Get busy Hon, show yer local support!

The blogging is light, but we're still here. I say "we" but I seem to have lost some of my regular contributors over the past year. So let me again put out this invitation to all Harford Road, Hon readers: if you'd like to contribute -- even just occasionally! -- please drop me a line at pookyshoehorn at gmail dot com.

Now on to the good stuff! On December 1 I went to the Westfield Neighborhood Improvement Association holiday party, held at The Parkside Fine Food & Spirits down Harford Road. A lovely time was had by all -- and by "all" I mean the 15 or so people who showed up. If you didn't make it, you missed some great conversation, great food, and great beer.

One thing that really struck me during several conversations was that we really do have a ton of stuff going on in Hamilton these days, and I for one, rarely take advantage of them the way that I should. This weekend promises to be full of opportunities to support local businesses and artists. So let's start reminding each other of what's so great about where we live:

Friday, December 4 – First Friday!

• 5 – 7 pm Holiday Happy Hour at the Chameleon Café (4341 Harford Road) and Holiday Tree Lighting outside with a sing-along by several local talents.

• 6 – 9 pm Hamilton Gallery (2927 Hamilton Avenue) featuring work by local artists.

• 7 pm EggNOGLI at the HAC, (5440 Harford Road, 2nd floor) – enter next to the Hamilton Gallery.

But Wait!! There's More!

Guess who's coming to Hamilton on Saturday, hon?

Saturday, December 5

• 12 noon Santa arrives in a motorcycle side car, strolls on Main Street in Hamilton making his way to The Heart of Hamilton (5523 Harford Road) to pick up letters written to him and take advantage of the 20% shopping discount.

• 1:30 pm Santa then works his way to Lauraville and stops to visit residents at the Harford Gardens Care & Rehab Center at 4700 Harford Road

• 2 pm Join Santa at the Red Canoe Bookstore Café (4337 Harford Road) for some hot spiced cider, discount coupon and to collect more letters for Santa. While you’re there pick up your discount holiday shopping coupon for Studio C Jewelry, on the 2nd Floor of the Red Canoe.

• 2:30 pm Santa will end his day at The Parkside Fine Food & Spirits (4709 Harford Road) for Holiday Photos with Santa. Photos by Soft Touch Photography by Cynthia for a nominal fee.

• 7 pm Top off your off your day with the Donovan Fund classic Christmas musical Meet Me in St. Louis showing at the Little Theater in Lauraville (4321 Harford Road, 2nd floor). All seats must be reserved due to limited seating. Call Chris Muldowney to reserve at 410-366-1980 x271. After the film a discussion is facilitated by Film Professor and Filmmaker, Chris Reed. For information on Donovan Fund and Film series www.fcsmd.org/events/donovan.htm

Many thanks to the wonderful Hamilton Lauraville Baltimore Main Street News for gathering this information!

Almost time to defrost the turkey, hon!

Sorry I've been light on the posting lately. I hope in the meantime you've visited some of the great blogs listed to the right. One of my regular reads is Coconut & Lime, written by one of our neighbors Rachel Rappaport. She is always cooking up something good in the kitchen, and with Thanksgiving coming up, we have the mother of all meals quickly upon us.

There are lots of great recipes over at Coconut & Lime, but this one caught my eye:

Ginger Lime Spiked Cranberry Sauce

And I am very tempted to try this one out on my family in Northern Virginia:

Thanksgiving Sauerkraut

What do you think?

An alternative to the 2-party system

Everyone complains about politics, and especially about the restrictions of a 2-party system. Well, it doesn't have to be that way, ya know. For instance, the Green Party is growing from the ground up (if you'll pardon the pun), and with every local win, the party becomes a more viable option for higher-up offices.

Baltimore Greens

Quit yer complainin' and do something ....

Can you guess the costume?

I dressed up for Halloween. I know, it's subtle.

Tricks or Treats!!! Why Must We Choose?

Click the image to see a bigger version.

I love my neighborhood

Jury Duty? Again? Seriously?

I'm one of those folks who seems to get a summons for jury duty every year. Each Fall, like clockwork, I get a summons in the mail. Sometimes I have to report, other times not. But I get the summons every year. This year it arrived in the mail in August, but I didn't have to report because the date of my duty fell on the Friday before Labor Day (when most state and local offices closed for furlough days).

Many of my friends and neighbors have never gotten a jury summons in all their years as a Baltimore City resident. It's never made any sense to us, as we all vote, we all are registered with the DMV. So I was glad to hear someone's finally looking into this:

Clerk of the Court to Probe City Juror Selection Process

“I received many calls from people who serve on a jury every year," Conaway said. “And then there are people who never serve, so I thought we needed to look at the whole process, which needs to be reviewed. And what we’re finding is that it’s a mess,” he said.

Read the rest of the article at Investigative Voice.