I grew up in a family of gamers. No, no, not that kind. Heck, for much of my childhood we didn’t even have a TV, let alone video games. I mean the non-tech kind of games. We played a lot of card and board games around the dining room table. There were many “go-to” games […]
Forecaster Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Senate debate a wholly un-senatorial affair
Friday night’s U.S. Senate debate between Republican incumbent Susan Collins, Democrat Sara Gideon and Independents Max Linn and Lisa Savage made me yearn for Maine’s senators of yesteryear. If Sept. 11’s debate is evidence, it’s time we face the facts: The days when Maine was represented in the U.S. Senate by people like Margaret Chase […]
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Posted inForecaster Opinion
Superintendent’s Notebook: Working together, we can make change succeed
By the time you read this, the first day of school for Portland Public Schools students – Monday, Sept. 14 – will be behind us. At the time of this writing, our plan is to open in hybrid mode, with a mix of in-person and remote learning. But one thing we’ve learned from this pandemic […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Over Easy: What’s a nice nun like you doing in a place like this?
The thing about my first Buddhist teacher was that she was really not much of a teacher. Her name was Meechai Suddhama, Sister Suddhama. But her given American name was Pauline Offner and she grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, as a typical middle-class girl. So here she was in Bangkok, where she had gathered […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Our nation deserves a functioning postal service
Yours truly has just completed yet another trip around the sun. Thank goodness we no longer put candles on the cake; the blaze would be blinding. Yet, despite the slightly alarming number of years to my credit, I actually really like my birthday. It’s a nice time of year. As a bona fide grownup, with […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Pandemic pet peeves, part III
In two previous columns, Here’s Something has listed a number of pet peeves regarding the pandemic times in which we find ourselves. This week’s edition concludes the series: One of my biggest pandemic pet peeves pertains to the federal government’s unwise decision to give $600 a week in surplus unemployment compensation, a program which thankfully […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: We need grown-ups
Many of us learn about children. We read about parenting classes, about nursing, about potty training, about how to get kids to read. But for years I have been learning from children. One Friday night, Anna, a babysitter, read “Good Night Moon” to my 2½-year-old granddaughter Brooke. Anna had reminded Brooke to spit out the […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Forum: Make sure your vote matters
The most important way we can take part in our democracy is voting. The election this Nov. 3 is an especially critical one to take part in, as we will be choosing a president, a U.S. senator and representative, our entire state legislature and a host of local offices. With so much on the ballot […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
The Universal Notebook: COVID civic corrective?
An article about Lisbon, Portugal, in the Aug. 17 New York Magazine made me think about Maine in general and Portland in particular. It seems that between one-third and one-half of working class housing in some parts of Lisbon have been converted to hostels, hotels and Airbnbs, driving local people out of the city. Sound […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Maine could be a country
We were sitting outside the snack shack at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor last week when my mother, a resident of the smallest state in the Union, said something we’ll both long remember: “Maine could be a country,” the keen observer from Rhode Island said as we chomped on an oatmeal cookie […]