Village Green/Town²

  Eight years ago I walked in the door for the first time. Trying Trifecto , August 3, 2018 Last night I was there to celebrate their eighth birthday. I got a little distracted at first, though. I really love the Clarksville Commons outdoor space. I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed this bucket chain downspout before.  If you know what kind of a flowering tree/bush this is, I’d love to know. Outdoor seating for diners! I’m a fan. Solar panel installation that looks like a sculpture. You can’t tell from my photo but there are twinkly fairy lights  strung up in the second level where Bushel and a Peck is located.  Dang. I forgot to bring something to feed the Little Free Library  It’s easy to find a place to sit and take a look at the nearby art pieces. The musicians were getting set up for their Friday night gig on the Plaza. It was time to go in for dinner. My friend had picked out one of Trifecto’s signature grilled cheese offerings and it looked so good that I just...

  This is photojournalist Paul Gillespie. From the Capital Gazette Website: Paul W. Gillespie is an award-winning staff photojournalist for Capital Gazette with nearly 25 years telling the stories of Anne Arundel County with his camera. Through Paul's lens readers have seen Navy and high school sports, breaking news, features and community events. Paul has won numerous awards for his work, including dozens MDDC Press Association Awards.  This is also Paul Gillespie: Photojournalist recalls narrow escape from rampage: "I thought I was going to die" , CBS News, July, 2018 Still shot taken from CBS News interview  Gillespie made it outside the building and ran to a neighboring bank for help. After catching his breath, he called his wife. "And I said, Jen, it's me. It's Paul. I'm okay… Somebody came into the Capital office and started shooting people. And it's real bad. And I can't talk long, but it's bad," he said. To help cope with the trag...

  The thing I should be writing about today is this, and it is breaking me.  Howard County officers cleared in fatal shooting of man with autism , Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner  About twenty per cent of US residents identify as neurodivergent. That includes those who are autistic. Neurodivergence means that your brain operates differently. Different than what? Ahh…that’s the thing. It’s all about being different than established norms. What makes the world more disabling for neurodivergent people is the insistence that there is only one way, the neurotypical way, and anyone else is different. Wrong. A problem.  If our goal was to accommodate everyone, autism and other neurodivergent conditions would be far less disabling. It is the lack of awareness of this and the resulting lack of accommodation which creates disabling attitudes and situations daily.  It’s not about some people getting something extra. The fact is our world accommodates people with neurotypica...

  Giving credit where credit is due: The same people who brought you the Adult Happy Meal… …are also bring you Summer Sips Without the Spirits! Good for them.  ***** Yesterday was Trifecto’s eighth birthday and you can help them celebrate this Friday. Trifecto is the kind of place that would be my neighborhood hang out if only there were someplace affordable to live nearby. Ah, well. ***** Warning: under no circumstances should you view this house listing on YouTube if you are prone to motion sickness. I’m sharing a still shot to protect the vulnerable.  I don’t know why they didn’t spring for a movie trailer announcer with a deep bass voice and contrasting narrative type rolling over the images, too. Yikes.  “In a world where houses light up by themselves and the evening stars speed over the rooftops…” Nice looking house - - though I admit I didn’t see much because I had to switch the video off pretty quickly.  ***** In other big local news, The Stop Grace Coa...

  Straight News vs. Commentary - - discuss. Examples of straight news: Baseball team wins contest 8-3 County investigates future school sites Neighborhood leaders meet to discuss recycling initiative  Ice cream taste test brings out over five hundred participants  Commentary: The meaning of fashion trend may be more sinister than it looks Advocates for new landscaping mean to destroy natural habitats  Is Candidate Mr. X thinking about taking your extra car? Easy ways to improve your life with electricity (by BGE Exec) I found the meaning of life and it’s not equality  Can you see the difference? Please tell me that you can. I am tearing my hair out almost daily over newspapers/media outlets who blur the lines between the two and therefore mislead their readers. Here’s a recent example from the Baltimore Banner: Image from Baltimore Banner social media  Moore seeks to upstage Trump, other Democrats with holiday patriotism speech , Pamela Wood First off: Pame...

  Today’s word is “disenfranchised.” A lot of people are throwing it around lately. A lot of people don’t appear to know what it means.  The Columbia Association has not disenfranchised any villages or the people who live in them. This is what has occurred: The CA Board of Directors voted to remove three members for violating their own ethics policy. The CA Board created an enforceable ethics policy. After a thorough investigation, they enforced it. Which part of that do you disagree with? Ethics? Investigation? Enforcement? Friends, we need to talk. Something about the CA rep/Board Members that many people may not understand is that, unless they are personally motivated to be responsive to their own communities, they aren’t really required to do so. Honestly, you can’t make them. I’ve tried. When I served on the Oakland Mills Village Board our CA Rep would attend meetings, participate in discussions with the board about community issues, receive complete feedback about our c...