Dear C: I have tried to quit many times, but I still smoke. Don’t give me a lecture, I know all about the dangers, but I have too much pressure in my life right now to add more by going cold turkey and neither the patch nor nicotine gum worked for me. Then I discovered […]
Type the word “cleanse” into any search engine and splat! a glitzy array of advertisements will gush out of cyberspace with the force of an exploding soda bottle. A cleanse craze seems to sweep the country every spring, and there is no scarcity of celebrities to endorse them. It seems to make sense on an […]
I remember a class discussion in fifth grade. The teacher at our suburban middle school was talking about “poor people” and the challenges they faced. A kid from an affluent family raised his hand and interrupted. “My dad says poor people have what they deserve. If they worked harder, they wouldn’t be poor.” Most of […]
Dear C, I’m engaged to a really great guy. He was born in Taipei but learned English when he was very young and came to the US for college. His parents came for a visit to meet me last week. After eating at several good restaurants around town, we invited them to our apartment for […]
After several days of controversy, Rhode Island Governor Gina “Flip Flops for Summer” Raimondo announced that the entire Rhode Island Tourism Campaign was actually an elaborate April Fool’s joke. “The media is saturated with nonsense,” Raimondo said in an early morning press conference. “We knew that we’d have to do something really silly just to stand out. “That […]
Subway is now among the partnerships being called on to help promote the Ocean State as part of the new branding just released. Yes, the chain of sandwich shops will feature “picturesque” photos of Iceland and other parts of the world, with the message “Visit Rhode Island” under each. “We think the fact that they make no […]
It is a mystery, an unsolved crime: The US demands more cash for medical care than any other country in the world, yet we rank a dismal 39 in overall health. We cannot manage to provide universal coverage for our citizens, which is an anomaly in the civilized financially ranking world. But no wonder — […]
Dear C; I am not sure if this is a problem, but it does worry me a lot. My boyfriend never gets jealous over me. Not even the tiniest bit. I have never cheated on him but other men sometimes flirt with me, right in front of him, and a couple times I flirted back […]
A reader recently told me of his upcoming plans to fly to the other side of the planet for a visit. His sister moved to Japan for work and generously offered to buy his ticket, but he was worried about catching the flu. He asked me how to protect himself. This is a timely question. […]
I can’t believe it’s been a year and a half since I metaphorically crawled through Providence in the late night hours (well, 9pm), guiding newcomers from bar to bar in downcity. Now a seasoned veteran of Dorrance and Eddy Streets, I wanted to pick a new corner of downtown to explore, one that I could […]