So, I’ve been pretty offline for several months, and during the tail end of that time came up with the idea of this newsletter, MAGPIE.
Being entirely offline was lovely, but I occasionally desired a sense of further connection and community with my friends and peers. There have also been many ideas I’ve wanted to discuss during this time, and felt I was lacking an outlet for them.
I’m lucky to be a critic — able to publish my thoughts, opinions, and feelings in various publications in the form of essays/interviews/reviews — but there are some things that are smaller, less categorisable, that have had nowhere to go.
This is normally where social media comes in, I guess — as a kind of dumping ground for the little silly things we want to discuss — but I generally find this to be unfulfilling, brain-cluttering, and deeply upsetting in the long term. I am mildly, vaguely back online now, but remain acutely aware that I can only do so in small, controlled doses.
I’m proclaiming 2021 as My Year of Living Moderately, which here means finding a way to step back from unpleasant internet environments without totally disconnecting. I believe that the newsletter medium will be a good way for me to find that balance — I believe, indeed, that it will be a happy medium.
For me, at least, the future of my happiness depends upon shifting my interactions to smaller, more intimate spaces — like this newsletter. I’m excited to share it with you!
“But Ivana, what is MAGPIE?” — You
Thanks so much for asking. I think it might be something that I figure out more clearly as I go along, but I also think you might enjoy it while it takes shape. For now:
A portion of the newsletter will be from me, but there’ll also be some degree of ‘curation’ — collecting texts from other sources and sharing or reframing them here because I think they’re worth disseminating. This part of the newsletter is referred to as a Nest. (A reference point for me in this has been Maria Popova’s eternally illuminating Brain Pickings newsletter.) The main intention is to share things that I think you might benefit from in some way — things that might inspire, challenge, confuse, or amuse you. There’s no barrier of “high” and “low” culture here, or a division between academia and pop culture — I’ll send theory-heavy essays, links to songs, movie recommendations, whatever it is that I am excited about at the time.
There is (surprise, surprise) a definite queer and trans slant to MAGPIE. Those are pretty broad umbrella terms, which means I’ll really get to talk about whatever I want — but most of the time I’ll be exploring how whatever I’m talking about may link or interact with queerness and/or transness.
Now and then, I’ll throw a Vibe Check your way. This can be absolutely anything, but will generally be more image-based than text-based, to allow greater room for interpretation. It’s just me giving you a vibe for the day.
There is no temporal structure to MAGPIE — that is, it’s not defined as “weekly” or “monthly” or anything-ly, because I want this to be a space where I write joyfully and devoid of pressure. I intend to reach out to you regularly, but my arrival will be a surprise each time :-)
These things are the main intention of MAGPIE, but there will also be a vast array of silly things happening along the way. The past few years have really clarified for me that I am a boy-crazy actor-lover, so now and then I’ll also publish something centred around a specific man that I have strong thoughts and feelings about. Think of them as digital Calendar Boys.
If you’re interested or curious about what’s to come, I encourage you to subscribe. It’s free, and there are so many things I would love to discuss with you! I hope you find MAGPIE interesting and happy. I love you!
