zines, again

I just finished smile, sweetheart #1 by Eryn Loeb. I usually scan the zine racks at any bookstore i go to, and this one hooked me by its cheap price and sweet, simple collages. Remember collage? My whole adolescent bedroom was one for a few years.

smile, sweetheart is an episodic tale of moving to NYC. The routine of moving every year, sidewalk shopping and the feeling of endlessly starting again are given a lot of attention. The differences between NYC and real places still occupies my thoughts, and I liked Loeb's easy and concise take on those themes and more. Her story about searching for dirt to refill a dying houseplant was only a few lines, but it told my millions of frustrations (and bewildered moments) in that paragraph.

I'm not surprised that housing is the theme here. In nowhere else I've ever been (or read about) does where and how you live carry so much weight. I hate it, but smile, sweetheart makes those lightening fast judgements seem less stupidly important and more of a part of the new language I'm still learning.

If you see this somehwere, buy it.
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Speaking also of zines, I forgot to mention a Bonus! in That Old Ace in the Hole: my all time favorite zine, Dishwasher, got a mention in a very weird way. I miss paper...