NaBloPoMoPgh – 2019 Edition

NaBloPoMo 2019

Welcome to the home of a 2019 version of NaBloPoMo. We are using the hashtags #NaBloPoMo2019 and #NaBloPoMoPgh. This page will be updated to list participants as we find new folks contributing to the conversation. We will also list all of the writing prompts and other important information as we go along. To submit your […]

Coping with Four Facebook Bans over Eight Days, Personally and Professionally

Social media bans silence political bloggers

  This morning, I was notified that I have a 24-hour ban from Facebook. It is my fourth ban in an eight day span. There’s no explanation, there’s no clarity on exactly which Community Standards I violated, there’s no information. And there’s no way to compel Facebook to do anything. So I’m not going to […]

NaBloPoMo, Pittsburgh Style for November 2019

NaBloPoMo 2019

National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo) used to be a thing. Basically, participants used writing prompts to fulfill a goal of posting daily (or writing 30 posts total for the month.) I thought it was a great challenge to keep blogging fresh. Along with NaBloPoMo, several daily blog writing prompts have stopped posting new content as […]

Why I’m Blogging About Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

From NAMI website: During the month of May NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will launch the WhyCare? awareness campaign for Mental Health Month. The campaign emphasizes how the “power of caring” can make a life-changing impact on the more than 40 million people in the U.S. who face the day-to-day reality of having a mental health […]

LGBTQ Holiday Happenings in Pittsburgh 2017

Gay Christmas

A round-up of some of my favorite things. This list is not comprehensive by any means, but these are events that happened to catch my eye. If you value this type of blog post, please consider a donation to support our work.  Healing and Solidarity Circle Mon Nov 27 – 8pm — Sanctuary Pgh, 5015 Penn […]

Five Bright Spots in My Thanksgiving

Our holiday was perfectly fine. The food was great, the family was all there, etc. But I feel like there was a lackluster veneer between me and everyone else. I’m sure part of that is depression over the menstrual period I’ve been having for two solid months as it sucks all the good out of […]

Those Times When Santa Came to Visit on a Fire Truck in West Mifflin

Santa Claus West Mifflin

When I was a child growing up in West Mifflin, a blue-collar suburb of Pittsburgh, there were a few consistent holiday rituals. These included: making Advent wreaths at CCD; watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special; and fire truck Santa. Each year the local volunteer fire department would drive around the neighborhoods with Santa on a […]

Saying #MeToo For My Own Sake Because I Can’t Count on You

Comedian and activist Lizz Winstead started a hashtag on Twitter, #MeAt14, asking women to share photos of their 14-year-old selves to ask how a 14-year-old kid can be old enough to give consent. This is in response to allegations that Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore pursued a relationship with a 14 year-old girl when he […]

My Family Story: The Unknown Legacy of Anna Gottheld (1874-1949)

Perhaps that is her story, her legacy even. She like so many women in history are lost to us in terms of details, but real to us in terms of having actually been here and part of the tapestry of our lives. She existed in all of her unrecorded, complicated and stark reality. Her legacy is real even if the details are shrouded. Perhaps this post will unearth more details or perhaps it will simply honor the life story that we know.

Rest in power, Grandma Annie.

Six Bloggers Walk Into an Art Gallery

Six bloggers walked into an art gallery to have a conversation … This was far more fun than I anticipated. I had forgotten quite a bit about some of the history of political blogging during the mid-2000’s. It was fascinating to revisit that time period and have a chance to look through the eyes of […]