Updates from a busy week

It has been a busy week. I finished two huge button orders and many Etsy orders for coffee and catalog button designs. I have realized that my office is inefficient and I’ll have to mend that in the future. The weather in Portland has been unusually cold. I guess its not so much the cold that is weird but the dryness. We haven’t had rain in what seems like weeks. It’s been this stagnant cold like Utah in winter where it is so cold and dry you get nose bleeds. It is tricky because you look outside and it is all bright and sunny but below freezing. Oh well, it has been a good excuse to wear my cloaks when I got outside!

Well, I didn’t record or video my zine reading. I do have this picture that A.M. took

Me reading a zine outloud.

Paul played two songs and I read a few pieces from my new zine. It was sort of intense a times when we would look at eachother while he was singing about me and I was reading about it. I wondered if it made people feel uncomfortable. After the reading my housemate Maggie said as much. She said that she could see people feeling uncomfortable because of the intimateness of it… but in a good way. I guess the idea that we could do something that made people feel is a good thing. At any rate, I’ve been too busy to send out copies to distros and what not. I need to do that next week. Speaking of distros, what happened to them? There are like only 4 zine distros now. It sort of sucks.

So, when I haven’t been working I have been cooking and sleeping and letting the cats entertain me. I harvested one stalk of Brussel sprouts.I love how alien they look!

I forgot to take a photo of what I made to eat with it because I didn’t have high expectations but it was super good. A multirice blend with sauteed sprouts and onion on top and a vegan cheesy sauce. I should have taken a photo of the tiny silly sporuts in a bowl. They weren’t very big and were comically small but tasted super delicious. I also forgot to take a photo of the most awesomist shepard’s pie I have ever made. Oh well.

Oj still has his come thing on his head. I guess it is called The Elizabethan. it flops both ways and he has been wearing it face down. He gets his stitches out today and then gets to go outside again. He’s been a little brat. I caught him jumping up on the record player while a record was playing! I yelled at him in something close to a “mom voice” and tossed him in the basement for a few hours.

Not a happy cat

Paul has a new toy. M found this in the trash and gave it to Paul. He has been sitting on the floor all Schroder from the Peanuts style playing it in the dining roo. He is super annoyed that the air organ is out of tune. I think it is sort of funny how annoyed he is by it!

It's sort of like a flat electric accordian since it has those buttons on the left for chords. Also, check out the awesome wood floors that paul and I refinished ourselves!

Jess came over a few nights ago and we made a lentil soup, seitan steaks with mushroom gravy and stuffed acorn squash with mulled wine. It was a cold night and we wanted to warm up and eat wintery foods. Paul isn’t a fan of squash so I stuffed it with sweet things like apples, brown sugar, cranberries and almonds. It was like dessert for me!

The mulled wine was the best I have ever made. I even included a vanilla bean in it.

After Jess left Maggie and I geeked out with the cat and a cheeseburger she had drawn. She put a little pocket of catnip in the back and we teased OJ makin lolcat cheezburger jokes.

and saying "Can Haz?" a lot.

I have two more button orders to get to but since mail won’t go out until Monday I think I’ll finish them up tomorrow and head to the Farmer’s market to meet James and get some yummy food!

Advertisement

Brainscan zine release party and open mic!

zine reading!

I have a new issue of Brainscan and I’m doing a zine release accompanied by and open mic in Portland, Oregon.

Thursday, December 3, 2009 7pm at the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC)

For more information about Brainscan #24 &25 go here.

I’m getting better.

The Sick seems to have turned to a different kind of Sick and I keep getting sparatic headaches but I have to cough but I can’t have a one of those deep fulfilling coughs because it makes my head feel like it will shatter. At least I’m not having fever dreams about quests that involve photocopiers anymore!  I am left with this gunk in my lungs to hack up that would probably be given a swift death if I had antibiotics but seeing as I’m of the masses of uninsured I’ll be with the hacking for a week or so. I guess I’m fine with that. you know, the whole what doesn’t kill us thing is sort of true with the body. At least my immune system is strong enough to fight stuff off and grow.

I built a fortress of button making around me in bed for a few days to tackle the orders that amount to about 7,000 buttons this week. It’s a good week! It’s getting me thinking about spending the money on tattoos, a great birthday present for Paul (he turns 33 on Thursday. Bummer to have a birthday on a Thanksgiving), travel again or probably just paying off bills which is no fun but more useful.

Yesterday I was going to do downtown to make more copies of my zine but I got distracted and the rain was raining and windy more than it was when I decided to go downtown.  I talked myself out of making copies Saturday because I already missed the postal carrier for the day and I may as well just go Sunday and rest up some more. Paul suggested we got to Pause and do a crossword puzzle. He had a beer and I decided to have a hot toddy because apparently whiskey is always good for you when you are sick? I also had some of their yummy soup, which was much better than my soup at home that I have been living off of for the past week. They always have a veggie option for soup and this one was a smoked pepper creole. The red color was also much prettier than the brown sludge in my pot at home.

Paul and I came home, I made buttons, and tea, and later James came over with a bottle of Whiskey because I had mentioned Hot Toddys. We hung out listening to records. he had wine and I had two more hot toddy’s and 2 pots of tea while putting pin backs in until I was about to fall asleep on him discussing the relative merits of the theory of science.

This morning I got up with Paul at 6;30, which is better than the usual 5:30 but still annoying that I am incapable of sleeping in unless I’m really sick like the other day when I slept in to 11. Also, we finished with our interviews for housemates and chose one we think will fit the best with our house and came recommended by my favorite photography wizard and cauldron of magical no sick soup. This morning I got an “anonymous” e-mail that I can only assume comes and angry soon to be ex-housemate of her’s with vague allegations of driving an old best friend mad and skipping out on them with two weeks notice that read just a childish as she had described her living situation as “Mom” in a den of lost boys who would rather hide from her than pay bills. Paul and I had a laugh about it. This is my fucking house and I think I’d be able to kick someone out before they drove me mad.

Anyway, time to get on with the day of photocopying and then packing up several orders that have been delayed due to the photocopier at the IPRC being out of paper and also, The Sick. I might meet James for some lunch later too. The wind and cold and rain give me a good excuse to wear a cloak today. I like those sorts of days.

Brainscan zine #24 & #25 out now!

BRAINSCAN 25-This zine has been five start and stop years in the making. I finally finished it in October of 2009 at the Anchor Archive zine residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Brainscan 25 Chronicles my Saturn return as a love story, an ending, and a new beginning with someone from my past. The Saturn Return is the time between ages 27 and 30 when the planet Saturn is in the same place it was at your birth. It is usually seen as a harbinger of change and a test of character where individuals are forced to evaluate their life in relation to their values. Brainscan 25 documents my life between 2004 and 2006 which was full of upheaval and questioning my path and choices in life. The linear story is spliced with narrative flashbacks from 1996-1999 full of punk shows, travel stories and the difficulty of dealing with emotions and the insecurities of growing up. Text heavy with high contrast cut and paste layout and photocopier art.

Brainscan 25 is 80 pages, legal sized (8.5″x7″) transparency acetate and cardstock covers, and an envelope containing a 16 page epilogue.

BRAINSCAN 24 is a mini zine with answers to questions I’m frequently asked and random facts like how I was made in Canada, am left handed, and was the very first Aquacadet. 32 pages and 1/8th legal (3.5″ x 4.25″)

Both of these zines, actually, there are three zines together weighing 6 ounces and are available in these ways:
put $6 US in and envelope and send it to:
alex wrekk
p.o. box 17230
Portland, Oregon
97217

paypal $7 in the US or $8 Canada or $9 rest of the world to alex@smallworldbuttons.com

or from My Etsy shop here along with lots of other ziney things.
or My Artfire shop here.

If you already carry Brainscan in your distro I’ll be sending you a sample copy. If you do not carry Brainscan please get in touch for a sample copy.

Last days in Richmond and the working zine description

Greetings from Richmond! Nicole has a spare room for me. With a bed! With sheets! I haven’t slept with sheets since I left! The Richmond zine fair was Friday night and all day yesterday. I’ll write more about it later. Last night we played and awesome game of Apples to Apples and had a lot of fun. nicole took me to a bottle shop and I geeked out over all the beers I had never tried.

I head home tomorrow. I was feeling really homesick at the zine fair yesterday and wondering if I could get a sooner ticket home since my plane ticket is for Monday. I decided to stick it out. Here’s the working description for brainscan 24 and 25. I’ll post more when I’m home and they are available.

Brainscan 24 & 25

This zine has been five start and stop years in the making. I finally finished it in October of 2009 at the Anchor Archive zine residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Brainscan 25 Chronicles my Saturn return as a love story, an ending, and a new beginning with someone from my past. The Saturn Return is the time between ages 27 and 30 when the planet Saturn is in the same place it was at your birth. It is usually seen as a harbinger of change and a test of character where individuals are forced to evaluate their life in relation to their values. Brainscan 25 documents my life between 2004 and 2006 which was full of upheaval and questioning my path and choices in life. The linear story is spliced with narrative flashbacks from 1996-1999 full of punk shows, travel stories and the difficulty of dealing with emotions and the insecurities of growing up. Text heavy with high contrast cut and paste layout and photocopier art.

Brainscan 25 is 80 pages, legal sized (8.5″x7″) transparency and cardstock covers, and an envelope containing a 16 page epilogue.

Brainscan 24 is a mini zine with answers to questions I’m frequently asked and random facts like how I was made in Canada, am left handed, and was the very first Aquacadet. 32 pages and 1/8th legal (3.5″ x 4.25″)

These two zines together will be $5 plus $2 shipping for a total of $7. I feel sort of bad for the price but the zine is 80 pages and the copies I have now cost over $3 each to make.

Last hours in Halifax.

I’ve got about 45 minutes before Lucas shows up to take me to the airport and then I’m off on my next adventure, Toronto.

I’m really glad I got my zine done in the first week and a half I was here. That left me time to play for the last few days. I think I spent the first four days getting myself situated and my project started and hiding out in the shed. Plus, the weather was crappy and wet and cold but the past few days it has been beautiful and in the 60’s (17C)

Caleb is my new favorite person. So now I have 3 new favorite people this year. It’s enough to make me not want to travel because I don’t want to meet awesome people that live so far away. Cap, Caleb, Sky and I got a car and went to the ocean on Sunday. It was bright and sunny but the water was cold. I drew a labyrinth in the sand and collected a few rocks. It was great to see the atlantic again.

Caleb and I had about a 14 hour conversation yesterday. He showed up around 1pm at the Anchor Archive and we went walking around town and up to the citadel that had a great view. I’ll post some photos later. The we went to his friends house and watch this ridiculous horror movie called Suspiria. I’m not a big horror fan but the film was sort of eye candy with interesting sets and things to look at. Then we can back to the Archive and sat in the kitchen finishing up my last 4 beers and talking until 3 am. It has been a long time since I just talked for that long with someone. Good times!

I’m seriously trying to sort how to have some sort of residency at our house. We have a spare room and Marc needs some help with zine cataloging and I’m sure we could  use zine symposium help or the IPRC could use some help. I’ll have to think about it some more because I really want my friends to come and visit and work on projects. This whole trip has sort of set a new spark in me for community projects like that

So, ya, the trip has been awesome and just what I needed to get what I needed to get done. I even finished the mini Brainscan 24 that I was working on so now I have two new zines! I sold more than I expected at the Halifax zine fair. More people bought things that traded things which was unexpected. Ithink only 2 people traded. I have a ton more copies of SSR and brainscan for Canzine. I made 50 copies of the massive Brainscan 25 and I think I got rid of and gave away 20 copies but still, my pack is bulging with books and zines, I hope to not have to cross the boarder with them.

I guess that’s about it for Halifax. I don’t know if I’ll ever be coming back here but I enjoyed the time I have spent.