THURSDAY, MARCH 1: The night before the wake, in a flash, I make a drawing and write a letter addressed generally to all of the staff and dressed in black, I arrive half an hour in to find Family packed! I catch part of Peter Relic’s reading of pantoums, poems in Malaysian stanza form. Afterwards, he handed out a pocket zine, filled with more clever pantoums! I edge forward and bump into a pretty lady I had called just an hour beforehand, Arthur photographer Eden Bakti. We kiss hello and hush as New Herbalist columnist Molly Frances steps up to read her free verse shorts—the one about the commodified GMO person that has a Cheeto head and licks the cheese off their fingers was delightful! Afterwards, she handed out yellow bookmarks with healing horoscopes for the year. The highlight was when main editor Jay Babcock took the mike—you can see his guts spilling as he explains the weird grey that is the death of something you love but knowing somehow the spirit must go on but the real communication is his heart exploding and the sincere tears—but still holding it together to end on a positive note with, “Long Live L.A. RECORD!” I smile as Jay steps down—and then he’s right in front of me—and I reach out for his arm and stammer something about synchronous happenings and push what I made into his hand. Like a gentle man, he quickly hugs me, asks if he can look at it later, and asks me my name. I tell him and can’t help but enthusiastically proclaim, “And I write for L.A. RECORD!” My heart is brimming as Oliver Hall closes the speaking portion by reading words never put to song during his stint in She-Rat. Afterwards, he handed out a photocopied version called “Sewer Music #1.” Catharsis is necessary. The death of the vehicle means you should look around and see that the community has not disappeared. Yoko Ono, slated to be on the cover of the next issue, will be featured in the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibit that will be held from March 4th to July 16th at the MOCA. The Smell has an independent press and zine library, waiting for yer donations. Visit 33 1/3 Books Gallery & Collective off of Alvarado in Echo Park. Support Skylight Books, which has free events off of Vermont in Los Feliz. And of course, come to Family Books across from Canter’s. I hope the disappearance of one outlet will have many more lighting up in revolt. (SS)