Somebody should have warned me. Or I should have realized. I've read Stranger Things Happen; I should have known what to expect from a magazine edited by Kelly Link. Strangeness. Whimsy. A total disregard for convention. A complete lack of respect for the critic, dammit! Now I know. My lexicon has expanded to include "kellylink" as a noun, a verb, and an adjective. "Kellylink (v): to create, conceive or assemble some product with whimsy, droll humor, inhuman inspiration and a complete lack of regard for the sensibilities of ordinary Joes and Janes. (Adj) Bizarre, humorous, surreal, wildly imaginative and unclassifiable. (Noun) Any product that has been ‘kellylinked.'"

But as one of the few, the proud, the TANGENT reviewers it is my "job" (I'm still waiting for that first paycheck that Dave swears is in the mail) to review the contents of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet no.9, not the spirit. I'll try; but just to give you an idea of what I'm up against, I offer this little excerpt from the colophon (normally the most dull part of any magazine, except perhaps for the staples): "For an audio version of this zine, find a friend with a good reading voice, or send us a largish check and we'll send it on tape."