My Name is Amy and I am a Magazine-o-holic...

How many magazine subscriptions do I have? Hmmmm....I am not positive and I get confused when I try to list them verbally. So, I am going to come clean here with you oh-so-non-judgmental people (Hannah and Brian V. excepted, of course...). I like magazines for a few reasons...they are pretty and colorful and have lots of pictures. You can READ them and I like that, 'cuz reading is fun and good for your brain. I like it that you pay your subscription and then they just COME TO YOUR HOUSE like a present every week or month...like a ray of literary sunshine when I get home from work and check the mail!There are so many kinds of magazines...serious, newsy, fun, trashy, gossipy, fashiony, home improvementy, family-y etc....

Ok, here goes, I think I can name all the ones I currently get...in no particular order:

1. Soap Opera Digest (weekly)...I have read it for years. It offers recaps and spoilers so it kept me afloat in soap news even when I wasn't watching RELIGIOUSLY. And I can keep up with All My Children and One Life to Live now and only watch them sometimes. Of course, General Hospital is a constant...mobsters and inept cops and hospitals on fire are always FUN!

2. People (weekly)...I wanted People for years but it is so expensive. Finally last year I broke down and ordered it. It is great...VERY pretty pictures. And it has the air of "almost respectable" in terms of entertainment mags. They get all the good interviews and reveals of long-awaited celeb offspring.

3. Entertainment Weekly (weekly, duh!) I love this magazine. It has movies, tv, books and music. Plus, Diablo Cody and Stephen King write columns for it and they are very funny.

4. TV Guide (weekly)...This magazine SUCKS and I am waiting for it to run out in a year or so. Haven't looked at it in a year except when LOST or Dancing With the Stars is on the cover. It doesn't even give the shows for all time slots...it ends at midnight or something. WTF?? Plus, it is superfluous now that you can check cable or the ever-magical dvr listings.

5. In Style (monthly)...Pretty pictures but not enough to actually read. I like looking at the fashion stuff and some of it actually is from H&M or GAP or places that normal people can afford. They give too much space to Heidi Klum though, and I DO NOT LIKE HER or her fawning, annoying husband Seal. (And why is that his name anyway? Listen, I named my kid a noun too...but not an ANIMAL...)

6. Glamour (monthly)...Good articles and fashion. And you can't beat "Glamour Do's and Don'ts" for a laugh each month. Although sometimes the cover blurbs need to be covered up from prying eyes, IYKWIM. I love a sex article as much as the next person but I shouldn't have to explain to a 10 year old that, "How to leave him panting every night!" has nothing to do with the family dog.

7. Women's Health (monthly)...If you don't get this magazine you may want to check it out! It has good tips and really good articles. The articles are about health (duh!), relationships, careers and nutrition usually. I like this periodical (good library word, Amy!) a lot. I have gotten some good exercises from it and quite a few laughs at how they discuss some issues.

8. The Week (you guess, lol!)...This magazine ROCKS! My friend Jeanne started getting it a while back and told me about it. It gives you brief synopses of everything each week. It goes through national news and international news. It also reviews movies, books and new music and gives a preview of stuff to not miss that week on tv. It is not blatantly liberal or conservative...my dad doesn't mind The Week all and we differ quite a bit politically ;-). If you read this magazine you will be up on current events and you can seem pretty smart at business-y parties!

9. Real Simple (monthly)...Now listen, in case you don't get this yet, I am not very domestic (shut up). But I love this magazine! If I cooked, I'd try all the recipes....if I decoupaged I'd have frames and jewelry boxes up the wazoo! This magazine is chock full of great ideas and tips! See how excited I get and I don't even use any of the ideas?? Oh, and pretty pictures. I always think I will send in one of the "Question of the Month" ideas and win another year of the magazine or something...but I never get around to it. I guess I am busy reading other magazines, lol...

10. Newsweek (weekly)...Keeps me up on current affairs, er, events. Sometimes the real news is boring though and I just read the back page and the cartoons.

11. TIME (weekly)...See Newsweek above. Same goes.

12. Self (monthly)...Kind of a cross between Women's Health and Glamour. I have gotten some good work out tips here and they have decent celebs in it each month. There is humor in it too...doesn't take things too seriously like Glamour or In Style does sometimes.

13. Lucky (monthly)...And yes, I put that at number 13 on purpose, lol. I'm on the fence with this one. I like the fashion stuff but everytime I like something it costs like $495. There are not that many affordable things in this magazine. I was planning on letting it run out but apparently I am on some perpetual, auto renewal program.

14. The Atlantic (monthly, I think)...My dad got me this subscription for Hanukkah. I have not read an issue yet. It looks serious and boring although he really thinks I will like it so I don't have the heart to tell him I haven't read it yet. Anyone out there read this? Is it all Republican-y??

15. Family Fun (monthly)...I have no idea how or when I signed up for this. The major premise of this magazine seems to be thematic cupcake recipes and "rainy day" projects that require lots of egg cartons, googly eyes and glue gun supplies. Neither one is my forte...

16. The Deerfield Review (weekly)...Community news etc...They seem to have backed off the mostly Lincolnshire bent of a few years ago and since that psycho at DHS quit her constant barrage of homophobic, right wing letters has stopped, so things are better with the Review, IMHO. Also, the sports section is good...they always print the travel soccer stuff I send them for AJ's team.

I think that is all...Although chances are good that I forgot one or two magazines, lol. What is your favorite magazine? And does anyone get more mags than I do? Yes, that is a challenge!!