yes men on youtube

my crazy friend mark made this video to remind people (WHY) to vote. fabulous. even as a non-tv watcher, i can say that sometimes video is so much more powerful.

the things we pay for

the outgoing 3 on the county commission voted last night to provide financial incentives for a rock quarry near siler city. i'm not the slightest bit surprised. but really, their votes over the past several months seem criminal. it's inadequate that our only recourse is to vote these guys out. because even when we do, even when the county clearly speaks (not only with exasperation at every single meeting, but more importantly with their vote) they still have 6 months to ruin, ruin our home.

this is funny too

(sorry about this). eyuck. but it made me laugh.

the nc state fair - c'mon over!

i'm not quite sure how i came across this, but it's worth a look. enjoy the strangeness...











ah, north carolina. also home of cutting-edge deep-fried experiments!

lady spider

we have a resident orb weaver. she's lovely. tracy thinks she's scary. if nothing else, this lady is determined: she built her enormous web right in front of our back door. maybe she's trying to catch us! try to use the deck without walking around through the yard and you'e doomed. (wish i could get a picture of it - these orb weavers are known for their symmetry - and it's huge!). we got a big rainstorm here the other day, tho, and were pretty excited about the possibility of using our deck again. but within moments of clear skies, she'd rebuilt. amazing. we may have her here all fall. which is ok by me - while tracy steers clear of the whole area, i watch her through the window like it's a tv. she so rarely moves, it feels like an enormous reward if you manage to sit there long enough that she lifts a leg or turns upside down (ok, clearly i have too much time on my hands). and here's a cool thing: if you open and close the door really quick, it throws some wind in her web. she thinks it's a catch, or a predator, we've learned, and she jumps up and down on her web! shaking the heck out of it to either frighten the predator or entangle the catch. crazy. this lady deserves a name...

small town drama

i'd say 'never a dull moment in pittsboro' but that would just be really untrue. at least at this time of year (election just about a month away), though, there consistently seems to be a bit of small town drama.

starts with this guy named ricky spoon, and my lovely neighbor janice. janice won't be our neighbor for too much longer, as she's procured a lot at the very top of the hill in chatham forest, where she and her family are planning a very cool house.

up there at the top of the hill, chatham forest abuts property owned by this spoon fella (whom i've never met, only heard about since we moved this way). evidently plans are in the works (and laid before the town board) for a commercial and high-density residential development right there on that property. very close to home.

so clearly, janice is concerned. so are we - and our other neighbors, who signed a petition opposing spoon's proposal. would be simple enough - property owners opposing a development that threatens to change the character of their property - but turns out our mayor and the developer of chatham forest, randy, and the spoon fella don't really get along. news & observer does a thoroughly small-town job of covering the "news" (also here). so tempers are high all around and we're all holding our breath to find out what the board does with spoon's proposal.

really, i'm not a fan of subdivisions like the one we live in. this one is tolerable because randy left in most of the trees, and most of the houses don't look the same. but whether we like it or not, in any development like this you should be able to take for granted that things won't change all that much around you. the streets are already laid out, the lots are subdivided, the buffer land is commonly owned, etc. so no wonder janice is fired up and all the rest of us with her. rar.

no election news yet, except that we missed this weekend's canvassing due to a bad reaction to some bad tuna (bleh). but next saturday...we'll hit the streets to fight for tom!