The Catholic bishops have revealed their true agenda, and it is precisely what I feared. They are not going to be happy until contraception is completely removed from the healthcare plan. But the question remains: if you can violate state and federal labor law because your organization is owned by a… Read full post »

I will turn 60 next month—on August 25^th, to be precise. As with most decade-turning milestones, this birthday is kicking my ass, psychically speaking. I spend a lot of time crying, bemoaning a wasted youth, staring fearfully into the future which is, I am positive,… Read full post »

Jilly is sad. I think my silky terrier has finally figured out that her big brother, Shmooey the pug, is not coming back. She has spent a good many of our walks sniffing furiously around the spots where he liked to pee regularly, searching for a… Read full post »

In the aftermath of the death of Osama Bin Ladin, a lot of well-meaning control freaks and “Birkenstock liberals” have been expressing dismay over what they see as the inappropriate celebratory mood of kids in front of the White House. “We should not celebrate the death of a human b… Read full post »

I’m an avowed atheist. I long ago lost the ability to look at traditional religious philosophies about gods and angels and miracles and biblical inerrancy without thinking, “Seriously? In the twenty-first century?” Nevertheless, I am often struck by an experience I can only describe… Read full post »

I have to stop watching Chris Matthews, for my own physical well-being, if nothing else. If I keep it up, I'm going to blow an aneurysm one of these days, and I can't be doing that.

Chris Matthews is a pretentious blowfish who parlayed a little bit of political… Read full post »

Today hasn’t been going so well—not so well at all.

My day started, as all of them do, with my opening my eyes, looking at my alarm clock, and thinking “Shit, I have to get up.” I keep hearing about people who love their lives so much that they bound out of… Read full post »

My nephew—the youngest of the cousins—graduates from high school tomorrow.  Thankfully, I am not required to attend the commencement. That “honor” (an ironic term for three hours of lousy-chairs-and-boring-speeches torture) is reserved for mom and for the grandfather who… Read full post »

My son, John, just announced on his Facebook page that this week marks the tenth anniversary of him coming out to his family as gay. It was a day of demarcation for all of us. As his mother, mostly what I remember is that before he came out, John was a… Read full post »