Gathering

I'm confused about choosing a color to paint my kitchen. I've heard that green is the color of the year. And then I hear about gray being the new neutral. What are the best colors to paint the kitchen? A kitchen should be an inviting gathering space, so warmer or brighter tones are ideal, such as deep ivories, rich coppers, luscious reds, golden yellows and yellow-greens. Be sure to take countertops, appliances and floors into consideration when selecting your color. You'll want something that complements these accents and flows naturally into the surrounding rooms of your home.

In Washington, as in any seat of power, most acts of folly begin with hubris. Government leaders, elected or appointed, usually don't intend to do the wrong thing, to overstep or cause harm, but they become so convinced, so certain of their purpose, that they are blinded by their pride. Perhaps that's the root of the problem infecting the Justice Department, where officials secretly obtained months of telephone records of journalists working for the Associated Press. That Attorney General Eric Holder or anyone else there could find that action acceptable is frightening, to say the least.

There is nothing definite, but there is in the works a gathering in memory of the restaurateur Morris Martick. The plans, in these early stages, would involve a mid-morning weekday gathering at the Charles theater, followed by a reception at the Metro Gallery. This would happen sometime in January, possibly sometime around Jan. 18, when Martick, who died last Friday, would have celebrated his 90th birthday. Details about a formal funeral service, if there is one at all, have not been made public.

To nobody's surprise, all four living former presidents were on their best behavior last week at the dedication of the library and museum named for the latest of them, George W. Bush, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The honoree's father, George H.W., along with Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, dutifully latched on to the positive about the junior Bush's eight years in the Oval Office, eliminated the negative and, as in Johnny Mercer's old song, didn't mess with Mr. In Between.

Early on, Friday night's food truck rally looked like a washout, but once the rains stopped, the crowds came. Organizers estimate that as many as 2,000 people came through the Gathering at some point. Then, the only problems were long (and confusing)  lines and early sell outs. The tweets I saw were all positive, though, and the food-truck operators are all already gearing up for another rally next month, which they may have to find a bigger lot for. Baltimore photographer Marty Katz sent along his walk-through footage from Friday night's Gathering.

The date -- Friday, Aug. 5, 5-10 p.m. -- had already been announced for the Gathering: Take 2 , the follow-up to Baltimore's first food-truck rally that was  held last month on Central Avenue. Here is the new location. The Gathering: Take 2 will be held on the parking lot across from Red Star . The lot's address is 901-911 S. Wolfe St.  

I'm still at the office. And I'm not near a window. Has it stopped ranining? This was the scene at the Gathering just after 5 p.m.

Baltimore's monthly food truck rally, The Gathering, is holding fast to its first-Friday schedule. The next edition is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7. UPDATE (Oct. 6, 5:37 p.m.): The Gathering is not changing locations. It will be back again on Wolfe Street, across from the Red Star. The new location for this fourth go-round is the big Fells Point lot bound by Aliceanna on the north, Eden to the east, Lancaster on the south and Central on the west.

Friends and fans of Owl Meat Gravy will gather in Little Italy on Sunday, Aug. 21 in the lounge at Chipparelli's for a  celebration of his life and writing. The informal event will begin at 7:30 p.m. and all are welcome to attend. Bob Swank, best known for his masterful writing on electronic media under the name Owl Meat Gravy died in his Little Italy home late last week. Swank wrote, post, tweeted and updated regularly from his perch at Chipparelli's . "We want everyone from all facets of his life to attend," said Carson Jacokes, a bartender at Chipparelli's who helped plan Sunday evening's gathering.

Inspired by an ancient Chinese symbol, which also serves as the logo for her practice, Jade Connelly-Duggan decided to open WisdomWell, a family acupuncture and wellness center in Columbia. “For myself and the people I work with, wellness happens in the gathering place,” she says. “I wanted to create a place where the community can come and gather and share ways of being well.” Connelly-Duggan, a second-generation acupuncturist who has been practicing for four years, founded WisdomWell in November 2011.

When hearth and home - together with a growing family and an onsite family business - are at the center of day-to-day living, a small and dated one-story farmhouse in Ellicott City begins to burst at the seams. To keep their extended family under one roof while preserving the one-bathroom house built in 1954, the Harbin and Taylor families found the only solution was to build additions. "My mom and uncle were raised on the original farm down the road," Kim Harbin Taylor said. "That house was on 18 acres, and they farmed an additional 44, raising sweet corn and tomatoes.

Less than 24 hours ago, an apparent act of terrorism marred this year's Boston Marathon. It's too early to know many of the details about this tragic event. Late last night, officials were reporting three deaths and well over 100 injuries; soon we will have a clearer sense of how many were killed and wounded. Their families, friends and co-workers will pay tribute to and then bury their loved ones. When they are ready, some of the wounded survivors and spectators will come forward to recount the horrors they experienced.

Leading a tour of the Soldiers Delight area of western Baltimore County on Sunday afternoon, Paula Becker, an ecologist with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, was pleased to report the first blooming of serpentine chickweed - a plant as rare as it is splashy in spring. And while that might not constitute earth-shattering news, it is certainly reassuring to those monitoring the health of the plant. Serpentine chickweed grows in the shallow serpentine soil of the strange, hilly grasslands of the Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, at 2,000 acres the largest remaining ecosystem of its kind in the country.

Three endangered sea turtles that spent the winter in Baltimore departed Saturday evening, joining a caravan of at least 43 others bound for Florida's warm waters and a return to their natural habitat. The three turtles — Chet, Biff and Two-Bit — were among more than 200 sea turtles to wash ashore on Massachusetts beaches, critically ill with hypothermia, last November and December. When The New England Aquarium's sea turtle hospital reached capacity, rescuers reached out to other facilities up and down the East Coast to find foster homes.

Shirley Gregory of Dundalk takes pride in her home, but unwelcome visitors have sometimes thwarted efforts to keep her yard tidy. When she and her husband had a brick patio laid, it wasn't long until the bricks were caving into the ground. Rats had burrowed in a nearby yard and dug tunnels into Gregory's property. "I was, like, shocked - that's what a rat did," said Gregory, president of the St. Helena Community Association. "Well, more than one rat. Quite a few rats. " Gregory was one of more than 100 people who turned out Saturday morning for a community cleanup.

It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game - in this case, the game show "Jeopardy!" Tom Lynn, of Radnor-Winston, played so well that a crowd of 50 family members, friends and former colleagues and classmates gave him a standing ovation Monday evening at the Zen West cantina on York Road, where they gathered at his invitation to watch the taped show on a big-screen TV. Lynn, who taped his appearance in November, was prohibited contractually...

UPDATE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE RAINY FORECAST The first several food-truck rallies in Baltimore have been evening affairs. But some of Baltimore's favorite food trucks will gather on the Inner Harbor's West Shore Park for a family-friendly food truck rally, 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. Expected to attend are Silver Platter, Kooper's Chowhound Burger Wagon, the Dangerously Delicious Truck and more. The event is sponsored by the Waterfront Partnership, which, among other things, promotes the Baltimore waterfront as a destination for local and regional visitors.

The food-truck rally known as the Gathering has eased into a monthly schedule of sorts. The fleet will gather once again in Fells Point for the city's third food-truck rally on Friday, Sept. 2, 5-10 p.m. Gypsy Queen, Miss Shirley's, Souper Freak, GrrChe and Iced Gems are expected. The location is the parking lot across from the Red Star . The event will include live music, and beer and wine will be sold.  

While several homeless people gathered on benches on the plaza outside City Hall on Palm Sunday, a crowd of 60 churchgoers from congregations around Baltimore stood at the front door to pray for them - and for other needs facing the community - at the 10th annual Blessing of the City. "Thank you for letting us pray for the homeless today," said Kealiel Collins, 11, a parishioner of Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Lafayette Square, to God and the crowd. "Give the homeless their place in the world.

The food-truck rally known as The Gathering kicks off a new season on Friday night in Hampden. The 2013 debut Gathering will take place in the parking lot of the Castle, at the corner of Keswisk Avenue and 34th Streets in Hampden, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Gypsy Queen, Kooper's Chowhound, Mis Shirley's, Chicken 'N Waffles, Kommie Pig, Jolly Pig, Souper Freaks, Charm City Gourmet, Flavorful Cupcakes and Icedgems Creations are all expected....