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DEIRDRE FULTON

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Give peace a chance

Yoko Ono on why John Lennon's art remains relevant
This year marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-In, which found the newlywed couple pontificating about peace from their Amsterdam honeymoon bed for a week. Decades later, the couple is still working together to promote social justice, with Ono publicizing exhibits of Lennon's playful, sometimes colorful, often childlike, works of art.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 26, 2009

Back-to-school supplies

What you won't find on your syllabus
After a summer that started with a monsoon and coasted into its final lap with a heat wave, when we talked about Wilco, celebrity deaths, and Shakespeare in the park, when we feared tasers and crime sprees, and we consumed Mexican food and ice cream, we're ready to make the transition into fall.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 26, 2009

Open your pie hole

Ten places to stuff your face with pizza
Pizza is at the top of most students' survival-kit necessities (along with beer, sleep, and coffee). Luckily, whether your tastes lean in the standard dough-sauce-cheese direction, or run toward the artisan variety, there's a pizza option for you in Portland. We've collected our top 10 favorites here (in no particular order), and make suggestions about when to visit each one.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 26, 2009

Why wind power blows

Why we shouldn't overload our energy basket with wind eggs
The world is looking for a no-brainer solution to the 21st century's impending energy crisis, and wind power seems to provide many of the right answers.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 19, 2009

Whole Foods health-care boycott gathers momentum

Human Rights Watch
Unfortunately for Whole Foods Market CEO and founder John Mackey, those who appreciate his store for the healthy, eco-friendly (read: left-leaning, progressive) lifestyle it promotes are the same citizens who support universal health care.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 24, 2009

Back to basics

MENSK revisits its original purpose
Sometimes the biggest stumbling block for our fantastic ideas is a small, seemingly insignificant hurdle — a missing piece of paperwork, a logistical snafu, one degree of separation too many.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 12, 2009

Dead like me

Tonya Hurley's high-school afterlife
"Perception vs. reality. In high school, they are pretty much the same thing." So writes Tonya Hurley, author of ghostgirl and ghostgirl: Homecoming (Little Brown), two books ostensibly written for young adults but with elements that are just as appealing to grown-ups.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 05, 2009

Weathering the weather

Going Green
Sweltering summer heat is finally upon us, along with how-to-keep-cool considerations.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 05, 2009

Just the beginning

The battle for marriage equality really starts now
More than a few people asked us why we are publishing this special section now — now that gay-marriage opponents have filed their People's Veto signatures, now that same-sex marriages will not be taking place at least until after Mainers vote on the issue on November 3.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 04, 2009

Lacking magic

Richard Russo's latest slice of life is too thin
There's a lot to be said for literary realism, which tackles head-on the quotidian realities that postmodernism and surrealism often cloak in gimmicks or avoid altogether. Maine author (and Portland Phoenix reader fave) Richard Russo is nothing if not a realist; his previous novels portray believable characters navigating familiar, relatable scenarios.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 29, 2009

Local Sprouts dig in

Venue watch + more
For two years, the Local Sprouts Cooperative has been creating a name for itself as a sustainable and healthy catering and meal cooperative in Portland. Hanifa Washington, a worker-owner and chef, likens it to "Superman in slo-mo," saying that the organization has experienced a "steady advance" since its inception in 2007.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 29, 2009

Cyberchondriacs

Online health info can make you crazy
Last year, a co-worker (who shall remain nameless to save her from additional embarrassment) discovered a bug bite on her leg. It was slightly different than a typical mosquito bite; it was more bruise-like, and a bit painful to the touch. Not having any insect-bite specialists on hand, my colleague turned to the Internet for help identifying the source of her ailment.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 22, 2009

Filling a legal void

Arts and the law
One thing many artists don't have a lot of is legal expertise. Another is money. And in most cases, you need one to get the other. That's where the Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts comes in.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 15, 2009

Loan Groan

A new federal program aims to help overburdened student borrowers
Each month, with miserable certitude, the snail-mailboxes of middle-class twenty- and thirtysomethings are stuffed with student-loan bills, from both federal and private lenders. The balance seems to remain stagnant, even as we mail in check after check.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 08, 2009

On tour

New material? Don't forget the old
Right about now, Aimee Mann is freaking out.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 08, 2009

The Loan Groan

Never a borrower or a lender be dept.
Each month, with miserable certitude, the snail-mailboxes of middle-class twenty- and thirtysomethings are stuffed with student-loan bills, from both federal and private lenders. The balance seems to remain stagnant, even as we mail in check after check.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 08, 2009

Going Green: July 10, 2009

Smart solar
Maine will never be a leader in wind-energy development, says Richard Silkman, co-founder and -manager of a firm that could revolutionize the way we address energy issues in this state and throughout the region. "We missed our chance," he stated flatly during a presentation at the Maine Audubon Society in June.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 08, 2009

Crime stats

Beatings, robberies sweep downtown Portland
Over the past two weeks, Portlanders have felt less safe in the Forest City. Especially in the downtown area between the East and West Ends, there have been reports of assaults and robberies, some of them armed — and that's not counting the incidents that went officially unreported but were discussed at length on Facebook and within social circles.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 01, 2009

Human rights watch

Acknowledging, and punishing, torture
Last week, on the heels of anti-torture panels and protests in Portland, Washington DC, and elsewhere, the Justice Department told the nation that it would have to wait a few more days before information about American torture policies and practices is made public.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 24, 2009

Supreme court

Maine senators playing major role in Sotomayor confirmation
Next month, Congress will begin confirmation hearings to decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the 55-year-old Bronx native whom President Barack Obama nominated last month to fill retiring Justice David Souter's spot on the nine-member bench.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 17, 2009