Branches Magazine

We probably don't pick up every issue of the free paper Branches but we grab one every time that we see it (usually at Whole Foods in Nora). We think we'll breeze through it like other free papers but always start it and then realize that we have to set it aside for when we have more time. There are just always many lovely essays that we want to take our time to read and ponder. Even the advertisements and events listings are fascinating. There are so many things going on in Indiana that we had no idea were happening. The current March-April issue's theme is Abundance, isn't that a timely thing to focus on?

The photo is the cover of the latest issue by Lauralee Sikorski.

This is the time of year when Mrs. WYA! gets excited about seeing the March Spring Fashion issues of magazines. After seeing this blurb about Harper's Bazaar's March issue, she was especially anxious to grab a copy because of the lovely cover with Sarah Jessica Parker on the Brooklyn Bridge. However, when we got to Borders yesterday, the cover looked like the photo we have here. We flipped through the magazine to see if that picture was on the inside but all we found was a minuscule copy of the picture on the Table of Contents page where it lists the credits of who made the clothes for the cover. Evidently, the pretty cover is only on the subscriber copies of the magazine and this cover, which doesn't even look like the cover of a professional magazine, is the newsstand cover. We thought that the magazine publishing business was struggling now; shouldn't they be appreciative that we bought a copy of the magazine at all instead of just checking it out online and give us the same pretty cover?

This is the 10th year of Saveur Magazine's Top 100 list and, this year, they celebrate the home cook. Take a look at their list to find celebrated ingredients, kitchen gadgets, pans, and stores (Jungle Jim's got a nod- we've even been there).

Oh, we miss Mad Men. Vanity Fair has some lovely photos of January Jones, the lovely and damaged Mrs. Draper.

We don't begin to understand the religious intricacies clashing over the restoration of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia but, when we read this article in Smithsonian magazine, we were really enthralled with it and hope for artistry's sake that it gets restored someday.

Regret

We almost went to see Eartha Kitt perform the last time that we were in New York but we didn't and now it's too late...

Would you rather live in Pottersville?

Do you watch "It's A Wonderful Life" every year? Here's an interesting article examining the darkness of the film and how the alternate reality Pottersville looks like more fun than Bedford Falls. Beyond that, the town might be in better economic shape today if it had kept the gambling instead of the manufacturing jobs. Hmmm, something to ponder. Mr. WYA! always says that Pottersville looks like more fun but Mrs. WYA! thinks it looks a little trashy and sad. Also, is it depressing that George never made it out of Bedford Falls or would all of that roaming have felt empty to him? Do we really know what will make us happy or do we just need to pay attention to the events of our life to realize when we feel enriched and recognize the value of life's lessons along the way?

Burger King released a body spray with "a hint of flame-broiled meat"?????

Happy birthday Scrabble! That brings back great memories for Mrs. WYA! of playing with her Mom, Grandma, and sister at her Grandma's house (and, inevitably losing).

Do you have a "third place"?

We just heard this interesting story on NPR about Gregory Rodriguez's column, The Economy and Us. He writes about America's diminishing civic engagement and the importance of that social interaction that is more likely to take place in a coffeehouse than in an organization with "a common purpose or agenda". He refers to sociologist Ray Oldenburg's term "the third place" that is neither work nor home where you can interact with people who you have no common thread with aside from the fact that you are both in that space. As the economy becomes more bleak, we need this places more but it is these hard times that means they might not be able to stay in business. We can't really think of a third place that we have and we wondered if our readers have one.

We were sorry to hear that Bettie Page died.

Leonard Pitts had a great column yesterday. It's nice to see that we weren't the only ones appalled by Best Buy's new slogan, "You, Happier".

We love old New York and we love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. If you do too, you might want to take a look at these pictures of the parade going back to 1931.

The Feedbag

When we listen to Michael Colameco's excellent Food Talk radio show, we always love it when Josh Ozersky is a guest because he completely cracks us up. Foodies might know that Josh was behind NY Magazine's Grub Street blog but he recently moved on to shape up Citysearch. He has his own blog that has some good videos and a great name: The Feedbag.

The November W Magazine has Angelina as photgraphed by Brad Pitt.

Thanks to this article from the New York Times, we've found our new favorite word of the day. Do the current economic conditions make you more price tag conscious than label conscious when you are clothes shopping? You're a "recessionista" and it's chic!

So the gentleman who helped establish CNN and just passed away had the last name of Headline? Wow.

The New York Post has an interview with Christina Hendricks (who plays the curvy and fabulous Joan Holloway on AMC's Mad Men) along with stunning photos proving that this girl looks good no matter what era she is in.

Miss getting your alt country news from the No Depression magazine that folded earlier this year? There's an online version now chock full of good stuff like reviews, archives and audio clips. We found out there that there's a new Lucinda Williams CD coming out in a couple of weeks- yahoo!

Mrs. WYA! has been a big fan of Marilyn Monroe for a very long time so it's good to see that she still commands so much media attention. People still fight over her photos and there is a great cover story about her in the October Vanity Fair.