Hot Weather Advisory

Advice for what to do in extremely hot weather: drink plenty of fluids, don't over-exert yourself, wear light, breathable clothing, and

PARTY!!!

Well, after all, I'm a blogger, not a doctor. And there's a party Thursday night and you're invited. If you're a blogger or a blog reader, this is the summer soirée you've been waiting for.

Join us for a #HoCoTogether summer celebration!

Hosted by HoCo bloggers the UK Desperate Housewife USA (Claire McGill), Howard County Moms (Kris Schneider), Life & How to Live It (Mickey Gomez) and Is This Thing On? (Candace Dodson Reed).Four fierce, fun and feisty women who love Howard County have come together to host a summer celebration of HoCo at Portalli’s.All witty, smart and totally HoCo bloggers and their friends are invited (that’s you then!). Laughter, merriment and blog-worthy stories guaranteed.

You can find all the info at Totally HoCo, including the link to sign up for the party. (It's free.)

All four of these women are extremely cool people and if you don't know them yet, now's your chance. In particular, this party is a sort of a blogger send-off for Claire McGill, who will soon be trading in her UK Desperate Housewife status to return home to the UK. Howard County will glow less brilliantly without her.

One last thing. This event is at Portalli's in old Ellicott City. I know from personal experience that they really know how to throw a party--have you seen their awesome rooftop deck? And you'll be able to use Ellicott City's new free wifi* to live-tweet the event and upload your party pics.

So join us, Thursday from 5-7 pm at Portalli's. We'll be drinking plenty of fluids, wearing light, breathable clothing, and we most definitely will not be over-exerting ourselves.

*if outside

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog