Fuzzy-belly therapy

I look kinda worried here. No surprise. My mama always told me I came out of the womb worrying (and two weeks early, spoiling her plan for a baby in each week of January, so yeah, I’m impatient too). It should come as no surprise, then, that I worry about my family (blood and chosen) and friends who are part of the LGBTQIA community, all the time, really, but especially during Pride Month.…

Get a load of the size of the Etymology Monthly! Cartoon by John Deering. It’s been a while since I’ve been truly nerdy on the Voices page. OK, gleefully word-nerdy; I have been civics-nerdy recently, such as my column on democracy a couple of weeks back (that was a little word-nerdy, but serious). But a recent visit with a friend and one of my fur-nephews introduced me to a type of speech I…

Even my favorite Doctor is rolling his eyes over all this crap. GIF found on giphy. Sometimes my eyes roll so much that I fear I’ll have to catch them before they tumble out of my head and provide one of my fur-nephews or nieces with a fun new toy. Good luck getting the dust and cat hair off those. In the comments on my column last week, my original troll (he of the “game, set, match, I win,…

Just say no to the know-it-alls of the world who don’t, in fact, know it all, and insist on correct definitions. GIF found on giphy. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about cognitive biases. Considering that Monday is Memorial Day and we have people going around claiming the United States, for which military members and others have fought and died, is not a democracy, perhaps it’s time I…

Human, this bitch slap is for your own good. Stop believing everything on the Internet! On the other hand, cat GIFs are one of the best things on the Internet, so believe in those. GIF found on LazerHorse. The Internet is great for many things: bringing people together, streaming entertainment (I don’t have cable, so that’s how I watch TV), allowing quick access to products and services around…

This would be a good definition. Yet MAGA trolls keep trying to pretend they’re normal. Image found on DIY.org. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few decades of observation of partisans, it’s that people who describe themselves as “normies” usually aren’t that normal. While once used by alcoholics and people with disabilities to refer to those without such, since about the early…

Readers of my newspaper column will notice I didn’t have a column today; I had been thinking about writing this, but knew it needed more thought, so I leapt at the chance to run an Earth Day column from a friend. Then I thought that perhaps the topic would probably be too much for a family newspaper, so it will just be here. While I might pick up some of the threads next week for my column, I…

It really costs nothing to be kind. If you can’t do that, at least don’t be a douchbag. Image found on Walden University. As much as talking about kindness the past couple of weeks has cheered me, it’s time to get back into more serious matters. We’ve spent several months with no shortage of letters, thanks largely to the craziness (not the fun kind) going on in the world, but that somewhat…

This has been me a lot lately when I open up social media or read the news. GIF found on Tenor. As I write this, I have no idea what the next few days will bring, especially considering the profanity-laden post made by the president over the weekend, plus the one Tuesday promising “a whole civilization will die tonight.” No one ever said he was a diplomat … except maybe him and those who kowtow…

That was just mean! I think I’ll cough up a hairball in his shoes. Image found on Meme Center. April Fools’ Day once was really fun at the Democrat-Gazette (and elsewhere). My mentor and friend (and other mom) Mary Hargrove and I were notorious for newsroom pranks on the day. More than a few batches of plastic bugs were deployed (sorry, Danny, RIP), desk drawers turned upside-down, and fake…

When the chameleon says to take it down a notch … GIF found on Pinterest. Man … can everybody just calm down? Sheesh. And let’s do one more thing, m’kay? Don’t depend on social media for your news. Social media blew up the whole Croissanterie thing into something political when it wasn’t really (and encouraged people who’ve never been to the restaurant or even live anywhere near here to leave…

Miss J. has it right. There was just too much going on last week. GIF found on giphy. When I was writing my column on the joy of Threads last week, little did I know that drama would take over. In response to a female photographer calling out someone else for past transphobic and racist comments (involving the attic-lady drama), a male on the Internet (I hesitate to call him a man) decided that…

Captured on one of my pre-pandemic photo hikes, which I highly recommend as a social-media break. Longtime readers know I’ve often advocated taking breaks from social media. It really helps, especially now, in resetting your mental circuits after absorbing so much horror, inhumanity and rage bait. Take a walk (maybe a photo hike, which is what I used to do pre-pandemic, and really need to do…

An emotionally secure man isn’t threatened by the ideas of showing affection in public, caring for others or of women asserting themselves. Image found on marriage.com. We could talk about the new war with Iran today, but international politics isn’t exactly my bag (history, yes, but this is different), so why not instead talk about something that will trigger the usual suspects? There are a…

As Nanny and Mama’s birthdays were Saturday and Monday, I decided it best to take this week off from writing a column, even though those spunky girls would probably want me to write/make good trouble. I’ll be back at it next week. I really miss these two.

The only bull-y I like. Gotta love a highland coo. Image found on Pinterest. Bullies will never find a safe space with me. Maybe it’s because I was bullied (many of us who didn’t really fit in were), but I have the tendency to rear up in defense of someone else who’s being bullied. I don’t cut those bullies (and trolls) much slack. Sure, blame my mom and my church for teaching me to care for…