Baltimore-based writer Dudley Clendinen had this absolutely beautiful opinion piece in the Times two weeks ago about being diagnosed with A.L.S. ("Lou" as he calls it) and his decision to die on his own terms. No matter where you stand on the right-to-die debate, I think you will be moved by his eloquence and candor. He has a new fan in me.

Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

We had a great time at Artscape yesterday, making crafts with the kids in the Target tent, taking in a great storyteller, and making frequent visits to the mist tent. It was there that we got a tip from Oren at A Blogger and a Father, a local dad who chronicles other blogging dads—very meta. Anyway, he had heard from a reliable source that Matisyahu, who was set to headline the main stage later that night would make a surprise appearance in the OrchKids show that was scheduled to start in a couple minutes at the Festival Stage.

We hurried over and caught an amazing show, which featured kids from Baltimore City Public Schools playing in a brass ensemble, a woodwind ensemble, and, finally, in an awesome bucket band featuring acclaimed local beatboxer Shodekeh (profiled in our June issue). As things were winding down, we figured there'd be no Matisyahu, but we were glad to have caught a great show anyway—...

Amid a particularly demoralizing slump, Orioles fans are applying the maxim, "Laugh to keep from crying."

It started with a particularly hilarious AP photo (left), snapped when Red Sox slugger David Ortiz rounded the bases during one his team's many home runs over its recent four-game sweep of the O's. Third baseman Reynolds is pictured in the background, arm slumped at his side, drowning his sorrows in a bag of sunflowers. It seemed to encapsulate the Orioles' hapless performance of late.

Then, commenters at local blogs Orioles Hangout and The City That Breeds kicked it up a notch, photoshopping "Complacent Reynolds" into various important moments in history, depicting him standing by during the showdown in Tiananmen Square and the storming of Normandy, among other occasions.

The 2011 Emmy nominations came out today and, to our delight, native Baltimorean Josh Charles, pictured, was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in The Good Wife. It seems like Charles, of Sports Night and Dead Poets Society fame, has a good chance of winning for his strong performance on the hlghly successful show. 

The nomination, Charles's first, must be quite gratifying, as he's been performing all of his life, like he told us in a November 2009 profile: "I used to go to open mic nights when I was [9-years-old]," he said. "I did comedy at the Charm City Comedy Club, which was in Harborplace...When I look back on it, I definitely was precocious enough that you might want to smack me at times, but it got me feeling comfortable performing at a young age, on a stage, in...