Sub/Verse Zine's Premier Issue!

I have been working for months on this zine! It took such a long time to just come up with a good name, even longer to write full articles and recruit people to write for it (I got one person, my friend Izzy) . Somehow I finished it, and now it can be purchased for $5 at Quimby's book store in Wicker Park, a neighborhood in Chicago. And if you live super far from there- or are just lazy- email me at chloekgraham@gmail.com to order a copy. So- buy it! For now, check out this peek at the issue, an article by me called "Is This It: A Strokes Review." PEEK IT:
           
             "The first thing that got me interested in the Strokes was their inspiration taken from Lou Reed. I love Reed's work, and his dirty glam sound. But where is the band that can describe and catch the mood of modern New York? In Is This It, the Strokes on Reed's job as street reporter.
           The title song is reminiscent of "Sunday Morning" by the Velvet Underground. The theme of trying to prove oneself works very well with the circular rhythm of the song, like it will never end. "Modern Age" was my least favorite. The faux bad recording didn't sound ironic or artistic on this one. The song was pounding and thump, but it felt too restrained. It met its climactic point, if only we'd noticed.
           As with many a Taylor Swift album, almost all of the songs were about relationships... but from the opposite point of view that Swift comes from. The songs (not the people- I'm not going to make presumptions!) don't seem to care about relationships, or they do care, but the relationships are comfortable and not too worrisome. Not overly celebratory, and at the same time not nauseatingly sexist. And Julian Casablancas is a little cute. Just a little."

     My dad knows a good zine when he sees it!

Twister, Sonic Youth, and the Rolling Stones

Aww...summer! Relaxing and relentlessly boring, all at the same time. My summer art classes are over, and I didn't really want to go to Lollapalooza, either. I mean, Paul McCartney was the only person I would have enjoyed seeing, and even then it probably would've been disgustingly crowded (though I am a huge hypocrite in saying that, considering that I'm going to see Iggy Pop at Riot Fest). And I have nothing planned for august! I honestly just want the school year to start, so I can have a schedule again and wear all my cute fall clothes.

Anyway, yesterday I went to Logan Square to record shop and thrift. First I went to Bric a Brac records, which is now my favorite record store. Its a really fun place to be in, with its Pee Wee's Playhouse decorating style and Simpsons video game. I also liked that the selection was smaller than a larger store, like Reckless Records, because it was easier to find stuff. I got "Evol" by Sonic Youth, two Rolling Stones pins, and a Lou Reed pin. After that I went to Family Thrift and bought the Twister shirt, denim skirt, and plaid skirt. The Twister shirt is actually an official Twister shirt, and is much larger when its not tucked in. It could easily double as a dress.

    "Evol" and "Bad Moon Rising" are my favorite Sonic Youth albums. I like how creepy and eccentric they sound, especially "Evol." They sound like the soundtracks to a prison escape.

I was really excited to find the RS pins, too. I actually got to see the Stones live in Milwaukee and Indianapolis, which was incredible. Most people my age refuse to listen to anyone over the age of 35, but the Stones are the greatest rock and roll band in the world, in my opinion. And apparently thousands of other people agree, because both venues were packed. Isn't it hilarious that supposedly youthful, energetic musical acts nowadays usually disappear within a year and a half, and yet the Stones just celebrated their 53rd anniversary, and THEIR the old codgers? Makes no sense to me.

Courtney Love Meets Dramatic Jim Morrison

        I. Love. This. DRESS!!!!! Its so "babydoll chic" and Courtney Love. My favorite part is the sleeves and the slight boning around the bodice. Here I am in the dress, in a Jim Morrison pose. Sans leather pants.

   Bein' Bored. I love models, but it gets annoying how  there poses are usually limited to far gazes and slouchy posture. Vogue  has had a lot of awesome editorials with models in fun, lively poses, with actual smiles. If they get all the outfits they want and any rock star boyfriend they desire, they should be smiling!

   Stephanie Seymour: Are you a model?
   Courtney Love: Are you a brain surgeon?

Princess Mess

I called this post "Princess Mess" because of the utter disarray my room appears to be in in the images. It actually isn't as bad as it has been, but whatever. I love messiness and organized disorder. Its very...I don't know... "I'm such a busy artist I don't have time to clean"-ish. This is one of my favorite posts so far because it represents a new look for me- I removed all three feet of my hair!!! Finally! I love having it gone, and I look adorable. I also made the dress in these pictures; I made the top part at a sewing class, and finished the skirt with the pattern from the same class, by hand sewing. It took forever, but was really satisfying.

A beautiful Thanksgiving decoration that could have been needlessly thrown away. I'm not a hoarder; I'm a collector (oh no I sound like my dad).

A really awesome drawing by my friend Izzy of me.

I loved finding this magazine at a thrift store, but then it made me really sad. Kurt's death has never been anything but a sad and tragic event to me, not something romantic or part of a "27 Club" legend. Thankfully most of the tributes were journalistically sound (at least to me) and it was bittersweet  reading about his memorial in Washington; the pictures of fans dancing in public fountains was truly beautiful. Thats what a true fan of anything does; they  celebrate  the object of their fandom's achievments, not the tragedies or addictions.

And here's Courtney. It kind of annoyed me that so much of the interview was about Kurt, but it also felt like thats what Courtney needed to talk about, at that time. The image inside the article of her her dressed as a ballerina is simply gorgeous, in that special ironic, punk rock style Courtney has.

And, um, MY HAIR IS NOW SHORT! I know I'm gorgeous *fluffs hair* *says something unnecessary and obnoxious*

By the way, I am trying to get an idea for a music zine called SUBVERSE off the ground. I'll be writing on it and doing a few other things, but I need submissions from others for some specific articles. I'm also looking for any kind of music related art that can be printed on paper for the zine, especially something for the potential cover and maybe some comics. Here's the proposal I sent out to some friends:

Hey! I have been really tired of loving music a ton but having all of my ideas clogged up in my head like a nasty kitchen sink pipe. So obviously I want to make a zine! I recently came up with the idea for a music zine called SUBVERSE (verse, music, song verses), which I will be writing in but also want others to write for! I came up with three columns for it: Really Oughta Know ( a musical recommendation of a record at least 5 years or older), Lyrical Love (a kind of fan rant about any musical artist of any genre or time period), and Disc Diss, a negative review of a band or soloist's record (must be constructive, not "ew i hate that hat their wearing"-esque). I also really want to interview bands or publish other's interviews bands, so recommendations for that would be great! Email submissions to chloekgraham@gmail.com .

Playing Good With Kurt and Tweety

      Kurt Cobain+Tweety bird+David Bowie = REALLY LAME YET IRONICALLY CUTE TITLE!
I've been wanting overall shorts (is that what there called?!) for the longest time. I think Alexa Chung wears them pretty well. These overalls are actually official Looney Tunes merchandise, which is pretty cute. Mine have Tweety bird on them. I paired the outfit with my new Kurt Cobain shirt from 1997. I really like this one. At first the weird wavy details seemed cheap and dorky, but I realized their actually supposed to be the kinds of trees that you would see in the Pacific Northwest (where my wonderful Kurt is from).

            I had been trying to keep this pimple on my forehead out of the picture, but Kurt said that pimples are beauty marks, so there.

                               TWEETY!

Assortment of Assorted Things

Jello! These are some of the outfits I have been wearing. I wore the first one to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, last sunday. I know, not a glamorous moment at all, but I felt like it. The pictures really didn't capture how sparkly the tights are, but their very disco-queen. I love them to death. They remind me of something Edie Sedgwick would wear.

Here I am in my favorite flannel shirt and Jean Paul Gaultier Homme pants. When they aren't as baggy as Justin Bieber's pants, they actually look attractive and stylish. When they're not pulled up, they look pretty bad. As if the Bieber reference didn't drive that point home enough.

This is a really cool FFA (Future Farmers of America) jacket my dad gave me. Its actually really warm and has the coolest patch on it. It also makes people think my name is Jean! (the name on the jacket, OBVI)(oh i love sounding like a little obnoxious twit).

I love my new cat eye sunglasses! They make me look like that secretary or whatever character from Pink Flamingoes. I'm a total John Waters poser (haven't seen any of his movie...yes, shame me), but I love that aesthetic. It fits my creepy-clean neighborhood swimmingly. It also kinda makes me look like Tiger Morse from her Andy Warhol movie. YES I AM THIS WEIRD.

    These are posters I got for Easter. Jesus celebrates his resurrection by giving me rock posters.

Mom says this one makes Johnny look "deep."

I absolutely adore this record; it comes with a photo album, and makes an awesome presentation for a book shelf. It also looks like a really bro-y rock shrine. At least I don't have a Led Zeppelin poster yet.

My paintings. This one is of Nancy Spungen.

Kurt in a dress.

A self portrait of myself at my 5th birthday. I actually did look that moody. I probably didn't get a pony or something.

I used a ''how to draw houses" book for this one, so its pretty much a copy. But it gave me a lot to learn about perspective and shading.

I Don't Do the Dishes, I Just Throw Them In The Sink

I know I have posted this dress before, but never really in this way.  This is my Live Through This look.

   This is my favorite selfie I have ever taken:

Cheerleader socks! (okay, actually Dollar Tree socks)