Month: May 2015

The Beginner’s Book of Awesome Affirmations V.3
Jess Freedom
US-size half-fold
http://jessfreedomzine.tumblr.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/jessfreedomzine

The Beginner’s Book of Awesome Affirmations is exactly that – a starting point for anyone who would like to give affirmations a go but doesn’t know where to start (for whatever reason).

I will be honest here: usually these kinds of zines usually piss me off. I’m bipolar, so someone telling me that I can think my way out of something rubs me the wrong way. But I love this zine. There’s a certain energy to it that spells out Jess’ efforts not to tell you what to do but to encourage you to try.

The entire feel of this zine is awesome. It’s a cut and paste extravaganza with photo images mixed in with hand-drawn art. The pages are fun to read and to look at. She does muck around with the font size, but only a little bit and not so much that it becomes any sort of distraction. In a way, it reminds me of Dr Seuss and how half the journey is a visual one.

How much do I love this woman for her contact page? A lot, that’s how much. There are links, an email address, and a snail mail address. They are all easy to read while still being written all over a page of crazy stars and sketches. Well done, Jess Freedom.

Last Thursday, a friend contacted me about proofreading his novel – by Monday. It’s hard to say no to a paying job, so I told him I’d have a go. I managed to do it by editing from Friday arvo to Sunday night with breaks only for sleeping. I’m actually proud of getting it done on time, but I had to put everything else aside. I still haven’t caught up.

I have a few smaller zines for you this week, so I figured I would review them in one post. Not to take away from the awesomeness and importance of mini-zines. More that I figure two or three mini-zines adds up to the prattling I do on one bigger zine.

I apologise for the pics being a little dark. First up, a poster edition of YOU.

I’ll be honest: I can’t resist a free zine – even in poster form. I’m a big fan of YOU in all its incarnations. If you want to know more about that, then check out this post.

My Learnings
Heard
A7
?

My Learnings is a very simple mini-zine filled with simple life truths – most of which are fewer than seven words. It’s not a complex read by any means, but perhaps that is the point. It’s a quick read but a pleasant one.

Mini Moz Fanzine
Alice Belle
A7… or is it! Surprise when you fold it out to A4

Mini Moz is a passionate tribute to Morrissey. Not quite the traditional mini-zine, you don’t just read it through. There are different bits written in different directions, making it more of an exploration. I quite liked that unexpected treat – even if I’m not all that familiar with Morrissey.

*****

Both mini-zines do prod a pet peeve of mine, which is no contact details, no blog URL, so on and so forth. I don’t begrudge anyone the desire to remain anonymous (Dear Anonymous, anyone?), but I would have liked to check out more. Especially Mini Moz given she’s such a talented artist.

How do You Take It? 2014 (Issue #14)
Tasha
A6
https://lifeasawhitepickettfence.wordpress.com/ (No longer operating.)

That moment of strange excitement when you come across a zine, see the author’s name, and think, “Hey! I know her!” That’s the little thrill I received when I saw this zine is by Tasha. She’s one of the first people I traded zines with on WMZ back at the beginning of my zine journey.

‘How do You Take It’ starts off with a diary-type entry noting Tasha’s thoughts on the first day of a new year. While the writing is a touch flowery (if I’m to be honest), it does fit with the kind of self-examination that usually comes with the start of a new year.

The sentiments don’t last overly long before she launches into a cynical rant about resolutions which began with these words (that made me smirk):

‘Tis the season to publicly commit to ridiculous lifelong aspirations; to promise the unrealistic and make soundedgoodatthetime kinda plans!

There aren’t exactly solid, clear breaks as such, so everything kind of travels into the next section on its own. While probably not intentional, it does work for a bleary-eyed zine created on Day One of 2014. It does wrap up with a reflection upon the previous year. I like this because, while she takes a cynical view of resolutions, she shows that she can still appreciate the meaning of a new year and its significance.