Viewpoints

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Positively triggered
Opinion, Viewpoints, Virginia Buckingham

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Positively triggered

Google being “triggered” and content is served up about the psychological effect of being returned to a traumatic experience, a terrible inheritance for those with painful pasts. I recently had two experiences, though, which made me wonder why “triggering” is only associated with pain. Google “recalling happy memories” and the results include terms like “reminisce” which doesn’t come close to capturing what it feels like to revive a happy moment in the same way triggers revive trauma. To reminisce is what you do when those old Facebook posts pop up in your feed, evoking an “Awww” or “That was a great day” or “The kids were so little” or “I was so young.” Triggering is different, it’s visceral. A sound, a smell, a comment, a backdrop actually returning you to the moment before it became...
Local News, Opinion, Viewpoints

DOC IN A BOX: Cutting back on spam

Anyone who has ever had their email inbox filled with spam knows how annoying it can be. Spam emails can not only be a nuisance, but can also put your personal information at risk. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the amount of spam you receive. First, you can report spam emails to your email provider. This will let your provider know which emails are spam, so they can apply filters to prevent more from getting through. You can also unsubscribe from any mailing lists you have inadvertently signed up to, HOWEVER, you should ONLY unsubscribe from legit sites! DO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE from something you do not recognize. Here’s an example: Most email programs also have the ability to filter out or block certain content. This is a great way to stop receiving spam emai...
Municipal Matters, Opinion, Viewpoints

TRANSPARENCY: Honor Sunshine Week by requiring hybrid meeting access

During the early months of COVID-19, governors in New England states issued executive orders allowing municipalities to meet online so long as the public could attend remotely. The democratic benefits of this arrangement quickly became evident. According to a public official quoted in a 2020 study, the changes “made it a lot easier for residents who have other things to do, to be heard. People with family obligations, elder care, or child-care issues.” The executive orders that prompted these changes, however, have long since expired. New England states have resorted to a patchwork of live streams, short-term remote meeting requirements and, in some cases, reverted back to pre-COVID policies and in-person meetings only. There’s a better way forward. Permanent changes need to be m...
Culture, Life Style, Local News, Opinion, Top Stories, Viewpoints

FOOD 101: Beware of the Ides of March

The “Ides of March” falls on a Wednesday this year. That’s Shakespearean slang for the 15th. If you remember your high school Latin and literature classes, Julius Caesar ignored a warning to beware of the date. He was stabbed to death by his buddy Brutus and a bunch of Senate cohorts. Caesar’s fate has nothing to do with salad. It’s just a fun excuse to tuck into a great bowl of crunchy greens laced with garlic and anchovies. To be sure you have a handle on all the exciting supplemental information, try this quiz: 1. Caesar Salad is named for:    1. Julius Caesar    2. Caesar Chavez    3. Caesar Cardini 2. Caesar salad originated in:    1. Imperial Rome    2. California’s Salinas valle...
Letters to the Editor, Local News, Opinion, Viewpoints

LETTER: Re: Living within your budget….

To the editor: I would like to echo concerns stated by Mr. Jack Buba in last week's letter (Feb. 22). Evidently, many town citizens (and administrators) need to be reminded that since 1995 the Marblehead Community Charter Public School (MCCPS) has been successfully operating on a fixed state-funding budget based on a per-pupil expense (PPE). For 28 years, 230 students per year, in fourth through eighth grades, have been receiving a first-class education without incurring deficits and/or overrides. How does that happen, and why isn't that possible for all our public school districts? The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 changed how the Commonwealth supported, administered and funded the education services of our public school students in local school districts. The fa...
Business, Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Viewpoints

LETTER: Cross-pollination is critical for Marblehead small businesses

To the editor Just got through reading Virginia Buckingham's column, “Bringing Back a Bookstore,” and I could not agree more about the void that Spirit of '76 left in our community by closing. It cut right to the core and spirit of Marblehead. Marblehead has been faced with years and years of small businesses opening up and closing their doors, almost to the point now where our streets are lined with real estate offices and the dentist office that occupies our former bookstore.  Yes, a bookstore sounds like a touching new option for someone to open, but it's rough out there. Never mind the challenges of the internet, but Marblehead needs to re-define itself as a destination in terms of a total experience.  Throughout the greater North Shore, it is not known as a place to g...
Current Editorials, Opinion, Viewpoints

EDITORIAL: Sour taste lingers

At quick glance, one could see that no one seems 100% satisfied with the compromise that had been expected to allow the tennis courts at the Veterans School reopened for pickleball last week as a sign that the Recreation & Parks Commission did its job. However, look closer, and you can see the opposite is true. To review, the group Marblehead Pickleball raised about $65,000 to help convert four tennis courts at Vets into six dedicated pickleball courts. Then, this fall, it partnered with Rec & Parks to create four additional pickleball courts at Seaside Park. But even though Marblehead had been enjoying an unseasonably warm winter, the pickleball nets came down in January. The town’s pickleball players — some 400 strong — were mystified and struggled to get a clear e...
Opinion, Viewpoints, Virginia Buckingham

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Reconsidering the seagull

“Rats with wings.”  That’s the common derogatory descriptor about that common sea bird, the gull. Last summer, one wily airborne rodent grabbed an entire overflowing lobster roll from my hand just as I was taking a first bite. Darn rat!  Mostly though, gulls are a casually observed but uncontemplated part of our daily landscape. We might notice one pecking at an unlucky crab or perched on a neighbor’s chimney. But we don’t give their presence a second thought, even seconds later. Unexpectedly for me, the merely observed recently became the deeply contemplated. I was given the gift of a week staying in a friend’s apartment overlooking Boston Harbor. It was a respite from construction at home, as well from the frustration of a mobility-reducing broken ankle. Dreams of wandering...
Local News, Opinion, Top Stories, Viewpoints

KITCHEN CALL: The art of popover perfection

I am a cook. Not a baker. Not a pastry chef. I do not bake cakes, cupcakes, pies, breads or pizza from scratch. But from time to time, I am prompted by occasion, necessity, emergency — or ego. Never if the item must be kneaded, rolled or yeast risen.   Linda Bassett, the Marblehead Current’s cooking columnist,  has mastered the art of baking popovers. COURTESY PHOTO My pies are prepared with gluten-free pie shells from Crosby’s Market. (This has nothing to do with gluten. These New England-produced pie shells are much superior than any of the national brands.)  I soak my cakes, from a mix, drizzled with enough liqueur or topped with enough fresh fruit and whipped cream to thoroughly mask the chemical taste often present in a mix. Several years ago, when I took my c...
Opinion, Viewpoints

Marblehead author’s new book explores ‘The Root of Evil’

The title of my new book, “The Roots of Evil — A Postmodern Exploration of the Unintended Consequences of Civilization,” is much more daunting than the actual text. The original intended audience for the book was those who practice psychotherapy; however, it quickly became apparent that the ideas expressed in the book might be important for the public as well. I originally conceived the book 15 years ago, during the George W. Bush administration. The front cover to Marblehead author Evan Longins' new, 'The Roots of Evil.' My interest at the time was why some psychotherapy had failed to assist those needing help with their problems of life. My colleagues and I at the Salem Center began to take on cases that were considered untreatable. However, we had much success. We noticed t...
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