Waste Always Makes Me Angry

That title my friends is a direct quote from 'Gone with the Wind' courtesy of Rhett Butler. While he was talking about the Civil War and the South, I am talking about clothes.

I give away a lot of stuff. I belong to Freecycle. I donate to Goodwill, Purple Heart, my church and to the Vietnam Veterans Association. If I have something to give, I will give it. I buy second-hand items too. If we no longer need it but someone else might then I am happy to offer it up. I don't like waste. It is not good for us or the planet.  Therefore, I just cannot understand this type of behavior from H&M or any other company, even the evil W. When I first saw the article (tweeted by @jodifur and @amalah), I was aghast. Surely, there had to be some good, plausible reason that bags upon bags of perfectly good clothing for all ages and both sexes was being slashed and discarded. Right? It's not just stupidity, right? Immediately I wanted to head to my local H&M and ask them what they were doing with their "unwanted" clothes. What does any store do with their unwanted items?

I understand the need for new merchandise and moving inventory. However, when there are so many people in this record cold that need clothing, especially warm clothing, how can employees just blindly follow orders and do this? Doesn't someone on the inside know someone who could use this stuff? There are numerous shelters that would be willing to take the items off their hands and put them to good, practical use. Ending up in a landfill isn't practical. Perfectly good clothing being trashed is never eco-friendly. It is just plain old waste and waste makes me angry. Just like when I see computers and other electronics left on the curb for the trash man. There is a proper place for that stuff and a landfill is not it.

Unused, brand-new clothing should be donated. Clearly, H&M does not care about money if it is trashing the stuff. They just do not want anyone else benefiting from it either. In a world like ours that is just inexcusable and it makes me reconsider them as a brand and retailer. Next time I'm at my local mega-plex shopping center I am going to ask the manager what they do with their unused items. If they say they trash them, we will be having a little talk. Waste is just laziness. It is not bothering to find out a better solution and that is inexcusable.



Update:  You know I just love a good ending.  As long as there is follow through.

Civics 101, Please.

Come closer.  Closer.  That's it.  Now, let me school ya on something.  Obama? You know, that man that was elected President?  He's been in office for a little over 320 days now and he hasn't accomplished ANYTHING, has he?  Geezy-peets! No, he hasn't.  It's all I hear, all the time.  It makes me "smash your forehead into a hard surface" angry.  I want to ask them if they thought Obama would pay off their mortgage or car loan too when he was elected into office. 

Oh wait. They didn't vote for him.  That's what it is. 

Fine.  That's fine.  That doesn't bother me. To each their own.  What gets me it is that no one seems to remember Civics 101.  Like I said in 'I Am Not Un-American', things do not happen over night for any government official, regardless of their political affiliation.  Changing policies, creating new programs and initiatives, fixing the massive problems that our broken nation has tried to shove under the rug since the 1960s takes time.  Most likely more time than Obama will have or be alloted.  It isn't like buying a latte or downloading a new itune.  Remember this- Clinton had a rough and lagging 100 days.  Anyone remember George W's?  There was a lot of brush hauling.  Get a history book out, dust it off and do some reading.  Every President has not done everything they promised. Even when given eight years.  It's partially due to that stubborn 'checks and balances' thing we have in this country.  Partly because other issues take precedence and need to be addressed.

When I see bumper stickers that state, "Want your change back now?  Ask Obama."  I want to yell to the driver, "Hey! Come here!  I got a treat for you!  It's called...SCHOOL."  Because clearly you have no idea what you are talking about.  This economic problem isn't Obama's creation.  The last eight years (and us) are to blame for a lot of that.  Just like it wasn't Clinton who gave us that 90's economic boom.  It's like real estate or anything else.  It is all cyclical. Next thing you know we will forget that Al Gore did not create the internet. Gah. 

So what has Obama done this year?

January- He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  Five days later he reauthorized the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) giving four million uninsured children health insurance.  In March, he repealed the embryonic stem cells issue.  Federal funding and strict guidelines will now go to the research for this cause.  May saw a new nomination for Supreme Court Justice.  There is a whole lot more- the economic stimulus package in February, new global warming proposals this past September, universal health care reform is in the works (Do some research on how it works for other countries, it's a good thing.  Then come fight me.) and there is so much more.  It's not like he is sitting back eating bon bons.  He and many other government officials, from both parties, are working hard.  It just takes time.  More time than it does to blow $100 at Target at least. 

And to think that I was going to write about Christmas's past and childhood wishes today.  Maybe what I really want for Christmas is a government funded civics class for the nation. 

Thank you to PunditMom and Jodifur too for such a wonderful mention today.  It made my day. 

I Am Not Un-American

I've been hearing a lot about the erosion of family in this country lately and how it's due to all the "changes" our nation has gone through in the last few decades. When this subject of erosion arises it is typically followed with the reasons being gay marriage, pro-choice or women working more.

I'm sorry but I fail to see how two men or women getting married and possibly starting a family to be an erosion of any sorts. If anything the erosion is that we simply lack the selfless behavior and feelings of charity and goodwill towards other human beings who think differently than we do. We used to have them. We are so busy filling our homes with items that we want other people to see us having that we have become too preoccupied and fail to see and converse with the people who share that space with us- our families. We get wrapped up in petty fights and families break apart and siblings no longer talk. Years go by and that link is lost. More people are affected than just the two arguing but they don't see it.

Let me ask you this- Raise your hand if you know and have befriended your neighbor. Have you been in their house? Do you know their names even? In many cities and towns this is no longer the case. We wouldn't know if our neighbor went missing because we don't pay attention to others around us anymore. We are too busy with our own lives. We are too busy. Yet, it's not really busy. It is just distractions.

In other more cheesy words, "We've lost that loving feeling." We claim to get back into this at this time of year. We vowed to ban together last November, remember? Then it got hard and things didn't poof! magically change overnight like we are so accustomed. Why can't the changes needed to fix our nation be as fast as my food, phone and computer? Damn it! But I want them now! Blech.

As Americans we love to say things like, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" or "These colors don't run!" That apple pie is American. Well, I hate apple pie. Does that make me un-American? Does it make me un-American to support choice? That I have gay friends and family members who I support and love? That I believe what Matthew Hoh has to say but still support our troops? No, it doesn't. To me you become un-American when you start spouting crap about what makes someone American or not and setting up those dividing lines. I know as a country we are all about choice and freedom of one's opinion but intolerance isn't freedom of one's opinion. It's simply hatred and fear in disguise.

Here's the thing, no matter what side we are on this country is broken. B-R-O-K-E-N. Broken. We all need to stand up and admit it and cop to being part of the problem. We Americans love to talk. Look at all our pundits. Pundits don't solve problems. Arguing with those who already side with your own point of view doesn't solve our problems either. Respecting each other, actually listening and working together doesn't make you "evil" either. When I hear that Republican Senators are treated like defectors, ignored and disowned by their party simply because they want to reach across the aisle and work with the Democrats on fixing our country it makes me so incredibly sad and furiously angry. It makes me want to do things to these one-sided self-serving fools that would have me arrested. About forty times. I want to scream, "It's not about you! It's about the greater good!" I know I'm an idealist, it's sweet isn't it? I hate to get all Carrie Bradshaw on you when I say, "I can't help but wonder if we started getting to know our neighbors, talking to our family members more and shutting off our "stuff", if we heard others more no matter what their view we could grow enough to actually fix and create the changes our nation so desperately needs." It's imploding on top of us and it's our fault.

It takes time and we are only at the tippiest tip of the base of the start of this change but we are there. We just have to realize it will be a long, arduous battle. Not just give it lip service either. It is a work in progress that won't be fixed perfectly the first time around. It is one that doesn't get solved by arguing with those who agree with us but by opening our ears, minds and hearts to all those around us. Reaching out, fostering relationships, coming together and working for change is American. Hating those who think differently, refusing to work and listen to the other side and calling them traitors to their country? Well, that sounds like the work of a terrorist if you ask me.

My Take on Review Blogging- Good or Bad

Most of you know that I also write a review blog, Mummy's Product Reviews. Initially, I didn't set out to write product reviews. It all started right here back in 2006 when as a weekly feature I did 'The Product of the Week'. People were always asking me about places to go, brands, beauty items, I could go on. As a self-admitted "product whore" and advice columnist wannabe, it seemed a likely fit. 'The Product of the Week' was simply my take on a product I tried, loved and wanted to share. That's all. Nothing was sent to me, no one pitched me. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Just items from my house. Review bloggers didn't hold much world wide web space if any back then.

Over time things have obviously evolved. An Arbonne consultant sent me a slew of stuff and I joined the Parent Bloggers Network. Review bloggers began showing up all over the place. It was time to create a separate space for it all, thus MPR was born. Right from the start I promoted honest reviews. I wasn't there to appease some company and stroke their fur. Call me an idealist but I really did want the companies to know what I liked and disliked about their products. Pitches from PR reps began to trickle in and by the end of 2007 they were pouring in. I was invited to review a car! I couldn't believe that this was really happening. I loved it.

Now, in 2009, I still love it. Honest reviews are my thing, besides my regular writing. I have a handy star guide and I hate to say it but this is one of my passions. Sometimes a company will give me an honorarium and even before the FTC decided to crackdown I was honest about that too. I willingly admit that I like free stuff, just not all free stuff. Having a company request a review is nice, sometimes. I like building relationships with companies and I admit I have passed on quite a few whose products and/or practices didn't jive with mine. When I work with a company or seek them out it is because I respect their brand and want to learn and share more- good or bad. I enjoy most of the events I attend because I get to learn something new (good or bad), see some blogger friends and network. I don't let it cloud my judgement or ability to be objective about the product. My belief then and now has always been that a company must be willing to take a certain risk when they ask someone to review their product. The very definition of the word review is this- "To examine with an eye to criticism or correction. To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example)."

I don't review everything that comes my way either. Unsolicited items, products without paperwork and pitches that don't fit my criteria or the blog don't make it as a review. I don't see the point of reviewing an item for only positive purposes either. What good does that do the readers or the company? I also think that review bloggers should be paid for their writing. The writing, not for shilling a product. I realize it is a fine line and requires disclosure and I wish it didn't affect a bloggers credibility (read this!). It's work testing a product, working with a company, writing up the review and spewing it out to the masses. PR work, writing work, just plain Work. Work, I love but yes, work. I actually think about what I write and I do not just post up a press release. That idea alone makes my skin crawl. I admit that if a company intrigues me or produces an item that peaks my interest I will set up a review. That is how it works. If I don't like it, I say I don't like it. Attending an event, being put up in a nice hotel and being given free stuff could sway me but it doesn't. Yes, really. I'll cop to it being nice having all that attention and stuff lavished on me but at the end of the day, when the blog post goes up, it is all about the product and not the attention. It really is about blogging with integrity.

Again, call me an idealist but I believe and agree with Liz at Mom-101, that PR companies and the companies behind the products we all review, should be honest. They want us for who we are and like any good relationship we shouldn't have to change who we are just so they will like us. They should love us, respect our opinions (good or bad) just for who we are even if a bad review comes their way. That being said, bloggers need to own up to the relationships they have with these brands and what went on behind the scenes. Be professional and weigh the pros and cons of an item. They should be honest with their reviews and not have their heads turned just because someone gave them a truckload of chips, a night in a hotel and some free meals. Like any job it is your credibility that is at stake. I hate feeling dirty because as a reviewer I am lumped in with "gimme bloggers" who are not credible or professional in their work.

My blood gets thick and begins to boil when I hear reviewers say they only do positive reviews and don't want to offend the company. Really? We are the consumers, people! We buy the stuff. If we don't like it we don't buy it. If we don't tell the makers, they have no idea their product doesn't work, smells bad, tastes awful, is a rip-off or doesn't last. It's just like a regular ol' relationship. It irritates you when your boyfriend bites his toenails off with his teeth while watching television? He's not going to stop if you never say anything! Tell him it grosses you out. To me it is all the same thing.

I'm seriously considering putting up a monthly column called, 'Disappointments' on MPR and listing a bunch of products that didn't perform well regardless if I bought it on my own or it was supplied. I don't care if companies back off from my reviews because then it shows they are just in it for the free PR. It's not about ruining a brand or a product, it's about providing real research and true thoughts and findings. That to me is highly valuable information when it is handled tactfully.

I could say, "Can't we all just get along?" I could say that we are just on the cusp of having real, open discussions surrounding this ordeal but we are right in the thick of it. December 1 is looming large and everyone who reviews is going to have to figure out where they stand. I already know where I stand and it is with full disclosure and honesty.

I'm climbing off my soap box now. Thanks for your time.

Fat Camps and Obesogens and Greening- Oh My!

Remember when you were growing up and there was just one overweight kid in your class? Yeah, that's right I'm going to talk about childhood obesity today and more. Why? Because it bothers the heck out of me. That's why. Gone is the one child with a weight problem and now we have classrooms full of them.

When I'm at the gym and I see the British governments initiative being pooh poohed (OH NO! The government is trying to think healthy! They want kids to have a longer, healthier life! Back off you meddling government! How dare you!) because it wants to create "fat camps" as Fox News called them (Don't get me started on that network.) and people are up in arms. You know what? Maybe we need those camps because so many schools no longer have the funds for gym classes anymore. Recesses are not as long and kids sit a whole lot more. The fact that there is so much television, computer games and junk food available is a contributing factor as well to be sure. We don't know how to choose and teach healthy lifestyles. We are not educated to do it and we don't have the time. Or so it seems.

But how about this new side of the obesity coin? Newsweek published an article this week titled, " Born to be Big" by Sharon Begley (please, read). At first, I was really incensed by just the title alone. However, when I began to read further into the article it started to make sense to me. The idea that the chemicals we ingest from our foods, all those plastics and the environment is changing the chemistry in our bodies and creating obesogens, which can make you fat, is not entirely unbelievable. It is fascinating to me and while not an excuse for every overweight person (over 50 it does not apply) it is just another reason that we need to get back to basics. It is yet another red flag that we need continue to seek out the healthier alternatives and rid our lifestyles of the junk we are placing in our homes and on our plates.

All those BPA-free bottles I bought, all those cleaning and household products I converted over to in the last four years are not just because I am glomming onto the greenie trend. It's because I really believe that all those chemicals, the pure crap that companies put in our food and household goods because it is the cheap alternative and not because it is good for us are inherently bad for us on so many levels. To think that using that stuff could potentially be changing the cells in a fetus while I'm carrying it is like something out of a very scary sci-fi thriller when you think about it. Soylent Green blips across my mind.

We are weakening our bodies and our children's futures by plying our lives with all this pure junk. We pour a highly toxic cleaner on our floor and let our kids play on it. We douse our dishes and ourselves in high lathering phthalate chocked products and have no idea that we are killing ourselves slowly. I truly believe that much of the allergies, cancers and other afflictions we now suffer from in droves are due in part because of the toxic levels of junk we allow into our homes without a second thought. We are ingesting it, breathing it in and slathering it on our bodies and we need to stop and think about what we are doing. Everything is connected whether we want to think about it or not.

Resources for Kicking the Chemical Habit:

Big Green Purse

Safer Cosmetics Guide

Our Stolen Future

The Green Mom Review

Women's Health Issues

Blogher 2010, I'm Talking to You!

Blogher 2009 had the theme of "Blogher09 is People". Every time I heard that phrase all I could think of was a quote from the Muppets Take Manhattan, "is frogs, is pigs, is chickens and stuff... is New York!" Oddly, Blogher 2010 is New York.

Now that I am home, sticky with teething biscuit crumbs and out of the bubble that is every Blogher conference (I swear the world could implode on itself and the only way we would know is if it was on Twitter.) I can see beyond "BlogHer is going to hell in a swag bag..." and the bad and the ugly that happened. I see the mistakes that were made and all I want to do now is to fix them. I want to help in any way that I can. I want to make Blogher 2010 even better than it has been in year previous. If all I contribute is the much-needed start to this discussion then so be it.

1. The Networking- In the past, the representatives from the various sponsors at Blogher were generous with the swag but also knowledgeable about social media and what we as a blogging community had to offer. They wanted to work with us and forge new bonds and create breakthroughs in this new media realm. Frankly, it was exhilarating in a kick ass sort of way. This year I found almost none of this. The companies sent reps that sometimes even asked the question, "Oh, are you a blogger?" Huh. I do not want coupons for tires or CD's on clothes. Please refrain from schilling your products. I'm not at a trade show. I do not care about detergent samples either. I just want to form a dialogue with these companies and figure out the best way we can all work together. That is what Blogher is about for me.

2. New Bloggers- I love you! I want you there! We all do. However, BlogHer is not only about collecting loot and reuniting with your online friends only. You are there to learn, network and you can do all that other stuff. That is why this whole conference was created. It is not a Bachelorette party free for all. If you felt lost this year then speak up and let’s start discussing how to make things better for newbies.

3. Old Bloggers- Veterans to the whole shebang might have come off as slightly bitter this year and I can see why. Only in my second year at the conference (my fourth blogging), I consider myself an "old" blogger. A dinosaur if you will. I think Amy said it best on Saturday night and in the most well rounded fashion (please, please, please post on this Amy!) "We were young once too and people frowned upon us. There will always be some new media/technology that comes up and/or someone or something we do not like. We have to respect it though." I am totally paraphrasing but she is right.

When I think of the reasons why I love going to Blogher it is because I am there to network with other bloggers and the companies that want to work with us. I go to learn a few things and to be inspired. I want to hone my craft to a sharp little gleaming point too. Typically, by the time Blogher rolls around I am feeling burnt out. It is just the recharge I need. It is also a perfect chance to have fun, see your friends and revel in this amazing community that we have all created and share daily. It is a beautiful thing Internets and I just want to take it back to its roots. I know we can do it too. We can move beyond the commercialism and saturation that we all just experienced, because if anyone can find a good balance and new way to do things, it is we, bloggers.

McCafe is What is Wrong with America

Have you seen the most recent McDonald's McCafe commercials where they take your ordinary humdrum words like commute and shuttle and add an accent on the 'e' and suddenly it makes everything all better?

That commercial right there is kin the Dunkin Donuts tagline, "America Runs on Dunkin'", which just screams at me so much that is wrong with our country. We are all about the quick and dirty, easy peasy instant gratification way of doing things. We want it when we want it and we don't want to wait for something that might be better for us. I see commercials like the McCafe ones and not only do I want to hurl something at my television for butchering our language but I just groan with how Americans think we can just keep going like this always looking for a shortcut and cheaper alternative.

Blech.

Maybe I'm reading to much into it. However, when I hear John Goodman's voice saying, "America runs on Dunkin'" I just cringe.

Angry Woman Kicks 1,4-Dioxane to the Curb

I'll admit I'm a bit cantankerous today. I was up all night with TD who has a hellacious cough and the poor kid is just not herself. Combine that lack of sleep with an issue that just generally gets me riled up anyway and you've got one angry woman on your hands.

That must mean it is time for a SOAP BOX RANT! I've climbed up. Attention please! Let me begin.

I love my kids. I want what is best for them in every possible way. I want them to feel safe and secure at all times. Their welfare and health is at the tip top of my list on a daily basis. So that is why I get so steaming, hell-fire breathing mad when I read that companies that many parents have trusted for generations, companies that love to court us mommy bloggers, just really don't give a shit. There. I said it. They don't. It's all about the bottom line. Duh. I feel like they are duping the consumers. Especially when we mommy bloggers have asked repeatedly at certain events if their products are really as safe and harmless as they say. We are a skeptical lot us mothers and we protect our young with a ferocity that cannot be imagined. When we find out that chemicals that cause cancer have been pumped into our tiny babies bath soap we get angry.

Really angry. I feel like I want to rip someones jugular out today and not just because I'm feeling all sleep-deprived and primal but because I'm damn mad that the makers of these products just don't care what they do. It's all about the easiest, cheapest way to make and market the product and who cares what the general public thinks. "Put a green leaf on it boys and the moms will go mad thinking it's all-natural!" When really it's chock full of formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. Kiddie leukemia anyone?!

Grrr... Much teeth gnashing and I'm looking for blood.

I don't even care if it isn't my country that this is effecting though I'm quite certain that it is chemical poisoning is just as rampant in the US as it is in foreign lands. These chemicals just aren't required to be listed on our products labels according to US laws. Feel angry now? And just because it isn't in my house doesn't mean it isn't effecting me. Yet it is effecting my house because last year I got a ton of free baby bath products, kids shampoo, soap and lotion from this company. Trying to not be wasteful, especially during the time of my husband's lay off, I began using all this stuff just to save a dime. I'm almost done with all of it too. Despite my concious always eating away at me over the last few months I kept using it all too. But as of today it's all being chucked in the trash. Instead of waiting to be done with it and then going back to my safety-checked bath products I'm just going back now. No more chemicals for my kiddos. Because this?

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a consumer safety watchdog group, last
Friday reported that dozens of popular children’s bath products marketed in the
US contain two cancer-causing chemicals, 1.4-dioxane and
formaldehyde. Twenty-three of the 28 products tested for formaldehyde were
shown to contain the chemical, and 17 of those products contained both
formaldehyde and 1.4-dioxane. Among those were the highly popular Johnson’s
Baby Shampoo, L’Oreal Kids Extra Gentle 2-in-1 shampoo and Pampers Kandoo
foaming hand soap, which contained enough formaldehyde to trigger a skin
reaction in highly sensitive people, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said in its
report.

Is completely UNACCEPTABLE. I'm not just going to single one company out either because this stuff and more is in so many of the products we use on a daily basis to clean our homes and simplify our lives. I have been trying to weed items like this out for the past few years and often there are much more wallet-friendly solutions that you just need to do a bit of searching for versus always buying the sometimes expensive and not always effective green marketed products crowding our shelves these days. Don't despair and feel defeated! You can take action in some very simple ways.

What you can do:

Contrary to industry statements, there are no regulatory standards that limit formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane or most other toxic chemicals in personal care products sold in the United States. There are signs the U.S. is gearing to catch up, but for now it's up to consumers to consider carefully before they buy. Here's some suggestions for safeguarding your family's health:
Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes, and use fewer products overall.

Choose safety: Search EWG's cosmetic safety database, Skin Deep, to learn more about the products you use and find safer alternatives. Also check out EWG's Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products.

Read labels: Select products for baby and yourself that don't contain the ingredients listed above, which are commonly contaminated with formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane.
Take action! Can’t memorize these lists? Nobody can. If harmful contaminants and ingredients weren’t allowed in products, you wouldn’t have to. Tell Congress you want safe cosmetics for babies, adults and everyone in between.

Spread the word: Send an e-card letting friends and family know about this report.

Finally you don't have to be a parent to be angry about this issue. It's a matter that everyone should take to heart. It is your health after all too. Your pets as well. The more of us that take action the better off we will all be in the long run. Not only healthier but safer. And by God maybe then some of those green products will have to come down in price as well!

Paging Gordon Gekko

Apparently the people over at Modern Alchemy and Bloomingdales did not get the message about the global recession. Nope, just in time for the holidays they have introduced their Seven Deadly Sins candles.

Who doesn't want the oh-so-necessary Pride and Gluttony candle to adorn their soon-to-be foreclosed on mantle? You can light up that Envy candle as you watch your neighbors without the sub-prime mortgage stay toasty warm this holiday season too. Perhaps you can be a touch evil and give that Envy candle as a not so subtle gift to those who can't even afford food and are going to be going to the under-stocked food pantries this winter. Ooh watch out for that Wrath candle when it gets hurled at your head because someone just realized that your dumb ass just spent $45 on each of these inane candles.

Seriously folks? Who buys this shit?

Want something that will stimulate your brain and is free? Head over to MPR for my newest giveaway.

I Want My Two Dollars!

If only it were that simple or even that insignificant amount of money. However, it is not.

Here's the problem- some months ago I was hired to be a blogging consultant to launch a particularly new (and by new I mean, having no idea what the heck they were getting themselves into, all very obvious now) scheduling company to the DC Metro area. I was ecstatic. I completely believed in and loved the product. The company is woman-owned and family friendly too. It was proof-positive that going to BlogHer can get you work too.

Rates were negotiated. Plans outlined. Contracts were signed. Work officially began.

Then things started to go awry. Emails were missed and bounced back. Contact was a bit hard to make. I tried to hold to it all together and make the campaign as successful as I could on the 5 hours a week I was allotted. Not much time in the grand scheme of things and truthfully I worked over that five each week just to get done what I did. The whole project took four weeks total. I charged them for three because I knew things were tight for them budget-wise. I couldn't excuse that third week because I had worked almost 10 hours that week alone. I needed to be paid.

And I was. For two weeks. Now? Nothing. My last $350 is not being sent. Why? They didn't budget it despite what my contract states, "a minimum of two weeks of work" and an agreement that I would be paid regardless. I am livid.

I want my money. I want to take the high road and not run their name through the mud but I'm wondering if after all this time (work ended in early September) I should just go ahead and call them out here and here and amongst my whole blogging network. They gleaned contacts from me through this project. My word and reputation is on the line. If another blogger is screwed out of hard-earned money because companies think they don't have to actually pay a blogger for work then they have another thing coming.

So, Internets- some advice? What would you do?

To think they had the nerve to ask me just last week to do more press for them as well. Sickening.

Guilty As Charged

Allow me to climb atop my soap box for a minute.

Whew! That soap box is feeling mighty high these days... or maybe it's just my less than limber pregnant self where pants are an obstacle course just to put on these days.

A fellow blogger sent this out and I couldn't help myself. Just watch. Reflect. Know that we are all guilty as charged too.




I remember vowing to have a better body image after the birth of TD and failing miserably the first year as I dealt with a post-baby body. Then I took a much needed R&R trip out west and found that two of my dear friends are just as bad as me and haven't even had kids. It gave me a lot to think about and I vowed again with a new ferocity to just focus on being healthy and happy with what God gave me.

My body, while not 19 anymore or even 24, is healthy and strong. It will only get stronger after I pop out Dash Two and resume my love for the gym and running. Oh, running, how I miss you... especially this time of year. You make me feel so powerful, clean and strong. Able to tackle anything and wanting to fill my body with only good-for-you foods. When I know I'm being good to my body and letting it be all it can be I am at my best and I don't worry about how I look because I know I'm looking my best.

I don't compare myself to magazines because, pfftt... we all know the wonders of photoshop and airbrushing. We KNOW that celebrities have way more help to look that good than we do and if we just stop and think we KNOW in our hearts that there are tricks of the trade they are employing when they step outside their front doors- yes, girdles, I'm talking about SPANX and more, ladies.

So I'm vowing again to be better about this whole body image issue. I'm healthy. I'm doing the best I can and I have the power to become stronger and healthier even. I won't degrade myself or my thighs anymore. I'll only encourage myself and you should too. I owe it to TD, Dash Two and to myself most of all. Let's stop beating ourselves up over this and just be healthy in mind and body!

Sneakers are for Your Feet. Not Your Head.

Am I right? If you started wearing gloves on your nose or putting your retainer in your ear it wouldn't work out so well and people would deem you not so bright, so why are some places such as Facebook continuing to encourage the despicably twisted yet pervasive thought- breasts for feeding is bad. Breasts to be augmented and oggled is good. Riiiiiight.

Except that not only does this Facebook episode, the MYSpace one or the Harvard Medical School incident (see NY TIMES) not only demean women further it sets us back. David Wescott, a blogger, made his point well on this topic:

Facebook has come down on both sides of a “free speech issue” here - once clamping down, once letting speech and organizing go - and in each case it’s come down in a way that arguably sets women back.

Breasts. Yes, they are beautiful. Beautiful orbs or sacs of fat. We women should celebrate our breasts most definitely. Yet some how what has continually been lost in translation over the years is that breasts serve a purpose other than as an ideal advertising tool. They are for feeding. Feeding our young. Just like udders on a cow or teets on a pig. First and foremost. Anyone else who gets to suckle at the breast is just a lucky SOB or DOB (daughter of a ... you get my drift).

This whole thought process that breastfeeding in public is obscene is absurd! And wrong. So maybe it makes you uncomfortable to see a partial boob while chomping your steak at Applebees or shopping for new kicks in the mall. Face it that's because nudity probably makes you uncomfortable too. Well, a bucket full of maggots makes me "uncomfortable". So you know what? I look away! Look away from the bucket of maggots. Look away from the breastfeeding women who is doing what she believes is best or economically feasible for her and her child. Don't give her a dirty look or say something inappropriate making her feel low and unworthy of leaving her house. Women get enough mixed messages out there.

What is obscene and absurd to me is the barely legal porno sites out there or the women whose only goal is to be a Playboy centerfold. Not someone using their body in the way they are supposed to. Breasts are for feeding, sneakers are for your feet.

For more on this subject head on over to Izzy Mom.

Two Things

There are two things in the food world that get me really burned up. Well, three if you count Rachel Ray.

1. Fourth Meal- Damn you Taco Bell ad and marketing executives for thinking up this disgusting ploy for more sales. Fourth Meal?! Love the SKINNY guy on the commercial smirking at his cleverness. That's right buddy- keep eating that fourth meal and the next thing you know you'll begging soda throwing Subway over there to have you as their next Jared. Fourth Meal is all that is wrong with the food culture in this country. As if obesity and all the related diseases need another push. I am so thoroughly disgusted each time I hear or see a Taco Bell commercial with this ad I want to scream. Scream and start acting like a complete nut job at some random Taco Bell kicking people out of the place in droves with my craziness. Let's just all shove more preservatives, fat, and high fructose corn syrup into our ever slackening bodies.

2. America Runs on Dunkin- Dear God in heaven no. Really? While, yes, I am way more of a SBUX girl, because I actually like the taste of coffee and not all that sugar and cream thrown into some watered down "coffee", it's just the whole premise that we are these little drones running through life like hamsters on a wheel/Rachel Ray never stopping, only going, working, and running to the next thing. Never noticing that life is in the now. Am I reading too much into this clever little ad? When I hear John Goodman's voice narrating these commercials, I smirk. Great spokesperson. Comforting voice, teddy bear like man, telling us to just head on over and get more donuts, sausage-bagel-egg-cheese-bacon towers to cram into our gaping hole. Hey! Maybe we can throw in a heavy whipped frappaccuino ice cream concoction and eat it all before we even squeal out of the drive-thru!

Yup. I climbed up on that precarious little box today to rant and rave about the food industry. Can't help it. I get so mad sometimes that we just go nuts covering ourselves in a sea of anti-bacterial sprays and gels and then we dump all manner of preservatives and chemicals into our bodies. I watched bologna being made the other day on Unwrapped and I still can't get the "beef puree" out of my mind.