August 1, 2004
I've been so busy with my soap-box ranting lately that I haven't even had a chance to write about the Mama Gathering that I attended in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. Mama Gathering is more or less a conference where bunch of moms get together to share ideas. As you might guess, the Mama Gathering offers workshops on parenting issues, but there were also writing workshops, workshops on activism, and even one all about sex toys. Mama Gathering is open to all mamas, but let's just say that most of the mamas at this conference were not exactly straight out of the pages of Parenting Magazine. Sure, there were some 30-ish, married mamas there. However, some of mamas there were not even of legal drinking age, and there were plenty of mamas whose definition of family didn't include a marriage licence. Tattoos were in abundance, the babies were in slings, and public breastfeeding was rampant. I don't think I saw a single piece of meat consumed the entire weekend. It was a fun event, and nobody seemed to mind that I'm tattoo-less and like a good burger now and then. I'd like to rally a contingent of Lawrence mamas for next year.As a writer, the best part of the gathering for me was meeting so many other mamas who have writing projects in the works. I wish I could tell you about every single writer and publication I encountered at the gathering, but I have included a partial list to get you started. Support your fellow mamas and get yourself some good reading!ZINES! Zines are independently published magazines that are typically distributed by the author and promoted by word of mouth. Ayun Halliday's The East Villiage Inky is probably the most famous "mama zine", but there plenty are of other mamas putting out good stuff . The gathering was full of mama zinesters who stay up after their kids go to bed to produce these labors of love. I discovered one that I like that is written by a woman in Appleton, WI called Ma Generation. Most of the other zine mamas I met are on Mamaphonic, a website dedicated to artist mamas, which has a mama zine scene forum.Trula Breckenridge runs a company called Mama Specific Productions that specializes in books, zines, and videos for mothers and children. She has also written a series of parenting books that includes books about raising black and multi-racial children as well as a book about raising vegetarian kids. She led one of my workshops and her laid back sense of humor made me fall in love with her. New Moon Magazine has been around for awhile. It's an ad-free tween girl magazine that actually has young girls on its editorial board. I can only hope that my girls will discover this magazine before they discover Cosmo Girl.If you have a mini activist in your household, you may want to check-out Anne Elizabeth Moore's "Hey Kidz! Buy This Book: A Radical Primer on Corporate and Governmental Propaganda and Artistic Activism for Short People." Moore leads workshops in conjunction with this book and actually did one at The Reading Reptile in Kansas City a few weeks ago. (Sorry I dropped the ball on that one)There's so much more I want to plug, but I guess you'll just have to go to Mama Gathering 2005 to get the full scoop.BREASTFEEDING UPDATE Check out Joel Mathis's article on the proposed breastfeeding ordinance in the [Journal World ][1]. Now that this story has been covered in the paper it would be more than appropriate for anyone with an opinion on the issue to write a letter to the editor. I'll get another blog going on this issue once a breastfeeding ordinance is officially on a city commission agenda. [1]: http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/177334
Comments
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says...
What? I don't get a personal shout-out for writing the story?
August 2, 2004 at 5:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
Joel, don't get me wrong, I am happy that nearly three months after I brought it to the paper's attention, this issue is finally getting some press. But it *is* breaking news on your beat. I hope the small edit I made will make you feel appreciated.
August 2, 2004 at 6:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
amylou (anonymous) says...
Joel-
It's Amy here. Thanks for doing the story, and I'm VERY glad to see it made it to the front page. Fox 4 news was in town today and tried to get ahold of me but I just got their message so watch the news tonight, I'm calling them now. Back to the story...it had some good points, however, it was in NO WAY a "stranger" who approached me, it was a HEALTH CLUB EMPLOYEE who worked in the nursery. And it was NOT that incident in particular that compelled me to write the legislators, it was the degrading and humiliating response I got from the owner of LAC, Rick Sells, shaming me for "exposing" myself and not thinking of other's feelings. The option of using the bathroom Rick gave me also didn't help. I think those are crucial things to omit, and I plan on writing a letter to the editor. Hopefully they will print it, unless you can do a follow up????
Amy
August 2, 2004 at 8:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Count me in for next year! And wish me luck--my large-headed monster is being induced tomorrow morning at 7. I didn't really want an induction, but I want a C-section even less, and with a head diameter at 9.5 centimeters at 39 weeks, I think this may be the best route. Not looking forward to the Pitocin, though. . . .
August 3, 2004 at 4:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Oh, and I found this while reading another article linked on Fark. THAT didn't take long!!
http://www.nbc13.com/family/3609622/d...
August 3, 2004 at 4:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
edie_ (anonymous) says...
Good luck mitzibel! Hope the best for you.
August 3, 2004 at 5:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
We can compare induction stories on the other side. Just be prepared for it to take a little while. Good luck and enjoy your last night of sleep!
August 3, 2004 at 9:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leslie (Leslie vonHolten) says...
So I was thinking this morning about Kobach winning the primary...
A woman called into the Walt Bodine show on KCUR last week and said she had been a life-long registered Democrat, but she became very worried about the ultra-right religious conservatives winning so much in Johnson Co. She changed her registration to Republican so she could vote for the Moderate Conservative to be on the ballot. Then, obviously, she can still vote Dem in the election.
This could at least help keep Kansas legislation a little more moderate. I thought it was a clever approach. Just thought I'd share.
August 11, 2004 at 7:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
I mentioned that trend on the Yellow Dog's last blog, just before the Rush thing, and now you did the same thing just as I posted something new. I guess that's fate telling us to keep it a secret. My dad and his wife do this, although I think their approach may be to vote in the total whack jobs that have no chance of beating the dems, thus getting more dems in office.
August 11, 2004 at 10:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )