| Heather Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 19, 1975 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Dooce |
| Occupation | Blogger |
Heather B. Armstrong (née Hamilton, born July 19, 1975) is an American blogger who resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. She writes under the pseudonym of Dooce. Armstrong explains that "Dooce" came from her inability to quickly spell "dude" during IM chats with her former co-workers.
Armstrong was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Memphis, Tennessee, and majored in English at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, graduating in 1997. She then moved to Los Angeles, California to work. Armstrong married web designer Jon Armstrong and returned to Salt Lake City to work as a consultant and designer. They have two daughters together: Leta Elise (born 2/3/2004),[1] and Marlo Iris (born 6/14/2009).[2]
Armstrong was featured by Forbes magazine among 30 honorees on its list of "The Most Influential Women In Media" for 2009.[3][4]
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In 2002, Armstrong ignited a fierce debate about privacy issues when she was allegedly fired from her job as a web designer and graphic artist because she had written satirical accounts of her experiences at a dot-com startup on her personal blog, dooce.com.[5] She did not challenge her termination and has refrained from identifying her place of employment in interviews.
Armstrong warns her fellow bloggers:
"Dooced" can mean "getting fired for something you've written on your website," a sense supported by the Urban Dictionary,[6] and humorously disavowed by Armstrong in her blog's FAQ.[7] This definition was used by the television game show Jeopardy! on December 10, 2009, as evidenced by a screenshot on her blog the following day.
Armstrong has written extensively and humorously of her struggle with depression, entering a mental health hospital, as well as her pregnancies, parenthood, skin cancer and her experiences with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has caused some controversy as Armstrong is no longer a member. However, despite many jokes and pokes at her former religion, Armstrong maintains that "...whenever I make fun of Mormons, I'm just making fun of the Mormon that I was, the ignorant, intolerant, pig-headed adolescent who needed a big one up her pooper." [8]
In her own words, Armstrong says the following about her site: dooce.com began in February 2001 with a post about Carnation milk. "Since then I have published more than 5,300 entries covering topics such as breast milk pumps, golf cart rides with Norah Jones, and the one guy I dated who talked like Elmo during sex."[9]
In 2004, Armstrong accepted text advertisements on her website for the first time. In 2005, Armstrong accepted graphic ads and wrote that the revenue from the advertisements would be her family's principal source of income while her husband made the transition to manage her advertising and business. Since then, she has appeared in Suave advertisements that feature her own image and trademark.[10] In 2009, Armstrong again received mass media attention for using Twitter to get her washing machine fixed.
In November 2009, Armstrong introduced a new, interactive section to her website that allows registered users to post questions and responses. Armstrong introduced this new section, the Dooce Community,[10] by posting an entry (11/2/09) on the main dooce.com page:
Dooce.com has received multiple nominations and awards from The Weblog Awards (Bloggies), including a lifetime achievement award for Armstrong in 2008.[12]
In late 2005, Armstrong entered into negotiations with Kensington Books to produce two books, one of which was to be a memoir of early parenthood. The negotiations broke down in May 2006, and Kensington sued to force Armstrong to fulfill the terms of the unsigned contract. In October 2006 both parties agreed to a settlement which allowed Armstrong to seek another publisher.[13][14]
Kensington released a book of essays "Things I Learned About My Dad: In Therapy" on April 29, 2008, edited by Heather B. Armstrong. # ISBN 0758216599 # ISBN 978-0758216595 [15]
Her second book, "It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita" was released on March 24, 2009 and published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment. It reached #16 on the New York Times Bestseller List for April 12, 2009.[16]
Armstrong was a music columnist and consultant for the Alpha Mom media network. She and her husband run Armstrong Media, LLC, a web design and content-generation business. She also was a panelist for the online video series Momversation.
In late 2009, Armstrong announced a partnership with the television network HGTV in which she worked "work with HGTV’s online and on-air production teams to create innovative convergence programming for the network." While the bulk of her partnership activities began in the Spring of 2010,[17] Armstrong began contributing weekly content to the network's Design Happens blog in February 2010.[18]