I had an English upbringing; a child rearing style that lacked in spontaneous hugging and trips to amusement parks; along with a zero tolerance for whining and not eating one’s vegetables. There were rules and there was discipline. On the other side of the coin talking things through and being heard was only a cup of tea away.  I was loved in that ‘we are here when you need us, always do your best, try everything once and treat people with respect’ way.

The world’s children can not be bought up in a universally approved homogenized process. Cultural differences in raising a family shouldn’t bring with it an assumption that being strict translates into an absence of humour or love.

Maintaining a steady grade average, taking part in carefully chosen extra curricular activities as well as learning good manners, deference to personal boundaries and self-reliance aren’t old fashioned they make for a well adjusted adult. Without these traits many of today’s ready to enter the work force young adults are about to learn that the world doesn’t have time for their poor inter-personal and communication skills, inability to empathize and over inflated sense of self.

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

Continuing our look at the younger generation …………

1) Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter. To purchase amazon.com

2) Before heading off to college some students are going out into the world to expereince adventure and  volunteerism. Is the gap year worth it? by Sean Gregory

3) Can Google Earth enhance the reading experience for students? What the Joads Saw by Vanessa Farquharson

© Jill Crossland for Life Deco, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: child rearing, gap years, google earth, peggy orenstein, tiger moms

While the US title for the president’s spouse of First Lady is not great; it has definition and in that capacity she does have the support and lee way to define the role and subsequent contributions during the President’s term.

Compare Michelle Obama  on the White House website to Lauren Harper on the Prime Minister’s of Canada website. For balance we can look at the more traditional first lady, Laura Bush and what she accomplished during her years in the White House.

What is keeping the Prime Minister’s wives from fulfilling the potential of their position? Is it an outdated political protocol in Ottawa, type casting by the press or the personality types of the wives themselves? 

One day a Canadian first lady will give that role the depth that it deserves; which is not as the article suggests about being a media personality nor is it about enhancing a husband’s political image. It is recognizing the opportunity to make a difference, leave an imprint in Canadian history and when the children ask what did you do while daddy was Prime Minister the answer is not going to be “Making sure that no one noticed me”.

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

Instead of An Interesting Woman I thought that I would end the year with a few good men and the choices may surprise you.

1. There is little doubt that the old style of politics is gradually and thankfully becoming a thing of the past. Today’s young politicians like Newark’s new mayor are running their cities from the streets. Is Cory Booker the Greatest Mayor in America? by Lucy Kaylin makes you believe in the future of some of America’s defunct cities.

2. South Africa no longer has the wisdom and steady hand of two of its most revered statesmen. In October at the age of 79 Archbishop Desmond Tutu retired. Nelson Mandela is 92 and November of this year his foundation asked that the public allow him to have a peaceful retirement.  

3. At number four is the often abrasive, sometimes inarticulate Prince Charles. Recently interviewed by Brain Williams there is no doubt that above all else he has accomplished a lot through The Prince’s Charities and has been a visionary when it comes to  the environment and organic farming.

© Jill Crossland for Life Deco, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cory Booker, Laura Bush, Lauren Harper, Michelle Obama, Prince Charles

I came out of childhood with a strong sense of my own individuality. Conformists bored me back then and still do today. People with a well developed sense of self ; will dine alone, visit countries as travellers not tourists, don’t have perfect faces and are really interesting to talk to.   

Recently I got a chance to sit down and watch Avatar. It amazed me that one man could create this other world with such attention to detail. I wondered about James Cameron; was his childhood lived through his imagination or was he a jock? As bullying reaches a near crisis point this is the time when the heads of companies, scientists, artists, writers should come out and say “I didn’t belong to a popular group. I was the kid standing alone in the playground, the boy who loved to dance or the quiet girl reading in the corner of the library.” 

We need to get the message out that being unique and different is ok. That it is often the loner who best leaves their distinctive mark on the world.

© Jill Crossland for Life Deco, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: avatar, bullies, popular, PSA's, school

Is this slump in sales, partially due to different generational tastes yes, and it is also about lifestyle. Everyday I revel in, utilize and thoroughly enjoy the technology that puts the world at my figure tips. It allows me no limitations to where I can take both my coaching company and online magazine.  However when it comes time to relax I prefer the print media format.

I don’t think we are seeing an end of print media so much as a time of rebirth. “We have a generation that is consuming information in totally different ways” says news anchor Kevin Newman in an interview that talks about his decision to leave his on air news job in order to explore the world of digital media. (Read Crossing digital divide, interview by Karen Mazurkewich)

Time’s Managing Editor Richard Stengel recently announced that ‘For the first time since the magazine’s birth in 1923, we will soon be delivering the entire contents of TIME to paying customers in a radically different way: as a self-contained application that you can download to the iPad. (From Ushering In a New Era)

Even though the competion for readership numbers is no longer about who has the news box on the corner of main and 1st street; the media companies are still choosing to handle the issues in a singularly autonomous fashion. Will the different media apps for devices such as the Blackberry or pay for content on the Internet prove to be the sustaining solution? Of all the articles being written on this subject, James Poniewozik sums up the current situation best in his editorial All the News That’s Fit to Mint

I think tackling the insatiable need for information and news in today’s world with a more united or partnering approach might prove to be the beginning of a solution for the media’s woes; in other words to go where no newspapers have gone before. 

With Your Biscotti & Coffee

1) There was once a time when I would plow through any book, now I have to agree with Sonya Chung the list of books that I haven’t finished has increased. From her column in The Millions blog read Sonya’s post – It’s Not You, It’s Me: Breaking Up With Books.

2) Things are so troubled for the Roman Catholic Church that it is easy to forget that there are some truly heroic nuns and priests doing some remarkable work in the world.  From the NY Times Who Can Mock This Church? by Nicholas D. Kristof

3) Does your dog like to rock to Bono or is your cat more of a jazz fan? If you don’t think that they have a preference check out the world’s first Music fof Dogs concert, article by Amy Coopes.

© Jill Crossland for Life Deco, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: digital media, iPad, Media, newspapers, Print media, Sonya Chung, time

While this LA museum is celebrating the Renoir’s females down the highway television executives decided that a Lane Bryant plus size lingerie commercial should not appear on certain shows in specific time slots.

“According to Lane Bryant, the ad was rejected from a number of programs that would air at 9:00 p.m. including Dancing with the Stars, Game Shows, America’s Funniest Videos, Extreme Makeover, Home Edition and Wipeout …………..”

So why the puritanical censorship when it comes to this company? The model, lingerie and filming are all stunning. One must assume that they object to the  plus size cleavage but if we ignore for a minute the sales pitch perspective are not commercials just another form of modern artistic expression?

In 2210 when the Philadelphia Museum of Art is exhibiting ‘Women of the Early 21^st Century” will it truly reflect what we see as we dress every morning. For centuries art has been about the  portrayal of the authentic female form but perhaps I am wrong and ABC knows better.

 Written by a sublimely less than perfect woman

© Jill Crossland for Life Deco, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: art, Lane Bryant, lingerie, Renoir, television