Village Green/Town²

Me: It's feeling like a no blog day. I'll keep you posted. Mike: It's early, don't give up hope. Thanks, Mike. I needed that. Mike is, to my knowledge, the only other HoCo Blogger who writes seven days a week. So, if he says that: he knows. ***** The truth is, I find myself overwhelmed (again) by the general hopelessness of the country. It’s hard to make myself write about interesting local things when a little voice keeps telling me it’s all pointless. Why go anywhere? Why do anything? You see my problem. I also seem to be suffering from a case of the Get Off My Lawn virus, if there is such a thing. And it’s clearly giving me writer’s block to some degree. In order to excorcise it, I’m going to allow myself to rage about one current pet peeve.  Feel free to push back. Or share one of your own. Here goes: Having an event? Great!  Tell me where it is. Don’t make me click to find out. I am not going to invest one scintilla* of effort to head in your direction if you can’t...

  Yesterday I felt like I was running on fumes. I went on Facebook and asked:  Anyone out there feeling inspired this morning? Results were mostly no. Two were enthusiastically yes. For those of you who like to analyze* the numerical breakdown:  9 responses in total 2 yes 5 no 1 I don’t know yet, just woke up 1 a little  This one tugged at my heart strings: A little - - did you need some shared? Today’s not much better, I’m sorry to say. I love to be whimsical on Fridays and I’m just about fresh out. I’m full of heavy thoughts, not to mention assorted complaints. I’m going to spare you those. Here’s a thought for your day: I am so grateful for all the folks who don’t have much and still respond to their neighbors: I have a little - - did you need some shared?  Have a wonderful Friday. If you have any whimsy, please send some my way. Village Green/Town² Comments *Small sample size. Results not statistically significant.

  I went looking for something on Facebook recently and discovered I was dead.  Let me explain. I discovered some time ago that I could search my past Facebook posts by typing my name plus probable key words into the search bar. This has also helped me track down photos that for some reason I hadn’t saved to my iPad. The last time I did this something very different happened. I was looking for a thread in which I asked someone “are you lost?” and this happened. Excuse me? This must be a mistake. I tried it again, with slightly different search words. Friends, I am not dead.  My arm hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I am homesick. But I am not dead. I am mightily sick and tired of the stupidity of AI as it degrades more and more of daily life. Imagine my surprise when I searched Instacart to see if a particular store carried muffins. Did you mean muffins, puffins? Why do you ask?  Do many of your customers come looking for muffins, puffins? Are they also looking for eggs...

  I have never won any elections, with the exception of somehow becoming President of the Concert Choir in 12th grade. The other two things I ran for did not go well.  It is very hard to lose. I’ve been there. Today the primary election is over. It won’t be a happy day for everyone. My heart goes out to all the folks who fought the good fight, believed in something passionately, and did not see the result they had hoped for. My heart does not go out to people who fought dirty, told lies, spread rumors, encouraged the basest kind of behavior, and did all they could to poison the local discourse.  You and your candidate(s) did not win. You have damaged our community in a way that will most likely live beyond the primary season. People used to use the expression, “We’re better than this!” when something troubling happened in Columbia/HoCo. Let’s be honest: clearly we are not. We are not “better than this.” We could be a whole lot better than we have shown ourselves to be. ...

 Two things I’d like you to do today.  1. Vote (if you haven’t already) and encourage at least one other person to vote. 2. Watch this video. Triumph of the Human Spirit: Dr. Lorenzo Pace It’s five minutes and forty-five seconds long. You have time.  The film focuses on Dr. Pace’s sculpture “ Triumph of the Human Spirit ” which stands in Foley Square in NYC and the events which led to its creation. Dr. Lorenzo Pace  : artist, author, master storyteller and performance artist, and lecturer What motivates me to create art is the precious opportunity to inspire others to think higher, deeper, and larger; to think about the value and necessity of caring for themselves, others, and our planet; to think simply of other ways of being, seeing, learning, loving and manifesting a greater degree of peace in our world. - - Dr. Lorenzo Pace Here’s more from the Office of the Mayor, New York: On Juneteenth, Mayor Mamdani Releases Video Honoring the Legacy of Black New Yorkers Zohr...

From Window Dressing, March 19th, 2023: Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance. This photo accompanies a piece on Maryland Reporter entitled “Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance.” (Len Lazarick, Maryland Reporter, 3/12/2023.) The caption for the photo reads: Former Republican Gov. Bob Ehlrich on the stairs speaks to a crowd of Howard County Republicans during a Feb. 25 fundraiser at the home of Marleen Eck, far right, in Glenelg. Next to her is the county's GOP Chair Beth Lawson.  Well, it looks as though Howard County Republicans are taking an interesting chance in this election by running just about no one. It’s hard for me to say if this is because no one wants to run or they do but they don’t like their chances. The national face of the Republican Party has done Howard County no favors. Many, many local residents do not want what he is selling: selfishness, cruelty, racism, violence. This does not mean that t...