Comments for Writing Roads

Comment on They shall from time to time… by Dan Cosgrove

Dan Cosgrove — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:26:32 +0000

Holy friggin’ WOW. Fashion & Style!?

I’m a stay-at-home dad, but I’m sure I wouldn’t end up in the fashion archives if I got interviewed. This whole double-standard crap has got to stop.

Right after being condescending, they casually mention that she’s got 36,000 hits a month. 36,000!!

That’s impressive, no matter who you are.

I suddenly feel the need to drop-kick a journalist.
Dan Cosgrove´s last blog ..The Zombieland Guide to Self-Defense – Rule #33: Swiss Army Knife

Comment on They shall from time to time… by Alison Wright

Alison Wright — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:25:02 +0000

Damn where is my pink computer! I demand one if I’m going to be a mommy blogger, it should come with the package.

I think that NYT article was horrible. I suspect the competition is fierce in the “mommy blogger” world. I mean heck mother’s are competitive without damn blogs! My baby can walk already at 2 months. My child came out of me knowing her ABCs! I don’t get into it with mothers like that. But it doesn’t surprise me it will happen more online. I mean hello! The internet gives people louder voices to be snarky than sometimes they would have in person, bitchness x4.

It is super hard as a mother with 2 kiddos to maintain a blog. Trying to fit it in. But it makes me happy! I’m just a SAHM, and sometimes it’s nice to have that identity other than just a SAHM. I am now a blogger too. I am damn proud of it. We shouldn’t be shitted on because we have kids at home and we are blogging. Poop on them.

Anyways sorry for rambling! What a good post. B2B pointed it out to me. :)
Alison Wright´s last blog ..Soooo Sweet! Sweetener Sample

Comment on They shall from time to time… by Dina Lyons

Dina Lyons — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:48:47 +0000

Thank you for this thought-provoking post. As a person who grew up reading the NYT daily, I didn’t at first feel the same intensity of offense as you did when I read Jennifer’s article. But, then I realized that I had been brainwashed, for this is the NYT’s technique for “reporting” on anything they deem “frivolous” to start. It’s their way of dipping their toes in the water, testing it before they “promote” it to section like Technology.
What I find even more interesting is Jennifer’s reply to all the reactions, which she posted on her own blog. She claims that she had nothing to do with the title, and that she didn’t intend to offend. She also suggested that all whom are offended write letters to the editors of the NYT.
I am not a blogger, but I work from home and I have kids. It is very different operating a business from home when you are a parent. It’s just going to take an awful lot of persistence for us to gain and maintain respect. Keep pushing back folks.

Comment on They shall from time to time… by Justin Matthews

Justin Matthews — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:47:31 +0000

I hadn’t realized before that there has been that differentiation of bloggers and mommy bloggers. Looking back there is a lot of fluffy pink kitsch about getting into blogging while your kids are learning to walk on water in many of the baby magazines. I hadn’t noticed before how should I say, demeaning that is to legit women bloggers. I would estimate that at least half of the blogs in my RSS reader are written by professional women and are not fluff. Getting a blog up and running can be easy but getting the business up and running behind the blog is not. That takes a certain professionalism an iron will, and a strong spirit to achieve.
It is 2010 for heaven’s sake, you would think that the world was ready for women to be strong business leaders in both internet business and the more traditional. You are definitely right to be outraged Julie, you may be a Mom and a blogger but you are not in the new “mommy blogger” category by any means.
-Justin
Justin Matthews´s last blog ..10 ways for a guy to survive pregnancy

Comment on Magic bullets are still bullets by Julie Roads

Julie Roads — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:50:39 +0000

Me too, Joshua…

I’m glad you all ‘get it’ with me!

Comment on I’m giving away a Nook (which is not the same thing as giving away nookie) by Erin Polis

Erin Polis — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:38:18 +0000

My love of words is a gift from my mom. She has a passion for books and writing that started when she was a child, and she passed that passion on to me when I was a child. She used to read to me when I was in the womb (she also smoked while I was in there, but hey, I turned out okay) and she read to me or encouraged me to read every day of my childhood.

My earliest memories are of my mom reading to me (and eventually my brother) on the couch each morning after breakfast. When we were old enough to go to school, we’d rush to get out of bed in the morning, not because we were excited to get to school, but because we couldn’t wait for the next chapter in whichever book she happened to be reading to us at the time.

When I learned how to read I thought I’d discovered the best secret ever – reading opened my imagination and brought me to places I never knew existed. I begged to go to the library and get new books every week. I couldn’t get enough. We still had our morning reading time, but now I was the one reading to my mom (or the dog, who sometimes had the honor of being my loyal supporter when I wanted to practice reading out loud).

As I got older (you know, grade school), I found myself captivated by the stories of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I always had a book in my bag and would read every free minute I had, whether I was on the school bus or in study hall or during the few minutes before each class would start when most of my classmates were gossiping about each other. I moved on to Stephen King and Dean Koontz in junior high and I was teased by my classmates for liking books more than people. I didn’t care, I was a proud book nerd (still am).

I still have that passionate love affair with books all these years later. It’s like entering a new relationship every time I crack open the cover of a book. Will we get along? What interesting topics will we discuss and debate about? Will the relationship end with my heart getting broken or will I fall in love? It’s fantastic – I experience the rush and emotions of each new book, each character, and my husband doesn’t even have to worry (well, maybe a little, but only when I read about Jamie, my Scottish highlander in the Outlander series).

As I go through the journey of adopting a child, I find comfort in knowing that someday I will be sitting on my couch with my child, enjoying my coffee and sharing my passion for books and words and stories, just like my mom did for me.

Comment on I’m giving away a Nook (which is not the same thing as giving away nookie) by Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:02:18 +0000

My mom inspired my love for reading. Mom believes to this day that she isn’t smart. She was an average student and was neglected due to the divorce of her parents. But she was determined to give her own children a better life.

We would visit the library often, and max out on picture books. At night she would read the Little House books to my sister and me. She helped me learn how to read at home, and I was reading “chapter books”, as I called them, by the time I was in first grade.

I loved reading so much that I could not go to bed without a book in hand. I would read by the moonlight, hiding my book under my pillow whenever I thought my parents were coming. Mom has always said that’s the reason I needed glasses by age eight.

Now I have passed a love for reading onto my own little boy. He is only 1 1/2, but we check out stacks of books from the library every month.
Jennifer´s last blog ..Priorities

Comment on Magic bullets are still bullets by Lindsey Donner

Lindsey Donner — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:13:25 +0000

I’m with you, Julie.

I admit that I spent a long time searching for that magic bullet. I didn’t know what it would look like it. But I was convinced I would know it when I saw it, and it would transform my writing life forever.

As it turns out, there is no such thing. (Though I love WordPress too!) My magic bullet is the same one I resisted for years. An accomplished poet and teacher – who herself did more for me than any tool or trick – said to me, “Lindsey, the only trick is discipline. Do it every day. Even when you don’t like it. Even when the spark’s not there.”

It was the best advice I’ve ever received. And while I still squint my eyes and slap my forehead on the tough days – discipline schmiscipline, goes the voice-in-my-head – it is the only thing that works for me, no matter where I am or what new gadget I’m trying on for size.
Lindsey Donner´s last blog ..Three Mistakes You Should Avoid Making

Comment on Magic bullets are still bullets by Joshua Murray

Joshua Murray — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:41:36 +0000

Is there any feeling quite as awe inspiring and amazing as that zone you find yourself in when your fingers fly across the keyboard and your thoughts flow so freely that you almost think it may never happen again… I think not. And I cherish it every single time.

Comment on I’m giving away a Nook (which is not the same thing as giving away nookie) by Nan Ingraham

Nan Ingraham — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:28:43 +0000

I remeber the first time I heard his voice….It startled me. I was just entering 4th grade, and I had to go to a new building. I was not a brave soul back then and this man’s voice was loud but high pitched, nasally, if that would be a word. I was facinated, what does a grownup look like that sounds like this.
We were all standing in a corridor,and I couldn’t see over the other kids heads. I thought to myself, if he sounds like this and he is too short to see, what will my eyes discover? Is he a troll, does he have a long beard and curled up shoes? What kind of teacher would he be? Magical? Would we all be sitting on toad stools or maybe even crawl into a cavernous nooks? Needless to say I had a great imagination, and I was a bit intuitive too, because you see he was magical, for me.
Come to find out he was a very preppy looking man with round rim glasses much like my favorite singer at the time, John Denver. I like the way he looked, I felt comfortable with him.
As the school year went on he taught us…me, about the wonder of books, and writing. He would play pieces of music and we would have to write from our imagination what ever it was we thought was transpiring. This project alone got me in touch with a deep emotional connection with writing, and I never forgot it. I was also getting lost in books, and it saved me.
Mr Vaughn was the saving grace in a little girls world that was filled with an alchoholic father and a mother who was trying to do the best she could. Today the connection to reading and writing has healed wounds that would otherwise be left to fester. I have a connection to all the people in my life because of the richness it brings to me as a character myself.

No regrets, no resentments. Thank you Mr Vaughn