Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Boston Phoenix picked up my sighting of Lady Gaga

I have a ritual of getting a beer and reading the newspaper at Bukowski's tavern in Inman Square. It's usually a quiet crowd on a Tuesday night, but last night Lady Gaga was there with her entourage of dancers and bodyguards.

At first, I wasn't sure if it was really her (there usually is a lot of bleached hair and tattooes at this bar). Then I saw the outfit she was wearing: white leather bra and panties, a pearl sequined vest, fishnets, and white hooker boots.

After an hour, the bar patrons started to notice her too. A couple little stares here and there turned into full on gawking and even a few courageous fans going over to talk to her. The bar became packed after fans tweeted and texted to say who was at this bar off the grid of Boston proper.

Lady Gaga's bodyguard spoke into a tiny microphone on his sports jacket and immediately a black Suburban with tinted windows rolled up. The strange pop princess gave one Queen wave and walked out.

I ran out along with the cheery crowd of fans. She was quite gracious about taking photos with all 20 of us. This greatly irritated the bodyguards who flashed keychain lights into the eyes of the adoring fans. Lady Gaga left before anyone of us got a chance to realize what actually happened. Did our generation's pop princess really just grace the presents of our small town rock'n'roll bar? She did, indeed.


Read more: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2010/06/30/exclusive-lady-gaga-spotted-at-bukowski-tavern-in-cambridge-photos.aspx#ixzz0sMqNFemq

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Commencement Speech:

Not just one commencement speaker, but two. Christiane Amanpour gave a great talk worth checking out.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Somerville students enjoy nutritious lunches 'even though it's healthy'


Somerville students enjoy nutritious lunches 'even though it's healthy'
At Winter Hill school, innovation entices kids, helps budget
By Melissa Pocek

The signs above the students read "Nourish Your Mind" and "Eat Smart - Live Well." A girl going through the lunch line greets Mary Joan McLarney, a registered dietician for the Winter Hill Community School.

"Have the butternut squash: It's wonderful," McLarney advises her. The girl looks for the orange vegetable, baked with flecks of rosemary, and when she finds it she smiles.

The school is serving locally grown butternut squash as part of its Vegetable of the Month Program. Somerville schools have partnered with local organizations to create budget-friendly programs that both feed and teach children about eating healthy and where their food comes from.

McLarney is the most vocal proponent for high standards to make the best lunches possible at Somerville schools. "This is the best meal a lot of these kids get a day," McLarney says. "A lot of the kids don't get fresh fruit or milk at home." Feeding children healthy food is no small responsibility in Somerville, where 65 percent of the students get free or reduced-priced meals.

Many school districts face problems in providing nutritious lunches, but Somerville is a good example of a lunch program that focuses on health first. Those efforts are most noticeable in the Winter Hill Community School, where lunches are prepared daily for the whole school district. And the best part? It's cost-effective. Recognized for innovation, the Somerville schools offer lessons that other districts can use.

Buy locally, eat well

This is the fifth year that Somerville schools have purchased local fruits and vegetables for lunches. An organization called Groundwork Somerville supplies the schools with some of the seasonal vegetables and herbs. Produce availability is limited by the time of year, of course, which is why. The majority of local purchasing happens in the fall and early winter.

As for the fruit, "We purchase from Lanni Orchards in Lunenburg. We are trying to develop more and more recipes that the kids will eat and the staff could make," McLarney says.

School food service staff went to Lanni Orchards to meet the farmer, McLarney says. "Basically we took them there so they would realize the importance of supporting local economy and the environmental aspects of it."

McLarney has a lot of ideas about how to continue to improve school lunches,really trying to focus to get them fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber, and try to introduce whole grains, " she said, "Our goal is to help Somerville's children develop healthy eating through instruction and role modeling in a healthy environment."

Testing engages students, helps identify sure¬fire foods

The problem that Winter Hill and many other schools face is finding nutritious foods that students will eat. To help with this issue, Winter Hill School and University of Massachusetts Extension's nutrition department conducted taste tests for students.

Samples included nutritious offerings such as sweet potatoes, salad greens with maple syrup vinaigrette, and the ever-popular butternut squash. The maple syrup that went into the vinaigrette was tapped from Somerville trees. Tapping is part of a big all-day event called "The Big Boil" that celebrates the process of turning tree sap into syrup.

Somerville Public Schools and Tufts University's Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service collaborate to get the students involved. "Some of the kids get to go out and see them tapping the trees," says Charlotte Stephenson, one of three registered dieticians who helps organize the taste tests in Winter Hill School. "This is an educational experience."

Once the dieticians have chosen a food to test, "We will market it and explain to kids what it is and then we will go around and have the kids vote whether they like it or not," Stephenson says.

She says that the kids will try anything, though it often takes them time to accept new tastes. "It is important to expose them at a younger age so that they can become accustomed to it and incorporate it into their regular diet so they can develop healthy eating habits," Stephenson says.

"Districts do testing when they can if they have the manpower. Doing a taste test takes a lot of time and energy just between purchasing, preparing, cooking, and setting up the samples. Then we need to get volunteers doing the signs, marketing it, and getting the voting done. There are a lot of different components to it."

Although Stephenson hopes that there will be more taste tests in the future, the school hasn't been able to find the help to conduct another test.

McLarney and Stephenson agree that cooperation yields better education and better eating among their students, which they see in positive reactions from children.

"We put out a nice variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every single day so that the kids can have as much of that as they want," McLarney says. "We go through so many fruits and vegetables a week. My job can be frustrating, but it is gratifying seeing kids eating the butternut squash and actually really enjoying it even though it's healthy."
Launching my jewelry line at Mass Market this Sunday at the BCA. My friend Ashley is a painter and designing my sign!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Esquire, Editor David Granger

listening to the editor and chief of Esquire magazine. live blogging beginning now. we decided to mess with our covers. Magazine covers are always boring so we decided to overwhelm people with content on our magazine cover. Started to do origami on cover. biggest strangest thing we did make the magazine more interactive. Exclusive to magazine and could only have if they have the magazine. Professional writers are all so daunting. Made collection of their work in the 21 st centruy. Have a list of all the writing they have done in the 21st century. Wrote. A story of where Bill Clinton left us. John Sack covered every war for Esquire from Korea to Iraq. the falling man trying to find identity of guy who jumped off of world trade building during 911. Fours years after sept. 11th covered the rebuilding of the world trade center. a thousand dollar for your dog. Would you sell your cell phone, wedding ring, or your dog. fantastic story. Story about abortion doctors are killed. Roger Ebert dealing with cancer. reading online journal and talks about life. 5000 words of inner monologue. His voice is his inner voice. Life giving power of writing. The guy that wrote this is very passionate and that writing is more powerful now like how exert lost his voice a now his writing voice is hugely moving and powerful. Very viral event and many people tweeted about it. Ways to break into Esquire magazine.1. Must be job to do dumb ass stuff to pull people to the writing. Makes the writing more necessary. most of the stories written were in freelancers, Some people do make it in Esquire. He likes balls. One writer bought two boxes of donuts and one was for security guard other was for bottom of the food chain editors. 2. Never going to get better unless you are willing to be terrible. The last days of Heath Ledger. Writer wrote version of this and then they didn't like it and then she rewrote it eight hours later as inside of heath's head.3. Doesn't like to say no to freelancers. But with recession it is more common. Newbie wrote about Iraq and withdrawal of our troops. Got someone to pay all expenses all they were risking was writers fee. They are publishing story. 4. Really like reporting. Have impossible standard, key to great nonfiction is always in the details. Chris jones did 101 interviews and understood the entire thing and new all the minor details. The bulk of writers are in the Internet age. 5. Love the writers that write. People that are constantly writing. Because every time they write they get better. for the future of writing I am a fundamentalist. Regardless values that most be fought full. Writing injures vigilance. So many years where esquire has nearly died. Cause great joy and pain and suffer.

Q: How do you draw women into audience.
A: we are a magazine for men but we don't try to exclude anybody.

Q: whats your email address. What type of scotch you drink.
A:

Q: What is another way to get something read in terms of pitches?
A: there is no easy way to get a gig with us.

Q: what areas would Ike to cover in the future.
A: best and brightest section, profile of people who are trying to do positive things. Needs automative and commerce and solar power and space exploration.

Q: what kind of tech stuff is next?
A: do all sorts of cool stuff on esquire.com. Do daily affirmation and have beautiful women say nice things to men. might have the only phone app for a magazine that made some magazine. Solidly made five figures. Doing an iPad application, that will come out soon and it is a huge pain in the ass. Likes to enhance paper version of magazine first but like augment reality thing more. what you can do with primitive print is so Primitive.

Q: what do you think of writers who can do multimedia stuff.
A: its all about if you have skill. Flip cameras are just so good. Doing Reporting entirely on film and video. Because of what Pad can do for video is so exciting.

Q: what are your readers are doing this weekend.
A: driving a mini with two bike racks and staying in cool hotel at Zion national park and get there just before sunrise and ride down and eat big eggs and bacon breakfast .

Q: what does it take to be a great editor?
A: had an editor that said hey granger as header with stuff he wanted to do. File with 770 single ideas. He wants an idea that is so exclusive and imaginative. If this is true then this must be true and I am going to find this.

Q: where do you find the money to do good stories?
A: there are not a lot of places go do this. A lot of places that will sponsor good reporting. There are magazine that value good reporting.

A: our web presents blows in a way.

The Future of Freelance Writing

New business cards made, website up, portfolio in print... I am ready for the future of freelance writing conference tomorrow and Saturday.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My poor dog is not doing well and had to be admitted to the pet hospital. Since my Dad is out of the country, I have to make the tough decision of whether to put him down or see if he gets better. I've read as much as I could about the procedure and it seems painless.

I got a last minute flight home to be with him.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Dreaming of Bosnia today

We are having strange murky weather in Boston, it reminds me of this lovely place.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Italian Holiday: Festa della Repubblica Italiana

June 2nd marked the day in 1946 when Italy voted in a referendum to abolish the monarchy and become a republic. King of Italy had supported Mussolini and Italians' had plunged their support for the monarchy. The public grew hostile and the royal family was exiled from Italy forever as punishment.

Yesterday, a group of my friends gathered to celebrate the Festival of Republica with Boston International. The event was full of Italian music, food, wine, and hazelnut gelato.



Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lima

Working on the writing aspect of the trip for the Washington Post. Here's my photos from Lima.