Author Archives: Libby Pelham

About Libby Pelham

I have always loved to write and Families.com gives me the opportunity to share my passion for writing with others. I work full-time as a web developer at UTHSC and most of my other time is spent with my son (born 2004). I love everything pop culture, but also enjoy writing about green living (it has opened my eyes to many things!) and health (got to worry about that as you get older!).

Transgender Girl Denied Access to Female Bathroom

If you opened up CNN today like I always do, you probably saw a beautiful, smiling little girl with purple hair wearing a pink dress as one of the main headlines. The only problem is this isn’t a sunny story about Barbies and butterflies.  The story was about how the transgendered little first grader living in Colorado was told by the school system that she could no longer use the girl’s bathroom at school. Coy Mathis, according to her mother, was born with male genitalia, but has always identified with being a girl.  She dresses as a girl and her … Continue reading →

What’s in Your Water?

Being born and raised in Memphis, I took our water supply for granted.  Over the years, I heard we had wonderful water because it came from artesian wells, whatever that was. Then, I moved to California.  I noticed that when I’d wash dishes, a film would remain on them.  I wondered what was being left inside when I drank the water.  Moving to Arkansas didn’t prove much better.  We still had film on dishes.  Then, we moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina.  Camp Lejeune, found in Jacksonville, had water contamination problems from 1953 through 1987.  Sigh. Now, I am finally back … Continue reading →

Homeless Man Does the Right Thing

I write a lot about celebrities who give back, but sometimes it is nice to read about a real person doing the right thing. Billy Ray Harris is a homeless man who was panhandling on the streets of Kansas City.  Last week, Sarah Darling decided to do the right thing and help out her fellow man, in this case, Harris.  She unzipped her wallet and dumped her change in this cup. But, Darling dumped more than her change.  She had forgotten that she had taken off her diamond engagement ring earlier in the day and put it in her wallet. … Continue reading →

What’s Keeping Me Awake?

I have never thought much about food and sleep.  I know if I drink a caffeinated drink after noon, I will often find myself staring at the ceiling at midnight going, “Why did I do that?” But, did you know that food  too can affect your sleep?  At a time in my life when sleep seems more elusive and yet more important all at the same time, I decided to research what food can keep you awake. Other than the obvious coffee, you should also avoid chocolate.  I know, that is a terrible thing to say, but chocolate, especially dark … Continue reading →

PETA Upset Over Dead Mice

The other day, I read that the government was going to drop dead mice from helicopters over Guam.  It sounded crazy, but there was a good reason.  Officials are using the mice to get rid of an estimated two million brown tree snakes. The snakes have overtaken the territory, causing damage to both the economy and environment.  The snakes have almost depleted Guam’s native bird species.  This lack of birds causes a frightening (at least to me) side effect – the island now has 40 times more spiders than surrounding islands.  Needless to say, all the spiders and snakes have … Continue reading →

Mediterranean Diet Wins Glowing Reviews

It seems as if people are always looking for the perfect diet.  But, it often alludes us.  We either feel deprived of food or don’t want to eat what we can have.  Worse yet, there are the diets that just don’t work! For years, I have been hearing good things about the Mediterranean diet.  This is the diet primarily followed by people that live in the southern regions of Italy, Greece, and Spain.  It includes a lot of fruit and vegetables along with olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fish, dairy, meat (but not red), and yes, even wine.  The diet … Continue reading →

The 85th Academy Awards – Part 2

I am still tired from my 11-hour coverage of the Academy Awards, but so much is still on my mind. The big upset – undoubtedly all the Oscars that went to a little film called Argo that capped off the night with a Best Picture win.  Ever since the nominations were announced, pretty much all that has been heard about was how the Academy overlooked Ben Affleck for Best Director while nominating Argo for Best Picture.  Many tried to explain that the problem lies in that there were eight films nominated for Best Picture, but the Best Director field only … Continue reading →

Hidden Germs

I try to keep my house clean, but I will admit that I worry about germs.  We have pets, we wear our shoes in the house – I just worry that things aren’t as clean as they should be. And, I should.  There are places in the house where you might not think to look for germs. Where are some of the places you should look?  One place I forget about is under the rug.  I try to be diligent about vacuuming the rug, but I often think that is enough.  Remember to pull the rug up and vacuum the … Continue reading →

The 85th Academy Awards – Part 1

It seems only fitting that my last two Pop Culture blogs for Families will be about the Oscars.  If you’ve ever read any of my blogs around this time of year, you know how much I love this ceremony.  Yesterday, I turned E! on at 12:30 to begin my pre-Red Carpet coverage and finally turned the television off at 11:30 – 11 hours later. There were a lot of beautiful dresses.  Although Jessica Chastain didn’t win Best Actress, she was beautiful from head to toe.  Perhaps the Best Actress winner, Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, should take a cue … Continue reading →

Mississippi Finally Bans Slavery

America made slavery illegal in 1865, right?  Hum, some of the states may want to check their paperwork just to make sure. The state of Mississippi found itself finally formally ratifying the 13th Amendment – that one that abolished slavery – on February 7, 2013. Now as you can imagine, being a southern state, Mississippi officials were probably less than excited about ratifying this amendment back in the late 1800s.  So not eager to let this long standing tradition go, Mississippi officials didn’t even get around to voting on the ratification until 1995.  1995?  Yes, it was 130 years after … Continue reading →