Ode calls itself a magazine for "intelligent optimists." As a confirmed cynic, I would love to know what this means. Like Obama, I'm open to other points of view -- provided they don't conflict with my own. I'm a Gemini and ruled by the twins: Aggravation and Irritation. That's why I always carry Pepcid and Advil. As the Boy Scouts say: "be prepared."

It must be somewhat dicey to have a magazine named after you. In recent years, the crop of eponymous celebrity editors -- Oprah, Martha, Rosie -- has run the risk of alienating a certain percentage of would-be subscribers just for being who they are. And so it is with Rachael Ray, whom I've learned from informal polling engenders strong feelings -- both good and bad. I'm neither a fan nor a critic of her TV show, multiple book titles, and cookware line, so I approached the February issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray without bias....

Shakespeare said it best: "The past is prologue." It's a smart reminder that we can prepare for the future by understanding the past. We can also preserve it -- at least in architectural terms. To celebrate America's past, the National Trust for Historic Preservation publishes Preservation, an attractive, engaging bimonthly that appeals to architectural and American history buffs alike.

Wonders of technology aside, some things in life just can't be improved upon: mashed potatoes made from scratch; a dozen red roses wrapped in green florist paper -- and the venerable Reader's Digest.