The Silent "I"

Site Seeing

Late at night, I've been surfing around the web looking at lots of great sites.  Upside Up has a link to Noah's Video.  This is a strangely hypnotic video made a compilation of photos set to music.  Noah has evidently taken a photo of himself every day for six year straight.  I could not take my eyes off of Noah's unblinking stare while his hair danced around to the music.  Check it out.

Three of my favorite blogger, Amalah, MetroDad and Mr. Nice Guy have all been plagiarised by some chick on MySpace who pretended to be a nanny in Las Vegas, but her life stories were all taken from these three hilarious blogs.  "Claudia" has been shut down by MySpace, but the postings on these three about the incident have left me laughing so hard I nearly lost control of key bodily functions.  At least you could say that Claudia has good taste in blogs, because these are three of the best.

As for me, I've been inducted as the newest Kimchi Mama, a group blog for moms with ties to Korea.  There are some awesome writers there, and I'm very proud to be among this wonderful, insightful group.  The discussion on the blog and in the comments runs from where to get Korean groceries online to racism to the Korean War...and that's just this week. 

My home girls over at Silicon Valley Moms Blog had a fashion frenzy on Thursday, posting different viewpoints on fashion every hour.  It was fun to read about fashionable moms, unfashionable moms, what to wear and what not to wear.  I'm in there, but only in a photo of the PAMP board meeting.  Other than what happened this week on Project Runway, I've got nothing to say about fashion.

Career Mom Radio is off to a great start and we now have three official episodes up!  Episode 1 dealt with Work-Life Balance, Episode 2 deals with Tips & How-tos for busy moms, and Episode 3 is on How to Launch a business.  I'm in Episodes 1 & 2.  Next week, the topic is "Mommy Stories" so we'll see what the group comes up with--I'm sure it will be fun.  I've been named Associate Producer, so if you have any suggestions for futue shows or would like to contribute, please e-mail me. 

I managed to miss International Blog Day, but had I known about it sooner, I would have picked the following 5 international blogs to refer you to:

Itisi  Kate is a blogger in the UK who writes about music, politics, her five (yes, five) sons, and other things that strike her fancy.  I found her by sort of randomly selecting a flag at the NeoCounter site one night and have been visiting her ever since.

Khadija is a US born woman living in Libya.  She stopped by my blog, and it has been interesting to read about her daily life.  She has another site that is dedicated to Libyan culture and is also a fascinating read.  I wish that  I had read her sites before we went to Libya in March--it is so much more insightful that guidebooks.  People in Libya were so kind and hospitable to us and we had no idea what to expect.

Wired Temples (Malta) is a very cool blog about all things Maltese.  I've written a number of postings about our very short visit to this very lovely island-nation.  One of them was quoted in Wired Temples, which probably accounts for why I get a lot of visitors from Malta.  I'd jump at the chance to go back there, and keep up with Malta via this blog. 

The Department (Australia) is the blog of Kt, who I found randomly looking at sites through BlogHer.  She has amazingly beautiful photography and can make the simplest things look poetic and profound--a pile of rubberbands, a staircase, cupcakes.  Her portraits of people allow not just beauty, but character to shine through.  I go back periodically to see the photos and read the occasional haiku. I'm a big fan of this blog.

Little Mummy (Scotland) is not a blog about Egyptology, as Alex might think, but a parenting resource and information blog by Erica, Executive Producer of Career Mom Radio.  Erica's blog has loads of useful tips and information for new parents. 

So, these are a few of the places I've been and people I've seen this week.  No travel for us anytime soon, since school has started and I have little vacation time from work.  Instead, I'll be out wandering the web...

Around the World (and the Blogosphere)

I had lunch with someone this week who told me that her husband just returned from Iguazu Falls in Argentina, and that the falls had slowed down to a trickle due to a drought in the Amazon.  I was shocked.  We were there in January, 2004, and the the falls were a roaring, impressive, amazing sight.  We loved seeing it from both Argentina and Brazil.  It's a place I've recommended to numerous people who are looking for a wonderful vacation spot.  I guess the Rain Forest isn't the Rain Forest anymore, which makes me worry about the planet.  Who knows, maybe we'll shrivel up and go the way of Pluto before too long.

Meanwhile, out in the Blogosphere, some cheerier news...Stefania Butler, aka CityMama, let me know that a new parenting site she is involved with has just launched a Beta version.  It's called ParentsConnect and is an online gathering place for parents to share information and advice on various topics.  Stefania is one of the "host parents" who is there to keep the discussion going.  I haven't checked out all the features yet, but it looks like an interesting idea and the site is pretty snazzy and easy to navigate.  Since this is just a beta release, they're looking for feedback on it, so check it out and let Stefania know what you think of it via CityMama.

Our first official episode of Career Mom Radio is now up and running!  This one is a little more polished than the beta, and offers practical tips on time management.  My segment is on time-saving tips on preparing dinner.   Erica has also put up a Career Mom Radio shop of books and other items recommended by the Career Mom contributors.  Go have a listen and leave comments and ideas for future shows at the site. 

Sometimes, I find myself missing New York.  This week Mom-101 has written some wonderful, hilarious recounts of life in Manhattan, from her appearance on the "Today Show" to a subway panhandler doing stand-up on the E train.  I'm thinking we will need to stop off in NYC on our way to Greenland, because that's where Frank is currently hatching a plan for us to take a vacation next year.  Hopefully, Greenland will turn out like Malta and be fabulous beyond belief.  If not, at least we'll have New York.  Or, maybe we should skip Greenland and just go back to Malta.

Oh, and one more thing...having a crappy day?  Go on over to Karen's site Chookooloonks and have a look at the links to photos people have been posting for "Love Thursday".  There's also a Flickr photo pool that you can use for an incredibly sweet slide show.  Beautiful pictures of all kinds of expressions of love, hope, and happiness. Next week, post one of your own, and let the love flow...

Radio MOM

I recently got an e-mail from a woman named Erica in Scotland.  Erica read my blog and asked me to contribute a podcast to a new radio show she is producing called "Career Mom Radio."  At first, I thought this was spam, or one of those "Get Rich Off the Internet" schemes.  I wrote her back and said, "huh? wha?  What's a podcast?"   

She wrote back and explained that this is a start-up venture and that she read my post called "No Mom Left Behind" and thought it would be good for their new radio show.  I was flattered that: (a) someone who is not related to me read actually my blog; and (b) they liked what I had to say enought to think I could participate in a podcast.  Anyway, I agreed, and had to call on my friends to ask "How do I make a podcast?"   David Hornik  and Enoch Choi came to the rescue and recommended some software and assured me it was a snap.

Unfortunately our Jurassic-era iMac did not come with a built-in microphone, so we went to the Apple Store.  The Apple Genius gave me a primer on podcasting, and sold me on a microphone with a USB cable that would work with the dinoMac.  I bought the inexpensive model, and passed on the expensive one that looked like a snowball on a tripod. 

Armed with this new knowledge, I went home and set up my at home "recording studio" which is really the guest room/office where the computer is located.  I recorded my podcast on Odeo, since Erica recommended it and I couldn't set up the Apple GarageBand software in time.  It took a few takes so I didn't sound too boring or like I was reading a bedtime story to my son.  The funniest part was saying at the end, "This is Glennia for Career Mom Radio."  Hee.  I was unsuccessfully trying to channel Terry Gross on Fresh Air.  Rank amateur, that's me. 

The Beta show is up not at Career Mom Radio. It's basically a rough cut to see how things will fit together, and I think Erica did a great job of it.  The show is geared towards moms who work outside the home, work at home, plan to return to work, or want to start a business (Erica calls the last group "mumpreneurs"). You can listen from your computer or download it to an mp3 player and leave feedback on the site.  My piece is about halfway through the show.  The first piece is from a woman in Scotland who started an internet site to buy and sell gently used kids clothes--how great is that idea?  The last one is from Kayll, a Creativity Coach who reminds us to take care of ourselves and relax a bit.  Erica is looking for ideas on content for future shows and new contributors.  If you would like to contribute something or have a topic you would like to see covered, go to the site and leave a comment. 

As for me, I've submitted a recording on tips for saving time preparing meals for next week's show on "Time Management."    And just like that...I'm a podcaster!

Cross-posted on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.