Can-zine was officially, awesome. There’s a pretty good sum-up, run-down here. Too many beautiful things, too many indie kid’s crammed into some tight spaces and not enough deodorant (which was very, very unfortunate). I sold a few zines, traded a bunch more and gave out a few for free too (yep, because I liked their face, honest). Mostly I wandered around dumfounded and overwhelmed.
I rocked the Welland table. Welland has some hard-core, serious and famous ‘zinesters…
Who are apparently some of my good friends. Who knew?
I guess I’m a Wellander by association. I think having friends and family there give’s you a bit of cred when it comes to the Rose City. Not as much as growing up there, but enough to associate with the people without getting beat up.
Oooh, by the way I found out one of my Welland friends (Mr. Mike Pisiak, my predecessor as illustrator and comics god at the Brock Press) has a blog I was unaware of. It is called house of irony and it is everything you could hope for and more…
If you were hoping for irony, sarcasm and boy-related pop-culture that is.
I will be at canzine today - pretty much for the whole thing, as I may have to drive a couple folks home. I will have a small zine, that I may be selling or giving away for free, depending on how I like your face.
You think I’m joking, but I’m not.
I have a friend that has a table, which is awesome. She told me I could have some space there but I don’t really have anything to sell. I wish I had more time and warning for this thing, I totally would have thrown some more substantial stuff together.
Hmmmm… A meme you say? I’m a meme virgin, actually.
Here’s the first 15 songs that, rather embarrassingly pop up on my itunes when set to shuffle. Totally unrepresentative of my actual musical tastes. A lot of this shouldn’t count, because it’s actually the boyfriends.
- Love Me Do - The Beatles
- One Big Holiday - My Morning Jacket
- If Only She Knew - Michelle Branch
- Little Ghost - The White Stripes
- Talisman - AIR
- Mine’s Not A High Horse - The Shins
- Big Brat - Phantom Planet
- No Other One - Weezer
- The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- Fire Up The Shoesaw (LP Version) - Lionrock
- Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion
- Wooly Mammoth’s Absence - Mount Eerie
- Time To Go - Supergrass
- Green Hornet - Al Hirt
- !!!!!!! - The Roots
I think I’ve realized something.
So much of our time and energy is devoted to being OK, to being content.
But: it seems every-time I break down and admit that things aren’t OK, and I’m in a miserable mood, things actually start to get better.
It is a little counter-intuitive to do, and so much of the world is set up to punish whining…
But it seems it is better, and nobler to be humble than to pretend to be strong and resilient - when you’re not.
Anybody who tells you to buck up is an idiot.
In vaguely related news, I have finished my zine (now I just need to get to the complex task of copying and stapling). It’s theme ended up being absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about before, but I am very proud of how it’s turning out.
I have also fielded an invitation to take a two day shopping holiday across the border in Buffalo. Yay.
Weirdly enough, I feel kinda re-charged all of the sudden.
I really shouldn’t.
Because I have to say that things really, really, really suck right now.
But at least I have my creativity back.
The definite upside is, that… well it seems there’s an upside. Things might be going that way. Up. Finally.
John Galliano’s latest runway show for this upcoming spring is absolutely amazing.
Beautiful, haunting, surprising, amazing - this one pulls out all the stops.
It’s like a combination of 1920’s Berlin, and Charles Dickens. Which doesn’t even speak to how fabulous the models are. Finally someone had the gumption to stick normal people (of every single kind and variety) into high fashion. I’m not entirely surprised it took crazy, kooky Galliano to do it. I hope this is a trend that sticks.
It’s all inspiring, to say the least.
I am trying, really hard to come up with a small ‘zine to work on for the next little while. But it’s causing me trouble. I can’t decide what to do with it.
I have two instincts here.
The first is to do something short, sweet, cute, funny and fuzzy-animal-cartoon related. A crowd pleaser I can make in large quantities and hand out, with my web-site address on the back. Something I would enjoy myself, if I were handed that sorta thing.
The second is to do something larger darker and more artistic. More classic personal ‘zine, something fancy and personal I can stick in my portfolio.
I actually have semi-started on the second, only because it’s what came easier. At first anyway.
All this being sick and going to doctors, and tests and MRI’s and stuff is great material. It needs to go somewhere, get recorded and expounded.
But when I look at my outlines and sketches, it’s not the kind of thing I really enjoy or appreciate.
I appreciate fluff.
Hello kitty, pink, sarcasm, irony, wit, silliness, style and preferably little substance.
I’m sorta trying to combine the two, but I don’t know how it’s working.
I have a bit of an hidden inner perfectionist, that is mostly stifled, but occasionally comes out and is stifling instead.
I think I kinda need to go to the broken pencil - canzine. It’s at a hip Toronto boutique hotel on the 30th of the month.
I’ve always had an unfufilled fascination with zines. It would be nice to fufill it.
I’m even thinking of seeing if I can throw together a cute, little zine to hand out there, in the next few days. It would be a million times better than a buisness card.
And it’s a challenge. I think I’ll take it.
