I picked up the first issue of My Aim Is True by Carrie Colpitts some time last year when I was at Quimby’s. Issue #1 is from 2011, so I’m a little behind the curve on this one, but it hardly matters. This little personal zine is delightful, and I’m pleased to see Pioneers Press has all ten issues so far in stock. I’ll be requesting several the next time I order from them.

My Aim Is True isn’t about much of anything specific, except it’s sort of about everything, because Carrie writes with candor about love, sex, body image, self-esteem, work, the things she feels guilty about, the things she refuses to feel guilty about, the little things that make her happy, and even just the details of her days across a couple weeks.

Some of my favorite moments of this first issue were the lists Carrie offers that give us a peek into her personality, what makes her tick, what ticks her off. “blueberries…riding my bike at night down a hill…sun brewed iced tea…the way I felt when that boy kissed me” and on and on goes her list of “my best stuff,” a refreshing arrangement of things that bring a smile to her face, and to mine as I read it. How rarely I stop to make a list of this type, and how beneficial I would probably find it to do so.

I also loved an extended portion in which Carrie talks about a crush she harbors for a friend, the revelation of that interest, and the blossoming of a relationship. The open-faced honesty reminded me how okay–no, healthy, preferable–it is to be honest about our heart’s yearnings that can seem like kid’s stuff if we listen too long to the voice of adult [self-] seriousness. “I wonder when I’m going to stop getting crushes. I’m half way through my 30’s and it is still happening,” she begins this sequence. We feel her eager hope, her anxiety, her apprehension, her vulnerability and burgeoning confidence as the crush reaches revelation, and we’re thrilled with her when her affection is returned. Since this zine is now almost six years old, I have no idea if she is still with this person, so if not, I hope writing about it here isn’t weird or harmful. But I felt lighter as I read the story of her crush, and happy.

This is a wonderful zine. If you have a chance, you really, really should check it out. Thanks for this, Carrie. I look forward to reading more.