Darlin' Clementine

It looks like investors have finally caught on to the fact that Hamilton is full of affordable real estate and hungry people. Recently opening in downtown Hamilton is Clementine at 5402 Harford Road, which we know is in the heart of Hamilton, and not in Lauraville as was reported by critic Elizabeth Large in the Baltimore Sun recently. Clementine is open for business, and word is that Christopher Curmudgeon approves. Here's a copy of the menu.

According to the Sun article, there's also a major transformation going on at the Hamilton Tavern, which is owned by one of the partners at Brewer's Art. Elizabeth Large has done me wrong before with her less-than-accurate reviews. Please don't toy with me Lizzie ....

illustration by Steve Felmore

Westfield Wildlife

Enjoy the scene from our backyard this morning. (Click to enlarge the image.)

Westfield loses a voice of compassion and caring

It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you of the passing of one of our own, Scepter66. He was a resident of Westfield for many years, and was an eager contributor to this blog. As he battled pancreatic cancer over this past year, he still took time to give us a journey down Harford Road on New Year's Eve, and was keeping a keen eye on the re-opening of Chokchai, a local favorite of his.

I have written a longer tribute to Scepter66/ John Steber at my own blog, Nailing Jello to the Wall. John was a loyal reader there and enjoyed discussing politics and current world events. An excerpt from my post follows:

John was an excellent writer, and always left great comments here. The thoughtful kind that I personally always have a hard time leaving at blogs myself. He also dabbled with keeping his own blog to express his feelings about the battle he was going through, although I think felt a little self-conscious about being too revealing of his emotions in front of the strangers of the blogosphere. The quote in the title ["coping with life. facing death. seeking wisdom."] is from his blogger profile. You can get an idea of what kind of man he was by reading from the last post on his blog, Colonial Vulcan, where he quotes Ben Franklin:

"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments."

And I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that John was a regular writer at a local blog that we started in our neighborhood, Harford Road, Hon. In fact, he was our regular roving reporter, with posts such as his photo journey down Harford Road on New Year's Eve. He also was a great advocate for the local restaurants in the neighborhood, and kept a keen eye on openings and closings. "Harford Road Hon" has not been the same without John, and again, I always felt he was my reader whenever I posted there. I will miss writing something funny and imagining his laugh when he read it.

It often seems cliche to say someone fought a "brave battle" with cancer -- that is, until you see someone wage that battle. When you see the terrible toll that this disease takes on the body, you wonder at how anyone could be strong enough to cope. But John fought hard and strong, keeping his dignity and compassion for others throughout his ordeal. Even when it became obvious that the experimental treatment he was undergoing was not helping, he insisted on continuing, because it might help someone else down the road. I can only hope that if faced with this type of personal challenge, I would be half as strong as John was in facing it head-on.

Donations may be made to the Gilchrist Center Hospice of Baltimore in memory of John Steber.

Bring back the HAC!

Sure, it's technically not in Westfield, but the Hamilton Arts Collective is a great thing to have down Harford Road. I've seen some hilarious improv shows there, as well as terrific artwork in the gallery. Unfortunately, the building in which these events take place was shut down last December for fire code violations. From the blog BMore Tunes:

The Hamilton Arts Collective is coming back. The art and performance space was shut down in December for fire code violations, but managing director Stephen Thomas has a plan. The collective needs to raise $25,000 to put the performance space on the second floor and the art space on the first floor, and make other repairs. They are looking for a lot of help, with donations, planning fund raisers and grant writing.

In addition to these volunteer efforts the HAC has announced a benefit show on April 6:

The super-awesome folks at The 2640 Space have graciously offered to host a benefit show on behalf of the HAC!

Here's the lineup:
3:30pm doors
4pm: Baltimore Improv Group
5pm: Complimentary food is served!
6pm: live music with OFM
7pm: live music with Mongoloidian Glow
8pm: live music with Bad Liquor Pond

ADMISSION: Sliding scale of $10 - $25
Discounts available...check out the details here!
All proceeds go towards the renovation efforts at the Hamilton Arts Collective.

LOCATION:
St. Johns United Methodist Church Hall
2640 St. Paul St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Send yer positive energy

Harford Road Hon blogger and chronicler of New Year's Eve, Scepter66, is feeling under the weather. Be sure to send out your most powerful positive vibes in his general blogospheric direction.

On a bicycle built for ... you?

Earth Day is just a month away, on April 22, 2008. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in any way you can. If you don't want to volunteer, you can always plant a tree, or at the very least, ride a bike!

A cool blog I just discovered is Baltimore Spokes, which -- as the name implies -- is focused on bicycling in Baltimore. I must admit, I don't do much riding up and down Harford Road, but I have seen some brave souls attempting to maneuver the traffic. And really, there's no reason why our neighborhood shouldn't be more bike-friendly.

As gas prices continue to rise, it might be time to get the 'ol Hello Kitty bike out of the basement and take her for a spin again.

Dance for Democracy

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I know it's short notice. But if you're in the mood to put on your dancin' shoes tonight, here's a great cause.