Asakiyume mita

Over on Mastodon I was made aware of the existence of this beautiful little zine, done in the traditional way (all printed on a single sheet of paper), Meditations with Insects: An Art of Noticing, so I decided to order it.

It came in a brown envelope with drawings of a beetle, small bird, and owl on it, and the sender was "Unfolding Connections."



It was everything I hoped for and more. The main text directs readers to quiet, curious attention to creatures often ignored or disliked:



And then, wonder of wonders, there's text on the reverse side, too: quotes about recognizing and appreciating the presence and wisdom of other beings--unfolding connections to make ;-)



That quote has a typo, but it's the one that got me choked up reading it aloud to Wakanomori.

I really loved this one, too:

"the world is full of persons
only some of them human
and life is always lived in
relationship with others"

--Graham Harvey, Animism: Respecting the Living World

The creator, Kristian Brevik, has a Patreon, and he also makes lanterns of sea creatures that when lit up show the creatures' skeletons. Seems like a very cool guy.

And here's a photo from a week or so ago of some bright yellow coltsfoot pushing up through the leaf litter.



... I offer these as necessary nourishment in the harrowing landscape we're navigating right now.

The ninja girl sometimes makes tiny books, and recently she made one on glass footwear. She was inspired by experimenting with making waraji--Japanese straw sandals--which got her thinking about the viability of glass as a material for making shoes. (Here is a photo of some waraji.) She knew that shoes are sometimes made of inflexible materials--think wooden clogs--so she researched types of those and created CINDERELLA'S GUIDE TO GLASS SHOES



The shoes are rated three stars for possible--you might be able to wear such a shoe--two stars for risky, and one star for "clear and present danger"

( the shoes )

And last but not least, just for fun, and completely unwearable, the glass sneaker:

A family member made a tiny zine for October:





black & white, 8 illustrations, simple photocopied & folded/stapled zine bc i wanted to try sth with no digital editing or anything. if you want one, it’s $2, just drop me a dm

Here's a way to reach them: Tumblr 'ask' link

October makes me think of Inktober--I think I'm going to pass on day 2's prompt, which is "mindless," but maybe I'll try the AI-generated prompt, "spoon creature." I like the AI list.