Books: Studs Terkel
November 13, 2007 | Books
Speaking of books (we were, weren’t we?), Studs Terkel published his memoir, Touch and Go.
Books: Interesting quotes
November 12, 2007 | Books,Quotes
We interrupt this book, All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, to share a few quotes.
When you get born your father and mother lost something out of themselves, and they are going to bust a hame trying to get it back, and you are it.
But the best luck always happens to people who don’t need it.
They say you are not you except in terms of relation to other people. If there weren’t any other people there wouldn’t be any you because what you do, which is what you are, only has meaning in relation to other people.
Are you free for lunch Nov. 15?
November 5, 2007 | Audience participation,Blogland games,Books,Ethics,Family,Parenting,PR,Work,Working Mother
- Who: You. You, too, dads. This is about families.
- What: Raise Your Voice: Advocating for Better Working Family Policy teleconference.
- When: Nov. 15, noon-1 p.m. (EST).
- Where: Wherever your telephone takes you.
- Why1: Hear what Working Mother magazine and Corporate Voices for Working Families say to policymakers on behalf of working families.
- Why2: Win a book! I’m giving away another autographed copy of Tracy Thompson‘s book, The Ghost in the House.
Here’s what you do.
Join us, won’t you?
- Arwen
- Justice Fergie
- Lance
- Margaret-in-NJ
- Catherine Morgan
- Nicole
- Aviva Pflock
- PunditMom
- Devra Renner
- Rhonda Van Diest
- Jill Miller Zimon
…
Corporate Voices for Working Families says it focuses on “Five Pillars of Work,” 1) Afterschool Care and Early Childhood Education, 2) Youth Transitions, 3) Mature Workforce, 4) Flexibility and 5) Lower Wage Work.
- It is working with Senate staffers to become the “business voice” of the Senate Caucus on Children, Work and Family.
- It is working with House staffers on “policy implications for youth development” and “the roles of business and government in the overall positive development and education of young people.” It presented reports called “Are They Really Ready to Work” and “Business Leadership: Supporting Youth Development and the Talent Pipeline” at a March 2007 briefing.
- It testified in June 2007 before the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, as part of the committee’s consideration of H.R. 2392 (The Balancing Act), to highlight work/life policies already in place.
…
Members of Corporate Voices are companies affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce through their local chambers. The Chamber, which ranks first in lobbying spending ($72.7 million in 2006), holds this position on labor and workforce:
Oppose expanding workplace laws and craft alternatives when necessary. Aggressively oppose union-backed proposals to increase the minimum wage and abolish secret ballot elections in favor of card check majorities for union recognition. Oppose any efforts to expand Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave or mandate paid sick leave. Block attempts to increase penalties for criminal violations of OSHA. Continue to expose unreasonable union organization tactics such as salting and corporate campaigns. Protect the use of binding arbitration in employment. Aggressively advocate for pro-employer provisions in priority international labor and employment policy proposals. Continue to push for a reasonable application of the revised Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines.
- The Chamber supports the No Child Left Behind Act. It hired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which includes a panel of staffers with professional ties to the governmental administrations and agencies that created, implemented and promoted NCLB. According to its Advocacy Network:
The U.S. Chamber believes NCLB is one of the critical tools needed to transform U.S. education so that all students graduate academically prepared for college, citizenship, and the 21st century workplace.
- The Chamber supported the presidential veto of SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program).
- The Chamber opposes a bill that would give employees seven paid sick days each year. More here.
…
What will they say about you? Tune in and find out.
Posted by Becky @ 7:16 pm | 14 Comments
And the winner is …
November 1, 2007 | Audience participation,Blogging,Blogland games,Books,Tracy Thompson
Heather McGuire! Congrats and enjoy. Thanks to everyone who played along. I’ve got another autographed copy to give away. (Thanks, Tracy!) Stay tuned.
Leave a comment, win a prize: MOTHERS for PPD Act
October 24, 2007 | Audience participation,Blogging,Books,Family,Health,Motherhood,MOTHERS Act,PPD,Tracy Thompson
Updated to add: We have a winner! Announcement coming soon.
I saw that Tracy and Devra blogged about it. Then I saw that Sarah blogged about it. Then I saw lots of other people blogged about it.***
:::Hello, people (Devra, Sarah, Tracy)! You have my telephone number. Why didn’t you call me?::: So I’m late to the party. But, hey, I’m here, and it’s not over yet. Now where is my margarita?
Anyway, here’s the scoop. Today is Blog Day for the MOTHERS Act (S. 1375). Postpartum Support International, BlogHer and Postpartum Progress are supporting the passage of The MOTHERS Act — The Moms Opportunity to Access Help, Education, Research and Support for Postpartum Depression Act. Sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the act would ensure that new mothers and their families are educated about PPD, screened for symptoms and provided with essential services. It will also increase research into the causes, diagnoses and treatments for PPD.
Tracy knows a thing or two about maternal depression. She wrote a book about it called The Ghost in the House: Real Mothers Talk About Maternal Depression, Raising Children, and How They Cope. (And I got to meet her IRL earlier this month.)
Leave a comment, and I will put your name in a hat for a drawing of an autographed copy of Tracy’s book. Better yet, contact your senator, then leave a comment, then win a book. (Sarah‘s giving away a book too.)
Posted by Becky @ 10:25 pm | 13 Comments
Books: Interesting quotes
September 23, 2007 | Books,Quotes
We interrupt this book (The Manchurian Candidate) to share a couple of my favorite quotes so far.
Raymond stood as though someone might have just opened a beach umbrella in his bowels.
Quite a picture, eh?
The conception of people acting against their own best interests should not startle us. We see it occasionally in sleepwalking and in politics, every day.
OK. Back to reading.
Ms. Big Rake goes to Washington
September 4, 2007 | Books,Getting sick,Traveling
I got sick during the first week of school two weeks ago. Everyone got sick. Then I started to feel better. Until Saturday. It was worse. I was sick all weekend. Then today. Much, much worse. Fever. Chills. And various nastiness. I swear, I’m ready for hospice. Is it this bad everywhere? Or is it just me?
Questions about visiting Washington, D.C.
If I miraculously rise from my death bed, however, I plan to visit our nation’s capital next month. Yes, when searching for “death bed,” one of the first results was Abraham Lincoln on his, which I have been reading about in Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation. Coincidence? I think not. She also talks a lot about Washington, D.C., which brings me to my questions.
I will attend a conference, and I’m not sure what to expect with weather, what I will need clothing-wise, what in the world I can pack in a suitcase anymore and such. Yes, I’m flying, which means I will probably miss the entire first day of the conference because of delays or cancellations.
Suitcase
What is a person allowed to pack in a checked suitcase anymore? Last time I flew, I only took a carry-on. I didn’t want to mess with having my nail clippers or shampoo swiped, so I took nothing of the sort. I just went to the nearest supermarket when I arrived at my destination. I doubt that will be possible in October. So … can I pack toothpaste, creams, lotions and various sharp objects in my checked luggage? (I had cuticle clippers swiped once, and it made me wonder if they thought I might stalk and tackle someone on the plane, hold them down and … clip their cuticles.)
Wardrobe
This will be the first time I will pretend to be professional in public in, well, a while. I will already be an outsider as a freelancer (not to mention, hiss, a blogger), and I will probably have that first-day-at-Kindergarten look with my new satchel for my laptop. Yes, satchel. I have bags. I want a satchel. So I don’t want to go overboard with a whole new wardrobe or anything. But I don’t want to seem completely out of it.
ShoesÂ
My feet have become Floridated. No, they don’t consume fluoride. They just live in sandals day in and day out because they can, and they don’t do well in normal shoes. I only have shoes and socks for visiting other places, and I always get blisters on my feet whenever that happens. But, tell me, sandals in D.C. in October won’t fly. Will they?
Dress code
The dress code is “business casual.” What does that mean these days? Way back when I worked the mushroom shift (you know, after dark and through to the early-morning hours), there was only a two-hour gap when the day-shift folks would sneer at our ratty jeans and tennis shoes. After that, nobody cared what we looked like. So … what is business casual? Does it include clothing that most people would dry clean? Or just slacks that aren’t denim?
Weather
Is it cold there in October? (Anything 75 degrees or below would cause me to break out the winter stuff here.) Do I need a sweater? Jacket? Ear muffs and mittens?
Posted by Becky @ 9:30 pm | 5 Comments
Books: Audience participation
September 2, 2007 | Books
It’s not like I need any more books in piles around the house, but I’m curious.
What’s your favorite book?
What would you say about it to make me want to read it?
Posted by Becky @ 10:58 pm | 7 Comments
Books: Up next
Books
This is just one of my to-read piles. I have them everywhere. I used to be organized and messy, but now I’m just messy. At least I read a lot. I’ll add books here from my to-read pile from time to time.
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg
Mystery Train by Greil Marcus
Outsourced by R.J. Hillhouse
Salt Dancers by Ursula Hegi
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate
1972 presidential campaign in the news
August 23, 2007 | Books,Weird things
Did I say weird things happen when I read? I just finished reading Hunter S. Thompson‘s account of covering the 1972 presidential campaign. (The book could have been written yesterday with a few name changes.) Today, I read an article that said the man who shot George Wallace, a presidential candidate in the 1972 race, will leave prison soon.
