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July 9, 2008

Hi everyone,

In one week, Elisa, Jory and I will kiss our last hour of sleep goodbye and join the intrepid BlogHer Team to welcome 1,000 women and friends to San Francisco for BlogHer '08 and its parties. I'm happy yet horrified to report that in our fourth annual conference we are again sold out and have a growing wait list. There are other great ways to participate, including a virtual BlogHer '08 in Second Life, BlogHer's sign-ups for one-day conferences in Atlanta, Boston, D.C., Greensboro, Nashville and NOLA, and Maria Niles' article on how to survive BlogHer -- even if you're not attending!

But if you're going to the conference, you already get the conference newsletter -- so let's move on to what's hot in BlogHer-sphere this week:

1. Twitter: You can you quit any time you want, right? Look who did.
2. Politics: The stupidest question you can ask a woman whose spouse is deployed
3. The Dating Game: Liz wants back in, but Phasegirl says no way
4. Body Image: Suit up, ladies - the 2008 Swimsuit Brigade is back.
5. Mommies - NOT! A conversation about the only thing harder than motherhood (not being one)
6. BlogHer's first book: A parenting anthology

Let's dig in:

1. Twitter: You can quit any time you want, right? Look who did.

In "Twitter Tweaker to Twitter Quitter: Confessions of a former Twitter addict," SJ describes how she kicked the 140-character habit and saved her blog. Meanwhile, Jory's asking for help to get her Twitter on. I had the nerve to ask, Twitter: Jumping the shark or hotter than ever? This user won me over:

Twitter has totally changed my life. I'm now more or less living the Truman show, among other things but in a really empowered and astonishing (to me) way. It sent my career THROUGH THE ROOF. I'd LOVE a chance to chat with you at BlogHer and tell you why I think microsharing (it won't end up as just Twitter, any more than email ended up as just AOL Mail) is going to dramatically change others' lives too! I sound like a frigging evangelist, don't I? But seriously, there is a lot more than meets the eye at how this trend plays out in the future...more ~ Laura "@pistachio" Fitton

So how could I resist? I joined.

2. Politics: The stupidest question you can ask a woman whose spouse is deployed

Shannon kicked off July 4 weekend with a round-up of military blogs who have a member missing and deployed: "Many of these families are blogging their journey with great honesty and courage," she wrote. So I steeled myself -- and I wasn't prepared to laugh so hard at the first entry:

Fayetteville Observer journalist and military wife Rebekah Sanderlin compiled a list of "The Worst Things You Can Say To a Woman Whose Husband Is Deployed". Number one on the list?

1. "Aren't you afraid that he'll be killed?"
(This one ranks in at number one on my "duh" list. Of course we're afraid. We're terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds ---but thanks, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they're scared of dying.)

Don't miss the entire list. And then find a quiet corner to consider Mata H's essay, "Combat-related PTSD: A spiritual wound for the vet and for America"

Speaking of politics, non-partisan BlogHer.com added to our Contributing Editors this week, including Backyard Conservative Ann Leary and her piece on handgun bans. She joins American Princess, who when she was told recently that Libertarians prefer Obama, asked "Which Libertarians exactly?" in which she declares her lack of love for either American presidential candidate. Not so Erin Kotecki Vest, who has upgraded her avatar to include a picture of the Barack Obama and riffed on his July 4 weekend speeches in "My name is Erin and I am a patriot". The community invested tons of comments in riffing on whether jazz singer Rene Marie was unpatriotic when she sang a song commonly known as the black national anthem instead of the traditional version before a Denver mayoral speech. (Any guesses which presidential candidate was asked to comment on her decision?)

3. The Dating Game

Fresh from a break-up, Liz Rizzo reports that she's ready to cannon-ball back into the dating pool and wonders at herself -- do girls just want to have fun? Um, NO says Phasegirl, and tells why in her story, "This recovering serial monogamist..."

4. Body image: Suit up, ladies!

The Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos is back, emceed by Suzanne Reisman. She writes:

So, in honor of the start of summer, a time of year many women dread, BlogHer is bringing back the Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos. My picture is posted above, and I hope you will help take back control of women's images by posting one of yourself, too. (And I think my friend Alex's photo of herself and a friend crossing the finish of a triathlon counts, so it does not have to be a bathing suit.) Write a post on your blog, label it Swimsuit Brigade, and link back here through Mr. Linky. Only together can we take down the pernicious unreal standards set by the industry. Have a great summer feeling comfortable in your own skin!

Or maybe not that comfy: Trisha Okubo, er, uncovered an unsettling fashion trend...cleavage like you've never seen it before. And I'll leave it at that.

5. For mommies...NOT!
Don't miss Myrnatheminx's shout out to BlogHers of a certain age who aren't mommies. In fact, BlogHer is very proud to announce that Karen Batchelor aka Midlife Muse is joining BlogHer as a contributing editor this week to cover the growing movement of midlife bloggers we see around the BlogHer-sphere -- here's a taste of her superb writing. Welcome Karen!

6. BlogHer's first book! A parenting anthology
Seriously, in honor of the Mommy & Family community on BlogHer, I want to draw attention to a very special project: BlogHer's first book! Sleep is for the Weak: True tales of parenthood is the brainchild of Rita Arens of Surrender Dorothy, who in 2006 approached me with a huge idea, an exquisitely organized binder and an adult beverage.

The result? Sleep is for the Weak, an anthology of superb blogging edited by Rita Arens and starring 23 parenting bloggers. I can tell you I am enormously proud to be among them. Now we contributors are kicking off a signing tour for Sleep is for the Weak, beginning on July 19 at BlogHer Conference '08 in San Francisco. We'll be in the kids section at the Macy's party -- come see us!

Immediately afterward, we begin scheduled August, September and October visits to the 13 cities listed in this widget. We hope you'll join us! Amazon's already taking orders. Like my mom's. And while I cannot pick a favorite, I think every member of my family has done an interpretive reading of this excerpt of Alice Bradley's wickedly funny piece, "When Toddlers Rule". Fair warning: Don't drink anything while you're reading this -- you'll ruin your keyboard.

That's part of the picture anyway for this week! We look forward to seeing all of you around BlogHer.com!

Best,
Lisa (er, http://twitter.com/lisastone)

for Elisa, Jory and Lisa