So we've had the magazine for days but finally I look at it, and I mean really look at it. Though it's covered with text, I see it, right above the masthead: "commemorative issue." Commemorative issue. I think about this. Commemorative. Like, I should frame this? Take an X-acto knife and slice right down along the binding, the blade making that cool pleasing sound, leaving me with, what? A cover sans magazine.
Now what?
A frame. Yes, I should frame this. Put it up in a nice 8x10 - or better something bigger. Get some nice matte in there, something acid-free, something that will call out the key colors of the cover, stand up across the years. Acid-free. Archive quality. But -
The cover is surely not acid-free, so... lamination. I will seal the cover in plastic - UV protection included for a small fee! - and then, the matte, the framing, the - oh, a nice gold bevel would be nice, yes? Really make this pop, make it something with gravitas, no mere magazine cover, no this is now the ne plus ultra of commemorative.
And then, I project myself into the near future, my commemorative cover framed and hung in a place of prominence near the computer, when I realize that the office is just a series of trails among the piles of paper, each pile with something of significance, each scrap worth saving, for when do you draw the line? And I realize that with the internet, there is no need for commemorative covers. One has but to press 'print,' and be done with it.
