Long May She Wave (from the front porch swing :)

by Kim Thomas

It's Tuesday, and I'm looking out the window at downtown Lexington, Kentucky; what I can see of it, anyway, from my desk on the second floor of one of the best damn law firms in the world.

I like my little area on the second floor because I don't have to look at Centre Point's pit, which gets pittier and pittier every day. Right now, it looks as if it would make a great venue for ThunderDome 2009...except Tina Turner would never fight in crappy mudhole like that.

Lambchops, let me just tell you the not-so-new news. Our dear quaint little semi-Southern town is no longer quaint. It's marred by a dirty square block of downtown property that was bought by a so-called developer who promised to build a high-rise skyscraper and fill it with business folks who would invest money back into our fair city. I'm sad to say, however, that these alleged power brokers still have not lived up to their promise, their obligation, their responsibility, and they take the privilege of owning property here for granted.

Every time my family visits from out of town, one of my main objectives while they're here is to make sure they DON'T go east of Upper, north of Vine, west of Limestone...I steer them around New Circle Road before I let them see the soggy and sift-y bulldozed square of destruction that is called Centre Point.

Enough about me, though, let's talk about something that's really cool and wonderful, something reliable: Ace Weekly.

Last night around midnight, I finished my article for this week's Ace Weekly and watch here for a big announcement about all of that coming soon. My latest piece is about a legendary local artist's affiliation with the Bluegrass, with the University of Kentucky, and how lovely life can be if you just do the right thing: give to others, give back to the community, enhance people's lives.

Yes, I cover the arts in Lexington for our gorgeous free newspaper, Ace Weekly, and I will continue to be the voice of those who love melody as well as harmony, who support equal arts opportunities, who champion the creations of every person with a passion without exception.

By the way, I'm proud to wear the moniker of one of those 'dirty bloggers' about whom Dudley Webb spoke about with disdain during his gig at the City Council session a few weeks ago (wherein he was promptly told that our city had been 'hoodwinked' ... props to Vice Mayor Jim Gray go here :)

However, here's why really, really really I love to write for Ace: Ace Weekly is richly blessed with talented and dedicated folks who are not shy about new technology, but our writers still go out and get the story. We do not rip off other newspaper writers to get our copy, we actually travel TO Churchill Downs, TO the Singletary Center for the Arts, TO Actors Guild -- and we write about Lexington's interesting people, places and events. We're not sell-outs. We don't take other papers off their stands. We don't play dirty pool. We talk to people and understand the core of their being before we print a word about them. We don't just skim the surface.

I say "we" because I feel proud to be a part of a team of folks who honestly want to see the truth told. Obviously, I am just one voice in a goodly dozen or so of wordsmiths and wranglers who never give up on our community and its people. We're not conventional. We're not tools. No, we Ace Weekly contributors don't always agree with each other, except we do share one common goal: we all want the truth to be told.

I'm not going to name names here, but I'll just tell you, there are lot of creepy people who publish monthlies in this town, who think they're the end-all of information about arts and activism. I'm not saying that I yam, sweet potatoes, but I will say that Ace Weekly is all you need to know what is hip, what is sweet, what is happening in Lexington.

Happy 20th Anniversary to Ace Weekly. Long may she live...and wave...from her front porch. (Yeah, I said "she." Haw!)

pray for peace,

Kimmy