Village Green/Town²

An interesting moment in this week’s Elevate Maryland podcast came about when hosts Tom Coale and Candace Dodson Reed turned their attention to shifting representation in the State Legislature. TC: We’re got the Year of the Woman in the General  assembly. CDR: (gives numbers of women elected) TC(going on)...in the context of  two years ago  , there being lobbyists were not even just harassing women, but touching them inappropriately. They were unsure how to deal with someone in the General Assembly who was accused of assaulting someone. In that context, the electorate responded with women leaders. And so now, I bet you, they’re going figure out a way to resolve the people that don’t know how to act, that you know don’t know  how to be in that environment. Because, just speaking from my personal experience, you’re not going to have someone like Courtney Watson go down to Annapolis and accept any of that type of behavior and so... CDR...

I’m staring at a blank page this morning. And how are you today? It isn’t that the ideas are lacking. In fact, I’ve got scads of them. But all of them require a bit more research and fleshing out before they are ready for prime time. Funny how that works. I was walking down the sidewalk at the Lakefront yesterday headed to the Elevate Maryland podcast taping/brunch at Lupa. It was a beautiful day. Almost Spring-like. A young couple was behind me. He: Actually, I was here yesterday, walking around the Lake. She: Walking around the Lake? Aren’t you the Hipster! And there you have it. I thought walking around the Lake was for retirees and Pioneers. Now it’s for Hipsters. Wow, the Howard Hughes Corporation moves fast. About Lupa. The service is excellent. And their willingness to host a local podcast and its assorted fans (hangers-on?) is admirable. I’m not used to the cost of eating there, though. I spent $45.00, including tip, on brunch yesterday. Yes, I had one cocktai...

Two of the four students who defaced Glenelg High School with “swastikas and other racial epithets” have had their day in court. They will serve weekends in jail. Two more have yet to be sentenced. I am not a lawyer. I am a teacher and a parent and an appalled community member and I have a lot of feelings and opinions about this. Is this what committing acts of religious and racial hatred amounts to in Howard County? Weekends in jail? I suppose the logical question would be, “Well, how much is enough?” Again, I’m not a lawyer. As the kids say, don’t @ me. I’ll tell you what would be enough. Take away the one thing that these young men have relied on all their lives to make the way easier. Take away the very reason they have great legal representation and, very likely, sentences that don’t even remotely match the severity of their crimes. Take away their white privilege. It’s white privilege, after all, that fed the hubris which fueled the plan to splash vile and filthy l...

It was right before Christmas when the legal paperwork for the Loft Wine and Spirits decision went public. I’m not in the habit of reading legal documents. So I went through it a few times to get a better sense of things. Wow, is it ever thorough. The 25 pages (26 if you count the signatures) are a comprehensive summary of evidence and testimony given before the Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board for Howard County, Maryland. (AKA: the Liquor Board.) The decision? The Board has decided in favor of granting the license. Cheers! Something to toast when you ring in the New Year. A real live mom and pop business made its case, supported by community members. The hearing, which took several evenings to complete, featured not only those in favor, but also a well-coordinated opposition and even some visits from local Republican candidates. This was hardly a one-sided affair. The process was professional and even-handed. All questions were asked and answered. Everyone had their say....

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the folks who are my lifeline when it comes to writing this blog. You just can’t do a local thing like this without connections. And advice. And second opinions.  This put me in mind of an old family story I shared years ago on the blog: 19 Closest Friends Years ago, my sister's high school boyfriend came to her with a story of a nightmare. He dreamed that she had died and had left everything to her "19 Closest Friends." He spent the whole dream trying to find out if he was one of them. For some reason, the story of the 19 Closest Friends became legendary in my family. It still means something to me, many years later. Or maybe I could think of them like BoE Member Vicky Cutroneo’s “Unusual Coalition”. I like that concept , too. During the campaign someone referred to my supporters as unusual coalition.  I take that as a compliment and I’d like to thank my unusual coalition for their support. Except they’re not ...

The dictates of popular culture for December 26th:  you’ll be dragging your Christmas tree to the curb, buying lots of organizing bins at Target, buying liquor for a New Year’s Eve Party, and reading lots of end of year articles online. Those articles will be divided between the “Ten Top” whatevers and the “Be Better in 2019” New Year’s resolution type. My recommendation for you comes from The Capital: A new year doesn’t need a new you  by Dr. Benna Sherman The premise of her piece is that real self improvement comes from an assessment of what you have done right and building upon it, rather than beating yourself up about what you have done wrong. As a parent and an early childhood educator I know this to be true. So what don’t I treat myself this way? Why do I berate myself in a way I’d never do with my family or my students? There’s a belief held by many people that being hard on yourself will make you a better person. For most people it works the other way. Bein...

Blast from the past this morning. I hope you enjoy it. (From December, 2014) Staff Meeting Santa and Santa's helpers have been taxed to the max in Howard County this year. It seems that every holiday season brings more opportunities to see the Man in Red. I can just imagine a staff meeting at the North Pole... "Okay everybody, let's get this show on the road." "Aw, c'mon man, it's only Halloweeeeeen!" "You know the drill. It gets earlier every year. Gotta keep up with the times." "Everybody have their calendar?" iPads, phones, and Blackberries are pulled out. Santa himself clings to his beloved Day-Timer but his Head Administrative Elf double-checks everything and enters it into the Main Schedule on his MacBook. "Herb?" "Mumph?" "Herb, what are you doing? That's an Advent Calendar. You can't open that up yet!" "It's last year's. Didn't eat all the ...

I toyed with making this a “Christmas Eve Message” but then decided that wasn’t quite right. Not everyone who reads this blog celebrates Christmas. I don’t necessarily need to make my world be everybody’s world today. I don’t have to center everything on myself and my experiences. I thought a lot about that as my husband and I explored the new LA Mart grocery store in Oakland Mills. It’s not anything like grocery stores I am used to. The shelves are lined with unfamiliar items labeled in languages I don’t know. Much of the produce is unfamiliar to me as well. As we wandered down each aisle we saw couples and families discussing and picking out items quite comfortably. Some spoke in English, some did not. My husband was filled with a sense of joy and adventure as he encountered each new display. I forget somestimes that he didn’t grow up here. Between Ireland, England, and travel in Europe he is quite used to shopping in markets with multiple languages and cultures included as a...

We talk about the struggle of folks who live paycheck to paycheck. That was my life as a young married person and then as a divorced mom for many years. But there’s another kind of struggle which comes from too much work, too many commitments, not enough time. How do you make a life, how do you make a home, when there’s not enough time? My husband and I both work full time. He works two jobs. We both have extra events on evenings and weekends. Our teenaged daughter has rehearsals, church events, social gatherings... We just got our Christmas tree up yesterday. If Amazon did not exist we would not be having presents at all. Perhaps part of our problem is that we are all innately introverts, so we require a lot of recovery time from all those outside commitments. Cleaning the house for the holidays, baking cookies, decorating, sending cards? Nope, we’re cocooning. We have to be nudged to get moving on those things. Back in the day, and by this I do mean the “white middle c...

You’re going down to Main Street to pick up your 10-dollar voucher and do some last minute shopping today, right? May I recommend a visit to Georgia Grace Café? The food is delicious and prices are reasonable. Service is excellent. The view from the front window is fabulous. Perfect for people-watching, too. There’s loads of decorative touches and architectural detail to admire. Make sure to order coffee. It’s really, really good.  Leave room for dessert! Or maybe take some with you for later? George Grace is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 8 am to 5 pm. They are located at 8006 Main Street. Also today: Clarksville Commons is hosting. holiday pop up market with guest-for-the-day Tin Lizzie. 11 am to 4 pm. Learn more here .  And, don’t forget, it’s your last chance to visit Celebration   in the Woods—admission is free today! Event is free this Saturday! Celebration in the Woods Adve...

Breaking news on December 17th: Front page December 20th: Breaking news November 6th: Front page November 8th: What a difference a day makes, eh? I’m thrilled that our new Fire Chief got the front page treatment that she and her historic appointment deserve. I guess we can look at that quick turnaround time as progress. Maybe? There’s still an uncomfortable little voice inside me that says that someone, somewhere thinks it will be easier for Howard County to countenance a white woman in a groundbreaking position of leadership than three Black men. And that troubles me. Event is free this Saturday! Celebration in the Woods Advent Calendar:  https://calendar.myadvent.net/?id=11dfaa56f70578e204b73fee207a6441

A few questions for your Thursday: 1. Can we even think of calling Columbia a city when our high school students can’t have their senior proms here? 2. Did Democrats go underground and create nasty troll accounts when Kittleman was elected? (Have you seen what Calvin Ball is being subjected to by Republicans?) 3. What’s the protocol for a deciding that a budget is “almost one billion”? What’s the rounding-up policy? 4. Has anyone tried the new grocery store in Oakland Mills? 5. Why wasn’t the Bridge Columbia project completed with a fresh cost of paint? It really needs it. 6. Have Columbia Villages made any progress on implementing online voting? 7. Howard County has a Bike Plan, but how about a Sidewalk Plan? Do we have a group that advocates for increased pedestrian connections in Columbia/HoCo? (See Dobbin Road.) 8. If you had 100 dollars to donate to a local cause/nonprofit, what would it be? 9. What is one way you are hoping that Columbia/HoCo will improve i...

A brief moment of protest. I’m not entirely sure what “Living your best life” entails, but I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t require  the purchase of this or any other product. This piece in Highsnobiety asks, What Does Living Your Best Life Mean, Anyway? Looking at this advert made me think of a hilarious recording by Stan Freberg that my family played each year. Entitled “Green Christma$”, it was a send-up of how an ad agency and various business looked to commercialize every aspect of the holidays to sell more product. You can listen to it here .  Yesterday my school participated in our annual December all-school assembly. Included in the mix is the time-honored tradition of having faculty and admin act out Dr. Seuss’s Grinch story. It contains a message particularly precious in a Quaker school as we aim for simplicity in a highly consumerized  world. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come fro...

Slept through the alarm. It’s a no blog Tuesday. Talk amongst yourselves. Back tomorrow. Celebration in the Woods Advent Calendar:  https://calendar.myadvent.net/?id=11dfaa56f70578e204b73fee207a6441

I’ve been slow warming up to Christmas preparations this year. I lost a week due to that aforementioned chest cold. All the rain hasn’t helped either. Tonight we went to the home of HoCoHouseHon (and hubs) for some pre-holiday family time. We got to see their tree and decorations, played a new game (Obama Llama), ordered in Indian food, and capped it all off with a trip through the Symphony of Lights. All through the evening I felt something inside me unwinding. The stress of all the things that must be done fell away as we laughed and talked. The trip through the Symphony of Lights felt sweeter and also more alive, as the displays are now much closer to the pathways.  My daughter had chosen her own musical mix for our drive-through soundtrack. Downtown Columbia twinkling with colored lights while accompanied by the Kings Singers and the Christmas Revels was almost too much joy to bear. Looking through the Sparkling Toy Factory to the eloquently simple arches of the Chrys...