I’ve had an Android for most of this year, and I absolutely love finding new apps for it (I wrote about one to help with PTSD, but I also love Priceline’s Negotiator and Craig’s List). I love that I can use my phone to look at penguins being fed at the California Academy of Sciences (it’s called Pocket Penguins, in case you need a daily dose of adorable) as well as do practical things like refill medications. So, when I heard about an app that helps with seeking out gender neutral bathrooms, I was naturally interested. Despite the fact that I come from a tech-literate family and I’ve always had a computer, I am still frequently impressed by technology and this app is no exception. TransSquat is currently only available for iPhones (it’s $2.99), and uses GPS to find gender neutral bathrooms. Users can also add gender neutral bathrooms so other users can find them. Continue Reading →
Recent posts
Helping PTSD With Your Phone
I recently read about a brand new app called PTSD Coach and even downloaded it for myself. While PTSD Coach is offered (for free!) from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, I can see it being helpful for anyone dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including survivors of sexual assault. As the app notes, it is not meant to replace professional care, so if you think you are dealing with PTSD, I encourage you to seek help. I do like that you can use the app any time that you have your phone with you (which if you’re me, it might as well be attached to you). That flexibility ensures that anyone who uses it isn’t limited to an appointment time. Continue Reading →
Can Porn Cause Headaches?
I recently found an article about a man who gets severe headaches from watching porn. Now, some people get headaches post-orgasm, whether porn was involved or not, so I was intrigued. The man in question is 24 years old, and typically when he has been watching pornography for 8-10 minutes he gets a headache so severe, he needs to stop watching. In this man’s case, it is speculated that his headaches are, “caused by changes in the pain-sensing nerves in the face and jaw, along with increased pain sensitivity due to ‘a heightened emotional state associated with viewing pornography.’” The article also states that there is still much that is unknown about headaches that occur with sex. The cure for the man in the article? Continue Reading →
Black Market Birth Control
I was reading an article on xoJane and it featured a young woman who was broke – as I’m sure many people feel right now. I’ve had friends who have mentioned changing birth control methods due to price or having to choose between groceries and paying for their birth control. However, the woman mentioned to her hair stylist that she was feeling a bit too broke to possibly afford her birth control and the stylist had the “perfect” answer – just buy her Nuva Ring from a woman’s car trunk. At this point, I sat on my couch slack-jawed just waiting for some popular music celebrity I don’t know to jump out and yell “You’ve been punked!” Except that didn’t happen. Continue Reading →
This Bed’s For You
Do you prefer having the bed to yourself or do you like to share? Despite having a queen size bed, I often find that my two (not large!) dogs take over. I recently read an article from the Wall Street Journal about whether it’s better to share the bed with a partner or not. While the research that the article mentions is focused on heterosexual couples, I believe that it works for all individuals regardless of sexual orientation. In general, they say that sharing a bed has some major benefits (aside from having your own personal space heater). Continue Reading →
Love (And Marry?) Yourself First
Growing up, my mom always told me that I couldn’t expect someone to love me until I truly loved myself. I’m sure lots of other people heard similar things from their parents. If you heard that, and were anything like me, you probably nodded and went “Yeah, yeah, sure thing” and didn’t really pay it a lot of attention. However, I’ve found that, at least for me, it really is true that you need to love yourself first. A friend of mine even posed the statement as a question, and asked if me if I would be friends with myself if I met myself on the street. Continue Reading →
Hijra In India
What if you were born male, but identified as female? For many people, that would make their gender female (and I personally agree). In India, they have a “third gender” of people called hijra. As with transgender individuals in just about any country, hijra face discrimination and abuse. However, there seems to be more and more articles demanding support and equality, and there was even recently a Hijra Habba (festival). Continue Reading →
Child Support Discount?
If you’re anything like me, you have a frequent shopper card for each store on your keychain and more cards in your wallet (related: is it just me or are the frequent shopper stamp cards becoming extinct?). A reverend friend of mine jokingly told a client that if he got married five times, the fifth wedding ceremony was on her – and she ended up performing a free wedding ceremony. So, with this in mind, I can see where Desmond Hatchett is coming from (although I don’t necessarily agree with him). Skimming Yahoo News the other day, I read about Mr Hatchett who is hoping for a break on the child support that he owes for his 30 children. Raising kids is expensive, so I can understand why people request child support (I have two dogs, and that easily adds up – I’m not ready to even think about how much debt I would be in if kids entered the picture). Continue Reading →
Keep Your Cancer Off Facebook
I just posted about how Facebook banned a woman from posting pictures of her newborn son, and now here’s a story about Facebook banning a woman’s mastectomy photos. I’ve seen other inspirational photos of women who have battled breast cancer, so I’m not surprised that someone shared their photos on Facebook. Joanne Jackson from the UK had photos taken after her mastectomy, and chose to share them on Facebook. I love what she had to say about the photos: “I am not one who is shy but these pictures weren’t as much about me as about other women who had maybe just been diagnosed with breast cancer. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence and there is life after a mastectomy.” Continue Reading →
Gay Penguin Parents
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love penguins. As such, any time I run across a story that features one even slightly, I get a big smile across my face (even if it’s so not related to sexuality – like when a man in a penguin outfit got more votes than a candidate not dressed as a penguin!). So imagine my delight when I came across a story about two Gentoo penguins in Madrid who have “adopted” a baby penguin. The two penguins are both male and are considered by some activists to be gay, although one of the zookeepers considers them to be just “good friends.” They have been “good friends” for six years now and their zookeepers decided to give them an egg to nurture together. Continue Reading →