You know how they say that grief has five stages? The same could be said for taking a polar plunge. They’re both characterized by a vicious sense of shock to your system riddled with pain, anger, regret and a sharp, stinging feeling of loss. Grief traditionally progresses through shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and […]
When Providence Perfume Company owner Charna Ethier offered to let me sample an all-natural perfume whose ingredients list included some obscure thing called “ambergris,” I was initially a bit skeptical. I remembered hearing once that they put skunk urine in some perfumes (is that true?). But I was also overwhelmingly optimistic. This was over a […]
“It’s never been harder to live than it is now,” she said. “In all the years I’ve been married, it’s never been this hard.” My girlfriend’s mother was exasperated talking about the economy. Though it’s an irrefutably difficult time for Millennials like myself to be hitting the job market, it’s easy for us to forget […]
Every campus develops a unique, symbiotic relationship with its surrounding community (depending on who you’re talking to, some might call it a parasitic one). Some establishments thrive, but only because of the steady business from students. The school year just marks the busy season at the end of a slower summer. So where do the collegiates at […]
It’s here: The pumpkinpocalypse. Every year at about this time the Basic in all of us rears its ugly head. Fall inevitably ushers in the advent of sharp flavors and pumpkin spiced this and that. Samuel Adams has traded in their lemon-hinted Summer Ale for the fuller bodied Oktoberfest and a multitude of pumpkin ales […]
Every county, state, and region of the country has its own unique quirks, phrases, vocabulary and recipes, but few offer up as insulated a culture as Rhode Island. If there’s anything Rhode Islanders love, it’s being Rhode Islanders. Studies show that 98% of people born in Rhode Island never leave! (Just kidding, that’s not true.) […]
When I enter the West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA), practically situated right on Westminster St in a former gas station, the first thing to greet me isn’t a human, but a massive dog. He’s some sort of mastiff mutt, a gentle giant whose overly large body holds up an impossibly larger head that nearly reaches […]
In the warmer months, you’d be hard-pressed to drive down Broadway on a weekend around midday without spotting pockets of pedestrians running amok. Clusters of hungry brunchers of all ages congregate because, per capita, the West Side is quite possibly the best destination in all of Providence when it comes to brunch options. There isn’t […]
Long ignored by many in favor of the italophile strip just north, the West Side of Providence is considered by many to be the city’s up-and-coming place to live, eat and drink. We’re talking about the stretch of land south of Federal Hill, but everything on and north of Westminster. To the west, it’s carved […]
In late October 2012, I was doing communications and volunteer management for Serve Rhode Island (SRI). Much of the work involved providing nonprofits with resources to help recruit volunteers, particularly through weekly articles I wrote for The Providence Journal. But in times of crisis, SRI meets the community’s needs. For many Rhode Islanders, Hurricane Sandy […]