Skip to main content

News and Nightmares



I have just awakened from anxiety dreams that featured my college bound daughter as an infant, and my suddenly being back in residence at my alma mater for no good reason. This must be because we attended college orientation yesterday. It was quite the experience. I continue to be impressed by how UMBC handles large scale events. But my take away from the day overall is how parental expectations have somehow changed from when I went to college and how places like UMBC have adapted to meet the changing needs.

I need some time to process the experience, and my weird dreams. I’ll get back to you on this.

In the meantime, did you know that Whole Foods has a hot breakfast bar on Sunday mornings? I stopped in to pick up breakfast on the way to the Chrysalis Kids concert this week. There it was, practically calling my name: challah French toast with butter and real maple syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a hot oatmeal bar with toppings. It was a special treat for me to pack up a delicious hot breakfast to take the the Uncle Devin Show at the Chrysalis.


Of course one can always purchase snacks and drinks at the park itself, and that includes mimosas.



I went with a cold brew in a bottle from Whole Foods, which I soon regretted. It was ghastly.

I’ve been receiving quite a few book recommendations lately. It is the season for summer reading. I ordered the book Simple Abundance following Representative Dr. Terri Hill’s recommendation on Elevate Maryland. I’ve also put Dream Hoarders and The Color of Law on my list after recommendations by Tom Coale and Roger Caplan, respectively. I broke down and ordered a copy of the children’s book Yard Sale! after referencing on the blog the other day. Definitely worth revisiting. In the meantime I am trying to finish Michelle Obama’s book which I started over the winter break. So much to read!

An outfit called newbreakapp is posting an article from Maryland Reporter with the baitiest of clickbait headlines:

 Columbia’s oldest office building being demolished to make way for more density

 It’s easier to go on over to Maryland Reporter to read this article by Len Lazarick,
where it bears this title:

Columbia’s oldest high-rise being demolished to make way for more development

Mr. Lazarick’s article outlines future changes to the immediate area without the use of emotional language. His approach is dispassionate while acknowledging how some in the community will feel as the face of the Lakefront changes. It seems to me that the repackaging of his article by newsbreakapp was done with the goal of scaring readers with that devil word “density” and thus prompting extra clicks from emotionally fraught local residents.

Density. Development. All our local dirty words for another day. I’ll get back to you on that, too.

I’m going to see if I can catch a little more sleep of the non- nightmare variety.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
1 comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more