zenMom

How can I get songs off my Apple iPhone?

file this under: things you hope never to need to do

so a little over a week ago, my macbook was stolen.    i don't know if its because i'm unnaturally attached to my mac (have you ever met a mac owner who wasn't?) or because as i searched through the car with a fine tooth comb and retraced my steps trying to find it, it began to dawn on me just how much i had lost. 

the computer itself isn't worth a ton (new, it retails for $998.00), but the pictures and music were.  as i was calling my insurance and H was calling the police to file a report i desperately tried to remember when i'd last backed up....well, anything.  i remembered it had been sometime early 2008, when my PC went to data heaven and some wizard at a computer 'hospital' was able to save most of my pictures and music, the only things i really cared about on the hard drive anyhow.

since then i'd accumulated over a year's worth of pictures (so many with the kids) and enough music to make me nauseous at the thought of replacing it.  the pictures are priceless and i'm sure that there are going to be quite a few that i will not be able to replace.  lost and gone forever....

I suffered under the arrogance (or delusion) that most computer users have about backing their computer up regularly.  Most of us just assume nothing will go wrong: you wont see that familiar Blue Screen Of Death, your computer won't be stolen, etc. so really, what's the rush?  we'd back it up later...

As for the music, it was not the first time i wished there was some way that apple could honor your digital download history if your data was lost. a way to back up files via some mac membership that would probably cost a pretty penny i'm sure.  I wouldn't care, would you? I'd probably pay the ridiculous fee to have them back up my music online.  does Apple Care cover lost music? anyone?  that's not cheap either at nearly $300.  No, I don't have Apple Care either, and yes, i should have that too...

Anyhow, this sounds so silly to me now, but i was scared to plug my iPhone into the new mac because i was afraid i would lose the newer music that my new computer missed.  i figured the computer would want to sync and would overwrite my iphone's music. 

i feel silly that it took me til yesterday to admit this to H, even more so because he pointed me to a feature in iTunes that allows you to transfer purchases to the new computer from any iPod or iPhone.  Under the file menu there's this really simple feature that just whisked that music onto my new mac.  between my iPod/Phone, i restored all of the music i had lost. Was this feature always here? Part of me thinks that it wasnt there until relatively recently, but i could be wrong.

though i'm still trying to piece together pictures (which unfortunately, didn't have as easy a resolution) that were lost by culling pictures from facebook, picasa, etc, i feel better that some of the priceless pictures are being restored. 

i back up everything religiously now.  on a mac, there's a Time Machine feature that backs up your computer whenever the external HD is plugged in. I don't know if there is a PC application that works the same way, but if you have a PC find out and then immediately back your hard drive up.  don't wait and intend to do it later, seriously, do it. now. 

Last night as i was backing up the newly restored music and i had the thought that the external hard drive will become something that we will grab in a fire, one kid under each arm and the hard drive in my teeth. the kids will carry mami's macbook between them.

<edited to add that the computer pictured is NOT mine, though i would not turn away a computer like that.  its a 24k gold mac book pro and the signature apple icon is blinged out with diamonds.   there's also, for those of you out there somehow able to afford it, a 24k gold iPhone case.  I just want mine to be ruby/garnet red with red rhinestones on the apple....>

Megan Fox's 50 Best (& Worst) Bon Mots

Me thinks Megan Fox needs an agent and a handler or five so she doesn't keep embarrassing herself every time she opens her mouth!  I tried to find one thing that stood out but honestly, my brain short circuited while i was reading on the sheer "WTF?!?!?!"-ness.  Aren't all celebrities required to have someone 'managing' them so that they don't just say whatever pops into their heads?  Tom Cruise's craziness started coming out after he fired his handler and look where his career is now.  Megan Fox is stupidly hot, but i also think she might need 'people' to help her from losing what momentum she's got so far..  Read for yourself....

no hay....

[Havana, June 9. STR/AFP/Getty Images]

A Cuban woman asks for food with her ration book at a government store of the kind known as 'Bodegas', June 9, 2009, in Havana. The international economic crisis is forcing the Cuban government to reduce the supply of food, public transport and electricity in all the country, according to government officials.                                  via Jezebel

color me amazed

In Georgia, Segregation Endures on Prom Night.

i am left reading this article at a bit of a loss for words...but ill definately have something to say once i pick up my jaw from the floor....

iPhone test

A mobile post test

Did Octuplets' mother do it for the fame and fortune?

Embedded video from CNN Video

 I wish I had been wrong about how this whole octuplet mom thing would go, but as the 'most sought after mom in the world' (so sayeth her publicist) the new octuplet mom, and mother of 14, is shopping around for a job as a parenting expert. If not that, then perhaps her own show.

All of the children are reported to be from the same sperm donor, though the identity of the doctor who performed the implementation is still unknown.

One very sad aspect was the dire financial situation her parents are in.  With the births of a set of twins and 4 other children, her parents tried to help out and purchased a house for their single and unemployed daughter's growing family.  A few years later they file for bankruptcy and are forced to move in with her and the children. 

I really hope that she doesnt get a show.  People should not be rewarded for littering children.  It doesn't seem like this mother put much thought into how she was going to support 14 children - she's been unemployed and there is no 'father' to offer support.  To hear all of the things this woman is supposedly asking for via her publicist, it seems as though she had this children with the aim of grabbing her own show and 15 minutes. 

watch the video.  see what you think.

New Mom of Octuplets Now has Fourteen Children

You may have heard about the latest multiple birth to hit the headlines when on Monday a Los Angeles area woman gave birth to eight. Yes, you read right - eight.  This astounding birth has caused a firestorm of debate regarding both the lack of regulation surrounding multiple births of this nature and what it means for the health and well-being of children born of such births.

The woman had six other children [ranging in ages from 2 to 7] before the set of eight, which were only the second set of octuplets recorded in the U.S. The babies' grandfather said Friday that his daughter wanted one more child and didn't expect this to happen.

Though specific details are scarce, CNN reported that the woman is a single mother living with her parents in southern California.  Despite the grandfather's statement that his daughter only wanted 'one more child and didn't expect this to happen', the grandmother seemed to contradict that somewhat when she told the LA Times that her daughter underwent fertility treatments and had the eight fertilized embryos implanted last spring.

The births have medical ethicists expressing worry at the lack of regulations surrounding births of this nature, citing not only danger to the mother's health but also  long term health risks for the babies as well that include "bleeding in the brain, intestinal problems, developmental delays and lifelong learning disabilities". 

A quick search for any standard practices regarding embryo implantation was less that fruitful - many of the searches refered me to articles on new restrictions in Europe.  Countries such as Italy and Germany lead the vanguard in Europe in this area with regulation that limits the number of embryos a mother can have safely implanted at one time to three.  

That she carried eight fetuses does not necessarily mean eight embryos were implanted, Dr. Scott Slayden (Reproductive Biology Associates Atlanta, Georgia) said. Four to 5 percent of the time, an embryo will split. As few as five embryos could have given rise to the eight children, he said.

Other experts took care to highlight the fact that transferring eight embryos in an IVF cycle is beyond most professionally accepted guidelines.

I don't doubt the mother adores her children, but aside from the potential long-term affects, I wonder how 14 children can be adequately cared for financially and emotionally.  I mean, I have two and sometimes I worry about how to balance the needs of my children with everything else.  Multiple births like this are usually followed by short term support from the community, but what will happen when the goodwill drys up?  "John & Kate Plus Eight" deals, where TLC covers much of the expenses of raising the children in addition to those vacations, don't come around every day. 

I have never undergone fertility treatments and therefore don't know what it feels like to wrestle with the question of 'selective embryo reduction' after going through the physical and emotional rigors of fertility treatments and then IVF. I can only imagine how hard it would be to make that decision. Then again, one might wonder why a mother of six would require fertility treatments in the first place.

Though I can't imagine trying to wrangle eight newborns along with six kids (even with the help of her parents and a nanny) without going nuts, I'm glad both the mom and her newborns are doing well  (breathing on their own a day after the birth).

I would be interested to hear what other people think.  Do you think regulation to limit the number of embryos is a good thing?  Do you think there are ethical concerns that should be considered?

And it was all yellow...

Last week I was introduced to a phenomenon that bothers me more than a little bit and I'm not sure if its just me.  Aidan and I went over to the Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park to enjoy the return of sunshine and balmy weather after a week of interminable rain and gray. While on the swings, I saw a boy, about 5, come out from a stand of trees that ran along the swings.  As dad plopped him into the swing next to ours  I overheard a mother next to us asked her son, "Did you go pee in the bushes?" in a way that one might ask "did you go in the potty?" They continued to remind their son that when he needed to go, he could just go....anywhere in the bushes.

 I was sure for a moment that I misheard.  I mean, I've only ever heard of this kind of thing twice before.
Once in the movie Kids, and once in a novel.  One of my favorite books, The Nanny Diaries, touched on it when, during the mother/nanny hand-off at the park, the Nanny asks mom where the bathrooms are and mom answers, "Oh, anywhere." to the disbelief of the nanny.

Now Aidan is in the middle of potty training so i know what its like to be in desperate need of a bathroom, and yes, the closest bathroom to the Children's Playground could stand to be closer.   However, it has never occurred to me for a single minute to tell my kid to go pee in the brush in public.  Its never occurred to me that peeing outside is meant to be anything other than something you do on a long road trip when it just can't wait.

It has never, ever, crossed my mind to encourage my son to think that the outdoors is akin to the toilet at home and not try to help him become more aware of when he needs to go.   If he thinks that he can drop and pee wherever we are, well, i don't see that playing too well when we are out anywhere there aren't bushes or trees handy.  What do you want them to do when you're shopping at the supermarket?  Wander away to the floral department?  How exactly do you expect the kid to be able to recognize they have a full bladder with enough time to make it to the bathroom if, in any other situation you tell them they can just wait til the last minute and go in the bushes.

When we go out anywhere other than our home (during training) Aidan wears a pull-up just in case he doesn't make it to the bathroom in time.  We still have bathroom breaks before and after and I check in with him throughout our playground visit.  I wonder if parents should be teaching their boys (or girls) that its perfectly fine to whip it out in such a public place.  And other than in a honest emergency (or camping),  isn't it more than a bit counter productive to potty training to encourage and reinforce peeing outside? 

Another part of the problem I have with the public peeing is that, more often than you'd think,  there's no effort to shield, and there are often adults without children sitting on benches in plain view.  I was similarly bothered over the summer when kids would routinely strip off bottoms as well as tops and then walk across the playground to play in the water fountain. Sure there are signs posted around the playground proclaiming that no adults without a child are allowed...but really, who's checking?  I don't want to teach my son to be ashamed of his body, but I'm inclined to be more cautious about this type of behavior in public and err on the side of caution.

Having been through the potty training thing with my daughter, and now with Aidan, I don't buy the reasons parents give in defense of it.  I sort of feel like the moms turn it into a "Tee hee, boys will be boys" thing. I am aware that boys often train later and with more difficulty, but still...if girls can survive without doing this, why can't boys? I'm probably reaching, but I think this is how we get frat boys peeing...well, anywhere.
 
A part of me (very small) can understand why mothers allow their kids to do this. It's easy.  You don't have to get up and shlepp over to the nearest bathroom.  You don't have to plan for an outing and bear in mind where the nearest bathroom is...because the bathroom is the nearest tree or fence.  Reading different message boards about this little practice,  parents even admitted to just letting their kids pee in their own yard...which, yeah its your yard but really?  Is your kid going to magically understand when you suddenly ask them not to do that when you host a barbeque at your house?

I think it's inappropriate. It's disrespectful of everyone else who has to see it going on, smell it later, explain to their own kids why they're not allowed to do the same, etc. etc.  More than that, where do we draw the line? Can 5-year-olds do it? How about 6? How about older? How about adults? I know there are a lot of things that little kids can do that become inappropriate at older ages, to be sure but I think it's more than appropriate to teach children to respect public property and other citizens' feelings.   To me that means using a toilet, not any tree you feel like. I think is bizarre and inappropriate for it to be done in an urban, non-emergency situation.

Aidan is now nearly 3 1/2 and doing so well with training he's walking around in underpants whenever he's home or at daycare and he's got enough of an awareness of himself to let me know when he needs to go visit the bathroom....and he hasn't peed at the playground once.

The Birds & B-listers

Before you have kids, you often have a general idea of what you want your parenting philosophy to be.  After lots of careful thought, most of which is not based on any actual kid experience, you have definite ideas of how you want to raise your kids regarding everything from nutrition to television.  Having "The Talk" about the birds and the bees with my kids was something that I figured I wouldn't have to think about doing for a few years yet, being that Jilli is 6 and Aidan is 3.  Now I'm not so sure.

Jillian, like most little girls, loves all things Disney and, as a result, I became familiar with High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and the Cheetah Girls.  I'm fluent in Disney in a way you can only really understand if you have a little girl.  Perhaps that's why I'm a little tweaked about the latest Disney scandal involving Cheetah Girls Adrienne Bailon and bottomless pictures meant for her fiancee which were stolen from her laptop last week.  If you don't have kids, or if you are blissfully unaware of celebrity 'news', you might not know that this is far from the first time Disney has found its squeaky-clean stars in the middle of a scandal.

Jillian was only 2 when the Vanessa Hudgens' scandal blew up and the nude/semi-nude pictures of a very underage High School Musical star hit the fan.  The pics were apparently taken as a gift for her boyfriend Zac Efron.  Obviously, in light of the $80 million dollar haul HSM3 saw opening weekend, the scandal hasn't had a lasting tarnish on the franchise or Hudgens. I personally am glad that Jillian isn't into HSM (its got too many 'kissy' scenes) right now and that she's too young to be able to google her Disney Idols like I can.

Then Miley Cyrus (daughter to Billy Ray "Achy-Breaky Heart" Cyrus and my daughter's absolute idol) revealed her "friendship" with the Daddy approved 20-year old Justin Gaston.  I don't know about you, but personally the idea of my 15-year old daughter getting cozy with a twenty-year old is something that freaks me out.  I don't care how Christian the guy may be or what her crazy daddy thinks - its still a felony. 

budget beauty

A few weeks ago, when H and i were watching yet another report about the depressed economy and layoffs, i pointed out that H's company (a prominent retail cosmetics company) should be pretty okay.  I told him about the "lipstick rule" - something I'd first learned about at a Mary Kay/Avon-esque cosmetics party.  The idea was simple: women will find ways to buy their favorite beauty products.  in some cases it could be something as small as a lipstick that they budget in to buy.  Yet that lipstick is more than a lipstick, its a way to feel beautiful and bring a little luxury into a budgeted lifestyle.  At the same cosmetics party (held after the dot-bomb dropped) one woman talked about her mother saving pin money for a her favorite face cream during the Depression.  I reasoned to H that his company might see a decline in sales but, if the Lipstick Rule held, it would probably not be so so bad.

Today H sent me an article today about the "Leading Lipstick Indicator", a term coined by Estée Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder (aka The Lipstick Index) after he saw a very specific trend occurring during financially turbulent years.  During times like these  most of us wouldn't consider buying couture because it costs too damn much; an $8 lipstick at Walgreen's hurts the wallet a whole lot less in comparison.

"History can be our guide here. As a Harvard professor explains: "The decade of the Great Depression, cosmetic sales increased 25 percent." After the downturn following Sept. 11, lipstick sales doubled."

What's the lipstick indicator say right now?  As you might have guessed, lipstick sales have shot up 40% in the past few months in shades with price tags that run the gamut from budget to boutique.  another facet of the Lipstick Indicator? Vibrant look-at-me red, apparently a shade that sees popularity during economic upswings, has given way to neutrals like pink, brown, and taupe.

So while many women and their families are cutting back, the lipstick represents inexpensive luxury - an innocent indulgence.

How do you treat yourself when the budget is tight?  i like skin care products more so than lipstick but they are not going to be nearly as affordable.  I have a friend who I hope can school me on how to make my own beauty products using ingredients like honey, avocado, egg, or epsom salt so can can have all the beauty of a day at the spa for pennies. 

perhaps they should have rethought this...

intermixed with all of the 'serious' literature on my bookshelf you will find more than a few chick-lit selections. one of them, Confessions of a Shopaholic, is going to be hitting theaters soon in what seems to be exquisitely bad timing.  the heroine makes Carrie Bradshaw look positively frugal and Imeda Marcos' shoe collection look small. the series is total literary comfort food and from what i've seen of the trailer the movie seems to be much of the same in movie form...but will you watch it?

The movie isn't due to be released until next February but, considering the state of the economy, i'm not sure i want to watch anyone (even someone as adorable as Isla Fisher) rack up debt on Fifth Avenue. hrm.  sounds like a movie that was pitched in better economic times.

It could make for some great escapist cinema - call it Prada by Proxy - but i think its a bit of a gamble.  Confessions might end up coming off as more cautionary tale than romantic comedy....

• Is "Confessions of a Shopaholic" inappropriate given the economic climate? - Entertainment on Shine.

mi raza...

via Blogamama: Tuesday's Toot Your Own Horn

i spent hours this weekend sorting family photos - a project that has been pending since january.  One set of pictures came from my grandfather, who passed away last december, entrusted to me by my aunt and very precious because there are many very old pictures that are irreplaceable.  Then there is the shoebox full of photos I have, collected over my lifetime, only a fraction of which exist in digital form.  Then there's the whole aspect of sorting the digital photos and backing them all up. 

i know that this project will get harder to complete as the holidays get closer, so my goal is to get my aunt's pictures scanned and prettied up for Christmas. 

the first thing i did was to sort each set of physical photos as best I could; some pictures included the date the picture was taken, other's i had to approximate based on the dress (70's disco wear? 80's members only jackets? 90's hypercolor shirts?) but i sorted through them all and managed to scan 80 of them before i had to take a break.  each picture has to be tweaked and resized so I can fit as many as possible on a cd.  after the pictures are scanned i'm putting them into a nice album which will (hopefully by christmas) find its way back to my aunt. 

while working on this, a commercial for ancestry.com came on and now the picture project has morphed with my long held desire to research the family tree.  As i scan old family photos i upload them to my family tree to give a visual reference to each family member's profile. 

now i've got a great dent in a project that has my family excited.  hopefully by this time next week ill have the rest of the pictures done.  there are only another couple hundred to go....

kathy griffin is effin funny.

H & I were watching Kathy Griffin: You can suck it on comedy central the other day and the woman, as usual, had me laughing so hard i was crying at times.  This bit was great:

"i read about paris hilton getting into a fist fight with shana moakler on a stairwell in a club. that's not my thing, alright? that's not fun for me. i'm not going to confront anybody! i was raised right.  i talk about people behind their backs. yeah...its called 'manners'."

If I didn't know Kathy was born in Illinois, I would have pegged her for a southern girl....that's like the southern girl's mantra...

¡Ya Voté!

Blame it on daylight savings, but i have been getting up much earlier than normal which is why i was up and searching for my voter registration card at 6:30am.  This election is my first as a California voter and the first election in a very long time that i've been excited about.  Having heard about some of the problems people have had voting, I wanted to arrive prepared.  i still have my texas id which does not have my current san francisco address and after hearing about the persnickety florida polling stations i was concerned that i was going to arrive at the polling place and be turned away. 

I  also feared the long lines that have been the subject of many a news story.  stories of lines that took anywhere from 3 to 7 hours.  npr reporters polling long suffering voters in line about what they brought with them to pass the time.  one woman planned to bring her own lawn chair.  hearing that i had prepared my own election first-aid kit:

• nintendo ds and brain age
• wallet with texas id
• passport (just in case)
• guardian voting guide
• ipod
• phone
• journal and pen

i made a mental note to take a small stool to sit on and considered bringing my laptop so i could blog while i waited on line. turns out i didn't need much at all.

while i was getting ready H called from starbucks after parking the car to report the lines were non-existent and all i needed to bring was a photo id that verified my identity - that the address didnt match was not something to worry about.

We live in the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco and that, combined with the amazing bay area turn out, made for the most unbelievably easy voting experiences I have ever had.  In 2004 I waited about an hour and a half to vote (and that was with a little 2 year old in tow); this time around, I didnt have to wait at all.  there were just two people ahead of me and there wasnt an issue at all with my ID. 

this was the first time i've voted with paper ballots and i was a little curious at the sheaf of papers they handed me.  paper ballots up until now have been synonymous with the nightmarish 2004 'hanging chad' bealeagured election.  there were four ballots total for the various elections and propositions which, thankfully, were chad-free.  instead, you had to connect an arrow with a black marker.  i felt a little weird about coloring my ballot.

after feeding the ballots into this machine that resembled a really big bill changer, i felt really really good. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will see Obama as president and I'll be glued to cnn & headline news for the rest of the day.

 

inexcusable tragedy

an 8-year old boy, at a gun show with his father on sunday, died of a accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.  the boy lost control of the weapon, an uzi sub machine gun, while firing it.

As the boy fired the Uzi, "the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head," police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The boy died at a hospital.
...
It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said.

The [Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo] ran in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training. "It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site

"Boy, 8, killed in Mass. gun show accident" - Yahoo! News

i dont even know where to begin.  i mean, should a little boy be holding an uzi? according to officials, there was an instructor present, but there has been no statement about their (lack of) involvement.  i might not be the gun show type, but if i was i can't begin to understand how the show can allow that type of weapon to be shown or sold in public, let alone handed to a child like a harmless plaything.  

update:  via headline news - apparently the accident happened when the boy's dad was looking for a camera to snap a picture.  an instructor was guiding the boy at the time, so i'm still not clear how the accident even happened if that were true.  the father said that he felt comfortable letting his son handle the weapon because he had experience firing guns and this particular model of sub machine gun didn't have as much of a recoil.