Weblog Awards
Monday, January 5th, 2009
I was nominated for Best Individual Blogger. There are some other blogs that I consider favorites on the list. Unfortunately, two of my favorites are nominated with me. You’ll know when you go. They get linked a lot.
I’ll pick my other favorites from other categories tomorrow.
P.S. By the way, yes, this means that I’m at home and back to blogging about really important stuff like the Israel-Hamas War and Chicago politics. Oh! And I’ll also be starting a series about why people are fat. That should be fun and informative. It’s something I’ve meant to do for a while.
Snark With A Slice Of Nice
Thursday, December 11th, 2008Snark With A Slice Of Nice
Read Alarming News by my friend Karol
This Is Why I Love The Web
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008This Is Why I Love The Web
The friendships have been priceless. Thanks, Cassy.
An Example Of Republican Leadership Not Getting It
Monday, November 24th, 2008An Example Of Republican Leadership Not Getting It
Again. Grrrr….
Twitter Me, Baby!–UPDATED
Monday, November 24th, 2008Hey guys, I’ve talked about Twitter before and I just wanted to remind you that you need to sign up and follow me. In Twitter, there will be feeds, links to stuff I like and the banter that goes with being around a bunch of like-minded folks. You would know, for example, that I really like pomegranate martinis and that I butchered my sister’s bangs. That’s important stuff you just don’t get here.
Duane Lester wrote a great blog post listing all the best people to follow on Twitter on the Right. It is comprehensive and excellent. I used it to round out my follows.
Want to know something before everyone else? Use Twitter!
UPDATED:
I don’t think I’m this bad, yet:
Rachel Said If Obama Won She Was Leaving The Country
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Well, Rachel kinda said that. And she’s moving to formerly Great Britain. Well. Now, she can blog the crazy from up close and personal. For some reason, her moving makes me sad. Just knowing that she’s in Texas is comforting even though we haven’t managed to actually meet face to face yet. Isn’t the internet weird?
Depressed? Turn Off The TV
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008Each year, people head into shorter days, get bored, turn on the tube, get more depressed and then new research comes out saying that when days get shorter, you’re bored, and then you watch more TV, you get depressed. Still it’s worth noting that watching the one eyed monster [a reader informed me that this is a naughty euphemism to which I say,"To the pure, all things are pure", but since most of you are not pure, I shall pick a new metaphor] boob tube excessively rots your brain, saps your energy, and makes you miserable.
Here’s the latest:
The University of Maryland analyzed 34 years of data collected from more than 45,000 participants and found that watching TV might make you feel good in the short term but is more likely to lead to overall unhappiness.
“The pattern for daily TV use is particularly dramatic, with ‘not happy’ people estimating over 30% more TV hours per day than ‘very happy’ people,” the study says. “Television viewing is a pleasurable enough activity with no lasting benefit, and it pushes aside time spent in other activities — ones that might be less immediately pleasurable, but that would provide long-term benefits in one’s condition. In other words, TV does cause people to be less happy.”
So there you go. The cure, people, is socializing. The internet is really a social network. So, for your health, you should read my blog more.
H/T John Little
Mommy Bloggers Get Respect, Conservative Bloggers Get Dissed–UPDATED
Monday, November 17th, 2008So, I’m watching advertising people and mommy bloggers erupt this weekend on Twitter. The subject didn’t interest me much–moms were mad at Motrin. I didn’t go look at the video, but gathered that it was disparaging to moms. Well, the ladies were majorly peeved and mounted a protest via YouTube and firestorm of rage coursed through their blogs.
Today, in my New York Times feed, what do I see? This:
By Saturday evening they were the most tweeted subject on Twitter. By Sunday there was a nine minute video on YouTube, to the tune of Danny Boy, showing screen shots of the outraged twitter posts interspersed with photos of Moms carrying babies in slings.
Bloggers began calling for boycotts. Bloggers asked their readers to alert the mainstream press. A few voices chimed in to say they didn’t find the ad to be that big a deal. There are a few more examples here and here.)
By Sunday afternoon a few bloggers and tweeters had gotten the ad agency that created the ad on the phone, to find they didn’t know a lot about Twitter and didn’t seem to have a clue that there was so much anger piling up online. And Peter Shankman, a public relations all-star who knows everything and then some about new media, was giving the manufacturers some advice:
I’m not siding with Motrin. They messed up, granted. I’m ok with that. Companies mess up all the time. They fix the problem, and it usually doesn’t make the radar screen. The problem is, Motrin happened to mess up at the expense, and in the face of, one of the most vocal, quickest-to-blog, “strongest-to-band-together-and-form-one-opinion-like-the-Borg” collectives out there - The Mommy-Blogging community.
Now I am NOT slagging on Mommy-Bloggers. Not in the slightest. Nor, am I saying they’re over-reacting to the commercial, which, by rights, was stupid and patronizing. What I AM saying though, is that Motrin will pay a MUCH bigger price, as opposed to if they’d messed up in front of say, “Construction-Worker-Bloggers.” Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with, probably because they’re one of the most clearly identifiable voices on the web. You have a kid? You blog about said kid? You’re a Mommy-blogger. You don’t need an advanced degree in particle physics to see what these bloggers have in common.
Or, as one Tweet put it:
note to self … never piss off moms … especially twitter moms … they can be a nasty bunch
My Twitter feed also is filled with conservatives. The political folks buzz constantly about this and that, important issues, and The New York Times covers a bunch of moms ticked about a condescending pharmaceutical commercial? Sure, it’s newsworthy, but so is the rebuilding of the Republican party.
Part of the problem with the mainstream media is editorial. What and who they choose to highlight is not nearly as important as who they’re ignoring. And the voices on the Right are ignored. I don’t want to start a war with the MSM, but a little attempt at representing all voices–not just the mushy moderates who sound so sweet and “intellectual” to liberal ears–would be nice.
The Washington Post ombudsman (via Glenn Reynolds) said that there need to be more conservatives in newsrooms. Ya think?
Anyway, I like the idea that the power of a bunch of mad mommies at the bottom forced changes at the top. I’d like to see concerned conservatives bubble up from the bottom, too. But a fat lot it will do them, if no one pays any attention. The media seems to be making a concerted effort to NOT pay attention. It’s working.
Follow me on Twitter!
UPDATED: Here’s the offending video:
Cross-posted at RightWingNews and The Houston Chronicle
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