New #ThingsToDo: a List from Ava, Age 14

New Things To Do Project

Total Lists Submitted: 8 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $80.00 (out of $1,000 possible) This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in […]

How to Keep House During a Pandemic: Sanity v Sanitization

How to clean during a pandemic

When this began, we had on hand the following:  two bottles of bleach, six bottles of white vinegar, four bottles of Murphys Oil Soap, rags, spray bottles, and half a refill bottle of hand soap. We also had about eight rolls of paper towels, a package of napkins, and lots of rags. After week one, […]

Daily Dose of #QuarantineCats Saturday March 28, 2020

Pittsburgh Cats and Dogs

These are difficult times. Our crew wants to help so I’m going to try to regularly post brief video snippets from the assorted four-footed residents of our house including our pets, fosters, the ferals, our dog, and occasional guests. Today we again feature Maisel who seems to love the camera. She’s lying on this fleece/fur […]

Q&A with Matt Merriman-Preston About the Pennsylvania Primary Election, Mail-In Ballots, and More

This is a very confusing time. We spend hours trying to find toilet paper and disinfectant, worrying about access to critical medications that are being redirected to maybe cure COVID-19, and having our evening news interrupted by a ridiculous puppet President who lies and misleads us every single fucking day. One point of confusion is […]

My Friend Was Admitted to ICU for COVID-19 Testing; She Found a Simple Way to Make It Easier for Health Care Staff

Cell Phones in ICU Covid-19

My lifelong friend, A, is a 49-year-old, white woman with a 16-year-old daughter. She grew up in Pittsburgh, earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and graduated from the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. She worked until she was fully disabled in 2011 by chronic health problems. She had to turn in her medical license, […]

Toilet Paper, Sanitizer, and Social Anxiety in a Pandemic

Toilet Paper, Grocery Shopping

Here’s what I don’t understand – why are items that are available in restricted quantities NOT available to buy online or via a curbside shopping service? Is it logistics? Too few employees to take half a delivery of TP, alcohol, and wipes and set it aside to fill deliveries/shipments and put half on the shelves? […]

New #ThingsToDo: a List from August, Age 7

New Things To Do Project

Lists Submitted: 4 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $40.00 This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in addition to […]

Day Five of COVID-19 Quarantine: How to not kill your domestic partner

Working from home with pets

So we’ve been home since the weekend. Okay, technically I have been home since 2010. Laura has been working from home since Tuesday. Random observations The load on our wi-fi (FIOS) is significant. We are being careful to turn off devices to minimize lag time. That’s slightly annoying. We are also keeping devices, especially our […]

True T Pittsburgh Statement on COVID-19

True T Pgh

I’ve reached out to several local LGBTQ organizations, requesting an update on how they are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include: Pittsburgh Center for Equality, Persad Center, PFLAG Pittsburgh, TransPride Pittsburgh, Proud Haven, OUTrageous Bingo, Shepherd Wellness Community, SisTers Pgh, and True T Pittsburgh. As I receive their responses, I will publish. Some of […]

Ten Ways This Blog Is Trying To Be A Good Neighbor During Scary Times

Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

I tend to agree with a piece in The Atlantic about adults distorting and abusing this advice from Mr. Rogers as a panacea rather than a call to action to create a more just world where children feel safe. Individual acts of charity and benevolence in the midst of horrific crisis can be practically useful […]