Spring In The Steger Garden (2010)

From Flowers

Keep It Wild!

Richardson Civic Center

From Flowers

The photo caption is correct. The photo above was snapped at the Richardson Civic Center. That field of wildflowers is surrounded by busy city offices, streets, a freeway, library, post office and apartments. Henry David Thoreau understood that "in Wildness is the preservation of the World." Richardson honors that sentiment with pockets of colorful wildflowers spread around the city every Spring.

Richardson doesn't honor wildflowers just by planting them, it wildly celebrates them with an annual "award-winning, multi-day eclectic arts and music festival" called simply Wildflower!, now just one week away. It takes over the Galatyn Park Urban Center from May 14-16. Take the DART Red Line to Galatyn Station. Enjoy live entertainment at one of three outdoor performance stages, along with food tasting, displays and exhibits and plenty of kid's activities. After all, Thoreau's Wildness isn't the only kind of Wildness that's beneficial to the human soul.

After the jump, a couple of close-ups of those wildflowers at the civic center.

What I Like About Richardson

The City of Richardson has a bond election coming up on Saturday -- $66 million for streets and alleys, parks and rec centers, fire stations and neighborhood vitality projects. The "yes" side says we need these things to keep Richardson an attractive place to live, work, shop and play. The "no" side says we only want these items, not need them, and we can't afford them in any case.

After the jump, another way to look at the election.

Twitter Tracks: Tomato The Town, Census, Oil Leak

Twitter tracks from April, 2010:

• 2010 04 01 - The next big thing for @amiromar: Tomato the Town (http://bit.ly/blGFpX)
• 2010 04 01 - Claire: "How could anybody reasonably be expected to distinguish an April Fool's joke from their [D Magazine's] normal content even on 4/1?"
• 2010 04 01 - Don't forget, today is Census Day. Fill it out. Thanks, great-great-great-grandpa for returning yours in your day: http://bit.ly/cAtd7f
• 2010 04 01 - Robin Williams calls Australians "English rednecks." Australian PM takes offense. You see, Aussies really hate being called English.
• 2010 04 01 - The Church's response to revelations of sexual abuse? Stonewall. Issue non-denial denials. Attack the messenger. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
• 2010 04 01 - Sarah Palin joins Sierra Club in criticizing Obama's drilling plan. Both are being consistent. SC champions environment. SP opposes Obama.
• 2010 04 01 - Daily Show on the census: If the gov't doesn't know you exist, how will the black helicopters come to tax your guns to pay for death panels?

After the jump, more Twitter tracks.

OTBR: Between Two Meadows In Estonia

Latitude: 59.34910° N
Longitude: 24.46510° E

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Ohio

Ohio
Music and lyrics by Neil Young

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Sideshows To A Bond Election

In case you weren't aware, the City of Richardson is holding a bond election Saturday, May 8. On the ballot are four packages: $24.7 million for street improvements, $22.6 million for parks and recreational facilities, $10.4 million for municipal public buildings, and $8.1 million for neighborhood vitality projects, for a total of $66 million.

The Dallas Morning News has recently given some coverage to some sideshows to the bond election. After the jump, I follow the News down the rabbit hole.

Sun In The Sky, Art In The Park

From 2010 05 Cottonwood

Sunshine. Art. Music. Food. People. Richardson's Cottonwood Art Festival. It doesn't get any better than this in Richardson. Or in most cities on most days, for that matter. For more photos, click here.

Play In May!

From 2010 04 HS Baseball

Congratulations to the baseball teams from Richardson and Berkner High Schools. The two schools were co-champions of District 9-5A. In a one game playoff Saturday afternoon at Richardson High School to determine the top seed for the playoffs, the Richardson Eagles beat the Berkner Rams 6-4 on the strength of three one-run home runs.

Friday night, Lake Highlands clinched the fourth and final playoff spot for District 9-5A. Wish all the RISD schools, as well as DISD's W.T. White High School which finished third in District 9-5A, the best of luck going into the playoffs. They've all achieved their goal to "Play in May!"

Bedside Manners

Honesty is the best policy, right? Not necessarily. If you're a doctor with an atrocious bedside manner, some things are best kept to yourself. On the other hand, if a sensitive and gentle approach doesn't align with the politics of your state legislators, then it's best to lay it all out in the open. Unless *that* isn't politically correct. Clear as mud?

After the jump, the mixed and confusing cases in the news.