Fact: Magazines are expensive. Solution: Don't pay for them.
No, I'm not encouraging thievery of magazines, or to give them up. Actually, we should all be reading more of them. The answer is the public library. Not nearly enough people take advantage of the magazine rack at the library—not nearly enough people take advantage of the library at all for that matter.
A while back I read a post on Russell Davies' blog on "How to be Interesting," one of the tips was to read a new magazine every week. At first this sounded a bit ridiculous to me, I mean magazines are expensive. The Life magazine I posted about, for example, $11.99, that's a bit above average, but still magazines are not cheap. Being a full-time student with just a part-time job, I
So I started doing just that. Last week I read an issue of Time which had a great article about the Dali Lama, and whether it made me more interesting or not, I definitely have knowledge now that I lacked before, and I found interest in something I would have passed over normally. Another good thing about reading magazines in the library is that they also have back issues so you can even catch-up on events or topics that you've missed.
While it's good to read a variety of different magazines (sure, I may be female but I can still expand my personal bank of information and be entertained by Esquire), news magazines are about the best for this. They have current events, culture, politics, editorials, and entertainment all in one magazine. Sure the stories may be brief and not give a full picture of the topic, but there's 20 more magazines right there to give you the other side, and maybe even a specialty magazine with an in-depth look.
Knowing a lot about a few things is always good, but also knowing at least a little about everything else is even better. I think that is how this should work, it makes you interesting by increasing your knowledge and widening the scope of topics you know about. Perhaps the best part of reading more magazines is that it increases your ability to have something to talk about with just about anyone, which means a lot less of those awkward, silent moments when you can't find any topic you and the other party (or parties) are interested in talking about.
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ReplyDeleteIn addition to the books I'm reading, I have a nice collection of magazines my brother and I have subscriptions to: Relevant, URB, Men's Health, Entertainment, and Paste (which I would definitely recommend to you). Subscriptions are pretty decent nowadays. Sometimes they end up being $1-2 per issue, so it's not that hard on the ol' pocket.
Ya know, I've never taken a liking to libraries. They're so quiet and sterile and make me fall asleep. I'd rather go to a bookstore where there's some movement, background music, and the scent of coffee. To each his own.
As far as being interesting, my latest method is to tell stories. I've been trying to take in the good and bad things that happen to me and synthesize them into stories that I can tell. And if I happen to find some good ones in magazines, I'll share them too. Everyone likes a good story.
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSubscriptions however don't let you read a new (as in different, not just new issue of same) magazine every week, that's what this is about really. Different magazines with different perspectives and subject matter.
I've read Paste a couple times, it is good!
Some libraries definitely do have that old folks home feeling, but other have a good "stay, sit, and read" atmosphere, guess it just depends on what yours is like. I do miss the scent of coffee though.
You're lucky to have interesting stories to tell, nothing that interesting happens to me very often.