Mab's Blog (8)

So my friend bailed on going to Philly Zine Fest with me and no one else will go. I found this out just now, at 10:00 in the morning on the day before. I thought I should feel some huge disappointment; I was going to miss this for the 5th year in a row. And then I opened my mouth and let the question that was burning in the back of my throat fall out, there in my kitchen: "Mom, what would you do if I just went alone?" "I'd be a little nervous," she said, "but if you want to drive into Philly a… Continue

Well, I finished my 24 hour zine with 2 1/2 hours to spare. I worked from 10:00 last night to 9:00 this morning, slept till 1:00 this afternoon, and finished at about 7:30 tonight. I am EXHAUSTED! It think I drank between 6 and 10 cups of coffee in the last 24 hours. I ended up writing a 24-page half-size zine that is simply called "24." It is a collection of 24 lists, each with a different topic and each with 24 items in it. They include "24 Things I Can See from Where I'm Sitting," "24 Facts… Continue

I've healed enough from my tonsil surgery so that I can drink hot coffee again and I'm also not so tired and nauseous all the time, so I've decided to give The 24 Hour Zine Thing a try after all! I'd really been hoping to do it for the first time this year, but I was afraid I'd be too sick...so glad that I'm not! I'm starting offically at 10:00 tonight, so 17 minutes from now! We ordered pizza at my house and I have to clean up a bit tonight, so I won't be spending 100% of the next 24 hours act… Continue

It's been 8 days now since I had my tonsils removed. In those eight days, I was in the emergency room twice, once for dehydration, which resulted in a migraine and vomiting, and the second time for my throat bleeding. I've been bleeding from my throat on and off. It's really annoying. I just needed to vent and say that I'm sorry if you haven't gotten your trades and I still have a million zines to read and zinesters to write to. I will get to it. I'm just exhausted right now, not to mention I ha… Continue

I just want to let everyone know that I'm having my tonsils and adenoids out next Thursday, so I'm gonna be down for at least a few days and not doing much for awhile after that. I'm not even allowed to go back to school or work for two weeks after the surgery, so driving myself to the post office is also out. If I owe you a zine trade, you WILL get it, but it may be a little delayed! Thanks for your patience! Continue

Okay, so I didn't REALLY just discover them. I've known about them for awhile. But I always thought they were kind of limiting and I didn't see the point in making something that would only fit in someone's pocket. Wouldn't it get lost in the bustle of bigger zines? But I made one today after my penpal sent me one and I think I might be hooked. It was kind of fun to make an entire zine in an hour and a half, and it was more challenging than I thought. I found I had to edit more carefully to mak… Continue

I finished issue #8 of RatBrat yesterday! Well, the editing and cut & paste portion. I'm going to be copying it tomorrow. This issue is more fun than issue #7 and talks mostly about body image, including my feelings about my own body, a list of creative ways to combat negative body image, and a piece on bindis as a form of body decoration. I also talk about labels, belonging, and my own interpretations of the words "bisexual" and "bicurious." Threw in a few poems I wrote a couple months ago… Continue

I think issue #7 of RatBrat did its job...I'm officially in love with zines again. Issue #6 was published in January or February after a year of being out of touch with the zine community--no trades, no distroing, no writing, no collate/fold/staple. Between that and issue #7, my love for zines and my connection to all you wonderful zinesters has been rekindled. It felt soooo good this morning to go to the post office at 8 AM and mail out 5 or 6 zine trades. I have to mail out zines to Things Y… Continue