I’m going to let the subscription of another women’s magazine expire when it comes due. The repetitious information I can live without — just as I can live without those little subscription cards that keep falling from the pages or the constant renewal reminders stuffed into my mailbox months in advance. To be honest, I have enough “one-pot” recipes to take me into the next century and I’ve organized my closest and shelves many times over. I know how to eliminate an ink stain from a garment by soaking it in milk, and I don’t want to read another article on breast cancer unless it’s to announce a cure. So I’m pocketing my savings to buy a new lipstick.
I’m not saying the information in these magazines is worthless. Sometimes, I discover an exotic ailment I can worry about or learn a new rule of etiquette. Recently I read that, in some cases, an emailed “thank you” is as appropriate as a handwritten one. But the weight loss articles are pretty much the same and there are only so many hairstyles into which I can twist my curly locks. It’s time for me to move on. I want reading for my brain as well as my closet.
Taking my leave of these publications causes me a certain trepidation. I’m bound to miss a good idea or two. I came across one the other day: how to keep buttons from falling off my jackets. Carolyn Forte, Home Care Director for Good Housekeeping offers this clever suggestion:
Button hanging by a thread? Avoid this by coating a button’s center with a drop of clear nail polish. Once dry, it will prevent the stitches from fraying over time. (“Double Duty,” by Carolyn Forte, Good Housekeeping, 3/13 pg. 153)
Other uses she suggests for nail polish include a drop to keep eyeglass screws in place and to keep the ends of shoelaces from unraveling.
Over the years, these magazines have trained me well. But I’ve grown too old and too experienced to be surprised by the contents any more. I need a new adventure. To be honest, I saw a glossy publication at the grocery store the other day on motorbikes.
(Courtesy of hearstmags.com)
