So what is Vent about anyway? According to Editor-in-Chief Marta Limbaugh, "Vent tackles all that's stellar and all that stinks about life.... It's more than reading material. It's the book of knowledge for young men and women. It inspires critical thinking and unrestrained debate."

Huh? A preliminary scan of the magazine leaves the reader wondering what holds it all together. Page after page, a common theme or voice is nowhere to be found. The premier issue featured a cover piece on "Annoying People and What To Do About Them" and articles on cooking pasta, doing your taxes and jealousy. The magazine's departments include "Bad Examples" ("The illegal, the ill-advised and the just plain stupid"), "Interview," and "Joke's On You" ("readers share their most embarrassing moments for your amusement"). Perhaps most indicative of the magazine's eclectic character is "Scrapbook" ("Twenty pages filled with the stuff you really want to know"). In the premiere edition, this "stuff" included the joys of eating dirt, how to use chopsticks, stuff you can catch from toilet seats and stuff you can catch from your pets.

Limbaugh says she started Vent because it is the kind of magazine she needed when she was in her twenties. "I wanted to create a magazine that helps people find the mentor who will point them in the right direction," explains Limbaugh. "And I wanted to create a place where people could vent the stuff inside without fear that others are laughing themselves silly."

Readers can vent on the magazine's web page. Feedback, its editors say, fuels the magazine's editorial. Readers' opinions appear not only in the letters to the editor (and there are lots of them) but also in various surveys and "Do-It-Yourself" News, where readers respond to news items around the country.

Vent says it's all about clarity. The magazine promises to "provide all the puzzle pieces needed to make the right choices. It's about leaving a mark in life, not a stain." Say what?