Should Amazon be the Only Business on the Hot Seat?

Apparently, the New York Times article detailing Amazon's workplace environment has piqued more than the public's interest. Thousands of people are said to have posted responses to the NYT article both in favor of and in opposition to the description of Amazon as a "bruising workplace" environment. 

And now, the government is involved. I read in this Publisher's Weekly post after the article appeared, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi paid Amazon HQ a visit to check things out and discuss the Equality Act. Maybe it's just to keep them in line, but an article and a trip like this doesn't go unnoticed.

Coming to his company's defense is Nick Ciubotariu, Head of Infrastructure and Development, Amazon.com Search Experience, writing this response. 

All this public back-and-forth is interesting. In my corporate experience, I felt first-hand the pressure to perform above and beyond, and work extra hours. Sometimes this pressure came directly from management, sometimes from peers, sometimes it was internal pressure to get my job done, and be a great employee, to advance in the ranks, or at times, to just keep a job. 

I don't know how you can put only one business on the hot seat for this. I hear people from companies all over talk about being tied to their job, or their smartphone, and struggling with work-life balance. Is it fair this goes mostly unwritten, but is expected? What is your take on this? Are heavy workloads and long hours Standard Operating Procedure these days, are Amazon's employees being treated unfairly, or other?

'Sesame Street' to Air First on HBO (Yikes!)

This is news. BIG news. After 45 years with PBS, HBO will now air Sesame Street's first episodes. Something about a nine month run of new shows on HBO, then the 'newer' shows will run on PBS. We'll still be able to watch revamped reruns on PBS this fall. yay

This will last five seasons. 

I'll have to decide if it's worth the money to see the first-runs, or if we can wait for the PBS aired episodes on a nine-month delay. I know they need money to make the show, but it seems wrong on so many levels to make parents pay for what was free educational programming for decades. Let's hope the folks at HBO don't try to make it edgier by making Oscar's trash-can lifestyle a result of hardcore addiction, and renaming it 'Sesame: Life on the Street' or just 'The Street'.

You can read more of the The New York Times article here. 

NYT: Competition for Preschool

The NYT post on Preschool Competition sheds some interesting light on tot and parent preschool preparations. I have heard about this for years being a problem in highly populated metro areas, but it sounds like you can get involved with this sort of competitive schooling (and so early) just about anywhere. 


What's your take on this? Share your opinions and maybe we can help a few parents and kids. 

I resolve to make more reindeer cupcakes…and eat them!

This time of year New Year’s Resolutions make huge headlines. I know, I’ve been ignoring them for years. Which is surprising, considering my great love of lists – all kinds of lists.

Okay, I admit that I’ve made some effort to jot down a few goals every year, but it usually isn’t good when I’m still coming down from my annual Holiday Season Sugar Rush. I’m in no mood to restrict my self or my diet when I already have to deal with the sudden departure of decadent reindeer cupcakes and sugar cookies.

I am in a new state of mind there is no doubt. Sure, I want to publish a New York Times Bestseller, but realize it may take more time and work. And I will not kid myself that I can have a bikini body in three months, or even three years. No, this year is different. This year, for the first of as many as I can remember, I am ready to put away the lights, the trees and shed our family room of all the pine needles that are sure to fall when we remove the swags from our mantle.

This is big news, people! I am a holiday freak and am usually fighting to deck the halls early and keep things up at least until the bowl games are over. So why am I so eager to move on this year? There are several reasons, really – and perhaps some resolutions.

The first is I want to enjoy winter. What? Is she losing it? Yup! (That’s yes to enjoying winter. I will not admit to losing it, yet.) My 3yo is a fan of Frosty and it just seems like the right time to move on from the guy in the bright red suit to the one with the old silk hat. Building snowmen, sledding and searching for tracks in the snow with my kid is fun, and I want to do more of this (resolution alert) with my daughter before our second one comes along. Just for fun, I thought we’d get bundled up and attempt to make a snowman, woman or family with rounder middles than me.

The second is we are approaching our due date and we’ve got to get things in order around here (another resolution)! My belly may be about to pop, but I am not getting caught without a well-stocked changing table and pantry before this kid makes an appearance. We may have to add coffee and liquor to the list for dad, but we’re going to have things ready soon!

The third reason I am ready to move on from the holidays is that I want to enjoy the year. All of it. I want to take in every crazy blustery/rainy/steamy day from now until the next Holiday Season. Because that’s when I resolve to make even more adorable reindeer cupcakes with my husband and kids, and eat them up without worrying about fitness resolutions or reducing our family’s chocolate consumption.

And there you have it, enjoy, eat more cupcakes and worry less. I guess I did have some resolutions to share.

Happy New Year! Make it Great!

Here's a photo of the reindeer cupcakes we made from Family Fun magazine.

Summer Reads: A Novel Is All the Rage Even Before It Is Sold

Jonathan Franzen is creating a frenzy - check out this Books of The Times article about his novel "Freedom" that hits stands tomorrow.

It's everywhere, creating buzz. The president has an advance copy, and I even found this interesting article by Esquire. Here is a blurb, read the rest here.

Whatever else Freedom is, it's a great slab of a book. Check out the specs: 576 pages (small font, tight spacing). Check out the sweep: a large cast of intergenerational characters, a narrative that covers more than 30 years and engages issues ranging from the influence of Big Coal on our politics to the way sex can both create love and destroy it. This is a book that acts as though people still had long conversations, still read long books.

All this hype makes me wonder - what makes a good book great? What do you think?

Literary Drinking Games - Really?

I should be writing. Ok, I’m writing, but I should be writing something to advance my novel, or my next nonfiction article. Instead, I have noticed that when I’m procrastinating/stalling/tired/blocked/lazy, I find the oddest things to occupy my time. Case in point, I uncovered more than one recent article about Literary Drinking Games. Yes. You read it correctly. There are folks out there who are apparently in more trouble with their manuscripts than even me – I say in jest – writing about the bard and the booze.

Since it’s past noon on a workday, I figured a little imbibing in some literary fun might be just what’s needed to get through the rest of the day. It helped me because, as mentioned earlier, it got me writing. And it’s been a few days, so I’m happy to play along, even if I have no plans to hit the bottle anytime soon – although, my manuscript might look better with the old goggles as they say. Do they still say that? Anyway, please enjoy, try to be responsible, and get your work done first!

Drink 'Til He's Witty: The Reader's Drinking Game

http://jezebel.com/5603364/drink-til-hes-witty-the-readers-drinking-game

Drink What You Know (At least look at the graphic for this one)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/books/review/Nicholson-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Bernard+Devoto&st=cse

Literary Drinking Games

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/literary-drinking-games/

The future of books from a NYT writer

An interesting perspective on the future of books from The New York Times.

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/ander-monsons-vanishing-point-the-future-of-the-book/?hp