Month: May 2018

Real Life: A Magical Guide to Getting Off the Internet
Maranda Elizabeth & Dave Cave
https://www.etsy.com/shop/schoolformaps

Real Life is a ¼ sized black and white zine about taking a look at how much you use the internet and how to step away when you’re using it too much.

“Take a deep lung-cleansing breath and take full ownership of your habit.” – Dave Cave

I really love when I read a zine at the right time in my life. This one comes with very good timing as I’ve grown unhappy with my recent habit of checking emails and such before I even get out of bed in the morning.

Real Life opens with introductions from Maranda and Dave, followed by a piece called ‘What Would You Rather Be Doing?’ that really sets the tone for this zine.

The thing that really struck me from the get go in Real Life was the levels of self-awareness and self-examination in this zine. They both look at the internet as it is: a multifaceted thing that gives us many things on many different levels. Coping, validation, both positive and negative impacts on mental health, and more.

I appreciated that Maranda and Dave, while definitely leaning away from internet usage, still accept its role in our lives in a modern world. It’s not a ‘burn your computers’ condemnation of the internet as a whole but rather a deep examination of what the internet gives us to get us to the point where we know we’d rather be doing something else but yet still don’t close down our computers.

Dave’s tips for breaking internet habits (especially lovely for the list-makers of the world) and Maranda’s ‘Try This’ suggestions are a bit intimidating to me to actually try. However, that just says that I am spending too much time online. Along with many, many questions with which you can examine your own reasons for using the internet and how much you use it, this zine could be a spectacular starting point if you want to check in with yourself regarding why and how much you use the internet.

I highly recommend this zine – even if you haven’t been questioning your internet usage. It can be good to examine that which we take for granted.

Coffee & People 1 & 2
Craig Atkinson
https://www.instagram.com/craiganthonyatkinson/

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Coffee & People 1 and 2 are black and white one-page-folded perzines with short life stories on cafes, coffee, people, and skateboarding.

I couldn’t tell you exactly what makes a title good or bad to me, but I really like the title of this zine series. It’s simple, nice, and definitely captures a ‘writerly’ vibe.

The first zine opens with setting the scene of sitting at the local cafe on a humid day. Craig, of course, writes it much more beautifully. He then takes us from a cafe in Japan to a cafe in London and a tale from days spent there. The second zine opens with a late night writing session and reflecting on how skateboarding remained a life constant in a young life that involved a lot of moving house and change.

I had to smile when I was reading these zines because I had just started thinking that Craig had a flair for writing when he mentioned in the zine that he is a writer. I’d love to read more of his descriptive writing.

There’s a special place in my zine-loving heart for short, slice of life stories. They encompass the little moments, the little things that so often have big, lingering impacts on who we are and how we think. I don’t always identify with things – the only thing I could do with a skateboard is hurt myself – but I liked reading about what it meant to Craig.

I quite liked these zines and am looking forward to reading more of Craig’s writing.