The New York Times reported last week that American troops raided a key station on the Foreign Fighters’ Highway near the Iraq-Syria border and came across a treasure trove of data. Fortunately for us, those the coordinators of the global trade in suicide bombers kept their books up to date and left us a […]

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Yesterday was Buy Nothing Day, an anti-holiday to point out the consumerism that we (westerners) indulge in on a daily basis. My ability to observe buy nothing day is often predicated on who I’m hanging out with at the time. At one half of my in-laws, there’s usually enough left overs and we’re far enough […]

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Ran across this the other day: a discussion of Hollywood sexism translated to the animal kingdom. Some interesting points that I’d not thought of before, especially since I enjoyed the Lion King thinking that the got at least some of the animal-gender-roles correct. This basically makes me want less to watch Bee Movie even less, […]

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I know it sounds trite, but I’d like us all to take a moment to think about & share what it is we are thankful for. I’ve recently been given the opportunity to appreciate the things I have in my life; as is often the case, this is due to the fact that some of […]

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John Scalzi, SF author and blogger extraordinaire (famous for Bacon Taped to Cat and the recipe for Schadenfreude Pie that we baked to celebrate the 2006 Democratic victory), gives us a guided tour of the infamous Creation Museum:
Here’s how to understand the Creation Museum:
Imagine, if you will, a load of horseshit. And we’re not talking […]

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Novembers and change go hand-in-hand here at Mind on Fire. Two Novembers ago, I resolved to make a new spiritual path for myself, and I ritually un/de/re-baptized myself one cold evening in the Pacific Ocean. I began the OC Pilgrimage not long after. Last November, our family completed our exodus from the […]

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Due to a miscommunication, you didn’t get any tea on Friday afternoon so it’s coming at you late but heartfelt.

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at least, I wish it was. Unfortunately, this is a recent commercial, all the scarier for that. Just built different. I’ll remember that the next time someone thinks I’m not smart because I don’t have dangly wobblies between my legs: I’m just built different. My poor, female brain simply can’t handle the complexities of [insert subject here]. I wonder what might have happened to my misshapen brain had I been given such a toy when I thought I was still equal to boys.

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NPR’s story about the memoir of a psychologist (who, incidentally, contracted PTSD by treating soldiers with PTSD) contained story about a 19 year old man who had received 3 purple hearts in a month. His psychologist remembers telling him that there was nothing “normal” about it and that his shock regarding it was fully justified.

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