Coco Bean is, as always, a vibe.
Dang, has it really been 4 months since I last posted on the blog? Sometimes life gets away from me and it’s hard to sit down here and just type away. When 2024 began, I told myself that I wanted to write at least one blog post a month, recapping all of the zine-y things that I’ve been up to. But every time that I scribble “write a blog” on my to-do list, the actual writing feels like it gets father and farther away. I plan, I procrastinate, I feel bad about myself, so I make a plan again to do the thing… but often, the cycle just starts again. Plan, procrastinate, feel down on myself. Repeat.
It’s a welcome reminder that writing a task on a little scrap of paper doesn’t magically get the work done. The work gets done when I sit down and put pen to page (or in this case, my fingers to keys) and just let myself write. Sometimes I forget how much easier it is to actually write (or draw, or make) than it is to just think myself into circles about the task, letting myself fall/fail into the procrastination-disappointment-planning loop.
So here we are, finally breaking the loop. And there is so much to recap! I’ve been busy since October, traveling, drawing, filming, editing, teaching, communing, and creating. Here are a few highlights:
🪱 I doodled a cute lil’ worm in my bullet journal to use as a book tracker, and I liked him so much that I made him into a vinyl sticker. 5 of these made their way to my niblings for Valentine’s Day, and I dropped the rest in my shop (more on that later), if you’d like a worm of your own.
📺 My youtube channel has been flourishing beyond my wildest dreams (over 800 folks have subscribed – wow! That might be small fries in the greater YouTube ecosystem, but to me, it’s massive.) Since my last blog post, I’ve shared a review of some spooky zines for Halloween, two new episodes of Roll for Zine, a smattering of Shorts, a ziney travelogue recapping a trip to New York City, a mini-zine tutorial, and a review of some how-to zines that felt appropriate for a New Year full of resolutions.
💗 Since September, I’ve been volunteering at the Neither/nor Zine Library, helping catalog thousands of zines for public consumption. And on the third Tuesday of the month, I’ve been hosting the library’s kc zine club. It has been a ton of fun: each month, about fifteen of us gather to share our favorite zines and work on our own projects. The meetings each have a loose theme. February’s is coming up next week, and we’ll be digging into anti-Valentine’s vibes with zines about broken hearts, ex-friends, and missed connections. Heartbreak feels good in a zine library like Neither/nor.
👋 In January, I tabled at the Kansas City Public Library’s “New Year/New Discoveries” event, teaching folks how to cut-n-fold a one-page mini zine. My friends Heather and Nicoya were my table neighbors (with demonstrations on mending and meditation) and we had a great time sharing our skills with a hundredish Kansas Citians of all ages. Heck, maybe you’re reading this blog because you picked up a catmothcrow flyer from my table? If that’s the case, welcome!
🛒 And last but not least, I’ve reopened my Etsy shop after a six year hiatus! I’ve currently got three of my witchy zines and a perzine in stock, as well as a selection of vinyl stickers, many of them shiny with rainbows. Check it out (and shhhh! Wanna know a secret? If you sign up for my mailing list, you’ll get a promo code to save $1 on any $10+ purchase!)
Many of my favorite blogs and newsletters end with a collection of things that the author has been enjoying. Often times, I find total gems in these recommendations… so here are a few carefully selected content jewels for you to marvel over:
✷ Margaret Killjoy’s “Harmony is More Beautiful than Unison” put a pin in my own views on anarchism that I had been struggling to articulate. It reminded me of a quote from one of my favorite songs: “collectivism and autonomy are not mutually exclusive.” That always welcome reminder is from the song “Total Football” by Parquet Courts.
✷ Raechel Anne Jolie’s essays always resonate, but “to walk & to listen” — “a note on gentrification, animism, & paying attention” — hit especially hard. Like P, I also always assumed that John K. meant the notes were written for the machines.
✷ Chris Gethard’s podcast “Beautiful/Anonymous” is the closet thing I’ve found to an audio perzine. I will never tire of listening to folks tell their own stories, and Chris is a master conversationalist with a talent for finding the the most surprising, delightful, or strange threads to follow in any yarn. I found the recent episode “What Would Ian MacKaye Do?” especially delightful, for probably obvious (punk-themed) reasons.
✷ This last one isn’t a gem, but a call to action. I feel I would be remiss if I did not call attention to the genocide unfolding in Palestine. If you are able to, please consider making a donation to the PCRF to help provide humanitarian aid to children in Gaza – visit https://www.pcrf.net/ to learn how you can help.
That’s all for now! Until next time, take care,
dm
