Village Green/Town²

It’s February 17th and a local business is shouting: SUMMER IS PRACTICALLY HERE!!! I look out the window. I disagree. But the business is Maslow’s Loom and they are selling summer camp experiences for school children. I think what they mean to say is, if you haven’t already planned all your kid’s summer camps already, you’re in trouble. Many folks try to get all that squared away in January. It’s February, for Heaven’s sake. Time is running out!  I remember realizing that I would never get to be at home in the summer with my first child. It was a bitter moment. I was divorced. I had to work. Luckily I worked at the school summer camp so we got to be closer together than most. But there was absolutely no choice, no agency in how we spent our summers. On the other hand, my mother was saddled with three children in the summers back in the day as my father headed off to work. No one asked *her* what she’d rather do. I remember an endless string of days filled with outdoor play, running...

I promised myself that, if I got my piece on the Talbott Springs Pool written and posted, I would treat myself to some local pizza from a place I had never tried before. And I did. Last Thursday’s lunch from Pupatella I was driving home from a friend’s house and had the idea. I stopped at the Giant Palace 9 parking lot, perused the menu at nearby Pupatella on my phone, and placed an order. By the time I drove down 108 to the restaurant, my order was just about ready. Wowza. Pupatella has 11 locations in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. They specialize in authentic Neapolitan pizza. “It’s chewier,” the woman at the restaurant hastened to inform me when I came in to get my order. (I wonder if this means that some folks don’t understand differing styles of pizza and expect it to be something else.) The service was friendly and welcoming and I would definitely feel positive about coming back another day to eat-in. (At an uncrowded time, of course.) I wasn’t there long enough to take in how ...

  The top ten Columbia/HoCo things that make my heart skip a beat: Driving through Oakland Mills in the Spring and Fall when everything is alive with color Concerts at the Chrysalis The library, especially the East Columbia Branch Views of the Lakefront  Pumpkin season at Clark’s Elioak Farm The Farmer’s Market at Clarksville Commons Watching kids sled down the hill in front of our house Ordinary people turning out to support their neighbors  Freetown Farm School communities that help kids thrive Some honorable mentions:  The Holiday Inn in Jessup that rescued us with an allergy-asthma friendly room this summer when I felt like life just couldn’t get worse. Tribos Peri Peri in Ellicott City for being the place where we are always welcomed and appreciated. Folks who provide me with opportunities to learn something new about my community. How about you  - -  what’s on your list? Whatever you decide to do today, I hope you have a little bit of community love t...

 Love hearts. That’s what they are called on an episode of my favorite BBC panel show, “QI.” American research scientist Janelle Shane programmed a similar neural network to read existing slogans on Love Hearts sweets, and the program suggested new slogans: "Loving horn", "Buns, buns, buns" and "All hail the chicken".  We would call them “conversation hearts.” They’re made of sugar, cornstarch, and sentiment, I guess. They are as hard as cement and have no particular flavor. Rather like their sister sweets, Necco Wafers. Now made by Spangler, they’re marketed under the brand name “Sweethearts.” Each year they try to update their sayings a bit to remain relevant to popular culture trends.  To my knowledge, real people make these word choices and not neural networks preloaded with specially curated content. I’m not quite sure how this all works because I think that most of these candies are purchased for kids. How will sentiments like their new theme, “Lo...

Once upon a time, when I was a newly elected member of the Oakland Mills Village Board, I attended a big to-do at a downtown hotel which gathered together all the newly elected members of all the village boards along with Columbia Association leadership and the elected CA board members. A festive orientation, of sorts. There were probably refreshments. I don’t remember.  We were seated at round tables in a large banquet room. It was possible that I knew only one or two people in the entire room. The gentleman across from me smiled and said,  “I’m Billy Smith, the CA Rep from X Village and you’re not going to like me because I want to get rid of your pool!” That’s one heck of a way to introduce yourself to a new village board member, Billy Smith.* So begins my story of the trials and tribulations of the Talbott Springs Pool, one of the neighborhood pools being considered for closure by the Columbia Association. For as long as I have understood what Columbia is, and what the Co...

  It was not until I saw a local request on Facebook that I learned that heart-shaped pizza was a thing. Live and learn.  This put me in mind of a recent discussion on the Columbia Reddit: Why is pizza here so bad?   r/ColumbiaMD Don’t worry - - the thread itself is not a litany of discontent. Well, not entirely. If you have strong opinions about pizza or are just looking for a new place to try, this thread will come through for you. Imagine that reading a food review were more like eating a bowl of popcorn. It’s long but you just keep wanting to read a little bit more.  At the moment I am working on a post about the CA proposal to replace some neighborhood pools with splashpads and it is breaking my brain.  If I manage to get it up tomorrow I think I will reward myself with pizza. Do you have any opinions on pizza or pools? Let me know. Village Green/Town² Comments

  Stubborn. Yep, that must be it. Why didn’t I think of that? Crews still working to move stubborn snow 11 days after storm, Snow mounds pile up in neighborhoods amid frigid temps , Jack Watson, WMAR 2 News If you are wondering why all that snow is still in your way, friends, the answer is clear: it’s just stubborn. I’ve seen stubborn used for mules, schoolchildren that aren’t compliant, and, of course, laundry stains. (I grew up in an era where advertisers thought that all women wanted was “to get rid of stubborn stains.”) Snow? Stubborn? It has just as much agency as laundry stains. If you’ve been trying to shovel this stuff, that was your first mistake. You need a tool that eradicates stubbornness.  What would that be exactly? This sentence from the WMAR 2 News piece is both hilarious and cringe-worthy somehow: Tim Gibson broke out the shovel yet again, hoping the sun would do him a solid and get all the snow to liquid. But it does give a hint to our current situation and i...

  Welcome to staring at a blank page Monday.  How was your weekend? High points for me: Watching the world discover on Bluesky that County Executive Calvin Ball is a real human being and not just a game created by cartoonist Bill Watterson. That was delightful. Last night’s half-time show. Reading picture books online courtesy of the Howard County Library, especially this one. Highly recommend.  Water Can Be  by Laura Purdue Salas, Illustrations by Violeta Dabija  I've been so inundated with adverts for Super Bowl related products and events, followed by Valentine’s Day products and events that I am tempted to write a post about local things you can do to NOT celebrate Valentine’s Day this year.  Enough already. This event sounds fun if you’re not allergic. Ever the grammatical nitpicker, I can’t help but point out that cats do not wish to be painted. Image from the Pottery Stop social media  Daniels in Elkridge is again hosting their anti-Valentine’...

  I wouldn’t call it a protest.  You couldn’t exactly characterize it as gang activity.  Loitering, maybe? You may think you want to shop at Ross Dress for Less in the Columbia Crossing shopping center. The Canada geese have other ideas.  Move along, human. We live here now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that portion of the parking lot filled to capacity. Perhaps we should retrofit it as a bird sanctuary? All that pavement can’t be good for their feet.  ***** The good folks at Comics to Astonish were the victims of the kind of astonishment that nobody wants yesterday. Somehow they still managed to get it all cleaned up, open for business, and even host their usual Friday night gaming group. I’m not a gamer, but I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for this place ever since they posted a lost and found for this sweet little guy in 2021. If you’re into comics or gaming cards (is that proper terminology?) now would be a very good time to visit Comics to Astonish :...

  There’s a new online community which is non competitive, non judgemental, doesn’t ask for money or a ton of personal information. Would you be interested?  I’m not sure I would have been aware of it at all had I not seen Alie Ward (Oligies) post about it on Bluesky. This is your sign to come make a little art every day with us! Doodl is a human-only drawing community built around daily prompts and shared ritual. No Al art. No pressure. Just creativity, together! Join the beta. Hmm… I’ve doodling all my life. (And now I know why .) Yet I’ve always felt terrible at art and struggled in traditional art classes.  During the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns I started keeping an art journal in spite of all that. I had a lot of negative baggage about any kind of visual art and I just decided to put it all to the side and “do art” purely because I wanted to. Not because I was talented or skilled. Because it felt good and made me happy. I’m still doing it. After all this time...

  Normally I'm not in favor of straight news articles being headed by questions. If an answer is unknown then you simply state the facts. I’ve made up a few examples: Committee members weigh choices in upcoming equipment purchase Outcome of design contest questioned by community group Ongoing disagreement at city hall delays construction project When I see a straight news article titled with a question I am inclined to think I am reading a gossip column or an opinion piece. I suspect that, if the reporter had done more research, they might have come up with the answer to the question instead of asking the reader. I mean - - for heaven’s sake - - don’t ask me . I’m here to find out. A question feels more like clickbait. In commentary pieces, a question-title works. I use them on the blog from time to time. (Today, for instance.) To be clear, there’s no law that says you can’t use a question. It’s a time-honored journalistic convention, not a crime. However…in the case of this piece...

  I’m about to step into one of those cultural phenomena that I’m probably unqualified to hold forth on. But, after my amazing debacle in 2024 where I completely failed to miss the meaning of Savage Mills - Bridgerton-themed invitation, I am going to tread more carefully on this one.  I present to you an upcoming event at Elliot’s Craft Kitchen which is billed as a “Girl Dinner.” Image from Elliot’s Craft Kitchen social media Here are the details from the event page: Live Music with Jimi Haha of Jimmies Chicken Shack and an amazing  GIRL DINNER Event by Elliott's Craft Kitchen 8330 Benson Dr, Columbia, MD, United States, Maryland 21045 What to expect: We have an incredible event coming up on Saturday February 7. We have Jimi HaHa from Jimmies Chicken Shack performing live. Don't miss this event which is being paired with an amazing GIRL DINNER! Well, alrighty then. Since we’re using ALL CAPS, what is a GIRL DINNER? This article on Wikihow traces the term to TikTok user ...

I honestly didn’t realize how pointed yesterday’s post had turned out until I saw one reader describe it as “spicy.”  Although I don’t want change anything (in light of that assessment) I do want to reassure folks that I think it’s perfectly fine to feel frustration, to ask questions about things don’t make sense, and to vent or complain when you are simply on your last nerve. That’s completely normal.  There are plenty of times that  I have questioned issues pertaining to the school system. Schools are not an unquestionable monolithic institution. But they are also not able to: … be magically prepared at all times for challenges that haven’t ever happened before and for which no immediate solutions exist …(from yesterday’s post) By all means question things which you believe ought to be within the school system’s ability to do. Or ask questions purely because you don’t understand. That’s not what set me off yesterday. My apologies if that was not clear. Speaking of que...

  The public is nothing if not consistent. Howard County has been trapped for over a week under snow which soon became ice, better known as “snowcrete.” Ongoing low temperatures have made it excruciatingly difficult to remove. Yet so many folks are irate that schools didn’t open “yesterday.” I saw one post about how there was no reasonable justification for closing schools “simply for cold weather.” Please give this person all the variables and constraints and make them come up with a workable plan “yesterday.” We talk a lot in early childhood education about logical consequences. That’s what this armchair critic needs, I think. This particular kind of response is related to so many others when it comes to schools.  Have you ever seen snow like this?  No. Have you ever struggled to remove snow like this?  No. BUT…Schools should have handled this already. This sounds a lot like the early days of COVID-19, doesn’t it? Have we ever encountered an illness like this?...

  Today is the first day of Black History Month. I’m devoting this space today to boosting the signal of Howard County’s Anti-Racist Education Alliance.  Follow them on Facebook  to learn more and to stay up to date on their local initiatives. Update: I just learned that the Monday event has been canceled. Will make a better correction once I know more .  This year’s Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action begins tomorrow, February 2nd. The Black Lives Matter At School Week of Action sponsored by the Anti-Racist Education Alliance, Inc. kicks off Monday, 2/2,  with our Restorative Justice event. Link to register:  Restorative Justice event Oratory contest: 1st place entry 6th through 8th grade and 1st place entry 9th through 12th grade will win $300. Speeches due 2/1 by 11:59 pm. Request a packet by emailing: antiracisteducationalliance@gmail.com . Tuesday, February 3: Fundraiser at Main Event. 6:30 pm - close. Wednesday, February 4th: patronize local B...

  Today’s post is all food. Here goes: There’s a new grocery in town. It’s called Triveni Supermarket and it’s in Ellicott City. They held their Grand Opening event on January 14th and you can even take a look around on their promotional YouTube video.  Triveni specializes in South Indian foods and even has a food court of ready made specialties. They are located at 8450 Baltimore National Pike, Suite 170, Ellicott City, Maryland, USA 21043. (Normandy shopping center.) ***** Thanks to all this crazy winter weather, the Howard County Restaurant and Craft Beverages Weeks event has been extended to February 8th. This page on  Visit Howard County  will tell you everything you need to know. There’s also a helpful explanation of the  LocalHoCo Open Rewards Program .  ***** I saw an announcement for a new venture called HoCo Thrive Markets which looks to be  in conjunction with the U.S. 1 Flea Market.  HoCo Thrive Markets was created with intention, care...