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Friday, August 31, 2007

Friday Blog Roundup

As I say at the start of my new blogroll list, perhaps I am dumber than a napkin, but I never understood how one efficiently created a blogroll list that others could link to and use from their own blog. And then I figured it out so without further ado:

The Stirrup Queen's Completely Anal List of Blogs That Proves That She Really Missed Her Calling as a Personal Organizer

Go on, click over for a second and look at it and then come back. Cool, huh? So it's all the goodness of my sidebar in a single post that will be continually updated as I add blogs or move others around. There are about 800 blogs on the list. I have a link to the list at the top of my sidebar too (glance on over to the top of the sidebar on the right...see?) So feel free to link to the list and if you can't fit my extended title (see above) on your sidebar, you can (sigh...) shorten it to The Stirrup Queen's List of Blogs (but where is the fun in that?). And if you're not on the list (use the find feature on your browser's tool bar), send me an email (thetowncriers@gmail.com) or leave a comment so I can add you.

Next, an ode to Bea for my jury prize for the IIFF. She sent me a bottle of Alchemy Cordial's Love for our film Mother Earth's Flower Shop. I would have never attempted to make a film if not for Bea who encouraged me to join in for the first festival. Since Alchemy Cordials is in Brisbane, I have decided to serenade Bea with this song that we sang when we were little. I have since learned that it was supposed to be Belfast City or another Irish location, but when I first heard it, I knew it as Brisbane City. So imagine this sung instead of flat words on a page while I hold up a huge "thank you" sign:


I'll tell me Ma when I get home
The boys won't leave the girls along
They pull my hair and steal my comb
But that's all right 'till I get home
She is fine and she is pretty
She is the queen of Brisbane City
She is courting one, two, three
Hey, won't you tell me, who is he?

She is most definitely courting one. But will it be twins or...triplets? Please also go over and wish Bea congratulations if you haven't already for her positive beta.

Next up: the first challenge for Come On Get Happy (there will be at least four other activities coming up that will make you happy, damn it! You will be fucking happy by the time I'm done with you!) starts tomorrow--Saturday. It is really never too late to join, though it's obviously best to start doing your task at the beginning of the month since you're supposed to try the ritual for a full month before deciding if it works or not to make you happier. But if you read about it and were feeling shy, please don't be. Join along, give support and encouragement to other people on the list, and definitely check back on September 30th when everyone will post how their ritual turned out. I will post reminders on Fridays to add something to the blog post you are keeping in your draft folder.

Two other noteworthy ideas floating in the blogosphere this week:

Lori at Weebles Wobblog has started a Limerick Chicks contest that absolutely rocks. There are three rules: (1) write a limerick (think Hickory Dickory Dock if you don't know the form). (2) use the name or blog name of another person in the blogosphere and link to their blog in your poem (see, that's where it gets really cool). (3) no mentionings of Nantucket. The fine details are on her blog. Please join along--I will be working on some this weekend since the due date is September 5 (Wednesday).


And though it was also in the Lost and Found, I think it bears repeating. D Marie at Bella Vida has graciously offered 100 free bracelets of Infertility's Common Thread to the first takers. This project also spreads Common Thread awareness because people who get the free bracelet are asked to add the icon to their blog along with a link back to the original Infertility's Common Thread post. If you don't blog, you can add the link to your email signature. So not only is she crafty (in the artistic sense), but she's an activist too. Even if you already have your bracelet, spread the word about D Marie's project because more people can join along. Twice this week I read stories on bulletin boards (yes, I still visit IVF Connections and Resolve) about a person finding a fellow stirrup queen due to the fact that they were both wearing the thread. How cool is that? I'm waiting for that to happen to me. The best I've gotten so far is someone (who wasn't wearing the bracelet) pointing to my bracelet and saying, "oh, you also read Stirrup Queens!" Um...

Wow...a lot of stuff this Friday. And now, let's get down to the blogs because there are many links there too. I'll try to keep my descriptions on the brief side though sometimes a chickie just has to gush.

This first post took my breath away and it stuck with me all weekend. Carole at The Journey From Here wrote about the night before she went to the hospital to deliver the son she knew would die after birth. Her other children came into their bed and it was the last night the five were together as a family. She stayed up the whole night talking to him. It is impossible to get through this post without cry. It is important not to walk away from it without reading.

A day late on my end (so sue me), but I loved this post at Twisted Ovaries. It's about wanting what other people have. Coveting their place in life. As she says, it transcends the idea of keeping up with the Joneses. It's not about getting a better version, it's about life being so painful where you are that you wish you could be somewhere else. And there is never a stopping point. It's all a matter of point of view. When she wasn't pregnant, 30 weeks along sounded like a great place to be. Now that she's 30 weeks along, the viewpoint has changed. It's a really interesting post.

Electric Lady at City Girl Tales has a post about what it's like being in a different space yet still being tied to infertility. She writes: "I understand it, but I don't feel it the way I used to. I still consider myself infertile, but let's face it--I've got the prize. I have what I wanted for so long, and so for the most part, the wounds of infertility have healed." Yet she was still moved to tears by Kellie Coffey's video. It's a wonderful point-of-view.

Only Julie at A Little Pregnant could make me laugh and cry and gasp and sniffle through one entry. Her posts about her father's death have touched me beyond belief. Losing someone I love--my worst fear. And yet she is able through her words to take you right to the edge and look over without allowing you to fall. And this line made me want to drive up to New England and hug her: "What our bodies can't do is not who we are."

Barely Sane at Infertility Licks has a beautiful post called "Grandma J." It is about sending an email and photos to the birthmother of her child. The emails go through the birthmother's mother and this time, the grandmother wrote back immediately and signed the email "Grandma J." Barely Sane writes: "And it brought a tear to my eye. Because she IS her grandma and for the first time ever, she has allowed me to glimpse that in her heart, SP will always be her grandchild. And I'm glad." Gorgeous.

Frenchie, otherwise known as Miss Inconceivability, has a great post about two paths. Her first child came into the family through adoption and right now she is wondering how to go about bringing a second child into their life. Should they go to adoption again? Should they try fertility treatments, even though they're hardly a sure thing? It is more than just choosing a path--it's about your own personal dreams and the things you thought you'd complete during your sojourn on earth. It's a very interesting discussion--head over and jump into it.

There were two quotes I loved this week (okay, more than two, but these were two of them):

"I just have to think of the irony in that we treat our bodies like fragile, porcelain vases that could shatter if we did any of the above when TTC. And yet it takes us years to conceive, if we do at all."--Sticky Bean from this post.

"
I feel like I cannot catch a break in my head and heart right now."--Soulbliss from this post.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeew. Long Friday Blog Roundup this week.

Oh--last thing about The Stirrup Queen's Completely Anal List of Blogs that Proves That She Really Missed Her Calling as a Personal Organizer: the sidebar will always be a bit more up-to-date than the post list. I will update the post list every week or so, though I update the sidebar continuously as people add their blog or I find their blog or I move a blog. So the url for the post will never change, but the contents of the post will as new blogs are added or moved.

And that is really it. Have a wonderful weekend and scroll back up to the top of the post if you've already forgotten that you're supposed to be starting your ritual this weekend.

10 comments:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Thanks, Mel.

Can hardly wait to check out the posts that rocked your world this week.

Tigger said...

Two things:

1) I should probably be moved to the "Living Childfree after IF/Loss" section. We don't plan on doing any more treatments, so if we get pg it will definitely be a total miracle.

2) I didn't see "IVF Part2" anywhere. Perhaps I missed it? He should probably be in the "Parenting after IF" section. :)

The Goddess G said...

Mel,
Thank you so much for all that you do. You have brought a community of people together...and that is beyond awesome.

I'm in total awe of your organization skills...seriously!
~Carole

Anonymous said...

awesome list! well done!
& because I felt like it I started my happy ritual yesterday. It worked.

beagle said...

Enjoy your pink potion!

Bea said...

Thanks for the blogroll - that rocks. You rock!

Bea

kb said...

Thanks so much for all of this. It really helps a new blogger like me get the lay of the land. I never realized what a widespread, diverse, and rich community existed here! I am humbled to be in the presence of such strong, witty, and honest women. Have a great weekend!

May said...

Wow. Now *that's* a list.

dmarie said...

Who-hoo for the awesome list!

Thanks for the mention :)

Sami said...

I too had those emotions when reading Julie's blog... she got to the heart of the matter... thanks for the roundup :) I always love reading the posts that made you think...