Limited Time Offer!! Go Outside!!
Catdroool Club August 2024
If great art provokes questions, then Chicago handyman fliers are masterpieces. I have so many questions. I lay at night thinking about these ubiquitous, nearly identical, yet entirely distinct fliers.
Who makes them? Who prints them? Who distributes them? How did the design style become so succinct? Are they riso printed? If not, why are they always 1 color? How far throughout Chicago do they reach? When did they start? Are they successful? Do the fliers with more photos do better than the one with more text? How did the handy people of Chicago develop such a unique and recognizable flier that every time you see one of these half-sheet, one-color printed pieces of paper on a garage door, you know exactly what to to expect?
I have all these questions, yet maybe I don’t want the answers. The mystery is thrilling, like a David Lynch movie.
I think a lot about advertisements. They’re inescapable. Our brains weren’t built to consume as many ads as we do. So this month’s Catdroool Club is a 1-color Chicago Handyman-style advertisement reminding you to GO OUTSIDE. Attempt to escape capitalism, even if just for a moment! Summer is winding down, so soak it up! Turn off your phone and go to a park, look at some birds, jump in the lake.
Here are some of the ways I have been de-capitalizing my brain in the outdoors this summer:
My friends and I started a Bad Runners Club. We meet at Palmer Square Park on Tuesday nights and we run. We don’t run together, we don’t have a mileage or speed goal, we just run. Sometimes we get tacos.
I spent the last 2 weekends in Wisconsin camping at Postock + Avrom Farm Party. I saw stars, listened to incredible music, ate amazing food, smiled a lot, got sunburnt (oops). I feel so grateful.
I am hoping to jump in the lake as soon as possible and as many times as possible. I planned to last week, but something about deadly 7’ waves forced me to rethink my plans.
My friend Dana has started up kayak wildlife tours on the Chicago river and I am dying to do it, and you should too.
Thanks for reading, hope you get outside. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen.
Bravo!
Oh my goodness I love this so much