Explorers

"Deep" and "sitcom" are not words often used in the same sentence. But a visit to the "VEEP" soundstage in Columbia gave a glimpse of the larger cultural power of this savvy satire from HBO, returning for its second season Sunday night. I also came away dazzled by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who last year won an Emmy as best comedic actress for her portrayal of Vice President Selina Meyer. "VEEP" drills as far down into the state of the national psyche as any TV comedy has in the past 30 years.

To some, she is a masterpiece, extraordinarily modern yet reminiscent of ancient statuary. To others, she is an example of depravity, of criminality, of the ills of society.Perhaps never in the course of art history have so many seen so much in a single work of art. Even today debate continues, and to meet her is to know why.She is, of course, Edgar Degas' sculpture called "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen," and the Baltimore Museum of Art currently has on view the first exhibit devoted to an exploration of the work.

Don't try to see all three of northeastern Pennsylvania's anthracite coal museums in one day.It can be done, if you start very early and stick to a tight schedule.All three places are administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which calls them the Anthracite Museum complex.I wanted to focus on the three museums because they are worth seeing but often overlooked, especially by people visiting more popular public coal-mine tours next to two of them.My first stop was the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton, Pa. From there, I went to Eckley Miner's Village near Freeland in Luzerne County.

It is hard to believe, considering our national fondness for the White House and its history, but new presidents used to sell off the furnishings from the previous administration in something like a garage sale. In an attempt to make "the people's house" their own, first families would get rid of the old to make room for the new, or the newest fashion. Incoming administrations could simply do away with what they didn't want and no one batted an eye until years later when first lady Jacqueline Kennedy asked for it all back.

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With next year's $1.5 billion budget shortfall drawing ever closer on the horizon, Gov. Martin O'Malley has recently been launching some tax-related trial balloons of note. The latest two are certainly worthy of consideration - adding greater progressivity to the state's personal income tax and collecting more money from some of the state's largest tax-avoiding corporations. As far as solving the deficit goes, however, they are destined to run out of gas. Let's start with income taxes.

Whimsical is the word to describe the items at Alice's Wonderland, the new store at Prime Outlets at Perryville. Opened a little more than a month ago, the boutique features handcrafted collectibles, gifts, cards and home accessories. You'll find everything from scented candles and ceramic bowls and teapots to gourmet packaged foods and Amish furniture, including hutches, stands and cabinets. Love baskets? You'll find a healthy selection, and you can even take professional basket-weaving lessons.

Amid a rancorous legislative debate over the prospect of legalizing slot machines, Maryland lottery officials are looking into whether they could license machines that look and play like slots but are legal under current laws. Lottery officials say they would prefer to legalize slots but could follow the lead of other states, using games that fall under the same regulations as lottery scratch-off tickets while sporting the flashing lights and sounds of a slot machine. "There's no doubt that the two technologies are converging, meaning slots and lottery, where we can as a lottery do so much more with interactive machines than we could in the past," said lottery director Buddy Roogow.

As a child, I remember a coloring book that pictured a "Buck Rogers" rocket that looked like a football with three fins at its base. It was my job to give it life by coloring the rocket blast with yellows, oranges and reds that lifted the craft to stellar flight and imagined adventures. The book was filled with such renderings and each page held a new mission to be wondered at. Years later came Alan Shepard, Walter "Wally" Shirra Jr., John Glenn Jr., and tragically Virgil "Gus" Grissom who later died in an Apollo 1 pre-launch test.

Explore Patapsco Valley State Park on a yoga hike with AmeriCorps program volunteer Maria Reusing. The 90-minute hike covers a little more than two miles and “has yoga, exercise, meditation, hiking with strength training and balancing stops along the way,” says Reusing. AmeriCorps provides funds to organizations and agencies committed to using national service to address community needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. “It's similar to the Peace Corps, but the volunteer work is done here in America,” explains Reusing, who has a bachelor's degree in environmental science from Towson University and is certified as a yoga instructor.