What do you think of when you think of maternal mortality, if you think of it? (Stick with this for a sec, we get inspirational in a moment.) Maybe a woman in childbirth dying with no clean water, no access to medical facilities? Maybe a woman outside the United States? Today's panel on maternal mortality (hosted by Merck for Mothers) peeled back the stereotypes and brought us face to face with people who know maternal death best: An OB-GYN, a woman's health advocate, a fathe

Now that I lured you in with that vague but cheery title, let's talk about what's going on at BlogHer so far. Since we're in back to school season, there are a lot of organizations doing good work to focus on kids' health and wellness, and their access to those things, which isn't a given. Besides the summer slide (where kids' school readiness and proficiency in subjects regresses since if you don't use it, you lose it), this is also a good time to consider how kids' nutritio

Within an hour of landing at LAX, I see: - Craig Robinson waiting for his luggage at the oversize luggage place. It doesn't seem oversized, but it does let him stand by himself, out of the way. - Also out of the way, by the wall, there's a woman in her fifties maybe. She's very fit and blonde, perhaps the adult daughter of the woman in wheelchair next to her, who is also blonde but whose face is ashen. She's doubled over in the wheelchair. - An airline agent and police office

Ah, BlogHer. It's one of those conferences that's so large, attracts such a diverse group, and has evolved so much that it's difficult to categorize. And that's just fine by me. I see so many varied opportunities to meet with different people who write and organize from the political to the personal and everyone in between. (And that's been one of the most heartening developments for me, to see bloggers start out on one topic and then grow beyond it and allow their voices to

It's November, and that means my inbox has a backlog of emails preparing me for WRITING LIKE CRAZY. Apparently, November, that month of family holidays, inspires creativity. Or maybe it's that November, that month of family holidays, cried out for some outlet to save it from becoming known as the emotional pressure cooker month everyone (secretly?) dreaded. In any case, if writing is your emotional outlet and/or creative haven and/or intellectual pleasure, then you may find i