These days I really don’t believe the difference b/w books & magazines to be an affair of intellectual might or cerebral stamina. Recently it’s become more an issue of wanting to arouse the rest of my senses. You might very well criticize me for this but I kind of hate the fact that when I look at a book I don’t get excited by the idea that the value is all in the interpretation and visualization of the words. Instead I’m bothered that there just isn’t more effort into making that book attractive. Now more often than not it’s probably an issue of practicality or budget, but what happened to putting effort into quality binding, picking just the right font, or finding that paper that really complimented the subject-matter well?

What I like about magazines is that not only do I love the information I’m getting out of them, because it’s quick and to the point, which suits my lifestyle (and naturally regulated attention span) but also because the good ones look good, feel good, and smell good. It’s as if the craftsmanship that used to go into books is being injected into magazines now. When I say “look good” I mean the typeface is appropriate, the colors make sense, the layouts are well designed and it’s great to be able to grab information at varying levels of focus. When I say “feel good” I mean the paper literally feels good at my fingertips, and when I flip through the pages I actually want to preserve its structural integrity. When I say “smell good” I literally mean you can tell the paper selection was a priority – that smell helps give the magazine an identity.

Based on all of the above, I could almost make the claim that picking a magazine is like picking a partner. It’s very important that she have something to say and be able to keep my interest when she opens her mouth, but if she looks good, feels good, and smells good, then I’ve got the whole package. Some may call that greedy or ambitious, but I just call it knowing what you want.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and already love that you read this.

Cheers!
Edison

Some magazines that helped inspired this – Monocle, Antenna, Surfer’s Journal, Wired, Saveur, The Economist, Esquire, & The Standerd.

If you have any suggestions for beers to try or a good bar to visit, definitely let me know! Since I’m new to this area it’s going to take some work to find the new favorite bar so any help is appreciated. And if I have to keep drinking pint after pint until I find the right place, then so be it! Haha!

Cheers!
Edison