Pittsburgh Plays It Forward With Holiday Toy Project

Play It Forward is a terrific resource for regional families during the holidays. Building upon the idea of toy sharing, organizers collect gently used toys, stuffed animals and more to redistribute to families in need. I think it is an excellent idea and the fact that they received over 50,000 toys in 2013 suggests that […]

Why I Don’t Go Into the Woods

Like most kids, I grew up with a mixture of urban legend and cultural frights that together made for terrifying experiences. Our neighborhood was the border of “The Woods” which lent itself as a source of horrifying creatures sneaking through the backyard and into our lives. Nevermind that during the day, we ran wild and […]

16 Things About Me At 16

Pittsburgh Lesbian

Tell us all about the person you were at sixteen.  I turned 16 in October 1986, my junior year in high school. My father taught me to drive and purchased a second vehicle so I could take my mother places. The deal was that I could use it as much as I wanted as long […]

How a Dying Mall Taught Me Survival Skills

You’ve been kidnapped and given a choice: would you rather be stranded on an island, dropped into an unknown forest, or locked in a strange building? As a fan of procedural dramas on television as well having spent more of my life working inside buildings, I would have the best chance to survive inside a […]