ZineWriMo: Planning for Nothing

ZineWriMo Day 9 was to write a mini-zine full of words. That was basically what I did on Day 8 with the stream of consciousness writing. The mini zine has no photos, just words, words and more words. And since it was Friday, I did nothing.

ZineWriMo Day 10 was a Sabbath and I didn’t organize my zine goodies as they were pretty much already where they should be – locked away in a cupboard where my daughter couldn’t get to it.

For today, Day 11 (showing off my zine tools), I had two things planned, but Murphy and his godforsaken Law got in the way, yet again. And this time, twice in a single day.

I planned to make a mini zine with full-color photos of my zine tools. I shot the photos on Thursday so that I can have them printed and ready for today. I emailed them to my husband (who works at a print shop and takes care of all my printing needs) but he missed that email and didn’t print them. So making a mini zine of zine tools will not happen today. Hopefully, tomorrow, lest Murphy decides to have his way again and makes me his bitch.

I also planned to go to metal night tonight and asked my mom to clear her schedule so she can come over tonight and babysit my daughter, while my husband and I go to the bar. But then, metal night was postponed to the 18th of the month, and my mom is still coming over tonight. So it happens that tonight we have a babysitter and no metal night, and on the 18th we have metal night and no sitter.

I wanted to add a segment about Jerusalem’s Sunday Metal Night on my WIP zine for this month, and I will, but unfortunately, it won’t start with “I am now at Blaze Bar, writing this while wholesome face-melting metal tunes are blasting through the speakers.”

*Sigh*

Unless Murphy makes my computer crash and my pen run out of ink, the only thing I have left to do today is to continue working on my WIP zine. So yeah, I’ll get back to that now.

Peace, love and one of these days, I’ll murder the fucker.

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ZineWriMo: Stream Writing

I’m not entirely sure what stream of consciousness writing is, but I think it’s something I used to do a lot in school and also the style I use when I write my post-its zine End of Words. I call that free writing. Writing absolutely anything that comes to mind, made up of a bunch of nonsensical, fragmented sentences and sometimes even gibberish.

Anyway, whether that’s what stream of consciousness is or not, that’s what I did today. Freewriting. A mini zine that took me about 10 minutes to write and another five to make a cover. Reading back what I wrote, it doesn’t seem to be all that nonsensical. It’s about how words are meaningless but sometimes using them is the only way we can prove to ourselves that we exist. It’s rather morbid but I end on a positive note referring to words as my life-support.

I called the mini “Sniffing Flatlines” whatever that means.

I’ll be making copies and give it out with zine trades and sales, as always.

Peace, love and comatose

ZineWriMo: Dream up the Zine

Is it silly that I’ve been working on this color mini zine up until this morning and that I finally finished it just now? I don’t think mini zines should be too difficult to make so for the next ones I’ll be making this month, I’ll make them super simple and super easy. I want to spend more time on my WIP zine anyway.

Yesterday’s activity was creating a zine idea book. When I first read the list of prompts, I didn’t even understand what this meant. But I’m pretty sure I already have something like that. Any ideas or plans I have, I write in my diary right alongside journal entries and grocery lists. Sometimes I also set up a calendar on Word, print it out and stick it in the diary. Also, I did the brainstorming activity of the first day of ZineWriMo by writing the list in the diary. So yeah, I guess that’s my zine idea book. and it looks like this:

Pretty fucking rad!

But yes, until this morning, I was all colored out with the mini zine. I’ll print a few copies of it and give it out with zine trades and purchases.

Today’s activity is working on the work in progress. Which I will get to right now!

Peace, love and typewriter ribbon

ZineWriMo: bRain and Thunders

As I wrote in my previous post, my ZineWriMo will be “ZineWriMo Lite” because my life (and my daughter’s life) gets in the way of everything.

Anyway, the activity I set for today, at least, is the same as the one in the list: Fighting winter blues with a much better storm than what the weather has in store for us: Brainstorm.

I focused my brainstorming solely on what I plan to do for my full-length work-in-progress zine for this month, because I already have a pretty good idea of what I plan to do for the other minizines.

I switched on my player, and it blasted out a bunch of metal tunes, one by one, without the usual softer interludes I get in the shuffle (such as Funset, Guns N’ Roses, Aviv Geffen, Michael Jackson, other non-metals…). I loved it so much, it clearly influenced my brainstorming because I decided on the theme of metal for my upcoming zine!

Back when I was pregnant and unable to create anything, I tried to write a metal zine, but it didn’t work. My pregnancy drained me of all inspiration for creative endeavors and whatever I did manage to put down on paper, I absolutely fucking loathed.

But metal is such a vital part of my life, I find it absurd that I have never written a full-length zine about it. Sure, I do mention it in my other zines, here and there, but there’s so much more I want to say about it. It deserves a full-length zine.

I wrote a whole list of what to include in the zine and drew up plans for add-ins like a metal-related collage, drawing, poem and cartoon (featuring my mascot, Twigz).

I can’t wait to get this started!!! So fucking excited. I shall make like Warbringer and descend into savagery! METAL HORNS ALL THE WAY UP!

Peace, love and bloodwork-in-progress

Decrapolizing

Shit is going down in America and people are dying while antisemitism is still alive and well, and stupid people don’t vaccinate their kids, feed vegan food to their dogs and cats, and don’t vote, and the world is going to hell, and stupid goddamn winter is almost upon us.

With all this shit, it’s hard to keep on top of my efforts to be positive, but it’s so necessary for my physical and mental health, I’ll keep right on trying.

November is coming up and freezing weather aside, it’s bringing with it a lot of awesome things.

1. My daughter’s birthday: The best and most important event ever! November 22 was also the day I became a mother, definitely a day worth celebrating. So her Hebrew birthday falls on October 30. The party at daycare will be on November 20, the birthday at my in-laws, most likely on the 21, and the one at my parents’ house on the weekend thereafter (the 23 and 24). Both me and my daughter are super excited about it!
2. ZineWriMo: Looking over the activities I set up on my schedule, it looks like I’ll be making no less than eight minizines (assuming I can keep with it). Of course, there’s also the full-length work-in-progress zine. Then, the day for teaching someone about zines, I’ll be making a mini-zine with my daughter and let her scribble all over it with her markers. I’m so super stoked about it!
3. The Fucking King: Right before November starts, Stephen King is releasing a new novel called Elevation. And for me, every “Stephen King Releases a Novel” day is a holiday. Party on!
4. Channukah: Although it falls on the first week of December, it’s still yet another positive thing coming up soon. Having some days off work, lighting the menorah, buying a fancy light-up singing dreidel for my daughter, and of course, stuffing my face with lots of sugary greasy doughnuts with scalding hot jelly inside. FUCK. YES!

So yes, the world is going to hell, but until we get there, I’ll be making zines and loving my daughter and reading King and eating doughnuts.

Peace, love and we Moroccans love our shfinj, too!

[UPDATE:]
And like duh, how can I forget? Sunday Metal is back on November 11! Yes, November officially owns. Raise your horns! \m/

I Zine Therefore I Am

ZineWriMo is coming up and I’m jonesing for some zine production again.

The last zine I made was in July for International Zine Month. The way I set it up was to make a full-length zine in one month. ZineWriMo seems to be more or less the same idea, but the activities are more diverse and involve making more than just one zine, but also a bunch of minizines of different themes.

The list of activities was drawn up by Sea Green Zines, and here it is.

I really really want to participate! But I don’t know how realistic it is. My daughter’s second birthday is coming up and she’ll no doubt have at least three parties (one at the daycare, one at my parents’ and one at my in-laws) all of which will involve my active participation and organization. My maternal duties are still hardcore, cooking, cleaning, laundry, raising my kid, getting through the dreaded “me, me, me!” stage while still holding on to some semblance of sanity, fighting the urge to sleep all the fucking time…

Just like IZM, I know it’s not realistic for me to do all the activities of ZineWriMo. But if I manage my time properly, maybe I could at least get some of them done, and even that will be nice. I already have some ideas popping up here and there for some of these activities, so I say why the hell not. And what better way to fight the impending winter blues than by making zines?

Now if I can only get through this tired shit… Maybe I should consider ingesting caffeine pills because lord knows I can’t stand coffee.

Peace, love and warm up that typewriter!

Focus My Ass

My head hurts, my throat feels all bloody and my nose is a faucet. I’m trying to focus through. My aunt decided that I should stand up in front of a bunch of people I don’t know and give a speech about my uncle who was killed when I was five. So yes, I’m trying to focus and trying to come up with what to write. And it’s even harder to do when I’m sick. And it’s even harder to do when the speech I have to write is in Hebrew. And it’s even harder to do when all I have to work with is five years worth of super fuzzy memories and super fuzzy newspaper clippings circa 1987. Focussing on the fuzz… right.

My aunt chose me to give that speech because she says I’m a good writer. But this is different. This so-called good writer needs to read her writing to a bigass audience made up of complete strangers. That is what freaks me out, because when the written word translates into spoken word, I might as well be mute. The only time I ever gave speeches was in school, in front of classmates, and it was for grades so I managed quite well and scored high. But now, I may very well trip over my words, stutter my way through whatever it is I plan to put down on paper, and do it all under the scorching sun of southern Israel.

The rally where I’m set to make a complete fool of myself is on September 27. Still trying to focus and I’m sick as fuck.

I’d rather be doing something creative like working on my daughter’s photo album. Picabook is where it’s at.

I’d rather be reading. Stephen King is totally where it’s at.

I’d rather fucking sleep. My bedroom is totally and completely and desperately where it’s at.

But alas. I’m at work. Sick. And trying to focus on something I’m hopelessly fuzzed-out about.

Help me.

Peace, love and holidays shmolidays.