[Four-Star Chefs/Buffet Masters]

I think the key here is "identity." Meaning, just how much of your identity is really tied to what you do for a living? I am not a chef and I understand completely what it's like to be forced to produce work that is clearly substandard because the "one who must be obeyed" (i.e. flaming idiot), has deemed that it be so. Isn't it ironic that in fields requiring any real creativity, people always wind up taking orders from those less skilled than themselves? It's not always easy for intelligent people to check their brains at the door when they go to work, but it seems to be a requirement for many jobs, regardless of the industry.

All this being said, if you do as little work as you say, is there time in your schedule to pursue something that would allow you to express your expertise? An excess of both money and free time sounds like a Godsend to me! Quitting would only destroy that delicate balance!

[Mags Limiting Online Access]

The free-online-content bubble has to burst at some point. I personally don't buy print versions of magazines and newspapers that are available for free online -- I have let several subscriptions lapse and not bothered to start others. The New York Times alone must lose a few hundred dollars a year on me.

At the same time, a publication that makes none of its content available online is going to suffer due to reduced relevance. Imagine how much more play Alan Richman's work would get on Internet food discussion sites if GQ made his articles available online -- right now it gets almost zero. His relevance suffers from GQ's strategy.

The solution, it seems to me, is to offer a percentage of your content -- especially the content that makes you particularly relevant to online communities and to people who wouldn't buy your magazine anyway -- and to make that content expire after a reasonable time online. Done correctly, this strategy should keep things balanced.

Actually I buy Fine Cooking regularly and I noticed that they put pieces of back issues online. I agree that it's smart business. If they gave away their entire publication, only those without computers would buy the mags and that number isn't as small as we think.