Random Poetic Moment
September 25, 2008
I haven’t written poetry for years, but this one kept writing itself in the car on the way home from picking up my daughter from school today… so it must want to be written.
I always find it funny when this kind of thing comes out - given that I live thousands of miles from the sea in a land-locked state. I just figure it’s someone else’s voice wanting to be heard.
Thanks for bearing with me. I promise not to start posting tons of poetry. This is sort of a one shot. I promise real posts later tonight and for the next couple of days.
The Shore
The little golden bell
makes a joyful noise no more
Its voice no longer echoes
along the cold and rocky shore
The waves crash on the empty sands
but no one’s there to care
Time and tide have washed away
those who once stood there
No light streams from the lighthouse
no foghorn cries its fears
The docks are worn, no ships tie there
no sea-widows to cry tears
I stand alone upon the beach
and listen to the sea
I hear the songs of yesteryear
and the ghost bell rings for me
LMP 9/25/08
Are You Smarter Than an Editor?
September 15, 2008
It was irritating enough when Fox Television came out with Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and it became a hit with people who related to Jeff Foxworthy’s earlier comedy about rednecks… but I sort of expect better from magazine editors. So I was more than a little irked to find Disney’s new magazine “Wondertime” in my mail box with the cover showing a headline “Are You Smarter Than a 1st Grader? take (and fail) our quiz.”
I guess I just expect more of print editors than I do television producers. I mean “Are You Better Educated Than a 5th Grader?” isn’t going to draw the standard Fox prime time audience, now is it? Nor I suspect would “What Did You Forget Between 5th Grade and Now?”
But if you’re sending me a free, unsolicited magazine in the hopes that I’ll consider it a good enough source for parenting advice to later subscribe to it? You had better hire both writers and editors who understand that there’s a difference between “smarter than” and being able to recall facts that you learned by rote memorization when you were eleven (or six in the case of the 1st graders.)
Honestly. It’s bad enough that Fox has managed to convince such a large portion of the population that intelligence is directly correlated to what ‘factoids’ you remember from your elementary education years (yes, Jeopardy! did a good enough job of that for years without a misnomer) but they weren’t trying to sell me something. Yeah, I didn’t give their show sponsors high marks for choosing to advertise during that show either.
Personally, I know that I’m smarter than many a 5th grader - and 1st grader for that matter - but I also know that Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein were both that age once and their heirs are probably out there learning math right now. Hopefully, they are intelligent enough to be able to realize that a good education is priceless, but so is a good editor. Wondertime ought to consider hiring one.
Way Cool Gadget for Beginning ‘Writers’
September 10, 2008
My darling Buttercup is taking to this whole reading & writing thing like a duck to water. She learned how to write her name and a few other basic words last year. Over the summer, she decided it was time to learn to read (thanks WordGirl!) and started teaching herself. So kindergarten has been a joy for her, as they have “Literacy” class every day and there is a lot of reading and writing for a thirsty young mind.
Wouldn’t it have been great then if we could’ve convinced her not to grip her pen/pencil/crayon like it was a drumstick? Her writing might’ve been a little less cavegirl-esque early on! Granted, she would’ve still occasionally written stuff “mirror-backwards” (she gets that from me, unfortunately) but it would’ve been mostly legible!
Over the weekend, GeekDaddy tried to start helping Buttercup with some “handwriting homework” - mostly writing her name in proper Title Case along with those lower-case letters. He tried to get her to hold her pencil correctly only to have a melt-down battle. I tried next and got her to hold it somewhat like one is supposed to, but couldn’t convince her that it would be easier if the eraser pointed toward her rather than away.
We got through the homework, but GeekDaddy and I decided we’d need to talk to her teacher - Mrs. J - and let her know that we needed to work on this both at home and at school.
Imagine my surprise then when Buttercup was writing a letter to a family member of ours this afternoon after school and holding the pencil correctly!
I was stunned.
The difference was night and day - really. Here I was thinking “wow! I must’ve really made an impression! I can’t believe how far she’s gotten in just 2 days!”
Then GeekDaddy came home and put one of these in my hand. It’s called a Stetro pencil grip. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I couldn’t even figure out what it did at first. Then he told me that Mrs. J had given him ‘a couple extra to take home.’
It seems this morning, just as Buttercup sat down to work in her notebook, GeekDaddy was in the midst of talking to Mrs. J about the handwriting thing and before he could get to it she said “Oh! I have something for Buttercup!” and got one of these out and put it on her pencil. There’s a little arrow that goes right between the finger and thumb and points downward to the paper. After that? the fingers just fall into place. Within moments, Buttercup was writing with a properly positioned pencil as if she’d been doing it that way all of her life.
And as soon as GeekDaddy put one of the ones on her pens at home? The same thing. So basically? It wasn’t 2 days and a wonder-Mom. It was a few hours and a gadget. Having tried it myself, I can say that I think it would work for just about anyone - even doctors with lousy handwriting!
Buttercup's Hand
Dang. I wish I had invented this.
As it is? GeekDaddy and I have discovered that you can buy them in bulk. So we’re going to be buying a couple of dozen to donate to the pre-school where Buttercup went last year. And a couple dozen more to give to any parents of pre-schoolers/kindergartners we know. Because seriously - even without it this afternoon - she was holding the pencil correctly. Makes me wish we’d had it when I was 5.
(This is a completely unsolicited and uncompensated review/endorsement of this product. All opinions expressed are those of the author of this blog.)
The New & Improved Me
September 8, 2008
Sure… I’ve been saying I’d do it for a long time. But it took me longer than I expected.
Still, it’s kind of worth it when you can finally look at something and say “ahhh… now that looks much better!”
What? No, I’m not talking about my weight loss again - although I’m happy to be on track with that still, slow and steady progress. I’m talking about finally getting my site moved to a hosted server (thanks Lunarpages.com - you rock!) and finally getting a new coat of paint on it (thanks ithemes.com and Cory Miller - you rock too!) Yes, I’ll be doing affilliate stuff with both of them just as soon as I can. Because honestly? I couldn’t ask for better providers. But I haven’t even looked at advertising or links yet. Too busy with the other stuff.
Granted, I tend to forget how much work I’m really looking at when I do something like this. I mean, the WordPress magic made it incredibly easier to export and import from one place to the next… but inevitably, there’s a thousand and one little things that need tweaking even with all of that magic. There was content to be created (can you say “new graphics”?) and plenty of CSS adjustments. Although I decided early on that while I’ll might change the dominant color to my favorite green at some point, today was not the day to play “adjust all of the colors” with the built in premium theme I’d just installed. Besides, I kind of like the contrast.
Now - there will be lots of other little improvements over the upcoming weeks - but I’ve got other priorities setting off alarms right now - like vlogs for Walmart and posts for other folks I’ve promised - and Blog World Expo is less than 2 weeks away!!
So I hope you’ll bear with me as I putter about here. If you see something that needs fixing? Don’t hesitate to email me or comment below! Thanks! See ya tomorrow!
(oh rats… I just noted I have to play with the myBlogLog stuff… sigh… that’s going to be fun.)
Howdy There People Drifting By from Walmart.com (and stuff)
September 6, 2008
If you’re reading this on a Saturday, there’s a relatively good chance that you’re a person who drifted over here from a link that has to do with the soon-to-be-launched WalMart Money Saving Moms project. I say that because most of my regular readers know that I tend not to blog on the weekends. Usually, I’m spending time with my family instead of trying to transfer thoughts to keyboard.
Right now, my darling daughter is over at the neighbors taking them mini-webkinz that she got for them at Walgreens (yep, I shop a lot of places - just like you!) and GeekDaddy is with her. So I’m taking a moment to get this up.
Are you here for the first time? Then you’re probably a bit curious about me… and why someone calling herself “GeekMommy” is listed amongst a bunch of Frugality Blogging moms. Guess what? I was too.
When the folks from WalMart contacted me thru Twitter.com about participating in the Eleven Moms project, I was sure they must be mistaken. After all, I’m not a personal finance or frugality blogger – I’m just a GeekMommy who blogs about my life. I figured they had contacted the wrong gal. But then we got to talking and I realized that we all do what we can to cut corners and get the most out of our dollar.
Today’s economy makes everyone stop and think about ways to save more and live better – and that’s what WalMart’s current motto happens to be - Save More, Live Better. Just like anyone reading this, I want to provide good food, nice clothes, and a comfortable home life for my family – but unless I win the lottery, I’m doing that on a budget. I do shop at WalMart myself fairly regularly and I love a great bargain as much as the next gal… So yeah, why not me? Why not you? We’re all trying to make ends meet and make our dollars stretch further – so I realized that maybe they did get it right.
So Let’s Hit a Few FAQs, Shall We?
- Am I “doing this without getting paid?” Yes. I don’t work for WalMart. If at some point in time there occurs a situation where WalMart enters into some sort of financial agreement with me, you can trust that I’ll be transparent about it. That’s just how I am. I don’t do “secret agreements.”
- Am I “doing this for free?” No. Free is a funny word. Personally, I think if I were working for something for ‘free’ I’d be called a volunteer. I’m not. I am getting benefits from this. But they’re non-monetary benefits. I’m getting exposure to a wider audience. I’m getting connections to new and different people I would’ve never met without participating. I’m also learning a lot from my fellow 11 Moms. Seriously, I’ve learned so many cool things from these ladies that I wouldn’t have if this project hadn’t brought us together! I’m also getting the opportunity to help other folks. That’s a big deal to me. I like being able to help other people. This is letting me do it on a MUCH bigger scale than I could achieve on my own.
- Do I really believe that WalMart is trying to do the right thing? Yeah, actually, I do. Look, I did my homework. I know that WalMart’s reputation hasn’t exactly been ’stellar’ in all areas (yes, I’m understating.) But I believe that they are doing what they can to change and improve that. I think that this Money Saving Moms project is designed with that in mind. If I didn’t and I thought this was all some publicity stunt? I wouldn’t be involved. Because this is MY reputation too. I’m working *with* WalMart to try and reach out to internet savvy (and novice) Moms (and other shoppers) to try and make their dollars stretch a little further. Just like I believe that the Dove Women are working to change our society’s impression of what is actually beautiful and the Disney Moms are trying to help Disney bound families have the best time they can. Sometimes, every day individuals can achieve huge change just by being willing to try.
- “Okay, but aren’t you just being naive not making WalMart pay you for this?” Um, No. To be honest? I don’t think I would’ve done this if WalMart had come to me initially and said “hey, we’d like to pay you to represent WalMart.” They didn’t. They asked me if I’d like to take part in a community of Moms who were helping other moms to save money. And I didn’t say yes right away. I thought about. I researched it. I weighed whether or not I thought I could contribute and whether I wanted to tie my blog and myself into this project. You already know the answer was yes.
So, I’m going to be busy migrating my site this weekend. This post might not be accessible during that time - but it will be on my new site. As will more information about me. But if you want to ask me any questions about this? Feel free to comment and I’ll email you back.
Then again, if you decide just to leave an angry, vitriolic, attacking comment, I reserve my right to laugh at you and delete it, knowing you didn’t read this whole thing. I’m willing to talk about it with anyone - but that means talk - so as I always tell my daughter? Use your ‘princess manners’ before you hit send.
Lucretia
If It’s Thursday… This Must Be… 127.0.0.1
September 4, 2008
Okay, this is technically more of an Administrative post than anything else.
At some point, after trying something and finding that it doesn’t work for us, we give up and move on to a different way of doing things. The question becomes “at what point?” and the answer for me is usually “when the consequences of not changing are more dire than the potential downfalls of giving up.”
Now, a month ago, I got all ambitious. Having read several “authorities” on blogging, I decided that my lack of consistent writing was due to a lack of structure. Why I decided this is beyond me… maybe I drank the kool-aid or something. But to be honest, lack of structure wasn’t my problem. The ability to rationalize procrastinating was my problem.
Anyhow, I boldly asserted that I was going to start posting “by daily topic!“ I don’t recall where that idea came from, but I’m sure it was from a Blogging Guru somewhere who extolled the virtues of having a defined posting structure. Needless to say, I came up with mnemonic categories… Money $aving Monday! Technology Tuesday… etc, etc.
Soooo… How’s that working for me? Um. Not so hot.
Actually, it’s made me loathe the very concept of blogging. It’s gone from something I truly enjoy when I’m doing it regularly and right, to something I find every excuse to avoid and then must slog through when I can put it off no more.
Solution? Chuck that silly idea right out the window.
So yes, there are more upcoming changes… one of which is that some previous changes are going to be abandoned. Like my dreary anti-blogging daily category idea.
But I have found a host that I’m moving this site to. I’ve set it up. I’m just waiting until the weekend to hose everything up and migrate the site over. Mostly because I can then force GeekDaddy to help me figure out where I went wrong and fix it. That’s always easier when he’s not at work, ya know. Also tho, because I expect the traffic to be slower on the weekend.
Another change will be the site format. Yeah, I know, we’re on look number 3 right now. But I think I’ve finally found something that makes me happy, so I’ll be doing that about the same time I’m trying to figure out why nothing works on the new servers.
I’m sure you remember me mentioning the Walmart Money Saving Moms thing… Well, that’s going to start being more visible out there as of tomorrow and early next week. So maybe I’ll even *gasp* get that first video edited and up tomorrow. Because, you know, if you’re going to migrate a blog, it always helps if you complicate things by adding video into the mix first.
(Are you getting my wry attempt at enthusiasm for the blog move in all of this? Yeah. Woo. Heh.)
So I’m going back to being me. I’ll post the Eleven Moms videos. I’ll post the Social Media stuff. I’ll post the technical and product reviews. I’ll even post the kindergarten adventures and the random thoughts. Yes, even some of those dreaded politically-oriented posts… I mean, come on. It’s an American Presidential election year.
But most of all? I’ll go back to what I do best. Life-blogging. Because in the end, that’s why I blog in the first place, ya know?
See ya tomorrow. When I’ll be me again. Before the long-drawn out site migration.
If the new site isn’t here by Monday? Send out the search planes!! Or maybe come see me swearing about it over on Twitter.
Tuesday Time Out
September 2, 2008
I know I’m supposed to just suck-it-up and show a stiff upper lip and all… but our 17 y.o. kitty passed away suddenly last night due to kidney failure.
Our family is actually still reeling from this.
I may post later today, but I may just circle the wagons and wait until tomorrow.
I’m sure you’ll understand - especially if you’ve ever lost a beloved pet yourself. She was a good kitty and we will miss her horribly. May she rest in peace.
That Leaves Me 14 mins, 45 seconds Worth of Fame…
September 1, 2008
Apparently, when I wasn’t watching, Rick Sanchez read one of my tweets from Twitter on CNN’s live coverage of hurricane Gustav.
I know because even tho I stepped away from the TV - a lot of my Twitterpals told me.
Rick is integrating Twitter, Facebook and MySpace into the live coverage of the storm. He’s been on Twitter for a little while now, and the social media folks have been impressed by how he is adapting new media into traditional media for live, up-to-date coverage.
Me too. Now I’m just waiting for a twitterpal to send me a copy of my 15 seconds of “fame.” Note to self, make sure you are buffering important stuff on the DVR. Even when nature calls.
