I Hate Mother's Day

This morning, my wife, my two beautiful daughters (ages 3 and 10), and I enjoyed three hours on our bed. We enjoyed a all-too infrequent LA Times crossward puzzle while watching a Bugs Bunny DVD. Coffee and a blueberry muffin were served, followed by a beautiful fruit and yogurt parfait and a tomato, avocado, and feta cheese omelette. School-made cards and presents were opened. Even though it was Mother's Day, I have never had a better morning as a father.

So why am I anti-Mother's Day?

So far, I have missed my mother for three rememberance days. That's not counting the days that she was 3,000 miles away on the other coast. But that quick phone call was at least a connection. Now it's just spiritual.

I guess what broke my stoicism was my kids palying in the backyard. My mom would have had a ball just chasing the kids around. She spent he whole life preparing to be a grandmother. Didn't happen. Unfair.

How Did I Become a Housewife?

Before anyone castigates me, I am using the term “housewife” as a generic, unisex term. What I mean is someone who works from home, a fact that every neighbor, friend, and family member knows. Even though your work schedule is as rigid as a nine-to-fiver (well maybe), you are seen as someone who has flexible (read: non-existent) work hours.

We all have our routines. Mine is getting up and then waking up my fourth-grader. Next I nudge my wife and together we get breakfast and the lunchbox ready, as well as preparing our three-year old for her day. They leave for preschool/office and, after I drop my ten-year old at school, I have six hours of “free” time before I pick her up. Since my wife is at her away office and I am at home, I have incorporated household chores into my daily to-do list. Loading the dishwasher, doing the laundry, cleaning up, etc. are my contribution to the domestic cause.

I know how lucky I am to be involved in my daughter’s school through various volunteer positions made possible because of my writing habit. In fact, my experiences with the elementary school set have provided fodder for my keyboard. But sometimes it is difficult to determine where one role ends and the other begins.

Please don’t interpret this as “poor me.” I am grateful to play the part of a “stay-at-home mom” while pursuing my muse. My wife makes a great living, which has seen us through some lean times. Some lucrative writing gigs have allowed us to enjoy the better side of life.

I’m wondering if there are any other writers out there who are juggling the same responsibilities. I am interested in your thoughts, observations, and comments.

They All Need a Break

There are a lot of unhappy people out there. Not just the poor unfortunates who are getting foreclosed on and are moving into rental housing. Not event those who are taking a ten to twenty percent cut in fees to close business that is now entrenched in a buyers market. I'm talking about the people on the edge. A decrease or loss of income means couching it with various friends and relatives, with the next stop being Hotel Car.

A good friend was riding pretty high until last year. he installed designer kitchens for the the folks north of the Boulevard. (For those of you who don't live in the San Fernando Valley, "north" is another way of saying across the tracks.) Anyway, the economic crunch was a equal opportunity hit. The downturn in the housing market was a second blast. People began opting to leave their kitchens as is. Work dried up, and a couple days work replaced 40 hours a week plus overtime.

I'm happy to say that my friend is staying in the guest house of a former customer, now a friend, with an open-ended invitation. Work is still hit and miss. Certainly a long way from last year. Point being that secondary markets are equally battered by the recession (depression).

Another friend survived the Human Resources axe by dropping lower and absorbing more responsibilities. He is still working, but has a day filled with incidental tasks that are expected to be accomplished, while redirecting his time elsewhere.

What's the point? The bad economy is affecting families, school kids, end the elderly to be sure. But the less newsworthy are also hurting. Sure, when a single guy ends up on the street, he is just one of the myriad homeless. But he (or she) is suffering just as much. The problem is that single homeless men are the very stereotype of, well, the problem. Someone new to the system is lumped in with the chronically homeless.

They all need a break.

What The Hell Is A Blog?

As a writer -- one who is actively looking for work -- I have seen a trend in employers asking for URLs or links to writing samples. Apply for a job, and they ask not for attachments, but for web-loaded material. Where's your website? PDFs? Please. A relic of the past. How many writers out there have old-school attachments to pass along their potential employers?

Another new school canvas is a blog. My informal study of blogs has discovered this: The first element wants to spout off with the hope that someone will listen. Politics, entertainment, whatever the issue of the day. Look at me! Read me! Follow me! Lord knows ther's enough sheep in the pasture to slake that thirst.

Number two is the "viral video" marksman. Set something up that will picque the interests of the masses and send it into the ether. A solid store front is not the goal here; just a quick fifteen minutes of fame. "Hey, check it out. That was me."

Then there is the biggest "blogosphere" denizens. The people who populate Blogger, Blogpot, Wordpress, even Twitter. Thesae folkd have something to say and for whatever reason they are not being heard in the cold, cruel world. Blogging/Twitting/Facebooking/whatever makes them feel like they're a piece of the puzzle.

If anybody is actually reading this, they may well be wondering where I place myself in the blogging spectrum.

As the title suggests, I am using this space as sort of a friend's ear; a forum for my own personal take on whatever I feel like commenting on.

This is an abbreviated Speaker's Corner and a redacted diary.

The last type of bloggers? Those like me. Someone who has something to say and just wants to say it.

Tune in later!