Summer 2025

When you imagine summer what do you think of?

I was born in June, but I've never really like summer. Where I live it gets hot, and worse, it gets humid. Summer has always felt like a failed oppertunity, a break in my routine I never got the chance to fill.

But I have two summers left that are carved out as a break, and I think the problem might be a lack of immagination

This zine is how I think about summer, in terms of goals, movies, TV, and albums.

Inspired by pluto22's incredible kbos zine this webzine was really fun chance to mess around with css without worrying about responsiveness. Sometimes it's you and Position:relative against the world. Hover effects can be found throughout, so take a look around!


Whether you're feeling the start of summer now, or waiting until June 21st like a purist, I hope you have an awesome summer.

mysteriously,
em

Astroid City

Directed by Wes Anderson (2023)

The reviews for this move were lukewarm. Critics called it pretenious, relying on its style more than the story it was telling to make the movie. I liked it for those exact reasons.

It's about a widower taking his genius son to a Junior Stargazer convention in 1955. It's also about a play. No one knows what they're doing.

Palm Springs

Directed by Aubrey Scotto (2020)

A brilliant take on the timeloop genre - what if there was someone else stuck in there with you? The movie takes place at a wedding, where the maid of honor, Sarah, gets stuck in a tiemloop with Nyles who has been in it for years.

I love a strange romcom!

Aftersun

Directed by Charlotte Wells (2022)

There's a shot in this movie that haunts me, where the father and daughter are getting dinner, but the camera's focused on a poloriod of them developing.

Aftersun is one long flashback of movie about a father going on vacation with his daughter, told through the lens of a camrecorder. The best use of Under Pressure I've ever seen in a movie

strange goals for summer 25

goals set with the intention of having some fun.

#1: Do nothing + get bored

From Inferno by Eileen Myles:

"I could be an artist. I had the tools. It wasn't politics. Not that I knew. It was nothing. It was boredom, turned electric. Music from cars. It was watching. Watching the scene."

The past few months I feel like I've been suffocating my brain with noises and distraction, never letting a train of thought roam too far. It's hard to be bored, it's hard to take the headphones off - but like I read somewhere, it lets you in on reality's jokes. When I was one the train to today I was sitting between two men with almost the exact same suit, in the exact same pose, sandwhiching me. The mysterious of truly free time have a lot to offer.

#2: Get crazy with hobbies

I like it when my goals contradict each other. This summer I want to get more in making things. Make zines, get into birdwatching, turn my camera back on, make some cool sights. I want to learn how to whittle - I've had this dream for a few months. Zine making, puzzles if I can find the paitence. I'd love to show an even mild commitment to drawing.

Sidebar - drawing what you see is really interesting, espically when you suck at it. This is a physical representation of how I see the world. It's a fun exersise in attention. Even when I suck it, it's cool to capture the essence of a chair. Floating right is a sketch of stage lights I made.

GRAVITY FALLS

For the 13th year in a row, the best show of the summer is...GRAVITY FALLS!!! While somehow was not watching this as a kid, this show is so good. I was just rewatching the first episode, and from the pilot all the dynamics are there. Following two twins, Mabel and Dipper as they live with their eccentric grunkle Stan for the summer (I <3 Stan) gravity falls is about the twins uncovering the mysteries of the town. Tried to think of a dipper one liner to use they're all golden. Anyway, if you liked animated shows, cryptids, weird towns, comedy, good writing, good tv, the feeling of joy in general and you haven't already seen this show.....what are you waiting for!!

9-1-1

I got really into this show last summer, and learned that I am actually a sucker for a proccedural. It's a first-responder proccedural following LAFD station 118, along with the dispatch station and one police officer. This show is great for summer because there are 8 seasons, and if you binge it all at once you'll fully grasp how ridiculous it is.

Which is fun - 911 doesn't take it self too seriously, and at it's best it does good character work in ridiculous situations. The best seasons are 2-5, after that you get some wild highs and lows (shoutout to season 8). It's fun, and it has some great queer represention (and a crazy big ship fandom for Buck and Eddie, which really makes up for the fact that I was never around for the great Sherlock queerbait of 2010). Chimney is my number one. Plus, the show is on hiatus in the summer, so if you want to watch all eight seasons to catch up to the next great American queerbait, now is the time!

#3: embramce my inner Leslie Knope.

Parks and Rec, The Treaty (4x7)

No one could ever accuse me of having a positive attiude, but I am working in city government this summer so I have been thinking about her.

#4: Turn 20

This one is easy: I just need to avoid getting hit by a bus until June 24th.

20 is such a weird birthday. At 18 I could get ear piercings by myself, 19 was cool becase it's an odd number, but 20? No longer a teenager, but still can't go to a bar (at least in the US). I won't be a teenager anymore, and that doesn't bother me so much as a whole new decade does. I have two more years of college and after that, I could try and go anywhere. There are limits, but as I get older they become more self-imposed. I'm scared of growing up; I'm scared of staying the same forever.

#5: In the words of Maggie Rogers, BE COOL

Coolness is a weird concept in that it means nothing. You know it when you see it, and like a photon, it collapses when you look right at it. It's a concept that both uplifts individuality and crushes it. I feel cool when I have a book in my bag, when I land a joke with a stranger, when I wear my black boots, when I look at this site. It's all slightly superficial (looking for the feeling of cool is so twenty-something). Yes, sure. But I think the narratives we make about ourselves matter, and that they can change.

Forever thinking about a tweet I met in passing: "How would the most relaxed and confident verison of yourself handle this?"