Canberra Zine Fair

A couple of weeks back now but here are some photos of my very first Zine fair. A lot of fun given I didn't know what to expect and only had a few cliches in my head styled mostly from the movies Chasing Amy and Ghost World. I had wondered  if sellers would be getting out their sketch books during quite moments and indeed some did. I myself arrived a little under prepared. You may be able to see that from my minimalist display (will know to bring a table cloth next time at the very least) and also was still sewing buttons on throughout the morning. In fact one potential lady customer asked if that (ie. me with my sewing kit attatching buttons) was all part of an installation art piece. "Please. Don't overthink it" muttered my charming and youthful neighbor Rafael, once the lady had gone (not buying one!), who had set himslef up brilliantly to sell his poetry/writings and had, I have to add, immediately put me at ease by telling me my own zine was "adorable". I was perhaps a little worried I wouldn't fit in, the Zine fair being billed as part of Youth Week at Gorman House. It turned out though I was far from the oldest Zine enthusiast attending. Glad though I had thought better of bringing the hot water bottle which had been pressed to my lumber region 24 hours previous the fair for an annoying torn muscle injury. That might have sent the wrong message totally. 

Anyway, down to business - My Zine was called Love Hate and and is essentially about my love-hate affair/ addiction with fashion magazines. I sold over 25 of the little things - $4.50 with buttons attatched and $2.50 without. While I also bought a fair few of the other Zines on offer as well as doing some swaps with other zine creators I certainly reached my goal of making enough to feed my other addiction - books. Win-win. I was too shy to get anyone to take a photo of me at my stall but some collectors from the National Library were there taking photos and you can see me hawking my wares ever so aggressively (not) right here.

Frenzied and Feverish at the Lifeline Bookfair.

It can only speak to my love of both a bargain and books and magazines that I managed to get up early yesterday and brave the Lifeline Book fair queue despite being in the midst of a really evil flu. This is a date that has been marked on the calendar for months and eagerly anticipated by Ruby and myself all week - not going was not an option. But boy was it worth it. I can't tell you what we spent (really I can't - it's been pushed to the darkest recess of my brain unaccessable by anyone but the most skilled hypnotist) and anyway I like to think of it as an investment. After all when I am done with the many lifestyle and fashion mags I can sell them on ebay can't I? Or else cut them up into a fetching collage. Even stack them into a clever room divider when relatives come to visit.

It's a funny atmosphere at the fair though. Bookish sorts queueing for hours as though tickets for some world class rock band are on the verge of selling out. They set themselves up on little chairs. They have their thermos of tea. I say they becuase Ruby and I are far more relaxed about it. All we had was a snack and a book to keep our mind off the wait. And our little granny shopper to quickly wheel our stash out when we finnish. But everyone had those and you've gotta level out the playing field haven't you?

Once the doors opened and the crowd got moving you could feel the effort this well read crowd was exerting not to be pushy - no hurry, enough books in there for everyone! - seemed to be the outward message but meanwhile a competitive undercurrent was barely being suppressed. It was as if they were thinking "What if I get in the door and just as I suss out the magazine section someone is walking away with Italian Vogues???" Okay, maybe that was just me. 

In the end you know there are not going to be any Italian Vogues but you hope all the same because that's what is so exciting about the book fair - walking in is like an Aladdin's cave and amazing bargains are to be had. Ultimately I did end up with a few UK Vogues - though they were old and had lots of cut outs (who would do such a thing??) - but was thrilled to find some Frankie mags in mint condition plus some copies of Inside Out  to add to my collection. Once the little Granny shopper was full I went to the kids section where Ruby had elatedly bagged lots of cool titles she had been wanting to read. The whole exercise hadn't taken long but by that point I was feverish with flu and the strange magazine frenzy which had taken me over only minutes before (leading, I imagine, to the dud British Vogues finding their way into the granny shopper). I was sweating uncomfortably and for a moment thought I might faint. "Let's go" I said to Ruby, totally over it, grabbing a couple of mint condition Notebook magazines from a nearby box as I passed (they often have a great craft article....). We paid up and lugged our loot back to the car. It was a gorgeous Canberra Autumn day, crisp aired and blue skied. Instead of going home we stopped in civic. The city was all athrong on this sunshiney week day  and so, picking a few of our bookfair finds out of the boot, we chose the cafe with the comfiest cushions and the most flavoursome coffee and made ourselves at home. Heaven!

(Photo source).

Book Review (of sorts).

While away last week I read Christos Tsolkias novel 'The Slap', the first book I've read since finishing the Twilight saga a few weeks ago. Much like the Twilight saga I could hardly put 'The Slap' down. Unlike the Twilight saga it was not an overly enjoyable read. In fact at times reading 'The Slap' felt like a receiving a big hard slap. Told from the perspective of eight different characters, who are present at a barbecue where one of them slaps a child who is not his own, this is a really ambitious novel. And not least for confronting a multitude of complex issues present, yet not always discussed, in contemporary Australian life. Not everyone thinks Christos Tsolkias manages to pull this off but personally, for the most part, I do. I think good on him for confronting all those sensitive issues like private school vs. public school, compromised relationships, casual drug use amongst the middle class, the realities of parenting etc etc. If I had only one criticism to make of this book it would be the unconvincing letter Connie's father wrote before he died and also that there were no handsome vampire characters to lighten things up a bit.