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If you have kids or even just know some kids then you know that when they speak, they sometimes do it rather poorly. Sometimes they speak too much. Sometimes they just say things they shouldn’t. And honestly, I’m not sure school is helping with this. Read more »

My Sis is a bit of a buzzkill sometimes. There was a time in LA when I was convinced I had supreme powers over the freeway system. I could clog the 405 with a single phrase. Just uttering something like “Wow, the roads are really clear right now!” could drive more vehicles onto the freeway in seconds than the exodus. I was even able to demonstrate this power to people who didn’t believe me. All they had to do was be on the freeway with me when it was relatively light and I would say “Gosh, it’s clear.” And Boom: Traffic. Read more »

I admit to having some guilty pleasures. I eat mostly organic or all-natural foods, but I love Hostess Ho-Hos. I love kitchen gadgets and having the perfect pan for everything, but lots of times I get excited when I can make a pan out of aluminum foil. And when it comes to TV, I like my shows dark and twisted and exceptionally well executed. (Seriously, Sons of Anarchy is based on Hamlet, and the costuming department chooses colors for the characters based on how they are going to play out that season. That’s good stuff.) Read more »

Recently my husband expressed some concern about how the children performed their tasks.

Why, my husband asked, couldn’t the children take pride in their work? Read more »

I’m a SciFi writer. I believe in apocalypses—in the plural. I think I can find a way to make werewolves physiologically plausible. I’ve written about angels and demons and a world that can pass through ours without our knowledge. My new book, Inertia, involves a free-energy machine. I’m a believer in the suspense of disbelief. Read more »

First, let me clarify that this is about my Sis and second, that Sis is not the ‘Evil Whore’ here. Now that that’s done, here’s the story:

When my sis was little, she was a bit of a hellion. I say ‘a bit’ because she was mostly really good. Angelic, in fact. Sis worked hard to be the perfect child, so when she went off her rails it often involved bizarre things like squishing strawberries into my hair. Read more »

No, I’m not referring to the fact that stores already have their Christmas stuff out. I’m not even referring to the holiday season in general. I’m talking this week, today, it’s HALLOWEEN, baby!

In our house, it’s not Christmas or Thanksgiving, but Halloween that’s the big holiday each year. We all get in costume; we all go trick-or-treating (though only the kids collect candy); we all get the spirit of the holiday in our hearts. Read more »

As parents—and even as people without kids—we all judge other parents around us. We may try not to, or we may be blatant about it. But even if you never intend to have kids at all, you have a line. And that line is named “Not my kids.” Read more »

My great-grandfather, Matteo, and his wife, Rocchina, had four kids. Each of these kids had a passel and so on, until we are one big, happy familia. Sure, some of the kids married Romanians, but they serve lasagna with a ‘spicy sausage’ and plenty of wine with dinner. Read more »

There’s an ongoing argument in my family. I say we ARE Italian, my sister says we aren’t, and my dad—never one to get riled about anything—says it’s something in the middle. Read more »