Let's be careful out there. For some twisted reason, Drudge found it proper to dissiminate contact info
for the school and principal involved - I can't imagine the hell they
have had to endure over the last few days. Reuters ought to be
castrated and Drudge needs to post a correction and an apology.
I have had some folks report they are getting an error message when
they try to comment on my posts. I don't know why. If you
are having this problem, feel free to email your comments and I will
put them up until I figure it out. Send me an email.
The editorial department at the N&R lists many things that Greensboro has to be thankful for today. The list is extensive.
The Nussbaum Center's success, Dell's impending residency, Willow Oaks,
the resurgence of downtown's nightlife and daylife and local bloggers
are among the good things that are going on around here.
...Bloggers, you say?
While all of the items they submitted are signs of a community that is
re-inventing itself as a vital, thriving and disirable place to call
home, I am thankful the N&R has embraced weblogs as a legitmate
form of grassroots community building.
Although I am behind on listing all of the local weblogs that have come online in recent months, The Shu over at Greensboro Is Talking
lists them all in his blogroll (A blogroll is the list of links to
weblogs on the right hand side of his and this page, dummy). As with
any form of publication,
local weblogs run the gamut in both their subject matter and their
quality, but each one is the amplified voice of a citizen within our
community, and so far all of those voices are singing in a kind of
disjointed harmony - it won't always be that way, however, ...I
gaur-an-tee it.
Soon enough, some local issue will come up that will test these voices
as they come down on opposing sides. Soon enough, our new
cheerleader - the N&R - will screw up a story or adopt a position
that I or some other blogger will take great exception to.
Soon enough, one of our local elected bodies will make some real or perceived
backroom deal, or pass some ordinance that is not viewed as in the best
interest of the community by some local webloggers. Soon enough, some local
issue is going to require a serious rallying of divergent troops.
When one of the above occurs (notice I didn't say 'if'), we will see if this local
community of bloggers has the stuff it takes to make a real
difference.
As it currently stands, Greensboro's army of
webloggers are probably viewed by many as a quaint group of benign
computer chat-room types who talk mainly amongst themselves. But just
wait. Very soon all of these new and seasoned voices will have the
opportunity to really test their mettle within the cacaphony of public
opinion. At that point, not everyone in this town will be
thankful for webloggers. For that, I am thankful.
Check out the time stamp below, then subtract 1 1/2 hours - you should come up with about 5:30a.
Smoking an 18lb turkey (actually 2) requires a lot of time and some
rolling papers that you just can't find at the local 'head shop'.
(Kidding on the rolling papers, but not the time.) I do this on
two occasions per year - Thanksgiving and the first Saturday in May - Kentucky Derby Day.
Thanksgiving is my favorite of the two smoke days because I actually
get to eat my creation. On Derby Day I have to start just as
early, but by the time the fowl treat is ready (6 to 8 hours hence), I
am occupying the paramutual seat taking wagers oblivious to the feeding
frenzy occuring elsewhere in the house. Sometime during the
festivities, an unknown someone opens the tops on the smokers and
discovers the brown birds just sitting there and wrestles them in the
back door with revelers picking at the carcasses all the way to
wherever they are finally placed for consumption - I say 'wherever' because I
never see the birds after I place them on the cooker in the early
morning. All I ever see is the picked clean skeleton.
Not today, though... no sirree. One of the birds is headed to
Mebane Ham's family table (and has been for many years), the other is
mine... Well, mine - and the others who live here permanently or
occasionally.
