The BlackBerry Diaries

When I saw the call to review The Blackberry Diaries by Kathy Buckworth I was excited. The subtitle, 'Adventures in Modern Motherhood' drew me in and I knew I would relate to the hyper-busy, technology addicted tale it promised. When it arrived (don't you just love getting packages?) I flipped through to find the format was a year's worth of short, focused essays. They could have been my column, or blog posts. Interesting, I thought. I flipped through some more to find they were pretty much all about the BlackBerry, or depending on who's using it--the CrackBerry.

The fact that this term does not appear in the 'Handy Definitions for the Blackberry Smartphone Owner', and the fact that the highly addictive device is repeatedly referred to as a 'BlackBerry Smartphone' made me think that this book was one big commercial. The fact that the author named her phone (Seamus) made me question whether or not she needed some of those socialized mental health benefits they offer in her homeland of Canada.

And it was.

This is not to say that Buckworth isn't hilarious, because she is. Not only that, some of her advice is extremely useful and she tells it like it is. Still, an entire book on the BlackBerry.?It's a tough sell. I got more and more agitated as I read through the zippy passages, mostly because of the nagging thought: why the hell didn't I think of that? My iPhone goes everywhere with me, including its place in arm's reach of my yoga mat. How else could I attain inner peace?

Oh sure, the phone thing was taken, but I started to wonder how I could reach a level of success where, like Buckworth, people would buy an entire book about my unhealthy attachments - to say, corn chips or FX television shows. Maybe all I need to do is pick a topic and stick with it for a year. It worked for Julie Powell. But what could I write about every day for a year that would be as universally and consistently funny and relatable as Buckworth's accounts of her BlackBerry addiction? I know, right? Nothing.

The BlackBerry Diaries is a perfect gift for the woman whose reading time comes in three minute intervals. If she can manage to put down the phone, she'll get a good laugh at the reflection of herself in Buckworth's sketches of our ridiculous modern lives. Speaking of-and not to get terribly serious-I can see this book being assigned in some future anthropology class to help our (let's hope more evolved) descendants understand life at the turn of the millennium and answer the question: what the hell was wrong with those people?

Click here to buy The Blackberry Diaries on Amazon.

And if you have a story to share, go back to this post on After The Bubbly. I'm giving away a copy of The Blackberry Diaries to my favorite story.

Spot Shot: Great For When Fido Marks the Spot

My sample of Spot Shot arrived with a handy little test kit. They sent a small carpet remnant, little bottles of ammonia and chocolate, and tiny paint brushes to make a mess with. Out on the driveway, my daughter and a neighbor girl had a great time dumping everything out onto the poor test piece.

Of course, the stains came up as promised. That I expected. What I really wanted to know is how this stuff worked on my actual stained carpet. (Let's just say we've had some unfortunate canine illnesses lately.) Sure enough, Spot Shot delivered! The only thing it wouldn't pick up was the red Kool-Aid/Crystal Light I (not the kids) spilled in my office. The carpet guy tells me not even space technology can get that stuff out. But it took away all the funny dark patches everywhere else. Thank you, Spot Shot!

If you're already a fan of the old aerosol version (which I was) you are going to LOVE this new spray bottle. It smells a LOT better. So much better in fact that I didn't feel the need to toss the rag like I used to when I used the old can. The new version says non-toxic on the label, and it certainly smells that way, but I'm still suspicious of these claims. Anything that causes you to flush immediately from eyes and call poison control isn't exactly safe, but it's got to be better than the old stuff. Just keep it out of kiddie's hands. They're useless at spot cleaning anyway.

Warning: Spot cleaning carpet is addictive! Pretty soon you don't know what's a spot and what's just your grimy old carpet!

Note: Lest you think I only give positive reviews, know that I only review products that have a chance of impressing me. For example, this week I was offered the chance to review a Barbie video. Do you see a Barbie video review here? Do you?

Check out MomCentral for more reviews.

Get Connected With Qlubb.com

When I was asked to review Qlubb.com, I was thinking it would be great for back-to-school season stuff - organizing kids activities, trips - basically Room Mom and family stuff. Then I read this on their About page:

Recognizing that busy people don’t have time or patience to “figure out”
another web application, Qlubb has made it a principle philosophy to keep
everything SIMPLE (simple interface, simple Qlubb creation, simple task
creation, simple account management, etc.). It only takes 2 clicks to create a
Qlubb, an 1 click to join a Qlubb.

Hmm... I know some people who could use that. My writers group spends an average of 672 hours each session figuring out where we're meeting, who's submitting work, and who's got the oh-so-desirable task of acting as factilitator (aka Herder of Cats) each meeting.

I decided to make a Qlubb for us. Surely it couldn't be that easy. I was wrong. Within an hour I had enthusiastic messages, links to author websites, dates on the calendar, and pictures loaded. The best part was I didn't do all this. I simply spent a total of five minutes setting the thing up and voila - to quote Kevin Costner (or was it Morgan Freeman?), if you build it, they will come. It's really as easy as they say. All I had to do was cut and paste my buddies emails into the site and then send out a ready made invite. We all share the same password and everyone can access everything. Decentralization rocks!

I love, love, love Qlubb.com and if I'm ever *lucky* enough to be Room Mother again, I am all over it. (Don't tell my lipstick wearing, hockey mom friends, but this would even make being the team manager easy... not that I'm offering!)

The Responsibility Project

I was asked to take a look at Liberty Mutual's Responsibilty Project website. What I was expecting was your typical site teaching kids (or teaching parents how to teach kids) about money and savings. However, Liberty Mutual has taken a different approach. Instead of focusing on finances, they have created a forum for discussing the concept of responsibility in general. I love it!

The video is also funnier than expected. The kid-friendly version of Office Space where bunny rabbits fight to avoid being stuck with the bad chair had us all laughing out loud. I have had that chair! There are also discussion points to use to get kids talking about the meaning of the story. I also like the What's Your Policy feature where readers interact to define responsible bahaviors for a variety of roles.

MomCentral and I think this site is worth a look!

For more on Kids & Money, check out How to Teach Kids About Money.

Lions and Tigers and 20% Off!

I remember my first trip to the circus. Actually, it was my only trip and I recall it vividly. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was doing a Neptune's Palace theme that year and it was breathtaking. I remember all the colors, the costumes, but ironically not too much about the animals. What most impressed me then was the scale. To a child an arena circus performance is huge and splendorous and every kid ought to go - at least once.

The same circus company I went to see all those years ago is making it easier to give your family this experience with a 20% code. All you have to do is enter the code MCC when ordering tickets online.

Please note that the code is available for the following shows:

Indianapolis, IN - Sept. 4-7, 2008

Kansas City, MO - Sept. 10-14, 2008

Grand Rapids, MI - Sept. 18-21, 2008

Denver, CO - Oct. 2-13, 2008

Boston, MA – Oct. 8-13, 2008

Cleveland, OH - Oct. 24 - Nov. 2

Chicago, IL - Nov. 6 - 30, 2008

St. Louis, MO - Nov. 6-9, 2008

Auburn Hills, MI - Nov. 12 - 16, 2008

Highland Heights, KY - Feb 27 - Mar. 1, 2009

Cincinnati, OH - Mar. 4 - 8, 2008

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey would love for you to spread the word, so feel free to let all your friends and family know about the code.

If you love the circus and want to make a family tradition out of an annual show, you'll want to check out the Baby's First Circus free ticket program too! Enjoy the show!

FieldReport

If you poke around the Internet long enough you'll find places where you can submit your writing, get feedback from a community, and even compete for a prize. I've looked at several of these sites and haven't been too impressed. I've seen some pretty awful writing and some very abusive forum conversations. FieldReport looks different. This new site is slick and pretty for one thing - not that that should sway you, but it does me. The other thing that makes FieldReport stand out is that they offer money, big money.

You can submit writing in one of 21 categories for a monthly prize of $1,000. Additionally, your winning entry goes on to compete for $250,000 on January 1st. There's also no fee to enter, which you know is nice if you've ever gone the print submisison contest route. To balance the system, you must review others' work to obtain the credits necessary to submit your own. And the thing I really like about their system is that they choose the work you review so it's not just some big social networking frenzy like a few other sites I won't name.

In their words:

To understand FieldReport, you have to know that it didn't start out as a contest site; it actually started out as a site for sharing true life stories and a new kind of quality ranking system that would be fairer than any other on the web. We decided early on that our highest values would be those of fairness and human-connection. The contest came later, when we realized it would make an exciting driver for our system. But the contest is not why we are here, and our original values--fairness and human connection--are still the ones that inspire us to get out of bed each morning.

The one caveat I offer is that when you submit to FieldReport , you're granting a lot of rights. Even if you don't win the contest, you're agreeing to allow the site to package your writing in a variety of ways and sell it as they see fit. This may be a great deal for you, it probably is for most people. After all, they're not taking it for free. They have a schedule of royalites clearly spelled out. I mention it because especially for new writers, they may not realize what they're getting into. How many times have you checked that 'Agree to Terms' box without really reading the fine print? Read this one.

This is what FieldReport hopes to accomplish:

• A place where great writers and story-tellers can become widely recognized for their gifts, without having to write a novel, and without having to endure years of snail-mail rejection letters.
• A way of organizing the blogosphere, so that any great blog post can find a large audience, independent of the writer's self-promotional abilities.
• A great form of entertainment, that makes the pleasures of writing and reading more accessible to a mainstream audience.
• An encyclopedia of human experience, where the experiences of others can help us come to grips with our own lives.
• A safe place where we can anonymously share some of the more confusing aspects of our lives, and find support from others in the same boat.
• An ultimate archive of our members' journeys on this earth, the place where they keep the stories of their lives for posterity.
• A new way of publishing, in which a community of enthusiastic and impartial readers functions as both publisher and marketplace for an authors' work.
  

It's an interesting model, and one I'll be watching. But beware, the stories I've read so far are addictive! Budget your time wisely.

Vusion Ointment

If you've ever struggled with really bad diaper rash, you know that it's not always easy to treat. It's not simply a matter of keeping baby dry and using a barrier cream. If there's a yeast infection on baby's bottom, you're looking at a long road to recovery if you don't get some help.

Candida (yeast), from the intestinal tract infects the diaper area by way of the the baby’s stool. If the skin is already irritated skin, a yeast infection can occur. If it's bad enough to see a doctor, there's a good chance this is what you're dealing with.

If your baby does have a yeast infection, over-the-counter diaper rash creams probably won't help. Vusion® Ointment is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved prescription treatment for diaper rash with a documented yeast infection.

More tips for managing your baby’s rash:

• Check the diaper often and change at the first sign of wetness
• Clean the diaper area at each change by gently wiping from front to back using warm water or mild soap (or wipes). Rinse well and pat dry with a soft towel
• Keep the diaper area open to air when possible

Vusion also offers a $25 rebate or co-pay assistance on your first prescription. What have you got to lose?

This review posted in conjuction with a MomCentral blog tour.