They say time flies when you’re having fun. And while I’m not prone to living in cliches, yesterday’s Spokane Zine Fest flew by in such a way that I nearly gasped at my watch each time I checked.
A little scene setting: every gal, gal pal, she, they, him, her, zir, queer, trans creative baddie you could imagine was on scene. My husband overheard a reassurance to someone anxious about it being their first zine fest – the reassurance was real, pithy: you aren’t alone here. My experience confirms that and not once did I meet anyone who didn’t pass the vibe check.
Brilliant, creative, goofballs, every last one of them.
That included my table mate, a 12 year old genius of many skills, talents and senses of humor – from the very low to the very sophisticated. Early on we both decided to be friends and to commemorate the occasion she drew me as a spider with a princess wand that creates tornadoes. As a Kansan and appreciator of spiders, this was just the sort of magic I was looking for at yesterday’s event.
Meeting other Substackers
Many of my Substack notes float freely into The Void, but one landed on earth
Sabrina was driving home from the Westside (as Eastern Washingtonians refer to the west side of the Cascades) and just about made my day by taking a pit stop in Spokane! In true wild artist style, we made a trade – a small art print for a drawing of her favorite animal (salamander).
Earlier I met Cher, of Doing it for the Attention. I was thrilled to have a surprise run-in not only with a local writer and creative, but fellow Substacker. We have tentative plans to meet-n-write, and through divine timing were graced with fiction-writer extraordinaire, Sharma Shields. Sharma runs a number of writing-focused programs through the library, including an upcoming session at Bowl and Pitcher. Towards the end of the day I met
Ladypajama and she gave me a quick tour of collaborations and her monthly subscription offerings of handmade zines – I just about died and went to heaven.
Throughout the day I dipped into skills I developed working at a small internet governance nonprofit that had a conference booth in a different country three times a year. In that job, I met people from all walks of life – corporate stiffs and domain hustlers, wobbly and wise South American grandmothers, young people determined to make a difference in how we manage the internet. I learned that I liked this part of the job in small doses, but nonetheless, it fed me, just like it did to see each and every person who stopped by my table yesterday. In each one of those visitors an entire world exists. For me, zine fests are the wearing of those worlds on the outside – all the questions, transgressions, pushing, drawing, designing. All the vivid colors and deepest shadows. Metaphorically and quite literally, zine fests are where it’s at.
