Cunard’s newest ship, the Queen Victoria, christened in December, has finished its maiden voyage in Europe and is on its second in the Canary Islands. In a few days it will commence a transatlantic crossing along with the Queen Elizabeth 2 and both will meet up in New York with the Queen Mary 2. The January 13th gathering of the three ships in New York Harbor will be heralded with fireworks. The Queen Victoria will then depart on an around-the-world cruise, and the QE2, scheduled for retirement in 2008, will leave for its final world cruise (the QM2 only gets to go to the Caribbean, but as the biggest of the three it has enough to gloat about… even if it can’t fit through the Panama Canal).

The mute swans that grace ponds and shorelines are so lovely, so peaceful, so harmless. Really? Not according to some wildlife conservationists who are making some swan cons known. Connecticut now has 1,100 mute swans and critics call them an invasive species that is disrupting the shoreline habitats of native species. The N.Y. Times says they “devour eight pounds of aquatic vegetation per day and, in their daily feeding frenzy, uproot an additional 20 pounds of plants.” Attempts to control the swan population have been met with lawsuits from their supporters. On the west coast, Oregon has the mute swan on its 100 Most Dangerous Invaders list.

With little fanfare, and perhaps none warranted, Boston’s Big Dig project reached its official end as 2007 came to a close. Despite tragedies, lawsuits and unimaginable cost overruns, the city is left with an elegant bridge, a mile-long greenway, and, the point of it all, improved traffic.

It’s been 100 years since Seattle first hired nurses for the public schools. Back then nurses would make house calls to check on ailing students, sometimes even tending to other family members. Scarlet fever and mumps are no longer on their list of concerns, but school nurses still deal with immunization pushback and everyday scrapes. State-mandated health screenings and emergency-care plans for life-threatening situations take up much of their time. The Seattle school district can’t afford a full-time nurse for every school, but some schools hold fundraisers or set aside budget for more hours. The school nursing profession in the U.S. celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2002, 100 years after the successful placement of Lina Rogers Struthers, R.N. in a New York City public school.

I’ll be taking a blogging break for the holidays. Enjoy the remainder of 2007!

Seattle’s Theo Chocolate offers public tours twice a day, three times on Saturday & Sunday, plus they’ve noted an “extended tour schedule during the holidays.”

Putting on a ballet performance takes a lot of rehearsals. Filming a ballet perfectly also takes careful preparation. For the high definition recording of the San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker” the producers and directors hired an experienced camera crew, broke down each shot carefully to corresponding beats of the music, and taped a matinee performance for their own rehearsal. The veteran cameramen find the work pleasantly challenging, as they are guided through a large number of speedy shots, following the rhythm and motion of the dancers through their viewfinders. The results are currently being shown in select movie theaters and will be broadcast by PBS’ “Great Performances” next holiday season.

Fake home buyers steal from luxury homes during tours and also case properties for burglaries. But some just pretend to be luxury home buyers for the thrill of the fantasy. One imposter went so far as to sign actual title papers before he disappeared. The realtor later discovered that he had pulled the same con before.

At certain Whole Foods Markets you can get your purchases cooked to order and served to you with a cloth napkin and silverware. The service targets singles, couples, travelers, people who can appreciate a convenient meal with quality ingredients but who don’t want the overhead of a night out at a restaurant. The chefs enjoy the challenge of not knowing what the next customer will bring for them to whip into a meal.

Vacuuming kills fleas (96% of adult fleas, 100% younger fleas) say insect specialists at Ohio State University. The study involved vacuuming up fleas at different life stages from a carpet and was partially funded by the Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co.