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Archive for the ‘Rants’ Category

Social Media, Sexual Assault, and Today’s Teens and Tweens

Posted in Rants, Social Media, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2013 | 9 Comments »


This white awareness ribbon is worn to raise consciousness of violence against women.

This white awareness ribbon is worn to raise consciousness of violence against women.

That social media and sex are intertwined is no surprise. What is surprising is how social media has become a weapon in sexual assaults of kids, tweens, and teens.
In Steubenville, Ohio, and in Torrington CT, and who knows how many other unreported places, social media is being used both during and after sexual assaults in shocking and disturbing ways.
In Stuebenville, the rapists (they’ve been convicted. I see no reason to mince words),not only committed the crime, but were so proud of it they shared it on their social media networks. The crime itself was horrific enough,but the fact that these rapists were so sure that what they were doing was perfectly acceptable behavior that posting it to Instagram seemed neither callous nor repugnant adds to that horror.  How did we get to the point where 17 year old students are so morally bereft that sexually assaulting an unconscious girl seems appropriate fodder for sharing with friends? (more…)

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Proud to be a Digital Housewife

Posted in Rants, tagged , , , , , , , on March 19, 2013 | 8 Comments »


Image representing Sheryl Sandberg as depicted...

Image via CrunchBase

Sheryl Sandberg wants us to Lean In. Marissa Meyer wants us to come in (to the office, that is.). New York Magazine wants to reignite the Mommy Wars by re-branding them as being between those who lean out and those who lean in.

But the truth is, the distinction between leaning out or in, working in the home, from the home, at an office, virtually or not at all…it’s all moot. There is a whole new category of working woman: the digital housewife. (more…)

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Why I’m Not Watching Any More Newtown TV News Coverage

Posted in Rants, tagged , , , , on December 18, 2012 | 3 Comments »


Twenty children are dead.  Twenty.  It is beyond imagining that someone could do this.  It is beyond understanding how these families, the Newtown CT community, will make it through.

Like so many others, I have been glued to the TV.  What, exactly, happened?  Who was this mass murderer?  Why did it happen?  How?

And in the first days after the massacre, (no other word seems to have enough force) it made sense to watch the news, hoping for answers.

But now —- Now the coverage feels more like exploiting parents’ grief than relaying news.  The CNN anchors repeatedly use the phrase “out of respect for the families…”  Wolf Blitzer is positively apoplectic in his disclaimers: “The family came to you, correct?” he asked of a reporter who had just aired an interview of parents and their six-year-old. “You didn’t have to convince them, or coerce them? They wanted to do this.” He must have said that, or something like it, at least three times in less than five minutes.

Methinks thou dost protest too much, Wolf. (more…)

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Fatal Stabbings in NYC: How The Media Coverage Victimizes the Victims

Posted in Rants, tagged , , , , on October 26, 2012 | 9 Comments »


Yesterday evening, two children from my neighborhood were fatally stabbed, allegedly by their Nanny, who then appeared to try to take her own life.

It is a horrific story.  Beyond imaginings.  To talk about how upsetting it is — well, what is there to say?  So I won’t talk about that beyond saying that I feel for those parents, for their families and friends, I cannot imagine their grief.

What I’d like to talk about instead is the media coverage.  Of course it’s sensationalistic.  Of course it feels sordid when reporters bombard neighbors, people who didn’t even know the family, with questions about the couple and their kids.  I’m used to that.  What bothers me is that almost without exception, every report about the murder — the murder of two small children — included a reference to the family’s social status. (more…)

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Are Sports Programs Making Kids Fat?

Posted in Exercise, Rants, tagged , , , , , , , on September 10, 2012 | 6 Comments »


Sue Wicks’ Coca-Cola Foundation FIT event at the Armory in NYC

My friend Julie’s son is in an after-school football program that meets three days a week for three hours each practice.  He is 9-years-old.  If my son wants to play on his 7th grade soccer team, he needs to commit to practice three days a week, and devote a fourth day to playing games. My daughter would like to try ballet.  Of the four places I called, only one offers a less than three-day-a-week option for kids her age.  She’s 12.

It’s no wonder kids are dropping out of sports and other physical activities. (more…)

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A Blogger’s Not a Journalist, and That’s OK

Posted in Rants, Social Media, Writing, tagged , , , , , on June 29, 2012 | 6 Comments »


Typewriter adler3

Typewriter adler3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I went to CE Week here in New York.  And here’s what I learned:  I’m not  journalist, and I’m fine with that.

For the second year in a row, the fabulous folks at Techlicious hosted a Media/Mom Blogger tour of the CE Week floor, highlighting various companies and products. Imagine it!  Actual journalists and bloggers co-existing and seeing the SAME things without coming to blows!

We saw Power Bag – a back pack with its own built-in charger, a family tablet from Kurio that allows you total control of what and how much content your kids can see – and to program it for each kid.

We saw Woven, a free app that aggregates your photos from all those bazillions of different websites you use to store them – Facebook, Picassa, Shutterfly, etc. etc. etc — so you can see them all in one place.  (Being able to share them from that one place would be nice — but for now at least, it’s just a viewer.  Still handy.)

We got a look at the latest ipieces ipad/app based toys from venerable toy company Pressman.  Their upcoming pool game looks pretty cool.  We saw the new, incredibly well priced streaming soundbar from RCA ($99), which also allows for video streaming from internet providers like Hulu and Netflix for no extra charge.

We learned about the super cool Control4 HC_250 Controller, which basically turns your home into a smart home.  Letting you control lights, temperature, even door locks and window shades with a remote, or from your smart phone.

Speaking of smartphones, we were treated to lunch at BLT Fish by HTC, who showed us a demo of their newest smart phone, the  HTC Droid Incredible  4G LTE.  Which has an awesome camera, a cool live widget system, and really, surprisingly good sound for a phone.  The thing has beats. I’m a Windows Phone girl…but I could be convinced.

And we got swag.  Lots of swag.  Including the Control 4. Which I called super cool just a few sentences back.

So does saying it’s cool when I got one make me NOT a journalist?  Nope.  I’m NOT a journalist because I do not get paid.  I do not get assignments.  I do not have a journalism degree.

None of this is news to me. (more…)

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Somewhat Wordless Wednesday: Offensive Breast Cancer Ad

Posted in Rants, tagged , , , , , , on June 12, 2012 | 6 Comments »


My mother is a Breast Cancer survivor.  My sister recently had a scare.  I have more than one friend who has lost a breast, or two, or had a lumpectomy. I know women who have lost parents, or sisters to Breast Cancer. I do not take Breast Cancer lightly.  I do not think it is sexy, or fun.  I do not appreciate bracelets that say “I love boobies.”  I think they trivialize a serious, often fatal disease.  I think campaigns that try to make breast cancer sexy or fun allow people to glamorize cancer and minimize its gravity.

Which is why I find this breast cancer campaign so offensive.

Seriously?  Breast cancer makes you think of gorgeous, full lipped women caressing one another’s naked breasts?

Does prostate cancer make ad-people think of hunky naked men grabbing each other’s crotches?

I thought not.

Am I the only one who finds this approach to “raising awareness” inappropriate at best and offensive overall?

What are they really trying to raise?

I don’t even want to think about  it.

Women with breast cancer aren’t busy thinking about how much they’d like to put on pink lipstick and participate in a soft-core porn orgy. They are thinking about saving their lives, staying alive for the people they love – husbands, children, families, friends.  They are wondering if they are going to  lose a body part –  lose their hair, miss the rest of their life.

People looking to raise awareness about the disease might want to let up on the sexy, breast cancer stuff, and take their cues from them.

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Don’t Let them Call you a Mommy Blogger

Posted in Rants, Social Media, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2012 | 4 Comments »


This week, Mashable published an infographic called The Rise of the Mommy Blogger. And it was offensive on OH so many levels. And wrong. Just plain wrong.

Commissioned by H&R Block for reasons I can’t really fathom (maybe they think we’re all making the big bucks blogging and they wanted to let us know they care/want our business?), the Infographic – bright pink (strike one), featured a white, blond woman in a frilly apron, (strike 2), and defined anyone who has even READ a blog as a Mommy Blogger (you’re out!). One of the very first comments, by Dresden Plaid, points out one of these problems right away:

Could you have used a more offensive/obnoxious graphic to “illustrate” a Mommy Blogger? Blonde, white, in pink and an apron? …. these women are writers. The term “Mommy Blogger” is jaw droppingly backwards. These are women, who are mothers, who write, and sometimes they write about being a Mother. Packaging it in pink fluff is just a bummer.

The comment immediately following pretty much exemplifies the problem.  And of course, it was written by RJ Silva, a man, at least judging by his avatar: (more…)

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Jealousy

Posted in Rants, tagged , , , , , , , on May 11, 2012 | 6 Comments »


Before I had kids, I used to see other parents and think: “When I’m a parent I’ll never (fill in the blank.)”

And then I became a parent.

It was humbling  just how many of those “fill in the blanks” I did.  Lollipops in the morning (airplane rides.)  TV as babysitter. (I had Swine Flu).  Screaming at the top of my lungs. (More often than I’d like to admit.)

Suddenly, I wasn’t so judgmental.  As a parent, you do what you have to do to stay sane, keep your children from bodily harm, and keep those around you from wanting to strangle your perfectly lovely (most of the time) but (at the moment) incredibly, inappropriately loud children.

And then I started blogging. (more…)

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Why I’ll Never Get a Brazilian Bikini Wax

Posted in Beauty, Family, Rants, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2012 | 5 Comments »


In Brazil, this counts as a one-pieceI love Brazil.  On my vacation there years ago, I saw beautiful countryside, sophisticated cities, and rockin’ nightlife. I love Brazilians.  They are warm and loving.  They are awesome plastic surgeons, and they are singlehandedly reviving the NY Real Estate market. Some of my best friends are Brazilian. No, really. Bruno and Elizabeth.  I love them.

In fact, I like Brazil so much, I’m hoping that, lexicographically speaking, “Brazilian” bikini wax is kind of like “French” Fries. No one really knows why it’s called Brazilian. But I’m guessing it’s more like French Kissing. Anyone who spent her Junior year abroad in Paris knows where that came from.  And it ain’t lexicography. Trust me on that.

What I don’t love, is the Brazilian Bikini Wax.

Remember that episode of Sex and the City where the girls all go to LA and Carrie gets waxed?  She’s surprised by what the waxer leaves her: nada.  nothing. zip.

It’s called a Brazillian, she tells Samantha and Miranda. Out here in LA, everybody’s doing it.

Well, here in NY everybody is, too.  And the other day, not on purpose, I came close.  First of all, ouch. And second of all, I don’t think so. Why am I so opposed? Here goes:

1. I am not a porn star. (more…)

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