Life is a curious thing but on Longboat Key, it gets more and more curious.

Updated Jan. 20, 2012. I’d like to respond to Tom Burgum’s column (“Hatin’ on Tebow and other things hard to understand,” Jan. 13, 2012) on his wondering why there are so many people who dislike Tim Tebow’s religious fervor on the football field. I can only reply for myself in this regard…

The town manager has suggested that the town purchase the balance of the land that abuts the new Publix project. This would finally bring together the original thinking of Arvida and the town to make the entire area a town center with walkways, band boxes and more of the landscaping that has been done so effectively on the other side of the road in front of Town Hall — a true town center.

The town of Longboat Key has set the following meetings for January: • A Code Enforcement Board Meeting will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 9. • A Town Commission Regular Meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 9. • A Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m., [...]

Town Hall will be closed Dec. 26 for Christmas and will re-open at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 27. Town garbage collection will not be impacted by the Christmas holiday.

You could take James Taylor at his insipid mellowest and hand him an acoustic guitar and force him to play “Kumbaya” — even that could not get the Colony dispute resolved. And we should not be naïve and take the words and actions of those involved as literal and at face value. Everyone is angry, everyone is frustrated, and everyone is all fingers and no ears.

Updated Dec. 31, 2011. Suburban DAS antenna placement is affected by several variables. Alcatel-Lucent states that between eight and 12 LightRadio cubes will be required to provide the equivalent cellular coverage of a tall cell tower, depending on terrain and foliage. As has been described in several design documents provided to the town by Next-G, ExtaNet and Public Wireless, distributed antennas are usually located on utility poles in the right-of-way. Where there are no existing utility poles, appropriate lighting poles are installed where needed. LightRadio is a next generation DAS implementation. Newer technologies have enabled Alcatel-Lucent to introduce cost savings into their DAS design that make LightRadio less expensive for the carriers to install and operate than traditional tall cell towers.

Consistent with my minor political activity around here I asked an acquaintance here in District 3 to sign a nomination petition for a neighbor who is running for our Town Commission. That targeted signer asked me whom the new candidate was running against. I answered: David Brenner, the current commissioner from this district, our district. The person seemed not to know who David was. Wow!

In recent weeks, the topic of not only having a dog park on Longboat Key, but also possibly allowing dogs on all beaches has been reviewed at town meetings. At the Monday, Nov. 7 commission meeting, commissioners determined that an ad hoc citizens committee should evaluate the viability of allowing dogs on beaches. Meaning a group of citizens, of their own volition, can form a group that will meet regarding the dog beach concept, but there will be no participation within the group by any town commissioners, board members or town staff.

The controversy over the placing of a cell tower on the key continues but the advocates are trying to take a shortcut and a rush to judgment by avoiding the normal process that requires a request for a variance based upon need. There is certainly a reasonable question concerning the reception on the island for cell phones and other Wi-Fi devices. You can ask some who will tell you they never can get or send a call, and there are others who will swear they have never had a single problem.