Governor's Race Heats Up; Silver Spring's Sizzling Too

I went to the Martin O'Malley gubernatorial fundraiser with a friend last Thursday night at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Currently the mayor of Baltimore, and named one of the top five mayors in the U.S. by Time magazine, O'Malley gave a rousing speech that resulted in a standing ovation, and we were able to meet and chat with him personally. I haven't made up my mind yet about who to vote for, but as far as I'm concerned right now, it's between Doug Duncan (Montgomery County Executive) and O'Malley. Our current governor, Robert Ehrlich, seems mainly concerned with pushing slot machines, selling off precious state land behind our backs, and getting career state employees who happen to be Democrats fired from their jobs, if self-proclaimed "Prince of Darkness" and chief head-roller Joe Steffen's e-mails are any clue. My impression is that Ehrlich fancies himself a mini-potentate who values "loyalty" over experience and a long history of public service. We've seen the results of that approach on a national scale too (can you say, "Heck of a job, Brownie"?). Apparently, running this rather smallish state has gone to Ehrlich's head. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Gov. Ehrlich.

On a lighter note, as many local folks know, Silver Spring's revitalization appears to be a smashing success, for which Duncan takes some deserved credit. Discovery's gleaming world headquarters complex is now located at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road, a short walk from the Silver Spring metro station (Red Line).
Diagonally across from Discovery is the beautiful art deco Lee Building. About a half-block north on Colesville is the famed American Film Institute and AFI Silver Theatre. If you head around the corner, you'll hit all the attractions along Ellsworth Avenue, including Majestic cinema, Borders Books, and numerous fun restaurants and cafes, along with a colorful fountain and periodic free outdoor concerts and festivals. Also nearby on Fenton Street is a Whole Foods Market and a Baja Fresh. Cafes along Ellsworth include such attractions as Phillips Seafood, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Austin Grill (my personal favorite),
Lebanese Taverna Café, Eggspectation, Red Lobster, Romano's Macaroni Grill, McGinty's, Noodles & Company (I loved their Pesto Cavatappi with a spritz of the lemon slices located next to the soda machine), Asian Bistro (excellent food and a quieter atmosphere), Panera Bread (the latter two are around the corner -- walk from Ellsworth through the little breezeway next to Red Lobster and hang a right), and several others. The food at Romano's is delicious, but they have recently started delivering an annoying sales pitch before they take your order. They even hold up a wine bottle and ask if you want some. One server had the audacity to turn the page of the menu in my hands and start reading it to me. Knock it off, folks, and stop aggravating your customers and wasting everyone's time. Naming one or two specials is okay, but as for the rest, we can read the menu and decide for ourselves what to eat and drink.

At night, colored neon lights on Ellsworth and in the Discovery complex are turned on and it's quite a pleasant stroll.
The City Place Mall does not live up to the rest of Silver Spring; many people avoid it in favor of the Ellsworth area. The stores tend toward the cheap side. Anchors include Marshall's and Burlington Coat Factory (on the very top level). The food and attitude at the new Taste of Morocco were a disappointment, although a belly-dancing class recital was enjoyable. (I prefer the atmosphere and food at Casablanca's in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.) Ruby Tuesday's in City Place Mall has a nice salad bar and I loved their spinach dip, but they have an odd "seating chart" issue whereby you have to beg to be seated at the table of your choice even if there are many empty tables, and sometimes they say no. I wish management there would empower the hosts and servers to seat customers wherever they want.

A little off the beaten path but within walking distance are the historic Tastee Diner, which was physically moved from another location and preserved; Mi Rancho, which has a wonderful tent-like structure in the warmer months with colored lights that provide a festive Mexican-style atmosphere; and Cubano's, which I heard is good but haven't tried yet. Just down the road at Colesville and East-West Highway is a little shopping center with an Asian place and an Italian one that has great food, Mamma Lucia.

A little while back, we went to the jazz festival in Silver Spring with Wynton Marsalis (sorry, no photos -- that was in my prehistoric, digital camera-less days). Doug Duncan was there; he has an office in Silver Spring. The music and concept were great -- it turned into a fundraiser for Katrina victims -- but we felt that not enough of the old New Orleans songs were played, and that people might have dug even deeper into their pockets if they had heard their old "Dixieland jazz" favorites, which could have inspired thoughts of how much New Orleans culture has contributed to the national tapestry.

For more information on Silver Spring attractions, restaurants and events, see http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/.

Oh Please, Not Another Corny Pet Story

I never thought I'd be one of those people who post corny photos and syrupy stories about their pets on the Internet, but I just got my first digital camera (an awesome HP R717 with 6.2 megapixels -- best price was at Circuit City online) and I'm going nuts with it.
So you can add me to the list of corny pet-posters. World, meet Lola. To add some value to this otherwise self-indulgent little exercise, and provide me with an excuse for playing with my camera, I thought an accompanying essay on what we can learn from cats would be in order.

Cats are a great jumping-off point for pondering human beings. For example, I've learned a lot about personalities from my previous and current cats. My former cat, Kitty, was a shy sweetie-pie with a polite, asking-type meow. I thought the rather demanding, loud meow of my otherwise also sweet and shy new cat, Lola, was annoying at first, but then I convinced myself it was cute so it wouldn't drive me bananas, and now we get along swimmingly and I think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone else who visits finds it annoying but I, in my current state of Buddha-like acceptance, simply smile indulgently at their understandable reactions. One person noted that my cat had been in a household previously with a large number of people and animals, and speculated that she may have become loud in an effort to be heard and simply kept that habit even now when it is no longer needed. Come to think of it, some people from big families are pretty loud, too, and nothing you can say or do will change them.

This makes me think that a lot of what we find annoying in people may be an aspect of their personality that they almost can't help, and how we might thereby be inspired to work on being more accepting (as long as the issue in question isn't one of abuse). On some level, people may be pre-programmed by a combination of their heredity and environment to react in a certain way. Not to disparage "free will," and I do believe we have choices in life, but I also believe we are not blank slates at birth but inherit some powerful genetic tendencies, such as our basic personality, which have an impact along with environment and free choice. Together, the less controllable forces in life can impact us in ways that require heroic efforts to overcome.

Of course, it's a slippery slope from this observation to some noxious views about inherited characteristics and genetic immutability that I don't share. I'm simply saying that I think we're more a product of both our biology and environment than most would care to acknowledge, and that understanding this can make one both more enlightened about oneself and more compassionate toward others.
The inheritance of our ancestors, and the environmental influences of family, culture, and geography in which we happen to be born, should not be underestimated in pondering what has made us who we are today. So much of what we think of as "ourselves" really is something we've absorbed into our bones from birth and then reflected back to the world, not realizing how much of it would be different if we had been born into a different family somewhere else. In fact, in such a case, we would no longer even be ourselves. Part of the human condition is defined by limitations; the noblest commitment is the acceptance of a limitation on one's freedom, in one sense, for a greater good or higher freedom. Devotion to one goal is impossible without the exclusion of conflicting goals. This realization is liberating in the sense that once we realize we are limited from birth in many ways and that unfettered freedom is an illusion, a few more limitations, consciously chosen, won't hurt and might even help.

As an example of the influence of a geographic accident on what we think of as our most cherished principles, people come up with all sorts of elaborate theological explanations for why their religion is best, and I'm not knocking theology, but on some level, an accident of birth is the key. If you were born in Kandahar instead of Kansas, you'd most likely be a Muslim right now. All of this makes it easier (at least in theory) to "live and let live" and be more forgiving of both personality quirks and differences of belief that otherwise might make you want to clobber someone, and to accept the limitations that come along with making a conscious commitment, because we are limited in many ways from birth by virtue of being human.

So I have to thank the Kittys and Lolas of this world for helping me to be a more understanding human being. Of course, what it means to be human is a question for another blog, what with the news about our human ancestors possibly having mated with chimpanzee ancestors. As any good geneticist will tell you, we share 90-some percent of the same DNA as chimps. Without naming names, and not intending to insult chimps, I'll just say that explains a lot. You can fill in the blanks with your chimp(s) of choice.

To adopt a cat in Montgomery County, Maryland, contact Friends of Montgomery County Animals.

National Religious Campaign Against Torture

To view the rest of the statement below, sign it, and/or make a contribution, go to:
http://www.nrcat.org/.

"Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear. It degrades everyone involved -- policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.

"Torture and inhumane treatment have long been banned by U.S. treaty obligations, and are punishable by criminal statute. Recent developments, however, have created new uncertainties...."