A School Magazine

I just finished reading my alma mater’s new magazine. There was an impressive amount of self congratulations and boy-is-our-school-the-bomb kind of articles. It’s to be expected. But I’ll admit that the people who were interviewed actually were the bomb. They had published books, started profitable and ground-breaking businesses, received academic honors, lived in challenging locations, and been neighborly, too. And I knew more than one of them. Does that make me the bomb by association? And am I saying ‘the bomb’ because that was in vogue when I attended said establishment?

Because I am discussing reading, or, more truthfully, my alma mater’s poppycock, I tried to become incredibly impartial and decide whether it was a worthwhile read for anybody. Would you want to know what the people who were doing well from my uni were doing? Maybe. If it was compelling writing and the things were truly interesting, not just glorified school fight songs.

So, what is compelling about different people and their interests and their work? Or, more to the point, what is it that makes anything worth reading, because that should transcend interest groups, shouldn’t it? Certainly there’s little question about whether literature, art, architecture and the like are able to inspire people who are from other times, cultures, and belief systems. So, an article extolling the good deeds and results of people – any people, example: those from my alma mater – would necessarily be inspiring to someone who’d never heard of the school or the community if it was excellent.

Aha! Much like most blogs, articles, writings, etc., this magazine will be passed on once, then lost (or recycled) because it does not have that level of depth. It’s full of mildly interesting snippets of people’s stories, printed on heavy glossy paper. But I will continue to read them; they bring me flashes of hope, joy, and recognition – kind of like my picture albums…. Do not despair, as I will soon be back to great literature, worthy to be shared far and wide. (Oh, but I’m going to keep reading the silly blogs, too!)