News

Greetings from Carrboro, Fringe is probably the wrong word. And aficionado feels entirely too erudite. But most of us really and truly dig something that distinctly lacks that Taylor-Swift-ian mass appeal. Low budget 70s horror movies. Japanese hip hop. Carnivorous plants. Choose your poison. Some people go so far as to wear T-shirts that say, “Ask Me About […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Some words need to be retired. Or, you know, set aside for a bit – with enough time to get its mojo back. I had a teacher in college who was adamant that we never use the word “share” in anything that we wrote because it had been utterly ruined by the […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Sometimes you learn things in the wrong order. Like finding out that “Ring Around the Rosie” is a really cute song about dying from the black plague a good ten years after the song is embedded in your brain. From then on, the plague is awkwardly linked to kindergarten and giggling. An […]

Greetings from Carrboro, I guess it made sense in the 70’s. The closest we get to it now is when someone sneaks a sandwich into the movie theater. Or, I guess, when you have a hot dog at a Bulls game. But there was a very distinct shotgun marriage between eating out and entertainment in […]

Greetings from Carrboro, By now I’ve figured it out. But it took me a hot minute; my ego is not, um, the fastest learner. The trick goes like this: 1) We serve a dish – let’s say rutabagas – at a dinner with a fixed, multi-course menu. 2) A very kind guest tells me how […]

Greetings from Carrboro, We couldn’t just pick anywhere on the farm. So we waited in the shade. The girl running the stand told us that the man would be right back and asked did we want a Coke. It was early enough that she was just walking out the baskets of fruits and vegetables and […]

Greetings from Carrboro, We struggle. A lot. Not with making something taste delicious; that part we get. But making something sound delicious is often a very real challenge. And honestly, not just delicious but also smart. The lexicon of words used to describe southern food can leave a lot to be desired. Equally cannibalized by […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Having “L” right there in the name has never made sense. Because if ever there was a second fiddle, this is it. Or third fiddle, if there is such a thing. Like I’m sure that George Edward Smith was a great guitarist, sure. But to call the band Hall & George Edward Smith […]

Greetings from Carrboro, It’s just like clockwork. About this time every year I long to go to camp. You know, the one with lanyards and farewell campfires and Slim Jims bought from the canteen. With jungle juice and Nutty Buddy ice cream cones. That summer camp. Where nights talking in cabins seem endless and the subsequent days […]

Greetings from Carrboro, The beach is overrated. OK, so maybe overrun is more fitting. Especially the week of the 4th. The mirage of happy children splashing on an empty beach that sand-ily seduces us from the annual assault of advertisements that flood our inbox every January sort of excludes certain, um, realities of the high season. It […]