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I’m not sure of the right word. The one that most readily comes to mind is “revamped.” But that seems to imply that at some point I “vamped” (of which I have no clear memory) and that I am presently – somehow – “vamping” again. It’s all very confusing. Maybe it’s akin to sleepwalking where […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It took a day. Really, it took a night. Mom handed out popsicles before we went to bed and then instructed us to “be still.” This was the extent of her sage advice for how to persevere that first night at the beach. I lay on top of the covers and listened to […]

She wrote a rather nasty note the next day. It was her contention that the restaurant had let her down. She’d brought special, out-of-town guests for dinner and we didn’t have Chilean Sea Bass on the menu. As if we’d ever had Chilean Sea Bass on the menu. The server was dumbfounded as the woman […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It was right off the highway. And for whatever reason, we only ever bought what I assumed must have been their raison d’etre, banana milkshakes. The Darie Dream building was small with simple, cement block construction. Under a yellow awning, a sliding glass window served as both where orders were placed and […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It always seems to be Lionel Richie. And I’m not particularly excited/proud with what that says about me. Personally or professionally. But if a song is going to get stuck in my head when I’m in the kitchen, it’s always one of those sepia-toned 80’s ballads that takes root. And – let’s […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It never really fit. Calling it a tomato sandwich felt as wrong as calling Kilimanjaro a hill. Yes, the description generically doesn’t lead you astray; it’s by and large factual. But names need to resonate and specify. They tell us “this thing” and not “that thing” in a way that we can all agree. […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It must have been 1974. Maybe even 1973. My brother got a job at the Ponderosa Steakhouse on South Blvd in Charlotte. He was in high school. It was a cafeteria-style set up where you’d pick your steak and then it would be cooked and brought to your table. There may have […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Her linguistic adventures in American sayings were legendary by the time I met her. They were a sort of verbal rendition of the aurora borealis; people would gather in hopes she’d drop one of her gems. “I feel like I’m between a needle and a haystack” was a classic. I’m 90% sure […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It’s an impossible question. But I learned when my daughters were young that if you’re asked what is your favorite – color, ice cream, movie – it’s best not to equivocate. The derision in both their eyes when I first trotted out “rainbow” as my favorite color was palpable. Ultimately, purple became […]

Greetings from Carrboro, We seriously bought him a pot just for this one thing. It was bright red. A classic Father’s Day gift if ever there was one. When the pot would randomly make a stovetop appearance on the weekend, everyone knew what that meant; Dad was cooking. You see, my father rarely cooked. For […]