Leominster, MA - Main Street still quite alive

I saw a great story today in the Telegram & Gazette, about the city of Leominster having five new businesses open up this week--three of them right on Main Street! Click here to read the story.

Very encouraging!

I've actually gone to Leominster to shop before. It's not a quick drive for me, but there's a store downtown called Allen's which, the last time I went, carried a pretty decent collection of "Fresh Produce" clothing, which I love. Worth the trip if I can come home with one or two of those amazing, colorful, wearable garments.

Carrick McCullough - 9 year old environmental educator

Hooray for 9-year old Carrick McCullough and his family! They're fellow homeschoolers who we met through some local homeschooling classes we signed up for. And now they're preparing to hit the road in their veggie-oil powered VW beetle, in an effort to educate folks across the country about more sustainable living. He was in the local paper just yesterday, and the day before that he appeared on ABC's "Bonnie Hunt Show."

To read all about the trip, find links to Carrick's YouTube videos & to donate and support their trip, see their web site called www.ourrenewablenation.org

Chinese drywall poses potential risks

Here is the story that goes with the above headline:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_bi_ge/chinese_drywall

I am SO sick of reading headlines about Chinese things being harmful to us. When are people going to realize that CHEAP is not the be-all and end-all of everything! And what must it be like to live in China where so many hazardous ingredients seem to be put into so many products? Are there no health and safety standards?

I used to wonder what it would be like to live in such a place, but then again....here in this country you can also find people who oppose health and safety regulations, and the money that such precautions cost.

As consumers, we can't afford to let our guard down. Not for a minute.

Keeping "Main Street" alive

I took the pledge over at "10percentshift.org" the other day. It's an organization designed to encourage us to shift 10% of our spending over to businesses in our town or area, to revitalize the local economy. So instead of buying beads at Michaels Crafts, I can get them at Tatnuck Bead. And instead of running to Stop & Shop or Price Chopper for my coffee last night, I went to little Santy's Superette on Chandler Street. (Have you ever tried Goya espresso coffee? Whee!) And for bulk spices, there is no place I'd rather go than Ed Hyder's Meditarranean Market. And why go to Petco for cat food when I can get terrific, healthy cat food at Pet Barn (of Worcester & Holden) !

Thanks to Worcester City Councilor Kate Toomey for bringing this organization to my attention. I know there are other local business groups, like Worcester Local First, which my friend Cliff at Framed in Tatnuck belongs to.

Woo hoo! Buy local!

Stop Recycling....huh?

You are going to love this! My fellow artist McKenna Hallett (that's her jewelry right there in the photo) has a new blog all about how she makes her very interesting art! But not only that she has a fantastic site all about STOPPING RECYCLING. Yes, she wants us to stop recycling. Heresy, you say? Well, think again. Just a couple of seconds worth of thought will lead you to the very obvious reason for not recycling, but if you've given it a few seconds or minutes and it's still not clear, check out this web page to find out more. http://www.stoprecycling.com/

To see more of McKenna's work and learn about how it is made, check out her blog:
http://4currents.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/aloha-from-maui/

I was listening to the news the other day and the announcer was reporting on "retail sales" and whether they were up or down. I don't recall exactly what he said, but it's a safe bet he was saying that they were down. And in the same breath he said something about "fewer people going to the malls" as if that were related to the lower retail numbers. Well this got me thinking, and it gets me thinking every time I hear it. When these numbers are cited, it seems like it's always based on the shopping malls or the big chain stores. I always wonder how accurate those numbers are, since I almost never shop at the stores they talk about. I try, whenever possible, to buy local. Is it possible that things are going better here in our own little universe?

The frame shop down the street is doing better than he did last year. And there are other local shops that are doing just fine, too. I don't know exactly where I'm going with this, except to say that maybe we should not listen to those gloomy news stories all the time. They might not be right. We still have to buy things, and when times are tight, very many of us take our precious dollars to the guy we know down the street rather than to a horrid chain store managed by people from very far away, selling things from other people very far away.

As for those of us who are trying to keep our neighborhoods alive by buying local....are they counting us?

Donut Cafe II - Worcester, Mass. - "the real thing"

I had driven by this place a hundred times--no, maybe a thousand times--before ever stopping in. To me, it looked brown and dingy, like maybe they were out of business or seriously thinking about it. But one day I went inside and discovered how wrong I was. This place is great!! Imagine a long lunch counter, with "regulars" sitting around it, insulting each other good-naturedly and sharing the day's news with the waitstaff. Coats slumped onto tall coat stands in the corner. Newspapers that have been read and re-read, lying around on the counter, waiting for the next customer to pick them up. This is the kind of place where the line between customer and employee is so blurred that the other day when I needed a refill on my coffee, the customer next to me got up and retrieved it for me. (It was clear she was a good friend of the waitress.) The signs are old fashioned; the place hasn't been decorated in decades....and I love it! It reminds me of donut shops of my childhood, smelling of hash browns with onion and cheesy omelets. And donuts to die for.

I had a glazed donut the other day which was quite the experience. I had been having a bad day up until that point, but when the waitress brought a little saucer bearing the fluffy donut, glistening with sugar, and a thick brown ceramic mug of coffee, with cream in a little glass, I could not bring myself to eat it at first. I just looked at it as the little work of art that it was. So simple, so basic. Nothing disposable, no styrofoam, no logos on anything. My donut was on a PLATE for heaven's sakes! Being an artist, I did the only reasonable thing. I drew my breakfast. Thank goodness that did not take long, as the donut and coffee were so good, I felt transported to heaven.

I like Dunkin Donuts for the iced coffee and the drive-thru, but if you want a REAL donut and some real people to go with it, try Donut Cafe II.

414 Chandler St
Worcester, MA 01602
(508) 752-0653