September 2008 Zine Available

Volume 1, Issue 1 of my printed zine Prairie Skirts is available now! Please E-mail me at prairieskirts@ymail.com if you'd like me to snail mail you a copy. The zine is free, but if you really liked the zine or want to see more stuff in the future, a $2.00 donation made via PayPal to the E-mail address above is greatly appreciated! Stay on the lookout for the downloadable online version, coming in a month or two.

The Prairie Skirts Zine is Here!

I am soo excited to announce that the zine, which was just an idea about 4 days ago, is now sitting on my desk. I went to Staples yesterday and ran off 10 copies. It goes against my don't-buy-anything-new-for-a-year pledge, and I'm not sure how to get around it. I figure that it's printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and that (hopefully) people will read it and learn about environmentalism... do you think that cancels it out?

I've dreamed up a system for distribution that I think will work really well. I'm going to have 10 copies of the zine printed a week before the end of the month. During that week, I will mail the 10 copies to a few selected friends/family members, who will get the sneak preview for that month's edition. In return, I'll ask them to give a brief (or detailed, if they have time) feedback on the issue, so that I can find out what I may have overlooked and be sure to include those things when I run off tons of copies.

The articles in my first issue are:

Nothing New for A Year (Posted first on this blog)
A book review on The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Non-Profit Spotlight on Heifer International
Jewelry at the hardware Store? (Making a necklace from a washer)
Someday I Want A Fiber Farm
Business Spotlight on Mountain Rose Herbs
My Accidentally-Vegan Homemade Bread (posted first on this blog)

I'm pretty sure subsequent zines will have more content, because I'll be writing about stuff all month, rather than for 2 days. I've already got a small list started of ideas for the October zine.

It is SO much fun, and feels really good to see my opinions on paper, knowing people may read them.

Homesteading (&stuff) Zine in the Works

I've always wanted to start a zine. One of those booklets copied off at Kinko's, all 3 pages folded and stapled at the kitchen table, and then handed out at random places in Berkeley and Santa Cruz. I never knew what to write, because I didn't really have a passion for anything back when I first got the zine bug. But now that I'm all crazy about self-sufficiency and homesteading and the environment and stuff, I feel like I have something to say!

I want to write about the fucked up things.

I want to write about the drawbacks of monoculture (growing hundreds of acres of just one crop, year after year). The pervasive and unneccassary use of pesticides because monoculture depends on synthetic nutrients and false systems to work. The fact that my mom can't pronounce the ingredients in the bath soap she buys for our family. How organic produce is largely available, but only if you have the extra money to buy it. Deforestation. Oil companies not having to pay for the environmental havoc they create.

I want to write about awesome things, things of promise.

Farmer's markets. Sustainable agriculture. Zero-waste companies. Xeroscape efforts in Las Vegas. The importance of the bicycle and public transportation. Beach clean-ups. Radical bumper stickers. And alpacas!

I want to provide people with how tos.

How to... make a compost bin. Bake bread. Make your own soap. Make paper. Refinish a wooden desk.

I want to open my mouth and not be shy, because what I have to say is important, and I want people to listen.