RAVE: Now that the same sex marriage has been legalized in Rhode Island, may I (I am trying to use correct grammar because I am about to talk about an English teacher) take a moment to say how surprised (in a good way) I was to read Karen Izzo’s commentary on the issue on this site the other day? In these divisive times, where those in public positions like teachers, religious leaders, town employees, sports figures and celebrities are lambasted for speaking their minds on even the most mild subject – like a preference for peanut versus chocolate M&Ms – it was refreshing to read Ms. Izzo’s …

RANT: Why did the chicken cross the road? The answer is, it didn’t, at least on Main Street in East Greenwich. I can’t believe anyone is really shocked that a pedestrian was hit in broad daylight by a car while crossing one of the walkways on Main Street last month. That’s like being surprised that the $1.99 you paid for a bag of frozen meatballs might have fillers like intestines, gizzards, skin or – apparently even more disgusting – horse in it.  I have written in this column how my kids have waited upwards of 15 minutes to cross at times, more than once in pouring rain. It doesn’t matter …

RANT: The recent hoopla over whether certain businesses should receive liquor licenses has left me scratching my head. A coffee shop is ok, but a dessert store isn’t? (In case you are thinking that it makes immense sense as those who over-imbibe at the coffee shop can quickly sober up with a few shots of high octane joe, studies published in Scientific American show that combining large amounts of alcohol and caffeine simultaneously can actually be lethal. So there.) OK, I don’t live with my head in a can. I get that laws can change attitudes and oftentimes, they can be the first step towards…

RANT: Two of these things are not like the others, two of these things don’t belong: Senator Dawson Hodgson  Former Fox new hosts Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly Clint Eastwood Senator Leo Raptakis New York Ranger Sean Avery Former basketball player Charles Barkely Former VP Dick Chaney State representative Anthony Giarrusso C’mon. Mssrs Giarusso and Raptakis. Wake up and smell the spiced chai. You are fighting a losing battle on the gay marriage thing. But do what you have to do. As for me, I don’t care who a person marries ... as long as it’s another person. Seriously. The other day, I googled…

RANT: My life is all about negotiation right now. I live with a teen and a pre-teen. ‘Nuff said. So I get that the teachers' union and School Committee are about to enter so tough discussions. One suggestion though – we try and do the  Oprah and Dr Phil talk: “I feel that when teacher appointments are based on seniority and not performance that you are limiting principals’ and administrators’ control over who gets placed in their schools and that makes me feel powerless.” “When seniority is not considered as a criteria for teacher appointment, you don’t appreciate my expertise and experience …

RAVE: My family is one of the crazy groups who did the Frozen Clam Plunge to welcome the New Year on January 1, 2013. We are actually Plunge hoppers, testing the waters at different local beaches for the past five years. We have Polar Bear Plunged at North Kingstown Beach and Penguin Plunged at Narragansett Beach. There were definite advantages to using a home-front beach. The first being that we actually were close to home so it was a quick hop back to hot showers and cocoa (although the downside is that the car engine never really had a chance to warm up so it was also a cold ride). Also on…

RAVE: It turns out that I needed to be at several of our public schools just days after the Newtown shooting massacre. What struck me almost immediately was that it was mostly business as usual. Obviously, the administrators and teachers were taking more stringent precautions, but in a way that did not make school – which is, after all, the place that our children spend most of their time, a place to fear or hate (at least no more than usual). In the midst of our fear and sadness, the ramped up safety drills and increased security measures, the moments of silence and the anxiety, it is easy …

RAVE: I am going to admit this upfront: I have Wickford envy. It hits me every time I walk up Brown Street (they’re too swank to call it Main Street like the rest of us poor schlubs). The town is just so darn quaint. Well, I’m over it now. Walking in Scalloptown Park the other day, my husband, in a rare expansive mood, swept his arms wide and declaimed, “Where else can you get such a pristine view? No billboards or traffic noise and we’re right in the heart of downtown East Greenwich.” The fact that the Acela blew past at that moment sort of ruined the moment, but I understood his point. …

RAVE: I, like pretty much every other parent, was mesmerized last June watching the video (Click here for the video if you somehow missed it) of that poor bus monitor get verbally abused by a bunch of small town New York middle school [rhymes with brittle bits]. But then other summer occupations – like letting my brain bake at the beach – got in the way and I have to admit that I sort of forgot all about it. (Update – there was an incredible outpouring of support and even a donation page http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein which raised almost $600,000 and an anti-bullying foundation …

RAVE: I just read that a school bus company used by the East Greenwich school district was fined for idling. In case you didn’t know, idling is limited to five minutes in Rhode Island (it’s only three minutes in Connecticut – though with the parking lot that I 95 seems to morph into in the Nutmeg State, I can’t believe they can get away with less than a 60-minute idle prohibition). The companies will pay a $35,000 penalty and perform environmental “projects” valued at $131,000. I am not sure what the latter means and don’t want to even hazard a guess, though a sugarplum image of bus monitors …

RANT: With so much to be grateful for this season – a warm home and food on the table (knowing many have lost it all), the election finally over (well, abated for at least one year) the kids’ cats are on sabbatical from peeing on our beds (gross), narwhals (because if they exist, maybe unicorns do too), the return of the East Greenwich Hill and Harbor Turkey Trot, video games (because you can’t, scratch that, shouldn’t shoot stupid people in real life), the return of Jiggers, the opening of Silver Spoon Bakery (though my thighs aren’t quite as appreciative of that one), the survival of The …

RANT: One question – who knows what the Town Moderator does? Hopefully, about 7,319 of you will be able to answer because you voted last Tuesday (I’ll let the other 3,414 registered voters who did not show up at the ballots on November 6 off the hook). I have to admit, I had no idea. But I did know that I didn’t like the fact that he was running unopposed. (Apparently, one of his opponents was unable to scare up the required 50 signatures to get on the ballot and the other withdrew.) So I didn’t vote for him. The “him,” in case you’re wondering, is Mr. James W. Patti (Republican), who won by …

Finally. You may be disappointed, elated or indifferent to the outcome (and I know I am all three in varying degrees) but Election Day has, thankfully, come and gone. This year, I decided (or, more accurately, was coerced by a neighbor – thanks, Jeff) to take the final leap and work as a canvasser at Swift Gym. Here are some of the things I discovered, thought or saw in the 14 some hours I spent at the polling station in no particular order of a rant or rave because frankly, the whole day was a rave for me – even things I normally rant about (like long lines or bad manners) seemed bearable: …

  RAVE: Hands up – who learned something new from the House District 30 Debates that took place last Wednesday? Seriously, I really want to know because I couldn’t make it. Darn school meetings. But my kids went and they certainly came back with a clearer sense of whom they would vote for – that is, if they were old enough to vote. I, on the other hand, read the follow up of the debate published on this site and now have a clearer sense of whom I will indeed vote for – because I am most certainly old enough to vote. So, did we really need to corral all of the candidates in one place to help …

RAVE: Let’s talk about grinding for a minute. Not the daily grind (that’s just too depressing to discuss), but the style of dancing (please note that I am making air quotes around the word dancing) that has been banned from many schools, including our own high school. If you haven’t seen this kind of action before, use your imagination. Actually, scratch that. Just think vertical lap dance. I’m happy to say I haven’t had to deal with this too much since my kids, despite being newly minted teenagers, still don’t seem to have reached a point where they differentiate between the sexes. In fact, …

RANT: Is it just me, or is National Walk to School Day the most asinine day ever? Even National Tap Dance Day (May 25, in case you have a pair of metal-soled shoes gathering dust in your closet) ranks higher, in my opinion. Seriously, though, has it come to this? We really need a day set aside to encourage kids to actually venture outside and be pedestrians? OK, I know, life today is such that younger kids are no longer allowed to do so much as eat PBJ without an adult present. I promise, I will not drone on about how, waaaay back in my day, before down, Gore-tex and fleece had been invented…

RAVE: So, another boxplosion in North Kingstown. Isn’t there already a Wal-Mart less than 5 miles away (rhetorical question). But, I guess like diamonds and shoes, you can never have too many Big W’s. If they build it, we will come. It was this sort of ultra-expansion that inspired that very funny The Onion headline a few years back: New Starbucks Opens In Rest Room Of Existing Starbucks (http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-starbucks-opens-in-rest-room-of-existing-starb,560/?ref=auto). I should admit at this juncture that I really got the point of Wal-Mart this summer when we were putting on…

RANT: First Dodgeball, now parent-child dances and ballgames have been banned. Has the world gone crazy? Or is it just Cranston (if you missed the story, after a year in which they already battled to keep prayer – or at least a prayer banner – in school – the school system nixed all father-daughter dances/mother-son soccer matches in response to an ACLU suit that claimed they were in violation of state gender discrimination laws)? The thing is, I have mixed feelings about similar father/daughter-mother/son events that take place in our own school community. On one hand, they have a sweet …

RAVE: So here’s the thing. Every possible year since I was eligible, I have always made it a point to vote. And people, it was not always easy – once, I was backpacking around Europe. I made sure I was registered for a mail-in ballot, picked it up in London and posted it in Paris, crossing my fingers that the Workers (in France, Workers are most definitely a proper noun) would not have one of their monthly strikes. Another time, I was in the hospital with pneumonia. Once, when I was still living in Manhattan and had moved more than a few times since the last election, no one could find my …

RAVE: My husband is English. I note this because he views the fact that I stand and cover my heart for the national anthem with benign amusement. This sort of display would most definitely be frowned upon in Queen’s country. It’s not that I am zealously patriotic; for me, it’s a sign of respect for my country and also, for those who risk their lives to ensure that the values conceived by our founding fathers not only survive, but thrive. Yet even he, hardened cynic that he is, admits that the spontaneous rising of the Summer’s End audience during the U.S. Navy Concert Band’s rendition of …