Things to Talk About

I was at a Farm to School Convention in Sturbridge yesterday learning about local frozen broccoli sales to school lunch rooms and how we can teach kids where their food comes from. On the way home I stopped in at Maguire's and found a group that had been to Mary Nolan's funeral. Mrs. Nolan was 88 years old and the matriarch of family that includes 21 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren. Mrs. Nolan was a Freitas and also has innumerable nieces, nephews, and cousins. Because of an unfortunate schedule I missed both the wake and the funeral, but Mrs. Nolan was so well-liked that she was remembered fondly by many during the last several days in many places in town. A former paper boy recalled that she always had a home baked goodie ready for him when he delivered the paper. I recalled the tremendous help she was during the production of the Frothingham Park video. She gave of her time behind the scenes with background information about the park in the late 1930s and early 1940s and then had a star turn in the film itself. I can still remember her sitting in the stands with friends waiting for her chance on camera taking in all the bustle of a professional film production and chatting about the old days in town. I'm sure her extended family will miss her forever, but many other folks in town will remember her as well.

Speaking of Maguire's, along with the traditional Irish fare this weekend they will be featuring a "New Irish Cuisine" salmon and shrimp salad over romaine with walnuts and cranberries that is outstanding.

I took my IPad to Sturbridge yesterday and can highly recommend the app called Penultimate that turns the IPad into a notebook that can be written on with a stylus. My 47 pages of scribbled notes were then turned into a PDF file that I sent to my e-mail address. No, it doesn't turn my terrible handwriting into a typed manuscript. There are some things that are still beyond the range of even the best technology.

A couple of interesting websites popped up this week. The first is wikipaintings, an online encyclopedia of painting that is still in beta testing. Its a very large collection of art arranged in some interesting ways. The paintings are all supposed to be found on the Internet, but I found quite a few that are neglected by other major art sites. Don't be fooled by the initial offerings for each artist. Check under the main slide show for additional works. The other site is National Geographic's story of a lost Leonardo da Vinci painting of a tragic beauty from the Renaissance.