Birding is So Metal, Part III: The Fashion Scene

Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment of Vanessa’s Birding is So Metal series.  If you enjoy this column, check out “Finding the Scene” and “Scene Etiquette.”   I am no fashion plate. I’ve been known to wear the same pair of jeans for weeks, until they get up and walk themselves to the… Continue reading Birding is So Metal, Part III: The Fashion Scene

Birding is So Metal, Part II: Scene Etiquette and the Painted Bunting

Editor’s Note — This is the second in a series on a hobby that’s pretty freakin’ metal: birding.  (That’s “bird-watching” for all you noobs who don’t even have a Slayer patch on your battle vest.)  Read “Birding is So Metal, Part I: Finding the Scene” here. Just over a year into my birding career I… Continue reading Birding is So Metal, Part II: Scene Etiquette and the Painted Bunting

Birding is So Metal, Part I: Finding the Scene

Pileated Woodpecker at Bartlett Arboretum

On a beautiful sunny day near the end of October I walked into the woods behind Cove Island Park with my binoculars and camera, ready to take pictures of birds and other wildlife. This is my thing. It has been for almost four years. When out and about with my camera I am in my… Continue reading Birding is So Metal, Part I: Finding the Scene

Listening Lately: Sarah Golley, Laini and the Wildfire, and White (The Band)

Something has been going on in our local social media world lately: singer-songwriter Sarah Golley has organized a Facebook group called CT Original Musicians-Master List where people can discuss The Scene and promote their own music and the music of others.  I’m happy to find many talented women musicians in the group, which is something… Continue reading Listening Lately: Sarah Golley, Laini and the Wildfire, and White (The Band)

Album Review: Brown (8×3), by The Sawtelles

By Jeff McCarthy The Sawtelles are one of Connecticut’s most prolific bands, with 13 self-released albums as well as a few on D.I.Y labels.  The husband/wife act performs on a variety of instruments — banjos, ukuleles, guitar, and drums — and are just not exclusively limited to any one instrument. The Plantsville-based band just put out yet… Continue reading Album Review: Brown (8×3), by The Sawtelles

Women in Business, Part VII: HandHewnFromMe2You

This summer interview series focuses on Connecticut women who work hard to take their talents to the next level.  Wilton artisan Ana Kristina is a perfect example of this.  She’s turned her love of paper crafts and an eye for detail into a full-time business, HandHewnFromMe2You.  In an email interview, she and I talked about… Continue reading Women in Business, Part VII: HandHewnFromMe2You

Cat Lady Book Reviews: 100 Things to Do in Hartford Before You Die

Despite being a Connecticut resident all my life, I had no idea there was so much to do in Hartford.  I’ve lived mostly in the southwestern end aside from some brief stints in Hamden, and the Nutmeg State’s capitol city has been off my radar since the Webster Underground shows of yore. (I know the… Continue reading Cat Lady Book Reviews: 100 Things to Do in Hartford Before You Die