802 Online

Alert readers of the Seven Days print edition may have noticed the house ad that appeared this week next to Peter Freyne's column, announcing his forthcoming foray into the Vermont blogosphere. We'll be launching his blog next Wednesday.

I have no other details to report, except that as far as I know right now, he will be accepting comments on the blog, so you can let Freyne know what you think of him.

I just noticed this new blog ad on my site. It's weird. Look at the text:

With one of the worst fuel efficiency records of any car company, Ford is trying to "go green." As another oil crisis looms on the horizon, can they turn talk into action?

It makes you think that whoever's sponsoring the ad is anti-Ford, but the copyright info says this is actually a Ford campaign. So, like, my blog is currently being sponsored by Ford. Huh.

I took the Ford River Rouge Factory Tour not long ago, and was struck by how utterly unsustainable their operations are. I really do wonder if they can do anything to stop their sad slide into irrelevance. Incidentally, this fantastic article from the New York Times muses on that very question.

So I got to do a StoryCorps interview last week, and I wrote about it in the new 7D. I'm hoping they'll put part of our interview on the radio, but who knows. I don't know how they pick 'em.

I did hear a moving excerpt from the Kunin/May  interview this morning on VPR (listen here). And yes, I got a little teary. Anybody else have this experience, or am I just a huge sap?

Photo credit goes to Mr. Matthew Thorsen. It shows me in the StoryCorps booth with my wise and wonderful friend Jules Fishelman (whose name I stupidly misspelled in my story); Jules is my son's sperm donor.

Well lookit this! Green Mountain Daily is sponsoring an online debate between Lieutenant Governor candidates Rep. John Tracy (D-Burlington) and Sen. Matt Dunne (D-Hartland). This first of its kind event happens Monday, August 28.

Odum writes:

The debate will be held in a live chat room linked from the GMD frontpage, with comments from viewers in a parallel live-blogging thread.

Yours truly will be moderating, and GMD front pagers Jack McCulloughand Vermonter will be on site with the candidates for the duration ofthe debate.

Details on the format and updates will be forthcoming between now and the 28th.

Cool.

Two days after my parents put my childhood home on the market, somebody made them an offer, and they accepted. I think they were kinda shocked. Everybody else in their neighborhood has had a hard time selling; in that part of metro Detroit, it's not uncommon to have to wait three or four or more months for a buyer. Until now, my dad has seemed convinced that they'd be lucky to be out by Thanksgiving.

Guess I better plan that last trip home pretty quick.

The results are in from Vermont's other website contest — Politics VT has ranked this season's best campaign websites.

According to the Capitol Bureau, the grand prize goes to Peter Welch, 1st place to Scudder Parker, 2nd place to Rich Tarrant, 3rd place to Bernie Sanders. The Dems won best political party website.

The Worst Campaign Website award goes to Karen Kerin, who is running for Attorney General. Here's the critique:

An old picture shows what Kerin may have looked like six years agowhen she ran for the US House. The website is a rehash of what she hadin 2004 and the banner is a copy from Jack McMullen's failed US Senatecampaign and website. No real information on the candidate other thanthe fact that she doesn't like how the current Attorney General doesthings. Poor graphic design and an inability for people to contributeonline. Another thing that lower-tier office seekers must realize:Candidates should highlight what the office they are seeking does! Thisgoes for Lieutenant Governor candidates, Secretary of State candidate,State Treasurer candidates and Auditor of Accounts candidates. Somepeople don't know what these offices do and so far — Deb Markowitz andJeb Spaulding are the only websites with information on what theiroffice actually does for the people. There is nothing like that onKerin's website. A website that didn't show very much care and awebsite that shows a campaign that may not get off the ground.

Great job, Cap Bureau. I hope somebody picks this up after you depart in January.

If VPR is the default radio station in your car — as it is in mine — you probably already know that the StoryCorps East Coast mobile recording booth is in Burlington for the next three weeks. The StoryCorps folks will be recording interviews with Vermonters. The recordings will be archived in the Library of Congress, and selected excerpts will play on VPR. NPR may also choose to pick them up and play 'em.

If you've never heard of StoryCorps, go to the website, and listen to some of the short sound clips from interviews they've done. The clips are really incredible. My favorite is the one of the woman asking her 84-year-old father about the scariest moment in his childhood. I've listened to it twice, once in the car and once on my laptop, and it made me cry both times.

Anyhow, if you want to be one of the folks who gets to tell your story, you'd better sign up quick. The first half of the slots are already filled — they were gone in three hours — and registration for the second half opened this morning at 10. Call (800) 850-4406 or go to the StoryCorps website to make a reservation.

UPDATE 8/5: Looks like the spots are all filled now. I didn't mention this earlier, but I got to do a StoryCorps interview yesterday morning. It was pretty incredible. More on that next week...

Q: Why should you get in your car and drive to the North East Kingdom to see this tiny little library in the middle of nowhere?

A: Because where else in Vermont can you see an ostrich egg, a blackened monkey skull, an eyeless jaggedy jawed pirhana, a complete bible that fits in the palm of your hand, and a fan from "Biskra, a city in an oasis in the desert of Sahara?"

Actually, those are exactly the kind of things you'd find at the fabulous Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, but the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library is so much more intimate. And it was founded by Jean Walker Simpson, a wise and feisty woman would ride around Craftsbury Common in her horse-drawn chariot on Old Home Day, while wearing a Roman toga.

I got to spend a morning last week visiting the library and getting a tour. My story on the experience is out this week. I highly recommend taking a day trip to East Craftsbury to see this place. I definitely plan to return.

My parents are selling the house I grew up in. I can hardly believe it. We moved in when I was 2 1/2; I lived there until I graduated from high school.

The house is in "Eastpointe" Michigan. I put that in quotes because it was East Detroit when I was growing up. I was in high school in 1992, when the city voted to change its name. Residents decided they'd rather associate themselves with Grosse Pointe. Like anyone could be fooled by that stupid linguistic trick! The Pointes are another freaking universe.

When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of that little suburban house, but now I'm feeling all nostalgic for it. Sigh.

My mom tells me that there are literally hundreds of houses for sale in their neighborhood. The Metro Detroit economy is hurting because of the auto industry's decline, and lots of folks are moving on. All but one of the neighbors I knew growing up have already left.

My parents are headed to North Carolina, to be closer to my mom's family. My sister's down there, too. Can't convince 'em to come to Vermont. They say it's too cold. Also, we have no professional sports teams or casinos, and I think they're puzzled over what they'd do for fun.

Sitting in Uncommon Grounds on Church Street in Burlington, drinking coffee and working on my laptop online. I'm in one of the window seats, facing the street. And yes, there is a free wireless signal here, though I'm not sure where it's coming from.

A 19ish or twentysomething woman is sitting behind me, also apparently using the signal. Suddenly a digital pop tune I've never heard starts playing. It's her cell phone. She answers it and says:

"I totally just myspaced you!"

pause.

"Nothing, I'm just coffeeing and interneting downtown."

pause.

"Not much. I was just checking email and myspacing."

pause.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I might go to the gym. I'm about to go check my work schedule for next week."

There was more, but nothing else worth taking up space here.