Village Green/Town²

  I think I’m going to create a new holiday, a new cause, a new movement. Let’s start today.  Women Getting to be Normal Humans in Group Photographs Day. October 23rd. Why not? A group of men in a photo is a group of men. Period. A group of women is coached into the most ridiculous and juvenile kinds of poses. Someone somewhere must think it’s cute and adorable. It’s not. In addition, women are bombarded with advice on how to stand or present their bodies in such photographs in order to appear slimmer, more appealing. There’s a rather hilarious moment in the BBC panel show QI where Victoria Coren Mitchell decries a certain kind of pose featured on Page Three which somehow manages to “get the bum and the tits in the same shot.” Sandi says it is difficult to know what to do with your hands if you are being photographed. Victoria once read that if you put one foot forward when having your photo taken you look thinner. Victoria says she was amazed about how Page 3 girls seemed to ...

  On September 10th I shared with you that Sarah Sundae likes cupcakes  to help spread the word that she was raising money to buy a wheelchair-accessible van for her son. Guess what? Purely because of community support, this Ellicott City mom has reached her fundraising goal.  Her son suffered brain damage due to the flu. The Howard County community rallied to help. Ellicott City mother uses social media to raise money for a wheelchair van, Kiersten Hacker, Baltimore Sun This is such wonderful news. It’s also true that having to go on social media to get neccesary care for her disabled son says something deeply unsettling about how our society handles healthcare and disability. What happens in a similar situation when the surrounding community is not affluent and/or does not have access to the internet? Food for thought. ***** In July I made yet another impassioned plea for why arts education gives students A Reason For Living . My reason for writing is still on the table...

  The proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge would reconnect two neighborhoods: in Kings Contrivance and North Laurel. Neighbors oppose it.  Plans for bridge rebuild resurface in 10-year Bike Howard Plan , Blair Sabol, WMAR TV  The bridge was washed away by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Why don’t neighbors want it back? I watched this piece and I’m still not sure. I just have a feeling that something was left unsaid here. I also find interesting that a group of neighbors interviewed didn't want to appear on camera. What’s the big difference between those two neighborhoods now that wasn’t there in 1972? Could it be Columbia? A new bridge would provide safe pedestrian and bicycle access. What is it about this access that neighbors find so objectionable?  ***** How can you tell if something is accessible? This post on Bluesky from an Elkridge business floored me.  Image from Tip Top Motel on Bluesky Discover Motels near Baltimore Inner Harbor, a Hotel in Elkridge, MD. ...

  Do you remember Columbia Man? He’s appeared in the blog several times, courtesy of historical images from the Columbia, Maryland archives.  Image courtesy of Columbia Maryland Archives He first appeared in the iconic Rouse Company ad "There goes the 8:11 to Columbia" which I found at Columbia Archives. It ran in Time Magazine in March of 1971. The text begins, "Men walk to work in Columbia, MD. The walker above, engrossed in his Washington Post, makes it in nineteen minutes." For some reason I am just charmed by Columbia Man. Some bits of early Columbia ephemera just stick with you, I guess.  That is why he came to mind when I noticed this piece from Columbia Patch: Former Zip Code Nabs Columbia Man $50,000 Prize , Kristin Darnley-Greiner, Columbia Patch Well! This is a new twist on the old story, I thought. COLUMBIA, MD — A Howard County man who used his former New York ZIP code to play the Maryland Lottery's Pick 5 game won $50,000, giving him enough money ...

    I had bid farewell to high temperatures and turned off our AC for the season and then the hot weather came roaring back. So back came the AC. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Autumn often has these ups and downs where we live. Just as we get that urge to make a pot of soup and change over to turtlenecks, the weather predictions include temps in the 80’s.  I noticed the weather leaning Fall-ish again yesterday when I was at the book festival at Clarksville Commons. Is this finally it? I wondered. I came home and turned off the AC. Again. This morning I came downstairs. The thermostat read 72 but my body told me it was freezing . I think my internal thermostat is broken. It may be time to get some soup after all. I noticed this offering from  MoMo Hub the other day. I’m tempted. On the other hand, this will-it, won’t-it weather has some folks craving cold drinks. I saw a request on Howard County Eats for local places to get apple cider slushies. I did not even ...

  Imagine my surprise when I Googled “Columbia, Maryland” this morning and this turned up first: Will you look at that? The Chrysalis gets pride of place less than ten years after its dedication.  On the other hand, AI has labeled Columbia as a “village” which is legitimately cringeworthy. Although…we are complicated, aren’t we? I’ve been told by someone who knows that Columbia was deliberately laid out to encourage the joy of discovery. Sadly, this may be the same reason that I am always getting lost. When I saw the following post it reminded me of “the joy of discovery” and of Rouse’s Disney connection. I haven’t watched it yet but I’m going to. What if the streets in your neighborhood were designed like a Disney theme park? Here's how community designer Zach DeBoer says cities can create spaces that people actually want to explore : Why Cities Should Be Designed Like Disney . My last discovery this morning about Columbia did not bring me joy. In fact it felt more like horro...