ridaily - March 2009
2009-04-01New Urban Arts BenefitNew Urban Arts, a nationally recognized arts studio for high schoolers, hosts its ninth-annual campaign event tomorrow night at its West Side space. If you’ve never been to the workshop-slash-gallery-slash-office, you’re in for a treat. Think of it as the ultimate creative incubator, complete with a dark room, a printmaking/screen printing area, a digital media center and, of course, enough raw materials to paint, design, draw and write to your heart’s content. The group has been mentoring — and inspiring — students to cultivate their vast creative potential for more than a decade, and the amazing results line the walls.The theme of Thursday’s fundraiser is “Hat’s On!” so wear your favorite hat (I’ll be the one in the ginormous... |
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2009-03-31Saturday Morning on AtwellsThe warm weather this past Saturday had me feeling festive, so I headed to Federal Hill and spent the morning wandering along Atwells, where the weekend crowd was t-shirted and unrushed, happily browsing in the food shops. I always find it endearing to see people taking their time: I watched one woman try on an oven mitt, another picking up identical packages of vanilla biscuits, turning each one to read the Italian label. Everywhere, we were surrounded by chocolate eggs. The size of footballs and wrapped in bright foil, they were dangling from ceilings, crowded onto shelves, set out in the store fronts. Although my mother’s family in Massachusetts is Italian, I had never seen these before (my great grandmother used to give us pastel Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle for... |
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2009-03-31All a TwitterThanks to Twitter, I’ve become a celebrity stalker, celebs who actually do their own tweets, that is, not people like Britney Spears who have ghost twitterers, because they’re so busy, apparently. It seems like there are hundreds of celebrity Twitterers, but my latest guilty pleasure is following Bonnie Fuller, evil genius of magazine publishing, former editor of Cosmo, Glamour, US Weekly, etc. (In the interests of full disclosure, I wrote one story for Bonnie when she was at Cosmo. It was scary fun.)Here’s Bonnie twittering about reading the paper: “Madonna redefines cougarlicious. Check P 14 NY Post in school girl costume + black wig, dressed for Purim. Looks 18. She's found genius” about 4 hours ago from txt And here’s Bonnie twittering... |
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2009-03-30Woodworking 101It's spring, self- and home-improvement time, and here’s a timely option (especially if you own an older home). In one of the light-filled rooms up at Hope Artiste Village, there’s a woodworking shop-come-co-op that offers classes for anyone interested in learning carpentry, from completely unhandy types to people looking to refine high-level skills. It’s called Keeseh Studio and summer class registration just opened. Asher Dunn, a fine furniture designer who founded the studio last June after wondering why woodworking shops couldn’t work more like gyms, says they fill up early –– the studio is already outgrowing its space (he’s looking to rent more down the hall). He’s a friendly guy who gets excited about things like the automated CNC... |
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2009-03-27Spread the loveIf you didn’t make it to last week’s screening at Cable Car, a fifteen-minute movie full of everyday Providence people and the reasons they love our fair capital city is just a click away. I HEART PROVIDENCE: The People’s Confessions is now on Facebook (for FB members) and Youtube (in two parts, one and two). From the mayor to a little girl who likes the sounds of the trains, it’s a charming montage of the video confessions people taped at a Connect Providence event in February. Says Connect Providence guy Mike Ritz:“Those of us who live in Providence already know how great our capitol is. Now is the time to share that love with the rest of the world...to attract others who understand our creative will, friendly community, and appreciation for... |
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2009-03-27Free Cooking ClassesMy colleague Lisa’s recent post about her non-existent gardening skills got me thinking about my own domestic shortcomings. And, since I just moved into my first “real” (post-college) apartment a couple months ago, my to-learn list looms long. But I’ve got to start somewhere. Why not in the kitchen? (The fact that my fire alarm goes off every time I attempt to cook something is really starting to annoy the neighbors.)Rhode Island has many great cooking class options—Johnson & Wales’ Chef’s Choice program, Chef Walter’s Cooking School, RISD’s continuing education department, etc.—but they aren’t cheap. So I was thrilled when I recently discovered Trio in Narragansett regularly offers free (!) classes with chefs from... |
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2009-03-26Decidedly Unfrivolous FashionThis whole recession thing has shoppers feeling seriously conflicted. On the one hand, it seems the only way we’re going to even begin digging our way out of this mess is if people get over their fears of the figurative sky falling and start spending. On the other hand, the act of shopping for material goods is as gauche as bragging about wealth these days. Rich New York housewives have turned to the Internet to procure their Louboutins for fear of being spotted purchasing them in person. Even high-end online retailer Net-A-Porter has gotten in on the action: They offer a “discreet” packaging option, where orders in the UK are delivered in an “unbranded, recycled brown paper bag.”But I think even the average shopper is feeling a little bit of that... |
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2009-03-26Learn to Garden in a DayIt may be the sixth day of spring, but I’m here to tell you – and I know this firsthand -- that staring at those little green shoots poking up in your flower beds won’t make them grow any faster, no matter how hard you look at them. What will cure that early-spring-garden lust, however, is URI's GreenShare Garden School Day on April 4th at the Roger Williams Botanical Center. Coordinator Sejal Lanterman calls it, “a six-week gardening course all crammed into one day.” The workshops are geared to amateurs and focus on starting seeds, soil testing (free!), growing container vegetables, lawn care, and one of the most popular sessions: worm composting. Star attractions, the Worm Ladies of Charlestown, will be selling Red Wigglers (turns out... |
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2009-03-26Growing a Green ThumbI don’t have a green thumb. At least that’s what I’ve always assumed. But the truth is I’ve never really tried. No A for effort here. All the house plants I’ve killed can be pretty much chalked up to deprivation of a most basic need: water. And then there was the once-leafy-green casualty my college roommates and I actually nourished with day-old beer.Outdoor gardening is an even more daunting task. The sun, the soil, the critters, the weeds. I’ve had many excuses over the years — no yard, no time, can only have so many warm-weather hobbies (and boating, in my book, trumps all). But since buying a house with a plenty big enough yard, I actually have a need, and a desire, to learn. My list of outdoor improvements is long, and growing: I want... |
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2009-03-24Why I Buy $6 TulipsTulips have been on sale for the past two weeks at Whole Foods, two bunches for $12. We’ve written before about the great cut flowers there; tulips are my favorite, and I buy them every week while they're in season. 1. They’re cheerful and low-key, not like roses, which always seem to warrant an explanation. (“It was my birthday.” “They’re left over from a party.” “We had a fight.”) 2. Tulips are pleasantly unpredictable: Some orange buds in my dining room recently spread their petals to form huge, spectacular bowls, while another bouquet, spilling over its vase like a weeping willow, gradually rose into a riot of perfect cups. One odd bunch is doing its best poinsettia routine in the kitchen right now, hanging on for week... |
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