Ree Drummond, You’re one popular chick

Holy fuck, people, y’ all love you some Pioneer Woman! This is a brand new blog, with just a two mentions of the lil ole Pioneer Woman. TWO. One kinda snarky mention. Not even up to bitchy standards. And yet, DOZENS of hits.  WTF??

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I just don’t get it. Cows, more cows, horses and more horses. Kids and more kids. There’s just not enough cowboys in chaps to make up for all kids and cows, cows and kids. You’d need to post pictures of naked cowboys in chaps to make it worthwhile. Only problem with that idea is that they’d need to get some sexier cowboys.  Nothing against her hubby, his chaps are lovely, but somehow, since I learned his name is Ladd, I just can’t take it seriously.  No wonder she prefers to call him Marlboro Man.

It’s eating me up, all this wondering about what people are searching for when they google Pioneer Woman. I mean, surely they can’t be looking for happy-go-lucky, rose-coloured-glasses kind of posts. You get enough of that suck up crap on her site. Read the comments. So, what? Do you want dirt on her perfect life?  Looking for personal details? Please, tell me what gives.

The Mighty Mommy Blogger

I love blogs. I really do. I’m an avid reader, and the constant wellspring of reading material is awesome. I’ve found some amazing writers, laughed my ass off at some, gotten royally pissed off with a few, and have had my view of the world altered somewhat, seeing life through so many different eyes.

I have no favourite blog, or blogger. I read too many, way too many different topics, to ever narrow it down.  No mommy blog has ever made my short list. Writers with kids, certainly. The blogs where mommyness is the focus? I don’t get it.

Mommy blogs represent the fastest growing segment of the blogosphere. BlogHer and Blissdom, while not strictly for mommy bloggers, have nonetheless organized and united many. We now have Momversations, for goodness sake! What’s next? Mighty mommy blogger unions?

What I find fascinating is how some A-list bloggers are apparently unwilling to listen to their audience.  It’s widespread practice to monitor comments, deleting and banning any that don’t help perpetuate the image presented.  Understandably, no one wishes to read negative comments. But doesn’t it seem like most won’t even address the legitimate concerns their readers have? Come on, they expect you to read their thoughts and opinions, but won’t give you the time of day unless your opnions are the same as theirs.

Instead of shutting down rogue commentors, deleting comments worked against them. Anonymous blogs have sprung up with the sole intention of giving readers a place to vent their frustrations with the A-listers. And vent they do. And on an  some interesting topics. If you’re bored and looking for a ridiculous, yet entertaining, read, check out Poop on Peeps. Those peeps are keeping it real in the most amusing way.

Perched  on their golden thrones, high in the hills of Oz,  the queens of the blogosphere seem to have it all.  Perfect lives, great relationships, amazing kids and legions of  devoted fans. And the ching-ching of the ad dollars.

I wonder, though, how many are as secure in their mighty mommyness as would have you believe. Do you think these ladies live the life they preach? Do you think they have more of an obligation to listen to their readers?

OctoMom

I have not a violent bone in my body, but for some reason, everytime I hear the phrase OctoMom, my blood pressure shoots through the sky and I want to slap someone silly. Not her, cause I think she’s a few short of a full deck already, but someone has to deserve a slap over this.

What doctor would do this? Is it even ethical to deliberately bring so many kids into this world when the mother has no means of supporting them? I’ve been a single mom, and it sucked ass with just one baby. Literally, my head feels like it’s about to explode just thinking of trying to do it with FOURTEEN.

In the interest of full disclosure, and to make sure that I’ll have regrets over what I write here, I’ll freely admit that I spent six months on welfare when I split from my ex and with a baby to feed. But that’s what it’s for. In the nine years since, I’ve worked and paid my taxes, thereby helping to support others who need the welfare system.

 In my opinion, she was already abusing the system before she popped another eight. Now it’s just blatant abuse.  What can you do? Take them away from her? That might solve the immediate problem, but it sets a bit of a bad precedent for the next family who has multiples and might need assistance to get going again. It’s unlikely we’ll see to many Octo-Mom stories, but it’s very likely in this time of advanced fertility options that we see more multiples.

What would you do? Do you even think it’s possible for one mother to adequately care for 14 kids?

Enough is enough

I don’t understand the popularity of  The Pioneer Woman. Kudos to her for being able to turn a fairly boring, monotonous blog into such a success. But, holy fuck  Batman, how much of the same old crap does she post? I swear to God, as cute as the horses are, I may just scream the next time she posts yet another picture of them. It’s getting to be as bad as the cow situation. There’s really only one way I like cow – and that’s medium rare.

I did kinda like her blog when I first read it. As butter-laden as her food is, some of the recipes aren’t bad.  I don’t read it very often anymore, but I have a look from time to time. It’s just gotten to be sooo flipping boring.  She’s even made the renovation of her lodge boring.  You just want to scream at her “Enough already!!! Admit you have a ton of money and this lodge is just going to make you more money!!!!”

I don’t give a rat’s ass how much money she has, more power to her if she married rich, I say.  But this ridiculous spiel about not wanting the lodge to fall to ruin and not really having any firm plans for it other than to do some cooking? Come on. No one spends that kind of money doing a remodel unless they have firm plans for the future. There’s a bloody commercial kitchen there! Who’s she planning on cooking for? I don’t mind reading fairy tales, but I hate to be taken for a fool.

Do you read the Pioneer Woman?  Is she keeping it as real as you’d like?