in the papers...

Today's New York Times has an article about Si Newhouse, Conde Nast's chairman. It's refresing (and I have to admit, encouraging) that the company's head is considered shy, "strikingly ill at ease in conversation" and not at all imposing. It's good to hear that you don't have to be aggressive and an over-the-top character to be on top. (Let's just not dwell on the fact that he inherited the company from his father, ok?)

Given the shitty economy, the Conde's luxury magazines have not suffered and ad sales continue to rise. When you can afford to spend $400 on a clutch or a shirt, surely you can afford to spend $4 for a magazine. But when you're looking for 25 cent coupons or "How to Make Meals Out of Monday's Leftovers" (a totally made up story, but you get what I'm trying to say), you're unlikely to keep spending $2 on a magazine that regurgitates the same tips every week or so. (RIP Quick and Simple.) So there, just in case you were wondering why the hell a magazine with stories like "Clothes, Clothes and More Clothes!" and "Look How Pretty This Celebrity Is!" can survive over a magazine with like, information and such.

Ah, Conde's glossy magazines really are pretty to look at though.

Does anyone write in a journal anymore?

It's hard to believe that something that used to be so common is now so foreign: writing. With a pen, thoughts into words, flowing, on paper.

The last time I wrote on paper was when I was in Spain, living in a dorm with only one working computer on the other side of the building. I found myself writing down thoughts a couple of times on nights that I just couldn't sleep yet. Or when I had no one to talk to about intimate things that I just couldn't share with people I had just met.

That was two years ago. And before that? I can't remember.

I miss it now, though. Because there are some things too private to write on a blog. And there are some things too real to type on a machine.

seeing my name never felt so good

The website's main panels this week link to a story and a slideshow package bonanza by moi. It's like the equivalent of getting the front page or cover story. I love it! Aaand my first big piece for the site is up. Yay! I guess this is like when a little kid is in school and she brings home an big, red A+ on a test or project (but actually, I never beamed over my grades in school. I'm Asian. Getting an A+ is expected to be like breathing). Except instead, it's tiny italicized gray font. But it's my name and my words, so yay! I prefer to keep this blog separate from my work, so if you want to read, just ask, or you know, do some investigating.

And uh duh, happy July! I don't know where the first half of 2008 went, because when I got to work this morning, it took at least 15 minutes for me to look at the calendar and think "Holy shit, it's July!!"