Monthly Archives: August 2009

When we walk alone and I don’t speak they do. She tells me about her friends and her days and her dreams and her fears.

So I walk with my kids and listen.

Jane wants to go to the movies, with her friends. Alone. She will be eleven this fall.

I think it’s a good idea. Push and pull.

Jane grow up. No stay with me Jane. She’s growing, and it’s proof that we’ve parented well. She’s safe and secure and confident.

I’m proud and wistful all at once.

I’ve spoken to three people at Activision. Each phone call has been kinder than the one before. These are nice people making good products.

Well, except one.

Y’all are going to say that I’m biting the hand that feeds me. I’m sure that’s true to a degree. I loved giving out their products at BlogHer, my kids love their games.

I can’t reconcile myself with the multiplayer gaming aspect. I understand that someone needs to be the bad guy, but there are no Cowboys and Indians. There are no Klan mob scenes (not even in fantasy gaming), there are no Vietnam or Korea games that I know of.

And if these games do exist?

Don’t tell me.

I understand enough of the game now to know that the guys at Activision aren’t evil. They’re just too smart to not be good.

I will respectfully end the discussion by reminding them that they’re some of the smartest people in the world, and they could should be great.

During the 4th of July weekend my dear friend Michelle Lamar’s daughter had an emergency appendectomy. Had Michelle been here in Los Angeles, I would’ve stopped by her home or the hospital to help somehow. Since Michelle lives smack dab in the middle of the country I decided to have cupcakes delivered to the hospital room. No one should miss the 4th of July, and cupcakes have magical healing properties. This is a well known fact, ask anyone.

I did what every social media mom does. I put a query on Twitter. “Does anyone know about cupcake delivery in….” Naturally Chimera Jones chimed in and knew of a great local bakery. I called Baby Cakes and asked for a dozen cupcakes to be delivered, gave them my AMEX and was rather delighted with myself.

Until Michelle didn’t thank me three days later when we spoke on the phone.

On the fourth day I was tentative, “Michelle, did you get a delivery from Us Gottliebs?”

“No” She replied.

“Oh, I sent cupcakes to the hospital.” I’ll check with the bakery.

And then I forgot about it for a while. When the bill came from AMEX I sent a quick email to Baby Cakes, they said they’d delivered to the hospital. We checked with the hospital. They had alerted Michelle to the delivery. A week later.

Gross.

After much back and forth with Baby Cakes, I was terribly apologetic, explaining that the hospital hadn’t properly delivered the cupcakes and I’ll quote you their generous reply:

Does the intended recipient live here in town? If so, we’d be happy to deliver a dozen cupcakes to her whenever you like, or we can issue a credit to your credit card, whichever you like.

Seeing an incredible opportunity, and always being willing to seize it, I replied back that although Michelle wasn’t their neighbor, Chimera Jones was. Would they please deliver that dozen to Chimera? Yes, I know that it wasn’t the right thing to do… not technically, but they did offer.

Baby Cakes said sure, and immediately delivered a dozen cupcakes to Chimera’s workplace. It was all perfect except one thing.

It was Chimera’s first day of a week long vacation.

Oh, wait, there’s another problem. Chimera’s workplace doesn’t know she uses Twitter, or that she blogs, or anything like that.

Well, they do now.

I did a really nice thing twice (even though I only technically paid once) and I did want to make folks feel good. I didn’t mean to not send cupcakes to Michelle’s little girl, or to put Chimera’s job in peril. It just sort of happened that way.

Mostly though, I want the credit for doing nice things. So seriously, y’all. I sent the fucking cupcakes twice.

You can thank me now.

Later this afternoon I’ll be taking my kids to their first soccer practice of the season. Well, maybe my kids, maybe one kid?

I’m not 100% sure who has practice and at what time. I’ll have to call the coaches (yes, someone else is coaching my kids this year) and find out who plays when. I could have avoided this, and I’d recommend to all my readers that you be the team parent, room parent or whomever does the emails.

It’s really quick and easy if you set it up right. Here are four easy steps:

1. Get a sports or school email address with google. I use gmail because as replies come in they are attached to the first message and sorting is simple. You also don’t delete with gmail, you archive so nothing is ever truly “gone”. Attachments are quick and easy (think team photos or spreadsheets) and they have a good group feature.

2. Create a private group for the entire team or class. I recommend Google Groups, Yahoo Groups or Big Tent. Remember that just because something is private, that doesn’t mean it’s secure. The moment you invite just one person to read what you’ve written it’s available to be copied and pasted anywhere. If something is too personal for the world to see, don’t write it down anywhere. If you think you will need any sort of technical support (like via phone) then Big Tent is probably the one you need, they’re small, and though they don’t have every feature that Google and Yahoo can offer, they have folks who can hold your hand when you need it.

3. Within your group create a roster and a calendar. Big Tent will probably be the most intuitive to create these documents, with google being next and yahoo last. All three are great though, and the ability to create master calendars as well as rosters should make your life easier. All three are compatible with outlook and other calendars, there should be much less paper involved with the paperwork.

4. Pre-record your phone call. A weekly phone call to check your email or your group contact list could cost you a dollar and take up no more than a few seconds of your day. Recently a friend used Calling Post to contact the soccer families, he turned hours of dialing into a three minute chore. On my end it was helpful.

I know some of this seems simple and basic, but trust me. Undoing a poorly thought out phone list and calendar will take hours. Doing it right the first time takes just a few minutes of your day.

I’m a Mommy Blogger. I’m a Jewish woman with a Jewish last name who spends her days talking about parenting, marriage and womanhood. Occasionally I talk about the products my family uses in and around the home. Occasionally I’ll mention a video game on Whrrl, Facebook or Twitter. I still talk about Monsters vs Aliens and what a wonderful time my son and I had at the movie. I gave away a few copies of the games.

It makes sense for Activision, EA and the like to send me video games either for review or giveaway. Right? Well, today I opened a startling package. 

Today Activision sent me a video game where up to twelve players can role play together. Exciting right? Here’s the rub.

One team is made up of Nazis.

No, it’s not a typo or even a joke. One team is fighting the Nazi regime, and another team is pretending to be them.

I was going to open up the game and give it a whirl, but I couldn’t, becuase the bile rose in my throat. I wanted to give Activision the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn’t. I realized that as a company there was a level of moral turpitude that I couldn’t possibly engage. They don’t deserve my time.

How long does it take to develop a video game?
How many people are involved with the development of a video game?
At what moment in time does an otherwise bright group of people decide that the White Pride community is ripe for the picking?
When did Activision decide that White Supremacists were a group they wanted to court? 

Perhaps the folks at Activision forgot about the recent execution at the Holocaust Museum. 

Perhaps the folks at Activision forgot that some folks didn’t arrive on Plymouth Rock. 

Some of us have family who can’t celebrate the Fourth of July because it triggers flashbacks to bombings. Some of us have Seders where we teach our children the story of the exodus and then explain the numbers on their Auntie’s arm. Some of us buried their Grandparents along with their secrets, and we kindly pretended to not know. 

I’m startled that anyone could glimpse my blog, snapshot my words and think that sending me a copy of a video game like Wolfenstien where. I won’t even give you a screenshot. I can’t look at a Swastika without becoming enraged, and I certainly cannot comprehend what the production meetings must have been like. 

I understand in theory the need to have battles of good versus evil. I’m not against adult themed video games. I don’t hate guns or armies or even carnage. I’m just wondering why Activision would send me a copy of this video game? 

If Activision sent me the game as a gentle reminder that the world is still deeply Anti Semetic then it’s a wonderful success.
If Activision sent me the game as a not so gentle reminder that children should not be left unattended with media and gaming, then that was a success.
If Activision sent me Wolfenstein so that I could recommend to you, my trusted community, that you purchase it. Well, that is a horrendous failure.

I cannot remember the last time I was this deeply wounded.

Activision sent the child of a Holocaust Survivor swastikas in the mail.

I shall not soon forget.

*This post is not edited, proofread or otherwise spiffed up for you. It was written between tears and gasps. I cannot see straight and I wanted to get the words out quickly so that I can move forward.

With PMS comes an uncontrollable urge to scrub my home. It should be completely predictable, but each month as I cry and cleanse I’m startled.

It’s been 25 years of cleaning and menstruating and it shocks me every month.