June 30, 2025

We Are All the Same in the Dark, a Fiction Review

In We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin, ten haunting years have passed since Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a smear of blood and a town suspended in yearning.
June 27, 2025

Positivity Corner: My Matcha Ritual

I first heard of Matcha when a friend’s friend from Singapore sent her a bag of the fine, green powder. Amazon was around by now, but things like this weren’t so readily available to Americans – nor did we seem to know to look for it. When I married a man who’s intrigued with all things Japanese, Matcha returned to my awareness, especially when we wound up living across the highway from a Japanese market where Matcha could easily be purchased for a reasonable price.
June 21, 2025

Songs of Optimism

Bold, thundering C-major chords seize the day with no room for doubt. It’s as if God is in the driving seat full of confidence and all is well. There are no obstructions on the straight and narrow, no one is being martyred, and though there are clouds in the sky, they look more like savory dumplings that might drop manna. The descending bass notes of the first three chords exude hope and a desire to get to the bottom of things. This is the hymn Bryn Myrddin; Welsh singing at its best.
June 20, 2025

Ice Cherries

The storm’s coming was awful enough. The cherries would be ripening in a few short days, and the last thing they needed in this moment was too much water. But I couldn’t do anything about it. It would pass and leave whatever wreckage it chose to leave and I’d clean up as best I could.
June 19, 2025

Self-Care for Chronic Illness

Trust me when I say, we do not wish anyone a moment of what we endure in these bodies. But like most things, you can’t know what this feels like mentally and emotionally, let alone physically, until/unless you walk a day in our chronically ill bodies – forget the shoes.
June 18, 2025

Miranda, an Obscure TV Show for All the People Who Are “Too Much”

Miranda is a tall, beautiful oddball who doesn’t meet the magazine standards of physical beauty, elegance, or womanhood. This is harped on to an almost painful level throughout the show – and people who’ve always been “accepted” for their beauty probably won’t get what this is really about and why it matters so much. That’s okay.
June 18, 2025

New Doctor Who Season Two — One of the Best Seasons of Television of All Time?

And now, we’ve just completed the final season of The Fifteenth Doctor as depicted by the Rwandan-Scottish actor, Ncuti Gatwa, the most fabulous of them all!
June 12, 2025

Writing Prompts: Cozy Mysteries

One of my favorite genres is cozy mysteries. They’re great for a low-key read on an airplane or road trip or before turning out the light at night. But writing them can be a little tedious and challenging, because, well, let’s be honest — there are only so many kinds of mysteries to solve.
June 11, 2025

U.S. Wellness Naturals — Loose Leaf Rooibos Tea Review

When it comes to Rooibos tea, I am exceptionally picky. I have drunk many cups and determined that they were “okay” but not “worthy” of purchasing again. This includes both bagged teas and loose leaf offerings. A couple of years back, I found a rival for my previous favorite Bos Rooibos in the form of my new favorite loose leaf option: U.S. Wellness Naturals Rooibos.
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