2003-08-24 - 8:19 p.m.
Today I went through the boxes and boxes of zines I've collected over the five years I've been reading and publishing them and organized them into categories and then put each category in it's own box, or section of a box. To no one's suprise my biggest categories were "personal" and "grrrl/feminist/women". I have been all about recording and making accessible documents of "unique cultural moments" lately and I think zines and a zine collection are a big part of this, not only for me personally, but for the larger culture. Of course, it also reflects a sometimes out of control tendency I have to beleive that if I can just sort everything into a file that is labeld that means it is "under control" and I don't have to worry about it. This tendency kicks in a lot when I am at my parents house- constantly sorting, repacking, unpacking, going through, recycling, streamlining.
But going through the zines (and the letters that were mixed in among them) was a really exciting look at my recent past. I found zines that I haven't seen for years but remember reading and being so moved by- You Might As Well Live , Chimps, Silver Rocket, Consider Yourself Kissed, My New Gun, the Messy Eater, Mamacita, Slant... these zines stick in my mind especially. But it ws also exciting finding the zines I didn't remember, and looking through them, looking at all the words that I drew strength from in high school. And it made me feel so excited to be (hopefully) turning these boxes that were gathering damp and dust (yikes! the horror of ever librarian) into an archive. I dream of periodicals boxes and a computer database. Might I add it was a bueatiful summer day and my family was doing all kinds of outdoor activities? If you ever needed any more proof I am a nerdy shut in, you have it.
I also unearthed some of the first artists books I ever made my senior year of high school in my art class. They were a series of books about the mail, about the romance of the post. One of them features maps (of the Northwest and of Boston) and an exchange between two imaginary pen pals finally taking the risk to meet each other for real. Sweet. Also embarassing because it contained a Promise Ring reference (this was from the 6 month period I was into emo, I guess). But it's exciting to see also where this interest started, and where I have taken the books I make from there. And how I still deal with similar themes- distance, place, memory, communication, taking risks.
It also made me feel mushy hearted, because I am sending love letters accross the country and waiting for the chance to see someone again. Maybe this is the postal romance I always imagined?
