I meant to write about the last issue Kate sent me, too. Since I never got around to it with #18, I'd better just get to #19 right away. I will start by saying LOVE Miranda. It's one of my favorite zines.
It's a pretty simple object--a few drawings in each issue (mostly by Haas's partner/baby daddy) and a border on the cover, created by Haas herself. The table of contents doesn't change much from issue to issue. There are a few essays--often about Haas's childhood, politics, or some kiddie band on whose bass player all the local moms have a crush--the motel of lost companions, in which she reminisces about some long-lost acquaintance (e.g. babysitter, babysittee, someone from where she was stationed in the Peace Corps), stray thoughts, overheard quotables, tantalizing book reviews (Kate has really good taste in literature!), and a recipe.
The writing is also rather simple, which is not to say dull. In the beginning of this issue she rails on people who say they're not interested in mamazines because they don't have kids. I would agree that Miranda should be appealing to anyone who likes intelligent, thoughtful writing with a good sense of humor. Kate Haas doesn't smack you over the head with any of this though.
Things that I liked about this issue in particular:
- Mamazine rant. "What I want to know is, what makes people who happily read all kinds of other zines think they get a pass to dismiss parenting zines - simply because they're not parents?"
- Her essay about the horrible maternity clothes that her mother passed down to her and why she came to appreciate them.
- Learning what she taught when she was a high school English teacher. She says she wasn't that great (passionate), but I suspect otherwise.
- Booklist: Kate reads a variety of books--historical and literary fiction, sf, memoirs, some YA and children's books, and other random titles. She gives one or two sentence description/reviews, which is all you really need. (Why, why, why am I going on so long, when clearly I'm not even in a good reviewing groove? Because I really like Kate and her zine, and I'm not going to get around to writing her a letter telling her so, and I'm hoping this will serve in lieu of more personal correspondence.) btw She has The Sparrow on her list, which I also describe as "Jesuits in space" and have read more times than I can remember.
- "It was obviously time to review with Simon the distinction between two key southeast Portland demographics, hipsters and hippies."
- Toddlers and sticks story.
- A particularly poignant Motel of Lost Companions tale.
- Finally, I'm not sure, but it looked to me like Kate might have done some of her own illustrations this time. They looked different. I think all non-artist zinesters should give this a shot.
Maybe I especially relate to Kate because we're close to the same age. We're leading very different lives, but even without a bunch of pop culture references to place her in my end of GenerationX, I just sort of get her.