Last night our house guests sat at the kitchen table trying to check themselves in for their early morning flight. Everything went fine until they got to the seat selection phase. These four travelers found exactly one seat available on the plane. One. This is crazy, of course, but overbooking isn't' exactly new. We made all kinds of jokes about who had to be back at work first, but ultimately, the only thing to do was to leave it until they arrived at the airport at five this morning.

And now for the footnote: I heard about some online tools that help with citations, bibliographies, and other research helps. One was Zotero. Zotero is a Firefox 3 plugin that helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. I installed it and gave it a whirl. Easy. I also tried out Easybib, which is what I used to create the professional looking citations that I use below, following the quote from each blog. Another tool I learned about is Noodle Tools.

Right now the blogosphere seems relatively quiet. Many people are watching the Olympics or they are preparing for the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions. While the plethora of blog-worthy news items never seems to dissipate, what I will be doing in the little spare time I have during this quiet time is reviewing some of the Blogher members listed in the Race, Ethnicity & Culture section.

I've resigned myself to the fact that writing, ranting and getting snarky (or cranky!) about politics is never going to make me rich. I already knew that, but was disheartened to actually read it in print in the New York Times article Woman to Woman Online.

In what can only be kismet, I noticed an article about women and the web, "Woman to Woman" in today's New York Times business section as I was eating my breakfast sausage this morning. The article is about the wild popularity of sites with female audiences and the desperation of advertisers to get a piece of the action. I could not help but cackle when I saw how the Times described these sites:

Yes folks, it’s that time of year for……..THE BLACK WEBLOG AWARDS!

Keeping a Journal - probably most of us have attempted it, with varying degrees of success. A journal is so different from a blog. Like a blog, it may have a theme, but it has more intense focus and is entirely private. We start journals with the fervor of New Year's Resolutions. And, most of us stumble. The demands of the journal loom larger than the time on the clock. The day's priorities shift. The grand plan sinks under the weight of the reality of a congested and busy day.

I was sitting at a table sipping tea when I heard a man say to another, “You know he’s a little b**tch, right?” Um, gee what was he trying to say? That the man was gay? That the man expressed feelings? Perhaps the person in question was on the rag, metaphorically speaking. Not the first time I’ve heard men using the B-word to refer to another man in such a manner. Dyslogistic speech is a word or group of words used to express disapproval or intended as an insult. Now any word could be a pejorative term so context is extremely important. Here is an example:

Ever since BlogHer '08 I've seen a lot of posts popping up here and there about jealousy, particularly among mommybloggers.  And lo, it happens. It's real. I've felt it, sure I have!  I am not going to sit here in my contributing editor ivory tower and lie to you about it.  How do you think I got here in the first place? So pull up a chair, and let's discuss.

I’m still digging into my pile of scraps of paper. From the Los Angeles Times section called The Homeroom the name of post is called Science: not a black or brown option. That got my attention.  The instructor was trying to get students to imagine a world without Anglo Americans. It is a short post, go read it and then come back.

One of the amazing things that happened at BlogHer 2008 was the beginning of mainstream media outreach to certain bloggers to create content for their existing web sites or new blog portals. This is not a bad thing. I repeat, it is extraordinary good thing that type of opportunity is taking place. However, there are parts of my mind that are howling like an old yappy dog. Something is amiss. I can’t see it as yet. I have the scent but I don’t have anything tangible. It nagged me on Day 2 and all the way home.

Earlier today, I participated in a panel discussion at BlogHer on Mommyblogging: Public Parenting and Privacy.  The other panelists were Chris Jordan, of Notes From the Trenches; Crystal, of Boobs, Injuries and Dr.