Write with TLC

Waiting for Madonna!! Saturday night, October 17, 2015, I got to do something I'd wanted to do since I was a teenager. I attended a Madonna concert. I'd tried before, but timing, money, life had interfered. This time I was on it. As soon as I found out her Rebel Heart Tour was coming to Portland, I set out to the buy the tickets. I also checked on when she'd be in Kentucky, just in case Portland didn't work out. I figured I could work a family visit around attending the concert.This time I was determined to make it happen. Portland happened! Yeah! (Sorry, Kentucky family and friends.) My husband was a bit concerned that my expectations were too high, and I'd be disappointed. Nope, not even a little bit. I loved every single moment of it. (except the long wait before it started, but I'll let that slide.) I love the  Rebel Heart  album, the explicit version, mind you. No cleaning it up for this girl... Madonna was raw and funny and real. She was pro...

When I first learned about GLAAD's Spirit Day campaign, I didn't quite get it. I couldn't see a connection to a spirit day and ending bullying. In my mind, spirit day was always that day right before or of an important ball game when we all dressed up in school colors and spent the day revving up the team's ego - I mean spirit - in the hopes they'd deliver a winning game. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. We're all "wearing" purple and posting our cheers all day long to support people who have been bullied. Okay, I can see that. Boost the egos - I mean spirits - of the bullied people. Now those are egos that need boosted. In March 2012, I explored the fine line between teasing and bullying in When Does Teasing Become Bullying?  and then in Why Do Bullies Bully? I examined how our society teaches bullies to bully. As I think back on my life, I remember times when I was bullied, and I wonder if anyone ever perceived my ac...