katie allison granju

something good from something bad December 31, 2004

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM KNOX HERITAGE

Knoxville is the home of wonderful historic buildings and

neighborhoods, but many historic properties are rapidly disappearing.

As they vanish, we’re losing an important part of our heritage and the

economic benefits these properties could bring.

Knox Heritage has worked for 30 years to save dozens of threatened

historic homes and buildings in Knox County that might otherwise have

been destroyed. However, we need a new and more powerful tool in order

to truly be effective and protect the most fragile and valuable

legacies of our community’s rich history. It will be the single most

important program Knox Heritage has ever implemented.

Knox Heritage’s J. Allen Smith Endangered Properties Fund will provide

effective alternatives to demolition or neglect of

architecturally and historically significant properties by promoting

their rehabilitation and enabling endangered historic properties to

connect with buyers who will rehabilitate them. Contributions from

across the community have already been received, and we are asking

anyone interested in protecting Knoxville’s important historic places

to contribute whatever they can as a sign of support for

preservation in our community. Whether it be $1 or $100,000, every

contribution* will make a difference for the future of our past.

The fund will allow Knox Heritage to accept property donations,

purchase endangered historic properties or purchase options on those

properties. The properties will then be marketed to locate buyers who

agree to preserve and maintain the structures. Protective covenants

will be attached to the deeds to ensure the historic integrity of each

property is retained, and purchasers will be required to sign

rehabilitation agreements based on the work to be performed on the

structure.

This has been an effective tool in many other communities. For example,

in the 1990s, Historic Savannah Foundation, with an initial

investment of $170,000 in eight dilapidated structures, generated the

redevelopment of more than $3 million worth of property in the Beach

Institute neighborhood. This neighborhood, which is a mixed income,

multi-cultural area on the eastern edge of the Landmark District, has

now seen the rehabilitation of approximately 60 buildings and is an

attractive place to live once again. Through its award-winning

endangered properties program, Preservation North Carolina has saved

more than 450 endangered historic properties, generating an estimated

$100,000,000 in private investment.

The same things can happen in Knoxville with this exciting new

preservation tool.

# # #

Knox Heritage is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation

of architecturally and/or historically significant

buildings, open spaces and parks in Knoxville and Knox County,

Tennessee.

Learn more at www.knoxheritage.org.

*All contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information:

Kim Trent, Executive Director, (865) 523-8008 or

kimtrent@knoxheritage.org

Kristina Shands, Program Director, (865) 523-8008 or

kristina@knoxheritage.org

electronica December 30, 2004

I tend to avoid electronic toys and computer games for my kids. We don’t have cable TV and they rarely get on the computer. And until recently, we had no video games at home.

Their father, with whom they live about 1/3 time, doesn’t mind this stuff, so they get plenty of electric-video-computer play at his house. This is fine with me. I just don’t want it at mine.

At our house, I try to keep this stuff at bay. I find that my kids read more, talk to each other and me more, play with the dogs more, and play with their non-electronic toys more without the distraction of video and computer games.

But this Christmas, they all got oodles of electronic toys from various people. The two youngest each got a Gameboy, and Henry got an X-box (which isn’t here) and a few other electronic things.

So for the past few days, the sounds of those Gameboys and other electric things have been the soundtrack of the holidays around our house, and it’s making me insane. I also notice that the children haven’t so much as looked at any of the books they received this year, and they are more short tempered with each other.

I wish I could chuck ‘em (the games, not the children), but second best, I’m going to encourage them to keep them at their dad’s house.

bad santa

How did I manage to NOT see this movie when it was released two years ago? It’s my new holiday favorite (by the way: totally, beyond unsuitable for children).

happy christmukkah December 26, 2004

My children basically had three Christmases in one day: first they woke up at their dad’s, then they went to their Granju grandparents’ and then they came home. Here are some photos from Christmas Day evening.

We’ll have a wonderful week together; I’m off for seven days and on Wednesday we’ll head to Bell Buckle, Nashville & Murfreesboro to spend some time with all the Allison and Anderson grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

My favorite Christmas gift ‘04

Picture 005
Originally uploaded by kgranju.

Isn’t it cool?

family December 25, 2004

How cool is my baby sister?

Tonight is Christmas Eve and for the first time since I became a mother at age 23, my children aren’t with me because this is the first year they are spending Christmas Eve/morning with their Dad.

I went over to my sister and bro-in-law’s house to eat and enjoy how excited my niece and nephew are about Santa’s impending arrival, but after a while I started feeling really sad because I miss my children so much, so I told my sis I was going to head home.

So she suddenly produces this Christmas-Eve-without-your-kids care package she had put together for me, complete with several gossipy taloids, adult beverages, chocolate, and other yummy stuff.

And tomorrow my children come home Can’t wait. Can’t wait. Can’t wait.

howdy halliburton December 22, 2004

It’s always interesting to look at the traffic stats for my blog and see who reads it, and lately I’ve had people from computers within Halliburton visiting. So hey there. Leave a comment and tell me what brought you. I’m curious.

good dog

I live in a neighborhood near downtown. I love my neighborhood, but it has some of the problems many urban neighborhoods deal with.

Lately I had been hearing from other neighbors that panhandlers had been knocking on their doors at night and last night it happened to me.

At about 10:00 pm, someone knocked on my front door. I opened the door without looking because I was expecting someone, and was surprised to see a stranger standing on the porch. He started to ask me to use the phone, at which point my large, male Great Pyrenees dog, who was standing next to me, informed him quite emphatically that the phone was unavailable.

The guy pretty much ran/jumped off my porch and scurried up the street. I called the police to let them know that a guy was knocking on doors at 10:00 pm, asking to use the phone, but for obvious reasons, they didn’t seem that interested.

Once again, I am reminded that for those willing to deal with the work and responsibility of a dog, they are the best crime deterrent that exists.

when the party’s over December 21, 2004

I really love my friend Jeannie’s writing. Her column in this month’s issue of The Rake is, as usual, evocative and so well-drawn. And I can completely identify with how she feels both happy and sad about one day having no children at home.

quote of the day

“He’s gone, and who knows how may he report Thy words by adding fuel to the flame?”

–John Milton - Samson Agonistes

body count December 20, 2004

According to Scripps, more than 900 American children have now lost a parent in Iraq.

Sixty American children lost a parent last month alone.

Forty American children have been born to soldier-parents who never had the chance to meet them.

Ten American children have lost their mothers in combat in Iraq, a historic first, but not the blow for women’s rights I’d like to see.

Jane and me 

Jane and me 

Henry and me 

Henry and me 

pinochet December 19, 2004

I see that “General” Augusto Pinochet has suffered a stroke.

Just goes to show you that overseeing the torture and murder of thousands, as well as the dicey job of suppressing democracy can be really stressful on a guy…

words to live by

Hooking up with old boyfriends is rarely a good idea, especially if you run into the old boyfriend at an afternoon Christmas party where he has been slamming heavily spiked eggnog.

I learned today that drunk, 36 year old frustrated novelists — no matter how good looking — are far less fun than one might imagine. In fact, they tend to be a little bitter and clingy.

So keep that in mind should you have a similar experience this holiday season. Just turn and walk away and pretend you didn’t see the other person before it’s too late.