Taking Your Husband's Name

My new friend Carol Cassara has a great prose poem post on her blog Middle-Aged Diva, musing about the choice of whether to change your last name to his when you get married. She's let me share it with you. Here's an appetizer; then read the rest at her blog.

These arrived the other day.
Yes, the college I'm teaching at needs to have them on file
to be sure I have the appropriate credentials
to be teaching young minds. 

Not that these tell you much

except that I met a university's degree criteria.

But, whose name is on them?

Mine. 

That is M's surname, which I took in 1972 when we married the first time. 

And that's who I was as I finished my college career.

And then, one day, after he left, I was writing a check in Publix on Appalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, Fla. {Yes, there was a day when grocery stores did not take credit cards and debit cards had not yet been invented.}  I remember the moment vividly. I stopped, mid-signature and thought to myself, Why do I have this name? 

CONT'D at : Middle-Aged Diva

Purchase Power = Women Power

BlogHer is a big deal. And a blast this year in NYC. Plus the Expo hall is jammed w brand name company booths trying to interest us in their latest products. Women in U.S. make up to 85% of household consumer purchase decisions. 

Sponsors of the event include Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Hillshire Farm, Samsung, Dannon, Lysol (!), Wells Fargo and Harley-Davidson Motorcycles to name a few.

Obama Addresses 5,000 Blogging Hers

Here's Lisa Belkin's account on Huffington Post as the BlogHer2012 Conference opens in NYC with a video address from President Obama.  (Mitt Romney was also invited but only Obama accepted)

Obama said “the choice women face right now in this election could not be bigger.”

Watch video of the President's address.

Ready for BlogHer2012?

The conference of the year starts tomorrow! I'm heading down from Boston. BlogHer, now in its 8th year, is always an electric storm of female bloggers who write on every topic imaginable (though Parenting and Food blogs are big). Women from around the U.S. and the world. Look for my on-site tweets @girlinthelocker