Talk about a niche market.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
What Goes In...
Must come out! Dogfish Brewing Co. has a new beer; Golden Showers Pilsner.
Talk about a niche market.
Talk about a niche market.
I'm a Zen Mommy!
At least for now. I took this quiz on areyouaslackermom.com and thankfully nothing exploded on my computer. I never take online quizzes because I'm always paranoid it will expose me to every spam device out there. This one was pretty harmless though.
LOTD
I wasn't planning on learning guitar, but since I was talking to a friend the other day about the sad fact that I'm 36 and can't read music, despite piano, guitar and banjo lessons, this is a pretty good thing to check out.
How the other half lives
I found this via Kottke.org. It's a really amazing article about a woman who tries to go undercover as a man for a month and learns what it's like. The weirdest factoid is that men don't make eye contact with each other in public.
Personally, I've always noticed how men who go to the movies with each other don't sit next to each other if they're straight.
Personally, I've always noticed how men who go to the movies with each other don't sit next to each other if they're straight.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Dishing the Digital Dirt
I read a few lines of this and then looked for my name on Google. Under my married name, the first entry is some kind of Scientolgist score card. What a relief when I saw what comes up under my maiden name.
Just a thought...
This just popped into my brain. If you have any input, let me know...
The link above takes you to an article that talks about why people are moving out of Massachusetts in droves. A lot of the people who contribute have the opinion that the economy here is "piss poor". Okay. I did a search once on Craig's List for web design jobs in the South Carolina area. My mother had told me that my grandparents' huge, southern colonial with full garage, basement and front and back yard was on sale for $150,000 asking price and it hadn't sold yet so the price might come down. Guess what? NO JOBS. Go look on Craig's List New England. JOBS GALORE.
So,
If you take into account the fact that test scores have plummeted in Massachusetts, people are complaining more and more about lazy undisciplined parents and their spoiled kids, maybe the key to the whole mystery is the fact that the level of education in Mass. has seriously declined over the past few decades. Bad education=bad employment potential. Bad employment potential=bad jobs. Bad jobs=bad pay. Bad pay=not being able to afford a house in Massachusetts anymore. Has this state managed to shortchange its taxpayers so badly in the education department that they can't afford to stay here and keep paying more and more property taxes, therefore, forcing them to leave and further depopulate the tax paying pool?
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
The link above takes you to an article that talks about why people are moving out of Massachusetts in droves. A lot of the people who contribute have the opinion that the economy here is "piss poor". Okay. I did a search once on Craig's List for web design jobs in the South Carolina area. My mother had told me that my grandparents' huge, southern colonial with full garage, basement and front and back yard was on sale for $150,000 asking price and it hadn't sold yet so the price might come down. Guess what? NO JOBS. Go look on Craig's List New England. JOBS GALORE.
So,
If you take into account the fact that test scores have plummeted in Massachusetts, people are complaining more and more about lazy undisciplined parents and their spoiled kids, maybe the key to the whole mystery is the fact that the level of education in Mass. has seriously declined over the past few decades. Bad education=bad employment potential. Bad employment potential=bad jobs. Bad jobs=bad pay. Bad pay=not being able to afford a house in Massachusetts anymore. Has this state managed to shortchange its taxpayers so badly in the education department that they can't afford to stay here and keep paying more and more property taxes, therefore, forcing them to leave and further depopulate the tax paying pool?
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
LOTD
This guy gets an "E" for enthusiasm.
I checked, it is a guy.
Who gets really excited about stewardess uniforms.
I checked, it is a guy.
Who gets really excited about stewardess uniforms.
101 Cookbooks
I love it when I'm randomly flicking through the web and find something that I was looking for, without actually searching for it.
Two Sides of the Coin
So I'm exactly 10 days away from having a kid and I log onto Boston.com hoping for the temporary vicarious thrill of some breaking news about about the earth opening up and swallowing an SUV (talk about poetic justice, Earth First has nothing on the actual Earth itself), and I come across an online forum about people who let their kids run rampant in public places. Not a forum for the faint of heart. Forget the war in Iraq, forget property taxes, forget immigration, if you really want to see what's going on in peoples' heads, throw out a question like "How do you feel about parents today not disciplining their children?" and step back and watch the fur fly between the breeders and the non-breeders. I didn't leave a post on the forum because there were enough people who had already expressed the same opinion, ie; You decided to have 'em, you've got to be the one who tells them to be quiet and behave.
On the other hand, there's an article on the Boston Globe's site about Augusten Burroughs' memoir, "Running With Scissors". Apparently, some people are trying to make him into the next James Frey, but his brother is backing him up and saying that not only is everything true, but he might have held back a little bit. So there you go, someone who is the product of a completely unsupervised childhood turning into a talented writer, albeit with a few stumbles along the way. (go read "Dry")
I think that's really the dilemma that a lot of parents face. On one hand, you have people who impose their will on every aspect of their child's existence. I honestly forget where I saw it, but there was an article online recently about countries in Asia where parents put their kids into boarding schools by the time they are 3. Maybe that kid will grow up to be the chairperson of Toyota, maybe they will turn out to be walking timebombs of repressed emotions.
On the other hand, you have (as people call them around here) the Cambridge Parents. "Cambridge" seems to be a code word for head-in-the-clouds knee-jerk liberalism that only works on one side of the Charles River. The theory being that if you raise children to "experience the world creatively and actively" then they will grow up to be wonderful well-adjusted adults with bucketfuls of compassion for everyone. Have I actually known people who benefitted from this approach? Maybe a couple. Most of the time when I come across the full grown results of that parenting style, they have an irritating habit of expecting the world to revolve around them. Ironically, this is the same outlook on life that most people are complaining about, but what can you expect when the Republican Party behaves the same way?
Ultimately, I think some of the best parenting advice I've ever heard came from on of the worst fictional parents in television history, Livia Soprano;
"Babies are like animals. Someone has to teach them right from wrong."
On the other hand, there's an article on the Boston Globe's site about Augusten Burroughs' memoir, "Running With Scissors". Apparently, some people are trying to make him into the next James Frey, but his brother is backing him up and saying that not only is everything true, but he might have held back a little bit. So there you go, someone who is the product of a completely unsupervised childhood turning into a talented writer, albeit with a few stumbles along the way. (go read "Dry")
I think that's really the dilemma that a lot of parents face. On one hand, you have people who impose their will on every aspect of their child's existence. I honestly forget where I saw it, but there was an article online recently about countries in Asia where parents put their kids into boarding schools by the time they are 3. Maybe that kid will grow up to be the chairperson of Toyota, maybe they will turn out to be walking timebombs of repressed emotions.
On the other hand, you have (as people call them around here) the Cambridge Parents. "Cambridge" seems to be a code word for head-in-the-clouds knee-jerk liberalism that only works on one side of the Charles River. The theory being that if you raise children to "experience the world creatively and actively" then they will grow up to be wonderful well-adjusted adults with bucketfuls of compassion for everyone. Have I actually known people who benefitted from this approach? Maybe a couple. Most of the time when I come across the full grown results of that parenting style, they have an irritating habit of expecting the world to revolve around them. Ironically, this is the same outlook on life that most people are complaining about, but what can you expect when the Republican Party behaves the same way?
Ultimately, I think some of the best parenting advice I've ever heard came from on of the worst fictional parents in television history, Livia Soprano;
"Babies are like animals. Someone has to teach them right from wrong."
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Parenting LOTD
Whether you are looking for a "stylish potty bench", (and who isn't?) or a way to stay lucid during long car trips, this is a great site. I just looked at it again and realized what's missing; tons of blinking diaper ads! It's refreshing to find a site that actually has content and is not just a glorified billboard. (babyzone.com, I'm looking at you!)
Whole Foods is Full of It
Pretty good article on the whole organic food debate. Funny, until 9:30 this morning I had no idea there was a debate. I like to stay informed but I don't like to obsess over anything (see previous entry). The article does support the theory put forth in my Dec. 22, 2005 entry though.
Thrifty mom's hint #101: You can find organic produce at Market Basket. I don't know why something grown nearby in a naturally occurring substance (cowshit) is more expensive than the overpackaged, trucked-in from two timezones away "regular" produce, but since most of the stuff you buy at Market Basket is ridiculously cheap, the price difference is negligible in the end.
Thrifty mom's hint #101: You can find organic produce at Market Basket. I don't know why something grown nearby in a naturally occurring substance (cowshit) is more expensive than the overpackaged, trucked-in from two timezones away "regular" produce, but since most of the stuff you buy at Market Basket is ridiculously cheap, the price difference is negligible in the end.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Parenting Scares Me
Man, ask a simple little question about whether you should let a baby watch television...
In the past eight months I've gone from total ignoramus about parenting issues, to info-accumulating nut, to apathetic incubator. There has to be some kind of happy medium between Lili Taylor's character Lisa on "Six Feet Under" and the moms that I watch on "Nanny 911". Basically every blog, internet article and parenting magazine will tell you that everything your precious one encounters is potentially harmful and/or fattening and you should monitor your kid every second of their existence, but don't worry! A Relaxed Mom is a Good Mom, whatever that means.
Incidentally, why is it that parenting magazines always direct everything at the mom? My husband is actually the one who suscribed to the one we get and so far I haven't seen him try a single one of the Make-Up Tips For Frazzled Moms. He's getting ripped off!
I watch television, but I don't watch whatever's on. Luckily we have HBO, so by the time Chloe's born she'll be very familiar with such quality programming as "The Sopranos" and "Real Time with Bill Maher". She'll probably even recognize Jim Lampley's and Larry Merchant's voices from "Boxing After Dark". Even though I'm only a parent in utero, I know I'm not going to be the most sheltering mother on the planet. The only objection I really have to a kid under 3 watching TV is that I have a sneaking suspicion all the quick frenetic editing and frequent shrill commercial breaks you see on channels like Nickelodeon might give a baby sensory overload and an attention span that maxes out at 30 seconds. And I know from my own childhood that it's really hard to concentrate on anything with a television on in the same room.
Check back with me in a few months after I've been dealing with a fussy baby all day. I don't want to do it, but if I get desperate enough I'll see if I can get her to sleep by letting her watch "Big Love".
In the past eight months I've gone from total ignoramus about parenting issues, to info-accumulating nut, to apathetic incubator. There has to be some kind of happy medium between Lili Taylor's character Lisa on "Six Feet Under" and the moms that I watch on "Nanny 911". Basically every blog, internet article and parenting magazine will tell you that everything your precious one encounters is potentially harmful and/or fattening and you should monitor your kid every second of their existence, but don't worry! A Relaxed Mom is a Good Mom, whatever that means.
Incidentally, why is it that parenting magazines always direct everything at the mom? My husband is actually the one who suscribed to the one we get and so far I haven't seen him try a single one of the Make-Up Tips For Frazzled Moms. He's getting ripped off!
I watch television, but I don't watch whatever's on. Luckily we have HBO, so by the time Chloe's born she'll be very familiar with such quality programming as "The Sopranos" and "Real Time with Bill Maher". She'll probably even recognize Jim Lampley's and Larry Merchant's voices from "Boxing After Dark". Even though I'm only a parent in utero, I know I'm not going to be the most sheltering mother on the planet. The only objection I really have to a kid under 3 watching TV is that I have a sneaking suspicion all the quick frenetic editing and frequent shrill commercial breaks you see on channels like Nickelodeon might give a baby sensory overload and an attention span that maxes out at 30 seconds. And I know from my own childhood that it's really hard to concentrate on anything with a television on in the same room.
Check back with me in a few months after I've been dealing with a fussy baby all day. I don't want to do it, but if I get desperate enough I'll see if I can get her to sleep by letting her watch "Big Love".
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Yeah, what he said...
Great video clip of the One and Only Mr. Butch of Allston/Kenmore Sq. fame.
Allston was one of the neighborhoods I lived in while going to school at Mass Art. The first year I lived there (1990), there were three used bookstores and two amazing indoor yard sale type junk shops on Brighton Ave. alone. Kenmore Sq. still had the Rat, the Wursthaus, and the cafeteria on the corner by the T that served trays of baked potatoes and macaroni and cheese.
I haven't really had a reason to go back to either neighborhood for years, but even though both are allegedly sterilized by chain stores and community zoning, I'm glad Mr. Butch is still going strong.
Check out Bill Miller's pictures of Allston while you're at it. Worth the download time!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Link Love
Found via the t-rage link. Well done site and I just wanted to spread the word. Rhetorical question of the day; Why are most martial arts websites so badly designed? I'm only asking because I went to the Boston Martial Arts forum on this page and it was a visual soup of purple and gray that just screams 2001. It's either that or you get some "Web Pages That Suck" candidate with the flying eagle .GIFS and the bright primary color banners and blinking green text.
Here are some of my theoretical answers:
1) It takes a lot of time to run a martial arts school so there's less time to spend on a website.
2) A good portion of schools' sites are done on a volunteer basis by a student of the school. So you get what you paid for, and we all know what happens when you design on a "volunteer" basis.
3) Even though martial arts schools don't tend to make money hand over fist (see reason #2), it's not really in their best interest to do a lot of marketing and advertising. I think most respected Sifus would say that they would rather train 10 students the right way than 50 students in a half-assed way.
4) I've always been tempted to try a flash animation of a martial arts form from my school which, btw, has a better than most site, but good schools tend to view their techniques as copyrighted material and you don't want to give away too much of a good thing.
Here are some of my theoretical answers:
1) It takes a lot of time to run a martial arts school so there's less time to spend on a website.
2) A good portion of schools' sites are done on a volunteer basis by a student of the school. So you get what you paid for, and we all know what happens when you design on a "volunteer" basis.
3) Even though martial arts schools don't tend to make money hand over fist (see reason #2), it's not really in their best interest to do a lot of marketing and advertising. I think most respected Sifus would say that they would rather train 10 students the right way than 50 students in a half-assed way.
4) I've always been tempted to try a flash animation of a martial arts form from my school which, btw, has a better than most site, but good schools tend to view their techniques as copyrighted material and you don't want to give away too much of a good thing.
Final Countdown!
Just a quick update at 36 1/2 weeks. 147 pounds and only 2 pairs of pants still fit. I've officially given up on wearing tights because they are living painfully up to their name. Gravity is no longer my friend. I took a stab at thinking about a "birthing plan" like all the books tell me to, but when I asked the doctor about standing while going through labor (I'd seen it on the Discovery Channel and it made sense to me), all he had to do was put the words "perinium" and "tearing" into the same sentence and I was fine with being flat on my back, hopefully with a strong epidural kicking in. Every mother I know has described what it was like when her water broke, everyone at my office freaks out when I lift more than a pencil and the estrogen/blood pressure changes make me look like I've been swimming in bong water. I've had to switch to wearing my glasses which, combined with the 30 extra pounds makes me feel like I have officially turned into my mother.
Not that I'm complaining...
Not that I'm complaining...
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Potty Brain
Better than boston.com, more fun than the Boston Herald...Boston Online's guide to Wicked Good Restrooms is an invaluable public service. Being eight months pregnant will quickly teach anyone the value of plentiful public restrooms and once the little one is out and about with me, I'm going to want to know where every diaper-changing facility is within my immediate perimeter.
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