Claudia — Page 1104

A Bit of Chickanery

September 16, 2015 at 8:00 am by Claudia

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I’m (hopefully) off to NYC today, so I’m writing this post on Tuesday evening, as I have to get up at 5 am and get out the door by 6:15. No time to craft a post!

And I’m a wee bit cranky because I’m still not over this crappy ‘whatever’ that has taken over my head and chest. So, armed with a box of kleenex, cough syrup and cough drops, I’m off to spend a total of 3 hours on the bus and 3 hours in a meeting. Home will look pretty gosh darned good at the end of the day.

In the This Kind of Thing Really Ticks Me Off category:

The other day – Monday – Don was in NYC and I got out of my sickbed and drove to the grocery store to get some cough drops, etc. As I walked through the market, I saw the magazine rack. Now, you know I rarely buy magazines these days, but I spotted Flea Market Style, a magazine that I truly like.

A bit of back story: I hadn’t seen a new Flea Market Style in a while. I was aware of that somewhere in the recesses of my mind and, indeed, had seen Best of Flea Market Style a month or so ago and didn’t bite. Those ‘Best of’ editions are always reprints of articles I’ve already read, with a hefty price tag to boot. I briefly wondered if it had been discontinued, as so many magazines have these days.

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Back to the magazine rack. I pulled out the magazine. Now I’m going to be totally honest with you. I knew I’d seen this particular photo before in a previous edition of the magazine. Whether it was on the cover or not, I wasn’t sure. But just to be safe, I peered down at the bottom of the magazine to see what the ‘display until…’ date was.

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Okay, I thought. That makes this current. Maybe they were recycling a photo for the cover? Now that I’m thinking more clearly (remember, I was sick) I realize how absurd that particular idea was. You can see the price: $9.95.

Sometimes, when you’re down and out, you just want a magazine to thumb through. And I’m not talking National Geographic. So I caved and bought it.

I got home, unpacked everything, made some hot chocolate and got out the magazine.

I quickly realized that if I had done more than a cursory examination of the magazine at the store, I would have realized that I had already read it.

I looked back at the cover.

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And look what I saw.

Really? By popular demand? Were there thousands upon thousands of people clamoring for this particular edition?

Sounds very fishy.

Later, I googled the magazine and couldn’t see any recent editions available. (It was quarterly, if I remember correctly.) When I googled Ki Nassauer (the founder and editor) I now got this site: “KiNassauerStyle.” Hmmm. That lead me to her Facebook page where someone had asked a question about the availability of Flea Market Style and was told that Ki was no longer associated with the magazine and was working on expanding her Junk Bonanza shows.

Which leads me to believe the magazine is no more.

This sort of thing speaks to something else I see a lot of in the magazine industry. Well-loved magazines suddenly cease publication; Country Home, Cottage Living, Flea Market Style (I presume.) Full disclosure: all magazines that I loved and mourn the loss of. Sooner or later, we see expensive editions of those magazines with heavy duty glossy covers and hefty price tags that are, in essence, filled with reprints of various articles from past editions of the magazine….you know, when it was actually being published. It’s apparently okay to decide to stop publishing those popular magazines despite disappointing subscribers and loyal readers, but the powers-that-be feel perfectly okay about milking that name recognition as long as they can. The first time the former publishers of Country Home did that sort of thing, a lot of people were fooled into thinking it had resumed publication. Same thing with Cottage Living. And now we have The Best of Flea Market Style and Flea Market Style (Reprinted by Popular Demand!)

If the potential reader is clear about the whole thing and then willingly makes the decision to buy a reprint or compilation of past articles, then fine. But if there’s a bit of the flimflam? That’s not so nice.

Yes, they did say it was ‘reprinted’ and if I’d been sharper that day, I might have seen that. But I wasn’t and I felt tricked when I fell for the whole thing. And let’s face it, it was in small print at the bottom of the magazine – on purpose. (I used my macro setting to get that shot, that’s how small it was.)

I was curious, so I looked for it and found the original – from 2011.

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The original was Country Decorating Ideas #121.

The reprint is Country Decorating Ideas #175.

Exact same contents except for some updated ads.

From a not-very-happy consumer.

Happy Wednesday.

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She’s Strangely Competitive

September 15, 2015 at 9:05 am by Claudia

It was bound to happen.

Upon reading yesterday’s post, Caroline had a request. She wanted some ‘As Is’ photos of her house. Pronto.

No matter that I wasn’t feeling well, that I was constantly blowing my nose and sucking on lozenges. She would not be deterred. Finally, simply to put an end to constant chatter coming from Hummingbird Cottage, I got out the camera.

Here you go. Caroline’s house. As Is.

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Actually, Caroline and I had a couple of spats yesterday. I was under the weather, tired, and not very patient. She was in a strangely argumentative mood.

The first was over Maxfield Parrish. She said, and rightly, that she had her very own Maxfield Parrish print before I did. I agreed. However, I had to remind her that without my long-held love of Parrish’s work, she wouldn’t have known about him. I was the one who suggested Parrish to her. I told her all about his work as a painter and illustrator. Consequently, she grew to love his work. Since Caroline had more money in the bank than I did at the time, she bought the print and I hung it for her.

The second was over the watermark on my photos. She thought that it should read: Hummingbird Cottage. I explained that the watermark has less to do with the subject matter of the photos, i.e., her cottage, than with the blog itself. She pressed further. No, I said, the watermark has to do with the name of the blog (and the photographer), not the name of your house. And yes, the name of the blog is the same as the name of my house.

As you can imagine, this got Caroline thinking about creating her own blog. Have at it, I said. But when she realized how much work was involved in maintaining a blog, she backed off. She’s far too busy for that, she said.

Crisis averted.

• On another note, if you followed the wildly popular blog, Young House Love (they stopped blogging just about a year ago,) you might be interested in this podcast interview with them. I listened to it yesterday. It’s about an hour long, but if you have the time, I think you’ll enjoy it. Much is said about the quality of life, where blogging leaves off and real life begins, and the sometimes frustrating exercise of trying to please a demanding blog readership. They are admirable people.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Tuesday.

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As Is: Late Summer Edition

September 14, 2015 at 8:20 am by Claudia

Every once in a while, I give myself permission to take a quick photo of the house ‘As Is.’ No straightening up, no ‘vignettes’ – just real life. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Don and I like cozy, relaxed, eclectic and vintage. We read a lot, so there are always books lying around. There’s usually a guitar somewhere – right now, there’s one in the living room and one in the den. It’s early around here and the lights are on.

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Practical is the watchword lately. You’ll notice lots of throw rugs that really don’t have any design theme whatsoever. They’re for Scout. They help her navigate. There’s a quilt on the floor in front of the loveseat – also for Scout. And you can just see the edge of a towel that’s on top of the oval rug. You guessed it – for Scout. Don’s Kindle, books, and glasses are on the coffee table.

Nothing exciting. Nothing new. I can’t see spending money on something we really don’t need – just to ‘change things up.’

I don’t decorate for fall, as you know. We are fortunate to live in the Northeast, where Fall will be on constant display in a very short time. Frankly, nothing I could do would be better than the designs of Mother Nature. And honestly, I have so little available surface area that it isn’t practical.

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It’s a dark and cloudy morning, so these aren’t great photos. But sometimes, to be perfectly honest, I don’t care!

More throw rugs for Scout. A piece of paper towel on the island (see? no editing.) Dishes in the drainer. Paint brushes used on the dollhouse in a piece of McCoy on the window sill. Cough medicine on the counter. My Peet’s French Roast (single cup drip method) awaiting the boiling water from the tea kettle.

I’ll spare you the den, where there are piles of used kleenexes, cough drops, and a makeshift bed (I came downstairs around 4 am because I was coughing too much and I didn’t want to keep disturbing Don’s sleep.) I don’t know if it is allergies or sinuses and, frankly, I never know. I do remember now that I wasn’t feeling all that great on Thursday when I was in the city. Lots of sneezing – I mean lots – and congestion. So I think this has been coming on for a few days.

There you go. As Is for Monday, September 14th.

Happy Monday.

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A Bit of Chickanery

She’s Strangely Competitive

As Is: Late Summer Edition

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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