on and on about typewriter philosophy, but in a world filled with parasitic AI programs, deep fakes, spam bots, disinformation, trolls, cyberbullying, privacy concerns, vapid influencers, social isolation, etc. etc. it is a relief to sit in a space with your brain and a piece of paper you can clack-clack-clack away at. QWERTYFEST gives you a chance to do that and hang out with other people who love creativity– writers, readers, artists, musicians, builders, and other creators.
But as much as we love to see (and hear) typewriters in action, QWERTYFEST is more than a “typewriter convention.” We like to celebrate the QWERTY keyboard in all iterations. This year we’re going to be working with DarkFusion Systems to feature more mechanical keyboards people can try out. Our Quick Brown Fox Typing Contest will be back with manual and electric typewriter categories, as well as a texting one. Equally important– we want to celebrate writers of all genres who use these keyboards. New opportunities for local writers to connect and showcase their work is something we love to see.
We also have an appreciation for other analog/ vintage technologies and are working some of that in– pre-digital cameras, board games, records, stamp collecting, stereoscopes– if anything like that is your passion, let us know. Last, me and Molly are both advocates of Milwaukee culture in general, so we like to share Milwaukee history and innovation and collaborate with local businesses we feel are making the city a better place.
Me and Molly are the familiar faces of QWERTYFEST, cause we’re the organizers, but I want to mention the incredible support we’ve gotten both locally in Milwaukee and in the typewriter community. It’s humbling to say that there’s too many people to thank– I would feel awful forgetting anyone. So this is just a huge blanket THANK YOU to everyone who has helped support QWERTYFEST and our related projects (like our zine, QWERTY Quarterly).
And one of those supporters could be YOU. We launched our 2025 fundraiser on Indiegogo. We are trying to raise a lot of money. Venue rental, paying entertainers, artists, and other guests, plus a ton of other costs that pop up here and there adds up to a lot really quickly, but we’re glad to say that almost all of that money goes to local businesses and creators. Our pledge levels include great perks like subscriptions to QWERTY Quarterly, our beloved “We Built Milwaukee on Beer and Typewriters” T-shirt, tickets to our QWERTYFEST events, typed letters or poems, and more. Donations help, so does sharing the fundraiser on your social media, email lists, or wherever you can.
Look, here’s the short version: we want to do big things with QWERTYFEST MKE and you can help make that happen by supporting our fundraiser here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qwertyfest-mke-2025#/
Next week on TWW: The Nadine Zine! Want TWW delivered to your inbox? You can sign up for my Substack HERE. Follow me on: Facebook Bluesky Instagram
Tea’s Weird Week: Apocalypse Every Show Now
My third book, Apocalypse Any Day Now, was published in 2019 (by Chicago Review Press). I talked to a wide range of people on their ideas on how the world as we know it might end, and some of their plans for the apocalypse. It was deeply stressful at times, but I had some fun with it, too. For example, I thought it would be interesting to read some dystopian fiction, so I started a book club, The Apocalypse Blog Book Club (I had renamed my website here The Apocalypse Blog while I was working on the book) in 2017. We read some classics like Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and many others. You can see a list of our selections here: https://teakrulos.com/apocalypse-any-day-now/
Anyway, I thought of all this recently after I binged a show called Paradise (which was released in January on Hulu), a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. I really enjoyed it, even if it managed to earworm “Another Day in Paradise” in my damn head for over a week. But I was also like, wow there are a lot of shows on this theme lately, aren’t there? Maybe I was too distracted studying the theory I explored in Political Monsters about the correlation of zombie, vampire, and killer clown movies and politics to dwell on it too much.
But yeah, the shit hitting the fan scenarios, dystopias, and that post-apocalyptic lifestyle is a popular theme in shows like Silo (2023-present), Fallout (2024-present), The Walking Dead and all the spinoffs (2010-present), The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-2025), The Last of Us (2023-present), Westworld (2016-2022), even shows like Severance (2022-present) play on this theme. And that’s just naming off the top of my head.
Why are shows like this so popular now? Oh gee, I dunno– art imitating life? Women’s rights being taken away, like in The Handmaid’s Tale. People are being disappeared in cases of mistaken identity, as seen in Brazil. Reality is being redrawn and renamed, like in Nineteen Eighty-Four, some real “Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia,” type of stuff. Homeland Security is even thinking of doing a reality show that sounds like an idea out of The Hunger Games.
I don’t expect this trend to stop any time soon. These are tough, dismal times. I wish you all well– may the odds be ever in your favor and all that.
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Next week on TWW: If you don’t support QWERTY, you might end up feeling butt-hurty (Part II). Want TWW delivered to your inbox? You can sign up for my Substack HERE. Follow me on: Facebook Bluesky Instagram
Apocalypse Any Day Now: Deep Underground with America’s Doomsday Preppers (2019, Chicago Review Press) can be bought here: www.chicagoreviewpress.com/ApocalypseAnyDayNow
Tea’s Weird Week: Hot Cryptid Summer (Part 1)
Local legends have drawn tourist dollars for decades, attracting curious legend trippers. Celebrations like West Virginia’s Mothman Festival (Sept. 20-21) and the Ohio Bigfoot Conference (which happened earlier this month) draw big crowds, but in the last few years the number of festivals celebrating lesser known cryptids have grown. Frogman Fest (which happened in March) in Loveland, Ohio, for example, was inspired by an odd case of a 4-foot-tall frog sighting in 1972. I really love to see towns across the country embrace these strange stories and have some pride in them! I decided to list out some summer cryptid fests for all you legend trippers. This column has listings May through August, I’ll write a part 2 of this in August to list more taking place end of summer and into fall.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If this sort of thing is your jam, I recommend signing up for Sharon Hill’s Pop Cryptid Spectator Substack, which explores representations of “pop cryptozoology” including updates on cryptid themed events.
Hodag Heritage Festival (May 17)
Rhinelander, WI
Wisconsin’s favorite cryptid, the Hodag, dates back to a hoax from the 1890s by town prankster Eugene Shepard, which evolved to become the love and pride of Rhinelander. I wrote more about this for Milwaukee Magazine last year: https://www.milwaukeemag.com/what-is-the-hodag-rhinelander/
Hodag Heritage Festival has been around about five years now and has grown quite a bit. The line-up for this Saturday looks really fun: a pancake breakfast, talks related to folklore, a Hodag calling contest, and much more. It’s organized in part by The Hodag Store. More info: https://www.rhinelanderchamber.com/hodagheritagefestival
Grafton Monster Festival (June 13-14)
Grafton, WV
West Virginia is one of the country’s most cryptid-dense states. Mothman of Point Pleasant is the most well-known, but there’s a lot of other strange creatures out of time and space running around there. Take, for example, the Grafton Monster, a cryptid described as being 7-9 feet tall with white, seal-like skin, and no discernable head, but a face peering from the creature’s chest. It was said to give a loud, deep bellow. There were several sightings around Grafton, WV in June of 1964.
More info on the 2nd Annual Grafton Monster Festival, organized by The Grafton Monster Museum: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563258026085
Big Muddy Monster Festival (June 21)
Murphysboro, IL
Also known as the “Murphysboro Mud Monster,” this Bigfoot creature described as being slathered in mud, was first seen by a couple getting hot and heavy parked on a lover’s lane in southern Illinois in 1973. Several other people claimed to see– and smell– the stinky cryptid. Big Muddy has since become an iconic symbol of Murphysboro. More info: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094542990087
Veggie Man Day (July 13)
Fairmont, WV
Another West Virginian cryptid and a strange one. The “Vegetable Man” was a humanoid entity that looked to be made out of plants that was allegedly encountered by a West Virginian hunting in the woods in 1968. The first Veggie Man Day is taking place at the Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center. More: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/veggie-man-day-2025/1177423897211539
Squonkapalooza (Aug. 2)
Johnstown, PA
Based on Pennsylvanian lumberjack lore, the Squonk is said to be a butt ugly cryptid that is constantly weeping over their own ugly appearance. Aw, poor Squonk– I like you just the way you are. Like all of the festivals I’m listing, Squonkapalooza is a nice mix of craft/art vendors, presentations, and entertainment. Check out more: https://squonkapalooza.com/
Fearsome Folklore Festival (Aug. 23)
Murfreesboro, TN
This one doesn’t focus on a particular entity but is a free, “family friendly folklore and cryptid themed celebration.” Speakers, live music, cryptid drawing workshops, and a petting zoo– I’m assuming the zoo is of known animals and not cryptids. Both Squonkapalooza and this one are created by Cryptid Comforts.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1256884292699296
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Please Clap Dept.: Speaking of festivals, this one isn’t cryptid related, but I’m co-organizer of typewriter/ innovation/ writing celebration QWERTYFEST MKE. We are launching fundraising next week and need your help to meet our goals. Stay tuned!
Next week on TWW: Apocalypse Every Show Now. Want TWW delivered to your inbox? You can sign up for my Substack HERE. Follow me on: Facebook Bluesky Instagram
Tea’s Weird Week: TWW Returns! (plus, a psychedelic time travel boat dream)
As things tend to go with me, at a certain point I was overworked and struggling to keep up and so my beloved column, Tea’s Weird Week, fell into hiatus. I think politics played a hand in this, too. It has felt overwhelming and fruitless to write about weird topics with the current climate of turmoil. But in times like these, we need to find our happy places to hide out in and take a break, and one of those refuges for me is writing about some strange shit.
I’ve missed having this venue to write about whatever I want and to update on some of the many projects I’m working on, so Tea’s Weird Week is back! Every Thursday (except the ones I don’t). We (me and my collaborators) had a good run of a Tea’s Weird Week podcast. Can we bring it back? I hope so. I’m thinking about it. But to start, here’s a weird dream I had and some brief updates.
On Tuesday, me and QWERTYFEST MKE co-organizer Molly Snyder had a meeting to discuss plans for the fest (Oct.3-5 this year!) but we took a break to watch the effort to finally remove Deep Thought, a boat that was beached and ditched way back in October. The abandoned, soon to be graffiti covered boat became a local celebrity of sorts, with lots of local media interest. After several failed attempts, a local towing company was called in to pull the sucker off the beach. We observed part of this effort (it took a long time) as they yanked the boat up onto the rocks, eventually hauling it away on a flatbed truck.
That night I had a dream– I was back at the beach, and Deep Thought was still wrecked there, but we had both time travelled back to the 1960s. The beach was filled with hippies, sitting around smoking weed. A guy with long hair and a beard was walking around hawking a newspaper (I would guess Milwaukee’s 60s underground paper, Kaleidoscope). Hippies were circled around playing hacky sack (this part of the dream might not be historically accurate) and some were playing acoustic guitars and bongos. The hippies offered me a joint, and I took some tokes. Sleepy, I climbed up on the Deep Thought and fell asleep in the sunlight. I woke up in my bed. The boat was gone. Faaaaaar out, man. Far-fucking-out. Good-bye Deep Thought.
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QWERTY Quarterly: Speaking of QWERTYFEST MKE, QQ is a zine edited by me and Molly, that is the official publication of the festival. I’m very proud of it, every issue features the work of talented local writers (poetry, fiction, articles, columns) and artists. You can pick up a copy at Lion’s Tooth and Woodland Pattern here in Milwaukee, Quimby’s in Chicago, or get it mailed anywhere via our Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/qwertyquarterly
More QWERTYFEST MKE news soon!
Other recent writing: I wrote two short pieces for the May issue of Milwaukee Magazine, about local ham radio enthusiasts and a travelogue about a guy who faked his kayaking death here in Wisconsin, then took a meandering escape route to eastern Europe. I’ve got some entries in the Summer Guide issue out in June, and I wrote about a local “hoedown throwdown” between line-dancing groups for their website HERE.
Clownwatch 2025: last fall, I published a zine/ ebook titled Political Monsters, which explores the correlation between the party in power and the number of films starring zombies (higher during traditional Republican presidencies) vampires (Democratic Party), or in the case of Trump, killer clown (MAGA) movies being made. Trump’s first term saw the largest spike of killer clown themed movies in film history. Are the clowns back? We’ll see– I am tracking and cataloging all killer clowns released over the next 4 years, starting here with our first entry for Trump 2.0. I will update on more films as they are released.
1. May 9: Clown in a Cornfield (directed by Eli Craig) release date. Based on a 2020 novel by Adam Cesare, features a cornfield-lurking clown named Frendo, who enjoys killing horny teens.
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Next week on TWW: It’s going to be a hot cryptid summer!
Want TWW delivered to your inbox? You can sign up for my Substack HERE. Follow me on: Facebook Bluesky Instagram
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