It's a sad day. I've lost yet another part of my childhood. Donnie Simpson is leaving radio in Washington, DC after 32 years. He is originally from Detroit, but after 32 years in DC, we let him call it "home" too.

Most of the country remembers Donnie from his years on BET's "Video Soul," but in my hometown of Washington, DC, Donnie was our morning radio guy. Since we weren't afforded the luxury of iPods and internet and the such, we counted on guys like Donnie Simpson to introduce us to new music. He also bought us news at the top of the hour. He ended every morning's session with the song, "Jesus is Love."

Alas, everything must change. As Granny used to say, "nothing lasts forever." I'm listening live on the station's website. Celebs are callling left and right to wish him well. Thanks for the memories, Donnie!!

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One of the things that I miss most about my hometown of Washington, DC is the overabundance of greasy spoon restaurants. I believe that you get the best in local eats from these kinds of places. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with fine dining, but why go to unfamiliar territory without experiencing it the way the locals do.

When my friends travel to my hometown, I tell them to hit Ben's Chili Bowl for a chili half smoke, as well as Horace & Dicky's for a fish sandwich unlike any you've ever had before, and Booeymonger for a Patty Hearst sandwich. And when I go to visit, these are the kinds of experiences that I want to have as well.

What about you? Do you stay on the tourist beat, or do you get down and dirty with the residents? Tell me about your favorite "Greasy Spoon."

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I've been on Facebook for about a year now. I've reconnected with so many folks that I know I couldn't have found any other way. But, it's made me long for folks that I still can't find. There are some people in my past that I desperately wish that I could speak to again.

One is my elementary school librarian. She was great. I loved her. She was the first person that I met that shared my passion for books. Of course, I knew that folks read. But I didn't know anybody else that would rather read than eat, sleep, or do anything else. Until I met her. She introduced me to books and authors that I had never even heard of. She explained the Caldecott and Newberry awards to me. She listened to me. She even gathered a group of my friends together and somehow got us into the American Folklife Festival down on the grounds of the National Mall. Wait, I don't mean that we attended the Festival, we were IN the festival! I think we did it for 2 or 3 years straight. About 10 years ago, I tried to reach her through the school and was told that she had retired in the 80s. I surely wish that I could find her. Last year, I searched the internet and found a person with her name in the Denver area. I called and left a message, but no one returned my call. I often think of her. As a small child, I'm sure that I didn't convey to her what a huge influence that she was on me and how she impacted the person that I became. I'd like to thank her for caring about me.

Are there folks in your lives that you wish you could reconnect with? Why? Have you tried? Why not?

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Where were you during those three weeks in October when two men held the DC area hostage, killing ten and injuring three others?

I remember it vividly. A year after 9/11, things were just getting back to normal, when all heck broke lose. I lived in Montgomery County, Maryland, a county that typically had 15 murders a year. Everyone knew immediately that something was amiss when we had 5 murders in 1 day. For the next three weeks, life was anything but normal. Every trip outside the house was tense.

I worked, but I pulled my children out of school when a young man was shot at school. I've always said that 9/11 was the single most terrifying day that I'd ever lived through. The Beltway Sniper crisis was 3 weeks of terror. Friends checking on friends. Family checking on family. Neighbors checking on neighbors.

We were so relived when it all ended. I was also saddened when it was revealed that one of the snipers was so young, and had lived such a tragic life. I know that he killed without regard, but my heart still breaks when I think about him. I also think of Conrad Johnson, the last victim, who I knew from the neighborhood. He was murdered in the early morning on this very day, seven years ago. I think of all the victims and their families, especially this time of year. And I think of our police chief, Charles Moose, who was thrust into the national spotlight. Many folks didn't care for him, but he was always TOPS in my book...

I wonder if we'll ever understand what it was all about?

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

The other night, my beloved hometown lost a great one. Ben Ali passed on. Ben, along with his wife Virginia, founded Ben's Chili Bowl in 1958.

Ben's has been an institution in Washington, DC ever since. Many feel that Barack Obama's visit last year put Ben's on the map, but I beg to differ. Homegrown folks, along with tourists who've done their homework, have paraded through Ben's for years. If you've never had a chili half smoke, do yourself a favor, trek over to the U Street corridor, and throw caution to the wind.

Ben's is one of those places where families of tourists sit next to businessmen with their ties tossed over their shoulders and everyone is digging in. In between are local, national, and international celebrities. Never be surprised at who's sitting next to you in Ben's. They are open nearly 24 hours a day, closing for only a few hours for cleaning and restocking.

Mr Ben was a good guy, as are his children, who've been running the place in recent years. I sure wish I could get there this weekend. RIP Mr Ali...

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

Today marks the 19th anniversary of then President George H W Bush signing the ADA. It's the law that protects individuals with physical or mental impairments. It protects them in the areas of Employment, Public Entities & Public Transportation, Public Accommodations, and Telecommunications, among others. It prevents discrimination.

What does it say about society when we need laws to protect the least of us?

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What is your earliest memory? How far back can you remember? Do you remember when you were a toddler? a baby? in the womb? What things have stayed with you?

I have many snippets of memories from my babyhood, but since I wasn't adept yet on using the calendar, I'm not sure which was the earliest. I do remember the day that Martin Luther King was murdered. We lived in house off of Missouri Avenue in Northwest Washington. I remember that morning. I remember the hardwood floors and the bedroom furniture in my parents' room. I remember the black and white television and I remember my mother crying and when I asked her what was wrong, I remember her going into the adjacent bathroom, getting tissue, wiping and face and saying, "THEY killed Martin Luther King." I had no idea who that was, but I started to cry too. If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that clip of time.

What do you remember? Tell me about it.

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This weekend, I had a phone conversation with a FOJ. We went to high school together. He's now in the Atlanta area, and I'm in South Florida. One of the things that we discussed during that long conversation was a moment that most native Washingtonians have had.

It's the moment that you realize that you took all of the free cultural activities in the Washington, DC area for granted. I remember when that moment hit me. It was in the late 90's. I was on a business trip to Milwaukee. There was another woman there from North Carolina. She was very young and not very well traveled. I could tell because she considered Milwaukee to be the "big city." Hmmph. Anyhow, she wanted to go to the zoo, but after talking to her mom, they decided that she shouldn't be roaming the "big city" alone. She looked like she was about to cry, so I offered to go with her. Our hotel arranged the transportation.

When we got there, my mouth dropped when I saw the price of admission. If memory serves me correctly, it was something like $25 bucks! I do remember asking the ticket lady if they even had pandas. They didn't. I was shocked, but Country Girl's eyes welled up with tears again, so I just paid it. I hope the Milwaukee Zoo folks don't come after me for this, but they have NOTHING on the National Zoo in DC. I guess it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, but it was then that I realized that I really need to partake more of the sites in the Nation's Capital.

There's so much there to do, and a lot of it is free or very inexpensive. There's the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, The White House, The Capitol, The Vietnam Vet's Memorial, The Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials, etc. It's a great place to vacation, since the tourist spending requirements are so low. Unfortunately, many residents never take advantage.

What kinds of attractions are in your hometown that are free or inexpensive? What should every tourist see? Have you seen it? When was the last time you did the tourist thing in your hometown?

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I have a challenge for you today. If you had to bury a time capsule that represented your life TODAY, what would you put in it. This means that 100 years from now, someone would open it and, from the 10 items you've included, they should be able to figure out what your life was like.

I've been thinking about what I would bury. Here are my 10 items, in no particular order:

1. my laptop
2. a picture of my family
3. my business card
4. my Kindle
5. my Blackberry
6. paint swatches, all in the color pink
7. my Bible
8. Fairytale Brownies
9. iron pills
10. a thumb drive with my photo albums on them

Looking at this, I wonder what conclusions one would draw from those items. Is this really who I am--a geek? Apink, iron deficient, Christian, gadget geek? Is that who I am? Does anything speak to the fact that I'm from Washington, DC? Would you gather that I live in South Florida? Would you know that I love baseball?

This is harder than I thought. Let me work on my list some more. In the meantime, what 10 things would represent your life today--not yesterday, not tomorrow, but who you are right now. Interesting stuff...

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Did you all see "Hot" Rod Blagojevich likening himself to Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela? Is he serious?

Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." What part of selling a Senate seat is being change??? Seriously, Dude? Seriously?

He's done nearly 20 interviews with the media in the last couple days, rather than attending his own impeachment hearing. He's pleading his case to whoever will hear it. He claims this is all a big misunderstanding. He is the epitome of "not being accountable." But he's not alone. There seems to be an epidemic of elected officials falling off of the morality wagon.

Who is responsible for this? Is it the American people? Are we responsible for this? Have we escalated our lawmakers to celebrity rock star status? So much so that they feel that they are above the law?

Is it their peers? Certainly they know what their colleagues are up to, right? Are they their brother's keeper? Do they have an obligation to police themselves?

Is it the demise of the family structure? Is this what happens when we stop eating dinner together daily? What IS this about? I'm way confused--except I do know this--Hot Rod is NOT Ghandi!!

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