The glossy glaze-over

It never fails...once we hit the checkout line, my eyes glaze over, and my expression goes blank. I forget to help put groceries on the cashier's belt, and I am jolted from my reverie by:

"Honey. It happened again."

I blink a few times and shake off the sheepish feeling - while still reading the cover stories of the latest issue of GLAMOUR in the corner of my eye - as I empty the contents of the shopping cart's front seat on to the checkout belt.

My obsession with books - novels, notebooks, journals, magazines, anything that opens and closes and contains pages - dates as far back as I can remember, even before getting to go to work with my mom on summer/snow days. But, I just cannot resist the gloss of a gossip magazine. Or, any glossy magazine, really. I wanna know what's inside. I wanna know who's dating who, who's getting married, who's in rehab, who looks like a hot mess on the red carpet, and what they look like going to the grocery store.

But, magazines are like $5, and I read them in less than 5 minutes. So, I rarely buy them. And yes, I know anything in a rag mag can be found on the Internet. But, then there's pop-up ads and I don't have time for that. I also love the scented perfume ads in magazines. I get the oddest pleasure out of ripping those things open and inhaling their papery scent.

And, really - there is nothing quite like leafing through a glossy while curled up on your couch, with a cozy blanket, some coffee/tea/wine, and getting lost in the print. Something about it just makes one feel so...early 90s. Sure, you can curl up with a laptop, but my GOODNESS those things get hot on your thighs, don't they?! And, their batteries die. Not to mention, some laptops are heavy. It's much easier to hold an US Weekly, People Magazine, or Marie Claire.

Unless...it's seasonal fashion time. I had marks on my legs for an hour after 'reading' ELLE's spring fashion issue.

I'm OK with that.