The Chatterbox

The Chatterbox

News and views from the staff of FamilyEducation.
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archives

February 23, 2009
Good Day, Here I Come...
I’ve always liked performing--the thrill of getting in front of people and seeing their reaction. Since I can’t act to save my life and even my own children tell me, “Stop!” when I sing, I had to find another venue to satisfy my inner ham. I did figure skating when I was young, and I loved performing in the annual ice show and competing in small local competitions. As I grew older, I took up dance, and again, ate up performing for a crowd. In high school, I tried out and was cast as a reporter for a local teen television show called 2010: Taking You into the Future (at the time, 2010 sounded...
TV
February 20, 2009
Trailer park
As winter drags on and on, and on, we all find ourselves looking forward to what the warm weather will bring. Baseball season, barbecues, and long walks outside are all spectacular, but there's nothing I look forward to more than big, loud summer movies. There's still a few months left to go before they're in theaters, but we can watch trailers online right now. Count me among those who were pleasantly surprised by the live-action Transformers movie that came out in 2007. I can honestly say that there's never been a better movie about alien robots that can turn into sports cars. The sequel...
G.I. Joe, Inglourious Basterds, Movies, Star Trek, Trailers, Transformers, Watchmen
February 17, 2009
The ABCs of CSAs
Our family is toying with joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) co-op. The New Century CSA is a local farm near Columbus that will deliver fresh produce each week of the growing season to our home. Haven’t heard of a CSA? Here's how it works: A local farm will sell you "shares" of its weekly produce for a flat rate. For this flat rate, you get a basket of whatever is freshest from the farm that week, delivered to your home or a farmer’s market, where you can pick it up. Each week the produce varies, according to what is being harvested, so you cannot request certain items; you...
Healthy Eating, Local Produce
February 13, 2009
Everyone's least favorite holiday
Valentine's Day is upon us once again. A celebration of love and romance, it is also the only holiday I know of that makes everybody miserable. Everybody. I've yet to meet the person who looks forward to this day. V-Day is hardly the only holiday that imposes a sense of obligation upon people (hello, Christmas!), but it's unique in the way that nobody seems to get anything out of it, either. Either your expectations are met, which is boring, or they aren't, and everyone gets upset. The best that could be said for this holiday is that it bothers everybody equally -- if for totally different...
Holidays, Love, Romance, Valentine's Day, Valentines
February 10, 2009
Michael Phelps’ faux pas
I am sure we have all heard the story and seen the picture of Olympic medalist Michael Phelps caught smoking marijuana from a bong. Because of this, Phelps has been suspended from competitive swimming for three months, lost several endorsement contracts, and is even being investigated to be charged with a crime. What a mess over a picture and a little rambunctious behavior from a 23-year-old! Phelps is still just a kid, learning and growing through his own mistakes. Now, I am not condoning marijuana use, but would this really be a big deal if it was a picture of an average Joe toking up on...
Drugs, Media, Michael Phelps
February 6, 2009
The Internet: Week in review
How did people survive before the Internet? This week alone, a casual Web surfer has had access to celebrity freakouts, onstage mishaps, and one adorable little kid who was out of his mind on drugs. Read on to find out what you may have missed. Christian Bale, best known for his role as Batman in The Dark Knight, got some unwanted attention this week after someone leaked a recording of him throwing a tantrum on the set of Terminator: Salvation. WARNING: This recording features an ungodly amount of profanity, which we have to admit was deployed quite creatively, in some cases. If you think...
Bruce Springsteen, Child Drug Use, Christian Bale, Terminator Salvation
February 3, 2009
<em>Twilight</em> series 'sucked' me in
As much as I loathe being herded to and from work by bus and train with hundreds of strangers, I also look forward to it every day. I enjoy this time for several reason; I love to plug into my iPod, zone out, and become completely absorbed in a book. I recently jumped on the bandwagon and started reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. The series consists of four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I know, I know, this is a total teen sensation, but I couldn't resist checking it out. Guilty pleasure I suppose. Ever since I started the first book, I have become...
Books, Reading, Twilight