I just found myself in a women’s magazine …

And the scary thing is … I think I liked it …

As I was writing my recent post about National Cat Herders Day, I went to see if I could find further enlightenment about the holiday, beyond what I had found in the past. I didn’t find anything new, and in fact, I found that the source I had previously used no longer existed.

However, I did see that someone had blogged, “I’d like for the person who decided that December 15 should be Cat Herders Day to step forward. Please explain yourself. What exactly is this holiday all about?”

Since my research last year had turned up at least a partial explanation, I ventured over to that blog. I found it to be full of useful information about pets – if rather heavier on advertising than I really like. I posted a comment that at least partially answered the blogger’s question about the holiday.

Then I began wandering around the site. The pets blog is one of many at this site; others feature such issues as women’s health, parenting, and recipes. I was getting a really warm feeling, as if somebody was baking sugar cookies. I could smell the sweet, buttery aroma, and I was mentally transported back to earlier, stress-free times.

Then I realized—this is the evolution of women’s magazines. In the past, there were Good Housekeeping and Ladies’ Home Journal; now there is Blisstree.com. Its focus is on the home and the traditional roles of women but with a decidedly modern flavor; one of the blogs is on green living. It’s not normally the sort of thing that I’d be interested in, but I found a lot to like.

Partly, it’s the season. This is the time of year when the kitchen at Five O’Clock Somewhere kicks into full gear, cranking out fruitcakes, bizcochitos, and chocolate-chip cookies. I’m in a domestic mood, and when the weather isn’t suitable for sailing, it’s usually wonderfully suitable for heating up the kitchen with the oven going and sweet aromas floating throughout the house.

I did find the large amount of space devoted to advertising to be distracting—but then, advertising is a reality that journalistic enterprises have to cope with. When I worked for a newspaper, the area of pages devoted to advertising had to be about 60 percent for the paper to break even. (And that was when the salaries of those of us who produced the actual editorial content added up to about 2 percent of the paper’s expenses—paper and ink and electricity and running the press are a lot more expensive than reporters and editors.)

All in all, though, I found Blisstree.com to be an enjoyable and informative site. I’m giving it a thumbs up.