It’s the first Sunday of Pride Month. There are parades and celebrations taking place in many places. Philadelphia is holding their big Pride celebration this weekend, with a parade, festival and other events. And yet they’re the latest city to be dealing with a mass shooting, too, after fourteen people were shot last night on…
Author: Erika Grumet, MSW
Uvalde School Shooting: One Parent’s Perspective
I don’t want to write this piece. And you might be asking: “Why not write something else?” Because I have to write this piece. I’m in such a white-hot rage that I can’t think of anything else to do. So there will be frayed edges and loose ends and subjects I pick up and drop….
Real Questions (Sunday Summary)
This has been a difficult week. There’s been so much for us to be sad about, to be angry about, to be frustrated by. We are so familiar with this cycle. An act of violence. A flood of emotions like shock, horror, outrage and grief. A series of platitudes and mock-action. Then a return to…
“The Good Parts”: The Real Sex Ed
There has been a lot of discussion of limiting children’s access to sex ed. But that may not be possible. Sex ed is all around us. The most you can limit is your engagement with their education. And why would you want to limit that? My First Sex Ed Classroom: A Slumber Party In first…
It Never Rains but Pours (Sunday Summary)
Summer is peeking around the corner. Big Cat and Little Cat (and Middle Cat, too) have shifted their sleeping spots to their preferred summertime spots. Days have gotten longer, and, in Florida, the afternoon seasonal rains will begin very soon. Adam reliably informs me that the seasonal rains have already started in New York. And…
Little Victories in the Fight against Homophobia
I fell in love with the art of drag long before I really understood or accepted my own queer identity. We can learn a lot from drag queens. And not just fashion tips. The news has me exhausted and worried lately. But today, I’m going to take a lesson from Bianca Del Rio: ”Not today,…
What Makes you Tick? (Sunday Summary)
It’s been an exciting week here at 2 Rules of Writing. We released our first Instagram Reel yesterday. If you’re not already following us there, you can find us at TwoRulesOfWriting. Erika also has her own Instagram where she crossposts our content but occasionally drops in a few extra snippets of poetry or cat pictures,…
Pride Means Protest, Now More than Ever
Is this our last Pride celebration? Pride Means Finding a Place where We Belong So, come on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, let’s dance tonight… In my twenties, I worked with an organization that provided services for LGBTQ youth. I loved doing this work; it’s part of what propelled…
Expectations (Sunday Summary)
Mental health has always been a priority at 2 Rules of Writing. When we were starting out, we made plans for a website and a community. What we would offer. How we would work with people. How we would build that community. From the beginning, we placed a high priority on awareness of, and caring…
Mental Health Month Starts with a Breakdown
What a way to start off mental health month…with a meltdown, right? But that’s exactly what happened. Although Adam and I have never formally defined our roles, there are certain things we just fell into doing–he has editorial skills and experience that I don’t, I can do things with web pages that he can’t, and…