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secondthoughts

to dream, perchance to sleep



So what are we going to talk about this time, Julie?

zzzzzzzzzz

Hello?!

I'm awake. What did I miss?

Um, this is the big debut of our second issue.

No wonder I feel like I got hit by a truck.

I think we did, actually.

No, you got bit by a dog.

That's a whole other story we won't go into here. Suffice it to say, do-it-yourself distribution has its drawbacks.

That's true. At least humans seem to like us, or so they say.

I think my favorite comment on the magazine so far is that it's "serious, silly, and easy to digest."

I can't believe people are eating the magazine.

The plight of the starving artist!

Well, the first issue went like hotcakes! Thanks, everyone.

Absolutely. But enough foodplay! Let's introduce our first-ever theme issue: Labors of Love. Seeing that it's almost February, we wanted to do something about romance...

Cue violins!

So we decided to check out First Fridays at the MCA.

And as usual, the evening ended with the two of us having yet another editorial meeting at Lindo Mexico.

Not that margaritas impair our thought processes in any way.

Hardly! It's obvious we're very professional.

It wasn't until much later that we realized all our interviews were about small, intimate actions pushed to crazy degrees of scale and intensity.

It's true; this issue is full of magnificent obsessions. Then there was the strangely recurring motif of the Catholic schoolgirl uniform...

And how mothers who quilt predispose their children to become artists. Just a warning, folks.

Well, as far as this labor of love is concerned, Kristen, I blame you!

Right back at ya. Happy Valentine's Day!

Yeah. Wake me when it's over.


guestspeakers

nancy farstad gamely braved the singles' scene to shoot portraits for "tgifirstfriday." She is an amateur photographer now living in upstate New York.

liz Nielsen and her not-so-hidden camera rode shotgun with ace detective prima gallerina for this issue's "oralreport." She is represented by FLATFILEphotographyGALLERY, Chicago, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Seattle University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently working on a Master's of Fine Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

kathi beste is the technical guru who, among other things, fields our endless computer complaints. She is a Chicago-based graphic designer, curator, party planner, and flamenco performer.

jean albano gallery graciously provides our scanning equipment. Now that Jean knows about it, we can thank her in public.