New England Mamas

Time to protect our girls

Boy oh boy, I've got a fire under me and it was just started by the local Fox News station in Boston; I doubt they are alone in their behavior but it was the only one I caught tonight so they get my rage.

At the top of the 10:00 broadcast they reported on a string of fights involving young girls in Lowell, MA. While the story is newsworthy enough and could have been covered in a 30 second recap, they decided to go a step further and repeatedly show the fights between the teenage girls, two of who were only in 8^th grade. It was bad enough these fights were caught on camera in the first place and broadcast on YouTube (and subsequently removed because they violated YouTube's policies) but then to show them again, and again, on the nightly news simply disgusts me.

Ski Lessons in Central Mass

My husband learned to ski when he was 27, and I learned when I was 14.  While we both enjoy skiing, we do wish that we had learned how to do it when we were much younger.  I know this sounds crazy but there aren't very many places to ski in NYC or the Chicago suburbs were he and I respectively grew up.

Sarcasm aside, skiing wasn't as big of a deal for either of us growing up as it seems to be out here in New England.  Seeing as there are so many places to choose from to ski, it only makes sense.  Armed with the knowledge that what you don't know not only sometimes can't hurt you, but can actually be good for you, we enrolled our 6 year old in ski lessons.   At 6 he doesn't really get that he might break his arm, but at 16 or particularly 26 he will! 

So where does one go to do ski lessons?  

Lifetime TV's "The Pregnancy Pact". A teachable moment?

Lifetime, a network I normally avoid like the plague, except that now they are the home of Project Runway and I loves me some Tim Gunn and the Drama with a capital D that happens on that show, premiered their "original" movie, The Pregnancy Pact, on Saturday.  "Original" is in quotes because it's loosely based on the real story of 17 teenage girls from Gloucester High School who allegedly made their own pregnancy pact in 2008, so exactly how does that make it original?  And I say "loosely based" because the truth of an actual pact has been debated and denied by those involved. 

Anyway.

Review - Piggy (Craigie) On Main, Cambridge, MA

Pork. The other white meat. And I went to a place last weekend known as Craigie On Main in Cambridge, MA and they loves them little piggys. I really don't know if it was the excitement of brunch with the lovely ladies from my high school who I hadn't seen in almost a year, or the atmosphere of this quaint restaurant featuring an open kitchen, but the food was delicious and the service impeccable. I mean, the waiters fold your napkin every time you move from your seat. How many times does that happen in your house these days?

What's Happening this Weekend - Indoor and Outdoor fun!

The Friends of Ipswich Elementary Schools (FRIES) - Doyon Chapter and Boston's Chinese Folk Art Workshop are teaming up to welcome the Year 4708, the Year of the Tiger, with a performance of a variety of traditional Chinese folk arts such as Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, Taiwanese Drums, Chinese yoyo and Folk Dance at the Ipswich Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 23, 2010.  Performance starts at 3:00 p.m.  Work out some of those winter blues and try out some of the dances, instruments, and folk arts with the performers at the conclusion of the event. 

Tickets are $8.00 each and will not be available at the door. Tickets can be purchased online.   

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Feeling outdoorsy?  Snowshoeing for Families at Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester, Sunday, January 24 from 1:30pm - 3:30pm.  They’ll teach you how to use snowshoes before heading out onto the trails and then teach you how to look for signs of wildlife as you enjoy the beauty of the sanctuary in winter! Registration is required.

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More of the indoor type?  Visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art this weekend.  Spend the day  with the family and take in exhibits like “Golden Legacy: Original Art From 65 Years of Golden Books”. 

Scott Brown pimps out his daughters. Hilarity ensues. (not really)

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a little late to this story but in my defense I was busy working on my time machine.  I want to go back a couple of months and advise Coakley and her advisors to get their heads out of... the clouds.   At any rate, I don't care if you voted for him or not - Scott Brown telling Massachusetts, no, the whole country that his daughters are single, available and looking for love is not cool.

What's next?  He starts advising his daughters that posing nude will only further their careers?  No wait, that only works if you're a tall, good looking, truck driving man.  My bad.

Diversity is part of New England life

When  I lived in Northern California, people would talk all the time about how they couldn't live anywhere else because it's so diverse in CA. Every time I heard that I cracked up because in actuality, Northern California is hardly very diverse at all. Oh, there are people of color there, plenty of them, but the diversity is either hispanic or Asian, and the rest of the world? So not represented. I never got why Californians kept insisting about how diverse they were when you couldn't find a Greek or Italian restaurant to save your life. Lots of Pho, but no souflaki.

Fork you!

I'd like to meet the genius who invented the popular phrase "finger food" so they could join my family as we sit down to the dinner table and define EXACTLY what is and is not considered finger food. What do I mean? Let's play a simple game called "Finger food or NOT." Be careful, some of these are apparently tricky:

Freedom and Equality at the Expense of a Little Negativity

If the non-stop barrage of commercials and automated phone calls from politicians, their families, and Curt Schilling related to the special election for US Senator from Massachusetts have left me with only one impression, it is that I disagree with Republican candidate Scott Brown's oversimplified view of the world. 

Election Fever

Yesterday my daughter and I attended the rally for Martha Coakley, who is running for Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate. President Obama, Senator John Kerry, Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor of Boston Tom Menino were some of the dignitaries also in attendance to lend their support to Coakley.