24 Hour Zine Thing: WIN!!

I did it! Although at times I thought about giving up, and I could have really used some of the 4.5 hours I spent sleeping, I finished the 24 HOUR ZINE THING challenge!

SYNDICATE PRODUCT 16 / GOLDEN STATE

And this is the introduction:

"It is now 8:10AM on July 17, 2010, and there are 50 minutes left in my personal 24 HOUR ZINE PROJECT THING (see www.24hourzines.com), which started July 16 at 9AM EDT. This entire issue was conceived, written, collaged, and laid out in 24 hours. The essay “Golden State” is just under 3000 words. Completing the 24 HOUR ZINE PROJECT was a hell of a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, and after I print out one copy, I’m not going to touch a computer for at least 24 more hours.

As I struggle to finish up (there are still two blank pages as I write this intro), I’m cursing myself for taking those 4.5 hours to sleep between 1AM and 5:30AM, as that time would really be useful now.

But part of this challenge, for me personally, was to try to be less tightassed about my zine production process. There are for certain typographic errors in here, possibly many of them. And after I finish this little intro, I still have to do something with those blank pages.

On the cover is an extremely boring postcard depicting the lobby of the Pomona First Federal Savings and Loan Association in Pomona, California. This postcard came in a lot from eBay, and it was used by someone living in Baldwin Park, CA and sent to Vincennes, Indiana. The postmark is 1959, and in the message they say “My the quake in the mont. must have been terrible. Hope all are well.” I’ve collaged it with a map of the state to remind myself that yes, the banal, ordinary, and everyday still exists in California.

The back cover was created by running the essay through Wordle (www.wordle.net).

This 24 hour zine is dedicated to the memory of Harvey Pekar (an Ohioan, certainly not a Californian, until the end), who died on July 12, 2010. His work is very inspiring to me. Harvey once said: “Comics are words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.”

Well, here’s some of mine."

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It is now just about 25 hours since I started this project, and I really don't want to touch the computer for at least another 24 hours. I'm also hungry, my room is a mess, and I don't smell so good.

A shower, breakfast sandwich, and about 12 hours of television are in order.