By Nancy Ford  Except for your alligators, hurricanes, and the unfortunate role you played in George W. Bush’s ascension to the White House (remember that? Such kinder, gentler times), we knew Florida as a relatively docile state — one of our country’s most prolific playlands.   You were once the land of vitamin C, Disney, NASCAR,

By Nancy Ford  The war raging in Ukraine. Texas families are being attacked for protecting their transgender kids. Women’s autonomy over their own bodies is being eroded at record speed. Gasoline prices climbing almost as rapidly as Donald Trump’s cholesterol.   Crazy, crazy times we’re living in these days, folks — so crazy that it seems

By Nancy Ford  So I was in this movie once. It was a small gay indie produced in Dallas called It’s in the Water (1997). In it, residents of a small Texas town fear that their water supply was turning its people gay, which, today, sounds like a headline espoused by Tucker Carlson.  I played

By Nancy Ford  I’ll never forget the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz. It was also the first time I met two new friends, the son, and daughter of my mom’s new friend, a man I liked a lot because he usually brought mom a box of candy whenever he visited. Little did

By Nancy Ford As I’ve said at this time every December for the last 33 years (please sing along if you know the words), “What a year, what a year.†And what a year it’s been for Texas. We had an ice storm and a nearly statewide power outage. We had a hurricane. We had

By Nancy Ford Hello, friends, and happy holiday kickoff! May we all have the most bountiful and thankful Thanksgiving ever, followed by a rollicking, blessed holiday season, and Happy New Year. What a world it’s been for 18 months since the big Miss Covid locked us down and isolated us. It’s finally becoming safer to

By Nancy Ford Even though the meterological climate in Texas is beginning to cool off to a tolerable low 80-degrees level, the political climate has never been hotter. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle coupled with several jaw-dropping occurences here in the Lone Star State, the whole wide world has gotten a big, messy, eyeful

By Nancy Ford You’ve got to hand it to Pete Buttigieg. If ever there was an out-and-proud overachiever, it’s this guy. It wasn’t enough that he chose to be the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, he went ahead and married his boyfriend, Chasten, in 2018. Not content with restricting the level of ire

By Nancy Ford When I was a kid, going to camp was a nonstarter for me. I love nature, but if we’re talking about an extended stay, I have always preferred climate control and real furniture that doesn’t leave folding lawn chairs’ plastic webbing strip marks across — or picnic table bench splinters — in

By Nancy Ford So how is everybody? Doing OK despite these 100°+ temperatures that make Texans feel like they’ve taken jobs as Hollywood stuntwomen wrapped in fire suit? You’re not crazy with the heat if you think that summers are getting hotter. They are, and it’s not just because myriad Sarah Paulson movies are available