I used to pick up this mag-rag to look at all the pretty shiny people in their happy gowns and…read morecostumes and think - gosh, they really live for this stuff. Then one day I get a call, and someone I know points out the fact that I'm in there! HA! Imagine that!? Guess this means I'm now legit. :) Either that or it's just great to be yourself.

I really enjoy reading this paper. Copies are put in my mail room every month and I enjoy reading…read moreabout local news, updates, and functions going on around town. People should be a little nicer about it, as they don't put anyone down, just show how much fun and exciting life is. With so many problems in the world, it is nice just to read about local attributes. They also have a cute office.

What's really going on in the Bay Area? Most people look to SFGate.com or the Chronicle. In this…read moreday and age of instant information, most doubt how much information is available in a weekly local publication. Hands down, this newspaper has the pulse on the business environment of the Bay Area, with a heavy emphasis to San Francisco. Subscribing for over fifteen years, my workplace is a loyal customer to this great information source. Whether reading about what new businesses or projects are in the area to finding out what homes are selling for in the various Bay Area counties, SF Business Times keeps you on top of the area news. Whether you are in marketing, real estate, finance, or just nosy about what's going on, there's always some information that makes you say, "Gee, that's interesting!" Also, full props to their customer service staff in sending me missing issues (still not sure if it's my mailman or my coworkers) - likely suspects!). Unlike the "other" paper, I don't need to run to a newsstand and pay for another copy. Check this periodical out!

As a big fan of information, Knowledge is Power, I was very impressed with the "Read to Succeed…read moreSeminar" I attended at this publication's office. I know the title smacks of a literacy program, but it was actually an informative meeting on how to read the weekly publication to expand on networking and marketing. In these uncertain economic times, newspapers and jobs are falling by the wayside. Judd Walsh opened my eyes on ways to utilize many of the great sections to find sales leads, build market intelligence, and prospecting. He gave great tips and suggestions. Some of the most valuable info in the SFBT is in the form of "The Lists" published weekly and then at the end of the year in a large compendium. These "Listings" cover topics such as "Best Places to Work in the Bay Area" to The Top Wineries. Event announcements and articles on the different industries are excellent resources. I am now going to subscribe to the newspaper. Thanks to Veronica and also the gentleman that gave me a copy of 2009 Zagat Guide.

I think the Walnut Creek magazine is beautifully well done! I get excited to sit down and read thru…read moreit from the front cover all the way to the last page! I enjoy the write ups and always like checking out the visuals and layout of this fun city magazine. I really find this magazine interesting entertaining and easy to read! I like to compare it to the Diablo magazine which I think is so well done. I always like having the two most current issues floating in my downtown Walnut Creek hair studio. My clients enjoy looking at both the Walnut Creek magazine and always the People magazine. Lisa Skinner 1688

I subscribed to this magazine over 2 years ago. I have never received it in the mail and yet I am…read morestill being charged! Do not subscribe to this magazine. They have a great layout and interesting articles - one of the best local magazines I've seen, but their subscription department is lacking. Seriously.

This is my first review. I red Robin C's horrible review of Poor Ann's Printing and was promted to…read moreaction. My company is directly across the street from Poor Ann's, yet until recently we had never used them as our printer. When our current printer's pricing went up, we went searching for other options and found Poor Anns. The service there was fabulous. I came in with a business card and they gave us the best price, out of four local shops, to print 2000 business cards (about 250.00 total with two color). The second project I gave them was handled like pros also. I came in with a three ring binder of 100+ double sided, colored pgs and discussed reproducing it and having them bind it. They gave me all sorts of options and then significantly reduced the price for ordering 25+ of the "books". On top of all this amazing service, Stanely, the person that helped me, was happy to share his experiences in Europe with me (I'm soon going for my first time) and was just a joy to chat with. Additionally he quoted me a price but then negotiated with the owner, Rick, to get it even lower. GREAT GREAT PLACE! They printed the flyers for the Marin Ballet's Nutcracker this year, they can't be all bad if the ballet trusts them right?

Poor Ann's has done printing for a workplace of mine years & years. When I'm in northern San Rafael…read more& need a job done, I know it'll be finished on time, reasonably priced & always to my specifications. You're not just another customer when you find yourself a client of Poor Ann's Press.

Three months into ordering a year's subscription to the paper. I have called and asked, called and…read morecomplained, several times in the last three months. Still not a single paper delivered. As of today they are unwilling to guarantee a refund even, we have to go to their supervisor's supervisor, although it doesn't seem I can get refund.

Prints Mon. to Sat. with focus on the world economy. Good perspectives on globalization. During the…read morepast few years, there's been a strong and constant focus on the growth in China. Weekend edition includes quality interviews with notable authors. There is a occasional insert called "How To Spend It" & I giggle whilst paging though the islands and yachts for sale. A Dubs on the yacht Told you I was hot.

This is my 200th review…read more I have been pondering what to write for this momentous occasion. All week I thought about it ... I even ran ideas by Candice at Yelp during our yummy lunch I have yet to review. And I realized it is not easy to write sometimes. If it is for your job, it can really suck the life right out of you ... if you HAVE to write. So that is why it is so fun for me to Yelp. Because I do not have too. But for all you media out there exchanging words and wit for a paycheck ... kudos to you if you can get it right. And since I am an Oaklander ... I want to send a big fat kudos to our local rag ... the Oakland Magazine ... with the beee-utiful Grand Lake Movie Theater gracing the cover this month. I am so happy there is a local magazine to highlight Oakland. Oakland is such a fantastic place with a huge heart and lots of charisma! We have access to everything the bay area has to offer ... and we have the best views. (In so many ways)! We are the melting pot of America. So it is no surprise that in a city with 500,000+ people ... we should have a magazine that is for us. By us and for us. But know that it is a lot of hard work to produce a magazine month after month in a slammed economy like this. There are many obstacles for the small business these days. Pinch ... ouch! Every month, Oakland Magazine is reaching out to the community and sharing information about what is going on in Oakland. The community and businesses are paying attention and you are doing excellent work sharing the buzz around town. We Oaklanders and East Bay residents love to come together for a festival or a party, excellent food, celebratory cocktails, great shopping and a healthy farmer's market too ... so keep on keeping us posted of the who, what, when, where, why and how of all things Oakland and its surroundings. And Dear Editor: I am sure you have figured out that it is impossible to make everyone happy. Readers, advertisers, bill collectors, employees and editors all of different definitions of happy. They always will. Just keep pounding the pavement and looking for great angles, good stories, decent advertisers and amazing supporters. And BTW: Thank you for the annual Best of Oakland and Best of the East Bay edition that came out this month. In Montclair, we are proud, surprised and amazed to be recipients of several of the Best of Oakland Awards! http://www.oaklandmagazine.com Best Charity Event Montclair Pet Mayor Contest Montclair Pet & Wildlife Fund 1955 Mountain Blvd., Suite 111 (510) 339-2400 www.petandwildlifefund.org/mayor Best Veterinarian Montclair Veterinary Hospital 1961 Mountain Blvd. www.montclairvethospital.com Best Place to Work Montclair Veterinary Hospital 1961 Mountain Blvd. www.montclairvethospital.com Thank You Oakland Magazine and the East Bay Community for your support. I hella heart Oakland! There is no place I would rather be.

Several years ago I was a subscriber to the Oakland Magazine. There was a period that I had to…read morecancel the subscription due to budgetary reasons. Being on a three day work furlough from state employment meant sacrificing during those lean years when the "guvernator" aka "terminator" was in office...less dining out, less going out to the movies, museums, excursions, baseball games, etc., and a cancellation of a local magazine. Last year I saw a representative from Oakland/Alameda Magazines at a spring event (Mother's Day weekend) on Park Street in Alameda. I wanted so much to subscribe to the magazine and I was given a choice - the Oakland one or the Alameda one. The decision was not an easy one. I am a native Oaklander, living in Alameda since September 1988. However, Oakland will always be in my heart. I may be out of "ghetto" Oakland, but the "ghetto" is still in me when my OCGA is out in the open. Thus, Oakland Magazine wins out over the Alameda Magazine. As I have mentioned in other reviews, I can't think of anything better than having what I consider the best around me...born and educated in Oakland, live in Alameda and work in San Francisco. Most of my reviews are based around these three cities (88%). They all have something that I truly enjoy besides the weather and our local sports teams. Let me not stray off the subject of this magazine, but elaborate as to why I enjoy reading it. The magazine is informative and it also offers me the opportunity to try the different restaurants and attend the events that are advertised, only to form an opinion and present my review thereof on this website. The last two issues (December 2012; January/February 2013) were enjoyable reading. What a pleasure it was to see Dr. Warren Strudwick on the front cover of the December issue. He is considered one of the best treating physicians in the field of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine. He also provided excellent medical care to my husband when he injured his shoulder in an automobile accident. The January/February 2013 issue is as what's noted on the front cover..."Journey Back in Time". I do recognize the architectural designs on the some of the buildings. Location is in the vicinity of 14th & Broadway. In this issue, there is a restaurant review of Hopscotch. I haven't been to Hopscotch yet, but their location is across the street from where I was born - 1966 San Pablo Avenue...a journey back in time to the 50's. I'm not sure what was at 1915 San Pablo Avenue during the 50's and all I could think is Friedman's Appliances. However, a few doors north of Friedman's was a restaurant called Victor's Chinese American Cafe and who owned that restaurant. Well, none other than Victor "Shanghai Kid" G's dad. Here's to you, Victor, and the wonderful memories of growing up in that part of town. (Hey, the Greyhound Station is still there after all these years and it still looks the same...rundown.) Thanks, Oakland Magazine, for this publication. I hope to enjoy more years of reading your magazine and wish you continued success in publishing a wonderful magazine.

It's not like the Novato Advance of old days which was…read moretruly filled with local information about Novato. Now, for the most part, it's nothing but ads. Sometimes it's only four pages long. The editor/owner's opinions many times contain inaccurate and biased information. About 4 years ago it just appeared on our driveway for free. That lasted about 2 years, then, like a miracle, it disappeared. During that same time it was further downsized as the name Novato Advance was removed and it was given the generic name of Marinscope to cover all of Marin, which it was basically already doing. Let me ask you. Is this any way to run a newspaper? I think not.

I just read "The Berkeley Barb and the Trump raid" commentary by Sherman R. Fredrick in this week's…read moreMarinscope newspaper. I was very surprised of how he underestimated (and actually made light of) the impact of classified documents - especially the top-secret documents - that quite possibly dealt with international intelligence involving hidden operatives and nuclear secrets. Is he saying that he actually trusts this guy in keeping this national security information under wraps with his track record in this regard? The FBI "raid' was done out of necessity because Trump had taken possession of them illegally, stalled for over a year, and then wouldn't co-operate fully with giving these many documents to the National Archives where they legally belonged. He lied to the FBI that he had given them all of the documents and actually had about twice as many that he had secretly detained. The actual search was done without the agents wearing the usual "FBI" jackets and was not announced publicly by the FBI (it was Trump himself). The subsequent information that has been made public was planned to be kept secret as part of an on-going investigation until both Trump filed legal requests to get more details. Fredrick stated that, as far as Trump possibly having "declassified" these many documents, "well have to see about that". Seriously? From what has been indicated, many of these documents were so sensitive that the agents who handled them didn't have the clearance to inspect them and they certainly couldn't be declassified without thorough review. Besides, if they were all properly "declassified", they all would be available to the public. This dangerous mishandling of top secret documents by the former president has already cause irreparable harm. There has to be an assumption by the CIA that it is quite possible that many of these national secrets got into the hands of our foreign adversaries. If field intelligence operatives have to be pulled (or are assassinated), it could greatly disrupt both our nation's investigative methods and the accuracy of current national security knowledge. ~ Duane Van Dieman, Mill Valley

I love zyzzyva and the writers and writing community it supports. it doesn't feel fussy; it feels…read morecharming and engaging and intimate, like a good and true and sassy friend. i didn't realize there was a yelp page for it until i belatedly read howard junker's blog asking for people to yelp it, so here i am. when i lived in l.a. (before coming back to the City), i caught a reading of zyzzyva writers at the awesome skylight books, and howard was even there. it was a great night. not just because of the free wine and cheese. it felt familial in a literary way. the wine and cheese did help. i admit it.

With stories and poems that both your…read moreanarchist-genderbending-all-black-wearing-comparative-literature-grad-school-attending friends and your Oprah's-Book-Club-reading relatives can enjoy, ZYZZYVA is San Francisco's best literary journal that doesn't include DVDs, combs, stories by Icelandic authors, and color pages. It's also the city's best literary journal that comes out on time. Yeah, McSweeney's, you know I'm talking to you.