For this episode of Meet Microcosm we meet Bloomington collective member Steven Stothard and hear about his super busy life. So, without further adieus, meet Steven…

A: First of all, thanks for doing these Meet Microcosm interviews. It’s important to me that folks understand that Microcosm is actually a group of people working together to keep indie and radical publishing alive and well in these dismal times. Boxcar Books has been a huge part of my life. For those of you that don’t know, Boxcar Books is Bloomington, Indiana’s all-volunteer-powered, non-profit, and collectively-run bookstore and community space. We’ve been around since 2002 and our goals are to keep indie publishing and radical ideas alive, to provide a free community meeting and events space in Bloomington, and to directly support the rehabilitation of prisoners through the Midwest Pages to Prisoners program–our sister organization. I started volunteering at Boxcar in 2004, after moving to Bloomington from Columbus, Ohio. Whenever I had visited Bloomington, I came to Boxcar as a space to get information, to see what events were going on, and to connect with local folks. It just felt right that after moving to Bloomington I would get involved. I started by making flyers, working a shift, and taking on the never ending task of shelf-reading. From there I took on more and more responsibility and became really invested in the collective, mission, and other workers. For the last few years I’ve been the events coordinator and more recently the general coordinator, which means I pretty much try to make sure shit gets done. People will tell you, I have a tendency to micro-manage and it’s true that secretly I have lists upon lists of tasks to do, I even have a list of my to-do lists. It’s kinda crazy, but it takes a lot of time and energy and patience to help run a bookstore. As you probably know, it’s a really tough time for independent booksellers and radical businesses in general, so really it’s the Bloomington community who chooses to support the bookstore and the collective of volunteers at Boxcar that are the backbone of our success. Boxcar is really too big for me to fit into one interview, so if you want to learn more, I highly recommend checking out the website and our facebook: http://www.Boxcarbooks.org and /http://www.facebook.com/Boxcarbooks be our friend and we’ll let you know rad stuff that’s happening in Bloomington. And please come visit!

Q: Tell us a little about Pages to Prisoners…

A: It’s true. Before microcosm, I worked for a behavioral health center in Bloomington as a recreational therapist. Basically, I taught life, social, communication, and community integration skills to adults with various mental illness. In the form of group sessions, classes, outings, and one-on-one intervention, we attempted to help folks with long histories of mental illness become more independent and to empower them to access community resources to help themselves. Oh damn, on the one hand that job was amazing on so many levels, but it was also very crushing to the soul. First of all, I worked with a team of other health and social work professionals for the same goals, but we worked at it in our own ways. As therapists, we had tons of support from our supervisors to do really whatever we wanted to support our clients. For instance, I saw a real need to address all these young dudes and ladies with schizophrenia because nothing existed for them specifically, no program was focused on being young with mental illness. We started a young adult group that focused on community integration, access to community resources, and how to navigate the terrifying times of being young compounded with having a mental illness. To be honest, we talked a lot about sex–they were all interested in getting laid, but that was good because we talked about safety, consent, and how not to get pregnant. And sure, there were pretty boring and structured activities like accessing community kitchen, the free clinic, getting library cards, using the library system, and plugging in to other places to address some real needs… but I also had the go-ahead to go plan fun trips like laser tag, fishing, and even a couple shows at the all ages youth center in town… just to be kids. That was great. But like I said, on the other hand it was really hard to not be affected by the bureaucratic bullshit within the mental health industry and to leave my job at the office, you know what I mean. Although the work was inspiring, there was also a lot of painful and heartbreaking stuff to say the least.

The Book Game
1. Favorite book, and why…
A: Are you kidding, I don’t have time to read. But really, you must read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It’s one of my recent favorites. Absolutely dismal and beautiful… a good look at what’s to come.

A: Well, first off I work at Microcosm Bloomington obviously. We run the Midwest Microcosm out of a house, nothing fancy. We have an office, a packing room, and storage in the basement. All of us at Microcosm end up doing a little of each and every task, from publishing to editing, from tabling to promotions and we stay well-connected through phone conference meetings, email, and our recent all-staff meeting. But, I’d say my main duties at Microcosm are shipping, customer service, and event coordinating. When you order something from Microcosm, whether you’re a store, a distro, another online distro or an individual customer–we pack up the orders and I ship them out. Basically, I’ve gotten really good at using a tape gun and determining weights of things just by holding them. I’ll help you get the things you ordered and take care of any problems you have. Event coordinating is just a fancy word for figuring out what events and tours we’re going to table and how to organize it. We table pretty extensively for the size of our publishing company, and it’s a nice opportunity for Microcosm staffers to get out of the office or store and actually interact with people, authors, and other publishers face to face, not just via email. Recently we tabled the Left Forum Conference in New York City, Stumptown in Portland, Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair, and the New York Anarchist Bookfair. We’ll be tabling the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair this month and Expozine in Montreal later this year with the help of our good Canadian buddy Jonathan Culp. Personally, one of my favorite events to table is the New Orleans bookfair, typically in November. I used to table a lot more on tour with bands like Against Me!, Defiance, Ohio, the F-Yeah Tour, Strike Anywhere, and other folks nice enough to let us come along and hock zines and books at the shows. I feel tabling is a pretty important part to staying connected with folks and keeping books and zines hip and visible. That’s one of the main reasons why I initially got into politics, picking up zines and AK Press books at punk shows in Dayton, Ohio. Never underestimate the power of tiny, little life-changing experiences–it may change the path for the rest of your life. Kevey Evilsizor–if you’re out there–I salute you and the Know Nothings!

How to use a Microcosm Store. from Cantankerous Titles on Vimeo.

We’re Open:

MONDAY!

TUESDAY!

WEDNESDAY!

THURSDAY!

FRIDAY!

SATURDAY!

From 11 AM to 7 PM!

And full disclosure: Nathan is often working on Sundays too. Just call first to make sure.

Head on over to the ‘cosm office and store at 2752 N Williams Ave. (that’s in Portland, OR folks).

Inside you will find everything that we’ve published and anything you can find on this here website plus a curated selection of zines and books from other publishers. Our selection also features remaindered (read: cheap!) and hurt books, i.e. books with minor dings that are deeply discounted—half price or less!

The store also has the addition of tons of unique and forgotten gems from the past—with sections like DIY, espionage, graffiti, bikes, gardenz, activism, and graphic novels! We may, in fact, be the only store in Portland where you can learn to build your own submachine gun and practice square foot gardening! But to us, you’re worth it (at the expense of our FBI files)!

Give us a call if you want to make an appointment to stop by at other times. 

Microcosm hQ Store

2752 N Williams Ave.

Portland, OR 97227

(503) 232-3666

For this edition of Meet Microcosm we chat with the awesome Rio Safari who works out of the Portland Microcosm store and does the zine Homobody!

Q: You work at the Portland store. Tell us a little about the new location.

A: Totally! We’re going to be sharing a space in SE Portland with two fine printers we have worked with, Printed Matter and Eberhardt Press. Yup, a bookstore/publisher with printers in back–pretty rad. The walls are being painted bright colors and the windows look out toward Portland’s downtown.

Q: Any good Portland store stories from the time you were in the old location?

A: Well, there was the one time we took over the space next to us and Joe knocked a doorway out of the drywall solely with his mental powers. In terms of impressiveness, that’s right up there with fitting 13,000 zines and books into a 13’x9′ room.

Q: If somebody came in the Portland store and asked you for five of your favorite things the store carries what would they be, and why?
(1) The zine trike.  It’s used as an in-store display when immobile, but if people forget its true purpose, I will absolutely sit on the seat and ring the bell.
(2) Every drop of pink paint.  The can is labeled the color “Bunny Fluff”.
(3) Everything in our Espionage book section.
(4) Everything in our Circle A book section.
(5) That we have zines divided into “Fix Shit Up” or “Fuck Shit Up”.

Q: Last time I was at the Portland store the free box was totally insane. What’s in there these days?

A: Let’s see…a few bags of figurines, some costumes, a pair of pants, scrap wood, some books…and a lotta love.

Q: So all the rest of these questions, besides the last one and the One True Game are open-ended. Feel free to answer them and interpret them any way you’d like. We’re throwing out the rules but if you want to catch them while they fly past, that’s okay too. Alright, Rio, your zine just got in a fight and got called into the principal’s office. Rumor is Mean Principal Miller is talking suspension. Why?!

A: That Mean Principal Miller has only one thing in mind for my zine: he wants to co-opt it to better market “alternative” culture for the corporate subsidiary that runs the school! I get a suspension for non-compliance.

Q: Who’s the boss? And why?!

A: I’d have to say that my boss is Amy Goodman, investigative journalist and host of Democracy Now!. She’s a compass to keep ya headed the right direction!

Q: Paper called and it wanted to say…

A: It made like origami and folded?

THE ONE TRUE GAME!
1. Give us one true sentence about things your zine might have in its pages and two untrue ones and let the reader guess which is true… Ads for losing belly fat. Ads for whitening teeth. Drawings of scruffy homos who don’t read ads.

2. Give us one true sentence about what you like to do outside of Microcosm work and two untrue ones and let the reader guess which is true… I play banjo. I do competitive cross-country vegetable julienning. I hate cats and they hate me and also oh yeah the world is flat.

3. Give us one sentence about the zine community and two untrue ones and let the reader guess which is true…
The zine community is a shady network of miscreants and psychopaths. The zine community will turn you into a bomb-throwing radical. The zine community recruits.

Q: Your Microcosm co-worker Matt Gauck, as featured in episode one of this series, has just turned into a bird. Why?! Birds are the living descendants of my favorite creatures (dinos!). And Matt’s my favorite person to discuss vegan deserts with. Isn’t it obvious?

Q: Your Microcosm co-worker Joe Biel, as shall be featured in an episode of this series soonish, has turned into a bike. Why?! The Bielbike, which looks like Joe riding a bike, is actually a species of cyborg (check your D&D Monster Manual, kids). The flesh just gave in and turned into bike, too.

Q: When I say “zinester” you say:
Well, again referencing my Dungeons & Dragons manual, the zinester class is a cross between bard and thief-acrobat. Skills include Work Aversion +3 and they get an extra saving throw for bad reviews.

Q: When I say “comics” you say:
I can’t stop drawing them. I just finished one about Amazonian river dolphins and I’m making one about skeletons that put on shows at my local cometary.

Q: When I say “activism” you say:
Activism is finding the word you insert for “(Blank) Not Bombs”!

Q: Finally, back we’re back on dry land: What do you do for Microcosm and how did you and Microcosm become acquainted?

A: My business card says “shopkeeper.” So I try to keep the Portland Microcosm shop from, well, I just keep keeping it. An average day entails helping somebody find that one zine with the stuff, packing and biking an order, shelfreading and organizing, painting wood brighter colors than nature intended, coordinating volunteer tasks, and building perilous monuments of cardboard boxes to ready for our upcoming move.

I met Microcosm online (who says online dating doesn’t work out!) about, oh, six-ish years ago? And then I volunteered for Microcosm at Liberty Hall, oh, fourish years ago? As for today, let’s just say we make quite the couple.

Check out Rio’s zines here.

For this edition of the Meet Microcosm series, we talk to Sparky Taylor, who works out of Bloomington!

Q: So, since this Meet Microcosm thing is less about Microcosm than about the people who work here and the things they do outside of the job, give us the goods on your new side job…

A: Oh, well, it’s not really new, and it’s not a side job! My other job is working at a place called Rhino’s which is an all-ages club, and also an afterschool center for teenagers. I work for the afterschool programs and am in charge of a mural arts program, and a monthly zine called the Antagonist. I also assist with graphic design for the screenprinting program, and assist the youth radio program by working a five hour shift at the local radio station every Saturday. Altogether I generally work around 20 hours a week for Rhino’s, although sometimes I also work door at the shows on Friday nights. Plus I just signed on to assist the local alternative highschool’s yearbook staff. Whew!

Q: One of the things we were really proud of you for was the art you did for the electric boxes. Please, as they say, give us the goods…

A: Oh, the city started letting local artists paint these big electrical boxes around town, so they let me do one! It has dinosaurs and a griffin on it. It was really intimidating to paint so close to busy traffic during the day, but the feedback was all positive. Oh, except one woman informed me the city didn’t allow graffiti and that I should stop.

Q: Give us the goods about the Animal buttons that everyone loves so much…

A: I didn’t know people liked them. I sometimes make animal buttons, but not so much anymore. I could make some more if you really want me to.

The Give Us The Goods Bloomington Special Quiz
1. Favorite place to eat in Bloomington:
La Charreda… Mexican restaurant with big portions and giant sodas
2. Best show you’ve seen in Bloomington in the past year:
Ooh hard… umm… probably a tie between Built to Spill and the Mountain Goats. Oh wait and also the Elephant 6 Collective… oh and the show that was Deerhunter and No Age! Too many great shows!
3. Who’s your Bloomington Honorary Mayor?
I looked and looked and couldn’t find anything, so I appoint my cat Wade as honorary mayor.
4. Least favorite Bloomington resident? Most favorite Bloomington resident?
My least favorite resident is the random drunk guy that called me retarded the other day. My most favorite is probably my co-worker Danielle who teaches screenprinting with me at Rhino’s. She is totally my hero because she works so hard and devotes so much of her life to teaching art to kids. 5. Coolest animal in Bloomington? Uncoolest?
See #3. I am a total cat lady.

Q: Give us the goods! Give us the goods! What are your plans for nonMicrocosm art stuff and other project stuff in the next five years? Also, where can we find your stuff online? Give us the goods!

A: Maybe I should start a website! Recently I contributed a comic to Adventures in Menstruating #5, and also one to Not Your Mother’s Meatloaf #3. I got accepted into the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, but can’t afford to go. I’d still like to eventually go there though. Then I could spend two whole years drawing! I also love working with teenagers and plan to do that forever. I just have to figure out in what capacity. And, most importantly I just got a Stay Positive chest tattoo!

Q: Finally, give us the goods on what you do daily for Microcosm…

A: I do the ordering of all the books and zines we carry. It’s a big job annoying the heck out of all those zine writers! I also list all of the new items on the website when they come in. That takes up pretty much all of my time, but if I have a few extra minutes, I like to help with proofing and layout, and if I’m feeling real wild, I might even clean something.

For this installment of Meet Microcosm we talk to E. Chris Lynch about his animal sanctuary, turds covered in veganaise, and the nightmare of tabling zines on the Warped Tour.

Q: Alright dude, let’s talk Deep Roots. For the unknowing reader, what’s the sanctuary all about? Tell us! Tell us!

A: The short answer: We are a sanctuary that focuses on animal and earth liberation. We also like to point out that humans are animals, too. We don’t care to fight for welfare (exploitation and killing are still exploitation and killing, even if the aesthetic and language are more appealing). And while we will work on animal rights issues in the form of legislation, ultimately we believe that rights dictated from an authoritarian body are not the equivalent of freedom. We need total liberation. A lofty goal, but we’re in it in the long run. In the meantime, we provide housing for survivors of animal exploitation (farm, lab, and domestic animals). These animals work at the sanctuary by serving as ambassadors of their species. We’ve found that once you meet animals like Mabel the chicken and you’ve seen what great personalities they have, it is a lot harder to justify killing them for our own selfish purposes.

Q: You do a lot of really cool events and feeds to support Deep Roots. Tell us!

A: The small group of us that run Deep Roots are all really dedicated to grassroots activism and that means staying close to our community. For that reason, we like to host lots of small fundraisers and community events. We have fairly regular vegan diners, where you can get diner food for $1 an item. We sometimes do themed diners. One that we’ve been trying to find a location for the past couple of months is a Twin Peaks themed diner. It will be a late night diner that only serves food found on Twin Peaks (mostly coffee and stacked donuts). Matt Gauck donated some awesome Laura Palmer patches that he made. We are really looking forward to that one.

We’ve had a couple of punk olympics–these are different each year, but events have included a soapbox derby, four-square tournament, downhill sack races, kickball tournament, 20-person tug-of-war, and other fun stuff. We always give out handmade trophies at the olympics. I think that’s my favorite part (the trophies have things like lions giving piggyback rides to bears or skulls with glowing eyes. Jerico is a trophy making champion.) We try to keep it fun. Activism should be fun and community building.

Q: Tell us, tell us… how would someone go about getting an animal to you guys? Also, tell us a little about the animals you’ve got right now. Bonus points for cute Osil stories. For that matter, tell us about Osil…

A: Ah, yes. Osil is very cute. But let me get to your first question.

We don’t take drop offs. Although we have been around for a couple of years, we have a limited budget (and a very large mortgage), so our building process is slow and we have limited space. For that reason, we ask that people email info@deeprootssanctuary.org or call 812-NOW-2-ACT and let us know the details of the animal(s) that you want to drop off. We want to know what type of animal, how many, and what situation they are coming from (factory farm, small farm, lab, puppy mill, hoarder, etc). We need to make sure that we have the space and the funds to properly care the animals. If we aren’t able to take them, we can help find someone who can.

As for stories, I’ve got lots. Everyone loves Mabel, so I’ll share a funny story about her and a bunch of pit bull puppies that were rescued from a dog fighting ring. The five puppies were a couple of months old and full of piss and vinegar. They were chasing each other around the yard while Tidbit (the oldest dog at the sanctuary) was walking around making sure they didn’t hurt each other. Mabel’s friend Harold had recently died so she was spending a lot more time around the dogs (who are terrified of her, by the way). So Mabel was walking around with Tidbit when all the puppies decided it would be fun to tackle her. Mabel didn’t like this idea so she decided to go somewhere that they puppies couldn’t reach. So she jumped on Tidbit’s back. I wish I had a picture of Tidbit’s face. She looked so worried. It was hilarious. The puppies got distracted and Mabel jumped back down, but I was in stitches.

Osil is extra special to me because she was my inspiration for starting the sanctuary. I found her while spending a couple of months down in Chiapas. It was sunrise on my birthday and I was up early. I heard a yipping sound sound in the distance. I assumed one of the puppies that had been brought to us a few days before had wondered off and was lost. Being one who always responds to a distress call, I followed the yipping. I found a four-week-old Osil sitting in a ditch, covered in mud, and yipping at two turkeys. The Chiapanecos in the small village told us that they could not care for the puppies (who were strays from the woods… their mother is a sad story that I won’t share). So my friend and I decided that we would care for them for the remaining month that we were there and then take them back to the states. On our trip in to San Cristobal to get them some dewormer and formula, Osil peed in my lap. She was so embarrassed that she hid in my armpit for the rest of the trip. It was at that moment that I fell in love. There are lots of other fun stories about getting Osil back to the states, but I’ll save those. Damnit. Now I’m just thinking of lots of cute animal stories.

As for other animals at the sanctuary, we have several cats (about half of which came from a shelter that was shut down for hoarding), Mabel the chicken, Baron the bunny, Tom the (blind) turtle, Osil, and Tidbit (the dogs). We are finishing up a waterfowl rehab center in the next month and we are starting construction on a small barn this Spring/Summer. So we will hopefully be taking on a lot more animals this year, including our introduction into the world of wild animal rehab and release. This will be a big year for us. It is like we are growing up into our big boy pants.

Tell us, tell us–Fill in the blank!
1. I’d rather eat (blank) than a big, pink, fat-drippin’ Easter ham.

A: Well, I’ve been quoted before as saying I would eat a turd if you covered it in veganaise. So I’ll go with that. A turd covered in veganaise.

2. If a wise, kindly, snowy-bearded wizard with crystal eyes showed up right now and was like, “Bro, you got your wish. I’m totally turning you into (blank, animal) right now” which animal would you choose to be?

A: First off, I would probably piss myself if I saw someone dropping such mad wizbombs. But I might go with vulture. I had the privilege of rehabbing a couple of vultures and they are fucking cool. Huge, badass birds that look a lot like skeksies. They can fly really high. They eat things that were already dead. And they are so ugly that nobody fucks with them or thinks, “awww, that’d make a good pet.” Oh, and their defense mechanism is to puke on you. Trust me, it is the foulest smelling vomit that you have ever smelled. And they warn you that they are going to puke on you by making a hissing noise that seriously sounds like they are sucking out your soul. They are the most metal animal ever.

3. My favorite vegan food is (blank). My favorite vegan food to cook is (blank).

A: I hate this question. It is so hard for me to choose. But I’ll go with a good vegan yellow thai curry with tofu and veggies. My favorite vegan food to cook is either donuts or chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. I make both of those quite a bit.

4. (blank) is a total animal rights superstar.

Peter Young. I still love his “apology” that he delivered to the court at his sentencing

5. You really need to read this (blank, book).

A: The Lifelong Activist by Hillary Rettig. I don’t agree with everything in the book, but I do think it made me a better organizer. And it helped me in a time when I was starting to feel powerless and burnt out. I’ve been reading All The Power by Mark Anderson. That one is really good, too, if you are feeling frustrated as an organizer. I also highly recommend Cavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon. That one doesn’t really have a lot of social import, but it is so good. Especially if you are a comics nerd. And if you haven’t read Watership Down, stop reading this stupid interview and go read that instead. Then come back and finish. If you aren’t already vegan, my partner says that Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer is a good one. I’ve been vegan for 13 years now, so I don’t really read many animal rights or animal lib books any more. Maybe I should.

Q: You went on Warped Tour for Microcosm. We hear it went really badly. Tell us about it…

A: I wrote a 3,000 word “summary” of all the things that went wrong at Warped Tour. I was asked by Staples (former Microcosm intern and Australian zinester rockstar) to write a shorter summary. I’m working on it. Look for his new zine, it will be in there. Right now, I like to focus on the things that went well and the things that could have gone well. If it weren’t for a vehicle that broke down every day, that trip would have been a lot of fun. Just Adam, me, and Osil. My favorite time on the trip were those few days that the tour went into Canada and we couldn’t. So we set up camp at a rest stop in the Poconos and wrote for two days straight. That was nice.

But have no illusion. There is nothing punk about Warped Tour. I think three examples can sum up the crowd:
1) a dude wearing a shirt that said “capitalist anarchist,”
2) two military dudes coming up to the table, seeing the sticker that reads “the greatest threat to freedom is following those in authority” (or something like that) and then flipping off the stickers and backing away,
3) a young woman flipping through all the buttons and then saying, “but these are all liberal.” She turned away and had some patch that was either pro-Republican or pro-Military. I don’t remember which.

Q: Tell us a little about what you do for Microcosm day in day out…

A: I don’t really have a set schedule or set tasks. I kind of do whatever other people don’t have time to do. The two things that I do every day are pack orders (all of us in Bloomington do this) and list the Zine of the Day. I’ll also read submissions, edit a book, write descriptions for new titles, design book covers, ship orders, organize BFF subscriptions, shelve books and zines, make buttons, staple zines, do stock inventory, communicate with authors, write collective policy, whatever I can do to help out. I like having a different schedule every day. It fits my ADHD behavior.

Q: Finally, what’s the “E” stand for? The panel here is guessing “Electronic,” “Elf,” “E.L.F.,” “Emo,” or “Evil.” Tell us the truth.

A: I say electronic, but whatever works for you. I’m a roller derby ref and coach and my name is Lord Seitan (Lord Chris P. Seitan, if you want the full name). So “Evil” is very fitting. It is actually my first initial, but I only share my given name with good friends. I prefer the gender neutrality of Chris. And everyone I’ve known with the same first name as me has proven to be an asshole. I try not to associate with the assholes.

Welcome to Meet Microcosm, a new series where we interview members of our Portland, Bloomington, and Kansas staff and let you know who we are and what we’re all about. First up, Portland store employee and all-around awesome zinester and drawer Matt Gauck!

Q: If my mom–who you’ve never met, as far I know–asked you the vague, mom-ish question, “So Matt what sort of stuff do you draw and who do you draw it for?” what would be your answer?

A: To tailor my answer for the “parent crowd,” I’d say I draw and paint a lot of CD covers, t-shirts for bands and various other businesses, and design logos sometimes. The subject matter depends on the organization or band; sometimes it’s very realistic, sometimes it’s simplistic and cute. Very much one or the other. I also tell parents that I
screenprint frequently, which is true, but I feel like it makes me seem more well-rounded, which is the best way to guarantee that parents will like me and offer to pay for my dinner.

Q: You draw a lot of brutal vegan and animal rights stuff, which I really love. If a five-year-old Canadian kid asked you, “Mr. Gauck, why shouldn’t daddy grill steaks for me and mommy and my sister Leigh?” what would you say?

A: Man, a five-year-old? I suppose the easy answer would be to loan this kid a couple Cattle Decapitation CDs, maybe an Abnegation record… but, failing having these things on my person while meeting this kid, I’d go the “simple explanation” route. “Have you ever seen a cow before? Well, they’re very nice animals, and I think being nice to them in return is only fair, right? So, do you think it’s okay to hit them on the head to kill them and then cut them apart? And then EAT them?” Then we’d go visit a slaughterhouse and I think the transformation would be complete. Second stop would be a chicken facility.

Q: One thing I really like about your art is you have a lot of range. The stuff you do for your zine, Next Stop Adventure, varies widely from the stuff you do for bands (e.g. Mesrine) and book covers (e.g. Make a Zine) which varies widely from the paintings, etc. If my bearded 9th grade art teacher Mr. Long (who SUCKED) asked you, “What’s the hardest thing to draw and why?” what would you say?

A: Oh man, great question, especially for a sucky teacher. Well, honestly, the hardest thing for me to draw is any animal that’s mostly fur–like bears, wolves, raccoons, and anything in the dog/cat family. It’s because you can’t just draw the outline and have it look good; you have to draw all the fur which is so difficult to get the texture right. About six years ago I would’ve answered dead trees are hardest to draw, but that’s not true anymore, since I’ve drawn them for the last six years. The easiest thing to draw is old people’s faces, since they have so many wrinkles, it’s simple to “measure” the drawing correctly.

Q: So if an activist kid came into the Microcosm store in Portland where you work and was like, “Dude, I heard you turned down the illo job for those sneaky fucks at the Center for Consumer Freedom, good work. Are there any other kind of jobs, maybe industry-specific jobs, you’d turn down from an ethical standpoint?” what would you say?

A: That’s such a tough situation sometimes, since the sketchiest, most crappy places seem to have the most money, and could pay me enough that I could visit New Zealand or somewhere fun. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing anything for any fast food company or any food-industry that sold meat. If I think that my art would help
sell meat or a lifestyle I’m against (alcohol, cigarettes, oil companies) then I wouldn’t do it. However, if some giant band asked me for artwork, and could pay me stupid amounts of money, even if the band sucked, I would do it. Not because I love money or something, but more because it would rule to travel around, buy food instead of
finding most of it, and finally fix my bike, all on some mainstream band’s dime. I guess this is all a theoretical question, though, since I have no idea how McDonald’s or Enron would get my contact info and think “we should hire that guy!”

Q: So if you were doing a panel at the Allied Media Conference this summer and the mediator asked you, “Please tell us a little about your zine… ” what would you say?

A: It’s a super positive bike/travel zine, which I know is well-worn territory, but I still think there’s a couple stories too funny not to tell. I aim for two things–to inspire readers to go on more trips to more places with less planning, and also to make people laugh, since being upbeat and capable of laughing things off is the only way you’ll get through having your bike break down, having a leaky tent, having to drink your pee (issue number 4! not out yet!)…

Word Association! Answer fast!
1. Hot dog – dachshunds!
2. Elephant – stampede!
3. Lazy – the couch
4. Walnut – slingshot! (like, slingshot them at something)
5. Straight-edge – GO!

Q: Finally, if you were doing career day at a high school and one of the kids raised their hand and asked, “So, what do you do for Microcosm?” what would you say?

A: Official title: Box mover. That’s what I do best. Bike delivery guy, box picker-upper, mural painter, invoice emailer, in-store friend maker, and book shelf builder.

Check out more of Matt Gauck’s work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nextstopadventure or stop by the Portland store and give him a high five.

Deadline: May 31st, 2010

Today is the 99th annual International Women’s Day.  I figured what better way than to make a list of 99 of my favorite zines written or edited by women (that are still in print).  When I started, I thought it would be hard to come up with 99 of them.  I quickly had a list well over 100 and it was hard to edit it down.  This is far from an exhaustive list of great zines by women, but I hope you find it’s a good place to start.  These zines are in no order other than in the order they came to mind.  What are some of your favorite zines by women?

1. Doris
2. Ker-Bloom
3. Counterbalance
4. So What
5. Krazy Kat Lady
6. Spread
7. Just So You Know
8. New Orleans… My Love
9. List
10. On Being Hard Femme
11. The F-Word
12. Beyond Gallery Walls and Dead White Men
13. Dames on Frames
14. Reclaiming Our Ancient Wisdom
15. Moments of Struggle
16. Hot Pantz
17. HPV
18. Guerilla Greywater Girls
19. Take Back Your Life
20. What The Ladies Have To Say
21. Radical Pet
22. Frugal Vegan
23. We Need To Eat!
24. Barefoot and In The Kitchen
25. Nine Gallons
26. You Don’t Get There From Here
27. Galatea’s Pants
28. Support
29. Crescent City Stories
30. Adventures in Menstruating
31. Invincible Summer
32. Greenblooded
33. Not Your Mother’s Meatloaf
34. Work Funnies
35. Booty
36. Shithole
37. Girls Are Not Chicks
38. My Every Single Thought
39. Hey, Four-Eyes
40. Jumbly Junkery
41. Estrus Comics
42. The Womanifesto for the Categorical New Freedom Lady
43. Milkyboots
44. Easy Village Inky
45. My Brain Hurts
46. I Hate My Mom’s Cat
47. Sourpuss
48. Slave to the Needles
49. Here It Is
50. The Color of Dissent
51. Matching Jackets
52. Ring of Fire
53. Beer, Bikes, and Bridges: Notes on Portland, Oregon
54. Tenacious
55. Punx Is Ladies
56. The Adventures of Loneberry
57. Cuntastic
58. New To Everything
59. Angry Violist
60. The Rag
61. Refuge Zine
62. The Rainbow Connection
63. When Language Runs Dry
64. Greenwoman
65. DIY or Don’t We?: A Zine About Community
66. Learning Good Consent
67. Rigor Mortis
68. Fireweed: A Zine of Grassroots Radical Herbalism and Wild Foods Connecting With Kids and Family Life
69. Harlot, RN
70. Etiquette
71. Morgenmuffel
72. She Must Be Having A Bad Day: The Cult of the Female Food Service Worker
73. Broken Hipster
74. Figure 8
75. Really Gay!
76. Re:productive
77. 7 Minutes in Heaven
78. Caboose
79. Scrabble Freaks
80. Mamaphiles
81. Shotgun Seamstress
82. Rocket Queen
83. Identity Crisis
84. I Was A Teenage Mormon
85. La-La Theory
86. Keep Loving, Keep Fighting
87. Nuns I’ve Known
88. Jane Zine
89. Long Walk Back To Myself
90. It’s Not Just Boys Fun
91. Free To Choose
92. Mark of Cain
93. Xtra Tuff
94. Citizeen
95. Emergency
96. Let It Be Known
97. Ask First
98. Chainbreaker
99. Anti-Immigrant Hypocrisy 

We had a chance to catch up with the very busy people organizing this year’s Chicago Zine Fest, which will be held March 12th-13th at some great places all over Chicago.  Check out chicagozinefest.org for all the information.  They were nice enough to answer some questions for our Blogifesto!  Take it away folks….

So, what’s the Chicago Zine Fest all about? How did you get involved in organizing the fest? When was the last Chicago Zine Fest?

 Leslie: The Chicago Zine Fest is an opportunity for self-publishers to gather together and showcase their work.  Our goal is to make zine-making accessible, highlight the talents of self-published artists, and give independent artists a chance to interact, and swap skills through tabling, lectures, and workshops.  We tried to create a more interactive fest; including a reading, an art show, a film fest and the exhibiting. We are hoping people will talk and invest time in getting to know one another and what their zines are all about.

I got involved with organizing the Chicago Zine Fest the same way all four of us did–we just decided to make it happen!  Ramsey, Matt, Neil and I all traveled up to and tabled together at the Milwaukee Zine Fest.  On the drive back to Chicago we all collectively decided it was our calling to make this happen in Chicago.

 A fellow Chicago zinester Michelle Aiello organized a smaller DIY centered event called the Ephemera Festival, which took place from 2005-2009.  Overall though, for the huge city we live in and the amount of people making zines here, there hasn’t been a festival of this design in a very long time or possibly ever.

What’s the first zine you ever read, where did you get it?

Ramsey: The first zine I ever read was a photo zine called Worthless. I got it at a Catch 22 show, haha, in 1999 or 2000 probably. The guy who was selling merch for them was also selling his zine. I specifically remember asking him what it was and he said ‘oh, it’s just a collection of my photos put together, like a little magazine.’ I was 14, from a small town, just getting into punk and had never heard of zines at that time so I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he said it would help him buy a Pepsi. Inside was a compelling photo essay about a mom who lived in a van with her daughter in New Jersey. It wasn’t until a few years later, when I had learned about zines and started reading them, that I realized that guy, had sold me a zine a few years prior. That zine stayed with me for a long time, even though I didn’t really know what it was or why that guy put it together.

What’s so great about zines, why have a fest celebrating them, and what does the future of zines look like?

Neil: The micro-budgets most zines exist in give authors the freedom to say whatever is on their mind. If I want to say something, there’s no reason not to. For the consumer of a zine, beyond the ability to stock up on some heavy reading for cheap, the appeal is the direct connection between you and author.  You get to read their inner thoughts, having never met them, and you can write directly back to them.

Celebrations like the Chicago Zine Fest are important because it allows zinesters to increase that connection between the reader and the author.  There are very few forms of art in which the audience can interact so directly with a creator as with zines, and a major vehicle for that is sticking the author behind a table for six hours. A complete novice can walk into a fest, and not only be exposed to hundreds of different zines that range in subject matter and form, but they can put a human face to a somewhat quirky medium.

The future of zines and other DIY media looks great!  We’re currently facing two quite different trends in media, the first is the consolidation of major media among just a few companies, the second is the increased popularity of “user generated content.”   Zines have always been about publishing the ideas deemed unmarketable by those who control the reigns of publishing. With fewer companies controlling major media, the output has become more uniform, which is only going to cause more people to turn to their own form of media making. Blogs, podcasts, twitter and youtube are making the idea of self-publishing far less fringe. Locally, we’re seeing institutions such as Chicago Public Radio devoting major resources to user generated content. They’ve created Vocalo, a station broadcasting from Chesterton, Indiana that allows anyone to contribute content.  A lot of people are worried that new media is going to hurt print, but it seems like if anything, the new media is going to be supportive of the ideas behind zines, breed more zinesters, and allow folks to connect with them with greater ease.

What has the response been so far about the Chicago Zine Fest?

Leslie: The response has been overwhelming and amazing!  We never dreamed when we were sitting around saying there should be a zine fest in Chicago that just months later we would have people from all across the country and Canada coming. It has been awesome to have our dream list of sponsors all agree to support us as well as our dream list of readers and participants.  We are really thankful and humbled by the response we have gotten from everyone wanting to participate in all aspects of the fest.

What are the resources in Chicago for zinesters?

You can buy or read zines at all of these places, be sure to check out some of them if you come to town! Ask any of us with a “staff” button. We’ll be very glad to give you directions:

Quimby’s Bookstore

No Coast

Spudnik Press

Lichen Lending Library and Spiritual Archives

Chicago Comics

Third Coast Comics

Women and Children First

Comix Revolution

Chicago Underground Library

Brainstorm

Comix Revolution

Depaul University Library Zine Collection

Golden Age

Renegade Handmade

If you were stranded on an island and could only take one zine, one book, one album, and one food– what would they be?

Matt: some Anthony Marvullo joint, Robinson Crusoe, The Band by The Band, and Pizza.

Leslie: Every Single Word by Corrine Mucha would seem fitting, Nine Stories by Salinger, 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton to get me up and going every morning, and probably vegan pizza as well.

Ramsey: an Invincible Summer/Clutch split, 100 Years of Solitude, it’s a toss up between the Red Walls and Fall Out Boy (actually,that’s a silly joke. my real answer is Luiz Bonfa), and quinoa! The only way I can get a complete protein in one food, as a vegan.

Neil: Paper Cutter #5, A Child’s Christmas in Whales by Dylan Thomas, Miscellaneous T by They Might Be Giants, and grapes.

If Chicago (as a city) were stranded on an island and could only take one zine, one book, one album, and one food–what would they be?

Anything by Al Burian, DIY Boatbuilding, something by Alkaline Trio, and Chicago Pizza or Chicago style hot dogs (celery salt, peppers, tomatoes and pickles!).

Kate Lopresti is the editor and author of the Constant Rider book and zine series, a collection of stories from the world of public transportation. We caught up with Kate to see what she’s been up to lately…

Q: There hasn’t been a new issue of Constant Rider in a while. Do you have any new projects coming up?

A: Well, the good news is that three years ago I found a job that reduced my commute considerably from the days I had to get from southeast Portland to a northwest suburb to get to work. An unintended consequence, though, was that spending less time on the bus gave me less to write about. I just don’t see as much rider-interaction in a 20-minute bus ride. I have been biking more, so there may still be a Constant Rider bike issue. I’ve also taken up gardening, which has been great, but certainly cuts into writing time.

Q: How have your feelings changed about public transportation since the book came out?

A: I was really encouraged in the summer of 2008, when gas prices hit $4 a gallon. People I knew who were adamant single car drivers began to see the value in taking the bus and biking. It was a real sea change. I’m only sad the price hike didn’t last longer. Still, it was a good experience to see there are a number of drivers out there who can be recruited to ride public transportation under certain circumstances.

Q: If you had to stick with one mode of transportation for the rest of your life what would it be?

A: I’d have to choose my bike. (Sorry, bus!) Between the self-sufficiency and the exercise, a bike makes the most sense.

Q: What’s your opinion on bike culture as a means to beat the gas crisis blues?

A: Bikes are excellent, and not just in terms of reducing our fuel costs. They help us reduce carbon emissions and get us exercising. But spelling out the benefits of biking isn’t enough to get people to ride. The problem we’re seeing in Portland is that there are many people willing to bike, but not confident that they can do it safely in their neighborhoods to get to work or school. They have no trouble taking their bikes to dedicated bike paths or recreational areas, but getting into traffic is another story. Despite Portland’s strong bike culture, its infrastructure—bike paths, signals, parking—could be improved.

Q: If you could tell the world to read one book or zine what would it be?

A: Lately I’ve really been enjoying the columns of Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. He continually makes the case for green technologies and reducing American dependence on foreign oil. His book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded is on my To Read list.