Village Green/Town²

"What to do with the Columbia Medical Plan campus?" muses Bill Woodcock over at The 53 . If you are not familiar with the location, it's more or less at the corner of Thunder Hill Road and Route 175, across from the Walgreen's. From Wikipedia : The Columbia Medical Plan was founded in 1967 as a health maintenance organization (HMO) available to citizens of Columbia. In more recent years, however, this plan has divided into separate medical groups that simply share the Twin Knolls buildings. Bill suggests a more mixed-use approach over there. I was interested to read his ideas. I love brainstorming and I think Columbia can benefit from fresh ideas. Through the years I have suggested a variety of suggestions (some more serious than others) for local sites, including turning Wilde Lake Village Center into a haven for children's birthday parties, or, a living history museum of Columbia's earliest years. I've imagined buying the Patuxent Publishing building and...

Rain, rain go away. Come again some other day to wash pollution in the Bay. rain, rain go away.   What a dreary day. We're either recovering from over-eating or over-shopping plus dreading going back to work or school. And, what's worse, it's raining. The issue of Howard County's storm water fee and how we will meet our obligation to care for the Chesapeake Bay was back in the news this week. County Executive Alan Kittleman, working with the lone man on his home team, Councilman Greg Fox, is proposing to end the fee and pay for the County's obligation some other way. (Not a direct quote, but close enough for jazz.) I haven't written about this in the past because it's a complex issue and all the noise seemed to me to be about "It's a rain tax" vs "No it isn't". But something here makes my scratch my head. There's only a finite amount of money in the budget. And that comes from our tax money, yes? Mr. Kittleman says, I felt ...

To be filed under fun, but not an essential read, this piece in the Sun about Maple Lawn turkeys. If you don't pay for the digital subscription you may already be out of your free reads for the month. So I'll give you a little tidbit. "We had a man call and say, 'I'm in trouble with my wife and need a turkey.' We ask what happened. He says, 'Well I took it home and put it in the washing machine in ice to keep it cold. And she ran a load of laundry.' So he needed a new turkey." And not a new washing machine? Or a new wife? I'm taking my daughter to see "Guys and Dolls" and the Olney Theatre Center this afternoon. Steve Charing's review is definitely encouraging. It's a long and winding road to Olney, though. I've enjoyed every show I've seen there, but I find myself wishing there were a better way to get there. Suggestions? Is there a "quick" way to Olney? Finally, a little hyperlocal human interest story. I...

Tom Bodett posted this poem to his followers last night on Twitter. I like it. It makes its point in a gentle way. It nudges, rather than rants. And yet, as I read and re-read it, something by bothered me. So I wrote a companion piece. Perhaps Perhaps if there were women It might be so. Perhaps the female humans will burst forth, finally be seen - partners triumphant when men alone might fail. Sometimes men just forget that women are - exist, succeed, live, work, and win. They leave them out, the story wanders far. But without women we cannot yet begin. Perhaps the year ahead will bend toward love and hate and fear will lose their tempting hue. But not without both men's and women's equal work and worth. May it at last come true. Yesterday was the first Thanksgiving in which I was painfully convicted of the greater truth: that the celebration of one history, one culture, one abundance, is predicated upon the painful silencing of thousands upon thousands of na...

Family Friends Community Music and the Arts Writing I'm thankful. There's my list. It's my "right off the top of my head" list of things I'm thankful for. But there's another list. It's almost a shadow list, an invisible list. It's the "enough" list. I am thankful for enough: Food for me and my family to eat Adequate shelter, clothing, healthcare Money to pay the bills Time to be involved in my children's lives Respectful treatment from the powers that be in our society There are so many people in our community (and the world) who long for just this, just enough. Not a free ride, not excessive luxury, just "enough". We love to watch videos of newly adopted pets experiencing for the first time the joys of having a true home. It's thrilling to see them celebrate being clean, fed, cuddled, played with. For the first time in their lives they have "enough". And for them it is hitting th...

There's a sweet, human-interesty sort of piece about PTACHC President Reg Avery in the Howard County Times this week. Complete with two family photos, it paints a picture of a family man devoted to community and education. I would certainly love to have an article like that written about me. There's just one problem. It doesn't accurately describe the Reg Avery I know and worked with on the Oakland Mills Village Board. Not even remotely. I'm not going to go into detail here, because it is not my intent to turn this post into a personal attack. But, more than once, Mr. Avery has been dogged by questions of conflict of interest. It is difficult to understand how he is able to wear so many hats in so many different capacities and remain true to each one. Mr. Avery loves to run for things. He loves serving in leadership positions. Since I have known him he has run for County Council twice, served on the OM Village Board, served as CA Rep from Oakland Mills, served in PTA ...

Stepping outside the Village Green/Town² boundaries today. I'll be brief. Once upon a time, when I was little, it was presidential election season. A story about George Wallace came on the evening news. "Ugh," said my mother. "He's a demagogue." "What's a demagogue?" I asked. "He just says what the people want to hear," she answered, in disgust. At that very moment the reporter cut to interviews of people attending a Wallace event. "Why do you like George Wallace?" he asked. "Because he says what I want to hear!" We burst out laughing. She was the perfect illustration of what my mother was trying to teach me. But demagoguery is no laughing matter. The campaign of Donald Trump for the Republican nomination is a case in point. 14,000 people showed up for an event yesterday, despite the fact that Trump is playing fast and loose with the truth. His ability to appeal to people's basest fears and anger and stir them...

Babies cry and wake you up in the night. Toddlers get into everything, and are prone to tantrums. Preschoolers have difficulty delaying gratification. When you have a young child you struggle to keep up with their changing behavior. You read up on child development. You talk to your pediatrician, your friends. You learn about what is developmentally appropriate for your child's age and stage. But once that adorable baby is a teen, where does that focus on development go? For many people: out the window. Despite the fact that multiple scientific studies show the adolescent brain to be in a continued state of (wildly fluctuating) development, many adults make and enforce rules for them that assume they are mini-adults and should "just know" how to behave. Even schools which once may have had a more supporting and guiding role towards teens are now forced by ill-conceived ed. reforms to focus on test scores and "raising the numbers." Well, you can try forcing t...

This is typically the time of year that I start stressing about the change of the season and the feeling of impending darkness. And I write about it. On this date in 2008: Cursing the darkness. Note to self: buy candles tomorrow. And that is, of course, related in my mind to one of the best Peanuts strips of all time. I've been thinking a lot about light and darkness lately. Kicked off perhaps by the time change, the change in seasons, even the announcement of the cancellation of this year's Symphony of Lights. Human beings are truly attuned to the light; we lean towards it. (Plants, too, but that's another blog post.) Loss of light can bring about physiological and emotional changes in us. Last night I was driving around in the Clarksville/Highland area after dark, taking my daughter to a party. Wow, it was dark out there. It was, as my mother used to say, like driving around on the inside of a pillow case. "What do these people have against quality street lights?...

Just had a lol moment. You know, "Laugh Out Loud" in response to something on the Internet. Except, of course, I didn't really laugh out loud. Well, my brain did. At the bottom of an advert email from a Big Lots was an array of social media icons with the exhortation, "Join the Conversation!" What kind of conversations are people having about Big Lots? What kind of conversations are people having with Big Lots? Okay, I'll bite. I took a look on Twitter. The Big Lots account pushes out promotions....okay, here's a response to a compliment...there's a response to a complaint...Well, better than some. But all thanks tweets are just about identical, and same with responses to complaints. Do people actually talk about Big Lots on Twitter? Amazingly enough, they do. Some of my favorites: @WILDcnservativE: U kno u getting old when u sign up for a big lots card @alowee13: The big lots Black Friday commercial is the most annoying commercial in the world @nur...

Last night this blog took home the Mobbies award for Most Influential Blog or Account. It was also Runner-Up in the category of Best Suburban Blog. I had prepared a speech, in case one would be necessary, but when The Moment came the speech felt too long and I went with an abbreviated version. Here's the whole thing: Wow. Thanks to the Mobbies for the awesome party, and for this award, which I'd like to accept in memory of the late, and wonderful, Howard County blogger Dennis Lane. His amazing body of work at Tales of Two Cities blog is what inspires me and pushes me forward every morning when I get up to write. Now, we all know that the real truth about the Mobbies is that it's not really about the bloggers. It's about the energy in the communities around the blogs. Nobody takes home a Mobbie unless there are those enthusiastic readers who are willing to click, and click, and click again--because they're invested in the outcome. They care who wins. So that means th...

Everyone knows I'm a big fan of the Downtown Plan. I love the creative use of the Rouse Building for Whole Foods. I'm excited about Merriweather Park and the Chyrsalis. I like the feel of the reconfigured "Lifestyle Plaza" at the Mall. No one can accuse me of being a stick-in-the-mud. But yesterday I came up against something that I just can't ignore. I never dreamed that moving forward with the New Amercian City could mean-- this . No, not public art. I'm all for that. Can't you see? Doesn't it just cry out to you? Don't you just want to scream?   Parallel parking. There are multiple parallel parking spaces in front of the shops at the Metropolitan. How can they do this? No one in Columbia knows how to parallel park. They've just taken it off of the drivers exam, for heaven's sake. Granted, there's only a handful of spaces, but somebody needs to take a stand now before this gets out of hand.   What will be next? People reading newspape...

I was more than a little surprised to read in the Superintendent's blog that the school system is adding a new test to the seemingly endless barrage of testing our children endure. More testing? Seriously? Does anyone think that's a good idea? I've been encouraged in recent months by a continuing movement in the state of Maryland pushing back against excessive testing. Parents and teachers are generally united on this front, and finally their voices are being heard. I found this statement from Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot to be to the point: Comptroller Franchot remains adamantly opposed to the state’s obsession with standardized tests, which detract from teachers’ ability to effectively teach and students’ ability to actually learn. Does this seem like a really good time to be crowing about additional, non-mandated testing? From the Superintendent's blog: I was pleased when the Global Learning Network , a professional learning community of educators and...

This article by Lisa Philip was all over social media yesterday, carrying the news that Council member Jon Weinstein has spearheaded an initiative to provide late buses so all students can participate in after-school activities. My first reaction was: wait, we don't already have late buses? I went to high school in Stamford, Connecticut and we had late buses. In fact they ran twice daily: a four thirty bus and a five thirty bus. And their were two routes for our school, a north route and a south route. We just took that for granted. You could stay after school to work with a teacher, do research in the Media Center, play sports or attend a theater rehearsal. But the Stamford, Connecticut school district had exactly three high schools at that time. And while they did provide late buses, they didn't provide food service in any of the schools in the system. They must have at some point because all the schools were set up to have it, but it was considered no longer affordable. W...

Although it has been a while now since I entered the world of "50+", I generally have little time for people whose focus is procuring senior benefits. My experience in Columbia, and especially in Oakland Mills, has been with people who believe that age-based discounts are theirs by right and more important than need-based discounts. When I was running for CA Rep in Oakland Mills one of these folks asked me in a public forum, "do you have a senior agenda?" No, I said. I have a human agenda, because we are all in this together. (I lost.) The clamorings of a certain generation remind me very much of Sally in "A Charlie Brown Christmas Special." When challenged by her brother on the selfishness of her Christmas list she retorts/whines, "All I want is what's coming to me. All I want is my fair share." Well today I am pausing to have a senior moment thanks to Amanda Yeager who brought my attention to this article in the Wall Street Journal. To lure...

My husband and I were the traditional sort, perhaps you might say "retro", in that we did not want to know the sex of our baby before its birth. We wanted to be be surprised. Because of this, the friend throwing the baby shower bought two celebratory balloons for the party: one said "It's a Boy!" And one said "It's a Girl!" She wanted to have her bases covered. We brought them home after the party where they hung around the house together like guests who didn't know when to take their leave. About a week later Margo was born. During the intervening time we continued to discuss baby names. We always knew that if it were a girl, she'd be named after Great Auntie Margaret in Ireland. But we absolutely could not agree on a boy's name. How amazing that she turned out to be a girl. We had the name all ready. But our amazement had only just begun. When we arrived home from the hospital we discovered the "It's a Boy!" balloon lyin...

I feel that I must say something about what has happened in Paris and yet I am numb. I am overwhelmed by the violence. I see friends around me on social media post support for France and somehow I shrink from doing so. I squirm at the thought that it's another tragedy, another massacre. We bring out the same quotes, we add in situation-appropriate photographs and we post. Again. And again. Yes, I grieve for the suffering. And I support the people of France. Yet somehow I feel a sense of horror at the recurrent nature of these events and I feel embarrassed to say anything. We've had so many in the era of social media that we have developed a protocol for socially acceptable condolences and responses. How absolutely sick is that? When will we ever create a protocol that lets us work for peace? ***** Before I go, two things: this week brought a return post from Candace Dodson Reed over at Is This Thing On? Candace is smart, thoughtful, and she doesn't waste words. She's ...

This is going to be brief because I sliced up my right index finger this morning opening a tin of corned beef and, for heaven's sake, that's my primary typing finger. ***** We often feel that we have something to say to the powers that be but nobody asks us. "Well, I would have said something, but nobody asked me." The big news in Howard County is that someone is asking, and you need to seize your chance to be heard.   1. Join in and participate in one of HCEA/PATH 's Listening Sessions and share your opinions on Howard County Schools. These meetings are short (one hour only), to the point (3 questions for discussion),and civil (no one will jump on you if they disagree).   2. December 1st at 7:30 pm. The Howard County Delegation of the Maryland General Assembly, chaired by Delegate Shane Pendergrass and Senator Guy Guzzone, will hear testimony from the public on drafted local bills. (No testimony on stateside issues will be permitted as a second hearing devoted to...

So, yesterday I was going through a pile of stuff that had inexplicably been 'stashed and dashed' and forgotten. And I came across this:     Do we teach human sexuality in a healthy way in Howard County? Well, what do you think about this work packet from a Middle School Health unit? That is the question I posed to my friends on Facebook yesterday after taking one look at this ghastly choice of clip-art. Wait? What?? Why are they scared? What is even happening here? omg. not healthy So this pamphlet is going to say that sex is terrifying? That's what one would think from the cover. Inside is about five deathly dull worksheets with vocabulary words covering the male and female reproductive systems. Why is the title shouted? IT'S A REALLY BIG DEAL Alternate titles, "We Think Sex is AWFUL!" "You Should Really, Really, Really Freak Out About Sex! We Are!" Also, "Sex Is DEFINITELY Something to Be Ashamed Of." None of the participants in this co...

A few local happenings: Last night in the Village of Long Reach, the County presented the draft of the Long Reach Village Center Revitalization Plan. If you were there, how do you feel about it? I'm especially curious now that Oakland Mills will be working with the County to study possibilities for our Village Center. PATH (People Acting Together in Howard) and HCEA (Howard County Educator's Association) have kicked off a Community Listening Campaign to engage young people, parents, community members, and educators in a conversation centered around what kind of challenges our schools are facing and what kind of schools our community deserves. Their goal is to meet with 2000 people all over the County over the next three months. A new restaurant has opened in the Metropolitan: the Corner Bakery Café. Initial feedback I'm getting is good. Have you been yet? What did you think? Tickets are now on sale for this year's Concert for Kids at Oakland Mills High School. I we...

There's an article by Lisa Philip in the Howard County Times today about the recent dispute at the Board of Education. I wrote about that here . Ms. Philip's article is definitely worth your time. It is thorough and well laid-out, and even includes some input from comments on social media. It is also a reminder how important a healthy news organization is in Howard County. I truly believe that a free and independent press is crucial to any democracy. But, when it comes down to it, we have to find a way for that to be economically feasible. It wasn't until rather recently that I moved from thinking, "I can't afford that" to "I can't afford not to subscribe". For a long time my attitude was unconsciously based on a notion that the newspaper would keep on existing whether I paid money for it or not. Just assuming the news will be there, rather like water running out of the tap, is a reckless assumption these days. And since I believe in the importa...

First of all, an observation. Through the years I have written three posts about Columbia's Villages. None of them generated a single comment. Not one. It's just not a topic people feel compelled to talk about. That may be because they like things fine just the way they are, or it may be that the whole matter is irrelevant to them. (Or perhaps they don't even live in Columbia. There is that.) My guess is that the group of people for whom the village concept is vitally important is shrinking. I don't believe that the relevance of Village living is regenerating itself. I would be more excited about the future of the Village way of life if leadership and participation were truly open to all, and not just people who say they got here first. Still, I do have a little news. From Owen Brown. I visited the Owen Brown Interfaith Center yesterday to attend a service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia. My daughter attends the youth group there and on the second...

It has been a while since I have talked about the villagey-ness of Columbia. While I write primarily from an Oakland Mills perspective, I do wish there were other folks out there writing about their own village experiences. If you live in Columbia, how much do you identify with your village designation? Does it matter to you? Is it relevant? For those who don't live in Columbia, or have trouble keeping them all straight: Have you been to every village? Do you have friends in every village? Have you shopped in every village center? (For some reason, I have spent the least amount of time in Dorsey's Search.)   Some people feel it's important to patronize only those shops in their "home" village center. Others, looking for more variety, bypass the Village Center experience altogether. The stores they really want to go to aren't in village centers, and don't want to be.   The listing above is taken from The Columbia Association web site, where I also found a ...

Happy Saturday. I'm still adjusting to a lack of light. Probably time to break out the "happy light" for the season. I highly recommend the craft fair at Oakland Mills High School for your shopping pleasure today.   27th Annual Oakland Mills HS Craft Fair Saturday, Nov. 7th, 2015 10am-3pm 9410 Kilimanjaro Road Columbia, MD ***** Oh, and one more thing. A delicious little piece of trivia for you: Armstrong Williams, the syndicated columnist who wrote the indefensible smear piece about HCEA and the Ulman administration, do you remember him? I wrote about him here . I am still perplexed as to what possible connection Mr. Williams could have with local Howard County politics. His piece , which was written while labor negotiations were rather bogged down, was clearly written with an eye to influence public opinion. And by that I mean, it was written to make the teachers, the teachers union, and the (former) County Executive look bad. Do you know what Mr. Armstrong is doing ...

Remember this? From Tuesday, October 20th: Bill proposes to elect Howard school board members by district (Amanda Yeager and Lisa Philip) Howard delegate proposes legislative remedy to school system transparency complaints (Amanda Yeager) I have been wondering if there would be any response to these two initiatives from the school system. From what I hear, I think last night we may have had one. Board of Education member Cindy Vaillancourt shared this information on Facebook this morning: IN SEARCH OF PUBLIC FEEDBACK----So... at the Thursday night BOE meeting, there was a proposal to prohibit individual board of education members from testifying, as individual citizens, on any proposed legislation unless it is testimony in support of the Board's stated position. BTW, the "Board Handbook" talks about Board Members retaining their rights to testify, or speak, in opposition to the position of the majority as long as they are clear that they are speaking as individuals. In...

I'm having a "so what?" kind of morning. Maybe it's because of the time change and the overwhelming feeling that the light is receding. Or maybe it's the knowledge that my letter to the county council and county executive about Oakland Mills Village Board leadership was so clearly unsuccessful. Then there's the ongoing mold issues at Glenwood Middle that are still making some students and staff very sick. Or the long talk I had with my daughter last night about how dreary the "high school life" is turning out to be. Just a little too much unpleasantness in a few too many areas. A high point: yesterday's post by Tom Coale on HoCoRising . Entitled "364 Days", it looks back on the last year since the election with a wise and beautiful sense of perspective. As someone who ran for office and lost, I identify strongly with the sentiments he expresses. Worth the read. (And a special first birthday shout out to the Darling of Dorsey's Sear...

I'm running this post from 2012 again today because tomorrow I'm going to be addressing the workshop I attended at Miller Branch Library about Civility and online harassment. It's interesting for me to look back on my thoughts and see what was concerning me the most.   What are your concerns about online harassment? How do you think we can best foster a positive online environment, a civil community within social media? ***** Be Afraid. Or, At Least Feel Suppressed (October 18, 2012) I don't have a Choose Civility bumper sticker on my car. I used to, but I took it off. Why? If you must know, I took it off because I kept reading and hearing snarky comments about how it's the Choose Civility cars that cut you off, won't let you in, take your parking place and so on. And I know that I am not a perfect driver. I'm not a selfish driver, but every so often I might be stupid. So I took the bumper sticker off because I didn't want to make the Choose Civil...