Cabinet Quarterly — 'Beyond Eclectic'

That's all it takes to get me excited, telling me there's all manner of stuff there.

John Strausbaugh wrote an excellent story for last Thursday's New York Times about this Brooklyn-based magazine, founded in 2000 by Sina Najafi, who continues to singlehandedly run it.

"A journal of art and ideas that is eclectic to the point of eccentricity."

Oh man, you're killing me.

The magazine's website offers a selection of material from past issues.

A section of each issue includes essays organized around a theme.

One time the topic was "Failure."

The pages of that issue were cut slightly crooked, "resulting in some complaints and returned copies from those who missed the joke."

That is so my sense of humor; I'm gonna subscribe as soon as I finish this post.

They also have a special web page which offers a "subscriber discount."

To get one, you have to have one of the first names on the list they supply.

Yo, Ethyl and Chester, call your office — your discounts are ready.

Along with $1 off the regular subscription price, you also get a "special gift."

"Not all gifts will be alike. We will strive for meaningful gifts with zero eBay potential."

What I especially like about Cabinet is its size: they've currently got 2,000 subscribers.

A year's subscription is $28.

There's a "mostly unpaid" staff of five, which operates out of founder Najafi's Boerum Hill [Brooklyn] apartment.

The magazine's annual budget is $250,000, most of it coming from from private foundations and government grants.

Huh.

How does Cabinet compare with bookofjoe, you ask?

Well.

Currently I'm averaging 3,000 daily readers.

A year's — heck, a lifetime — subscription is free.

There's a totally unpaid staff of one, which operates out of my Charlottesville, Virginia home.

The annual budget is $179.40 ($14.95 for my monthly hosting fee at TypePad x 12), none of it from private foundations or government grants.

So there you have it.