Safe toys??

With all the breaking news stories, I feel like nothing is safe anymore. Do you question if your kids toys contain a dangerous amount of lead? Now that the boxes are gone, you see the "made in china label" and get a little nervous. Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, state Rep. Denise Provost, and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is trying to help the Somerville community shop with ease by hosting a day of lead testing.
The testing will be done with a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) meter. The meter is held against the product, and an X-ray beam analyzes and reports the elements in the product within 30 seconds.
Things to have tested include:
Anything made of vinyl such as children’s toys, shoes, raincoats, lunch bags, handbags, backpacks (for lead, cadmium).
Children’s jewelry (for lead).
Pillows, foam cushions, children’s pajamas (for brominated flame retardants).
Brightly-colored ceramics such as flower pots or old dishes (for lead, cadmium).
Office products with soft plastic parts such as staplers, binders, etc.
Electronics: computer parts, video game controllers, etc. (for lead and brominated flame retardants).
Other products can be tested as well.

Lead testing
Saturday December 1st.
Central Library
79 highland ave.
For more information call: Jehlen’s office at 617-722-1578.

Somerville schools

For those of you that have kids in the Somerville school system, or will at some point in the future, this should be of interest to you. There will be a workshop at the Kennedy school to discuss inclusion classrooms in Somerville schools. This could benefit kids with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, as well as create possible individualized plans to assist in the maximum educational experience. Parents, community members as well as guest speaker principal of Boston O'Hearn's Elementary School will be present.

This event is hosted by Somerville Community for Inclusion, a group created by
Somerville Special Education Advocacy Project (SSEAP), with sponsors Somerville
Public Schools and Somerville Special Education Parent Advisory Council (PAC).
Co-sponsors of the event include the Disability Awareness Group (DAGS), the
Haitian Coalition, the Brian Higgins Foundation, Somerville Early Head Start,
the Welcome Project, and Somerville Community Partnerships for Children.

Somerville schools discussion
Kennedy School
5 Cherry St. (Porter Square)
11/17 10a-12p
FREE

Hurricane Katrina

The two year anniversary is approaching, and it is important to realize there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in New Orleans. Join Karl Seidman and Leigh Graham for a free presentation.

Seidman and Graham play integral roles in the strategic planning for redevelopment in New Orleans through MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. They will discuss their work and the department’s New Orleans Rebuilding Initiative, including the status of rebuilding, challenges and deep seeded problems, and national dissemination strategies. This is a great opportunity to truly understand the damages and the work ahead to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

In order to sign up, email Amy Wheeler
TODAY! Tuesday 8/21
6:00-8:00pm
The Democracy Center
Harvard Square
45 Mt. Auburn St.

Chartreuse Cocktails

DrinkBoston.com and LUPEC Boston (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) have joined forces for a party with the Green Goblin girls. They will discuss Chartreuse with a bartender disguised as a Carthusian monk to assist with the history, and the ladies will mix drinks for you along with appetizers with fresh ingredients.

Chartreuse, the brilliant green, 110-proof spirit made by Carthusian monks in France and flavored with 130 herbs and other botanicals, is perhaps the noblest of liqueurs. If you’ve had Chartreuse, you know that nothing else tastes quite like it. How do you even begin to describe its bright, herbal complexity? You don’t. You just mix it into a cocktail and admire the distinctive result. At the Green Street event, you’ll taste cocktails made with green Chartreuse, described above, and its sibling, yellow Chartreuse.

Green Street
Central Square
Sunday 8/19
7:00pm
Ticket Price $35 (Includes 4 Chartreuse beverages and appetizers)
Advance tickets available by calling Green Street 617-876-1655 or emailing LUPEC Boston.

>>DrinkBoston

It's a love hate relationship.

I am addicted to chocolate. Not even just the candy bars, I heart everything sweet. Sometimes I just need it. Trust me though, my stomach does not need it. My belly stopped needing chocolate when I got lazy and stopped moving. I don't want to stop eating chocolate. I heart it. Maybe just some control. Cambridge Women's Center is hosting a ummm maybe you could call it an information session?

Learn to understand your craving for sweets and to
gain control without willpower or deprivation.

Cambridge Women's Center
46 Pleasant St.
Thursday 5/10
6:30p-8:00p

Wheelchair accessible
Childcare is available with 2 days notice.
Info/directions/childcare: (617)354-8807
*Women only space

Science Fest

Maybe it is the nerd in me, but this sounds awesome: Science in the City – the first annual Cambridge Science Festival presented by the MIT Museum. The event starts this Saturday April, 21 and runs through the 29th. A large portion of the events are free so check out the website and get your science on.

Events I wanna hit up:

Augmented Reality
Take part in one of MIT's newest Augmented Reality simulations! In this game, a mysterious environmental problem has been discovered on the MIT campus. You and your teammates need to investigate, determine the cause of the problem, and try to stop it from becoming a large-scale disaster. You'll be assigned a GPS-equipped handheld computer to guide you around the MIT campus, where you'll pick up the clues you need to solve the mystery.

Science Carnival: The Festival Kicks Off--Literally!
Rube Goldberg, come home! Toast, balloons, a boot and a whole lot more will set the stage for nine days of science fun! Let the Festival begin with an amazing array of unique hands-on activities, music, entertainment, and refreshments. Get up close and personal with music-playing robots, alternative energy concept cars, live animals, dance contests, solar cookers

Human Genome Trail
Stroll from the Kendall Square to Harvard Square to see how we've transformed the street into the world's largest model of the human genome - and learn more about what makes you you.

Bio-Art Self-Portraits
What happens when art students examine their own skin cells in biology class? Up close and personal art, that's what! See how a photography class at Walnut Hill School for the Arts transforms images of their own cells into collages that merge biology and identity.

Machine Science Rocket Day!
Ready, Set, Launch! Machine Science, a Cambridge-based engineering outreach program, is offering a day of rocketry. Bring 2 two-liter plastic drink bottles and a tennis ball to Danehy Park on April 28th, and build your own water rocket.

>> Cambridge Science Festival
>> Cambridge Science Fest article in Herald

Bartending

I know this isn't the Miami post you were looking for, but be patient, it is on its way!

Bartending is one of those things i feel like anyone can be taught-either by themselves, or another talented bartender. The only thing is you aren't likely to get a job if you are teaching yourself. Harvard is hosting a one day TIPS class. They say they are going to help you get a job as well!

To register call: 617-495-9657
April 7
8:30A-5:30P

Digital Living

Our digital consumption of information is changing every day, even when I think back to when I was in college (what was that like 3 years ago), things were so different. There was no myspace, I didn't compulsively check my email on the T, I didn't carry a flash drive on my key chain, my news wasn't pushed to an RSS feeder. As we the consumers bob and weave through these changes, advertisers are scrambling to keep up.

Woody Benson of Prism VentureWorks will tee up the discussion by reviewing media spending by category and the challenge for brands in this rapidly developing space where new and hard-to-reach audiences are constantly being created.

Come listen to a panel of experts and their plans to address the challenges of adapting to and pioneering in this new environment. Jeff Morris from CBS/Showtime will speak about how a network-based media company addresses this challenge. Jeremy Allaire, CEO and founder of BrightCove, will explain how companies can take advantage of Internet TV and other new media. Eric Alterman, founder of KickApps, will talk about how a user-generated content company works with brands and marketers to extend their reach to new users via the net. Finally, Baba Shetty, Director of Interactive at Hill Holliday, will address the race by brands and agencies to take advantage of this changing marketplace.

Wednesday, March 14
5:30pm-8:30pm
Members $20/ Non-Members $30/ Students Free

MIT Stata Center (Bldg. 32)
Kirsch Auditorium / First Floor
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA

>> MIT Enterprise Forum Of Cambridge

My New Obsession

It's been a while, I know. I wish I could say I have been slacking off, drinking beers, catching up with friends, and getting lots of sleep; sadly that is not the case. Instead I have been obsessively reading real estate listings, pounding numbers into mortgage calculators, dragging myself to open houses, and going blind from reading first time buyer articles; that’s right I'm thinking of buying a house. There is a slim to none chance I can pull it off this year, but I have started the process and it is slowly consuming my life. Of course I'm looking to stay in Cambridge / Somerville and I have found a few resources I thought I would pass along to you.

>> Somerville Housing Programs and Services
>> Cambridge Housing Division
>> Craigslist Real Estate
>> MLS Homefinder
>> MassHousing
>> Housing Affordability Calculator

Free Birth Control

Seriously, how often do you see anything like that! Planned Parenthood in Davis Square is celebrating their one year anniversary. To celebrate they are giving anyone that walks into their center between 2/22 and 3/1 a free annual hormonal birth control.

Located at 260 Elm Street in the heart of Davis Square, Planned Parenthood provides area residents with access to birth control and emergency contraception. It also offers pregnancy testing, with results in less than thirty minutes, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“We dispensed 4,500 packs of birth control pills and 900 packs of emergency contraception. We’ve also developed a great relationship with the community, including the Somerville Arts Council and local artists, whose work we showcase in our waiting room,” said Melanie Lown, center manager.

You don't need an appointment or to even buy anything! Anyone who walks in during office hours can enter the raffle.

Planned Parenthood
260 Elm St.
Somerville MA.

Dynamic Women in Business Conference

Ladies of the business world: The Women's Student Association at the Harvard Business School's Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference is next weekend, Saturday Jan 27th.

Every year, the conference brings together over 1,000 women, including students, alumnae, faculty, distinguished business leaders, and community members, to explore the opportunities and challenges facing women in today's business world. The Dynamic Women in Business conference is a powerful forum for women to learn, share, and inspire one another.

Harvard Buisiness School
Saturday, Jan. 27
8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Fee: $25.
Breakfast, coffee, lunch, and snacks provided

>> Women's Student Association

Adolescent Psychology

This sounds like a course I took in college. The fact is, some of us have kids, and they will all eventually get to adolescence. This could possibly be the worst stage of human life. Everyone involved gets hurt.

Joani Geltman will talk about the physical, cognitive and social-emotional changes that occur in adolescence and how these changes affect relationships with parents, friends and school life.

Thursday, January 18th.
Kennedy School
5 Cherry St. Somerville MA.
6:30pm

Mashup Events this week

For all you geeks out there. There are two mashup events around MIT this week.

If you are confused already, here is what a mashup is from the About Mashup Camp site:

Mashups (be they software or content-oriented) are most often characterized by the way they draw upon functionality and/or content from two or more sources (at least one of which is third-party to the developer) to produce a new creative work. For example, if a birdwatcher "mashed up" her own database of birdsightings (by GPS coordinates) with the functionality and content of Google Maps, the resulting visual presentation where the locations of birdsightings are interactively overlayed on top of a map within the context of a Web browser could be considered a mashup.

First event,
Mashups in Flash
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 PM
Free
MIT Stata Building
Room 32-144

This presentation includes a what is discussion, expamples, and a walk through of how to create a mashup using flash and photos from flickr.

>> Mashups in Flash

The second event,
Mashup Camp 3 @MIT
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - Thursday, January 18, 2007
Hotel @ MIT
20 Sidney Street
Cambridge

This two day event will include a variety of topics (proposed list of dicussions) and will be run open space style.

>> Mashup Camp