| Vol.
I, No. 7 | May
Day / Mother's Day | Apr.
20th, 2001 |
Living
Together
Links to Living Together On-Line . Links
to Living Together On-Line The
amount of info on the web is enormous, as anyone who's ever tried to run a
search can attest to. And, to put it all in context, best estimates say
that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's out there is actually making its
way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So each issue, we
post a few links in Living Together to sites that might interest you.
Sometimes the links will be related to one another ... sometimes
we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In either case, we think
we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've been looking for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link we provide will be
of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the noise and the
bustle. ... 'M'
is for the Many Things ...
Links to
On-Line Resources for & about Moms
One thing we
can say for sure after having scoured the net for sites about Moms and Mothers
Day: There are tons of sites ready to sell you all manner of things.
... Did you know that the woman credited with establishing Mothers Day as
a national holiday -- Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia -- actually died, embittered
by the commercialization of Mothers Day and bankrupted by her efforts for the
remainder of her life to put an end to it!?! ...
In
any case, we'll try not to dispirit you with these Links to On-Line Resources
for & about Moms. Moms:
Mothers Talking About Motherhood
The
best of what we found out there on the topic of Moms comes to us from
PBS. This site -- the home of the 1999 documentary of the same
title. ...
.
The site is divided
into three main categories: Real Moms Talk, which includes on-line
audio, as well as transcripts ... Meet the Moms, which includes linked
photos of eight moms which takes you to a page where you can view a video
clip, as well as read some of their "Words of Wisdom" ... and a
third, Talk About Being a Mom, an on-line discussion forum which, not unlike
our own discussion web, seems not to have attracted many visitors.
There's also a page About the Show that provides some info about the
producers, as well as a video clip from the show.
.
It
would have been great to see more moms featured on this site. But
what's here is worthwhile, a great cross-section of moms -- "young,
old, rich, poor, urban, rural, African-American, Hindu, WASP, Jewish and
Christian." And, as the the site itself proclaims, these women,
as moms, have something to tell us ... by way of "advice, proverbs,
tales of childbearing and child rearing, memories of their own mothers, and,
of course, eternal truths that only mothers can know. ... all
bearing witness to the truth that to nurture a child is, in itself, a
creative act worthy of celebration."
Rating: **** [4 stars]
. Motherstuff
As
we said, with all the sites out there devoted to moms, mothering, and
Mothers Day, you'd think there'd be more to choose from. But this one
does a creditable job as a 'portal' -- pulling together links to 'mother
stuff' from around the web.
.
The main page provides links to a number
of sub-categories, including: Birth, Breastfeeding, Health, Midwifery,
Mothering, Parenting, Preemies, Pregnancy, and Paper Pages -- a series
of subsequent topic-oriented pages linking to on-line readings. The
leaning of this site definitely tends toward the start-up phase of
motherhood, and the choices seem sometimes to be a little
idiosyncratic. But, all in all, not a bad general collection.
.
We
might've hoped for more. But at least this site, unlike lots of
others, stays on target.
Rating: *** [3 stars]
. Salon.com:
Mothers Who Think
Salon,
one of the first of the high-profile on-line magazines, was originally
supposed to take over the world wide web. Having fallen somewhat short
of that goal, they continue to provide a somewhat Gen-X-ish look at things
cultural. ...
.
On this page, you'll find just about any and
everything you might expect to find in U.S. News & World Report,
just with a very different slant. The value of Salon in general, which
it brings to this section, too, is that it scours the wires and the other
literate rags out there to see what's worth disseminating. And, as you
might expect from Salon, the emphasis of the site is much more heavily
weighted to "think" than "mothers," though the lead
article when we visited last was about Day Care. Nonetheless, Salon
offers up some quality material, and never hurt anyone, including moms, to
don their thinking caps.
.
You won't find much here about
pregnancy classes or a place to share recipes or ideas for playtime.
But what you will find is lots of material -- from too-cute toss-off's to
insightful reporting that will set your maternal brain to buzzing with
concern over the fate your children may face.
Rating: **** [4
stars]
. *******
******* If you know of any
links that you think are worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
... If we agree, we'll be happy to include
them in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks. *******
******* .
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