Coloring has this powerful ability to bring a sort of easy happiness to its artist. It demands only stressless concentration, making coloring both tranquil and simple yet, somehow, never monotonous. As pencil, marker, or crayon fills up empty space with bright, vibrant bursts of color, blank paper is transformed into the types of rainbows many of us haven’t seen since our childhood. Coloring offers a deeply nostalgic and welcome escape from the growing pains of adolescence and the headaches of adulthood. It’s for all of these simple pleasures that Pride and Joy Publishing is proud to release its first-ever adult meditative coloring book: “Color Me Queer.” 

Featuring thirty-three unique mid-century modern designs, “Color Me Queer” invites us to relax and reflect on the strength and solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community through quotes by Marsha P. Johnson, Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, and many more timeless Queer icons. It’s the...

Mindfulness is something we could all use more of as we re-enter the real world, especially kids. Despite our efforts to limit it, the amount of screen time they’ve had this past year has skyrocketed because of distance learning on computers for hours throughout the day. 

And, as if that wasn’t enough, they have been isolated at home, without face-to-face contact with their affirming friends, family, and community. 

Suffice to say, this last year has been anything but normal. Quite the contrary. We could say it was as rare as a unicorn... albeit an isolated unicorn, at home on the computer. You get the point.

Now that we embark on returning to socializing, having somewhat of a real summer, and going back to school in the Fall, it’s important to support your kiddos with Mindfulness practices as they transition back to the real world.

What is Mindfulness? 

Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment, with kindness and curiosity, and...

When I was 38 I had to come out to my Dad.  He was 72.  I had been married to a man for 18 years, I had four of his six grandchildren.  I can't imagine the bombshell that was for him.  

My Dad was born in New England and he spent his entire childhood there, son of an accountant and the local Masonic lodge leader.  After high school, he joined the Coast Guard.  After that he was an ironworker, building almost every bridge on the seacoast.  

There's an infamous story, happened way before I was born.  He and his crew were working in the 70s on a skyscraper in Hartford, CT.  On their lunch break, they unwittingly wandered into a gay bar.  You can imagine how that went down.  The cops were eventually called to break up the fight and Dad was thrown in jail.  My mom left him there for the night.  (I LOVE THIS STORY, my dad was in JAIL, you guys.)

In an effort to save their marriage which was on the rocks from the...