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.