What’s It Like to Be in an Interracial Marriage?
My parents, my father's parents and I were born in the U.S; my mother's parents and my dad's grandparents were born in Mexico. I was raised in the very homogeneous Walnut Creek, California in the 1970s and '80s when it was very Anglo and middle class. There were...
Must Eat Brains: Animal Organs Are Good for Us
In the AMC series American Horror Story, Jessica Lange’s character brings animal offal to her neighbor, Vivian, to support Vivian's pregnancy. She says that parts such as brain and liver are critical to having a healthy baby. We watch Vivian’s horror, but see her...
International No Diet Day
Get ready for International No Diet Day on Sunday the 6th! How about it? You might wonder if a day of eating everything in sight really better than watching what you eat. I think the day isn't about going off your diet, but about trusting yourself to eat in...
Still an Atheist
This Thursday on the United States' National Day of Prayer, nontheists will have a National Day of Reason and recently Washington D.C. saw the Rally of Reason. Coming out as an atheist is becoming one of the bravest moves an American can make, especially if she's a...
“Everything in Moderation” Is Used Without Moderation!
As my fixation on nutrition continues, I'm becoming more irritated by people talking about moderation. I might say that wheat gives me a stomach ache or that starches cause weight gain or that natural animal fats are actually good for us, and someone will respond with...
What’s Wrong with Separate Bedrooms?
I will not comment on this topic here, but encourage you to read about it on The Spinsterlicious Life blog. The Spinsterlicious Life discusses topics that don't get a lot of airplay at social gatherings and happy hours, such as why a woman might not want children or...
Why Do Americans Treat Our Pets Like People?
[Does this photo look like cruelty to you? It does to me.] As a new dog owner, I'm irritated by people treating their dogs like humans. American pet owners like to call our animals our "best friends" or the person we can always "talk to." But while you can talk to an...
Ozzie’s First Easter Egg Hunt
Happy Easter to everyone who cares about Easter. Easter's a rough holiday for me (don't know why), but this weekend is pretty good. I took Ozzie to an Easter egg hunt in Horner Park in Chicago, Illinois USA. There were well over 150 dogs! Each plastic egg contained a...
Don’t Listen to a Hypocrite (Me)
In the initial flush of my discovery of Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It (which I strongly recommend), I've gone whole hog low-carb. As I've posted in the past, I go on the candida diet every several years for health reasons and get great results...
“But I Wanted a Table on the Patio.”
(A fictional story, although stuff like this happens all the time.) Bob the restaurant manager checked the weather one more time. It was 8:00 a.m. and while Chicago was tricky, he tried his best to predict the temperatures each day. "Warm and sunny. Great!" Bob said...
Dog Owner Now Meaner
Although it was rough at first -- very rough -- I have come to accept and feel affection for our shelter pitbull mix, Ozzie. He's cute and has turned out to be a great learner. Combine this with a woman who tends to be a diligent student and strict master and we've...
Nutrition Is My New Religion
Photo of the last huge bowl of corn masa I'll ever eat. When you open a newspaper or find a new news website, what category is your favorite? What do you like to turn to first? Some say they're most interested in sports or world news or politics. You know what my...