Now is the time to support homebirths and professional midwives.
Sign this petition to tell your representatives that you want to be in control of how and where you give birth.
Click on the title of this post to link to the petition website:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/birthathome/index.html
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Wild Family Book and Music Tour - in Florida June 5 - 14
Heads up!
We are headed to Florida for some family tour fun action!
Samantha Jones and I are getting in the van with our kids and with a papa friend named Neil and his kids, too.
I'm doing the book readings / discussion part of the tour.
Samantha is taking care of the music part. Check her tunes out here: myspace.com/cassettesongs
Papa Neil will be kid wrangling.
Maybe my big girl will be doing her jump rope routine, a Double-dutch freak out!
Here's where we will be:
June 5 - Gainesville (2nd Street Bakery)
June 6 - Pensacola (End of the Line Cafe)
June 7 - St. Augustine (Freedom Manor)
June 11 - Lake Worth (Les Beans)
June 12 - Hollywood (South Florida Women's Health Center)
June 14 - Orlando
Then on June 15, I'll be doing an author event at the Alachua County Library in downtown Gainesville at 2 pm!
Then on June 18, I'm off to the West Coast to meet up with Citizen Fish...
A no sleep summer by all counts!
We are headed to Florida for some family tour fun action!
Samantha Jones and I are getting in the van with our kids and with a papa friend named Neil and his kids, too.
I'm doing the book readings / discussion part of the tour.
Samantha is taking care of the music part. Check her tunes out here: myspace.com/cassettesongs
Papa Neil will be kid wrangling.
Maybe my big girl will be doing her jump rope routine, a Double-dutch freak out!
Here's where we will be:
June 5 - Gainesville (2nd Street Bakery)
June 6 - Pensacola (End of the Line Cafe)
June 7 - St. Augustine (Freedom Manor)
June 11 - Lake Worth (Les Beans)
June 12 - Hollywood (South Florida Women's Health Center)
June 14 - Orlando
Then on June 15, I'll be doing an author event at the Alachua County Library in downtown Gainesville at 2 pm!
Then on June 18, I'm off to the West Coast to meet up with Citizen Fish...
A no sleep summer by all counts!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Book event at Monkeywrench Books in Austin, Texas
My upcoming weekend trip to Austin for Chaos in Tejas* couldn't be all pleasure ... well, sure it could have been, but I thought I'd just make the MOST of my time away from home minus the family ...
So I contacted the nice folks at Monkeywrench Books & they were more than welcoming to my asking to come there to do a book reading event.
If you too will be raging at Chaos or if you live in Austin, come on down!
Saturday, May 17
3 pm
Monkeywrench Books
110 E. North Loop Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78751
*3 nights of the most exciting punk bands and friends coming from all over the map. Can you say Los Crudos reunion show?!?!?!!?? I've had flutterbies in me tummy for weeks!
So I contacted the nice folks at Monkeywrench Books & they were more than welcoming to my asking to come there to do a book reading event.
If you too will be raging at Chaos or if you live in Austin, come on down!
Saturday, May 17
3 pm
Monkeywrench Books
110 E. North Loop Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78751
*3 nights of the most exciting punk bands and friends coming from all over the map. Can you say Los Crudos reunion show?!?!?!!?? I've had flutterbies in me tummy for weeks!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day
In 1870, social activist Julia Ward Howe authored the "Mother's Day Proclamation" and in 1872, organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace, a sort of Mother's Day intended as a call to unite women against war. This is the kind of Mother's day I think to celebrate. Not the one I see advertised today hawking $39.99 vases of pesticide sprayed roses.
More than anything today, I wanted to participate in Mother's Day at a speak out or other political action, like the one in New York City - A Mother's Day action against police violence where 50 mothers wearing bloodstained shirts held a vigil and press conference outside of Governor David Patterson's Manhattan office calling on the Governor to STOP THE BLOODSHED AT THE HANDS OF NYPD and also also calling for an end to the NYPD abuse of mothers who fight to get justice for their children.
But where I live, there was nothing but the 34th annual Mother's Day symphony held at the zoo and special Mother's Day brunches to be eaten at select restaurants.
I was happy when fellow rad mama Vikki Law asked if I'd read over and give feedback on the essay she is working on concerning "how the first battered women's shelters in the U.S. had a more radical feminist analysis about the reasons for battering and how capitalism and patriarchy needed to be dismantled and encouraged women to think in broader terms about these issues. And how the first shelters were in individual activists' homes because, at the time, there WASN'T a safe place for the average American abused wife/girlfriend to turn to and there wasn't any institution dealing with the issue."
When I'd finished and sent it back, I thanked Vikki for giving it to me to give feedback on. She made my Mother's Day! Really. Doing this editorial work for her made me feel worthwhile in my political urges to contribute in some way.
Now it's time to give my own mama a call...
More than anything today, I wanted to participate in Mother's Day at a speak out or other political action, like the one in New York City - A Mother's Day action against police violence where 50 mothers wearing bloodstained shirts held a vigil and press conference outside of Governor David Patterson's Manhattan office calling on the Governor to STOP THE BLOODSHED AT THE HANDS OF NYPD and also also calling for an end to the NYPD abuse of mothers who fight to get justice for their children.
But where I live, there was nothing but the 34th annual Mother's Day symphony held at the zoo and special Mother's Day brunches to be eaten at select restaurants.
I was happy when fellow rad mama Vikki Law asked if I'd read over and give feedback on the essay she is working on concerning "how the first battered women's shelters in the U.S. had a more radical feminist analysis about the reasons for battering and how capitalism and patriarchy needed to be dismantled and encouraged women to think in broader terms about these issues. And how the first shelters were in individual activists' homes because, at the time, there WASN'T a safe place for the average American abused wife/girlfriend to turn to and there wasn't any institution dealing with the issue."
When I'd finished and sent it back, I thanked Vikki for giving it to me to give feedback on. She made my Mother's Day! Really. Doing this editorial work for her made me feel worthwhile in my political urges to contribute in some way.
Now it's time to give my own mama a call...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Breastfeeding Promotion Act
A Call for Action from MomsRising.org -----
Just a couple of months ago, a mother was kicked out of a museum in New York for breastfeeding, a perfectly legal act in that state. [1] Mothers continue to suffer discrimination and humiliation for breastfeeding, even though doctors recommend breastfeeding for all infants. Clearly we need Congress to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236) now--before more mothers are stigmatized and humiliated for breastfeeding.
But this Act is currently stalled in Congress, and isn’t going to move forward without increased citizen pressure. You can supply that pressure.
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
(And forward this email to friends now so they can take action too. All of our voices are needed to get the Breastfeeding Promotion Act moving forward).
MomsRising members have successfully raised awareness about the need to protect the rights of breastfeeding mothers in the past and can do it again. Last year, MomsRising members and other activists changed Delta Airlines corporate policies when a mother was kicked off a flight for breastfeeding.
We can harness this same power to push through the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, but we need your help contacting Congress. Let's support mothers who are nurturing and caring for the next generation of Americans. Those nursing babies may not be able to vote, but their mothers can!
Forward this email so your friends and family can contact their representatives too. It’s going to take all of our voices, and then some to get this legislation moving forward. We need tens of thousands of messages to go to Congress supporting breastfeeding.
Here's that link again in case you need it: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
Thank you!
[1] http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S352021.shtml?cat=10114
P.S. THE LOWDOWN ON THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT: Representative Carolyn Maloney's Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236) would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect breastfeeding by new mothers by providing tax credits to employers who provide a place to breastfeed and/or provide breast pumps. This makes it a lot easier for women who want to give their babies breastmilk and keep their jobs. As you may know, 82% of American women become mothers by the time they are forty-four years old, so this issue is critically important to a large portion of our nation. To read the bill, visit The Library of Congress Website
Just a couple of months ago, a mother was kicked out of a museum in New York for breastfeeding, a perfectly legal act in that state. [1] Mothers continue to suffer discrimination and humiliation for breastfeeding, even though doctors recommend breastfeeding for all infants. Clearly we need Congress to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236) now--before more mothers are stigmatized and humiliated for breastfeeding.
But this Act is currently stalled in Congress, and isn’t going to move forward without increased citizen pressure. You can supply that pressure.
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
(And forward this email to friends now so they can take action too. All of our voices are needed to get the Breastfeeding Promotion Act moving forward).
MomsRising members have successfully raised awareness about the need to protect the rights of breastfeeding mothers in the past and can do it again. Last year, MomsRising members and other activists changed Delta Airlines corporate policies when a mother was kicked off a flight for breastfeeding.
We can harness this same power to push through the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, but we need your help contacting Congress. Let's support mothers who are nurturing and caring for the next generation of Americans. Those nursing babies may not be able to vote, but their mothers can!
Forward this email so your friends and family can contact their representatives too. It’s going to take all of our voices, and then some to get this legislation moving forward. We need tens of thousands of messages to go to Congress supporting breastfeeding.
Here's that link again in case you need it: http://www.momsrising.org/CosponsorBreastfeedingAct
Thank you!
[1] http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S352021.shtml?cat=10114
P.S. THE LOWDOWN ON THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT: Representative Carolyn Maloney's Breastfeeding Promotion Act (H.R. 2236) would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect breastfeeding by new mothers by providing tax credits to employers who provide a place to breastfeed and/or provide breast pumps. This makes it a lot easier for women who want to give their babies breastmilk and keep their jobs. As you may know, 82% of American women become mothers by the time they are forty-four years old, so this issue is critically important to a large portion of our nation. To read the bill, visit The Library of Congress Website
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Who Gives a Shit About Kids and Cursing?
Seems the "cursing" chapter of my book is one that a lot of people want to talk about.
This week, a freelance journalist & mum to a 2 month old baby (Lesley Carlin McElhattan) asked to interview me for an article she's hoping to publish in Cookie Magazine on the topic of kids and cursing. She'll let me know when the article comes out & I'll be sure to post it here.
And my mom, who just returned from a family gathering, said my great aunt Mollie has been taking my book "as gospel." When the cursing chapter came up during dinner one night, her oldest son remarked to her, "Don't worry mom, you don't have to start cursing now!"
This week, a freelance journalist & mum to a 2 month old baby (Lesley Carlin McElhattan) asked to interview me for an article she's hoping to publish in Cookie Magazine on the topic of kids and cursing. She'll let me know when the article comes out & I'll be sure to post it here.
And my mom, who just returned from a family gathering, said my great aunt Mollie has been taking my book "as gospel." When the cursing chapter came up during dinner one night, her oldest son remarked to her, "Don't worry mom, you don't have to start cursing now!"
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
2 Interviews - one for listening, one to read.
For listening:
When I was on my mini-book-tour in February, Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive Magazine invited me in to their studio in Madison, WI to do an interview with him for The Progressive Radio Show. He was super kind, smart and skillfully steered me back when I'd ramble. It's 28 minutes long. It aired on 3/31/2008 on their syndicated show, to about 40 (NPR-affiliate?) stations around the US. It's archived here: http://www.progressive.org/radioweekly
For reading:
Interview on Mamaphonic.com by China Martens
China, author of The Future Generation: The Zine-Book for Subculture Parents, Kids & Others, and I took forever to get this interview finished, but we're both happy & satisfied with how it turned out. Last month, she and I met for the first time face-to-face after years of correspondence and supporting each other's projects. It was an amazing time we had. (I'll put pix up soon, just as soon as I figure out how.) Go here for the interview: http://www.mamaphonic.com/node/1780
When I was on my mini-book-tour in February, Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive Magazine invited me in to their studio in Madison, WI to do an interview with him for The Progressive Radio Show. He was super kind, smart and skillfully steered me back when I'd ramble. It's 28 minutes long. It aired on 3/31/2008 on their syndicated show, to about 40 (NPR-affiliate?) stations around the US. It's archived here: http://www.progressive.org/radioweekly
For reading:
Interview on Mamaphonic.com by China Martens
China, author of The Future Generation: The Zine-Book for Subculture Parents, Kids & Others, and I took forever to get this interview finished, but we're both happy & satisfied with how it turned out. Last month, she and I met for the first time face-to-face after years of correspondence and supporting each other's projects. It was an amazing time we had. (I'll put pix up soon, just as soon as I figure out how.) Go here for the interview: http://www.mamaphonic.com/node/1780
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