Since I didn’t do the regular “scraps” thing last week because of my Blogoversary observation, this week’s collection is a bit longer and more rambling than usual.

New in Google Reader
Surrender, Dorothy, via BlogHer (the post that finally prompted me to subscribe is one of this week’s links) – and her sister’s blog, Tales from Clark Street
Better Than Marriage (or is it? we’ll see…the chronicle of an unconventional relationship)
Mid-Century Modern Moms (new to almost everyone, actually, since its official “grand opening” was just this week)
Moms on Issues, the newest Work It, Mom! blog, plus co-blogger Veronica’s home blog, Viva La Feminista (co-blogger Sara has been in my Reader for quite some time already)
Game Theorist – parenting and economics, via Working Dad
Being Emily, via “We’re all mad here,” said the Cheshire Cat to Alice. (Alisonwonderland’s blog with the very long title)

Reflections on compartmentalizing, multitasking, and “presence” from Rita Arens on BlogHer, and consideration of convictions from Meg Fowler

Also from BlogHer: Susan Mermit talks about the path of an unexpected second-time-around relationship, and it reminded me of one I’m quite familiar with myself.

There’s “a big hole in our party system: there is no party for socially liberal and fiscally conservative,” says Julie Pippert on MOMocrats. On her personal blog, Julie “used her words” to ponder the sense of loss that seems to hit not long before midlife – the realization that you’re really not young anymore, and that some things are truly gone from your life. I recall it from my late thirties, and it was a rough time; but oddly enough, it’s gotten easier since I hit my forties.

I actually work fairly closely with (and like) the HR people at my job, but it may be the one function that drives people even crazier than Accounting does sometimes. But I love the HR secrets that some of the blogs spill, especially when I suspected some of them were true anyway. Laurie Ruettimann disses performance-evaluation “feedback,” and rightfully so, if you ask me; Deb Owen elaborates on why it’s a problem. Meanwhile, in a rant about people’s misplaced sense of urgency, the Evil HR Lady hits one of my own sore spots – people who think their concerns are so much more important than anything else that they want you to deal with them RIGHT NOW. On a related note, Elana Centor’s BlogHer post about salary negotiation pretty well reflects my own experience: “(I)t is the rare occasion when someone can actually walk into their boss’ office, request and get a raise because our work culture is not set up to have employees ask (for) and get a raise. It really doesn’t work that way for most of us…I can honestly say I do not know anyone who has done that.”

Since chances are you won’t get that big raise either, check out some essentials of “recession-proofing” from Working Girl. WG also offers a list of 100 job boards that’s particularly useful for web-based work, and The Park Bench has your (?) (my?) dream jobs.

Bored with work? Sometimes the (real) urgency of what you have to do doesn’t get you revved up, but has the opposite effect. Well, maybe that’s just me…But anyway, Nataly at Work It, Mom! has some constructive suggestions for dealing with it. And every now and then, bored or not, I need to be reminded about this: “Basically: Put your work before your play, or the work won’t get done.“

Are you a morning person? Whether or not you are, the way your day starts can set the tone for everything that follows. The Happiness Project offers some ideas for getting off to a better beginning. And at any time of day, it’s always good to have – and be – a true friend.

The “mom wars” recently flared up over on the Work It, Mom! front – and I have to say I was a bit surprised. This is what kicked it off, and Nataly invited more responses…here’s mine. (If you click over to the first two links, be sure to read the comments too.)

Mir of Woulda Coulda Shoulda is right – giftedness is no excuse for laziness. This post gave me flashbacks to a smart, not-so-hardworking kid I raised once…

On much less serious notes (no pun intended, honestly):

Lisa says what I’m thinking about partial blog feeds (I know there are plenty of good reasons for using them as a blogger; I’m just not all that fond of them as a reader).

Pam coins a phrase.

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what Randy Jackson did in music to score that judge gig on American Idol, here’s a nice little wrapup – I had no idea the man was so prolific.

My power-pop-loving heart was warmed by this guide to Nick Lowe’s career, and my “I don’t like country music much” iPod has three of these six songs on it already – I may have to go looking for the rest.

When I talked about “new oldies” a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my consciousness of popular music emerged around 1974. The ’70’s were a banner decade for lousy music, and other people have some embarrassing musical memories of their own.

Hope you find some of these links worth reading, and have some time for it! Happy Easter, and have a great week!

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