I don’t know about you, but ABC’s story today (that I found because people tweeted it) about Russian officials wearing ridiculously expensive watches was in my category of non-news. Having lived and traveled extensively in that part of the world, it doesn’t surprise me that Russian officials wear status symbols on their wrists. It doesn’t surprise me that they may have accepted them as bribes, that they give them away like candy, or that they might actually be able to afford them, given all the pies they have their thumbs stuck in.

What does surprise me is that any serious journalist would turn it into a story. Come on, people. Is anyone delusional enough to think that Russian officials exercise transparency, honesty, and integrity? Sure, there might be one or two – and it would be a much better story to find out which Russian officials (if any) have scruples, and if so, how on earth they got into their positions.

It doesn’t matter that Bean is home from school for the 4th day in a row. Or that we’ve long since run out of rainy day ideas for things to do in the house. Or that Bruiser knows what buttons to push to make our hair stand on end.

All that matters is that I have a steaming cup of Harry & David Witch’s Brew coffee in my hands. (spare me the comments about me and my attitude resembling the proverbial witch…) Well, that and the fact that hubbs took this picture of Bruiser yesterday:

I can’t stop laughing. Now that’s expression!

Can you hear me now?

These days I’m feeling a wee bit as if I had multiple personality disorder. Remember when I told you, say, about a week ago, that I was giving up on the family-friendly blog thing and moving on to a profit-driven online mumbo-jumbo geared to my job hunt?

Well, hubbs and I solved that problem. No jobs, at least not yet. But we’ve started a consultancy, and our little consultancy website gives me a place to put all those boring posts about, you know, the real world and stuff. Business, marketing, copywriting… blah, blah, blah…

So Mudlark Tales can return to what it was originally meant to be – a place to sit down over a cup of coffee and embarrass my children write about life.

Speaking of which, today I mentioned to hubbs that I’d take the boys with me when I was running errands, you know, “to get them out of your hair.” Bean replied, “But mama! He doesn’t have any hair!”

And my dad saw Bruiser put on one of Bean’s pretty headbands, so he taught him to say “gay.” Gee, thanks dad.

And Little Man? Well, he still shoots off scary things (like thunderstorms) with his imaginary quill of arrows, but as of today he can also pull off a very convincing Spiderman move. After which he announces nonchalantly, “Yeah, that’s my new Spiderman move. I just learned it.” (I think he actually picked up a Tarzan move from the Disney movie, but I suppose Spiderman could use it just as well.)

From Halloween – the dragon/dinosaur/aligator, the giraffe, and the witch.

I’ve always loved the Ukrainian city of L’viv (or L’vov, as Russians call it). It was the first city outside the US that I spent considerable time in, and its cobblestone streets and Parisian architecture are enchanting.

L’viv got creative recently and installed what might be the world’s biggest crossword puzzle.

This 10-story apartment building has a crossword that’s blank by day but the answers appear at night. Clues to the crossword are found at various locations throughout the city, and, as you might expect in the center of Ukranian nationalism, the crossword is in, you guessed it – Ukrainian.

Thanks to Jessica Lee for her post about the effectiveness of Facebook pages. Between SEO benefits and news feed postings, it’s hard to imagine why marketers wouldn’t use Facebook pages. Add to that the use of rich media and it means that you can publish video directly to the news feed and profile pages of all your fans.

Ben & Jerry’s, with close to a million fans, has a well-designed dynamic FB page, complete with pictures, frequent wall postings, and embedded links. All they’re missing is video.

With polling capability and Facebook’s page management system, complete with tracking and statistics, FB pages are much more useful than groups or even causes. Barack Obama’s page is only 2/3 as popular as Ben and Jerry’s, and Starbucks is about half as popular, even though they seem to have left it mostly static.

The big question is, how many of their Facebook page visitors and fans translate into transactions – either online participation or actual revenue stream? Or have we moved past transaction thinking into a realm where traditional stats don’t tell the whole picture?

Problem #1: Unemployment is skyrocketing in the US and has been for the last year and a half.

Problem #2: Companies can find cheaper labor overseas, so they outsource a lot of work that used to be done by Americans, leaving the unemployed with the need to find another way to fit into the labor pool.

Problem #3: A lot of the existing jobs require certifications that are expensive to obtain, but not time-intensive.

My Solution: Why don’t Cisco, Microsoft, Six Sigma and some of the other credentialing agencies partner with state departments of labor to create a program in which the unemployed pay a small fee to enroll in a credentialing course? Even if the department of labor covers a couple hundred dollars of the cost, they’ll pay fewer months of unemployment benefits, saving money in the end.  Their expenditure might even be billable to the participant once he or she gains employment.

What the DOL gets out of it: Lowered unemployment statewide, saving money and resources.

What the unemployed participant gets out of it: Highly recognized credential that makes him or her much more marketable in the job field.

What Cisco and/or Six Sigma (and others) get out of it: Stellar PR for responding to the needs of the job market, and a more highly qualified job pool with greater diversity of skills.

Well, folks, MudlarkTales is about to have a facelift. In the interest of, to be blunt, a need for income, MudlarkTales is about to change into more of a professional space and less of a mommy-blog. If you’ve been following our family developments over the last few years, those are on their way out.

I’m seeking employment as a copywriter or copyeditor and stories about toddler phrases, Halloween crafts, and poo aren’t exactly going to get me hired. I hope I’ve entertained you well, but from here on I’ll be using this online parking space to help my employment search.

This morning the kids made spiders. They made little ones and big ones.

The spiders were made to be part of Bean’s halloween costume, which I spent the rest of the day working on – she’s going to be a witch. There are three spiders on her hat, but you can’t see them because she’s a wee bit camera shy. I had to catch pictures when she didn’t expect it.

She has a broom too – black with pink glitter, but it seems to snag her costume. It would help if she didn’t keep trying to ride it, but what else would a witch do with a pink glittery broom?

We have a Halloween party to go to tonight. Little Man is a dragon, but his costume was store-bought. I imagine there will be more pictures to follow, once we get them both dressed for tonight’s event. Don’t get your hopes too high for Little Man’s costume. It’s cute, but somewhat incomplete. Maybe by the time Halloween rolls around I will have figured something else out for it.

We have a winner for the book giveaway!

Random.org chose #4 as the winner, so congratulations to Jenn! I’lll contact you Jenn for your mailing address.

FedEx showed up today and I ran to the door hoping it was the mysterious gift hubbs sent me for our anniversary – 7 wonderful years and counting! Alas, not my anniversary present, but instead the Merck Manual Home Health Handbook – almost as exciting. Not much can compare to a mystery gift, but this comes awfully close! I wanted to post a picture of the book, in its pretty package with orange shreds as packing filler, but it seems that some dwarf has run off with my camera. Wait – scratch that. It seems that my dad has reclaimed his camera.

If you’ve been following Mudlark Tales for long, you probably know what I checked out first. Yep! I looked up seizures and was pleasantly surprised. They talk about all the major issues, giving special attention to anti-seizure medications. Then I looked up all sorts of things – multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, vitamin D deficiency, ADHD, asthma (which has some really cool graphics for explanation), and vaccines, to name a few. Don’t be fooled by the mommy-blog take – this is not just for moms. The handbook covers birth to aging, including information on death and dying, DNR orders, and everything in between. It also has really helpful illustrations of the body, which I’m sure will come in handy as the kids get older and we talk about what the brain looks like or why ear tubes helped Little Man’s ear infections.

I can see how this would easily become my at-hand reference for everything health-related. Not only does it cover all the essential information about most any ailment, it also has good references for proper nutrition and even using nutrition to combat illness.

Let me forewarn you, it takes a purely scientific stance on autism and ADHD. Autism, it says, is not caused by vaccines. The rise in ADHD diagnoses could be due to a rise in occurrence or over-diagnosis. I happen to like people that stick to scientific studies, and stick to their guns without apology. Overall, it is very thorough, reader-friendly, and the helpful text boxes are a quick key-in to helpful information. Thanks to Merck for sending me a manual to giveaway to one of my fabulous readers – a $39.99 value!

So, here’s what you need to know. To enter, leave a comment about how you usually find information about health – do you google? call your RN sister? consult a magic 8 ball? actually ask your doctor? You can also enter by tweeting about the contest @kcozonac, or get an extra entry by reposting on your blog. Winner will be randomly chosen on Friday at noon, EST, by one of those randomizer thingys. And because I’m paying the shipping on this, I’m afraid I can only open it to residents of the US or Canada.