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A Strange & Excellent Turn of Events

So today is the day! I said that my 100th review is this week, and… it’s not up.

hawkward

I’ve been running on low fuel these past couple of weeks with all the health tests and such, so I fully own up to being behind already when I woke up this morning. It was all going to work out anyway – I have my 100th zine to review picked out and everything – but then Wanderer and I received a phone call this morning…

Wanderer and I have been seriously pushing forward in the journey to move interstate and buy our own house for what seems like at least a year by now. (The interstate part of that being a longer story for another time.) The call this morning started a rollercoaster of emotion that ended in some excellent news.

However, to get there, we had to deal with additional phone calls, lining up times for things, interviews to confirm details, so on and so forth. What was going to be a quiet day turned out to be sooo busy in the best of ways as it’s all looking like green lights for a move this year!

The pickle of it is that I didn’t get my 100th review up. Oopsie. However, it’s kind of fun because my 100th review will go up on Friday the 13th!

Okay, so maybe ‘fun’ isn’t the word everyone would use, but I’m going to leave it there anyway.

For now, I’ll leave that drum rolling for a smidge longer, and I’ll see you tomorrow with my 100th zine review.

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Australian Postal Costs AKA Why I Don’t Do A Lot of Mail Art

Wise Blood Mail Art 1

I think it was the envelope from Fishspit that made me realise that I was missing out on some big mail art fun.

That’s not to say that I hadn’t received beautifully drawn upon, stamped, embossed, coloured, washi taped, etc envelopes before, but his envelopes made me realise that cut and paste is alive and well in envelopes as well as zines. And, well, I really wish I could up my game.

The obvious point of the matter is that I could up my game if I had more artistic skills when it comes to drawing. The not-so-obvious point of the matter that when it comes to adding so much as a sticker to international mail from Australia, it gets… annoying.

The thing about Australian mail sent internationally is that it’s $2.45 up until you hit the 50 grams mark. After that? It jumps to $7.40

I’m not here to talk about how utterly ridiculous the price difference is (grr) but rather to talk about 50 grams.

50 grams is not that much. Not by a long shot. When you’re sending paper and maybe tucking a few stickers in there, it’s more than enough. But when it comes to a zine – especially a zine with cardstock covers – adding in a halfway decent envelope can quickly and easily send it right over the mark.

I try to keep my zines at 24 pages or less because, after you put a cover on them, they are skirting that 50g line pretty closely. Add in the envelope and you’re screwed over in a hurry. I would love to send out my zines with sturdier envelopes for protection, but the sturdier envelopes would take up so much of the weight that I’d be lucky to put a mini-zine inside.

I wish there was a middle ground between 50g and 250g that would let me make bigger zines and/or have fun with mail art. Alas…

I don’t know if anyone had even ever wondered about Australian postage costs, but there you go. My ‘info rant’ for the day.

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How Many Reviews?!

I will putting up my 100th zine review soon.

100th zine review.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6l8MFdTaPE&w=425&h=315]

By ‘soon’, I mean that my 100th zine review is this week.

Yeah, it kind of snuck up on me.

In March, I wondered about how many reviews I had and paid attention for a while. But then it slipped my mind until I updated the Zine Review Index the other day and saw that A Visitor in Myself #2 was my 99th review.

http://giphy.com/gifs/rainbow-lol-gif-vomit-LwIw5RCH3hwGc

I want to do something special to celebrate, but I really have no idea what to do. Well, I have one idea, but I’m going to let that one stew in my brain until I get back from Melbourne.

Suggestions welcome. 🙂

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Call for Submissions: Postcards From The Mind Palace

Calls for Zine Pieces Submissions

‘Postcards From The Mind Palace’ wants your real life stories.

Everyone has interesting stories to tell- weird dating tales, holiday adventures that went awry, new jobs that didn’t go as planned, eventful family visits, drunken shenanigans, whatever. I’m looking for your interesting/entertaining stories from your past of whatever type. Just nothing too harrowing/disturbing please.

Up to about 750 words. Deadline May 15th.

Though as I’m not looking for any sort of literary masterpiece, why not just write it up right now. Tell it pretty much in the way you’d tell the story in person to somebody, and send it to ja.wilkinson@yahoo.co.uk in the body of the email.

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Mini Zine Review: A Visitor In Myself #2

A Visitor in Myself 2

A Visitor In Myself #2
Nichole
www.collectingwords.etsy.com

This is one of those zines where there are so many things I want to talk about that I feel like I have to control myself lest I leave no surprises for potential readers. Haha.

A Visitor In Myself #2 is a zine written by the same Nichole who writes the Pieces series (reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). She is a perzine writer who lets me enjoy one of the best things about zines: realising you are not alone. Her writing style is introspective and thoughtful while still inviting you along to think about her life along with her. If you were sitting having a cuppa with her, you would feel more than welcome to add your thoughts to hers.

She talks about things like connecting to people on her own terms, alcohol, and expressing her needs. There is also a time gap part way through that gives her the chance to reflect a little on the things she wrote before, which adds an interesting dynamic. The different subjects are like snippets but still manage to be complete.

She also talks a little bit about dissociation (“Dissociation is a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity.” – Better Health Victoria), and I couldn’t help but wonder if that is the story behind the title. I do love it when there are layers of meaning in things.

There is a very beautiful moment in this zine when, amongst the doubt and confusion, she writes about a moment of such clarity and strength that I wanted to say, “There! Look! Look what you did!” I identify so much with a lot of her anxieties that reading about a moment of saying, “Please don’t contact me anymore” to someone who was important (that I haven’t even read about) made me feel like celebrating that moment for her. I don’t even know if she realises…

On the experience side beyond the content (because I almost always have to mention it)…

I like her cut and paste style. She always includes things like patterned borders and images here and there, but it never feels like too much or takes away from the text. Text that is typed on a typewriter – a little addition that I love (and am a smidge jealous of). Her zines are also machine sewn, which looks good and is great at keeping the zines together.

All up, I sense another zine series that I’ll have to get my hands on.

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Zine Review: Friday Night in West Ealing #76

Friday Night in West Ealing 76 Zine

Friday Night in West Ealing #76
K?
fridaynightinwestealing@gmail.com

This is one of those zines that I know I’ve had for a while, but I can’t really recall where or when I picked it up. Though I do strongly suspect Sticky Institute.

Friday Night in West Ealing #76 is a strong representation for how a zine can work in true simplicity. The entire zine is a double-sided piece of A4 paper that’s folded, type on the inside and handwritten on the front/back. It’s purely words – written or typed – with no illustrations but for a few hand-drawn hearts on the inside. The experience of it is somewhat like a newspaper – opening it up to read one bit and then unfolding the rest to get the whole story.

The “only words” approach in the zine world doesn’t seem like it should be that different, but it is enough for me to write this sentence saying it is.

Sometimes I wonder about my luck with things – especially zine things – because other people might not be interested in slice of life type of reading that concerns moving from an old wallet into a new wallet with all the things that get lost and forgotten in old wallets. But for me? I love finding out what people have in their purses, wallets, bags, etc.

What I love even more though? Fluid story writing. Writing that carries you along gently without you even being aware that you’re going somewhere. Writing that starts with a 22 pound umbrella and ends with putting the past away in favour of letting a new collection of wallet artifacts creep into your wallet over the years. There is something beautiful and wonderful about the small moments of a life, and I think that’s why this zine is on #76 and is still going.

The yellow of the paper is actually a lot more pleasant than what is displayed in the photo above. I love my camera, but combinations of sucktastic lighting and my limited knowledge of whether it’s best to up the brightness or exposure (or something else?!) make for some poor visual translations.

There’s certainly a mystery to this zine with only an email address on the back. It’s usually a bug bear of mine to have to go hunting for more details, but… I think it kind of works for this zine.

Don’t point back to this post when I grumble about it on other zines, though, okay?

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Slowly But Surely – Dear Anonymous 4 Contributor Copies & Kickstarter Rewards

(I have a picture, but my internet is playing up. Hrmph. It’s just not the same without the picture.)

Today I have been addressing envelopes and then filling them with zine-y goodness. It’s slightly slow work because I’m a little paranoid about writing down addresses wrong or missing mailing something to someone. I’ve made my list, though, and checked it thrice. Haha.

I’m so excited for these to reach their destinations! There’s even one going to Barbados this round. Very cool.

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My Happy Place

Zine Making

With ink in my printer and all the supplies I need (thanks to a run to the shops for embroidery thread), I am definitely in my zine-making happy place. Maybe it sounds corny, but I keep looking at all the supplies and thinking about how it’s all thanks to generosity from other people.

(Side note: How did ‘corny’ become that work? Why not ‘appley’ or ‘asparagusy’?)

I’m even more happy to be able to hang out in my happy place, as the doc called yesterday regarding my Friday activities, and I head out in a few hours to hear what’s what.

I won’t get rich making zines, but I’m so happy to be in a position where I am able to make them as well as talk about the ones I’m reading. I might not ‘get’ poetry most of the time and know little to nothing about the music scene, but I still feel welcome and happy.

I hope you do, too. 🙂

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Calls for Calls for Submissions

Zine Calls for Submissions

If you have a call for submissions, a zine fest, a zine project, a zine that needs crowdfunding, or something else zine-related and would like to get the word out – look no further!

Well, actually, look further. Definitely look further, because that’s how you get the word out about stuff.

Definitely pause here for a moment, though, because I can help! Send me your call out graphic and any additional information, and I can post it here. Saturdays and Sundays are all about the calls for submissions here on Sea Green Zines, and I’m always happy to post more.

Leave a comment here or email me at theauthor(at)inkyblots.com