On having fun vs. being relevant

Fun assignments make me grumpy. On the surface, it’s all good—anything an editor could possibly characterize as “fun” generally ends up being a quick, simple wrap. Easy money, right? If I get too many of these assignments at once, though, I wind up in a sulky, obstinate huddle on the couch. It’s not that I can’t relax and get my groove on—it’s that I hate not being relevant.

Every now and then when I’m out and about on Google (sleuthing the intertubes to see where my work and links have been landing—surprise!), I run across this paper: “Child Protection in Texas: Caseworkers Attitudes and Perceptions Towards CPS Services.” This thesis paper written by a master’s degree candidate at Texas State University quotes an investigative piece I wrote some years ago for DallasChild magazine, “Overhauling Child Protective Services: Part I: Will New Laws Make a Difference? Who is Really Protecting Our Kids.”

Black Jelly wiggles its way back into my heart (and deadlines)

I was more than a little wistful when my WoW.com column Well Fed Buff came to an end last fall. But a little patience goes a long way. To my delight, Well Fed Buff has wiggled its way back onto my plate with a bowl full of  Black Jelly.

World of WarCrafts, a broader version of the old Well Fed Buff feature, allows me to indulge in that guilty (or in my case, not so guilty at all; I’m open and honest about it!) pleasure of writers everywhere: voyeurism. It’s hard not to get swept up in the enthusiasm of players who are combining their passion for art, crafts, music, writing and cooking with their gaming hobby—after all, I’ve managed to combine gaming and writing myself, for a reason.

Top 20 food additives to avoid

I’m a big fan of cheat sheets. People seem to think of writers as people who become experts in their fields of specialty, soaked in all those interviews and explanations and facts and figures. While it’s true that we do soak up a lot when we’re immersed in one field or topic for any length of time, I tend to think of us more as librarians. It’s our job to put our fingers on the facts our readers need. For me, if I move on write about similar material, it’s all good—but if I shift to a different topic altogether, it may not be long before I can no longer rattle off those top 10 lists from memory.

When “good enough” isn’t good enough

What’s a “good enough” life for you? Is it good enough that we slow down carbon emissions (or must we stop global warming cold)? Is it good enough that we eat whole foods and organic foods when it’s convenient (or should we expect manufacturers to stop producing so much toxic junk in the first place)? Is it good enough that we ceaselessly chauffeur the kids from one extracurricular activity to the next, as long as Dad takes the train (or must we stop excusing our gas-guzzling indulgences as “all for the sake of our children”)?

It’s time to set some firm limits when it comes to our personal and collective well-being. Let’s call a trade-off a trade-off and stop pretending that we’re somehow balancing a moral balance sheet when we make unhealthy choices.

GMOs and food allergies: The Unhealthy Truth

The peanut butter scare, the pistachio scare, the ground beef scare … People seem awfully scared of food these days. Yet a potentially even more alarming food scare has been building for years, rarely reported and often dismissed as too “radical” to be true: Is there a link between the dramatic rise in childhood allergies and our increasingly “engineered” approach to food production?

I first met O’Brien last year when I was researching an article on the effects of chemical exposures on children. Many might describe her as “savvy, “whip-smart” or a “firecracker”; I think those terms just might be a polite understatement. O’Brien began investigating the truth about what’s in America’s food supply after her youngest daughter nearly died from an allergic reaction to eggs.

5 ways to stay involved with your young gamer

Savvy parents get familiar with and show interest in their kids’ hobby of choice — whether that’s ballet, soccer or video games. My lastest article at AOL’s PlaySavvy shows you how to forge a communication connection with your young gamer to make gaming something to be appreciated from both sides of the fence.

Take care of business up front. Don’t set yourself up as the bad guy by making anything that passes your lips about video games a complaint, demand or directive. Set time limits, gaming hours and other rules right from the start, including clear consequences if the rules are broken. Some kids seem to prioritize playing video games right up there with eating, breathing and sleeping. Let children know that playing video games is a privilege, not a right.

8 simple tips for safe online gaming

Kids gaming online? Everyone says “be careful” — so this article I wrote for parents over at AOL’s PlaySavvy shows you how. If your kids play online computer games (such as Runescape or World of Warcraft) or PlayStation, Nintendo or Xbox games that are networked with other players (like Halo 3 for Xbox 360 ), here’s what you need to know to keep them (and your family’s computer and personal information) safe and sound.

Read more at Play Savvy.

Is this olive oil rancid yet?

Give me numbers. I learned to cook from cookbooks, glued to half-cups of this and tablespoons of that. It’s taken years to evolve to “a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

So it was with great relief that I discovered some real numbers to help me decide if that fancy olive oil in the pantry was extremely zesty-tasting or actually going rancid. Here’s what I found for an article at Super Eco:

Extra-virgin and virgin olive oils keep at least nine months after opening. According to the Olive Oil Source, varieties containing more natural antioxidants may be good for up to three to four years, if properly stored in unopened containers. Other oils (especially particularly unfiltered oils) may be unpalatable within a year, even if stored properly. “A two-year-old olive oil may taste rancid to some, while others don’t mind it,” the Olive Oil Source notes. “Most people would be put off by the taste of any vegetable oil more than four to five years old.”

Squelch the squirt

Straightforward and to the point — that’s how we’re aiming pieces over at SuperEco.com, and that’s the focus of this recent piece on Shampoo: 5 Ways to Squelch the Squirt:

For all the references we make to the old saw “lather; rinse; repeat” (a directive that does manage to lend a certain nonchalance to advice shared at the water cooler), here’s betting you still do it—when shampooing, that is.

And even if you’re not quite that literal, it’s likely that you’re among the legions of us who squirt great, gooey globs of shampoo into our hands every time: “Oh, dang, I didn’t mean for that much to come out!” You can bet the manufacturer did. Joke’s on you.

Read more at SuperEco.com.

This planet means the world to me

Today is launch day at my newest home base, Super Eco. I’ve always been a “midstreamer,” writing for parents who are somewhere in between crunchy-granola green and conventional over-consumers. At Super Eco, we’re working to build a site dedicated to addressing environmental concerns and presenting environmental information in a way meant to meet readers wherever they happen to be in the process of exploring a more environmentally conscious life.

In addition to covering environmental news, Super Eco offers environmental feature articles and environmental how-tos. Who’s who and what’s what? You’ll find detailed product profiles, company profiles and who’s who in the green world and in the news, plus a rich and growing glossary of ecological, environmental and scientific terms to help you discover more. We’re also developing a series of “comparators” that compare and contrast key bits of information about things you may purchase all the time, like shampoo, from an environmentally conscious perspective.