Zine Review: Why Am I Even Here?

Why Am I Even Here Zine

Why Am I Even Here?
Tegan
http://www.teganelizabeth.com/

When you only review two zines a week, you can still be reviewing zines from trades made in February… 😉

I met Tegan thanks to Bloomurder, and she was kind enough to trade me a couple of her zines.

Why Am I Even Here? is a travel zine, but not like any I have read before. (Admittedly, I haven’t read a lot of travel zines.) Rather than a step-by-step or ‘go here and do this’ sort of travel zine, it’s more introspective – even poetic. Passing thoughts while exploring the world without the intense focus on the place itself. Rather, the focus on the experience of the place. One line in particular hit me in such a way that I stopped to think about it for a while.

…I hate it when people stare and ruin perfect moments with their eyes.

There is a delicacy that carries through her words into every aspect of the zine. Her handwriting and even the simplicity of her biggest illustrations give this entire zine the feeling of something akin to shyness.

The best simile I can think of is that this zine is like a flower – don’t come crashing in and expecting a backpacker’s guide. If you’d like something to sit with and think about with a few landmarks to place you, then pick up this zine.

Introducing: Zine Video Page!

Today I have just a quick post to introduce a page I’ve been wanting to put together for a while:

Zine Videos

Woohoo!

This page is just a small collection of various zine-related videos I’ve found on YouTube and in other places. I thought it would nice to have one page to serve as a playlist of sorts.

I will be adding to it in the future, so if I’ve missed one of your favourite videos, please let me know. I’d love to add to the collection.

Happy International Zine Month! Days 25 – 31

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It’s the first day of August, but I’m giving myself a pass for that somewhat last-minute trip away. Now it’s time for one big ol’ catch up session.

Day 23: Make a One-Page Zine

I called for a rain delay on this one last week. Here is the photo proof I finished!

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I haven’t made a one-page zine for such a long time. I need to make them more often.

Day 25: Organise a zine event! Big or small.

I think we all know that me trying to organise something right now would probably end in disaster. Haha. Anything more anyway. However, if there are any events – big or small – around you, please let me know. 🙂

Day 26: Teach a friend or family member about zines.

I’m going to go past the obvious (the reason this site exists) and say that I have done this in the past. I wish I had pictures to share. I set up a little ‘intro to zines’ session with a few of my friends to show them my entire zine collection as well as how to make a one-page zine.

It’s been making me think more about different kinds of posts to make in the future…

Day 27: Submit something to a compilation zine.

This is one thing that I’ve been regretting over the past few months. I put up a lot of calls for submissions, but I haven’t made the time to submit to them. (Good intentions and all of that.) Collaboration is a big part of zine culture, and I definitely want to embrace it.

Day 28: Cook with a recipe from a zine or cook zine.

Nutella Zine

The very first zine I bought years ago was a zine all about making delicious things with Nutella! You can bet I got right into that. 🙂 I don’t think I’ve read any other zines that are dedicated to recipes. Hm. I think I need to remedy that.

Day 29: Post a photo of you with your zine or zine collection.

This post is coming so late(r than usual) because I have been having a horrid time trying to upload photos. I know that’s no fun, so I’ll post this up again. My zinester trading card. 🙂

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Day 30: Read some zines!

Been there, will always be doing that. 😉

Day 31: HallowZINE Remember zines and zinesters that are no longer with us.

I haven’t known any zinesters who have passed personally, but I raise my glass to all those who have gone before. Especially those who have created in the face of threat and fear.

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There we have it for International Zine Month 2016. I promise to be much more organised next year. 🙂

Done, Doing, Dreaming: The Slow Recuperation Edition

Before I get into any of this, I want to say a the most heartfelt thank you to everyone who read and responded to Love From Adelaide Part Two.

When I wrote that, I was utterly exhausted, completely stressed with all the numbers, signatures, and such needed just to get things started in the hopes of building a house, and simply feeling overwhelmed with the world. I am unashamed to say that I am a sensitive soul, and there was a lot going on in Adelaide.

Being tired might as well be the same as drunk for me subtract the fun and flirting. So while Wanderer already snoozed away in the hotel bed, I typed that post with the ‘not good enough’ cloud surrounding my head. My childhood taught me that I don’t deserve the basics, let alone anything so wonderful as a home to truly call my own. So my not-yet-untrained childhood mind decided to rant at me about being a failure when it comes to consistency here.

Thankfully, I was able to get some sleep and read some wonderful comments to remind me that no one around here is expecting perfection of me – except for me.

So many thanks to everyone. I feel like I could use a few solid days sleep still, but I’m already back in my less stimulating bubble so I can calm down for a while.

Calls for Zine Pieces Submissions

Done

*I’m done posting about Adelaide! Though I loved it there. I’m excited to know that, next year, I’ll be a shorter train ride away from Adelaide than I am from Melbourne now.

[Pretend my connection is working and this is where the picture of my mic resides]

*My beautiful microphone arrived while I was away! Only when I saw it did it occur to me that my enthusiasm may have overshot the more practical timeline for podcasting… However, I do still have zines to record, so it’s still of use.
*I also finished my mini-zine. Pictures will be in my IZM post to come soon…

Doing

*Another week, another email catch up. If you’ve emailed me, I will get back to you within the next 48 hours.
*I am loving the wonderful happy mail that has come in while I was away. I want to take proper pictures, hence the slight delay.

Audio Zines

*I am still working on editing the audio for DCMC 1. I really need to learn to delegate…
*Dear Anonymous 5 is still in the works, so feel free to send those letters.
*I’m working on a special issue of Don’t Call Me Cupcake for #5…
*New zine submission calls to come soon!
*I’m also working on what I hope will be an awesome new page here on the website. More details soon, because I’m secretive that way. 😉

Dreaming

*It’s August! How is it August already? I still don’t know what to do for a birthday celebration thing. Suggestions?
*I’m still dreaming of saving up for a badge machine, but it’s definitely on the back burner for now.

Call for Submissions: Zine of the Hill

Zine of the Hill

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ZINE OF THE HILL (better title tbd)

Did anyone else cry when Netflix took down King of the Hill?

Looking for fan art/fiction, conspiracy theories, love poems, short essays, memes, and good memories about one of the greatest shows of all time, King of the Hill. The show went off the air six years ago after thirteen seasons, and is gone (from Netflix) but not forgotten.

Ideally I’d like to have this done for San Francisco Zine Fest 2016, so deadline is ~August 20 (that’s two whole months). Hit me up @ queeranxietybabiezdistro@gmail if you have any questions! Please share with your networks or anyone you think may be interested ^_^

Call for Submissions: All in Your Head

All in Your Head is a traditional cut-and-paste style zine with a focus on LGBTQIA neurodivergent and disabled activists, zinesters, artists, and authors. Our zine operates on the following *principles: 1.) social inequality and injustice exists [racism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, cissexism to name a few]; 2.) disability, neurodiversity can be understood as a viable form of human difference that intersects with/is shaped by systems of dominance; 3.) claims that there is a “normal” bodymind can have damaging and harmful effects (physically/emotionally/spiritually) and are partly shaped by current social/cultural values and white western colonial histories; 4.) neuroatypical people and people with disabilities must navigate cultural taboos, move among complex institutions and systems of care and negotiate conflicting ideas of “wellness/illness,“ “silence/disclosure,” “visibility/invisibility;” “dis/ability” and more 5.) most importantly, our stories matter. (*this list is by no means exhaustive)

For the Fall 2016 edition of All in Your Head, we invite you to share first person narratives, essays, rants, poems, doodles, drawings, photography, collages (and more!) that address the concept of “cure.” We are seeking pieces that explore the theme “cures” as it relates to disabled bodyminds and ways that queer neurodivergent, disabled folks encounter and resist cultural stigma and self-authorize our existence.

We are seeking topics that address the following themes (and others):

§ “Cure culture” (Eli Clare) as a homogenizing/coercive force

§ Critiques of health, well-being, and wholeness as it is informed by white supremacy, colonialism, imperialism, racism, colorism, ableism, classism, homo/bi/transphobia and other forms of oppression;

§ “Curing” queerness, disability, and neurodiversity manifesting as state and institutional violence;

§ Interconnections among racism, white supremacy, ableism, and state/institutional violence particularly in light of police violence and state surveillance;

§ Queering cures and cure culture;

§ Trans and queer sick/neurodivergent/disabled narratives and grappling with the concept of “cure;”

§ Radically performing illness/sickness and other forms of resistance to “cure culture;”

§ Artist/Activist projects related to queerness, disability, and neurodivergence for our activist spotlight section.

§ Have an idea not listed here? Submit anyway!

Send your submissions to allinyourheadzine@gmail.com before September 1st, 2016. Please send your submissions via email. For written submissions, please use Microsoft word and submit your writing in .doc or .docx format. Please try to limit submissions to 1500 words. (We are flexible. Let us know if you need a little extra space.) For artwork, please attach high resolution .jpg images to your email. Please include a title for your artwork and any information you would like readers to know about your piece (medium, location, tools used etc). Contributors have the option of sharing a short bio or publishing their work anonymously.

IMPORTANT: Contributors should be willing to have their work displayed in another, accessible form of media alongside the traditional paper zine. Contributors should anticipate that their work may be read and translated/captioned in a video via youtube or vimeo or another internet venue. More details on this element to come. Email us with any questions. Coordinators of All in Your Head reserve the right to reject any pieces that violate our basic feminist/queer values. We explicitly seek to interrupt racism, sizeism, sexism, ableism, classism, trans/bi/homophobia, and all other forms of oppression in our work and submissions that violate these principles will be automatically rejected. All submissions should provide content/trigger warnings where appropriate. Coordinators reserve the right to add trigger/content warnings if necessary.

Love From Adelaide – Part 2

Zine Ninja in Adelaide

Zine Ninja meets Adelaide

Despite having every intention of getting zine reviews done in advance so this exact situation wouldn’t happen… Here we are.

Maybe it doesn’t really mean anything to anyone other than me, but I do like to at least try for consistency here. It’s important to me that this be a place where people can – if nothing else – at least start their journey into the world of zines.

When I was first contemplating making a real go of it here (after my half-hearted attempt years ago), I looked at many, many different zine websites. Mostly zine review websites. While there are certainly those that were and still are going strong (Zine Nation, Xerography Debt, to name a couple), there were many out there that had stopped recently or even years ago.

I began to feel a little despondent, thinking that my reinvigorated passion for the community had come too late. The party had finished, the confetti was on the floor ready to be swept up, and not even the DJ was still around to say that it’d been great while it lasted.

At that point, I realised that, while what came before certainly did matter, the fact that so many thing had already stopped or closed would not stop me. I’m not at this point exactly sure what my ‘end aim’ is – if there even is one at all – but I know I am determined to create a space where people can learn about zines if they are new to the community or feel comfortable to hang around if they aren’t new to the community.

I don’t by any means see myself as anyone special, but I’ve felt that I can maybe – just maybe – create a space that amalgamates everything I love to the extent that it inspires others.

Overstimulated

Wanderer took this picture of me earlier… Overstimulated and exhausted.

That’s why I become disappointed when I miss a review. That’s why, despite being fairly exhausted, I’m posting this here. I care, and I want to be the person I wish I could have had in so many different ways.

That’s probably a long story that I shouldn’t get into at the moment.

Anyway, what I am getting at in the most long-winded way possible is that I’m sorry I miss reviews – even if it turns out that none of you mind it too much. I am excited to tell you that I should be able to move into my forever home next year. And, no matter what it says of me, I am partly excited because I know that that means for what I will be able to do here.

I thank you all in the most heartfelt way for all the support I have found here, the new friends, the new follows, the everything. I am so happy here in a life where I have had… Well, I’ve had my difficulties. Let’s just say that I’m so happy to be doing what I do here, and the fact that anyone is getting enjoyment out of it (let alone the number of people who have actually said as much to me) is an amazing, wonderful thing to me.

I will accept that things are what they are right now. I will be back home this weekend and will endeavour to catch up with everything. I might even have the time and energy to plan something special for my birthday, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself (again). Haha.

My absolute best wishes to you all.

Love From Adelaide

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Today’s post us brought to you by the WordPress app. I’m still not sure how I feel about blogging on my phone, but I can’t deny that it makes things a bit easier – especially when you have a short trip away suddenly.

Well, not suddenly as such… But definitely not enough warning to do things like pre-post reviews…

This post comes post very long drive, post walking through pissing down rain for a few drinks and snacks for dinner, post getting moved to another room because the heater wouldn’t work and it’s freezing winter! I’m in a positive space, though, because there is a lot to be grateful for and to look forward to.

Coherent thought not being on that list, perhaps. 😉

Until I’ve had a good sleep (and, perhaps, you have too), I wish you nothing but the best.

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Bedtime zine reading.

Done, Doing, Dreaming

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Scrambling, scrambling before another small road trip. Sigh. I just want to be in my forever home…

Done

*My quest to be more organised has been greatly helped along with the arrival of my Sea Green Zines notebook+. Yay for organising!
*I’ve mailed out zines to all the giveaway winners so far. A couple people still have yet to email me – don’t miss out!

Doing

Audio Zines

*This ^ has been my view for… I don’t know how many hours as I edit the audio for Don’t Call Me Cupcake 1. Things have been crazy with house stuff, so I’ve only been able to work on it here and there.
*I am working on that mini-zine… They’re more labour-intensive than you think.
*Dear Anonymous 5 is still in the works, so feel free to send those letters.
*I’m working on a special issue of Don’t Call Me Cupcake for #5…

Dreaming

*My birthday is next month, and I’m trying to dream up something fun to do…
*I’ve been dreaming big about a badge making machine, and I think I’ve picked out the machine that I’d like to get. Now to save up.
*I’m still far away from actually podcasting, but I am scripting out ideas and such.
*I am looking forward to putting out a few new calls for submissions for zine ideas I have swirling around in my head…

Happy International Zine Month – Days 22, 23, 24

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And away we go!

Day 22: Send your zine to a zine library

I think I’m out of sync with the universe. I’m either ahead or running behind…

Zine Library Invite

About a week ago, I was approached via Etsy about donating one of my zines to a new zine library. They happened to have great timing, as I had both a zine to send and a stamp to spare to get it to them. So while I didn’t take a picture (*cough*slacker*cough*) of it, I’ve already sent one off!

However, if you are a zine librarian looking to expand your collection, let me know! I’d love to give you a shout out here.

PS. I realised today that when I previously mentioned zine libraries, I made the assumption that you know what I’m talking about. It is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, zine libraries are large (usually) collections of zines that aren’t collected elsewhere. Unlike a distro, zine libraries don’t sell zines.

Day 23: Make a one page zine.

Rain delay. 😛 Postponed for the moment because I still haven’t learned my lesson and actually looked ahead. Oopsie.

Day 24: Teach yourself a new zine skill

Unless you’re new here (hello!), you know how much I love to blather on about pretty much anything and everything zine related. So you can take that little step further and imagine how much I hate to say that, well, this task has me stumped.

New zine skill.

I don’t know what to do.

I don’t mean to imply that I am some utterly awesome zine master who knows all of the things about all of the things (because I very much do not). Still, I’m really not sure what to do here.

So I put it into your hands, dear readers. Is there anything you would like to see? Anything I can explain or take a picture of or something?

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