Ok, yes. Back in the day I started my own. I had a vision and followed it to a point where I had to fold said zine and tuck it away, under couch cushions somewhere out there in the inbetween existence called limbo.
It was fun, tho’.
What’s next is F Magazine. A beautiful online and print space created by two outgoing ladies who believe in Alaska and all her many colours. Many of those colours often do not have an opportunity for public exposure, existing in tiny pockets of sub-culture and ‘almost there, almost there… could’ve been.‘ This observation was one of the driving forces behind Bag Lunch, and F realizes that same opportunity lying in wait: there is so much here, in Alaska, just ready for the chance to really breathe and come into a sustained sort of living. More than a few seasons, more than a passing fancy.
F was created by Teeka A. Ballas and Gretchen Weiss. At first a purely online, down-loadable thing, in the last few months it has moved into print, and is available at a number of spots around Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, the Kenai Peninsula, and ETC. It goes for $4; right in line with other magazines out there these days.
Read about opera in Fairbanks, poetry-slams in Anchorage, or pirate radio out near Talkeetna. Did you know about all this? Did you know that there was so much going on? I bet you didn’t. That’s the point, there’s the luv. There’s lots to do, and room to join in, too. Our community here in Alaska is a special one, made so by location, population, seasons, and that mysterious AK dichotomy of ‘let’s get out there and try something new‘ mixed with ‘give me space, I need space.’
I hope you pick up a copy. Its a lovely excuse to stop into Sugar Spoon for a bite of something delish… That’s where I got my latest issue, and in front of their desert counter I made a secret pledge to return for bites of cake and cookies, new issue out or no. Those brownie’s looked goooood.
As an artist intent on making it, one with experience in this fair clime and its sometimes sticky endeavours, any support you give us artists matters. You share your power when you check out our websites, pick up our magazines, listen to our tunes. It makes a difference that only the future can estimate.
And it looks cool.
