cain magazine

welcome to the

cain

web site

.:under construction:.

Introduction
This is the web site for cain, a little project of mine started at the end of my senior year of high school. It is, in essence, a zine, a zine being, loosely defined, an independent, not-for-profit publication. More specifically, it's a repository for my rants and ruminations, which could be inadequately summed up as a pensive, hyper-intellectual examination of the human condition, urban society, and various philosophical issues.

The publication is primarily produced by me, but some very nice, creative friends of mine have donated their time and effort to the zine in the form of contributed articles. (Currently, however, the cain production process has become way too sporadic and impetuous for me to accomodate submissions from other authors. So just to be fair, I've decided to make it a strictly egotistical affair and limit the content to my own writing. Sorry.)

Though focused on the outer edge of modern culture, I try, humbly, to eschew labels and prove that categorization isn't necessary in order to have something of meaning to say to people who will listen. There is no target audience or theme per se, but the overarching philosophy behind this publication is the assertion of individuality over the status quo. And because I'm human and thus imperfect, making the zine as amorphous as possible is my feeble attempt to resist self-imposed creative limits. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail miserably, but invariably, the result is fun and fiercely idiosyncratic.

The Nitty Gritty
cain #5 is finally out! Awwww yeah. More perspicacious observations of political and popular culture, sardonic wit, provocative black-and-white photography, and transcultural exploration. For a taste of my titillating ramblings, read about an adventure with Beach Blanket Bingo at New Haven, Connecticut's fun-loving gay community center. See the "What's New" section for details.

cain #4 is another fifty pages packed with stimulating prose, original artwork, and brazen sarcasm. This issue includes essays on activism, Chinese popular culture, music, and the human condition in general, along with an in-depth piece on a homeless rehabilitation center.

Cain #3 is 50 pages of an exciting variety of deep and not-so-deep thoughts, featuring an essay on The Irony of Thrift, my various theories about lying and personal integrity, and a rant on modern music and musical subculture.

Cain #2, is chock full of perceptive rants on eclectic topics, from the psychology of human motivation to irritating celebrities. This issue includes short fiction, essays on the fading of inspiration that accompanies the aging process, breeding, adventures in bike messengering, record reviews and lots of vitriol.

Cain #1 is slightly more modest in design, since it was the first zine I had attempted to create after a long dry spell of about three years, but still packs punch with articles on the war in Kosovo (a bit outdated, obviously, but an important snatch of history from a pacifist perspective that's probably a bit more perspicacious than most of the shortsighted viewpoints espoused in the mainstream media on the issue), some thoughts on leaving high school (sounds sappy, doesn't it? You might be surprised), a short story that peers with surprising candor into the day in the life of a young girl in New York City, a bitter diatribe on "How to Succeed in High School without Really Learning," and a cathartic rant on my frustration with writer's block and the nature of the creative process.

If you haven't caught on already, the words in red are links to the actual articles. I've decided only to offer a few of them, since I really do believe in the aesthetic and literary qualities of the paper zine, and I hope that giving you a small sample on the internet will provide incentive to purchase a hard copy (don't worry, I'm not luring you into my mercenary enterprise, as each issue yields a negative profit). To those of you who find my prose in this haphazard internet introduction somewhat uninspired, I promise that the zine is much more stimulating than this web site. In addition, if you've made it all the way to the bottom of my spiel, you may find the further links on the right-hand column to be of interest to you.

A copy of cain costs one US dollar plus 80 cents postage or pre-arranged trade, but it is free to prisoners, because I know those guys must be really bored. Please direct orders and correspondence to:

cain
c/o Alternative Media Library and Resource Center
PO Box 204902
New Haven, CT 06520

cainzine@yahoo.com