my first zine, Ladybug #1 is now ready & available!!

check Ladybug zine's blog for details!

i miss you

i miss writing here, yep. maybe its a weird thing to say but lately i've been so tangled and busy with other things that i even stopped writing my Morning Pages, which were kind of a daily writing journal/diary type of thing. i just didn't have the time anymore, after waking up, mostly because lately i've been waking up too tired and there are always some bad vibes around here.

while i'm writing this quick post, i'm also updating the "former" zine reviews blog i had created, explaining why that blog is now on a hiatus, perhaps a very long one, who knows...

the thing is - i started a zine (and books!) distro. yeah, me! so to save me some time, i'll just x-post part of the other blog's post in here...


i've moved on to a more important project, starting my own little distro - Invicta Distro. you can pay us a visit here.

the website is still a bit under-construction but you can read a little about me and why i decided to start a distro, and also learn the meaning of the distro's name.

while we're at it, i'm accepting zines for distro consideration, so if you have a zine, stop by the distro's website and read about Zine Topics to get an idea of what types of zines i'm looking for.

but if your zine (or self-published book) doesn't exactly fall into those topics i mentioned, i'm available to talk about your project, i'm always open to read different and new things!

i thought that if i was going to be reading all those zines & writing about them, i might as well try and share them with the rest of the world by distributing them! this is not the main reason why i started the distro though, don't get me wrong! you can read about why i started the distro in the About section of the distro's website ;-)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

i couldn't spend the day working on distro stuff because i had some "Spring" cleanings to do in my bedroom. i turned on the laptop to do a quick check on emails but everything was calm so i went to do some cleanings. every now and then i would come back to check my emails, but the whole day was calm enough, no distro emails, no Facebook urgent messages or anything, so i kept doing my cleanings after dinner and i'm now quite satisfied with what i've accomplished! it means i can go back to sleep in my bedroom (leaving the couch for tv zapping), and secretly read under my blankets before going to sleep...

so i'll be off to bed soon... a new and mysterious book awaits me. when i opened the package and flipped through its pages i was puzzled because it looks like the book is half poetry and half prose or biography or whatever. i must have been a little distracted when i ordered it, but it must have been something in the book's description that made me click ''add to cart''. the pages still look very interesting, and when i had the book in my hands i felt curious, so i just have to read it!

sometimes i need to read books to. that doesn't mean i'm tired of reading zines! but it seems like i see some people dissing books in favor of zines, which makes me sad. all my life i've loved books and read too many to remember the number, but when zines (re)appeared in my life, about a year ago, i felt so excited about this (new) medium and started reading mostly zines, leaving some books unfinished. i could feel some sort of connection to some of the people who wrote some zines, and/or identify myself with some of them, sharing similar life experiences and thoughts and problems. they made me feel less lonely, specially when the times got harder and after losing my job. they would give me a little hope that i could some day accomplish something important in my life, something that could reach out to other people, something that could make a difference. but that's a whole new story...

i wish the day had 30 hours instead of 24, so that i could read a lot more! but it only has 24hours and i can't spend most of them reading, even if i tried. 

so the last couple of months i've been reading zines mostly. but everyone needs a bit of fresh air sometimes, don't you think? i value reading, above it all, above the differences of the mediums - books vs. zines -, above the type of "literature" - fiction, poetry, comics, how-to guides, journals -, above the so-called independent publishing vs. mainstream publishing companies. i just like to read, it's as simple as that.

in the mail lately, some ramblings and a photo

yesterday my last order from the Book Depository arrived :)
i'd been trying hard not to spend money on "extras" (as i've mentioned in many previous posts), whether it's books or zines, and i only succumb to my obsession for such items on times of great need... Ok, this explanation doesn't make that much sense, but... what i mean is, i try to buy books/zines only when i feel i really really need to read a particular book/zine, or when i feel i need to have a particular book because it's important, for professional reasons, and, of course, personal reasons too.

so, moving on to the books i got...
the first one is «the Photojojo Book», which i found out about trough the Photojojo website, after following some links from the very cool CRAFT magazine blog.

i browsed Photojojo's online store, read details and saw some really interesting photos from pages of the book, so i got excited about the photography projects and the DIY potential of it.
since i've been dwelling with the idea of trying to find a job or "make" my own job, starting by trying to get some freelance work, the photo projects i saw on the book seemed like an interesting place to look for ideas...
now that i got the book in my hands, i've already browsed trough all the projects and it might really have some good projects for me to try out. what worries me is that all projects require tools or materials that not "everybody" has at home, so i'd probably have to spend some money buying stuff if i want to try one of their projects.
all projects have somewhat of Do-It-Yourself in them, and are much like a custom-made product (if you see them from a business potential point-of-view), so that would probably require me an amount of market/target research and also pricing studies... It's a bit overwhelming, i guess, considering i'm all alone in my "quest" for freelance work and/or building my own business... there isn't that much support from my parents, as it has always happened throughout the these last 8-10 years when the topic «starting my own business» comes up.


let's talk about something else, moving to the other book i got... «The Artist's Way», by Julia Cameron.
i had read about this book a while ago, on an Etsy forum and in some references related to Keri Smith's books. so i browsed for it on Amazon to read some sample pages and decided that maybe this is just the right book i need for this particular moment in my life.

i started reading it last night (or should i say... this early morning, around 5 am?). at first i got a bit suspicious because of its subtitle «A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity». i should have researched some more on that Spiritual part of the title... to be honest, it started giving me "itches" because of my atheist "beliefs".

The author started talking about God and the "Great Creator" stuff like that, and that's when i started thinking that maybe i really shouldn't have bought this book. really. because, if i don't believe in the existence of god or gods or whatever, would could i follow through the book's lessons and exercises if it was based in believing that? still, i "forced" myself to read some more, in hopes that somewhere ahead Julia Cameron would offer some other alternatives to religion... and fortunately (for me), she did!

so, i'm now going to keep reading it and whenever i read the word God i'll think of something else. my inner self power, my inner Goddess, Mother Earth, the Universe, etc etc...

hopefully, i'll learn something from this book. i've just created an account at the book's official online forum, just in case... maybe i can find some portuguese readers or even a local study-reading group, who knows...

and today, i got another lovely thing on the mail, my etsy order from Erin P., the latest issue of her Anon zine, along with some copies of a past issue. as usual, full of inspiring collages, and this time Erin writes a little and shares some of her experiences as an art therapist. her story made me admire her even more now, besides as an artist, also as a human being.

Go and get your copy now!!!

and to end this long and boring post, here's a crappy photo! think of it as my gift to you, my "thank-you", for reading all the way to the end of this post...

i didn't get to catch the sunset today; by the time i noticed, the sun was gone but the sky was still burning...

Beautiful colors, i just knew i had to take a photograph of such awesomeness, so i went to grab my camera as fast as i could and took a couple of photos from my living-room window. (the outside of the window is kinda dirty from the last rains, so don't be surprised by the weird spots on the image...)

Heart Handmade Holiday Zine

" Heart Handmade Holiday Zine: "It may be the ultimate cliche, but there truly IS something special about the Holidays.

And for those of us in the handmade community, this time of year brings an extra layer of excitement as we see an incredible explosion of creativity from the artists and designers in our world.


It's that sense of creativity energy that inspired me to put together the Heart Handmade Holiday Zine - which is available...

(1) as a preview (via issuu.com/hearthandmade), split up into three parts: part I, part II, part III or...


(2) download the zine in three parts: part I, part II, part III
warning: the files are kind of large, but I promise it'll be worth the wait!!

The Zine includes an inspiring collection of stories, wishes, tips, recipes and gift ideas from some of the talented people who've contributed to Heart Handmade in 2008. Plus a few of my personal favorite artists have donated print-your-own art prints and gift tags!!! Yay!!

I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had putting it together. Let's raise a Holiday toast to the Handmade Community!

Best,

PS. I'm taking off for the rest of the week!!! I'll see you back here on Monday - a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating this Thursday and Friday!!

"

Links: Zine libraries/archives online

first of, let's start with my latest find in the Internets:

http://zinelibrary.info/


and then move on to another cool archive website on zines:

http://punksishippies.blogspot.com/

both these websites have hundreds of zines available for download - for FREE!! 
(no shit, it really is free. well, except when they have files hosted on some servers like megaupload or rapidshare, and there you have to wait a while between downloading multiple files from their servers, unless you buy a "premier account" and stuff like that)


they are on PDF file format or plain scanned image files on zip/rar files. some zines are ony available for reading them online, but you can't have it all, can you?


either way, i'm sure it will guarantee you hours and hours of fun :-D

Mercado Negro: alternative book fair @ PORTO, Portugal

alternative book fair - from 9 to 19 December 2009

in Porto city, Portugal

...................................................................................
this is the perfect event, right now, and i wanted to go from the very first moment i saw this ad.
i got about 5 days left to visit the fair... but i'm not really sure if i'm gonna make it :-(
first of all, i can't go alone, that's totally out of question! i don't remember the last time i was out on the street, specially to attend an event. or like the last time i went to the mall all by myself. there were times when i could do that and be ok all alone, but in the last couple of years i don't feel ok about it, it makes me feel too anxious...
so you say i could go with a friend, right? ok, i've tried this one but i only have one friend in this whole frickin town that could/would like to go wiht me, but we haven't got our schedules straight yet :-(
and i can't even use the weather as an excuse, since it hasn't rained in the last couple of days.

anyway, i really wanted to go to this "indie" book fair but if i actually make it there, it's gonna be a bit sad because i'm gonna have to keep myself very self-contained on not spending (too) much. since i'm 'sort of' unemployed (again, after almost 2 years at a steady job) and i still don't know if i'm gonna have to pay back my ex-bosses for two-month's work for resigning instead of giving them the two weeks notice, i gotta keep my expenses short on "extras". and the gods* know how i get when i'm in place with lots of books and magazines, how hard it is for me not to touch them, pick some up and browse my fingers trough them... and not buying anything!


at least this event as been a bit useful for me to google up some of the organization's names and publishers, and i have come across some good news on the Portuguese zine (under)world. there IS actually some activity still going on! now i just have to find the courage to mail some of the people/orgs involved in this and ask them on the possibility of a zine workshop or some meetings or something to get like-minded people together...
i even thought about sending them an invitation to join the We Make Zines online community, but without a "proper" introduction of myself and/or my intentions towards them, i feel i'm kinda invading their space or even spamming them. and that would make for a terrible first impression, don't you think?


...................................................................................
* note: i like to use the expression "the gods know" but it's totally in a manner of speaking, since i'm not catholic (although i was raised by catholic beliefs), or anything like that. i don't see myself as a religious person, actually i identify more with Atheism. i just like to make the "god" plural and say "gods" for fun.

if i were to look for a religion, i think i'd be more einclined into something Pagan, related to Nature and definitely Mother Earth would the goddess i would most likely choose to worship ;-)

lost post (but not that much)

last night i was writing a new blog post but then it turned out to be very long and in the end, i got my internet connection shut down hahahha. no crisis though, because i managed to copy all the text in the browser and copy-paste it into a word doc, and i even continued on writing more... making it longer! i dunno about posting it here, all the full text or do some editing and use the full text for a zine or something :-s.
oohh, decisions, decisions!...


anyway, let’s talk about what i did today first. basically, nothing new. nothing that much different from what i've been doing the past few days. browsed the internets, ended up on a website for a zine that i'm not sure it's still being published or what, but i spent a long long time there. the site was full of text-heavy pages, dozens of articles, from politics, esoteric, art, even sexuality articles. i saved quite a few pages that seemed interesting but it's hard to get down and really read them, as they were really basically just text and more text. my eyes get itchy from staring at the computer screen for too long, so i hardly ever read e-books and long articles.

i was googling for pics on riot grrrl stuff and i ended up on a webpage with the Riot Grrrl Manifesto by Kathleen Hanna, then proceeded to satisfy my usual curiosity and went to the main page to see what this site was all about. and that takes us to the paragraph above, as to the reason why i ended up spending most of my online time on that website...

i had read the Riot Grrrl manifesto before, but it's the kind of thing i have to read more than once to really get into it. i think i agree with most of the points in the manifesto, but i still don't really know where i stand in the middle of this Riot Grrrl thing and Feminism and all that. as i've been reading a lot of feminist (or at least, feminist "inclined") zines, i know there are many ways of interpreting Feminism, many "types" of feminists movements and many different ways to incorporate it in your everyday life.
as i went through my teen years, i came to learn the world wasn't all just bunnies and romance, 4ever love and that kind of stuff. i become aware of the social injustices towards women, the need for women’s rights statements and awareness campaigns. now that i'm on my thirties, i seem to feel this even more, as i kind of feel it affects my life and has been doing it since a young age. so i kind of feel myself as a feminist, but i don't quite know how to life my life according to this feeling.

of course, all this talk about Feminism and Women’s Rights as made me think, many times, of how i could incorporate this part of me into the zines. even if i should incorporate these kind of subjects at all, but i feel that society needs to be reminded every now and then, that we Women are here and deserve to be treated with respect and all that stuff that Fem-talk is about.

apart from my online “life”, my real life is just about the same as it was yesterday and the day before...
this Fall seems determined to give me no chance to cheer up a bit, because it’s been raining ‘all the time’ and lots of wind. and to think that when Winter comes it will be worst!... well, at least ‘all the time’ i’m awake during daytime. if you consider i go to sleep late now and i get up late too, usually always after midday and then go straight to the kitchen to have lunch with my parents, then if it starts to rain heavily around 4pm, i don’t get to see much daylight or even the sun at all. when it starts to rain, it gets all gray outside and even with the curtains open i have to turn on the lights if i wanna read something or even just watch tv.
lately, i’ve been coming to my bedroom and set up my laptop and spend the rest of the afternoon and the after dinner secluded in my room. this also helps keeping my parents away, for most of the time, so that i don’t get bugged. i get enough of that when we get together for our meals...

today was Sunday, so as a “tradition”, my dad buys the sunday edition of JN newspaper. lately the newspaper has become an important thing because of my (undefined) job/unemployed situation. i almost crave for it because of the job ads, but today it was really poor. i could almost tell it would be, when i picked up the Ads section and saw it was thinner than usual. so, no ads i could apply to, pouring rain outside, no answer/news from my “former” employees, no news on the interview i went to a week ago last friday. any more negative things to add up to this cool list?

on the positive side, i got some music from Hole and Bif Naked (still waiting for Bikini Kill tunes to download), because i had seen references to some of their songs on Amber’s zine «Culture Slut» and also on her twin sister’s (Maranda) zine «Telegram Ma'am». i’ve seen references to some bands i hardly know and others i don’t know at all, in many of the feminist/riot grrrl zines i bought, so i decided to go find new music. since i’m a music whore - meaning i like music very much, i like many different styles and i’m always willing to try new music - this isn’t a hard task for me.

last night i finally took some time to read and “examine” Niku’s «Hello My Name Is Niku personal zine pack» i got in the mail on tuesday. the Pack is made of 3 minizines but i got an extra mini, which is great, it’s another mini treat for me to examine and contemplate.
i gotta say i hadn’t read them when i first got them or in the days after because i needed to clear my head from clutter caused by the problems with my job. Niku’s minizines seemed - and are! - so rich in details and full of inspiration and ideas on copy-paste. the fact that she can make a mini out of an A4 page, with many imagery and a few words made me rethink my whole concept for my zine project. that might sound like a bad thing at first, but i don’t see it that way, i see it as a good thing!
the extra minizine i got, was made in one day(!), for one of those 24hour zine projects. i find the 24hour zine projects to be an amazing way to encourage immediate creativity and DIY techniques. i even thought about participating into one of those projects...if i wasn’t such a procrastinator, and a chickenshit!
besides, i’m still all alone when it comes to real life zine makers, zine communities and projects where i live (or anywhere nearby) that i lack that first push it takes to begin and makes you get your hands dirty. i know there are some handmade crafts groups around here, from the time i was “into” that stuff, the time i become obsessed with handmade crafts, but they are mostly into sewing, jewelry, polymer clay, drawing/painting and stuff like that. i really don’t know if anyone is into zines now, because i sort of “abandoned” my flickr account and blogs on the subject... it wouldn’t kill to browse flickr for that or even ask around in the forums i was in, i know, but when i think about that, i see myself getting sucked into the flickr-addictive (virtual)world again.
and that means i will be spending more time looking at the pretty pics of beautiful crafts other people are making than really trying to make new connections and looking for zine makers or anyone curious about them.

** i made some zinester references on this post, they are all amazing girls that make really cool zines, so i feel they deserved some free pub (hahaha) right here! **

Amber "Culture Slut" -- 
http://www.helloamber.etsy.com 
http://hello-amber.blogspot.com

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/helloamber

Maranda Elizabeth «Telegram Ma'am» -- 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/schoolformaps

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/MarandaElizabeth

Niku Arbabi -- 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/niku 
http://www.sweettoothcrafts.blogspot.com

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profile/NikuArbabi


----- p.s.: sometimes when i post, i have some problems with text formatting on this blogger thing... and it's getting on my nerves! i have to edit the post after i publish it, sometimes twice or three times! aaarghhh!

LINKS: Zines & Distros

from the idea of the blogger gadget - the links list i called "IN THE MAILBOX LATELY" - that's on the right side of my blog, i decided it was time to compile a list of the zines i've been buying outside "major" distros (i mean Microcosm), and specially linking them to their authors.
i noticed i had edited those links list and had removed some people and that's not fair because they all really deserve to be known!


ZINES @ etsy & other websites
[note: i know many of you zine-lovers are not much into the commercial side of online shops like Etsy. i'm posting links to etsy shops because that's where i'm able to buy these zines from their authors. either way, most of them mention their personal website/blog on their etsy shop, so you can always contact them for finding alternative ways of buying their zines directly from them]

Chantilly [One Shot Zine] (country: Canada)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/chantillys

Pinchdog Press (Kate Andres-Toal) [Riot Wife zine, Cultivator zine & more] (country: Canada)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/okate

Alex Wrekk [Brainscan zine & more] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/brainscan

Erin Partridge [Anon zine] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/2littlewings

Filka (E J Zyla) [Haich zine & more] (country: Australia)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/Filka

The Ephemeral Mailbox Museum (Niku Arbabi) [Polaroid-Celluloid zine & more] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/niku

Tiny Paper Hearts [ Epitaph for my Heart zine, Shy Like A Punched Pie zine & more] (country: Australia)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/amandapandajapanese

Ayun Halliday [The East Village Inky zine] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/Ayun

Missy Kulik [Kneehigh mini series zines & more mini comics] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/sugarcookie

Katie Haegele [The La-La Theory zine & more] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/thelalatheory

Eleanor Jane [Girl Photographer zine & more] (country: Wales/UK)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/eleanorjane

Lamesha [CocoaPuss zine] (country: USA)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/CocoaPuss

redguard [Absent Cause zine & more] (country: USA)

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/redguard

Amber [Culture Slut zine, Fight Boredom zine & more] (country: Canada)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/helloamber

Maranda Elizabeth [Telegram Ma'am zine & more] (country: Canada)
-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/schoolformaps

Sandy [Marbles zine & more] (country: Australia)

-- http://sandylovesyou.com

Tom Hendricks [Musea zine & more] (country: USA)
-- http://musea.us/

Pippa [Rebel Grrl zine, 50:50 zine & more] (country: UK)

-- http://rebelgrrlzine.weebly.com

Clementine Cannibal [Licking Stars Off Ceilings zine & more] (country: Canada)

-- http://sites.google.com/site/clementinecannibal

Laura-Marie [Functionally ill zine & more] (country: USA)

-- http://dangerouscompassions.blogspot.com

Nicole Harris [Introvert zine] (country: USA)

-- http://www.myspace.com/introvertzine

Chris Mikul [Bizarrism zine] (country: Australia)

-- only known contact by email -- cathob@wr.com.au

Keith Rosson [Avow zine] (country: USA)
-- http://keithrosson.com

Cindy Crabb [Doris zine & more] (country: USA)
-- http://www.dorisdorisdoris.com

» last updated - 2010/01/01

well, these are it for now, as far as i can remember and as far as my research through etsy & paypay emails go ;-)

if you sent me your zine and i forgot to mention you here, please leave your comment on this post!!
»» also, there are many more zines i really like that i bought in bulk orders from distros. in time, hopefully i'll add them to this list too ;-))
just a short list of these zines: Doris; Ker-Bloom!; Avow; You Don't Get There From Here; anything by Corinne Mucha; Black Carrot; Rocket Queen; ...]

DISTROS @ online

Click Clack Distro [by Nicole Harris, of «Introvert» zine]
(country: USA)
-- http://www.clickclackdistro.com

Small World Buttons [by Alex Wrekk, of «Brainscan» zine]
(country: USA)
-- http://smallworldbuttons.bigcartel.com

Microcosm Publishing (country: USA)
-- http://microcosmpublishing.com

Riot Grrrrrr Distro [by Cindy Crabb, of «Doris» zine]
(country: USA)
-- http://www.dorisdorisdoris.com/zines.html

currently reading - Winter 2010

[continuous updating // last update: 2010-01-28]


zines:
there are many more zines that i've read since i first started this post/list, and many that i keep at my bedside table... i've come to find it's very hard to keep track of them in this post, sorry ;-(

to cut a long story short, currently there's an "old" issue of Doris zine (#20 or 21#), Here Be Dragons #9,   Journalsong #6, etc
in the meantime, there is Avow #23, Tenacious (Writings from Women in Prison) #18, and a couple of other mini-zines are "bookmarked" with a bright-colored little post-its, desperately waiting for their turn to be read!...


It’s Not the End of the World: building a life with limp wrists // by Ocean Capewell

Against the Flood #1 & #2 // by Hannah

Introvert #5 // by Nicole

Polaroid Celluloid #2 // by Niku

We'll Never Have Paris #3 // compilation zine by Andria Alefhi

Snakepit #11 // by Ben Snakepit

East Village Inky #42 // by Ayun Halliday

Abort #21 // by Jonathan Spies

Moments of Struggle: An Illustrated Introduction To Some Anarchist History // by Isy Morgenmuffel

[all 3 read in one night!]
Doris #15: The Anti-Depression Guide // by Cindy Crabb
Homobody #4 // by Rio Safari
Ker-Bloom! #80 // by artnoose

Telegram Ma'am #17 / Culture Slut #17 // by Maranda Elizabeth & Amber Forrester

Better Looking Than a Blog: A Collection: Ten Foot Rule Journal Comix Winter of 2007 // by Shawn Granton

Avow #17 // by Keith Rosson

Brainscan #19 // by Alex Wrekk

Brainscan #20 // by Alex Wrekk

Beyond Gallery Walls and Dead White Men: Anarcha-Feminism in Action // by Kendra and Lauren

Licking Stars Off Ceilings #1 // by Clemmentine Cannibal

Anarchism: What It Really Stands For // by Emma Goldman

Thirty Hour Sloth #2 // by Sarah Wayward

I am not a bad gorilla // by Zack Sternwalker

Support Zine // by Cindy Crabb

Navigating the Space Between Brilliance & Madness #1 // by Sascha Scatter/The Icarus Project

Bizarrism #10 // by Chris Mikul

Civilization Will Eat Itself // by Ran Prieur


[  although this isn't what you'd call a "Recommendations List", i enjoyed reading all of these zines, so, feel free to look them up online and buy some ;-)  ]



books:

The Photojojo Book: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas // 
by Amit Gupta, with Kelly Jensen // [blogged about here]

The Artist's Way // by Julia Cameron // [blogged about here]

Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 // by Alex Wrekk  [re-reading it, actually]

Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-destruction // 
edited by Sabrina Chapadjiev // [blogged about here]

Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? // by Mark Todd & Esther Pearl Watson  [re-reading / use as reference]

DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture // by Amy Spencer

lots of new stuff in the mailbox but oops!

got another big amount of stuff on the mail today; the rest of my last BookDepository order and a package from Microcosm. Microcosm = ZINES!!! but sadly, they seem to have missed one of the items i ordered, a book about the Icarus Project :-( I'm gonna have to email them back to solve this problem, but i hate doing this kind of stuff, really i do!
weirdest thing about all that is that the package that arrived today was the last order i made at Microcosm and was which was shipped about a week ago, and i'm still waiting for two previous orders that were shipped almost a week before the last one.
since these two first orders were pretty big, lot's of zines & books, they sent them in large boxes instead of flat envelopes like i usually get, so i hope and cross my fingers that it didn't get lost or stopped in the damn customs in Portugal, or that the guys at the post office didn't screwed my packages!
i know it's probably a big & heavy package and the delivery man/woman might not be able to bring it to my door but that's why they have warning flyers on heavy/big volume mail, for the gods' sake! arghh, i get really annoyed when mail delivery works that mediocre, it has happened before but then i didn't get mail/packages for a while and when i started again it worked fine... until now :-(