Did you know that Julia Ward Howe also wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic? Women of that era who suffered through the Civil War, knew just as we do today that matters of war and peace are never simple. It's easy to read the Mother's Day Proclamation and think of it as a naive sentiment, but really looking back at Julia Ward Howe's life, I think she and her contemporaries well knew just how much they were asking.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers Who Talk, and to all the other moms out there.
Take a second to think about your favorite park. What differentiates it from other playgrounds in your area? Do you feel more relaxed there? Are you more inclined to stay for a few hours than you are at other playgrounds?
Now think for a moment about that playground that makes your grind your teeth. I think most parents have one. You'll go, if your friends are planning a meetup, but usually you'd rather have some dental work done. What is it about that playground that seems to result in an aggravated parent hauling away a screaming toddler?
At first blush, this playground says "cool playground!" but after a while it starts to whisper "if you were a good mom, you'd grow another 3 sets of eyeballs," and I start wishing it would shut up.
Are there any Barack Obama supporters online tonight who'd like to pitch their candidate? I've got about 16 hours to make up mind, or at least to walk into the caucus with some sort of plan.
Before today, I was staunchly in the Obama camp. I had been an Edwards supporter, but when he went the way of the Dodo I thought Barack Obama had the best chance of working for the issues that are most important to me: health care, the economy, and of course the war. I'm looking for a candidate who will stand up to large corporations and fight for policies that benefit the people of the nation.
How to Clean Out a Clogged Drain Without Drain Cleaner (A little Friday Frivolity I wrote for my other other blog.)
Haha. OK, handy tip of the year. I am slightly lacking in the handy department.
Today's adventure in less than domestic-goddesshood:
You have this clogged drain. You know why it is clogged. You're not wanting to discuss that right now, thank you very much. You also know commercial drain cleaners require you to clear the area of all pets and children, open the windows, check your reproductive cells for mutations, and are really, really nasty. However, it is hard not to go buy a bottle of the nastiness when your sink is looking up at you and asking: "Why are you a bad mom?"
Mothertalkers, I need your help. I'm speaking at the South Sound Technology Conference tomorrow, as part of a panel on "How Blogging Has Changed Parenting." I'm going to kick it off with some thoughts on the history of parenting blogs. (Mom blogs in particular.) Some of you have been around the parenting blog world longer than others, do you think this is a reasonable and fair description of the development of parenting blogs?
I don't want to be Policy Mom. You know, the mom with the list of 300 rules governing what can and cannot be given to her children, and by whom. This doll is acceptable, but only if made in the following countries, but that doll, under no circumstances--even when present only in animated form. Only wooden toys, provided said wood comes from sustainable forests. Children should paint only with watercolors, and only with the colors red, blue, and yellow. Under no circumstances should black paint ever enter The Child's Environment. Elderly relatives raised during the depression will simply have to understand that Bailey can't have that toy, because it represents consumer values we don't support.
After reading Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and learning about the advantages of buying food locally and seasonally, I am down with "Buy Local Day!" -Elisa
By now, you're probably already out shopping if you participate in the annual "Black Friday" shopping madness. If you are home observing "Buy Nothing Day," however, (an event that really cracks me up, since I often observe Buy Nothing Day, and it's often involuntary) consider instead a holiday for the new millenium: Buy Local Day.
For every $1.00 spent at a local store, $.68 stays in your local community, in comparison to 43 cents on the dollar spent at large chain retailers, according to the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics. Right now, many small store owners are really suffering economically. If you choose to spend a little holiday shopping money at a local retail store, your money will likely go straight to the family that owns it, to brighten their own holiday season.
This weekend, a group called "Smash Tacoma I.C.E." plans to "shut down" downtown Tacoma.
Here's some language from their press release on Portland Indymedia:
"There will be a designated green zone at S. 17th and Pacific on the corner and in the grassy park across from the art museum. In this area only 100% LEGAL forms of protest will be taking place! Bring puppets, musical instruments, signs, banners, creativity and passion. The rest of down town will be open to diverse and creative tactics!"
This past Monday we took our kids to see "Fantastic Four, the Rise of the Silver Surfer" at a discount movie theater. There's a lot wrong with this movie, from the awful, barely coherent plot to the inexcusable stereotypical music that plays and 19th Century "native" dress every person outside of the United States and the UK is wearing whenever the superheroes find themselves in another part of the globe. There are a lot of reasons why this flick is a stinker, but one in particular rattled around in my head while sitting through it.
"Susan Storm," The Invisible Woman, powerful superhero in her own right and (judging from her glasses and presence in the lab) scientist of some sort(?) spends the entire first half of the movie obsessed with her one Great Life Goal: Marrying Mr. Fantastic. Not just marrying him, but making sure their wedding happens on time and on location, regardless of (literally) whether or not the entire planet is about to be eliminated by some energy-sucking organism from outer space.
