Now That’s What I Call Middle School

do you want to be pen pals?

At any given moment, I am probably thinking about at least one of the following things:

• cats

• what I’m reading

• the book

• what does R want to do this weekend?

• what’s happening at the library

• I should reply to those emails already

• why did that person do that selfish, awful thing?

• more cats

• who do I owe a text to?

• is it really time to do that chore again?

• how could I be helping more, doing more?

And even though I’m thinking about lots of things, a lot of the time, I don’t have something to say very often. The tendency to spend more time thinking feels at odds with much of our online world, which creates a pressure to say something, and when I stopped posting on my personal Instagram a few years ago, I noticed a real internal shift:

I was letting myself think and see and feel without trying to shape those thoughts or experiences or feelings for an imagined audience. I like my brain better without that audience.

But I seem to still be here, on the internet! Because what I do like about the online world is the ability to connect with other people. In high school I kept a blog, and ended up finding the blog of another teen in Canada. Flash forward to our mid-20’s, and I was visiting her in Victoria, learning about the program where I would eventually go for my MFA. Flash forward another decade, and she painted the ketubah for me & R’s wedding. Just from stumbling on each other’s blogs!

All of this to say: I have been thinking about how to be here on the internet in a way that feels good, feels connected, feels slower and less demanding.

And what I’ve decided to try out is collaborative zines. The goal is to release one a month — a single page, b&w zine you can print at home, fold, and fill out. We’re just trying things out, playing around!

The February zine is attached below:

Now That’s What I Call Middle School, a set of prompts to build a playlist of your middle school years

For best results, change your print settings to “print at 100%”. There’s something so magical about turning a piece of paper into a mini-book! I’d love to see what you create, so please feel free to tag me on Instagram @portiaelanwrites

Never folded a zine before? Check out this video, or use the visual instructions here:

And because there’s magic in the folding, and magic in getting something in the mail, in March I’m going to mail zines to folks who are interested. You can sign up to receive a physical copy of the forthcoming March zine here — sign ups will stay open until Tuesday evening (2/18) and I’ll mail the zines in mid-March.

Digital copies will also go out via this newsletter.

I hope to see you, and your zines, out in the world sometime soon!

With love,

portia

Now That's What I Call Middle School

4.37MB ∙ PDF file

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Portia's Middle School Playlist

395KB ∙ PDF file

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