I've spent a lot of my life terrified of black people, but not for the reasons you might suspect.

When I was little, preschool age maybe, it was somehow impressed upon me that a white person like myself must be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS around African Americans.  Because it was EXTREMELY EASY to… Read full post »

Well... sort of.

You can read the Newsweek article here for the details - but basically researchers have found that by administering a steroid called dexamethason to pregnant women whose unborn daughters have a condition called CAH (congenital adrenal hyperplasia), the chance of those daugh… Read full post »

Four years ago, on the Fourth of July, I was pregnant and sitting with my husband in the backyard of our little house on Roberta St.  We'd spent most of the day pulling weeds, planting impatiens and trying to scrub off the paint the previous owner's kids had spilled on the… Read full post »

My good friend's 94-year-old grandmother recently passed away after suffering for several years with various health problems and dementia.  By the time she died she weighed under 80 lbs and didn't recognize her family members half of the time.  She was no longer able to live in her own home… Read full post »

There are a lot of OS pieces written on the many facets of homosexuality.  Often, those who oppose gay marriage or gay civil unions are described by OS authors as "gay haters" "gay bashers" "bigots" or "homophobes."

I'm wondering - and I'm honestly asking here - is it possible to disagree… Read full post »

It seems like the question, "How can you STILL be Catholic?" comes up a lot, especially here on OS.  I find this question odd, because I don't think it's that hard to be a Catholic at all.

 I feel like we live in a world where there is a religion for… Read full post »

 When I was in high school I took great pleasure in wearing cutoff short-shorts, painted-on jeans, and lycra camisole tops.  I used padded bras to get a bustier look, fake tanner to achieve a Brazilian glow, and quite a bit of makeup.  My plaid uniform skirt was hemmed within an… Read full post »

Kelly Preston, age 47, and her husband John Travola, age 56, have certainly had a very rough couple of years.  In January of 2009, their teenaged son, Jett, died unexpectedly.  More recently, their two pet dogs were killed in an accident at an airport.

Like I said, it's been a rough… Read full post »