In my masters in mental health counseling we had a diversity class where we were supposed to step outside of our cultural comfort zone and go do something like visit the service of a religious group of which we were not a member or interview someone of a different race. Super dumb (IMHO) but whatever. One of the women…

Yes, that was gross and pretty damn realistic if you hang out on transracial adoption groups that center on adoptive parents. But that’s not what the movie was about.

Ha! Yes, they were my daughter’s first concert (not counting Bruce Springstreen, which we saw at an Obama rally when she was three, although she can and should count it when she realizes how bad Pentatonix is). I had to take her and they’re back this week but I’m making my husband go because I can’t sit through that…

I’ll point out that in Lion there is no white saving going on. Yes, his a-mom had a (problematic to say the least) white savior complex but note that he doesn’t include her in his search until the very end and what saving did his parents do when they cut him off so completely from his birth culture? His discomfort…

Trying these with Alexa — most of them work but not the Queen one, alas.

Sure but some monogamous relationships aren’t as monogamous as one partner thinks and sometimes people die or decide to leave and then there’s all the people we love (like our kids or our parents or our best friends) who are at higher risk so basically, it’s bad for everybody.

My husband got one a little over a year ago and yes, life changing. I joke that it saved our marriage only maybe I’m not joking because he went from being barely present to being an active participant in our family’s life again (the barely present thing, I took it as a purposeful behavior but he was severely…

FYI, dearest, @imhotep-is-invisible, this menu is not eating healthy or better. This is weird disordered eating. Just because eating like a Kardashian results in a particular look on a particular body, doesn’t mean it’s spiritually, physically or emotionally healthy. I know you weren’t quite equating that but you…

I lived there twenty years ago and there were homeless people camping on the streets then. I worked at a shelter and getting housing for our clients was tough but I can’t imagine what it’s like now given the gentrification. When we first moved there they still had those “Welcome to Oregon: Please Remember to Go Home”…

Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg (author of The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) is the only book that I’ve read that does a terrific job of talking about the trauma a boy might have after being sexually exploited by an older woman (in this case, his babysitter). I’m not privy to any of the specific…

That was our dog (RIP Peanut). Amazing with people but likely weaned too early (as far as we know, she was a rescue). She was an adorable fluffy terrier mix and no one ever believed us when we’d say she wasn’t good with other dogs so we learned to turn around quickly on walks if we saw one coming our way because…

It is sad. GET IT TOGETHER!

The grandmother tried to get custody and tried to get access to the kids. She was turned away when she would show up at the door. She called CPS (several people did) and CPS has closed all of their records (despite a law that says they need to be opened when a child dies) to cover their tracks. Also the guy’s uncle…

Would I like it? What does liking it have to do with it? This is how art works and I’d argue that the fact that a corporation created the fearless girl is exactly how art works in America. I’m a writer and people have taken my essays and responded to them in ways I don’t like (I once wrote an article for a print mag…

My BIL and wife played Walking After Midnight for their first dance. Really.

Unless you’re someone for whom monogamy really is that hard. Then suggesting that monogamous marriage is natural and easy for everyone is a massive stretch. Maybe she’s done all that soul searching and that’s what led her to this conclusion.

“You get your own kid with fewer strings attached and less baggage” is the great myth of international adoption. All adopted children have “strings” (i.e., a previous life, family and culture even when adopted at birth). And kids adopted internationally have experiences that mirror those adopted from foster care…

It’s not good to adopt children who have parents who want them and who want to be with them (see Mercy and David) from countries where there is no adoption system in place. She basically bought those kids and that’s called trafficking.

First of all you assume that he makes sense. He does not. (My husband keeps doing the same thing, “But why? It doesn’t make sense!” Exactly.) But his thinking is that one bad news story about feces in the fry machine would shut down a multibillion dollar business so they’re extra careful not like those idiot local…

In Being Human, George’s Star of David necklace scares away the vampires. His best buddy Mitchell (who is a vampire) can hold it because they are best buddies.