Magazines that Changed My Life

Playlist : When I'm Thinking About You (The Sundays), Hero-Heroine (Boys Like Girls), Jatuh Cinta Itu Biasa Saja (Efek Rumah Kaca), Jamie (Dashboard Confessional), Face for the Radio (The View), Look After You (The Fray), Flowers in the Window (Travis), Radio (Sheila On 7)

It's nearly end of 2014 - a year with hearty celebrations and records. This time of the year, I often hear/read/see various lists. The common ones including "best tracks", "best records", "best books", "best concerts", "best movies", and the list continues cause I'm sure you're aware of those directories as well. 

I've been wanting to jot down my own list, too, and tonight is the perfect time. I've neglected this blog's existence for far too long. But I also know that I will go back to this tiny space no matter what. So shall I start now?

To begin with, I should tell this thing first to put you in frame. I'm one of them individuals who love to type ideas on their phone's note. I used to pour ideas for this blog using the same medium. That habit is rare to be done lately, and this post's plain title is the result. Turns out I didn't type points which I want to explain - so here's what I've got. 

(I miss writing posts in Livejournal's format, hence the upward playlist. And trust me, choosing songs which you want to listen to during writing a post is indeed time-consuming - although fun. I'm not kidding.)

I grew up reading lots of magazines. My conscious reading activity started around eight years ago, which was the last year of elementary grade. I began to read mangas (supplied by my friends - there was one main supplier however haha) and fiction stories (few that I remembered: Roald Dahl's, Sherlock Holmes series before-it-was-cool-ha!, world figure stories [or "Seri Tokoh Dunia": Isabela Duncan, Albert Einstein, Wright Brothers, Marie Curie]) at that time. At home, the bookworm is Bapak, while Mama is a loyal newspaper (Kompas, precisely) reader. She rarely reads books, but you can count on me - she's like a Google to me and my siblings. 

She was also a loyal reader of Femina. I still vividly remember those days when the younger-me spent time flipping up pages of her old magazines. I also had a fair share of buying and or subscribing my preferred magazines. There were Gadis, Trax, and Hai (couple of times). My reading supply also comes from friends and school's library. Other notable magazines in my dictionary are CosmoGIRL! Indonesia, GoGirl!, and Girlfriend (simply because they once featured two of my high school friends and I :D - what an achievement, eh? But seriously though, they write interesting stories sometimes). 

[I want to say something but I feel I don't have enough evidence yet to somehow link it to another parts, so I cut it here for now.]

There was this private library which collects and lends mangas, books, and magazines around my neighborhood. It operated commercially - they charged Rp 5,000 for each magazine. I also had my magazine's supply from this place for few times. Moving on to the last 4-5 years, other magazines that I *sometimes* read are Rolling Stone Indonesia and Nylon Indonesia. 

Without any further ado, this is the list of "Magazines that Changed My Life". 

1. Femina's 2007 Annual Edition 

I tried to look for it in Google Images which sadly came to no avail. Then-long-haired Fahrani Empel graced the cover - her dress' color I believe was teal. This was the best Femina's edition that I've ever read, so far. The writers highlighted profiles which was underrated and mostly unknown for Indonesian at that time (at least for 15-year-old me). They featured Ardistia (the woman behind Ardistia New York label, yes ladies, you read it in here first: it was Femina) and Metta Murdaya (one of four founders of natural ingredients-based cosmetics Juara, another trivia: she's a daughter of Hartati Murdaya). These two names are only showing you little - the rest pieces are equally worthy. Up to these days, the magic still leaves traces in my mind. I adore the visionary minds of the writers and their way of covering each sources. To quote a local teenagers magazine's slogan: Femina's 2007 annual edition is unbeatable fun bundle of pieces! 

2. Trax 

This was during their heydays. If you know me, or, happen to have encountered my blog posts here, you should've known. Trax' music festival edition was my every thing. Reading it inspired me to fulfill this once-in-a-lifetime experience: going to Glastonbury Festival. The writings were actually dominated with pictures and the words weren't so much. They wrote Fuji Rock Festival, Woodstock, Lollapolloza, T in the Park, Zouk Out, and other big widely-known music festivals as well. But only Glastonbury that gives a deeeeep remark on me. Hugely because I always have a thing for UK and its +44 central town. You know this saying - 'reading takes you places'? Trax' piece successfully took me off from +62 :)

3. One of CosmoGIRL!'s 2011 Edition

The Disney alumni and Frozen singer, Demi Lovato, was the cover girl. The magazine generally put light on internship's do's and don'ts - from the preparation steps, institutions or officials who usually open an internship opportunity, to the style guide for various industries (creative, formal). I got this one from a store which specialized on used books, magazines, CDs. The store which located in Pasar Modern BSD lasted for more than a year, but recently it closed down - I believe it's gone off since the beginning of 2014. 

4. Juice's '90s Edition 

I took home the magazine from a pizza outlet at Plaza Indonesia. We (two high school friends and I - the same trio who showed up in Girlfriend haha) went there to eat after watching a dance show - part of Printemps Francais around... let's see, 5-6 years ago? Can barely remember it now, but I still keep it! Aside from new discoveries through their pieces, the clean layout was a feast in the eye for someone who usually reads Gadis' colorful style. Its importance follow Trax' at number 2. I'm grateful for their '90s works. 

5. One of Hai's early 2007 Edition (I guess) 

The piece on this magazine was like a guidance book on indie music scene at that time. Jimi Multhazam, who's in The Upstairs and Morfem, was a radio announcer too, appeared on the cover. The color palette was green, and Jimmy wore his Upstairs suit with sunglasses. The article was 5-pages long if I'm not mistaken, and I've cut several pictures that featured in it. Indie bands which Hai wrote then are The Adams, Vox, White Shoes and the Couples Company, Mocca, The S.I.G.I.T, and... I don't remember the rest. Was Naif included on that list as well? I totally forgot. This was far before they converted to be that-supporting-media-for-that-girl group. Had a nice time reading it, I even re-read it more than twice. 

There are five magazines! Quite a slim list, isn't it? Had a good time reminiscing it all. I'm looking forward for another this feeling-good-state sometime soon.

Now is your turn, what's your list for this year?