UPDATE: In my haste, I left off some names. This list may or may not grow. Thanks for all the kind words! If anyone understands positive reinforcement, it’s a mother.
Just want to shout out to some of the cool moms I’ve met on my blogging journey. In no particular order…
A combined effort between Frugal Dad, Parent Hacks, and StumbleUpon users helped drive a tremendous traffic surge to my recent post on How to Prepare for a Baby’s Arrival on a Budget. As a result of this one surge, regular daily traffic and RSS subscriptions are on an upward trend.
Heather at Geek Mom Mashup was kind enough to provide a guest post last week. I enjoyed the entire process of asking, receiving, and doing the graphic illustration for it. I also got some fresh eyeballs on me. After moderating a few comments, I realized that I never actually made an official glossary entry (or a glossary for that matter) for “hapa.” A hapa is someone who is of partial Asian descent.
It’s also nice to see some unsolicited links from My Mama Drama and Found Not Lost. Thanks!
Some of you may have noticed my posting frequency has increased lately. I even had time to help out Renee and write a post over there. 50 hours suddenly opened up in my schedule each week. The full time job turned out to be a temporary thing.
David Hobby, photojournalist turned blogger, was the final boot-to-butt convergence that turned me into a blogger. I’ve become more of a photojournalist than I thought I would. It became obvious to me at the babywearing meeting. I took some photos, but I wish I took more photos and better photos.
I found a great ebook called Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive. It’s actually a great Web 2.0 primer. Journalism 2.0 and Web 2.0 are inextricably linked. Some might argue that they are one. There’s always something to learn. I’m up to about Web 1.76 now. I may never become a full 2.0 since I’m on instant messenger about 4 hours per year.
Download it. It’s totally worth reading if you’re a blogger, or just want to shore up on Web 2.0.
Subscribe to my RSS Feed!
The following is a guest post from Heather Weaver, a.k.a. “Geek Mom.”
Growing up “hapa” in the Midwestern United States in the 70s and 80s was not much different than growing up white, I think… I spent my youth in the macaroni and cheese, potato salad, extra-mild salsa part of the country. We ate Japanese food frequently, but I figured that was pretty normal.
As a half-Japanese girl who looked more Caucasian than Japanese, most people couldn’t really tell I was hapa, unless they knew my family, or happened to see my middle name, Midori.
I think that was a unique situation to be in. I didn’t really look any different, so I was perceived as white by strangers. Unlike my father, who is Japanese — and looks Japanese — people did not usually judge me by my ethnicity.
Although he does not talk about his experiences with discrimination much, I know that my dad has dealt with it throughout his life. As a young boy, he spent World War 2 in an internment camp with his family. His little brother, my uncle, was born in that camp in Arizona. It really wasn’t that long ago, if you think about it. My dad is only 67 years old.
My father’s experience is in stark contrast with my own. I have had the power of disclosing my ethnicity by choice, most of the time. It’s not that I’m ashamed of being hapa, or afraid of being recognized as such. I love my Japanese heritage! It’s just that since most people can’t tell, it’s usually up to me to decide who finds out, and when. Kind of like a superhero with a secret identity — I’m Hapa Girl!
Okay, so that’s kind of silly. But when I stop and think about easy my life has been, compared to the way my father grew up, I feel so lucky to be hapa. It has really been a blessing of the “best of both worlds.” I’m not sure how to express it without sounding corny or trite. I’m truly happy to be hapa!
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I wanted to get a first-hand perspective from another hapa, so I called upon Heather (a.ka. Geek Mom) for some help. The only other hapa I know isn’t much of a computer user. However, she has managed to type, “34kldflkj4toicv dsf09u4 tljkvda” and things like that.
You can find more of Heather’s writing at her blogs, Geek Mom Mashup and Sugar and Sweets. As if she doesn’t have her hands full enough with 3 children, 2 blogs, a husband, and an internet addiction, she blogs at Posh Mama and finds a spare moment to make unique hand-made gifts.
Monday is usually the day to talk about diversity and race. We just finished up a busy weekend which had us out Friday, Saturday and Sunday where we gave our support to some of our closest friends. We need all the time we can get, but to give some to those who would do the same for us.
No, Geek Mom is not a close friend. She is a recent discovery in the blogosphere, thanks to Entre Card. Today, Monday, February 25th, 2008, Geek Mom’s ad is running on my Entre Card Widget.
In the spirit of support, I urge you to take a look at Geek Mom’s bloggerrific site. She is about all things Web 2.0, arts and crafts, being addicted to the Wii, and a fellow Mac user. Monday is the right day to talk up Geek Mom after all. She is half Japanese. Half Asian people totally rock. That opinion comes from personal bias. My daughter is half Asian and she totally rocks. 
