I was just surfing the NY Times site when I came across an article about girls primping for the school year. It talks about how young girls care more about looking good for the school year than their studies. As a reader I am supposed to shocked by how young girls are tanning and waxing. Hopefully, I'll write a letter. I will do none of these things.

Instead, I will complain about how papers -- even quality ones like the NY Times -- have all of these crappy filler stories that come out every year around the same time and say the same things because the editors know they'll get some kind of a reaction. I guess it's just good business but I'd like to see a little more effort. I'd like the paper to be a little smaller each day, the staff to be a little smaller and the price to be a little lower. If there's not much international news then don't add a fourth story just because people expect that.

I guess this is a slam at mainstream media in general, which should not be a surprise as it's become a cyclical story at Capn Design. So I guess I'm guilty of that which I criticize. Either that or it's worth repeating.