Carried Away....

You have to read this story -- Woman swept to sea during proposal on Oregon coast -- from the Associated Press. It's so tragic!

What Mimi Heard: Teen Birth Control

My friend Anne Ravana covered an interesting meeting the other night in Bangor about teens and birth control. Last year a middle school in Portland began doling out birth control to their students which caused quite a stir.

One good point: teens need a parent with them to get their ears pierced but their parents don't even have to know if their child gets an abortion.

Kids don't want to talk to their parents about their sex lives any more than parents want to talk about their sex life with their kids. Teens are going to have sex no matter what. Better to do it with protection than without.

Listen to Anne's story here.

Holiday Horror

The South Florida Sun Sentinel is publishing photos of terrified tots on Santa's lap and I must say, it has brightened my day. As I sit giggling in my coworker can't help but mention how happy I am. Is it wrong to find hilarity in children's fear of Santa? I dare you not to laugh at the following photos. See them all here.

College Debt

I rejoiced last week when my student loans sunk below $51,000. Yep. That's right. I have an expensive brain. And it was my choice. I didn't have to go to a fancy elite private university in one of the most expensive cities in America for grad school -- but I did. I have no regrets. Ok, maybe one, IT WAS EXPENSIVE! And yup, I am paying for my brain myself. No help from Mum and Dad. I am a big girl.

Had I not gone on to grad school most of my undergraduate loans would have been paid off by now. But even though I think higher education is expensive now I don't even want to know what the price tag will be when my kids are college-bound (and no, I don't have any kids yet, which only makes the problem worse).

This article in the New York Times discusses a study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, saying that while tuition and fees for higher education increased 439% between 1982 and 2007, the median family income only increased 147%. I'm not good at math but that looks bad.

“When we come out of the recession,” Mr. Callan added, “we’re really going to be in jeopardy, because the educational gap between our work force and the rest of the world will make it very hard to be competitive. Already, we’re one of the few countries where 25- to 34-year-olds are less educated than older workers.”

Yikes Mr. Callahan (Patrick M. Callahan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education) what can we do? Turns out not much. Unless, that is, you live in California which is the only state to pass the grade in the center's study.

It costs upwards of $45,000 to attend Harvard for a year. One graduate class at NYU costs over $4,000. But kids have a choice as to where they go to school. I don't think a family should have to go bankrupt so that their child can attend Boston College. Let your kids shoulder some of the burden -- maybe then they'll think twice about flunking out.

Portbrio: weird name, funny blog

A former co-worker of mine, Miss Shannon Bryan, blogs for MaineToday.com about turning 30 in Portland. She has a witty writing style that will hook you for sure. Her most recent post resonated with me as I am using Facebook to try to get in touch with old classmates for a 13th High School Reunion (that's right 13th) this coming summer.


I dare you to read this blog and not want more. Go on. Try. The link is above so you have no reason not to.

Last Night at the Lobster

I just finished reading Last Night at the Lobster by Steward O'Nan. I picked it up off the shelf at the public library. I judge books by their cover. This one looked interesting. And since I had just finished the really long Barry Parris book on Audrey Hepburn, this skinny book was appealing. I finished it over the Thanksgiving holiday.

It was about Manny, the manager of the Red Lobster in suburban Connecticut. The restaurant was closing and the book chronicled the last day and night the place was open. I have often thought about writing a book about food service, as I worked in bars and restaurants in Baltimore and Boston throughout college. But I could never wrap my head around a central idea. This book had a central idea but not much character development. In fact, after reading the whole thing the only picture I had of Manny was that he was Hispanic and overweight.

It wasn't a particularly fascinating book, and I probably wouldn't have understood it if I didn't have a background in waitressing. But it did reinvigorate my idea of writing about my own experiences. It was a fast read and that was exactly what I was looking for.

Whole Foods is super, and here's why...

I stopped in Whole Foods to do a bit of grocery shopping in Portland on my way back from a weekend in Boston. Whole Foods tends to be expensive so I only get certain things there, but the experience is so zen I can't help but buy stuff. When I lived in New York City, the hustle and bustle of Manhattan would sort of melt away when I would stare at the perfectly arranged vegetables and fruit. Such organization in a chaotic place. I love their produce and they make some very delicious baklava if I do say so myself.

Today I read this article in The Boston Globe on how Whole Foods cuts their energy costs and uses renewable energy.

Whole Foods said its canola oil-powered generator - it's scheduled to be installed in January by Lifecycle Renewables Inc., of Marblehead - is just the latest in its long-standing mission to become as eco-friendly as possible. For instance, a fuel cell powers a Whole Foods store in Connecticut, and the same technology will be used at a store scheduled to open next year in Dedham. Also, a wind turbine is expected to be installed at a Whole Foods seafood facility in Gloucester. Already, most of the company's stores manage to keep about 80 percent of their waste from going to landfills.

I love when big companies practice what they preach. It makes me feel better shopping there.