So…I’ve been a bit political lately (just a weeeeeee bit). And it’s brought me mad traffic and some nice commenting to boot. It’s fairly phenomenal that people who have spent days, months, years talking about other things are now talking, debating, writing, shouting about our political system, oh, and our futures, with such vigor. Think we’re hungry for change? There is a sense that we, the people, can actually make a difference - and that we have no choice but to try.

People are actually motivated to participate at a higher level and the internet is the perfect place to do it; it’s fast and it’s fluid - it’s a connector of people and ideas. We feel like we’re actually being heard - especially when people answer back - through comments, comment replies, Facebook, Twitter, etc…

On this blog, of the many great things that have happened as a result of the brouhaha, my favorite has been the commenting. When people are so moved (positively or negatively) by something they read that they just have to chime in, it’s, well, what we’re here for. I’ve learned much from listening to my readers - you are all so darn smart.

And as always, I’ve commented back because I don’t think that your efforts should go unanswered. I don’t want to be a one-sided blogger. Believe it or not, I’m here for the conversation. So, thank you to all that have commented - keep it coming.

As for Twitter, I’ve gotten new followers and watched older Twitter ‘relationships’ burst (in both directions)…but the conversations, the back and forth, are alive and well.

Another perk of the comments and the tweets? URLs. Everytime you comment or follow, you show me your website, which I then peruse with unfettered abandon…and I’ve found some great blogs to introduce you to:

1. The Cleaner Plate Club. Hormones in milk. Pesticides on produce. Feces on meat. Say what? I’m not a foodie, I’m rarely a cook, and I don’t have the time for slow food. Truth is, all I’m looking for is a decent meal - preferably one that my kids will eat, as well. So I begin my quest for a cleaner plate….Terrific writing, fab topic - check Ali out.

2. Punctuality Rules. A must for us writers who are more content than grammar (especially in these heated times!) Deb dishes the dirt on how to write, right, rite the rite, right, write way.

3. Green Your Decor. Jennae’s all about green interior design and doing good for the old planet. Also, she’s using the Thesis wordpress theme very, very well!

Hmmm…just noticed these are all women’s blogs. And I’m a woman…so that must mean that I will ignore all of Sarah Palin’s political ideals and just vote for her! Aw, geez, did I have to go there? Why yes, I did.

Spread this around (oh, and I LOVE you John Stewart, always have):

As you’re developing your writing strategy for your blog, you may want to break it down like this (I’m going to use a popcorn blog as an example because I’m hungry, I adore popcorn and last time I checked, popcorn wasn’t political):

1. The Basics. Cover all the facts about popcorn - different kinds, standard recipes, gift ideas, special ingredients, health benefits, history of popcorn, favorite kernels, favorite poppers, etc.
2. News. What’s new in the popcorn world? Did Orville Redenbacher discover a carb-less cookie? Has Cuisinart invented a hybrid popper? Was the world record for biggest kernel just popped? (sorry I absolutely had to do that)
3. Personal Experience. As you were popping corn today, what did you notice? How did your latest recipe turn out? Which brands do kids love, which do they abhor? (Hopefully that nasty microwaveable kind with the fake butter).
4. How To’s. How to start a popcorn business. How to keep the popcorn from going stale. How to make the perfect bowl of popcorn every time.
5. Guests and Features. And here come your opportunities to connect to your community. Invite chefs, parents, popcorn companies, kitchenware companies, kids, teachers, other bloggers, etc. to your blog to increase its content, information and value (and to cross promote and drive traffic).
6. Contests. Everyone loves a contest (though not this crowd so much - what’s up with that?)…but popcorn people definitely do. Give things away, raise money with a raffle, donate funds to a cause, partner with another site…the opportunities are endless.

My advice? Write what you know and write to people that don’t know as much as you do, write to people interested in your field. Hell, even if they know as much or more than you know, they don’t know it like you know it. Make your mark by being completely you. Twenty people could write about Smart Food and they would all sound different and they would all resonate with different readers…like a poem, if you will.

I know this is no big secret, but I’m going to say it anyway: there are a lot of people in this world and many of them are online, reading blogs even. And because there are so many readers, the people who care about what you are writing will find you…and you will find them. I swear, it just happens that way.

I wasn’t planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response.

I saw John McCain’s attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign.

But worst of all — and this deserves to be noted — they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together.

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack’s experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.

Let’s clarify something for them right now.

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.

And it’s no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America’s promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it’s happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

Meanwhile, we still haven’t gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies.

It’s now clear that John McCain’s campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks — on Barack Obama and on you — are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.

But you can send a crystal clear message.

Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a $25 donation right now.

Thank you for joining more than 2 million ordinary Americans who refuse to be silenced.

No, I have not lost my mind or closed my business to become a political pundit. But the political goings on are so infuriating at the moment…and being a working mom is part of who I am on this blog…and, I fall into this description of current events so perfectly:

“It’s the Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition,” as Jodi Kantor and Rachel Swarns put it so memorably in today’s New York Times, “But this time the battle lines are drawn inside out, with social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defending her, while some others, including plenty of working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.” Barclay Palmer

I’m a liberal Democrat, a card-carrying member of the feminist party…and a working mother that is worried Sarah Palin is taking on too much. Of course, I think that women should be able to work outside of the home (as I do), but I also think that mothers are critical to the development of their children - and she doesn’t just want to ‘work outside the home’ - no one can claim that the role of VP compares to a 9-5 or even an 8-6.

And, I hear myself and understand that it could sound sexist - that I expect this mom to stay home and raise her children, that I might not have the same expectation if it were Todd Palin. But, here’s the thing (or 4):

1. She is running as a MOM. George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did not run as DADS. They didn’t talk about how they were ‘hockey dads’ and ‘PTA dads’ - these ‘jobs’ were not listed as crucial items on their resumes, pertinent to their readiness for the job. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin is - in fact, it’s pretty much all that she has. Her mother of 5 status is flaunted like a badge of honor - it’s critical to who she is and maintained as critical to her identity and experience.

But, if she gets this job, she will be none of those things - she’ll be either absent as a mother, or absent as a VP, possibly as President. And from what she’s told us, she doesn’t even know what the job entails, so I’d hope she’d be around learning how to govern.

2. I believe that moms are special. Our bonds to our children are extraordinary - our closeness is essential. Father’s are special too - I’m not trying to put them down. But, there’s something that women possess, inherently, that is different. It’s one of the things that make women women, that makes me proud to be one. As you can see, it’s indescribable, but it’s there. I believe that men and women are different - that doesn’t make them unequal.

3. I know that being a hands on mom isn’t always possible - but this is a choice that Sarah Palin is making. She isn’t, for example, single and poor and needing to work 2 jobs to feed her family. Instead, she is looking at a job that doesn’t have set hours, that doesn’t have vacation time built in, where you can’t really bring your baby to work. She isn’t just wanting to be a working mom. She wants to be a working mom whose job is the Vice President of the United States! And, if old McCain kicks it, the whole story gets worse - either way, she’ll work until midnight and need to be in the office at 6am - sometimes she’ll be up all night. The world doesn’t click off at 5.

Also, I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, saying that a woman and/or a mother can not be a world leader - I believe we can, wholeheartedly. But, I think that it makes sense for said woman to be at a specific place in her life - or rather to not be at a specific place in her life…like a mother of young children. Hilary’s daughter is grown, and even when the Clinton’s were in the White House, Chelsea was not a young child, much less an infant.

Not to mention this: it isn’t as easy as going to work and leaving your children somewhere - you need to find the right people, that you trust to raise your children.

4. My last point is harsh, but I’m going to say it anyway. She did this ‘incredible thing’ by birthing her Downs Syndrome child, a child with intense special needs. But isn’t part of that choice about taking responsibility for and being with the child? How will she have time to do this? I work full-time and my children do not have special needs, and I still don’t feel like I have enough time with them (and the guilt pounds on my heart every day…and I’m lucky that their other parent is with them when I’m not).

Before I had kids, I may have had a bit of a different attitude, or at least it wouldn’t have been quite as easy for me to be against her working as VP and having a family (maybe) - but now I have 2 kids and I work (a lot) and I know how it is…

Of course, this is all side-tracking us from the fact that this woman has no experience, that an administrator had to be hired to run the town (5,000 pop.) she was mayor of because she had no idea how to do the job, that she has fired or ruined anyone that has fought against her, that she is working for Alaska’s secession from the United States and that she has no experience that could prepare her to work with world leaders. (To read more, go here.)

I’m going to spend the next 9 weeks working very hard to get Barack Obama elected…and I’m starting by supporting Move On a fantastic organization working to energize and educate young voters. Read more about this citizens group and make a donation here. I just did because I will do everything I can to make a difference in this election.

I’m still in a bit of shock, but it’s true, I took Labor Day Weekend (most of Friday and all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday) off. From work. Though my cell phone is a Blackberry and I couldn’t keep myself from checking my email every once in a while, it mostly just put me at ease because it confirmed that other people were taking a vacation as well. Imagine that.

So, I took a few days off. And, I liked it.

My biggest challenge was not thinking about this (Tuesday) morning. My biggest practice was to completely relax. My goal will be to dive into all that I have to do today, slow and steady, while trying to keep this wonderful feeling of calm with me as I work.

Vacations, and breaks in general are so important for our health - and I really do understand that - but then, there’s dealing with all of the time lost, the 300+ emails in my inbox, the piles of voice mails and the looooong to do lists. As a freelancer and owner of my own business, I continue to search for a way to take a relaxing vacation without having the stress of coming back. If you have any great strategies, I’d love to hear them.

Honestly, I was relieved to know that I could do this. That I could spend hours not thinking about work and actually enjoying myself.

Alright now, wish me luck, I’m going back in…

I went to bed last night full of hope, and I woke up even fuller…full to burst.

Obama is Good. He had an intelligent rebuttal to every challenge and cheap shot the Republicans have thrown at him and he delivered with grace, with reality.

He laid out his plan and talked about how he would do it. Rich greedy white men everywhere are going to be pissed…but I say to them, you have been successful with the old regime, get off your ass and figure out a way to be successful with the new one. Don’t become one of the ‘whiners’. If you can’t succeed in a socially and morally responsible way, you don’t deserve your money.

Barak cuts to the chase. He makes sense. He takes responsibility and he urges us to do so as well. He doesn’t say it’s going to be easy, but he knows it all has to happen…and he’s going to lead us through the change - with honesty, vision, guidance, positivity, inspiration and the example of hard work, good morals and solid ethics.

He helps us remember that we can all find common ground. He isn’t one of the privileged few adding a notch to his belt by becoming president. He’s a real person who has always fought for what he believes, for what is right, for common decency.

‘We can not walk alone and we can not turn back.’

You said it, Barack - thank you for your courage and for your fortitude.

If you haven’t heard Barack Obama speak, or if you are undecided or considering voting for McCain, I urge you to watch this video of his acceptance speech at the 2008 DNC.

To read the speech, go here. And, if you have anything to give, please donate here. This is OUR campaign, we make the difference and as a result, Barack is not beholden to anyone but the American people. Not big oil, not corporations, not special interests…but to US.

UPDATE: This just posted by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2008
Shocking Choice by John McCain
WASHINGTON– Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate:  Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.  To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”
______
The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.
PASS IT ON.

I heard about this from the incredible blogging woman, Bridget Wright, at Biz Chicks Rule. And since my clients and readers are brilliant people with stunning ideas, I couldn’t help but spread the word.

ideablog is having a monthly contest that awards $10,000 to the best business ideas. They also enlist the help of successful business folk to serve as advisors. The ideas are then voted on by everyday visitors to the site (including your Aunt Betty and Uncle Bert if you enter, I suppose).

Check it out…and definitely let me know when you enter (so I can vote for you and spread the word on Blogging Roads) and when you win (so I can celebrate your incredibleness).

Oh, and if you’re engaged in some uber-procrastination today, leave me a comment, and I’ll email you a link to a YouTube video from 1987 that features yours truly in all of her 13 year-old, 80’s, baggy clothes wearing glory. Glory, I tell you, total glory.

As you all know, I enjoy me some online social networking. I like my Facebook, my Twitter, my LinkedIn in particular. But, lately, I’m noticing this clash of the generations (or sensibilities, perhaps?).

Basically, people are using these networks for one of three reasons:

1.  business activities

2. personal activities

3. a mixture of the two

But what happens when these groups bump into each other?

Sometimes it’s okay. For instance,  I do love catching up with my high school friends on Facebook, and when I market my business and my blog there, they’re potential clients…it is a network, you know. And at least they all have jobs(ish) and understand that I’m making a living.

But then, my nieces friend me and they’re 13 and they put up ridiculous pictures of me from family gatherings. And my sister-in-law writes ’stuff’ on my wall that I don’t want anyone else to see because she’s 23 and using Facebook in its original configuration - as an online yearbook of sorts for the college set.

None of this is a huge deal - I can delete and manage my page…but I find it fascinating to watch as Facebook grows and builds into something more professional and business networky than it once was. And, I’m enthralled by the friend numbers that the younger folk have - think of the network at their fingertips when they grow up and have something really important to share. Hmmm, guess I shouldn’t delete them as friends, they’re holding some prime real estate…oh, and I love them, they’re family after all.

I’m in love. Yes, with an application. Ghost Action is everything I’ve been looking for in a personal organizer:

• easy to use. I don’t think it gets much easier.

1. I create Projects, for me these are typically client names
2. I create Actions, ie. write blog post, edit site or interview Erin
3. I give each Action a due date
4. I create Contexts, mine are Write, Do, Meet or Delegate
5. I sync it with my iCal

• good looking. It’s clean and simple and organized - the total opposite of my desk. And, the icon is a plump and friendly check mark, the world wide identifier that exclaims, ‘IT IS DONE!’ Just seeing that check mark makes me feel accomplished. (see icon above)
• made for Mac. Listen, I tried to have a PC for years and I only got frustration, freezing and restarts. Ghost Action was made for Mac…so it works just like everything else on my computer, looks like everything else and I don’t have to learn anything new. If any of you PC users want to guest post about a similar app for PC, send it along!
• syncs with iCal. As long as you put the @ sign before your iCal entries, they will sync up on Ghost Action. So now, I have a list of things I have to do in Ghost Action - divided by Context and Project, I also have a view of my to-dos in daily, weekly and monthly calendar form AND I have iCal popping up reminders throughout the day (basically kicking me in the pants and telling me to do what I have to do).
• has finder functionality. I’m pretty sure that Finder is my favorite function on my Mac because it doesn’t require me to remember where I put anything, I only need to remember the words I used to define said things. For instance…I just wrote a press release about kids cleaning up the beach…so I start typing in those words and everything on my computer that has those words, starts to pop up (and it prioritizes the listings in terms of word match and recent usage). It’s a beautiful function and Ghost Action does it too, so in this case, I can type in ‘press release’ and all of my press release to-do’s will appear - instantly.

It costs $19.95…less than a good day planner and more than a notebook filled with lists and scratch outs…and so much more useful, functional, infinite and productive than either or both of those systems could ever hope to be. Get it here.

Major props to Erin Anderson of Flexpaths for introducing me to my new best friend, Ghost Assistant.