Month: September 2018

The Stay at Home Girlfriend #24
Kendy P.
https://www.instagram.com/missmuffcake/

The Stay at Home Girlfriend #24 is a half-fold black and white perzine about zines, mental illness, recipes, cat fun, and more.

Kendy opens this issue of The Stay at Home Girlfriend with a piece about mental illness difficulties – the physical repercussions, how comorbid conditions can make each other worse, and the value of group therapy. Dealing with OCD, anxiety, and depression, there is a lot to identify with in Kendy’s experiences. There is a ray of sunshine in everything, though, with Kendy continuing to keep working on things and viewing it all as a journey.

Following that comes the variety of things I have come to love in this zine series. ‘Things I Like’ gives a fun peek into Kendy’s world with plenty of things to check out if you’re in Berkeley. Kendy then goes on to reflect on fears about the Trump presidency, tabling at EBABZ (East Bay Area Book and Zine Fest), and the loss of the amazing zinester Ara Jo.

I loved reading about Kendy’s zine goals as well as goals for the year to come (2017 for this issue). Lists are a forever favourite. While I’m not vegan, I’m always curious about the recipes Kendy shares (of which there are plenty). Even her cats get involved in this issue with some humours pieces: ‘Dr Mady Explains the Ancient Art of Blood Letting’ and ‘Mortis’ Natural Home Remedies for Hair Balls’.

The Stay at Home Girlfriend series always feels like a letter from the friend who always sent at least five pages of all sorts of things going on in their lives. It’s a zine that doesn’t push or pull – rather saying “Here I am – readers alwaus welcome”.

I’m not sure if that makes sense to anyone, so I’ll say that I quite like what I’ve read of the series and always want to know what happened next in Kendy’s life.

How to Sleep
Neik Glasshouse
http://nuonis.com/anatomic-air-press/

How to Sleep is slightly smaller than A6 and is a black and white zine full of tips to help you to get to sleep and stay asleep.

“With this guide, I go deeper into the beauty of sleep and how you can use it to grow.”

When I first saw this zine, I thought it might be about something else with a clever title. Lo and behold, a title that gets right to the point. Haha.

How to Sleep opens with a table of contents and an introduction to the zine. Neik writes about the reasons for writing this zine and their respect for the state of sleeping. The reader is meant to take this zine and the contents within as they will as it’s more personal than scientific.

The zine is split into two sections: ‘What You Need’ and ‘Steps on How to Sleep’. Part one is shourt at three pages, but it brings up important reminders for the place you spend about a third of your day. Not all of the suggestions are doable (mostly from a money-related view), but that’s what you get with many guides.

I found part two interesting with more than a few things I’m going to try in an effort to improve my sleep. It’s a more ‘internal’ vibes and energy answer to the more ‘external’ environmental approach in part one. I like that Neik explores before, during, and after sleep rather than only how to get to sleep. Neik even talks about cultivating an internal alarm, which is something I always thought was a funny trick some people could do.

There was one small bit that rankled me enough to make me pause. In a section about reflecting on reasons to feel gratitude, Neik includes a footnote:

“If you prefer to be an asshole and do not want to strive to be a human being that exerts good vibrations, then being grateful might be a very hard thing for you to do.”

I found this to be aggressive for a zine that opened with a more relaxed and open tone. It also ignores that actually feeling gratitude can be something that does have to be worked on and that mental illness that can make it difficult to feel gratitude. These things to not make someone into an asshole.

Aesthetically, this zine is quite lovely. Vellum provides an ‘outer’ cover and is used in the middle of the zine for an introduction to sleep stages. The layout is great with a small font size but still a nicely readable sans serif font. (Save for a section at the very end that is especially tiny. Done on purpose, according to the author, but to what end, I’m not entirely clear.)

While I do have my niggles with this zine, I think it has interesting suggestions for getting more out of your sleep. If you’re looking for a more meditative approach to your sleep, then give this zine a read.