Perspective

Nobody wants to hear about perspective at a time like this. It's just too soon. The disappointment is too raw. The Ravens will be watching the New England Patriots represent the AFC in the Super Bowl even though Joe Flacco outplayed Tom Brady and – for a split second – Lee Evans had his arms around the game-winning touchdown. This one's going to hurt for awhile. Just ask Billy Cundiff, who missed a short field goal in the final seconds that would have kept hope alive. There isn't going to be a Super Harbaugh Bowl in the backyard of the evil Indianapolis Colts or a rematch of the 2001 Super Bowl that has been the Ravens' calling card for too many years now. Owner Steve Bisciotti will to have to wait at least another 12 months to light up a big fat cigar and hoist his very own Lombardi Trophy.

I must confess that I disagree with the resounding majority of what Dan Rodricks writes, though I acknowledge his right to his opinion. That said, I feel the need to set the record straight regarding his take on the NFL playoff situation and Tim Tebow ("Is anybody listening?" Jan. 18). I am a Christian and an evangelical one at that. I am sorry to ruin his point but no, I am not "confused" by the outcomes of the last two Denver Broncos playoff games. If it even needs to be said, we don't believe God cares who wins a football game.

With Ravens coach John Harbaugh and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs seemingly on the same page regarding Joe Flacco's tendency to hold on to the ball too long in Sunday night's 34-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers, it was time to get the quarterback's perspective on the matter. And - surprise - Flacco had a differing viewpoint on the topic, contending that he felt like he was releasing the ball as quickly as he usually does. “The bottom line is they were dropping pretty deep,” said Flacco, who was sacked a season-worst five times by the Chargers. “We were running some things that were trying to move the ball down the field, and we had to score and had to score quickly. They did a good job of dropping back, and I had to drop a lot off. The sacks, they did a good job of getting a push and collapsing the pocket a little bit. But that happens when you're in the position we were in. [It was]

I read with interest Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin's recent commentary on our appetite for more ("The problem of desire," Dec. 12). She rightly describes desire as "that shape-shifting seducer" which can never be satisfied. She also points out the positive aspects of desire as driving our ambition and our curiosity. Her essay showed the dilemma of desire: It can have a good form and a bad form. As a Christian Scientist, I have grappled with a proper view of desire, but have found answers in the words of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.

Aline Feldman's woodcut prints are given the standard eye-level installation at Howard Community College, but you'll often feel as if you're looking down from a great height owing to the high-angle perspective in an exhibit titled "The Dynamics of City and Countryside: The Synthesis of Reality and Imagination. " This lofty sensibility is especially pronounced in her urban scenes. Prints such as "City Aslant" offer schematic views of densely developed blocks in which the skyscrapers and streets are depicted with diagonal lines emphasizing the hard edges of a concrete jungle.

When Jessica Hill was in preschool, her grandmother would pick her up every day after school. On Fridays, they would go to the mall and see a movie. Now a junior at Dulaney High School, 16-year-old Jessica still spends time with her grandmother, Betty Kessler, 77, often sharing pizza and playing cards. "She loves pizza, and she loves to play cards," said Jessica, a Lutherville resident. "She loved to play Gin Rummy. Now we play War or Go Fish with guidance. " Hill's grandmother was diagnosed with vascular dementia about seven years ago and her memory has steadily diminished.

Is there anything funnier than a bulldog from behind? Maybe four bulldogs from the same perspective. Here a dog walker is taking four big-butted canines for a stroll down the promenade at Carl Schurz Park in New York City.

Candy Thomson's Outdoors column is one of the best features of the Sun. I look forward to reading it, and find it to be a valuable, educational resource for the community. There are plenty of news sources for national, state, and "sports news," but I subscribe to the Sun for the local news coverage. Candy's Outdoors column is an important part of that local coverage, and is unique to the Sun. At a time when the reading public is ever more focused on Maryland's natural resources, how could the Sun cancel such a needed source of information on this topic?

Keith Urban's new album, "Get Closer," had an inauspicious start. The guitars he had long used — some for 20 years — and that he counted as a key component of each recording session, as vital as some of his musicians, were all under water. In May of last year, Nashville was flooded, and Urban's guitars were one of the smaller casualties of the disaster. He thought he wouldn't recover. "It's a strange feeling having these guitars — you feel like the caretaker, and the flood was completely unexpected," he said.

If you ever venture into the Harper's Choice neighborhood of Columbia, be sure to make a full stop at Eliots Oak and Hesperus. Howard County Police Cpl. Kelly Tibbs may be watching. Tibbs has a perfect vantage point in the parking lot of an apartment complex from which to view the driving behavior of those going through that intersection. And on a recent morning, several careless motorists received potentially expensive reminders that "STOP" means just that. The 12-year veteran officer had company that morning because a reporter was interested in a recently announced Howard County program in which police would aggressively enforce traffic laws whether the violators were drivers, bicyclists or pedestrians.