Just published: my story in City Weekend Parents & Kids

I recently wrote an article for the Shanghai magazine City Weekend Parents & Kids about being pregnant in Shanghai. When I first found out I was expecting in mid-2011, I couldn't really find an article like this in any of the parenting magazines or websites, so I pitched this first-person story idea to the editor.

Here is part one. The second part (out in a few months) will detail my experiences as a new mother in Shanghai. Happy reading!

Have I lost my love for magazines?

I have been obsessed with magazines my entire life. As a child, I always had my head burrowed in a book or newspaper (there is ample photographic evidence!). But I reserved a special love for magazines. If we visited relatives' houses and I disappeared for any length of time, you'd be sure to find me in a quiet corner with a stack of Woman's Day and New Idea. Total junkie behaviour. I used to offer to "help" my mum do the weekly grocery shopping at Coles and then stand at the checkout and flick through magazines like a deranged speed reader. Her rage for my cheap and cheeky behaviour was palpable! But she fell for my "help" excuse every time. Duh!

When I started a part-time job at age 13, I saved my money for two things: magazines and music. I had a subscription to Rolling Stone, Juice, Dolly, then Cosmo. But my favourite was Who Weekly. I'd walk around to the corner store faithfully every Friday and buy my copy and inhale it like a drug. Celebrities, fashion, gossip. Heaven! And I never threw them out. Ever. But at 18, when I moved out of home, I had to throw my collection out. I'm still not sure I'm over it.

So last week, when my husband and I had a big clean-out of our study to make way for the nursery, the first thing I tackled were the seven or so boxes of magazines sitting like the Tower of Pisa in the corner of the room. Still sitting in removal boxes and unopened. They weighed a tonne. I had back issues of Vanity Fair, GQ, Elle, Marie Claire, Real Living, Vogue, Vogue Living, Esquire, Elle Decor, Belle, In Style, Travel + Leisure, Gourmet Traveller, Wallpaper and Monocle. You name it. I had it. Shockingly, I have moved internationally twice in the last three years, so some of these magazines have lived in Sydney, Singapore and now Shanghai. And most of them have never been opened again since I first read them.

Why oh why do I hoard these 100-page paperweights?  I'm not usually a hoarder. But for some reason, magazines are my achilles heel. I can't throw them out. Ever.

Until now.

This time, I had no problem. I flicked through each and every magazine perusing for articles or recipes or decor ideas that I'd like to tear out and keep. Just in case. But there was nary a pile of clippings to be seen at the end. What has happened to me?! Is my obsession over? Perhaps it is.

This is a shocking turn of events. I have put it down to a number of factors:

1. I have now worked in the magazine industry. I know what goes on behind the curtain.

2. Gossip is so much faster to access on the internet. Why buy Who, People or New Idea when I can read it all on the net FOR FREE on blogs and e-mags?

3. Magazines are verging on inaccessible in China. And they're insanely expensive.

From buying around ten magazines per month, I have now whittled myself down to about two magazines. Two?!!!  Am I insane? How in God's name have I reduced my reading to Vanity Fair and Hello magazine (no judgement: Hello is only CNY30 at my local pirated DVD shop and I buy it a month or two after its publication date. So frugal and retro!).

Looking at it positively: I'm now being budget-conscious, time-efficient and judicious. Looking at it negatively: I've lost my magazine mojo. But never fear: the one time I become a magazine obsessive again is when I fly. Show me an airport newsagent and a plane and I'll show you an empty wallet and a stack of glossy tomes.

But I have reformed: instead of dragging these magazines back from my holiday locale to sit in my apartment unopened again for eternity I am going to do a shocking thing. Leave them behind. Or, shock horror, throw them in the hotel bin. My 13-year-old self would be horrified! But my 34-year-old self feels evolved and very, very free.

On that note, I'm off to bed with my "new" old copy of Hello. You'll find it in the bin in the morning. Victory!

Smile magazine - a Shanghai contribution

I recently contributed to the November cover story of Smile magazine, the inflight magazine for Cebu Pacific based in Manila. My former colleague and friend Noelle de Jesus asked me to provide some shopping tips for Shanghai. Here's the result (you can open the story in a new tab for a larger version):

2011 Review: Best and Worst Magazine Covers

While I have not seen every single magazine at newsstands, I do try to keep up to date with as many covers as I can by browsing online. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are my picks for best and worst this past year. I judge by concept, brand and audience synergy, styling, coverlines, creativity and overall impact. For me, the worst covers have terrible styling and picture selection and have missed the mark considerably in terms of their audience/brand suitability.

BEST MAGAZINE COVERS 2011

 

WORST MAGAZINE COVERS 2011

Lady Gaga makes the cover of Vanity Fair again.

It's pretty impressive that Lady Gaga has made the cover of Vanity Fair again. Her last cover was just over a year ago in September 2010. She must really sell magazines.

Meryl Streep lands a Vogue cover. Aged 62. Alright!

Congrats to American Vogue for putting Meryl Streep on the cover and giving us a rest from the twenty-something starlets. Well played Anna Wintour.

Kate Moss does Ziggy Stardust

Say what you want about Kate Moss' messy personal life, but you can't really argue about her ability to model - and sell magazines. I'm loving this French Vogue cover inspired by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character. I particularly love how clean this cover is. No distracting coverlines, just a striking concept and image.

The sexiest man alive? He's wearing a cardigan!!

I'm liking the choice of Bradley Cooper as People's "Sexiest Man Alive". But I'm not loving their choice of cover image. He doesn't look sexy at all. Bad angle, bad outfit. Daggy grey cardigan.

Vogue's dragon tattoo cover

David Fincher's version of "The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo" is on its way to cinemas. As part of the pre-promotion, Rooney Mara - who plays the title character - has scored the cover of Vogue.  I'm liking it.

The feature is worth a read too and the other pics are just as striking. See it here.

The New Yorker has done it again.

A very timely magazine cover for the visionary Steve Jobs.

Adele makes the cover of Vogue. British Vogue. But it's still Vogue.

I love Adele.  She's one of the hottest artists going at the moment with a bestselling album and sold-out concert tours. I'm loving that British Vogue have put her on their October cover.  It's something I don't think Anna Wintour would do with American Vogue. Even though she's a Brit, she seems to hate anyone over a size zero and Adele is far from that. But her face is gorgeous, she's talented and incredibly popular. Good ingredients for an appealing magazine cover methinks.

Vanity Fair loves Angelina Jolie

Angelina has made Vanity Fair's cover at least four times in recent memory. She's obviously a big seller, so I can see why she would be a repeat cover girl. And I do love that each cover is styled in a considerably different way.

I'm not sure what I think of this new one. It's striking, that's for sure but Angelina's beautiful enough without the need to resort to such heavy-handed photoshopping. Her skin tone is so airbrushed that she looks like a wax model.

Tasteless magazine cover of the year

This Newsweek cover is so disturbing on a number of levels.

Firstly, it's a horribly designed cover, full of bad Photoshop. And what is that random guy doing walking behind them? Surely it would have more impact if he'd been edited out?

Secondly, I'd expect this from People magazine or US Weekly, but not Newsweek.

Thirdly, it's in poor taste. How would Tina Brown know what Diana would be thinking, wearing and doing now? Let her rest in peace. This is Kate's moment. Not Diana's.

Well done Vogue

I must confess that I am not a Harry Potter fan and don't know all that much about Emma Watson. But I do like this cover; it's one of Vogue's best. The styling is impeccable and her make-up is fantastic. And I love that silver wall.

Vanity Fair put Will and Kate on the cover

This is a coup for Vanity Fair: securing rights to a never-before-seen pic of Will and Kate taken by Mario Testino.  I wonder if the happy couple had sign-off rights before it went to print?

When two loves collide...

When two loves collide: reality TV and magazines.

And an interesting article here.

It's a smart move from Forbes to put Bethenny Frankel, an incredibly popular reality TV star on the cover. Love her or hate her, she's parlayed her reality TV appearances into a multi-million dollar fortune.

Yes, I am so serious about my food, I made this face for a magazine cover

Ooh this is a bad cover.  I just had to share. Gwyneth looks possessed.  This cannot have been the best shot of the day.  How did they get her publicist to clear this?

And the Daily Mail is having another go at her today. Read it here. They use her as a punching bag constantly. But she gives such them such good material to work with!!  Read her insanely out of touch "shopping tips" here.  Oh she just makes it too easy.

And so it begins....

We all know Kate will be the go-to covergirl for the next 50 years. And already the magazines covers are coming. But boy oh boy, this one's a shocker.  How do magazine editors sleep at night after publishing this type of rubbish?

And another one....

Again with the weird Vogue covers!  While Reese Witherspoon is not a classic beauty, she is attractive. So, why would they choose this shot? All I see is bad photoshopping, dodgy eyes and weird lips. Huh?!

See, she looks lovely in the fashion spread.

When simplicity is key

Wow, what an amazing magazine cover.

No coverlines, no histrionics.  Just a hauntingly beautiful image.  Striking and oh so smart.

A perfect example of art and news colliding in an harmonious and thoughtful way.

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