Grief and Grieving - A mother's perspective on death of a child

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: Yes, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Grief and Grieving - A mother's perspective on death of a child

WEB ADDRESS: http://daneeleshipman.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: I lost my 18 year old son on February 14, 2010, from synovial sarcoma 5 months after diagnosis. This blog is my accounting of life after death and the long road of healing.

MY REVIEW: This is an excellent blog for those who want to share fellow feelings by reading about other people who have lost loved ones. Unfortunately, the author only posts once every couple of months or so. But at only 99 cents a month, why not subscribe?

Sample post

Just a quick thing to ponder. A friend of mine mentioned this to me when telling me of another family whose child passed away from cancer recently. If a person loses their spouse, they are a widow/widower. If a child loses their parent, they are an orphan. There is no word to label when a parent loses a child. Maybe because it is an unnatural order to what we should expect. I would like to give us fellow survivors of this loss a name - warriors. We fight the battle daily to not just give up and give in to what sometimes feels like unsurmountable desire to check out of life. We fight the battle daily to keep our memories alive and current in our hearts. We fight the battle daily to not give up on God and turn our backs on the one who has our precious cargo in his keeping. We fight the battle daily not to feel guilty about every little thing that we did, are doing, and will do. We fight the battle daily not to feel ashamed that we did not die instead. We fight the battle daily to go on with what is left when the battle feels like it has destroyed everything. Yes, we are warriors. We may appear shabby and tattered... but we haven't left the war. My hats off to all the fellow fighters I know and don't know. I have to think that God has made a special sort of armor for our battle that we can still stand despite all the odds.

RECENT POSTS:
--Fear (posted Dec 11, 2011)
--Compassion (September 21, 2011)
--No title (June 12, 2011)
--No title (March 38, 2011)

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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure HuntersThe Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Retro Review #29: How To Choose a Feng Shui Consultant

REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: How to Choose a Feng Shui Consultant

WEB ADDRESS: www.fengshuiharmony.net/blog/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: How to choose a Feng Shui Consultant by Dr. Anna Maria Prezio

In selecting a Feng Shui Consultant, make sure that the person you choose is qualified. Here are some typical questions to ask of your prospective consultant.

1. Do they practice classical or traditional Feng Shui?

2. What do they need to assess your home or office?

3. What tools will they use to assess your home or office?

4. What kind of remedies do you use?

5. What can I expect from an assessment?

6. What kind of remedies do you use?

7. What can I expect from an assessment?

8. How much does a Feng Shui assessment cost?

9. Where did they get their training? Who did they study with? How many places have they assessed?

10. How long does this process take?

MY REVIEW: Not knowing anything about Feng shui, I am going to assume that my house is out of order and my karma is out of whack. And, I just learned that I need to move to the Northwest sector of my house. (I wonder how my husband will feel about our bedroom being in the kitchen - after all that will bring harmony to our love life.) Seriously, I am out of my league here. But that is why we have blogs written by experts.
 

Dr. Prezio is an expert -with her book Confessions of a Feng Shui Ghost Buster and in her blog she recommends other books and catalogs on the subject and gives explanations to the in and outs of Feng Shui for those of us who have yet to sway our feng - but we working on it. And, thanks to her, the secrets are revealed.

I am concerned about the frequency of posts. After her post of December 1, it was February 1, before she post again, then several times in the next 2 weeks. perhaps 2010, the Chinese year of the White Metal Tiger will be more prolific.

RECENT ARTICLES:

• Happy Valentines Day
• Sex, Romance, and Feng Shui
• Predictions and Placement for 2010
• Change your Chi, Change your Life
• Transformational Gifts

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Ann Currie publishes My Life a Bit South of Normalwww.abitsouthofnormal.com/
and also, Silver Pieces: The Strange and Peculiarstrangeandpeculiarsilver.blogspot.com/

RetroReview #28: InfoCult

REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Infocult

WEB ADDRESS: infocult.typepad.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Infocult is devoted to exploring the world from an information-centric perspective. This means looking at the shifting admixture of information in print, in digital formats, in minds. Information drives us to topics: cyber culture, intellectual property, computer games, the history of information, education, and anything else that rethinking the world information-centrically requires.

MY REVIEW: This is the blog you need to read every morning if you want some interesting story to bring up around the water cooler. In reading many of the posts, I really had to question if the whole thing was a hoax, but there are links to actual reputable news outlets that discuss the happenings. Although the links are in each article, not being able to access the links when reading this blog on the Kindle does not diminish the experience. (There are a few posts that rely solely on a video feed but they are infrequent.) And, there are pictures to bring further credence to the stories.
 
The posts are frequent. Because of the links, I encourage you to try the 14 Day Free Trial Amazon offers and see if you need the links to enjoy the blog.


THE GOOD: Frequent interesting unique querky posts.


THE BAD: I have some concern about the number of links contained in the posts and how much that will limit the Blog to Kindle readers.

RECENT ARTICLES:
--School laptop spycams
--Scary urls
--Debunking technofear - Bell in Slate
--Cold War Gothic- Soviet Secret Town Sold
--The fish that shouts apocalypse
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Ann Currie publishes:
My Life a Bit South of Normal/
Strange and Peculiar Silver

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Regular blog postings begin on DECEMBER 26, Monday.

Retro Review #27: The Elmo Wallpaper

REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: The Elmo Wallpaper

WEB ADDRESS: theelmowallpaper.blogspot.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: An Ivy League-educated, thirtysomething mother of three young boys survives motherhood in suburbia. Just barely.

MY REVIEW: A blog of honest emotion by a mother struggling with daily domestic life with her three young sons. Her posts, unlike those of many mothers, are not cute or coy. She is right up front, not bitter, but truthful. She questions her life and what woman hasn't has some point? How did I get here - I did everything right - I went to the right school, did well, fell in love, married a bright guy. Here I am listening to the Wiggles, spending part of my valetine's evening in Border's, and treating goose eggs. There have been many times when I could have related to this lament. But it is not negative, it is well worth the read and well written. You want to offer her your support, cheer her on, and follow her vicariously. She comes through with strength and humor. She posts several times a week.

RECENT ARTICLES:

• If you are needing catharsis today . . .
• Other peoples pictures
  
  
• Ask me anything
• Why I am wound:
• My graceful friend

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Ann Currie publishes My Life a Bit South of Normalwww.abitsouthofnormal.com/
and also, Silver Pieces: The Strange and Peculiarstrangeandpeculiarsilver.blogspot.com/