Dawn

Enigmatic, inescapable, ferociously gifted yet chronically insecure, musician Dawn C. Culbertson astounded and confounded those who knew her as one of the Baltimore arts scene's most outlandish figures. She was a punk lutenist known as the "Evil Pappy Twin," a singer of Sacred Harp hymns, an avant-garde composer and a caller for English country dances. A member of the American Recorder Society and a founder of Vox Asylum, a group specializing in anti-war music, Culbertson performed as readily in Immanuel Episcopal Church as at Tattoo, the Ottobar and at "I Hate the '80s Night" at Frazier's on the Avenue in Hampden.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It isn't a mainstream life but it's the right life, the compassionate life. Animals are worth going to prison for, worth risking death for. A life for a life. All lives are equal, Dawn Ratcliffe says.A roach on the kitchen counter? Go, be free. Huge spider in the bathroom? Live long and prosper. Even a gnat feels pain. Oysters, clams, they can't scream, but that doesn't mean they can't feel. Who knows whether clams feel pain? You'd have to be a clam.Ratcliffe sighs. She is a young woman, 24. When she's not working in the recycling center at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, she travels all over to demonstrate for animal rights.

As a teenage violinist who served as concertmistress of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, Dawn Kittrell of Annapolis was one of the most talented young musicians on the local scene. So when she graduated from Annapolis High School in 1999 and headed to St. Mary's College, the folks in Southern Maryland felt lucky to have her. And with good reason. "Dawn quickly became one of the centerpieces of our program," says Brian Ganz, the Annapolis-based concert pianist who teaches at St. Mary's and at Baltimore's Peabody Institute.

As bus rides go, this is the norm. Kids, too many of them roughhousing in the narrow aisle, celebrate having survived the disciplines of the school day. Paper wads fly across the seats. Girls tug at each other's braids. And nobody even pretends to care about homework.Mya Evans stands quietly in the middle, clutching the railing overhead. In all this noisy confusion, she is the silent center.But as the bus chugs toward her stop on Edison Highway, that changes. Before she gets off, students who remain offer a taunting farewell.

There are other ways to enjoy the dawn. Sleeping in. Breakfast in bed. The morning news. Playing with the kids. But for two friends who regularly play nine holes at Clifton Park against the pastel backdrop of sunrise, only golf will do. "I like being the first one out here," says Dennis Koulatsos, 37. "Golf without a lot of interruptions, that's what I'm here for," says Norman Dowdy, 53. Koulatsos and Dowdy, colleagues at a Belair Road car dealership, are...

Organizers in Middletown, Va., are putting the final touches on preparations for the 135th anniversary of the Civil War battle of Cedar Creek. The event, to be held Oct. 15-17, is expected to attract up to 6,000 re-enactors.Admission to the re-enactment is $20 for all three days; $15 for a weekend pass; and $10 daily. Children 12 years old and under are admitted free. Parking is free.To obtain tickets, contact the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation at P.O. Box 229, Middletown, Va. 22645, or call 540-869-2064.

Back from Tribal Council, the members of 'Stealth 'R Us' (I still hate that name) immediately leave to discuss what happened at the last Tribal Council. They believe that Malcolm, Eddie and Reynold no longer have any Immunity Idols, but as only we (and Malcolm) know, that's wrong. Phillip and Cochran are discussing Dawn, and how you might be able to win against her, when they hear Dawn screaming. She's freaking out about something and it's hard to understand what she's saying, but I think she has a dental retainer for bottom teeth that she had replaced, and she somehow lost it. She doesn't want anyone else to know (well, we all know about it now)

Six months after the game's initial release, the whispers of the first expansion pack for Bethesda Softworks' "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" have finally been confirmed . The pack is titled "Dawnguard. " The name is, as far as we know, unique within the Elder Scrolls universe, and isn't referenced in any in-game literature (according to the very useful Elder Scrolls Wiki ). If you consider the "Dawn" part of the name, the location immediately seems to point to the northern Skyrim city of Dawnstar, which is near the edge of the current playable map. Of course, "Dawn" could point to time, not location.

Baltimore Dec. 16-17 Cienna Corp. food exhibit, Baltimore Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 2,000+. Contact: Dawn Milne, 410-865-8064

The lake at dawnDips an egretFrom the sad skyStill snowy white,Imperturbable egret --Forgetful of your flightThrough the storm.