With apologies to The Onion:

After an unusually brutal winter that forced some Baltimoreans to occasionally wear a coat and even a hat, the region now braces for its biggest challenge  yet: The Flurrypocalpyse.

The forecast, which calls for scattered snowflakes, has most of Baltimore preparing for a thorough and debilitating dusting.

“I’ll probably be able sweep the snow off my porch and car with a broom,” says Bill Denning, of East Baltimore. “But I may have to use a trowel or a spade. I guess this is why we train.”

Jane O’Reilly, of Essex, is worried that her sunflowers, which blossomed beautifully in early January, won’t be able to handle temperatures that might dip dangerously into the mid-30s.

“I’m freaking out a little,” she admits.

Says CEO of city schools Dr. Andres Alonso, “We are obviously monitoring the situation with great concern. We don’t want our students getting wet—or worse still—frizzy hair.”

Notes 6-year-old Owen...

Don't look now, but The New York Times is touting Governor O'Malley as a potential candidate in the 2016 Democratic Primary. (I know. . . already?) After a—let's face it—somewhat disappointing speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, O'Malley has been slowly gaining political poise and confidence, raising his profile nationally and representing his party regularly on the Sunday morning chat shows. But The Times pits him against a potential all-star field that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Elizabeth Warner. So do you think O'Malley has what it takes to compete?

Photo: The New York Times

I was walking near Mount Vernon the other day when a woman approached me and asked, in broken English, how she could “get to the castle.” Knowing that the “state of the Ravens” press conference was starting in a few hours, I told her it was in Owings Mills.

She looked confused.

“The Ravens?” I asked.

She smiled and replied: “Poe, Edgar Allan” and looked at me expectantly.

“No, no,” I said. “Football.”

And she swung her right leg, as if kicking a soccer ball.

I chuckled and figured we’d better go back to square one. “What castle are you looking for?”

She turned and pointed to the “castle” in question—City Jail, just a few blocks away. “How do I get in?” she asked.

“You need to commit a crime,” I replied, and she, once again, looked confused, so I explained that the building in question houses drug dealers, murderers, and the like. “Oh, The Wire!” she exclaimed, before adding that she probably didn’t want to go there after all.

She thanked me and headed in the opposite direction,...

I am wondering this today after reading this article in The Washington Post in which Katie O'Malley characterized legislative opponents of last year's narrowly defeated same-sex marriage bill as "cowards."

Though her remarks are definitely making headlines, what actually struck me was the article's next boilerplate sentence:

"The first lady’s assessment, in remarks at a national conference of gay-rights advocates in Baltimore, comes as her husband is championing a similar bill in this  year’s 90-day legislative session."

Isn't it kind of crazy that, in 2012, a state legislature charged with writing, debating, and voting on laws that will affect the lives of millions of people has only 90 days to complete its task? And that's 90 calendar days, not even working days! If there are, say, back to back blizzards and the entire state shuts down for a few days, those work days for the legislature are lost. Ninety days, to consider and complete a year's worth of work. That's a little insane, right? Especially when issues as...