Support Free Speech, Local Matters, and Great Music in Sarasota & Beyond

Hey, if anyone out there enjoys WSLR 96.5 LPFM radio — now’s your chance to help keep great community radio on the air! At the same time, your donation in the minimum amount of $15 will net you a nice “premium” (aka thank you for donating gift). (more…)

Gotta Get to Gecko’s! Today at 3 p.m.!

Hey, a new restaurant is opening up today at 3 p.m., on Hillview Street (not too far from the 5 o’clock club) in Southside Village– Gecko’s Grill and Pub. You may already know about this locally-based chain that-totally-does-not-feel-like-a-chain restaurant — they’ve got other Gecko’s down in the Landings, Bradenton, and other locations in and around Sarasota. (more…)

Monday morning chez MC

Silvery-colored snake on plant right next to mailbox, scared the pants off me as I posted a letter. (more…)

Coward’s wish

The darkening
Comes
Whether
We will
Have it or not.

Beckons us
To come along

Brushes light
Aside with right
And falls
More quickly
Than we ever
Think
It will.

In night, then,
Every wish
A prayer
For conscience deep,

Or Hamlet’s sleep.

Mary Catherine Coolidge copyright 2010

Smooth moves at the Sarasota County Fair

Hey, has anyone seen the Bird/Magic documentary on HBO? It’s so interesting. I’m only thinking about that because I’m thinking about dunking … and I thought, up until last Friday, that dunking only occurred in basketball.

Little did I know there’s dunking in baseball too. But I digress a bit.

Here’s the story … (more…)

Back in the Land of (Online) Living!

Whew!!!!

The “cable guy” just left a little while ago and my Internet connection is now THANK GOD back in action. I was so happy I almost kissed the guy. I mean, c’mon, he was from Jersey, had the accent down, and pretty much saved my sanity and my business (which is mostly done through email).

We shook hands instead.

Okay, give me a little while to catch up with work and then I’ll catch up with my blog buds.

Community Food Packing Day … this Saturday!

CLICK ON THE POSTER TO LEARN MORE!

Too cute

I took Boomer-doodle for a mid-day walk (on his leash) and now he’s completely tuckered out!

Trust everyone … but cut the cards yourself

Finley Peter Dunne is the one who gets the attribution for the phrase “Trust everyone, but cut the cards.” But it’s an axiom I’ve adopted for myself for a long time now. I’ve just always added the “yourself” part to further clarify that the only trust that matters is the trust you have in yourself.

Ergo, have friends, be happy, fall in love, take that job … but don’t let anybody else cut the cards you’ll be playing with. Or else — in all likelihood, and all evidence supports — you’ll be short a few cards when you need them most.

People play to win. They protect themselves at all costs to get what they want when they want it. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing — as long as they’re honest about their pursuits and interests — but am most definitely saying understanding that truth should change the way we think and talk and act about trust and love and faith, in our families, our lovers, our friends, our elected officials.

And, in light of all the crap that passes for human interaction these days — name calling at the highest levels of government, people like Glenn Beck being given a platform — and the idiocy of the unthinking yokels who actually give him the time of day, Tiger Woods, JNadel, Madoff, even our own local Kathy Dent who couldn’t be bothered to audit properly, and yes, maybe even our own president and his minions who while they may have accomplished a great thing with health care reform, their behind-the-scenes turning of the screws didn’t exactly leave those of us who care about ends and their means with a happy afterglow — I’m fairly certain, in fact, I’m precisely certain, that while I may keep my cards on the table, while I may stay in the game … nobody’s every going to be cutting or dealing the cards of my life but me.

When Sandra Bullock stood up and gave her Academy award acceptance speech and ended it by giving props to her husband Jesse for “having my back” — sheesh, I almost faltered for a second. I almost thought, hey, maybe it is possible to find someone who will have your back unequivocally and in a stand-up, rock-solid way. She didn’t say he was her savior, or the love of her life or any bullshit like that. She just said he had her back. That simple. And that important. To know that come hell or high water, the person you sleep with is going to be careful and protective with your heart and your life, even if it costs them something in the process.

Well, by all appearances, looks like Sandra was wrong. He didn’t have her back at all … in fact, he was busy getting in back with another woman, possibly more than one. I have no problem with the guy if he wants to get laid elsewhere — but be a man and tell your wife first, so she can have the opportunity to protect herself and/or get out. Or at the very least, have the cajones to tell her what’s happened within hours of it happening. Don’t wait until she’s reached the pinnacle of professional success to let her learn about your dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

The thing about having someone’s back is that it’s not about love and promises and weddings and pre-nups. It’s about 100%, 24/7/365 — never, ever — screwing that person over. You don’t have to love them eternally. You don’t have to fake orgasms. You don’t have to lie to get them to do something you want them to do, or cover up something you want to do but think they won’t approve of.

You just have to be honest. Every time. Ahead of time. Behind time. All the time.

Bravo to the boys — local biz journalists snag awards

I’ve got to hand it to the boys* at the local daily — Sarasota Herald Tribune Business Section — they’ve raked in several well-deserved awards for investigative pieces they dug into and reported on over the past year. The reporting the team of reporters did on suspicious property flips and real estate fraud was fantastic. That team won “Best of the Best” business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and also picked up a national Scripps Howard award. Another team of reporters at the H-T was recognized for its coverage of the Nadel Ponzi scheme and saga as it unfolded (and continues to unfold). And, yet another reporter snagged a first-place shout-out for his story-telling on the Chinese drywall fiasco. (*pretty sure there are no females on the Biz staff)

A lot of people in this town (including me occasionally) bitch about our local daily — it should be more this, less that, yada, yada. But the Biz reporters really took center stage over the past year and reported in meaningful and very illuminating ways about the unfortunate sh*tstorm that was raining down on our little piece of normally sunny Paradise. Bravo and congrats … and actually, thanks, too.