See! I still exist. After nearly 3 weeks (or has it been 3 weeks?) off the grid, I am finally trying to jump back into the world that exists in this computer. In fact, I am guessing that I will finally get in the groove just in time to head off to BlogHer in San Francisco next week. So what kept me offline for so long? Well, I was chillin at the beach. Thinking I would have no trouble getting hooked up and online, I never mentioned that I would be leaving. Turns out, getting on and being able to work and chat and check email and such was not the easy time I thought it would be. Yet being offline for so long was just what I needed. I know I owe way too many people way too many responses, email, posts etc. Now that I am home, hooked up and able to connect with the outside world, I will do my best to catch up. Really. (Did you notice the “do my best” part? Yeah, still out of my groove.)
But I am sure you understand can I understand why.
While you were getting ready for work, I was doing this:
And for most of the day when I would normally be home doing chores or trying to keep the kids busy, I was hanging out here:
And then as the late afternoon hit, I did a little bit of this:
And as the day drew to a close, I sat in amazement watching this:
Is it any wonder why it is tough to get back into the groove?
Next up: Taking on the jellies, BlogHer stuff and a way too late post about a book I was totally supposed to post about ages ago. For now, a nap. This blogging stuff is tough to get back into. I need my beach back.
Okay, after years of going without, I am giving in to temptation. Throwing caution and my better judgment to the wind, I am going to start rolling again. Blog rolling. Dude! What did you think?
So, if you think you should be on my blog roll, let me know. I am hopefully adding to it this week. Let me know why you want to be on it. You know reason like:
You want people other than your mom to read.
You have something on me and I better add you or you will release it to the world at large.
You need validation and I am just the blog to give it to you.
Because? Why not, beyotch?
You know I read you. I may even comment so why the hell are you not already being linked?
You have been removed from another blog roll for some dumb ass reason and are looking to not screw up your whole Technorati ranking so I need to make up the loss by adding you.
Your sister’s friend’s cousin’s hairdresser’s mailman’s next door neighbor’s aunt dates this dude who once read your blog and said it kicked ass so you should for sure be on the list!
You once commented and so there! Add you! Now!
You have anger issues and that in and of itself should scare me into adding you.
You deserve it because you know what movie this line came from: “You’re a neo maxi zoom dweebie, what would you be doing if you weren’t out making yourself a better citizen?”
Because you are about to kick my ass for trying to get anyone to jump through hoops.
That about covers why I add people to my blog roll. Oh, and of course because I read you and think other people should, too. But is that really a good enough reason? This is 2008 baby. Justification is the name of the game. Good writing will only get you so far. Inane bullshit carries you the rest of the way.
[Update to screech:] Seriously? Not ONE of you know where that movie line came from?! Are none of you teens of the 80’s. First person to tell me gets top billing in the blogroll. I am so saddened that no one knows where neo maxi zoom dweebie came from.
A Bloggess gets Kawasakied. We Digg a Queen. And Mommybloggers take back their title and add Hussein.
March 1, 2008
As you may or may not know, I post regularly on BlogHer. This post has received a lot of attention from other mom bloggers, so I wanted to share it here seeing as I know not all of you read BlogHer. I know…cross posting can be lame. Sue me. Well, don’t really. I just wanted to share how far we have come, baby.
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It has been one of those weeks. A week that slams you against a wall. Needless to say, I fell behind in my blog reading. What is an editor to do? Why she just hops onto Twitter to find the latest buzz. And, oh, there has been buzz!
Take for instance the newest addition to the Urban Dictionary. When Jenny of The Bloggess found her group blog Mama Drama on Alltop.com, she emailed Guy Kawasaki (the creator of the list) to thank him. From there, the hilarity ensued. In a must read exchange between Guy and Jenny, she found herself the topic of a Tweet.
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And then Guy twittered about me, which is like winning an Oscar for best design of a battery-operated series of fog machines. Totally amazing and kind of embarrassing all at the same time. Also? Nothing to sneer at make hay about.
Anyway, I’d just like to thank Mr. Kawasaki for being the one of the first genuinely nice celebrities to not make me feel like a total douchebag and I plan on sending a copy of this to Ken Hoffman who could certainly take a lesson from Guy and needs to realize that just acknowledging a fan letter won’t mean that I’ll get all delusional and suddenly be convinced that we’re now ”best friends forever” and show up at your house on holidays. It’s too late now, Ken, but it would have meant a lot to me way back when I was just some random chick to you. Back when I wasn’t engaged to Guy Kawasaki.
It was from this Tweet and the subsequent emails passed back and forth that Jenny coined the phrase being “Kawasakied.” Now, according to Urban Dictionary that means:
To have your blog linked to or acknowledged by someone famous like Guy Kawasaki who totally kicks ass, but if you told your mom about it she’d be like “Huh? What’s a blog? Hey, is that the guy who invented the motorcycle?”
“Dude. My blog got totally Kawasakied today!”
On a totally different note, the power of a mom blogger and her opinions was clearly observed when political post Erin of Queen of Spain Blog wrote a very compelling and thought provoking article about the upcoming Democratic Nomination and Hillary Clinton. As word of her post got out, people flocked to it and she found it on the front page of Digg. (And the topic of many discussions around the net and a massive amount of tweets on Twitter.) In fact, it wasn’t until much later that mainstream media caught up and you began to read in newspapers the same idea that Erin had already shared with the world.
What? A mom blogger who has a brain, political opinions and dares to share them with the world? She rocked the socks off of many people. People well beyond those who are considered the typical mom blog audience. Erin is not one to shy away from her opinion. Few of us who are in the mom blog category do. We are proving to not only our own community that supports us but to the tech and new media world as a whole that we are voices that should not only be listened to, but respected.
Power to the Mom Blogger who dares to speak out!
While we are on the topic of respect, I have to mention a great conversation that took place today. The question was asked:
“Tell me, is ‘Mommyblogger’ still a negative term in the Social Media space? Has it changed? Do you still look down? Be truthful.”
I always felt the mommy-blogger label was too confining, and I shook it completely a year ago when I started a new blog… much of that was because of reaction from others that made mommy-blogging feel second tier- looking back I should have ignored.
For many of us, we remember the time when the very term or idea of mommybloggers was dismissed, shunned and looked down upon. The very first BlogHer conference had a session on mommyblogging that was a “room of our own” and was expected to bring in few people. It was standing room only. Back then, one of the main focuses of the discussion was whether or not the term mommyblogger was derogatory. Today, as I followed the discussion on Twitter, I saw many responses that were along these lines:
I never thought “mommyblogger” was other than a statement of heroic survival ability!
Not everyone was loving the term or category. Lone Sophist stated:
I think that women who are mothers and blog are more than mommybloggers, that’s why I don’t like that “category.”
The point is this. Just a few years ago we were in a small room and felt like second tier bloggers. Today, we are much sought after by marketers, talk shows and magazines. We’ve come a long way, baby.
Mom bloggers are so much more than diapers and potty training. We are taking on issues that are changing the world and the way people view it. For instance, take todays awesome “Just Call Me Hussein” smackdown over at Momocrats.
Why all the fuss? Some ig’nant fools apparently think it’s helpful to their cause to liken Barack Obama to a “terrorist” because his middle name is “Hussein.” And we ain’t havin’ none of that. Why? Because “bitch is the new black,” and we? Are bitches.
We’ve decided to extend the reach of this important blog action by making “Just Call Me Hussein” a meme. If you are reading this and haven’t posted, consider yourself tagged. All you have to do is post your “Hussein name” in the title of your blog and share a story about how someone tried to make you feel bad about your name.
When you post—whenever you post—be sure to link us so we can find you. Now, go! Spread that meme far and wide, sistahs (and brahs)! Bitches get shit done!
Most excellent way to take a situation and make people not only think, but write about it. You see? It extends beyond their blog. Beyond any of our blogs when we get right down to it. At last check, there were thirty-three posts (and still counting) that sprang from one entry on one blog written by moms.
It’s been a long road and sadly there has been some road-kill along the way, but mommybloggers–the term, the bloggers and the power behind them both– are a powerful force in new media.
Me? I am proud to have been on that first panel, that first year as we wondered where we would go from there. I would say mommybloggers are kicking ass and taking names. Count on it. And, yes, you can quote me on that.
Guy Kawasaki said I am Tops. (Okay he said a lot of others are, too but this is my blog.)
February 26, 2008
Back in 2006 when Guy Kawasaki listed his Ultimate Mommy Blog List and I found both Mommy Needs Coffee and Mommybloggers on it, I was overjoyed. I think my response was “Holy crap! Guy Kawasaki reads (or fakes reading) Mommy Blogs!” It was a momentous occasaion. So much so that I do believe that when I met him at BlogHer I threw myself at his feet and offered to have his Internet baby. (Really, Guy, that wasn’t me but my evil–and way too forward– alter ego.) Since then, I have stalked admired Guy and everything he does. Well, online at least because he is in California and I am in Texas. The airfare to personally stalk admire him would be too much for my measly ad revenue dollars to handle. But I would if I could. And if the law allowed that kind of thing.
Now Guy has a new brain child. (Not to be confused with the Internet Baby I offered.) Alltop.com This is a website aggregating “all the top sites on the web.” Moms included. And? Both Mommy Needs Coffee and Mommybloggers made this list as well. And the other bloggers on that list? They rock. So, I am honored he added my two baby blogs. (I can so be humble. I am good at that. Wait. Does that negate the previous comment?)
I am assuming he has since forgotten the whole “throwing myself at his feet and declaring all loyalty to the man who is Guy Kawasaki.” I am pondering making a badge declaring my “Guy Says I Have One of The Top Sites on the Web” status. No, not a badge for my blog, but for me to wear with my ultra-hip Mom Uniform. (Men dig women who wear badges. Or at least they did when I was a Girl Scout before that unfortunate getting kicked out of Scouts due to excessive talking incident of the mid-70’s.)
Of course, to be fair he added other categories, too. You know, to cover up his love and devotion reserved for the mom blogger. I have found many new and amazing sites just going there and reading who he has chosen. In fact, I may just start a few new blogs to see if he will add those, too. Or not.
The point is, you too can stalk admire Guy and his way cool Alltop.com site. Go. Now. Find new blogs. (But come back. I need all 6 of my readers to come back and make me feel all important and stuff. Guy can’t carry that load alone. And? I probably scare him a little.)
I have had an email stalking relationship with her since I found her video online and I can honestly tell you, she is one of the kindest women I have met online. And I have been doing this for years. In fact, we are currently in negotiations for the status of BFF and have agreed to hammer out details over a cup of coffee–time and location permitting.
But, while you are here, feel free to peruse the blog and the archives. It’s not like I am impressed you are here from the NYT Magazine or anything (yes I am) or want you to stay (yes I do) but more importantly, I want you to feel welcome. (But, really? Use a coaster because getting those water rings out of a blog is tough!)
I first saw this on Karen’s blog, Karen Sugarpants, who credited Avitable for the idea where of course I followed many links to other people who grabbed this one and ran with it.
They both wrote a post of ten things they wish they could say (or should say) to people.It was harder than I thought it would be because I am one to actually say what I think to the people around me. (For better or for worse.)
What do you wish you could say to someone? Here are mine:
1. Did you really think your words would not get back to me? I was madder than hell to find out that you were behind the insanity, but I forgive you because I realize it all worked out for the best. Now? Now I am just sad for you.
2. I wish I could understand why you did the things you did to me. I tried so hard not to be resentful or bitter towards you because that hurts me more than you, but I am still struggling with that. You hurt me down to the soul. Do you have any idea how much you hurt me? Do you even care?
3. You are a wonderful, talented person who offers the people around you so much. I wish you could love yourself as much as you are loved. You would be so much happier.
4. I will never understand why you take the people who support you and do your best to destroy them. They support you. They are not trying to compete with you. Can’t you do the same in return?
5. I have always thought you were too good for me. I still do.
6. I miss your friendship. We laughed, cried and shared so much in such a short time but you always make me smile. We haven’t talked in ages. I wouldn’t even know how to reach out to you at this point, but know that I wish you well. And would love to talk to you again.
7. I’m sorry. Really sorry.
8. Stand up for yourself. You have so much to offer but you just don’t let people see the real you. I like the real you. I wish you did.
9. You have been a blessing in my life. Do you know that? I really hope you know that.
10. If you had to live through some of the things I have lived through, you might not be so quick to judge me. Just think about that the next time you dismiss someone’s happiness as fake. Maybe that person has just learned to love life– in spite of it.
Your turn. What would you say if you could– or should– say it.
Seriously? Being a gamer and loving Wanda Sykes, this cracked me up. (Wait for the end. I am going to have to start using that phrase when I get my butt kicked on WoW.)
Oh! Oh! And this one! I am all about finding my happy/safe/relaxed place…no matter how long it takes. (And with some of the people in my life? It takes a while!)
Shake it out! Shake it out! Shake it out! HA! (How did she know that I do that about eleventy hundred times a day? Weird that she nailed it like that. Now go ahead. Try to get that image out of your head of me doing that all day long.)
Okay, just go to Declare Yourself and find the ones you like. Remember. You have the right to vote. Use it.
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