At the local carnival there was always some kid who freaked out and made the wiry man who manned the ride’s controls stop the rickety ride mid-spin.  I was that kid. I was the kid who refused to ride even the carousel because it made me dizzy.  By the time I reached my college years, I’d relegated...

Margarette was 18 when someone forcefully took control of her life.  She had been dating a guy for a while; he was good to her and the relationship seemed to be going well.  One day while she was driving and he was in the passenger seat, he punched her in the face.  Between the pain and the shock,...

The exterior architecture, showing a rose window, arched window, and vauled roof As a teen in the 90s, I saw the grunge era of Nirvana, Reality Bites, and heroin give way to the club kids scene of techno, Kids, and Special K.  The hallways of my suburban high school teemed with teens wearing platform...

I just turned off a 60 Minutes interview with Andre Agassi.  Agassi recently released his autobiography, which sent waves through the tennis world as he admitted to hating tennis for most of his life. He was forced into the game by his fanatical father, who taped ping pong paddles to his hands as a...

The Kava plant grows in southeast Asia and the islands of the south Pacific. Pacific Islanders have known about its calming properties for centuries. They use the plant in beverage form to treat anxiety and insomnia. It’s also popular with tourists trying to relax into a vacation. One benefit of Kava...

Despite growing up going to church and also being someone who loves sports, I’ve never felt any extra fondness for athletes simply because they expressed a measure of faith. I liked players more when I saw interesting features about their lives, or when people told stories that cast these superstars...

On Monday, NPR ran a long piece on the legalization of marijuana. With a slightly convoluted structure, the piece imagined a world where marijuana had been legalized for two years already, repeatedly reminding the listener that it was still fantasy, lest a War of the Worlds-style hysteria break out. Possibly...

Stoned Little Kid After Dentist Visit – Watch more Funny Videos I’m posting this for no other reason except that when I watched it I laughed until I cried.

Right now, Mindy is reading “The Truth About Drug Companies” by Marcia Angell, M.D. Dr. Angell was the former Editor-in-Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr Angell points out, in 2002, “the combined profits for the ten drug companies in the Fortune 500 ($35.9 billion) were...

I’ve you’ve listened to the radio in the last few months, I’m guessing you’ve heard Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly”. It’s a horribly infectious little diddy. What? You haven’t heard it? Well prepare to hum it in your mind all day. I can’t stand...