WE'RE RICH!!!
Hahahahaha yeah right! APRIL FISH, fool! Got ya.
aaaaeeh... does it still work, even if I loupé-d the 1st? Whatever.
Sometimes I think I’d really enjoy being rich. Like just… filthy rich. I mean, it’s kind of a natural fantasy in our society, right? Hell yeah I want less cortisol pumping through my veins, endless amounts of books, a farm, new shoes, all of that. Of course I do.
If I won the lottery or whatever, you’d definitely be seeing a sister-space popping up around the corner from Peanut Butter Books.
I think I’d call it Jelly Jamz — a skate / record shop with a garage-y sorta recording studio in the back. We’d fabricate skate decks and ramps, record songs and produce videos and all the homies would be gainfully employed (co-op style, non-hierarchical, bien sûr) in the task of disseminating the vibe. Of course, PBB would finally have the Portugese section we’ve been longing to launch, and the PBB & JJ universe would expand exponentially, going on to encompass everything from sewing ateliers and avant-garde theatre productions to guerilla treehouse park installations and beyond. (Oh, and that softball league I tried to start last year, but never found enough equipment to go around.)
But then I’m like, if I’m already engaging in wishful thinking, why be so petty? Here I am, summoning a hypothetical genie in the lamp of my mind so I can wish for… money? That’s it? Beurk!!
Check the backlog: this time last year, I was dreaming of a world in which human consciousness could move beyond our attachment to this system of coercion. Why not wish for a world in which we could all do all the cool stuff we dream up, without the constraint of needing to run it by a banker first? Why not just… do it?
Anyway. This is getting long-winded, and I’m not ready to dive into the subject of revolutionary criminality. I gotta just cut the wish-casting and start building. So, on that note…
Let’s START TODAY!
IT’S SPRING BREAK!!! LFG!
Saturday, April 4th
15:30 - Les Fabulettes drag story time.
This time around, the theme is CARNAVAL, so come dressed up!!!
Saturdays, April 11th & 25th
14:00-16:30 - ✨✎📖 Write On! 📖🖊️✨
Grenoble’s premier English-language WRITERS’ WORKSHOP is back at it! If you’re inclined to try your hand at some creative writing, come give it a crack, we’ve got a solid crew here.
Friday, April 17th
19:00 - Art vernissage, Axel Coutaz and friends + concert
You’ve probably already noticed, but I’m a big fan of all our vernissage evenings — they’re a lot of fun, and there’re very few things ya boy loves more than f-u-n. (Especially when it’s of the art+music / hangin’ heavy, chit-chatting persuasion!) Given how successful the last PBB concert was, we figured we outta give live performance another go, so this will be an evening of visual art + music, cool people, sick hangs, etc etc. So don’t miss out! Come get a piece of those ✨Good Times!✨
Wednesday, 22nd
19:00 - Atelier with NO THUNE Productions
Love comics but suck at drawing? Here’s your chance to create a comic by re-mixing some copyright-free classics! We’ll be writing, editing and eventually printing a comic with the help of M. Louis of NoThune Productions. It’s gonna be fun!!
Thursday, April 23rd
19:30 - Le Mot de Callum
Another sort of live performance coming at ya, this one being a theatrical oeuvre — a PBB first! It’s ‘Prix libre,’ but there is limited seating, so please r.s.v.p. (DM Kalleen on the PBB Insta).
Tuesday, April 28th
19:00 - Bref You Know
A chill workshop for improving your French! 10€ / RSVP
Wednesday, April 29th
19:00 - Queer Poetry Night #11 - TRANSLATION
Last QPN we had a prettyyy big turn out and - lo and behold - it was yet another excellent evening of sharing Time & Space with friends. L-O-V-E is what we’re all about, and on this night, poetry is the vehicle. You know what to do. Come thruuuuu!
Thursday, April 30th
19:00 - 📚✨ TBC ✨📚 - Grenoble’s #1 English-language book club!
We’ve currently got about 4 or 5 copies still available in the shop for April’s pick, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, so swing by and get yours today! Gonna be a good one!!
Other Stuff:
Ah, I’ve waited as long as I could, but as of the time of this writing, I don’t have a specific date confirmed for April’s Drink & Draw. But I do know the theme, so here ya go:
19:00-21:00 - 🍻✍️ Drink & Draw! ✍️🍻 w/ Arthur
This session’s prompt is “Viens, on joue aux Legos!” /
“Come on, let’s play Legos!”
Here’s the word from Arthur:
The Drink&Draw is an excuse to get together and draw, regardless of our skill level. Total beginner or professional, everyone’s welcome! We share some drinks, we chat, hang out, just… have fun!
Every session we’re given a theme/prompt to make a drawing about, but it isn’t mandatory in any way. Draw what you want! You can also draw with/from a reference, that’s totally ok. You can arrive after the start of the event, that’s fine, too. (But please bring your own supplies.) Drinks available to purchase in the shop!
Substack family:
If you dig the Substack platform, I want to put you on to some friends who are also putting out cool shit:
☆ Les Éditions Suture ☆ - Our dearest, most beloved comrades-in-ink, co-zine fest organizers, artists extraordinaire and all-around rad folx, Les Éditions Suture have a substack and you gotta go subscribe to get the dirt on all things Fingerprint, etc. (More on that to come. Stay tuned.)
Constructive Cultures - Another beloved friend / collaborator / artiste d’excellence, M. Nicholas Morris of Le Chambre Bleu and “designing and building all the PBB furniture” fame; our guy is writing long-form reflections on architecture, housing, our cultural relationship to work/productivity, stuff of this nature. It’s great, go check it out!
Jordan Karnes - For lovers of life, poetry, life-as-poetry and poetry-as-life; Bay Area legend Jordan Karnes will keep you tapped in to that vital force in short, simple, journal-entry-esque dispatches. Again, great, great stuff.
Music recs of the month:
Here’s what me and the kiddos have been listening to:
King Tuff - Moo
The full album dropped a couple weeks ago, and I gotta say: it’s pretty good. Tuffy has for sure been imbibing a ton of Tom Petty (and probably a fair amount of mushrooms) and you can really hear the influence on tracks like “Unglued,” my personal fave. Syd says her favorite is now “Invisible Ink” while Wes prefers “Twisted On A Train” and “East Of Ordinary.” All great choices.
Twisted Teens - blame the clown
Honestly, I hesitated to mention it because it’s pretty redundant; I don’t typically reiterate a music rec from previous months’ dispatches — I just assume it either landed the first time around or it didn’t and I leave it at that. But I’m making an exception for these last two albums because we’ve been listening to them that much and yeah. I love it. I really really do.
Itchy and the Nits - Greetings from…
“Itchy & the Nits! Itchy & the Nits! Scratch yer head & scratch yer bits! Shake ya butt & shake ya tits!” What else is there to say? No notes.
Night Court - $hit Machine
At first I didn’t care for this album all that much, but the second half of the album really grew on me, gotta say, so now it’s in semi-regular rotation. My go-to track atm is “Make Up My Mind.”
Et… voilà! Presto-bingo. I did it. Nay… we did it, dear reader — we successfully made it this far and y’know what? We’re gonna keep on going, baby.
SPRING IS HERE!! LIFE RULES!!!
Ok, see you round the shop. Keep it steezy, ya’ll.