Village Green/Town²

I offer as my last word in 2012 what I hope will be a first word in a desperately important conversation, by hocoblogger Alice Shafer. *** I am watching football. My home team, the Ravens, took a loss today - though fortunately we lost when we have already secured our place in the playoffs. My second home team, the Redskins, are currently battling it out with the Cowboys. RG3, Morris, and Garçon are doing what they do, and I'm sitting in bed with a glass of wine and the love of my life, my husband, G.  Concurrently, G and I have been discussing two books of essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly. We are both fans - I watched the series while it was on TV, G watched it after, and we saw the premier of Serenity, the film, together.  At the same time, men on television form expert opinions on football, with brief interludes from female reporters on the field.  And at the same time, a woman in India is mourned. Her death is a terrible and shining point...

I realized yesterday that a reader asked me a question, quite a while ago, that I never answered.  It had to do with the name of this blog. The suggestion was that I had given the blog two names instead of one, i.e. "both "Village Green" and "Town Squared." Now that the sand is just about out of the hourglass for 2012, I thought it was time to tie up this loose end with an explanation. A Village Green is just a piece of land if no one is there. Having the land set aside for the people is of no purpose if the people aren't there.  It is though our coming together, exchanging ideas, learning, growing, and changing that the Village Green takes on a special meaning. Its power is increased exponentially. Thus, what this blog hopes to be:  Village Green/Town Squared.  The human connection is the point. I was reminded of just how important this mission is when I read the following post by Sharon Williams. "I promise this is NOT political: I'd just ...

When I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the department stores ran an ad campaign with this jingle , "If you haven't seen Higbee's today--you haven't seen Higbee's!" This style of slogan is still in use, apparently, as evidenced by The Washington Post:  If you don't get it, you don't Get It. At the risk of sounding just a little bit hokey, I'm going to put this out there: The Oakland Mills Food Lion. Try it again; you'll like it. These are some of the reasons you might try the Oakland Mills Food Lion: 1. You live in Oakland Mills. 2. You are patronizing one of the other Village Center establishments. 3. You are visiting the Columbia Ice Rink. 4. You are attending a service at the Interfaith Center. 5. You have a meeting or event at the Other Barn. 6. You have a doctor's appointment in the professional building. 7. Your child is a member of the Youth and Teen Center. 8. You are attending an event at Blandair Park. 9. Yo...

Ah, the Holidays! Such a grand time of celebration, sharing, wonder and delight!  If only it didn't come accompanied by that experience that most of us dread. Togetherness. Don't protest about how love of neighbor is at the heart of the season. You know what I mean.  If you have ever been to the Mall any time after Thanksgiving, you have most certainly found your love of fellow creature sorely tested.  Then there are "get-togethers."  I practically shudder typing the word. Whether they are for work, school, church, or professional or social organization, we will find ourselves spending more time with some folks than we really want to. Scary, creepy people. And then, there's Family.  No matter how happy our families are, I daresay there are a few relatives we must endure during the holidays that never fail to make our hackles rise, for some reason or other.While "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays," it is wise to remember that just beca...

I'm straying away from my usual home base today in order to rant about something that has been bothering me this week:  HGTV. Yes, I am aware that time does not stand still and that the HGTV I fell in love with ten years or so ago has been replaced by the "real estate channel".  I rarely watch anymore, but I look forward to December because I enjoy the holiday-themed episodes and specials. So, I went to the website to find the listing of these programs and when they would be aired. Amazingly enough, that information isn't there.  It used to be. You could make sure you knew when your favorite shows were on and mark your calendar, or set your DVR. If you missed the first showing they listed any subsequent showings.Now?  Nothing. I tried asking on their Facebook page, and on Twitter. The only response was a link to their "What's on the TV Schedule Today?" page.  The information isn't there. Response to my follow-up question?  Zip. HGTV has de...