A Healthy Balance

It's eerie, driving along Route 28 in Nokesville. Road work has never felt so personal.  I remember years ago my parents telling me that they were going to widen the road in front of our little house. Route 28 would go from a two lane road (one each way) to four lanes, and the clincher was that the extra lanes would be on our side of the road, taking our short driveway into a very short driveway, the cars that zoom past now too close for comfort. We already had a special tree that was designated as the "no pass zone" unless you were getting on the bus, and only Mom or Dad could get the mail from the box across the street.  My parents decided it was best that we move and we started construction in the Kingsbrooke neighborhood off Linton Hall Road. We moved in February 2001. I continued to attend Brentsville District High School, passing by our old house that always looked the same. At times I thought, "What happened to the road widening?" and now, over 15 ...

I love a good documentary. It's one of the first things Danny and I bonded over when he and Kelsey started dating. I remember her looking at us like we were crazy as we compared notes on ones we had seen. A lot of documentaries are flops, though, either low budget or simply not interesting enough to really draw me in. But when it's done right, wow . A thorough documentary can grant you a new lens to view the world, rediscovering something as basic as food, or uncovering hidden truths in something you  know little about, like Scientology  ( Going Clear... man, it's creepy ) . When I heard a documentary about Lady Gaga was on Netflix ( Five Foot Two ), I wanted to at least watch a snippet. I've never been a fan or foe of the musician herself; I like several of her songs and am familiar with her publicity antics but who is she really as a person? I was hoping to find out. The documentary was slow to get started, but became more compelling as it went on. It followed ...