my subscription actually ran out in march! i'll keep my mouth shut about that, though!
Suddenly, I had a yen to do a magazine review, à la the “40 Reads” portion of last year’s 1970 Kiki Project.
Let’s go through this May issue and look at where to assign the thumbs up and where we can boo and hiss…
THE GOOD:
1) the dress on the cover:
absolutely smashing, and i am besotted. and only $12 950! (no, no typos there). by proenza schouler
2) the contributors page:
i like how fashion mag puts the spotlight on a few of this issue's contributors (NOT a novel concept, lots of mags do this) and asks a persona q - i always like the variety of answers!
3) the fact that you can actually find products locally: because this is a Canadian publication, featured items are available to us shoppers:
aren't these lipsticks cute? and available at shopper's drugmart! many locations, not too expensive
4) bright nails for spring!
luv the nail colour AND the fact that only ONE NAIL features nail art - very unique!
5) boho fashions are showing up this season – my fave style!
i'll take the dress in the upper L hand corner, thank you!
THE BAD:
1) general content and quality of writing: there’s a general B quality tone to this entire magazine.
2) the letter to the editor page – if this is the best of all the feedback they receive…well, I’d hate to see the castoffs:
not a fan of simpering platitudes or meaningless, gushing commentary
3) avant-garde styles that the average consumer cannot carry off:
- this outfit is just wrong, wrong, wrong! the kneesocks, the pleather-ish shorts, the style of the shorts…ick!
4) product placement disguised as a feature article (HUGE pet peeve!!)
in this example, we're helping out ivanka trump...
THE UGLY:
I’ll just pick on the fashions here!…
1)
these pants!! and they're $1050! by max mara
2)
that dress on solange knowles, upper L corner; that stilhetto shoe! $1300 by ruthie davis, available at brown's
3)
allll of these dresses! toronto socialites and fashionistas need to seek out new stylists!
That was fun! As you can see, I do not take fashion seriously…magazines are interesting to flip through, and that’s the extent of it.
Any fashion magazines that you read regularly? To be honest, I only glance through Fashion Magazine each month. (I subscribe to Toronto Life magazine and therefore receive a free subscription to Fashion Mag). Another day, we’ll talk about the potential pitfalls of reading women’s fashion magazines!
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Last year at about this time (actually it was in March 2010, time flies!), our long-time family doctor retired. I wrote about the challenges of finding a new doctor here.
Can you believe, just yesterday we got the formal paperwork in the mail from Dr Gillies office that makes us her official patients. Wow. You know there is always lots of red tape involved in any government-related issue, but 13 months from start to finish in getting assigned to a new doctor? That’s excessive. However, I am giving thanks that we are fortunate enough to have a family doctor, AND that her office is just a couple blocks away from where we live. Many people are not nearly so fortunate.
As coincidence may have it, Caitlin actually wrote a post yesterday about medical insurance/medical care in the States. Check it out here, if you’re interested. The comments section generated a lot of interesting talk about medical coverage, insurance issues in both the US and Canada. Often, we in Ontario take for granted that we have OHIP coverage which provides many medical services free of charge. Not everyone is so lucky.
How long have you been with your family doctor? Dr Gillies is my 5th family doctor, and first woman doctor! I’m hoping she won’t retire for many, many years!
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Daily A-Ha:
“Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.” ~ Kenichi Ohmae
Paul and I found this quote on the back of a personal trainer’s business card, yesterday at the store, and both of us were struck by the brilliance of this statement! Had to share it!
1970KikiProject Blog 
Comments
I’ve always been a little jealous/envious of other health care systems because in the states, it’s pretty much tied into having a full time job…so even if you can make a good income doing several part time jobs, you’re pretty much stuck (unless you’re married or in a domestic partnership and can go on the other person’s insurance). Losing a job here means potentially losing your health insurance..but to have to wait a year is crazy.
As for fashion, as I mentioned before, I get marie claire, but I’m going to let it run out since I find I get very annoyed at their attitude/articles.
thanks for sharing about full vs part-time jobs, zo. i remain quite ignorant as to who qualifies/gets health coverage in the US…so i appreciate that you shared some details. hope you don’t have too many more months of marie-claire to go! can you cancel early with mc? i did that with runner’s world, and i guess i am going to get $11.29 in a refund? although i JUST got the may issue today (i likely didn’t cancel early enough to avoid that)…bet my refund is less $!
MC was literally 5 dollars for two years…so i’m paid through december….I suspect my refund would be 60 cents! I thought about it a lot and decided to just take whatever good/fun I could out of it,and then not be sorry when it ends.
I love that quote about rowing harder – SO TRUE! It kind of ties into my post today about focusing your energy on things that you’re good at. I don’t ever ready fashion mags, but I’ll pick up gossip ones or People when I’m traveling. 🙂
Excited to go read Caitlin’s post about healthcare…
oh, i think you’ll like caitlin’s post, dorry, and if you have the time, read through the comments, too. a very interesting health care dialogue. i’m going to do a post in future why i don’t spend a lot of time reading fashion mags, either…i had too many thoughts to put in one post, today! thanks for sharing!
Fun post! I like to glance at fashion mags, but I don’t buy them!
On the health insurance issue…it has been an ongoing issue for me (that I’m ignoring). Since I’m employed by 7 different organizations, I have no health insurance and can’t get it for less than $385 a month. Currently, I’m hedging my bets, and am insurance-free. In the past, I had several inadequate doctors (I could go on for hours about that!)…maybe that’s a side effect of having a phd in health, but at least I could advocate for my needs…I’m not sure what everyone else does!
I LOVE that quote. I’m stealing it from you 🙂
Thanks for another fun and interesting post!
thanks for your comments, lisa! steal away! good quotes SHOULD be shared! man, that is rough – $385 for health insurance…i think i’d be gambling, too. see, i think most canadians would never even consider that someone like you (young, healthy, employed) would have to PAY for health care like that…really a big difference in the systems. there sure are some inadequate doctors out there. we have a doctor shortage up here – if you have a doctor, basically they ARE your doctor whether you like them or not, because there are just no other doctors accepting patients. fashion mags: good for passing the time in a doctor’s waiting room, right!?!
Although I really enjoy fashion, I still dont really read fashion magazines. I used to like Glamour but anymore I only read health related mags. I’m trying to be better about being more trendy though so perhaps I SHOULD invest some money into a few fashion magazines haha. I just find their trends to be hard to pull off sometimes OR I have to go out and buy a bazillion accessories to make the look work for me!
i used to read glamour a lot when i in my early 20s…then i found they got a bit more “political” in tone than i enjoyed…but the variety of topics they cover is very wide! oh, you can so easily spend a lot on an outfit, plus new acessories to pull the look together…and magazines make it all look so easy!
Those white pants are hilarious!!!
I get a few magazine subscriptions — in December and in the beginning of January you can find lots of subscriptions through Amazon.com for $5 for the whole year!
I’ve been seeing the same doctor since I was 8. My parents still go to her as well. I stuck with her because I didn’t really know who else to see? There have been a few times when I see a Nurse Practitioner instead of my doctor, but it is all at the same clinic.
wow, that’s great to have had the same doctor for such a long time! they’d be so familiar with your entire history. awesome subscription deal! i’m with you – a great price on magazines is hard to pass up!
I’m responding to your comment that your new doctor is Dr. Mary-Melinda Gillies. What do you think of what is going with her practice now?
Fashion magazines aren’t really my “thing”. I occasionally flip through them at my daughter’s or when killing time at Barnes & Noble.
I’ve been with my current doctor for around 13 years. That’s about as long as he’s been practicing. I like that he’s a sports medicine doc and that he’s still actively pursuing his own sports. He’s into rugby. Therefore he knows what it’s like to have injuries, rehab them, and keep on keepin on with exercise. Just what I want in a doc. Wouldn’t trade him.
i like that, too – just looking through a magazine at a book store to pass the time…very relaxing! i always check out each month’s “fitness” magazine at my massage therapist’s office! that’s great that you are so happy with your doctor. sounds like he’s still quite young. and to have a doc with an active interest in sports is an added bonus!