My Friend Was Admitted to ICU for COVID-19 Testing; She Found a Simple Way to Make It Easier for Health Care Staff

Cell Phones in ICU Covid-19

My lifelong friend, A, is a 49-year-old, white woman with a 16-year-old daughter. She grew up in Pittsburgh, earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and graduated from the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. She worked until she was fully disabled in 2011 by chronic health problems. She had to turn in her medical license, […]

Toilet Paper, Sanitizer, and Social Anxiety in a Pandemic

Toilet Paper, Grocery Shopping

Here’s what I don’t understand – why are items that are available in restricted quantities NOT available to buy online or via a curbside shopping service? Is it logistics? Too few employees to take half a delivery of TP, alcohol, and wipes and set it aside to fill deliveries/shipments and put half on the shelves? […]

Teletherapy and Coping with COVID-19

Telehealth Teletherapy

When word broke of coronavirus, my therapist told me that her practice (East End Therapists) were getting prepared to offer teletherapy options. I was her first client using this technology. They use an  app called Simple Practice that can be accessed via the internet. My therapist creates a unique login code when she puts me […]

Small Business Loans in Response to a Global Pandemic is not Relief

This piece was co-written by Shanon Williams & Christian J. Hughes, two small business owners COVID-19 has officially set in and the nation has been scrambling to establish various types of support from food to mental health and everything in between as we all hunker down and prepare to be in semi/full isolation for the […]

New #ThingsToDo: a List from August, Age 7

New Things To Do Project

Lists Submitted: 4 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $40.00 This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in addition to […]

New #ThingsToDo: a List from Aria, Age 10

New Things To Do Project

Total Lists Submitted: 3 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $30.00 This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in addition […]

Day Seven of COVID-19 Quarantine: Critter Version

I”m using Monday, March 16 as our personal starting point because that is the day Laura was officially told to work from home as much as possible. I’ll be honest with you, most of my anecdotes and tales involve cats. If that’s not your jam, scroll away to another blog. Our basic goals are to […]

Day Five of COVID-19 Quarantine: How to not kill your domestic partner

Working from home with pets

So we’ve been home since the weekend. Okay, technically I have been home since 2010. Laura has been working from home since Tuesday. Random observations The load on our wi-fi (FIOS) is significant. We are being careful to turn off devices to minimize lag time. That’s slightly annoying. We are also keeping devices, especially our […]

True T Pittsburgh Statement on COVID-19

True T Pgh

I’ve reached out to several local LGBTQ organizations, requesting an update on how they are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include: Pittsburgh Center for Equality, Persad Center, PFLAG Pittsburgh, TransPride Pittsburgh, Proud Haven, OUTrageous Bingo, Shepherd Wellness Community, SisTers Pgh, and True T Pittsburgh. As I receive their responses, I will publish. Some of […]

Ten Ways This Blog Is Trying To Be A Good Neighbor During Scary Times

Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

I tend to agree with a piece in The Atlantic about adults distorting and abusing this advice from Mr. Rogers as a panacea rather than a call to action to create a more just world where children feel safe. Individual acts of charity and benevolence in the midst of horrific crisis can be practically useful […]