Sparks and Butterflies

I’ve got a weird question for you all…

I’ve been doing this blogging gig since as far back as 1995.  Of course they were Online Journals/Diaries back then.  Each handcoded html page lovingly ftp’d.  And don’t forget to handcode the previous entry and archive page and upload those too!

Anyway, there’s a chick I used to read…  And I wanted to see if she was still writing online.  I wanted to see if any of you  remember her and can point me to her?  And all these details were freely written on her blog – I’m not some weird stalker chick.   She lived in the Bay area, near oakland.  Her blog was called footprints, or footsteps… something like that.  She  loved maybelline mascara, lived with her husband (David I think), and had a daughter named Jamie, along with another daughter and son.  She wrote freely about her recovering alcoholism.  And there was a happy panda toaster and happy pants in there somewhere.  That’s it, that’s all I can remember.  If you all know her, let me know, K?

see more puppies

The world seems to be crashing down around our ears.  Kristen says it so much better than I.  Go take a look.

I’m in.  Are you?

So, there are those out there who say I shouldn’t be doing what it is I do. What? Oh, that would be writing about my life. You see, I’m exploiting my children. And they’ll hate me for it. And I’m profiting off of my website, and therefore, I’m profiting off of my children. And I’m invading their privacy.

Let’s get a few things straight.

Wanna know how much I make? It’s ok, I’m alright about transparency…

I make about $15 a month in advertising. I also make about $40 a month total from my Stars and Special Needs sites. That’s paid blogging right there, folks. On the flip side, I pay about $15 a month for hosting – but whenever there’s a change. Like needing more bandwidth, there’s a fee. I’ve spent $100 in fees in the last couple of months. Oh, and if I have a problem or re-design, it’s anywhere from $25 to $200 a pop.

Yeah – I’m simply ROLLING in the dough.

And before you say I’m just waiting to hit it big? Think this is my big break? I’ve been writing online since 1994. Yeah. 14 years. Ftp, notepad, and aol server space ftw! Remember geocities? and changing every single page individually and ftping every single page individually? every day?

So – I’m not waiting for my big break here, peeps.

This is my journal. Mine. If someone takes an interest, and I end up with a product, or something, or GASP! actual money? I say, Go Me! This is still my journal. Is it a business? Sure, it can be. I think my opinion and thoughts are worth something, yes.

Also – let’s make something clear. The children? Those kids? Those sons I love more than life itself? They came into MY life, sweethearts! Not the other way around. I do not exist solely to serve them. I do it. I do it gladly. And no matter what I think when I’m at my worst, those kids are good, polite, have good moral fiber, and aside from their congenital abnormalities – healthy. In other words – I’m a good mother if their example is to be believed. But they are part of my existence right now. And I will write about them. Just as I talk about them. just as I experience them.

I don’t think it’s dangerous.

I don’t think they’ll be harmed any more than their natural abhorrence of all things parent will harm them.

I don’t think their photos being on my website will incite the pedophiles.

I’m not going to plaster my address all over the ever loving place – but Dooce makes an excellent point. Are we to live in fear of those strangers that see my kid at the grocery store, who saw my kid in person, and even saw my license plate, and even could follow me home?

I’m not going to live in fear.

Why do I write publicly? I write for three reasons.

I have to. I have an uncontrollable urge to spill my guts out – the pretty and ugly ones.

I am journaling my life. Each year, I have my blog printed in paperback form, and keep it for posterity.

I meet other people like me. Because I interact with other people like me. Because I can exchange ideas with other women. This is an opportunity I would not have outside of my blogging community.So – I’m sorry if you think I’m some, “money grubbing mommyblogger (said with as much scorn as possible) pimping out their child and whoring themselves.”

I’m not going to stop doing it until I no longer have the urge to write.

Posts on the subject:

• Crazy Narcissistic Exploitative Zombie-Pimp Mom-Bloggers, Unite and Take Over (what started this whole rant for me in the first place)
• Mom Pimps R Us
• Newsletter: Month 50 and 51
• Mommblogger Sellouts? Consider the Alternative
• Looking at the Glass as Half-Full

Please don’t laugh at my first vlog. And take your dramamine. and introduce yourself to my boobs. I don’t have the hang of this yet. It took me 3 days to figure out how to compress and post it.

Update:  We have a winner! 

I’m very excited to announce that my very first giveaway will be Rockabye, by blogger Rebecca Woolf, aka Girls Gone Child!

First, a bit about the book…

Rockabye is Rebecca Woolf’s heartfelt and often hilarious account of what happens when an irrepressible young city girl gets pregnant by accident and decides to keep the baby and marry the boyfriend. Forced to come of age almost overnight, Woolf charts her transformation from odd-job doing, commitment-phobic, chain-smoking, party girl to wife and mother, trying to adapt to and at the same time rebel against the stereotypes and responsibilities of modern motherhood. Woolf never relinquishes the qualities of her free-spirited, pre-baby self, however, challenging herself to grow up without outgrowing her dreams – and embracing motherhood fearlessly in a style wholly her own.

Second, how do you get one? **Leave a comment here anytime before 12 am, Saturday, April 12th (in other words by Friday night). You have a whole week – so don’t leave it until 11:59! I’ll then use a number generator to pick the comment… And that number comment will win a signed copy of the book from Rebecca herself!

A small note about commenting? If you’ve never commented here before? Chances are that your comment will be moderated, so fret not if your comment doesn’t show up right away… I got it, and I know the time it came in.

If you don’t want to chance it and want to buy the book, you can do so at the Amazon link below… Pre-order for delivery next week.

Comments are now closed, and giveaway is over. 

I have made the AllTop List!  You can find me in the Life bloggers section.

I’m very excited about this!  These are really good blogs, people.  Please go take a look around.

Thanks, Guy!

OK.  This is a warning.  Tomorrow is April 1st.  If I get on here and rant about some stupid thing Poe told me, or did, or said he did…

REMIND ME that it’s April 1st.

Trust me.  He’s done some doozies to me.

On my old paper calendar, for years, I had written in on each April 1st, “Don’t Believe a Thing Poe Says.”  Really.

Oh, and never believe this one either.  She’s gotten me sucked in every year, and every year I swear she won’t get me again.

Now that I’ve written this all out, let’s see how supid I am tomorrow, mmkay?

I wrote about my splogged content. I then wrote about my seeming inability to act. To recap… Content splogged, me mad, me ineffectual. I have since made sure that my Creative Commons is up-to-date (it was) and added a widget to add it to my feeds. I decided against moving to partial feeds because my readers were very vocal about their hatred of them.What I did not do, which I will do immediately after posting this, is do another search on my links (can someone tell me how to do this OTHER than Technorati links to you?) and ask for my content be removed. And keep track and follow up. Why didn’t I do this before?? I am leery of confrontation. I’m small potatoes. I was afraid of a fight I couldn’t win. I’m not afraid anymore. (update: went to find my content again, and couldn’t find it.  Disappeared?  WHY didn’t I bookmark or make screenshots?!)

This is my content. Mine. I created it. I thought of it. I took the time and energy and thought to put it out there. Unless I have specifically allowed you to use my content, you’re not allowed to use it for profit.

You are free to share, copy, distribute, display, and perform the work under the following conditions:

• Attribution. You must attribute this work to Michele (with link).
• Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
• No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
• Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
• Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights.

It’s fairly clear to me. You make money off my stuff without my permission, it’s theft, pure and simple.

Twitter informed me of this newest case of splogging, and Twitter has allowed me an action to take. Here I am. Some others have been splogged – bigger potatoes than me – all by blognetnews.com, with editor, Dave Mastio. I’m not hyperlinking, they don’t need ad traffic from me. I refuse to give it to them, however, I do encourage you to look it up yourself and see if you’re one of their stable of bloggers. Without compensation/permission. I am not one of them. Please be sure to look and make sure you’re not too.

The whole thing makes me sick. It makes me angry. It makes me tired. It makes me feel used.

Really.

Sometimes I write something I’m really proud of.  Sometimes, it’s crap, but I’m writing.  Sometimes it’s memories I don’t want to forget.  Please don’t abuse this interesting media of peering into the minds of others.  Don’t twist it.