Whether you love pit bulls or think the breed should be banned, you will want to check out this brand new film from a Knoxville filmmaker that explores this extremely hot controversy in a whole new light.
So I am in Salt Lake City for the first time ever. Actually, I’ve never been to Utah at all, although I’ve always wanted to visit, both because all those panoramic exterior shots in Big Love look absolutely gorgeous, and also because I’ve always – and somewhat inexplicably – been something of a Mormon history buff. I’m fascinated by the way the LDS pioneers persevered against unbelievable odds to create their own nation within a nation here in Utah. One thing I noticed right away when I arrived is that people here are exceptionally tidy-looking. And they just exude industriousness. Just being around these people, I feel lazy, messy and inadequate. The Latter Day Saints – both past and present – are fascinating folks, fo sho.
I am sitting here in my hotel room, trying to get a little work done before I go meet up with Jon and Heather to visit and talk about some business stuff. I am really looking forward to seeing them, and checking out their new digs. H is apparently feeling a bit puny today due to a cold, so I may not be able to drag her out with us after our meeting this afternoon (I plan to try though!), but in any event, I am really looking forward to meeting up for dinner tonight with another fave blogger of mine, Monica B, otherwise known as The Girl Who. (Isn’t it kind of weird that Salt Lake City is so loaded up with super-gorgeous, hilarious, more than slightly profane, ex-Mormon girl bloggers? What if Knoxville were all covered up with tall, blonde, cursing ex-Southern Baptist girl bloggers? Yeah – it would be kind of like that.) But anyway, Monica and I , and maybe her hubby are going to take downtown SLC by storm tonight – or at least have dinner and drinks and check out the very fascinating Temple Square – right up the street from my hotel – on foot. (I’ll have to drink Monica’s beer for her though because she’s knocked up. But I don’t mind. I’m happy to shoulder the burden.)
I was feeling very, very, extra sad about Henry yesterday. While traveling to SLC from Knoxville – via Atlanta, I saw so many sweet, healthy 17-20 year old, shaggy haired boys, guitars and duffel bags slung diffidently over their still-growing shoulders, happily striding through airports on their way to college or travel abroad or wherever. I wanted so much to see Henry have the chance to travel, to go to college, to see the world and then tell me all about it. Instead, he’s gone forever for no reason I can quite figure out. I miss him so much that it aches. There’s an ache that just never stops, even when I am otherwise feeling joy or having fun. I brought his journal from his first three months in treatment with me on this trip and I read it last night before I fell asleep. He was such a special, quirky, tortured person. So funny and creative and loving. The world is dimmer without him in it.
Okay, gonna shake off the blues right now and enjoy the day ahead. The Wasatch mountains out my hotel window are beautiful.
I think the magazine is officially known as LHJ now instead of Ladies Home Journal – a la Kentucky Fried morphing into KFC. In any event, I appreciate the editors there including me in their new story on mombloggers. I’m honored to be in some great company with several of my very favorite bloggers, including Dooce, whom I think I’ll be seeing this weekend… (which makes me happy because she and Blurb are good peoples. They entertain me.)
Hey y’all – I’m nominated in the Knoxville News Sentinel’s annual “Best Of” Readers’ Poll as “Best Blogger.” If you enjoy the old blog here and feel so inclined you can GO HERE and cast a vote for mamapundit.com. Voting only takes 5 seconds – for realz – and it doesn’t require any sign in or registration or anything like that.
Feel free to spread the voting link on Facebook, Twitter or your own blog if you want to be extra nice.
I think voting ends on the 20th – so in a day or two.
Thanks!
-Katie
If you enjoy reading my blog, would you consider casting a vote for me in the “Best Blogger” category in this poll from the Knoxville News Sentinel?
I’m honored to have been nominated among some other really amazing local bloggers whose work I love to read, and I appreciate any votes I manage to collect.
You could also, you know, if you felt so inclined and ummm…had the time, nominate me for the next batch of “Babble Best” bloggers. That would be kind of a big deal if I managed to land on Babble’s annual list.
(And feel free to mention these two polls (on Twitter, Facebook or maybe your own blog) to other folks who might wanna give Mamapundit.com a little boost.
Thanks y’all 
-kag
I’ve been adding some new blogs to my blogroll lately and here are a few new (to me) bloggers that I encourage y’all to check out.
Uncle Funk Recommends Music For You <--- good stuff from a fave client of mine
Thunderpie (married to The Girl Who – both AMAZING writers and they have given birth to perhaps the most photogenic child on the planet)
RB Laney (a dear friend and coworker)
Also, I want to once again point you in the direction of two of my favorite bloggers whom you may not have discovered yet:
John Cave Osborne (Dad of triplet toddlers and adorable stepdaughter. Great writer. Funny and thoughtful and also just a super good guy)
500 Jerk (Busy working lawyer-mom with demanding job and two adorable kiddos. She’s a fantastic writer and a dear friend.)
Today my blogging from the other day about my current breastfeeding difficulties was noted by one of my very favorite journalists, Lisa Belkin in her own Motherlode blog in the New York Times.
As someone who has been an outspoken advocate of breastfeeding for a number of years, was scary for me to admit publicly that I am having to formula-feed Baby G. I was afraid people would call me a big fat hypocrite – and a few have – just as I was afraid for a long time to tell anyone that my child had a serious drug problem because I was afraid people would blame the attachment parenting style of baby-care that I’ve written about (and lived). But I felt like I needed to be as honest as possible about the problems I have had breastfeeding this time because so many people have been so supportive and kind as I’ve shared our family’s story so far. I may not share every detail of my life as a mother (I chose to remain mum on Henry’s struggles for several years before I spoke publicly about it) but when I do decide to open up about something in particular, I am going to tell the truth. And the truth is that I can’t seem to make nursing work this time because there’s no milk.
(As an aside, in case you wondered, Henry was formula-fed.)
The fact that I am unable to breastfeed my baby this time around doesn’t diminish my belief in the critical infant-maternal health benefits of breastfeeding for populations of women and babies. But my current experience has certainly offered me yet another perspective on the complexities of mothering in general. If only breastfeeding and bed-sharing COULD prevent addiction in teenagers. God how I wish that were true. But they don’t. And neither do spanking, letting babies cry it out, or vegetarian diets or cloth diapers or the right brand of infant formula or a more expensive stroller or two-parent homes or the perfect child spacing or…or…or
My friend J just lost her father. Two months before he died somewhat unexpectedly, she wrote this lovely and evocative blog post about their relationship. Reading it made me miss my own daddy all over again.
Lately, I feel like there is so much loss around me – so many instances of people I care about losing people they care about. In my own life, I’ve lost my toddler cousin, my grandfather, my father and my firstborn son -named after my father – just in the past five years. This all came after a lifetime spent without being touched by death in any personal way; I had never even been to a funeral until I was in my 30s.
Huge condolences to J and her family. Losing a parent is terrifically hard.
Does anyone have any recommendations for other blogs written by parents who are grieving the loss of their children? I’ve read some absolutely stunning ones from mothers who have suffered the loss of a pregnancy or infant (including my beloved cousin Julie’s blog about her life since losing her two year old, Ward in a tragic accident in 2005) but I’d also like to connect with parents who have lost children after infancy/early childhood. If you have any suggestions, would you please leave them in the comments below?
Thank you.
-Katie
My sweet friend John Cave Osborne is the father of toddler triplets, the stepfather of an adorable little girl, and an absolutely wonderful writer who just keeps getting better. We actually met about seven or eight years ago when he took a writing class I taught through the University of Tennessee. I realized pretty quickly that he was a better writer than I was, and I’m so glad that he’s now actively writing for public consumption. You can read his stuff at his blog, and you can also order his new book there. This week he’s writing about his older sister’s critical illness with such clarity and compassion that you will feel like you are holding her hand with him. It’s painful and lovely work he’s producing in the midst of his grief.
My thoughts and love are with John and his family as they deal with this incredibly painful and difficult time in their lives.
