Monarch of the Garden: the first 100 from the King Zucchini
The King Zucchini was the last of the “Big Four” (EO, HO, EP, KZ) that I included in the Hajinian Grocery Store. Being an writer (in advertising) by trade, I found this the hardest. Was this a blog? Was it an outlet for writing I couldn’t do professionally? Was this just me messing around? I think, from time to time, all these were true. A collection of clippings from a newspaper is the best way I can describe it.
One thing I do know is that I wanted it to be less a commentary of current events and more about what I think is interesting. We’re inundated with current event perspectives, and especially on a format like tumblr, it’s a double-edged sword. It becomes about the constant stream of info and insights, up-to-date as sites and individuals compete for scoops. I hope from time to time, the King Zucchini was a departure from that for you.
Here were the rules of the King Zucchini when I first started in fall of 2009.
The rules of the KZ:
1. digital technology is old hat. It lives alongside analog.
2. this is a newspaper, only appropriate things.
3. the tone should be positive. the Universe is happy.
4. N&Q should be about 250 words, other essays 500 words.
5. Shoot for one post a day, with no more than 3 N&Q a week.
Well, I didn’t follow all of them. One post a day rule got abandoned pretty early on. I think rule #1 was there to prevent a bunch of posts that lamented mp3s, and rule #2 was there to keep things from drifting into personal reflection for the sake of catharsis blogging. And rule #3 was my reaction to a lot of the literary journals I was reading at the time, a lot of sad stories that explored the human condition and ultimately deemed us a sad species. I had enough of that, and the melancholy undercurrent under most things “literary.” And while I don’t consider any of this “literary,” all writing has an undercurrent, and I wanted the writing here to have a positive one. After about a year, I wanted to write in a way that reflects the five sense more, rather than just heady thoughts. I hope I succeeded.
Instead of linking to favorites, I decided to create a special edition: some of my favorite articles, laid out as the King Zucchini itself. The clippings turned back into a paper. You can download it here: front, and back.
I’m already collecting ideas for articles, fake tv shows to review, questions to ask, and thoughts about how home systems work. Watch this space.
Thanks for reading.
