Publish Succesful. [details]


Flipping through my Punk Planet Revenge of Print issue, I began to have flashbacks to my 'zine days, and the rush doing a 'zine would give me: the feeling of dried gluestick on my fingers, my bedroom strewn about with cut-up paper, the thrill of illicit photocopying at Kinko's or a school photocopier, stapling the damn things into the rug then pulling it out and folding the staples down because that was the only way I could staple them in the middle. It's all very tangible and labor intensive and takes resources and cunning. It explains why I've never been completely sold on this blogging stuff. It's just too easy. Yes, I suppose some blogs are labor intensive (ie all that fancy HTML), but if blogging can be considered labor intensive, then 'zines are the "hard-labor" of DIY publishing, with it's scissors and glue and paper and distribution, not just a keyboard and comfortable chair from Staples. I've never identified as a "blogger," but I've always been proud of being a "zinester." I don't even like the word "blog;" it's ugly. It sounds like something that would grow out of your neck.

As I began research on my first paper for school, on the pamphleteers of colonial America, I realized how much I truly missed doing 'zines and how utterly unfullfilling I find doing a blog. I'm not in anyway comparing myself to Thomas Paine. I simply miss the medium of paper. I miss print.

I'm not sure how much longer I'll be doing Male Mannequin. Mostly because of school, but also because it's just simply not fulfilling to me. When I send my 'zines off to a 'zine library, I feel proud and good. When I hit "post & publish," there's no guarantee that either will even happen.