Rita Arens's Blog, page 54

Unsubscribe

This week I've been unsubscribing to almost everything that comes into my inbox. A few things I've felt horribly guilty about unscubscribing from -- causes I care about, political updates -- and some I've had to ask myself why the hell I've been deleting this for the past five years instead of just getting off the list. 

I remind myself I know where to find these things if I need them.

I keep waiting for the inbox to die down, if I'll be able to tell I eliminated things or if other things...

Can You Choose Your Mood?

Yesterday I covered the Virginia Tech shootings for BlogHer. I am intensely relieved it didn't escalate the way it did in 2007, but it was tough to sit and watch and wait for updates via Twitter from student journalists locked inside buildings. I'm hoping today the news is a little less exciting. Maybe a politician will say something stupid. 

Twitter just told me rockets hit Israel. (sigh)

But it's Friday and I've been crabby about the holidays (the wrapping! and the buying things for a...

Why I Cut My Hair

Yesterday on BlogHer I wrote about my hair.

As a child, I had long braids that I refused to cut, much to my mother's chagrin. I fancied myself Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a teenager in the eighties, I was a spiral-permed, ratted, claw-banged glory. In college, I shoved my ponytail through the hole in the back of my ever-present ball cap or let it pour out from under my do-rag. (I looked more Axl than gangsta.)

After college, I embarked on a fifteen-year fight with my hair. It's very fine -- so...

Parenting: Winning It vs. Ending It

"Don't forget I'm picking you up at school today."

"Why?" I could see it in her eyes, so hopeful I was going to take her somewhere really cool and awesome. Maybe even Disneyland.

"I have to get my hair cut."

"NO! NOT THAT PLACE!"

"It will take twenty minutes."

"I HATE THAT PLACE!"

"You know that's part of not having after-school care. I can't let you come home on the bus without me here. Your bus driver wouldn't even let you get off if I weren't here."

"I HATE THE SMEEEELLLLLLL!"

I sat down...

Surrender, Dorothy 2011 Blogger Book Gift Guide (Support Education!)

Welcome to the 2011 Surrender, Dorothy Blogger Book Gift Guide! This year, I've linked all the books to their spot on the shelf at the Bookstore That Gives (remember that rockstar high school intern?). A portion of your purchase price can be designated to go to the school of your choice.

Some of these authors have more than one book, so I've put my favorite one in this gift guide. *This list is, of course, not complete ... I limited it this year to people I've met via blogging. If I've left...

What's Buried in Novels

Lately I've been on a tear for truth. I've been reading a lot of novels. I've been thinking about the economy, about thankfulness, about the fragility and magnificence of all I hold dear.

The books I love most are the ones that reveal truths about us as a people. Gulliver's Travels, a political satire that -- to me -- identifies so completely the difference between humans and completely rational creatures. Completely rational creatures wouldn't fight for truth; they'd only fight for...

My Husband Is Crazy Like a Fox

We have a 40-foot evergreen tree (probably) (I didn't measure it) in our yard. My husband has been dying to light that baby up since we moved here four years ago. The problem? LED lights. A tish expensive. 

I hope you kids see what a waste of resources this has been.

He worked really hard on it, Grandma.

BUT! This weekend when we unpacked the Christmas decorations, lo, we discovered we had cleaned Target out of LED lights at the end-of-season sale last year and forgot all about it. It was...

And This Is Why You Should Clean Out Your Junk Drawer

Last night my husband decided to clean out our kitchen junk drawer. It's that weird long, skinny drawer that was created specifically for housing your shish kebob skewers. You know, the important drawer. Ours was crammed with all  manner of things. 

As he got deeper into the drawer, he decided to pull it all the way out of the cabinet. There were ... things ... stuck in the back.

Things that were not ours.

Such as Mary's teeth.

I just threw up in my mouth. 

Just a Little Bit Right

I went today to attend a program at my daughter's school. The theme was patriotism, after the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. It's scheduled this week so family members in town for Thanksgiving can attend. 

It was cute and all until they sang about being the generation of the future. And then they sang, "We have the chance to do it right."

And I got all gooey watching these kids -- who clearly believed so totally in what they were singing -- dance and sing about America being the land of...

The Paranoid Outlook

My work Outlook has been a little paranoid lately. It's suddenly begun blocking my co-workers, insisting they have malicious intent when they're really just trying to tell me which posts are most popular. I sat it down, tried to reason with it.

"There's nothing wrong with Denise Tanton," I said. "She's a really, really nice person."

My Outlook shook its head and stalked away, muttering something about a Denise it knew in high school.

Then, yesterday morning, I emailed something from my gmail...