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onramp year two 2002
onramp year one 2001
Dustbin days- 2000
Wednesday, Jun. 30, 2004 - 2:09 p.m.
the portland zine symposium was last weekend and things went off with out any major issues, THAN GOD! i feel that the work everyone put in made things run smoothly and respectfully. sure there were things i wish we could have done like having the SCRAP lounge again and having child care again but we tried and asked for assistance and no one stepped up for the job. that's how life goes. i have come to terms after working on the past 4 zine symposiums that: YOU CAN NEVER MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY and that is ok. (this is a message to all of you working your asses off on any kind of organizing or projects) you can only do you best and unfortunatley that is not good enough for some people.
sunday afternoon a few of us sat around afterwards loading up bikes and talking about projects. we talked about how next year will be the 5th anniversary and make jokes about doing some sort of interperative thing about a baby growing up. then we remembered that there was a baby born the first year to an organizer. that baby will be 5 years old next summer. weird how time flies. i'm really proud of everyone. this year may not have been as big as the year before but it felt mu hc more...stable and comfortable than last. the creationg of SfSS (sympanistas for safer spaces) i think was a great addition for the mediation of any issues that may have came up and even though no issues came up, i think it was a step in the right direction to making the zine symposium that everyone can enjoy.
after going through the few questionaires that we got back it seems that the same issues keep coming up. people can't seem to figure out where things are and don't see the signs we plaster all over the fucking school. it seems that the people who fill out comment sheets are some of the most ungrateful jerks who don't seem to understand that we put 6-9 months of time into planning this, we scrutinize over miniscule details in wording of things, we wake up on weekeds before any human should to try to make thigns run smoothly. it is jsut disappointing to know that msot of the people who are going to sign a comments form are unhappy in some way. it breaks my heart when i see all the energy that the organizers have put into this event.
now i will lists some good things:
+lots of good donated food from great places like food fight, vooddoo doughnuts, stumptown coffee, and food not bombs
+only one workshop being cancelled.
+all the organizers seemed to retain their sanity
+me and joe not getting into fights like we seem to have done every year but this one.
+Sympanistas for safer spaces
+meeting pen pals and lots of awesome people even i i had zero time to spend with them.
+there are more but i need to get back to work
overall, i don't feel as worn out as years before. even though i felt like i was working three "jobs" making custom button orders that i brought with me and making custom single buttons at my table, sell microcosm stuff, selling brainscan stuff and working on zine symposium tables and doing a workshop. the most tiring thing was trying to shove microcosm back into the office and tackle the surmounting orders and mail and buttons that need to be dealt with. that will keep us busy for a few weeks.
oh ya, and i have a new zine out. it is way to labor intensive and i i made 40 for the zine symposium and there will be a total of 250. the 40 from the symposium are gone and i'm not sure when i'll make more. they each fit into a small folder and have gocco printed covers entitled "crickets as a metaphor BRAINSCAN #20.5". in the floder is a photocopied and screen printed intro, a mini zine called "internal monologue" tucked into an envelope and another smaller mini called "silence" there is supposed to be a third part but i never got around to it and thought the zine seemed ok with out it. i don't think it is that great of a zine but i like how it looks...form over fuction i guess. they are $1 postage paid and made from recycled materials. i also take trades.
enough.
***MICROCOSM PUBLISHING***we make 1" buttons, stickers, shirts, and patches. we also distro recrods, books, zines and more. this is how joe and i make a living
BUY A COPY OF THE STOLEN SHARPIE REVOLUTIONG BOOK FOR $5 POSTAGE PAID
/>living by default - portland zine symposium 2004
