I THINK it’s safe to say that if not for the comic relief provided by Roger Sterling, every fan of Mad Men would have been popping Prozac the way Roger sucks downs martinis by halfway through season one. The show is brilliant, but damn is it ever depressing.
I know I’ve mentioned it on facebook and included a little postscript about it in a post last week, but I wanted to make an official announcement. I’m not one to toot my own horn, even if it’s a tiny toot of my own horn. In fact it makes me downright uncomfortable but I’m going to do it anyway because I’m that damn excited. *deep breath* I’m about to pop. Okay. Are you ready?
My article, “Foreign Waters,” is featured in the Summer 2014 issue of Artful Blogging which is available in bookstores and online now.
Being featured in Artful Blogging has been a goal of mine for several years so I am very honored and excited to have been given this opportunity. And it was one I didn’t take lightly. I wanted to use the opportunity to address an event that many people, unfortunately, experience and struggle with…and I wanted it to help both bloggers and non-bloggers alike. So what did I write about?
I wanted to help bloggers understand how to share important parts of their private lives with their readers, who are their tribes, their friends, their community.
I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not but we do what we do – the writing, the creating, the sharing, the teaching, the learning, the growing, the laughing, the crying, the ranting, the loving – because of you. We do it for you, the reader, because all of us want to help in our own way, be it creating beauty, spreading love, giving advice, teaching skills, providing support for people with illnesses…no matter what form it takes, no matter how it looks, we blog for you. And it can be very difficult for us to know how much of our private lives to keep for ourselves and how much to give away.
Good bloggers want to be honest with our readers. We want to be trusted by you. We want to make a difference and without honesty and trust that simply isn’t possible.
But we also have to have boundaries regarding what we share, not just for ourselves but for those we share our lives with – our friends and family who may not want the details of their private lives blasted across the interweb for all to read. It’s a challenge and, as in the case of my divorce, it’s not always easy to know what to do.
That’s why I wrote “Foreign Waters.” I hope it helps readers understand how and why bloggers decide to share what they share and I hope it helps making those decisions easier for my fellow bloggers. So whether you blog or just enjoy reading them, I hope you’ll pick up a copy, check it out and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts about the article. And thank you all so much for your continued love and support. I know I say it all the time, but you truly are the bee’s knees. Thank you.
(and a chance to win a $500 gift card from LuLu’s…oooooh yeah.)
It’s time for a fashion fight (and I don’t mean clashing colors and patterns)! From crop tops to florals, spring’s top trends have officially sprung. No matter which fashion craze you crave, LuLu*s wants to know which styles tickle your fancy in their Fashion Face-Off Instagram Contest! You can win a $500 gift card from LuLu’s for joining in on the fashion fighting fun.
This week’s face-off is between #teamleather and #teamlace. Two trends enter, one trend leaves. Which team are you on? Share your sartorial savvy on Instagram for your chance to win.
How To Enter:
1. Follow @lulus on Instagram
2. Choose the trend you wanna take on!
3. Upload your original photo of the trend on Instagram with the hashtag #lulusfashionfaceoff as well as your team’s hashtag. Remember, your profile must be public to be entered!
4. Check back every Monday for a new chance to WIN!
Week #1: #TeamSkater vs. #TeamShift
Week #2: #TeamFloral vs. #TeamStripes
Week #3: #TeamLeather vs. #TeamLace
Week #4: #TeamBabydoll vs. #TeamMaxi
One winner will be selected every Friday at 5pm PST and announced via the LuLu*s Instagram! So what are you waiting for? Throw your hat into the ring and enter the fashion face-off.
Good luck! (And if you should happen to win one of those gift certificates, my birthday’s in June. *ahem* You know…in case you were wondering…*wink*)
HAVE YOU EVER stopped to really think about just how twisted nursery rhymes are? They’re the things from which nightmares are made.
BABIES FALLING out of trees. Birds pecking out women’s eyes. And my personal favorite, a sweet and simple little rhyme about the plague disguised as a children’s game.
NOT SURE which rhyme I’m referring to? Why, it’s ring around the rosie, a charming little poem and playground favorite about the black plague of 1665. But how is it about the plague? What does it really mean? Let’s break it down, shall we?
Ring-a-round the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down
IN 1951 Peter and Iona Opie, the leading authorities on nursery rhymes at the time (yes, there are nursery rhyme experts. Who knew?), gave the following explanation for the origin of the rhyme:
“The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and posies…were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and “all fall down” was exactly what happened.”
ASHES, ashes, we all fall down – this is pretty self explanatory. “Ashes” is believed to refer to the burning of the corpses of the infected and “we all fall down is”…well…everyone dying.
ISN’T THAT uplifting. Remember that the next time you see kids holding hands, skipping in a circle, chanting this rhyme and then watching them crumple into little piles on the ground when they reach the end of the song. And we wonder why so many kids grow up to need therapy.
AND THAT is part of the inspiration behind this week’s Project 52 offering, which I now present to you with morbid glee (my favorite sort of glee, to be sure). You’re welcome. *wink*
PS – Thank you, Sarah, for including “ashes ashes we all fall down” in My Four Hens’ weekly Project 52 roundup, Eye Candy.
DON DRAPER is the onion of men. You just keep peeling and peeling, layer after layer and just when you think you’ve reached the heart of the man, lo and behold there are more layers to be found. He’s not just an onion…he’s a never-ending onion; the deep Don Draper.
IT will be interesting to see how the writers resolve all the inner and outer conflict in which Don is constantly awash. As much as I hate to entertain the notion, I have a feeling the series will end with no resolution for Don Draper. To even attempt to put him in a box with all his loose ends neatly knotted and tie him up with a tidy little bow would be a dishonor to the character and the show. Sorry for the bad (and crass) pun, but I highly doubt there will be a happy ending for Don Draper. But I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, what is to become of the onion man, of the deep Don Draper.
