Tag Archive: books


Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty

Filed under: Art & Literature, Journals, zines — Leave a comment
April 19, 2026

(Free post cross-posted on my Patreon page)

The Chicago zine is done!!! I am going to do one final proofread, but it’s overkill at this point and I’ve already posted it on Etsy for whatever that is worth. 

I don’t mean to seem like I’m not excited about it, because I totally am, but also I am a little terrified. It’s really personal, y’all. But also I think it’s kind of good? And interesting? My friend Sam said it was “captivataing.” (!!!) What a nice compliment. I really had so much fun putting it all together in the end, in spite of multiple self-invented obstacles and chaotic shenanigans.

For example(s), for a lot of the zine, I hand-pasted collaged backgrounds, and then printed the text in various sizes, then cut and pasted it in strips, like a cut up…editing out parts I didn’t like…And then scanned them into the computer, only to find that when I printed them, the background kept bleeding through. So instead of, like, using an image editor to fix that issue, I just casually decided to digitally copy and paste those same strips of randomly-sized blocks of text that I had printed and hand-cut and pasted…being careful to digitally skew the sections of text directly over top of the scanned collaged text, and adjust the opacity to let some, but not all of the background seep through. 

And then…when Acrobat (the app my workflow RELIES on for the bookletizer feature) randomly decided a single page of the pdf was invisible (even thought it was visible LITERALLY everywhere else) I doubled down in my stubborn dedication to NOT troubleshoot, and instead find the longest workaround possible. I created an entirely new document, and dragged and dropped each individual PDF page into the appropriate place in the landscaped document in booklet format.

Of course, when I discovered typos on THOSE pages, I had to then layer over MORE text blocks to cover those errors, because I can’t edit the PDF images I pasted into the document. 

I’m declaring an end to the futzing as of now and offering it to the world. Take it or leave it. But if you take it, I really hope you enjoy it.

Paid Patreon subscribers will be getting a copy in the next zine grab bag. Others, if interested, can order through my etsy page or contact me directly for bulk orders, trades, or if you are broke and curious about my silly little tales.

Link to my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4490989111/oyster-lexicon-an-a-z-of-me-c-is-for

Musical Interlude: Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty by This Mortal Orchestra – https://youtu.be/xRFVawWsfUc?si=juzbHEfCGx16tXxs

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With wings on…

Filed under: Musicness, Politics, Uncategorized, zines — Leave a comment
March 15, 2026

(Various playlists found while compiling the Chicago zine)

(This post is cross-posted on my Patreon page)

For the past few months…but the past week more intensely, I have been immersed in my own personal history. I have been working on a zine that has been in progress for TWELVE YEARS. A love story to my favorite city, Chicago. The place where I grew up, and where a lot of fond memories reside. Some not-so-fond, as well, but I have been thankful to discover that none of the pain that resides there is sharp. I fear it may make a dull narrative, but the process is delightful for me. It’s like visiting with old friends; some of whom still exist in my present life, but many I have lost along the way.

The zine in its current state is about 72 pages digest-sized, and divided into four distinct sections, representing eras of my life when I have moved/returned to Chicago. There were many more returns in between those recorded here, and the eras chosen for the zine were largely random. They represent a pretty good sample of my life. First – my move into my first apartment with a gaggle of punks; Second – my return to Chicago after fleeing to Lubbock to escape the misery of the city; Third – I return to Chicago a parent of two young children after my mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, and we visit all of the museums and eat a lot of pizza; Fourth – I return alone for my mother’s memorial, and lessons learned bringing me up to the present time.

I have given the draft to some trusted friends to review and make sure I don’t say anything that would embarrass me or any of the (totally fictional) people (fictionally) represented in the pages. I’m nervous, because I talk about my sexuality in a way I’ve never publicly discussed. I also just really love that city and all of the folks I knew & still know, and I don’t ever want to say anything that would make them feel like they were anything other than deeply cherished in my memory. I will probably be writing stories about it and them for the rest of my life. I am kind of excited to share them with you when it’s all ready to go.

But now it is time to be in the present, such as it is, and make plans to keep our neighbors and loved ones safe. I can’t talk about making a zine without mentioning the Prairieland Defendants, so I guess we’ll move on to…

Links:

The creative and highly theoretical claims by the state around Prairieland risk producing precedents. The theory that the whole demo was bait — for which the indictments themselves give no supporting evidence — is but one. The mere use of Signal is recast as evidence of criminal enterprise, while deleting someone from a group chat has become “material support for terrorism.” Fireworks are “explosives.” A home where friends congregate is a “staging area.” Dressing in black with a face covering is “designed . . . to aid and abet those members engaged in illegal acts.” The defendants are accused of possessing “insurrectionary materials called ‘zines,’” and defendant Daniel “Des” Rolando is charged with “corruptly concealing a document or record and conspiracy to conceal documents” for transporting a box of them. –https://jacobin.com/2026/02/prairieland-trump-domestic-terrorism-ice

Support The Prairieland Defendants: https://prairielanddefendants.com/

Zines are not a crime: https://freedes.net/

For a good summary of past/present Iran History: Jacobin Radio – Behind the News: The Decades-Long War on Iran w/ Behrooz Ghamari: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-news-the-decades-long-war-on-iran-w/id791564318?i=1000754061234

Musical Interlude:

Dog-Faced Hermans – Wings: https://youtu.be/_rehhBu9zME?si=DGNWDIY2JXRXuWxO

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