Village Green/Town²

  I went looking for something on Facebook recently and discovered I was dead.  Let me explain. I discovered some time ago that I could search my past Facebook posts by typing my name plus probable key words into the search bar. This has also helped me track down photos that for some reason I hadn’t saved to my iPad. The last time I did this something very different happened. I was looking for a thread in which I asked someone “are you lost?” and this happened. Excuse me? This must be a mistake. I tried it again, with slightly different search words. Friends, I am not dead.  My arm hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I am homesick. But I am not dead. I am mightily sick and tired of the stupidity of AI as it degrades more and more of daily life. Imagine my surprise when I searched Instacart to see if a particular store carried muffins. Did you mean muffins, puffins? Why do you ask?  Do many of your customers come looking for muffins, puffins? Are they also looking for eggs...

  I have never won any elections, with the exception of somehow becoming President of the Concert Choir in 12th grade. The other two things I ran for did not go well.  It is very hard to lose. I’ve been there. Today the primary election is over. It won’t be a happy day for everyone. My heart goes out to all the folks who fought the good fight, believed in something passionately, and did not see the result they had hoped for. My heart does not go out to people who fought dirty, told lies, spread rumors, encouraged the basest kind of behavior, and did all they could to poison the local discourse.  You and your candidate(s) did not win. You have damaged our community in a way that will most likely live beyond the primary season. People used to use the expression, “We’re better than this!” when something troubling happened in Columbia/HoCo. Let’s be honest: clearly we are not. We are not “better than this.” We could be a whole lot better than we have shown ourselves to be. ...

 Two things I’d like you to do today.  1. Vote (if you haven’t already) and encourage at least one other person to vote. 2. Watch this video. Triumph of the Human Spirit: Dr. Lorenzo Pace It’s five minutes and forty-five seconds long. You have time.  The film focuses on Dr. Pace’s sculpture “ Triumph of the Human Spirit ” which stands in Foley Square in NYC and the events which led to its creation. Dr. Lorenzo Pace  : artist, author, master storyteller and performance artist, and lecturer What motivates me to create art is the precious opportunity to inspire others to think higher, deeper, and larger; to think about the value and necessity of caring for themselves, others, and our planet; to think simply of other ways of being, seeing, learning, loving and manifesting a greater degree of peace in our world. - - Dr. Lorenzo Pace Here’s more from the Office of the Mayor, New York: On Juneteenth, Mayor Mamdani Releases Video Honoring the Legacy of Black New Yorkers Zohr...

From Window Dressing, March 19th, 2023: Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance. This photo accompanies a piece on Maryland Reporter entitled “Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance.” (Len Lazarick, Maryland Reporter, 3/12/2023.) The caption for the photo reads: Former Republican Gov. Bob Ehlrich on the stairs speaks to a crowd of Howard County Republicans during a Feb. 25 fundraiser at the home of Marleen Eck, far right, in Glenelg. Next to her is the county's GOP Chair Beth Lawson.  Well, it looks as though Howard County Republicans are taking an interesting chance in this election by running just about no one. It’s hard for me to say if this is because no one wants to run or they do but they don’t like their chances. The national face of the Republican Party has done Howard County no favors. Many, many local residents do not want what he is selling: selfishness, cruelty, racism, violence. This does not mean that t...

  Who/what is “a regular person”? For that matter, who isn’t a regular person? What is the difference? How could you tell? Why do I ask? Well… So, I'm doing something a little crazy - I started a podcast about what it would take for a regular person to run for president. It's called Why Not Me? 2028. If you have 20 minutes, I'd love for you to check it out - and if you like it, share it . - - Shana Bynon  I was encouraged by a friend to listen to the most recent episode of Why Not Me? 2028, a podcast created and hosted by HoCoLocal Shana Bynon. It’s an interesting question: what if a regular person ran for President? What kind of a regular person would you ask? Where would you find them? The podcast began a year ago and has released fifteen episodes so far. While it starts with a focus on the presidency, it soon expands its reach of inquiry into other avenues of public service. And then it even gets local. I mean - - it makes sense that you’d be able to find regular people...

  A year ago today I had surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. So far the fix has held up well, although it somehow managed to cause our bedroom ceiling to collapse.* It’s not surprising that I woke up with a mix of those memories swirling around in my mind today. It’s a Saturday and there are plenty of things to do. I’m just not plugged into that mood this morning - - my apologies. Three things: 1. Interesting house for sale in Brookeville which is somehow Howard County. I don’t quite understand how that works. Shouldn’t Brookeville be Montgomery County? It’s interesting to see a style that I remember being so new and challenging the status quo now looking so…dated? humbled? I can’t quite explain it. What do you think? ***** 2. I’m still troubled by a Thursday post on Facebook by the Howard County Historical Society. Here it is.  The Historical Center & Archives will be closed tomorrow Friday, June 19th, 2026 in observance of Juneteenth. We apologize for any inconvenienc...