Village Green/Town²

Though you might be inclined to take any announcements for tomorrow with a grain of salt, this event is really happening. No fooling. At three pm  DoodleHATCH at Long Reach will unveil their newly completed Parade mural for the first time. Designed by artist Justin Nepomuceno and completed in sections by local artists and community members, the mural, supported by funding from the Maryland State Arts Council, will at last be visible in its entirety. You can be there. From the Visit Howard County  website: Join Doodlehatch for a One Time Only REVEAL for the first time EVER of the 140 foot long, 8 foot tall 'DoodleHATCH Parade Mural' created by over 100 community members guided by artist Justin Nepomuceno. Dance along the mural to the music and take photographs with all the Mythological creatures. Masks required for close-up interaction, or view this huge mural by driving past it.  You can get a good look at the evolution of the mural by viewing the series of photos accom...

  April 1st is coming and that means April Fool’s Day. I’ve never been a fan of the usual pranking associated with the day. I did manage to pull off one satisfactory blog post in 2012. And one year I went all out with an array of too-good-to-be-true  local  television shows. But, through the years, I think folks have tired of the annual onslaught of online shenanigans that turn up on the first of April. Especially in a time of national crisis, trickery is less than appreciated. On the other hand, things that cause us to stop for a moment and laugh can be therapeutic. I don’t mean laughing at someone else’s expense, but delighting at the unexpected absurdity of something.  How about a delightful assortment of completely absurd news stories for this year’s April Fool’s Day? No tricks, nothing mean-spirited. Just downright, unadulterated silliness with a local flavor.  If you have an idea, send it to me at the email associated with the blog, or message me through ...

  A few months ago I expressed my concern that it might be difficult to field candidates for the Student Member of the Board position due to interference from adults which ranged from criticism to persistent bullying to the filing of a lawsuit. “Who would want that job?” I thought. Kids Won’t Be Fooled Well here we are in March, the lawsuit failed and we have two qualified SMOB candidates ready to campaign for next year’s Board. At first glance, that looks promising. And yet... When one candidate publicized an Instagram event which was to be held with a former Board of Education member as a guest, those same adults who’ve been so angry all along got...angry. They don’t like that former Board Member or anything she stands for. So of course it was just a hop, skip, and a jump for them to condemn the student candidate and declare fervent support for his opponent. At the risk of sounding rude: it really doesn’t matter what they think. This election is for students.  Telling your...

  Yesterday morning found me waiting in line at the CVS on Reisterstown Road for my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Same store, two weeks later. There was still Easter candy but the displays were less plentiful, more picked-over than before. It didn’t seem so shiny and miraculous as the last time I was there. It was just a store. I’ve seen stores before. I realized as I stood there that perhaps I am not so excited about going back to the real world as I thought I was. This article by Howard County writer Amanda Loudin kept me company as I moved from one bright yellow tape line to the next, physically distanced from my fellow vaccine-waiters. Post-Vaccine, Your Body Is Safer, but Your Mind Can’t Catch Up Vaccination offers protection against the viral threat, but your brain needs time to reset after a year living with the fear It’s clearly going to take me a while to feel comfortable being around people, although, to be honest, I’ve never been all that great at it. But now the ...

  You may recall that last week  I had some questions for the folks at The Rouse Project: How much money has been donated in total and who are the donors?  It turns out that this is the question that The Rouse Project wanted to answer instead: Who hates The Rouse Project? Their answer to this question, sent out via email, provided little to educate voters except to reveal that the RP is easily provoked and a possibly a bit vengeful. That’s unfortunate and truly an unforced error. What struck me is the overriding theme that either one is a supporter of the The Rouse Project or a hater. But it’s not possible for me (or many others, I suspect) to be a supporter or a hater because they have not provided me with sufficient information to make an educated decision.  Those associated with The Rouse Project are intelligent, able, and experienced. They didn’t get where they are today without the ability to use higher order critical thinking skills. But they are assuming tha...

  Thought for the day: Now think about your day-to-day life in Columbia/HoCo. Could you function without a car? I don’t think I could. I’m fortunate to live within walking distance of a grocery and pharmacy, but, every place else I need to go requires a car and/or isn’t served by public transportation. I don’t mean to suggest that this is true for everyone, but it almost seems as though our slogan could be, “Howard County: You Can’t Get Over There From Over Here.” And it’s not just the way our county is laid out, the availability of public transportation, or infrastructure to support pedestrians and bikers. It’s attitudes. There’s a pretty deeply held assumption that owning a car is a prerequisite. If you don’t have the wherewithal to own one you are deemed to be a lesser member of society.  I thought that I was above such attitudes until recently. I belong to a local Buy Nothing group on Facebook where members can ask for items they need or post items they are ready to part w...

When I went to bed last night I was absolutely certain what I’d be writing about today. When I woke up this morning I was not so sure. I hate days like that.  In my regular search through local tweets, this photograph caught my eye:                           Photo credit: Howard Community College   Howard Communty College is celebrating its 50th anniversary year with a variety of events. You can see this photo and many others here in a collection called “ HCC at 50: A Blast from the Past - Daily Life from the First Two Decades.” The wonderfully contrived posing of the photo above felt so much like old high school yearbooks that I was immediately drawn in.  On Tuesday March 30th they will be having a Fiftieth Anniversary Talk and Panel Discussion about the college’s fifty year history. You can RSVP here and the link for the event will be sent to you. What is your experience with HCC? Did you take classes he...

  I realized yesterday that I’ve seen this image so many times recently that I somehow thought I had already written about it. This event to show solidarity with AAPI communities is today at the Lakefront, beginning at 5:30 pm. I can’t be there because, yes, I’m still self-isolating, but my heart is every bit as much in this as it was in June’s HoCo for Justice event in June. Because health concerns continue to be on my mind, I’d like to stress that mask-wearing and physical distancing are still very much a thing we should be observing. Turn out in solidarity but, for heaven’s sake, stay healthy and help others do the same. Governor Hogan visited Howard County the other day to express concern and show support for AAPI communities. He encouraged residents not to be afraid to speak out if they experienced acts of hateful speech or aggression. His visit was covered by Ana Faguy in the Baltimore Sun: Under string lights, numerous people — largely Asian American — stood up in front of...

  As promised , here’s my birthday thank-you note: Dear Readers, You know I couldn’t do this without you. Every time you return to this page you take part in a relationship where I give my best and you receive it and participate in that process of thought, creation and response. None of this would make sense in a vacuum. Readers bring it to life. I was reminded of some of the important things you do when I got this response to yesterday’s post from HoCoMoJo’s Ilana Bittner: Sooooo.... in the new series, the driver is Ms Frizzle’s little sister Fiona. I think she looks more like Kate McKinnon, who does her voice.  PROFESSOR Frizzle is still played by Lily Tomlin, and generally resembles the original.  Oh my word. There it is: I saw something on Twitter and it seemed plausible enough to me that I didn’t even double-check it. My apologies. I still don’t like the way she’s drawn but she isn’t who I thought she is. That matters. And having readers who will take the time to f...

  I am sad to say that the new version of The Magic Schoolbus appears to have replaced Ms. Frizzle with a Stepford Wife. Or perhaps, what a Stepford wife might have looked like while contemplating her first day of high school. Take a look for yourself. This is both infuriating and depressing. The obvious infantilising of someone who is meant to be an adult authority figure and a valued mentor is yet another example of how our culture delegitimizes women. The illustration on the left shows someone who is savvy, capable, quirky, with a sense of humor. On the right? A blank slate. To add a bit of local color to this story, I found the following exchange on Twitter: I'm not sure if we know the location of the school in Magic School Bus, but I know for a fact it's not Montgomery County, MD because they'd have been sued to death by about ten thousand helicopter parents for all those field trips It’s definitely Howard County and Ms. Frizzle 100% is from Ellicott City. Ha! This se...

Dear Blog Readers, Since my birthday is coming up - - it’s Tuesday - - I thought it appropriate to do the usual birthday thing we've grown accustomed to on social media. With a twist. This year for my birthday I am not fundraising for anything. I don’t have any extra funds right now so I am guessing you may not have any, either. That’s okay. Last year I asked for your help in boosting my Facebook “likes” and you got me up to 446, which was very much appreciated. The big 500 remains elusive. On the other hand, I remain convinced that the readers that I do have are “choice”, as they say. High numbers may be a boost to the ego but wise and loyal readers make writing a blog worthwhile. For some reason the big numbers in Columbia/HoCo are reserved for white men, but that’s another story altogether. Oh. My birthday. Yes. I got off track. In honor of my birthday I’m encouraging you to send someone a thank-you note. Yes, it’s a dying art. Let’s breathe some life into it. I was inspired to ...

  This is the house of my earliest memories. I played under the trees. I chalked on the driveway. I roller-skated on the sidewalks.  I still miss it. Located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, it had both front yard, back yard and a separate play yard, a detached garage, basement and three floors. (I loved the rooms in the attic!) Sun room, screened-in side porch, enormous claw foot bathtubs...In 1966 when we moved my mother sold it for $32,500, which was the most any house had sold for on our street. Ever. Yesterday I came across a Columbia real estate advert for a house of this design (not this particular house) on Facebook.    Photo credit:  STEVEN LEWIS,  Keller Williams Bob Lucido Team The house that I saw in the advert was listed for $500,000. Something in my brain objected.  I do not wish to insult this particular house, nor all the houses of this design, nor all the owners of houses that look like this, but something inside me said, “This is not a $50...

  Sitting on my to-do list for quite awhile is an item called “defamation blogpost”. Yes, sometimes I end up writing about things long after the general hubbub has subsided. Usually that’s because I’m trying to get a handle on how I want to approach them. In this case I have been mulling over the much talked about defamation of character lawsuit filed by Republican former County Council candidate Lisa Kim against three local Democrats. What has struck me is a particular kind of response to this which speaks not to the validity of the legal case, but to feelings about what I’m calling “mean speech.” Essentially, their argument goes something like this: “It’s about time someone did something about those people. Now maybe they’ll think twice about talking like that.” This sounds like “let this be a lesson, or a warning” to people who use “mean speech”.  I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of the so-called “mean speech” myself, whether used by people of either political persuasion. Thi...

  The internet is full of unexpected moments that can provoke you, amuse you, or make you think. Yesterday I had one that hit all three when I saw this tweet: Why, look at that! The Rouse Project’s social media team is recommending one of my blog posts as a part of their Columbia Association election campaign. That’s odd. I’m not a member of the Rouse Project nor have I endorsed them. I haven’t endorsed anyone or anything having to do with the upcoming election. I don’t even know the names of all the candidates yet, nor which ones are affiliated with the Rouse Project. But could this tweet make people think something that isn’t actually true? In general, bloggers love to see their work shared but this one gave me a bit of a twinge. It’s important not to mislead people, especially where elections are concerned. On the other hand, now I know that The Rouse Project is recommending me/my blog as a valuable source of information. I’m going to run with that.  When I ran for CA Boar...

  Two years ago today I was attending a vigil at Dar Al Taqwa in memory of Muslims killed in mass shootings in their mosques in New Zealand. This morning I awoke to continuing coverage of a mass shooting in Georgia which appears to have focused on Asian Americans. It’s yet another example of violence towards people of Asian descent which was spurred on by hateful and derogatory speech from the former president of the United States. Even though he is no longer in power, the dynamic remains: mock, belittle, threaten, blame. When our worldview is reduced to blaming “other” people who are “different from us” the results are dangerous. The process of “othering” takes away humanity. Continued blaming evolves into a belief that “those people” must be punished. Taking actions on these feelings thus becomes justifiable. We see it happen again, and again, and again. This is a toxic cycle and too many Americans have chosen it. Whether their participation is active or passive, the end result i...

  It disappeared. I went to the Facebook page to find the photograph of the racist vandalism at Glenwood Middle School and, as I was looking at it, a message popped up: This photo is no longer available. And, just like that, the photo disappeared. Boom.  That was weird. Howard County police investigating racist vandalism   at Glenwood Middle School , Jacob  Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun If you went to Glenwood Middle School today, you wouldn’t see that same scene either, as the white spray paint has been washed away and everything returned to normal.  Normal here isn’t the absence of racism.  It’s the normal that produces people who are so uncomfortable seeing a public statement that Black Lives Matter at school that they won’t rest until they “white it out.”  The continuing examples in Howard County make it clear that at any moment racism is either lurking under the surface, rearing its ugly head, or just plain out there in the open. It makes itself kno...

  Saint Patrick’s Day is upon us. Each year as it approaches I feel some ambivalence as I think of the painfully un-Irish way that America expresses itself on this holiday. I’m referring, of course, to green beer, Shamrock Shakes, and cupcakes decorated with Lucky Charms cereal. I’m what is called Scots-Irish, and my husband and his family are from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day is a very different thing to them. Every year I shudder a bit and steel myself against the onslaught of leprechauns and the “Luck of the Irish.” I wish that people knew more about Ireland and its history and culture. And more than anything else I wish that Saint Patrick’s Day had not been reduced to an opportunity to consume inordinate amounts of alcohol. In America we seem to have three whole holidays reserved for the reckless consumption of alcohol: New Year’s Eve, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Cinco de Mayo. Interestingly enough, the latter two are awash in cultural appropriation and misinform...

  Some years Columbia Association elections and the accompanying Village elections pass by with the silence of the proverbial tree in the forest whose falling goes observed. Other years there may be a spark of enthusiasm here or there, or a bit of a kerfuffle due to generational turf wars. But, to be honest, Columbia election season is usually nothing to write home about. This year, thanks to a newly-minted  LLC called The Rouse Project, we appear to have been thrust into a battle over the heart and soul of the Columbia Association, if not Columbia itself. Comprised of a Steering Committee of area notables, The Rouse Project looks to have been formed for the specific purpose of shaping the conversation around this year's elections.  If you haven’t already, you can take a look at their reasoning here . There’s a combination of old-school Columbia idealism combined with some serious consternation and condemnation of present day CA. The Rouse Project lines up its argume...

  Did you see the announcement? The County is seeking to rezone the historic Ellicott City Courthouse Complex and is issuing a Request for Information for creative reuse concepts for the four associated properties: (1) the Circuit Courthouse located at 8360 Court Avenue, (2) the former Detention Center or Old Jail House, (3) the office building located at 3716 Court Place and (4) the 269-space parking lot used for the Courthouse. The Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan, which was adopted by the Howard County Council in December 2020, calls for a mixed-use development at the courthouse site with an emphasis on pedestrian and open space connections.  The current Circuit Courthouse will be vacated this summer and relocated to a newly developed state-of-the-art Circuit Courthouse, creating a unique reuse opportunity of the County-owned Courthouse and adjacent properties. Photo credit: Howard County Government Here are some suggestions made by readers on social media: Temporary STE...

  It’s back! “John Lewis Lives”, the First Place winner in the Columbia Festival of the Arts Songs of Strength competition, has been released as a music video thanks to a collaboration with composer  Alan Scott and American Idol winner Grammy nominee Ruben Studdard. Yes, I know I’ve written about Scott and this song before, but it’s a great local story and it keeps getting better.  Take the time to watch the video. The use of historical photos of John Lewis throughout enhances the message of the song. It’s a beautiful tribute to a great man and a joyful celebration not only of his life, but of the journey we all need to be continuing together: Where there is hope  where there is freedom  where we fight for justice  John Lewis lives. Where you build a bridge  Made of faith, made of courage He will walk beside you. John Lewis lives. - -  John Lewis Lives (Good Trouble)       Alan Scott Watch the video. If you enjoy it, click “like”. ...