Question and Response

How many magazines is to many? How do you know which ones to keep and which ones to toss? Slowly, (emphasis on the slow part) I have started packing up clothes and frivolous items that I either do not want to take with me to New York or stuff I should just donate to Good Will. In an effort to make the moving process smoother in May, I am asking myself a serious question --- “Can I take all my magazines with me to New York?”

Don't laugh. I know if my dad is reading this, he has already rolled his eyes and probably cannot believe I am even asking this question, but seriously, I have magazines that I have read forever that I have marked and tabbed with post-its, and there are the essential years of Esquire, GQ, Domino (sadly, the complete collection), and stacks upon stacks of fashion, health, alt weeklies, crucial inspiration magazines, niche magazines that just make me smile (i.e. Scrapbook etc.), and countless news and entertainment magazines. 

And people say the industry is going to die? Not if my weekly financial allotment depends on it! You would think I subscribe to numerous magazines but honestly, I only subscribe to five. The main reason being that in the past four years, I have had nine addresses -- across the country. I would rather pick up the newest copy of Beautiful/Decay or Frieze the day it hits news stands than wait impatiently to see if they have received my forwarding address. 

As if this is the biggest decision of my life right now, which honestly, it's on the bottom of the totem pole in reality, I started asking myself this question on Friday night while I was working on end of the semester projects, portfolio work, and my Web site. I was reorganizing sections of my room and I started to tackle my shoddy bookcase. The pure weight of books have broken two of the shelves so they all lie on top of each other --- organized but looks dreadfully messy. So, instead of writing a paper that night I ventured to Staples. I went to get new tape for my label maker but since I was there, what could be the harm in looking around? 

Well, a few Jackson's later and I have a whole new way to store a quarter of my magazine collection --- and it all coordinates. I picked up a few matching magazine holders while I was wondering around Staples and then had a field day putting everything together and having my bookshelf look somewhat less like a tornado hit it. 

Check out these cool magazine holders I found:

So back to my original question, which magazines are crucial in the packing dilemma and which ones, *hold your breath, are worth parting with? 

In reality if I were moving anywhere I wouldn’t ask twice about which mags to toss and which to take, but considering the fact that I will most likely be living in a shoebox of an apartment, this subject becomes excruciatingly difficult. If you have any suggestions, please tell.