Monthly Archives: November 2010

If you’re seeing #AmazonFail on twitter today it’s probably because they are selling this book.

Yes. Really.

Amazon has also released a statement that says in part:

“Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.”

Which is fascinating, except when I go to their support forums I see this:

Content Guidelines

Titles sold through the Digital Text Platform Program must follow our content policy and guidelines, detailed below. Publishers are expected to conduct proper research to ensure that the Titles sold through the Digital Text Platform Program are in compliance with all local, state, national, and international laws. If Amazon Digital Services, Inc. determines that the content of a Title is prohibited, we may summarily remove or alter it without returning any fees. Amazon Digital Services, Inc. reserves the right to make judgments about whether or not content is appropriate.Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with some examples of prohibited content:

Pornography
Pornography and hard-core material that depicts graphic sexual acts.

Offensive Material
What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect. Amazon Digital Services, Inc. reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of Titles sold on our site.

Illegal Items
Titles sold through the Digital Text Platform Program must adhere to all applicable laws. Some Titles that may not be sold include any Titles which may lead to the production of an illegal item or illegal activity.

Perhaps someone at Amazon want to enlighten me and let me know when an adult fucking a child isn’t illegal?

On a very personal level I really don’t want to boycott Amazon, because I have a wonderful book for sale there right now that is written to support a fabulous nonprofit. If you decided to boycott Amazon, you can buy a digital copy of the book here.

If you’re looking for Amazon’s 800 number it is (800) 201-7575 or (866) 216-1072.

At a minimum all of us moms should not be buying toys from Amazon. I don’t think they should be able to abuse our kids and profit from them all at once.

UPDATED: I hear some whisperings that this book is a spoof. Assuming that to be true (I’ve not read it) I’m still left wondering how it doesn’t violate their very own Content Guidelines. We are clearly looking at criminal activity.
UPDATE: The bravest blogger in the world has bought the book. It is absolutely a manual for raping children. Proceed at your own risk.

Update: more text is found at TechCrunch, do NOT read this if you think it will give you nightmares. Whatever it is you are imagining, it’s in the book.

Click the image to buy the book now on Amazon (available on Kindle too!)

Exclamation points everywhere because we surely did write a wonderful book.

Several years ago I met Mark Hovarth through The Los Angeles Social Media Club. At the time he was a guy with a camera who was struggling to make ends meet (I am not convinced that isn’t still the case). Mark has created volumes of video interviews of the homeless, both in Los Angeles and throughout the country.

When I met Mark, if you’d have asked me what value those videos have, I’d have shrugged my shoulders and said, “dunnno”. I only knew that they elicited an emotional response from the people around me. It is only in hindsight that I can see the enormous value of that emotional response (my chapter in the book addresses this).

Fast forward a few years and, with the help of a grant, Invisible People TV has made people visible again. There has been one success story after another, Mark has traveled all over the nation affecting positive change, and empowering our most at risk citizens.

The story of Mark Hovarth’s work and Invisible People TV isn’t just about homelessness. It’s about marginalized citizens, those who are a check away from losing their homes, perhaps that is you. Open Our Eyes isn’t just about Mark, it’s about how we are all touched, and how we behave.

It’s about giving, and triumph, and using social media for good. It’s about changing our world. It was an honor to be asked to contribute.

All of the profits, and I mean every single penny, will go to Invisible People TV. I am in awe of Kevin D. Hendricks and the fine work he has done.

I picked Jane up from school a few moments ago and had the following conversation:

ME: How was school?

JANE: [in one big breath] Wonderful, we’re learning algebra and it isn’t even hard and in art class I’m making a disco/nerd Picasso guy and my muse is the Simpsons comics and mom how come you haven’t showered?

ME: Oh I’ve been busy teaching myself Drupal and I got really excited about it and ran out of time.

JANE: Mom that’s what nerds do who live in their Mom’s basement.

ME: You’re grounded.

I win?

I’m a mom blogger. I’m a mom, and I’m a blogger and I talk about motherhood. I talk about Jane, I talk about Alexander, I talk about Mr. G., and our pets.

However, I’ve not shared pictures of my kids with you, nor have I shared stories of my children that their classmates wouldn’t already know. The way I blog might be different than the way you blog. I blog from my lens. I tell my stories, from my point of view, and I try to leave space for other people to tell their own tales.

I do this for a number of reasons:

• My children will need jobs one day. Stories about G-Spots on the soccer field will not help them
• My children are entitled to make their own first impression. Being their friend on facebook takes this opportunity away
• My blog will not help my husband’s career
• I am the only person in my home who decided to become a blogger, therefore I am the only person who should be public
• Mom Blogs are Disneyland for pedophiles

Here’s where it gets sticky. Every so often I’ll publish some of the keyword searches that bring people to this site. Here’s an image I recently published.

All I’m asking is that parents are mindful when they post pictures of their children. I’m asking that we think about WHY we are sharing images and details of other people’s lives. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer to the issue of sharing, but it’s essential to think these things through. I know the answer for my family. It’s all evolving, as is every other part of my parenting.

After having posted the above image a few folks on twitter got upset. Not a little bit upset, but defensive, angry, and namecalling upset. One of the more mild posts was this

This is a prime example of why we all need to continue learning about the web that we use. I have a search for “photo pretty girls v***ina” there is no place in this blog where I’ve ever written those words, but there are hundreds of posts in my archives and each of those words does exist somewhere on this site. Thinking that you have to bait people with exact phrases is quite simply wrong.

What I’m finding is that when I say that I’m cognizant of my children’s right to privacy, what other Mom Bloggers are hearing is You are a bad mother.

Not. True.

I’m saying plainly and simply: this is what I do, and this is why I do it.

I love the internet for a hundred million reasons, but one of the reasons I love the internet most is because people who are kind of weird (me) can find their own kind and stop feeling weird and alone.

I know I’m weird, the internet will not change that fact, but the internet will allow me to find people who are weird like me. So strange, yes. Lonely, no.

This fall the media finally started reporting about some of our most at risk kids, and how vulnerable they are to bullying, cyberbullying, and bullycide. There has been a lot of discussion about how homosexual teens and young adults are alienated, tormented and at an extremely elevated risk for suicide.

This is everyone’s problem.

We do not know who is gay, straight, transgender, bisexual, or just confused. We do not know which child was told their souls are in peril because of the way G-d made them. We do not know who is at risk, therefore we are obligated to be kind.

I cannot imagine what Geoge Takei’s life has been like. He was raised in a Internment Camp for Japanese Americans, and lived with his partner for a full twenty years before they were allowed to legally wed. Just as quickly as the state recognized his union, they took it away with Prop 8.

George Takei has had a lifetime of discrimination in ways that most Americans will never endure.

I simply cannot, will not believe that this is the best he could do. I don’t believe that the folks at the Trevor Project needed him to  use his considerable influence to call anyone a douchebag or a closet gay. I worry, because the It Gets Better videos are the most wonderful thing to come to the web in a very long time.

I would say that this is not wonderful.

Today is good day. It’s sunny and warm, the kids are happy, my house is clean and the bills are paid. My husband loves me, and I love him too.

The cat has stopped trying to kill the dog, and she leaps out of my arms to chase hummingbirds in the garden. She was a good choice.

I have a project that I’m working on, and I hope to share with you in the next few weeks.

It’s simply a nice day. Which doesn’t make for interesting blogging, but it makes for a perfectly lovely life.