In case you haven’t yet tried stencilling as per the instructions on pages 36-37 of the most recent issue of Shameless because you can’t find freezer paper, which is something we had trouble with when we did the photo shoot for the article (yes, those are my fingers tracing letters and using the stencil brush!), check out the Toronto Craft Alert’s Ask Crafty answers from September 8th.
PS - We’d love to hear how your stencilling turns out!
I don’t know that much about these kinds of comics but a quick Google search informed me that Shojo/Shouja are Japanese comics created primarily by women for girls and women.
Sounds like it could be an interesting exhibit…
The Japan Foundation, Toronto presents the exhibition Shojo Manga! Girl Power! Girls’ Comics From Japan curated by Dr. Masami Toku of California State University. The exhibition will be on display from September 6 - October 4, 2006 at the Japan Foundation, Toronto. Featuring more than 200 works by 23 artists, this exhibit is the first of its kind to explore the unique styles of female manga artists and examines their contributions to the development of Shojo Manga.
I’ve been meaning to start blogging regularly about books and Thea’s post (and Wesley’s response to it) about Al Gore’s new movie/book The Inconvenient Truth reminded me that I have been delinquent in that regard. So to start things off, here’s what’s on my bedside table at the moment:
1. JPod by Douglas Coupland
2. Solitaire: The Intimate Lives of Single Women by Marian Botsford Fraser
3. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
4. What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating by Marian Nestle
5. grrl: a novel by Jennifer Whiteford
Haven’t started these ones yet:
- Adverbs: A Novel by Daniel Handler
- Exact Fare Only: Good, Bad & Ugly Rides on Public Transit Ed. by Grant Buday
- David Suzuki: The Autobiography
- The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery
The best of the bunch is grrrl, Ottawa writer Jennifer Whiteford’s first novel. It landed in the Shameless mailbox last week and I took it along on an overnight trip to Kingston because it was small and fit well in my bag. It’s the story of a Grade 10 girl named Marlie told through her diary entries (dated 1991). The confessions this suburban Toronto girl scrawls in her journal remind me so much of feeling awkward in junior high (circa 1994), it’s uncanny! If you love Susan Juby’s Alice (from the book, and now TV show, Alice, I Think), you’ll find a kindred misfit in Marlie.
So, what are you reading?
Surprisingly, it was a friend in Vancouver who first told me about Spun Magazine but the gals behind this online knitting-plus-other-stuff zine are actually based in Toronto. The new issue they’ve just posted to the Web at www.spunmag.com has got all kinds of great stuff for knitters and non-knitters alike. Some things that caught my eye:
Shameless is given a big thumb’s up in the latest Bitch (No.30) by Lea Zeltserman — we’re included in the issue’s “Bitchlist: an annotated guide to some of our favorite things.”
Here’s an excerpt:
“It’s time to stop bemoaning the demise of Sassy — the next generation finally has a magazine to get hot and bothered about. Guided by its teen editorial collective, Shameless (“for girls who get it”) talks sex and food straight up, offers local and international news about women, and manages to slip both sewing and bike mechanics between the covers.”
Thanks, Bitch! 
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