White fragility is real. I just got done writing a column in which I mentioned white fragility in the context of the recent shootings of unarmed black men and I just know my inbox will be inundated with butt hurt come Wednesday when it’s published. The mere act of mentioning racism is still a thing drives people…

She’s a bit like Jhumpa Lahiri in this regard. Both seem to be quite introverted, and not particularly fond of being ‘out in the open’. Granted, Lahiri to my knowledge has no online presence, but sometimes I’ve seen in interviews people trying to take her narratives into some preconceived notions about racial issues…

My country is one of the “border states” which is fortress europe speak for countries on the edge of the EU which are the final stops for migrants from Africa before they get to “europe proper”, which means that if, by some miracle, they do get into the EU, and then get deported, they get deported here. There are…

What a great way of completely missing the point and making this article about a stupid girl and a stupid kid and not shedding any light on the horrific situation in which immigrants from Africa find themselves when trying to cross to Europe. This is a story about a little boy and his father desperately trying to make…

The father was a resident of Spain, but his son was not. I’m sure he thought he was making the right choice to be able to raise his son in Spain, rather than Ivory Coast. Not to detract at all from how traumatizing it must have been for the little boy, but I think the context here is important, and it’s missing from…

As a one-time linguistics major, grammar peeving seems so silly. So many people seem to immediately react badly to any non-standard or non-literary usage, but I’m like, “What a trivial thing to get upset at.” And why does it impact so badly on so many people when they hear some novel usage — shouldn’t we get excited…

Well... :) I meant for it to be a comment on myself, as someone for whom the use of “funner” would actually cause physical cringing. It makes sense, it’s used a lot, it’s fine, especially in a blogging context. But I had some fairly strict training during my English degrees so there is still a bit of a grammar fascist…

I was about 12 when I’d decided I was going to be a Paleontologist (I’m not, btw, but that’s not the point.)

My mom has so much mom in her heart that she couldn’t give it all to the two independent, happy, well-adjusted girls she raised. So she became a surrogate mom to anyone out there who needed a little more mom in their life. The best was when my sister came out while attending a small college in the South and started…

In was in the car with my mom, on my way to run an errand. She took my time in car captivity to ask 17-year-old me about a girl in town who had died from OD-ing on ecstasy. My mom asked me about “the ecstasy” and I was all snarky, like “what do you know about drugs, MOM?” [eye roll] She responded “You know, the one…

My mom is a spitfire. She’s a tiny, fierce, mean, Irish lady. She had 6 kids in 6 1/2 years. I have a ton of great stories about her, like the time she bought a huge crystal chandelier at an estate sale several hours from our home. Lacking anything to wrap it in for the ride home, she stripped down to bra and panties,…

All the tears. Beautiful.

My mom is adorably clueless, and like a tiny sprite of a human being. She also dresses kind of masculine, has a pixie cut and is full of tattoos. So bearing that in mind, once my family was on vacation in Vegas. One of the days we were there, we signed up for a tour of Red Rock Canyon. Our tour guide was awful for…

My mom, mom drunk on IM:
Mom: I love you, you know :) ;)
Me: :)
Mom: STOP LAUGHING AT ME.

My mom is a transplanted Midwestern lady living in a small island town in south Texas. There are a lot of great stories I could tell about her (she was briefly Mormon because the only church within walking distance of her family’s farm was a Mormon temple and then she got a scholarship to BYU and, as she likes to tell…

I was trying to think of a best, but I couldn’t, so I’m just going with badass-est.

As a person, I say, “DANG, that’s cold, yo.” As an English teacher, I say, “DAMN STRAIGHT.”

We were out after my birthday dinner and my mom is MOM DRUNK aka a bottle of red wine into the night. We’re walking to the car and she’s like “what does ismin parking mean? Eeeeeesmin.....iiiiismin....”

Oh, my eye-makeup was wrecked halfway through the article. People who have healthy, loving relationships with their moms can’t understand (lucky them) and to be in the virtual company with so many people who can is an enormous relief. Cry it out, friend. You're in great company.

Once I took my mother in so she could have a day surgery performed. We were sitting in that pre op room and she was sitting in a wheel chair. Unbeknownst to me they had already given her her pre surgery cocktail. The nurse came in and put this foil looking space bonnet on her head. We sat there in silence for a moment…