Strollerderby : yahoo shine

Airing the Parental Dirty Laundry

Brett Singer — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

If you blog, you presumably want readers. And one way to do that is with a snappy headline. One could borrow from supermarket tabloids and go with something sensational and completely fake -- "Sarah Palin Gives Birth To Three Headed Alien" – that would do it. But if you blog about family matters, the truth can work just as well.

For example: this post on Yahoo! Shine.

My son is home!!! And I am really mad at his father.

The title got me to click and see what the heck was going on.

The first sentence was a grabber:

I recently wrote a blog about how I hate it when my son goes to his father's for Christmas.

Then it got better:

So many of you left very nice comments about my tough time while he is gone. There were a few that said I was being petty. Let me Go deeper into this........

I started to feel like a voyeur. This was pretty personal stuff. But it's not like I'm looking in the author's window. I'm reading something she posted on the Internet.

I'm not sure what the initial post was about, but this one tells the tale of a father who brought his son home after Christmas with an injured thumb. The mother was mad because the kid should have gone to the emergency room, and thinks that pop was too cheap to pay the seventy-five dollar co-pay. The injury is described in "ER"-level detail: "When I picked him up, it was black and purple and he could not bend it. We went immediately to the ER. After 2 shots of pain killer, they drilled 2 holes in the nail to relieve the pressure." Presumably the couple is divorced and the boy was spending the holidays with his father, although the post doesn't say that explicitly.

So here's my question. Is this fair to the kid, the father, and everyone else involved? Most of us who blog, whether for pay or play, reveal certain details. But it's one thing to talk about a goofy thing your three year old told you. It's another thing to reveal personal details like the ones on this particular Shine post.

It could be a generational thing. I'm selective about what I share with the world, and I think most folks are. Other people don't mind putting it all out there. (That's why Facebook is so successful.) In this case, I imagine that posting these personal details is therapeutic for the author. It is also interesting to other people; the post has over 100 comments. But if I'm the father, I'd be irritated.

Of course, if I'm the father and I really didn't take my son to the emergency room because I didn't want to spend seventy-five dollars, I'm also a major league jerk. Part of the problem, of course, is that we don't know what the father did or didn't do. It's possible that he weighed in with a comment; I haven't read them all. Still, judgments will be made – by me, the commenters on Shine, and commenters here. That's the nature of blogs. Once it's out there, it's out there. But is there a line that we shouldn't cross when kids and/or our significant others are involved? Can there be such a thing as too much sharing online?

Source: Yahoo Shine

Image (which is completely unrelated to this topic): sas.org.uk

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A photo that has nothing to do with the news

Brett Singer — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

It doesn't have anything to do with parenting either, but it is that rare post that you could show to your kids.

I want to say something cynical, like, "Oh, this is clearly Photoshopped," or even just, "Ah, who gives a crap." But I have to admit that I saw this over on Yahoo! Shine and smiled when I realized what I was looking at. So I figured I'd share. Enjoy.

Source: Yahoo! Shine

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Breast-feeding in public – bad idea?

Brett Singer — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Capessa.com went out and asked women if they thought it was OK to breast-feed in public. Their answers may surprise you.

First, as a man, I have to point out that I disagree with the woman who says, "That's what breasts are made for." Before anyone gets upset, let me tell you that if I don't say that, I will be kicked out of the International Club of Guys. Which would be bad.

Second, I was actually surprised to see how many women in the video seemed to feel strongly that breast-feeding was something that should only be done in private. (I particularly liked the woman who said, "Especially these days, there are so many PRODUCTS," as if she were auditioning for an infomercial.)

Now, here's my opinion: it depends on the place as well as the person involved. I don't have a problem with women breast-feeding their babies in a public place, but I have to admit that I tend to look away when they do, not out of shame but out of respect. In a situation where I don't know how comfortable a woman feels about having people see them and their little one doing their thing, turning away seems like the polite way to go. How it's done is also a factor. I've seen some women do it so casually that it actually took me a second to realize what was going on. A covering of some sort can actually make it more noticeable, which isn't the goal. Some discretion seems warranted, if only to avoid panting weirdos who salivate at the merest suggestion of boobage.

It's also worth pointing out that I don't see anything sexual in breast-feeding (much as I don't see anything sexual in giving birth). To each his own I guess, but to me, seeing a baby receiving milk from its mother is not exactly a trip to the Ba-Da-Bing.

Does breast-feeding in public still have a stigma attached to it? Has anyone out there been given a hard time for doing it?

Source: Capessa via Shine

image: flickr.com

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The bra for your butt

Brett Singer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Remember the manzier aka "The Bro" from Seinfeld? That was a joke. But the Brum, a bra for the female heiny, is real.

Yahoo! Shine covers (no pun intended) this latest trend in undergarments. As Jennifer Romolini puts it, "Butt is the new boobs. In fact, the hottest look in lingerie is actually something let's call butt cleavage and the best way to show off your butt cleavage is with a Brum."

BlackBook magazine offers further insight: "Anal cleavage has gained popularity this century with the rise of low-cut jeans (or should I say descent), the emergence of the whale tale, and most recently, posterior-revealing lingerie."

One of the two times I've been lucky enough to fly first class (frequent flier miles people – save them) I shared the flight with Victoria's Secret uber-model Adriana Lima. When we arrived in New York, Lima stood up and pulled her jeans down so that they revealed a little bit of what, on a fat guy, would be called Plumber Butt. On her, it was, well, something else. As far as I can recall she wasn't wearing ass-enhancing undies, but this was a few years ago so who knows. (And before someone says, "why were you looking at her butt?" it was first class, it was a small cabin, and she looked at me first! OK, no she didn't.) The point of the story is that there are indeed women who like to show off a little of what they've got going on back there (especially in New York, I guess), but is there a need for a specific piece of clothing to help them do it? I always thought that the thong was the preferred garment for showing your nether-cheeks. In fact, the Brum seems to cover more rear acreage than the traditional thong, although that could be in order to push out certain areas.

One commenter on Shine says that this is no different from the Miracle Bra, but to my male eyes it seems a little different. This also isn't the first product to act as a tush-pusher; Shine also covered Booty Pop panties, which are designed to make your booty POP(!).

So. IS this any different from a Miracle Bra? And would you wear a Brum?

image: BlackBook via Shine

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They Grow Up So Fast ... When You Put Their Heads on Other Bodies

Jen Chaney — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:02:00 GMT

If you've ever accused the father of your child of being infantile, now you can actually make it so.

The Web site ManBabies.com lets readers switch the heads on babies and the older males who love them. The result? Some very freaky (and funny) photos. (Tip of the hat to Charlene Prince-Birkeland over at Yahoo! Shine for the link.) People can either submit their pre-prepared fake photography, or submit photos and have the Web site create the artistry.

Really, what better way to celebrate Father's Day than by reminding Dads they're only one Photoshopped step away from wearing diapers again?

Tracy Ullman does Dina Lohan

Brett Singer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Does an IMPRESSION of Dina Lohan. Get your minds out of the gutter, people.

"OK, when Lindsay's heart stopped at Bungalow 8, that was my fault." Funny, nasty, not safe for work.

Make sure to stay with this video until the end where Tracy/Dina turns to a fellow mom and says, "Don't patronize me Lynn... at least my daughter never shaved her head."

Found at LA Times blogs, clip is from Tracy Ullman's State of the Union on Showtime

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