I need to learn to take better pictures…

The Third Biannual Mildly Informative Booklet Depicting Graphical Representations of General Occurrences and Observations
Sarah McNeil
A6
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/SarahMcNeil

Phew! What a title! Not to be confused with Updated Report of Observations Which Somehow Seem to Reflect Abstractly on Life (Stat 2)

With pie charts like ‘Things I Put On My Various Tumbler Accounts’, a coffee flow chart, and ‘Books To Get For My Sister/Her Baby’, this is another zine that gives a glimpse into a life in a fun way. I do wonder if the zine creator has a real sense of the picture she paints of her life, if it’s simply ‘a bit of fun’, and if my picture is actually in any way accurate.

It doesn’t really matter, as most of the fun is really in not knowing. Not reading too deeply.

I love this zine as much as I love Sarah’s previous zine of graphs and charts. The addition of lists was a decision I adore (bring on the lists!). However, the thing that really got me for this zine is the first pie chart, regarding spelling occurrence wrong, which I have done today no less than five times. It’s always good to know one isn’t alone. 😉

This zine is what it is in that you’ll be able to tell fairly straight away whether you’ll like it or not. I appreciate that very much.

Pieces #3 On Writing, Drinking & Demons
Nichole
http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/Nichole
https://www.etsy.com/shop/fictionandnot

I understand now what drives a lot of people to do this and, more importantly, the vague reasons why.

Pieces #3 is one of those zines where I want to quote everything because I identify with this, and with this, and with this…

You get the picture.

From the beginning, Nichole had me with this zine for a number of reasons. Perhaps because I’ve been so desperate to write – to actually finish something. Or perhaps because I’ve been exactly where she was when she made this zine: longing for the possibilities an altered state of mind might provide. I, too, used to look down my nose at people who did such things, but I also now understand why they do it…

As Nichole states on the first page, this zine was written over two days in a flow-of-consciousness style while she swims to the bottom of a bottle of Captain Morgan. It’s an interesting transition as the first strip of black is put on the page partway through the journey and ends with white text on a page of black – plus a photocopied, handwritten page almost as if to prove it had happened.

Even in the literally darkest part of the zine, she seems unsure to the point of needing ‘proof’. Or I could just be reading into it too much. Either way, I still feel the urge to take her out for an ice cream and tell her that I really like her zines.

The next morning in the zine dawns bright once again with black-bordered type on white pages. Attempts to write disappear completely in the wake of ice creams and conversations. While the whole thing left Nichole feeling like she wasn’t sure whether it was a success or not, I see it as the former. After all, I think producing words requires ‘getting out and living a bit’.

For the anxious and shy, sometimes that requires alcohol.

Drinking never seems to accomplish what I initially set out to do…

I hear you.

Somethin’ somethin’. Continue reading “Zine Review: Pieces #3 On Writing, Drinking & Demons”