Greenys Note

My First Ten Years

Yes I am a magazine lover. My very first magazine was Bobo, I was 5 years old that time. I remember the price was only Rp 700,- (ketahuan deh, umurku, hehe :p). My favorites were Juwita and Si Sirik, the story of Bobo family, Cerita dari Negeri Dongeng (fairy tales with Okky and Nirmala), also the short story. In short, I read every page of Bobo for years. Besides Bobo, My dad subscribed for me, Aku Anak Saleh seri TK and seri SD. Those were good magazines. I read story about Islamic history, Moslem scientists, articles about nature and its behavior. Then, I learned knowledge of prayer, adab (some say ethics, but IMHO, adab is beyond ethics), fiqih for beginner, tafsir Al Quran and Hadits (in language and way that a 7 years old child can understand). I don’t know whether those magazines still publish nowadays. But, I do hope so.

At 9 years old, I regularly asked my mom to buy Album Ganesha for me… Album Ganesha was edutainment comics mag that explained school subjects, such as Mathematics, History, Science, and English in fun and more understandable method. The history of Airlangga and Kerajaan Kediri, short biography of Yos Sudarso, Kartini, Pangeran Diponegoro; arithmetic and geometric lessons were few examples comics that I enjoyed from Album Ganesha.

Other magazines that I explored on my childhood were Ananda, Fantasi (yes, I read this tabloid), and Donald Duck comics.

Teenage Period

Back to those days when I spent about 30 minutes a day to boost up my confidence, hehe Those days also when my Mom trusted me to manage my own cash. As a magazine lover with limited budget, I had to select which magazine allowed to break my purse. In 1996, I had my very first Gadis with Dian Sastro on the cover page. Then, I also tried Kawanku and Aneka. Those magazine discussed about teenage problems, schools, trends, music-movies, fashion styles, and so on. But, I wondered why they talked about boyfriend stuff from A to Z. Well, in my opinion, teenage years is the perfect time to explore a lot of positive activities, to gain more friends and experiences, to have fun with life. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading those mags. I remembered that Kawanku ever had politics column, Butik if I’m not mistaken. I liked it. I also read the technology articles, room make over tips and tricks, creative section, and environmental features from Gadis and Kawanku.  Only one section that I always skipped, astrologer’s chart a.k.a zodiac a.k.a ramalan bintang segment. I simply do not believe it, even just for my curiosity or fun!

I also purchased Hai magazine. My first Hai attached by a Liverpool poster (that was my real reason why I bought it, :-p). I bought the second one just for Michael Owen’s calendar, hehe. From Hai, I learnt different perspective about friendship and teenage relationship, although some of the articles surprised me. I knew some rock star bands, boys toys, and so on.

Then, one of my mentor presented me another magazine, Permata. The magazine provided deep and comprehensive analysis about teenage issues based on Islamic approach. Some examples were report about free sex, abortion, and drug addict phenomena, piece of writing in relation with motivation and fighting spirit, article about idealism between adolescence, and the importance of principle so teenagers would know what best for them and wouldn’t be directed easily by trend.

I also read Tempo, borrowed from my father

Undergraduate Years

I didn’t explore magazine too much at my undergraduate years. I read Computer Active and PC Media. Computer Active presented articles, tutorial, and step by step about computer usage in plain Indonesian since I purchased the Indonesian edition. Editors of CA minimized technical terms and if they had to use those, they provided sidebar column, next to main article, to explain the jargon. My favorite section was step by step using everyday software such Microsoft Word and Publisher to make everyday things in fun and easy way. Well, I succeeded in making my own pencil box based on CA tutorial.

PC Media, on the other hand, discussed anything related to computer in more technical way. I subscribed PC Media for 3 years. I read the hardware test articles as my guidance before I buy computer accessories, the report of recent innovation on computer and networking, Photoshop tips and tricks, and guest writers columns. Each issue of PC Media comes along with disc and sometimes double disc. I liked the disc composition, I often found interesting software and games to try on.

Nowadays

I ever thought that I succeeded in declining my interest on magazine. Well, I was wrong. For the last two years, I already bought and read some varieties of magazine both Indonesian and International edition, such as:

1. Concept, this is the Indonesian graphic design magazine. I like this magazine for several reasons, beautiful graphics and portfolio, creative inspiration from local and foreign artists, good articles about graphic design and its scope.
2. Communication Arts, this one is published six times a year by Coyne and Blanchard, Inc. Tons of creative ideas and thoughts inside. Not to mention, high quality written articles and excellent showcases. A worthy magazine to buy for everyone who has passion in design.
3. O magazine by Oprah and Hearst Communication, Inc. A complete woman magazine consists of good written articles about style (including splurge and steal, what a buy, and fashion consultation), makeup and skincare (btw, I love the scented pages from fragrance advertising), money… money … money, health care (with Dr. Oz) and psychology, family, reading room, et cetera et cetera which related to woman issues.
4. I.D. magazine, a design magazine from F+W Media. This magazine covers all about functional, effective, efficient, and stylish design for graphics, consumer products, furniture, gadgets, packaging, and so on.
5. Paras, Indonesian muslimah magazine that discussed all about muslimah issues, like family, fashion, skincare and makeup, healthcare, akhlak, etc.
6. Allure, the beauty expert reference from Conde Nast publications. In short, this magazine is all about beauty and fashion. I read Allure recommendations, especially for skin care products. Actually, the beauty in this magazine sometimes went too far for me. But, I still enjoy reading Allure for my curiosity.
7. Other woman magazine: Woman’s day, Marie Claire, Elle, and Dewi.
8. National Geographic, I  like NG for the articles and high quality excellent photos.
9. Interaction magazine and Communications by ACM for my academic stuff.

Most Recent Magazines Purchase

I.D. Annual Design 2009, Communication Arts Design Annual issue Nov/Dec 09, Allure, and… I also bought my first Cleo last week.

So… let’s share what’s your favorite magazine?