I spent much of yesterday catching up on my unread magazines--the old-fashioned ones printed on paper. Before a couple of weeks ago, Benson and I had subscriptions to Newsweek, US News & World Report, Wired, San Francisco Magazine, The Advocate, Out, National Geographic Adventure, Men's Health, Cargo and Mother Jones. You know you have a problem when a new magazine in your mailbox leads to a sinking feeling. I'd fallen way behind on reading these magazines because I just didn't have time to read them. Partly, this was because I spent so much time that I could have used to read magazines visiting Daily Kos and online news sites (cnn.com, nytimes.com and salon.com) leading up to the election. On top of this, I have my two classes that I'm taking in Stanford's Continuing Studies Program, and they entail a lot of reading. Once the election was over, I was too tired and depressed to do much aside from work, classwork, and sleeping. Then, I spent the following weekend in Vegas for my Mom's birthday (meaning out of the 10 days from the Saturday before the election, I spent 7 in Vegas). So, during this time, the magazines piled up. I feel too guilty just throwing a magazine out without at least glancing through them--what if I miss something inspirational or something that makes me see something in a new way??? It's the possibility of what the magazines contain that draws me to them. So I set aside some time last night to go through the stack that I had. The job was a bit easier than I had expected. I didn't feel like reading much more about the election, so the news magazines went by quickly. I've discovered that I'm just not that fascinated with most of what passes for "gay culture" according to the Advocate, so those finished up quickly. The Mother Jones was the one that took the longest--this is one magazine that I can read cover to cover. (I admit that I still haven't finished it.) I realized three things. First, what is the point in collecting all of this information? A week from now, am I really going to remember everything (or anything) I read in the magazines? When I get through them just to get through them, am I really taking the time to digest anything? More importantly, is there really much to digest? Second, I realized that on the list of magazines above, the only ones that I will keep subscribing to are Wired and Mother Jones. The news magazines feel like they are going the same way of the cable news networks--a lot of fluff without much news that I don't get from my daily visits to nytimes.com (and, grudgingly, cnn.com and msnbc.com; I visited foxnews.com regularly before the election to see what the other side thinks, but I just get too annoyed at them now). The other magazines just don't have anything that makes me think, something that breaks me out of my rut a little bit. Third, so many magazines have information that I already learn from websites before the magazine even arrives. For this reason, general news magazines just aren't that relevant anymore. They have to be magazines that go more in depth or cover subjects from a different angle--something that both Wired and Mother Jones tend to do. An example of why I like Mother Jones is the article Grandmothers on Guard. This article made me think about the way Israelis sometimes treat the Palestinians, and how it is okay for Jews to criticize it. The article describes the Machsom Watch, a group of Israeli women who monitor the Israeli soldiers at checkpoints and who try to mediate in some egregious situations. This piece is particulary important because I have learned to shut out my feelings on this matter; I feel uncomfortable as a Jew criticizing Israeli policies, but I also feel uncomfortable with the policies towards the Palestinians. It's easier to just not think about it. Even typical news reports don't make me think about it--just hearing the facts about another suicide bombing or another incursion are too routine. A story like this that personalizes the political makes me think about where I actually do stand. (It helps that the article is from the perspective that I already had.) One magazine that I didn't include above is Salon. There's really no reason that I shouldn't have--it is a magazine in its own right. Also, like Mother Jones, it can be quite thought-provoking. For a time, I thought there would be no need to get paper magazines anymore, because I could get all of my information online. But I've realized I like the paper format better. I can read Mother Jones entirely online if I wanted to, but I just wouldn't do it. It's easier, more comfortable, and more natural for me to flip through the real thing. I can also easily write comments and highlight parts of the magazine if I feel so inclined--something that requires a bit more effort to do online. This struggle between the digital and the physical is something I face all the time though--do I keep a personal journal or a blog? But that's a story for another entry (or perhaps for me to forget about). Ultimately, the point of reading a magazine is to stay informed, and to think. The thinking is the most important part--it's all too easy to just read news reports and think "okay, I've collected facts." Being able to tie these facts together, to think critically about them, to modify my world-view, and to ultimately use them to make me more effective in helping America be as good as it can be (should I trademark that phrase?) are what makes reading a magazine worthwhile. Who would have thought magazines were so important? It reminds me of an ad I saw for Al Franken's The O'Franken Factor Factor CD in Mother Jones: "Never doubt that a single compact disc can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Part of staying informed are the classes I'm taking--the ones that are huge time sinks. I started taking these classes to get my mind thinking in a Liberal Arts kind of way again after feeling it atrophy in the world of computer programming that my job entails. My classes--politically oriented, of course--are about the Supreme Court and American Foreign Policy After 9/11. Though each class only meets one night a week, it is an enormous drain on my time because there is also a lot of readings for each class, including the text of Supreme Court opinions and essays from foreign affairs journals. Unlike when I was in college, I actually take the time to read everything we are assigned and, more than that, to think about them and try to make everything cohesive in my mind. That takes more time than you would expect. In some ways, then, these classes have actually trained me to appreciate reading again while reducing the amount of time I have to read. Unfortunately, my Post 9/11 class professor, Bert Patenaude, also introduced a new time sink by convincing me to subscribe to five new magazines--well, three magazines and two journals. Now, I'm subscribed to The Economist, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The National Interest and Foreign Affairs. We've read articles and essays from these five in class, and it is clear that these magazines are going to be thought-provoking--more along the lines of Mother Jones than, say, Newsweek. I'm also looking forward to the variety of perspectives--The Economist is generally libertarian, National Interest and Foreign Affairs are a bit neoconservative, the New Yorker and The New Republic tend to be liberal. Thus far, only the Economist started up, and I haven't been disappointed. I read it nearly straight through, skipping only the more dry business parts. Now, don't get me started on the books I have sitting around waiting to be read...