The More I Learn...

the less I know.

Cliched but true.

I've been working on my entries for my Safety blog at families.com and every thing I've researched for this has left me with more questions.

I was working on a bit about plant safety with regard to holiday decorating, you know, mistletoe, poinsettia, stuff like that. I did one today about how to fit a bike helmet.

What I knew (ha!):

poinsettias are poisonous
so is mistletoe
helmets are a good thing

What I know now:

Poinsettias are harmless. Apparently the scientific/medical/poison control folks have know this for about 25 years.

Mistletoe is variable. First, different varieties have different toxicity levels. I'm a doofus, I had no idea there are different varieties. Second, do not try to find a straight answer on the internet. I found a ton of stuff to confirm what I 'knew'. I also found a bunch of sites, including that of the US Forest Service, saying it was only mildly toxic. So, trying to be a responsible journalist-type person I was ambivalent in my blog, mentioned both opinions and told people to consult a source they trust for a final answer (poison control, pediatrician, veterinarian, etc.)

Bicycle helmets as they are currently designed are virtually useless. Only a few studies have been done on the topic and most groups/sites with an opinion in favor use the same data. Data which is apparently suspect and skewed to give the results those performing the study wanted. I know, I know, every study is skewed, statistics are the least reliable thing in the world since the data is wide open for interpretation.

Among other things I learned:

-Vents/holes in a helmet to prevent overheating are a mistake. They reduce the amount of surface area available to spread the impact over if you fall.

-A helmet that provides the kind of protection people THINK they get with the current design would be as big as a full-head motorcycle helmet and reduce the rider's ability to see the area around herself to the point where they'd still be unsafe. They'd also be so large and bulky no one would buy them

-Most cyclists, true buffs, hate the helmet 'myth' as they call it. As an avid biker (heh) in my youth I can relate. I hate the idea of my child falling off a bike onto her head, but I also hate that helmet laws require me to deprive her of the feeling of the wind rushing through your hair as you race down a hill you busted your ass to get to the top of.

-There is no good answer on this one, a bike is transportation with its attendant risks and rewards.

-I am truly scared by the fact that legislation in most states in this country has been based on the studies mentioned above. I mean, with what I've learned in the past 36 hours I now have to wonder how many other laws for our protection, and that of our children, are based on suspect studies? HOW do we fix this so it doesn't happen again? I don't think we can, since scientists who do studies need money, and everyone who gives them money has an agenda; hell, the scientists have an agenda.

This lil blog gig is going to prove very educational, methinks.

Massive Update

MomWriters(tm):

I'm still a member. Still a member of my subgroup (for creative nonfiction writers) but since our moderator/leader left I dunno if that's gonna go anywhere anymore. Fortunately she went to The Writing Mother (hereafter TWM) splinter and reformed the CNF subgroup there, so now I'm a member of both.

The MW listowner, after lots of debate on various blogs, private emails to the listowner, and someone (apparently) feeding the listowner negative posts from the new TWM group, decided to cancel the whole fee thing, or at least backburner it for a while. I'm intrigued, since that particular group still has 1400+ members, but the most vocal 100 or so have left altogether or are members of both and the new one seems to be getting more of their attention. Hopefully this will mean a fresh new voice for MW, since some of the less active members who have stayed are coming out to play now that the group is unmoderated.

Both groups should be interesting, I just have to remember to go set all my groups to Digest since the email volume is killing me. I start reading email at 9am and don't finish til after 11am.

NANO 2005:

I never broke 10K words. I spent a lot of time kicking myself for this since I really did want to make it.

This is where the part of me that is a pure Virgo anal-retentive planning type kicks in. I signed up for NaNo on November 1st, just to try it since I've been hearing about it for years. I also signed up with no clear story in mind, having done no research, nothing but a bare bones beginning and nowhere to go from there. That might work for flash or shorts, but I think, for me, to do a novel-length project I need an outline and a plan (someone wanna buy me a clue?).

Then there's the issue that I don't think I have a fiction novel-length caliber idea, yet. Lots of bits and pieces floating 'round, but nothing that I think can be coherent for that long just yet. Fortunately I have 10 1/2 months to plan for the next NaNo ;-)

Families.com:

Yea, you're here, so you know I'm a blogger. Now, as of today, in fact, when the site went live I'm a paid blogger.

I'm one of two co-bloggers for families.com's Safety topic area. You can check out my ranting about the trials and tribs of ornament hooks here.

IVAA:

After a bit of thought I've decided to drop my IVAA membership when I comes up for renewal in January 2006. They are a great organization, have some pretty good resources for their members, but aren't a good fit for me even though they do have a number of writers/editors as members.

Their focus is more support and admin. They have members who do practically everything, very diverse, but the core of the organization is off-site admin work and I don't want to do that. If I ever go back to doing someone else's typing/filing/writing without credit it's at least going to be someplace with benefits and paid time off.

I'm also trying to play down the virtual assistant angle. I don't want to completely drop it, yet, since my domain is inkthinkVA.com. inkthink.com is owned so I was trying to come up with a variant since I'd (A) already filed the DBA, and (B) love the name of my business. So, I'm investigating new domain variants and may be moving my site next year.



Wow. I thought I had more to update than that. I must be confusing my blogs now that I am (OMG how did it get this bad!?!??!) up to six of them. Ok, five since myspace ate my first post and annoyed me and I've flat refused to attempt to navigate their hideous site/interface since.

Anywho... Got three more blogs to update tonight so I'm outta here!

Thar She Blows!

I joined a LOT of new (to me) listservs when I opened up shop this year. One of them was a group called MomWriters(TM). It's a HUGE group, but nice in that it was just what it said it was, a group of women (99 1/2% or so) who were all on a level field because they were moms and writers, published, unpublished, didn't matter. We talked about writing, submitting, mined the 1500 or so member list for sources for articles and stories; we talked about kids, discipline, childhood illness, mom-stuff.

At the beginning of this month the listserv exploded when the list owner decided to make membership a privilege (sorry AmEx) and announced there will be a membership fee beginning in January 2006. Hmmm...

I've been in a quandary since. I enjoy the heck out of the group, have been happy to offer what experiences or insights I can to those needing sources, and did a little freebie proofing that led to one of the testimonials on my website. So, while I wasn't getting a whole LOT out of the group besides another excuse to avoid writing cuz I had all this email to read, I was getting something.

Is it worth $60/year? Hmmm... I've been on the fence, since I wasn't getting just tons out of it, and had just decided to drop my IVAA membership when it comes up for renewal in January for that very reason.

I'm a subscriber to Freelance Daily, a writing gigs lead list that is delivered to my inbox 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year (excluding holidays) and that one costs HALF what MomWriters(TM) wants for a year of email.

Thanks to a fellow member posting a note on my personal blog I've gone ahead and joined the first big splinter group, The Writing Mother, but have not yet decided what to do about the other. I'll stick with it until they kick me out in January, if it comes to that, since it seems as though most of the resources of the main list are moving to TWM...

Need to go take the MomWriter(TM) membership reference off my website now...