Is it me or are we all taking sides these days; do we all have itchy trigger fingers? I was at a party the other day and someone complained that the host was serving Red Vines, not Twizzler. I could barely keep my composure — WHO would ever want spongy, red goo, that will take a Waterpik on steroids to get out of your teeth? Because of the obvious superiority of Red Vines, I thought she would be easy to flip, however, I couldn’t change her mind, and learned she grew up in Texas, where getting Twizzlers was a childhood highlight. My bad.
Where is this tribalism coming from? It seems to be coming from everywhere, especially my phone. After sharing clever Gen X rules videos (I feel seen!) with my cousin, my Instagram feed was inundated with generational warfare videos. I didn’t know this was a battle now, too? I can’t figure out if I am jealous of the entitlement I saw from a whiny Gen Z’er in a recent TikTok video, using terms like “performative tasks” in regards to her job, or just truly annoyed by what looked to me like a person wanting life delivered to her on a silver platter. When I brought the video up with two of our college-age interns, they agreed that the TikToker was annoying, and suddenly my armor was down. Phew, we aren’t on opposite sides. I was falling for the click bait of our 2-second media cycle. Dare I bring up politics? Nah, let’s leave that topic off the table.
Speaking of getting along, we all got a smile from a letter we received without a return address. The request was to include street addresses so one doesn’t need to navigate via computer. He or she makes a really good point. And the final sentence, although expressing irritability, could be perceived as a nice olive branch to the mental health obsessed Gen Z’ers.
As a magazine, we strive to create a respite from the 2-second news cycle. We want you to sit down and enjoy reading about your community, or — let’s be real — it’s Marin County, you’re probably on a treadmill. You probably didn’t notice (or care), but the content is purposely delivered like a good meal. Starting off with tasty bites, appetizers, followed by the feature well, which are usually thought-provoking articles that affect you. Then we get to dessert, which is an array of travel, On the Scene (which means things to do and places to eat) and finally the true eye-candy — real estate.
This month, the feature well is all about the Best of the County. Curiously, (or not), over 90% of the Readers’ Choice businesses were the same as previous years and kudos to them for having loyal customers, friends and family to vote for them. This year we had over 21,000 individuals cast a vote, which is 10,000 more than last year. For businesses who don’t have an activated customer base, they still need 10 votes to stay on the list, ensuring these lists are all reader-vetted!
Our big news is our new Marin Magazine app — Hello Marin. We are starting off with perks from Best of the County, check-in challenges (as in — let’s support our local businesses!) and my favorite part is the ‘near me’ feature. So when you’re craving sushi or a burger, these businesses will pop up, and if luck is on your side, they’ll be offering a Best of the County perk to encourage you to come in the door. We’ve also created the ability to create lists to share with friends, or visitors. We hope having the Hello Marin app in your hand will make it easier to find and share your favorite things to do in Marin. Congratulations to all businesses in the following pages, and if we’ve missed yours, not to worry, send us a note at editorial@marinmagazine.com, and we’ll add you to the voting list for next year.
