I am a frequent user of the greenways in and around Roanoke. By frequent, I mean that I walk an average of 5 miles per day along the Roanoke River, and I also take my son for regular rides in his bike trailer. I believe that the greenways are one of our most important recreational [...]
UPDATE: 6 days into my experiment and it appears that no one cares. Only 6 followers so far.
Blogging makes sense to me, but I’m not sure I really get what Twitter is all about. This blog has always been a personal reflection of my views on a wide range of issues, and when I have [...]
Every day we hear politicians and pundits bemoaning the sad state of our economy, and blaming our problems on “greed”, “lack of regulation”, and “unbridled capitalism”. These statements belie an incredible ignorance of human nature, and of the capitalist system based on our voluntary interactions. The reality is that greed is the driving force behind [...]
If you read my post on the arduous process of making demi-glace, you’ll understand that I’m the kind of cook who doesn’t believe in taking shortcuts. Some dishes are simply worth the extra effort required, and this is definitely one of them. If you don’t have homemade demi-glace, you can leave it out, but your [...]
The City of Roanoke has an unfortunate history of engaging consultants to produce costly reports, and then failing to take action on those recommendations once the work is completed. Rather than electing visionary leaders, we count on outsiders to provide a vision for what our city might become. When a truly exciting idea is put [...]
I’m one of those people whose weight has fluctuated dramatically throughout my adult life. While I’ve never been truly obese, at any given time I’ve been more likely to be overweight than underweight. Since my early twenties, my weight has ranged from as much as 235 pounds to as little as 135. Neither of those [...]
Rod Blagojevich must be laughing his ass off.
In this excellent article in The Atlantic, Richard Florida provides a chilling prediction of the long-term effects of the current recession. According to his analysis, those regions of the country with the highest concentrations of creative class workers will eventually emerge stronger, while those that rely heavily on manufacturing and other blue collar industries may [...]
To a certain extent, the Roanoke Valley has been insulated from the effects of the current recession. That is not to say that things are rosy here, but we are doing better than folks in other parts of the country. There are large numbers of unsold homes on the market, but we haven’t seen real [...]
I’ve never considered myself to be an environmentalist in the traditional sense of the word, but I do believe that we have a collective obligation to be responsible stewards of the Earth and its resources. For the sake of future generations, it is imperative that we consider the long-term consequences of our impact on the [...]