I was working at Universal Studios on December 1, 1988 when a crazy man approached the security gate and asked to see Michael Landon, who wasn’t there. When the two security guards in the booth turned him away, the crazy man shot and killed them both, then ran into what witnesses believed was the parking […]
Category: Mom About the Burgh
What Soldiers Really Want
When my son, Michael, was five, he loved to play “soldier.” So when our neighbors, a retired Marine and his wife, invited him to go shopping with them at the local PX, he could barely contain his excitement, especially because they told him it was a place where “only soldiers could shop.” I’m not sure […]
A Mama Bear’s Perspective of the Cincinnati Gorilla Incident
I could barely watch the Cincinnati gorilla video. I couldn’t stand to see that little boy being dragged through the water. I also couldn’t bear to hear the screams and commotion of the crowd, because every person who was not strapped in a stroller at that moment must have been horrified, knowing that in a […]
Come On Fittsburgh!
Here it is: Pittsburgh ranks as the 27th fittest city among the 50 biggest metropolitan cities in the United States, according to the American Fitness Index. We are smack dab in the middle of the grid between Dead Last Indianapolis, cited for low activity levels, high smoking rate and high instances of chronic and mental […]
Sheep Shearing and “Ship”
I’m a city gal, born and bred. I didn’t grow up on a farm, so farming, farm animals, and country life are somewhat fascinating and foreign to me. This is why I’ve had a lot of fun visiting farms and talking to farmers recently while writing a cover story for Pittsburgh Parent. I had another […]
Don’t Take the Bathroom For Granted
I want to talk about the bathroom. I don’t mean this in a political way, even though our politicians appear to be in the midst of an epic and awkward public argument over bathroom assignment based on birth certificates and the presence or absence of telltale anatomy. No, I want to talk about the bathroom […]
The Day John Did the Math
As I hopped on the trolley last week, the unusual presence of boys and girls, who would normally be in school, reminded me that it was the annual Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day. I love this event. I enjoy seeing the expressions of anticipation and hesitation on kids’ faces while they follow […]
Eat Your Brussels Sprouts
John Waters, the famous writer and director of twisted, weird films, once wrote an essay in which he described Brussels sprouts as “little balls of hell.” I laughed for three days after I read that essay, and the next time I went to the supermarket, I bought a bag of Brussels sprouts. I had never […]
Red Means Red
If you’re ever downtown at 5PM standing on any corner of Grant Street, count how many cars, trucks, busses, bicyclists and pedestrians speed, squeeze, run or jaywalk on a red light. Almost weekly, I see people, in, on and out of vehicles, cheat death because there’s no way they are going to sit tight and […]
The Root of All Meanness
Mean is in. Every day, I see examples of human meanness on TV, in magazines, newspapers, in schools, on the street, in our homes, and in politics. It’s very clear. People love meanness. People love to be entertained by violent TV shows and movies. People idolize professional sports stars who are thugs, cheaters, and liars. […]