Monday, April 11, 2011

more new zines

There's a ton of new zines in the distro! doris distro
Fifteen

if you want a story that will make you suspicious of every teenager you meet!" This is the best written zine I've read in awhile. It's Mia's first zine. She wrote it when she was 15. I'm not sure if it's truth or fiction, but it's really good, disturbing, bitter. sex, drugs, getting locked up, the hypocrisy and blindness of adults, and of herself. Not for the light-of-heart or the easily offended.

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself:a series of rants

another great zine by Mia (of Fifteen zine). This one is about being mixed race. Articles about hair, and the lack of representation in the media, dealing with racism and stereotypes, and more. Really good!

Brainscan #26:so what's the deal with you and Microcosm

If you've been wondering what the problems with Microcosm Publishing are, this zine lays out Joe Beils abusive behaviors, failed attempts to hold him accountable, and what can be done about it.

Cometbus #54: in China with Green Day

Aaron goes on tour with Green Day to China! Epic. More than a travel zine. The part I liked best was talking about how selling out is judged, but people just giving up their creative lives and doing nothing really worthwhile is not judged.


Adorn #21

very intense and brave zine about rape, abusive relationships and drug abuse, and becoming sober. There are sweet lists of good things in her life between the painful recollections and despair.

No Better Than Apples #7

really pretty zine, beautiful drawings and layout. I've been missing this kind of zine. a fragmented journey into her life that leaves you wanting to know more. love and tour and unresolved family demons. The helpless feeling of trying to take care of a sick mother. I know this feeling, and how alone I felt in it, how much of a secret it seemed. There is a story in here about visiting one of my all time favorite authors, Kate Millett! There's just so much in this thick little zine.

All Things Ordinary #4

A sweet zine, mostly of letters to people in his family telling them how much they mean to him. It's so nice. I wish we all did this kind of thing more often.

The Apple Pickers Union #2: Tow Chain: A monologue about my Experiences at Camp Trans 2010

Pissed off, funny and intense zine written by Curious Jane, who was an organizer of Camp Trans (outside the Michigans Women's Fest, which is/was a "women born women" space - I think they might have a don't ask don't tell policy now, I can't remember for sure.)
This zine kicks ass! It is partially about a situation that happened at the camp, where a tow truck driver threatened the Camp Trans people with a Tow Chain. I mean scary threatening, and the security at Mich.Fest defended the Tow Truck dude. This zine is a scathing critique of Patriarchy, Second Wave Feminism, and "community".

Friday, April 1, 2011

Doris 28! Out now!

Doris 28 is finally out!!!!
you can order it though my website at doris distro
or by mail, 2.60 to
cindy crabb
pobox 29
Athens OH 45701

horray!!!

also, we're starting a Girls Rock Camp here in Ohio this summer!
check it out at
athensrockcamp

Saturday, March 19, 2011

I'll be reading in Chicago March 25

I'll be in Chicago for the Chicago zine fest - reading on Fri 25, doing a writing workshop Sat at 11 am, and tabeling. Come visit!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

book reviews - activism

A number of people recently have talked to me about feeling like my (and previous) generation hasn’t passed down the lessons we’ve learned from our own experience and activism. Here are few books that are full of great essays.

That’s Revolting! : Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore


I’m reading this right now and it is so excellent! A really wide range of essays. Stories from the 60’s to today, all of them really relevant. This should be on everyone’s reading list. It’s a great introduction to radical queer politics, and a great reinvigorator for those of us who have gotten comfortable in our own lives and taken a break from dealing with the world. There’s so many great essays in here, it’s hard to pick out a few to highlight, but I did really appreciate the two on Gay Marriage, one by Carol Queen. “Certainly, oppression in any context is wrong. Naturally, queer folk are irritated when straight people get benefits denied to same-sex partners … pissed off queers making a point can cause the culture to shift.” She argues that instead of trying to “squeeze our asses onto the park bench of Normalcy” it would better serve the world and ourselves if we celebrated and fought for our wonderful diversity – for more choices rather than fewer.
Another great essay is a conversation between Marlon Bailey, Priya Kandaswamy, and Mattie Udora Richardson called Is Gay Marriage Racist. They discuss all kinds of questions people pose in support of gay marriage (questions I’ve had myself) and provide alternative ways of looking at these questions.
There are so many other topics covered in this book. Rural queer teens, activism from the 60’s and today. Performance Art, Protests, Pipe bombs, Sex, Films, Queer Radio, more and more and more.

Uses of a Whirlwind: Movements and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States, edited by Team Colors Collective

I’ve heard the Team Colors has a pretty theoretical and hard to understand website, and this book does start out with a pretty inaccessible introduction and first essay, but after that, it is really useful. The essay A Look at Resistance to Interstate 69 by Earth First, discusses lessons learned about positive and problematic roles activists play when they come into a community they are not from to organize and do direct action – lessons I’ve seen activists have to learn over and over, so I’m grateful someone has written about it! Another essay I really liked was Harvesting Solidarity: Farmworkers, Allies and the Fight for Fair Food, which talks about a successful campaign for Florida tomato workers against Burger King and Taco Bell. It discusses tactics and how the coalition between farmworkers and students worked.
There’s an essay about queer activism (an autobiographical essay about why the Human Rights Campaign sucks and why pushing for hate crime legislation is not the answer), and an essay about current art activism. There’s a section on theoretical analysis. This book is a little disjointed and has more theory than I generally am drawn to, there are some essays that seemed like they were written for an audience that doesn't know much of anything about alternative culture, but I would hate to see it lost to the theory heads, because there is a lot of great info in here that I think would be particularly useful to younger or new activists. Also important for seasoned activists to get us thinking of how to think about and articulate our experiences and what can be learned from them.

From Act Up to the WTO
I must have leant this out, because I can’t find it. I’ve leant it out so much and everyone loves it. It is a history of Queer activism from mainly the 80’s and 90’s. So much of our history, even our current history, gets disappeared, and this book helps

Monday, March 7, 2011

summer tour

My band Snarlas is going on tour this summer out West! Late June, early July. Does anyone by any chance want to lend us your van or car? We're coming in to the Bay Area Mon 27, and then going South and back up to the Bay July 2. so that's one part.
then up North, to Portland (July 6) and up and back to Portland (July 11).
so, it would be really dreamy if someone in the Bay Area would lend us a van or car for the Southern part (June 27-July2), and if someone in Portland could lend us one for the Northern part(July 6 - July 11).
I know it's probably a long shot, but I just thought I'd ask.
xx
cindy

Sunday, February 27, 2011

new zines

New zines! at click here for distro

Filling the Void: interviews about quitting drinking and using
Super inspiring! A great resource for people trying to quit. Not spiritual or straight-edge. 8 interviews with people who have quit drinking and/or using. Frank discussions and stories about the positive and negative roles drinking/using had in their lives, why they decided to quit, what they struggled with and how they managed to do it.
interviewees include Erick Lyle (Scam zine), Artnoose (Ker-bloom zine), Cindy (Doris zine), and John Geek (The Fleshies). Interviews conducted by and edited by Cindy and Caty Crabb

Protective Playing Cards
the most beautiful, coolest work of art I have ever seen. A real deck of cards, each card has a different amazingly beautiful drawing of protection.
you can play cards with them, keep them by your bed and look at one a day, page through them whenever you need to remember that you are not alone.

When the Crash Meets Something Solid #003
vinettes about addiction, Goddard College, pills to heroin, being in an abusive master/slave relationship with the owner of the massage place she worked - and getting away.

We Shut the City Down: Six former Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM) members reflect on the mass direct actions against the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
On August 1, 2000, thousands of activists from the global justice movement took the streets of Philadelphia for direct action against police brutality and the prison industrial complex during the Republican National Convention. Hundreds were arrested, and many were held for several weeks. While helping to plan the protests, members of the Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM), a multiracial radical activist group based in the City University of New York (CUNY), argued for the focus on police and prisons, issues vital to communities of color in the U.S. The interviews in this zine, with 6 people of color who participated as SLAM members, were conducted in July 2010. They reflect a range of perspectives on direct action, strategy and tactics, racism in the movement, reaching beyond activist scenes, and direct democracy.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

do you know any stores that carry zines?

I'm working on doing more selling zines direct to stores, and since I haven't been traveling around much lately, I need your help! Let me know if you know of any stores that carry zines! I already sell directly to some - like Woodenshoe, Red Emmas, City Lights, Powells, Bound Together, Needles and Pens, Downtown Books and News, Quimbys... but I know there are a lot more stores out there that I don't know about.
Thanks!!