S8E8: Lella of T-Nest Press

Hello and welcome back to Long Arm Stapler, a podcast about zines! This episode, I'm joined by Bay Area-based zinester Lella of T-Nest Press. We talk about her history with zines and getting back into making them, her small riso press, the similarities between zines and fiber arts, and more.

Find more of Lella's work:

https://www.instagram.com/t.nest.press/

https://tnestpress.neocities.org/

Find more of my work/support the podcast:

http://ko-fi.com/LNGRMSTPLR

http://linktr.ee/LNGRMSTPLR

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Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for the rest of season 8!

Logo by Miquela Davis: @ghostsb4breakfast

Intro/outro:

Who Likes to Party Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello and welcome back to Long Arms Stapler Podcast Wells Me. I'm your host, Mayra. Today I am joined by Lella, who is a Bay Area-based Deanster. Very excited to talk to her. She runs a small Rizograph studio, T Nest Press, out of her home in Oakland, California. She prioritizes queer and trans voices in the work she prints. T Nest Press's newest publication is a free quarterly newspaper called Let's Never Do This Again, featuring contributions from local artists and writers. Hey Lola, how's it going?

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Hi, how's it going, Mara?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

It's good. I'm super excited to talk to you about zines and all the stuff you're working on. So we should let's let's just get into it. Sounds good. How did you get into making zines?

SPEAKER_05 1:00

So I got into making zines, um, I would say almost almost like 20 years ago is when I made my first ones. And it was mostly because I was I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. I was like kind of in the music scene there, doing a little bit of dabbling in like the art scene. Um and I just picked up a few zines around town. I got like really into first reading zines and seeing all the cool art that was just being printed that like in you know my hometown, and then being like, what if I what if I maybe made one of these? And so my first ones were little um like magic zine style, one-page style zines about things that I liked. Uh I think birds and riding bikes were some of my favorite topics initially, and that hasn't changed that much, but yeah, that's kind of like I feel like I just saw people making zines, and I was like, oh my goodness, this seems very cool. Let me give it a try.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

And then you like stopped making zines for a while, right? And then you got back into them?

SPEAKER_05 2:17

Yeah, I did a I printed a bunch in Providence. Um my favorite project back then was like to answer your question, yes, I took a very big break, but that's not because any kind of reason other than I got kind of like interested in other types of art, but like in Providence I did this, like my favorite project was called um Kingfisher Zine, which I did like eight issues of, and it was this collaborative, like um multi-page zine that I printed at the local community print shop there called AS220. And like I loved that project, and I think I just like got busier with work stuff, friends moved out of town, like my close collaborators kind of moved, and eventually I moved, and that so like the energy around that kind of like waned over time, and I got really into fiber arts stuff. Another another interest I know we have in common, but I got like super into fiber arts and like less was like making connections at like the local community print shops in like the the towns I lived in or whatever, um, where like I felt like the access to printing was like I at least like knew the path in Providence, and then when I was like moving around a little bit, it I just like didn't have as much access to to print shops, and so I was always into them, but I definitely took like a big break and just started back up making zines more recently.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Cool. It's I love hearing about when people like find zines and then they have that kind of light bulb moment where they're like, wait, I could do this, like I can do this too. Because I kind of had I feel like I feel like everyone I talk to has a similar light bulb moment where they're reading something that they think is really cool, and then they're like, wait a minute, like I could totally do this. Um, and then they fall down the zine rabbit hole, um, which is always really exciting to hear about.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

No, for sure. And I love that moment where it's like, I don't know, like being like, I'm gonna give this a try, and it takes a lot of like I don't know, being open to a little bit of like riskiness to like put an idea out there, make a bunch of copies or whatever many copies, and hope people like pick it up and are interested in it. Um, like I remember printing my first uh zine about bike riding in in the Kinko's on the east side of Providence, and like this person that I was like super into his zines was also there making copies at the Kinko's, and I was like trying to peek over a little bit, and I was like, what's he printing? What is this gonna be? And I remember just being like, oh, we're all just trying to get free copies at the local Kinko's of our yeah what a time. Yep, but yeah, I felt like a little bit of like confidence from that too, just being like, oh, we're in like the same space trying to like just make our art, like copy our art.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

There's something I really miss about kind of printing in public, like because I know you also print out of your home. I have a photocopier in my garage, but I miss I don't know. I used to go to zine fests and need like last-minute copies, and so we would go to like the all night Fed, like now it's FedEx, but we would go to like the all-night FedEx and just be making copies, like uh, you know, somebody would be napping under a counter, like there would just be it would be kind of like a a social hangout to print zines, like at a and I think that's what I miss about having having the ability to print at home. I miss that aspect of zine making.

SPEAKER_05 6:33

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out some in the middle kind of like kind of situation with that, yeah, but I absolutely like miss that too. Or in the in the print shop where I learned in Providence, like um they have like an offset press, which is uh like a super fast copy. Well, I don't know, I I definitely don't know as much of the history, plus it's been a lot of years since then, but like it's very like mechanical old school looking uh type of printing press, you know, and I just remember like community troubleshooting the problems around it when things would go wrong and all of that, and like I I get a bit of that. Oh, I mean like the Rezo community is like super sweet, and I can manage to get a bit through like virtual stuff or going to different print shops um now. But like, yeah, I am mostly just printing like right behind me over here, and I absolutely miss that. Like sharing ideas, solving problems together and all that. But trying to trying to work on a situation where something some like in-between type of thing can happen.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Yeah, I because I mean I'll have like friends print on my printer when it is functioning properly, and like that's kind of fun to just kind of be in my garage working on scenes. So it's that scratches that itch, but it doesn't it doesn't hit the same, and also if the printer jams, somebody else has to fix it. Like you don't have to be the one to like fix it, you know, if you're at a public space.

SPEAKER_05 8:21

Oh my goodness, yes. I mean, that's really landing right now because I just spent like three weeks fixing uh a part of the rezo, and I've like just started printing, like I fixed it like two days ago after several weeks of yeah, so totally to your point. It's like when a thing goes wrong, it's like it's taken apart in a bunch of pieces in my living room for a while, and that's that's kind of tough to work around a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, it because it's a much more personal problem, and I want it to I want someone who knows what they're doing to be able to take care of it and have it not be my problem. Um but it's so much more convenient to have it in your house. I don't know, like it's give and take.

SPEAKER_05 9:10

Agreed, I do love like today. I just I just did the final like blue layer on on this one. I know it's like we're just doing audio stuff, but like yeah, just to be able to be like, I I got back from grabbing a coffee before we started chatting, and I was like, I have some I have a few minutes, let me just like in my living room like print the last layer on this. So like the convenience is really nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Cannot beat it.

SPEAKER_05 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

So when you got back into making zines, um what inspired that? Or like what inspires you currently to to make zines?

SPEAKER_05 10:00

Oh, I okay, I'm I definitely went to Bayer Queer Zine Fest prior to start starting getting back into it, and I was like, oh my goodness, I like really miss the I really miss like this scene, and also so I scooped up a bunch of scenes, of course, and like reading them, I was like, oh damn, I I wanna do some more drawing, do some more writing, and like make art stuff like this again. Um so it's like a little bit of that, just like doing the same thing that we talked about before where I was like reading a bunch of rad scenes and being like, I wanna make, I wanna make something like this. So uh through that, I uh through listening to this podcast, I was introduced to more people and got to check out their work a little bit more, and then um, yeah, and then also like the fiber art stuff. I was like, I've been doing embroideries for like a lot of the years, kind of in between, like embroideries or like weaving things, and honestly, like I was it can be like pretty hard on the hands, is what I was finding, like holding the embroidery hoop, like and yeah, I I just needed like a break from that a little bit, is and so I was really ready to get back to like a little drawing, a little watercoloring, and like all of those things kind of came together. And I mean just like processing a little bit of like queer and trans stuff now, or a lot of a lot of all that stuff that was coming up for me. Um, you know, over the past few years, I just been I was like, yeah, I uh that that is like a major piece. And like all of that coming together, I was like, time for some zines.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Such a fun and cathartic way to like process feelings uh with zines.

SPEAKER_05 12:14

Yeah, I've some of these they're really spec, they're like really special for me to have too. Like writing some of them um over like the course of a year, I have some of them, and um like I'll just start one and then a few months later pick it up and write another page, and then like a full on like a full year later finish finish it and print it. Um, and for me it's like kind of special to document that. Like one of my zines, um just about like HRT, like starting HRT, which is like one of my favorite zines to table with because like really sweet convos come come from just like having that on the table and chatting with people. But yeah, I like started that on the day I started because I was like, I have feelings about this, let me write them down. And then I finished it like almost almost a year later, and for me reading back through it and like identifying the pieces that like were really or just reading the things that were really important for me to get down on paper initially, and like over time, it's like a very sweet thing for me to have too. So I love it for that part as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

That actually kind of ties into my next question, which is what is your kind of general creative process when it comes to a zine?

SPEAKER_05 13:53

Um it varies, I guess. Like there's some like uh like the one I just described, where I'm like working on a page, and and these are just like one-page magic scenes, but I'll like have a something I want to write down and I'll write out the first page or two, and that can feel like a lot to try to finish in a day or a week, so it just sits on like part of my desk and it's out, like and then there's other ones like I'll just start my start and finish within an hour because I'm just like I am gonna just go for it, and they're all like often per zines, and so like that's the kind of style I'm usually writing, you know, and so it's like sometimes I got a I got a bunch of a story to write down and it flows pretty easily, and I'll like fill in with drawings. Um and then other times it just takes a it just takes a little bit longer, but another part of my process, I guess, is just I have a bunch of like a little pile of Z, a little pile of in progress things. So I'm I might take I might sift through it if I'm like sitting down for a little bit with some tea and I want to like work on a thing, I'll just go through the pile and be like, yeah, let me let me like work on this, or just like pick a page of like just for drawings or something and like work on some drawings and see if something comes to mind.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

That's cool, like a work in progress pile. I know a lot of fiber artists um frequently have those, uh speaking from personal experience, but yeah, just like kind of something you can if you're feeling inspired, kind of pick and choose from to work on.

SPEAKER_05 15:47

Yeah, exactly. And with the rezo, like um often it'll like one one layer or one like run, one pass through the machine will be like one color, is like you know how it works. And then you work on a second layer and pass the second layer through the machine, and it's like oh I might get like one, you know, one page, one page or one layer of color done pretty quickly, and then I'll spend a little bit of time like putting a collage as like a second layer on top of that one, and and like spend a little more time like putting that together or like revisit it weeks or a month later and be like, let me let me work on this, like what's gonna turn into like a two-color zine or print type thing. Um yeah, so sometimes I'm just like working on them like not super in sync. Um but I like but I like that part of the process too. Yeah, I do like a lot of collage, a lot of collage type things.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

So I have some questions from listeners um that I would love to pose to you. Uh the questions to ponder segment. Um first question is where do you get your ideas? Um like what inspires you?

SPEAKER_05 17:18

It it I think a a lot of times I'll like have like an e I'll be like out in the world and have an experience, and I'm just like, ooh, I need to like savor this in some kind of particular way. Um often that's like when I'm in like queer and trans community, and I just am like, this is um, like, I don't know, like a beautiful moment that I want to like sit with a little bit longer. I have like several several zines that are kind of like that, um, that are like my own personal story or view on a particular thing that happened. Um I'm thinking like one of one of the zines I sent you, um not to like jump ahead or anything like that, but like one of the themes I sent you was Trans Girl Beach Day, and like that one is just like a I just wrote about a beach day that I like kept thinking about and reflecting on over and over, and I'm like, I just need to like write about this and like write down what I remember from the day before I like don't remember all these little details that are really special. Um and then there's other things where I'm like, oh like yeah, just something that really makes me like upset or feel like particular things, and I'm like it's a much more like internal kind of zine, but I'm like, this'll maybe resonate with someone. Um, and so I like write it, write it down because of that, write it down because of that, like a little more just like is it's a very like personal thing that I I want to write in it, it's like yeah. It makes me like um I I feel good about bringing like all that type of stuff to like table at a scene, faster give out to friends or whatever, because I'm just like if they like it just provides like people a little more like I don't know information on like who I am as a person. I guess it feels good to share that and maybe it'll resonate with some people.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

I like that, and it's it's always personally kind of scary to like put out a perzine, I think, for that reason, but like there's always the hope that it will resonate with someone, and then a lot of times, like I don't know, do you ever get people who are it just really resonates with and they like tell you about it?

SPEAKER_05 20:06

Like, yeah, that's the best, yeah. Like that's like absolutely the best. Um and yeah, I don't know. I'll I'm like thinking about different moments at like like ebabs or something where we were both we were both tabling there, and it's just like someone will come up and just like hang out at the table for like a little while and read through a few of them and be like, oh, I really like these. And that I'm like, oh my goodness, these are just these are just my thoughts, and it is like a vulnerable thing to put on a put out a purzine like that, especially about like all the different topics and stuff, but like it is the best, and I think about that kind of like I don't know, that those those exchanges a lot. Like I'm thinking, like the ones I'm thinking about at eBabs, I'm just like, yeah, that's like so special that people kind of share what they like about it, what it makes them think about. Yeah. Like, cannot wait to table at more zine fest for like that particular reason. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

That's I think one of my favorite things about tabling a zine fest is like being able to connect with people who are reading my zines like face to face and having I don't know, yeah, like you were saying, it's just it's just special feeling, like it hits so hard, and it's just it's so nice. And I find myself thinking about those moments, you know, days, weeks, months later, sometimes years later. Like, and it's just it's so special to like kind of have that moment and hold it.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I try to I try to tell people when I'm hyped about their scenes so I'm gonna I like yeah it always feels good to just like exchange exchange to like receive the um like some of the like yeah just like that it that it resonates with people and then to like also try to tell people that I'm hyped on their work because it's yeah is very inspiring like yeah I was reading some zines earlier today and I'm like I want to make zines like this so I I love I love just seeing what people make and feels good to share like a little bit of the appreciation too.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

That's one of the reasons I really enjoy doing this show is because I get to tell people on record that I love their zines. There's a written transcript of this somewhere where it's just me telling people that I you know I love their zines and I love what they're working on and I want to talk about them and I think yeah it's it's cool to be able to continue that cycle of like connecting with a zine like someone connects with your zine they tell you you're like wow this feels so good and then you find a zine that you connect with and so you tell that person and then the same thing happens to them where and it's just like a continuous cycle and it's so special.

SPEAKER_05 23:20

Yeah yeah and I I have some from the Providence days um that I like read I will like read every year and I don't really see those people anymore but like they are so impactful like both in like how they how they make them what they write about um yeah I was like uh yeah these are ones that I go back to all the time and I think back in the day I was like getting them and I was like oh my goodness these are really special but I was like a little shy and not as like overtly hyped about them but yeah they're really nice like these are these are these are like pieces of art or in zines that I'm just like continuously getting inspiration from and love so much.

unknown 24:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Um the next question to ponder that I have for you is kind of tied back to your work in progress pile but it's how do you know a zine is finished?

SPEAKER_05 24:35

I guess I I like that question. I guess I try not to feel like too much pressure to have anything just perfect. That's like a really big um that's like something I very much like incorporate in my like art that I work on or whatever. Like nothing has to be like just right. If I'm like pretty excited to like shift into like printing printing the thing I'll just be like this is pretty good. And with my art style I tend to like I tend to like fill a page and like do little doodles and all of that. If I'm like pretty much like yeah I'm kind of tired of tired of writing and I want to move into like more collagen things together or like adding little drawings or something like I'll just like try to listen to what what I'm like craving on working on a particular zine and be like that story seems like complete enough uh and if I if I'm lucky I remember to write my name on the thing and then I like print it off print it on the machine. But yeah it'll be a there'll be a time when I'm like oh I kind of want to see how this looks like all layered together and it seems it seems like good enough for now. Because that's always like a very satisfying thing to and like a lot changes when you add in like the it when it goes from like a grayscale drawing watercolor type thing to um to printing I like get really amped about that and so I like to yeah well stuff sits in the work in pile progress um work in progress work in progress pile for a very long time sometimes but like at a certain point I'll be like I can't wait to see this how this how this looks like printed and folded and I just move on.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

That's a good way to yeah once you're like kind of excited about the printing process I think that's definitely a good point to be like oh maybe the scene is done like and like you were saying like not making not feeling pressure to like make things perfect. Um because I don't think there's a I don't think there's a perfect zine you know like it's it's all process but I think when things are like feel good enough then it's like if it feels good enough to you and you're the maker like yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:10

Yeah the benefit you get to move on to the next zine because that could just like like you work on the next one like continue with that idea if you want but like I do feel like it's important to just like at a certain point just just try to print it and put it put it out there I guess. Yeah. And if you want to keep talking about it just do a part two exactly like I used to work in this um uh art studio um for high schoolers and one thing that I like really like hold on to still from that experience is like we had a we had like a sewing and fashion zone and like students would come in and be like today is fashion show day and we're gonna make full sets of outfits right now and I'm like oh my goodness because I was someone who was like fixing the machine fixing part of my job was like fixing the sewing machines making sure the students knew how to like use them before they just like go for it.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Um and I was like oh okay let's go and just to be around the students who are like we we like need to make the thing and also it's gonna look however it looks like I I try I like think about that a lot when I'm making like my fiber art stuff or my zines where I'm just like oh I just want to I think I just want to like make make the scene and we'll see how it comes we'll see how it comes out I think that's something that I picked up from fiber arts too like especially quilting where it's like it's not gonna be like not all my points are going to match together like I'd rather have it done and like than perfect.

SPEAKER_05 29:03

That's cool. I feel like your quilting's pretty dialed in when I see it at Crisis Club or something but no that that's that's cool that it can apply to quilting.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

I always picture that as like pretty precise I I think or like sewing like if I'm you know making just any fiber art that I do I'm like I'd rather have this done than like you know my scenes might not match up perfectly or like whatever maybe one hem is shorter than the other but it's like my pants are done and I can wear them like and that's I've kind of moved that mentality over into my zine making um which has been really helpful. So thank you fiber arts for that um knowledge. Yeah right I that's cool that's cool that you feel like it also transferred over in that way too there I think I've I have talked to other fiber artists on this show about how zines are kind of like quilts. I cannot think of the specific details of those conversations but like zines are zines and fiber arts really there's a lot of crossover um both in the people that make both and also like the processes process processes um of doing both activities like there's a lot of crossover.

SPEAKER_05 30:40

Maybe I need to do other fiber arts now.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

I mean you can always branch out um I'm a little biased I think everyone should get into quilting um but that's just me I never really did that but maybe I will try it's fun it's fun um okay I want to talk to you about some specific zines that you sent me um one of them we already mentioned Trans Girl Beach Day um and that one that one felt very sweet I liked it a lot and like you were saying earlier it was like a moment and like a day that you really enjoyed and you were just kind of trying to like savor those moments and recall them later. Would you like to talk more about that one?

SPEAKER_05 31:28

Yeah like I'll just say that that was like one of those where I like wrote most of it in like a couple sessions and it's like a slightly longer zine there's like a little bit more going on there. And it was like it started out as this scene where I was like I'm just gonna write how like at the trans beach there's only trans people jumping off the big rock because that's how I want it to be like because that sounds really fun and my friend was really good at jumping off the rocks and I loved seeing her do that. Um but then as I like kept writing it I was like reflecting on how I I mentioned this in the zine but I like went out to that same beach the next day because I was like oh that was so special I just want to be on that beach and I did it with like a little more confidence that time. I I don't know it was like a it wasn't the same because I wasn't you know with my friends doing a beach day but it felt like nice to go back to the beach in a way and also nice to know that something special had happened there the day before and yeah I guess it was just like uh the the beginning of it was like I'm gonna capture all these little moments and I like that and then the by the end I was like feeling some feelings as I was writing and I like I like having a scene that kind of does does both of those things.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Yeah you were like stating facts and then also like it was like the afterglow kind of of having such a nice day and then and feeling all of the good things that you kind of were able to like conjure in your memories yeah exactly and that's one of those things where I'm like I'm so grateful that I like wrote all those wrote all those things down. The next zine that I want to talk to you about is called it's not that scary but sometimes it is um there were a couple I like this one a lot too um I just want to go on record saying it saying that specifically um but I like this one a lot and it had some really kind of sweet nuggets um that I pulled out I think it was the lage um you say what helps is naming the scary thing and talking with people I love about why I'm scared sometimes it feels good to say fuck it and just do the scary thing. Sometimes I cry it is too scary but I deep down know I won't be scared for too long. And I liked that a lot. Because like I the whole zine is you know naming things that are scary like and it kind of it takes away some of that fear by just naming what it is.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

Yeah well thanks for thanks for going on record saying that you you like the gene aggregate but um but yeah yeah I think it's like uh thinking about some of the pieces that I wrote about being scary it's like so true that like sharing the scary things with my friends like um I don't know writing it down sharing it with my friends especially if it's like a thing that I'm feeling like nervous in terms of like a safety thing or something like that I I really value like having close friends that I can talk to about them and it and it really it really does help me feel like less scared and it's also okay to be like this might feel a little bit I don't know yeah this might feel a little scary um and that's fine to be a little scared because the world can be a little scary sometimes. Yeah I don't know I'm like I I felt like with this with this zine I was just feeling like um find myself being like repeatedly like scared of the thing and being like you know what like that's all that's alright. Um I can talk about more specific things I suppose but I'm but I was but I'm like yeah in my head I'm thinking about like using the bathroom in the airport or something like that and it's like oh my goodness like I when I travel with friends I like will like name the thing and then be like and like now that I've told you maybe you can like hold that and like support me a little bit and it always feels better in my experience even if it's still a little scary yeah like yeah like have like kind of naming it and then having your friend just kind of be there for you now that you've named it and being able to be like oh I know this is scary for you like let me support you through this like that kind of thing. Yeah exactly exactly it like for me like goes such a long way to be able to to be able to I don't know yeah have friends that like are okay with me like leaning on them a little bit around these things or just like yeah or just like writing writing out writing out what I'm feeling and being like that is a very legitimate feeling but that's okay. And I might be scared like the next time I confront this thing or have or like have to do this thing and like that's also fine.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

There was another line or page that I pulled out um that I really liked and it was when you're talking to I want to get this right where is it I think it's the the centerfold um and it says some very sweet friends helped me ask some hard but important questions about how I wanted to be loved and who I wanted to be in community with and actually now the future feels less impossible to imagine and imagine myself in it and loving my friends so so much.

SPEAKER_05 37:54

And I felt that was really really powerful thanks yeah I I just like really value having like um friends that like push me to think about like what might be possible a little bit more I guess and if I do that then I'm like a little more hopeful about my own future stuff.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah it's like I I I think that's like kind of kind of where where that came from and just like yeah I feel like throughout like yeah a lot of different areas of my my life I've really like appreciated the folks that can talk to me through these like scary moments and then just like maybe not let it like stop there but like we explore a little bit more or yeah just help me not only be like feel feel good about doing the scary thing but like excited about what what might be possible in the future yeah I like that a lot the other thing that you sent me um and this one I actually had a physical copy of because I sent it for your mailing list.

SPEAKER_05 39:25

Tell us about let's never do this again where did it come from um how was the experience making it for you yeah yeah I I made let's never do this again me and my friend Marissa wanted to do a collaborative project um I I love reading people's like quarterly very specific newspapers or like whatever a quarterly public like a some type of frequency collaborative project. Sorry I'm not doing a great job describing the thing I like but it's like I really like people's like very specific thing that they're gonna publish like sequentially and there's gonna be like I know I can like go grab another copy of a newspaper or a newsletter. There are a few of them that I kind of go back to or like subscribe to or whatever. And for me I was like I kind of want to make one of those and my friend Marissa also was like on the same page and so we were like let's do let's do a collaborative thing and see if people want to submit some work to it and I was really excited to mail some snail mail out to friends who want to join the mailing list. Um and it was just a very like yeah once once we started like meeting and chatting about doing it I was like this is exactly what I want to I'm like so excited to keep keep it going. And it like touches back on like the the zine the kingfisher that I was like printing in Providence where it was this like collaborative free thing that I distributed there. And so like this is one of my favorite things that I've done in my like more recent like zine making and yeah lets me send um like I was saying like send some send some mail to butts um the type of things that are got have gone in at least the issue one that's currently out is really awesome. A friend made a mad lib which is really fun to do mad libs are just fun so that's kind of cool. I wrote an article on birding at Lake Merit.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

Just I love the sort of randomness of it and packing all of it on like one eight and a half by eleven because that's all my Rizzo prints so it's like front and back of an eight and a half by eleven it yeah it was cool like the variety of it and I I similarly love a newsletter like I was doing a personal one I was trying to do it every quarter either every I was trying to do one every two months for a while and I was having so much fun with that um and I don't know why I stopped but oh you had a printed one you had a printed one yeah I was making a printed one um and I think yeah I have no idea why I stopped um I should just do it again but I get some from friends every every month or every other month um my friend Julie out in Salt Lake City does the Homebody Herald and my friend Dana I'm calling I hope these people are okay with me calling them my friends. We're zine friends it's now on record that we're friends. Dana from Cat Moth Crow does a newsletter as well a printed newsletter as well. And now that I have a PO box I'm like I just want to get everyone's newsletters that and then I can like open my PO box every couple weeks or whatever and just have so much fun stuff to go through.

SPEAKER_05 43:21

Okay to the to those zine friends of yours I would also like those newsletters so maybe we could do a newsletter exchange. Yeah I'm always like I'm yeah I I'm always trying to I I like I said I just really love what people are writing about in like this format where it's like let's write about like what's happening like now like this this month or something because there's gonna be another yeah another month where they are gonna write more content for it.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

Yeah and I love sending mail um the last few years one of my goal I've had like incrementally higher goal every year for the last few years but I wanted to Send this year was sent 250 pieces of mail. So really this is just a sign. Last year I sent two hundred I sent 202 pieces of mail last year. And the year before I think it was like 150. Those are goals.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

I'm I love USPS, and I think this is a sign that I should just start doing that again so that I can hit my mail goal.

SPEAKER_05 44:24

Yes. Absolutely. And it's so much fun. Yeah, it's really fun. You can put fun stamps on them. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:38

A single stamp? Like a newsletter can go in there. Maybe maybe a sticker or something like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Yeah, I love sending. I love looking at stamps. Like I'll check the USPS website every once in a while and like check out the new releases.

SPEAKER_05 44:54

They have really good Dungeons and Dragons ones, right now.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Oh, yeah. I ordered, I can't remember which ones I ordered, but I ordered a pre-release and it's coming next week, and I'm excited about it.

SPEAKER_05 45:08

That's I gotta check them out apparently.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

Yeah, that's perhaps the nerdiest thing I've said in a while. I'm so excited to get the stamp delivery.

SPEAKER_03 45:15

Um the pre the pre-order.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

I pre-ordered some some forever stamps. Um they have a cool design. I can't remember what it is right now because I ordered like four different kinds, but I'll find out next week. And then maybe somebody will get some mail with that particular stamp on it. Other than the second edition of Let's Never Do This Again, are you working are you working on anything specifically right now, or is it back to your pile of works in progress?

SPEAKER_05 45:54

I one thing that I've been focused on specifically this week is trying to figure out how to do what we were talking about at the beginning, which is like open up like my space a little bit more to friends that want to print or to like print for other people. So I'm I'm like really thinking through that side of things. I I for sure have like some zine projects. Like I showed you just like this many colored print that I just finished. Like I'm doing some like poster type stuff for myself and always have some always have the pile over there that I'm working on. Um But I I have been trying to think a little bit more about like Teen S Press itself and like how I can work with other people to like print their zines or have them over and like had they can they can print it, something like that. So yeah, I'm I'm thinking about that, I feel like a lot. And it's a different type of it's a different type of thing. Um but yeah, that's that's what I've been like having a lot of fun thinking about. Especially since I like had this broken, like the maroon drum for the rezo was completely broken. Like that was what was out of commission for a few weeks, and to like go through that and fix it and get it back working, I was like, ooh, okay, so if something did break, then I could fix it so people could like print in whatever of the colors I have that they might want. So yeah, that's that's kind of what I've been thinking about quite a bit recently.

SPEAKER_02 47:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

I had a Oh god.

SPEAKER_05 47:51

Oh yeah, and then I have a couple of um I I have like a couple other zine projects. Well, okay, the other thing that I was waiting on for the drum to get fixed is like more copies of Trans Girl Beach Day because it's I was like waiting on that drum to get fixed so I could like reprint it, because I was out of those. So yeah, that's also something that was really fun to just like shift back into print mode and just be able to like work, work on this like multicolored print, and then and then to like finish up another run of Trans Girl for each day, too.

SPEAKER_00 48:31

I was gonna say to your like kind of pondering about opening up your space to printing, um, and like how that would look for printing for other people. I had a really good conversation with Aiden and India of Late Night Copies Press, and they started they now have like an actual like print shop, like physical brick and mortar space, but they started when like out of their living room, like they had a bunch of printers and they like had people over like during specific hours to like print out of their house, and that they just kind of grew from that.

SPEAKER_05 49:10

You you chatted with them a while ago on on the podcast, right? I remember that, I remember that one, and I was like, I remember they were like at a certain point, it just had to like, yeah, it just had to like move move out of their place. But yeah, I remember that one, and I feel like it's very inspiring to hear about that one, and then like other folks that have like you're describing, like you have it in your garage. Um, I think yeah, so it's like yeah, I think it can work. I should go back and re-listen to that episode too, just to like get a little more inspiration from it. But yeah, I'm kind of like thinking through how that how that could um look here and just like start start kind of small, but I like love the process of printing, and it would make me like really happy to see other other people's work, other people's like flyers, like there's a lot of stuff that like it's nice to be able to just like not send off somewhere to get printed and rather just like print with someone that you know. And so I think like that um that will make me really happy to like use the machine for that as well.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Yeah, if you ever want to bounce ideas off, because I'm trying to do the same thing, like if you ever want to bounce ideas off each other for how to kind of make that work in either of our spaces, like we should do that.

SPEAKER_04 50:39

Okay, cool. Yeah, let's chat about it. That would be great.

SPEAKER_00 50:44

Um, is there anything else zine related that you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_05 50:50

Um I guess I'll just say like I'm always like excited to collaborate with I'm always excited to collaborate with people. If you see me around, let's trade some zines. I might have some in my little bag that I carry around. Or like pins or something. So I'm just putting that out there.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

Uh but yeah. That's that's about it.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

Cool. Um this has been delightful. Um, thank you so much for being on the show.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

Yeah, thanks so much. Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_05 51:27

And like I yeah, I guess like people should just yeah, reach out if they oh yeah, I did say I want I wanted to say like subscribe to the the newsletter is still like I have copies of issue one, issue two is coming out, so that's the thing. Like you can find our info on my Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Yeah, what are your where can people find you um online?

SPEAKER_05 51:52

The best place is Instagrams like t.nest.press or I have a neocities site, which is t nest press. Yeah, so fun. tnesspress.neo cities.com. Find me there. But yeah, I feel like uh the the newsletter sign up and um and all of that is available on just on like Instagram because I'll send if people sign up, I'll send send some newsletters out again, and then the second one will come out um within uh a month or so, a few weeks, I guess, from from when this is out.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

Cool. I'll post links to your Neo Cities and your Instagram in the show notes as well.

SPEAKER_02 52:37

Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

Yeah. Um thank you everyone for listening to season eight of Long Arm Stapler. Um, and thank you to my monthly Kofi podcast supporters. It means a lot and it really helps subsidize the cost of hosting and production. Um, if you've been enjoying the podcast or have found a new Zenster um that you have been like, wow, their work is so cool, um, and you found them from the podcast, please consider sending me a dollar a month or more, you know, whatever. But um I have tier the tier is a dollar a month. Um there's a link in the show notes, um, and also on my webpage that is also linked in the show notes. Um, doubling down on that, or go to Kofi.com, um ko-fi.com slash longarmstapler with no vowels. Um thank you, Lella, again. Um, and thank you everyone for listening. Um, stay tuned. There's a few more episodes this season. Um, if you're interested in talking to me about your zines or zine fest or distro, um there's a form in my link tree. And if you think you know someone who'd be interested in chatting with me, send them my way. I love to chat about zines specifically. Um yeah, thanks everyone for listening. Thanks, Lella. Um thank you. Have a great rest of your podcast listening experience.