2018 LGBTQ Holiday Giving Projects: Supporting Persad, SisTers Pgh, and Garden of Peace

Every year during this season, I ask you to support particularly vulnerable members of our community. This year, we are once again focusing on Persad Center, but two different populations – isolated rural LGBTQ elders and LGBTQ youth. We have also invited SisTers Pgh and Garden of Peace to be part of our program because […]

Can We Find 11 New #AMPLIFY Donors to Celebrate 11 Years on Facebook?

Tuesday, July 19 will mark 11 years since I joined Facebook. This past May, I celebrated 10 years on Twitter. That’s a lot of content created and shared.  In that time, I’ve gone through three laptops, a tablet, and six phones. I took a closer look at the OP I shared and was (not) surprised […]

Nominate Your Favs for the Pittsburgh Magazine Readers’ Poll

I’m not a glossy magazine type of person, but I’ve noticed Pittsburgh Magazine stepping away from the frou-frou and toward more actual journalism recently. That’s encouraging. It is the time of year for their annual Readers’ Poll. So I’m going to make a list of all the folks I think deserve your vote. This sort […]

Hysterectomy Update: Now knowing what to ask about our bodies is how we end up losing ground with our own bodies

lesbian hysterectomy

It has been 11 days since my surgery. Most of those days have been filled with resting, walking around the house, resting, making sure that I eat, and reminding myself not to pick up a cat or dog. Our weather has been horrible so taking an outside walk was not an option, especially since my […]

My Family History Christmas Edition: Grandma’s Date Nut Pudding Recipe

Date Nut Pudding Handwritten Recipe

For most of my childhood and young adulthood, my paternal grandmother baked these puddings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She made one per household for her three adult children, one for her own household, and one for the family meal. She may have baked more on occasion as a gift for a friend or hairdresser or […]

Update on Holiday Projects for LGBTQ Neighbors

We’ve been working with three local LGBTQ projects to support our neighbors during the holidays. Here’s an update. Persad’s SAGE project works with LGBTQ elders (50+) and each year identifies clients who have minimal or no family engagement. Coupled with living in rural communities on fixed incomes, their holiday support isn’t really strong. In years […]

Enter to win ‘You Make It Feel Like Christmas’ from Gwen Stefani!

Gwen Stefani Giveaway

You Make It Feel Like Christmas the new holiday album from Grammy winning superstar Gwen Stefani Featuring a collection of holiday classics & originals Out Now! Order/stream at gwenstefani.com! Facebook.com/Gwenstefani Instagram.com/Gwenstefani Twitter.com/Gwenstefani #YouMakeItFeelLikeChristmas Rulez You can enter as often as you like, but you can only win once every 30 days. You should be 18+ and […]

Celebrate the Holidays with Persad, #ReachOUT to Isolated LGBTQ Elders

Send a Card to A Senior Citizen

We are kicking off our annual #ReachOUT project to collect gift cards to support isolated LGBTQ neighbors living throughout the region. Our partner in this effort is Persad Center which hosts the regional chapter of SAGE.  You can read about previous years projects here and here and here. This year, our project has two distinct components. […]

Christmas Spirit Trumps Scrooge In Pittsburgh

Bill Peduto Toys for Tots

Yesterday, the Marines kicked-off a two-day ‘Open House’ for families throughout the region who wanted to access the Toys for Tots donations. This annual distribution is open to members of the community who have the necessary paperwork and the means to get to the Strip District location, as well as to transport their items home. […]

Ten Holiday Things To Do In Pittsburgh

I Made It! For the Holidays

I’ve made these lists up in the past, filled with big plans and remorse over what I didn’t accomplish. Still, here we are on December 1 once again and I’m giving it the good try. Here’s my list of things to do in Pittsburgh this year to celebrate the holidays. Or at least things I […]