Gone Analog

digital links to analog topics

This is loosely inspired by Jason Burk's /analog page: the equivalent of /uses for non-technical subjects. It also seemed like a good place to put links for general offline subjects, like the vinyl section below.

I find it fascinatng that "going analog" has become the term for going back to simpler digital technology like iPods and flip phones. I see the appeal of it regardless, especially when it comes to owning your media. Whether I own paper books or epub files with no DRM, whether I own an album on vinyl or CD or mp3s downloaded from Bandcamp, the important thing is to be aware of what I own and what corporations are trying to merely license to me temporarily.

Some essays about the importance of owning media:

Marking Up Paper

I am a paper nerd. A stationary junkie. A sticker hoarder. I love a gorgeous notebook. I've had opinions about pens since I was a teenager and then I got into Japanese stationary in high school and it's been all downhill from there. I discovered the joy of watercolor painting when my kid was small and I needed a creative outlet with minimal cleanup. If you find me out of the house and I don't have a notebook and a pen on me, something has gone very, very wrong in my day.

Here's what I use:

  • Watercolors: My go-to are Beam Paints supplemented by colors from Ko-Z Paints. Beam's paintstones are just an absolute joy to paint with.
  • Notebooks: For daily carry, Art Creation sketchbooks in the pocket size go everywhere with me. I keep ending up back in these even compared to the excellent Leuchtterm1917 because the heavy paper means I can write, draw, even watercolor, use any thickness of ink, and I don't have to worry about it. For use journaling or creative writing by hand, I tend to favor slightly larger journals, especially Paperblanks journals, because I am a sucker for the aesthetic and they're so damn pretty.
  • Pens: I have two Kaweco pocket fountain pens that my spouse has bought for me, and I love them. One or the other is pretty much always in my pocket. If I need something else I generally grab a Pilot Juice-up these days. I also have a Zebra Lightwrite that I use when I'm journaling in bed. The Lightwrite lets me see what I'm writing without disturbing my spouse! It's amazing.

If you're in Portland you might want to know about:

Magic

  • Tarot: My go-to deck is the Numinous Tarot, which is so colorful and evocative, I always love pulling it out.
  • Other Tarot: I like making magpie decks as well, including a mixed magpie tarot, a Wild Hunt deck composed of a mix of cards that speak of the Hunt to me, and a Queen's Deck that's all women from different decks.
  • Oracles: I have my own oracle deck, the Empty Sky, that I've been using for a little over ten years in one form or another. I also use the Threadbound Oracle (which is bookbinding/library themed!), the Forty Servants, and sometimes draw from Kim Krans's Archetype deck and the Citadel Oracle.

Typewriters

I have been a little bit in love with typewriters for as long as I can remember. When I first got into zines in the late 90s, a vintage typewriter felt like the mark of a serious zine artist. I still love them.

I'm very, very lucky that Portland has more than one place to go for typewriters. Most recently I enjoyed this video about journaling using a typewriter and other techniques. (My favorite is the idea to print photos and then type your thoughts on the photo/memory on vellum to go over the photo.)

Zoetrope Vinyl

As both an animation nerd and budding vinyl hipster, it was probably inevitable that I would be fascinated by zoetrope records.

Zoetropes were an early form of motion picture. I first played with them as a kid and I think a lot of other people do too- it just involves having a ring with a series of pictures on the inside, and a way to spin it, usually with a slot to look through so you're only seeing one part of the ring at a time.

Looking around, I've seen a lot of people say they don't think zoetrope records are worth it because you need to use a strobe light or app to watch them, but I think it depends on