7.14.2010

magazines...


What's wrong with this photo?  I wish I could tell you this stack of partially read magazines next to my bed is the only pile in my house.  It isn't.  It's just the most visible (and believe it or not the least embarrassing). 

I worry about the future of magazines, so many of my favorites have ceased publishing (oh my dear Domino how I miss thee).  I feel a strange sense of responsibility to renew my subscriptions, even though, obviously, I have no time to read them anymore.  Many of these are not magazines I ordered.  They are the substitute magazines I receive when my long loved favorites move on to greener pastures.  I even renew these substitute subscriptions because, well, I have a problem.  A longstanding, deep rooted problem.

My love affair with magazines started over 30 years ago with "Seventeen" and "Teen".  If you want a kick, click here and you can scroll through old Seventeen covers - I remember all of them.  When I was preparing to go off to college, my mother did the unthinkable.  She made me throw away all my magazines.  Let's not go into detail.  Still a bit traumatized. 

This memory is making me feel overwhelming pangs of guilt for making my own daughter get rid of about 100 of her beloved books.  Don't panic fellow bibliophiles, she still has scads of them stored in our garage but there were just too many.  I'm sorry daughter, I should have let you keep your dusty old beloved books. If you should ever require therapy, you can discuss it there during the "unthinkable atrocities my mother inflicted upon me" session, you know the same session where you discuss how I FORCED you to hike up that mountain when you were 9 years old and you declared it "child abuse". 

Back to the drama of my pre-college magazine disposal, I think I had 6 years worth in my Dad's old Army trunk.  It took many trips from my upstairs bedroom out to the dumpster in the back alley.  It is a very strong memory for me.  I still kind of miss a few of them.  I realize it's ridiculous to feel this way about magazines but I did.   I am not a hoarder.  I am a big time purger, I only hoard magazines (and small hotel lotions).  This was only the first of many magazine "cleansings".  I have purged mountains of them numerous times and it always tugs my insides a little (I can't BELIEVE I got rid of my Domino mag's right before they abandoned us!).  I'm getting better.  Really, I am.  I'm very close to letting these current stacks go as well and I think I'm going to stop renewing all of them.  Okay, almost all of them. 

I had some time on our long drive home from Seattle to go through a snippet of my magazine backlog.  I read some interesting articles that I'm going to share during the next few days.  Things that amazed me and I think will amaze you as well - though everyone might already know these things, I'm not sure - I don't get out much.   

Does anyone out there have this magazine "letting go" problem?

17 comments:

~*~ saskia ~*~ said...

Magazines, LOVE magazines. Always buy at least one when being abroad.
Summer hugs for a happy Wednesday, Jeanette! xxx

Maria said...

I do not have this problem, ANYMORE. It used to be cooking magazines for me. Then I realized I could just clip the parts I liked and recycle the rest. I have a really cool "cookbook" that is rather like those old photo albums that have plastic covered sticky pages. Perfect for those clippings AND they are well organized within the appropriate sections. However, in the past few years the only magazines I buy are kid oriented w/ activity ideas, vacation ideas, decoration, cooking, etc. These I have filed in magazine holders and they are in their own little cabinet for future reference. Mostly now, I buy children's books - and alas, my house is littered with them - but I'm thinking that is a nice problem to have.

OneCraftyFox said...

I understand your problem, lol. I love leafing through old mags, but I also hate clutter so I don't keep any old mags lying around for longer than a year. I donate them to a local library, I figure that is better than tossing them :)

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Oh Sweetie...
You are not alone with this love. I have 3 corners in my house with magazines. I love the country magazines most, but have also been receiving Reminiscance and Birds in Bloom from Daddy for the last 3 years. I love reading them, as I know they were sent with the love that he has for the magazine. I also receive Good Housekeeping, Womans Day and Redbook. I have some still in the plastic that I haven't even opened yet. What I started doing with some of them is donated them to the Dr. Office, (they never have good magazines to browse) and the radiology department. They were thrilled and I didn't throw them away. I donated them. Made me feel better for sure, and I know someone out there is reading each day.

Thank you for sharing today sweet friend. I have enjoyed my pop over.

Country hugs and much love, Sherry

Jillian said...

I have the same problem. So you know what I did?

I got a Kindle, now all of my magazines are virtual so no more stacks!

Silver Strands said...

LOVE teenage bride's solution!
My stacks are books ... I gave up on magazines long ago since the clutter NEVER went away :)
oxox
Denalee

MJM said...

Mom, you need a kindle! Genius! And not having my books is sad, but after moving so many times, I'm sort of glad I didn't have to move them 30 times.

Megan (Best of Fates) said...

Ah, magazines to read. I, too, have embarrassingly tall piles throughout my home.

pamela said...

i used to LOVE interview magazine when andy warhol designed the cover. i would cut out them up and make pictures for my apt. i even made one and a guy friend traded me a bike for it!
i have a ton of spanish magazines at school i use every year still. kids seem to like it.
i do remember phoebe kates! sp?

sarah said...

ok can i say how much i love your blog?! yes i remember laying on your bed (which in now in your daughters room) in you attic room reading teen magazine.....
i agree with maria! i am anti stuff and a compulsive organizer, clip the articles you like and recycle the rest.... (therapy helps!)

D&D said...

i was a magazine editor for several years and i still freelance for some.
there is something tangible and delicious about magazines that i swear the internet can never replace.
long live "rags!"

Tess Kincaid said...

I'm a magazine addict. I'm in mourning for my beloved Gourmet. I still subscribe to Opera News, Vanity Fair, Elle Decor and Garden & Gun. Just because.

Mary Ann said...

hello jeanette! lots of catch up to do going through your previous posts. It is great to be back and so sorry for the late reply. you have a wonderful day! verbena cottage

Unknown said...

I love magazines! I hate that they are going by the wayside because while I enjoy Lonny, I don't get the same feeling that I do when flipping through an old issue of Domino! XO!

Beatnheart said...

what’s with the mag thing. I have the same problem. I can never get rid of them...I have a neighbor who can’t get rid of them either so he drops them off at my house and then i can’t get rid of his either...I stopped subscriptions (i called them prescriptions) because of the piles I have of old mags.

Brandywine said...

I have been know to go down in the basement, grab a stack of my favorite country magazines and spend a few hours looking at all the great pictures, recipes, articles - again. Great ideas never go out of style. Love my old magazines!

bronwyn said...

Ditto everything you just said. My obsession started when I was about 13. I totally remember that Mila Jovovich cover! I had piles and piles in my room that made my mother crazy. Then my piles made various roommates crazy. Then my husband. Then I had a kid and sitting on the couch with a magazine became a distant memory. Then all the "stuff" that comes with kids increased and I just couldn't stand the piles of magazines I knew I'd never read. I have gotten rid of almost every magazine I was hoarding (even Domino). So many of my favorites are gone and these days when I have some couch time it is spent with a book or my laptop and blogs.

Now books are another story. Both my husband and I have a problem with books. I even still have many old college text books. And like Maria, I have many, many children's books lying around.