Marisa LaScala: Writer, Editor, and Good Addition to Your Bar Trivia Team

This month, on Working Mother's website, I...

...interviewed Chris Nee, the creator/showrunner of Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins (and she was the best). 

...asked fathers for important things they learned during their paternity leaves. It made it clear that dads should definitely stay home, too, if they can.

...rounded up the most extreme donuts in the country for National Donut Day, then found options for 11 healthy desk-drawer snacks to keep on-hand instead. 

...created a head-to-toe guide for staying comfortable at work while pregnant. 

...shopped for the best work life accessories for spring. 

...lamented that Mothers' Equal Pay Day comes even later in the year than Women's Equal Pay Day. 

...asked doctors for posture tips for working, even if you have a newfangled standing desk. 

...recapped Working Mother Media's amazing 2015 Multicultural Women National Conference. 

For the June issue, I produced a 24-page Health and Fitness Guide, conceiving, pitching, and assigning all of the s. Articles include:

-Doctors Ditching Medicine for Medi-Spas

-Meeting Non-Weight-Loss Fitness Goals (Running Faster, Toning Up, Decreasing Heart Rate, etc.)

-The Biggest Threats to the Health of High Schoolers

-One Local Girl's Success with Gene-Based Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis

-Fifteen Common Health Myths Debunked

-Five New Healthy Food to Eat in 2013

-Q&As with Westchester's Health Experts

-Why Health and Fitness Should Be a Family Commitment

Of course, I couldn't resist writing of of my own, a slideshow gallery about gadgets and apps that can get people started on the road to fitness.

Gadgets and Apps to Get You Going

Here, my favorite:

THE RUNNING DEAD: Nothing motivates as much as sheer terror: It gets the heart pounding and the legs moving. Do you think you’d have as much trouble with your get-up-and-go if you were running for your life amidst the zombie apocalypse? The Zombies, Run! The 5K Training app deposits you in the middle of one of 30+ missions; you need to run (in real life) to avoid (virtual) zombies, all set to your favorite adrenaline-pumping music. You’ll also be sent to collect critical supplies and return them to your base to save civilization as you know it. Available for iPhones/iPads, Android, and Windows phones, $1.99; zombiesrungame.com.

Click on "Gadgets and Apps" to see the rest of the gallery, or check out the rest of the Health and Fitness Guide. 

 

I've always been a huge fan of Jane magazine (sadly, I missed out on Sassy), so I'm so happy to be on xoJane!

It Happened to Me:  My Birth Control Was Recalled

Knowing that my birth control was possibly defective was frightening. Finding out from a city-centric blog was just galling. The last time there was a recall for cars, I'm pretty sure I heard about it on a popular morning news show as I was getting dressed. My TV was mum about this birth-control deal. Yet the last big BMW recall in late-September affected only 190 cars; Qualitest Pharmaceuticals' shipped out 1.4 million packages of possibly defective product.

"There are no immediate health issues," associated with the recall, Qualitest spokesman Kevin Wiggins was quoted as saying on CNN.com. "The unintended consequence of pregnancy is really the issue."

How that doesn't fall under the heading of "health issue" is foggy, but the message is clear. There wasn't a real chance of unintended death; unintended life, maybe.

Click through to read the rest of the essay on xoJane.

May means the start of the summer season--and that means big summer movies. Hence, one of my favorite assignments of the year:

Summer Film Preview

A round-up of the must-see films of the summer: "Apparently, even after you find the Holy Grail, there’s still more whip-cracking adventuring to do. An older, crankier Indy takes young Mutt Williams (Transformers’ Shia LeBeouf) along for the ride this time."

Also in this issue:

Our Parents' Divorces

A lifestyle piece about what happens to people after their parents get divorced: "'When their parents divorce, many children go through an emotional roller coaster,' says Peter Salem, executive director of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. 'There is a fundamental change in the child’s world. There could be a change of residence, or the family income isn’t what it once was because it has to support two homes. The bedrock of their lives—the family unit—is being dismantled. The question turns into whether or not there will be emotional damage to the children and, if so, what the extent of it will be.'”

From CNN to ASU

A follow-up article with CNN's Aaron Brown: "In June 2005, we profiled Aaron Brown, then an anchor for CNN’s NewsNight and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Scarsdale</st1:place></st1:city> resident. Today, almost all of what we wrote has changed. He’s no longer with the cable net, having been replaced after four years by a certain silver-haired anchor whose name rhymes with Schmanderson Schmooper." (It's the sixth item down.)

UPDATE: This article was picked up for an item in Page Six. Read it here.

Ask the Expert

A tiny item about generic vs. name-brand pills: "According to the FDA, a store-brand or generic drug must be the same as the original in terms of dosage, strength, performance, use, quality, and safety. However, the look of the brand-name drug is trademarked, so the store-brand version uses the inactive ingredients to change the size, shape, color, or taste, and those ingredients may give you a different reaction." (It's the fourth item down.)

Culture, Etc.

Joan Osborne, Jacques Goudstikker, art galas, and more.