I *finally* fulfilled a dream I had in 1993 (in 2011) and made a paper zine, with my hands, and my heart, for my friend, Gary Mecija for his birthday.

There was something ridiculously satisfying about folding it and putting it together.

You can Tumblr yourself into a stupor but there’s no paper at the end of the day. I liked getting my fingers inky.

15 or 16 copies of the zine cost about $8, maybe a little more.

I’m thinking about making more zines – and then I will get myself to a zine fest. I love fests!

Illustrations throughout the zine are by JESSIE JOHNSON – check out his Tumblr for more comiques.

I have a problem with books. I’ve always wanted tons of them. I want one of those stuffy Englishy libraries you see in movies with the spiral staircase that takes you up to the second floor of books.  I think that library needs a huge globe too.  Anyhow, my house doesn’t have a nice Englishy library, nor does it have an infinite amount of space, but that doesn’t hinder me (us, counting the BF who also has OCD-ish thrifting/collecting habits).

Here are some recent buys from the PCC swap meet, which happens the first Sunday of every month. It’s  less attended and therefore more manageable than the Rose Bowl swap meet, which is the weekend right after.  A lot of the same vendors appear at both swap meets too.  Besides, you have to pay to get into Rose Bowl, and on a hot summer day, the Rose Bowl and its miles of asphalt JUST SUCKS.  PCC swap is FREE, and is half outdoors, half inside a large parking structure, so you can escape the relentless sun while digging through boxes of records.

I’ve discovered now on the last few PCC runs that there is a rather handsome young bookseller who doesn’t have a booth. He just puts his books out on a huge blanket – and the books seem rather curated too, mostly history, art/photography, cookbooks, everything in good condition and not ridiculously priced either.  The last time I visited to this fine fellow I picked up a nice copy of Martha Stewart’s hors d’oeuvres book for $4.

Look for him next month!  He’s inside the parking structure.  Here are my last book grabs:

Buster photobombed this set up.

AND this one.

This book was a gift for the BF, who this year joined the Los Angeles Mycological Society.

Purchased almost completely because I’ve been playing waaaaay too much Assassin’s Creed 2 on the PS3, which is set in Renaissance Italy.  (Ending another blog post with an admission of dorkiness.)

Alright. I’ve been nagged and nagged to update this puppy so we’re not just sitting here staring at the Coachella 2009 lineup over and over again.  We already know to see TV on the Radio and NOT the Killers.  And if I hear that retarded lyric “Are we human, or are we dancer?” one more time I’m going to punch the nearest white boy right on the liver.

SO…what to blog about…what to blog about?  It’s nice to know that 3 of you think I’m mildly interesting.  2 out of those 3 come to my house a lot.  Have you two noticed that I have a LOT of bathroom reading at my disposal?

Well what’s funny and sad is…most of this stuff is PRETTY OLD, and I read it over and over again.  Have you ever seen the Altman movie California Split?  A wacky offbeat character in that movie loves to read the same issue of TV Guide over and over again, every night before she goes to sleep.  I am crazy enough to be cast in an Altman movie.  Here are exactly 5 things that should be rotated out of the bathroom but they stay in there anyway.

1. The Restaurant Lovers Companion by Steve Ettlinger (Forward by Tim Zagat!)
This thing is pretty informative…but it also cracks me up.  It is clearly written for the gringo foodie.  It has a definition for a quesadilla…but also a Mexican pizza!  Do they REALLY serve those in other places besides Taco Bell?  The Japanese section is quite handy though…but then I read something like this and it just makes me giggle. “Almost all Japanese garnishes are edible.  One exception is a decorative green plastic garnish, reminiscent of a picket fense, that is sometimes presented with sushi.”  YEAH GO AHEAD AND EAT THAT.  HEE HEE.  I really do flip through this thing a lot despite those very obvious kinds of passages.




2. Heeb Magazine – Spring 2007
I’m not a heeb by any regard!  I’m a rogue Catholic girl with a very long Muslim last name but somehow this appeared in the house a few months back.  The BF probably picked it up at a media event for free.  I reread a lot of stuff in it, starting with the R. Crumb/Aline Kominsky-Crumb piece.  Aline is a favorite comic book author of mine who gets absolutely no cred, and I devour everything that has anything to do with her.  There’s also a piece in here about “Jouchebags” that is pretty silly/undercut with an actual sense of self-loathing.  I had no idea that Ayn Rand was Jewish?  I’d be angry at her too.  The last thing I love to reread is “The World of Polyamorous Jews” – all about the blurry lines in Judaism about love and relationships.  A block quote from the article by Sarah Goldstein is intriguing: “The Abrahamses note that the Torah defines adultery as a married woman having sexual intercourse with a man who is not her husband.  It does not say anything about a married woman having sex with another woman nor anything about a married man having sex with a woman who is not his wife.”  Yeah, I’m not Jewish at all…but this is totally engaging stuff I’ve read a few different times.


3. A menu from a local restaurant that will remain nameless in case they find me and won’t let me eat there ever again.

4. The Believer – May 2005
Because of this issue I finally know HOW to pronounce Cthulu properly.  I know more about the WNBA than most people know.  I still think Steve Martin is a huge douche despite his intellect and his propensity to be occasionally funny.  And man am I glad a band like Yo La Tengo can exist between albums and concert tours by making great music for indie films.  Amy Sedaris’ column makes me chuckle even though I know all the upcoming punchlines.  The Believer is a joy in this world where print is dying.  It won’t be dead if I save my damn back issues.


5. Vice Magazine -Volume 13, #5
Ahhh yes.  What hipster bathroom is not complete without a damn issue of Vice crammed in a corner somewhere?  The Dos and Don’ts…yes, annoying and random in their elitist spirit but still so misanthropic and funny.  The record reviews will remind you that no matter how many years you’ve spent outside of the suburbs, someone will STILL think your music taste sucks.  The porn reviews are often disturbing.  The photo shoots…disturbing.  But this issue!  This issue is a keeper.  Comics from Sophie & R. Crumb, Tony Millionaire, Lorna Miller, Dave Cooper, Marc Bell, David Choe, Jordan Crane, Johnny Ryan, Peter Bagge, Steve Weissman…and then there are a few pages dedicated to showcasing the interesting stuff that sits on the desks of a few of these graphic geniuses.  I urge you to KEEP your Vice Magazine Comic Book issues!  They age well.  Near your toilet.

I can’t believe I’ve only posted one other Required Reading entry. I clearly don’t think reading is required. Oh but it is!

Arthur Magazine, to the discerning picker-upper-of-free-publications, is one of the BEST freebie magazines out there. It is less crass and poseury than Vice and covers a lot of the same ground, but in a slightly more erudite fashion (as in, Vice mag has articles about making wine in the toilet like criminals do in prison, this one has articles about making wine out of dandelions!)  It also has a regular, longish column by Sonic Youth-er Thurston Moore and Spin music critic Bryon Coley full of recommendations for zines, really underground music, and other strange curiosities.

I ESPECIALLY want to draw this to your attention because this month’s issue has an interview with Rudy Wurlitzer, the screenwriter of such zen/indie classics as Two Lane Blacktop, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and Walker. They don’t make ‘em or write ‘em like this anymore.

Look for this mag at your closest hipster magnet. Someplace like Amoeba, or Rockaway Records, Cinefamily on Fairfax or just steal it out of someone’s bathroom. It’s in my bathroom? Stay out of my house.

Arthur Mag online (no articles! bah!)

Garcetti said the hard-drinking writer, best known for chronicling his own seedy life on the gritty streets of Los Angeles, deserved to be remembered even though he was “not necessarily a guy you’d want to be friends with.”

L.A. Set to Save Writer Charles Bukowski’s Home

I bet he thinks he’s so awesome because he managed to be born on Jonathan Swift’s and Mark Twain’s birthday too. Anyhow, intersperse some (more?)  swears into your conversations today just for some thematic fun.

Our favorite This American Lifer and New Yorker contributor David Sedaris will be coming to LA on January 15th, at the Macgowan Little Theater on the UCLA campus. I am pretty sure this is a small theater with less than 300 seats so good luck to you on the onsale date of 10/22, Mr. Lucky Jerk Reader Person.

A funny line from Hocus Pocus:

I think William Shakespeare was the wisest human being I ever heard of. To be perfectly frank, though, that’s not saying much. We are impossibly conceited animals, and actually dumb as heck. Ask any teacher. You don’t even have to ask a teacher. Ask anybody. Dogs and cats are smarter than we are.

See more photos: 1 | 2

Have you skinny hipsters or skinny aging hipsters noticed the store FAMILY on Fairfax, other side o’ the street from Canter’s, in what seems to be the new “Super Expensive Skater & DJ Accessories” row? It is a welcome addition to the area that has become a total hodge-podge of high-end new stores, old school Judaica establishments, tea emporiums, and produce stands. Family carries a very eclectic set of zines and books from all your edgy standbys, such as Bukowski (bought this title here) or good old Iceberg Slim.

Do yourself a favor, go get a turkey pastrami at Canter’s, tip your waiter/waitress well, get a slice of apple strudel, go across the street to buy a great comic (say Ivan Brunetti’s oversized Schizo #4, I bought it here), then go home and proceed to sticky-up all the beautiful pages. I command you to do this.

Happy Birthday, mang.

Q: Do you think colleges ruin writers?

Bukowski: Of course. If you’re weak enough to seek instruction, you’re generally not strong enough to do anything else.

Q: Are creative-writing teachers worse than people who call themselves artists?

Bukowski: Oh, Christ. I don’t know which is more disgusting. Just about everything’s disgusting except this bottle of beer.

Bukowksi Interview, 1990