Mentha Shine

Dr. William Ury and Dr. Gary Slutkin speak at the PON screening of The Interrupters

2011-11-22T17:21:00.000-05:00

Dr. William Ury and Dr. Gary Slutkin speak at the PON screening of <em> The Interrupters</em>

Boston Local Food Festival

2011-10-02T21:07:00.008-04:00

Here's a blog I wrote for the Boston Local Food Festival. They got my name wrong.

When I heard Oxfam was going to have a booth at the festival, I was a bit surprised. With the majority of our vendors serving up freshly harvested local food or showcasing New England crafted beers, it seemed that our celebration would not be of interest to an international organization that focuses on aiding developing countries.

But it turns out, they’re a perfect fit. After reading about Oxfam’s GROW Campaign, it became clear to me why such a noble organization would want to have a table at our event. Throughout the years, Oxfam (which has their U.S. headquarters right here in Boston) has recognized the fact that millions of people in poor and rich countries face going hungry. They created the GROW Campaign to shrink this number by developing lasting solutions for fairer and more sustainable ways to grow food.

They have also recently partnered up with celebrity chefs like Food Network’s chef, Giada de Laurnetiis to help spread awareness by getting people to start the conversation of knowing where their food comes from and learning ways to make more sustainable decisions.

The current struggling food system is a complicated problem, but making a difference by being part of the Grow Campaign is easy. One way you can get involved is by hosting a dinner for World Food Day on October 16th. Or donate to the Global Food Crisis Fund. And don’t forget to check out Oxfam’s booth at the festivities and support a great organization!

The post was written by featured festival blogger Michelle Pocek. Check out her blog Melissa Writes.

Miss A Article Best Wine Bars in Chicago

2011-06-14T11:44:00.002-04:00

Best Wine Bars in Chicago
BY MELISSA POCEK
JUNE 8, 2011 0 COMMENTS

We all know wine making is not conducive in Chicago. Yet, we Chicagoans love drinking it. In recent years, wine bars have popped up throughout our city, often serving top-quality wines that are lovingly produced in the U.S. as well as a far. And fortunately for us, a handful of wine bars have opened offering a chance to sample a wide range of new hipper blends.

Photo by Laura M. on Yelp

For all our local oenophile readers, we found three of the best wine bars in Chicago.

Swirl Wine Bar This cozy bar near North side offers a slick bistro and sells wine by the glass, bottle, or half bottle. This hip bar has an extensive wine list that includes several up-and-coming wines. Visit to relax, listen to great local DJ’s, and drink quality wine.

To read more, click here.

Dragon Boat Practice

2011-06-09T09:56:00.001-04:00

My friends convinced me to join Harvard's dragon boating team. Last night, marked our 12th practice and this weekend we have our first race in Boston. Here's some footage from Monday's practice. I am in the very back on the left.

Harvard Dragon Boat Practice 6/6/2011 - Practice Race 2 from Alex Chan on Vimeo.

Best Macarons in Chicago

2011-05-31T10:38:00.009-04:00

Macarons are getting off their Parisian plane and setting up shop all over Chicago. As the trend sets in, it is no longer the cupcake who in its heyday ruled over all desserts. The newbies have been schooled, and now, the macaron trend is here to stay. So why have these sweet petite sandwiches nudged their way to the spotlight? If done right, the macaron can be the perfect dessert. It’s petite size packs in a lot of flavor and has a crisp outer surface and a soft gooey interior. Not to mention, the butter cream frosting is sweet enough to satisfy those of us with even the most killer sugar craving.

What’s more, the flavor possibilities are endless. We’ve scoped out shops that included unique flavors from pistachio to lavender to even red velvet. There’s just about a flavor for everyone’s fancy! We sought out to find the best macarons in town only to be revealed here to our cultivated readers.

So let me fill your head with wonderful places to get these divine little delectables all around town:

Vanille Patisserie 131 N Clinton, Chicago (312) 575-9963: This swanky little spot near the West Side has a love for infusing flavors together in their macarons. Flavors like strawberry lemongrass and Orange Gingerin get major points on originality and creativity. The macarons are made with natural ingredients and come in an array of colors from chai (green), red velvet (red), and espresso (tan). Eat them on the spot or take them home with their cute packaging and share them with friends.

Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Cafe 1114 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL (773) 929-1100: This quaint little neighborhood cafe offers delicious macarons with flavors from almond, chocolate, raspberry, and lemon. Have them with a cup of coffee.

Bennison’s Bakery 1000 Davis St (between Maple Ave & Oak Ave) Evanston, IL (847) 328-3854: This place is worth the short drive out of city for sampling of their sweet treats. They make their macarons with egg whites and not with coconut giving them a lighter feel than most. However, flavor is not compromised in these meringuey almond treats. For a little piece of heaven, try their lemon or red velevet flavored macaron.

Fritz Pastry 1408 W Diversey Pkwy (between Southport Ave & Janssen Ave) Chicago, IL (773) 857-2989: This cozy bakery and tea room in Lake View offers light and fluffy European-style macarons with classic flavors including pistachio, vanilla, and chocolate. An assortment of colors and freshness, and best of all, each macaron is a mere .75 cents. It is easy to go macaron crazy here without breaking the bank!

Hosting Media Bistro Boston Party

2011-05-28T20:34:00.002-04:00

Here's some photos from the Media Bistro Boston party I hosted.

Elvis Costello: The Kindness of Strangers

2011-05-17T18:43:00.044-04:00

If you are ever wandering around a new city-I'd suggest you do it alone. Some may say, that it's dangerous. You won't know where you're going and could find yourself in a bad neighborhood. Not So! If you have a stitch of common sense, you'll know right away when trouble is around. Listen up to what my years of traveling alone have taught me: You meet more people going solo.

I came to Chicago for a couple interviews and after many nights of venturing around by myself-seeing all the live music this city has to offer-I decided to try my luck in buying a ticket at the legendary Chicago Theater to see Elvis Costello. The guys working the front door said the box office closed 15 minutes earlier. My heart sank at the thought that I wouldn't see one of my favorite artist. Disappointment must have been written all over my face for what happened next was a kind of miracle. A young guy wearing a hoodie with a sad look turned and asked, "I have an extra ticket. Do you want it?" Like a vulture looking for its next meal, I turned and said, "I'll buy it from you. How much do you want?" The man with the sad eyes said he would give it to me for free. That he was in Chicago on vacation with his wife. The ticket had been for her, but she was sick and needed to stay in.

I looked at the ticket in his hand. The price read $150. In my state of utter shock, I asked if I could give him something for it. He said no and that he got the ticket for free and wouldn't feel comfortable charging for it. I took the ticket and we walked into the extraordinary atrium of the venue that resembled more of a New England war memorial than a concert hall.

I told him the very least I could do was buy him a beer. He said that would be fine. I ordered up two Stella's and we entered in to the concert with our beers in hand. Both of our mouths dropped when we saw how close we were to the stage. We were in the sixth row!

The stage was set up in a Las Vegas theme. A big colorful wheel with names of the songs on it, was right of center stage. To the left was a Go-Go cage and a bar with a couple martinis on top. I've been to many shows before, but this was by far the most creative. Audience members were randomly selected to spin the wheel and when it stopped, Elvis Costello would play the song. He cheated a bit. When the audience wanted to hear Living in Paradise and Chelsea, he complied.

What's more impressive was that Elvis Costello who's been performing for over thirty years (since 1977) could still play a solid set. During his encore, he performed back-to-back hits including my personal favorite Beyond Belief, which was actually fitting to how I felt about the whole night.

The acoustics were wonderful. Though, I doubt that Elvis Costello could sound awful even if he was performing in a tin can.

After the show, I tried to give my kind stranger a 20 to get his wife some flowers. He said no thanks and smiled. We exchanged our stories and it turns out he works in the music industry! And to boot, he said he would happily read my writing.

Case in point: I find that in our most vulnerable state of being alone, we open up to the world and attract more acts of kindness from locals or dare I say strangers. This has happened to me many times before. I've met some of my closest friends while on my own...looking a bit lost.

Whether you're traveling to Milwaukee or to far off places-go out alone.

You'll be fine.

Lunch tomorrow with Mr. Dave Sedaris

2010-11-10T11:18:00.003-05:00

The joy of working at a publishing house is coming in full-form tomorrow when Dave Sedaris gives us an in-house (free of salivating-adoring fans) talk. Here's the most recent clip promoting his new book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.

Wine Riot

2010-10-26T12:46:00.003-04:00

My favorite new wines that I tried at Wine Riot:

Triumvir (California)
2006, Triumvir Wines Syrah
USA>California>Mednocino County $38

Farnum Hill, New England
2009 Farnum Hill Ciders Semi-Dry
USA>New Hampshire

Terra Andina, Chile
2009 Terra Andina Reserva Pinot Noir
Chile>Valle Central $14.99
2008 Terra Andina Reserva Sauvignon Blanc
Chile>Leyda Valley $14.99

Si Soave Italia, Italy
2009 Toad Hollow
Francine's Selection CLhardonnay
USA>California>Mendocino County $12.99
WJ Deutch, South America/Europe
2009 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Village
France>Beaujolais>Beaujolais-Villages $8.99

Esporao, Portugal
2007 Esporao Reserva Red
Portugal>Alentejo>Reguengos $24.99

Story of carmenie can be described as a comedy or tragedy. Taradino carmenie is a grape that originated in Bordeaux, France. It is very difficult to grow, in 1875 winemakers decided to stop growing it. 1875-1980's, the world had no carmenie wine...or so they thought. In 1994, in Chile they did a DNA test on a grape that they were calling for nearly 150 years Merlot. It turned out it was really carmenie. It took four years for the scientists to convince the Chilean government that what they were drinking was really carmenie. And now it a well-known and beloved unique wine.

The Cocktail Party

2010-10-17T12:48:00.037-04:00

The HR lady at my publishing house sent an invite for all employees to attend a kick-off party to the Boston Book Festival. So by virtue of that, I assumed it was going to be grungy "denim day" after work, to do. Not one to resist the urge to get free appetizers, I hurried over. I got there early, and sat in front with my jeans and rain boots watching the herd of cocktail dresses and suits storm in. Obviously, I didn't get the memo that this was a formal event.

A departure from the grad-student grime I associate with at bars on a typical night out, this cocktail party had a promising space with a solid guest list of authors and journalist. And pretty glamster chicks in the arms of their elderly counterparts. Back and forth, back and forth, like a puppy watching a ball, I watched the crowd fill the room. The words, What do I have to lose, popped in my head. It was time to start mingling.

A couple looking as lost as I must have looked, struck up the first conversation,"Are you an author?" I sheepishly replied no, and asked if they were. Rob Scotton and his wife Liz politely chatted with me (they were British you know) excited about the success of their newest children's book and New York Times Bestseller, "Love, Splat.." Boston Book Festival was the first event in their two week U.S. book tour.

I went up to grab a glass of pinot grigio that I overheard tremendous buzz around and spotted the editor from the Boston Phoenix. This was my chance to carry on a conversation with the man behind the great alternative weekly. Carly and I talked about tomorrow's event and nibbled on mini-versions of gourmet foods. (Did you know they can stuff mini tomatoes? Well, they can!). After feeling more comfortable in his presence, I spilled out my hardship with covering Lollapalooza for his publication. He was kind and sympathizing and lended his own personal insight about the business.

The Editor (as was the title printed on his business card) told me that there was an author's dinner and counseled me to try and get in. What do you mean try? I am not an author? He had triggered the already alerted-journalist instinct in me. He was the editor and I was not going to say no especially not to him. So, I did what I could and asked around, it was a lot easier than I had anticipated; one of the other editors from the Phoenix had an extra ticket. And since his wife decided to stay home to help their son study for the SAT's, I was in.

I crammed into a cab along with author, Kathryn Scholtz, who wrote a book about the bright side of "Being Wrong", the curator of the festival, senior editor of the Phoenix, and a Boston Globe journalist. It was time to dine at one of Boston's most elegant hotels with the most prolific authors and writers from around the world. How the hell did this happen?

2010-10-01T12:03:00.001-04:00

My article and photos are finally up from Lollapalooza. Two months later! Here's a link.

2010-08-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

My friend Doug wrote this about my encounter with Lady Gaga:

When Celebrities Stop By
August 26th, 2010 11:41 am ET

The Fist: an arbitrary, unrelated photo
Photo: The author
Several weeks ago, a close friend of mine was unfortunate enough to be inside of a local bar when current pop superstar Lady Gaga made an ostentatious surprise appearance, dressed in stage persona attire and flanked by a security team. Predictably, this proved altogether too much for the mere mortal socialites and drunkards of this outer-Cambridge upper-level college region dive. They went all to pieces in disbelief that their lackluster lives should experience this brush with the divine. Frenzied pictures were taken, immediate Twitter updates and text messages updated the surrounding area, and soon a mind-less mob was formed, jockeying for front-row positioning, threatening to break into a savage melee.
At this point, the great Lady Gaga had no choice but to escape, leaving the lives (such as they are) of those arriving a moment too late forever ruined…
A freelance writer, this friend of mine who found herself in the middle of this momentary panic, emailed several local outlets offering to write a synopsis of the event. Though she had not spoken to Lady Gaga - hadn’t heard a word she had said, hadn’t had any real contact with her, only having witnessed her passing - each outlet immediately expressed a strong desire to publish her piece. My friend, of course, felt herself lucky to have encountered such a freak opportunity, but we were both rather disheartened by the event overall. Both of us have published works that have required a good deal of original research, contain what we believe to be unique insights, and works that are far more relevant to the daily lives of the average reader than any play-by-play of celebrity bar-hopping. But then, the metrics on such articles are unimpressive, and such articles are often hard to sell to any mainstream media outlet. I had experienced something similar when I wrote a piece about a Sarah Palin rally that I did not even attend. I had accidentally passed through a congregation of slack-jawed, beer-gutted “tea-baggers” and wrote a brief piece that states the obvious: Palin supporters are a grotesque lot. I was amazed by the number of hits (website views) this piece received. I supposed it was the key words “Sarah Palin” that had so inflated the numbers.
My friend and I speculated as to how well an article might do if it were to arbitrarily include celebrity names, like those of such superstars as Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, or Tom Cruise? Perhaps we could write purely speculative pieces regarding what might happen were Brad Pitt secretly sexually involved with Julia Roberts, while Tom Cruise tried to steal Brad Pitt away from her.
Helpfully, Forbes.com lists the most “powerful” celebrities in their Celebrity 100, for people as deficient in Pop Culture as myself. They are as follows:
Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce Knowles, James Cameron, Lady Gaga, Tiger Woods, Britney Spears, U2, Sandra Bullock, Johnny Depp, Madonna, Simon Cowell, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Kobe Bryant, Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, Bruce Springsteen, Angelina Jolie, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Jordan, Dr. Phil McGraw, Steven Spielberg, Ellen Degeneres, David Letterman, Tyler Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Pink, Lebron James, Roger Federer, Brad Pitt, Floyd Mayweather, Michael Bay, Donald Trump, Jay Leno, Coldplay, David Beckham, Jerry Seinfeld, AC/DC, Howard Stern, Jonas Brothers, Tom Hanks, George Lucas, Glenn Beck, Ryan Seacrest, Phil Mickelson, Ben Stiller, Jerry Bruckheimer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alex Rodriguez, Robert Pattinson, Conan O’Brien, Shaquille O’Neal, James Patterson, Kenny Chesney, Manny Pacquiao, Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler, George Clooney, Stephenie Meyer, Cameron Diaz, Serena Williams, Rascal Flatts, Charlie Sheen, Derek Jeter, Lance Armstrong, Kristen Stewart, Toby Keith, Sean (Diddy) Combs, Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker, Leonardo DiCaprio, Judge Judy Sheindlin, Robert Downey Jr, Lil Wayne, Reese Witherspoon, Keith Urban, Julia Roberts, Steve Carell, Meryl Streep, Akon, Maria Sharapova, Daniel Radcliffe, Venus Williams, Ray Romano, Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Drew Barrymore, Alec Baldwin, Kiefer Sutherland, Tina Fey, Kate Moss, Eva Longoria Parker, Jeff Dunham, George Lopez, Katherine Heigl, Danica Patrick, Kate Hudson, Chelsea Handler, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mariska Hargitay.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I don’t recognize most of these names, thus the chance that I would recognize them in a bar any time soon lingers around nil.

Photos from NYC

2010-08-20T11:06:00.001-04:00

Click here

James Baldwin

2010-08-19T12:30:00.003-04:00

is one of my favorite writers. NPR interviewed the editor that published a collection of James Baldwin's stories entitled The Cross of Redemption. NPR's website had one story in particular that I really enjoyed reading. I've posted it below:

Why I Stopped Hating Shakespeare by James Baldwin

Every writer in the English language, I should imagine, has at some point hated Shakespeare, has turned away from that monstrous achievement with a kind of sick envy. In my most anti-English days I condemned him as a chauvinist ("this England" indeed!) and because I felt it so bitterly anomalous that a black man should be forced to deal with the English language at all — should be forced to assault the English language in order to be able to speak — I condemned him as one of the authors and architects of my oppression.

Again, in the way that some Jews bitterly and mistakenly resent Shylock, I was dubious about Othello (what did he see in Desdemona?) and bitter about Caliban. His great vast gallery of people, whose reality was as contradictory as it was unanswerable, unspeakably oppressed me. I was resenting, of course, the assault on my simplicity; and, in another way, I was a victim of that loveless education which causes so many schoolboys to detest Shakespeare. But I feared him, too, feared him because, in his hands, the English language became the mightiest of instruments. No one would ever write that way again. No one would ever be able to match, much less surpass, him.

Well, I was young and missed the point entirely, was unable to go behind the words and, as it were, the diction, to what the poet was saying. I still remember my shock when I ﬁnally heard these lines from the murder scene in Julius Caesar. The assassins are washing their hands in Caesar's blood. Cassius says:

Stoop then, and wash. — How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over,
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!

What I suddenly heard, for the ﬁrst time, was manifold. It was the voice of lonely, dedicated, deluded Cassius, whose life had never been real for me before — I suddenly seemed to know what this moment meant to him. But beneath and beyond that voice I also heard a note yet more rigorous and impersonal — and contemporary: that "lofty scene," in all its blood and necessary folly, its blind and necessary pain, was thrown into a perspective which has never left my mind. Just so, indeed, is the heedless State over¬thrown by men, who, in order to overthrow it, have had to achieve a desperate single- mindedness. And this single- mindedness, which we think of (why?) as ennobling, also operates, and much more surely, to distort and diminish a man — to distort and diminish us all, even, or perhaps especially, those whose needs and whose energy made the overthrow of the State inevitable, necessary, and just.

And the terrible thing about this play, for me — it is not necessarily my favorite play, whatever that means, but it is the play which I ﬁrst, so to speak, discovered — is the tension it relentlessly sustains between individual ambition, self- conscious, deluded, idealistic, or corrupt, and the blind, mindless passion which drives the individual no less than it drives the mob. "I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet...I am not Cinna the conspirator" — that cry rings in my ears. And the mob's response: "Tear him for his bad verses!" And yet — though one howled with Cinna and felt his terrible rise, at the hands of his countrymen, to death, it was impossible to hate the mob. Or, worse than impossible, useless; for here we were, at once howl¬ing and being torn to pieces, the only receptacles of evil and the only receptacles of nobility to be found in all the universe. But the play does not even suggest that we have the perception to know evil from good or that such a distinction can ever be clear: "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones . . ."

Once one has begun to suspect this much about the world — once one has begun to suspect, that is, that one is not, and never will be, innocent, for the reason that no one is — some of the self- protective veils between oneself and reality begin to fall away. It is probably of some significance, though we cannot pursue it here, that my ﬁrst real apprehension of Shakespeare came when I was living in France, and thinking and speaking in French. The necessity of mastering a foreign language forced me into a new relationship to my own. (It was also in France, therefore, that I began to read the Bible again.)

My quarrel with the English language has been that the language reﬂected none of my experience. But now I began to see the matter in quite another way. If the language was not my own, it might be the fault of the language; but it might also be my fault. Perhaps the language was not my own because I had never attempted to use it, had only learned to imitate it. If this were so, then it might be made to bear the burden of my experience if I could ﬁnd the stamina to challenge it, and me, to such a test.

In support of this possibility, I had two mighty witnesses: my black ancestors, who evolved the sorrow songs, the blues, and jazz, and created an entirely new idiom in an overwhelmingly hostile place; and Shakespeare, who was the last bawdy writer in the English language. What I began to see — especially since, as I say, I was living and speaking in French — is that it is experience which shapes a language; and it is language which controls an experience. The structure of the French language told me something of the French experience, and also something of the French expectations — which were certainly not the American expectations, since the French daily and hourly said things which the Americans could not say at all. (Not even in French.) Similarly, the language with which I had grown up had certainly not been the King's English. An immense experience had forged this language; it had been (and remains) one of the tools of a people's survival, and it revealed expectations which no white American could easily entertain. The authority of this language was in its candor, its irony, its density, and its beat: this was the authority of the language which produced me, and it was also the authority of Shakespeare.

Again, I was listening very hard to jazz and hoping, one day, to translate it into language, and Shakespeare's bawdiness became very important to me, since bawdiness was one of the elements of jazz and revealed a tremendous, loving, and realistic respect for the body, and that ineffable force which the body contains, which Americans have mostly lost, which I had experienced only among Negroes, and of which I had then been taught to be ashamed.

My relationship, then, to the language of Shakespeare revealed itself as nothing less than my relationship to myself and my past. Under this light, this revelation, both myself and my past began slowly to open, perhaps the way a ﬂower opens at morning, but more probably the way an atrophied muscle begins to function, or frozen ﬁngers to thaw.

The greatest poet in the English language found his poetry where poetry is found: in the lives of the people. He could have done this only through love — by knowing, which is not the same thing as understanding, that whatever was happening to anyone was happening to him. It is said that his time was easier than ours, but I doubt it — no time can be easy if one is living through it. I think it is simply that he walked his streets and saw them, and tried not to lie about what he saw: his public streets and his private streets, which are always so mysteriously and inexorably connected; but he trusted that connection. And, though I, and many of us, have bitterly bewailed (and will again) the lot of an American writer — to be part of a people who have ears to hear and hear not, who have eyes to see and see not — I am sure that Shakespeare did the same. Only, he saw, as I think we must, that the people who produce the poet are not responsible to him: he is responsible to them.

That is why he is called a poet. And his responsibility, which is also his joy and his strength and his life, is to defeat all labels and complicate all battles by insisting on the human riddle, to bear witness, as long as breath is in him, to that mighty, unnameable, transﬁguring force which lives in the soul of man, and to aspire to do his work so well that when the breath has left him, the people — all people! — who search in the rubble for a sign or a witness will be able to ﬁnd him there.

Excerpted from The Cross of Redemption by James Baldwin Copyright 2010 by The Estate of James Baldwin. Excerpted by permission of Pantheon, a division of Random House Inc. All rights reserved.

New Website!

2010-08-19T11:34:00.002-04:00

More of a portfolio of my writing: www.melissapocek.com

Only in New York...

2010-08-16T11:23:00.004-04:00

Snow Cone?

Lollapalooza 2010

2010-08-11T20:36:00.009-04:00

The oppressive heat of the direct daylight, the submission – while wedged between sweaty fans – to becoming but part of a mass; both paradoxically manage to contribute to a liberating spirit of festival.

For the past six years, Grant Park in Chicago has served as the sacred Lollapalooza upon which pop idols are worshipped and lesser known are given opportunity to prove their mettle. For three solid days, bands such as Devo, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The National, and The Dirty Projector, earned their places on the honor roll. But the highlights were the headliners, and Arcade Fire elicited surges of awe and were just spectacular.

Lollapalooza 8/7/10 12:33 AM

Chicago

2010-08-05T23:53:00.020-04:00

I am in Chicago to check out the writing market and to cover Lollapalooza. Even though the publication I will be writing for has a rather large readership in New England, they are still working with no budget and in turn no money to get me into this event. I had to figure out a way to get the $271 three-day pass on my own. After many hours of head scratching, I came up with a plan, that I would get a free pass by volunteering. So I looked up the requirements online, filled out an application, and waited to hear back. The volunteer spots are highly sought after at this event, but luckily my eight page application was convincing enough and I got in.

The festival starts tomorrow so today I had some time to explore, I walked around Chicago's bohemian neighborhood Wicker Park. I window shopped at their boutiques that had everything from glittery framed pictures of Blagojevich to a clothing shop with clothes made from all-recycled material.

Ghost Monkeys...

2010-08-02T23:13:00.001-04:00

give me nightmares.

They're actually golden snub nosed monkeys and they are endangered.

2010-08-02T09:48:00.008-04:00

I am still exhausted from a 5.5 hour bike ride yesterday. I went from Somerville to Newton, Brookline, and JP to the North End. Total 45 miles. I think bike racing is something I want to do in the near future.
I added more pictures to my "summer" gallery on the right. Click on the picture of the flower to see more.

I've got no distance left to run

2010-07-26T08:39:00.002-04:00

On the road today for a ten hour ride home.

The Road is My Oyster...

2010-07-23T09:00:00.013-04:00

Picture it now, you're cruising down the highway, nothing but pillowy clouds and a broad expanse of blue overhead. Swaths of swaying corn all around...with every acceleration, the feeling of freedom and escapism grows deeper within you.

I am on a road trip to Cleveland and Pennsylvania with pit stops in Syracuse and Niagara Falls. Since I am not going to have a chance to blog, I'll be documenting my trip using my cell phone camera. Kind of like a digital journal.

Click here to see what I've got so far...

2010-07-21T09:48:00.007-04:00

Talk about dream jobs, going to Lollapalooza to cover music!

Here's a link to my pictures for the Boston Phoenix in 2008.

Super Computer Smackdown

2010-07-14T11:31:00.010-04:00

My friend Mehrun was Jeopardy's biggest winner in 2006-2007. He recently was contacted by IBM to see if he could beat Watson their super computer in a Jeopardy smackdown. "It was a straight up battle and I kicked its computer $%#!" Mehrun said the blank podium in the middle of the room creeped him out along with the hydraulic buzzer and computer voice. The end result, the human won.

This article appeared in the NYTimes a couple of weeks ago.

Fourth of July

2010-07-11T08:36:00.005-04:00

I went down south to Cape Carteret, N.C. for the fourth of July. This was the third year that I visited and celebrated with my oldest family's friends the Kalooky's. Along with our normal activities of boating, crabbing, clamming, kayaking, we also had a tiki drink contest. Click here for more photos.

2010-07-01T09:24:00.001-04:00

Published twice in one day! Too bad it was for the same article.

Boston Phoenix picked up my sighting of Lady Gaga

2010-06-30T15:44:00.003-04:00

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

Mass Market at Mass Art

2010-06-28T11:22:00.006-04:00

Commencement Speech:

2010-06-24T16:04:00.004-04:00

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

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

2010-06-23T17:19:00.008-04:00

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."

2010-06-23T12:46:00.004-04:00

Launching my jewelry line at Mass Market this Sunday at the BCA. My friend Ashley is a painter and designing my sign!

Esquire, Editor David Granger

2010-06-18T14:04:00.003-04:00

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

2010-06-18T01:14:00.003-04:00

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

2010-06-09T00:25:00.009-04:00

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.

Dreaming of Bosnia today

2010-06-04T14:45:00.007-04:00

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

Italian Holiday: Festa della Repubblica Italiana

2010-06-03T08:31:00.008-04:00

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.

Lima

2010-06-01T10:00:00.002-04:00

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

Commencement

2010-05-28T09:36:00.020-04:00

We had the distinguished liberal-minded former Supreme Court Justice David Souter give our commencement speech yesterday. Admittingly, I should of paid more attention and shouldn't have been counting the times I heard the words, "Harvard Graduate President Obama" throughout the ceremony. Here's JK Rowling's commencement speech from 2008. As usually Rowling said it best, "Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility, or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation...reflecting on (the commencement) speech has helped me enormously on writing this one, because it turns out I can't remember a single word she said."

Chef Ann Cooper: Watching Her Peas and Q’s

2010-05-23T12:10:00.004-04:00

Life was good for Chef Ann Cooper. Her Vermont restaurant was a success. She just published her second book. Then the call came. A local public school system wanted her to take over the school lunch program. “Originally I was like, ‘What me lunch lady?’I said no.”

But then she started to think about it. In her book, Bitter Harvest, she looked at why so many foods were making children sick. Through her research, she found that processed foods were causing obesity and other health conditions. When the Ross School in Harlem called again, she decided there was more she could do. “I got over myself and I said maybe this was the right way to make a difference. I eventually went to the school and that was the beginning of all of this.”

Cooper believes that if it’s going to make children healthier, the food service industry that cranks out school lunches needs to get some fresh ideas. And who better to lead the change is someone who knows her way around the back of a kitchen.

Cooper’s culinary expertise isn’t her only qualification as the leader of the movement to reform school lunches. She’s well versed in the gift of gab after having a long list of prominent media appearances on her resume. She’s been a guest on NPR, on television shows from CNN to the computer broadcasted TED talks. Her reputation arose when she became the prominent figure doing appearances on local and national television shows.

She was introduced to a Gen. X audience when she appeared on a Daily Show skit, where she demonstrated her ability to deliver a message while poking fun at herself.

Cooper operates on a level of directness that is immediately apparent and central to what people like about her upon first interaction. But she says this has hurt her as much as it has helped her. “If you want to change the world, then the world is going to want to know who you are,” said Cooper, “I think my directness, passion and what I’m willing to say has elevated me beyond what otherwise might have happened.”

Like when Cooper said, “chocolate milk is a soft drink in drag,” it ended up in Time Magazine and New York Times. That curt comment angered a lot of people. “I got a lot of nasty death threat e-mails. I think when you are outspoken and passionate about a lot of causes you have a lot of people who align themselves with you and just as many people who will come out against you.”

Beginnings in conscientious cooking

Popular restaurant entrees are usually not the healthiest fare, but Cooper whose career serving nutritious foods was started while working at Putnam Inn in Vermont. She landed a job where she cultivated her technique by serving freshly prepared foods to her patron’s tastes. Randi Ziter, Putnam Inn’s innkeeper-ess remembers Ann being passionate and focused. “Ann came to be more and more refined in a focus on the wholesome integrity of fresh product, conscientiously produced, from local and known neighboring farms,” said Ziter. “This was a national and international food movement in an embryonic stage, of which The Putney Inn came to be in the forefront and a leader in a relatively small, agricultural State.”

Eventually she left the rolling green hills of Vermont shortly after the call from Harlem.

The school experience in Harlem provided her with the skills necessary to understand the complex process of becoming a leader of a team working to serve school foods. It helped her to understand kids’ eating habits in a very personal way. “Students are very different than working at a restaurant,” she said. “I learned a ton of stuff. I learned how to work with kids and the real importance of hands on experiential learning through cooking and gardening. I learned how to market to kids.” After learning all she could within the position, she began consulting with other school districts. Eventually she was asked to work as the Director of Nutrition Services for Berkeley Unified School District. “I was working half time in Berkeley and half time in Harlem. Eventually, I became the director in Berkeley,” said Cooper.

Moving from one end of the country to the other end in, Cooper started working on a model of a healthy school lunch program. This included starting school gardens, introducing salad bars at every school, preparing nutritious foods on location.

The program remained, even after Cooper moved on, once again. Her of keeping out chocolate milk, processed foods, trans-fats, refined sugars and flours have proven popular. Like much of her past work, it is done out of her own desire to change an ever growing cycle of unhealthy eating amongst Americans.

Realizing that she understands how to fix a broken system she put all her ideas into a book in 2007, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children.

Her latest project is tackling the Boulder, Colorado school system. Since July, 2009, a revolution has been going on. A crew led by a professional chef dressed in black pants and double-breasted jacket work vigorously behind cutting boards while chatting about what needs to be done for the day. As the new Director of Food Services for the Boulder Valley School District, Cooper has perfected the model that she used to make ordinary cafeterias into educational facilities.

National Spokesperson for Healthy Eating

Children don’t have opportunity to choose what they eat at cafeterias. That’s a problem according to Cooper. She believes that choice be a vital part of every child’s nutritional education. Simple principles like that have led some to label her as a “renegade lunch lady.” It’s a catchy title, but she characteristically down plays that, “If you think serving kids fresh vegetables instead of canned peas is being a renegade then yeah, I’m a renegade lunch lady.”

She prefers to see herself as the next generation of lunch lady. She would like to see her pedigree common in the lunchroom, and she would like to see other professional chefs work in schools and focus on feeding children. “I think the combination of many of my experiences from catering parties of 20,000 to doing really multi-unit operation, to being a chef at hotels, including my own restaurant have all culminated in the experience that allows me to be successful in what I do with school lunches,” said Cooper.

Cooper’s ideas are available to anybody on her website lunchbox.org, where she lists recipes and other helpful tips schools across the nation can use to better their lunch programs. “Schools face the same problems-food, finance, facility, human resources and marketing. These are the same problems we are seeing here in Boulder as we’ve seen in Berkeley.” Ms. Cooper has been developing her website with the goal of helping school districts all across the country make changes. “It has a lot of tools and will continue to have more tools that will help schools.”

The USDA has appointed Cooper to help revise the National School Lunch Program that will be coming out this September. “My big next thing is working on the child nutrition reauthorization and working on a national level to make sure that there are healthy foods for all kids in school.”

When Cooper started as a chef, she never thought she would be advising the government on how to feed millions of children. But she is low key about it, “I don’t really think about child nutrition. I think about people eating good food. I don’t think anyone called me to a lunch lady. I do think a lot of what I’ve done previously has allowed me to work and be successful at it.”

2010-05-20T11:48:00.006-04:00

As I get closer to my 500th post (I'm at 490), I want to do something special. So I've hired a graphic designer to give my blog a make-over. I hope this will include a more user-friendly interface and the ability to include more multi-media gadgetry. We shall see what can be accomplished over our first meeting.

Peruvian Dinner Party

2010-05-17T12:20:00.009-04:00

I hosted a Peruvian dinner party last Saturday with a few of my friends. The recipes were simple, mostly picnic and grill-out foods. So glad summer is almost here and I can have more dinner parties soon.

Montezuma's Revenge

2010-05-07T08:13:00.007-04:00

I am not sure what's worse-the parasite that is making me feel sick or the medicine that is basically killing everything else inside me. Pretty much feel the same:

2010-04-23T08:00:00.011-04:00

I am enlisting my good friend Doug tonight to attend a Wine and Dessert event at Harvard. Anytime, I need a male companion to come along to formal events I invite him. He's funny and not afraid to speak what's on his mind, plus he doesn't mind if I tell him to wear something that looks good with my outfit. Here's pictures from the last event we went to together back in December.

A week from today, I'm going to be in Peru

2010-04-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

I'm heading to Peru with my best friend Katie. Here's a clip of Anthony Bourdain in Peru.

Wine Riot

2010-04-19T11:15:00.016-04:00

I took these photos of a lecture on sparkling red wines from a French sommelier.

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Washington D.C.

2010-04-16T08:35:00.011-04:00

Having been to D.C. at least a couple of times, I knew that there was no better welcome mat to that glorious mix of museums, cultures, and politics than touring around with my friend Mehrun. I wanted to arrive by Saturday, so I found the cheapest tickets to Baltimore and took the train up.

The sundresses and rental camera were packed, along with a Malcolm Gladwell book, some copy editing homework, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It wasn’t until I arrived at Union Station to start my D.C experience that I realized I had forgotten one necessary element of being in a new city: directions.

After a short delay to call to get directions, I made my way to the metro, to the National Mall, and up the marble steps of the Library of Congress. Thirty minutes later and I was looking up at the rococo gold designs with Mehrun. This library houses everything from a map of overwhelming size from 1602 to archived tweets. We also viewed an exhibit on Afghan children's letters to U.S politicians and wondered the second floor looking up at the neoclassical paintings.

On to the metro again, to the Cherry Blossom Festival held near Dupont Circle. We mostly stayed at the middle, in the sake garden, taking in the crowd of manga-dressed teenagers to white women wearing kimonos under a cloudless sky. Surrounded on two sides by stages, we watched Japanese pop bands parade around singing in super high-pitched voices. Then we dug into our well-earned snack food of wasabi peas and ate ice cream filled mochi, which always seems to taste better outdoors.

From Dupont circle, our journey continued south along the National Mall to the shady side of the Washington monument, where we found a grassy patch to have some wine and meet up with friends. Hal, is a professor of history and went to school with Meh and Heather works at the Brookings Institute with him. Everyone seemed to savor this leisurely spring activity of drinking and eating at the park. That is, until the wind picked up and forced us to relocate.

We ended the day on Heather's rooftop where we ordered pizza and met some of her neighbors smoking hookahs and enjoying the view. It was a good day in D.C. with perfect weather to match.

Atoms of Peace

2010-04-15T15:43:00.016-04:00

A Must Read

2010-04-12T18:33:00.001-04:00

"Failure Is A Failed Strategy"

Restaurant Week

2010-04-07T16:01:00.010-04:00

Boston's restaurant week gave me a chance to try upscale dining in Boston and take photographs of my food without feeling like a dork.

Lottery League in Cleveland

2010-04-07T12:27:00.033-04:00

I was in Cleveland a week too early. Damn.

My friend Ed who plays in a well-known Cleveland band came up with the idea that it would be fun to switch his bandmates for a few other local musicians. His idea grew into what is now known as the lottery league.

This could only happen in a city full of talented musicians who are open to playing along with strangers. The way it works is that all the musicians gathered and randomly chose names out of a hat in order to start a band and perform a ten minute set. Everyone who labels themselves as a musician gets a chance to play. The range of musical talent is as wide as a kid who plays the clarinet in his high school class to the guy whose been playing guitar for twenty years.

The event is coming around again for their second showcase happening this weekend. Although there wasn't much press about it when the first lottery league event debuted two years ago now it's making a stir. Here's a link to an article.

Skiing, Last Time of the Season

2010-03-29T08:44:00.015-04:00

I decided to go skiing one last time before the snow completely melts. I gathered enough courage to go up on the intermediate slopes. I saw the mountain from a new angle. The valley shimmered of different shades of blues and greens of Spring making its way up the mountain.

Animal Kingdom, another movie to put on the list.

2010-03-26T12:14:00.002-04:00

2010-03-25T10:48:00.019-04:00

My journalism organization, ED2010 Boston, just won a cash prize for being the best chapter in the nation. We spent the money on drinks and appetizers at a swanky bar. I am really lucky to have found this organization. I have met good friends through it including my die-hard rock climbing partner.

Ed2010 has regular meetings where we talk about the magazine writing industry and talk to those who are in it from local editors to professional writers. Since we are all friends and mostly all girls we host a lot of fun activities: dinner parties, cocktail parties, and our newest nutella party. In April we plan to head to the Hearst in New York City to meet with various magazine editors. We will be having lunch inside the gorgeous Hearst building too.

Pictures from our events.

Last year:

This past event:

Boston at Sunrise

2010-03-21T19:29:00.032-04:00

The core of every good photographer is the ability to peel away the layers of a subject to capture its essence. Escaping the neon clusterfuck of the city, I darted into the stark setting of Boston during sunrise to gain a different perspective. Accompanied by my new friend Katie, we set out for an eight hour photography excursion. I would love to possess that uncanny talent for shedding light on the honesty and beauty of a place like Boston. Here's my first attempt.

Dr. Atul Gawande

2010-03-08T08:31:00.026-05:00

Floored. Twice in one week. Dr. Atul Gawande and Noam Chomsky.

Not only does Boston offer an abundance of excellent schools, but also talks by famous lecturers, scientist, linguist, and activist. With brilliant guest speakers hailing from all over the world, sharing of ideas, innovation and creativity is unstoppable here.

Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at the Harvard School of Medicine and writer for the New Yorker, gave a talk at the Trinity Church. The talk runs a choose-your-own-adventure path; ways we can better the health care system or let it remain in its sickly state.

Dr. Gawande puts it simply, humans fail because of ineptitude. The knowledge exists on how to solve major flaws with the health care system, but we fail to put thought into action. "There are 6000 medications, I can prescribe and write to you," said Dr. Gawande. But the simplest way to solve the majority of illnesses is by following a checklist.

Dr. Gawande gave the parents of asthmatic children a checklist to take home of what they could do to help. "The checklist offers suggestions like vacuum your house and dust once a week," said Gawande. By prescribing checklist instead of medication they found that children's hospital admittance from asthmatic illnesses was lowered by 80%.

The problem is asthma is the number one diagnosis for admission. "As any doctor could tell you money is the driving force of the problem," said Dr. Gawande. He said that by changing the way doctors are paid we will greatly contribute to bettering health care.

Dr. Gawande believes to every patient worth its diagnosis, changing payment is crucial to giving Americans optimal and lasting health care. That sounds like a hard task, but Gawande says, "Health insurance is killing us slowly."

His solution is simple, no matter how much of an expert you may be, whether a parent or doctor, checklists improve outcomes.

2010-03-06T16:49:00.001-05:00

My journalism organization, ED2010 Boston, just won for the best chapter in the nation.

2010-03-01T09:39:00.003-05:00

Stream the new Gorillaz album 'Plastic Beach' on NPR.

Full album streaming a week before its release.

My Most Impressive Bruise

2010-02-27T17:11:00.002-05:00

826 National

2010-02-26T16:05:00.005-05:00

The Tutors of 826 LA from Judd Apatow

My favorite twitter denizen gets recognized

2010-02-24T23:54:00.015-05:00

I follow Roger Ebert and he follows Kelly Oxford and now I follow Kelly Oxford. The cycle ~~does~~ doesn't continue because they do don't follow me.

My favorite twitterer, Kelly Oxford is finally getting recognized.

Here are a few of my favorite Oxford tweets:

1. Whenever I see a dog's balls I think, "What an asshole" Some dogs need underpants.

2. When women lie about their age, they should go up 10 years instead of down. Then when people say "You look so young", they'll mean it.

3. The best thing to come out of a 2 hr wait in a Dr's office with your crying baby, is a 6 month renewal of birth control pills.

4. Yelling "WE CAN ALL SEE YOU ASSHOLE!" to someone wearing camouflage winter clothing in the snow is extremely satisfying.

5. Say what you will, but turtlenecks make great vaginas when you re-enact a birth.

6. Harry Potter theme park commercial that airs during the Superbowl will feature a bunch of nerds lining up to ride Hermione.

7. I think my daughter just insulted her girlfriend. "Your bracelet looks like it cost two arcade tickets"

8. I liked the part where Steve Jobs came out without a belt and tried to sell us a giant iphone that doesn't make calls.

9.'I forgive but I never forget' sounds a lot like never forgiving.

10. Just sat the baby down in the gin aisle and taught the older two kids about cause and effect.

2010 Alternative Oscar Contenders

2010-02-24T09:02:00.013-05:00

It's times like these I give thanks to men's magazine like Esquire. Even though, alternatively, their name means only to males, and used to denote a high social status (thank you wikipedia). Though I must not complain, for it's their 11th year of Alternative Oscars, click here for the list of contenders.

Let Down of the Year

Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes

Extract, directed by Mike Judge

Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee

Read more.

2010-02-18T07:46:00.004-05:00

Last night I watched Ethan and Joel Coen's newest movie,
"A Serious Man." Here's what The New Yorker
had to say about it.

2010-02-15T13:09:00.003-05:00

Tim Burton MoMA

2010-02-15T12:44:00.048-05:00

I am often dumbstruck by human achievements. Depending on the morning, the feeling could be brought upon by a burnt Jesus' face on a pancake, other days it takes a hike up a towering pyramid in Bosnia, stretching it's peak into a cloudless sky. Two weeks ago, that very same emotion was evoked by the superb collection of Tim Burton's art at MoMA.

Combining humor and fright in his 40 years of twisted artistry, his creations made from rubber, film, Polaroid, and paper are displayed in a delightful set-up. Four hundred plus drawings framed above life-sized models are a stunning sight to behold.

The exhibit is organized roughly chronologically, encompassing generations of movie paraphernalia from the rubber heads of Hugh Grant and Sara Jessica Parker from Mars Attacks, to mini models of the infamous Jack Skeleton from Nightmare Before Christmas, to name a few. Not to be missed: the Batman suit worn by Michael Keaton, book proposal full of wicked drawings and stories written by teenage Burton, and the rows of pencil and pen sketches. It sounds so trite to say, but there really isn't anyone that has an imagination like Tim Burton does anymore.

As for the nitty gritty, the price of the postcards are worth the two bucks you pay and they are great keepsakes for the uniqueness of experience. I bought four and framed the little mini-artworks on my walls. I only wish I went on a group tour, as there's no doubt much magic behind the common themes in all his work.

If I won the Superbowl...

2010-02-10T22:10:00.008-05:00

I would make this my victory song.

*watch

Jeremy Renner Charms the Brattle Theatre

2010-02-07T09:02:00.014-05:00

Actor Jeremy Renner talked, riffed and answered audience questions at the 3rd Annual Boston Film Critics Award last night at Brattle Theater in Cambridge. The crowd -- 500 or so people -- was an mix of film critics, Harvard students, white-haired movie aficionados and even Julia Child's niece Philadelphia Cousins.

Renner, who has acted in 28 Weeks Later, Lords of Dogtown, and Dahmer, (and probably something I've left out) is up for an Oscar for his performance in Hurt Locker. The first thing out of his mouth when asked why director, Katherine Bigelow did not chose well known actors to work in her movie. A simple, courteous, "I don't know."

"The movie creates a lot of tension, you wouldn't expect an actor like Tom Cruise to work in this movie because he has a lot of baggage." said Renner. "I've died in 99% of what I've done as an actor, so you expect I would die in this one too."

Renner talked about his excitement for the movie after the two and a half years of filming and preparing for the role. He said, over the last 18 months, getting picked up by the Venice and Toronto film festival awards has made it easier to swallow. "It's real to me now. There's value to this movie. I can sit here on stage enjoying a scotch."

At one point an audience member asked Renner what his motivation was for playing his character. Renner looked amused by the question. "I'm not going to tell you the answer. I don't know what it's like to have my life on the line. In fact, I faked how it was to have my life on the line."

When answering what is next, Renner said he had finished filming a Boston based movie directed by Ben Affleck called The Town, "Yeah we robbed everything. I liked robbing the North End. I had a townie haircut, it didn't look good on me."

The final audience question: Do you think your going to win the Oscar for best actor? Renner sipped his scotch and sat back, pausing before answering the question. "I have already won my friend. This is victory."

The last few hours of studenthood...

2010-02-04T13:27:00.007-05:00

at least for this degree.

A New York Weekend

2010-01-29T08:47:00.021-05:00

When I am in New York, I'm guaranteed a smile. Sometimes it's from the owner of a Ray's Pizza joint or the toothless grandma watching fast-walkers or a Brooklyn cutie peeking over his Bulgakov novel.

Somehow the weight of world dissipates when I'm visiting this bright city even on a cold January day.

New York tends to be thought of as the major incubator of creativity, its the driving force of art and architecture, writing, fashion and music. Always taking us in dynamic and innovative directions. New York is our connection with the rest of the world to the art scene.

Looking at any New York event calendar, you will find traveling art exhibits, speakeasies, creative dining, to live performances, and film happenings, it's surprising that so much can go on in one city all the time.

New York offers a chock full of ways to be inspired. And for this reason I am taking a weekend trip to NYC to work in cafes and crank out the last articles in my series.

Good Luck Good Truckin' Tonight

2010-01-26T19:37:00.038-05:00

At the end of my trip to Austin, back in September, I met a country western musician named Dale Watson who had been performing at a bar during chicken shit bingo. Watching the band perform, I was mesmerized by Dale's style and soulful music. Striking up a conversation with him, it turned out he was a gentle being who had a curious nature too. After figuring out each other's story, Dale said he would put me and my friend on the guest-list for his performance the next night. Megan and I made a bet that he actually would (me) /wouldn't (she) follow through.

After a day out in the Texan heat, we went to the venue to cool down and listen to some music. Sure enough, our names were on the list. Dale wrapped up the set, greeted us with two Lone Star beers and we talked till the bar closed. We exchanged emails--knowing we would never see each other again.

But providence intervened one day in the form of being at the right place at the right time.

My friend Doug and I were waiting in line to get tickets to see the Noevelle Vague show in Boston. I had previously purchased my ticket and Doug was seeing if he could get one at the box office. No such luck. Doug jokingly said that he would go see this Dale Watson band pointing across the street. My mind had no recognition of the familiar name until I turned and saw it written along the side of a big ruby-red bus. I know that guy! I immediately enlisted Doug to come with me.

I had the script laid out in my muffled head of what I would say. Dale's tour manager told us to wait as Dale was changing. I filled Doug in on how I knew a country western musician. Doug was confused, but of course, laughed at the story. The tour manager signaled us to come in.

Dale greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and excitedly proclaimed, "You remembered I was playing Boston." I will say it was an extremely odd and tense minute while I explained that this was just a coincidence and I was actually seeing the band across the street. Dale didn't seem to mind.

We wrapped up our friendly conversation and I went to go see my show while Dale went to go play his. I told Doug he should go see Dale's show. "I already got a show tonight," Doug replied.

I should clarify right away here that I wasn't interested in this musician or was he in me. It would be pleasurable for me to continue on explaining this stuff with details, but I know my reader's attention spans are short and so is mine in writing this. Any proper storyteller would find huge gaps in my narrative, as I have left dialogue out, not to mention skipping over some pretty vital detail like what the hell is chicken shit bingo. I assure you, if this were a short story I would be lavishing you with details. But it's a blog post. That alone warrants me to keep it short.

I will leave you with this video:

Baby, It's Cold Outside.

2010-01-21T20:34:00.040-05:00

After an exhausting day, I require more than sustenance, I need to be nourished, and more often that comes in the form of a home-cooked meal accompanied by a movie.

Walking home on the sludgy January streets, I come across an illuminated sign that reads "Savenor's" in extravagant script. I'm hungry and excited. I stop in to pick up my essential ingredients for what I'm craving. Next to the wine and cheese cask for a cheap malbec and solid ash cheese.

I wander back to my house with groceries in hand. I sit cross-legged, laptop in lap searching for a recipe for tonight. I file the recipe in my mental reference library and start to prep the supplies. I unpeel the paper to reveal a pink mound of flesh. Because the fish is so fresh it doesn't need much time to cook. Hunger pangs grow, dinner ready in twenty minutes. The prospects are good.

Food is cooked, wine is cracked, and now it's time for a movie. A high-tech system is not required for a pleasurable watching experience. The dichotomy of movies I get on Netflix makes my space into a powerful environment. It could be tragedy, violence, romantic, or cartoon. Tonight it's Moon.

There'll be a lot more days like this, but I don't mind it. A good dinner and movie can make you almost glad it is cold outside. I watch the movie and eat comforted by the reassuring flavor.

*The picture above is of Julia Child's autograph in sidewalk at Savenor's, Kirkland St., Cambridge, Mass.

Key West is Overrated

2010-01-12T13:21:00.018-05:00

Down highway 1 on the pilgrimage to Key West I went, tongue lolling, belly grumbling. The highway looked like the tropics, palms, mom n' pop Cuban restaurants a sunny stretch as the abnormally cold climate bustled people around.

Now I don't know how the endless summer image was conjured up in my head, but I expected a big honking ocean with surfers and children swimming alike all askew with people swarming around the water like fruit flies to a rotten peach baking in the beating sun. Not so! When I say it was cold, I mean it was the coldest it's been for 130 years! If I couldn't have sun at least I would have a decent meal.

I was greeted with a pleasant old school tiled patio in front of a turquoise shack, and a host of locals chatting away and stuffing their faces happily. I knew by the smell that this was the Cuban food I wanted to try.

I began with my order to a guy with a paper hat, he answered with the patience of one who talks to the unknowing often. So I order, his eyes widening with every item after entree number three. Yes it's just for me.

Rubbing my hands together, I devoured the salad with camarones cocktail, a sort of watery salsa. The Cuban sandwich had a vegetable medley, spicy in flavor and came on a fresh Cuban white bread. Nevertheless, I'd glady order them up again. And let's be honest, when you're living on a dime, there's no better place (especially in the Keys) to fill up for under a five!

Key West actually looks more like this.

2010-01-09T15:51:00.007-05:00

But I'm getting work done. I'm at a cafe writing a couple of articles.
Still on the child nutrition kick. I will put them up soon.

Florida Keys

2010-01-06T15:07:00.018-05:00

My friend Rachel is getting married (I know, I know just like the movie) and
I'm flying out tomorrow for a short weekend trip. It will be nice
to get out of the cold and see my good friend get married.

Little Crop of Horror

2010-01-05T20:02:00.008-05:00

I had no idea Ann Cooper — one of the brightest talents
among the new school of thinking about children's
nutrition — would do an appearance on The Daily
Show. Samantha Bee devised an evocative clip labeling
Cooper as a limousine liberal. This informed the heck out of me.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Little Crop of Horrors

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat

2010-01-04T23:09:00.016-05:00

While doing research for my interview with the "Renegade Lunch Lady" Ann Cooper,
I found this interesting talk with Marc Bittman, food columnist
at the New York Times. Bittman explains what the problems are with a
Western diet and how American eating habits are leading us down a path
of destruction. What can we do about it? Watch to learn how to
cut down on calories while reducing your carbon footprint.

Taking Photos

2010-01-04T12:36:00.005-05:00

I had a wonderful time in California. To see my photos click here.

Home for the holidays...

2009-12-26T21:05:00.013-05:00

I was scared too. Kidding. No, I was rather relieved. After a couple of rough weeks working on my thesis day-and-night, I needed badly to take a trip to my hometown to visit family and friends. To sleep in my old bed and cozy up with my old mutt seemed like the definition of comfort.

Comfort is also the many memories packed between the walls of the house I had lived at since I was twelve. Homes for some of us are our sanctuaries, shielding us from the rest of the world, so naturally we want to return to these places and feel the comfort whenever possible. When something goes awry, it's so crucial to have a reliable place to go.

Now when I go home, I start to feel a new urge. Is it a female thing to have domestic fantasies of how her own kitchen will look like one day? Basking in sunlight from vast windows and hovering over a stove on an immaculate clean counter? Did I just scare off any potential suitors? Sorry, guys.

I'm going to keep going with it though. Why? Well, because I'm at the age where these things fuel my dreams. Everyone wants a sense of comfort and style that is only their own and it's natural. I envision my home to be in a big city-the space is small but cozy and comfortable.

Stumbling around this weird thing called life, on my way to a white picket fence and eternal happiness (what else?), the notion of having my own home has settled right in. Something to lavish adoration upon that would be a loyal place to go when I'm cold/sad/stressed/tired or happy, something that couldn't exist without me. You know how that feels, right?

This is what I've been thinking about while I'm enjoying my time home.

My home won't be a place I need to travel to, but will be where I am (where ever that may be) and my family and friends will come to visit. Home seems like a dream for now, but is a reality I'm working on.

Love and Butter

2009-12-20T13:31:00.052-05:00

It's time to talk to you about Love and Butter. One, maybe the only, underground restaurant in Boston.

Underground meaning:
1. You can only attend if invited by someone who has been to a past event.
2. The servers are local chefs who like to keep their identity secret.
3. The location changes.

The whole underground phenomenon has flourished in New York, London, and San Francisco for decades now. These underground restaurants are in a similar vein to a speakeasy during the prohibition days, but the difference is there is no illegal activity going on and you don't have to drink cognac out of a teacup. Although, if caught the Board of Health would and have shut them down due to unregulated food practices.

Enticed by its mystery, food lovers dine at these events with the promise of a unique experience. This is not a money making business either, an individual's cost is a donation of $50.

I have finally found my in. I'm waiting to get my official invite (which may take months), but will be well worth the wait to walk through a bookcase or whisper a secret password through a peephole.

When writing about this I must be discrete, for this kind of experience only comes once in a lifetime. After the Globe ran this article about Love and Butter their website disappeared. Some secrets are begged to be revealed while others are best kept secret.

2009-12-17T10:43:00.018-05:00

A wonderful resource for understanding the healthcare reform is through the writing of an expert in the medical field. Atul Gwandi, is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and contributing writer to The New Yorker since 1998.

His most recent article from the New Yorker can be found here.

My personal favorite by Gwandi is "The Cost Conundrum, how a town in Texas taught us about health care."

To read more.

2009-12-15T15:51:00.006-05:00

The 25 Best Albums of 2009 according to Paste Magazine. Click here. These are some bold choices that I don't agree with. I'll try to get my top picks up by the new year.

Talks Rebecca Saxe: How we read each other's minds

2009-12-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Albert Square

2009-12-10T14:33:00.011-05:00

One of my great friends, Sim Castro along with his band mates, Byron and Spencer are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Check out their My Space page.

Click here to read article from The San Jose Metro.

Thesis is Due

2009-12-07T12:20:00.002-05:00

in 13 days. Crunch time.

Weird

2009-12-06T20:59:00.003-05:00

...but it's my favorite Christmas song and apparently David Bowie's son's favorite too.

Renegade Lunch Lady, Berkeley, California

2009-12-05T22:38:00.003-05:00

I would love to interview her for my thesis.

Stuck in DC airport (Monday)

2009-12-02T09:58:00.035-05:00

As a last attempt to keep my sanity intact when told that the next flight out is at ten pm and it's noon, I considered it but then decided not to do my Christmas shopping at the souvenir stores here at the airport. No packing my suitcases with unnecessary memorabilia. Here's the reason why.

At Dulles there is no exception to junkety trinkets, thus the slew of awful stores including the Fox news store and fuzzy yippy toy store. As for the higher end stuff, be it liquor and higher ticket items, you'll likely be paying more here than at shopping malls.

Even without considering my depressingly boring wait, it seems that you can find ways to entertain yourself and eat for cheap. During my time here, I did find out the trick to getting good deals at an airport. You have to know what to buy and where.

Here's a list of the things I did purchase:

Giant Pickle
$.99 each

Presidential Bloopers DVD (I needed a white elephant gift)$17.99

Bowl of Broccoli soup: $3.50

Pint ol' New Castle (750ml)
Cheap wherever the hell you buy it.

I worked myself into a tizzy in my attempts to find a new scent at the duty-free store. But, unfortunately, you have to be a foreigner or traveling outside the country to shop here. After a bit of a chat about my preferences with the manager, she produced the perfect scent (that she told me I could buy at sephora) and even kicked in a sample bottle.

My advice- beware of the little tchotchkes; they're overpriced and add up quickly and STAY AWAY from the little plastic China made trinkets they are often astronomical expensive especially at the airports.

Relaxing Travel Experience

2009-11-25T09:44:00.004-05:00

Who was I kidding? I got re-routed from DC to Chicago, had to switch airlines only to find out that the flight to Cleveland was full. Could have been worse. Luckily, I'm in an awesome city staying at my cousin's apartment and going to the museum before I fly out to Cleveland.

Flying Out to Pennsylvania

2009-11-24T09:40:00.010-05:00

I had the bright idea to plan an impromptu trip to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and after a frustrating ordeal of trying to get friends to go for the drive out, I ended up saving my sanity by buying a pricey plane ticket.

Admittedly, I was pretty grumpy about a road trip (sorry, pals) as the idea of a long drive seemed oddly unattractive. This could be due to having spent much of my time on vacations driving to the destination and I'm a bit burnt out. Though usually once I'm on the road the lovely landscape of rural America, and playing roulette with my iPod (there are six different playlist I listen to while in the car) I usually begin to settle right in to the ten hour car ride.

Flying out seemed more comforting to me. I was thrilled to see that there were still some flights available even if I have to leave at eleven at night and return at six in the morning. The idea of visiting with friends and family is worth it and frankly, well-needed, but I actually expected a bit more for the price point. Thank you my friends, for your generosity and the wonderful offer to drive out with you! But I'm still looking for a relaxing-style travel experience and this time around in involves me flying.

Drink- Four Points, Boston

2009-11-17T13:44:00.013-05:00

As evidence by their kabillion five stars it has received, the wonderfulness of Drink has not been lost to drink reviewers. I found myself sipping on cocktails made by bartenders dressed in fedoras, tweed, and suspenders and look more like a team of 1930's reporters than bartenders. And, oh yes, does this team really know their shtick.

At Drink you will find beverages made with the best kept secrets of mixology, here revealed: homemade bitters (including chocolate mole), freshly picked herbs, squeezed citrus (which I was told gets squeezed a lot on Fridays and Saturdays). There is plenty of bar and table seating. The bar wraps around the bartender so you can watch them while they shake their little hearts out and pour you somewhat of a fickle drink of cleverly layered flavors.

The staff adds to the experience, solid suggestions of what you should drink, the fact that they never seem to be scurrying you out is a relief at a place with such abundance of choices. If you get lost in making a decision, they will patiently suggest drinks based on what you might be in the mood for tasting. "I would like something bright and asparagus please...and make it with bourbon!" And what you will get? A well-made, handsome, thought provoking drink.

Malcolm Gladwell, Eclectic Detective

2009-11-15T20:10:00.003-05:00

In this article Steven Pinker writes a review on Malcolm Gladwell's book "What The Dog Saw."

Happy birthday to my beautiful little niece

2009-11-10T11:01:00.008-05:00

She's three today!

Another Inconvient Truth

2009-11-06T09:20:00.005-05:00

Al Gore speaks about his new book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Global Climate Crisis at Harvard Bookstore.

Notes from "Practical Tips on How to get Published"

2009-11-06T08:59:00.004-05:00

On panel:

Boston Review is a bi-monthly, general interest magazine with lots of space for poetry,
idea pieces, investigative journalism articles. Always taking in new writers.

Plough Shares Literary Review send in paper submission, not folded, paperclip.

Harvard Review- Publishes twice a year. Committed to publishing beginners and student writers.

Pitching- A literary review has a lot of readers. These readers are usually post grads or working currently on their MFA.
A lot of good stuff gets rejected.
If you get a rejection letter that says send more writing then send more!

Newpages.com = list of just about every journal.

Length of online journal 500-1400 words.

If you are a serious writer most get as much experience possible by writing in as many genres and get published in many different periodicals.

Query Letters-
Try to promote yourself
Be very honest about accomplishments and be polite
Make it as easy as possible for your readers to get you
Be clean
Demonstrate familiarity with publication
Pay attention to when editors change
Everyone loves to discover unpublished writer
Since for a literary review your submitting your work just needs to be short and simple
First line say what piece is poetry, book review, short fiction etc.
Date the letter
Never staple use paperclips
Address and contact info.
Do tell if you are a grad student

Follow-up if you haven't heard back in three or four months

Most importantly literary reviews are looking for a high level of control in writing.

Old Halloween Picture

2009-11-05T09:01:00.002-05:00

My best pal Katie and I from 2003?

A Year Ago Today...

2009-11-04T12:19:00.022-05:00

I flew back to the US from backpacking for three months visiting 24 countries in Europe. The day this picture was taken, I took a five hour train ride to see the Matterhorn. Unfortunately, the clouds covered up the mammoth mountain and instead of seeing just buildings in the background there would have been a gorgeous peak. It was taken towards the last leg of my travels. While this photo shows a tired and disappointed me, seeing this reminds me that I accomplished one of my dreams that I had never thought would be possible. For this reason it is my favorite picture.

School Lunch

2009-11-03T13:28:00.010-05:00

Friday I am going to a elementary school in Somerville to have lunch with kids and talk to the principal about what kids like and don't like to eat. I hope it's pizza Friday!

Halloween Pictures

2009-11-01T12:05:00.004-05:00

Here's some pictures from Halloween in Salem, MA and the masquerade ball, Click Here

Drowning in Bobbing Apples

2009-10-30T17:00:00.005-04:00

Tribute song from 2005 to help benefit UNICEF
Musicians included:

Win Butler & Régine Chassagne (Arcade Fire)
Beck
Feist
Devendra Banhart
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)
Roky Erickson
Peaches
Dntel
Syd Butler (Les Savy Fav)
David Cross
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Jenny Lewis & Blake Sennett (Rilo Kiley)
Dan Boeckner & Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade)
Steve Jocz of Sum 41
Nick Diamonds and J’aime Tambeur (Islands)

2009-10-29T22:36:00.005-04:00

Future Of Journalism

2009-10-28T14:50:00.008-04:00

Harvard put on a talk about the future of journalism last night.
Here's my notes from the event. Here's what the Crimson (Harvard's newspaper)
had to say about the event.

What We Know
1. Journalism Matters
2. Current advertisement for newspaper models is broken
3. Economic sustainability is key
4. Multimedia is the future of journalism

9 Basic Elements of Journalism
1. Journalist's first obligation to tell the truth
2. Journalist must be loyal to citizens
3. Essence of journalism is a discipline of verification
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience