July 2008 Archives

Jess was posting on the biz blog about a site that tells you how "walkable" your neighborhood is - in other words, how much is there within walking distance, or do you have to drive to everything?

My West Manchester Township neighborhood is in the middle of EVERYTHING, so I expected something like an 80 or above. But, surprisingly, we only got a 58! I would guess there aren't many places in York County that would rate higher - even in the city, where there's a lot of "stuff," grocery stores aren't really that walkable.

Try it out and let me know how your part of the county fares.

Kinda sad, I know. But probably a very Yorker-like thing to do, being as to how we love to eat so much.

The food in question in today's photo, though, is somewhat un-York-like. It's very Italian and very spicy, so eat with care. It's "pasta aglio y olio," which literally means pasta with oil and garlic. (With that translation, you might barely need the recipe!)

But it's not pronounced ag-lee-oh e oh-lee-oh, and there's one more secret ingredient after the garlic and oil.

Our quest for letterboxing stamps with daughter Sarah led us all around southeastern York County last week. We did good, finding stamps at the Hopewell Rec complex, Red Lion's Fairmount Park, Lower Windsor Township's Rexroth Park, and Samuel S. Lewis State Park overlooking the river, also in Lower Windsor Township.

But we couldn't find the stamp at Apollo County Park in Chanceford Township! It was rainy, the roads were gravel, and it was basically not a good day to go thrashing about the underbrush! But, we did find one cool thing...

A turtle! Hubby saved him from the middle of the road (though if another car would have come along that road that day, I'd have been shocked...) But we took him into the car first to see if he'd stick his head out and say hi to Sarah. He didn't, so we put him down on the side of the road and went on our way.

Cute, though!

One of our recent Eight for Eight hikes took us to Raab Park in North Codorus Township, home of the former York Iron Co. iron mines - and a lot of bats, who hibernate in the old mine adits in the winter.

Besides seeing views like this, of huge drops made from the remains of former quarries, we saw the results of some recent archaeology camps for kids. The stuff they found was pretty neat - pieces of old buildings, old railroad tracks from the railroads that served the mines, all sorts of neat stuff.

It was one of the county parks that I'd never been to, so it was doubly neat. I'd definitely like to go back!

Having some time to spare before coming in to work yesterday, my mom, daughter and I headed down to Brown's Orchards and Farm Market in Springfield Township to pick up some good, fresh produce - and lunch!

On the produce side, we got some tomatoes, zucchini, peaches, radishes and bananas. (The radishes and a banana came to work with me as my after-dinner snack.)

My lunch choice was slightly less healthy than all that produce, though! Lunch there is one of my favorite things, and normally I get a hot dog on a pretzel roll. I know, boring. So today, I mixed it up a little.

Wondering what, exactly, that is?

Here's a Yorkism that, for some reason, has cropped up a lot in conversations I've heard lately.

It's especially appropriate for summer - you know, time for road trips. Windows down, stereo up, maybe playing your favorite song.

But what happens when you ask a Yorker how to get somewhere?

Today marked the last day of my daughter's first summer in the Tennis for Kids program offered around the county. Her group met at West York Area High School and mostly concentrated on the basics - forehand, backhand and serving.

In honor of Sarah's "graduation" from tennis today, she and I headed out to West Manchester Township's little-known Shetter Park, where there is a single court that just happened to be open for us.

Doesn't she look like a future tennis star?

The cool part is that Hubby and I are both recreational players (we both played in high school, and have been known to hit around sporadically since then) - so we're just glad to have someone else to face off against!

I've been fairly quiet on the blog front over the last few days... I'll have a longer update maybe tomorrow on some of my recent doings (including a hike into an old mine at Raab Park!) - but in the meantime, here's what I've been working on.

New health special section

Special series on DUI in York County

You've heard me mention several times how much I love picnics.

Well, the Greater Dover Historical Society was kind enough to invite me to their annual picnic last week! Jo, a member, was kind enough to introduce me around, so I got to meet a lot of people who I'd heretofore heard of only in e-mails.

Oh, and there was food. FOOOOOOOOD. Did I mention food?

Here I am (center) talking with Madelyn Shermeyer, the GDHS president (right), and her daughter Lisa Byerts, who I had as a teacher in middle school!

Intrepid photographer Jo checked in with this visual update on the Smittie's pretzel stand on Route 74 North. She took this photo last Thursday evening.

Looks like the new, lighthouse-style pretzel stand is getting closer to completion. That means no more pretzel "shack" soon!

If I decided to write in a cartoon character during any election, it'd definitely be Marvin the Martian.

Well, this week, if you want a good laugh, read "Voters send all kinds of messages with write-ins" by our political reporter, Tom Joyce.

Not terribly surprised that we'd write in Foghorn Leghorn, Mickey Mouse and more. I just wish Tom would've passed the list around the newsroom so we could see the truly inappropriate ones!

Remember my recent rant on Internet spammers who couldn't even get my name right?

Well, a totally unsolicited news release in the ol' inbox this week (is THAT irony or what?) from MessageLabs, which bills itself as "the leading provider of messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide," claimed to have the year-to-date spam rates for individual states.

Guess what??? Pennsylvania's number 9! So I bet I'm not the only Yorker getting more than my share of spam, huh? (The full top ten is, as follows, Illinois, South Dakota, Oregon, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas, Pennsylvania and Alabama.)

Thanks to all who've stuck with me during my attempt at "Joan's Local Favorites Week."

Today, to wrap up the week, I thought I'd hit a topic of reader request - soft pretzels!

Phil says there's nothing like a Smittie's soft pretzel. (He's also a fan of Mack's chocolate ice cream, which I can't fault him for.)

Now, for those of you who are true Yorkers, you know a Smittie's soft pretzel means this:

But, guess what? That might be changing soon. Why, you ask?

As part of "local favorites week," and since I was so keen on promoting our summer photo contest, I'd be remiss if I didn't devote one day to my favorite local photographers.

By Flickr user Napalm filled tires, this is the Ritz Camera Shop on Eastern Boulevard.

Other favorite local Flickr shooters:
countrycowboy026
Anthony Topper (Tony is our former web developer, but even if I didn't know him I'd love his photos.)
juliannL

Other favorite photographers:
Bil Bowden, YDR photographer extraordinaire, as well as Paul Kuehnel, Jason Plotkin and Chris Glass, who comprise the rest of our photo staff.
Edit: AND KATE PENN... I'm soooo sorry, Kate!!! Those of you who read the YDR online will especially want to check us out this Sunday, when Kate will have a photo story that takes you behind the scenes with the York Revolution.

And, last but certainly not least, loyal reader Jo, who shares my love of fireworks, Pinchot Park and all things York County.

Today's post is an ode to my favorite sweet snack...

ICE CREAM!

I couldn't even begin to pick one local favorite. If I had to, it would extend slightly beyond York County's borders to Mechanicsburg, the home of Rakestraw's. Ohhhh, is that good.

Let's see... where else for ice cream?

Local favorites week rolls on, and today I'm looking at my favorite local junk food.

Yep, that's them at right. Utz ripple-cut sour cream and onion chips.

The irony? For those of you who don't know, my part-time job is as a Weight Watchers leader, and I'm getting ready to lead a lunchtime meeting today.

That's just a special kind of irony.

Yes, yet more local things I love for "local favorites week."

You should have been able to guess this one if you read my Blues Traveler concert post... my second-favorite local group is the Mark DeRose band, which opened for BT at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

Here's their guitarist... I don't have a shot of Mark himself, for some reason.

My favorite songs of theirs are "Satisfied" and "4 and 5".

(Oh, and since I didn't remember to list favorites from yesterday's Jellybricks post, my favorite songs of theirs are "Wash Away" and "Growing Girl."

Yes, more promotion of local things I like. Hey, it's my blog!

Today's topic? One of my two favorite local bands - The Jellybricks.

I can't believe it's been more than 10 years since I first heard them, when they opened for Live in Hershey during my sophomore year of high school.

Somehow, I managed to get a signed drumstick from them after that concert. And I've been a fan ever since.

I don't know exactly how to describe their style - pop, I guess, but a little more into the rock side of things. It's actually some of the more laid-back music in my collection; I'm normally a hard-rock kinda girl.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check out their site, where you can hear some of their music.

Tomorrow, more on my second-favorite local band.

Just because I can, I wanted to make a special post showing off the work of my friend Tiffypop, an East Berlin native who's roaming the country selling her way-cool, handmade clothes at shows and festivals.

(And, a little birdie tells me she's getting MARRIED this month, too!)

I was thinking of Tiffy today because I'm wearing one of her "swirly skirts," patterned after some hippie classics. The picture is Tiffy on the beach, wearing one of the swirlies.

Shameless promotion: Check out her Etsy store if you want to order any of her homemade goodies yourself.

No, she's not paying me to do this. I'm just soooo comfy in this swirly today that I wanted to share the love.

Since I happen to know that at least a few of my readers are also pretty stellar photographers, I thought I'd point out that there's still time to enter our 2008 Summer Photo Contest.

Here's one of my favorite shots so far:

"Gobble, Gobble" - Reader Julie says this is a pet Narrangansett turkey who says YAY for vegetarians!

Want to enter yours? Click here to submit your photo. (And here to read the rules.)

Happy snapping. I'll post more of my favorites as the contest deadline nears. I'm in no way an official judge, though, so impress the photo staff, not me!! :)

I haven't had a good "Only in York County" for a while now, and thankfully, providence has provided in the form of one of my friend and fellow editor Cathy's ridiculous dogs, Scully.

Guess what kind of wildlife Scully dragged in?

Dear spammers,

I really don't mind that I get more messages from you than I do from the entire YDR staff. Really. And I don't mind that half of your messages are in Cyrillic - because I never read them anyway, so it doesn't matter.

But please, please, may I make one simple request? Can you at least get my name right? It was cute at first that all my spam started coming addressed to Granville Mcclain. It made me think of my hero, Bruce Willis, in Die Hard - John McClane.

But, really, I'm starting to get an identity complex. And I wish the real Granville Mcclain would come take his spam back - including the ads for certain "enhancement" products that would be of MUCH more use to him than to me.

So, in closing, I humbly ask that if you're going to call me names, at least make them - and your messages - appropriate for someone of the female persuasion. Is that too much to ask?

Yours truly,
Joan (NOT Granville) Concilio (NOT Mcclain)

After I wrote yesterday's post on stellar lunches, guess what I ended up making myself for dinner?

You guessed it.

Instant ramen. Isn't that awesome?

I love office supplies. In a way that most people (::coughHubbycough::) might consider unhealthy.

This weekend, I bought new Sharpie pens, a new set of thick black Sharpies, AND new scissors. Here they are, hanging in my neat cubicle utensil-holder.

(Wondering about those fish on the side? Read more here. Those remind me to keep my attitude where it needs to be while I'm working!)

Lest you think I'm a little too York County-focused, I should probably mention that one of my main hobbies is reading manga and studying Japanese culture.

You also know that I loooooove food, right?

So imagine how stoked I was last week when Jo sent me some pictures of some amazing Japanese-style bento lunches.

(More photos if you read on!)

In our ongoing summer quest, we spent an evening last week up at Pinchot Park, planning to look for the three letterboxes hidden there.

We only got to do two, because it ended up getting dark (boo!), but we had a great time. This time, we brought Big!Fluffy!Dog! (also known as Coby) and let him "hunt" with us. Poor thing. He's very furry, and he got VERY hot and lazy about halfway through, but he was a good sport.

During our second excursion at Pinchot, the letterbox clues indicated we'd pass a rock shaped like a big cube. Never a family to resist a challenge, we (OK, they) climbed on up! (The top of the rock was about even with my shoulders, so I stayed on the ground with the trusty cameraphone to be the recording secretary.)

First, we had hubby plus dog (THAT was an adventure, getting 90+ pounds of dog up there!)

Then, the girl joined in...

Just found out that yesterday's post was my 200th. Somewhat appropriate, as our country marked its 232nd year... Shame I couldn't make an extra 30-some posts yesterday, huh?

We're doing another of our Eight for Eight hikes today, weather permitting, in Rocky Ridge... I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I've also got an update coming on my daughter's search for letterboxes around the county... this time, we took The Dog on our adventure. I've got pictures, too, but they'll have to wait till tomorrow!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, EVERYONE!

I'm here at work, so I won't be taking in any of the local fireworks displays, which are mostly still on despite the weather, but if you check any of them out, let me know.

Check out the last news item on
this page of July 1979 news clips from Mother Earth News.

Wish I had been born then... not for the TMI near-meltdown, but for the Bigfoot sighting!

Do you believe in Bigfoot? One of the Exchangers wants to know.

Wow, I've become a forum for debate! I'm actually pretty stoked about this!

I had been pretty willing to go along with Beau's claim that "redd up" was Pittsburgh-ese.

But, Jo made a good point:

Nope, we're not quit finished with redd-up. I was born in Juniata Co.--45 mins. n. of H'burg--and learned to speak Pennsyltuckian back then as a child. Today, I'm as old as dirt so it's been a while. Now, considering that PA was settled from east to west, considering that PBS & others give the Scotch-Irish the credit for some of our colloquialisms, how can Pittsburgers make such a claim as Beau has done when civilization reached Pittsburg last? Sorry, P'burgers, you guys came too late in the game for that claim to be credible.

Now I'm swayed again back to the eastern Pennsylvania side of things. But, c'mon, keep duking it out, because as you can see, I'm pretty much a sponge and I'll go along with anything till a better point comes along!

One thing you will learn about me, if you stick with this blog long enough, is that I have an almost frightening attraction to hot dogs - or, "stick meat," as my friend LeAnne calls it.

So you can imagine my immense joy when the PR gentlemen from Hatfield e-mailed me to tell me that July is National Hot Dog Month!

Like I needed more of a reason to eat a ketchup-and-mustard-laden, rotisserie-grilled piece of heaven on a bun?!

Matt from Hatfield also tells me that, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, there is such a thing!), last year, in the Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and Scranton region, residents purchased more than $27 million worth of hot dogs - the ninth-highest of any region in the nation.

Now that's a lot of meat.