Monday, May 6, 2013
Mel waxes on semi-poetically about a staple of Narragansett life throughout her early to late teens.
May was always my favorite month of the year when I was in middle and high school. Actually, it still is, now that I think about it. What wasn't there to love about the month of May? The weather is warming up, baseball season is in full swing, and it was the final stretch of school. It's that weird stretch of time where there was still school, but it seemed as if everybody seemed more distracted about the summer. Plus, all the really cool field trips always happened during this month. From the fourth grade up until my junior year, there was one thing that always excited me – the annual carnival that always took place the week before Mother's Day, leading up to the day in question. I love carnivals. I enjoy them in all their hokey and …
Friday, May 3, 2013
Sen. James Sheehan says that name change of the Rhode Island EDC is only the beginning.
To the editor, This time, it has to be different. Economic development in Rhode Island – attracting and growing businesses, creating good jobs for our citizens, improving our state’s overall fiscal climate – is not just about changing an agency’s name or doing a public relations campaign. With national reports, statistics and surveys essentially telling business to think twice about operating in Rhode Island, our state’s response must be dramatic and comprehensive and sustained. There is enormous focus this legislative session on improving Rhode Island’s ailing economy and erasing the state’s anti-business aura. Coupled with the Rhode Island Senate’s introduction early this year of the “Moving the Needle” package of business-friendly, …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Mel shares her thoughts and recollections from the past week.
I've always been a big believer in the goodness of humanity, but man was that belief put to the test in this past week, only to be ultimately rewarded. What happened this past week was a testament to not only that belief, but also the belief that goodness will always overcome evil if the hear, the courage, and the spirit is there. Evil prevails when good does nothing, after all. I don't think doing some whole super eloquent writing of this would work for me. If you want to see some great writing of this, then you should check out some other writings including this piece from Charlie Pierce in Esquire and this piece from one of my favorite sportswriters Chad Finn. And there's several others that capture things far better than I could even…
Thursday, April 11, 2013
In case you haven't noticed, the majority of people we come in contact with are a little bit, well, stressed! It doesn't have to be this way you know - not if you have a special "place" to visit when the going gets tough!
One of my fondest memories in high school was a fact I learned in Health class. No it had nothing to do with body hair (eek!) or the delicate issue of how our bodies store gas—it was far more important. In between learning the benefit of eating the food pyramid and the importance of using deodorant once we reached the pungent age of 16, we learned how many muscles it required to frown versus smile. (Only in America) As I recalled, it took more muscles to frown than to smile, but several years after I graduated from college, I learned I was sadly mistaken. According to Dr. David Song of the University of Chicago Medical Center who recently did a study on the topic, the average frown requires 11 muscles while an average smile requires 12…
Monday, April 8, 2013
Mel’s first car and its misadventures are legendary. Long may she run.
Today, my brother and sister both stopped by at different times of the day to show off their new cars. Instead of being bitter and cranky about this, since I don't really have a ton of money to my name and I have already decided that I need a new phone before I need a new car, I began to reminisce about my first ever car and the misadventures that I had gone with it from the end of my junior year all the way to my first year of college. It wasn't that much of a car. No super special new shiny car. I got it about two and a half months after I got my license. It belonged to somebody that my parents knew of and they were looking to sell it. Since I was basically using my mom's car most of the time, they asked me if I wanted it. The decision …
Monday, April 1, 2013
Feeling stuck or uninspired with your role as a parent lately? Spring is a time of growth and renewal, and it’s the perfect time to freshen up your parenting skills. Here's a recent article from mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com.
Here in Rhode Island, we are coming off a very long, icy, snowy winter. I can’t remember when I wanted spring to arrive more than this year. With the warmer, fresher days of spring right around the corner I’m preparing to transition seasons by performing my annual spring cleaning. (Sadly, yes, I actually look forward to this each year!) By the time I’m done, every corner (well, nearly every) of our home will be scrubbed and freshened so that my family and I can enjoy as much time outdoors as possible. Spring is not only the perfect time to clear away the dust and dirt in your home, but as a parent it’s also a great time to clean up your overall attitude and stagnant outlooks about raising your children. Here are Mighty Mommy’s 6 ideas …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Kids don't get a whole lot of learning about money and finances in school. Here are some fun, easy ways to teach kids about money.
When you have kids, you learn quickly that although parenting is amazing, it’s also very expensive. The older they get, the more things they want, and many parents struggle to balance not only the cost of all these items but also how to teach their kids about financial responsibility. Today we’re going to get some expert advice from my MacMillan Publishing QDT colleague, Money Girl, Laura Adams, who has some fun and easy ways that parents can work together with our children to create a solid financial future. Laura is the author of the award-winning book Money Girl’s Smart Moves to Grow Rich Cheryl: At what age can we start teaching our kids about money and how can we make it an easy process that they can relate to? Laura Adams: As soon…
Monday, March 25, 2013
Because laughing at inappropriate times seems to run in the family.
As my mom and I were heading into the church this past Thursday to attend a memorial service for my third grade teacher / cousin (for those who had her for third grade, it was Mrs. Rawlings. She died this past Saturday), she turned to me and said "Remember, we are not to make eye contact at all during the service, alright?" which to some may think because if one of us is crying, the other will cry. However, with my family this is not the case. You see, we're both prone to fits of inappropriate laughter. Anytime my mom and I are together at any place where laughing is frowned upon, a case of the giggles naturally seems to follow. It's not like we're laughing about what had happened, it's just that sometimes, our minds tend to wander at the …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Because sometimes, I need to just let the ADHD thoughts run through me...
I figure something on the lighter side would be a nice break from the heaviness of my last couple of columns. Plus it's my birthday week, so I feel like being goofy and lighthearted. So here's just a collection of random thoughts I've had in the past few weeks. * USA Today is having a contest for the Best Mascots per state. I originally thought that this was kind of fun, but then I saw that it was only five choices per state. Obviously whoever came up with the choices for Rhode Island was either really bored and lazy, or they’re are from Warwick. All three of Warwick's public schools are represented. The 5 mascots are Skippers (North Kingstown), Hurricanes (Warwick Vets), Titans (Toll Gate), Patriots (Pilgrim) and Villa Novans (Woonsocket…
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
What are the benefits of working on a school newspaper? No matter what major you may be, there are plenty of advantages for being involved.
Since August, I have been a sports reporter for my school newspaper, The Marquette Tribune. In my six months of working, I felt I have become a stronger writer and have gained a better knowledge on what occurs in a newsroom. My position requires me to write games analyses, player profiles and game previews. When a sports reporter is hired by a newspaper, he or she is typically assigned to a specific team to follow for the entire season, called a “beat.” In my case, this did not happen because there were too few sports happening in the fall. What instead transpired was I was given the chance to report on nearly every team at Marquette. Men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s …
Robert Trager
6:57 am on Friday, May 3, 2013
Sounds like more bureaucracy to me. They'll spend more time and money writing self evaluation reports intended to show what a good job they are doing. Just eliminate the darn thing. more ›