Something Shiny! - Blogging category

In praise of Things and bad habits

Tue, 27 May 2008 11:39:31 GMT

A while ago, the great Emily blogged about Her Thing, a bodily Thing that she has that occasionally needs maintenance, but is so unspeakable that even her husband doesn't know what it is. Naturally, she refused to mention what specifically this Thing was, but it generated a firestorm of comments and blog posts as people hither and yon revealed their own Things. And it certainly got me thinking: do I have a Thing? People were coming out of the woodwork to unburden themselves about their Things! Sweaty palms, ghastly body odor, ugly feet, fat ankles, you name it! And then panic set in: am I weird if I don't have a Thing? And then it hit me. My Thing is that I chew my fingers. This is not chewing fingernails, mind you. No, no. It's quite different. You can find any number of people who chew their fingernails. I'm talking about fingers, specifically the skin thereon. When I'm stressed in the slightest bit, I start picking at the side of my right or left thumb with the index or middle finger of the same hand (I'd draw you a diagram, but it's just too early for that). Then, inevitably, I loosen a bit of skin and... and... and I nibble it off. [Am I seriously admitting this???] I don't ingest it, mind you. I'm not a candidate for cannibalism, much less self-cannibalism (is there such a thing?). But yeah, finger biting. It's my Thing. What's your Thing?

Out of office auto-reply

Tue, 20 May 2008 12:56:19 GMT

We're headed to the beach for a couple days and since I'm not bringing my laptop with me (gasp!), I won't be blogging. See you later this week!

Would you like some hypocrisy with your Today show?

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:50:18 GMT

On yesterday's Today show, Heather Armstrong gave a short interview in which she defended (again) why she blogs in general and why she (occasionally) blogs about her daughter in particular. (In case you're not up to speed on the situation, I'll sum it up for you briefly: "mommy bloggers" have been in the news lately and have been catching a lot of flack for blogging about their children, as critics claim such bloggers are violating their children's right to privacy and putting their children in danger.) Heather's argument has always been that she finds blogging to be a wonderful creative outlet that puts her in touch with a larger community and, in the case of blogging about her daughter, makes her feel less alone to know that other mothers and parents struggle through the same problems. Furthermore, she argues, putting her child's photo on the web doesn't put their family in any more danger than walking down the sidewalk, since children often get kidnapped at random. (You can read her entire, much more articulate argument, here.)

But logical, well-reasoned arguments don't stand a chance against Kathie Lee Gifford, who during the interview declared that while she "doesn't know much about computers," blogging about one's children seems "dangerous." Ahem. I find it ironic that when women like Kathie Lee or Kelly Ripa or any number of other celebrities trot their kids out on national tv, it's just fine, but when women like Heather Armstrong and others post photos of their children on their blogs, it's somehow RECKLESS and DANGEROUS. What gives?

We know return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Happy Blogoversary!

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:55:38 GMT

When I first started blogging, three years ago today, I had the idea that a blog would be a great way to stay in touch with far-flung family and friends. (And, apparently, a chance to show off my mad alliteration skillz. Let me show you them.) What quickly dawned on me back then is that so few of those people actually read it. But I stuck with it anyway, and I'm so glad I did. Blogging, for me, has become such a great creative outlet. It's markedly different from the day-to-day writing that I do, and even though I don't really talk about my research here, I find that just having this blog and having the opportunity to write in a different way makes my other writing better, less daunting, more familiar. For those reasons, and a number of others, I find blogging incredibly rewarding. Thanks for being along for the ride, it's been a great three years! Oh, and make sure you get a piece of cake before you go!

Dear Al Gore

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:29:39 GMT

Editor's Note: In honor of Earth Day this month, I've written several letters to Al Gore that address problems we've encountered as we try to go green. You can find the first one here, the second one here, and the third one here. Enjoy!

Okay, Al, last letter. This is something I really need your help on. See, here in Gainesville, we have curbside recycling. And it's great, don't get me wrong. We can recycle paper, newspapers, catalogs, corrugated cardboard, glass and plastic bottles, and aluminum. Recently, the city also began to accept plastic yogurt containers for recycling. Now, plastic recyclables are imprinted with a number, a resin identification code indicating their polymer type. (Betcha didn't think I knew that, huh?) In the case of yogurt containers, they're imprinted with the code number 5, meaning that they're comprised of polypropylene. So far, so good. However, yogurt containers aren't the only plastic food containers imprinted with the #5; in fact, many others are as well. But while you can put as many #5 yogurt containers as you want in the recycling bin, the city won't accept any other #5 containers. So what gives? Why one and not the others? What's the point of having the handy dandy numbering system if the city comes up with their own (illogical) rules for what they will and won't accept? And how do I, just one person, go about changing this? If you have any ideas, Al, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

Sincerely, Emily

Dear Al Gore

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:14:19 GMT

Editor's Note: In honor of Earth Day this month, I'm writing a series of letters to Al Gore that address problems we've encountered as we try to go green. You can find the first one here and the second one here. Enjoy!

Dear Al Gore,

Two weeks ago I was all geared up to write to you about cleaning products, armed with a litany of complaints: how so many of them are dangerous to use (can even cause asthma and birth defects!), how they burn my lungs and make my skin peel, and how I generally feel wary using them. Even Method products, which I unabashedly embraced at first, contain harmful things like potassium hydrate and soda ash! So I was all ready to go, Hey Al, what cleaning products can I use that won't- you know- eventually kill me? But just then, the clouds parted, angels began singing, and I had an idea. Why not try baking soda and water? I'd always heard that it worked as a cleaner, but was of the opinion that if it was so good, why did people continue to buy things like Comet? Why indeed. Because when I started cleaning the shower with baking soda and water, I was shocked. First, it took far less time than cleaning with traditional toxic cleaners. I hardly had to scrub at all. Second, it truly is nontoxic. I didn't have to continually take breaks to spare my burning lungs (something that happened A LOT with 409, Comet, you name it). Baking soda won't burn your lungs or make your skin peel; in fact, it's safe enough to use as a toothpaste! After such an incredible result, I had to wonder: why don't more people clean with baking soda and water? Why don't more people know about this? And, most importantly, what other cleaning methods did our grandmothers and great-grandmothers use (John calls this "Grandma Tech") that we no longer know about? Are there other honest-to-god nontoxic Grandma Tech methods that I should try? Thanks, Al!

Sincerely, Emily

"All the little birds on J-bird street..."

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:06:59 GMT

Psst! Do you Twitter? No? You should! Twitter is a sweet tool that lets you keep in touch with people by way of quick, short updates (called "tweets"). Each update is limited to a mere 140 characters, so it's sort of like a mini blog. See mine? Over there on your right, below the flickr badge? Yeah, right there. I use Twitter to post updates without having to write an entire blog entry. Plus, on Twitter, you can follow what folks around the world are doing. And no, it's not as voyeuristic as it sounds. If you're interested, Aimee at Greeblemonkey posted a great tutorial on Twitter a while back.

Now go forth and twitter!