I hope you all had a restful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend time with family in Amish farm country. We enjoyed all of the usual holiday dishes: a perfectly juicy turkey, mashed potatoes, yams with brown sugar, pineapple casserole, cranberry orange relish, and more. Everything was perfect. But, for all of its perfection, Thanksgiving dinner does not win my esteem as Most Valuable Food Contribution of the holiday. That award goes to the Batter Blaster.<< MORE >>

Quite a lot of time has passed since my last post, mostly because I have been focusing on my To Do List items that went unaddressed during the run-up to the presidential election! It was quite exciting, though I am happy that it is finished. In the final days of October, I would << MORE >>

        

Well, I have finally taken a big social plunge and have signed up for a MySpace page. A friend of mine (and regular commenter... thanks GK!) posted a blog of her own in that Social Network and I want to read it. So, as for so many other Web sites, one has to join to play.

I was filled with apprehension while signing up, as though at any moment, random chat boxes would pop up on my screen with strangers asking me to buy drugs or porn. Although the rather large ads were risque, my fears went unfounded. The only odd thing that happened was that I immediately had a "friend" named Tom and was innundated with his photo and blog updates. Apparently, Tom works for the company and he has the job of becomming everyone's first MySpace friend.

Before long I figured out how to turn Tom off, as well as how to customize my blog page and info settings. Never fear, subscribers... This will remain my main blog site. For now, I have posted my July column about Tycoon Gaming over in MySpace, just to get the ball rolling over there and see what it's all about.

A blog called Tech Radar has some interesting data points about MySpace and competitor Facebook. According to the site (which needs an editor!!), MySpace claims more than 110 million monthly users. Facebook trails behind at 60 million per month, but shows signs of growth.

That is an incredible number of people! Maybe some of you have accounts with MySpace, Facebook, or a similar social network. Tell me: What do you use it for?

        

I'm sure you're all getting tired of campaign-related posts (actually, I am too, I just can't seem to get away from it yet...). This one at least is a video, rather than a lot of text to read!

Video: "I'm Voting Republican"

        

Pollsters are saying that most women are excited about the prospect of Sarah Palin in the White House. I don't know who they're talking to, but it certainly isn't me. If it isn't you either, then I have a bumper sticker for you! I have just ordered some Obama '08 campaign stuff, including buttons and bumper stickers. If you're interested in one, let me know and I will put one aside for you (first come, first served).

If you'd like to order your own, go to http://store.barackobama.com/. They even have designer-created T-shirts. Althought, I must admit that the basic rising-sun over waving stripes logo is pretty cool on its own.

        

Today I remembered a great game to play with your kids that costs no money, requires no parts, and can be adapted for any age from about two until they won't play with you anymore. I am not sure exactly what to call it because much depends on your adaptation. Some have called it "I Spy," others "20 Questions."

The most basic version was described simply by Professor Savant in The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards: "Every walk that we take from now on, every place that we go ... I want you to tell ...

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My friend Courtney sent the following to me via e-mail and gave me her permission to share it with all of you. A fellow Gen-X Suburbanite Mom, Courtney shows that althought we may not have time to digest everything the media can throw at us, we will not be swayed by simple sound bites. Life is just not that simple. Although I may not agree with all of Courtney's points, I applaud her intelligent organization of them and hope you will take a moment to read them. --Allison<< MORE >>

National Public Radio has a blog page where readers/listeners can write in questions that they would like Sarah Palin to answer. The list is long, and none is favorable. My favorite is from PC Howse, who appears to live outside of Philadelphia: << MORE >>

Okay, everyone has rushed to weigh in on Senator John McCain's controversial and unexpected pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate. Now, it's my turn. After all, I am a white, married mother of two residing in an upper-middle-class suburban neighborhood. The Republicans love my demographic and courted us hotly in 2004 with tales of how our children would be bombed at the mall by terrorists if we did not re-elect Bush and Cheney. Since Bush/Cheney & Co. were re-elected, playing to moms must work, right? So, here comes Mrs. Palin....<< MORE >>