Watch Out - Mommy Bloggers Coming Through!

According to a guest post on ProBlogger written by Michelle Mitchell from Scribbit, mommy blogs are the next big thing. As my mother would say (and now me from time to time), "From her mouth to God's ears."

She bases her article, "Five Reasons Why Mom Blogs are the Blogs to Watch" on the uber-successful mom blogger, Dooce, and how that piece raised awareness of our viable, potential for money-making community. Moms listen to other moms about what to buy, where to send their kids to school and play, and the newest, hottest trends. To date mom bloggers are an untapped resource for advertisers. Hopefully not for long.

But keep in mind the valuable message written by Lindsay Ferrier in Surburban Turmoil a few weeks ago: Remember why you're writing the blog in the first place and don't let marketing and money get in the way of your original purpose.

Thanks, Michelle, for shining the light on our "little" community. Respect for mommy bloggers everywhere!

Where Has All The Real News Gone?

I wish news would go back to being, well, news.

I used to love watching the TODAY show for my morning info download but 6 months ago I stopped. I miss Matt Lauer's company with my morning tea and oatmeal but if I don't catch the 7-8am hour, I'm shit out of luck in hearing any actual news. I have to sit through three hours of lifestyle, fashion, and pop culture fluff for a total of less than five minutes of hard news. Yes, I know the show's ratings are soaring but they've lost me as a viewer - so there!

I now "look" to radio and papers for my news. I especially like public radio. They don't answer to advertisers therefore can actually report real news: politics, war, the economy - go figure.

I bring this up because you can't make a move today without seeing or reading commentary on the Miley Cyrus photo shoot. Yes, I spoke about it yesterday but ONLY in the interest of showing everyone how we are being played by the press!

I guess it's a slow news day aside from tornadoes in Virginia, a 73 year old father keeping his daughter as a sex slave, and 31 polygamist sect teenagers pregnant with older men's children (now that's where growing up in prim and proper cultures gets ya!), the world is pretty much same ol', same ol': gas prices keep going up, home prices keep going down, and the President still speaks and says nothing. So it makes sense that the media take the Cyrus photo and blow it all out of proportion. They need us! Each one of us they reel in means more do-re-mi from advertisers which means they get to keep their jobs (and if you're listening to the economic news you know that's no easy feat).

So, let's chalk this Vanity Fair photo shoot off to a case of parental poor judgment and LET IT GO! Don't assume the worst, that it was a manipulation to get more publicity - what the hell does 'almost a billionaire' Miley Cyrus need more publicity for? You loved her two days ago, now she's a money-grubbing bitch? Please. She's growing up, her audience is growing up, she and her family are just trying to figure out how to keep up.

Let's stop giving all this media created nonsense so much attention - there's real news going on out there. Pay attention to it, stop listening to and reading all the gossip. Maybe then there'll be less of this inanity to suck up our precious time.

A person can hope, no?

Miley Cyrus "Topless" Photos: Media Manipulation and Puritanical Frenzy

Puh-leeeze! I know I will get backlash for my opinion but have you seen the Vanity Fair photo that the media has labelled "topless"? Get real! I've seen more skin on 5 year olds at the neighborhood swimming pool! The media has sold us a bill of goods and now all of us lemmings are up in arms.

Have we learned nothing? Go back as far as fairy tales like Snow White and Rapunzel (and countless others) where teenage girls are shut away or "killed" because of their burgeoning sexuality. Read "Raising Ophelia" or "Queen Bees" to see modern day examples of parents in fear of their daughter's sexual maturation. It is a difficult time to be sure, but there is nothing any parent can do to stop it short of parenting them the best that we can.

Lin Burress who writes a great blog entitled, Tellin' It Like It Is, believes these photographs taken by Annie Liebowitz are offensive and illustrate the decline of parental moral values. A rash of vitriol broke out amongst her commenters arguing over whether or not our children are going to hell in an overstuffed Bratz-filled hand basket.

In Lin's defense, I do agree we have a huge problem with the premature sexualization of our children as she reports so well in this post; but I do not believe the VF photos are a symptom, a cause, or in any way relevant to that argument.

I don't think it was the best image choice for today's teenage "IT" girl but I think it was purely that - a matter of choice. Miley Cyrus is, at this point, one of the only if not THE only teen idols not yet besmirched by drugs, alcohol, late-night partying, sex, and teen pregnancy. Do we really think this merits the same lambasting as Paris, Lindsay, and Britney? At this rate, we'll never find a true teenage idol- idol should not mean idealized. No true teenager could stand up to that standard - we do not live in the age of Sandra Dee and Gidget.

Give the girl a break. Do you think it's easy living your young life in the spotlight? It's destroyed many before her. So she's got boyfriends, many girls her age do, they just don't have cameras and reporters following their every move. Can you imagine? Have you been to a high school campus lately? And if you think that supports the argument against Miley's photos just think back to your own high school days of make-out sessions, midriffs, short shorts and god knows what else you were doing that you didn't want your parents knowing about. A bare back is not the reason so many of our kids are screwed up.

Miley's got talent and moxie (yes, I said moxie) which sets her apart and is the reason for her success. She lives in a fast world where sex, drugs and money are the norm. She is rushed each day by corporations and individuals wanting something from her be it an autograph or a bite-sized piece of the Hannah Montana pie. Disney does an amazing job in this fast-paced, global culture of appealing to our hip kids while helping us keep our children children for as long as possible. I think we need to give them and the Cyrus family a bit more credit.

Maintaining innocence is not an easy job these days, apart from this bit of poor judgment, they're doing it better than anyone. As a parent who has reluctantly watched almost every episode of Hannah Montana, not to mention the Suite Life of Zack and Cody and others, I am thrilled that my children prefer Disney Channel to Nickelodean where shows like Drake and Josh endlessly portray kids in search of make out time and in one episode actually used the word scumbag twice. (That brought the show to a close in my house.) Where were the critics for Full House or other "sweet, family" shows from the '80s? This iconic show of a loving family teaching loving, family life lessons has in it more kissing and sexual innuendo than any episode of Hannah Montana I've seen to date.

I don't love that my kid's idol has been seen flashing her bare back and tummy but who is the audience for Vanity Fair (she's NOT on the cover!) and YouTube? If you let your kids read or watch either of these they can find something way more offensive than this. Sure, now I'll have to have a conversation with my kids about these photos because they're "out there" but I had a much harder time talking to them about Jamie Lynn's pregnancy and Britney's maternal wake of destruction.

Mistake? Poor choice of Miley's? Yes. Debacle. End of childhood as we know it? Definitely Not.

The First Amendment is here to stay people. We must deal with these issues in the home. It's our responsibility as parents to supervise what they have access to and to explain the world as it is to our children not shelter them from it. It's a universal culture out there, countries and cultures that existed for us in textbooks and pictures are real and accessible to our children through the internet. Teach your children how to handle all the information that's thrust at them, embrace the technological revolution and all the messy stuff that comes with it.

You have no choice - your kids are going there with or without you.

How Long Will You Live?

A friend sent me this test on life expectancy and health from yesterday's NYT. I don't think it's a completely accurate assessment just by virtue of the minimum information it requires but it's interesting nonetheless.

I'll share mine if you share yours...

Here's the link,
if you dare...


Technorati Profile

Celebrity Sighting: Life Threw Me a Bone

Living in Los Angeles, a celebrity sighting is nothing novel. Most of the time I'm not interested, (except for the time I saw Larry David at the local farmer's market - now that was exciting!).

Yesterday, in my little town, I saw Jamie Lee Curtis, recently made famous by her AARP photo spread and Kristin Wiig's impression of her speed-eating ACTIVIA yogurt. I struggled with not wanting to be another fawning fan. Should I, shouldn't I? The pull was strong.

You see to me, JLC, is not just another beautiful, talented, Hollywood actress, wife of quirky, humorous director, Chris Guest, daughter of two iconic film stars; she's a successful writer whose children's books I've loved for years. In fact, what makes me feel even more of a connection to her (albeit unrequited) is that once upon a time we shared the same idea for a book. Before hers was published I spent months working on my approach but couldn't make it work. She birthed the idea one afternoon and wrote the damn story that same inspiration-fueled night. It's entitled, WHERE DO BALLOONS GO?, and because I had struggled so, when I read it, I appreciated what a phenomenal writer she is. She manages to talk to kids about important age-appropriate issues in a light-hearted and respectful manner. I enjoyed her books just as much as my kids.

This sighting was cool but what made it even cooler was that she asked me about my writing and took the time to give me advice about where to submit my short stories. It's funny. Maybe all this talk about mid-life assessments and reaching for your dreams opened me up to the opportunity to find inspiration from someone I admire. I don't think I would have had the courage to call myself a writer before and most likely would not have approached her. Life is funny that way, it's constantly throwing you bones but until you're hungry enough you don't take notice.

Here are links to Jamie Lee's books. If you're a parent of a young child and you haven't read her books, you must. The illustrations by Laura Cornell are wacky, unique and excellent as well.

Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery
Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day
Big Words for Little People
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
Is There Really a Human Race?
When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth
I'm Gonna Like Me : Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem
It's Hard to Be Five : Learning How to Work My Control Panel

Taking the Leap - Into the Second Half

I looked around the flower covered table at my "mommy" friends and I felt lucky. I have good friends, good family, and a good life yet there's something missing...

me.

I spent much of today at a friend's 50th birthday party: a beautiful luncheon in a gorgeous Beverly Hills hotel. Twenty-five or so women, most if not all moms, dressed up, put on make up, scented ourselves with perfume and, if only for a few hours, were true ladies who lunch. Excited to be in an elegant setting on a beautiful Spring day with wine and hors d'oeuvres served to us by others we acted like giddy schoolgirls.

We talked about what it means to be 50 and hitting the second half of our lives. We laughed and cried while reminiscing about our past escapades and professing our love for each other despite the fact that we get little face time. We vowed to return each other's phone calls and emails more often, to make more plans for group dinners, to be better friends.

With the recent news about lower life expectancy for women, I'd already been thinking about this phase of my life; how I want to spend it and with whom. I realize the news focused on obese women and women in general poor health (of which I am neither) but after watching a 35 year old non-smoking friend suffer through two battles with lung cancer one can never be too certain.

While walking this morning it suddenly hit me that I've probably spent more days on this earth than I have left. Sure that's true of other mid-lifers, but me? Beyond it's morbid nature, the equation frightened me. If I were to consider my life's journey like climbing Mount Everest it's as if I was heading downhill before ever coming close to the summit. I wondered, do I have enough time left? The question packed a stunning punch. It took only seconds to calculate how many years I'd spent dreaming my dreams, talking about them, putting them on the back burner to foster those of others. Or is all that just an excuse and is fear of failure worth dying without making it to the peak of my Mount Everest?

I'm hoping I can use this epiphany to kick my butt into writing, not just blog writing, but writing others will want to publish. In other ways I've prepped for the second half of my life: I've cleaned my house of toxic people, I know what makes me happy and speak up when something doesn't, I've developed the confidence to own up to my failings without slinking off into a dark corner to beat myself mercilessly.

Now if I could only get this other part right...

Cindy McCain - Our Next First Lady?!?!

Cindy McCain, potential first lady of this great nation gets her shot on The View to defend "recipegate" and what does she do? She throws an intern under the bus. I paraphrase, "I just don't know how it got there...but whatever". She jokes about putting accused intern into Betty Crocker boot camp and uses the plagiarism scandal to plug a book she will write about the ups and downs of political life.

Huh? Did I miss something?

Watch the video

Between she and Elizabeth H., at least the Republicans got good hair...