Loose Leaf Writing

Thanks! Though, I should point out that this morni...

2012-05-24T14:59:48.757-04:00

Thanks! Though, I should point out that this morning I told her to look out the window, and she said, "What's a window?"

???

Our daughters are style soul mates. :)

2012-05-24T14:58:18.191-04:00

Our daughters are style soul mates. :)

I love that girl. Everything she says is brillian...

2012-05-24T14:02:26.760-04:00

I love that girl. Everything she says is brilliant. She must have a brilliant, witty, fabulous mama. ;)

Enjoyed this as lately, I have really been embraci...

2012-05-24T13:19:29.920-04:00

Enjoyed this as lately, I have really been embracing this whole serendipitous joy found in my daughter as well. She's four. She's full of energy and hilarious creativity like many 4 year olds. And she's girly and it can't be from me but I LOVE it and find myself encouraging it because it just seems to make her happy. She is always trying to present her best self because she then feels on top of the world. Last night I started a tumblr of her wardrobe picks (since she dresses herself and has, of course, her own sense of style) because they make me laugh and I don't want her to forget this confident independence. We can learn a whole lot from home in order to make our career that much brighter. :)

BRAVO. This wasn't about mommy wars at all, b...

2012-05-16T13:41:18.940-04:00

BRAVO. This wasn't about mommy wars at all, but about being co-opted ... thank you for writing this post!

Thank you for this awesome blog! I haven't rea...

2012-05-15T21:16:08.774-04:00

Thank you for this awesome blog! I haven't read Time Magazine for decades, but heard about the gigantic disconnect between the cover picture and the content of the article this morning at a seminar on breast feeding. My fellow nurses were hoping that there would be facts or common sense about feeding or nurturing children in the Time article, but found only nonsense. I'll refer folks to your blog for some perspective

I breast fed for...a decade? Hahaha! It felt a bit...

2012-05-15T11:31:15.772-04:00

I breast fed for...a decade? Hahaha! It felt a bit like that ;)! My kid latched easily, drank lots, and it was easy for me. Weird thing? I used to feel strange and guilty and explain, "Oh, she only nurses when she's really upset or at night..." Why did I feel like I needed to explain? And I felt sad when friends who did not breastfeed (for whatever reason...and there are tons of perfectly good reasons including 'I just didn't want to') told me that they'd been made to feel guilty for that.

I love how you handled this, because, what I remember most is that my girlfriends and family were so wonderful and accepting of what I chose to do, despite the "debate" the media keeps trying to shove down our throats. Not nearly as headline-grabbing is the story of how I did it differently, and the people I loved supported me, and that's how I tried to be with my mom friends.

And when I think of breastfeeding, I mostly remember watching my sister try to hold Meyers's *Breaking Dawn* (in hardcover!) while she nursed and thinking, "I hope those ebooks get cheaper before I have to breastfeed again!" Hahaha!

Oh, hahaha! That poor man! He probably got PTSD fr...

2012-05-14T18:35:41.590-04:00

Oh, hahaha! That poor man! He probably got PTSD from the experience. Heehee.

I moved in with my then-in-laws (there's a mouthful for you!) when my daughter was 2 months old. I was still mostly breastfeeding, but what with everything else going on (i.e. sudden impending divorce), it was really just one more burden--literally an extra weight to carry.

Anyway, I was still going to stick it out at least a little longer until my father-in-law walked came home while I was breastfeeding on the couch. That's when I realized: Holy crap. I live with my father-in-law. I officially don't have to do this anymore.

I haven't read it, for the same reasons you di...

2012-05-14T16:26:32.555-04:00

I haven't read it, for the same reasons you didn't read it. if I see a free copy somewhere, I will.

As far as my opinion on the matter -- because of COURSE I have one -- is that it is up to each individual family. I don;t know a lot of sanctimommies, but I know a few. (My brother married one). I wanted to breast feed SO BAD. SO BAD! Imaging the thousands of dollars I would have saved in formula, (and SHOUT, which I used to get the formula stains out of the onesies).

I remember desperatly trying to feed my first born in the hospital. It was the 3rd day after my c-sction, I was sweating profusely and naked to the waist trying to get my screaming baby to latch on my breast. There was a knock on the door, I said "Come in" (assuming it was one of many medical personell that troop in & out of hospital rooms). It was a man from church who came to bring me communion.

Poor man.

I scared the hell out of him.

I want a steam mop. REAL BAD! I also want a &quo...

2012-05-03T17:35:09.966-04:00

I want a steam mop. REAL BAD! I also want a "rainbow" vacuum cleaner.

We are the poster children for bad environmental choices. I don't even want to tell you how much conveninece things we use.

We do recycle tho.

I put a mess of reuseable shopping bags inside of ...

2012-04-30T15:23:25.343-04:00

I put a mess of reuseable shopping bags inside of one bag and hang it over the back of the driver's seat of my car. That way I'm never without my reuseable bags (and the 5 cent per bag Shop Rite credit).

I love it when people realize that it's genera...

2012-04-24T09:24:08.815-04:00

I love it when people realize that it's generally just as easy or easier to use something cheap and simple or cook from scratch as the "conventional" ways of doing stuff.
Love it!

kind of ironic to call them posers as they were on...

2012-04-23T21:24:05.178-04:00

kind of ironic to call them posers as they were one of the first in the long line of american countercultures. if anything they were trying to get away from the posers.

I couldn't agree more. :) It was especially lo...

2012-04-17T10:36:46.893-04:00

I couldn't agree more. :) It was especially lovely that the moment came in the midst of non-comfortable, non-contented work.

There's something deeply important about the b...

2012-04-17T10:06:50.724-04:00

There's something deeply important about the best sandwich you've ever had. It is a place of comfort, contentment, and momentary bliss. :)

That was excellently written, thank you. I am supp...

2012-04-11T07:18:42.819-04:00

That was excellently written, thank you. I am supporting KONY-Invisible Children-2012 campaign because I like the way that they have used popular social media and good graphic design to make a change in people - whether that is about their opinions or their emotions. What is important about this campaign is that it very clearly illustrates the power available to citizens - as you pointed out.
I am from South Africa where it is difficult to have any influence as an individual in order to make a change to the way I or anybody else lives. It's appalling to see how some South Africans have to live. This, however, is not unique to South Africa. Apathy and ignorance about situations of poverty and suffering are also not unique. What is unique is that one (annoyingly emotional) guy got about 10 000 000 to look up Uganda and be curious about what is going on in Africa. Having travelled quite a lot, I can say that few people that I talk to know ANYTHING about what happens in Africa or what it is like to live there.
I will continue to support this flawed campaign because I admire how it has opened up debates and got people to discuss and write (good blog posts such as this one). Furthermore, pretty packaging is always delightful, but pretty packaging that may induce action is better.

@Anon #2: I think there are more than two options....

2012-03-16T08:19:18.201-04:00

@Anon #2: I think there are more than two options. When you say "help them or not," don't forget that "help them" is not an action in and of itself. What kind of help do you advocate? Jason Russell is advocating US military intervention. Where does that route lead?

I don't mean to be snarky, but do a little research on Uganda's current official government. They are arguably no better than Kony, and they are currently in control. If the US sends troops and/or money to this government, are we really helping? Or just making a bigger mess?

I'm not anti-intervention in all cases. But I am pro-research and knowledge. "Awareness" is an important tool in activism, but it is only the first step. Awareness should never lead directly to action. Awareness should lead to research and knowledge-building, and THEN action--and we should be very hesitant to START with military action. Adding more guns to a situation rarely makes things better.

i dont have much words to say : 1. Jason Russel = ...

2012-03-16T04:47:58.474-04:00

i dont have much words to say :
1. Jason Russel = at least he do something to help children of Uganda (better than do nothing at all)
2. Invisible Children = how will ppl try to help Uganda children if they dont exist ? (post/airmail/banks/Uganda friends/paypal/buy ticket to Uganda, fly there n figure it out how to help them all)
3. Pro & con ppl of Kony 2012 = just 2 opt, help them or not as simple as that, and how will u help them?...it is all in ur hand.
4. Joseph Kony = bad guy must be stopped

Heehee! I love my students. They never cease to am...

2012-03-15T07:47:46.263-04:00

Heehee! I love my students. They never cease to amaze me with how creatively they can avoid making an actual argument. :)

"I think there are good and bad things about ...

2012-03-15T00:02:09.642-04:00

"I think there are good and bad things about the internet". . .

You gotta tell me how you graded that!

Everything gets hyped up so quickly you'd thin...

2012-03-14T12:04:35.471-04:00

Everything gets hyped up so quickly you'd think you're the last person to hear about it. And then it seems that as soon as you do hear about it, everyone else is "over it".

Yikes, I knew their government was bad, but I had ...

2012-03-13T09:38:09.295-04:00

Yikes, I knew their government was bad, but I had no idea about their treatment of homosexuals. I know that Invisible Children is making the argument that the 30 minute video was meant to inspire more than inform, and that they are encouraging people to do more research. I'm not sure that's the best approach, though. Inspiration is all well and good, but in a knowledge vacuum, it turns into frenzy too quickly.

Thanks for your input, as always! <3

Hi Dana, Thanks for your perspective! It's nic...

2012-03-13T09:34:40.639-04:00

Hi Dana, Thanks for your perspective! It's nice to know that they are sincere in their attempt. And I'm going to try to keep up with the posts! I miss it so much when I'm not doing it. :)

I get it. I do personally know Bobby though, one o...

2012-03-13T03:47:27.386-04:00

I get it. I do personally know Bobby though, one of the cofounders/ original film crew, who literally stumbled on these kids many years ago while in Africa, and he's a hard worker and there's not a malicious bone in his body. So I hope this pretty sobering time in the spotlight will help the team better decide how to use time and resources more effectively.
On another note, Glad to see you are doing well, Alexa! and keep the great posts coming!

Wouldn't that be amazing? I can't wrap my...

2012-03-12T07:59:31.842-04:00

Wouldn't that be amazing? I can't wrap my head around the fact that so many people who are anti-abortion rights are also anti-contraception and trying to make it harder for people to adopt. Such hypocrisy. The president of Planned Parenthood was on The Daily Show the other day--she's wonderful! You can see it on The Daily Show website if you're interested--she talked about all of the above.

And? Thanks! *blush*