quite a few things to cover, although i'll only deal with the least important one.

i am not a frequent flyer. however, i did fly american airlines to san francisco last autumn, visiting my pals sumo and dan and generally soaking the entire wonderful bay area in (did that make sense?)

now, i was enrolled in the clumsily named aadvantage program for american airlines frequent flyers when i went to san francisco. i'd imagine that, normally, people use their frequent flyer miles on things like airline miles. (although, if i'm not mistaken, they're now currency that can be used in all walks of life. like an alternate form of semi-legal tender.)

so anyway, my trip to san francisco allowed me to accumulate 5,970 frequent flyer points. not miles, but points. whatever that means.

yesterday, i received an interesting proposal in the mail, although it's one that i'm not sure i should actually consider. anyway, american airlines is trading annual magazine subscriptions in exchange for frequent flyer points. to me, it seems tacky, but i'm nothing if not tacky, or something.

a sample of what i could get:

black enterprise - 500 points
breathe magazine (sophisticated balanced lifestyle) - 400 points
computer shopper - 500 points
diabetes forecast - 600 points
espn the magazine - 600
food & wine - 1,200
golf for women - 500
hollywood reporter weekly - 5,600
latina - 500
modern bride - 400
newsweek - 1,000
nursing made incredibly easy - 800
organic styule - 600
pc world -600
spin - 500
time - 1,800
tips & tricks - 500
us news and world report - 1,800
variety - 5,600
wired -500
the official xbox magazine (without disc) - 600

bear in mind, i have not flown american (or anywhere, i don't think) since my san francisco trip. i don't have any immediate plans to fly anywhere. my miles expire september '06. it would appear that 25,000 points is the minimum necessary to earn any flight anywhere, and a moline-san fran flight got me just under 6,000.

so the questions are:
1) magazine subscriptions? good investment
2) if yes, which ones should i get?
3) if no, is it because magazine subscriptions should only be purchased from recovering crack addicts

(note: i currently subscribe to magnet, the sporting news and sports illustrated. i think magnet's hipper than i am, so i'll probably let that expire in october. i love sports illustrated, and am currently on a three-year plan. sporting news actually makes my week worse, and will do so until that expires in september or so.)

next: on weddings, sports-related dilemmas, and open doors