After much consideration and internal debate, I have made an important decision. Hold on to your hats, now:
This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I have always read each New Yorker, cover to cover, before moving on to the next one. Every now and then I might fall behind for a few weeks, but I always caught up. For reasons I can no longer recall, I lost most of last winter and spring, and the catching up has been slow-going. What's happening now is that the news is so old that I no longer even care about it—a recap of Obama and Clinton's first televised primary debate? Puh-leeze. I still enjoy the fiction, feature stories about medicine or the arts, cartoons, humor pieces, profiles, and so on, so I will pick up one of those old issues now and again when I have a few minutes. But today I am going to read this, the January 26, 2009 issue that I've been gazing at so longingly all week:
And yes, it was the inauguration and first few days of Obama's presidency (ooh, I still can't get enough of hearing that phrase!) that pushed this decision. I want to read all I can about what President Obama (ooh again!) is doing while he's doing it.
And, not for nothing, but I can't tell you how many times I came up with a great caption for the weekly back-page cartoon about 6 months too late to enter the contest!
I think we can all breathe a huge collective sigh of relief now!
Posted by: Elena | January 25, 2009 at 01:22 PM
You are so brave. Obama would be proud.
Posted by: Sara | January 26, 2009 at 08:22 AM
I do this with New York Times magazines. Sometimes I'm 2 years late, but the only ones that really get stale are the political issues, which I might read at the time if they seem really compelling--like last weekend with "Obama's People." We take the magazines to our cabin and everyone reads them there (no screens, you see) something that wouldn't happen at home!
Posted by: liz | January 26, 2009 at 09:55 AM
This figures ... I adapted the "Karen Approach" and consequently have a knee-high pile of 'em next to my bed, so now you change course! I will have to revisit this myself now.
Posted by: Susan | January 26, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Your decision shows growth. I am proud of you.
Posted by: steve | January 26, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Omigod. Definitely a good move. I can't subscribe, myself, because I can't get rid of them until I've read every word, or at least every word I want to read, but I see no reason to have only stale political news. Read 'em out of order, and enjoy!
Posted by: Wendy | January 26, 2009 at 05:16 PM
Yeah! Karen! Great job surpassing this obstacle. I hate old news. If I am bored at the gym I CANNOT read a December Good Housekeeping magazine filled with holiday-related stories. So depressing when it's January or February (or any month really except Nov. & Dec.)
Posted by: Liz | January 26, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Change gonna come!
Posted by: Nancy | January 26, 2009 at 07:51 PM