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Does the holiday season stress you out? Are you doing last minute shopping? No one needs a coffee mug, crappy smelling candles or a pot holder from a discount dollar store. It is not the cost that matters but take a little time to put some love into it. Just getting together with family and […]
Guitarists love their gadgets. A quick look at most pedalboards will show the time that they put into fine-tuning their sound to get the coveted perfect tone. As a drummer that does nothing more than hit things, I don’t understand what most pedals do, outside of distortion, tuner, and wah-wah pedals; but I’m always impressed […]
Consuelo’s Revenge – Bread & Circuses A lot has gone down in the 10 years since the last Consuelo’s Revenge album, Mercy, to say the least. The world didn’t end although there were a couple of dicey moments. While Mercy was inspired by local folklore, Bread & Circuses is more universal. Consuelo’s Revenge’s calling card […]
Okee dokee folks… This issue is the Motif Gift Guide. If you have read this column for any of the past twenty years, you surely know that I don’t do Christmas but I WILL comment on gift giving! I quit the holidays in the mid-eighties for many, many reasons but mostly I just had had […]
The fall colors linger longest near the sea. When you hear, “Let’s take a hike,” you probably picture an uninhabited area. There’s nothing like a walk in the woods, the more unspoiled the better. The landscape we encounter day-to-day seems to prove any place not the woods is too spoiled to want to be outdoors […]
Over the years we’ve all accumulated stuff, material goods (and bads) that engulf the homestead, sometimes overwhelming the dwellers. Some of us do not know how to declutter and reorganize. Things just pile up over the years! All the birthdays, holidays of gift giving with shopping and buying can become treacherous. How do we explain […]
It’s that time of the year to “Treat yo self” — a line from one of my favorite shows, “Parks & Recreation.” Like Tom and Donna, don’t just buy gifts for others: Reward yourself this November as Black Friday is around the corner. If you’re a bookworm like myself, the simple gift of a good […]
Do you hate the hustle and bustle at the stores around December? Do you resort to asking Google what to get for a gift? Instead, read about local artists and look for the perfect gift for that special someone this year. Keep the gift buying close to home and made from the heart. Supporting local […]
“I’ve leveled up,” illustrator Daniel Smelansky of Providence says with a chuckle of his latest gig: creating the cover of Motif’s Gift Guide. That’s because he made a word-and-image collage about the lack of nonbinary bathing suits for an article in the Queer Issue last June, and illustrated a Fun Map with pumpkins and ghosts […]
If you haven’t noticed yet, Rhode Island is bursting with endless creative energy. Providence has named itself the Creative Capital and is the home of the Rhode Island School of Design, WaterFire, and PVDFest — just to name a few extraordinary arts events. It is also hard to miss all the movies and television shows […]