George W Bush in a Dallas Stars jersey, walking back after dropping the ceremonial puck before the game.
Posted in Pirate
October 11, 2019

When Kindness is a Trap

I’m a mom – one of the first things I did as a mother was teach my boys about kindness. Its importance to be a good human being. That you respect others. They weren’t very old when I started to teach them that there were exceptions to kindness. I’m not suggesting that they be cruel to others, but I wanted to make sure that they could recognize that some people do not deserve respect or kindness because of their actions towards others. Why am I talking about this now? For the home game opener for the Dallas Stars, I watched…

Posted in my health, personal, Pirate
October 10, 2019

Crohns Recovery – Week 8 at the gym

Crohns recovery means something different every time I’ve brought it up. Up until this last year, recovery meant laying down until a flare passed. Or sometimes it meant switching to a new medicine or doing a course of steroids. Ultimately, after two separate hospital stays of 3 weeks each, which included two major surgeries, recovery meant something else entirely. I lost 30 pounds. It was nearly all muscle tone, but that was a lot of weight to lose. I lost all my stamina after a year or so of “taking it easy” while my body ate away at itself. My…

Posted in my health
September 10, 2019

Crohns and the last year.

It’s weird to write this at last. I’ve told this story to so many people, in so many edited and abbreviated forms that I felt like I’d told you all what Crohns did to me. Here’s the short version, and I plan on writing about some of the things in more detail: last year I had a mystery discharge and after 4 months of constant doctors visits and lack of detection on what it might be, I went to the ER just before Halloween, to get a CT scan with contrast before having surgery for what we thought was a…

hockey rink logo
Posted in hockey, women's hockey
September 8, 2019

Big news for the NWHL and Women’s Hockey!

It’s been a roller coaster of a year for Women’s Hockey. The CWHL folded. 200 of the top women’s talent world-wide created the Professional Women’s Hockey Player Association in the hopes that they could create one league and get better benefits for all players.  But what about the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL)? There’s been some buzz about the NWHL, notably that some of the partnerships with NHL teams seem to have been dissolved (more on that at a later date). But there is some good news! You will be able to catch NWHL games, all of them, on Twitch…

Posted in personal
July 7, 2019

To my Patrons

Become a Patron in order to see this content! I post a variety of things to my Patreon – fiction, art, and for those interested in blogging/influencer trips, I post a regular column there with things you should know!To view this content, you must be a member of Whitney Drake’s Patreon at “Patrons Only” or higher tier Unlock with PatreonAlready a Patreon member? Refresh to access this post.

Posted in personal
June 6, 2019

Sausage and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients 1 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 pound Italian sweet sausage 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, diced 6 cups chicken stock (use the best quality you can get) 1/4 cup (1 stick) butter 2/3 cup chopped white onion 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Instructions In a saucepan, heat the chicken stock until it’s simmering and then keep warm over low heat. While that’s warming, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove the sausage from the casings and break it up as you add it to the pan. Brown for a…

Posted in Pirate
May 16, 2019

We Are Not Things

No matter what your personal opinion is, whether or not you would have an abortion or not – you should always support creating a healthy environment for a person debating abortion to make that informed decision. As states try to legislate away access to abortion or birth control – please stand up for those who deserve the right to make the decision for themselves. It’s well and fine to say that putting a child up for adoption should be an option – we do not have the infrastructure in the US to do that. Not only that, pregnancy can be…

The 2019 Clarkson Cup winners, the CWHL's Calgary Inferno
Posted in personal
April 8, 2019

The Impossible Road for Women’s Pro Teams

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded suddenly this week. They had literally just had their championship game – the Clarkson Cup, where the Calgary Inferno defeated Les Canadiennes de Montreal. It came as a surprise to everyone – especially their star players, who were all on their way to Finland for the IIHF Women’s Worlds Championship. There will be a number of people wanting to talk about what the next steps are. Or how this is a sign that women’s hockey or women’s professional sports are bound to fail. I’m going to address the last part. Because that’s a bold…

Posted in food, main course, personal, recipes
March 13, 2019

Pork & Peanut Noodles

Since I was diagnosed with Crohns disease, I started making a lot more dishes from Asian cultures – a lot less dairy to be found. One of the things that I’ve come to appreciate is that many Chinese recipes are very quick, fairly healthy – and don’t require a lot of energy to make. I call them cut and dump recipes. This recipe is all my own, and came from a couple of different recipes I’ve learned to make – a peanut noodle recipe and Shanghai noodles. So, enjoy!

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performing Shallow at the 2018 Oscars
Posted in Pirate, sexism
February 28, 2019

Assuming the Worst: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

All I’ve heard for days were rapturous fans going on and on about Lady Gagy and Bradley Cooper’s Oscars performance of Shallow from A Star is Born. Fair disclaimer: I haven’t seen the movie. Having seen two different versions of the movie, I felt like it’s a story I’m pretty familiar with. The performance was fine, and ending with the two of them on the piano was sweet. Which is why I was surprised to see every female oriented site and most of the women in my feeds insisting that the performance proved that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are…