Village Green/Town²

What inspires you to live in Columbia? CA wants to know . Are you available on Friday, March 1st, between 10 am and 1 pm to come to the Supreme Sports Club? CA will be filming residents for upcoming television spots and PR materials. This would be a good time for you to come and share your opinion of what makes (and will make) Columbia awesome. Can't make it in the middle of a weekday workday? They are going to schedule an evening session as well. Contact Mary Weeks to let her know you are interested. Did you grow up in Columbia? There's an interesting discussion going on at the Facebook Page about what the Symphony Woods McCall/Inner Arbor plan really means. Informed and civil voices would be welcome. Share your knowledge and enthusiasm without even leaving the house. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a little slice of awesomeness on Tuesday night at Union Jack's. You can read the Wordbones take on it here . It takes a lot for me to leave the hous...

Once upon a time, I took part in a Fairy Tale Experience. Really. Last year I received an invitation to the Royal Ball. I ventured out to the Royal Palace in my finest garments, taking care to wear a mask so my true identity would never be known. Okay, it wasn't really like that. It was the Evening in the Stacks " Masquerade! " at the new Miller Branch Library, and an extra ticket was  kindly given me by a fellow blogger. So everyone was wearing masks, and I'm pretty sure mine didn't really obscure my identity. But the story just sounds better that way. Back to the Fairy Tale. I had a wonderful time. And I said to myself, "If I just set aside a little money from each paycheck, I'll be able to buy a ticket next year. It's doable." But I didn't. Time went by, and there was a bridal shower and a wedding to be planned, an elementary school promotion, new clothes for Middle School, Christmas, and birthdays, and a trip to San Anton...

Last September I went to the party of a lifetime.  No, I'm not exaggerating. On Sunday, September 16th, 2012, my daughter got married and I had my moment as Mother of the Bride. It was truly a day like no other: exhilarating, sacred, and a bit overwhelming. Weddings can be complicated events. While meant to be a celebration of love and commitment, shared with family and friends, they can sometimes feel like a list of things to be done. And more than just a mere list, but rather a triathlon, a quest, and an exhibition of skill. So many things which must be done right. So many ways to try to be perfect while others are watching. Well, this moment, right here, is the one that matters most to me. Our wonderful photographer, Kathy Shilling , made sure that this moment happened and was captured--for us.   A moment, before the mirror, of reflection and love. In that image she caught a relationship: two feisty women who had to grow up together, makin...

Sometimes you end up bringing home more from a trip than you brought in the first place.  It was all too easy for me to buy gifts for my daughter, plus a canary squeaker, a duck quacker, and a cowbell, not too difficult to pack. My husband just couldn't make everything fit. At a music conference with two huge rooms of exhibitors, he made the rounds more than once. As we headed out, he found himself with one extra box. So, as he had no carry-on, he decided he'd get a tote bag at the airport and just bring it on the plane. We went through the rigamarolle of security together, and were almost finished when I noticed several workers huddled around the scanning machine. "Excuse me, sir? Is this your package?" He gestured to the box. My husband said yes. "I'll have to open this package to examine the contents. Will you please step over here, sir?" We gathered our things from the bins, put on our shoes, and went over to a separate scanning...

I don't get out of The Bubble much these days, I'm afraid. I travel all over the county, teaching in sixteen schools, but that's about it. I know where all the good places are to get a Diet Coke. My most recent trip ito Baltimore was a trip to the Meyerhoff with my younger daughter to see a concert version of Hairspray, narrated by John Waters. The performance was enhanced by singers and dancers from my older daughter's alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts. The afternoon was filled energy and excitement for the quirkiness that is Baltimore. I was struck by how little of this we have in Columbia. Now,when the Columbia Festival of the Arts brought March Fourth to the Festival at the Lakefront, it was a glimpse into that kind of experience. They brought us something from the outside world that connected with that Lakefront audience in a new way. And it clicked. It was beautiful to behold. Clearly it is important to venture out of the bubble now and then. Yeste...

Was there one dish you hated above all others as a child? For me, it was my mother's split pea soup. It was so thick, more like oatmeal, and the texture alone easily stimulated that dreaded gag reflex. Sometimes I was kept at the table after everyone had left because of split pea soup. Now I am a parent, and I have experienced a little of this from the other side. Although I've never forced my children to finish anything, I've still dealt with "just eat three bites" bargaining. It was this kind of haggling that finally led to my release from the torments of split pea soup. In frustration, my mother said, "All right, just eat half of it!" And I took my soup spoon, drew a line down the center of the soup, and forced myself to eat half. The other half stayed in the bowl, exactly as I had portioned it, solid. I looked at it. My mother looked at it. And then, after years of my childhood suffering and anguish, she said, "Well, I guess maybe ...

Patch , an online hyper-local news operation, came to town in the Fall of 2010, I think. I remember meeting them at a hocoblogs party they sponsored at the Stained Glass Pub in Elkridge. Ah, those were exciting days. The thought that we might have local news more than one per week was a dizzying concept for many of us. By way of introduction, Patch in Howard County sponsored an i Pad giveaway contest. I won. And yes, I never win anything. And yes, it changed my life. I use it for teaching, both for music playing and making picture books, and buying interactive music apps to enhance my special needs music classes. I use it when I go to a restaurant alone, and I don't feel like "a woman alone". And I use it when I blog. Yes, if not for Patch, I would not have become a blogger. David Greisman encouraged me and gave me a space on Columbia Patch. He was a wise and compassionate editor. I am thankful to him for getting me started. Of course, times change, nothing is perf...

Yesterday I heard ESPN sports broadcaster Tony Kornheiser say the following, "If that game'd had five quarters, the 'Niners woulda won it!" Huh. It seems there were a lot of folks who just could not believe that the Ravens could win, were winning, did win. In the the face of the evidence they continued to restate their own preconceived narrative. It's almost as though they weren't watching the same game that I was. This brought to mind the process we have been enduring while moving Columbia into the future. Take, for example, the Inner Arbor plan for Symphony Woods and its detractors. In many ways it is the very same story as a controversy in Oakland Mills a few years ago over replacing an abandoned bank property with a Walgreens. I suspect that at least a few of the same people are involved. Meetings were held, petitions were circulated. Rumors were spread. Here are some of the objections: it will draw a "bad element." (A suggestion ...