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NEIGHBORHOOD REPORTS & COLUMNISTS
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Nov 15, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Unbridled Amounts Of Glee
Now there are lots of things that make me happy, simple and complicated. I like hedgehogs. They're cute. I like sushi. I like being able to put on a pair of jeans that fit. |
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Nov 08, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Bits of String, A Penny, and Some Lint
Guess what I just had as a little snack? Three small packages of Whoppers, two little bags of candy corn, and a small box of Junior Mints. |
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Oct 25, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
You Just Never Know
There are two books that I spent many hours with as a child - The Family of Man, and The Family of Children. These books of photographs affected me just as strongly as any book I ever read. |
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Oct 18, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
More Show And Tell
It was hundred and ten degrees inside Nicole's house. She was paging slowly through old books that she wanted to share them with us. |
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Oct 11, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
A Wedding Story
Nicole just celebrated 13 years of happy marriage, and she shares her wedding album with us. |
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Oct 04, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Squishy In The Middle
To be perfectly honest, I still live in my head most of the time. I'm like a giant balloon head, floating above a tiny and annoying and mysterious body. |
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Sep 27, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Dictionary Of Nonsense
As a young child, I was convinced that my parents had friends named the Whoozits, because I would overhear conversations about these mysterious people who never came to brunch on time. |
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Sep 20, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Eating At Moms
Powdered milk and zucchini seem to figure prominently in my childhood memories, as do endless bowls of Cheerios. My sister and I always had a bowl of Cheerios after our baths and before we went to bed. |
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Sep 13, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Slothful To Eat Breakfast In A Housecoat
Dressed in her charming black sandals, Nicole follows strands of DNA twisting through generations of women who write. |
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Sep 06, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Show And Tell
Let us put some other things on the table while you try to decide what you will do with your Labor Day weekend. |
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Aug 30, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Plethora of Purses
Some people might not enjoy spending two hours photographing their purse collection, but Nicole does. And did. So you get to see them! |
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Aug 23, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Bubbles And Other Nonsense
Apparently part of my stomach has been hanging out with Deadheads, dropping multiple tabs of acid, while the other part of my stomach insists on daily infusions of that yogurt Jamie Lee Curtis talks about on television. |
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Aug 09, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
No More Babies
It feels like I've been eating Otter Pops for 12 years, and all of a sudden, the dessert gods are intoning, You may not partake of the Otter Pops ever again. |
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Aug 02, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Liar Liar Books On Fire
I have a secret, one I am finally willing to come clean about. I would like to say it is a good secret, but really, it is just an embarrassing one. |
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Jul 26, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Weekly Round Up! Yee Haw!
Nothing extraordinary happened, nothing too sad, nothing sidesplitting funny, just an average week at Chez Freire. But there are lots of little things floating around. |
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Jul 19, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Let's Talk Smoking
What with my eldest headed off to junior high soon, I'm practicing my, Please don't ever fill in the blank speeches. Or lectures. |
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Jul 12, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Oh My Gosh You Guys!
Man, moving is stressful. I don't like change. Some people love to say they embrace change. They're totally lying. Nobody likes change. |
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Jun 24, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Little Of This, A Lot Of That.
Nicole is unsure when her column appears now. The beers didn't help. Today she has a collection of things that could fit any day. |
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Jun 10, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
How Well Do You Know Your Columnist?
This week we're all going to play a little game called, How Well Do You Know Your Columnist? If you've been reading my columns for a while, you should do pretty well. |
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Jun 03, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Awesome!
What's that you say? You lived in the 1980's? You said things like, For sure, for sure? How about, Dude, that is so rad! Oh yes I did. And it was AWESOME! |
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May 27, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Donald Franklin Worley
It is called a POW/MIA bracelet. It is engraved with the name of a serviceman who was killed in action, but whose remains were never retrieved. Or suspected prisoners of war who were never found. |
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May 20, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Heaven Is Full Of Butterflies
Some art is worth the seemingly large price tag because of the work that goes into the piece. This is why I like to buy handmade earrings and soap. |
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May 13, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Grimacing At The Keyboard
I had bronchitis last week and it wasn't getting much better, so I went to the doctor, but not my regular doctor because she was out, so I went to the doctor on call and he scared the hell out of me. |
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May 06, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Happy Birthday From Vietnam
When I was born in Sacramento, California on a warm sunny Sunday on May 4, 1969, my father was nearly 7800 miles away in Long Binh, Vietnam. |
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Apr 30, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
You Smell Nice
I think my first foray into perfume was Jean Nate. I have a vague memory of telling my mom I wanted to wear perfume and her taking me to the drugstore and buying me a bottle of Jean Nate. I don't remember much beyond that. |
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Apr 22, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
You Always Have Your Sister
But the real reason there is another picture of me in this column is the other woman wearing makeup standing next to me. That's my sister. |
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Apr 15, 2009
NEWS FROM SB
Sorry About All That Vomiting
I tell you readers all sorts of things, so if you think I'm going to pass up the opportunity to tell you about my bout with the stomach flu, well, listen closely. |
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Apr 01, 2009
NEWS FROM SB
Co-Sleeping And Breast-Feeding
When I laid her down in the cradle, I thought to myself, She looks cold and lonely So I picked her up and brought her into our bed, and there she stayed for the next four or five years. |
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Mar 25, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
A Mouse At Chez Freire
I’m still working on those ideas from a few columns back, so here is today’s. A Pet Brings Solace And Love But Our Landlord Won't Let Us Have One.
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Mar 18, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Auctions and Tea Parties
Today is all about school auctions and tea because I am still on my personal journey of green tea discovery. Yes, please listen to my tea feelings. |
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Mar 11, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
So...
So, I’m still catching up on past column ideas that I had shared with you a few weeks ago. |
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Mar 07, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
25 Random Things About Me
Nicole like taking the onions out of onion rings and just eating the outside part. |
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Mar 04, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Holy Cow! Another Column
Nicole tells us why three-quarter length sleeves make her crazy, and that she is not having much success liking green tea. |
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Feb 28, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
I Promised You An Extra Column
I've been saving up topics all week for you readers, and I had so many things stocked up that they have to be sort of parceled out to you in small paragraphs. |
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Feb 25, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
High On Life
I was white-knuckling my way through another headache, courtesy of my lack of graceful movement last week . I tried every remedy I could think of - over the counter and off the shelf. Then someone suggested a cup of coffee. |
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Feb 18, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Hello Edhat Readers
I had a much better column planned for today, which is why the photograph accompanying this brief article won’t make much sense. But never fear, I’ll write one later this week that ties in with the photograph. Whoo! A two-fer! And during a short week. |
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Feb 11, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
A Love Letter Of Sorts
I love that even though Santa Barbara is a small town, there are a few ballet companies, some lovely theaters, a few world-class universities, and some really good Indian food. |
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Feb 04, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Eating The Bacon
I am doing something I swore I would never do. I am keeping a diary. Not a diary where I write my special secret thoughts for posterity, no, this diary is strictly boring. |
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Jan 28, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Sorry About Those Bananas
Yeah, I kind of disappeared last week. My mother called right away, demanding to know where her column was. Co-workers asked me where my writing was. My patient editor, Ed, sent me an email that simply said, "Article?" |
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Jan 14, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Headaches, Roman Polanski, and Pretty Pictures
I had intended to write an article about Roman Polanski today but I was up all night with a migraine so big that it had to have come from Texas. |
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Jan 07, 2009
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Not Really My Dog
I do not have a dog. But I wasn't lying about having a dog as much as I was appropriating a dog for conversational needs. And the dog does exist; she belongs to my parents. Isn't she pretty? |
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Dec 31, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Notes, Errata, End of 2008 Roundup and Other Stuff
Happy New Year Edhatians! Before this column devolves into a marginal wrap up of the year's events, here is a picture of Melanie, our big holiday cookie winner. |
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Dec 25, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Christmas Card Picture
It took awhile to get Nicole's Christmas card picture just right. There were dragons, skulls, t-shirts, and embarrassed children. |
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Dec 17, 2008
NEWS FROM SB
Pretend Villages and Free Cookies
This little village, while being incredibly cute, is not something I ever thought I would own. I used to think it fell squarely into kitschy land until I had one of my own. |
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Dec 10, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Going With Cookies
Nicole was told that when times are tough, everyone still needs cookies and bread. Especially cookies. |
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Dec 03, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Ode To Breakfast
If I had to rank meals in order of how excited they make me, breakfast would be number one. I don’t really know how to rank lunch and dinner, because, eh, they're not breakfast. |
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Nov 26, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Knitting In Anger
Nicole is very angry. You might not want to read this column. |
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Nov 19, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Glitter
Last year Nicole's daughter wanted to eat lots of meat. This year she wanted a slumber party, a starry night sleepover. |
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Nov 12, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
The Last Of The Malasadas
Nicole says, I have finally eaten the last of the malasadas. It's been almost 8 days and I've had to eat at least four or five every day to make my quota. |
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Oct 29, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
You're Scaring Me
Nothing too scary or creepy because I hate Halloween. That sounds almost anti-American, doesn't it? I think that spending $30 on candy at Walgreens is pretty patriotic though. |
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Oct 22, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Can Of Great Joy
Every house, every office, and your grandmother has a variation on this green can. At Chez Freire we call it the "Happy Can". |
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Oct 15, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Claire And The Giant Rockslide
I present to you a first person account by my daughter Claire. She, along with her classmates, survived the gigantic rockslide in Yosemite last week. |
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Oct 08, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Let Me Help You Out With That
I have been rethinking my usual - I am so broke - strategy,. which is to wish fervently that I will win the lottery. My new strategy is to come up with big money making ideas and pitch them to you. |
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Oct 01, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Shiny Field Trip
By the end of the night we were all exhausted. I went to bed feeling poor and tired of politics. I needed distractions! Something shiny! Pretty! Air conditioned! So naturally, we spent the next day at the Ronald Reagan Museum. |
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Sep 24, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Obsolescence
All the electronic machines in my house are all falling apart simultaneously. We're just this side of being without anything that plugs into the wall and provides pretty pictures and music. |
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Sep 17, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Death Of An Author
There are many articles online and in print about the untimely death of David Foster Wallace, all written much more eloquently than this column will be. |
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Sep 10, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Raggedy At The Edges
Some weeks I come by your house and when you open the door I'm clutching a cup of hot chocolate that I paid too much for at Starbucks and I look a little peaked and so you invite me in and I sort of sag onto your couch and moan gently while I turn on your television so I can watch "Law and Order: Criminal Intent". |
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Sep 03, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Born To Be Disappointed
Before Nicole's father retired as the City Librarian for the City of Santa Maria he drove up to Sacramento, and delivered a four-inch stack of paperwork and grants for a new public library. |
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Aug 27, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Your Side of The Bed
It's Nicole's firm belief that if you really want to know somebody, really delve into their psyche, you have to see their side of the bed. |
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Aug 20, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Rite Of Passage
On Saturday my husband went to get his hair cut and took our eldest daughter along for company. They had been gone about 45 minutes when he called me ... She wants to get her hair cut too, something she saw in a picture. |
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Aug 13, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Hanging Out With Old People
Last Thursday my husband and I got a babysitter for our daughters and went with my parents to the Santa Barbara Bowl to see Joe Cocker and the Steve Miller Band. |
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Aug 06, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Beer Failure
This column originally was going to be about one of my neighbors, who is an alcoholic. Instead I'm going to talk about beer. More specifically, my beer lameness. |
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Jul 30, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Washcloths on Tobacco Road
One day I had to go through my closet and purge it. It was easy enough to get rid of things that I never liked anyway or didn't fit anymore and soon my destined for the thrift store bag was filling up rapidly. |
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Jul 23, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
OMG Granola!
Hey Internet, hey Edhat readers. Guess how I've been spending my weekends? Besides the sleeping in and the 9 loads of laundry, I've been making my own granola. |
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Jul 16, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Cookie Jarvis Where Are You?
When I was 12, I made a three-year foray into the wilds of public school after many impressionable years at a Catholic school. I was terrified. On my first day at my new school I spied a girl wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Cookie Jarvis on it. I was enthralled. |
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Jul 09, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
From High To Low
I'm here to talk about your feet, not mine. My photograph is merely an example, the "Do" portion of the article. I'm not including any photograph that shows the "Don't" portion. |
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Jul 02, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
My Hardest Class
When I was 12 years old, I had one all-consuming passion. I loved ballet. Especially toe shoes. I wanted to be on-pointe so badly. I took ballet classes but was never very good and my instructor would always say, "Well, your ankles just aren't strong enough for pointe shoes." |
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Jun 25, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Too Much Going On
I have too much going on in my tiny brain this week. I'm on a little hamster wheel of activity and stuff and hey, let's look at my new shoes. What do you think? Do you like them? Are they cute in a carrying a baguette through the streets of Paris way? Or are you looking at them and thinking to yourself, those look like clown shoes? |
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Jun 18, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Are Those Things Real?
I was tired, it was after 7pm, the kids were starving, and somehow we ended up at a place I like to call "Orange Chicken All The Time". You know what I'm talking about. Don't pretend you haven't eaten there either; it's a big guilty pleasure. Also? Nothing about it is vegetarian. Not even the vegetables. |
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Jun 11, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Wishing For Expensive Cheese
I'm still recuperating -- yes, it is taking forever - but now I'm mixing Western medicine (hello antibiotics and Percocet!) and Chinese medicine (hello weird seeds and aloe juice!) in a last ditch attempt to heal this darn throat before my extended stay at home ends. |
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Jun 04, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Jello With A Side Of Jello
Hey, I'm back! I bet you thought I'd been abducted by angry West Virginians, didn't you? No, I did something much much worse than being abducted by angry racists. I had my tonsils taken out. |
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May 21, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
State Of Shame
I'm about to insult some people right now I think. Actually, I'm about to insult an entire state, specifically, the state of West Virginia. Because West Virginia? You suck. You were pretty embarrassing last week, and I'm still mad at you for it. |
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May 14, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Hiding It From The Kids
I know that my daughter isn't my clone. She is her own person and will have her own experience of this disease. She will be helped through this with love and lots of inappropriately timed jokes. She will be fine in the end. I was. But right now I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach and I'd really like to kick someone back. |
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May 07, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Hooked On Froot
My weakness is Froot Loops. And craving Froot Loops on a daily basis isn't a weakness confession that will get me any sympathy beyond some arched eyebrows and a suspicious, "Really? Froot Loops? Don't you think that's a little weird?" |
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Apr 30, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
I Do Not Have Small Children
I do not have children from birth to age 5. They are older, much older and I am only now realizing that I
have been utterly winging it for the last few years. I have no book for these years and I'm starting to panic
just a little. |
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Apr 23, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Photos Photos Photos
Nicole discovered a few things while browsing for photographs in her iphoto folder. |
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Apr 16, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
100 Things That Annoy Me
I read quite a few blogs in my precious spare time. The new fad is lists of 100 things to do before I die.
And I find it unbearably annoying. |
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Apr 09, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Of Dirt and Dustbunnies
Wouldn't you want your house clean if a book club was meeting at your house? I had my house cleaned.
And not just cleaned. It was detailed from top to bottom. And I have a very healthy amount of guilt mixed
up in this. |
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Apr 02, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
May I Smell Your Car?
My first car was a 1967 Volkswagen Squareback. I'm a tad obsessed. I want to sit in a old Volkswagen and
sniff deeply and remember what it was like to have one of my very own. |
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Mar 26, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Notes and Errata
A few questions have come my way and since I'm all hopped up on sugar, why not address them now?
Besides, I still have strep throat and not even my mom wants to hear about it anymore. |
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Mar 19, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Monkey on My Back
Coffee! Elixir of the Gods! Why half and half was invented. I did not plan on stopping the coffee express, it
just happened. I was so so so sick that coffee never crossed my mind. |
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Mar 12, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Heavy Topic to Lighter Fare
Dermatologists love me because of my freckled Irish skin, the kind that requires measuring freckles and looking at them under magnifying glasses and jotting notes and prescriptions for sunscreens.
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Mar 05, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
All In My Head
I have spent my life seemingly lurching from one health crisis to another. Braces on the feet. Braces on the
teeth. Enough x-rays of my spine throughout childhood that I'm pretty sure that I glow under a black
light. |
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Feb 27, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Tale of Bad Shoes
I tend to exhibit some extremes when it comes to my wardrobe choices. Sometimes I like to blame
Catholic school for this, as years of wearing uniforms can dull one's dressing skills. |
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Feb 20, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Calling Out Sophia
My blood pressure has been high lately. So high, in fact, that yesterday I googled "high blood pressure".
Could it be a stroke? A brain bleed? How about someone named Sophia trying to charge $844 at Target
WITH MY DEBIT CARD? |
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Feb 13, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Defending the Valentine
Jettison the notion that Valentine's Day is reserved only for your sweetheart and that if you don't have one
you're not entitled to enjoy the holiday. Valentine's Day is an excuse to tell people you love them. And give
them candy if they want it. |
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Feb 06, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Secret Sauce
It has been well documented that I do not like to cook. But every once in a while, I like to really bust a
move, so to speak, in the kitchen. And because I know that sounds ridiculous, I offer you proof. |
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Jan 23, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Sippy Cup Grown Up
A mouse at Chez Freire leads to the Great Kitchen Clean Up of 2008. Then the question comes up of what
to do with all the colorful sippy cups now that the children are grown up? |
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Jan 16, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Nature Freaks Me Out
Some things give Nicole the creeps. What really makes her skin crawl and gives her an icky feeling in her
stomach is, of all things, acorns peeking out of holes in an oak tree. |
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Jan 09, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Lament of the Dishwasher
My love for my little kitchen is utterly conditional and extremely specific. I love my kitchen because it has
a dishwasher. |
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Jan 02, 2008
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Nicole Begins Her Column
Ed has asked me time and again and finally I have agreed to show up every Wednesday and do my little
writing thing. And I guess this is it. |
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Oct 04, 2007
NEWS FROM NICOLE
Ceramic Irish Setter
Surely you have heard about fancy wedding dresses, engraved invitations, tasteless wedding cake, and grooms who faint. And you have also probably heard tales of computer dating, blind dates, and love at first sight. Couples who have been married 30, 40, 50, heck, even 60 years, still holding hands and kissing in public. But have you heard the one about the two foot tall ceramic Irish Setter? |
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