fair, free publication, punk rock

I went to a 'zine fair' today. the above picture was without doubt the best thing that i acquired from the lovely little event. i dont really know how i feel about 'zines'. 90% percent of people in the world who arent punkrock (which i most certainly am not) have no idea what a zine is and therefore trying to explain it makes you sound like a wanky exclusive elitist jerk and defeats the purpose of the thing in the first place, or so i have found thus far anyway.

they are truly excellent things - in theory. finding a good free diy publication is one of the most excellent and entertaining things you can do, but it is SO dificult. you have to sift through so much shit that people have produced for no apparent reason to find the one excellent thing you know has to be somewhere in the pile.

good zines are people who just write about their life, normally and honestly; in a fashion that isnt completely self indulgent (not too much emotion in there) kind of like a short story but true. it is so interesting to read about someones daily mundane life, or it can be - i think you can make anything interesting if you are a good writer and some of the zines i've read, in my opinion, were far better written than a number of books i've read, or tried to read. but IT IS A RARITY.

so today there were lots of awkward little indy zine writing hipsters with equally awkward sales pitches for their $2 mini books. someone pointed out to me the issue of whether it was socially inappropriate to choose to 'put back' something from a table of free zines. i would say that it probably is.

i was sold the above picture from an attractive young syndey man who sympathised with my bland-wall but no $$ issue of decorating my house. i LOVE pity discounts, i got 4 pictures and 2 magnets for $10, instead of 3 pictures and NO magnets for $15. i also bought one zine called 'foxes in a supermarket' about some guy who worked at woolworths or something that had the potential to be interesting and then i was over my $10 budget by a long way so that was the end of the zine spending spree. i took some free things so atleast i wont feel bad if i throw those away because theyre usually free for a reason, sometimes. i always feel like i'm stealing whenever i get something - anything, even if someone buys me dinner or something - for free. it's a nasty feeling. or when you walk guiltily past the hand bag checking person in JB without showing your bag even though you havent stolen anything.