Renata Carmen Writes

3/20/2020, 1:45PM - Last night, Los Angeles implemented a Safe At Home policy for the next 30 days. It was announced hours after the second death in LA County related to COVID-19. He was just 34 years old, and a testicular cancer survivor. He also had asthma. He started coughing up blood before they got him to ER, where they administered the same anti-virals they use to treat Ebola. He started to make a come-back, but fell back into it and wound up passing away. Apparently, he had been in Florida for business, and stayed a few extra days to visit Disney World before flying back home. Poor guy. This shit is fucking terrifying for me though. It just got really real and makes me grateful I started self-isolation a week before that thought was even on anyone else’s radar. But still, I find myself shaking with panic. If someone with asthma had issues, what will that mean for someone with Fibromyalgia? Granted, he also had struggled with the Big C, which puts him at a whole other level of ri...

3/18/2020, 9:57AM - In a matter of days, this country has slipped into chaos. It’s fascinating and terrifying. Everything is shut down, and those who can work from home are now doing so. Goods are flying off grocery store shelves as quickly as they can be stocked. Paranoia and fear run rampant and infect the populous more quickly than the virus itself. Our government has failed us, absolutely and totally. They have only instilled more fear and misinformation during this global upheaval. We’ve had to turn to our entertainers for trustworthy information, hope, and a sense of calm. Thanks to Joe Rogan, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Cody Rhodes, WhatCulture, Cultaholic, and others, we’ve found sanity and community in a sea of madness and hoarding. They have been a guiding and grounding force during a turbulent time. Instead of running around in circles like the government, they’re doubling down on their efforts to keep us entertained and connected. We all wait with baited breath from our couch...

     I’m in the midst of my annual Spring Fibromyalgia Flare, and with that comes a whole host of symptoms. They’re comprised of ones you’re probably heard of, like chronic fatigue, pain, and IBS. Flares also bring more random symptoms, like horrific colds sores despite being herpes simplex free, and incredibly vivid dreams. Dreams so incredibly detailed, upon awakening you’d swear you’d been sleeping and dreaming for weeks. So vivid that I’ve felt rain soaked cobblestones under my bare feet, and the warm rays of the sun soaking into my skin under a bright blue sky. In my dreams, I’ve coordinated and executed vast cross-country moves, family reunions, and graduations. I’m not the only one to experience Flare Dreams. My father gets them, who was diagnosed with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada in 1996, and I’ve shared anecdotal evidence with fellow chronically ill people online. Why this happens, like so much else of these illnesses, is a grand mystery. My personal theory is it ...

Women experience three general stages in life: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The Crone represents wisdom, experience, and the final phase of life for women. In other words, The Crone represents life after menopause. Menopause is an inevitable part of every natural born woman’s life. It takes about ten years to complete from the onset of initial symptoms, known as “perimenopause.” When a woman hasn’t menstruated in more than a year, that is known as menopause. Menopause is actually the easy part, it’s getting through the ten years or so of perimenopause leading up to that point that’s difficult. Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, changes in body fat composition, changes in sleeping patterns, increases in anxiety and depression, digestive changes -- all those things you hear about and read about and we make light of like on That 70’s Show and Fried Green Tomatoes. It’s always funny when it’s happening to someone else, but when it starts happening to you, things you once laughed at you ...

Birds of Prey is a refreshing breath of fresh air that’s inspired me to fall in love with DC’s theater releases again. After years of heart-wrenching disappointments from DC Films, fans are finally in for a real treat. One that gets down to the nitty gritty, frivolity, and shenanigans of reading comics -- especially those featuring anti-heros, grey characters, and misfits. Like Into the Spider-Verse , Birds of Prey perfectly replicates the medium of reading comic books into an on-screen experience. It’s the exact opposite of the Joker movie - it’s fun, funny, and obviously made by hard comic book nerds who care deeply for the source materials. The casting is sublime, the acting is on point, and everyone kills it in their roles. Especially Ewan McGregor, who brings a fresh perspective to the Black Mask character. Avid readers of Birds of Prey comics, 2011 Suicide Squad comics, New 52 , and Rebirth will recognize multiple layers of comics derived Easter eggs and references in this g...

Yesterday, I had my first sonohysterogram. It was ordered for a large mass that was spotted on my cervix during a standard ultrasound that my doc needed a “better” view of and possible biopsy. My OB was very vague about what the procedure was, and what to expect. I wanted to be properly prepared, so I looked online, but only found vague descriptions there as well. I wish I had been fully educated about it beforehand - that someone had been real with me and been specific, so I knew what I was getting into. Well ladies, Tia Nata is here to give you the downlow, which I hope will help other women be better prepared for this procedure.  What Is A Sonohysterogram? I don’t want to scare you, but I’m going to be blunt, ladies - a sonohysterogram is a very personal, uncomfortable, and invasive procedure. You can look up the full definition from an actual medical source here , but none of them are honest about what to expect, in my humble opinion. They all say things like, "You'll ...

My name is Renata Carmen. I’m a 35 year old California based freelance writer who has been negatively impacted by the new AB5 bill. This law was enacted with the idea it would protect those who desire employee over contract employment status in situations where it’s been unfairly denied them. This is an important and noble cause, and I’m in no way attacking it. However, because the law is written so broadly, many freelance workers who don’t need these protections, including artists and writers, are suffering as a result. Under the new law, freelance writers are now limited to a paltry 35 submissions per year to each company. That’s only 2-3 per month, when many of us need to produce 2-3 per day in order to make a living. I was able to work as much as I desire, with an endless amount of material at my disposal. Now, I find myself in a position of losing my primary source of income and risking becoming obsolete. In the internet age, it’s almost impossible to keep up with any genre when o...