Monthly Archives: February 2009

Why aren’t you a little greener?

Does it seem irrelevant, too difficult or are you just tired of people judging you?

Terra Wellington wrote a great book, The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: (read my review here) and one lucky blog reader will get a copy.

To enter this giveaway simply post a comment here about why you’d like to go green. For two additional entries you can tweet this message:

@JessicaGottlieb Terra’s book will help me ____ #givegreen

Are you super competitive? Link to this post from your blog for two more entries, a total of five available entries per person.

Entries will be written on scrap paper (probably one of the kids’ old pieces of homework) and drawn from a hat.

All entries must be in by noon on March 1st and you’ll need to have a US Address. (more…)

See all my mom’s iPhone photos here.

There’s a lot of talk lately about harnessing the power of the Mommy Bloggers, any bloggers really. Bloggers are a passionate group, with some amount of talent, they’re easy to slip into verticals and the value has the potential to *virtually* explode.

It’s simple. Grab a bunch of moms with blogs, send them a baby sling and just wait for the sales to start rolling in.

Uh NotSoMuch

Not all links are created equal:

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I’m concerned about my city.

There’s an election on March 3rd and I’d like to vote away everyone who is ruining this city. I’d certainly begin with my councilwoman Wendy Gruel.

That would be the Wendy Gruel who doesn’t answer phone calls, the Wendy Gruel who sends me unsolicited mail to tell me what she’s *done for me* but won’t get rid of digital billboards, in fact her office is *not opposed* to them. The Wendy Gruel who was nowhere to be found when our neighborhood had a 4 day blackout.

The Wendy Gruel who is in tight with Villaraigosa.

The Wendy Gruel who turns a blind eye when the Galleria has massive billboards facing the freeway, and says that she doesn’t drive on the 405.

Can we talk about Nick Patsaouras who has business experience? Can we talk about having a plan for solar that includes reducing what we use? Can we talk about mass transit in a real way?

Read this, and tell me what you think.

I’d really like to go over this ballot with a fine tooth comb. Los Angeles is becoming unlivable. Villaraigosa has been the nail in the coffin of public education, and he’s slipped regressive taxes into every city utility possible.

Maybe Nick can audit the city and find some of our money?

I’m hopeful. Can we all get together and talk about this.
Please.

I’m worried, and I love living here.

You’re not my friend. You’re my husband’s friend, or my family’s friend. Let me make it perfectly clear, unless you are Mike or Sordid you will never be my friend.

That doesn’t mean we can’t be friendly, I love reading your blogs and my family loves spending time with you. I just don’t have a need for a male friend. I’d love to meet your wife, heck, I cozied right up to Will just so I could claim a friend with a pink car that didn’t come from Mary Kay. My husband is my very best friend, he’s the man I rely on, talk to, ask questions of and trust with my secrets.

My girlfriends fill a very important role in my life. We’re silly or snarky together, they challenge me to be a better person, a kinder mother, a gentler wife. My girlfriends inspire me reach higher and we comfort each other when we fumble. I talk to them them about the things I can’t tell my husband, things like menses and ingrown hairs. Things that might make me unappealing to him. We play tennis, take hikes and go to parties together.

There’s no part of me that requires the input of a male friend. I have a brother for that. There’s no reason for me to spend time chatting with guys, I have a husband to talk to. There will never be a swipe at my husband on my blog, nor out of my mouth; it’s not funny when folks do that, and it’s neither funny nor clever. In fact, there’s that awkward silence where you don’t know if you’re supposed to laugh or leave the room.

There’s an abundance of women who write about their husband’s inadequacies. If they aren’t moaning about how difficult their marriages are, they’re making little jokes about how their husband is dumb/slow/horny/easy to manipulate. I gasp a little.

I don’t think men are stupid. I think my son is wonderful and bright and kind. I’d hate to imagine him having a wife who thinks he’s anything less than a hero. I wouldn’t want my daughter to think her husband is disposable.

I don’t have any guy friends of my own.

I’m not missing anything.

My dearest friend (and partner in crime) turned 40.

Happy Birthday Hot Stuff.