There is an allure to creating your own magazine, n'est ce pas? This idea's charms have not been lost on me. In fact, the idea of a group of committed, determined, energized youth creating something is one of the last earnest dreams left to gen pomo.
But it must be done carefully, the subject matter and approach must not be construed as too earnest, lest it be mistaken for mundane naivety, nor can it be too edgy, lest it loses accessibility to our potential audience. This is a very delicate balance.
As Dave Eggers wrote in AHOSG:
We begin to perfect a balance between being close to where things are happening, knowing the people involved and their patters, while keeping our distance, an outsider's mentality, even among other outsiders.
Good call, Dave.
I've been a staff member of one blog (The B Sides), two published newspapers, one published magazine, and one not published magazine (Amanuel). I have tried to write over five solo blogs and never made it past a week. The problem with each and every one of these ventures is a focus on vision rather than on content. I have, in my head (a dangerous place to be...) an image of this perfect blog: a veritable powerhouse of trendy memes, clever, laconic, smart. It would end up expanding into print media with the creation of a small, independent publishing house, a la McSweeney's. We--and I say we because it becomes a group venture--eventually rise to the position of true culture-makers. I'm invited to the coolest parties, consulted by the next generation of young up-and-comers. I say cryptic, gnomic things, and people think them wise. This, my friends, is the life for me.
I think the key is to throw this away and just fucking do it.
So, on that note...
For those of you who don't know what Amanuel is, the rest of this post will mean very little to you. For those of you who do, ponder this.
Next summer, I propose that we stay together in
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