Introduction to 'Inside the Bubble'

Talk about pressure…  As it has been 39 months since my last Inside the Bubble (ITB) – which I recollect as being fantastic – you could assume I would have a cornucopia of pent up material for this column.

As it turns out, with the lack of column activity, I lost my qwerty keyboarding skills. I could text this thing in, but my editor is expecting a little something more than 140 characters.

However, pecking one key at a time, I do have something for the old and something for the new.  What could be more fair?

FOR THE OLD ITB READERS: While I am hoping this column is reaching scads of new readers, I do want to pay homage to the loyal readers of the original ITB.  Since we are talking to almost a half dozen people here, let’s connect that past to this present.

What has changed between 2007 and now?  Here is a snapshot of 2007:

1)      Back in 2007, SouthMess (a.k.a. Southridge) was a mall in flux with an incredibly ugly, half finished remodeling job on its highly visible south side. 

2)      In 2007, a gallon of gas was well over $3.

3)      In 2007, the Greendale High School Marching Band was the reigning State Champion. 

4)      In 2007, the Greendale High School Pom Squad was the reigning Midwest Champion. 

5)      In 2007, John Hermes was continuing his long run as the Village President.

Really...are we that dull?  Well, it certainly looks like I took off the right 3 years.  Apparently we can pick up right where we left off. 

But if we look a little harder, there have been some changes.  Grange Avenue lost its teeth- jarring, “Baja Off-Road” status with an excellent use of ARRA money.  The Bowling Congress is gone..  And this column can no longer be used to line the parakeet cage – unless you do not mind a soiled laptop.

FOR THE NEW ITB READERS: Just to get us all on the same page, here is some history of this column. 

The original ‘Bubble’ appeared in the Greendale Village Life, (later the NOW section in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) -  making its debut in July, 1999 and running in an appropriately irregular pattern until January 2008.

Trust me, the original Inside the Bubble was insanely popular, often drawing more ‘Grange Avenue corridor' readers on a weekly basis than the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights – combined.

It also was a litter box favorite.  Cats were some of my most avid ‘readers’. I still get thank you notes from appreciative felines... very touching.

Going forward, Inside the Bubble proudly takes its place in the Greendale Patch – Greendale’s electronic daily newspaper.  It will be a regular in the Thursday edition. 

As it did in its original run, Inside the Bubble will cover life inside the dome we affectionately call “home”.  It will give Greendalers a chance to share a community laugh - and more importantly, the chance to laugh at Greenfield.  They so have it coming with their fancy new high school. Welcome to the joys of Indoor Plumbing, Greenfield.

ITB topics? Our schools, our musicals, our Twi-Night Baseball, our deer population, our total lack of ‘right-hand turn only’ lanes – you can see nothing is off limits. Hard hitting journalism, to be sure.

Bottom line: Inside the Bubble will be as it was – a unique look at our unique community.