Time For A LIttle Light Reading Perhaps?
As I was casually looking through my July 2013 issue of Chess Life, not really taking the time out to read anything I missed over the last few months, some dark clouds came rumbling through and I realized something horrific: I've never actually read any of the issues I've gotten since I got the subscription when I joined the USCF a few years ago!
I keep all of my issues in a bulky, hinge-breaking, 3-ring binder inside a file cabinet drawer, with miscellaneous chess folders in front of it, keeping it company. Now, as a chess fan I find this disturbing, but as a chess journalist, you can add the word appalling to the list. I don't think I've read a single article, whether about the death of Larry Evans or the recent issue about Robert Byrne. A sadness came over me as I remembered how excited I was getting my first issue and telling myself I'm going to read and remember every article. Ha! I guess that was a sham!
I'm not throwing them away, even though they're old news, and I've been pretty well-briefed about chess's comings and goings thanks to the internet, mainly Chessbase. As a chess journalist and someone who would love to write for Chess Life, I feel like my journalistic integrity just got a swift kick in the pants by a Timberland steel-toed work boot. Not fun at all.
So what to do about this dire dilemma? Well, I'm going to try to put a couple of hours aside each day and sit down with a couple of issues (whether I know what happened or not during that month), read the articles, look through the games on profile and try to feel whole again as a fan and journalist. I know it may sound silly or petty or just like a complete waste of time, but time I have since I stopped going to school 20 years ago and my health issues keep me from work. It'll at least be productive and will help get me ready for the Anand/Carlsen match in November.
Wish me luck! I'm about to get attacked by three years of chess magazines with their "knights" battering me into the ground like a hammer to a stake. 
Have a good day everyone and keep cool!
-Mark
