It's Friday, the globally-recongized Day of Slack. To facilitate said slacking, I'd like to share my recent recommendations from the world of magazines. All three should provide plenty of escape from a gray, overcast, humdrum Friday afternoon.

For all of us who still pine for the meteoric drop in quality suffered by Wired in the last decade or so, Res may be the answer. Originally dedicated solely to digital filmmaking, Res underwent a radical career crisis about a year ago and announced they were remaking themselves as a "resolution-independent" culture magazine. By expanding their focus to encompass art, music, lifestyle and culture as well, Res effectively became what Wired was in 1995. This is cause for celebration.

In other Zine news, folks like me who enjoy their rock with a little folkier twist should check out Paste, whose tagline "signs of life in music and culture" is pretty accurate. Paste is a bimonthly publication that ships with a free CD which, so far, has been utterly spectacular. They cover new bands like The Thorns, older artists like Lucinda Williams, and everything in between, so long as it qualifies as genuinely good music. Copies can usually be found at Borders, and D.C.-area folks can also find it at Jammin' Java in Arlington.

One final element to round out this trifecta: Strata just released their long-awaited fourth issue, and as always, it's a beautifully-designed, insightful piece of work. The schtick here is "the common man's fifteen minutes", which results in interviews with random people snagged off the street, art inspired by everyday life and a couple really good essays. Strata has a lot in common with Inkblots, truth be told, which is probably one of the main reasons why I enjoy it so much – which means that if you like hanging around here, you should probably check them out too.

So go on, shoo -- it's Friday, and you're not really working anyway, are you?