Teaspoon Tuesday - My Life in Magazines

I'm deviating from Deirdre's suggestion just a little bit and borrowing an idea from one of the magazine's I read. Every month they feature a celebrity column titled "My Life in_________", for instance, "My Life in Hairstyles," or My Life in Jewelry," and once it was "My Life in Lipstick" for pete's sake! So, here's a little history of "My Life in Magazines".

1. Late 60's-Early 70's: An avid reader of Teen Beat and 16, to catch up on all the latest news about the mysterious death of Paul McCartney or cut out pictures of Mickey Dolenz (my favorite Monkee). I also read 17 for fashion tips, although fashion was not a big issue in those days, since I dressed in some version of the school uniform every day - blue plaid skirt, royal blue blazer, and saddle shoes!
2. Late 70's-Early 80's: As I moved through high school, I lost interest in the celebrity thing, and started reading Madmoiselle and Glamour. Madmoiselle was my favorite, especially after I became a Sylvia Plath groupie and read about her famous internship there;
3. Late 80's-Early 90's: My domestic goddess days had me reading all the women's mags - Redbook, McCalls, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping. That's right, just me on the couch with the bon bons, magazines, and soap operas (NOT!);
4. As the century changed, so did my reading tastes. I began to realize that I no longer fit the target demographic for those women's magazines - I had outgrown the young wife and mother role. I gradually let all the subscriptions run out, and for a while, there were no magazines at all in my life. But then, the publishing houses got smart, and realized there were a bunch of women out there heading into midlife with a totally different focus. I came across a copy of More, which focuses entirely on the needs and interests of women over age 40. At first, I resisted classifying myself in the "over-40" group. But before long, cruel reality set in - along with grey hairs, wrinkle, bulges in odd places, and hot flashes - and I was desperate for advice of getting rid of all the above! So, the subscription card went into the mail;
5. And, in a curious display of symmetry hearkening back to my days of Teen Beat and 16, I allow myself the guilty pleasure of reading People on flights to Florida.

Back in the days when I was reading lots of magazines, I often did as Deidre suggested - I passed them along to my mom, who in turn, passed them along to her neighbors. In the years my grandmother spent in a nursing home, I took great piles of them there, for visitors and staff to enjoy.