Reading Magazines
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My attention span these days can be stretched to about 30 minutes. Beyond that, I have a problem, which can cause substantial difficulties when watching hour long television programs, or worse, spending 20 bucks at a 2 ½ hour movie. Maybe my medication isn’t working, or maybe the amount of time I spend on the computer has addled my brain, or maybe it is my superior intellect falling asleep as it deals with the mediocre media that surrounds me, but I get bored very easily.
One medium that solves the problem are magazines. I love reading magazines. For the most part, the stories are short and concise…maybe a page long. They deal with issues that aren’t particularly earth shattering. They usually cover a variety of subjects. The best part? You don’t really have to read them to get the gist of what they are trying to say. A quick look at the headline and the pictures w/ captions, and you’re good to go.
The theology taught in my Catholic CCD classes can’t compare to the theology I have learned from magazines, especially around Easter and Christmas. There is the historic Jesus, the hidden Jesus, the “Is God Dead?” Jesus. I have read 20 different theories about the Star of Bethlehem, and Mary’s Immaculate Conception. I have learned about the goings on inside the Vatican. And have read umpteen debates on evolution vs. intelligent design. Pick up a Time or Newsweek for a couple of years, and you could put your preacher shingle on your front door.
I can usually get a variety of editorial comments from magazines. I have read op-ed pieces from Jack Welch and his new wife, my favorite business editorial writers, to George Will, my favorite conservative political writer, to Ann Quinlan, my favorite liberal political writer and various, sundry other individuals who have enlightened me as to the error of my ways.
I have also learned some serious stuff. Business Week Magazine is chock full of information that appeals to business freaks like myself. For example, I learned that China isn’t the economic giant that the world press would have us think. The World Bank changed how it rates the economic strength of nations from straight currency evaluations to how much a country’s currency will actually buy in the country…and China is way down on the list. Will you sleep better tonight knowing that? Probably not. On the other hand, it certainly is helpful in forming opinions how China should be dealt with politically and economically.
I am somewhat disturbed that computers are replacing magazines. All publishers of news products delivered by paper are struggling. They are even being replaced in doctor offices by televisions. How can we survive waiting to see the doctor without a 2 year old National Geographic to read?
My attention span these days can be stretched to about 30 minutes. Beyond that, I have a problem, which can cause substantial difficulties when watching hour long television programs, or worse, spending 20 bucks at a 2 ½ hour movie. Maybe my medication isn’t working, or maybe the amount of time I spend on the computer has addled my brain, or maybe it is my superior intellect falling asleep as it deals with the mediocre media that surrounds me, but I get bored very easily.One medium that solves the problem are magazines. I love reading magazines. For the most part, the stories are short and concise…maybe a page long. They deal with issues that aren’t particularly earth shattering. They usually cover a variety of subjects. The best part? You don’t really have to read them to get the gist of what they are trying to say. A quick look at the headline and the pictures w/ captions, and you’re good to go.
The theology taught in my Catholic CCD classes can’t compare to the theology I have learned from magazines, especially around Easter and Christmas. There is the historic Jesus, the hidden Jesus, the “Is God Dead?” Jesus. I have read 20 different theories about the Star of Bethlehem, and Mary’s Immaculate Conception. I have learned about the goings on inside the Vatican. And have read umpteen debates on evolution vs. intelligent design. Pick up a Time or Newsweek for a couple of years, and you could put your preacher shingle on your front door.
I can usually get a variety of editorial comments from magazines. I have read op-ed pieces from Jack Welch and his new wife, my favorite business editorial writers, to George Will, my favorite conservative political writer, to Ann Quinlan, my favorite liberal political writer and various, sundry other individuals who have enlightened me as to the error of my ways.
I have also learned some serious stuff. Business Week Magazine is chock full of information that appeals to business freaks like myself. For example, I learned that China isn’t the economic giant that the world press would have us think. The World Bank changed how it rates the economic strength of nations from straight currency evaluations to how much a country’s currency will actually buy in the country…and China is way down on the list. Will you sleep better tonight knowing that? Probably not. On the other hand, it certainly is helpful in forming opinions how China should be dealt with politically and economically.
I am somewhat disturbed that computers are replacing magazines. All publishers of news products delivered by paper are struggling. They are even being replaced in doctor offices by televisions. How can we survive waiting to see the doctor without a 2 year old National Geographic to read?
One of my favorite things to do when I was in college, particularly when doing research while working on a history masters degree, was to spend time in the stacks at the university library, looking at old magazines. What a window into how we lived and popular political thought of the day.
It was fun to look at car and appliance ads from the now rapidly fading Twentieth Century, to read the editorial commentary about World War II, and to see how the news was reported. It was fascinating to read Look and Life Magazines immediately before and after the Kennedy assassination. We could see the dark, dried blood on Jackie Kennedy’s pink suit as she exited the plane carrying her dead husband back to Washington. It brought the magnitude of what happened to life, much more than our black and white televisions. Magazines provided a depth of coverage that today’s “drive by media,” to quote a Rush Limbaugh phrase, just doesn’t give us in 30 second video bites, conservative or liberal.
We read that we live in the information age. Any information we need is just a key stroke away. But something can be said for the solitude and quiet time looking at pictures and actually holding the medium that delivered the message for years and years. Looking at old magazines, you are actually holding the history in your hand, not looking at a replica on a screen. There is no equivalent today, and we will be the poorer for it.
Oh ya!…one last thing…when you go into the bathroom to take care of business, I don’t care how “wi-fi” your house may be, it is a little awkward to bring your laptop. That alone is enough for me to hope that magazines are with us for a long, long time.
Happy reading.
It was fun to look at car and appliance ads from the now rapidly fading Twentieth Century, to read the editorial commentary about World War II, and to see how the news was reported. It was fascinating to read Look and Life Magazines immediately before and after the Kennedy assassination. We could see the dark, dried blood on Jackie Kennedy’s pink suit as she exited the plane carrying her dead husband back to Washington. It brought the magnitude of what happened to life, much more than our black and white televisions. Magazines provided a depth of coverage that today’s “drive by media,” to quote a Rush Limbaugh phrase, just doesn’t give us in 30 second video bites, conservative or liberal.
We read that we live in the information age. Any information we need is just a key stroke away. But something can be said for the solitude and quiet time looking at pictures and actually holding the medium that delivered the message for years and years. Looking at old magazines, you are actually holding the history in your hand, not looking at a replica on a screen. There is no equivalent today, and we will be the poorer for it.
Oh ya!…one last thing…when you go into the bathroom to take care of business, I don’t care how “wi-fi” your house may be, it is a little awkward to bring your laptop. That alone is enough for me to hope that magazines are with us for a long, long time.
Happy reading.
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