Hill people

Kelly and Mike made a little trip to SF this week, and I was crawling out of my flu hole, and there was no sunshine to be had, I took them to Brunch at Harvey's.  It's nice to be a known regular as Seth was kind enough to hold the cover table for us.  Kelly (whose porn stash I referred to as "nice. very 'windowless van'") and Mike were quick to accept the concept of "brunk."

Empty bloody = sad; full bloody = happy!

Mike is also the Publisher over at the Nashville Scene, and this week's cover story is about my family's business. I wish they had gotten a reporter who knew Nashville and this history of Nashville business a bit better (cough, E. Thomas Wood, cough), but it's fair enough piece. Not very good, and stretching to fill inches at times, but I suppose fair enough considering some of the neighborhood angst concerning the ongoing improvements to 12 South. Cousin Jimmy has his strong personality moments, and I am impressed with his contribution to the story.

Also, I might have told the whiny little blogger and rouser of rabble in the story who clearly knew nothing about the Hill company, their 120-year tradition of community involvement, the state of mixed use development in Nashville, traffic science, or the history of 12 South to educate herself first else shut the hell up.  Including so much of her in the article came across as the "false balance" practice putting quacks on TV who assert climate change as a liberal conspiracy, or inviting Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hate groups to talk against marriage equality just so the news piece will have conflicting points of view, and therefore appear to have "balance."

Why I am not in charge.

Face to face I might have read her beads. Actually, if I were in any official capacity I would be progressional about it, just quietly seething inside. Jimmy has shown remarkable professionalism and patience. He knows well that no one like change and will bitch and moan about it until it happens, then they suddenly can't live without the thing they were bitching about.

I was pretty aghast though that there was no mention of my father who ran the H.G,. Hill realty Company for years and years and left a remarkable corporate legacy of honor, trust, and deep community involvement and leadership.  The Hill Company is not so much a "real estate developer," as it is everyone's neighbor.  And they are the first ones there with a hose if your house catches fire.  Or floods.*


*I would link to the story I wrote for Nfocus regarding the Hill Company's community efforts during the May Day Flood but the moved to a new web hosting service which has inadvertently deleted all of their archives.