My First Blog Poetry: This morning, when I saw the news item about the launch of a new magazine called Yoga Journal’s Balanced Living, I thought the name sounded familiar so I did a search of the Amazon.com magazine store for magazine titles with the word “Living” in them. The result was overwhelming so I waited until tonight to cut and paste them into a list. In moving the titles around to get them into some meaningful or amusing order, I discovered the most entertaining way unintentionally results in what appears to be the first poetry I’ve written in a couple of decades. So I gave it a name:

Magazine Living
By Rex Hammock

Martha Stewart’s Living
Country Living
Cottage Living
Ranch & Rural Living
2nd Home Living
Coastal Living
Shore Living
East Coast Living
Desert Living
Mountain Living
Smokey Mountain Living
Northern Arizona Mountain Living

Southern Living
Midwest Living
Western Living
West Suburban Living
Alabama Living
Kentucky Living
Michigan Living
Montana Living
New Jersey Savvy Living
New York Living
Vermont Living
Virginia Living
Living in South Carolina
Wyoming Homes and Living
Austin Home and Living
Montgomery Living
Evansville Living
Fort Mitchell Living
Schuylkill Living
Lake Martin Living
Berks County Living
Bucks County Town & Country Living
Hunterdon Country Town & Country Living

Casual Living
Budget Living
Frugal & Fashionable Living
Debt Free & Prosperous Living
Better Living
Pinnacle Living

Stressfree Living
Pleasant Living
Balanced Living
Simple Living
Conscious Living
Creative Living
Active Living
Independent Living
Natural Family Living
Tipi Living
Heritage Living
New Living
Mature Living
One 2 One Living
Community Living
International Living

Low Carb Living
Delicious Living
Italian Cooking & Living
Wine Country Living
Wine Grass Living
Pool & Spa Living
Aquatic Living Resources
Cabin Living
Log Home Living
Backyard Living
Outdoor Design & Living
Gardens & Outdoor Living
Rooms & Living
Homes and Living
Feng Shui for Modern Living

Living Artist
Living Blues
Living Music
Living Solo
Living Without
Living Our Losses
Living Now
Living Fit
Living Faith
Living Spirit
Living Positive
Living Ethics
Living Gently
Living Well

Living With Your Plane
Living Space
Living Safety
Living Church
Living Word
Living Faith
Living With Christ
Living Buddhism
Living and Loving
Living at Home
Living City
Living World
Living Etc.

Pretty in Pink? An official member of the “seven readers of the rexblog” club, Amy Brayfield, e-mailed me last week about an Atlanta-based vaporzine called Pink slated for launch in 2005. Pink is intended for “top-level career women.” Cynthia Goode, former editor of Atlanta Woman, is the editor. I wonder if Cynthia knows about the former female boxing champion in Toronto with similar plans? Something about this reminds me of the 1992 World Series.

Giant mistake? I guess the Giant magazine people didn’t hear about the giant bubble busting taking place in the “lad space.”

(Thanks to the anonymous vaporzine scout.)

Link begging: Okay. I’m going to do something pathetic. I’ve been doing this blog-thing for three years, but have only once or twice asked someone to “link to me, please” or “please add me to your blogroll.” However, the latest hiccup at Technorati has caused my number of “sources” to drop. This wouldn’t be so bad were it not that the former URL of this weblog still has twice the number of linked-from sources as the current URL, rexblog.com. So, do me a favor if you have a weblog. Please find even a lame reason to link to the rexblog. I know. I can never again claim that I don’t look at such stats.

Update: A big thanks to Hugh Roper for his gratuitous link. A gratuitous link is better than a pity link, but I’ll take those also.

rexblog bumper music:Hot Links (Star Pimp)

Dances with wolves: Mediapost.com reports that a vaporzine called Tango, will launch on February 1, 2005.Quote:

(Tango) will be dedicated to advising women on the complexities of modern relationships. Because women are marrying later and are far more career-driven, relationships have gained importance–yet are tougher to manage than ever, says Miller. “Relationships have changed dramatically in the past 30 years,” she says. Women have much more economic independence. They can afford to be alone. They have that much more career responsibility, and professional stress.” Tango will explore all the cultural implications of modern dating trends. “The divorce rate is still hovering around 50 percent,” says Miller. “Relationships are also less and less conventional, with more cross-cultural and cross-religious [couples forming].”

(via Adrants)

rexblog bumper music:
It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye)

Psycho update: The Alwayson-network Tony Perkins explains that his new magazine won’t be a Red Herring Redux, which is good, because another magazine is going to be the Redux Herring. And stop with the “first magazine to spin off from a blog” line unless you want to hear one day “the first magazine to flop to not survive an economic downturn that was spun off from a blog” line.

rexblog bumper music:
Dueling Banjos (Smokey River Boys)

Brand stretching: Yoga Journal announced it will test launch Yoga Journal’s Balanced Living. It will debut on newsstands October 5, 2004, and remain on sale until the end of this year. (Thanks to Eddie Rider)

(rexblog obscure magazine trivia sidenote: Phillip Moffitt, one of the owners of Yoga Journal, and a member of its “advisory board,” is someone who I have never met, but who, from afar, I’ve admired for his early success and how he then adopted a different set of principles by which to live the rest of his life. Again, I don’t know Phillip Moffitt and he may not be in reality the person I’ve imagined him to be, but his columns 20 years ago in Esquire were of great influence to me personally. I have met many, many people in the magazine industry since who have said that Moffitt played a pivotal role in their careers. (His name comes up when I say I’m from Tennessee.) I haven’t read his Yoga Journal columns…but now that I’ve discovered them, I may learn something new — which could pretty much be anything I may learn about yoga.)

rexblog bumper music:
Embrace the Sun God (Kevin Kendle)

What a disappointment: When I saw a headline that started, “Travel + Leisure Magazine Celebrates Two MacNair Travel & Cruises…,” well, you can imagine the great post-season trip I was envisioning.

Drink magazines: The MPA announces a big advertising campaign to promote magazines.