Limousine #8 is subtitled "Drowning and Living," and that sets the tone for the writing within with just those three simple words. It was mainly written on New Year's Eve, 1998, after she had just taken the proverbial plunge and said "I Do."

I have to be honest -- a lot of this is sappy exultations of her new husband. How she found him, how weird it feels to be all grown up and married, that kind of thing. One of the quotes set aside on its own page: "I am falling again, but this time, I am not afraid of landing."

Ah, the joy of new marriages.

It's not all about her marital bliss, though. There is a great story at the beginning about fat acceptance from one who has been there. There's a long story on feminism, where she lets us in on a private joke -- they call Lifetime Television "victimvision" in her house. Not entirely un-apropos.

The best parts of the issue for me, though, were the articles on Siouxie of Siouxie and the Banshees and why she likes her still (it's what she represents, not just that sexy black eyepaint), and one called "Don't Call Me A WebGrrl!" that rants on and on about sites like "Estronet." "Keep my ovaries out of this, please," she says. Good point.

The layout and art of this issue, while not sparse, does look a little slapped together last-minute in places. It gives the appearance of being unrelated objects in space -- there's little cohesion.

Then again, she was on her honeymoon. I'm sure she had better things to do than graphic design.

Overall, I'd say that this is a good issue, but dollar-for-dollar, I'd pick up #7 and #9 before this one. It seems to make more sense in sequence. Send $2 and two stamps to P.O. Box 11, San Mateo, CA 94401-0011 to see for yourself.

[ by Elizabeth Badurina ]