Pocket Thoughts 3
Ryan
https://linktr.ee/_my_name_is_ryan_
Pocket Thoughts 3 is a quarter-sized black and white perzine about all sorts of things.
Usually after I’ve read one zine in a series, I know that to expect in the zines that follow. But after reviewing Pocket Thoughts 2, I only knew that this issue would be another adventure.
Pocket Thoughts 3opens with a brief introduction from Ryan, all his socials, and a few small clips. Like I wrote, you never know what you’re going to get with Pocket Thoughts, and the clips are a mix of short anecdotes, jokes, and brief thoughts. A word search puzzle where you don’t find words so much as specific strings of letters shows Ryan’s sarcastic sense of humour isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Ryan continues with his full-of-variety zine style that is still quite adult with swearing, a thought piece on how it’s likely that at some point in time someone has masturbated thinking about you, and a list of ‘People Who Can Fuck the Hell Off’ list.
Like the ‘why the world needs compassion more than love’ piece from Pocket Thoughts 2 did, ‘Why elections are like mall food carts’ stands out to me. The metaphor carries even better than I thought it would and gives a cynical, dark humour look at current political systems. While it does have a US-focus, I think it applies to plenty of other governments as well. It makes me think that a whole ‘Elections are a lot like…’ collab zine could be a very good read.
There is a piece called Slut that, to be honest, I don’t really understand. Not that the piece itself is hard to understand but because I’m not sure what the purpose of it is. It uses language that is uncomfortable to read – especially when you know that’s the way some people think and speak. Then again, maybe that’s the point. Perhaps we shouldn’t always read what is comfortable because it keeps us from confronting bigger issues.
Pocket Thoughts 3 is a strange but utterly fitting next edition in a series that leaves me all the more curious about what will be included in the next one.