Mad (dy) Libs

For much of 2021, I had no ideas. I knew I wanted to make things, but I never knew what to make. And some days I just needed to make SOMETHING to feel that satisfaction of having completed a project. So I started a sketchbook I called the “I need to make something” sketchbook, in which I made faces out of blobs and turned them into people.

When it came time to make my yearly book, I decided to use the blob faces, simply turning them into Mad(dy) Libs.

I love them. It’s so crazy where setting restraints and creativity can take you. I love it.

When Are They Coming Back?

I feel most creative when making things in physical handmade books. Accidental things can happen and when I know I don’t have to make something sleek and perfect, it seems to turn out more fun. So when these words popped into my head, I decided to go back to the book format, which I hadn’t been doing as much lately.

I seem to be having the “When are they coming back?” conversation over and over and over again lately in every social context, so I had to poke fun at it a bit. I hate and I love this conversation at the same time.

A few years ago I made a Minnesota-shaped book about how everyone seems to move away from Minnesota, so this is the sequel!

Cover shows two women hugging hearts. They are standing inside the shape of Minnesota and from them are dotted lines in all different directions  connecting to more hearts. The cover says, “When are they coming back? By Maddy Buck.”

Text says, “Minnesotans LOVE being from Minnesota.” Illustration shows two people with MN shirts on, with a thought bubble thinking of Minnesota.

Picture book text says, “Yet so many of us get lured away.”

Illustration shows different states outlines with arms and legs all saying “this way, this way, you do you, you know you want to move here!”

Picture book text says, “prestige, opportunity, adventure, heat pull them away.” Under each word is an illustration of that concept.

Picture book text says, “Meanwhile, their people back home have one thought:” Illustration shows some parent heads thinking about their kids in California and New York.

Illustration shows three women holding drinks, chatting, all of them saying in the same text bubble, “When are they coming back?!”

Illustration shows a tiny person saying, “How long has he been out there now?” And another tiny person is saying “when was it she moved away?”

Illustration shows for tiny people, each in a corner of the picture book, all saying together, “WHEN ARE THEY COMING BACK?!”

Picture book text says, “Great schools, humane voting, lots of lakes, nice summers,” Illustration shows a bunch of collaged pieces of blue paper, denoting lakes.

Picture book text says, “Why wouldn’t they come back?!!!” Below is a person bundled up in their warm jacket, scarf, and mittens, with the words, “blizzard, brr, cold, chilly, ice, 10 below” floating around them.

Picture book text says, “That’s great that they’re thriving, that they have a life, a career, a community, out there…but…”

Picture book text says, in large text, “WHEN ARE THEY COMING BACK?” Illustration shows a very distraught mother.

Picture book text says, 2 year, 10 years, 30 years away, when are they coming back? Illustration shows shocked people.

Picture book text says, “Some of them return! We celebrate, we sing! Then we shift our focus…there’s hope for the rest of them yet!” Illustration shows a gleeful person, saying “You’re back!”

Picture book text says, “Our yearning may be annoying. It may hurt the cause. It may be futile.” Illustration shows a person pushing their cell phone away, saying “Stop!” The cell phone is saying, “WHEN?! COME BACK! We miss you!”

Picture book text says, “But we can’t help it.” Illustration shows woman with funny face, in “I heart MN” shirt, shrugging her shoulders.

Picture book text says, “We want all our people BACK!” Illustration shows a woman standing inside a square of houses, thinking “everyone I love in 1 square mile, k, thx, bye!”

Picture book last page shows more heart that connect to the first page illustration.

"Opting for Health" MN Women Center Re-imagining Feminist Futures Zine

This summer, I saw that the University of Minnesota Women’s Center was seeking proposals for a zine they were creating about “Re-Imagining Feminist Futures.” I was intrigued but also disappointed with myself because I couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t just “not [current state of affairs in US].” That kind of approach is hardly reimagining anything. It would not have worked. So I asked some friends to think through it with me one weekend over a zoom call. It was late August when it seemed like the entire West was on fire, and the friends I was talking to were in Oregon and Colorado, all of them holed up in their houses hiding from the smoky, caustic air. As we talked about this and other injustices that felt especially salient at that moment, a friend noticed that it all kept coming back to health. And there it was. What if we weren’t making all our decisions based on “more money” but “more healthy”? I know it feels lofty, but what if that were our inherent metric behind everything? It’s at least worth imagining even if it’s not currently possible.
The MN Women’s Center released their Re-Imagining Feminist Futures Zine today and I’m very glad to say it includes this piece (albeit a vertical version)! You can go to their page and order one or download one if you want. There’s a variety of writing and art in there, all by folks affiliated with UMN. Can’t wait to get mine in the mail next month!