A Lesson in Independence

For the past three years, Mama Wordbones and I have hosted a neighborhood gathering on the 3rd of July. Our Ellicott City community is only three years old and this is our little way helping new neighbors get connected with each other.

Each year I have purchased a patriotic trinket to hand out to the kids at the party. As I noted in this post from last year, finding Independence Day items in local stores can be oddly problematic. Last year, MaryKate Murray suggested that for future parties I check out the Oriental Trading Company.

This year I took her advice. The Oriental Trading Company has a huge amount of Independence Day items. I settled on the ribbon with star pictured above and placed my order. When the ribbons arrived, I noticed something that wasn’t shown in the sample picture on the website. Each individually wrapped ribbon also had a “Made in China” sticker on it.

My first thought was to go through the two dozen packages and remove these oval gold stickers. Then I changed my mind. This could actually be a teaching moment. Considering that the bulk of our national debt is held by China, it seems appropriate to recognize this relationship on the day we celebrate our “independence.”

Sushi Comes to Elkridge

Another local business has expanded during this recession. Katana Japanese Cuisine in Clarksville has opened a second location in the Lynwood Plaza in Elkridge.

Mama Wordbones and I dropped in this past Friday night and met sushi chef Tim and sushi server Grace.

Again, I’ll leave the restaurant review to those with more discriminating palates but suffice it say that we enjoyed our evening in the new Elkridge version of Katana.

Healthy Howard Headlines

Ken Ulman and Dr. Peter Beilenson have been making headlines lately. Yesterday, in The Washington Post, the County Executive and his Health Commissioner co-authored an op-ed piece in the Metro section about the lessons learned so far in their Healthy Howard Access Plan. You can read that story here.

Earlier this month in this story by Robert Siegel on National Public Radio, Dr. Beilenson explained some of the pitfalls they’ve encountered in the seven months since the program began.

“Of the 10,000 uninsured adults who were eligible for Healthy Howard — people whose incomes are no more than three times the poverty level — only 200 people fully enrolled in the program that was designed specifically for them. An additional 390 are in the queue, which means they have passed the screening and are eligible, and are in the process of providing documentation to get enrolled. Total, that's not quite 600 people — less than 6 percent of the 10,000 who are eligible.”

So far this program seems to be better at generating press than patients.

Lazy Days on Main Street

“Let’s meet at Sharkey’s”

My buddy Alan and I were trying to get together for a drink after work last Thursday. Since we live close to downtown Ellicott City he suggested we meet up at Upstairs at Sharkey’s on Main Street.

“Every time I’d tried to go there in the past it hasn’t been open,” I replied.

“It’ll be open this afternoon at 4:30,” he assured me. Alan has been my friend since we were in high school many moons ago. When he assures me it carries some weight.

Before I got to the door of the bar, Alan waived me into Sweet Cascades, the candy store next to Sharkey’s.

“He’s not here yet, “Alan explained. It was a few minutes past 4:30. I couldn’t resist a “told ya so.”

While waiting in the candy store I struck up a conversation with the proprietor, Sue. As we waited for Sharkey’s to open, she indulged us with samples of her unique confections like the chocolate crabs dusted with Old Bay seasoning. This didn’t sound appetizing at first but the combination of flavors was surprisingly good. The chocolate crabs are available in white, dark and milk chocolate. You can also buy them by the bushel.

Finally, around 5:00 PM, Sharkey arrived and opened his bar. Alan and I walked up the steps to the little bar atop Johnny’s Bistro on Main Street. Sharkey apologized for the late opening explaining that he was a little under the weather.

This is how it goes in the old town on week nights, especially for the smaller establishments like Sharkey’s. Sharkey is the only employee at Sharkey’s. There just isn’t enough business to add another bartender.

As it stands, Alan and I were Sharkey’s only customers that early Thursday evening. When we left after a couple of beers, the bar was empty.

iPhone Lite

This past Thursday I was invited to a “Broker Lunch” at the Patapsco Valley Office Campus over in the outer suburbs of Elkridge. The developer had invited local commercial real estate brokers to a luncheon in the nice but vacant new buildings. You might say that they have a leasing opportunity on their hands.

In addition to a great lunch of crab cakes, they gave out door prizes, one of which was an 8GB iPod touch. As it turns out, I was the lucky dog that went home with this toy.

I have lamented in the past about how much I dislike my new mobile phone. The truth is, if I the iPhone hadn’t come on the scene, I would most likely be content with my LG Voyager. But it did come on the scene and I’m not content. There is little I can do about it too because I’m a Verizon customer. Consequently, I have iPhone envy.

The iPod touch is about as close as I’m going to get to an actual iPhone for now. It isn’t a phone, it doesn’t have a camera, and you can only get on the web from a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Still, though I’m not crazy about the touch screen keyboard, it is fun to play with and it does have some of the same cool attributes of the iPhone. Most importantly, it was free.

Doughoregan Development Dead

According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun today, Erickson Retirement Communities has decided not to move forward with the purchase of 188 acres out of the historic properties 892 acre estate for a senior housing development. The Carroll family had hoped to use the proceeds of the land sale to finance the preservation of “the nearly 300-year-old Carroll family mansion and other historic structures once occupied by Charles Carroll of Carrolton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.”

“"All we can do is look at our options, as we were doing before Erickson came on the scene," said Camilla Carroll, who still lives on the estate, in an e-mail. "Of course there is no money now to restore anything, and historic buildings are falling down as we speak."

These are tough times for the financing of any large scale development project, even a unique opportunity such as Doughoregan Manor.

US Cyber Command Headed to Fort Meade

The Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert M. Gates, is recommending that President Obama “redesignate the position of Director, National Security Agency to Director, National Security Agency and Commander, U.S. Cyber Command.”

He is further advocating that the headquarters of this new command be located at Fort Meade. The Secretary envisions this command to be fully operational by October 2010.

This could be a huge economic win for our area. As noted in an earlier post, the Cyber Security Initiative could easily top $100 billion.

That’s billion…with a “b.”

Technical Difficulties

Passing through the mall around 3:00 PM today I noticed the grate was down at Victoria’s Secret.

Then I read the sign.

My warped mind couldn't help pondering what technical difficulties a women’s sexy lingerie boutique might have.

Merriweather to Host FreeFest

It’s official now. According to this story by J. Freedom du Lac in today’s Washington Post, the 2009 Virgin Mobile Music Fest will be held at Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 30th. This year’s music festival is being dubbed “FreeFest” and, as the name implies, all 35,000 tickets will be free.

"Virgin Mobile customers and previous V-Fest ticket-buyers will get first crack at the tickets, beginning tomorrow. Tickets to the event, dubbed FreeFest, will be made available to the general public beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday on http://ticketmaster.com/."

This year’s line-up includes Weezer, and Public Enemy.

Remote Controlled Grass Cutting

This morning, as I was driving down Dorsey Run Road in Jessup, I spotted this odd looking lawn mower moving alongside the road.

I circled back around to investigate.

Standing nearby, with a remote control unit, was Kevin Orner. Kevin is with Commercial Maintenance & Management Corp and he was operating the Dvorak Spider ILD 02.

It’s a mower specifically designed to cut grass on slopes up to 60 degrees.

One of these babies could be a real game changer in my yard.

Graffiti Artist Nabbed

Last month, in this post, I posted a picture of a large graffiti mural on the Verizon building on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia this spring. Today I received the following email from Councilperson Dr. Calvin Ball:

"On your blog, you as well as others have shared concerns regarding the graffiti mural on the Verizon building located on Oakland Mills Road. After sharing your concerns with the Howard County Police Department, an investigation was underway. With the assistance of Oakland Mills High School administrators and the Oakland Mills High School Resource Officer, a juvenile suspect was interviewed and was subsequently charged with destruction of property.

The Verizon Supervisor has been contacted to have the graffiti removed from the building. We were assured that it would be removed within the week. "

Thanks Doctor C. Maybe we’re not so much like Brooklyn after all.

UPDATE 4:38 PM: It seems as if the Verizon facilities folks are on top of things. I just drove by the building and its already been cleaned up.

It’s Too Nice Out

It’s hard to sit in an office with a window on day like today. It is especially hard if you actually had the chance to get outside. That’s what happened to me. I had a lunch appointment with a friend and client at Clyde’s this afternoon. I arrived first and snagged an outdoor table. With the exception of the passing of one dark cloud it was a “chamber of commerce” day. We even ran into a smiling Dick Story.

Now I’m back in the office.

Sigh.

General Growth Bankruptcy Update

As General Growth Properties continues to pursue its approval of ZRA 113 for the redevelopment of Columbia’s Town Center, it also continues to navigate its way through the bankruptcy courts.

So what is going on with that?

Last Friday, Jennifer Dawson reported in the Houston Business Journal that GGP had backed out of plans to sell its stake in the master planned community of Bridgeland, Texas. This is the clearest indication to date that the company intends to remain committed to developing master planned communities.

According to this story by Brian McMorris on the Seeking Alpha blog the next key event for the company will occur before the end of this month.

“The other big news the past week was the decision of Judge Gropper, who is overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings, to make a decision by the end of June or thereabouts regarding whether or not General Growth is even entitled to a bankruptcy that includes its malls.

In the most interesting turn of this situation, the parent brought a number of mall partnerships (SPEs) that were financed by securitized debt, under the corporate umbrella. The debt holders cried foul because they thought they were immune to the parent's bankruptcy. Most of the debt holders had refused to negotiate to extend loans with GGP. My thinking is they were trying to take advantage of the credit crisis and had plans to strip away the assets without compensating General Growth.”

Stay tuned.

A Good Day for a Mow

It began at seven o’clock this morning. We lay in our bed with the windows open allowing in the uncommonly cool air on a midsummer’s eve. In the distance we heard that familiar rumble of a two cycle lawn mower engine. It had already started.

It was inevitable. I haven’t been counting but it seems like we’ve haven’t had a dry day in over a week. This is prime grass growing weather.

I cut my own lawn. We don’t have a service. We have a small lawn that takes a little over an hour to cut with my eco-friendly electric mower. All of my immediate neighbors cut their own lawns as well. In a period of normal weather we will cut and trim at similar but different schedules.

Today we were all on the same schedule. In an odd sort of communal effort, every dad in our little corner of the world cut his grass today, including me. The last guy just started.

Happy Fathers Day!

Pure Pleasure

Last night Mama Wordbones and I were in the mood for something light for dinner. The problem was that neither of us could specifically articulate what that actually meant in terms of a restaurant choice.

We decided to decide while simultaneously checking out the newly opened Pure Wine Café on Main Street in Ellicott City. The plan was to have an appetizer and a glass of wine while we plotted our evenings eating strategy.

Last December I posted that I was not going to do restaurant reviews anymore on Tales of Two Cities. For one, there are local bloggers like HowChow who are doing a better job than I could ever hope to. Also, I am not what you might refer to as a “foodie” or a “gourmet.” I’m pretty much a meat and potatoes dog. That being said, I could not resist writing a post about our experience.

Last night it was almost as if my taste buds went to a theme park. We tried things we’d never heard of and when we didn’t recognize an item on the menu, our lovely server, Katie, enthusiastically provided a description. It wasn’t long before I was happily stuffing my peppadews with whipped chevre and shallots. The wine was pretty good too.

Before long we were happily eating our way through the small menu of tapas and flatbreads. Unwittingly we had stumbled across our “something light.” We never went anywhere else.

Pure Wine Café is a small place, less than 50 seats, in great spot. The warm atmosphere is nicely complemented a friendly staff. We will definitely return.

Mixing Produce and People

I was struck by a comment made by Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning regarding the issue of the Harbin Farm stand in Ellicott City. According to this story by Derek Simmonsen in the Howard County Times, the DPZ believes that the zoning change that the Harbin family is seeking to keep their produce stand at the corner of Route 99 and Old Mill Road would be “out of character” with the “surrounding residential area.”

Huh?

Wouldn’t it make sense to keep a produce stand close to the people who actually consume the produce?

This past January, Roger Lewis, professor emeritus of the University of Maryland School of Architecture, gave a talk in Columbia about planning in which criticized zoning as “planning with a blunt instrument.” He was referring by the tendency of zoning efforts to segment different uses rather than allowing a synergistic mix. This segmenting mindset leads to more vehicle trips and congestion.

That would seem to argue in favor of finding a way to keep the Harbin Farm stand exactly where it is.

Scene This Week In...

Today is the last day of school for Howard County public schools. It seems as if our schools are the last in the region to close for the summer as most Baltimore area schools wrapped up their year last week.

No matter, for the students today marks the beginning of a long lazy summer. For the parents, it begins another phase of juggling schedules and trying to the kids constructively engaged.

I think I’d rather be in the students shoes.

To mark the occasion I found this vandalized sign on Beech wood Road in Ellicott City. I thought it was perfect for this week’s scene in Ellicott City.

A couple of years ago, I saw a sign in the parking lot of the Giant grocery store in Lynwood that said “Parking for Expectant Mothers.” At the time I thought this was a nice gesture. I had not seen this repeated in any other local shopping center until I was in the Harris Teeter parking lot in Kings Contrivance Village Center this week. This time there was more than one space set aside and “expectant mothers” had been expanded to “customers with special needs.”

I couldn’t get that out of my head. I mean, who doesn’t have special needs?

Watch Dogs

There is a nice article by John-John Williams IV in The Sun today about Dads getting involved with local schools. The story leads off with a piece about Columbian Mark Scott and his volunteer service at Talbott Springs Elementary School in the Village of Oakland Mills. Scott is part of a program called Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students) “which encourages fathers or adult males to spend the day at school, where they do everything from assisting teachers with lessons to eating lunch with students.”

Having recently spent some time volunteering as a coach for the Simulated Congressional Hearings at Worthington Elementary School in Ellicott City I have witnessed first hand the fact that there are more moms than dads volunteering in the schools. This program and others like the Meals with Magnificent Men at Cradlerock School in Owen Brown Village are trying to “overcome a traditional bias about gender roles in schools and exposing children to a wider range of role models and mentors.”

Not only is this important for the kids, its pretty fun for dads too.

Too Many Square Feet

In last Sundays New York Times Magazine, Rob Walker wrote an article entitled “Repurpose-Driven Life.” In the article he cites research conducted by Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson that suggests the United States has too much retail space.

“…in 1986, the United States had about 15 square feet of retail space per person in shopping centers. That was already a world-leading figure, but by 2003 it had increased by a third, to 20 square feet. The next countries on the list are Canada (13 square feet per person) and Australia (6.5 square feet); the highest figure in Europe is in Sweden, with 3 square feet per person.”

This is important to consider in the current debate over CB 29 (ZRA 102) which will govern the process for revitalizing struggling village centers in Columbia. While opponents of the legislation are advocating for more community input and oversight to any village center redevelopment, the real issue is whether these struggling centers simply have too much retail space to begin with.

“A Force for Peace”

According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, Liz Bobo has had an epiphany of sorts. "At this point in my life, at 65, the last thing I want to be is a force for divisiveness. I want to be a force for peace…"

Wow! Who knew?

Somebody ought to tell Mary Kay Sigaty and WCI about this.

Move over Ghandi, another force for peace is barreling through town.