MOM & Pop Culture

philosophy for october

I did it!  I got the latest issue of The Philosophical Mother out by the October 1st deadline.

I have to thank my dedicated columnists(Liz Thompson, Liz Ross, Gerry Di Gesu, Jim Turner, and Regina Walker) for taking over and keeping this ship afloat while I've been distracted by other commitments and opportunities.

after a day filled with technical glitches --

The September Issue of The Philosophical Mother is finally online.  The "Baby Blues" Issue deals with a very serious topic -- depression.

But it's not depressing -- I promise.   No really, I do.

Check it out for yourself, ya know, if you don't trust me.

the philosophical mother update

The August issue of The Philosophical Mother is now online for your viewing pleasure.

The August theme is "Survey Says" because our culture is saturated with market research.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) motherhood doesn't generally adhere to statistical analysis.   Still many of us turn to the experts and others to judge our own parenting skills,

Genuine (a.k.a. Jim Turner) joins the philosophical mom team as a regular columnist  -- adding a little male perspective to it all.  His column, appropriately enough, is entitled Genuine Moments.

I leave you now with this quote from Dr. Spock:

    "The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all."

 

this philosophical mother is spent

The July Issue of The Philosophical Mother is now posted online, here.  I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely spent.

And as usual, I'm working late trying to set all the links, and Jared is telling me it is time to go to sleep.  So drop me a line if any of the links aren't working.  And enjoy this month's issue, full of interesting essays from mamas calientes, or hot mamas.

let's get philosophical . . .

The May issue of The Philosophical Mother Webzine is now posted online.  For the month of May, we honor the "Maternal Matrix" and as always discuss the complex feelings associated with mothering, as well as the concept of "being mothered".  I think the following quote, sums up the theme quite nicely: “We women are, I realized—for better or worse — profoundly affected by the women who raised us, whether we love or despise them, whether they were there every hour of our childhoods or rarely around, whether they’re someone we want to emulate or hope never to become.  And sometimes perhaps we project things on our mothers that simply aren’t there — because they grew up in a different generation with different expectations and conflicts, or simply because they’re different people than we are.”  Cathi Hanauer, from The Bitch In The House Read The Philosophical Mother  Webzine here.

calling all philosophical fathers

Genuine emailed me yesterday and asked if I accepted submissions from dads for The Philosophical Mother. I confirmed with him that I do indeed accept daddy submissions, and in fact, highly encourage it. 

It was then that I realized that in 18 months of existence, The Philosophical Mother has only received one submission from a dad, and that was a poem from a father-in-law musing about his respect for his daughter-in-law.

different strokes month

The latest issue of The Philosophical Mother is finally posted online.  After much tinkering, and cursing, I think I have the kinks worked out and hopefully the issue should be downloadable and readable online. This month we add a new columnist, Linda MacKillop, and happily anticipate the birth of columnist Joanne Detore-Nakamura's second child. 

Julie Moos is our cover mama, and many of you may already be familiar with her from her wonderful blog called Mom in the Mirror . The April issue is dedicated to the theme of "Different Strokes" and as always, it is my pleasure to post these wonderful essays in The Philosophical Mother.  Enjoy!

oscar recap

There were no big surprises last night at the Oscars.  Lord of the Rings swept every category - besides acting.  Director Peter Jackson, looking very much like a hobbit, graciously accepted his awards.  Now somebody give the man a decent shave and a haircut. 

Sean Penn won Best Actor - yay- and did my heart proud by sneaking in a political statement:  "Every actor knows - there are no WMDs*" he quickly said, before thanking the crowd.  Thanks Sean, you are a fantastic actor.  Thanks for refusing to be silent when you have something important to say.  Especially since you not only speak your mind, but also act on your conscience and have taken action by visiting Iraq yourself.

lovely and amazing

In the midst of moviemaking (Jersey-style), I was still able to get the latest issue of The Philosophical Mother out on time.  Check out February's "Lovely and Amazing" Issue .  Highlights include an essay by author Gayle Brandeis,  and lots of other original essays on love and motherhood.

happy 2004

Happy New Year to one and all.    For those of you desperately waiting, I have the January 2004 issue of The Philosophical Mother posted online now.  As far as the new year is concerned, I feel pretty good, since I met my first big deadline by getting the first issue of 2004 ready on time.