My Dear John Letter

Dr. John Ruffing

Dear John, This terrible day is here again – eight years ago, you died. You were 41. And you died. Eight years are a long time. I find that now when I think of you, my first thoughts aren’t of that day. Instead, I think about when we first met and the times you took […]

The Art of Blogging

This is my exhibit at The Art of Blogging

Kaley is Trans, Queer and a Fan of Gender Outlaws

Transgender Beaver County

Please note that this is our 70th published AMPLIFY q&a since we began in late May 2015. Thank you to Kaley and everyone who has shared their story. Name: Kaley Age: 30 County of Residence: Allegheny, Grew Up in Butler County Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity?  I am first a human being, then a woman, […]

The Art of Blogging: A Group Exhibit at Most Wanted Fine Art

Most Wanted Fine Art Resident Artist

I’m pleased and a bit nervous to be part of my first group art show. It opens Friday during the November Unblurred Art Crawl along the Penn Avenue Arts Corridor in Garfield. The host gallery is Most Wanted Fine Art. Nine artists are participating. A group exhibit exploring blogging as an art form and the […]

Shaquanna Wants Families To Have Positive Conversations With LGBTQ Relatives #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Lesbian

Name:  Shaquanna Age: 32 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: Female How do you describe your identity? Organic!  Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?   Being the oldest sister of three sisters, I grew up in a household where it was okay to voice your opinion, and speak […]

Bill Toland Invented the Burghosphere, But I Just Owned It

Burghosphere

Why do you blog? ~ Daily Prompt Sunday was the launch of the first ever ‘Best of the Burghosphere‘ awards.  25 bloggers created unique award categories for their colleagues. We ended up with 27 awards because of some duplication errors on my part during the organizing, but no one objected. And we’ll celebrate with two […]

Alec on Being Genderfluid: It’s Confusing Outside the Binary #AMPLIFY

Name: Alec Age: 25 County of Residence: Allegheny County, grew up in Jefferson County Preferred Pronouns: I’ve been defaulting to “she” and “her”, but “he” and “him” are usually ok too How do you describe your identity? I am a human being, who is attracted to other human beings. I identify as Genderfluid. Gender is a social construct and I don’t […]

Good Grief! Joe Wos Won a Blog Award

  If I was asked to define what makes a blog great, I would respond that it is both content and layout/design. Nothing is more important than solid content. You want to engage your readers and keep them returning. Content is key. But layout and design matter as well. You don’t have to use a […]

Best of the Burghosphere: ‘lil Burghers is the Blog Most Likely to Practice What They Preach

Note: Ledcat stepped in to present lil burghers with their award after a little mishap with the original assignment. but if anyone understands last-minute changes at bat, it is the blogger with four kids including infant twins ~ Sue I’ve been watching preparation for the ‘Best of the Burghosphere’ from the sidelines for a few […]