How many licks does it take…
does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
The world may never know!
Category Archives: what do you think?
mugging for the mamarazzi
Daniel is always willing to mug for the camera which makes it so much fun for me to take pictures. His sisters aren’t so much the willing subjects which I get now that they are older…their hair, their makeup or lack there of…
OMG, MOM! Don’t take a picture of me now, like this!
I love taking pictures. I take a lot of pictures. Sometimes I manage to take a pretty good picture. Rarely I get lucky with a really GREAT picture. Which I guess, according to Dictionary.com‘s definition, would make me a photographer:
a person who takes photographs, esp. one who practices photography professionally.
But some might quibble over my referring to myself as that. Okay, some might actually get all hyped up and just a little pissed over who may call themselves a photographer and refer to the pictures they take as their photography.
Really.
I found myself in such a discussion just last night. Of course when I pointed out the definition of “photographer” I suddenly was one…me, with my semi-professional camera. And my massive collection of photographs is actually considered to be photography.
Imagine that?!
So what do you think? Are the terms “photographer” and “photography” exclusive to professional photographers?
I don’t believe so. By definition (again) it is an art, a practice and even, for some, an occupation of taking photographs. I have not hung out a shingle, nor do I make a living from my photographs…even if I have been paid on very rare occasions but I still see myself as a photographer. Okay, maybe not a great photographer, but still I am a photographer as I practice this art form, this hobby of mine everyday.Yet when I take a giant step back I see that I am so much more, much, much more than just that…woman, daughter, friend, lover, wife, mother, grandmother, future mother-in-law, nurse, writer, runner, musician, slacker, dreamer, whiner, thinker…They are all parts, just parts of the whole, big package that is me.
it’s about that blog
I just came home from a weekend-long dance competition for my dancing darling daughter #4. Of course Jodie rocked it bringing home more golden trophies. But I’m not thinking about her dancing awesome-ness as I write this. I am thinking about this blog, this blog of mine. Yet I can’t help but find myself humming along to Prince’s “It’s About That Walk” because it would seem that there is an unspoken code that at least four or more dance studios will have a dance choreographed to that song at any given dance competition. This weekend I lost count after the sixth dance done to that song…so it’s about that blog.
You’re welcome for the ear worm!
A friend of mine this weekend made a comment to me that perhaps I could show her how to make six figures blogging.
Um, sure.
Actually I can’t. For the record, I. Do. Not. Make. Money. Blogging. I don’t. I never have. In the five years of blogging I have received a few books, tickets to the circus (once) and tickets to an ice show (once). There are no ads on my blog the generate revenue for me. There is no corporation underwriting my blogging about life with teenagers, an adult child planning a wedding on a shoestring, an incredibly gorgeous grandchild, an amazing son who manages to steal everyone’s heart with just a wink and a smile or any other thing going on in my life here under the Big Top. A local newspaper occasionally picks up my writing from here and a local moms’ forum but there is no money making from that. I am very fortunate to now be writing for SV Moms Group‘s 50-Something Moms Blog too…again, not making any money. Sorry, but no, I am not making my riches writing about my perceived rich life. I write here for the sake of writing and I write what I want to write here. It’s a love I had as a child that I re-discovered through blogging. I’m just fortunate, VERY fortunate that so many find what I have to write about so interesting…or perhaps not-so-interesting but rather something to mock. Nevertheless, I write Adventures In Juggling first and foremost for me.
An article appeared in Friday’s New York Times Fashion and Style that seems to perpetuate many of the misconceptions people have about women who happen to be mothers who happen to blog. On the surface it would seem that “mommy bloggers” are in it in order to rake in the six figures and all the perks that come with creating their own brand which is why they would attend something like Bloggy Boot Camp. It’s all about the monetizing baby…at least that is what Jennifer Mendelsohn, herself a “mommy blogger” would suggest because we all seek to have the kind of blog that will generate 28,549 page views of our tutu-making prowess that you too can learn. Ms Mendelsohn did make some good, rare points but I’m afraid much of her article was cloaked in her own self-loathing as a mommy blogger and gross assumptions that were off the mark. Having had the good fortune to meet Tiffany Romero at another blogging event, SITScation, that was also her “brainchild”, I would have to say that there is so much more to events like these; and, sorry, but part of it is the enthusiasm, excitement and warmth that Tiffany brings.
The mommy bloggers who do make the six figures are a rare breed. The mommy bloggers who do monetize their blogs mostly make enough to feed their latte habit, pay for their domain or cover the groceries. Given that there are a helluva lot more families barely living paycheck to paycheck these days what is so wrong with a resourceful mom adding to the family income? How is that any different than the moms who sold Tupperware when I was a kid? Oh wait, Mendelsohn put them down too.
Moms are so much more than the sum of their parts whether they blog or don’t blog, work outside of the home or not, get their whites whiter or just toss them and buy some more gym socks and underwear at Target. It’s long overdue that we recognize this rather than look for any angle to put down and poke fun at those who are mothers. Mothers are bright, articulate, creative, resourceful, industrious, talented and much, much, much more. We are all unique, amazing individuals just like our amazing children are.
when we see their shadow it really only means six more years of childhood
There has been much ballyhooing in the mommysphere about the new Dora all grown up. Based on just a shadow many fretted and worried that her pre-teen shadow was just too sexy. The wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth has gone on as parents stressed that letting a cartoon character and toy grow up a little just might be a slippery slope for our children into sex, drugs and teen pregnancy. Of course we as parents should be paying attention to what influences our children but could we have gone a little overboard on this? Then Mattel and Nickelodeon bowed to the uproar and released the image of the tween-age Dora.
Is she sexed up? Is she really trampy?
Perhaps it is because I am the mother of teenaged and tweenaged girls but all I see is a cute cartoon rendering. I see nothing sexy nor am I worried that Dora growing up a little bit is really going to lead to the downfall of my tweenaged daughter. After all, I am a bigger influence in her life than Dora the Explorer is or was back in the day ten years ago when Jodie was one of her biggest fans.
Like Jodie said when she checked out the older Dora, “Well you know we can’t be preschoolers forever, Mom!”
:::sigh::: out of the mouths of babes…
civility
On today’s Oprah Show (yes, I know, it was Oprah…don’t judge me, I had a headache and I can’t take anything since I am having surgery in less than 12 hours. Anyway, on today’s Oprah, the subject was just how rude are we.
Part of the show the audience was invited to take the following quiz. Well, how did you score?
1. Are you chronically late?
Yes
No2. Have you ever typed an e-mail while talking on the phone?
Yes
No3. Have you ever interrupted a face-to-face conversation to take a non-urgent cell phone call?
Yes
No4. Have you gone through a supermarket 10-item express lane with more than 10 items?
Yes
No5. While among friends or co-workers, have you yawned without covering your mouth?
Yes
No6. Have you ever texted or talked on a cell phone in a movie theater?
Yes
No7. Have you let your dog relieve himself on your neighbor’s lawn?
Yes
No8. Have you ever cut in front of someone in line?
Yes
No9. Have you ever stolen someone’s parking spot?
Yes
No10. Have you ever let your child kick the back of the seat in front of him and not apologized to his victim?
Yes
No11. Have you ever not RSVP’d to an event by the date requested?
Yes
No12. Have you ever gossiped?
Yes
No13. Have you ever taken someone else’s food or drink from the office refrigerator?
Yes
No
I will admit that I answered yes to only two of the above questions: #12 yes, I have gossiped. I’m not super proud of that but I will admit it is a fault of mine. # 2 I also answered yes but I will add that I only did this maybe two or three times. Honestly, I am just not that talented. I can scarcely walk and chew gum at the same time so what makes me think I can balnace a phone on my shoulder, two-finger type and email and carry on a thoughtful conversation. The few who had to be on the other end of the phone during my feeble attempts will tell you that I have no business doing that whatsoever!
So here we are, living in what has become a rude society; a society that seems to have no need for civility.Of course, because it is all about “me” we are rather annoyed that we must live and dwell with such rude people around us. But perhaps we are just as rude as the guy next to us. The rationalizations of a number of the audience members pretty much prove this.
It’s okay to be chronically late if one has several children? …Um, no. My five children chimed that answer.
It’s okay to cut in line or take a parking space from someone who was waiting for it. All you have to do is pretend like you didn’t see them…REALLY?
Interrupting a face to face conversation for a NON-EMERGENCY cell phone call is okay if it is a certain person…Well, the young lady did say if it was her mother so, maybe.
We certainly don’t intend to be mean. We just are asserting ourselves. What’s wrong with that?…especially when we are asserting ourselves with people in service jobs.
And does anyone REALLY count how many items you have in the express lane? I mean, really!
It’s easy to behave this way and state with certainty that one is not a rude person, easy because we do not inhabit a civil society but a society that is entitled. Every person who defended their rude behavior on the show had an air of “I’m entitled, I’m justified” to behave badly.
With the national election less than three weeks away, it is clear to me that this is one of the most divisive and rudest election seasons that I can ever remember. Regardless of the political party affiliation, candidates, supporters, pundits and the average voter alike seem hell-bent on tearing down anyone who does not see their point of view. Even a voter’s right to freedom of expression by simply placing a campaign sign in their lawn could subject one to the destruction of their own property. So this is all okay? Really?
So where does rudeness by way of entitlement end and when does civility, kindness and just plain old good manners begin?
And how rude are you?
