I used to read. I used to read a lot. I was totally one of those people who was all “Oh, I just read this much because I have to have a constant stream of information going into my brain or it will explode.” You know those people? The people who get made fun of in elementary school because they “always have their nose in a book”? And are constantly mispronouncing big words because they’ve only ever seen them in print? Not that, for example, epitome is a particularly big word; it’s just not pronounced the way it’s spelled, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Then I got pregnant, and my IQ dropped down to roughly 32 points, and then I had the baby but I was really, really tired, and now here we are, six months into the mommy thing and I’ve only read, what, eight actual grown-up sized books in the last year?

Maybe I’m being a bit overly optimistic, but I installed Roblog’s Now Reading to keep track of all the reading I’m not doing. I had installed the Now Reading plugin back in the olden days (before we had these newfangled widgets), but my ineptitude with php and all things code resulted in a relatively useless feature. Now the plugin has its own widget, which simples it up quite a bit. We love widgets. I had no problem getting it up and running. Look! I be smart!

It even has a book review feature – click on a title to see what I thought (or didn’t) about my latest forays into the world of literature. Because I think things. I do.
Someday I might actually have time to read again. In the mean time, maybe I should start reviewing board books…

technorati tags:roblog, reading, books, wordpress, plugins, widgets, reviews

Blogged with Flock

In honor of upcoming Father’s Day, Ellison has started saying “dada.” This pleases Not So to no end, even though the “dada” is entirely non-specific. He’s dada, I’m dada, the toys are dada…modifiers, descriptions, conjugations, all are da da. It is a veritable dada party over here.

It’s all very dada.

Of course, Happy Fun Baby also says mama. Or, more specifically: he wails “mama.” It’s his default noise when he’s upset (has been since he was born). Any time there’s something wrong he lets loose with a miserable “Maaaaaaaaa!”

So, to recap: dada = happy, mama = tragic. Sigh.

Good thing they’re so cute…

technorati tags:baby, dada, preverbal, wail, father

Blogged with Flock

Lucky Baby sling in Lime

I am so in love with this sling, I can’t even tell you. People have been raving at me about the wonders of babywearing since before Happy Fun Baby was even born, but he (and I) never took to it. This might change my mind, though.

Blogged with Flock

I have a LiveJournal. I admit it. I am active in communities, check my friends page every day, update regularly, blah blah blah. I’m not nearly as into it as I used to be, seeing as it has proven itself to be way more conducive to silly, insular meta-snark than I really have the patience for, but I still like hanging out there, usually.

And then there are days like today, when I read a post on the graphic design community which dealt with copyright issues and a former employer and mentioned, in passing, "[...] sorry you had a baby and ruined your slowly rising career … j/k "

Ick. And furthermore, huh. Having a baby is a career-breaker? And is somehow relevant to a freelancer’s copyright issues?

Despite the chorus of let it go marching around in my brain, I commented that I found that statement offensive and then offered advice to the problem at hand. Then – wouldn’t you know it? – I got flamed. Because GOD FORBID I point out an instance of THOUGHTLESS PREJUDICE on a PUBLIC BOARD.

It’s not so much the implication that motherhood = the end of any business aspirations (although the whole concept is patently ridiculous, not to mention antiquated and inaccurate). It’s the fact that people think it’s okay to marginalize those they feel are below themselves in order to make a (completely unrelated) point. Would the former employer be taking advantage of the freelancer regardless of whether or not she had a baby? Yes. Does the fact that she has a baby have anything to do with the problem at hand? No. So why bring it up at all?

And, people, I’m sorry, but following a statement with "j/k" does not make it less irritating. It’s kind of like saying something breathtakingly rude and following it with "…no offense." Which people do, and – funny thing! – it doesn’t make them any less breathtakingly rude, and it doesn’t make me feel any less offended by their breathtaking rudeness. If you’re "j/k," perhaps you should consider keeping your irrelevant commentary to yourself. And learn to use real words instead of cutesy, childish abbreviations.

No offense.

technorati tags: livejournal, annoying, meta, motherhood, career