Mandianne Berg

Back to it

2011-05-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many blogs fell away because facebook made blasting thoughts out easy. In any case, here's a clip from Ted.com that made my day.

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

That's life

2010-01-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

There's something liberating about getting older and admitting that, frankly, I just plain love country music. I was thinking how people's taste in music is often expressed as what they think is cool rather than what they actually like. Anyway, this is one I just plain enjoy.

The Aussie Nest

2009-09-21T07:51:00.001-07:00

I have to applaud the families featured in the Australian TV documentary, The Nest. It's a documentary series focusing on family, in the most recent episode it looks at the impact on families of long work hours. The families featured attempt to re-evaluate and try a new, improved schedule to see if they can eek out some sort of lifestyle from their overworked lives.

People often look at me quizzically when they realise I've moved from Sydney, city of gorgeous beaches, great food, fun and brilliant harbor ... to the US. They wonder, out loud, what on earth I was thinking.

The truth is, Australians have difficulty enjoying Australia. It's a pace I just don't miss. Australians now work the most hours per week of any of the developed nations. On the face of it, they're even proud of it, assuming it means just because Australians work longer hours, they're more productive. Studies show this isn't actually true.

The impact shows on these families. Mostly, it's the comments from the kids that ring true. They simply want more time with parents. They also want more time with parents who are not over-tired, stressed and grumpy.

Australia's an amazing place with the promise of a fantastic lifestyle. Problem is, Australians are consistently relinquishing it, in the main, so they can keep up with their own mortgages.

What saddens me most is the loss of vision when it comes to the value of a balanced and happy family life. I'm looking forward to the next episode of The Nest. If a new schedule can change lives, then great. I certainly hope a new perspective can.

In the meantime, I can recommend change, any change, that enables people to live life to the fullest. Life's an adventure, not just a long commute.

Past Life Reflections

2009-08-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

This afternoon as I sat with the sun on my back, gazing at the grass, trees and sky, in that moment everything looked absolutely blissful. I had a thought. What if this gorgeous little snapshot of this life is something I remember in the next life. What if past lives exist. What if this is what I regress and see under hypnosis, this particular verdant scene, sunshine, a couple of spatters of rain and just general peace and tranquility. What will I make of it or learn?

I was struck by the thought that today's beauty, the memory of it, if indeed reincarnation exists, will render me with no useful information at all. What insights would I draw or what would I learn? Likely, not much. That snapshot in time would have no bearing on my entire lifetime.

It's not that I doubt reincarnation is real. That's beside the point. I just think that those snapshots that we remember under hypnosis (or think we remember) may not help us.

What might be useful is a memory that would shed light on current circumstances.

As to today's blissful and now beautiful memory, what I believe is that the moment, the presence of mind to feel bliss, was what it was all about.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

As the kids throw water over one another and I stand at the kitchen bench, the dog throws himself on the floor behind me with a thump and a sigh. I smile so he can't see me. The dog lives in hope that I'll drop something while making dinner. I'm pretty careful and so he hasn't managed to snag anything yet but he still lives in hope.

I love that about dogs. They're just plain optimistic creatures.

The kids are also doing a good job in the optimism stakes. It's hot and they're bored. Nobody has time to take them anywhere so they've decided to fill up a tub of water and donned their goggles. They've placed interesting objects in the bottom of tub. They squeal and laugh as they stick their heads in to see what the stuff looks like underwater.

I love that kids, with a simple tub of water, can create such fun.

Sometimes, even trash cans need to be free

2009-07-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

The skies look way to innocent and blue this morning, particularly given what they dished out late last night. A wayward and rather angry monsoon like storm that dumped torrents last night wreaked havoc around town. We were lucky, no broken windows or downed trees. But .. my trash and recycling wheelies, monoliths that they are and weighed down with refuse .. upped and trundled away into the inky wet night.

The rain was beyond heavy, you could see the water dumping, fighting for space as it hit the ground. The road turned river and a parade of large barrel bins, their gallons of girth and lids clammed up headed downstream.

I saw them go. They looked like they slipped moorings, thought a moment and then off they went knee deep in water, gaining speed as they realised they were free. It was weird. Things always look spookier late at night.

This morning, a neighbor helped me find one of them but the grand purple recycler full of broken down boxes has chugged off completely.

As we dragged the wayward back home, the street was strewn with remnants of soggy paper and the odd wine bottle. Folk were emerging to clean up after the crazy mardi gras of trash cans that had clearly partied the night away.

Summer in the city

2009-07-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

The first summer we spent in the US, I thought I was going to pass out with fatigue. Having become happily accustomed to a year round school timetable, the words 'long hot summer' took on new meaning here with a school break that's about a quarter of the year long. The kids were bored. The whole school break based on a time when kids needed to help with harvest was just weird. Whatever agri-social (fast becoming agro-social in our house) reasons from the farming days just didn't seem a good fit for us.

Fast forward a year or three and we're old hands. We're halfway through and it's flown by. Between camp activities and hanging out with friends, it's hard to imagine it any other way.

Naturally enough though, the kids appear to have forgotten everything they learned last school year. Thankfully they're avid readers and some of their activities had a modicum of education thrown in with the fun.

Overall, like many things, it's just different to what we grew up with. Not better, not worse, just a different vibe.

Shifted, unpacked .. mostly

2009-06-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

And the list of things to do goes on. Somehow, we've tumbled into the house and slowly everything is finding its place. Feels good and homey and there's no rush (meaning that we've been having fun and having people over amongst the boxes). We're well into the next phase which is getting the place looking like the stuff we have actually belongs in it.

A yard sale proved that not only do we have a lot of stuff we didn't need but so do a lot of other people. The neighborhood was buzzing with yard sales. I love that our trash was someone else's treasure and a bunch of stuff left our garage looking like it can actually fit a car in.

As I watched a sofa sectional leave the house the other day (headed for a new life in the country at our friend's weekender) I took pause. I found myself wondering if I really could make use of it. The moment it was gone though I just knew that clearing out with stuff we really don't need was a very good thing. Our home looks better without the things that don't match and that we really don't need.

I do know a yard sale prior to moving would've been smarter. Still, who cares. Some days it's not about being smart but just living, loving and learning.

Shifting

2009-06-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

There's more to moving into a house than just shifting the furniture. First up, you don't know where the light switches are. It's not something you realise until it's dark either. It's a little thing but worth mentioning.

Aside from the usual packing, arranging and inevitable rearranging of all our posessions, there's the realisation of how much stuff we actually have. Then it's a matter of packing up some of that stuff again and giving it away. Nothing like having to haul a few boxes to create an incredible desire to shed a few pounds of stuff.

The house itself is fun. If it's an older house (which is what we inevitably move into) then it has a whole host of quirks and oddities to get to know.

Eventually, and I mean eventually as it takes about four times as long as originally thought, everyone has settled in and all the remaining stuff is sorted and it feels great. And you realise you don't want to have to move again for ages!

History .. Economics .. or Histrionics

2009-06-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

"It is a brave or foolhardy man who picks a fight with Mr Krugman, the most recent recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics. Yet a cat may look at a king, and sometimes a historian can challenge an economist."

More Ferguson here.

Basically, Ferguson questions Krugman's views on the consequences of printing money. A good read and a little sobering.

Pollie put the kettle on

2009-05-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the Brits are totally disgusted and turning on politicians who've had their snouts in their castle moats apparently. Expenses were 'unregulated' in the extreme and like the bankers binge of the last few years, they've been whooping it up on the taxpayers tab. Newspapers are happily publishing lists of what British politicians have merrily claimed in expenses. The mind boggles at what they were thinking the public would think when everyone finally found out.

Naturally enough, Brits want more oversight, more regulation, etc. Not that a bit of scrutiny won't go astray. But who's to oversee the those who's task is to oversee the public?

Or as Niall Ferguson says of the US regulators 'Who regulates the regulators?' in his recent NY Times article. Other regulators?

I'm not saying that a bit of good regulation wouldn't go astray. The problem doesn't, however, appear to be a lack of regulation. Rather, it would appear to be poorly executable regulation and the political will to actually follow it through.

Moving Drama

2009-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

It was pointed out to me that in lieu of any real stress, I appear to be creating it around this whole moving house business. It's true to a certain extent. Moving really isn't that bad and all's going well. It reminds me of studies in stress that says a certain amount of stress is a good thing. Not too much, not too little, just right (sounds like Goldilocks' porridge).

In fact, it's a funny balance. We end up destressing our lives so efficiently we're left with not enough and so the unconscious beating of the drama drums begins. Have we become stress-orexics? Finding that a stress diet becomes so easy we go too far in sloughing it all off only to find that the lack of stress begets a sort of stress in itself.

A quick reality check tells me that all's on track and doing fine. Phew, just as well otherwise I might stress about it.

On Moving House ...

2009-05-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Most of it centers around sorting and tossing things out. Amazing how much stuff we accumulate. However, sighing and pondering doesn't get the boxes packed up and ready. Like anything it's an art. Toss it, give it away or pack it has become my mantra.

Where did The Secret go?

2009-05-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Was it only a couple of years ago that Rhonda Byrne's Secret catapulted into the news? It seems like just a moment ago that we thought if we believed it with all our hearts, prosperity and abundance would be given to us by the universe. All we had to do was believe (and of course, buy the books and DVDs).

So I wonder how this universal truth is holding up these days?

Admittedly, at the time, I enjoyed The Secret. It reminded me that a good, healthy attitude adjustment would go a long way to providing a foundation to go and get a few things done in life. I still believe that.

However, whilst the proponents and teachers in The Secret did talk about going and putting actions where one's positive beliefs were, most people I knew weren't listening to that part. They still enjoyed the notion of simply visualising it and subsequently making it rich.

Personally, I think The Secret was society's version of jumping the shark. We were caught up in the ease of our so called wealth (usually a ballooning home price) that we lost the notion of hard work, experience, the slog of making it and good old excellence.

The main problem with all attitude and no practicality is that every time someone started doing any critical thinking, they were shouted down as being negative and ruining everything. It went out of whack. Critical thinking and shrewdness were ignored in favor of affirming it to be so. Affirmations can only go so far and are most powerful when harnessed to pragmatism and some healthy smarts.

Whilst I still enjoy a dose of dreaming big and affirming, the day to day aspects of building something also have to kick in and that includes being grounded and some hard work as well. On top of that, we still have the unknown. And, I suspect it's the uncertainty that creates the biggest impetus to succeed.

Are we jaunty because we think this is temporary?

2009-05-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

Buoyed along by the positive 'can do' attitudes of folk I meet up with in the playground, I have a question. Are we generally okay with the general collapse of asset prices and impending financial unpredictability because most folk believe that this is all temporary, the end is nigh, and things will go back to 'normal'?

I remember using the word 'depression' over a year ago when standing discussing what was going on back then with a group of acquaintances. There was shock and horror and a snap back that no such thing would happen. And here we are. The word's bandied about all the time now.

I'm not sure what people are expecting. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm expecting. However, I do know that the next several years are likely to drag on and the tightening of lifestyles is no temporary thing. I guess it takes a while for folk to realise that that this year's lack of vacations, spending, all things new, eating out and generally whooping it up, is done with. Now that we've started living within our means, that's generally going to continue for quite some time.

So I wonder what this does to the can do, make do, cheerful attitudes when the whole thing goes from being some homemade home baked fun to a way of life.

What I have found particularly uplifting is the general pulling together to help others less fortunate that appears to have come to the fore. When the going gets tough, the truly tough band together and recognise that there are always people who have it even tougher. This, more than anything, boosts my own 'can do' attitude and I know it'll all be alright in the long run.

Mad Cows, Bird and Swine Flu ...

2009-04-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Given aquaculture practises also include a high usage of antibiotics and who knows what else in unregulated markets, I'm wondering what the fish will be serving up. How soon, and how virulent because I bet we get slapped upside the head with fish flu. It's just a matter of time.

I read the John Robbins book years and years ago. Long before it was fashionable to speak out against factory farming, he was documenting unhealthy farming practises and what it does to the environment, not to mention our health. Those images of happy cows frolicking on actual grass are hogwash (so to speak). If we all took a regular tour of where our meat, poultry, eggs, dairy and fish came from, there'd be more vegetarians (and less methane, a major contributor to greenhouse gases as well).

Let's face it. We're eating ourselves to oblivion on any number of fronts. We consume way too much of this stuff and we're generally obese. Animal production harms the environment, it's packed full of unnatural stuff to increase production not to mention the increasing risk of pandemics, and the animals are miserable. It's a mess. It's a highly profitable mess, but a mess nonetheless.

What to do? Eat less animal product in general for a start. Read the labels and at least attempt to buy local. If each individual in the western world ate a couple of pounds less of meat, dairy, etc per week (only a couple of pounds) and was just that bit more mindful, it'd make the world of a difference.

Swines and Swindles

2009-04-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Is it just me that finds it laughable that hot on the tail of one of the most excessive periods in recent human history, there's a swine flu that's making headlines? Pig flu for greedy humans. Who scripts this stuff? It's like a cosmic comeuppance.

Having said that, Mike Davis from the Guardian appears to have a good take on the pigs, the flu and how we ended up here. As you can imagine, greed and excess, factory farming, overuse of antibiotics in farming practices, have their consequences and people around the world dying of pig flu is one of them.

What do Credit Card Companies and Private Schools have in common?

2009-04-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Junk mail. Or more precisely, where credit card mail has all but ceased, we're now receiving overtures from private schools.

Good private schools were notoriously hard to get into. Those urban legends of mothers calling up schools from their hospital rooms after having given birth to junior to get on a list were true. I personally know a couple of those mothers.

Given the trend to advertise, I can only imagine that school waiting lists have run dry. Of course, parents and administrators are insisting their school is different, unaffected, and the lists are as long as ever. Oh really. It's the pretense that's annoying.

Once we stop sniggering at all those parents who went to extraordinary lengths just a short few years ago, the bigger picture portends some problems. The exodus from private schooling into the public sector places more pressure on already underfunded, understaffed and over stressed schools in general. You've got to wonder whether each school district is able to project how many extra children they'll be receiving from the private sector and account for it adequately. Already overcrowded schools are likely to become more so. The competition for better performing public schools was already high and is likely to become unmanageable.

Then there's the social changes in public schools due to private schoolies .. and their parents .. arriving. Let's just say their expectations may need some adjusting. On the upside, a bunch of now underemployed adults willing to contribute to their new community could end up being positive. If they can turn their original determination to get their kids the best education into volunteer work, some schools could actually benefit. Either way, principals and teachers will end up wearing the brunt of it.

Driven Crazy

2009-04-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

Ok, as parents of fighting children in a car, we've all threatened and thought about it. Heck, my mother's actually done it to us kids (way back when) .. but this woman actually did it. She kicked her fighting 10 and 12 year olds out of the car and drove off. And then she was arrested.

There a couple of things that bother me. Firstly, my mother kicked us kids out of the car and drove off ... on a country road with no other cars in sight, and then she stopped about a hundred yards up the road. We walked while she continued to drive slowly until everybody had calmed down. Then we got back in and drove off (perhaps a tad wiser and certainly a lot calmer). Call the episode a country road time out. She didn't do what this mother did and leave her kids in the middle of a business district and completely disappear leaving a hysterical 10yo behind (apparently the 12yo had the smarts to make her way back somehow into the car).

What I wonder also is this, when the article talks about a well educated mother who lives in a $2million house, would the same hue and cry occur if this happend and it was an uneducated, below the poverty line parent? Stress and breaking points happen regardless of your socioeconomic background.

In any case, by now I'm sure the mother's learnt her lesson and I'll bet those kids are quiet whenever they're in the car.

But I miss yelling at the TV

2009-04-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

You have to wonder if there's a person left in the western world that hasn't seen or heard of Susan Boyle. Such is the wonder of You Tube.

It means, however, that I no longer get to yell at the TV as much. Susan Boyle's a fantastic example of how audiences can easily participate and vote with their clicks. Almost 40 million people have viewed the first performance.

The thing I really like is how unlikely she was. As she walked on stage, you could almost feel the collective cringe. When she sang, of course, she somehow even looked more attractive such was the loveliness and unfettered joy in her voice. She was just plain happy to be there. There's something ludicrously simple about it. The lady has a great voice.

However, it means I don't get to yell at the judges and TV as much because these days, I can just vote with my clicks on the internet and if there are enough of us, the TV producers obviously have to listen. Democratic .. although I miss the days when producers all thought they knew best and we got to shout in frustration at the TV.

".. if we can predict, then we can engineer the future.."

2009-04-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

So says Bruce Bueno de Mesquita at TED (I know, another TED thing). No, he's not a tarot reader or psychic but a mathematician.

It never ceases to fascinate me that scientists constantly come up with methods to do precisely what mystics were doing centuries ago. One doesn't necessarily negate the other, much as most in the scientific community would discount the value of a great mystic. de Mesquita talks about replicability early on in the discussion. Using mathemitics, you can replicate a prediction given the same factors. (It's a quiet dig at mystics).

Nevertheless, the above quote taken early on from his lecture is provocative. By believing we understand what the future holds, we can influence and engineer it is by no means a new concept. Why else do people visit psychics, sometimes to great effect, in their lives? And, of course, why else were physicists utilised by Wall Street to create risk models to predict volatility in pricing?

I have two main points regarding this notion and the lecture. Firstly, I find it funny that science plays catch up with mysticism and basically comes around to the same issues. By believing we understand what the future holds, we can brace for the impact and try and make it better.

My second point is with regard to the nature of predicting the future. de Mesquita's models (as do many predictive models) demonstrates that past events don't predict the future accurately. What predicts the future is an understanding of the underlying influences/factors. In other words, just because the price of an asset always rose before, doesn't mean it will in the future. You've got to understand the drivers, how they interact and map out what's most likely to happen next. And then you can work towards improving things.

I don't see that mathematicians and mystics are mutually exclusive at all in this instance. It's a matter of finding someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

In any case, enjoy the lecture.

The Difference Between News & Truth

2009-04-18T10:52:00.001-07:00

Pity the banking regulators. They're wondering how to release the banking stress test results (see Bloomberg today). It appears that if the news is too good, nobody will believe the testing was valid anyway. However, if the results aren't great, banks (or at least some) will be hammered by the market even further resulting in more market volatility (ah yes, the downside of downside risk).

Tough but hey, this is what happens when you step up to be a bank heavyweight. You get stuck between that rock and the hard places.

Perhaps they should take a leaf out of Jim the Realtor's book. His walkabout videos of house wrecks on the west coast are not just great comedy, apparently being brutally honest with a cutting dry wit is a successful selling tool. He's hit the marketing nail on the head .. buyers would prefer the truth, thrown in with a quip, rather than turn up to see something and be disappointed.

So perhaps that's how the banking stress test results will be presented. A good dash of wryness, maybe a spot of optimism and they'll be hoping they can make it seem bad enough that it's believable but good enough that it's workable.

The Archetypical Artistic Struggle

2009-04-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today's NYTimes story by Dan Barry about Tiffany Clay, a young, struggling, violinist was engaging and designed to pump up the pathos. All children, all youth, deserve to have their dreams fostered.

Although Barry hints at the role of the recession in holding this girl back, the current economic climate isn't the only culprit standing between Ms Clay and her dreams. The struggle has always existed regardless of how well the economy does. The decision to follow one's artistic dreams or to find gainful employment always hovers somewhere nearby. In fact, you've got to wonder if we humans manifest this struggle simply for the creative tension. Brilliance erupts from the individual who's felt held back and eventually punched through it all.

I don't like that Tiffany Clay struggles to pay her own rent whilst she's at school. That her gift may be lost amongst a myriad of tedious jobs. I'd like to see all children receive the funding required to foster their unique abilities. But notwithstanding all of that, there's a part of me that recognises the struggle as part of the gift. I might not like it myself in my own life but I know that the ability to focus, to realise that I'd rather create than eat, is an intrinsic part of an artistic gift.

In the meantime, I do hope and trust that Dan Barry's article can garner some funding and donations in this particular case. If not, then I hope Tiffany Clay continues to play and finds the artist's path somehow.

Itty Bitty Sydney

2009-04-12T18:24:00.001-07:00

There's not a lot makes me yearn for Sydney except for a fantastic harbour and gorgeous beaches. Take one lazy, hot afternoon, a crisp white wine and fresh seafood, throw in good friends and it's a potent memory making mix.

Keith Loutit's 'Little Sydney' is brilliant and brings it all right back. It was a toss up between which video to put here. The North Wind Blew South has me all nostalgic. That's my Sydney. But Bathtub IV is just too brilliant to pass up. Enjoy.

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

The Easter Bunny's Exhausted

2009-04-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

We're dogsitting at the moment. So the kids wrote a note to the Easter Bunny suggesting that all easter booty be left in baskets set outside their respective bedroom doors. They felt this was safer than risking the dog finding anything they missed and getting ill. V.sweet of them. So the note and said baskets were set out.

Problem was, both kids tend to be light sleepers. One in particular always sleeps with one eye open and tends to wake up at the slightest movement at the best of times. Couple that with a few creaky floorboards and the easter bunny was in dire straits trying to make the drop without being caught. Finally, around 2am, the coast was clear enough and delivery got through undetected (as far as the bunny knows).

Couple this with dawn reveille sharing time and the bunny's a wee bit tired.

Herbal Mama

2009-04-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's just a little tip, but a good one. Grow your own herbs. Of course, growing as much as possible in a vege garden is great, but I've found the biggest bang for your buck can be had from a pot of herbs. And most people can manage it. They can happily sitting in the kitchen window.

For a start, the potted herb doesn't cost that much more than buying a bunch of that same herb at the supermarket. So even if it's only used twice and dies, you're still ahead. On top of that, if anything's going to get wasted in my fridge, it'll be the leftover bunch of parsley that didn't get all used up. You only pick off what you need and the rest just keeps on growing. A spot of sunlight, a bit of water, and you can have that tarragon or basil growing for months.

The whole shebang vege garden is great. We go for it every year and end up with plenty. It's fresh and fantastic (and cheap). But don't overlook the humble herb and count up the dollars every time you walk past that section in the supermarket.

Cause that's what it's all about

2009-04-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Woof!

The Great Aussie Drought Continues

2009-04-02T13:15:00.001-07:00

So apparently it wasn't enough to just do a bit of a commentary on the SMH on Bettina Arndt-u-getting-any-sex and her interviewed couples. Now there are other Aussie commentators tossing back and forth their views on the great Aussie drought. Devine says the argument that if men did more housework, they'd get more, is just bollocks. No amount of washing up is going to help the married Aussie man in the sack. Frew says married Aussie men have let themselves go and they're too unattractive to have sex with anyway. Wives don't want to roll around under a bloke with a bulging beer gut. Both write with a certain level of clarity and both are brutal.

What's going on in the land of endless beaches and wonderful lifestyle? Is that what's killing off the married libido in Australia? Too much of the great outdoors, interesting wildlife, great weather and easy going attitude apparently doesn't spark the interest or stoke the marital bed fires.

Truth be known the rest of the world has long suspected there was something amiss down there. It looked too good. Crazy poisonous creatures aside, the place is breathtakingly beautiful and comparatively sparsely inhabited. Long stretches of pristine beach are freely available to anyone and you can have one all to yourself if you're willing to drive out of town a little way. The weather for the most party is mild and easy. People are friendly, laid back and fun. There had to be something wrong and it's abundantly clear that couples aren't holding up their end of nirvana.

The cracks in the wall have developed straight down the middle of the bed of anybody married for more than a couple of years. Apparently.

Perhaps Australian's have it spot on. There are far more pressing and urgent things going on in the discussions at the kitchen table than real estate values and the economy. Who cares about the price of the house if the people living there aren't having sex anyway.

Maybe, in fact, the great Australian dry isn't a Down Under problem after all. They're just the ones who are willing to keeping bringing it up.

What is God anyway?

2009-04-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Right then, must be the day for the big questions. Nothing trivial, no minutiae of my day, on this blog.

I always liked Pascal's Gambit. He suggested we make a wager of it. Either God exists, or not. Either we believe, or not. Weighing it up, the worst case scenario was not believing .. and God existing. Whoopsies, ugly scene at the Pearly Gate ensues. The best case scenario was believing and hey presto, God really does exist. Either scenarios where God doesn't exist (believing or not) ends up as a moot point anyway.

So applying a healthy risk/return analysis and working through the idea of whether there's a God or not makes a lot of sense.

But what if there's another possibility. What if our brainpower is so incredibly strong that we actually create God in the first place? What if, in actuality, it is our belief that creates God. It's a little like the chicken or the egg thrown on top of the existence of a divine power. We're now left with what came first, the human brain with the capacity to believe and thus create a God, complete with miracles and mystical experiences. The more we believe the more we create strange phenomena, water turning to wine, healing, angelic beings and all sorts of fascinating occurrences including a bit of divine magic. Or simply put, God existed first and created humans. (The latter scenario equally as possible as the former but far less poetic and interesting to say the least.)

I have no doubt that Pascal knew his Gambit was limited. Likely the old mathemetician, physicist and philosopher just wanted to know if we were actually paying attention.

Marriage by math .. isn't that just numerology?

2009-03-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Oxford Professor James Murray and his team have created a mathematical model that can predict whether a couple's marriage will succeed or fail.

Excuse me but isn't this called numerology?

Look, I know what statistics, a correlation, or even what a good analysis of variance can do. I could even have a lively and informed discussion on how using historical data isn't as good a predictor as extracting underlying factors when extrapolating a healthy linear regression!

I just think it's sort of ironic that astrology, tarot, numerology are often seen as akin to ridiculous but hey, punch in a few numbers into a mathematical model to predict success in a relationship and that's somehow ... valid. Paaahaaaahaaaaa. Who's come full circle then (of the stonehenge variety)!

Riding Coattails

2009-03-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's a fine line. It runs a jagged edge somewhere between taking your children off to activities because they enjoy it; and slips into the territory of a parent's long range view on the value of being great at something that'll carry a kid somewhere in life.

Let's face it, there are a whole host of activities to choose from. Gymnastics, swimming, tennis, dancing, theater, art, soccer, skating, skiing, you name it, there's someone who'll spend time with your children so they can become competent.

I eyed Hilary Meyerson's article on Brain, Child skeptically. I expected it to be a bit more preachy, talking of the vagaries of expecting too much and the selfishness of parents. She said it more eloquently that I could've. That there's a joy in seeing joy in children. And that's the 'endgame' in itself.

She didn't labor the point, perhaps because she's too polite, that there exist parents whom I've seen hanging out in the halls, waiting to drop off and pick up their kids, for whom it seems the endgame may be a lot more serious. It's hard to tell whether these parents are a strong advocate for a child with talent, pushing them to slog through to success. Or whether they're parents who are hopeful, essentially riding on some coattails. The parent's feelings of success are entwined with the child outperforming. The four year old who loves soccer may actually get a scholarship, get on a team and who knows, hang out with Beckham. As I said, it's a jagged edge.

I wonder, as we watch our adult lives get a little tougher, as things seem faster and more competitive, as we start to fear whether we'll live up to our own expectations, if we don't sometimes simply funnel those unlived dreams onto our children. My parents certainly did. Under the guise of saying they had less opportunity than we did, they pushed us to feel that we could do anything. Sounds good unless of course you don't achieve the 'anything' they had in mind.

As parents feel they have failed as successful providers, entrepreneurs, as they battle unemployment and disappointment, will more pressure be brought to bear on children to pick up that generational slack and take life to the next level. Is having an average home and reasonably happy family simply not good enough anymore? Does a child's talent provide an easy fix, a quick win and good way upwards and onwards for the parents as much as the children. It's not uncommon nor is it anything particularly new. After all, where did we get the term 'stage mother' in the first place.

It all comes right back around to us, the adults. If we want to know where the balance truly lies, we need to figure out who we are as individuals and then the whole parenting motivation is a lot easier to work with. I want to provide my children with joys and opportunities, with a solid foundation to go and be whatever they dream up. The operative word here is 'they'. It's their dream and I need to go dream my own dreams.

Doing that becomes a function of whether I can work through my own joys and opportunities and to accept who I have become. A fairly ordinary and happy person (well, some of the time at least).

Of Dogs and Baking Cookies

2009-03-26T11:56:00.001-07:00

There's not a lot I enjoy more than being cosied up at home with the snow swirling outside. It's coming down. I've missed it this winter. We've had hardly any where we live.

Add to that the finishing up of a good book and the aroma of fresh baked cookies out of the oven and it's nirvana for me. That my kids baked the cookies makes them smell even more heavenly.

As to the book, it's Suzanne Clothier's 'Bones Would Rain from the Sky'. If you have a dog, ever though of getting a dog, are considering helping out one of the thousands of newly homeless dogs abandoned because their families lost their homes and moved on ... this is a great read. Given it's written by a dog trainer, I expected more info on basic training. What I got was infinitely more insightful and interesting. It's a reminder of how much we stand to gain from a great relationship with our dogs, or any pet for that matter. It's also a reminder that dogs don't love us unconditionally because they're stupid, they're just capable of unconditional love in a way that humans either forget or ignore.

Dogs are intuitive, intelligent and interesting. Clothier's premise that when we work with our pets, we do it with understanding that's worthy of our relationship with them takes things a step beyond 'sit, dog, sit'. She confronts us with the idea that we work from the basis of a healthy relationship. I didn't just learn about dogs from her book. I learnt things about myself and Clothier elegantly brings us to the point where she requests that you 'see the dog'.

Tough call for some. Seeing the dog means that we may have to take a look and see ourselves too.

Anyway, perfect reading for a cookie scented cosy afternoon on the sofa by the window while the snow flakes are falling.

Keeping it Simple

2009-03-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Watching Matt always puts a smile on my face.

It's pretty simple. Decide to travel and then dance your way around the globe.

Sometimes, life's like that .. simple.

Candy Either Way

2009-03-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Housing bust, we watch Wall Street tank,
And Americans, they start eating more candy.
British banks sink and their economy sank,
And the Brits, well they just get more randy.

What else can you say? I'm reading the papers across the pond and you find the NY Times reports that in the US, candy sales are up and at the same time, the UK lingerie company, Agent Provocateur is reporting an increase in sales also. What's one to think? Either way, it's all rather sweet and I was moved to poetic license.

Life is Just a Bell Curve

2009-03-24T09:56:00.001-07:00

I vascillate between wondering sadly if anybody ever has an original thought ... and enjoying that occasionally I've had a similar thought to somebody else.

I noticed Kedrosky talking about something similar to what I said a couple of weeks ago. He questions whether commentators with a point of view are capable of changing that view when the signs change. Or whether bloggers and the like just bang on with the same type of stuff.

My earlier post pointed out that the further we move through the economic 'crisis' or whatever you want to call it, the less decent commentary there'll be. Why? Because the doom & gloom style commentators may have had it right before a lot of others but that doesn't mean they know for sure what's going to happen next.

I referred to it as a bell curve because we start out with very few voices that were right, now there's a chorus of doom and gloom, and we're moving again through to the stage where there are very few voices worth listening to.

So how does this help anyone? Well, it doesn't really except to say that just because a lot of people are saying it (um, think back to the days when everyone said real estate prices would never drop) doesn't mean that the commentary will continue to be accurate. Previous commentary doesn't accurately predict the veracity of future commentary. Just like historical returns don't accurately predict future returns, ie., just because the price of the house increased for ten years doesn't mean that in the eleventh year it'll go up. It's affected by a range of factors.

Commentary is the same. Just because somebody got it right at the beginning, doesn't necessitate that they've got the skills (or plain good luck) to continue to be correct.

So, left with that, we go back to having to admit that nobody really knows how things will pan out. And that appears too scary a thought for most people, particularly the commentators. Sometimes hearing an 'I don't know' is a reality check, particuarly if they really don't know. Although that, as they say, isn't good press.

It's the Little Things that Get You

2009-03-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

On that same topic of moving to the US, it really is the little things that you miss. At least this was something I was conscious of from the get go. My first trip to the supermarket confirmed it. (As expected, no vegemite.)

I was prepared for differences in food. Well, I thought I was. Actually, I was worried about it. I assumed most of it was processed and there'd be nary a real vegetable in sight. Thankfully, this was a pleasant surprise. Food was fresher, there was more locally grown food and organics were easy to find. The choices are vast even though packaging and names of products are different.

What I wasn't prepared for was how much thought and energy it takes to relearn so much of the basic, little stuff. Like petrol (um, gas) bowsers being different, the way a cheque looks, taps turn in different directions, that the post is not just delivered but picked up (who knew, I thought that happend just in movies).

Dropping my assumptions took a while and I still get caught out occasionally. Also, resisting the urge to constantly explain that it's done differently where I come from takes effort. It is worth not saying anything though because, firstly, it's really not fascinating to anyone but me. Secondly, I keep quiet because I risk sounding like I'm complaining. There's really nothing quite as annoying as some foreigner complaining about things not being the same as in their country!

American Culture .. somewhere between a rock and a hard place

2009-03-12T10:14:00.001-07:00

"The first thing that probably needs to be said in a book about Americans and foreigners is that the former don't really believe in the latter. Oh, they realise that there are a large number of so called foreign countries teeming with odd looking people who speak strange languages, but deep down Americans have a hard time believing that these people are fundamentally different from them. While they accept that people from other cultures may be different on the surface, Americans believe that "underneath we're all alike". They believe, in short, that any differences that do exist between themselves and non-Americans are ultimately insignificant."

When reading the above first paragraph of Craig Storti's book, 'Americans at Work: a Guide to the Can Do People' I was struck by the truth of this. Although not conscious of it, I've known all along that I felt accepted and welcome since moving to the USA almost three years ago but there was something indefinable about the experience. As an foreigner from another english speaking country, there are many common bonds and yet something remained elusive. Storti, as far as my own experiences are concerned, has it spot on.

However, if this notion is correct, then culturally speaking, it places Americans in a tough spot. In the first place, diversity and acceptance are strong ideals here. The land of opportunity is open to all who have the right to be here. But it appears that this ability to accept foreigners in a way far and beyond the abilities of most other nations has created an underlying ideal that everyone's fundamentally the same. By creating a culture of acceptance, by promoting diversity as a core value, the notion of a person's foreign nature, their otherness, is obscured from view.

If it were a choice, to be perfectly honest, I'll take the welcome and acceptance I've experienced. But it certainly was a relief to realise that my acceptance here came at the expense of an automatic understanding that I am, at my core, different.

The other thing I've noticed, particularly when we've had overseas visitors come and stay are all the assumptions that the rest of the world has about Americans. Sadly, most assumptions come from TV shows and US news stories. Most are surprised at how down to earth, practical, resilient, compassionate and caring our good neighbours and friends here are. Not to mention polite. The kicker is a sense of humor about themselves. Nobody ever expects that and believes Americans can't laugh at themselves.

Churchill thought the Russions were a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. If that's the case, then I believe Americans are a paradox enveloped by a conundrum.

Bell Curves

2009-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

I believe relevant commentary on the economy actually follows the bell curve. There were very few voices around three years ago who ended up being anywhere near correct. (We're fortunate to have a good friend who was one of those voices ... he recommended staying out of residential real estate, talked about the sub-prime being a trigger for economic collapse, and all this at a time when everyone but everyone thought he was nuts). There were several bloggers who'd started putting together some data and who talked about what was coming.

Then, over the last six months, there's been a chorus saying much the same stuff. It's all about a talking about the market contracting but from different angles.

The thing is, there are increasingly very few voices who add anything meaningful to the commentary on the economy. I believe the opinions that'll show up later as being correct in any way will also decrease. As we crest over the wave of what's coming, it resembles less and less anything that we've experienced in the modern day economy.

So really, it's almost anybody's guess. Couple that with a pressure for any of the commentators who've hit the mark recently to continue to come up with meaningful rhetoric, and we have a lot of economic commentators jumping the shark.

I think this is what scares people most. That, in truth, nobody actually knows what's coming and what the future actually holds. It's still anybody's game.

Perhaps this is what bringing a whole lot of scientists acting as quants into finance was really all about. The masters of the financial universe wanted to know the future. Rather than consulting astrology or the tarot, they played this same fixation out with quantitative analysis. As if somehow, a mathematical model could give an accurate prediction of winners.

For quite some time it worked. And then humanity kicked in. Finally, the finance kings had to admit that it was actually a combination of dumb luck (chance) and human belief. When the tide turned, they were as shocked as everyone else. More so, because they truly thought they knew better.

Depression Expression

2009-03-06T14:10:00.001-08:00

There are some folk with whom I've been willing to openly discuss the current economy and use the word Depression in the same sentence. Inevitably, everyone hastens to express that, should things get a lot worse over the long term, it'll still be different and somehow won't be as difficult to live through.

It appears we cling to this notion and try to believe it's true because we're more advanced technologically. Somehow, because we can better find information on the internet, because we can talk to each other while we walk down the street, it'll avert the suffering of a crippled economy.

At first, this was a seductive thought. It's hard to imagine living like they did in the early 1930s. Those photos of dusty, barefoot children. Old trucks laden with furniture rambling along dirt roads. Hobo camps by riversides. It just doesn't look possible.

However, like many platitudes, it's falacious. Just like wars look different with each century, with each generation, the outcomes are still the same. A war these days looks different with all the high tech gear and huge explosions. However, it still causes pain, death, destruction and displacement. It may look different but the suffering remains the same.

So another Depression, in this day and age, may look different. But that doesn't mean we'll escape the poverty, the powerlessness, the hunger, the sadness. It'll just appear different in the pictures we hand down to our grandkids.

Of course, I'd like to end this post on a more upbeat note. It's in my nature. So, what I would say is this. Not everyone suffered during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Many did, some scraped through and some did exceptionally well. It just comes down to chance sometimes. So, of course, I'm chancing it that we'll be ok.

Jon Stewart's a bit close to the bone

2009-03-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

This is somewhere between hilarious and heartbreakingly tragic. Don't know whether to laugh or give up and cry. Jon Stewart hits the mark.

Polis Apologetic

2009-03-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

He apologises if he offended some people. Readers deserve an apology. Perhaps if journalists were able to actually report on news rather than rehashing stuff (whether it be a press release or stuff agencies pump out) then we wouldn't have lost the Rocky to begin with. The people who should be apologising are newspapers .. to us. Because, frankly, we deserve actual news not a whole lot of fluff.

As to Polis. Man up. His comments about bloggers were perhaps shy of the mark but now that they're out there, back it up. Weigh in with an actual point of view and stick to it. Argue for it. Why give up? Readers do deserve better. We deserve to have the actual story behind all the stories. Not just some spin served up with a slice of advertising.

Recessionista Sex

2009-03-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

To be a true Passionista, one would enjoy the bedroom no matter where the stock market goes. If Ruth Westheimer was telling us in Forbes that the stock market thrashing about was going to affect the sex lives of many last November, imagine where the average person's libido is now!

What I don't understand is if Fashionista's can flip themselves to Recessionista with the dexterity of a Cirque de Soleil acrobat over a pair of shoes, surely we can exert similar effort in the bedroom (acrobatics included). Besides, surely the married folk out there now have plenty of time. After all, if everybody's emptied out of the restaurants, why just sit at home bored. For a fraction of the cost of a babysitter, movie, married dinner date, a small shopping endeavor with a couple of interesting toys can yield a lot of fun.

Further, there are such interesting things now to have sex over. There's the argument over money and now we're making up sex, there's the let's forget about the plunging stock market sex, there's the let's have sex in every room before they foreclose the house sex. Heck, there's even the let's bonk on the backseat before we hand the car back sex.

For all the singles, if times are to lean to go out on a date to a restaurant or bar, what's wrong with the a good old fashioned picnic, a secluded spot, a bit of romancing. While we're on the topic, what's wrong with great conversation, a coffee out and then deciding whose place to have then next coffee.

I believe recessionary sex doesn't mean it has to be missionary sex. Great sex, at least for a couple, is free. It doesn't cost a thing if you don't want it to. Just a little forethought, and a large dash of communication, can create a haven where nothing need get you down. Not even the Dow. I'll let Ruth Westheimer sum it up (from the aforementioned article) ...

"The French have an expression, "L'appetit vient en mangeant," which means "your appetite comes as you eat." Even if a couple doesn't feel like making love, they should make an appointment, take their clothes off and climb into bed together. Most of the time this will be enough to get them started.

So no matter how much the falling financial systems are crippling couples, they need to understand the importance of maintaining their own sexual relationships--because the profits from that will surely outlast the market's."
....

And ... Yes, I'm aware. Lately the blogs have e taken a bit of a turn. Must be the warm, almost spring like weather and those flippin' bunnies frolicking everywhere!!

Don't blame (or credit) the bloggers

2009-03-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

Just when I was wondering what to write about, US Rep. Jared Polis is quoted in the Denver Post telling us that the Rocky Mountain News demise is in part due to 'citizen journalism'.

As much as conventional newspapers would like to think this is true, it's more due to their poor content and their inability to more readily appreciate the internet. Most newspapers appeared to believe, for a long time, that if they just throw up a website and a sampling of their stories that'd be enough. It wasn't. It was newspaper's view of the internet and technology as a necessary evil that got them into this pickle.

I say this because a lot of great blogs refer to articles from where? Traditional newsapapers! Some journalist has had to put together the research and the story to begin with. Bloggers often pick these up and pull together a range of issues and stories in an interesting way. But it's much rarer to find a blog which reports the story first hand.

Herein lies the rub. Many newsapaper owners at the board level did what a lot of corporations did. They utilised debt funding to make their books look better, drive up the share price, pay themselves bigger dividends and so it goes until the crash just plain caught the board with their pants down.

Now they look back at the actual revenue the newsapapers generate through advertising .. and much like over leveraged homeowners, they're realising that, in fact, they can't really afford that much debt after all.

Meantime, they cut back on jouranlist/staff resources, buy up canned news, which of course now all the readers notice because guess what, I can see the same stories all over the websites of other newspapers. Suddenly we realise our newspapers are all just regurgitating the same wholesale news from a small number of agencies.

So although yes, bloggers certainly played a part. The newspapers are losing out the old fashioned way ... poor business practises.

The internet provided newspapers with unprecedented ways of looking at their revenue models. Their demise is due in good part to their inability to evolve and think about the business of what they actually do. After all, what will most bloggers do without the newspapers online to collect news from? Oh wait, they'll have to take the time to research a story, ask the questions, and write it up. Then they'll have to figure out how to make a living through ads. And so the cycle goes.

Ole

2009-02-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

A friend of mind lent me Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat, Love, Pray' and sad to say, I never did get around to reading it. Who knows, perhaps I wasn't meant to but rather, was meant to take notice when I came across this video of her.

Suffice to say, it's genius at it's creative best.

Speaking of Bunnies ...

2009-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

I think Bettina Arndt's recent book, The Sex Diaries, nails it (so to speak). "Women lie in bed worrying the hand will come creeping over. Men spend their lives groveling for sexual favours."

That about sums it up from what I've seen. I think one of the saddest reflections of most married people I know (present company excluded) is the low level of care wives seem to have about their sex lives. What's up with that? Just as sad is the level of rejection married men appear to be experiencing.

For a long time, I felt like some sort of a deviant. I can't imagine life without sex, good sex, frequent sex, married sex! Thank God for the internet! There are a bunch of other folk out there who clearly believe in giving sex a high priority in their married life (but let's not turn this post into a discussion on internet porn .. we'll do that another time).

I believe we've gone past the point in history where women are beholden to their partners when it comes to sex. (Ok, sweeping statement and I know, many women in the world don't have the luxury of this freedom.) But a total loss of interest doesn't appear to be healthy for anyone either. Imagine how much nicer the world would be if everyone in a relationship were getting it. Life always looks so much better post coital.

Could it be as simple as that? Many of the world's ills and stressors solved just by having more sex? Can you imagine the imperative coming from the Whitehouse? We'll just bonk our way out of an economic meltdown? Now that's a better use of stimulus.

Shrub Bunnies

2009-02-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

Turning out of a building car park this morning, I saw prairie dogs. Cute critters scurrying about whilst a couple of sentinels stood straight watching the horizon (of cars and more buildings).

Around the corner, two canadian geese didn't even flinch as the car passed by inches from them as they fossicked about for late morning worms.

As I parked the car and waited a few minutes for a store to open, what should start hip hopping around the car but three cute little bunnies. The chased each other and ran in and out from under a row of large shrubs. Bunnies are soooooo cute!

What is it about humans that makes us all go 'awwwww' at bunnies.

That was the best part of my morning .. ten minutes of urban wildlife fun.

Newspapers Online

2009-02-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

They just do not get it at all.

I looked at the headlines at the Washington Post today and clicked on an article about Bernanke (commenting on recovery of the economy). When I clicked on the headline, I'm taken to a registration page. Geez, I can get a free sign up! Whoopee! How about 'Get Nicked!' because with another mouse click or two I'm reading the same article covered by the NY Times.

Newspapers just don't get it. I'm not registering my details anywhere, given I can get the story in about a millisecond somewhere else. News has changed but newsapapers still appear to run on the premise that I'm still flicking through an online version of the print media. Nope. Entirely wrong.

So what's a newspaper to do? How about serving up actual news! How about doing some decent investigative journalism rather than rehashing the same old same old that I can just as easily see on any online edition from about any country in the world (or on somebody's blog for that matter).

Real journalism takes some skills. There's a great skill in researching and sniffing out a decent story and then writing it up well. It's a skill I do admire.

What I don't admire is the premise that I'm going to sign up my email details just to access a story I can read anywhere.

Can't Save Can't Spend

2009-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

You've got to laugh. If it's not an article on the consumer debt ridden excesses that have driven us all madly to the brink of financial melt down (sub in apocalyptic images of everything burning up) then it's article on the follies of Japan, their lost decade (like it's a totally lost generation) where consumers were not spending and so Japan is also in the crapper.

Spend beyond your means or don't spend enough, it all ends up in the same place ankle deep in slimey stuff that smells bad.

What is it with us humans. Nothing we do is ever good enough.

Imagination

2009-02-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Kids have this incredible imagination. Suddenly, a restacked and sorted bookshelf in their room becomes a library. There were old boxes turned into book returns, hand made library cards, and a flurry of borrowing and returns going on between two bedrooms and two bookcases. It amused them for hours.

There's something quite brilliant about being able to create a whole world out of stuff in your bedroom.

Mama's better

2009-02-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Life looks much better when Mama no longer has the flu. The kids think so too.

Comedy of Truth

2009-02-18T10:24:00.001-08:00

The thing about great comedy is it's ability to get close to the bone.

Saw a great clip on Paul Kedrosky's blog today. It's C K Louis talking about how amazing our world is ... and how unhappy we are ... click here.

The thing that had me chortling the most was his eloquent description of then and now. Of our imperious sense of entitlement. Of our complete inability in the western world to appreciate the great things life has to offer.

I'm not a huge proponent of those glib statements such as having an "attitude of gratitude" about things being a great cure all. But I have to admit, the alternative of whining through life isn't great either so maybe there's something to it.

Off to see if I can meet the attitude challenge and find wonder and fun in the smallest of things.

Ironies

2009-02-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

There are many for whom the irony of President Obama, VP Biden and their entourage packing up all their planes and heading down to Denver to sign the stimulus was obvious.

After the public caned the auto execs for their private jet jaunt to Washington to ask for money, there were many puzzled by the costly junket to Denver just to do what could've been done just as effectively in Washington.

Regardless of political leanings and thoughts on the stimulus, many seemed genuinely perplexed, even in Denver itself where the signing took place. Was a photo op on the the solar paneled roof of a building really worth taking Airforce One and associated planes out for a giant joy ride at taxpayers expense?

Most people accept the huge security effort and energy that goes into Presidential travel. So it stands to reason that most people would accept that some travel cutbacks and a bit of Washington time to very simply save on spending would be a good start.

Some would argue that in order to stay in touch, the President would need to travel. Stay in touch with whom? The stimulus signing in Denver was invitation only. As if anybody would speak their actual mind whilst at a prestigious event in any case.

Call is presidential penny pinching to cut back on travel. But honestly, en masse penny pinching and questioning of every expenditure at that level could go a long way to demonstrating that the new administration is heavily dedicated to cutting back on waste and excess.

Chicken Soup for Mama

2009-02-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

According to Stephen Rennard, MD at UNMC I'm not nuts. Chicken soup really does help when you have a cold.

The kids are well, I'm still eating soup.

Politicians Spin Again

2009-02-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

Back to the bushfire tragedy that swept through towns in southeastern Australia. Local residents and survivors have a much better idea of who exactly contributed to creating conditions that allowed the biggest disaster in Australia's recent history to take place. At a town hall meeting they decried the government policies of being unable to clear land effectively around their homes as well as the practise of backburning and creating firebreaks having all but ceased because of environmental lobbyist pressures.

One resident, Liam Sheahan, was fined $50,000 and incurred another $50,000 in legal and court costs because he cleared over 200 trees from around his house. His home and family, however, remained safe. A combination of clear land around the house as well as fire fighting knowledge contributed to their survival. There are, however, many other survivors who've lost homes and loved ones who aren't as fortunate. There are many who perished who had fire plans and equipment but the furnace simply over ran them. Why? Because there was so much bush fuel.

What's more disgusting than politicians bowing to lobby groups in order to maintain re-election chances at the detriment of the community is the self righteous spin.

I fell for it, dismayed and saddened at the possibility of some loser causing this tragedy, finding the bizarre reference to terrorists, it all deflected from those who really ought to be hanging their head in shame. The politicians, teary eyed were hoping against hope some loser arsonist really would be caught and case closed. Nobody would look beyond that. I do hope they catch any firebugs out there and maintain that anybody deliberately lighting fires are a complete and utter loser. But also high on the loser stakes are the politicians who'll stoop at nothing to deflect blame when it's their own policies that were the biggest contributing factor to the ferocity of how these fires burned.

And the residents and survivors know it. I hope the community is listening and never forgets the part self serving bureaucrats played in this tragedy.

Typical, isn't it.

Why is it either/or?

2009-02-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

I know articles need some sort of issue to beat up on but I don't understand why Zoe Lewis laments that it has to be a choice between motherhood, home, hearth, relationship .. and career in the Times Online.

She feels betrayed and comes across as embittered. Ok, 37 and no kids, no relationship to speak of, but a great career.

What I don't understand is why we women constantly paint it as an either/or decision, particularly in the current technological age. It's as if we either have a brain or a baby, but heaven forbid we have both.

Lewis isn't the first to lament we were fed toxic anti-family values by feminists (although lets not define feminism in just those terms). But I think we can move on from this. The sooner we call ourselves feminist mothers who love to bake (well, ok, baking not mandatory), surely the better.

Feminism to me is about providing women with choices and opportunities to embrace their dreams. And nobody gets to tell me what those dreams may be, not even other women.

Feminism, enamoured with itself and it's many successes, appears to have suffered the vagaries of many movements in that it often appears exclusionary. It reinforces the perspective that you have to be a certain type of women, hold certain types of views, in order to be a feminist. It was disappointing to see the National Organization for Women move against Palin so forcefully. The two were never in allignment but the force with which they spoke against her reinforced that not just any woman was acceptable. Most people didn't get the finer points of their message outside of 'not that woman'.

NOW made it appear that you can't be a mother of five, a church goer, from a small town, have a hunky husband and be a feminist. Why not?

Herein lies a problem for all women. We don't accept ourselves readily. We don't accept that some of us want to be with our children full time, some of us want to work part time while raising a family, some of us want a career and help with looking after children, many of us are happy without raising a family, and some of us just don't know what we want or, sadly, don't get the luxury of choice. At the end of the day however, the sooner women stop picking on one another and lamenting the choices we did or didn't make and the sooner we accept ourselves in our vagaries and differences, the easier it'll be to support each other in living out our dreams, whatever they are.

BC and AC

2009-02-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it feels like my life is split into two distinct sections .. Before Children and After Children. I guess it's really pre-mother and post-mother eras.

Just like many women, I often express how I had no idea about the changes that children would make in my life. The shock of having baby and bringing baby home in all it's full force serves as a deep initiation. That baby arrives in our arms and nothing is ever the same again.

Before Children, I chose where to work, what to eat, where to live all based on my own needs. After Children, most of those choices, whether day to day or the larger life choices, tend to revolve around the needs of the children. Somewhere in all that mix is me.

Motherhood also evolves as our children grow. An infant's needs are instant and acute. A seven year old learns about compromise and by the time they're teens, we feel like we've gone from the sun, center of their world, to a satellite that's somewhere on the edge of their consciousness.

Eventually, our mothering instinct eases into an easier rhythm in that we learn that to mother more happily and freely, we also need the time and space to mother ourselves. Maybe we get so practised we find we have plenty of mothering to go around. I'm not sure. One thing I am sure of though is the dramatic difference between my Before Children self and my After Children self. I like the change. It's a strong and powerful force that's erupted within me and that filters outwards to all aspects of my place in the world.

Gen Y and No Jobs

2009-02-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

It just doesn't seem that long ago when editorial and opinion pieces were talking about how Gen Y has little appreciation of what it's like to get and keep a job in a tough market. There were articles espousing that with unemployment at all time lows, the boom time university graduates expect career success and seniority at ever increasing speeds.

Well, we're not lamenting that any more. The latest job loss figures in the western world will put pay to that idea fairly quickly. We're all in the same tough old boat now.

Thing is, I don't think it those opinion pieces were necessarily right. I think that Gen Y has a more sophisticated view of the world that includes technology and social networking on a scale everyone else could never have imagined. Perhaps expectations of what could be achieved was higher and in line with the tools available.

It doesn't really matter now in any case. Higher unemployment rates, sadly, are here to stay for quite some time no matter what the stimulus pundits tell you. Hopefully that same sassy, vibrant Gen Y will step forward and demonstrate unique problem solving and creativity to contribute to a more interesting recession than we've experienced in the past.

Bushfire Jihad Losers

2009-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well, as I said, they're nasty and no longer human. This was from the Melbourne Age today.

"Islam group urges forest fire jihad
AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror. US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands". The website, posted by a group called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network, argues in Arabic that lighting fires is an effective form of terrorism justified in Islamic law under the "eye for an eye" doctrine."

We may yet see a few heads on pikes or burning at the stake. Frankly, the community is not likely to believe terrorists would do this but who knows. It's still more likely to be a local Loser that caused it.

Fire Lighters are Losers

2009-02-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

The sheer scale of the bushfires in Victoria, Australia this summer is horrendous. Thousands of acres, at least 750 homes lost, not to mention other structures such as community halls and schools. Wildlife and stock animals, sheep running through paddocks ablaze. The human death toll, most tragic of all, is currently upwards of 150 and will possibly exceed 200 once all people have been located in their burnt out homes and cars. On top of that there are many burn victims in hospital who may not make it either.

Many have asked the question as to why people were even at their homes. Victoria's fire planning and policies include stay and defend or leave early. Many of the people who died had enacted fire plans that had worked effectively in the past. Perimeters were cleared around the home, water was pumped through gutterings and pipes and they had hoses, wet blankets on hand. They'd heeded advice and were wearing long sleeved non polyester clothing. It was played by the book in most cases and these fire plans had proven successful in the past. The Australian demanour is more often than not calm and resilient. The problem was ... the numerous fires were just too powerful. They were fire maelstroms of horrendous proportions moving as fast as the high winds, spotting ahead of themselves like some sort of military beast and consuming everything not just in it's direct path but all around it.

Fires of that size can be fatal not just by being caught directly in the flames but the furnace style heat can consume what's surrounding it up to four times it's height. When you have a fire that's upwards of 50 feet, that's a 200 foot deadly perimeter running full force around it. It was a giant cremation chamber let loose.

The part that elicits the most grief, sadness and anger about this is that many of these fires were deliberately lit.

Let me say it again, the did this deliberately, on purpose, without any regard for human life, during the biggest heatwave Victoria has ever seen and during a particularly dry summer. Against this, knowing it would go out of control quickly, they lit fires.

These people are no longer considered human as far as I can see. I'm not big on capital punishment. I believe the system makes mistakes and the needle is irreversible .. a cosmic oops if they're innocent after all. However, in this instance, burning at the stake sounds about right to me.

There are few studies about bushfire lighters because they're often not caught. The few who do get caught are often noticed within the rural volunteer fire services, mainly because colleagues observe their odd behavior so this leaves the pool of possible losers skewed in that direction. What is known is that these particular arsonists often display low self esteem, difficulty in socialising and underachievement both academically and in the workplace, if they can manage to even keep a job. They literally don't give a thought to the consequences of the fire beyond it giving them a rush, a relief from boredom, some attention.

Although not every low self exteemed person with difficulties is a loser, when they turn firebug that's exactly what they are. A first rate loser. The loser of all losers. The epitomy of vicious, jealous, nasty, deranged, evil losers.

It's hard to resist revenge. However, I have to admit that should the arsonists themselves have been caught in the fires, quite frankly, I think that's an ending too good for them. They'll be mourned along with everyone else and they simply don't deserve it. I'd much prefer to see them aprehended and also see evidence that proves beyond a doubt that they did it. Then we can burn them at the stake.

In the meantime, the fires still rage and some are threatening to go out of control again. People have lost much and Australia grieves.

California Octuplets

2009-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

It'd barely be a motherhood blog without a mention of the single (Suleman) mother in California who, with some fertility assistance, adds eight babies to her existing crew of six. Fourteen. Sheesh.

So the debate rages. It's not so much raging about whether someone who already has six chidren has the right to have assistance in having an additional eight. It rages because she's single and it would appear she doesn't have the financial means to support her existing children, let alone another eight.

What I don't understand is why all six embryos (two of which split, bringing it to eight) needed to be implanted at the same time. It appears that the health risks to the children were outweighed by the wishes of Suleman to have as many children as possible.

It'll blow over. In 20 years time we'll be able to interview the children and see how it all turned out. In the meantime, I just can't imagine splitting myself by 14 and being able to cope.

Chicken Soup

2009-02-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

On the stove at the moment is a pot of chicken soup. Science is attempting to catch up with studies to show what we already have known for hundreds of years ... chicken soup cures all.

I think there's some generational ju ju going on too. When I make chicken soup, I draw on the soups I remember my grandmother and mother making. So when I chop and stir and check the brew, I'm bringing in the love and healing of mama's past to bear.

It's not like my mother taught me specifically. Somehow when you get chicken soup often enough growing up, you just know what to do.

And just like when I was little, the kids don't realise the magic just yet. They'll be fine, cold's will pass and they'll soon be well again. Perhaps one day when they've got their own kids to tend, they'll realise they just know how to make chicken soup.

Other People's Toddlers

2009-02-04T16:50:00.000-08:00

Now when I see other people's toddlers being all cute and grouchy, it makes me go 'awwww'. You see them fumbling with their own shoes, getting cross if you want to help them, standing up and sometimes they get moving too quickly and are unsteady on their feet. It's all so sweet.

I think nostalgically of my own kids when they were that age. I remember their little heads on my shoulder and clingy arms around my neck as I carried them places when they were too tired to walk ..... wait a minute ...

... just a second ....

... almost .....

Ahhh, there it is. Reality. Ok, it's nice to carry your children when they're small but now I'm remembering how much hard work it is.

Ok, reality check. I miss their toddlerhood momentarily. It disappears too quickly. I remember those pudgy hands (making an incredible amount of pudgy mess). Yep, it's great to recall the good stuff but honestly, I don't miss all that hard yakka lugging them and their stuff around.

Toddlers & Tiaras

2009-02-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the Toddlers & Tiaras (on TLC) occasionally. It's disconcerting. Firstly, it's strange to see the children all made up (there's an eerie Jon Benet quality about it). Mostly, it's strange to see otherwise caring and normal parents all caught up in the whole system.

Perhaps the real issue here is stage parenting and by this I mean any parent who's pushing their child in any endeavor, whether it's tiaras, dance, acting, or sports. There appears to be a fine line between fostering a talented child and the parent fostering their own needs above both the child's needs and abilities. Not all kids are exceptionally talented although you have to give it to a kid who has a go and has a great time while they're on stage. I guess that's what the judges are looking for, the child's innate enjoyment of being in a beauty pageant.

Perhaps what it boils down to is this .. if the child is loving what they do, great. Personally, having a child sit there while they're made up, their hair is tressed, fake hair attached, they've put on their stiff but pretty dress doesn't sound like fun to me. But given all the angst in convincing said child to go with the beauty pageant program, the coaxing and bribing, the sheer stress of it all, I'm not convinced this is really the case. Frankly, I'm inclinced to wonder who the tiara really is for, the parent or the child.

Loving the Grumps

2009-02-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

My kids, nay my family, are grumps. I guess that includes me. Is the moon on a downswing or stars out of alignment or something. I'm hating "The Secret" mentality right now which says if I'm experiencing grumpy people then I must somehow be attracting it myself. Bah Humbug to that.

I took a peek at my horoscope on MSN .. this isn't helping! "An amusing misunderstanding today will help you learn how to be more tolerant with people who are different from you ...." Well, it was misunderstandings all round and none too amusing let me tell you.

After all has died down and kids are now doing activities quietly in their respective rooms, things seem better but sheesh, I'm tired and still wondering what part I played in all the sniping aimed at me today. I guess they have to snipe at someone sometimes and I was the nearest and dearest.

I love them, even though they were grumps this afternoon. I guess not every day is one of those blissy days where your kids are simply wonderful and to say otherwise is just bunkum. Love the grumps through their grumpiness and all will eventually work itself out.

On the upside, I'm managing to make it to the gym. All I need to do is show up and let the rest just happen. Today was a zumba class. I like it because when you mess up the steps, you just dance through until you figure out what's going on. So ... another step forward to my yummy mumminess.

Divine Mother

2009-01-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

I know the sacred feminine is already written about prolifically. It just seems remiss to have a blog on motherhood without at least making some mention.

I didn't realise how important the balancing of a mother/father god was to me until I heard Rick Warren's inauguration prayer start with the words "Almighty God, our Father" There it was right up front, God is a father apparently. I doubt it even occurred to Rick Warren to mention the divine motherhood of God. If it did, then he obviously didn't feel it was appropriate.

Therein lies the issue. Religious leaders constantly reinforce a divinity that is masculine and until this changes, motherhood is obviously not considered as sacred as fatherhood. Until such time that we relate to the divinity of motherhood, as a society, we're falling short of having balance and harmony around these concepts.

By the way, if you doubt what I'm saying, just try raising calling God a She with a church pastor, priest or minister. Suggest that the congregation needs to express God's gender in this way and you'll either get laughed at and not taken seriously .. or perhaps taken seriously and asked to leave.

Ask believers to make this simple change and enmasse it'll be seen as preposterous. What's preposterous is that the notion of the divine mother doesn't permeate our society more readily.

More Obama Mama Musings

2009-01-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

Michelle Obama's own mama looks tough. It didn't appear (at least from my standpoint) that she was jumping at the chance to move to the Whitehouse. It looked more like a case of stepping in to help out where needed. Of all the memoirs in years to come, I think her's looks the most interesting.

It also leads me to wonder what she's like as a mother in law. In fact, with a strong minded wife, two outgoing daughters and a formidable looking mother in law, one tends to suspect that Barack Obama is either incredibly supported .. or at the very least well behaved at home. He's surrounded by generations of women with vitality and it can work for some guys or just plain wear them out.

Certainly, there's a lot of mama energy that's moved into the Whitehouse and I have to admit, it's fascinating to watch.

Me and the Gym

2009-01-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

I realised something today. My first gym visit. I admire mothers who get fit (or stay fit). I bumped into a woman at the gym who had a baby late last year. She has a 10yo, a 2yo and a newborn ... and a job she's going back to next week. And she has the wisdom to know that keeping herself physically fit is part of being a great mother. It's a wisdom I'd like to explore more.

Isn't it funny. Once I placed getting fit and physically healthy and happy into the category of things to do for my children, I was motivated.

I was also inspired by remembering this woman:

http://theclotheslinedietclub.com.au/

If she can walk around a clothes line to get fit then I can get myself to the gym.

Onward and upward yummy mummies. I'll keep you posted (of course!).

I want that mama's body

2009-01-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it. I love that mama's body. So what if she only gave birth to three of her six children .. that family has six children! Also, so what if they have help. She looks good anyway. Plenty of celebrity mamas have help and don't have that glow. I want that mama's body and her glow. That woman loves being a mama and it shows.

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/jolie-pitt-family-arrives-japan

It also struck me while gratuitously looking at celebrity pics of the Jolie Pitts, there's something incredibly sexy about a couple who has a bunch of kids. It's that whole notion of having enough love to share around. Ok, sweeping generalisation (well, this is a blog called 'motherhood statements' so what do you expect?).

But honestly, who would've predicted years ago that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, two of the sexiest folk around would get together and then .... make having a big brood so attractive.

Think about it, they could've gotten together as an uber cool couple had just one or two kids and swanned around the place looking gorgeous. But throw in half a dozen kids and those two just ooze deliciousness.

Slums and Mothers

2009-01-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, not a minute after finishing what was really a whinge about my own insecurities and motherhood, I read this:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/parents-blast-slumdogs-producers/2009/01/27/1232818435810.html

I can't imagine how hard it is to be a mother, want everything for your kids and live in a slum.

It puts things in perspective. Motherhood is tough enough without the weight of poverty holding you down.

Put Mama First

2009-01-27T14:52:00.000-08:00

This is a habit I just don't have. If those oxygen masks dropped while on a plane and my kids were next to me, I'd struggle with the edict that I'm supposed to mask up first and then help the children. I really would.

I know this because I just had a tetchy, nasty, emotional outburst when I suggested to my husband I should get a gym membership. For me. And clothes and gym shoes too. I practically had a melt down. Poor guy, he's all for it. He was supportive and made suggestions as to where to get what I need ... and I turned into an icky, yucky, emotional mess.

It was one of those does-my-bum-look-big-in-this moments. Nowhere for him to go. Me, alternating between finding excuses and wanting help out of the emotional soup.

What it boils down to is this. Putting myself first goes against all my instincts.

And for me, going to the gym represents putting my own needs ahead of a bunch of others (the cost, the time, the list goes on, the sheer experience of me and only me time).

Well, the instincts aren't quite right. It's an essential part of motherhood. That ability to realise when you've got to take the time, accept the help, and put yourself first.

Gym ... here I come.

Michelle - Obama Mama Drama

2009-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

If President Obama is the leader of the free world, without a doubt Michelle Obama has got to be the most powerful mama in the western world today (although her own mama looks like a pretty hardy sort herself).

Her title of 'mum-in-chief' bandied about is proof of the way that we'll be looking her way to see what's up in the mothering world.

In her words recently "My first priority will always be to ensure that our daughters stay grounded and healthy, with normal childhoods -- including homework, chores, dance and soccer."

What'll be interesting to see is how she fares under inevitable scrutiny when it comes to mothering. I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondering what the kids were up to on inauguration night. A sleepover with friends, a couple of movies, a scavenger hunt, and an appearance by the Jonas Borthers. It was a big night and if they were my kids and I could get the Jonas Brothers to help out while I was out attending a lot of balls, I wouldn't knock that back either. Pretty cool.

However, if her clothes and accessories are all scrutinised. (J.Crew stocks go up because they provided the kids clothing for the inauguration.) Imagine the scrutiny now on her mothering abilities. Like it or not, she's not just the mum-in-chief for her own children. There are a bunch of women out there who are looking to her to be authentic, real and be strong enough to be herself as a mother. Tall order given how easy it is to criticise mothers. If you doubt this, just have a mommy meltdown in public and see how that goes. Imagine if the First Lady has a mother cranky moment for all the world to see.

In the meantime, I don't envy Michelle Obama's new position as mum-in-chief. Sheesh, it's hard enough to feel adequate about mothering without having the world looking on while you're doing it. I do hope, however, that she keeps on pointing to her role as mother as the most important thing in the world. More important than anything because that, I can relate to.

School Lunch - Chocolate!!

2009-01-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

To the sheer delight of my children, I packed them chocolate sandwiches today. They were stunned. In between the fresh fruit and organic popcorn, there lay the prize, sandwiches (wholewheat at least) spread with that chocolate hazelnut stuff they adore. They could hardly believe it.

The thrilled look on their faces was enough. I'm a chronic ingredient reader and assessor at the grocery store and can spot additives, high fructose corn syrup, perservatives, trans fats, added coloring and growth hormones in dairy at 100 paces. It's usually laden in anything with a TV character used on the label. Note to manufacturers, if you want your food product to look healthy, a cartoon character is a dead give away and stands out like a beacon that's it's probably filled with ingredients I can't even pronounce! There's a healthy eating tip, if I can't pronounce what's in it, we're not going to eat it.

Who knew I'd covet a PhD in chemistry just to decipher food labels. Not to mention environmental sciences when considering the global impact on soil erosion, air and water quality and usage when assessing where and how our food originated. It can't just be organic anymore, it's also got to be local.

I tell you, it's not just my children I worry about when grocery shopping but the children of third world farmers too.

Hence, a bit of chocolate levity this morning as my way of just relaxing and realising that the world's not perfect and my children's diets don't need to be either. They just need to be generally okay and aware and that'll do.

The tooth fairy forgot to come

2009-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

These were the very first words I heard this morning, in amongst sniffles and sobs. Once littlie was enclosed in my arms and tears had subsided we talked a bit about it. But talk did very little to asauge the sadness and frustration I felt towards the tooth fairy. How could the tooth fairy forget? What does she do except show up, collect the tooth and leave something behind. What sort of fairy is she anyway? I'll tell you, a hopeless fairy. A useless, good for nothing, all round stupid and preoccupied fairy.

It doesn't even matter if the tooth fairy was busy, had other things on her mind, had made a pot roast for guests, cleaned up, gotten kids bathed and off to bed before flopping down tired on the sofa to watch TV. The point is, the tooth fairy totally forgot to show up and my child was crying and disappointed.

Silently, I berated that tooth fairy. What's the point of her existence if she can't manage even the simplest thing? Inside, I was seething at her and telling her over and over how bad she was at being a fairy. She forgot!? No excuses!

My husband, bless his cotton socks, went to investigate and together they discovered the tooth had gotten lodged into the lid of the tooth treasure box. "aha!" her eyes lit up and she realised the poor tooth fairy just couldn't find the tooth .. and in that instant, her world was well.

Mine still wasn't. I continued to blame the fairy for her incompetence for quite some time telling her turning up a day late will not redeem her from this morning's tears.

Later, I realised something. When it comes to motherhood, I am my harshest and most unforgiving critic. Nobody is capable of saying anything to me about mothering that I haven't already beat myself up with.

I have to forgive the tooth fairy. It's tough.

nb: all the analysis in the world about motherhood, society, the eocnomy, history, unique experiences, etc counts for nought in comparison to a tooth fairy mess up. And that's motherhood.

Did our attitude to motherhood have an effect on the housing bubble?

2009-01-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

Home and hearth. Did the ability to provide a beautiful environment, a bigger house in a better neighborhood, become more important to us as mothers than our own mothering experience?

My decision not to work when I became a mother was hard won. I believed I'd earnt it. Well educated, working in both wholesale and retail funds management, these were external factors that helped me believe I was entitled to mother my own children. (I wasn't wise enough back then to realise I didn't have to earn my mothering experience, it's something emanating from within.)

I was shocked when I had a baby. I had no idea. Firstly, birth was like being run over physically by a truck. Having survived it however, I wasn't about to hand my baby to any experienced, educated or well meaning child care professional so I could go and gather up my career, polish the spit up off my shoulders, and juggle my milk laden bazoongas between feeds.

Yet many women I knew did exactly that. Many said they were bored at home. And many looked exhausted as they pounded the pavements back to the office.

What I want to know is this. Did we as women give away the motherhood experience we desired in return for a mortgage and real estate? Note that I say desired because I tip my hat to working mothers who love their work and are wonderful mothers to boot. There is no one size fits all way of mothering.

Nevertheless, it seemed to me, and still does, we used our needs for parity in the workplace, for equality, for job satisfaction as an excuse to go and earn a bigger income. We did it so we could leverage ourselves more and tell ourselves that we're successful because our wealth was greater.

Our collective attitude to mothering was, of course, not the only factor contributing to the economic mess. There are dozens ranging from Wall Street to Main Street to the steps of Capitol. However, as women gain equity in the workplace, the role and intrinsic needs of motherhood need not be ignored.

In the end, I am still left wondering if every woman who wanted to be a stay at home mom did so, whether mortgage and real estate brokers would've had such an easy sell.

Why it's important

2009-01-22T10:56:00.000-08:00

It's simple. Without mothers, there's no people. Without motherhood, there's no nurturing (of either our children or ourselves). Sure, men are wonderful parents and they can nurture. This blog isn't about men. It's about mothers. Women. Womanhood. Motherhood.

Motherhood is important. It's important to me.