Issues

I go through this every year. Every year the magazine subscription that I have runs out, and I usually have to find a new one to replace it. Oddly, it's rare that I'll renew a magazine. Somehow, I outgrow them.

First, it was Entertainment Weekly, which I still buy when I'm going to take an airplane flight because it's a quick read and there are no hard words that might trip me up when I'm doped up so I can fly. But I soon got sick of getting it every week.

My sister hates this magazine with a passion because of its relentless use of puns in story titles. (A story on funny TV dads is "Father Knows Jest," and article on Reese Witherspoon is "The Gauge of Innocence.") I never noticed it until she pointed it out.

She's right. It's annoying as shit.

Then it was Vanity Fair. Which is still a good magazine, and still has some good in-depth investigative articles, but I got sick of the suck-up articles to the rich. The articles weren't even about the famous, just the rich. Vanity Fair also subjected me to a photo of Jocelyne Wildenstein, who has taken plastic surgery to a level never seen before. There was an article on her because, well, she's rich. Now I'm mentally scarred for life. No more Vanity Fair.

The last subscription was Time Out New York. Now, I know I live in Washington, DC, but I fell in love with its writing style and music coverage. Plus many of the shows occurring in New York were coming to DC sooner or later.

I still like TONY, but after awhile everything just seems to be a repeat of last year (they have a lot of "annual" issues) and a good chunk of the magazine space was taken up by NYC listings. If I lived in New York City, I'd consider renewing the subscription, but for now I'm done with TONY.

The subscription to TONY ended in May. Time for something new. Any suggestions?

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