Update: I’ve written a follow-up post to this, but it’s worth reading this one, before moving on to the next.
Newsweek has a pretty strange piece that was posted last week about why gays can’t play straight characters. Straight actors do it all the time, and typically to much acclaim, but somehow gay actors fail. The author’s words, not mine.
He claims that Sean Hayes (most known for his protrayal of Jack on “Will & Grace”, and who recently came out as gay) isn’t believable in the Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises” because we all know he’s gay. Another target of Ramin Setoodah? Jonathan Groff of “Glee” (Jesse St. James), who happens to be gay.
Argument after argument of his centered on his belief that closeted star’s appearances were rendered as no longer believable once their sexuality was known. Really? It seems to me that’s more of his problem, than a worldwide phenomenon. My mom, who is extremely tolerant, and my grandmother (who is less so) both still watch Rock Hudson movies and swoon. I never once watched The Brady Bunch and thought that somehow Robert Reed’s performance as Mike Brady was lessened because he was actually gay.
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Dear Dad,
I’m sorry I introduced you to Facebook. No, I don’t mean it like that! While I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about family members who overshare, post embarrasing photos, you’ve been wonderful. Honestly, it isn’t you at all.
It’s Facebook. When I recommended that you join Facebook, it was because it was the top ranked social network. True, they did have a history of changing interfaces, but those are easy to get used to. True, they did say that anything you uploaded on Facebook would be their property for all time- but a lot of people complained, and they rolled that change back.
I thought they’d learn, but clearly Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t. He’s stated openly that he believes that privacy isn’t the way of the future. Even as they introduced privacy controls to allow users to decide who sees what statuses, they sneakily reset everyone’s privacy controls to default to allowing Everyone to see what you post.
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Once upon a time, I wanted to start a blog called The Wired Mom. Both because I’m constantly wired on caffeine and well, plugged in to gadgets. Since this blog has been more or less successful for me, I think I’ll add it as a regular feature here.
Today is a very serious post for those with kids- Crib Recalls. There have been a rash of crib recalls, focusing mostly on drop-side cribs. They started with some of the low end manufacturers, where the tracks and mechanisms failed- allowing the bottom of the side to pop out, which caused some children to become trapped and die.
The recalls have continued to spread up through the manufacturing world and right now, a voluntary recall (meaning none of their cribs have been linked to deaths yet) has been issued for models made by C & T International/Sorelle/Golden Baby Inc. To see if your crib is included, just click on this link where they have a full list of the models (as well as a link to C & T International’s site, which at the moment consists entirely of recall information).
They’re offering a kit to convert the drop-side crib (which they urge parents to stop using until the kit has been installed) to a fixed side crib. No dropping? No deaths. You can order the kit through their website or buy making a call- it’s free.
As a reminder, routinely inspect your crib to make sure that slats haven’t come loose, that the metal frame underneath is still sturdy and that the drop side (especially if yours hasn’t been recalled yet) doesn’t seem to be loose at all. If it is, find a safe sleeping replacement for your kidlet until you can get a replacement crib.
(The picture? That’s the Oldest Kidlet in his Sorelle crib which is on the recall list! We’re still using it for the Little Kidlet, and have already ordered our replacement kit.)
Yesterday, Elizabeth Hasselbeck criticized Erin Andrews on the View for her skimpy costumes. When I first saw that blurb going around, I thought how unfair it is to say that. While I haven’t watched this season at all, I do know that the costumes are designed by the professional dancers, and have little input from the “stars.”
Then, I read the story. Read More…
I’ve been working on this post for the better part of this last week. Started it, scrapped it, and continued to feel compelled to write it- even though I know I couldn’t detach myself from it the way that I knew I should when discussing a subject this controversial. This probably isn’t my best writing. I am sure that there are grammatical errors and typos. But I’ve written this, and I’ve put it out there, and I can move on with my writing. -W
I love Arizona. I was born there, and while I love California, I feel such a deep connection to the Sonoran Desert and the land of my fore-fathers… I’m getting ahead of myself. My mother’s family has lived in Arizona for some time. How long? My ancestors were conquistadors who settled in what would become Arizona. My great-grandfather was a rancher as well as a lawman. I’ve been proud of my Arizonan heritage. When asked to do school reports, I liked to choose Arizona, covering different facets of its history. I even considered moving to Arizona, despite the fact that it’s political climate is very conservative and I am not.
However, I am deeply disturbed by the law recently passed by Arizona’s legislature and signed by the governor that makes illegal status a state crime. The law (and it’s amendment) give state and local lawmen the power to ask an individual their immigration status and to detain them if they cannot.
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I love cheesecake. As a kid, when my mom brought home the frozen cheesecake from Trader Joe’s, I knew I was ready for something special. When I was first dating TheBoy, I knew we were meant to be when I discovered that he made cheesecakes from scratch. It was a sign.
I’ve made a few cheesecakes over the years, including a pumpkin bourbon cheesecake the Thanksgiving right before my oldest son was born. That was a great cheesecake, which I personally ate a quarter of after it was decided that the teaspoon of bourbon the recipe called for must have burned off. (As an aside: when you cook with alcohol, not all of it burns off. In fact, flambeing a dish doesn’t guarantee it’s burned off. It takes a fair amount time cooking at a steady high heat to burn off a small amount.)
I started to follow Eli’s Cheesecake on Twitter when they started having a giveaway for free cheesecakes based on their number of followers. They’re still doing regular giveaways, so follow them! I was lucky enough to win (on a day when I really needed it) and after I gave them my address, I had cheesecake on my doorstep.
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