Jeannine Guttman Gone

Twenty-two nonunion employees at Blethen Maine (Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel) are out of work -- most of them are senior editorial staff. ONE of them is Jeannine Guttman, who laid me off twice.

I was let go twice at the same job? Yes. Here's the short of the long of it....I was hired last May to head up MaineBusiness.com. I moved 2 hours south. Six weeks later I get laid off. Then I was offered a job that -- had I refused would have meant no unemployment benefits -- at the Press Herald doing a job a glorified monkey could do. Six weeks later I got laid off. Again.

When the sale of a newspaper happens it's not uncommon for top editorial staff to lose their jobs. Guttman has been on the chopping block for quite a while. When I got laid off for the second time I sent her an email. I never got a response. Karma? That might be a bit much to hope for but that company treated me so shoddily that the demise of the head honchos tickles me a little bit....not gonna lie.

Click here for the story and comments on Media Mutt.

Abort The One You're With

There's a new product out on the market that boasts it's up to 80% effective (at home) at determining the sex of your baby at 10 measly weeks of conception. For $35 you can find out if you're having your FOURTH baby boy or that precious little girl you have been DYING to have.


Jezebel.com poses the question that should be burning on everyone's mind -- if the results aren't what the parents were hoping for -- will they get a sex-selected abortion? Jezebel included some of the testimonials from the product maker, IntelliGender. They seem to toe the line...

"I tested with your product in early March 2009. The test came back with results that we were having a girl. I just had a 3d ultrasound and its confirmed that we are having a girl!! We are so excited after 3 boys we got our princess on her way! Your product is great and truly works! Thank you Intelligender!"

Hooray! After giving birth THREE TIMES you finally got what you wanted!

I wanted to let you guys know, I'm 16wks and I took your test last wed. morning 3/4/09, the test clearly said I'm having a boy. I already have three boys so I was wondering if this time around it might be a girl. So I decided to go get an ultrasound done on sat. 3/7/09, sure enough I am having a boy! Thank you and I am so excited about my little guy!!

Riiiiiight. I'm SO SURE you're so excited. Those TWO exclamation marks don't fool me.

The Recession Finally Hits Hipsters

Oh Williamsburg! Oh loft of rich hipsters in their 20s and 30s who rely on Daddy and Mommy's money! It's about damn time someone took you down a peg.

According to this New York Times article, those annoyingly advantaged kids you went to NYU, Amherst, Yale, and UPenn with are having to downsize.

Famed for its concentration of heavily subsidized 20-something residents — also nicknamed trust-funders or trustafarians — Williamsburg is showing signs of trouble. Parents whose money helped fuel one of the city’s most radical gentrifications in recent years have stopped buying their children new luxury condos, subsidizing rents and providing cash to spend at Bedford Avenue’s boutiques and coffee houses. - NYT

These parents are having to worry about their retirement savings and clenching their fists. For their children this means they either have to 1. Get a paying job or 2. Move home. I don't know ONE person in all of my educational pursuits that has graduated and said "Gee...I don't think I'll get a job. My parents will just pay me to LIVE." Clearly I am in a lower caste system.

The culture of the area often mocks residents who depend on their families. Misha Calvert, 26, a writer who relied on her parents during her first year in the city, now has three roommates, works in freelance jobs and organizes parties to help keep her afloat while she writes plays and acts in films. There is a “giant stigma,” she said, for Williamsburg residents who are not financially independent.

“It takes the wind out of you if you’re not the independent, self-reliant artist you claim to be,” she said, “if you’re just daddy’s little girl.”

Really Misha? Ya think so?

The Topless Coffee Shop That Won't Die

The story of the Vassalboro topless coffee shop is still going. And going. Recently someone set the business on fire and burned it down after owner Donald Crabtree was talking about turning it into a strip club. The poor guys home was even totaled in the fire. He's planning on having clothed waitresses work in a tent in the parking lot collect donations to rebuild.

Damn hick Mainers! If they don't like what you're doing at work they burn it down...and your house for good measure. This business made money. It employed people. It was a service. If you don't like it don't go there.

I hope they find the person/people who decided it was better to burn down someone's legit business and house rather than avoid it. This story makes me sad. I never really wanted to go to the topless coffee shop but I figured it would be someplace for me to go when my journalism career ended.

Read earlier posts here and here.

Junk Mail Stinks

I hate junk mail. When it shows up in my mailbox it goes right into my recycling. What a waste! I read something on MaineBusiness.com, however, that lightened my spirits.

There is a company out there called Tonic Mailstopper that, for $20 a year, will virtually rid your mailbox of unwanted junkmail. When you sign up, Mailstopper will automatically take your name off of 5 of the biggest mailing companies. You can also select from a list of mailers and catalogs that you get that you wish you didn't and poof -- gone from your life like a plate of mashed potatoes and ham glaze placed in front of my face.

Within 90 days, you'll have a cleaner mailbox, be safer from identity theft, and we'll even plant 5 trees on your behalf. Hey, combined with all the paper you save, it's like growing your own tiny forest. - from their website

AND you can even give it as a gift to your tree-hugging friends. Hows that for a "green gift"?!

But WHY isn't it FREE!?! It should be. Junk mail should be against the law.

What Mimi Saw: Milk

Before I watched Milk last night I was unable to disassociate Sean Penn with the mentally retarded character he played in I Am Sam. Whenever I heard his name or saw a photo of him I thought of him as being mentally retarded. Kudos to his acting I guess.

Now I can't disassociate him with being gay.

This movie won 2 Oscar's and it was clear why: IT WAS AWESOME! It literally transported me back to the 1970s. I am always amazed at movies that are set in a certain time period...where does Hollywood store all of these old cars, furniture, and terrible costumes?

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

I had no clue that Harvey Milk existed before I watched this movie -- or that crazy people like Anita Bryant tried to keep gay American's from working in schools or renting apartments. That seems so foreign to me in 2009.

It makes me glad that I live at a time in America where gays and lesbians are more accepted and have rights to protect them. AND that New England is leading the country when it comes to gay marriage. Harvey Milk started something in San Francisco and, while it's taken a while to spread, spread it has.

What do you think...

So I had an incident at work today that has me feeling down in the dumps. I just got back from Florida to find out that another magazine in the southern part of our state (and not in our readership area) wanted to purchase a photo that Leslie took for an article I wrote. The article was about how "famous" people in Maine like to relax...so I interviewed Sen. Susan Collins, Don McLean (Mr. American Pie), local weatherman/pastor Steve McKay. No small feat. Leslie did an amazing job on the photos!

This other magazine we'll call Southland Monthly wanted to purchase our shot of Susan Collins in her kitchen. I hesitated. My boss wanted to sell it to them for $1,000 -- then changed it to $500. I wanted to know what the article was about. I mean, TWO stories about Susan Collins' kitchen in a tiny state like Maine?

Note: I have written a few freelance articles for Southland so I decided to email my editor contacts to find out what the buzz was about.

My email:

Hello! Not sure if you remember me but I have done some freelancing for you in the past. Our photo editor told me you are looking to purchase a photo of Susan Collins in her kitchen. I'd like to know what your story is about before releasing our photos. I worked really hard to get that interview and photo shoot so I want to make sure your story doesn't piggy back on mine! I'm sure you understand.

Editor's email:

When have you known us to "piggyback" on stories?
This was about something altogether different, but we're no longer interested in the photo.

I felt like it was my right to know how they wanted to use the photo. Apparently they are doing a story on kitchens. I had no clue.

I feel like I have burned a bridge and also that I have robbed Leslie of a byline in another magazine. Was I out of order?