Village Green/Town²

  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...