Archives › 2006 › December
Final Reminder: January Carnival of Bent Attractions
One final reminder that submissions for the January Carnival of Bent Attractions are due by January 1, 2007. I will showcase carnival entries here at Mombian on January 10. This blog carnival is published monthly and is made up of submitted posts on topics of interest to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans and queer communities—not [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The week is chock full of news: Former U. S. President Gerald Ford died this week. Both Pam at Pandagon and Planet Out document Ford’s support for lesbian and gay rights, including marriage equality. As expected, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vetoed a bill that would have prevented the state from giving benefits to the partners [...]
What’s Your Brain Sex?
The BBC’s “Sex I.D. Quiz” claims to help you determine if your brain works more like typical male or typical female gray matter. (Thanks to Wired for the link.) I’m not usually one for such quickie tests, which I always assume cut scientific corners somewhere, but hey, it’s the holidays. Let’s have some fun—especially since [...]
New Mombian Children’s Wear
You’re a lesbian, a mom, and a blogger . . . and your children already have all the “I Love My Mommies” and “My Mommies Love Me” t-shirts you can handle. Spruce up their wardrobes with Mombian’s new “One of My Moms Is Blogging This” children’s wear. Our children’s T’s, sweatshirts, bibs, and infant creepers tell the world [...]
Check Your Charities
Many of us are making last-minute charitable donations before the end of the year. The following sites can help you review information about your intended charities to ensure your money is being spent wisely: Charity Navigator is my favorite such service. It provides ratings for organizational efficiency, organizational capacity (ability to sustain efforts), and a [...]
L Word Books, Music, and DVDs in Mombian Shop
With less than two weeks until the season premiere of The L Word, I thought I’d create a special section of the Mombian Shop for L Word books, music, and DVDs. Catch up on the episodes you’ve missed, read academic critiques of the series, or buy some tunes and dance around your living room. (Wear [...]
Book Recommendation: Wild About Books
My son’s latest favorite read is Wild About Books, by Judy Sierra. It’s the cheerful, rhyming tale of a librarian who accidentally drives her bookmobile into the zoo. The animals discover the fun of reading, and the zoo is never the same. Marc Brown, author of the popular Arthur series, illustrated the book, but you’d [...]
Lesbian Moms, Gay Dads, and the Case for Same-Sex Parenting
William Saletan of Slate, in his article Lesbians of Mass Destruction, uses Mary Cheney as a jumping-off point to argue the suitability of same-sex parents. (This will be, I suspect, Mary’s ongoing role, intentional or not, in the same-sex parenting debate.) Saletan nails some points like: If the direct evidence [against same-sex parents] doesn’t bear [...]
Language, Politics, and Writing the Future
As a writer, I think a lot about language, doubly so because I am also a lesbian mom at a time of raging debate over the terms used to define my family and our rights. Rather than do a traditional recap of news from 2006 to wrap up the year, therefore, I want to share [...]
Happy Kwanzaa!
A very happy Kwanzaa to those of you beginning its celebration today, in its 40th-anniversary year. While Kwanzaa’s founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga, intended Kwanzaa to be “an African holiday created for African peoples,” he also said that “Any particular message that is good for a particular people, if it is human in its content and [...]
Merry Christmas!
A very merry Christmas to those of you celebrating it today. I offer you, as a special holiday present, my own lesbian-mom version of a classic holiday tune: I Saw Mommy Kissing Mrs. Claus I saw Mommy kissing Mrs. Claus Underneath the mistletoe last night She didn’t see me creep Down the stairs to have [...]
On Things Dismal and Gay
Two items of news today caught my eye: Pope Benedict XVI referred to arguments for recognition of same-sex relationships as “dismal theories.” The New York Blade recapped a UCLA study (cited in my Weekly Political Roundup last week) claiming “New Jersey florists, caterers, hotels and other businesses would bring in more than $100 million in [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
No pre-Christmas slowdown in LGBT news: Alaska governor Sarah Palin will comply with a state Supreme Court order to offer health and retiree benefits to same-sex partners of state employees. At the same time, “she supports denying those benefits through a constitutional amendment, if that’s what the public wants,” and signed a bill calling for [...]
Last Harry Potter Title Revealed
Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has revealed the title of her seventh and presumed final Harry Potter novel. She’s buried the answer at jkrowling.com, where you can click several “secret” links and solve a hangman puzzle to find the answer. (Yahoo! News has the solution, as well as the title, if you don’t want [...]
Lesbian Social-Network War Heats Up
Two days after L Word producer Ilene Chaiken announced the creation of OurChart.com, a new social network for lesbians, Olivia Cruises & Resorts announces “the all new online destination for lesbians . . . the new Olivia.com, where you’ll meet other lesbians online, make connections with friends, share stories, and network with other like-minded lesbian [...]
The Government Wants Your Input on the Family and Medical Leave Act
The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published a “request for information from the public” on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It “invites interested parties having knowledge of, or experience with, the FMLA to submit comments and welcomes any pertinent information that will provide a basis for ascertaining the effectiveness of the [...]
Reminder: Carnival of Bent Attractions
A reminder that I will be hosting the January Carnival of Bent Attractions here at Mombian. This blog carnival is published monthly and is made up of submitted posts on topics of interest to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans and queer communities—not just LGBTQ parenting topics, though those are welcome. If you are interested in [...]
Powdered-Sugar Hack
A quick hack for those of you making holiday cookies, cakes, or gingerbread houses: Use a tea ball to dust powdered sugar on top of your treats. It’s neater than doing so with an open-topped sieve or sifter, especially if kids are involved. What does this have to do with lesbian moms? Guess it depends [...]
Toys that Can Damage Kids’ Hearing
As we wend our way through prime toy season, it’s worth remembering that many sound-enabled toys can permanently damage children’s hearing. The Sight & Hearing Association in the U. S. reminds us that “Because of a child’s shorter arm span, toys are often potentially more dangerous to hearing because children hold them closer to their [...]
Ilene Chaiken Launches Social Network for Lesbians and Friends
Ilene Chaiken, executive producer of The L Word, will be launching a new social network “for lesbians and their friends” this January, in conjunction with the fourth season of the show. A sort of My Space for lesbians, OurChart.com will feature original as well as user-generated content, along with exclusive material from The L Word. [...]
Postcards from Buster Is Back
The PBS Kids show Postcards from Buster is back with ten new episodes, notes Hillary at MotherTalkers. She highlights an article from today’s New York Times that describes the show’s funding troubles after the right wing and Secretary of Education castigated it for an episode about lesbian moms. (Well, not exactly about lesbian moms. The [...]
Early Eating Habits May Set Stage for Later Disease
On the heels of my post about Lunch Lessons, Chef Ann Cooper’s new book on children and food, comes a new study from Penn State researchers looking at the presence of metabolic syndrome in 13-year-old girls. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of traits including insulin resistance and abdominal obesity that is a strong indicator for [...]
Lunch Lessons from the Renegade Lunch Lady
Children born in the year 2000 will be the first in our country’s history to die at a younger age than their parents. More than 35 percent of our nation’s children are overwieght, 25 percent are obese, and 14 percent have type 2 diabetes, a condition previously seen primarily in adults. Current research shows that [...]
A Parenting Manifesto
RebelDad is calling upon people to write parenting manifestos of 500 words or less. (Thanks to ParentHacks and Republic of T for the heads up.) Here’s mine, a work in progress: Your primary role is to help your children realize their positive capabilities—emotional, intellectual, and physical. These capabilities may or may not match your own, [...]
Homemade Indoor “Sandbox” Kits
My three-year-old son couldn’t tear himself away from a miniature sandbox set he saw at a local toy store the other day. The set, called My Little Sandbox, is a box about ten inches square, filled with fine sand and a variety of themed toys. The one on display was a little farm, with animals, [...]
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