Village Green/Town²

Have you heard of: Guerilla art? Geocaching? Pokémon Go? Kindness Rocks? I recently learned about the latter and soon realized that it's very much like a combination of the others on that list.  Here's how it works: You paint rocks, often adding an encouraging message. You identify them on the back with a hashtag to a local group. Then you go out and hide them. When someone finds one, they photograph it and post it to the Facebook group it has been tagged with. Then they rehide the rock for someone else to find and enjoy. In our area there are two Facebook groups you can join: Columbia Rocks, and HoCo Rocks. Here's more information about the Kindness Rocks Project: GOAL #1: INSPIRE OTHERS THROUGH RANDOMLY PLACED ROCKS ALONG THE WAY… GOAL #2: RECRUIT EVERY PERSON WHO STUMBLES UPON IT TO JOIN IN THE PURSUIT OF INSPIRING OTHERS THROUGH RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS I had a rock painting party with my daughters this week. Take a look at the variety of  our ...

Today's recommended reading: "Henrietta Lacks Immortalized with Street Dedications" by Marge Neal, East County Times . Never heard of East County Times? From their website: East County Times is your source for local news, events, coupons and more in eastern Baltimore County. Published weekly, the East County Times newspaper reaches tens of thousands of local residents throughout Essex, Middle River, Rosedale, White Marsh, Nottingham, Perry Hall, Kingsville, Edgemere and Dundalk. The banner announces that this is their 20th anniversary. From what I gather, East County Times is what the Columbia Flier used to be, back in the day: locally owned and operated. There's not a lot of that left anymore in the world of journalism. It's also a great reminder to me that there's life outside of Columbia and greater Howard County.  Writer Marge Neal is a friend of the blog. A search (there's a search bar at the bottom of this post) tells me that this i...

At the doctor's office. The doctor's assistant brings me down the hall, weighs me, takes my temperature, blood pressure, notes them in my chart. She sees I need an EKG, gets me set up, performs the test with a good-natured efficiency. I'm getting pre-op tests because I will be having tubes put in my ears to help with mild hearing loss. "In my other job I clean offices at night," she says. "And I once sucked up one of those really expensive hearing aids with the vacuum and I was worried whether it would still work after that!" We chatted about hearing aids, and how they were expensive, and how I was hoping not to go down that road quite yet. And then I was done and the doctor came in to complete the exam. I haven't stopped thinking about that warm and capable assistant/technician who breezed through all the medical procedures with friendliness and expertise and who spends her evening cleaning offices. I don't know anything else. I don'...

Put 'em on your calendar: Sunday, August 6th, 3 pm: Maryland All-State Community Band. Marriotts Ridge High School. Free Saturday, August 12th, 6 pm: Columbia Concer Band. Lurman Woodland Theatre. Free. Sunday, August 13th, 10 am: Chrysalis Kids: Music and Movement on the Chrysalis Stage. Free Monday, August 21st, 5:30 pm: HoCoBlogs party. Bare Bones Grill. Free. Not everything in life is free, of course, but these are some pretty cool free local events. See if you can guess which one I'm a part of.

Things my mother never stopped mourning: streetcars, really good train travel, and radio. You know, the golden age of radio when an entire family would gather together in the living room for their favorite programming. I was raised in a television era, one in which radios were for listening to music in the car. My teenaged sister sometimes listened to the top forty hits while she ironed every Saturday. Weekly ironing. Man, I am old. Something that is bringing back the old excitement of that radio feeling in our culture is the new world of podcasting. While the manner in which we consume the content has changed, the aspect of choosing favorites, looking forward to hearing them, devoting the time to listen is very similar. While we may listen individually, we discuss podcasts in multiple ways, both in person and online through social media. Some podcasts have a national, even international, following. Some are put together in such a homemade way as to suggest a reach of one or two ...

Have you seen these announcements by the Horizon Foundation? How would you like $10,000 for a social change project? Pitch your big idea today. #hocomd buff.ly/2eURjrX   The link takes you to information about the Changemaker Challenge. In short: If you have a big idea to make Howard County better, pitch it! Tell us about your idea by September 8, 2017. If your idea is chosen, you will be invited to present it to a live audience on October 30, 2017. If you are one of three winners, we’ll help bring your idea to life — together with $10,000 in seed funding, and project consultation.  When I saw the announcement, I immediately thought of a student-initiated petition I signed towards the end of the school year. Here it is. From the language of the petition: There needs to be a change! Sexual violence, rape, and sexual assault is not a joke! We need to educate people about rape culture, and explain all of the different types of sexual assault. "No means no" is not en...

Let it be known that, in the 50th anniversary season of its opening, I finally fell in love with Merriweather. I don't exactly know why it took so long, but, there it is. I suspect I stayed away because I'm not keen on crowds or summer heat. And for a long time our family budget didn't allow for extra expenditures during the summer. The weather gods have blessed me this year, smiling on both the Paul Simon concert and last night's performance by Belle and Sebastian. For this I am grateful. There's no question that milder temps and lower humidity have contributed to my growing appreciation of the venue. As much as I love music, I hate Maryland summers more, so it's a difficult balance. Last night my husband and I were surprised by a friend with two passes to the new VIP lounge/area (not sure what it's called). It's a really lovely respite from all the hustle and bustle plus the bathroom lines are way shorter. Everywhere we went last night when it wa...