My New Gig Rude Cactus Our writer — and top notch photographer — gets a new job but faces having to “choose between caring for our daughter and earning a second income.” They gave up the second income. This causes the writer to reflect on the U.S. standing on maternity leave – 12 weeks – versus what some other countries offer.

We’re the most prosperous country in the world. We claim to value our self-determination and our children above all else. And yet we’re having a hard time competing with maternity leave minimums handed out by third world countries.

What does to ‘live one’s life to the fullest’ mean anyway? Does it mean to have ecstatic fun, to drink and take drugs until the doctor comes and goes again, to have sex with as many different people as you can (at the same time or in sequence), to make and spend as much as you can?

After an early morning breakfast in Georgetown my lovely lady friend and I popped in to Bartleby’s Books.

While purusing “first editions, rare and antiquarian books and ephemera with emphasis on American History, and Law as well as a good general stock of literature, poetry, the arts, hunting and fishing, travel, books on books, and other histories from ancient to modern” I saw him again…

…I have never in my life been so turned off that I am going to not vote for either of these two candidates and I am not sure what I am going to do. The television ads, radio spots, and general campaigns have been a mess (there are ads running comparing Kaine to Hitler). I can tell you that at least 50% of my friends feel the exact same way as I do today and have been turned off to this election.

This blog, dcblogs, started as a collection of notes of work that struck me as either interesting, amusing, thoughtful or just good reads. It does not attempt to be a “best of,” an impossibility in any case. What I try to do is help people discover blogs specific to DC metro. That’s it. While tempted to aim volleys at bloggers who are off-the-chart, ignoring the obvious messes is best. This isn’t Swiss. The so-called blog war, which didn’t register on the pulse-o-meter of 99% of DC blogs, was for any outsider an obvious and incomprehensible embarrassment for all involved, especially the shameful blog that ridicules the Cleveland Park Men’s Club. So CPMC apparently pulls the plug. I liked what these gentlemen did and attempted to do; they created a concept, splashed color, humor, wit and their own idea of taste and manner and wrapped it up into an often entertaining package. It quickly became one of the more popular sites. All blogs run their course, CPMC and in time this one as well; people move on. I wish them well.

(An important note: The CPMC site went offline Saturday, and a message was posted Sunday on the site announcing its end. But something doesn’t seem right. The links and standing text on CPMC’s site have been change. There are any number of explanations for this including a hacking. Exactly what has happened is unclear.)

Also noted The Iman book signing at Borders was a bit of mess. gay men took over, elbowing and crowding us women to get to the front … From Wanderings in DC. Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bridezilla. Great read. From Heart Tribute Band Super Fan Page. Advice I should follow: Attention, practitioners of the American English language: Can we please stop using the word “over” … From Adventures Into the Well-Known. Candy Jar Whodunnit: I work with some evil evil people. From It really is just a blog in my pocket. Forty is the new 20: On November 1st, I turn 40. From Church of the Big Sky Man shopping, no scarcasm, no date. Pursuing men on these websites is like shopping for an MP3 player on Overstock.com. From Ah Bugger

This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2005 at 2:07 pm and is filed under DC Blogs Noted. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.