So I was looking for new reading material at the bookstore. I need this reading material for Zosie’s playroom and bedroom, for when she often needs/wants attention or I need to put it down in a hurry. So I went for magazines. I was looking at the parenting magazines, which all looked the same and had insipid crap on the covers. Then I saw Violet and I thought, “Is this in the right place?” Sure enough, it said, “Modern Family Living” below the title. I flipped through quickly. Appealing ads, but not too many. Interesting photography. I’ll take a chance and just take it home without reading any of it…
Holy shit!
It’s taken me days to get through this issue of Violet. It’s quarterly and I don’t know if I can wait for the next issue. I learned my lesson with BUST — I’m subscribing right away. In fact, it reminds me quite a lot of BUST in terms of content. But let me tell you what this parenting and family magazine contains.
First off, this magazine was aimed equally at fathers and mothers. There’s an article devoted to the “sympathy belly” fathers get (and how to trim it). There’s an article on Donovan Leitch and Kirsty Hume raising their daughter in Woodstock, NY (complete with her dream of starting an organic community garden), a piece on William Wegman and his feelings about becoming a dad in his 50s, an article on Ricky Watters and how the death of his infant son Tigero continues to inspire him and helped him learn about himself (and as a result he quit playing pro ball). There was also a series of e-mails and letter sent from ABC’s Brian Rooney home form Iraq to his daughters. That’s just a few of the features — and it was a special “fathers” issue but from the whole of the content, I think the focus is equally aimed at fathers and mothers year-round.
It included photo spreads of same-sex couples and non-traditional families (like two brothers and their kids instead of mom/dad/offspring). Articles and essays were written in terms that were inclusive to all kinds of families. There’s a fashion spread featuring a Vegas showgirl and her daughter. I don’t usually care about fashion spreads but this one was fun and I really dig the clothes (ranging from vintage shoes to Stella McCartney jeans). There’s also a kids-only fashion spread with another wide range of clothes (and cute kids in every shade with adorable names to boot). Also in fashion, there was an interview with a designer complete with non-fashion-centric photos. More like photos from vacation. Refreshing.
In terms of art, there was a brief piece on Pez dispenser obsession, a pictorial on plastic indoor/outdoor furniture and papier mache Halloween ideas. In back, there were recipes for all kinds of pumpkin stuff like how to roast pumpkin seeds and how to make pumpkin pancakes. There’s also a brief media section (books & DVDs).
There was a short story by Jill Soloway. There were also a couple of very entertaining CNF essays that I enjoyed, including one about an American girl living in Germany in what I believe was the 1970s. Short version: her dad bought a used “Sex machine” van and they decided to go to Paris for spring break and the van broke down just inside the French border on the way home and they had to auction off stuff to pay for the tow and… well it’s just funny and well-told. There was another one about a woman who had an “extra dad” growing up: a close friend of the family who did dad stuff with her. It was very moving; I thought about it for a couple days after.
The relationship column is written by Joe Perry and his wife. Yes, that Joe Perry. The sex column is written by Juli Ashton. Yes, that Juli Ashton.
In terms of health, there were fascinating pieces about Munchhausen Syndrome (part story, part Q&A) and childhood asthma (personal essay) by a mother.
The set-up of the magazine is also extremely cool. It’s done like a book, with chapters. So if you’re in “chapter 3″ that might be the art section and you read all kinds of related stuff. It makes for a great flow. The graphics are also very cool. You just have to check it out.
Now I just need to finish reading that Susan Sarandon interview in BUST…
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