Maxwell 10: Following the 15 minute schedule and the monthly menu

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, Coconutwater said:

What's her sisters name again? Curious...

Tami Frazer Jassey. She's on FB, but it's a private account.

[onekidanddone]

22 hours ago, molecule said:

I've never seen any social media accounts for the Maxwells. Have they ever explained why they don't have them, or have I just managed to miss something that is obvious to everyone else?

My take is that a social media account would expose the kidults to the outside world and not be under Steve's control.

[AnnC]

On 7/6/2017 at 2:33 PM, Maggie Mae said:

Ugh, gross. Makes me think of Rachael Ray's "Cooking" 

Years ago, I tried a recipe from Rachel Ray.  Not sure why I was so determined to try it, but I worked through it..  It was awful glop, my family still talks about it. "Remember that time you tried to make food from a television show?"  

As it turns out my Mom and Grandma did a solid job teaching me basics that serve me well for putting meals together. 

As for the Semi home made... I used to think it was whacky, but then I realized she is trying to help people who are working with limited ingredients and options.  I found her backstory touching, and I think she really is trying to help people.  I won't make the food, but once I understood her point I looked on it with more kindness.

Oh, and one other thing I was wondering.. isn't the Pomodoro scheduling craze basically the same thing as the Maxwells block time management system?

[fundiefan]

12 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

As an indie author, Sarah SHOULD be on social media. At the very least, she should have a Facebook author page and a blog of her own where she can promote her books. It would also help her business if she were part of a network of other homeschool/fundie blogs. Yes, she does promote her work on her family's blog, but she needs one that focuses exclusively on her own work and where she can build her own "brand."

Can't do that. One, it would put Sarah 'in the world' where there would be non Steve controlled communication. What if some man asks a question on the page? Sarah would have to run & find a man to talk to him. Two, it would open her up to scrutiny - someone might critique her writing or style, some like, you know, another writer offering constructive criticism or merely asking something. Three, it wouldn't be a family venture and we all know no Maxwell can do a damn thing without at least two other Maxwells present, unless it involves another isolationist family with the same fucked up values. Four, maintaining a site, Facebook or otherwise, would take time away from her duties of taking posed family pictures for the blog. I see very little on the blog of what Sarah actually does - she's the one who posts pictures and ill educated descriptions of what others do...aunties day? It's Anna & Mary. Cooking, Mary. Cleaning for an in law - Anna & Mary. If Sarah isn't present to document the greatness that is Maxwell existence, who will? Basically, I think the main reason book promotion in her own right would never happen is because she lives a life dictated a nd controlled by others and their needs and wants. She is not autonomous in any way and if she were to use the internet to promote her books it would be 'selfish' because she, not the whole fucking Maxwell cult (well, actually Steve),  would benefit. Can't have her being an individual or allow her to communicate with heathens in the world. No Maxwell lives in a normal world with normal thought processes. While it makes great sense for most for her to promote the books she writes, it doesn't fit with anything at all in Maxhell. I doubt it is even a thought for her or any of the kidults. 

[Eternalbluepearl]

@fundiefan I agree with what you are saying and it was so well-said. I think since the Titus 2 blog and books started out years ago as being done by the parents with the kids "helping", Sarah likely still pictures herself in that role. I don't think she sees herself as an adult woman with a writing career. I think she sees herself as mom and dad's child who helps their business by writing books and selling them on mom and dad's website. In this way, she will never be her own person. The Maxwell brand doesn't allow for it. 

[nastyhobbitses]

On the newest post: is there anything special about a Moody books anniversary dinner, or is it literally just a run-of-the-mill dinner that you have on your wedding anniversary? You know, the thing millions married couples from all sorts of walks of life do and have done for years and years? And a lot of them have meals made by their kids without the influence of the Moody books?

And I know the books are bland, but if you were going to market them as something that inspires families, why not a testimony about how the books inspired a family to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle like the hiking-but-woefully-unprepared-for-it Moodys? Why not a testimony about how it turned your kids into robot warriors for Christ, which sounds way more awesome than it actually is?

As a side note, I really want to send a note like this to George R.R. Martin to tell him that my children followed the example of his books and now recite their kill list to themselves every night as they fall asleep.

[johnhugh]

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Tami Frazer Jassey. She's on FB, but it's a private account.

Aunt Tami used to post happy birthday comments a few years ago.  I wondered if this was her only point of contact with her "extended" family and if so has Stevie started blocking her comments.

Also how does Tami feel that basically her mother Gigi is under the headship of Stevie and his crazy ideology? 

[Palimpsest]

 

38 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

I think she sees herself as mom and dad's child who helps their business by writing books and selling them on mom and dad's website. In this way, she will never be her own person. The Maxwell brand doesn't allow for it. 

Remember that Sarah wasn't even allowed to respond to (or probably even read) the reviews of Summer With the Moodys on Amazon.  Steve did that.  He was so offended to learn that there were multiple grammatical errors after their team of professional editors had been through it.  As one of those professional editors was Teri, no wonder.

Sarah doesn't have a brand of her own.  She also isn't self-published (as I think of it) but family published.  As with all the Maxwell books, the publisher is Communication Concepts, Inc.

They revamped that website when they folded the construction business and OneTonRamp.  It is almost all Swift Otter these days (although one of these things is not like the other).   No mention of the books there today.  http://www.cciteam.com/#team

[Trynn]

 
Remember that Sarah wasn't even allowed to respond to (or probably even read) the reviews of Summer With the Moodys on Amazon.  Steve did that.  He was so offended to learn that there were multiple grammatical errors after their team of professional editors had been through it.  As one of those professional editors was Teri, no wonder.
Sarah doesn't have a brand of her own.  She also isn't self-published (as I think of it) but family published.  As with all the Maxwell books, the publisher is Communication Concepts, Inc.
They revamped that website when they folded the construction business and OneTonRamp.  It is almost all Swift Otter these days (although one of these things is not like the other).   No mention of the books there today.  http://www.cciteam.com/#team

One of the maxwells even said "I have an english degree and I couldn't find any grammatical errors!"

Well, maybe if you count spelling errors as being separate from "grammar errors" then sure? Maybe?

I'm not even talking about mixups like its and it's. I'm talking about mistakes like "folowwing."

[sparkles]

You know, given the state of the world today, it's oddly comforting to come back to the Maxwell blog after nearly a year's absence and find that nothing, other than a new offspring or twelve, has changed. Nothing. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's so boring that it's perversely riveting.

And Steve? Swift Otter's chief synergist? Really? Lest you forget, your last name is Maxwell, not Jobs.

[kpmom]

@sparkles I feel like I haven't seen you and your avatar in a long time.  It's nice to see you again!

[sparkles]

@kpmom Good to see lots of familiar peeps!

[Palimpsest]

16 minutes ago, sparkles said:

it's oddly comforting to come back to the Maxwell blog after nearly a year's absence and find that nothing, other than a new offspring or twelve, has changed.

Yay!  Welcome back!  You have been sorely missed.

I beg to differ though.  There has been some change.  Anna and Mary have been let off Steve's leash to go on a ministry trip with John.  That's never happened before.  I expect all three had shock collars buckled on before they left though and Steve has the remote glued to his hand. 

@Trynn, yes. grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and really strange sentence construction.  As in: "With a thud, she stood still for a moment, catching her balance as all eyes turned to her."  Chapter 6.  Summer with the Moodys. 

[crawfishgirl]

I am a bookworm, and I think it's the main reason that I am generally a good speller.  After a while, words just look funny if they are misspelled.  Reading more may help her with many things - such as styles of writing, and just learning the normal speaking patterns of a common person.  Her writing is stilted, probably because she doesn't converse with non-family members that often, and hasn't been exposed to the wider world, even in literature.  Remember when the parents said that their children are writers, not readers?  And they even whited-out the words to Row, Row Your Boat when the kids learned music? It's such a shame that she is so overly sheltered.  Since even her conversational skills (both written and oral, judging by her video) are awkward, Steve has really hurt them in almost every way possible.  

One last thought - someone mentioned that she misspelled following/folowwing.  What app or software is she using that didn't catch such a basic misspelled word?  Even the text boxes on this site underlines words such as folowwing when it is being typed.

[sparkles]

@Palimpsest I saw the bit about the super sekrit mission trip! I think it's out of sheer desperation though, because even Steve has to realize he's got offload at least one daughter and what better place to meet a godly man than on a mission trip. Sarah is the sacrificial virgin, Anna is too valuable, but Mary is the most expendable.

And speaking of Mary, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see in her "Day in the Life" post that she uses Before and After as a graphic design resource. It's been around since 1990, but the content is timeless—good, solid principles of design—but it's 100% secular. No mention of Jesus or death whatsoever. So kudos to her and the parental units for allowing it (although there may be one or two "racy" examples that need whiting out). I also saw her working on the computer so she could be studying the graphic design track on Lynda.com, which is also non-threatening. Except for the odd workshop here and there, I'm a completely self-taught designer, so it's definitely possible to succeed but there has to be some raw material to work with. What I've seen of Mary's work is competent, but pedestrian and unimaginative. If she's opening herself up to outside learning, she could definitely improve and set herself up to serve the Maxwell's limited market.

[church_of_dog]

4 hours ago, fundiefan said:

Can't do that. One, it would put Sarah 'in the world' where there would be non Steve controlled communication. What if some man asks a question on the page? Sarah would have to run & find a man to talk to him.

And what if a questioner has a name that doesn't imply a specific gender?  (leaving out all the possibilities of nonbinary, etc, as just too worldly for the Maxwells to probably even be aware of...)

But names like Pat, Chris, Sydney, Marty -- or a name from another language or ethnicity the Maxwells aren't familiar with?  Or just a first initial instead of a name?

Would they actually try to ask the person their gender before determining which Maxwell would respond?  

[Closed Womb]

@sparkles , Hi there!  I love seeing you avatar again.  I hope you're doing well.  

[Bajovane]

Reading back through this forum and peeking at the blog, I have to wonder - just what are these kids going to do when the Great Stevehova enters the Eternal Kingdom or whatever they call it?  He has had so much control over the lives of his family - they can't do anything without his approval and say so.  Even the married kids are vulnerable - as far as I know, none of them have ever worked outside of the family - therefore have never paid towards anything like Social Security and the like.  What will happen to the girls?  As far as we know, none of them are even close to a courtship and therefore getting married and having families of their own.  Will they have to be slaves to their brothers?  What if they cannot afford to take on their sisters?

I do wonder if Steve ever gave a thought to any of this.  Perhaps he thinks he will live forever since he is so "holy" 

[WonderingInWA]

Steve has likely already written a comprehensive family/survivor rule book to tell the family how to operate when he dies.  The Family Bible, by Steve Maxwell.  They are all so programmed, they'll follow it.

[Jana814]

I don't think they will know what to do when he dies. He has sheltered them so much from the outside world. They would be to afraid venture out. 

[kpmom]

57 minutes ago, Bajovane said:

  Even the married kids are vulnerable - as far as I know, none of them have ever worked outside of the family - therefore have never paid towards anything like Social Security and the like. 

Just fyi, self-employed do pay into Social Security and Medicare, so hopefully they at least will have that.

 

[Eternalbluepearl]

1 hour ago, WonderingInWA said:

Steve has likely already written a comprehensive family/survivor rule book to tell the family how to operate when he dies. 

Oh my gosh this is so sick and so likely! The new signature at the end of blog posts will be "Trusting in Steve, Sarah."

[FloraDoraDolly]

7 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

 

Remember that Sarah wasn't even allowed to respond to (or probably even read) the reviews of Summer With the Moodys on Amazon.  Steve did that.  He was so offended to learn that there were multiple grammatical errors after their team of professional editors had been through it.  As one of those professional editors was Teri, no wonder.

Writers are not supposed to respond to negative comments on Amazon. It is considered unprofessional to do so, especially if the situation escalates to where the writer gets into an actual argument with a reader.

[Palimpsest]

11 minutes ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

Writers are not supposed to respond to negative comments on Amazon.

Interesting.  I've noticed a few who do respond though.

 

[CyborgKin]

1 hour ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

Writers are not supposed to respond to negative comments on Amazon. It is considered unprofessional to do so, especially if the situation escalates to where the writer gets into an actual argument with a reader.

Not even with a simple thanks?