Are you all aware of a local community radio show called Local Matters? It runs on Thursday evenings from 6-7 pm, WSLR 96.5 LPFM, with live broadcasting on the Internet, as well.

Tonight, the program’s host, Joe Hendricks, is interviewing Democratic State Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber, who will share his views on the state challenging the federal health care bill, his thoughts on an Arizona-style immigration bill and tell us what separates him from Republican candidate Pam Bondi.

During the second half of show Democratic County Commission candidate Mark Hawkins who is challenging incumbent Republican County Commissioner Nora Patterson will be talking about job creation and the use of local labor, the county’s role in economic development, the county budget, the spring baseball fiasco and more.

Hendricks is doing very interesting stuff on his Local Matters program — lots of local folks talking about local matters that matter. I think his show takes calls as well from the listening audience — check it out and call in with your questions for these political folks to the studio line at 941.355.4540.

Encore of Sarasota, Inc., has kindly booked me for my first fall season speaking event on Thursday, September 9th. I’ll be talking about facing aging with guts, gratitude, and grace …. yikes … guess I better figure out how to do all of that since usually, I just facing aging with a Grinch-like grumpiness.

Encore, which was established in 1989, serves as a kind of extension of the friendships that are established in the Sarasota Newcomers Club. Anyone who’s completed three years of membership in the Newcomers club, or who has lived in the local area for five years — whether or not they’ve ever belonged to Newcomers, is eligible for membership in Encore.

The meetings are only open to members, to learn more, you might want to check out this link.

And, if you’re interested in booking me to speak to your group or organization or school, or whatevah — check this link out to learn a bit more. Or see where I’ve spoken in the past by going here.

I voted no on Tuesday — against giving our local government leaders the right and power to decide whether some new or growing businesses will be eligible for property tax exemptions for as long as the next decade. Proponents of the Economic Development Ad Valorem Exemptions call these tax breaks “incentives.” I just call them kick-backs. Read more »

I’m voting no tomorrow, August 24 — against giving our local government leaders the right and power to decide which businesses will be eligible for property tax exemptions for as long as the next decade. They’re calling the tax exemptions “incentives” to attract businesses, ostensibly to create jobs.

I’ve never believed in paying somebody off, bribing somebody, or giving something to someone to encourage them to do business with me personally, and I don’t believe in doing it as a city or as a county. Really, bottom line, if it wouldn’t be okay behavior for you personally, or for yourself professionally, then why is this kind of behavior okay when a government does it? Read more »

A month or so ago, I was on Cliff Roles’ radio show and he and I got into a conversation about service at local eateries in Sarasota. I chimed in about my experiences at the Word of Mouth restaurant on Osprey Avenue saying that I’d stopped going to the restaurant because of the repeatedly very unfriendly welcome my guests and I always received.

photo courtesy of WOM website

Who knows, really, what that phrase means anyway? But whatever it is, I think I’m entering it.

Yup. Today is the first day of my seventh year back here in Sarasota — and also the beginning of my seventh year of being in business for myself.

When I left Boston six years ago, I really didn’t have any idea what was ahead for me. I just knew that the city I’d loved — and the man I’d loved in it — had kind of beat the stuffing out of my heart. It was time to leave. With no expectations beyond surviving and carving out a little life for me and my cats, I arrived in Sarasota at the height of humidity and with the skies fraught with the maelstrom that would be Charley.

I slept on the floor that night; furniture not yet arrived from Boston (and wouldn’t show up for another two weeks). Einstein and Coco weary from their 30-something hour sojourn.

I bitch a lot about Sarasota — my hometown, really, and that of my family — but I’ve grown to love it, warts and winds and wackadoodles, all.

I still haven’t reconciled myself to the superficiality of what passes for relationships in this town, though; — god how I’d love to have a real conversation with someone that didn’t become something regretted or ignored or discounted later. Every now and then someone speaks something really real — but then they quickly withdraw and it — whatever that real thing was — is never mentioned again. And that continues to trouble me. Everyone in this town keeps everyone else at a considerable arm’s length. People dance around their emotions here. In my experience, nobody really says what they really think. It’s hard to get to the real person. If I ever leave it will be for this reason. Oh, and rising sea levels.

But, there are some genuinely lovely, nice people in this town, too. Men and women with whom I’ve shared drinks and walks and kisses — I just wish I could say I knew any of them better. What makes their hearts beat. What makes their hearts skip a beat. What their fears are; what made them fall in love and what makes them think they’re falling out of love. What makes them feel as if they’re breaking into a million little pieces and how they somehow pick all those pieces up again and get back in the game. I know they do it. They just don’t talk about it.

Want to know what makes my million little pieces stick together? I went on a drive over the weekend and captured just a few of the parts of Sarasota that have become my heart’s glue. I think this is going to be my best year yet.

Circle Books -- one of the first places to sell my book!

The view from the pier under the Ringling Bridge.

The fairy at the intersection near Florida Studio Theatre.

The catcus garden in my yard. I planted one tiny cactus that first August and now there are probably ten or more offspring. I actually love these plants.

The quiet place in my yard where lizards lounge on the Buddha and the jade plant seems to know all.

The view from my yard, late in the evening; not yet night.

Last night, I worked a bit late, stopped for dinner, and then was going to head back into my office and do a bit more, but stopped first in the kitchen to cut up some roasted chicken I’d bought as a treat for my cats. I stood there for some time at the counter, cutting, looking out the big kitchen windows into the yard, watching the dusk-feeding cardinals at the feeder which hangs at the edge of the carport. Calm night. I was looking forward to going outside around 11 pm and watching the Perseid meteor shower.

I fed the cats, cleaned the kitty litter, and stepped out to the carport area to throw the trash in the garbage can.

As I reached the garbage can, a black man suddenly appeared beside the bushes (not sure if he’d come through them or been walking along them), but it scared me so much — completely startled me, he was only a few feet from me, I hadn’t heard him coming — it was in my yard very close to the door, and I just dropped the trash and ran inside. Read more »

I was super excited to read in yesterday’s Business Weekly section of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, that Monica Yadav is going to be back on air in the greater Sarasota area.

Photo courtesy of The Showcase of Homes.com

And, if the enormous number of blog postings and emails I’ve received about Monica/Heidi/Channel 7 are any indication — there’s a huge audience of loyal viewers who will be glad to see her back on the air as well. (If you want to check out the back stories I’ve done on Channel 7 and see the multitude of comments, just click here, or here, or here. There are other stories and more comments — you can find them by typing in “Monica” or “Channel 7″ in the search box.)

According to Tom Bayles, the writer of the article, Monica, a former anchor on Sarasota’s ABC 7 News (www.mysuncoast.com), is doing a program called “The Showcase of Homes” — which showcases local communities and homes available for sale. Not only does the program inform the public about “what’s out there” but it also gives realtors an opportunity to market their listings.

The Showcase of Homes airs on ABC 7 on Saturdays at 7 am, rebroadcast Sundays at 11:30 am. You can also check the program out at www.theshowcaseofhomes.com.

If you’re glad to see Monica back — feel free to post a shout out to her on this blog. I’m very glad to see her on the airwaves again.

Good luck, Monica!

Yesterday, the Sarasota Herald Tribune ran an article I wrote about all the fun, completely FREE, things to do during the dog days of summer.

It’s got everything from free “street” music to where to find a summer-ending splash bash for your kids, complete with a free dinner from Lee Roy Selmon’s, free movies, free ways to fire up your brain cells, to getting your thrills watching Nik Wallenda doing a high wire act and maybe being filmed by the Discovery Channel in the process …

Photography by Herb Booth Booth Studio, Inc. Sarasota Florida; courtesy of Lazy Fairy Improv

including how to get free lessons in “improv” — with the Lazy Fairy Improv teaching you how to make ‘em laugh — yes, all for free.

The story was the cover story in the paper’s TICKET section. You can read it online at: Free Fun!

New local radio host, Sherman L. Baldwin, has invited me to return to his program today — Talk Sarasota — 1280 AM on the radio dial (WTMY), or streaming to your computer at www.talksarasota.com (though I have noticed the streaming seems spotty).

Callers are welcome — and I hope people call in! The show runs from 3 to 6 pm, but I’ll only be on from 5:05 to roughly 6 pm — that’s today — the studio line is 954.1280. Read more »