greetings

here in the PNW, himalayan blackberry time is upon us. lots of dead grass and stray apples (and an orb weaver web straddling every available surface). much of the garden has run it’s course, but the dahlias are starting to bloom! i had something big going on every sunday of july for some reason (all fun things!). i have little to report, and frankly lately i’ve been feeling like i escaped a prison of my own making when i decided to quit a bunch of stuff and take it easy this year. lately it feels like i’m being cosmically rewarded for chilling the fuck out. money is tight, but i’m rich in my relationships.

upcoming

taking a merciful little break from tabling events in august, then returning in september with olympia porch fest (monday, september 7th) & virtual bay area queer zine fest (sept 12-26th). i’ll also be at portland zine symposium on saturday, october 17th!

seattle zine fest was awesome btw! one of my fav fests to table for sure. they’re really crushing it in terms of accessibility + mask policy. i also realized i have a much better time when i can have a full table. gotta become a distro so i can sign up for full tables at future OZF & PZS.

new in the shop

just one new thing in the shop this month! i decided to turn the snail mail mail snail from the cover of my latest zine into a cute little sticker.

i’m all but finished with a new mini zine about my experience with T thus far, and i’m also working on a summer garden report zine. as usual, patrons will get ‘em first!

garden report

hummingbirds have been a highlight of the garden lately!

purple poppies and nasturtium were beautiful and are now over. the scarlet runner beans are going strong. tomatoes are starting to get a little color. all but one of my dahlia varieties are budding. garlic has been harvested; blueberries, raspberries and snap peas are wrapping up. kyle planted radishes and some other stuff in the bed where the garlic was. we have a few cosmos blooming. i got a pitiful handful of black raspberries (better than nothing!). thinkin’ about how to do things differently next year.

one of the most exciting developments has been the pond. the warm weather plus better water health has caused a duckweed explosion! we have full duckweed coverage! i need to put a lil “vacancy” sign out there for the frogs. maybe next year! fingers crossed.

some songs

so much new music this month! new krill song, new hello shark song, new greg freeman song.

my heavy rotation for july has been the new greg mendez and pope albums i talked about last newsletter, plus the beautiful new fraternal album that came out (on bandcamp at least) this month. if you’re a fan on shoegaze/slowcore, this is required listening.

Fraternal TwinMedicine

i’ve been a big fraternal twin fan since the first time i heard tom play an impromptu little solo set in the basement of a punk house i lived in around 2013. that set sounded more like this. he was on tour in the quarterbacks* band at the time, and i was surprised and delighted at how decidedly not power pop this was (no shade to power pop! but i am a sad songs guy at heart). i love that tom’s unique guitar style is a constant through the albums that followed the demo i played into the ground. this new one is fuller than skin gets hot and darker than homeworlding, and i’m thrilled to have new music from them after a long hiatus. everything old is new again. most of the music in my ears this month is from artists i grew to love in my early 20s.

one last song of note, an oldie by diane cluck that popped into my head.

Diane Cluckmacy's day bird

her hair in wet feathers, pressed to her head
the washed-out splendor of macy's day parade
glitter and tinsel are clogging the drains
causing a runoff that's flooding the city...

i don’t think any one line does this song a proper justice. the lyrics paint such a vivid picture, and it’s such an interesting comment on performance and desire and insecurity.

*after recalling quarterbacks i went on a lil quarterbacks kick too lol. dang, this one got me.

tiny victories

• punched my “i said no” card for the first time in a while.

• lots of scarlet runner beans and tomatoes approaching maturity, which is a victory in and of itself, but made sweeter since they were both decimated by deer last year.

• celebrated my 2 year T anniversary!

• went to see movies in two different independent theaters (i’m tryin to go to the movies more).

• feeling spoiled rotten in my intimate relationships :)

• i hosted a little garden party with my covid pod, & got dinner with part of the pod later in the month (after masked roller skating!), and both occasions really filled up my cup. i love my lil chosen family so much.

til next time! <3