Punked!: Whatcha Mean What’s A Zine?

I am very much into Austin Kleon at the moment. Earlier this week I shared a link to his 100-Things post. Following the 100 Things post’s links, I found this book abouit zine-making: Watcha Mean What’s a Zine? The punky inspiration was so appealing to me that I bought it immediately. Unfortunately, the only place I could find it with affordable shipping to the Netherlands was Amazon. Unfortunately, because I try to buy more and more from local stores and websites, doing my part to support small niche businesses.

img

The book introduces you to the punky indy world of zines and zine-making. Very inspiring. Makes you want to start making zines right away. And participate in this worldwide community around zine-making.

It’s covered: every aspect of zine-making, from getting ideas, writing the content, creating a zine to selling and distributing it. Tools, techniques, best practices, all are covered. An extensive list of references on various related topics. Beautifully designed.

No more excuses not to go make a zine. Or make something else creative.

7 stars out of 5!

Chance of a good idea

Sinewy, schnorrer and other additions for English vocabulary from Franny and Zooey

In 2010 I read Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. I wrote down these words in my notes:

tangerine

rancor

avidly

ablation

non-sequitur

dour

stolid

aloofy

oar

to muss up

poignant

schnorrer

hold forth

expound

conceit

sinewy

The Problem with Photography

I found a scribble in one of my 2019 notebooks:

The Problem with Photography:

  • It’s too easy to take a picture.
  • There are too many photos.

What do I consider a good photograph:

A still moment, taken out of context. Good photos leave a lot of room for interpretation. That’s why I don’t think it’s necessary to add date and location to a photo. I like images for the image, not for documentation.

Instagram leaves no time for interpretation. Next photo …

Mini punk zines by Austin Kleon (video)

Makes you want to get to work immediately on these mini-zines…

Urgent over difficult

How interesting and urgent doing the dishes becomes when you are about to start a creative activity. My mind is highly creative in inventing urgent things before difficult things.

I guess it’s that thing called Resistance.

How often can you hesitate posting something? One other such thing. Good enough is good enough. And here it is.

David Lynch’ Theater on youtube

David Lynch hosts a great channel on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER

He makes a wooden iPhone stand. Closes with the remark that you can buy such a thing online as well. And that it is even better. But it is so much fun to make.

The Checking Stick is also wonderful.

The joy of reading old books

We are tempted to only read new books. Books on the NY Times best seller list, if you are American.

But consider reading old books. Books that have been around for some time. That have proven their value and are still being recommended.

Not necessarily Greek Philosophers, but also books like Moby Dick (from 1851), One Hundred years of Solitude (1967), Catcher in the Rye (1945), Catch-22 (1961), Alice in Wonderland (1862), The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Meditations (ok that’s old – 170-180 AD), Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979), On Writing (2000), Maus (written 1980-1991), Antifragile (2012).

On Antifragile, the approach to read old books probably much aligns with Nassim Taleb’s conviction to prefer grandmother’s wisdom over the opinions of self-appointed intelligentia. And also take the Lindy effect into account, and you are ensured you can enjoy the read much longer.

Thought of humility for modern day “geniuses” (video)

… genius isn’t the result of the great men that Carlyle proposed. Instead, the genius stands atop the shoulders of those that came before, whose small incremental advances led to the genius’ breakthrough.

…

It’s not brilliance, it’s simply progress “obtained naturally and cumulatively as a consequence of hard work, directed by intuition, literature, and a bit of luck.”

Taylor Pearson’s illegible margin

Taylor Pearson wrote a great article on the limits and dangers of rationalizing complex phenomena, and the opportunities of illegible ‘fat tail’ margins.

Some other gold nuggets in the article:

  • The joy of reading (and logic of preferring) old books.
  • Follow fingerspitzelgefühl – grandmother’s wisdom, Nassim Taleb, would say instead of modernist rationalizations.
  • A tinkering budget (low downside, high upside) for the things we are exploring that are hard to see.