Playoffs are exciting because they’re an elimination tournament. The EPL has an elimination tournament: It’s called the FA Cup, it features like 700 teams from every level of soccer in the UK, and winning this tournament is a separate achievement from winning the league.

Actually, they had to win 22 games and draw 11, resulting in a point total that exceeds any other football club in the English Premier League.

It’s really the best way to crown a champion. The team that was the best thoughout the season won the title...not the team that got “hot” at the end of the season.

I always try to be friendly and polite to retail and service workers because...well, why wouldn’t I be? But knowing how many people are jerks to people who are just trying to help them, I really enjoy giving compliments for exceptional service. People are quick to complain (sometimes when it's not even warranted) so I…

I am so thankful to finally be able to shout this all over the interwebs: My transgender daughter came out to everyone yesterday. The whole big FB announcement. Those closest to her have known for a little while and I have known since she revealed herself to me five years ago. Now that she has been on hormones for a…

I had to stop in to the grocery store this evening. I expected it to be crowded and it was. I expected lines to be long and they were. I expected to have a long wait and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the cashiers were getting everyone checked out, all while keeping smiles on their faces. As soon as I got…

This is Pupcake. She limped home last night after being lost in the woods since Labor Day. Yes, do believe in miracles.

I’m wondering if that’s part of why they opened up the pitch — give people room to space out so if there was an attacker inside, the damage would be minimized.

That’s top notch crowd logistics right there. Multiple incidents outside with possibly more developing. The safest place those people could have been was inside that stadium. If you let them all out, not only could it lead to panic and stampedes, but possibly a coordinated attack is awaiting them outside.

I think it was a fantastic job by the responsible people to prevent mass panic. They had no idea what was waiting outside until the police secured the area, and they had to get a huge amount of people out of the stadium without causing any panic. To wait until the game was over and then to open up the gates to the…

But it is only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of people who are doing this. There are hundreds of thousands of new Muslim refugees moving across Europe who just want to live in peace. And these terrorist assholes have to make life hell for everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim.

My sister used to work at the domestic abuse organization in town and the Jackass guys would make large yearly donations with no mention of it in the news. They liked to keep that private.

You know, there are a lot of people who really look forward to this every year, myself included. I can’t speak for all of them, but I’d really rather you put your creative writing assignment somewhere else.

Also, electroshock therapy isn’t primitive. The fact that so many people don’t know ECT is still used today is a…

My car snaked up a jagged road until an impressive Greek revival building with fading whitewash came into view.

I used to work in a very remote town, while living in my hometown 30 miles away. I was 20 and my Dad had just secured me my very first car to make the commute, it was a mid 1990’s Thunderbird with oxidizing paint, leaked every fluid I put into it, and had shitty gas mileage. Needless to say I was in love.

I wonder if it was even your mom. I had a similar experience when I was in kindergarten and it’s never left my mind. My mom worked crazy shifts when I was little and we lived with my grandma, my dad and my sister. Sometimes my mom or grandma would get me up and ready for school depending on who was available.

I came across these stories last year and I found them hard to get through, I guess I’m a wuss, but last January something really weird happened to me and I’ve wanted to share it ever since.

Okay, so this year I can participate since the main player who would be scandalized by airing the laundry has passed. As background, my mother had me in her late thirties and her mother in turn had her in her late thirties. My mother was the youngest of eight children and had brothers much older than she, which is how…

My scary story -