Life skill: giving yourself a goddamn break

It's really hard times for a lot of folks, and my family is no exception. So it was really great to speak to two different family members yesterday and hear a theme I really, really like: leveling up on taking care of yourself. Most specifically? Giving yourself a goddamn break. We were talking about grief,…

Learning skincare with Hyram

[Old person voice] In my day, we didn't have these interwebs and yoo-toobs. If we wanted to learn about skincare, we talked to the older girls at school. You know, the girls with four inch bangs and 15 ounces of hairspray on them at all times. Of course, we also had all those vague, confusing,…

Emotions and their “solution”: Bingo

I don't like feeling unhappy. That's excruciatingly obvious, but what I mean is that there are times when my unhappiness isn't something I can sit with quietly...

The revolution will be pink

"...the most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed."

Vaccine Finder (USA)

I've managed to get vaccines scheduled for my (eligible) immediate family and myself, and VaccineFinder.org was a big help. You'll input your info and get information back about availability, then schedule via the particular store's website. Some website are buggy and difficult (I'm looking at you, CVS); some are trying their hardest (e.g. WalMart). Just…

Let’s all learn the early signs of a stroke

Warning signs of a stroke may appear as early as seven days before an attack and require urgent treatment to prevent serious damage to the brain, according to a study of stroke patients published in the March 8, 2005 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ... While similar to…

Salmonella outbreak: let’s skip the turkey this year

I'm gonna ask you NOT TO COOK TURKEY THIS YEAR. We still cook meat for the extended, non-vegan family on Thanksgiving, but this year we're going with chicken for them. This PBS article tells you why, but I'll give you short highlights from the article: - No single outbreak source - 164 hospitalization in the…

Milk is super bad for you (go figure)

While this article sounds tinfoil-hatty, I have heard and read the same from multiple other sources which I deem to be credible. AND this article does a decent job of linking to other studies and articles. Key point: "Because milk is very mucus-forming in the human body, it is believed to contribute to allergies, ear…

I made this amazing discovery about anxiety

So, it turns out if you occasionally freak out, and you're always using coping mechanisms to keep your mind from spinning too fast or too much, you apparently might benefit from some anxiety treatment. It finally occurred to me that the way I live and deal with things might....not...be...entirely....optimal. So I talked to my doctor and…

One more thing we can do about gun violence

A friend asked, "Why do so many people have problems with putting metal detectors in schools?" I'll just speak for me, here. I don't have serious problems with metal detectors at schools, except for one thing: It's rather security theater, than it is actual security. I'm all for metal detectors, if we don't think of…