Momathon Blog

Oscars 2013 {I'm Tired of the Bullying on Twitter}

I started working on this post with a sketch of Anne Hathaway on the red carpet. I planned on writing about the gorgeous dresses at the Oscars. But after seeing all the negative commentary about Anne on Twitter I decided to change my focus here. 

On Sunday night during the Oscars the negative comments about Anne began building. Some comments were about hating her dress. Then even more tweets chimed in saying she is annoying because she acts too "perfect." And others made snarky comments about her face... Really? 

Of course, I could just ignore the mean stuff being said online, but I'm a mom. And maybe some of you will think I sound a little too preachy here, but that is what moms do some of the time. 

In a culture where young girls (and boys) are bullied daily for how they look and act, I think it is time for the grown-ups to set a better example online.

I know in the US we take pride in the fact we have the right to express opinions. Even opinions that are very controversial. Social media has made it very easy—maybe too easy—to criticize people publicly. Eventually all the hate from strangers online starts snowballing to the point the criticism takes on a life of its own. And in this case, I think the online commentary of hate is not so much about Anne, but just about bashing someone—as if this person were a thing. 

I'm not the only person who thinks all this online "Hathahater" negativity is growing old and even becoming baseless. Check out Samantha Escobar's comments on the The Gloss and Ann Friedman's piece on The Cut and Daniel D'Addario on Salon.

I don't know Anne. Her public persona—the one so many are criticizing for being too perfect—may be very different from the "real" Anne. I do know that I admire her for supporting the anti-violence organization One Billion Rising. Her eagerness to look poised and gracious on camera doesn't annoy me because that is her professional persona—I don't imagine she acts perfect all the time. She may not act like the self-effacing and funny celebs we wish we had as best friends. But those same celebs probably work to portray that persona too. In other words, what we see and so easily judge about celebs is not the whole story. We are all just people. And hearing cruel words hurt us even when no one thinks we are listening.

I love the line in the movie Notting Hill, when Julia Roberts playing the movie star character Anna Scott says:

"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

I'm hoping a Twitter trend around liking people—even loving people—will gain momentum. 

Well, I've talked long enough today. If I go on and on I know my kids' eyes will start to glaze over. Thanks for listening. xo Chris

 

Images: Illustrations featured above by me, Chris Olson. 

Social Media Doodle App

Yesterday I mentioned a new app for doodle lovers. Doodle.ly for iPad is a sketchbook app that turns your iPad into a doodle canvas for sharing on Facebook and Twitter. You can see what Doodle.ly doodlers are creating here. If you like to doodle on paper, then this is a great app for you—and your kids. Check out my list of things I like about the app below. Plus I have some suggestions for ways get the most out of doodling using this app.

You've Got Mail

Sending a personalized card on the fly from your phone is a great way to stay in touch. While on a trip to Washington, I used the Red Stamp app to send a personal message with a photo to the grandparents. It was a quick way to say thanks and share a photo from the trip. If you want to get your message delivered immediately, many card apps give you the option to send a digital card via email, text or Facebook—for free. Or for a minimal charge, some of the apps will send your greetings the old-fashioned way via snail mail. Here's a roundup of my faves for creating cards using a smart phone.

RED STAMP

The stunning cards created by the Red Stamp app tops my list for ease of use and a wide variety of designs to fit your mood.  The app's user-friendly interface turns you into a designer—well, almost. The card you create looks amazing because the clever designers at Red Stamp give you all the tools to create a lovely card. How does the app work? First you select one of your own photos for your card, next add some text from a selection of awesome fonts, then choose a recipient list and send the cards by email, text, Facebook, Twitter AND snail mail. Digital cards are free. The app's interface gives you tons of designs to choose from, but like many apps the "thumbnails" of the layout options such as changing font colors are very tiny and a bit hard to see. The more you use the app, the easier it is to navigate the app. The app also includes a handy tool to help you if you have any questions. The cost of printed postcards starts at $1.99.

CARTOLINA

On Friday I shared a photo card I created with Cartolina. If you like cards with a hint of nostalgia, then the Cartolina cards are perfect for thank yous, birthday congrats, or any message you want to send. You can pick from a selection of gorgeous designs with a vintage vibe. You can add your own photos and a personal message. Cartolina has two apps: 1) If you want to send an actual postcard use the Cartolina Postale iPhone app and the fee for printing and mailing is $1.99. 2) If you want to create a card to post via email, text or on Facebook, then check out the Cartolina iPhone app. I love Cartolina paper stationery because they use environmentally friendly paper products. You can find the Cartolina stationery line at fab stores like Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, Selfridges, Paper Chase. and Harvey Nichols (London).  

INKLY

Next week the Inkly app will be launched. I didn't get to test it out, but based on the PR (see my graphic above) the app adds a new twist that many will enjoy. The app's unique message feature lets you send your "handwritten" message in a greeting card via the app on your phone. The card you create does not feature REAL handwriting—just an image of your writing added to a card. So how does it work? First, you write a message on paper—make the handwriting neat because in the next step you take a photo of your message. Then you add your photographed message to an Inkly designed card via the app, finally the app will send a printed card via snail mail to the recipient. I haven' tried this service out yet, but it sounds interesting.  

SINCERELY INK

From the makers of Postagram, PopBooth, Ink and Ship Library, the app Sincerely has a wide selection of card layouts. The app is free and the cost of sending a printed card in the US is $1.99. I like the fact the postcards are printed on heavyweight 5x7 inch glossy postcards. If you don't have one of your own photos to include in the card—no worries. Sincerely has a selection of lovely card layouts that you can personalize just with your own message.

Here are a few more apps you might want to check out:

Paperless Post - Online Invitations and Stationery

Shutterfly: Photo Books, Holiday Cards, Photo Cards, Birth Announcements

Note to readers: This was not a sponsored post.

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Image: RED STAMP photo at the top of this post is by me, Chris Olson, from a recent trip. I created the the app diptics that featuring the card options. Feel free to Pin them Pinterest with a link back to this post. Thanks! 

 

Developing Your Brand: Spending Time on Pinterest, Facebook and Google+

illustration by Chris Olson

When people started talking about being addicted to Pinterest, I knew this social media platform was quickly becoming more than a passing fad. For many of us pinners, spending time of Pinterest is like a shopping addiction without the guilt of a mounting credit card bill. That said, I have heard many pinners also refer to the phenomenon of a Pinterest hangover—unable to even remember what they did the last three to four hours after they crawl out of Pinterest. 

Facebook still appears to attract more valuable user time than both Google+ and Pinterest. But recently Pinterest passed Google+ in time spent per month on the platform. An Ad Age article today reports ComScore data shows that "the average Google+ user spends three minutes on the platform every month, compared to 405 minutes for Facebook users. The average time spent by each Pinterest user per month is 50 minutes."

Part of the attraction of social media is the ability for users to follow the pros who make the brands we love. For example, the savvy editors at Real Simple magazine have developed a growing following on Pinterest with boards like Problem-Solving Products and Daily Thoughts & Inspiration.

Use Instagram to Help Shelter Dogs Find Homes

Your Instagram photos can help shelter dogs

If you like to take photos, grab your iPhone and stop by your local animal shelter. Snap some cute pics of the adoptable dogs with Instagram. Then post them on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest with a link to the animal shelter. If you can, please include a search-able hashtag with the breed of dog (eg., #lab or #dachshund) and then also add a hashtag with #adopt_dogs.

The adorable Chihuahua mix featured above is Benny. He is a happy little guy who deserves to have his very own fan club. He is neutered, up-to-date on his shots & micro chipped. Are you Benny's new cheerleader? You can find him at Pals Forever Animal Rescue with details about him here Benny: Petfinder Adoptable Dog.

Thank you for helping improve the lives of homeless dogs. xo Chris

Image of Benny me, Chris Olson, using an iPhone 4 + Instagram with Nashville Filter (#Nashville)

 

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Instagram photos by me, Chris Olson. Feel free to Pin them on Pinterest with a link back to this post. Thanks! 

You can find other posts in this Guide to Instagram series here:

Day 1: No Filter

Day 2: Amaro Filter

Day 3: Rise Filter

Day 4: Hudson Filter

Day 5: X-Pro II Filter

Day 6: Sierra Filter

Day 7: Lo-Fi Filter

Day 8: Earlybird Filter

Day 9: Sutro Filter

Day 10: Toaster Filter

Day 11: Brannan Filter

Day 12: Inkwell Filter

Day 13: Walden Filter

Day 14: Hefe Filter

Day 15: Valencia Filter

Day 16: Nashville Filter

Day 17: 1977 Filter

Day 18: Kelvin Filter

 

Instagram Crush

 

 
 

Is it possible to take too many pictures? I don't think so. My iPhone and a few dozen photo apps is a "good thing" as I think Martha would say. A favorite of mine is the free photo app Instagram that includes custom designed filters and borders such as XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lomo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and more. Social media folks like the fact the app includes an option for instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Posterous.

Photos above taken by me. Post processing via Instagram app. The dog featured is a shelter dog and I used Instagram to help him find a forever home. 

Why I'm still mad about Paul Reiser

 

 

What do you do? This question seems benign, but we all know at times it hits a nerve. The question even bugs Paul Reiser, who I've missed ever since his popular show “Mad About You” went off the air in 1999.

Reiser's obviously not your average stay-at-home dad (SAHD). He is married with two kids, and living in suburbia. However, he still is Hollywood–just disconnected enough from the studios for him to wonder what to check under the box labeled "occupation." 

So, what do you do? I was asked this question more often when I was still working my 9-5 office gig. Now I'm working an "invisible" job at home writing and designing materials for nonprofits. Believe me, I'm not complaining. I get to pick my clients. Plus, best of all, I'm home with my kids. Yet, I still wonder what to put in that box labeled "occupation."

The ongoing occupational identity crisis facing many SAHM and SAHD is not always pretty or funny, but The Paul Reiser Show premiering last night on NBC made me laugh because those crazy-slash-normal neuroses are exactly what binds many of us together and ironically keeps us afloat. I admit that at the end of an exhausting day, spending time talking with my friends keeps me sane. If they can survive the chaos in parenthood and/or marriage, then I can too.

Paul appears relatable playing himself in the show, if you forgive the fact he is very rich. In a scene with Paul and his friend Jonathan (Ben Shenkman), his life seems so normal the conversation could be me with any one of my friends:

PAUL: You know that form from the kids' school we got. The little box "father's occupation," I don't know what to put in there.

JONATHAN: Well, put in what you used to do.

PAUL: Well, I don't do it anymore. I make pancakes and tell the kids to take a jacket.

JONATHAN: Well, put that down

PAUL: It's not that big a box.

 

The show's cast including Paul's posse of quirky friends might be too large, but I'm going to give them an episode or two so I can get to know them. In the first episode, Larry David guest stars playing himself. And since the show reminds me of David's show Curb Your Enthusiasm minus the edginess, he fits right in. In the first episode, Reiser and David are both positioned to get the same game show gig, but they don't know this. Impatient and overly suspicious of each other, they won't tell each other the name of the projects they are considering unless they both agree to tell each other at the exact after-the-count-of-three moment. They seem like a couple of teenagers in that exchange, yet I know I've felt like doing the very same thing a number of times with my own friends. Ridiculous. Yes. And funny.

I was surprised to see that Reiser's group of friends even though they are guys seem like my own friends--women I met in many cases only because our kids or spouses know each other. As Brian Lowry in Variety says:

"Basically, Reiser spends most of his time as part of a mismatched quintet of fathers, thrown together -- despite having little in common otherwise -- by their wives and kids."

The scene with Amy Landecker playing Reiser's wife Claire rings true. We don't see much of Claire in episode one, but I like her. She plays up the fact her character loves her husband despite his flaws--the fact he doesn't always listen to her, the fact he worries about odd things, the fact he is adorable even as he gets older and grayer. Claire is funny and smart, cynical and warm. 

Despite some of the obvious similarities, The Paul Reiser show is not as strong a comedy as Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Yet. Some have called it "Curb Lite." Reiser's new show has the same self-depracting humor, the exaggerated hand motions, and the "What did I do?" questions. However the awkward moments that make us chuckle on Reiser's show are not the painful-but-funny moments that make that make the other shows classics. So far, the Reiser show does not include the comedic elements of David's outrageous protests or his "colorful" language.   

The Paul Reiser Show is not Mad About You fifteen years later either. However I'm looking forward to Helen Hunt's guest appearance on an upcoming episode.

You can watch the first episode on NBC.com. Join the 2300–and counting–fans who like The Paul Reiser Show on Facebook or follow the The Paul Reiser Show on Twitter

Have you figured out what to put in that little box marked occupation? Maybe a better question to ask is, "What are you going to do next?"

Blog Red, Buy Red, and Support World AIDS Day

 

Last week the NIH announced a major advancement in HIV prevention research: A daily pill that treats HIV also apprears to help prevent HIV infection. A new vaginal gel shows promise in preventing HIV infection in women.

Research studies like this are key to helping save lives. Approximately 2.6 million people each year become infected with HIV worldwide. 56,000 become infected each year in the U.S. Today is World AIDS Day 2010 and the perfect time to be part of the cure.

Blog Red

Bloggers and Tweeters check out (BLOG) RED to find out how you can turn the World (RED) here. You can turn your profile picture red too.

Tweeting ideas from (BLOG) RED:

Dec 1 is World AIDS Day @joinred fact: 430,000 babies born with HIV last yr. By 2015 that could be 0. #turnred www.joinred.com 

Dec 1 is World AIDS Day. Tell the world that an AIDS Free Generation is due in 2015. #turnred to map it. @joinred www.joinred.com 

Tweet #turnred & turn this map of the world (RED). Dec 1 is World AIDS Day. Join @joinred www.joinred.com  

 

Buy Red

When you buy (PRODUCT)RED™ items, up to 50% of the profits go directly to those who need it. Some of the (PRODUCT) RED Partners include American Express, Apple, Bugaboo, Converse, Dell, Emporio Armani, GAP, Hallmark, NIKE, Penguin Classics, and Starbucks. Product Red Partners support the global fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Here are just a few examples of how the Partners are helping:

NIKE: 100% of the profits from every pair of Nike RED laces you buy go to help fight AIDS in Africa. 

GAP: 50% of profits from the sale of all (GAP)RED (GAP)RED products go to help eliminate AIDS in Africa

APPLE: Buy the Apple (PRODUCT)RED™  iPod nano and Apple donates portion of the purchase price to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. 

STARBUCKS: The (STARBUCKS)RED Ceramic To-Go Cup contributes $1US/L3/E3 from the sale of each Cup to the Global Fund. (STARBUCKS)RED Jonathan Adler Card. The (STARBUCKS) RED Card generates 5c/5p for the Global Fund every time it is used. 

Many more companies are involved in Buy (Red). Check out the link to see the many other companies are involved in BUY(RED). 

 

 

6 reasons burglars love Facebook and Twitter updates

 

It's human nature to enjoy telling our friends about our trips, but telling our friends on Facebook or follows on Twitter when we leave home is also great news to burglars. Here's why:

1. Writing updates about your travel plans that includes the dates you leave and return is just like putting a huge sign up in your front yard announcing: "No one is home now--please rob this house.
2. You might think you know your friends on Facebook or follows on Twitter, but a British insurance firm studied the issue and determined that very few social media users in the study made the effort to screen the individuals they have on their list of friends. 13% of Facebook users and 92% of Twitter users in the study accepted friend requests or follows without checking up on the source.
3. Each time you post picture a picture that shows your house interior or features possessions--cars, computers, cameras, TVs, jewelry, and even pets--you allow those unscrupulous friends or follows check out what they might want to steal.
4. Photo location features tell everyone the exact location of your house or location of other places you visit. Smartphones love creating geotags in photos. Unless you turn OFF this feature when you take and post a photo on social media, the photo geotags store location-based data in the form of latitude and longitude for anyone to see. The tricky part is the fact you might not notice the location is listed, but smart burglars do! Adam Savage, host of the popular science program "MythBusters," posted a picture on Twitter of his automobile parked in front of his house and said he was leaving for work. By giving this Twitter update, he let his fans know much more than that he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser.
5. Location services such as Foursquare tell anyone who is one of your friends or follows when you are not home. And if you are not home, burglars know they are free to rob your house. 
6. Photo geotags can give away your address, but there is one more way your address is available to burglars: Whenever your friends visit you and "check in" with their smart phone to update their status--they are giving away your exact address.

Staying connected is the appeal of social media. Staying safe means waiting to share your travel plans until you get home! 

For more information on smart use of social media, check out Momathon's tips on Facebook, Twitter, and social media

Photo above: Millicent bystander.

Tumblr and me

I joined Tumblr--the site that makes it simple to share practically anything. You can post photos, text, quotes, links, audio, and more. Tumblr is an addictive mix of blogging and tweeting. Your post of a photo or whatever might go viral thanks to the Reblog button on your post that allows a meme to spread rapidly across the blogosphere.

Setting up my Mom-a-thon page on Tumblr and selecting a page theme was so much fun I didn't want to choose just one. I'm sure I will be fiddling with the appearance for weeks. 

Set up a Tumblr account for yourself and have fun!

 

Geotags: Will the photos you post online give away your location?

I am a GPS addict when it comes to maps and driving directions. Perhaps it is because I'm directionally dyslexic. However, when I post photos online, I don't want my iPhone's "location services" to geotag my photos and give away personal information. In a nutshell, photo geotags store location-based data in the form of latitude and longitude. Smartphones love creating geotags--and you probably never noticed this feature. 

According to an article by Kate Murphy in San Jose Mercury News

When Adam Savage, host of the popular science program "MythBusters," posted a picture on Twitter of his automobile parked in front of his house, he let his fans know much more than that he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Embedded in the image was a geotag, a bit of data providing the longitude and latitude of where the photo was taken. Hence, he revealed exactly where he lived. And since the accompanying text was "Now it's off to work," potential thieves knew he would not be at home.

via www.mercurynews.com

You can disable photo geotagging. On the website I Can Stalk U, go to the heading "How do I disable this" to find detailed instructions for disabling geotagging photos on your iPhone (iOS 4.x and iOS 3.x), Palm WebOS, or Google Android. 

11 teens die every day in car crashes

 

 

On May 31, 2007, 16 year-old Cady Ann was killed by a 
 distracted teen driver that ran a red light,
 never trying to stop before crashing into
 her door at nearly 50 mph 

Car crashes are the leading cause of death among American teenagers according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Driving too fast, running off the road, driving in the wrong lane, and driving under the influence are just a few of the factors in teenage fatal car crashes.

The SAVE 11 Facebook image above is part of the Allstate Insurance campaign to raise awareness of the dangers associated with teen driving and help pass critical legislation aimed at curbing teen fatalities.

How you can make a difference.
• Contact your Members of Congress to pass the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act (H.R. 1895 and S. 3269). 

• You can read the STANDUP bill here.

• Spread the word: go to Facebook | Save11 for information and resources on contacting lawmakers and inviting family and friends to take action.

(Image: Save 11: Cady Reynolds Ad)