Category Archives: public life

Living Dangerously at the Farmers Market

Posted on October 20, 2019 by

Weekend shocker: Yesterday I bought (i.e., paid for) lettuce. Lettuce does, infrequently, come into my apartment thanks to gardener friends with an excess of greens, but green vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables, are rarely seen in my kitchen. What I … Continue reading →

Posted in home, Martha's Vineyard, public life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tam Lin Goes to a Selectmen’s Meeting

Posted on June 25, 2019 by

How is writing about Martha’s Vineyard like a puppy chasing its own tail? Real life inspires fiction and fiction starts looking like real life and pretty soon you’ve forgotten which came first. Round and round and round . . . … Continue reading →

Posted in dogs, outdoors, public life, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tam Lin Starts Socializing

Posted on May 31, 2019 by

Good dog trainers emphasize the importance of early socialization for young puppies, with a focus on the first three months (13 weeks). Travvy’s early socialization was mostly hit-or-miss, which most likely contributed to the, uh, challenges we had later with … Continue reading →

Posted in dogs, home, outdoors, public life | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

April License Plate Report

Posted on May 1, 2019 by

A pretty spectacular month! The April scorecard: D.C., West Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico, Minnesota, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Missouri. West Virginia, Hawaii, or Mississippi! Any one of the three would be cause for celebration, but all three in one month? I … Continue reading →

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Yes to the Housing Bank

Posted on April 5, 2019 by

Spring is town meeting season in New England, and that includes Martha’s Vineyard. Four of the six island towns — Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and my town of West Tisbury — hold their annual town meetings (ATMs) next Tuesday, April … Continue reading →

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Post-Election Pep Talk

Posted on November 9, 2018 by

Yes, it’s a bummer that Beto didn’t win in Texas, and the voter suppression that went down in Georgia should infuriate anyone who believes in representative government, but if you’re disappointed in Tuesday’s election results and you’re not a Republican, … Continue reading →

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2018 Election Roundup, Part 2

Posted on November 1, 2018 by

Part 2 of my 2018 Election Roundup is devoted to the three questions on the Massachusetts ballot. Part 1 was devoted to the candidates. For a detailed description and complete text of each one, along with an argument for and an … Continue reading →

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2018 Election Roundup, Part 1

Posted on October 26, 2018 by

I’ve been planning an election-round-up blog post but was going to do it closer to election day. Then I was reminded that early voting is already under way: in Massachusetts it started this past Monday and continues through November 2, … Continue reading →

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Vote Like Housing Matters

Posted on October 24, 2018 by

I’m working on an election roundup post and pep talk, but a story in the Cape Cod Times caught my eye yesterday and pissed me off enough that I’m devoting a post to it. I hadn’t paid all that much attention … Continue reading →

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Repairing the Bike Path

Posted on October 22, 2018 by

“Infrastructure” comes up in political conversations a lot these days, and with good reason: infrastructure is crucial to the smooth running of any enterprise, but it often gets short shrift when it comes time to budget money for it. Why? … Continue reading →

Posted in outdoors, public life, technology | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments