the alarmingly tall stack of newspapers and glossies [dailies and weeklies] slowly taking over our dining area would give a hint that i'm hopelessly addicted to periodicals. perhaps my habit is becoming excessive, a blackhole that steals away precious time that would otherwise be devoted to more worthwhile forays into russian literature or british poetry, but i think it's always been this way. it's in the genes, or at least in the formative childhood. back when we used to get the washington post daily, my mom would spend hours in the living room, tea, clock, and pen by her side, consuming each section one by one. i guess she realized this was a serious time drainage, so we settled for the [affectionately named] frederick fishwrap everyday and the washpost on sundays. now she just forwards me pertinent links from nytimes online with regularity. the influx of info surges, writhes.

so, let's see. there's the phoenix, the weekly dig, the improper bostonian, boston magazine, stuff@night, MIT's the tech, techtalk, the MIT arts bulletin, and then add on my roommate's back issues of newsweek and USnews. goodness knows i would never leave my reading room if i still had my subscriptions to ID and wired. also toss in the boston globe, the ny times, and the sunday magazines. big fan of slate, too.

[the medium is the message.]

a friend of mine asked if i read any blogs. embarrassed, i said no, but i think that it's more a fear that if i did get into it, my habit would be neverendingly fed. you open the floodgates, there would be no turning back. maybe i should start slowly, get my fix, and exert some discipline. but with all that there is to say, i would like to have a listen in.