Confessions of a Rick Santorum Intern

Rick Santorum internship

Yes, I was an intern in then-Congressman Rick Santorum’s DC offices for six months during 1991. Me. Most of you know this. Some of you don’t. This internship and the photo it generated are perhaps one of the most enduring legacies of this blog. 27 years after the fact, it is still a salient and […]

An Essay About St. Patrick’s Day and My Not-So Irish-American Cultural Heritage

Irish American Pittsburgh

Growing up in a working class Pittsburgh suburb, I knew two things to be true about my family – we were Roman Catholic and we were Irish (with a little German.) We were Irish Catholics and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day robustly. St. Patrick’s Day is also my younger brother’s birthday. Robustly meant lots of green […]

Fish Fry Friday Special Report: Church of the Assumption Launches Recycling Team

This is probably one of the most awesome blogging outcomes I’ve ever discovered. The folks at the Church of the Assumption in Bellevue have regularly followed my reviews and always taken time to thank me for constructive feedback. Recently, I learned that the volunteers met sometime after the first Friday in Lent and decided to […]

Pittsburgh Wildlife Strategy & Urban Residents: Q&A with Scrap the Trap

In the past week, we’ve seen a groundhog in our yard, a raccoon on our back porch, and our regular opossum visitor. None of this is new. But it is early and as we are in the process of trapping, neutering/spaying & releasing feral cats, so this creates some challenges. Some of our neighbors have […]

Fish Fry Friday: St. Catherine of Sweden

Welcome to Fish Fry Fridays, 2018 Edition! Click here to learn more about this project. Name: St. Catherine of Sweden (Allison Park) Date: March 2, 2018 Time We Ate: 6:30 PM Random review of #fishburgh adventures during Lent. Find a fish fry on this map! You can also follow them on Facebook and find tons of reviews and suggestions. And vote in The […]

Local LGBTQ Links We’re Reading – February 9, 2018

Here are the LGBTQ related links we’ve been reading this past week. Let us know what we missed. I’m just getting restarted on this feature so I am sure I’ve missed some pieces. Please leave a comment if you know something I should include. A local business owner’s gay son is making an impact in […]

#Hysterecovery and Mental Health

lesbian hysterectomy

It is hard to ask for what you need when your requests are denied. I keep asking people to drop off Turners Iced Tea and coffee creamer, but no one has because they think I’m joking. So asking your surgeon to please call you on a Friday afternoon because you think something is wrong? Asking your boss for just a few more minutes on your break because your body feels like hell? Asking your insurance provider to reconsider your appeal about coverage? Asking your preschooler not to cuddle because your entire abdomen is inflamed? Asking your partner to please do this one more thing on top of everything else extra they are doing? 

Animal Friends, Humane Action Pittsburgh Give State Senator Guy Reschenthaler Platform

The animal rights world has its own rules and intersectionality is not often among them. But even I was shocked to see two local animal welfare/rights organization create a platform for State Senator Guy Reschenthaler (State Senator Guy) to talk about his strong commitment to critters. Who is this State Senator Guy? He’s very pro-fracking […]

LGBT Activists Say Amazon Should Avoid Pennsylvania For Lack of Statewide Protections

When I first heard about this effort a few months ago, I was intrigued – holding Amazon accountable to its own policy of affirming LGBT rights by choosing a new location (HQ2) in a state that has statewide nondiscrimination policies. Pennsylvania does not. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia do, but the state does not. “Employees, their families, […]