tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71904243307181877102020-02-22T04:54:35.836-05:00the betty and boo chroniclesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1605125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-41690178064264549412013-07-05T21:38:00.001-04:002013-07-05T21:38:52.972-04:00That Blog Goes to Eleven<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y41w3ispkC8/UddzigRlayI/AAAAAAAAJ9g/QPZbfiL-gjo/s1600/Beach+chairs+under+stairs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y41w3ispkC8/UddzigRlayI/AAAAAAAAJ9g/QPZbfiL-gjo/s400/Beach+chairs+under+stairs.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Strathmere, NJ<br />June 2013<br />photo credit: Melissa Firman</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Oh, hey.<br /><br />You still hanging out here?<br /><br />That's what I thought.<br /><br />We're all over at my new blog, <a href="http://www.melissafirman.com/"><b>www.melissafirman.com</b></a>.<br /><br />I moved my blog about a month or so ago and ... well, I know what they say about how you shouldn't really care about your statistics and all, but I admit that I kind of DO, and ... well, my subscribers aren't what they used to be.<br /><br />As in, it looks like there may be all of 11 people over there.<br /><br />Eleven!<br /><br />Or maybe there were really only 11 people <i>here </i>and Feedburner was just playin' with me for nearly five years, or maybe traffic's down because of the summer, but whatever.<br /><br />If you haven't made your way over to the new place (<a href="http://www.melissafirman.com/"><b>www.MelissaFirman.com</b></a>), I'd love for you to do so. You can subscribe to the new blog at <a href="http://www.melissafirman.com/feed"><b>www.melissafirman.com/feed</b></a>. <br /><br />See you there?<br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-46887377980188599032013-06-22T21:42:00.000-04:002013-06-22T21:42:21.235-04:00The Betty and Boo Chronicles Has Moved! <div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Betty and Boo Chronicles has moved! </span></b></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">You can find me (and my blog) at my brand new, self-hosted website: <a href="http://melissafirman.com/"><b>melissafirman.com</b></a> </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the quick link to re-subscribe: <b><a href="http://melissafirman.com/feed">melissafirman.com/feed</a>. </b>I'd love for you to stop over and check the new place out! </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">See you there! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-64426536248192280262013-06-02T00:20:00.002-04:002013-06-02T00:21:32.954-04:00In Appreciation of Jean Stapleton: Those Were the Days (when tv dared to mention rape and cancer and lesbians) <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D7Y2ilFjh8k/UarHgqQGgwI/AAAAAAAAJ8Y/sU7l_xblNMc/s1600/Phipps+Conservatory+and+Botanical+Gardens+(43).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D7Y2ilFjh8k/UarHgqQGgwI/AAAAAAAAJ8Y/sU7l_xblNMc/s400/Phipps+Conservatory+and+Botanical+Gardens+(43).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, PA<br />taken by me, August 2011</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jean Stapleton was no dingbat.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Emmy-award winning actress Jean Stapleton died on Friday, at the age of 90. Although Ms. Stapleton had a rich and productive career in the theater and on Broadway, she is, of course, best remembered for her <span style="border: 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.714285714; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">endearing portrayal of Edith Bunker, the daffy and long-suffering wife of “lovable bigot” Archie. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Like my 40-something peers of my generation, I grew up watching “All in the Family” in real-time. I’m old enough to remember not quite getting the jokes as I laughed along with my parents and grandparents (the same reaction as my kids have today when they watch Edith, Archie, Gloria, and Meathead in re-runs on YouTube) but realizing that the male characters were a little too familiar to the ones (my grandfathers, namely) who were sitting next to me on the couch ....continue reading the rest of this post on my new website, <a href="http://www.melissafirman.com./"><b>www.melissafirman.com.</b></a> </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Quick link to re-subscribe: <a href="http://www.melissafirman.com/feed"><b>www.melissafirman.com/feed</b></a> so you don't miss a post.) </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-7477763300671385212013-05-30T21:05:00.000-04:002013-05-30T21:05:03.880-04:00Armchair BEA: Giveaway Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jqSkEtPxR-w/Uaf08JvFMzI/AAAAAAAAJ8I/wHtNseNGHF4/s1600/Armchair+BEA+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jqSkEtPxR-w/Uaf08JvFMzI/AAAAAAAAJ8I/wHtNseNGHF4/s1600/Armchair+BEA+2013.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Logo design by Sarah of Puss Reboots </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At the actual BEA (currently underway this week in New York), there's no shortage of swag. In that same spirit of things, and so those of us at home this year aren’t left out of the abundance of book goodness, many a blogger and publisher alike are hosting special Armchair BEA Giveaways today … including me.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I couldn’t keep my giveaway to just one item. Not today. My husband (who had thyroid cancer last fall) got some fantastic news health-wise this morning, so I am in a very appreciative and generous mood. This means that I am giving away TWO fantastic prizes. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Head over to my new site at <a href="http://melissafirman.com/"><b>melissafirman.com</b></a> for your chance/s to win. </div><br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-63078366640380846552013-05-29T23:24:00.000-04:002013-05-29T23:24:25.064-04:00Armchair BEA 2013: Paths to Becoming a Better Blogger<br /><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_2118" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 4px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 119px;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Armchair-BEA-20131.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Armchair BEA 2013" class="size-full wp-image-2118 " height="144" src="http://melissafirman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Armchair-BEA-20131.jpg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 1px 4px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="109" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; color: #757575; font-size: 0.857142857rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Armchair BEA logo design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots</div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">love</em> today’s<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://melissafirman.com/www.armchairbea.com" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Armchair BEA</a></strong> blogging topic because it coincides so well with much of what I’ve been contemplating and working toward recently.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As I mentioned in <a href="http://melissafirman.com/armchair-bea-2013-introductions/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yesterday’s introduction to these series of posts</strong>,</a> I’ve been blogging for nearly five years. During that time, my approach has undergone some dramatic changes while certain things have remained the same. The obvious change is .... <b><a href="http://melissafirman.com/armchair-bea-2013-paths-to-becoming-a-better-blogger/">read the rest of this post at my new blog home, melissafirman.com</a>.</b></div><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-35970635344934990392013-05-29T12:51:00.000-04:002013-05-29T12:51:01.786-04:00Armchair BEA 2013: Introductions<br /><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_2118" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 4px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 119px;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Armchair-BEA-20131.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Armchair BEA 2013" class="size-full wp-image-2118 " height="144" src="http://melissafirman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Armchair-BEA-20131.jpg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 1px 4px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="109" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; color: #757575; font-size: 0.857142857rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Armchair BEA logo design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots</div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s a big week in the book world.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And if it’s a big week in the book world, that means it’s also a big week in the book blogging world.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The occasion is the huge industry conference and trade show known as <a href="http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Book Expo America (BEA</strong>)</a> happening in New York, where authors and agents and publishers and editors and enthusiasts are celebrating the written word in all its forms.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That also means it’s time for Armchair BEA, which is (as per the mission statement on the website),<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9929010695777833" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> ”the experience for book bloggers to participate in Book Expo America (BEA) from the comfort of their homes. This experience is created lovingly by book bloggers specifically for our peers who for whatever reason are not able to participate in the main conference in New York each year. We bring publishers, authors, and bloggers together in celebrating our love for all things literary by hosting celebrations such as sneak peeks, daily discussion topics, and sponsored giveaways.” </b></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve been to part of BEA in the past (there is a book blogging conference as part of the festivities), but funds and timing didn’t permit such for me this year. So, bring on Armchair BEA!</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We have daily themes/writing prompts to blog about, so let’s get this party underway with today’s topic: some introductory questions.</div><ol style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2.571428571rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?</strong></li></ol><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m Melissa and I launched my blog, The Betty and Boo Chronicles, nearly 5 years ago. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/blog/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can read the story behind the name and the decision to start blogging here</a></strong>. Recently, I made the leap to self-hosting because it was a logical way to combine my own writing (I’m currently at work on a novel) and <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/professional-writing-and-editorial-services/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">my new freelancing and book editing business</a>.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. </strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Before moving to my current city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I had such a misconception about this place. I envisioned a gray, gritty, dirty town with nothing but abandoned steel mills. Now, granted, our winter weather does tend to be a little bit (OK, a <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lot</em>) on the gray and gritty side. But, you know what? Pittsburgh is one of the most spectacular and beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. Vibrant, creative, and inspirational people are everywhere in Pittsburgh. We’re extremely friendly, warm, and collaborative. (We kind of thrive on that here.) Pittsburgh is known as a sports town – and deservedly so – but it’s really much more of an artistic, cultural, and literary community than I ever could have imagined.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013? </strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="New and Selected Poems, Vol 1 Mary Oliver" class="wp-image-2124 alignleft" height="260" src="http://melissafirman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/New-and-Selected-Poems-Vol-1-Mary-Oliver.jpg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 1px 4px; float: left; font-size: 1rem; height: auto; line-height: 1.714285714; margin: 0.857142857rem 1.714285714rem 0.857142857rem 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="182" /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I usually have a volume of poetry on my night table for times when I am in between books (i.e., just finished a book but am too tired to start something new). Right now, that happens to be New and Selected Poems, Volume 1 by Mary Oliver.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I also have Chris Bohjalian’s latest (<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lights in the Ruins</em>) set for a July publication date that I will soon start for my freelance book reviewing job with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but before doing so I am hoping to read both <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Double Bind </em>and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Sandcastle Girls. </em></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Favorite book of 2013 (so far) is <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/book-review-the-orchardist-by-amanda-coplin/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Orchardist </em>by Amanda Coplin.</a> </strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I need a job.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Soon.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(My professional background is <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/about-me/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a></strong> with <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/professional-writing-and-editorial-services/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">additional background</a> </strong>and<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/portfolio/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> my writing portfolio</a></strong>here.)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh, gosh. This is like choosing a favorite child. I have nearly 2,000 posts on a variety of topics, so this is impossible. The ones about <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/category/the-r-word/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The R Word</a>, <a href="http://melissafirman.com/category/kristin-mitchell-foundation/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">about Kristin Mitchell</a>, <a href="http://melissafirman.com/category/autism/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">about autism</a>,</strong><a href="http://melissafirman.com/category/unemployment/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">about unemployment</strong>,</a> and <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://melissafirman.com/category/baby-g/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">about Baby G</a></strong> (because that saga is still going on, nearly 2 years later) would probably head up my favorites list, all for different reasons.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Make sure to visit the<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://www.armchairbea.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #21759b; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Armchair BEA page </a></strong>for more introductory and daily topic posts!</div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Hey! Did you know this blog is on the move? Go to <a href="http://melissafirman.com/">melissafirman.com</a> and subscribe so you don't miss any posts!</i></b> </span><br /><br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa FirmanUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-23901705063917615842013-05-24T06:00:00.000-04:002013-05-24T06:00:00.717-04:00Book Review: He's Gone, by Deb Caletti<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr7am_NUteo/UY_jRYWSu8I/AAAAAAAAJ6Q/a-7PCk-CtrM/s1600/He%2527s+Gone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr7am_NUteo/UY_jRYWSu8I/AAAAAAAAJ6Q/a-7PCk-CtrM/s320/He%2527s+Gone.JPG" width="207" /></a></div><i>He's Gone</i><br /><i>by Deb Caletti</i><br /><i>Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks</i><br /><i>2013</i><br /><i>323 pages </i><br /><i><br /></i>It seems somehow fitting that, when the book blogging world is beginning to buzz with all things Book Expo America (BEA) related, that I'm reviewing a book by an author who would never have made it onto my radar if it wasn't for BEA.<br /><br />An explanation is probably needed.<br /><br />You see, back in May 2010, I attended the Book Blogger Convention (as it was called back then, and which is part of BEA) and I happened to sit with this table of bloggers at breakfast.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8S9FfW1_tAo/UZuNfg1Nt3I/AAAAAAAAJ7k/ynjlNsU8pKM/s1600/Book+Blogger+Convention+-+breakfast+(62).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8S9FfW1_tAo/UZuNfg1Nt3I/AAAAAAAAJ7k/ynjlNsU8pKM/s400/Book+Blogger+Convention+-+breakfast+(62).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We'd gotten swag bags, of course, so naturally our talk turned to the books provided to us in the bags.<br /><br />Amanda (not pictured) was beyond ecstatic to see that a Deb Caletti book was included. Each of us had different titles. Amanda raved about Ms. Caletti's writing. We all swapped books around the table. I'd never heard of Ms. Caletti before that moment, but I figured, why not. When another book blogger likes someone that much, I usually pay attention.<br /><br />And then <i>The Queen of Everything </i>sat on my bookshelves for another 2.5 years (nearly a year of that in storage) before I picked it up again.<br /><br />And I <i>loved </i>it.<br /><br />(<i>The Queen of Everything </i>is a young adult novel, just so those who are purists and don't read YA know of this in advance. But, it's really good.)<br /><br />So when I saw that TLC Book Tours was offering up Ms. Caletti's first fiction for adults, I knew I wanted in.<br /><br />And for the most part, I loved this one too. <i>He's Gone </i>represents a nice segue from the young adult market into adult fiction (although I personally don't draw any such literary distinction, as I'm one of those adults who reads YA).<br /><br />There's still the temptation to categorize Ms. Caletti's fiction as light, but <i>He's Gone </i>is not that. For starters, this novel focuses on the very real, very heavy, and very dark issue of physical and emotional abuse, as told and experienced through the eyes of Dani Keller. Married with the typical issues that befall blended families, Dani and Ian seem to have a typical life of professional success. They live somewhat comfortably on a houseboat in Seattle, drawing little attention to themselves, until one morning when Ian turns up missing following a party with Dani and his colleagues.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Dani's not too much help in the investigation, as she's had a bit too much to drink and her memory of the night's events is fuzzy, at best. For some in the novel, she's an easy character to cast judgment on; her role as "the other woman," "the homewrecker") has lent itself to many opportunities for blame and scorn from Ian's ex-wife and his kids. She also sees herself to blame, too - which is common for people who have been victims of domestic violence.<br /><br />While she doesn't remember the actual circumstances that led up to Ian's disappearance, what Dani <i>does </i>remember is the beatings and the verbal abuse from her ex-husband Mark which had her seeing Ian as someone who could rescue her. Now, as she tries to do whatever she can to rescue Ian, Dani reflects on the reasons she initially turned toward him as she discovers who really is the missing person in their relationship.<br /><br />Ms. Caletti, a National Book Award finalist, kept me turning the pages, constantly wondering <i>did he ... </i>and <i>maybe she did ... </i>or <i>maybe they did .... He's Gone</i> is an engrossing, psychological read that has been compared by some to Gillian Flynn's bestselling <i>Gone Girl </i>for the mindbending directions it takes the reader.<br /><i><br /></i>That being said, there were a few things about <i>He's Gone </i>that left me puzzled and wondering. It's hard to say too much without spoiling the plot - and I'm not a detective or a mystery reader so what the hell do I know? - but there were some aspects of the police investigation into Ian's disappearance that seemed strange. Like ... possibilities that could have been looked into a bit more thoroughly.<br /><br />That's all I'm sayin'.<br /><br />But I was happy with the way the novel was resolved, and I'll certainly be reading more of Ms. Caletti's work ... so that's really all that matters, right?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxc/_JfFQ6FCa28/s1600/TLC+Tour+Host.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxc/_JfFQ6FCa28/s200/TLC+Tour+Host.png" width="200" /></a></div>Thank you very much to <a href="http://www.tlcbooktours.com/"><b>TLC Book Tours</b></a> for including me on this tour. I was provided with a copy of <i>He's Gone </i>in exchange for my honest review. I did not receive any additional compensation for this post.<br /><br /><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2013/02/deb-caletti-author-of-hes-gone-on-tour-mayjune-2013/"><b>Read more about <i>He's Gone </i>and what other bloggers thought here</b></a>.<br /><br />For more information about Deb Caletti and her other books, visit her website at <a href="http://www.debcaletti.com/"><b>www.debcaletti.com</b></a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! copyright 2012, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-69230049784647345042013-05-22T21:17:00.002-04:002013-05-22T21:17:24.216-04:00Something Old, Something New<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9pOWe3XF2A/UZ1roq0ab6I/AAAAAAAAJ70/QVT62nZEHjM/s1600/White+Flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9pOWe3XF2A/UZ1roq0ab6I/AAAAAAAAJ70/QVT62nZEHjM/s1600/White+Flower.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We have a wedding to celebrate this weekend, one that comes close on the heels of the 20th anniversary of our own. My mother will mark a milestone birthday that she would probably rather me not mention. In a few weeks, I will have been jobless for a year - the longest stretch since I was 15. Other recent life-shifting events have contributed to my reflective mood. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For awhile now, I've been pondering a name change for the blog. Several of you know this and have been helping me brainstorm for awhile. Back in August 2008, I called this corner of the Internet The Betty and Boo Chronicles to keep far-flung family members updated on my kids (who are the “Betty” and the “Boo” in the title). </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But shortly, my original vision for what this blog would become evolved into something different. (Life tends to do that sometimes.) </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I discovered book blogging, and I started to review books and participate more and more within this fantastic community. The blog also became a place where I wrote about our family’s journey raising a child with autism, my thoughts on politics (and sometimes my son’s), the novel I’m in the process of writing, our move to Pittsburgh, coping with long-term unemployment, what we had for dinner, issues in the news, and more.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And then a funny thing happened. As the kids grew, the blog grew up, too. Instead of being about chronicling Betty and Boo, it became more about chronicling … <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">me</em>. My journey as a professional, an entrepreneur, a writer, a special needs advocate, a feminist, a wife, a mom.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Which leads us here. Longtime readers know that I’ve been pondering a name change for awhile, one that still encompasses all of the above (and more – such as upcoming writing and my entrepreneurial endeavors) while moving away from the cuteness of the “Betty and Boo” aspect. (Although at 11, they <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are</em> still pretty cute … but don’t tell them their mom said that!)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The only blog name for now?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is mine. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The real one.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, I'm <i><b>not </b></i>giving up blogging. Quite the opposite. I'll be shifting most of my attention - and new content - over to <a href="http://www.melissafirman.com/"><b>www.melissafirman.com</b></a> and I hope you'll join me there. It's still a work in progress (isn't everything?) and I'll keep this blog up for awhile longer, but I'm proud of the work I've done over the last few days on the site and I'm excited about what's to come. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.714285714rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I hope you are too. </div><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-13209293159896654582013-05-20T23:14:00.000-04:002013-05-20T23:17:02.725-04:00All Politics is Local. Go Vote. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kaPhbX_iOl8/UZrlE03-dYI/AAAAAAAAJ64/NBYrfrkVnH8/s1600/Pittsburgh+-+3-1-2012+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kaPhbX_iOl8/UZrlE03-dYI/AAAAAAAAJ64/NBYrfrkVnH8/s400/Pittsburgh+-+3-1-2012+(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />As it tends to do, our dinner table discussion turned political tonight. Thanks to YouTube and old-fashioned parents who still enjoy reading the print edition of their newspapers, Boo is smarter about politics than your average 5th grader.<br /><br />Tomorrow is an important election for Pittsburgh. After what has been a rather interesting (and kinda crowded at times) primary campaign for Mayor, we go to the polls.<br /><br />Well, not <i>we </i>exactly. <i>We're</i> in the suburbs, so <i>we </i>don't have a direct say in this contest. Boo, however, has been following this race closely and has a definite favorite candidate. (He's endorsing <a href="http://www.billpeduto.com/"><b>Bill Peduto</b></a>, in case you're interested.) When I asked him if he was planning to wear his campaign button to school tomorrow, he looked at me perplexed.<br /><br />"But we can't vote tomorrow," he said, meaning voting in the geographical (not chronological) sense.<br /><br />"No," I acknowledged. "That's true, we can't. Not in the Mayor for Pittsburgh race. But we <i>can </i>care about and find out more about the issues they stand for because they affect all of us. What happens in Pittsburgh affects the entire community because we like to go into Pittsburgh to do things, right?"<br /><br />"Like the Pirates? And the Carnegie Science Center? And food?"<br /><br />"Exactly. And we care about a lot of people who live in Pittsburgh. And we can encourage other people to vote right here in our little town for our local elections. So, maybe wearing your button might remind them."<br /><br />He shrugged. (These days,the half-hearted shrug is something I'm getting used to.) Still, I think he got it.<br /><br />So. No matter how small or how local, if you have an election tomorrow, your voice matters. Make it be heard. Make it be counted.<br /><br />#VotePgh<br /><br />photo taken by me, Pittsburgh, March 1, 2012<br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-32950140708059030692013-05-16T14:47:00.000-04:002013-05-16T14:47:46.587-04:00taking care of business: my newest nonprofit strategist post<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FYM8_HrGwE/UT9KZKeXx_I/AAAAAAAAJo4/5XUsTrq1JQE/s1600/The+Nonprofit+Strategist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FYM8_HrGwE/UT9KZKeXx_I/AAAAAAAAJo4/5XUsTrq1JQE/s1600/The+Nonprofit+Strategist.png" height="265" width="400" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://www.benchmarkemail.com/blogs/detail/making-non-profits-click"><b>My newest "Nonprofit Strategist" column</b></a> is up at Benchmark Email's website, and I hope you'll take a look. This month I'm talking about Ori and Rom Brafman's book <i>Click: The Magic of Instant Connections</i> (Broadway Books, 2010). They didn't write this as a business tome, per se, but the concepts that they present about how we interact and connect with others are interesting ones for the professional <i>and </i>the personal worlds.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djnenS00l9A/Tf4rNBcrPYI/AAAAAAAAEcA/M7a4z8dkrpE/s1600/Click+-+The+Magic+of+Instant+Connections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djnenS00l9A/Tf4rNBcrPYI/AAAAAAAAEcA/M7a4z8dkrpE/s1600/Click+-+The+Magic+of+Instant+Connections.jpg" height="320" i="" true="" width="220" /></a><br />From my post:<br /><br /><br /><i>Now, I'm one of those people who believe that we meet the people we meet in life for a reason. There are just too many people in this world for us to be meeting the ones we meet for no good reason ... hence the people we meet need to matter. Call it karma, fate, providence, whatever you want.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>But this clicking business ... I always thought it was sort of serendipitous, a bit of magic. As it turns out, magic <b>is </b>actually part of it but there is more psychology involved than one might think. What's even more fascinating is that it is actually possible to create these moments because in almost every instance when we click with someone, the same five factors (or, "accelerators") are generally at play.</i><br /><i><br /></i>If you have anything to do with donors or volunteers or organizing special events or dealing with people, <a href="http://www.benchmarkemail.com/blogs/detail/making-non-profits-click"><b>read the entire post ("Making Nonprofits Click") here</b></a>.<br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-42601547869800635212013-05-15T17:45:00.000-04:002013-05-15T19:22:30.330-04:00It's a Small World, After All <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kq8XYi7ocS8/UZP3Nse5KjI/AAAAAAAAJ6g/BFYh-N0i1rg/s1600/Shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kq8XYi7ocS8/UZP3Nse5KjI/AAAAAAAAJ6g/BFYh-N0i1rg/s400/Shoes.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>I'm trying to imagine the conversation, trying to put myself in another person's <strike>glass slippers</strike> shoes, so to speak.<br /><br />I'm thinking the scenario goes something like this:<br /><br />Two moms, both living with their modern-day Prince Charmings in Manhattan.<br /><br />Both with children attending the same private school.<br /><br />Mom A mentions that they're going to Disney World for spring break and Mom B's response is the all-too-familiar eye-roll, accompanied by the even more familiar <i>been-there done-that</i> semi-annoyed sigh.<br /><br />That's because Mom A and Mom B know what we <i>all </i>know - that even though Disney is supposedly The Most Magical Place on Earth, it can also be akin to The Seventh Ring of Hell (at least in my view) with wait times for rides being as long as 90 minutes, according to a poll of my friends via Facebook.<br /><br /><i>A disclaimer: I don't wait 90 minutes for anything. Not a table in an overpriced chain restaurant, and certainly not for a 3 minute amusement park ride, Disney or no Disney. Hence, I needed to do the Facebook poll of friends who have gone to the Magic Kingdom as a family because The Betty and Boo Family has not made a sojourn to Orlando, Land of Required Childhood Vacation Spots. Nor do we plan to in the foreseeable future. </i><br /><br />(I <i>know</i>. My kids are dreadfully deprived.)<br /><br />But! There's good news for those who ARE sprinkled with pixie dust. Apparently it's now possible to arrange for a fairy godmother to wave her magic wand and <i>bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! </i>You now have a pumpkin in the form of a motorized scooter or wheelchair and your long-line ride problem is solved!<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP"><b>an article in yesterday's New York Post</b></a>, you can hire a disabled "black-market tour guide" (the NY Post's words, not mine) to pose as a member of your family's entourage and therefore easily bypass those pesky 90 minute wait times for the rides by taking advantage of Disney's services for guests with disabilities. (Disney allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorized scooter to bring up to six guests with him or her to a more convenient ride entrance.)<br /><br />This supposedly could have been arranged via a VIP Tour with Dream Tours Florida, a firm reportedly owned by Ryan Clement and his girlfriend Jacie Christiano, and will run you $130 per hour, or $1,030 for an eight hour day. (They are, according to their website, suddenly not offering such tours at this time "[d]ue to inaccurate press and slander.") This practice was discovered by social anthropologist Dr. Wednesday Martin while doing research for her new book, <i>Primates of Park Avenue. </i>She is also the author of (in keeping with the Disney theme) <i>Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do. </i><br /><br />Okay. Deep breaths. As you might imagine, I have a few issues with all of this.<br /><br />First, let's play devil's advocate for a minute. Like all good movies, sometimes what we <i>think </i>we're seeing isn't always the whole truth. One reads that all these rich bitches are hiring these tour guides, which then somehow translates into our minds as there must be this underground secret stash somewhere of developmentally disabled people that Dream Tours is exploiting by renting out by the hour.<br /><br />Which is entirely believable because we have seen such examples of such depravity time and time again, haven't we? It's our biggest fear as parents, as people who love someone with a disability, and it's not impossible for us to go there, to make that leap, because we've seen the worst in people. (Hell-lo, Cleveland!)<br /><br />We know and we fear the happily-never after side of how our kids and the most vulnerable are treated by the Cruella de Villes lurking among us.<br /><br />But could it <i>also </i>be possible that Mr. Clement and Ms. Christiano, for whatever reasons - call it desperation, call it greed, call it whatever - are in this just for themselves? That they see this as a way for Ms. Christiano (who reportedly has an auto-immune disease and uses a scooter) as a way to make a few extra bucks? Who the hell knows how their business was really doing in this shit-tastic economy? Maybe it's really just Ms. Christiano who is really the only "black-market tour guide" who is earning $1,030 a day by using her disability to help families get onto the rides faster.<br /><br />I'd like to believe that. I really would. I'd like to believe that their bungled media response to reporters' questions is simply a result of scared naivete, of poor crisis communications management. (And if that's the case, I hope they get in touch if they need a PR strategist. I happen to be available.)<br /><br />That still doesn't make it right.<br /><br />Because there are still a lot more things incredibly wrong and rightfully outrageous about this.<br /><br />In my view, this story shows that we truly do live in a small, small world when it comes to employment and people with disabilities.<br /><br />It's a small, small world where only 20.7% of the labor force is made up of people with disabilities. (Source: <a href="http://www.dol.gov/odep/"><b>United States Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy</b></a>)<br /><br />It's a small, small world when the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is at 12.9%, compared to 6.9% for people without. (Source: <a href="http://www.dol.gov/odep/"><b>United States Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy</b></a>)<br /><br />And it will <i>continue </i>to be a small, small world with the current dismal economy and the state of human services for the number of people with disabilities who need gainful, meaningful employment as well as those who <i>will </i>need jobs in the future.<br /><br />We're living in a fairy tale, going 'round and 'round on the same ride.<br /><br />The only way this story has a chance of a happy ending is if changes are made. Because people with special needs deserve the same employment opportunities as all of us. Because if indeed there was a practice of employing and hiring people with disabilities for the purpose of skirting the system, then the outrage most certainly belongs with those who perpetrated such morally despicable acts.<br /><br />And it certainly belongs on a mindset that sees people with disabilities mere playthings for the rich, as objects and goods to be bought and sold on the "black market."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, <b><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/">The Betty and Boo Chronicles</a>.</b> If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-91627763076287837602013-05-12T15:30:00.000-04:002013-05-19T12:26:19.936-04:00The Sunday Salon: May 12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLRwVKhDLv4/TfzZZt-s2qI/AAAAAAAAEbE/eHu087KMgMM/s1600/The+Sunday+Salon.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLRwVKhDLv4/TfzZZt-s2qI/AAAAAAAAEbE/eHu087KMgMM/s320/The+Sunday+Salon.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><br />I've been surrounded by books for most of the past week, yet little reading has been done.<br /><br />(As you may have noticed, even less blogging has been done, too.)<br /><br />In January, I started attending a new church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation that I've been meaning to "check out" since we moved here. It only took me a mere 16 months to get around to going one Sunday.<br /><br />It was time. If I'm being honest, I've been feeling somewhat adrift and unsettled here. I started feeling that way during The Husband's cancer treatments, when our entire support system was six hours away, and it isn't helping that the one-year anniversary of my unemployment looms with continued dead ends everywhere I turn.<br /><br />When you're in such a state, you tend to turn to anything that is familiar and (hopefully) safe and legal for comfort. We were UUs back in Philly and Delaware, so we know this faith. It's home for me. I really like this congregation and I think it's a good fit with what I am looking for. So, when they asked for volunteers to help out with the rummage sale fundraiser this week, I signed up for several mornings as a way to get out of the house and to try and meet some new people.<br /><br />We had a large book section and of course, that's where I spent most of my time - organizing and sorting donations and (whoot!) getting first dibs on the offerings.<br /><br />Meet the newest additions to my bookshelves:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rk9pXx5p_s/UY-D0YcPqaI/AAAAAAAAJ5o/XS-cT0Va-p8/s1600/SAM_5527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rk9pXx5p_s/UY-D0YcPqaI/AAAAAAAAJ5o/XS-cT0Va-p8/s400/SAM_5527.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i>Fresh Choices: More Than 100 Easy Recipes for Pure Food When You Can't Buy 100% Organic, by David Joachim and Rochelle Davis</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>New American Poets of the '90s, edited by Jack Myers ad Roger Weingarten</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Herland: A Lost Feminist Utopian Novel, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>The Tennis Partner, by Abraham Verghese</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann </i>(one of my favorite books EVER and one that I own on Kindle, but I couldn't resist a copy in print) <i> </i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Sarah's Key, by Tatiana De Rosnay</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Crash Diet, Stories by Jill McCorkle</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes</i><br /><i><br /></i>I donated six books to the sale, plus a bunch of children's books, so coming home with nine books isn't too bad, huh? I can live with that ratio. We made $6,000 on the rummage sale, according to what they announced at church this morning!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr7am_NUteo/UY_jRYWSu8I/AAAAAAAAJ6Q/a-7PCk-CtrM/s1600/He's+Gone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr7am_NUteo/UY_jRYWSu8I/AAAAAAAAJ6Q/a-7PCk-CtrM/s320/He's+Gone.JPG" width="207" /></a></div>As for the rest of today, I'm planning to spend what's left of my Mother's Day catching up on the reading I've neglected over the past week. On Friday I started Deb Caletti's novel <i>He's Gone </i>(which is also Ms. Caletti's first novel of adult women's fiction). I loved <i>The Queen of Everything</i>, which was my first introduction to Deb Caletti, and this novel is also completely engrossing.<br /><br /><i>He's Gone </i>begins with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of Dani Keller's husband, Ian. The couple, both on their second marriage, live on a houseboat in the Seattle area (a familiar setting if you've read Caletti's other books). As Dani desperately searches for her husband, the reader learns about the couple's <i>not-always-smooth-sailing</i> pasts through Caletti's skillful use of flashbacks. <br /><br />I'm on page 136 of 323 of the ARC, and I've found myself saying some variation of <i>"Why don't you ____??!!" </i>or <i>"You really need to ____!" </i>and <i>"When the hell are you ______, you idiot!"</i> a few too many times. I'm hoping these questions and issues will be answered or resolved soon. They're not at the point where I'd be tempted to give up (yet), but something needs to start happening. That being said, this is a really good "escapism" novel.<br /><br />Literally.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-31637534386166719042013-05-12T08:58:00.000-04:002013-05-12T08:58:45.398-04:00light to guide you (for mother's day)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ie0xwdNz5S0/UY-QlYomp7I/AAAAAAAAJ6A/PIX8MxZwv-w/s1600/UUCD+-+candle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ie0xwdNz5S0/UY-QlYomp7I/AAAAAAAAJ6A/PIX8MxZwv-w/s400/UUCD+-+candle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On this Mother's Day, my boy will be the chalice lighter at church this morning. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's especially significant, I think, because tomorrow marks 28 years since learning that becoming a mom would take a very different path than most travel. Little did we know. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that's what today, all of our days, are really all about, aren't they? We forge our own paths and our own way as mothers and as women. As people. We do the very best we can in the face of obstacles, big and small. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And whether you're a mother in the traditional Hallmark sense, or as a different definition that has special meaning for your life, know that on this day and every day you are a light to those on your path.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Mother's Day. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>photo taken by me, April 2009. </i></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! copyright 2012, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-39365159129996069392013-05-07T20:43:00.001-04:002013-05-07T20:44:33.347-04:00Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FDLcngL3Yn0/UMJakCRwXwI/AAAAAAAAIi4/ReclF_2AZ8o/s1600/Tuesdays+with+Morrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FDLcngL3Yn0/UMJakCRwXwI/AAAAAAAAIi4/ReclF_2AZ8o/s320/Tuesdays+with+Morrie.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><i>Tuesdays with Morrie</i><br /><i>by Mitch Albom </i><br /><i>Doubleday</i><br /><i>1997</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Random House Audio</i><br /><i>2007</i><br /><i>3 hours, 41 minutes</i><br /><i><br /></i>Yeah, I know.<br /><br />Everyone in the world knows what <i>Tuesdays with Morrie</i> is about, so this hardly needs an introduction - much less a review.<br /><br />A guy's favorite teacher is dying; guy decides to spend every Tuesday with favorite teacher; guy learns about himself and life in the process. Guy writes book about the experience and the rest becomes bestselling history.<br /><br />Schmaltzy? Sure. But you know what?<br /><br />Sometimes we need a little schmaltz.<br /><br />Sometimes we need to be reminded of life's truths and lessons.<br /><br />Such was the case when I picked this audio book up at the library. I've had this on my bookshelves forever - I think I bought it at a book sale or maybe I inherited it from my grandparents' belongings after one of them died. At the time I listened to this, The Husband was going through his cancer treatments and I wanted a short audio that would both preoccupy and inspire me in the car.<br /><br />It certainly did that - and I have to say, this was a lot better than I expected. Mitch Albom narrates this audio and the version I listened to was a 10th anniversary edition with a prologue of Mitch's reflections on the memoir's overwhelming success and how his life changed as a result. He also addresses criticisms that he "cashed in" on Morrie's illness and points out that proceeds from the book greatly helped Morrie and his family with the medical bills brought on by his fight with ALS.<br /><br />I thought Mitch's narration of this was wonderful. Truthfully, I don't think anyone else could have narrated it because it is such a meaningful and personal story to him. It felt like he was having a conversation. The production quality was also very good, with no distracting music.<br /><br />Maybe this resonated with me moreso because of the circumstances going on while I was listening to Morrie's words of wisdom. During a difficult time, <i>Tuesdays with Morrie</i> was a nice reminder to appreciate the lessons that life, no matter what trials it gives us, has to offer.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thebetandbooc-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=tf_til&asins=076790592X" style="height: 240px; width: 150px;"></iframe> I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! </div><br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-13009409906389751412013-05-02T15:33:00.000-04:002013-05-02T16:54:05.274-04:00Not Just Any Cover Reveal (this one has a blurb by me!) <i><br /></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hK7sIQTwb0I/UYKmb_LFmQI/AAAAAAAAJ0Y/sFJsfo_DogU/s1600/The+Prophecy+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hK7sIQTwb0I/UYKmb_LFmQI/AAAAAAAAJ0Y/sFJsfo_DogU/s1600/The+Prophecy+book+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><br /></i>When I was a kid, I always wondered about those people who were quoted on the backs of book covers.<br /><br />Never mind the authors themselves. In my view, they were, like, gods. Or goddesses.<br /><br />But as awesome as I always thought it would be to be an actual author (I'm still working on that), I thought it would be just as cool to be one of those important people who somehow got their thoughts blurbed endorsing a book. I always wondered how that happened.<br /><br />Now I know.<br /><br />Here's the funny thing, though.<br /><br />Regular readers of the blog know that, while I often read young adult novels, I very, very rarely read <i>paranormal romance</i> young adult novels. That just isn't my thing (and this isn't an open invitation for every paranormal romance YA author to send me your book to review, because most likely I will say no.)<br /><br />But Melissa Luznicky Garrett is a friend and has been one for a number of years. Some time ago, I did some writing for Melissa when she edited an online parenting magazine. We kept in touch after she closed the publication and these days we mostly hang out on Facebook talking about writing, our kids, and griping about the crappy winter weather in our respective corners of the world.<br /><br />So, yeah. We're friends.<br /><br />I've followed her writing career through her first novel <i>Precipice </i>(which I reviewed <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-precipice-by-melissa.html"><b>here</b></a>)<i> </i>and her three books (<i>Turning Point, The Spirit Keeper, </i>and <i>Blood Type</i>) thereafter.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qMEDRI0_D5k/UTUxo5uAkII/AAAAAAAAJk0/Bc4ozIt92bk/s1600/The+Spirit+Keeper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qMEDRI0_D5k/UTUxo5uAkII/AAAAAAAAJk0/Bc4ozIt92bk/s320/The+Spirit+Keeper.JPG" width="211" /></a>I thought Melissa's talent really took off with <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Keeper-Melissa-Luznicky-Garrett/dp/1463581424/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367519640&sr=1-3&keywords=melissa+luznicky+garrett">The Spirit Keeper</a></i>,</b> which is the story about Sarah Redbird, a Native American teenager whose mother and grandmother died in a house fire when she was 11. The truth behind the fire, however, involves a family secret, an ancient legend, and a curse - not to mention Adrian, the cute new guy at school.<br /><br />It's a fast-paced, entertaining read. Near the end of <i>The Spirit Keeper</i>, Sarah reflects that <i>"[t]he uncertainty of my future was written in the margins of my life.</i>" (pg. 276). I love that line, and it sets up perfectly the conflict that readers are in store for in <i>The Spirit Keeper</i>'s sequel, <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878345-the-prophecy"><b>The Prophecy</b></a></i>, which is due out at the end of this month.<br /><br />As you know, the traditional job hunt hasn't gone so well for me, so I've been trying to <a href="http://www.bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/p/contact-me-hire-me.html"><b>make my own professional path as a writer and editor</b>.</a> I approached Melissa about doing some editorial work on <i>The Prophecy</i> and she happily agreed.<br /><br />Today, the cover of <i>The Prophecy </i>has been revealed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-709Mb8XiHjE/UYK8MXdJBcI/AAAAAAAAJ0o/88zXWJ2aAa4/s1600/The+Prophecy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-709Mb8XiHjE/UYK8MXdJBcI/AAAAAAAAJ0o/88zXWJ2aAa4/s640/The+Prophecy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I loved being part of <i>The Prophecy </i>and I loved the editing experience. I'm proud to have been a part of making this book happen. And I am so incredibly proud of my friend Melissa for all her hard work and her dedication to her craft that has gotten her this far. What people don't know about her is that she is often working on three or four books at once, while caring for three children, and managing a busy household, and promoting her <i>other </i>books. She is definitely a writer worth watching.<br /><br />Please. Take my blurb for it.<br /><br /><i>"Just as 17 year old Sarah Redbird finds her inner strength to break an ancient curse, THE PROPHECY proves that author Melissa Luznicky Garrett continues as one of the strongest writers of paranormal romantic young adult fiction. With her innovative plots, dramatic scenes, and memorable characters, Garrett makes her readers of all ages fall even more in love with Adrian and Sarah. The result is a highly entertaining read with echoes of the eternal powers of ancestry, spirit, nature, and love on every page." ~ Melissa M. Firman, author and book blogger, The Betty and Boo Chronicles, http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com </i><br /><i><br /></i>For ordering information for <i>The Prophecy </i>(Book 2, The Spirit Keeper series), follow this Goodreads link: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878345-the-prophecy"><b>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878345-the-prophecy</b></a><br /><br />For <i>The Spirit Keeper, </i><b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12369175-the-spirit-keeper">http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12369175-the-spirit-keeper</a></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hK7sIQTwb0I/UYKmb_LFmQI/AAAAAAAAJ0Y/sFJsfo_DogU/s1600/The+Prophecy+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hK7sIQTwb0I/UYKmb_LFmQI/AAAAAAAAJ0Y/sFJsfo_DogU/s400/The+Prophecy+book+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-39963090924895645612013-05-01T11:52:00.001-04:002013-05-01T11:52:21.285-04:00Governor Corbett Drops Trou, Pisses on Pennsylvania's Unemployed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GnG36_8eCPI/UYE6FRpjAHI/AAAAAAAAJ0I/Dh7gNKGwXpA/s1600/Pittsburgh+Zoo+-+11-12-2011+(10).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GnG36_8eCPI/UYE6FRpjAHI/AAAAAAAAJ0I/Dh7gNKGwXpA/s1600/Pittsburgh+Zoo+-+11-12-2011+(10).jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Governor Tom Corbett held a Wednesday morning press conference to clarify <a href="http://www.pamatters.com/2013/04/30/ask-the-governor-comments-spark-firestorm/"><b>his remarks about unemployed people being on drugs made on Radio PA's "Ask the Governor" program</b></a>.<br /><br />In regard to Pennsylvania's slippage from 7 to 49th in job growth since 2011, Corbett made a statement accompanied by a dramatic (and unforgettable) visual.<br /><br />"Cake is too good for the unemployed people of this state," he said. "And besides, none of 'em can afford it anyway. Instead, I say, let them drink piss!"<br /><br />With that, the Governor ceremoniously unbuckled and unzippered his pants as aides handed him a urine specimen cup, which he filled and then promptly raised.<br /><br />Specimen cups with Corbett's campaign logo were then distributed among attendees in the crowd.<br /><br />"Cheers to the hardworking people of Pennsylvania, who are putting us back to work!"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-29882446295530634802013-04-27T22:19:00.001-04:002013-04-27T22:19:16.035-04:00Read-a-Thon Update: Hour 15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DMeONOm5-6A/UXgdCR3gNGI/AAAAAAAAJys/wLG1zFDqWqI/s1600/Readathon+-+Day+and+Night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DMeONOm5-6A/UXgdCR3gNGI/AAAAAAAAJys/wLG1zFDqWqI/s1600/Readathon+-+Day+and+Night.jpg" /></a></div><br />This may go down as one of those infamous <i>well, hell, I tried</i> kinda Read-a-thons.<br /><br />This ain't good, friends. Not good at all.<br /><br />First, I overslept. Then, most of the afternoon was spent taking Betty to a dress fitting for a wedding she's in next month, and stopping at a consignment shop across the street to see how much they'd take for an entire bin of her outgrown clothes. (The answer? $10.50. I pretended to be deliriously happy about that while swearing that next time, I'd just drop them off at Goodwill and save myself the freakin' hassle.)<br /><br />Not to mention internally swearing about the TIME I WAS WASTING. I mean, didn't they know that TODAY was the READ-A-THON and I needed to read ALL THE BOOKS???!<br /><br />And then my Read-a-thon spreadsheet vanished, so I can kind of only estimate the amount of time I've read. (I <i>did </i>manage to read for a bit this morning and this afternoon.Thank GOD.)<br /><br />And then Betty needed my assistance for downloading some iTunes songs.<br /><br />Which is what we were doing for the past half hour.<br /><br />(The Husband is usually VERY accommodating of my Read-a-Thon days, mind you. It's just that he is recovering from a particularly nasty stomach virus and thus the food preparations and whatnot fell to me, diverting my attention from the day at hand.)<br /><br />Meanwhile, at 10 p.m., IN HOUR 15 OF THE READ-A-THON, this pile of books is still SITTING here, MOCKING ME. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7YDfEd1f9Rk/UXs_3J9UahI/AAAAAAAAJzg/UyaTFBEPa0Y/s1600/Read-a-thon+Spring+2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7YDfEd1f9Rk/UXs_3J9UahI/AAAAAAAAJzg/UyaTFBEPa0Y/s400/Read-a-thon+Spring+2013.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />From top to bottom, here's what I had on deck for this Read-a-thon:<br /><br />My Kindle (on which I am currently 65% of the way through <i>Little Women</i>)<br /><i>Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots, by Jessica Soffer </i><br /><i>Joe Jones, by Anne Lamott</i><br /><i>The Singer's Gun, by Emily St. John Mandel </i><br />Not pictured is <i>The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, </i>which I listened to in the car on the way to the dress fitting.<br /><br /><b>HOUR 15 UPDATE: </b><br /><b>Total Pages Read (so far): 54 pages</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Total Time Read: 3 hours </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Total Audiobook Time: 1 hour </b><br /><br />Everyone in this house is in bed now, so it's GAME. ON. PEOPLE. <br /><br />I HAVE HAD A FROZEN CHOCOLATE BANANA MOCHA.<br /><br />FROM SHEETZ.<br /><br />I am ready to rock the books.<br /><br />It's Hour 15.<br /><br />Let's get this party started.<br /><br />Who's with me?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-86457086088120097312013-04-26T22:53:00.001-04:002013-04-26T22:53:53.277-04:00Weekend Cooking: Produce Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PQ1eQzEUMrg/Tg_TSf0v3rI/AAAAAAAAEf4/VhTUa06QL50/s1600/WeekendCooking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PQ1eQzEUMrg/Tg_TSf0v3rI/AAAAAAAAEf4/VhTUa06QL50/s320/WeekendCooking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />There are two grocery stores in close proximity to me, plus a Costco. One of the grocery stores has a reputation in this area for being somewhat expensive, and as I've been scrutinizing our food bills lately, I've come to agree. (I didn't think they were out of line compared to what I was used to paying in Delaware, but whatever.) Recently, that same supermarket ended a popular rewards program which has caused considerable PR backlash; as a result, I've been shopping more frequently at a cheaper store which also happens to be closer to my house.<br /><br />For its second anniversary in this location, this store celebrated by having what it called a "two-day sale" on Thursday and Friday. I took a look at the circular, expecting to find a lot of processed crap that we don't eat.<br /><br />I was pleasantly surprised.<br /><br />A lot of the sale items were fruits and vegetables, at ridiculously low prices. We're talking bags of potatoes for 67 cents and almost everything else not much more than 98 cents each.<br /><br />Here's what I got:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RRLEoEUi-_Y/UXsdigfparI/AAAAAAAAJzI/CdaPcAzxw3o/s1600/Weekend+Cooking+-+Produce+4-26-2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RRLEoEUi-_Y/UXsdigfparI/AAAAAAAAJzI/CdaPcAzxw3o/s400/Weekend+Cooking+-+Produce+4-26-2013.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />3.5 lbs. of stem tomatoes<br />8 oz. white mushrooms<br />5 Braeburn apples<br />2 bags of small russet potatoes (3 lbs. each)<br />3 zucchini<br />3 lbs. of strawberries<br />2 bags of lettuce<br />2 bags of baby carrots<br />2 seedless cucumbers<br />1 lb. green beans<br />half of a watermelon<br /><br />I paid just $22.62 for all this, which I thought was quite a bargain.<br /><br />Usually with sales like this you don't find fresh produce on sale, so as a vegetarian (and occasional vegan) I was very appreciative of this. The produce section was also the busiest, which was very encouraging. (Of course, this store also had a lot of meat on sale - this is Pittsburgh, after all - and people were equally as excited about that. But since I don't eat meat, I can't comment on the prices on that. They seemed reasonable, though.)<br /><br />I don't have a meal plan for all this, but I am thinking we may snack on the fruit and make simple meals like a pasta salad, green bean and chickpea salad, and pita pocket sandwiches with the rest. Regardless of what I make, it's a nice taste of spring before the farmers' markets start opening up.<br /><br /><i>Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/2009/10/introducing-weekend-cooking.html"><b>welcome post</b>.</a></i><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-59025554161399370042013-04-25T21:01:00.000-04:002013-04-25T21:28:07.174-04:00What Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day Means When You're Unemployed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtuhbkFzlKg/UXnO0A0JXiI/AAAAAAAAJy4/EEU5ozrOBiY/s1600/SAM_5267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtuhbkFzlKg/UXnO0A0JXiI/AAAAAAAAJy4/EEU5ozrOBiY/s1600/SAM_5267.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Exactly nine years ago this week, I was in Toronto's Pearson International Airport sitting next to the co-creator of Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day.<br /><br />We were returning from the same global women's conference, one that would change how I viewed myself, my profession, and the world. At 35, I had just been appointed the first-ever executive director (and first and only paid staff member) of a women and girls foundation. A part-time position, my new job was the perfect balance for my desire (and, yes, need) to work and the need to be Mom to our then-2 year old twins. I remember feeling intoxicated with this work and in love with this fundraising career of mine.<br /><br />As we waited to board our planes, the energy of the conference remained. I complimented Marie on her keynote speech. We talked politics, about Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day, about my toddlers. To her, I was probably just another person in an airport but I remember feeling heady, proud, and professional.<br /><br />Nine years later, Toronto seems like a lifetime ago.<br /><br />Something that happened to a different person.<br /><br />I was different then.<br /><br />I am even more changed now.<br /><br />* * *<br />At least once a week, my 11 year old daughter asks about Take Your Daughter to Work Day.<br /><br />(In her world, her brother is left at the door.)<br /><br />She talks about this incessantly. About the projects she'll be working on. About the people she'll be meeting with. About what desk she'll sit at and of course, where she'll go for lunch.<br /><br />I used to be part of these conversations.<br /><br />I'm not anymore.<br /><br />* * *<br />It has been almost a year since I was laid off.<br /><br />After the foundation job that took me to Toronto, I took a position as a fundraiser for a domestic violence organization. Stayed there five years. We moved for my husband's job during that time, which increased my commute by 2 hours a day. I stayed, mainly because I loved the work and the people and because I was fortunate to have a supportive boss who allowed me to create a flexible schedule and work one day a week at home. I will always, always be grateful for that.<br /><br />But at some point, dumping $125 down your car's gas tank each week isn't sustainable (public transit and car pooling wasn't an option) and I took a nonprofit job with a child abuse agency much closer to home. My role was to write grants and to increase awareness for the organization, and the result was the best fundraising year they'd ever had.<br /><br />And a year later my husband was tapped for a better position - six hours away. Here in Pittsburgh. Where we knew nobody and the job hunt would start again. From scratch.<br /><br />During a recession.<br /><br />* * *<br />I didn't mind the $20,000 pay cut.<br /><br />It was a job when hundreds of thousands of people didn't have one.<br /><br />It wasn't perfect, but I was going to do my best at this, and I truly believed I did.<br /><br />But sometimes your best isn't good enough for people who want the impossible.<br /><br />And sometimes you aren't the right fit for people who expect perfection.<br /><br />And sometimes you don't ask the right questions when you don't realize you're being lied to.<br /><br />Regrets? Yeah, you could say I have more than a few.<br /><br />But I also have some words of advice from a mentor from a long-ago internship, someone who believed in me and who still does, who once told me for very different reasons that we make the best choices we can based on the information we have at the time. That's the best we can do.<br /><br />It has become my mantra.<br /><br />* * *<br />At dinner the other night, the kids announced they had to interview someone in their family about their job.<br /><br /><i>What if nobody in their family has a job</i>, I thought.<br /><br />They both called dibs on Daddy. The assignment was "Math in the Real World" and how that grown-up used math in his or her every day job. They started peppering The Husband with questions while I silently cleared the table.<br /><br />"You're not angry that we picked Dad, are you, Mom?" Boo said. "Because, you know, you kind of don't have a job."<br /><br />"I'm not angry, baby," I said. "Not about that."<br /><br />* * *<br />We live in a country of <i>haves </i>and <i>have-nots</i>.<br /><br />Those who have dealt with long-term unemployment and those who have not.<br /><br />Those who <i>have not</i> known this life leave know-it-all comments on blog posts like this and tell people like me to stop mooching off of the taxpayers and to just go get a job already at Wal-Mart and that I really must not be trying hard enough and that there's no excuse and maybe I'd have a job if I didn't blog so damn much and have I thought about going back to school to learn a trade and have I tried nonprofit XYZ because you know, those nonprofits they are ALWAYS looking for fundraisers, they're always hitting people up for money, ha, ha, ha, and there are so many of them here in Pittsburgh (<i>I know, I've either sent my resume to or interviewed personally with 27 of them) </i>and oh, by the way, congratulations because this is what you voted for when you cast your ballot for Obama because Romney would have fixed this mess and given you a job by now.<br /><br />Or they'll say that it is just a matter of time, that I'll find something, that I need to meet more people here, that it's all about personal connections. And then the personal connections really do make that call or send an email and the result is the same because a dozen other personal connections have pulled the same strings, with bigger favors attached.<br /><br />Those who <i>have </i>known what long-term unemployment is like or who are living this life with me, well, you understand that I am lying when I say that it doesn't matter whether I can Take My Daughter or Son to Work today, right?<br /><br />That it doesn't hurt when your child comes off the bus and tells you that half her class was at their parents' workplace today?<br /><br />You understand what I mean when I say that this fear goes deep, that you worry at what point does a parent's long-term unemployment become something imprinted on their psyche, a self-fulfilling prophecy.<br /><br />Maybe you see the anger, too, from your child who calls your former employer names and tells you that you were too good for them anyway.<br /><br />And that you swear you can see yourself diminish more every day in your child's eyes and that even though you know they will understand when they get older, that seems like such a long, long time from now and you would do anything in the world to stop that from happening.<br /><br />* * *<br />My daughter is still talking about how many of her friends weren't in school today because of Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day. ("<i>A lot</i> of people were absent," she reported.)<br /><br />(The Husband was home sick so he was out of commission.)<br /><br />I tell her again about how I met the woman who co-created Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day. How we sat together in the Toronto airport. I sound like an aging football jock, talking about my glory days when I used to raise thousands of dollars for women and families.<br /><br />It's not much, but it's all I have this year. I see the disappointment and I tell myself that Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day doesn't matter, but it <i>does </i>because so many kids are in the same situation of having a parent caught up in long-term unemployment. So many, many families are like ours, or worse.<br /><br />And that disappointment is what gives you the motivation to continue on, to slam refresh again on the job search board; to contact yet another colleague from 1995 on LinkedIn; to go to that networking event and the one next week and the one the week after that; to not take it personally when the place that you had two interviews with never calls you back; to pitch that editor with your freelance article; to cold-email that guy on LinkedIn who said he needed a content writer in hopes that maybe he'll be the first client for your freelance business; to ask that friend if they know anyone at a nonprofit who might need a grantwriter; to downsize and dumb down your 20 years of experience on your resume, removing anything that makes you look overqualified; to try and do whatever it takes to keep your head above water and to keep going on.<br /><br />It's what fuels your belief in this city of steel that has reinvented itself time and time and still time again, that makes you inspired by its bridges, and that makes you hold on to the hope that while this may be just one day, better days will come shining through.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-58776664199277006802013-04-24T19:59:00.002-04:002013-04-24T20:22:00.328-04:00Hey,You. Need a Book for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMeONOm5-6A/UXgdCR3gNGI/AAAAAAAAJyo/0hxgCYQa0jk/s1600/Readathon+-+Day+and+Night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMeONOm5-6A/UXgdCR3gNGI/AAAAAAAAJyo/0hxgCYQa0jk/s1600/Readathon+-+Day+and+Night.jpg" /></a></div><br />Yes, my lovelies, it is once again time for that wondrous biannual event: Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon.<br /><br />Regular readers of the blog know that I love participating in this, and that I've done so for several years now. Basically, it is just as the name implies. You read for 24 hours. You're allowed to take breaks, even naps. You're allowed to eat. (That's absolutely encouraged.) You can read for charity, like some of us used to do in elementary school. There are mini-challenges and cheerleaders and prizes and all kinds of fun that you can read about on <a href="http://www.24hourreadathon.com/"><b>the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon website here</b></a>. (That will give you the start time for your particular time zone.) Here in Pittsburgh, the party will be getting started on Saturday, April 27 at 8 a.m. (Although I may not be able to resist starting on Friday.)<br /><br />For me, some read-a-thons have gone better than others (in terms of how many books I've read) but it's all about creating a sense of community, honoring the memory of Dewey (a beloved book blogger who started the event in ...2008, I think? but who has since passed away), and most importantly, coming together virtually to share our joy of reading and our love of books.<br /><br />Here's the thing about Read-a-thon books. Everyone is different, but my most successful Read-a-thons have been when I've selected fairly quick, easy books as my literary companions. I love to say that I've completed 1, 2, 3 or even more books by the end of the event. For that to happen, speaking for myself, they need to be relatively quick reads. (As it is, my husband is amazingly accommodating of my blogging/read-a-thon nuttiness, but life still goes on.)<br /><br />So, if this is your first Read-a-thon, or if you're stuck for some book ideas, here are some books I've read (not necessarily during Read-a-thons, but sometimes so) that would be good choices for this event. The links take you to my reviews so you can read more.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MQ9Y0X6qvXA/UODp9yjwUHI/AAAAAAAAI0g/m6GrGDS-2Q8/s1600/The+Sense+of+an+Ending.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MQ9Y0X6qvXA/UODp9yjwUHI/AAAAAAAAI0g/m6GrGDS-2Q8/s200/The+Sense+of+an+Ending.JPG" width="140" /></a></div>If you like literary fiction of the prize winning type...<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-sense-of-ending-by-julian.html"><b>The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes</b></a> (163 pages)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-tinkers-by-paul-harding.html"><b>Tinkers, by Paul Harding</b></a> (191 pages)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you like your literary fiction more on the mysterious, what-the-hell is she thinking side</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2010/12/book-review-bad-marie-by-marcy.html"><b>Bad Marie, by Marcy Dermansky</b></a> (212 pages)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you like Southern literature and don't mind an Oprah's Book Club selection ...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2008/10/book-review-ellen-foster-by-kaye.html"><b>Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons</b></a> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">(126 pages)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ll2X5VAieqM/UOMhzVQRWWI/AAAAAAAAI3U/Cm0s0AXSdD0/s1600/The+Fault+in+Our+Stars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ll2X5VAieqM/UOMhzVQRWWI/AAAAAAAAI3U/Cm0s0AXSdD0/s200/The+Fault+in+Our+Stars.JPG" width="133" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you want to laugh and cry at the same time ...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-review-fault-in-our-stars-by-john.html" style="line-height: 18px;">The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">(318 pages ... it won't feel like that, honestly.)</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you want some awesome pictures with your story ...</span></span><br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-miss-peregrines-home-for.html"><b>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs</b></a> (348 pages. Same as above. It really won't feel like 348 pages.) </span><br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">If you want some magical realism and escapism ....</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Anything by Sarah Addison Allen (see my review of <b><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-review-girl-who-chased-moon-by.html">The Girl Who Chased the Moon</a> </b>and<b> <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-review-sugar-queen-by-sarah.html">The Sugar Queen</a>)</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">If you like your YA fiction with no vampires and more poetic prose ...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Anything by Beth Kephart (see my reviews of <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-review-heart-is-not-size-by-beth.html"><b>The Heart is Not a Size</b></a>, <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2009/02/right-book-at-right-time-or-book-review.html"><b>House of Dance</b></a>, <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2009/08/book-review-nothing-but-ghosts-by-beth.html"><b>Nothing But Ghosts</b></a>, <b><a href="http://www.bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-review-small-damages-by-beth.html">Small Damages</a></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jVfDxqDAO6g/URKxqb2VPvI/AAAAAAAAJR4/hqWsM0A_V78/s1600/Open+Heart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jVfDxqDAO6g/URKxqb2VPvI/AAAAAAAAJR4/hqWsM0A_V78/s200/Open+Heart.JPG" width="122" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">If you're in the mood for a memoir...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2010/06/book-review-audio-lift-by-kelly.html"><b>Lift, by Kelly Corrigan</b></a> (my review is of the audio version)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">or<b> <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-review-open-heart-by-elie-wiesel.html">Open Heart, by Elie Wiesel</a> </b>(79 pages)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;">I'm still working on my list of books that I'm planning to read this time around. Hopefully I'll have that post up tomorrow or Friday. Until then, happy Read-a-thon planning! Can't wait! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! <br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-17992866002418329542013-04-23T19:22:00.000-04:002013-04-23T19:25:23.902-04:00Pittsburgh Nonprofit Entrepreneuring Youth Helps Ignite Students' Dreams<span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Pittsburgh has been getting all kinds of accolades recently for being a hotbed for entrepreneurs.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Now, if you're a Pittsburgh-area middle school or high school student with a great business idea and aspirations of soon being your own boss, one nonprofit wants you to envision yourself among them.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbJuNcQX8yE/UXbAAveFNyI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/ME8BiOF_a9k/s1600/eyouth_rubysands_logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3354cc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="103" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbJuNcQX8yE/UXbAAveFNyI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/ME8BiOF_a9k/s400/eyouth_rubysands_logo.gif" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><a href="http://www.eyouthamerica.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>Entrepreneuring Youth</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> (known as E Youth) is helping young people learn about business creation and experience ownership. By partnering with educators, parents, and youth work professionals, they use entrepreneurial learning to help students create opportunities, build abilities and gain confidence.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">And it's right here in our city, giving students opportunities to think about a future that they may have otherwise believed to be out of reach. I'm happy to help promote this worthy cause because when I first moved to Pittsburgh, E Youth President Jerry Cozewith was one of the first people I met. We sat next to each other at a </span><a href="http://www.pghtech.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>Pittsburgh Technology Council</b> </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">conference, and Jerry was extremely gracious, helpful, and supportive to me as I began to find my way professionally.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">A few weeks ago, my new friend John (he of the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">esteemed Pittsburgh blog <a href="http://www.yajagoff.com/"><b>Ya Jagoff</b></a>!) asked me to consider writing a blog post about E Youth's Ignite Possibilities event. I couldn't say no. (Plus, you kind of <i>don't </i>say no to the guy who writes Ya Jagoff. I mean, rilly.) </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">At E Youth's Ignite Possibilities business expo, scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, June 6 at </span><a href="http://www.clubcorp.com/Clubs/Rivers-Club" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>The Rivers Club</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">, Downtown, some of the area's brightest middle school and high school students will have the chance to showcase their business ideas and plans to Pittsburgh's civic leaders and business people. It's all part of the George W. Tippins Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Tippins Foundation and named in honor of one of Pittsburgh’s most successful entrepreneurs, inventors and financiers. (That would be George W. Tippins.)</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Most importantly, says my friend Jerry Cozewith, it's about what the possibility of owning a business can represent to someone exploring what they want to do in life and the skills needed to get there.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">"The Ignite Possibilities event serves as a celebration of youthful entrepreneurship and the positive life lessons it fosters," he said. "Each year our attendance grows as more adults learn about the initiative and spirit of self-motivation being cultivated among our young people."</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">"Constructive competition is an integral component of E Youth's innovative programs," Cozewith continued. "The competitions provide entrepreneurship students a unique opportunity to hone their marketing, presentation and communication skills, network with local business leaders who serve as competition judges and coaches, and compete for seed capital grants to support their business or academic goals."</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">During the pre-event reception, several young business owners will receive seed capital awards to launch or grow their business. The first-place finisher will earn a trip, sponsored by E Youth, to a national competition conducted by the </span><a href="http://www.nfte.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> in New York City later this year. Last year, that distinction went to brothers Jesse and Josiah Council, ages 14 & 15, co-founders of </span><a href="http://j-jssoothingcream.weebly.com/index.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>J&J's Soothing Cream</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">. They finished as national runners up, earning $5,000 to invest in their education and their business growth.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">You can learn more about Entrepreneuring Youth by visiting </span><a href="http://www.eyouthamerica.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><b>www.eyouthamerica.org</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333e66; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">. The Igniting Possibilities event is free, but registration is needed. To register:</span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.showclix.com/event/IgnitePossibilities2013" style="background-color: white; color: #3354cc; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.showclix.com/event/IgnitePossibilities2013</a></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-61030372676859691932013-04-17T23:14:00.000-04:002013-04-17T23:42:49.572-04:00'mr, president, how many kids will ask their mothers tonight, am i safe?"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22iBIbqAWjk/UW9rLThtVaI/AAAAAAAAJyY/ejwrwt3c4MU/s1600/Duquesne+Incline+(13).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22iBIbqAWjk/UW9rLThtVaI/AAAAAAAAJyY/ejwrwt3c4MU/s400/Duquesne+Incline+(13).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boo, at the top of the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh, PA on Mt. Washington.<br />He's holding up a sign that says "America is Awesome! Peace on Earth!"<br />"I want everyone to be able to see it," he said.<br />Taken by me on March 30, 2013 </td></tr></tbody></table><br />My boy is very much a news and politics junkie.<br /><br />Yeah, that old saying about the apple not falling far from the tree?<br /><br />Absolutely true.<br /><br />Members of Congress and the Senate are household names around our kitchen table, and at 11 years old, Boo is pretty well-versed in the issues of the day.<br /><br />He's always been this way - he knew the Presidents when he was two years old - but December 14, 2012 took this passion to a whole new level.<br /><br />Sandy Hook made the politics personal.<br /><br />He wrote letters to President Obama, outlining his concerns about gun control and ideas on what to do.<br /><br />He asked us questions and interviewed family members on their stance on the issue. He was, and still is, genuinely curious.<br /><br />Deep down, I could tell there was something more. On the outside, he was trying to be grown up, the Congressman he wants to be when he is older. (He studies political commercials on YouTube and has filmed footage for his own run for office.)<br /><br />But then at night, there would be the questions.<br /><br />Did I lock the door leading to the back deck? Could I go and double check the tricky lock on the front door? What about the windows - his room was safe, right, because it was the highest off the ground?<br /><br />I told him that our job, Daddy's and mine, was to do the very best we could to keep him safe and that included locking our doors. We got out of bed, double-checked them together. He seemed satisfied and soon, the door-checking and the questions stopped.<br /><br />The political advocacy did not.<br /><br />For the past two months, on Sundays, my budding politician has been filming with his videocam his version of a Sunday morning talk show. He talks current events, issues in local and national news, complete with Internet clips and him dressed in suit and tie. He holds court for 30 minutes on the topics of the day - most often gun control.<br /><br />For 20 minutes or a half hour, he'll go on a tear about gun control - why it's necessary to protect kids like him and why we need to make America safe. His arguments are reasonable, passionate, calm.<br /><br />They have stopped me in my tracks.<br /><br />"Mr. President," he asked, on his most recent episode. "How many kids will ask their mothers tonight, 'AM. I. SAFE?'"<br /><br /><br />Boo would love nothing more than to be the next Kid President with these video segments of his and believe me, it would have been easy to upload them to Facebook and send them on their way around the world.<br /><br />But.<br /><br />But for as much as I am addicted to social media, I know that it has a dark side too, that this is a volatile issue.<br /><br /><br />My boy's words, his depth of caring, his passion, they all haunt me tonight. He cares about this issue, so so much. He is afraid and tonight, when we were talking about the Senate vote today, I was at a loss for words.<br /><br />Suddenly, I knew what I had to tell him, in the middle of this terrible, sad week.<br /><br />That he was safe, yes, absolutely. Always. Even if I don't always believe it myself.<br /><br />"I want you to know something, Boo," I said, as I tucked him into bed. "I may not say it too often, but I am so very proud of you for using your voice to speak up about gun control and for trying to make a difference for other people."<br /><br />"Okay."<br /><br />"It <i>matters</i>, baby. You're trying to help people. Don't ever think that doesn't matter."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you! copyright 2012, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-12034887601780582102013-04-17T00:19:00.000-04:002013-04-17T00:19:23.482-04:00Book Review: Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected, a memoir by Kelle Hampton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yugEI1XwX94/UW2geiog75I/AAAAAAAAJyI/-VM8lTUTpCc/s1600/Bloom+-+TLC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yugEI1XwX94/UW2geiog75I/AAAAAAAAJyI/-VM8lTUTpCc/s320/Bloom+-+TLC.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><i>Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected</i><br /><i>by Kelle Hampton </i><br /><i>William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers</i><br /><i>2013 (paperback) </i><br /><i>304 pages </i><br /><i><br /></i>When Kelle Hampton became pregnant with her second child, she expected life to be perfect. After all, it already was: she had a beautiful little girl, a wonderful husband, a thriving photography career, and a close-knit group of friends. There was no reason to believe that all this wouldn't continue, blissfully ever after.<br /><br />But as soon as baby Nella was placed in her arms, Kelle knew something was wrong.<br /><br /><i>"I knew the minute I saw her that she had Down syndrome and nobody else knew. I held her and cried. Cried and panned the room to meet eyes with anyone who would tell me she didn't have it. I held her and looked at her like she wasn't my baby and tried to take it in. And all I can remember of these moments is her face. I will never forget my daughter in my arms, opening her eyes over and over ... she locked eyes with mine and stared ... bore holes into my soul. </i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me." (pg. 6) </i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Bloom </i>is Kelle Hampton's memoir of her incredibly emotional first hours, days, and months as Nella's mother. Instead of basking in the joy of having a perfect-in-her-own-way newborn, Kelle found herself in a very dark, very frightening place where she struggled to accept this child who was different than she had expected.<br /><br />(Accept may not be the exact word. As Kelle writes, <i>"I don't think acceptance is just a course you can check off when you're finished, never to return to it again. You continually arrive at a greater place of understanding through each challenge, experiencing many moments when you feel broken along the way: This is hard. I don't know how to do this. I need help. I'm not strong enough for this. I've had those moments outside of Down syndrome, and I fully expect there will be more in the coming years, both with Nella's challenges and with life struggles in general. Because of those moments, I understand that the brokenness and confusion and inner disarray are all gifts, allowing you to discover yourself and grasp your connection to the world. When you feel you've arrived at your lowest point, think again. It's really just the starting line for your highest point - the greatest understanding, the most strength, the deepest confidence."</i> pg. 281)<br /><br />Make no mistake, <i>Bloom </i>is not always such a feel-good, introspective, motivational book. There's a lot here<i> </i>that is emotionally difficult to read. Kelle owns her struggle, fully and completely, and she gives it to her readers in every heartwrenching detail, even when it would be easier to edit out the parts that others would keep private.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"A week before she was born, I had used a gift certificate my friends had pooled together to buy an over-the-top pink silk baby book that I paid extra to have "Nella Cordelia" elegantly embroidered across the top. And, I am sorry to say, I had a moment of disappointment after my sweet girl entered the world in which I actually thought, I guess I can't use that baby book anymore. I am ashamed to admit that, for a moment, I felt I had used up a beautiful name on a baby I hadn't intended to be the recipient or that I suddenly didn't want to send out a birth announcement when weeks earlier I obsessed over a flat or folded card. This saddens me now. But it was in this beautiful mess of my former self that true potential dwelled - potential to be molded and shaped by a grand defining moment. And where there is potential ... there is greatness." (pg. 140) </i></blockquote>Wow.<br /><br /><i>I felt I had used up a beautiful name on a baby I hadn't intended to be the recipient ....</i><br /><i><br /></i>Honesty doesn't get more real than that, folks.<br /><br />Kelle has been criticized on her blog and in some reviews of her book about her lifestyle and her reactions (such as those mentioned above) after Nella was born. All I have to say about that is this: We can be an incredibly judgmental society and we mothers are often hardest on each other. I have no interest in responding with nothing less than compassion. Even among those of us who are parents of children with special needs, our experiences are never, ever identical. (Kind of like, well, parents of any children, really.) Our journeys and our growth are uniquely our own. As we in the autism community are fond of saying, <i>if you've met one child with autism (or Asperger's), then you've met one child with autism (or Asperger's)</i>.<br /><br />I think that extends to us as parents, too. Over the course of Nella's first year of life, Kelle goes through a range of emotions - from the initial overwhelming sadness to adjusting to their new life to the beginning stages of healing. Sometimes from the vantage point of time it is easier to forget just how painful and sad and scary those days and hours were - or are.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"Healing is a bit like watching a flower bloom. You don't really know when it's going to happen, and despite the fact that you might be sitting there in front of barren ground attempting to will a bare stem to blossom, it doesn't happen on command. No, it is gradual. Like time-lapse photography. And as you are sitting, waiting, pleading for growth, you eventually begin to forget that you are waiting until suddenly, days later, you look and behold ... a bloom." (pg. 57)</i></blockquote>As part of her healing, Kelle begins to share her story and photographs through her blog, <b><a href="http://www.kellehampton.com/">Enjoying the Small Things</a>, </b>and finally, to embrace the wider Down syndrome community not just as Nella's, but as her own and her entire extended family, by growing and doing things she never imagined.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"Confidence doesn't always come in surges. Sometimes - lots of times - it brews unbeknownst to us, building during the time we feel the least confident - through the tears, the questioning, the self-doubt, the begging God to make it better. Confidence, like contentment, is earned, paved stone by stone until you finally turn back and realize it has all been pieced together to create something strong. Confidence is a process." (pg. 171) </i></blockquote>Just as there are difficult parts in <i>Bloom,</i> watching Kelle's journey unfold<i> </i>is also breathtakingly beautiful - made so by her words, yes, but especially so through the gorgeous photographs she includes. (As much as I love my Kindle, this is definitely a book to be read in print for the pictures.) They add a bit to the perfection mystique, sure, but they're important for several other reasons. They illustrate - more than words can ever say - the message that Nella is someone to be proud of, not hidden ... and above all else, a beautiful little girl who is without a single doubt absolutely, completely 100% perfect.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxc/_JfFQ6FCa28/s1600/TLC+Tour+Host.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxc/_JfFQ6FCa28/s1600/TLC+Tour+Host.png" /></a></div>Thank you to <a href="http://www.tlcbooktours.com/"><b>TLC Book Tours </b></a>for providing me a copy of <i>Bloom</i>: <i>Finding Beauty in the Unexpected </i>in exchange for my honest review.<i> </i>I was not compensated in any way.<br /><br />See what other bloggers on the book tour thought of <i>Bloom: </i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Tuesday, April 2nd: <a href="http://bookclubclassics.com/Blog/2013/04/02/tlc-presents-bloom-review-free-giveaway/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Book Club Classics!</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Wednesday, April 3rd:<a href="http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/2013/04/book-reviewbloom-by-kelle-hampton.html" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;"> Tina’s Book Reviews</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Thursday, April 4th:<a href="http://www.lavishbookshelf.com/2013/04/bloom-by-kelle-hampton.html" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;"> Lavish Bookshelf</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Monday, April 8th: <a href="http://www.5minutesformom.com/75993/bloom-finding-beauty-in-the-unexpected/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">5 Minutes for Mom</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Tuesday, April 9th: <a href="http://www.goodgirlgoneredneck.com/2013/04/bloom-finding-beauty-in-unexpected.html" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Good Girl Gone Redneck</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Wednesday, April 10th: <a href="http://shoshanahg.blogspot.com/2013/04/bloom.html" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">From L.A. to LA</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Thursday, April 11th: <a href="http://apatchworkofbooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/bloom-finding-beauty-in-unexpected.html" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">A Patchwork of Books</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Monday, April 15th: <a href="http://www.wellreadwife.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">The Well-Read Wife</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Tuesday, April 16th: <a href="http://www.mrsqbookaddict.net/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Mrs. Q: Book Addict</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Wednesday, April 17th: <a href="http://bettyboochronicles.blogspot.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">The Betty and Boo Chronicles</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Friday, April 19th: <a href="http://www.mommajorje.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Momma Jorje</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Saturday, April 20th: <a href="http://wordsofhisheart.wordpress.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Words of His Heart</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Saturday, April 20th: <a href="http://simeonstrail.blogspot.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Simeon’s Trail</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Sunday, April 21st: <a href="http://unringingthebell.typepad.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Unringing the bell</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Monday, April 22nd: <a href="http://www.krittersramblings.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Kritters Ramblings</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Tuesday, April 23rd: <a href="http://blogginboutbooks.blogspot.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books</a></div><div style="background-color: #d6e0f1; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.71875px; padding: 10px;">Thursday, April 25th: <a href="http://suko95.blogspot.com/" style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">Suko’s Notebook</a></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebetandbooc-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0062045040&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&npa=1&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 150px;"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-91764151709411269362013-04-14T15:15:00.000-04:002013-04-14T15:15:13.297-04:00The Sunday Salon: Friendships. in Books and in Real-Life <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLRwVKhDLv4/TfzZZt-s2qI/AAAAAAAAEbE/eHu087KMgMM/s1600/The+Sunday+Salon.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLRwVKhDLv4/TfzZZt-s2qI/AAAAAAAAEbE/eHu087KMgMM/s320/The+Sunday+Salon.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><br />We are incredibly lucky to have some of the best friends imaginable. Two out of three of them just drove 350 miles today so they could spend the day hangin' with The Husband at the Pittsburgh Pirates game this afternoon. They're the type of guys - friends since elementary school, all of them - who think nothing of doing crazy things like this, and they've done this twice now, since The Cancer struck last fall.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMZQOs5Sr30/UWQ90_3yIhI/AAAAAAAAJxM/u5LBVqFGncQ/s1600/Bloom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMZQOs5Sr30/UWQ90_3yIhI/AAAAAAAAJxM/u5LBVqFGncQ/s200/Bloom.JPG" width="143" /></a></div>Friends like these are the kind who get us through some of the most difficult times of our lives. Kelle Hampton knows this, too, and it's her memoir <i>Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected </i>that I'll be trying to finish up today while the boys are at the game.<br /><br />When her daughter Nella was born with Down syndrome, it was Kelle's close-knit network of friends and family that got her through the emotional rollercoaster of the first few days which she chronicles through words and gorgeous photographs in <i>Bloom. </i>I'm on the TLC Book Tour for this one on Wednesday, so be sure to check back then for my full review.<br /><br />After <i>Bloom, </i>I have two books on deck for my freelance reviewing gig with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Not sure if I'm at liberty to mention what they are just yet, but one is a contemporary novel that I've seen mention on several blogs and the other is a memoir that is quite new to me and looks rather intriguing.)<br /><br />I also owe a poetry post about <i>Pittsburgh Memoranda </i>by Haniel Long. I was supposed to be part of <a href="http://savvyverseandwit.com/"><b>Savvy Verse and Wit</b></a>'s National Poetry Month Blog Tour, but I waited too long to write my post and was sidelined by a migraine yesterday. (For those who expressed concern, it's a little better today, thanks to a batch of <a href="http://ohmyveggies.com/recipe-vegetarian-chicken-noodle-soup/"><b>Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Soup</b></a> I made last night. This soup was AMAZING. I made it vegan by using no-egg noodles and it held up really well for lunch today, too.)<br /><br />I'm also still making my way through <i>Little Women </i>on my Kindle for March's read-along (it might be <i>next </i>March by the time I finish this) and in the car, Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor and I are still <i>Traveling with Pomegranates. </i><br /><i><br /></i>Hope your travels - either in book form or real - are good ones this Sunday, with a good friend or two by your side.<br /><br /><br />I am an Amazon.com Affiliate. Making a purchase via any of the Amazon.com links on The Betty and Boo Chronicles will result in my earning a small percentage in commission, which will be used to support the upkeep of this blog, as well as the real-life versions of Betty and Boo. Thank you!<br /><br />copyright 2013, Melissa, The Betty and Boo Chronicles If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7190424330718187710.post-71887290145837931382013-04-10T11:07:00.000-04:002013-04-10T11:07:44.039-04:00Book Review: Carry On, Warrior:Thoughts on Life Unarmed, by Glennon Doyle Melton<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_iSfNY5lPM/UV3fBw0djLI/AAAAAAAAJvc/3sFhKsodfEM/s1600/Carry+On,+Warrior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_iSfNY5lPM/UV3fBw0djLI/AAAAAAAAJvc/3sFhKsodfEM/s1600/Carry+On,+Warrior.jpg" /></a></div><i>Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed</i><br /><i>by Glennon Doyle Melton </i><br /><i>Scribner</i><br /><i>2013</i><br /><i>268 pages </i><br /><i>ARC copy </i><br /><br />In the parenting sandbox that has become the Internet, one can usually find two types of people.<br /><br />There are those who, through their websites and blogs, paint a picture of a life so saccharine perfect that you need to leave the room for some air.<br /><br />(None of you or your blogs fall into this category, of course.)<br /><br />And then there are people who are all raw emotion - and then some. Through their words, we come to know these individuals better than we know our own friends and relatives- and sometimes that's a good thing. Their bravery allows them to bare their souls as they tell the unvarnished truth about their lives.<br /><br />In her new book, <i>Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed</i>, Glennon Doyle Melton falls into the latter camp - for the most part. (More on that in a bit.) As the cover proclaims, she's the founder of <a href="http://momastery.com/"><b>Momastery.com</b></a>, an immensely popular blog, website, and Facebook page (she has over 73,000 likes!) that I am obviously the last person in the world to find out about.<br /><br />As she writes in this collection of essays from her blog (as well as new material), Glennon is the type of person who sits down next to another sippy-cup clutching mom in the park and immediately reveals that she's a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, among other things.<br /><br />Glennon's philosophy is that when women remove all the pretense and the barriers, when we strip away the illusion that we have our shit together in our perfect lives, when we take away the layers of protection that we women are so good at creating in real life (and online), <i>that's </i>when life gets really good and interesting.<br /><br />Well, that it does.<br /><br />We know Glennon pretty well by the end of <i>Carry On, Warrior</i>, as there isn't too much she leaves hidden - including that of the lives of several of her family members. But she's also funny as hell and tells much of this motherhood gig like it is. As an example, one of her gone-viral essays, <a href="http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/">"<b>Don't Carpe Diem</b>"</a>, was sent to me as a sample of those in the book when I was considering this for review. (I was sold immediately.)<br /><br />I can't quote from this (or another favorite essay, "Out to Lunch," about visiting her husband Craig's office with their toddler son) because my copy of <i>Carry On, Warrior </i>is an advanced reader's copy (ARC) and changes may have been made to the final text.<br /><br />Glennon is at her best in these and other "keepin' it real" examples. At other times, I felt that she strayed a bit from this premise. It's clear from the essays selected within the book that, because of her past experience, faith is a very important component to her present life. (Fans of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott"><b>Anne Lamott</b></a>'s will find common ground here, and Glennon seems very aware of the comparison.) Glennon is very open about her relationship with God and her beliefs as a Christian. I can certainly understand and respect that, but for readers who don't share the same faith, several of the essays that have this strong focus could seem slightly off-putting and perhaps even contradictory, seeming to support the notion of perfectionism that is denounced in earlier pages.<br /><br />Overall, <i>Carry On, Warrior </i>succeeds as an outreach avenue in Glennon Doyle Melton's ministry that she practices on her blog, complementing her mantra to "practice living bigger, bolder and truer on this earth, where we remember what we already know: we can do hard things, love wins, and we belong to each other." This collection of essays will endear her even more to her legion of fans and surely lead her to new ones.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_wpfJOelrw/UVxktlCp3fI/AAAAAAAAJvQ/8U8jHslelPU/s1600/Carry+On%252C+Warrior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_wpfJOelrw/UVxktlCp3fI/AAAAAAAAJvQ/8U8jHslelPU/s1600/Carry+On%252C+Warrior.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div><i><b>If Carry On, Warrior:Thoughts on Life Unarmed sounds like a book you're interested in reading, you're in luck! The publisher has graciously allowed me to give away one copy to a lucky reader. Just leave me a comment here or on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheBettyAndBooChronicles">The Betty and Boo Chronicles Facebook page.</a> (You probably have to follow the Facebook page first, if you haven't already.) </b></i><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>I'll pick a winner next Monday, April 15. (Something to look forward to besides taxes here in the United States.) </b></i><br /><i><b><br /></b></i>Still need convincing? See <b><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2013/01/glennon-melton-author-of-carry-on-warrior-on-tour-april-2013/">what other bloggers on the TLC Book Tour had to say about Carry On, Warrior</a>. </b><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxY/uCADgGCJRCw/s1600/TLC+Tour+Host.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCUispTxYNM/UWV896pDWyI/AAAAAAAAJxY/uCADgGCJRCw/s1600/TLC+Tour+Host.png" title="www.tlcbooktours.com" /></a><i><b><br /></b></i><br />Thank you, as always, to <b><a href="http://www.tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tours</a> </b>for including me on this book tour. I was provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review and was not otherwise compensated.<br /><br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3