Akeelah and the Bee is a gem of a movie for middle-school and late-elementary school children. Eleven-year-old Akeelah lives with her overworked mother in South Central LA and mourns the death of her father. Her two older brothers have their own paths, one in the Air Force and the other hanging with gangbangers. Akeelah struggles […]
Today my son and I saw the first episode of Sesame Street to feature the new character Abby Cadabby. Most people concede it’s nice to have another female Muppet on the show, although many criticize the fairy Abby for being too stereotypically girly, pink, and sparkly. Frankly, I don’t see her as so much more
To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here are some sites to inform, support, and help you take action. Resources with a lesbian connection: The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of breast cancer. You may remember Love from her appearance on The L Word last season. Love is an
Abigail Garner, author of the must-read Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is, publisher of Web sites Damn Straight and Oversampled, and all-around advocate for LGBT families, has announced she will leave her career as “professional queerspawn” as of the end of the year. Abigail has done a tremendous amount
Has anyone else noticed that some containers of Play-Doh products contain the warning: “Molded results vary depending on child’s age and level of skill”? I suppose I should have expected such a thing in a country where all takeout coffee cups must caution us that “Contents May be Hot.” Come on, though. Is any parent
Tomorrow, September 30, is Museum Day, and that means museums across the U. S. will be offering free admission. Simply print a pass from the Smithsonian Web site and you and a guest can get in free to participating museums. (Special exhibits may not qualify.) The Smithsonian organizes the yearly event, but this is the
Women whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers are more likely to have high athletic ability, a new study from King’s College London claims. Interestingly, an earlier study from the University of California-Berkeley showed that lesbians also tend to have longer ring fingers. Does this mean all lesbians are athletes? Or all female
I’ve long been a fan of Swedish furniture company IKEA’s smart design and low prices. Today, the company announced it will be rolling out a line of branded food products this fall, building on a number of Swedish edibles it already offers. (Thanks, Slashfood.) The company says “prices will follow the IKEA spirit of cheap
I received an e-mail from HRC today, advertising their limited-edition holiday ornament and holiday greeting cards. Reality check: It’s still September. I’ve heard rumors of people who do their holiday shopping this early, but I’m not sure I want to know anyone that organized. If I manage to have a Halloween costume ready for my
Many parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children because of concerns that some may in fact cause serious health problems. Whole-cell pertussis (DTP) vaccine and combined measles-mumps- rubella (MMR) vaccine, for example, have been associated with an increased frequency encephalopathy or encephalitis. A new report, however, says that childhood vaccination against whooping cough (pertussis)
