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The Midlife Second Wife ™

~ The Real and True Adventures of Remarriage at Life's Midpoint

The Midlife Second Wife ™

Author Archives: themidlifesecondwife

Greetings, Midlife Friends!

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Humor Me, Special Events, The Life Poetic

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

bloggers, boomers, Christmas and holiday season, midlife, writers

HollyDecember is here, and so time again
For season’s greetings to fine blogger friends.
A new group in town—this is no canard—
Broke ground along Midlife Boulevard.

With style and wit (but no fountain pen),
On bandwidth they ply their acumen.
For editors Mesdames Greenthal and Parris,
I bestow a day off with Bueller, Ferris.

Oh, the places they’ll go! The things they will see!
As they ride alongside that blonde, Shelley Z.
There to help them avoid a hazardous turn
Are Vikki Claflin and Jessica Bern.

May they shop ‘til they drop on Avenue Worth
(Laughing heartily with these ladies of mirth:
Tracy Beckerman, Jane Emaus, Barb Best, Tammy Bleck)
Let’s all end the night at a fun discotheque!

All roads lead to Rome (or New York or Boston),
So let’s give some plane tickets to Karen Austin.
When she arrives she’ll have fun pallin’
With Laurel Regan and Sandra Sallin.

Don’t look now (I said please don’t look)
But huddled together in a quiet nook,
And dining intime in this posh galleria,
Are Lisa Carpenter and Andy Garcia.

Oh my, Grandma! I best be brief
So as not to disturb your aperitif.
Far be it from me to annoy and to pester.
I’ll just go sit by my friend Cathy Chester.

We’ve much shopping to do, anyhow, anyway,
For Princess Rosebud and Judy Rothman Rofé.
Seashells for one, madeleines for the other.
For Risa Nye, a song sung by Usher.

What shall we buy Evelyn Kalinosky?
(And what shall we rhyme? Why, I know! Brioschi!)
May Evelyn never encounter distress.
But instead whirl around in a Furstenberg dress!

Here is my gift for the writer Jane Gassner:
A peck on the check from the actor Ed Asner,
May he star in a screenplay written by Jane,
Produced by our own Kim Jorgensen Gane.

And while we’re back on the subject of actors,
Let us take time to note an important factor:
Before there is acting there must be the word.
Actors are not just seen, they must also be heard.

So for blogger Mary Anne Tuggle Payne,
I’ve ordered a snuggle from Eddie Redmayne.
And a prayer for Barbara Hannah Grufferman,
That she’ll not find herself Waiting for Guffman.

But adieu, Hollywood, because we’ve a lotta
Travelin’ to do with Mindy Klapper Trotta.
We’ll head to Europe, but first to Great Britain
Come along, Rosalind Warren and Helene Cohen Bludman!

At Harrod’s we’ll purchase some brilliant bling
For Felice Shapiro and Shelley Emling.
For Ellen Dolgen, great closets of shoes.
Your usual suspects: Manolos and Choos.)

When dining in London, rare Beef Wellington
For Julie Phelps and Mary Dell Harrington.
In Italy we can’t forget the other Lisas—
Heffernan, Flowers, and Froman—we’ll order you pizzas!

Here’s haute couture from Paris
For Estelle Sobel Erasmus,
And Belgium chocolate, rich and dark,
for our idol, Lois Alter Mark.

P.K. Fields says that our time is now,
So to her a gold Rolex—oh golly! Oh wow!
Oh WHOA! When what do my wondering eyes appear,
Darryle Pollack and Lynn Forbes—they’re here!

They’re here! Their network’s a hit. (Have you seen it?)
Great chatter, great topics. (Proud to have been on it.)
To this dynamic duo we bestow
Two life-size Golden Globes.

Hard to carry around, but hey, what the hay?
YOLO, you know? Or so they say.
For the gentle and kind Lori Lavender Luz,
We’ve booked passage on a Viking River Cruise.

For intrepid traveler Carol Cassara,
An exquisitely jeweled ruby tiara.
And for Judy Krell Freedman and Sheryl Kraft,
A grand yacht apiece, complete with life rafts.

For the writer with the wondrous surname—
Barbara Storey—an inextinguishable flame.
And to she who won’t lean-in—Julie Danis—
I wish joy in her new-found work-and-life balance.

To all of the bloggers and writers called here,
I send you glad tidings and eggnog and cheer!
To those I forgot, I hope you’ll forgive
The poetic lapse in my narrative.

We’ll do this again in two thousand fourteen,
So I’ll see you back here midst the red and the green.
And my readers and followers, you know who you are,
Peace, love, and joy on your own boulevard.

To read the holiday poem from 2012, click here.

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Is it Better to Give than to Receive? Find Out with this Verizon Wireless Raffle.

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Giveaways, Product Reviews, Technology

≈ 119 Comments

Tags

Android, Baby Boomers, GALAXY Note 3, giveaways, Jawbone, mobile devices, Redbox, Samsung, smart phones, tablets, technology, Verizon Wireless

Tickets in a basketOne of my favorite books when I was just learning to read was Joan Walsh Anglund’s beautifully illustrated Christmas is a Time of Giving. I also loved O. Henry’s short story The Gift of the Magi. I’m sure that the sentiments expressed in those pages set me up for a lifetime of loving to give presents. This holiday season, I’m honored to have a little help from Verizon Wireless as I put on my Santa suit.

My time as a member of the Verizon Boomer Voices program is drawing to a close. To celebrate a collegial and successful partnership, and to thank you for following my adventures in technology, I’m giving you a special holiday present: the chance to win one of three phenomenal mobile devices, courtesy of Verizon Wireless.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Boomer Voices program and will be provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Boomer Voices program and will be provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

Without further ado, here is the first item offered through my raffle: The Verizon Wireless Ellipsis™ 7, a portable full-feature tablet available exclusively by Verizon and its fast 4G LTE network.

vzellipse_tableThe Ellipsis features a 7-inch HD display, ample battery life, and a 1.2GHz quad core processor that lets you easily switch from e-books to games to email. Here are some qualities that make the Ellipsis a perfect gift:

• It allows you to seamlessly balance your personal and professional life. Read emails, download documents and files, manage calendars, and sync your contacts easily so you can stay productive on your next adventure.

• It enables you to share photos, videos, contacts.

• It helps you stay connected with the enriched features of Verizon Messages.

• It provides an array of preloaded apps that bring you custom radio and the latest games and movies on demand, including the Amazon Kindle app and Redbox Instant by Verizon. (Redbox Instant allows you to stream your favorite movies or find the closest Redbox kiosk, where you can pick up new releases on DVD.)

Behind “Door Number Two” we have the MiniJambox™ by Jawbone. (And if you caught that reference be sure to say so in your comment on the blog! See rules below for details.)

The MiniJambox by Jawbone brings beautiful, wireless sound to any experience via Bluetooth or a 3.5 millimeter stereo cable. Completely portable, it’s small enough to fit into a pocket or a clutch purse. In fact, it rather looks like a clutch purse, doesn’t it?

mini_jamboxThe MiniJambox comes with up to 10 hours of built-in rechargeable battery life. You can customize and personalize it with the Jawbone app. A built-in speakerphone even lets you take calls on the go.

Finally, here for your raffling pleasure is the Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation. With a quick-charging 4,000 mAh external battery, this handy device was designed to provide rapid charging. The Powerstation can switch between 500 mA, 1 amp, or 2.1 amps, giving you high-output power for just about any USB-charged device. Its compact, lightweight design makes it easy to carry, and it works with a range of devices—smartphones, tablets, and portable gaming systems.

vz_power_stationOkay now. Are you ready to play? Here are the details on how to enter this amazing raffle:

Leave a relevant comment on this post, tweet about this giveaway (if you follow me on Twitter, retweeting this post will count as an entry!), or leave a comment on the Midlife Second Wife’s Facebook page.

If you tweet or retweet, be sure my Twitter handle is included: @midlife2wife. That way I’ll be sure to see your activity.

The more comments and tweets the better, so by all means feel free to leave more than one. The deadline to enter is 12 o’clock noon (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, December 18, 2013.

I will have Colin, my intern, select product winners from the different platforms on the afternoon of December 18. You have just one week to fill my inbox with comments, tweets, and Facebook notes! One prize per person and three prizes to be given away, along with a few extra swag-bag goodies for each winner. For shipping purposes, I must have a U.S. address to send the items.

I’ll announce the winners here on the blog.

Thanks again for reading, for following, and for entering the raffle. May you be one of the lucky winners!

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Breaking Bad for Thanksgiving, but Thankful Anyway

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in The Healthy Life, Transitions

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

broken bones, Holidays, Relationships, thankfulness, Thanksgiving

My left foot, 24-hours after breaking bad.

My left foot, 24-hours after breaking bad.

I can’t help but think that when it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m operating under some sort of jinx. Ten years ago, my divorce was finalized the day before Thanksgiving. I wrote about that experience two years ago on this blog in a post that struck a chord with well more than a thousand readers after being featured on WordPress. The following year, the essay was reprinted on Better After 50, a terrific site for midlifers.

The post addressed the vast changes I grappled with in celebrating a major holiday right on the heels of my divorce, and how, newly remarried, my second husband and I would drive up to Ohio from Virginia, where we had recently moved. Having no home base any longer, we celebrated Thanksgiving in a restaurant. We were with all three of our sons, but it still felt alien to me.

Last year, my husband and I very nearly had to spend the holiday apart; he had just taken on a new job back in Ohio, and I was holding down the fort at our Virginia home, beginning, once again, the rituals of packing and preparing a house to go on the market. John could have had his turkey in the dining area of the Residence Inn, where his company was putting him up;  I would have had the better end of the deal: celebrating with our good friends in Richmond. But I flew up for a house-hunting trip, and my future daughter-in-law’s parents kindly invited us to join them for their Thanksgiving. Still, it wasn’t quite the same. This now made two years in a row that I wasn’t able to cook for my favorite food holiday.

So imagine my excitement this year when, finally settled in a charming 84-year-old house near the shores of Lake Erie, I began orchestrating plans for a Thanksgiving meal around my grandmother’s old table. I began to pull out my holiday recipes. I ordered an organic, free-range turkey from our local market. I put a fall wreath on the front door.

Because John’s older son and his fiancé couldn’t rearrange their work schedules, we actually celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas on Friday, November 8, with a homemade lasagna dinner at which all of our boys were present, joined by P’s fiancé and my son’s new bride. It was lovely. And it’s a good thing we had that at least, because two days later, I fell.

We were walking our dog Sunday evening. It was dark. This little deadly was on the sidewalk:

Ohio is the buckeye state. This is a buckeye pod. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Ohio is the buckeye state. This is a buckeye pod. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Long story short, a trip to the emergency room confirmed my worst fear: I had broken my left foot at the fifth metatarsal. The break, known as a Jones fracture, is an unfortunate one in that these types of fractures take an inordinately long time to heal. Something about diminished blood flow in that part of the foot. The orthopedic surgeon I saw the following day ordered a short-leg plaster cast and absolutely no walking on the foot for at least six weeks. At least the fracture doesn’t require surgery.

Now, let me tell you something about charming old homes that were built in 1929. They do not have first-floor master suites. They typically have only one bathroom, always on the second floor. Homes like ours, which have undergone renovation before we got to them, will have a powder room on the main floor. Ours is an anomaly in that the powder room, for which we’re grateful, can only be accessed by walking down two steps off our kitchen. We must also walk up three steps to enter the back door and two to enter the front. Do you see where I’m going with this? The operative word here is “steps.” Crutches are notoriously dangerous…perhaps as dangerous as buckeye pods. The only way for me to get anywhere vertically in our house is by scooching on my bottom. Unless you work out frequently and have impressive upper body strength (which I don’t), this is not as easy as you would think. Consequently, I have spent nearly three weeks marooned on the second floor of our home.

Here’s where I get to the part about being thankful.

My youngest stepson is enjoying a gap year from college. He has been here every day during the week since my fall, bringing me meals on a tray, walking our dog (carefully), and performing all manner of tasks and errands until my husband returns from work in the evening. In an attempt to help further his education (maybe not much of a deal for him), I’ve taken him on as an intern for my company, teaching him a few PR ropes. He is assisting me with an important project for one of my clients, and quite frankly, I don’t know what I’d do without him. Luckily my office is on the second floor. I tool back and forth from bed to bath and beyond (well, to the office) with this nifty knee scooter.

Zoom-Zoom

Zoom-Zoom

My husband is doing the cooking, marketing, also running errands, and tending to me in the most loving way imaginable—all while commuting to work each day. He has the patience of Job.

Our new church has arranged for us to have several home-cooked meals; one new church-friend even dropped by our home with altar flowers to cheer me. Two neighbors have helped me out with a couple of breakfasts when C. wasn’t able to be here in the morning. Members of the blogging community have reached out to me with love and good wishes. The positive energy from all of this could get a city off the grid.

So this Thanksgiving, when I bow my head before the turkey dinner that my husband will have cooked with the help of his youngest son, I know what my blessings are, and what to be thankful for. They are legion, and I am humbled by the generosity and selflessness of others.

But if it’s all right with you, God, I’m going to add a small request during my prayer of thanks: Please. No more broken bones. As You know, because You know everything, this is my third fracture.

Readers, I suppose I’ll have to tell you about those other bad breaks some time. For now, let’s all give thanks for family and friends.

Wishing you a blessed, healthy, and peaceful Thanksgiving!

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Miss Foreman, Grade 2, Nov. 22, 1963

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Nostalgia, Special Events, Transitions

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

1960 Presidential Campaign, Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, Catholic school, Walter Cronkite

Me, circa 1961,during the first year of JFK's presidency

Me, circa 1961, during the first year of JFK’s presidency. My father sold dolls in his hardware store (although not the Madame Alexander Caroline doll), and a highlight of the year was attending the Worthington Toy and Gift Show.

Like most American schoolchildren on November 22, 1963, I was sitting at a desk when the news reached us. It was after lunch, and, if I were to guess, my second-grade class was doing phonics exercises when our principal, Sister Mary Vaughan, announced over the P.A. system that President Kennedy had been shot, and would we all please stop our work and pray for him?

After the initial gasps and cries of disbelief, the room became as quiet as the empty church across the alley. I don’t know with certainty that this happened, but I imagine our teacher, Miss Foreman, pulling out her rosary, quietly marking each bead with its designated prayer—the Our Father or the Hail Mary or the Glory Be. There’s no doubt in my memory about this, however; I clenched my hands together as tightly as I could and squeezed my eyes shut: this was the most important praying I had ever done before, and it had to count.

So fierce was my prayerful concentration that I barely heard the P.A. system crackle back to life. Sister Mary Vaughan had returned to announce that the President had died. We were now to pray for his immortal soul. You could tell she had been crying, but she was trying to be brave for us. She was, in fact, the bravest person I knew. She once traded in her black habit for the cooler white one worn by the Sisters of Notre Dame when they served as missionaries in India. She spoke at assemblies in the cafeteria about the experience, asking us to contribute our pennies and dimes to the missions. There were rumors that she might leave St Mary’s at the end of the school year, possibly to return to India. I hoped it wasn’t true. She was the kindest of all the nuns and teachers at St. Mary’s, and I knew I would miss her just as much as I would miss President Kennedy.

President Kennedy. He was dead, and I couldn’t really grasp what that meant. I had never known anyone who died before. Not that I actually knew him, but I did see him once in person, before he became president. This was a memory far more powerful than any television image, and there were certainly many of those to recall. It seemed as though he was on television all the time.

It was three years ago, on Monday, September 27, 1960. I was four-years-old and, like most days spent in my father’s hardware store in Elyria, Ohio, I was coveting the dolls in the toy aisle, or scribbling with crayons on the large pads of paper that had “Supreme Hardware” printed in green letters on the top.

On that particular day, crowds began to gather on either side of Middle Avenue. Senator John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign motorcade route was to proceed right past the store, and my father wanted to make sure we were witness to history. He scooped me up, rushed us outside, and perched me on his shoulders so I’d have a good view.

The man who was running for president waved to us from the convertible limousine—he waved to everyone on the sidelines—all of us cheering “JFK! JFK!”  Someone tossed pretend straw hats into the crowd, and my father caught one. “WIN WITH KENNEDY” was stamped on the red, white, and blue headband. Then, just as quickly as the excitement peaked, the limousine drove north on Middle Avenue to take the Senator and his motorcade on to his next stop.

“Motorcade” wasn’t a word I knew then. I only knew that the car in which Senator Kennedy sat, perched on the backseat’s rear ledge, was simply part of the parade, and reminded me of my father’s Cadillac convertible. But three years later, the word “motorcade” was forcibly added to my vocabulary, along with “assassinated” and “assassin,” “rotunda,” and “caisson.”

I suddenly thought of Caroline. I was barely two years older than she; I couldn’t imagine that the pert little girl I thought of as a kindred spirit wouldn’t have a father anymore.

Like most little girls in 1963, Caroline represented for me a combination of fairy-tale princess, sister, and playmate. I was an only child, so it thrilled me to know that someone nearly my age lived in the White House with such glamorous parents and an adorable baby brother. I played with Caroline paper dolls, and I had a child-sized Kennedy rocking chair.

After school let out, Mrs. Schaeffer, whose daughter was in my class, dropped me off at the corner of my street. When I reached our front sidewalk, I could see my mother, standing as she always did, preparing dinner at the dining room table. (Our kitchen was a small galley with hardly any counter space.) She was crying, and even though I knew that what happened that day was horrible, it still surprised me—and frightened me a little—to see my mother crying like that. The television was on; I’m almost positive that it was tuned to CBS and Walter Cronkite, because in my mother’s view, the fourth-most revered man in the world (after Pope Paul VI, President Kennedy, and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen), was Walter Cronkite. I don’t, however, remember seeing any of the coverage from that day.

Did my mother think the reporting was too disturbing for me to hear? Was I too young to join her and my father in front of the set? Would she have turned it off and wait to get more news from the afternoon paper? Or wait until I had fallen asleep? I honestly don’t remember.

The next television memory I have was generated a couple of days later. My parents and I had gathered at my Aunt Mary’s house on Pinewood Drive to watch the funeral procession on her new TV.

We cried when we saw Caroline and John-John—especially when he saluted his father. The horse-drawn caisson (that word fascinates me still) making its long way through Washington—such a vastly different procession from the motorcade I had witnessed three years earlier—mesmerized me.

My mother used to tell me that when I was little, if I liked a person, I would say “He (or she) gots a nice face.” I thought President Kennedy had a nice face. I loved his smile, and the way he looked right at us when he spoke to us on television, the way he grinned and waved from that convertible limousine on his swing through Elyria, Ohio. He was so handsome. Now he was gone, hidden inside the flag-draped coffin.

Those images from the funeral cortege (another word I learned that weekend), will always stay with me, but I learned something else during that solemn broadcast that would prove even more powerful.

My mother and I used to light votive candles in church as part of our prayers of intercession. I never gave much thought to the fact that the candle would eventually burn itself out, and a fresh new votive would replace it. It seemed to me that the act of lighting the candle was the important thing. But then the television cameras showed us where President Kennedy would be buried, in Arlington National Cemetery, and Walter Cronkite told us that an eternal flame would mark the President’s grave site. I imagined the largest votive candle in the world, one that would never burn itself out.

So many words and images seared themselves into my consciousness that November.

Only one of them—the eternal flame—offered some measure of comfort.

Eternal Flame Kennedy Memorial

Eternal Flame Kennedy Memorial (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Click here to read other posts on this topic via Midlife Boulevard’s blog hop. This essay can also be found on the Huffington Post and in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

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Real People Everywhere. But are they Experts?

24 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Current Events, Product Reviews, What's the Buzz?

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

advertising, blogging, Brand Marketing, Martha Stewart

This is a wonderful time to be a real person. Ordinary people—folks just like you and me—are popping up all over the place. You see us in ads for e-readers, Fords, room fresheners, and more. Today’s conventional wisdom, according to AdWeek, suggests that real people make a brand seem “more genuine and authentic.” If you happen to be a real person and possess an opinion, Madison Avenue wants to know what you have to say. Martha Stewart? If the brouhaha in the blogosphere is any indication, maybe not so much.

The domestic diva got herself in the soup for remarks she made in an interview with Stephanie Ruhle of Bloomberg Television. Here’s what Stewart said:

Who are these bloggers? They’re not trained editors at Vogue magazine. I mean, there are bloggers writing recipes that aren’t tested, that aren’t necessarily very good, or are copies of everything that really good editors have created and done. So bloggers create kind of a popularity, but they are not the experts. And we have to understand that. [Emphasis added].

As you can imagine, Stewart ignited quite a firestorm in the blogosphere, especially since many bloggers gauged her comments as hypocritical; Stewart has been a keynote speaker at BlogHer and her publicists actively seek bloggers to help promote her merchandise.

I’ve sat this out until now, but after considering the incident, it does seem to merit some discussion about nuance, authenticity, the nature of expertise, and what bloggers can and shouldn’t do.

Some disclosure is in order. Stewart’s aides have never reached out to me, although as a member of Viewpoints Blogger Reviews Panel and a contributor to its website I have offered my opinion on the Kindle Paperwhite and the KitchenAid Pro Line Dicing Food Processor, among other items. And a publicist for Verizon Wireless invited me to become a member of its Verizon Boomer Voices program, in which I offer my opinion on such mobile devices as the DROID RAZR MAXX HD smart phone and the Fitbit One.

I don’t at all mind that I’ve not been asked to serve as one of Martha Stewart’s brand ambassadors, although, had I been approached, I would have said yes. I have admired Stewart’s aesthetic and contributions to the domestic arts for years. But I find her comments troubling, especially in light of her active recruitment of bloggers. As many bloggers will tell you, our authenticity as real people who use real products gives us enormous credibility. There’s a case to be made for life experience contributing to expertise. It would seem as though that’s what the Martha Stewart brand was looking for.

So what exactly do we mean by the word “expert” anyway?

Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, defines an expert as one “having special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.” Let’s deconstruct this a moment, using my blog and one of its sections as an example.

In naming this site “The Midlife Second Wife,” I made two explicit declarations: I have lived a fair number of years and am therefore no spring chicken, and I have married for the second time. I am, at the present moment, 57-years old and have been cooking for at least 35 years. A section on my blog features recipes, many of which are mine and all of which I have prepared. In working with these recipes over the course of a lifetime, it’s fair to say that I have “tested” them. Every recipe I’ve shared on the blog has been wildly popular with my family and friends (trust me, I’m not about to share the occasional flop with you), so it’s safe to assume they are “very good.” In cases where I include recipes from some of my favorite cookbook authors—dishes I also have in my regular cooking rotation—I have asked for, and received, permission to reprint them. I make no claims to be chef, professional cook, or restaurateur; in that sense I am not an expert. But you can take to the bank the fact that I’m an excellent home cook with decades of experience in the kitchen. In that respect, I am an expert.

As for blogging, I bring experience as a published writer and editor to the enterprise. While the Oberlin Conservatory Magazine is hardly Vogue, it is nevertheless a beautiful publication featuring the students, faculty, and alumni of one of the most respected music schools in the United States. I served as its editor for 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. I also majored in English with an emphasis in creative writing at Oberlin College, so I learned a thing or two about what it takes to craft a narrative.

These are my credentials—I know many other bloggers who have résumés with similar bona fides. I present mine here not because this incident is about me, but because I’m a blogger, and the Stewart incident raises the question about what we choose to blog about, what our experience has been, and how we go about the whole enterprise. I’m happy to offer my opinion in areas where I believe I have something worthwhile to contribute, and where I can provide useful and enlightening information in what I hope is an enjoyable read for you. I also tend to agree with Linda Lacina, who posits in Entrepreneur.com that the real battle bloggers might consider waging isn’t necessarily with Martha Stewart, but with shoddy content. That could have been the point Stewart was trying to make, but unfortunately, her remarks painted all bloggers with a push broom-sized brush.

Let me add that I have never—and I promise you that I will never—pass myself off as an expert by adding to the critical literature on figure-skating, cross-bow hunting, parachuting, or hand surgery. What I will do is write, to the best of my ability, about what I know. In cases where I feel compelled to write about what I don’t know, but wonder about (hand surgery, anyone?), I’ll bring in the experts. (I’ve already interviewed a few on Monday Morning Q&A.)

And I promise to edit myself as carefully as I can.

Related articles:

“Martha Stewart Speaks Out: Bloggers are not Experts,” Bloomberg.com

“Note to Bloggers: Fight Bad Content, not Martha Stewart” by Linda Lacina,  Entrepreneur.com

“Whatever, Martha” by Adam Roberts, The Huffington Post

“Does Martha Stewart Owe Food, Lifestyle Bloggers an Apology?” by Rene Lynch, the Los Angeles Times

“Dear Martha Stewart, Here’s What You Should Have Said About Bloggers” by Julie Ross Godar, BlogHer.com

“Martha Stewart Likes Bloggers. I Have Proof.” by Gabrielle Blair, DesignMom.com

“Martha Stewart and the Case of the Not-So-Expert Food Blogger” by Tracy Beckerman, LostinSuburbia.com

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Whad’ya Know About Verizon Wireless?

12 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Product Reviews, Special Events, Technology, What's the Buzz?

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

boomers, FitBit, Michael Feldman, Verizon Wireless

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Boomer Voices program and will be provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Boomer Voices program and will be provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

I recently hosted a house party as a member of the Verizon Boomer Voices Program. I called it “A Very Verizon Party,” and it featured my own take on Michael Feldman’s Whad’ya Know? quiz show, a program produced by Public Radio International. I’m pleased to report that a very good time was had by all, what with the great food, good fun, and gadgets galore courtesy of the techno-geniuses at Verizon Wireless. I wish all of you could have been there, but there wouldn’t have been enough Chocolate Tea Cake to go around. (Do you like the way I incorporated the black and red Verizon Wireless logo colors into my dessert?)

Voilà! I frosted this with strawberry jam and garnished it accordingly.

Voilà! I frosted this with strawberry jam and garnished it accordingly.

As a reader of this blog, this is your consolation prize: the chance to peer through the looking glass of your screen and glimpse a few highlights from the party. You’re never far from my thoughts, dear readers. Come along and enjoy!

The swag bags were set by the chimney with care...

The swag bags were set by the chimney with care…

...in hopes that Verizon Wireless would soon be there.

…in hopes that Verizon soon would be there.

Look at the great swag nestled in those black and red bags: A water bottle (complete with a nifty ice holder); a phone holder; a stylus that doubles as a pen; a flash drive stocked with detailed information on the devices demonstrated at the party; a list of nearby Verizon Wireless stores and, to go with it, a $50 coupon redeemable with purchase at one of those stores.

And check out the buffet table! In addition to the chocolate tea cake, I served fresh strawberries, an array of cheeses (and crackers), assorted nuts, and a few decadent sweets from Trader Joe’s.

VZWHPpartytable

These are some of the prizes that were up for grabs:VZWHPprizesTo keep things moving along, I held a few old-fashioned drawings. But my guests really loved playing “Whad’ya Know About Verizon Wireless?” They wrote their names on index cards upon their arrival, and I drew two cards for each round of play. I had already downloaded two service bell apps—one for my iPhone and on for the DROID RAZR MAXX HD I’ve been testing for the program. Whoever rang the bell first got to answer the first question (there were five questions in each round).

BellcroppedI wish I had pictures of the contestants playing the game, but here are some of the sample questions. As with Feldman’s program, the questions were painstakingly researched, but the answers were not. (How would you do with these questions?)

I. A FITBIT is:

a)    a device that fits into a horse’s bridle
b)  
a type of healthy, delicious candy that has zero calories
c)   
a item of apparel that will always fit you no matter how much weight you gain
d)  
a device that tracks your calories, activity, and sleep and syncs with your mobile device or laptop

II. TRUE OR FALSE:

            Accessories and devices available through Verizon Wireless will only work with the Android Operating System

III. The slogan or tagline in the old Verizon commercials is:

a)    Rethink Possible
b)  
The Power of a Network
c)   
Can You Hear Me Now?
d)  
Just Do It.

IV. TRUE OR FALSE: The iconic spokesperson for Verizon Wireless, featured in the “Can you hear me now?” commercials, had blond hair and wore a long-sleeved blue shirt.

V. The Verizon Wireless store closest to where we’re having this party is located:

a)    at Westgate Mall
b)  
at Crocker Park
c)   
at Tower City
d)  
at Legacy Village

Here are some pictures of my guests.

VZWHP_Sandy&friend

Oh, Verizon? If you need a mascot may I suggest our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Sandy?



I hope you’ve enjoyed my virtual party! So long for now!

VZWHPmrambassador

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Eva’s Chocolate Tea Cake

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Food for Thought

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Baking, Cakes, Chocolate, Food, recipes

Be warned: There is one danger to making this cake. It is impossible to walk away without licking every batter-covered surface.

Making this cake is dangerous. It is impossible to walk away without licking every batter-covered surface. You have been warned.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know I’m something of a compulsive recipe-clipper. This particular scissor-worthy recipe entered my baking rotation sometime in the 1980s, when I served on a social committee that was planning an English-tea themed event. I remember the recipe came from a magazine, but cannot recall whether it was Gourmet, Food & Wine, or Bon Appétit. If a recipe I’d clipped was a hit, I’d bestow it with my highest honor, typing or writing it out on an index card. In this case, however, I unfortunately neglected to note the source.

I make this cake every Christmas, and my granddaughter, who is six, recently announced that it’s the best cake in the whole world. With that kind of endorsement, it’s only right and proper that I renamed the cake in her honor.

Don't be alarmed; this is really how the cake is supposed to look after you remove it from the oven.

Don’t be alarmed; this really is how the cake is supposed to look after you remove it from the oven.

EVA’S CHOCOLATE TEA CAKE

Six-ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
One stick unsalted butter, softened
Two-thirds cup sugar
Three eggs
One-half cup cake flour, sifted
Raspberry or strawberry jam

Butter and flour a nine-inch cake pan and line the bottom with waxed or parchment paper; set aside. Whisk the chocolate and butter together in a bowl. Add the sugar, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Blend in the flour until just mixed. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. (At 25 minutes I insert a wooden skewer into the center of the cake; if it’s clear when I pull it out the cake is done. It really depends on each individual oven.)

The cake will rise slightly, then sink in the center. Cool cake in the pan, then invert onto a serving plate and peel off the parchment paper. Cake will be dense and moist. Chill for one hour and spread the top with fine quality raspberry or strawberry jam.

This cake freezes beautifully, if carefully wrapped. I should point out that I always make two cakes at a time, doubling the ingredients. This way, I always have a delicious dessert on hand for unexpected company, or the start of a stash for the holidays.

To freeze, I wrap the completely cooled cake in waxed paper, then I wrap it in foil, and then I place it, gently, in a plastic bag.

To freeze, I wrap the completely cooled cake in waxed paper, then I wrap it in foil, and then I place it, gently, in a plastic Ziploc bag.

I know that you’re eager to see a picture of the finished cake, so here it is!

Voilà! I frosted this with strawberry jam and garnished it accordingly.

Voilà! I frosted this with strawberry jam and garnished it accordingly.

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12 Things to Tell My Son Before His Wedding Day

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Love, Relationships and Family Life, Transitions

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Love, Marriage, Relationships, Wedding, Wisdom

Roger Mastroianni photo

Roger Mastroianni photo

Having an only child is the maternal equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. Additional children give you the chance for a do-over or two; with only one, that’s exactly how many chances you get to get the whole parenting thing right. I look back on the trail I embarked upon 32 years ago, and I see it littered with the weeds and stones of my mistakes and missteps. Occasionally I’ll spot a bit of something shiny. I hope it’s a marker for a good decision made, or the right thing said at the right time. Yet, in spite of my occasional impatience and bursts of short-temper, the young man standing at the edge of this path—my son—is the brightest thing shining there. He’s a terrific person with a great good heart, and he’s at a crossroads. He’s getting married soon to a beautiful young woman with a great good heart of her own. I have just one chance to get this whole mother-of-the-groom thing right. Over the years, through trial-and-error, I’ve learned a thing or 11 about what it takes to make a relationship work. I’d like to share these bits of wisdom with him now—12 things he should know before his wedding day.

  1. Never take her—or anything—for granted. Be grateful every day for the life you have and the love you’ve found.
  2. Do something nice for her every day, and thank her for something at least once a day.
  3. Remember that marriage is not a competition except for this one thing: try to out-love one another.
  4. Embrace her neuroses. That is, should she have any.
  5. Respect her. Respect her. Respect her.
  6. Communicate with one another clearly, calmly, and constantly.
  7. Listen to what she has to say, and put yourself in her shoes while she’s saying it.
  8. Make time for each other.
  9. Be in the moment when you’re together. Concentrate on one another, not on your work or your smart phone.
  10. Hold hands every chance you get.
  11. Make love with one another as often as you can.
  12. Put the toilet seat down and pick up your clothes from the floor.

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Invited Writer Shut Out from Anti-Bullying Event

20 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Current Events, The Writing Life, What's the Buzz?

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

authors, Books, Bullying, Censorship, National Bullying Prevention Month, writing

If your 12- or 13-year-old child or grandchild were being bullied, would you want her to hear a YA author–one who had herself been bullied–speak about hope and survival? Even if she wrote a novel about bullying that had the word “ass” in the title?

Students in the seventh and eighth grade at Cumberland Middle School in Virginia missed out on the chance to hear award-winning author Meg Medina address them at a school-sponsored anti-bullying event–one to which she had been enthusiastically invited–because of the title of her highly praised new novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (Candlewick Press). The book features bullying as its central theme, and occasionally uses language that Medina–and a bullying expert–say kids use to torment their victims.

2013-09-17-Yaqui.jpg

Medina, of Richmond, was invited in March by the principal of Cumberland Middle School to speak in advance of National Bullying Prevention Month in October. Less than three weeks before the September 17 event, he sent her an email canceling her talk. The reason? Concern over how some members of the community might react to her book’s title. Ironically, September 22 is the start of Banned Book Week sponsored by the American Library Association.

The drumbeat of concern was actually rumbling for a few days. Prior to receiving the principal’s summary cancellation, a school official sent Medina a message, asking — at the principal’s request — that she refrain from mentioning the full title of her book, not use “offensive language,” and not show the book’s cover.

Here is an excerpt from Medina’s response to the school, which she posted on her website’s blog:

For me to come to your school and distance myself from my work feels disrespectful of me as an author, but worse, it feels dishonest in dealing with the students, most especially those who are on the receiving end of harassment that already makes them feel ashamed. If I refuse to even name my book or tell them that the title comes from hearing those awful words firsthand, I would only be adding to that shame. … I believe that one way we adults can help is to acknowledge the reality of what our kids are experiencing…

Medina did suggest a compromise. Perhaps the school could send a letter home to the parents about her upcoming appearance and her books? Parents who would find the material offensive could opt out.

No deal. The door slammed shut after the Labor Day weekend.

When asked if she had intended to read from Yaqui Delgado during her presentation at Cumberland, she says: “I don’t typically read from my books when I do school visits. If anything, I’ll read a page. I speak about writing, and the kinds of books I write — books with strong Latina characters. I tell the kids what my books are, and that I write for all age groups, and then I launch into the focus of the session.”

The title of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass comes from the novel’s opening line, a message delivered by Yaqui Delgado’s lackey to Piddy Sanchez, the book’s 15-year-old protagonist. Piddy is new at the school. She has no idea who Yaqui Delgado is or why she wants to hurt her. The book, praised in the Washington Post as “richly developed” and “unflinching,” includes a harrowing example of cyber-bullying.

2013-09-17-AuthorMegMedina.jpg

YA Author Meg Medina

The child of Cuban immigrants, Medina grew up in Queens, where for two years, starting in the seventh grade, she endured the trauma of bullying. She calls that time a “fight for my dignity.” It is “the shard of experience” that inspired Yaqui Delgado.

The Issue of Censorship
Acacia O’Connor coördinates the Kids’ Right to Read Project in New York City for the National Coalition Against Censorship and its joint sponsor, the American Booksellers’ Foundation. She says that the NCAC is seeing many instances of censorship of late, particularly with respect to uses of profanity. “We work on a new case about once a week,” she says. “Since August 1st of this year, ten new challenges or issues involving schools and libraries have come to our attention.” O’Connor recently wrote about Medina’s situation on the NCAC blog:

At the heart of [cancellations such as Medina’s] lies the belief that we can clean up the world by erasing the parts some people dislike.

O’Connor says that author Judy Blume, a NCAC board member, brought the Medina-Cumberland County Schools issue to her attention, calling Blume a “guardian angel” to YA authors who are going through these controversies.

“I think it’s regrettable that there has been so much lead-up and enthusiasm surrounding [Medina’s] talk,” says O’Connor, “especially with her expertise and familiarity with the topic of bullying. It’s unfortunate that students won’t be able to hear her wonderful message because of a misunderstanding over the use of a particular … word.”

A Bullying Expert Weighs In
Dr. Dewey Cornell, a forensic clinical psychologist and Bunker Professor of Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, is a national expert on bullying. He directs the Youth Violence Project at UVA and serves as a program director of Youth-Nex, the university’s Center to Promote Effective Youth Development. He first met Meg Medina when he was asked to comment on her book as part of a panel for the Virginia Festival of the Book.

“One of the biggest barriers to helping victims of bullying is their reluctance to seek help,” says Cornell–a reluctance born out of fear. “Adults are often blind to the presence of bullying, and our bullying prevention programs often fail to reach students who are in trouble. Medina’s book is a terrific illustration of these problems and has the potential to reach young people who need assistance and otherwise would not receive it.”

Cornell understands that the wording of Medina’s title might be troubling to some parents and teachers, but he hopes that they won’t judge the book by its cover–that they will take the time to read it. “I think [the title] reflects the reality of how many young people speak to one another.” He calls Medina’s book “a good source of insight” for parents and teachers who might not appreciate the way that bullying pervades youth culture, or how limited prevention programs can be.

Praise from Reviewers
In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called Yaqui Delgado “a nuanced, heart-wrenching and ultimately empowering story about bullying.”

School Library Journal even had a word to say about the book’s cover in its starred review:

Lots of action with a realistic setting, dialogue, relationships, problems, and solutions make this book a winner. The cover–a blue locker with graffiti for the title–will attract reluctant readers. The content will keep them reading to the end and wanting more.

Judging a Book by its Cover
The book’s cover, however, was what Cumberland County school officials were judging. That, and a promotional trailer.

Requests for an interview with Dr. Amy Griffin, Cumberland County Superintendent of Schools, went unanswered. Her only on-the-record comments appear in Richmond Magazine’s blog and a statement that she sent to Richmond television station WRIC, in which Griffin notes concern about the title of Medina’s book and “inappropriate language” used in the promotional trailer.

In the Richmond Magazine blog, Griffin is quoted as saying: “[Medina’s book] really more to me seemed to address high school and inner city.”

One final, tragic note: On September 13, four days before Medina would have given her presentation at Cumberland Middle School, the New York Times reported on yet another bullying-related suicide. Students had relentlessly taunted and cyber-bullied Rebecca Sedwick, urging her to kill herself. She did as they suggested, jumping to her death from a platform at a cement factory. Rebecca was 12 years old. She lived in Lakeland, Florida. She was in middle school, as were her tormentors.

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FitBit Fits the Bill, I’ll Fit in New Dress

19 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by themidlifesecondwife in Product Reviews, The Healthy Life

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Dieting, Digest Diet, exercise, FitBit, FitBit One, Verizon Wireless, Weight loss

(Sung to the Cheers theme song: Where every electronic device knows your name...)

Just one of the ways the FitBit One greets me after I’ve been away.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Boomer Voices program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

You have to love an electronic device that cares enough to remember your name. And you know the relationship is promising when it strives to keep you motivated throughout your weight-loss program without barking like a drill sergeant or Jillian Michaels. For two weeks this month, I’ve dated—er, tested—the FitBit One, an adorable, unassuming little device, no bigger than an eraser, but with the brains of a computer and the heart of a personal trainer who really wants you to do well.

MorgueFile image

If only an eraser could make those pounds and all that cellulite vanish! —MorgueFile image

My son is getting married in a month. If there’s to be room for the mother of the groom in the dress that I bought, I should lose at least ten pounds before the wedding. As of this writing, I’ve lost six, and I have two trusty tools in my arsenal to thank for this success: the Digest Diet, a variation of which I’ve gone back on (you can read about my earlier success on the diet here) and the FitBit One.

I discovered the FitBit One when I went to Chicago this summer as a guest of Verizon Wireless and the Verizon Boomer Voices program. I assumed we’d be talking about phones, but that was just the half of it. The good people at Verizon Wireless and Motorola trained us not only on the DROID RAZR MAXX HD, but also on the FitBit One. We learned about other Verizon Wireless devices, too, but that’s another story.

You’ve no doubt heard that the path to great health is walking 10,000 steps each day. Well, FitBit has heard about that, too. Any day that you reach that goal (and I reached it…once), FitBit’s screen lights up with a sort of “atta girl!” message.

FitBit is more than a glorified pedometer, though. It tracks how many calories you burn each day and how many flights of stairs you climb. It also translates the number of steps walked into number of miles traveled. It’s genius, however, is in its ability to sync wirelessly with select computers and mobile devices—Mac or PC.

ShotofSyncScreenI downloaded the free FitBit APPs for my iPhone, my iPad, and the DROID I’m still testing. Control central, however, is my laptop, which I’m on every morning. There’s a mysterious little device that comes with the FitBit called a “Dongle.” Don’t ask. You plug that into your computer’s USB port, place your FitBit next to it, and it begins to sync. Once finished, you’re directed to log on to the account you’ve set up on FitBit.com. Check your tallies for the day, and you’ll see your stats appear on the site. Place your FitBit next to your mobile device, and it automatically syncs without your having to lift a finger.

There are bits of data you need to record manually. FitBit is not equipped—not yet, anyway—to miraculously determine what food you’ve eaten, how much of it, or when. But if you’re dieting you’re likely to keep a food log anyway; simply use the food log on the FitBit site. The calories are already programmed for many of the foods you are likely to eat, just enter your portions. Unusual items, like homemade, recipe-specific meals (the foods I prepare for the Digest Diet, for example), must be entered manually, but once you’ve done so they’re saved in your list of foods. Simply start typing to enter and the site’s predictive text brings it right up. Click and your entry is logged.

You can also record such activities as swimming, running, and other forms of exercise. And of course, each morning after you’ve weighed yourself, enter that, too.

Finally, if you’ve ever wondered whether you’re really getting a good night’s sleep, FitBit can tell you. Place it in the wristband that came with it, put it on the wrist of your non-dominant hand, and while you are sleeping, the FitBit records how many times you wake up and how long you’ve slumbered, gauging the efficiency of your sleep. It can even wake you up, if you like. And gently. Just set the alarm.

Since a wedding is prompting me to focus on my weight loss and overall physical health, I propose another perfect union: Digest Diet and FitBit should get married. The two together are simply awesome. (And it would be nice to have my favorite Digest Diet recipes already loaded into the device’s algorithms.)

Now that would be a perfect match.

The FitBit One retails for $99.99 and includes a rechargeable battery. Use of the FitBit website is free, but if you want to participate in FitBit Benchmark, an interactive tool that gives you access to the entire FitBit database, allowing you to track your progress against that of other users, you need to pay an annual premium membership fee of $49.99.

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