You can go to the online version of the magazine directly at www.womensfocusmagazine.com and read the article if you like (p. 51), but here’s a picture just so you can see what it looks like. 

To illustrate, I should take a picture of the stacks of magazines I have around the house. But you can probably look around your own house and understand perfectly why I don’t want a subscription to, say, Sound and Vision magazine when all I want to do is research HDTVs before buying one, or study a few issues to see if my personal essay about the experience of buying one would be a good fit for the magazine. (Somehow I doubt it. :))

And for years I’ve complained about the lack of a subscription service that would allow me to choose the individual copies I’d like to receive that month.

Finally, someone got tired of hearing me complain. (Okay, that probably wasn’t the real reason they started the service, but I like to think I have some influence in the publishing world. Humor me.)

In September, Time Inc. will launch its Maghound service. The site looks FANTASTIC! (Join me as I squeal with delight!) They have 280 titles on board currently with a goal of reaching 400 by the end of the year.

You can read the story about it at Folio.com. Here’s the link. (Note how I didn’t quote an excerpt. How totally paranoid of me!)

http://www.foliomag.com/2008/maghound-com-set-debut-september

The Associated Press (AP) has allegedly threatened legal action against Drudge Retort - not to be confused with the site it parodies, called Drudge Report - for quoting passages of AP articles with as few as 33 words.

I’m all about not stealing someone’s copyrighted work. I’m a writer who can sell and resell articles - provided they aren’t plastered illegally all over the Net. Because what publication would want to buy them if they were available for free on some jerk’s website? That makes sense, right?

But these apparently were not stolen articles; they were excerpts from articles, properly attributed, and included links back to the AP source.

Of course, you would know a lot more about this matter (and so would I) if I could quote and link a few stories but, you know, I don’t want to get sued for it.

Oh, okay. You talked me into it, especially since Poynteronline gave me this convenient tech option called “Quick Link” for, um, linking back to their story. See AP v. Bloggers: Hurting Journalism? by Amy Gahran.

What I don’t understand is what the AP thinks it stands to gain by being ignored, which is surely what will happen - at least in the Blogosphere - if bloggers fear the legal wrath of a big news organization like the AP. We’ll simply link to other outlets, like Poynteronline for instance. (It’s called link love, you AP people.)

I’m guessing here, but I believe the number of non-journalists who regularly check the AP website is smaller than the number who read blogs. AP can only stand to benefit from increased readership by being quoted, linked and attributed on millions of blogs. Do I have that right? Or am I missing something here? Let me know what you think.

(I just Googled “Associate Press” and actually went directly to the site without following someone else’s link for the first time in I don’t know how long. And on the front page is a link to a story I find fairly ironic, called “AP and Freedom of Information.” In a bold move characteristic of renegade bloggers everywhere, I am going to link you to it. )

THIS JUST IN:

Oh well, it may be a moot point anyway. See the link at the top of Drudge Retort to “AP rethinks Drudge Retort Takedowns.”

Well, good. But the AP shouldn’t have been so short-sighted in the first place, in my little, tiny, inconsequential blogger’s opinion.

I’m not a news journalist or news blogger, even. I don’t love Drudge Retort (although the name is admirably clever and well-suited for the site’s purpose). I’m not an angry, rabid fan of the site. But that’s not the point. The point is that this issue affects me as a blogger because whether I’m providing a linked, short, properly-attributed excerpt to an AP story or Martha Stewart’s latest spicy pumpkin bread, I just don’t want to have to go to court over it.

Here’s another good article on the subject by Drudge Retort’s founder, Rogers Cadenhead.

Every day this summer, I’ve been having my daughter make a to-do list of things she needs and wants to do. It helps her stay on track, get things accomplished, and most importantly (smile) not bug me all day with suggestions like “Hey Mom, I know what we could do today. Let’s rearrange the furniture in the living room!”

The list has been working beautifully. Not only does she get writing and spelling practice, she gets to feel independent.

This morning, her list included cleaning her room. We just did a major overhaul in there so it really isn’t a big job, but if she doesn’t maintain it, it will become one.

While writing out the individual steps, we realized it was much like an article I might write. So we made it into an “official” article. I thought I would share it with you here.

How to Clean Your Room in 5 Easy Steps

1. Make the bed. This will make your room look neater almost instantly, and give you the motivation you need to complete the rest of your steps.
2. Put things away. Your toys and hair doo-hickeys will be much happier when they are in their own places.
3. Put the laundry in the hamper. Easy-peasy.
4. Dust with a slightly damp cloth. Ahh… the room is looking good!
5. Vacuum. Now you’re done and your room is beautiful!

This step-by-step method works for most rooms, by the way, and it works for grown-ups as well as it works for kids.

I read an article at http://www.housekeepingchannel.com/, a website for which I write monthly tips articles. This article by Marcia Ramsland is called, “Never Say ‘Go Clean Your Room!‘” I admit to feeling mildly put off by the title at first (because that’s exactly what I was saying), but as I read, I realized the wisdom in the advice. To a kid, “Clean your room,” is an impossible command. By contrast, “Put your Barbies in the Barbie bin,” is achievable. So the gist of the article is that you need to give kids specific, manageable tasks to complete. Not bad advice for adults, either.

Ramsland’s list varies slightly from the one my daughter and I wrote, but the principles are surprisingly similar. It’s difficult to improve on the basics.

After about an hour of hunt-and-pecking his comment into the little box, he turned to me and said, “Did you know there is a limit to how many characters they let you enter?” I had mercy on him and told him I would let him put his comments here, where there is OBVIOUSLY no character limit. (Have you seen some of my posts?)

But since it’s my blog, I think I’m entitled to get a few words in too. My comments are in brackets [] below.

All looks good. Your experience brought back fond memories of  all my early roasting ventures. [Begin dream sequence…] I started out with one brand spanking new Toastmaster popper. Half a cup of beans. 8 minutes to a dark roast,chaff everywhere in my garage and a bunch of smoke. [Not to worry - the fire department is just down the street.] Temporary sweet victory. No more Charbucks for me!

[He says to himself, he says] Wait a minute to come up with three or four pounds of coffee for a week supply [it isn’t like we have a problem or anything] is going to take a while, I’m going to need more poppers. Off to Target I went for another popper. WOW they just put them on closeout. $4.00 a piece. I bought 4. [Without consulting me.] Now I can do some serious roasting with 5 POPPERS. Being in the constrution business [much like Tim Allen] I installed 3 extra electrical circuits in my garage so I can run air compressors,saws,etc., without blowing or kicking breakers [or the dog]. Now running 3 poppers at a time all on different circuits. The other circuit i would run a fan with a colander [my colander???] on top to dump the beans in for cooling. Yes I melted all plastic tops. Also I used tin cans [I made him eat ALL of those green beans] that fit the poppers for extensions - top and bottom cut out of the cans.Some poppers re…

And that’s where the Blogger box came up saying, “Enough already. This is Web 2.0 buddy. You need to get to the point and get out of here.” The plan was that he would finish his comments, but our weekend was busy and my husband would rather roast coffee than type, so he hasn’t gotten back to it yet.

We’ll probably find time to get together and post the rest of it (it is a good bonding activity :)), but I’m not making any promises.

Um, yeah… remove the lid on the popcorn popper first. Sorry!

It’s hard to be annoyed with it for too long though, even if it is bulky and not-so-attractive. The thing makes me espressos or lattes whenever I want them, and not the way some wimpy little model from Bed, Bath and Beyond would do it.

If you ask my husband, he’ll tell you all about the bars of pressure and maybe throw in a few references to a pump. (I think it has a pump.) I like the fact that it makes his $300 coffee grinder seem like a good investment. (Oh, don’t give me that shocked look. We all pitched in for his birthday one year and FINALLY gave him something he really liked.)

And speaking of investments, guess how much money we sunk into this restaurant-grade piece of machinery? $24.99. He bought it, used and unloved, from a restaurant supply company.

That’s the only reason I didn’t kill him when he brought this home:

It also has a heated cup-warmer on the top and a hot water spigot, although I usually forget that and heat water for tea the old-fashioned way, in the microwave.

I couldn’t be happier. The AP News story reports that as a Borders Rewards Club member, I will now be able to use my rewards and coupons at the online store, which I previously couldnot do when Borders was partnered with Amazon.

But my question to Borders executives: Why am I hearing this from the AP? If I were you, I would have been splashing this across the top of the Borders Rewards e-newsletter, announcing this juicy tidbit directly to those customers who are most likely to be downright excited about the prospect. (I was always slightly annoyed with the previous arrangement. How many books didn’t I buy because I had to visit the bricks-and-mortar store, or found myself there by impulse, but couponless?)

If you did this, I missed it. Let us know: “You can now use your Borders Rewards online! And here’s a special coupon just for valued customers like you! Yada yada yada.” (The rest of the message will not be seen, because we will have already clicked the link.)

According to the AP article, analysts think the new Borders website has a long uphill climb, and that the move was somewhat risky. Even more reason, in my opinion, to target the audience that loves you best.

To read the story yourself, click here (Yahoo News) or here (Google News), whichever you prefer.

To see the new site, which by the way can finally be reached at the borders.com url - another new and smart move - click here.

 Borders, I like you. You’re the only major bookstore within 10 miles of my home. Take every advantage you can get. I promise you, it will be rewarding!

This image of the flourishing tree describes a person who thinks and lives according to God’s Word. I’ve been thinking about this tree.

When plants, trees, and other growing things (like children, for instance) thrive, they change.

A friend gave me a cutting from a beautiful houseplant she has nurtured and cared for, and which has been split over time into at least three thriving plants. I love this plant from my friend for one, because it reminds me of her friendship, but also because it reminds me that with a little diligent care and the right environment, living things grow.

And that means they must change.  In the case of houseplants, they need repotting. It’s just a normal part of life.

Sigh.

It’s bittersweet. A good thing - and yet, I’ll miss my old pot. It’s a good thing I took lots of pictures. And you have my email address. Don’t forget to write.

And please don’t be mad at me for calling you a pot.

But don’t think of this as the end. It’s really the start of something new.

We may never pass this way again, but today is the first day of the rest of our lives.

‘Tis better to have blogged every day in the month of May than to never have blogged at all.

Because I don’t want to miss a thing, and in the spirit of making new friends but keeping the old, here are all the blogathoners whose blogs I have not yet mentioned in a post this month.

Elizabeth Kricfalusi
Embrace Adventure - What do you live for? http://embraceadventure.com

Jackie Dishner
Bike with Jackie http://bikewithjackie.blogspot.com

Jen A. Miller
A blog about the goings on at the South Jersey shore http://downtheshorewithjen.blogspot.com

Leah Ingram
The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal) http://suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com/

Marijke Durning
Marijke: nurse turned writer http://medhealthwriter.blogspot.com

Meredith Resnick
I’m Too Young to be a Woman this Old http://agething.blogspot.com

Roxanne Hawn
Champion of My Heart: True tales, brags, and whines about my life with a rescued border collie named Lilly http://championofmyheart.com
 
Trish Lawrence
What Came Down Today http://www.real-brilliant.blogspot.com/
Happy Trails!! Don’t stay gone too long! I’ll leave a light on for you!