Stephanie Briggs - Handmade Knitting My Way Through Chronic Pain

Knitting by hand, owned by three cats and a manbeast

Has positivity in chronic illness gone into overdrive?

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This article in the Globe and Mail talks about how often people with a chronic illness are expected to put on a happy face while being mindful and positive about their illnesses even on their worst days. Just reading that makes me tired already. A person with a chronic illness or serious disease on their plates […]

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This Woman Was Thrown Out of a Pub Because She Is Disabled

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I came across this blog post on Facebook, written by the mother of a young woman with a chromosomal disorder, resulting in invisible disability. On Sunday night, Charlie was thrown out of a pub in Brighton – for being disabled. There was only one other customer in the pub as everyone else was sitting outside […]

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God: The Original Deadbeat Dad

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I feel sorry for Jim Caveziel, for getting struck by lightning twice during a certain revisionist Biblical epic helmed by Mel Gibson. The Passion of the Christ movie basically tanked his career, from what I understand. I have seen him in The Stoning of Soraya M., which is very good. The only reason I like […]

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Is Teaching Penmanship Still Relevant? (VIDEO)

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I’ve had a number of conversations (on the computer, haha!) about whether it’s still relevant to teach children handwriting. I have to strongly push for a “YES!” to that, and if you watch this video, you’ll see how I came to that conclusion.   I’ve learned three languages in addition to English. I started out […]

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Homebirth Mommy Dodges a Bullet, But the Gun is Pointed at Her Baby

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A fellow reader of the Skeptical OB kindly saved her screenshot of a mother’s homebirth experience of her first daughter’s birth. The blog post was first heavily edited, then eventually retracted altogether after Dr Amy Tuteur gave it a withering review on her own blog: “Consider doula Nacia Walsh’s story of the homebirth of her […]

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Do All Lives Matter? Yes and No.

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Please note: One of the reasons I chose to write this post is that it seems that Aboriginal issues in Canada get more attention if they are brought to the government’s attention by whites. This post has been written with good intentions and in no way am I trying to “whitesplain” the issues herein. This article talks […]

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Debunking “Grey’s Anatomy” – Neurocysticercosis

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Grey’s Anatomy is not known for its medical accuracy, but as a veteran ER watcher, I think they should do better. The “overlooked epidemic of tapeworms in the brain (neurocysticercosis)” was featured, incorrectly, in an episode: “Before and After” – SE05EP15. The reality, according to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is much different. As […]

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Paris is Not Unique: How Belief in the Coming Apocalypse can Shape Murderers

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What happened in Paris on 13 November 2015 is not unique. I don’t mean in terms of terror attacks. I mean it in terms of people who are brainwashed to believing an ideology that makes them do things they never would have done before. Particular to ISIS and the example I will discuss are a […]

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Everything Doesn’t Happen for a Reason

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Have you ever been told, “Everything happens for a reason?” I have, and it hurts like hell. I think maybe they say it because they don’t know what else to say? There really isn’t anything anyone CAN say to make it better, don’t you feel? Maybe those people don’t feel comfortable staying silent. I hate […]

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