20, 100, Then…?
I just returned from a brisk nighttime walk to the post office to drop off the latest edition of my paper zine, Ray X X-Rayer #100. My walk was brisk not because of excessive energy on my part: quick movement was required because it's freakin' 10 degrees F/-12 degrees C outside.
Back in February 1994 – I don’t remember the eXact date – I launched my zine. (I pick Groundhog Day as an arbitrary date for the first issue.) Twenty years and 100 issues later and I’m wondering how I managed to keep it going for so long.
Over time my writing shifted from zining to blogging this stuff first, then slapping together some posts into a paper format. I’ve almost given up along the way – that’s why my output isn’t prolific. I think what helped me was not deciding to published on a definite schedule; I decided to write when inspiration struck me. Ergo the long gaps between zine editions and posts.
The fun of zining – and even blogging – has faded. Maybe it’s time for a long break or a permanent one. I do enjoy the contacts I’m made along the way through zining and blogging. I’ve met some interesting people along the way but only thru snail mail or online.
I wish I had the funds to do field work, meet sources face to face. But until that opportunity arises I’ll have to remain an armchair investigator. That routine gets old; I have to wait for inspiration to hit me from the sky before I’m ready to write.
With the motivation flagging – it might be this winter limbo I’m slogging thru – I’m don’t want to perfunctorily pump out material.
I’m not necessarily signing off or on. I’m just waiting for the Zeta Beam to hit…
Comments
Congratulations on the anniversary.
I hope you keep on with the X-Rayer in all its formats. I know I enjoy it.
For example: I would love to hear your take on David Paulides' "Missing 411" books that detail disappearances by people in rural areas. In cases, there supposedly are clusters of disappearances that date back centuries.
What's really odd are the alleged patterns that seem to emerge in some of the cases. In one area, for example, only young men will disappear for 20 years, then only young women.
I'm an extremely skeptical person, and some of the cases Paulides describes probably have mundane explanations. Others, however, are exceptionally weird.
Some cases are troubling -- like those in which women are stalked along the Appalachian Trail by men who linger on the edge of detection.
Also interesting is that while Paulides presents the evidence, he refrains from offering explanations or theories. The guy has had some connection with bigfoot investigations, but he doesn't get into that at all, either.
Again, I'm skeptical, but these books do present a very troubling scenario. And I wonder if this sort of stuff could be going on in urban areas, as well.
Leigh
Second, it seems that all good things have a life cycle. I'm thinking, though, that the work you've put into this blog and the zine could lead to whatever your next project might be.